Authors note: again sorry this is a work in process. So here's some chapter ideas I had planned. Maybe if they work out. Stitching these scenes together is a bit tricky ;

--

"If that's true-" Natsu paused, words feeling heavy in his mouth. "Then why are you crying?"

"Huh?" Lucy frowned and touched her face, her cheeks were wet with tears. And they didn't stop falling. Her body trembled and her throat felt tight, like she was suffocating.

Why? Why am I crying?

This ache in my chest won't go away.

Lucy looked towards Sting in her confusion.

—-

Lucy froze as the dragon slayer held her tightly in a large embrace. Her breath hitched when she heard his voice.

"I'm sorry." The pink haired guy whispered so softly Lucy thought that she misheard.

——

"So in the end you could only get a measly few of the Zodiac Keys?" Minerva's red lips curved into a mocking smile.

The two Exceeds trembled in the suspended bubbles floating next to the black haired woman.

"Did you manage to find Fairy Tail's source of power?"

Sting didn't dare look up at the woman before him. She held his friend's life in her hands. All the while in a bad mood. He clenched his fists tightly.

"My lady- we still have the Zodiac Keys and it's Celestial Mage." Sting stumbled with his words. They sounded lame even to him.

Pathetic. He felt so powerless it sickened him.

Rouge stayed silent, kneeling next to Sting. Yukino was frozen with fear, clearly beaten and bruised from her clash with Titiana. Sting wondered if she was even breathing.

———

Lucy's legs buckled out from underneath her, and she fell to her knees. She sobbed, holding onto her keys for dear life.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance!" She gave her Zodiac Spirits a watery grin. They simply smiled back at her as they disappeared one by one back into the Celestial realm.

Their keys shone with a warm light as Lucy rested her forehead on the cold stone floor. Still hugging her keys tightly to her chest.

Natsu smiled softly at his teammate.

"Come on Lucy." Natsu held a hand out to his best friend. "We've got a score to settle."

Lucy peered up at him blinking away tears before smiling and taking his hand.

"Yeah we do."

—-

Lucy held a pair of sparkling earrings to the light. They looked like stars plucked out of the night sky. They even twinkled. She gasped and covered her mouth surprised by how pretty they were.

"You got this…? For me?" Lucy looked back at her pink haired friend who quickly looked away. He fiddled with the scarf around his neck, conflicting emotions flashing across his face.

"Yeah well… I picked them up and figured you'd like them… or something." Natsu muttered frowning.

Lucy's heart fluttered when she noticed he was blushing. Natsu seemed frustrated by how embarrassed he was.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at how cute he was being and kissed him on the cheek. He immediately tensed up and pursed his lips into a thin line. Natsu's eyes widened in alarm as his face turned bright red.

"Thank you Natsu. I love it." Lucy's smile was warm.

"ALRIGHT! Ifthatsallimgoingtotheguild- COME ON HAPPY LETS GO." Natsu sputtered out a barely manageable sentence before sprinting away from Lucy. Happy cackled after him.

Lucy laughed to herself before her own face became deep red. She buried her face in her hands and whimpered. Ah! She did that without thinking. This was all so new and embarrassing! And seeing how Natsu reacted only made it even more embarrassing. Lucy wasn't sure how she could face him next time.

——-

Natsu was pissed. Again. But for a different reason this time. Natsu hated this uncomfortable relationship he and his best friend had developed into. He thought if he told Lucy how he felt and she accepted him it would be fine but why are things harder than ever before?!

He let out a frustrated yell and he scratched his head for ideas. What was worse it felt harder than ever to hold back anymore now that he knew Lucy liked him like that. But quickly things went south and now he can't find the bouncy blonde mage anywhere.

Lately whenever he gets close to Lucy, she seems upset and keeps him at arm's length. She refuses to look at him no matter what he did, and she barely speaks to him now.

There was no denying it- Lucy, his best friend and dream girl…was avoiding him.

Was she mad at him? Natsu tried to remember what he could have done to set her off but couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary.

Natsu did recall a moment between them when they found themselves alone in Lucy's apartment the other night. His eyes hazed over as he remembered the way Lucy felt against him. How sweet her lips were and how soft her body was. If Happy didn't interrupt them things might have gotten out of hand.

Natsu didn't realize he had a creepy smile on his face as he remembered how cute Lucy looked. Her face was bright red and eyes tightly closed. She trembled slightly but she still had her face up towards his, lips begging to be kissed.

"Natsu… what are you doing…" an unnerved voice startled Natsu out of his thoughts. He spun around and saw Cana eyeing him. "Are you… drooling?"

"No." Natsu scowled and whipped the saliva off his mouth.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment as Cana's critical eye looked him over. The orange sunset gave everything a warm and nostalgic feeling, and the shadows of the buildings grew taller.

Natsu scowled when Cana smirked at him.

"What?!" He stood defensively against the smug look she gave him.

"Lucy's not home right now if that's why you're hanging around her apartment building like a stray cat." Cana grinned at her childhood guildmate. Natsu scowled and crossed his arms.

"I knew that!" He looked across the river canal frowning.

"Er- by any chance did you happen to see her around town?" Natsu didn't like the idea of asking Cana of all people where to find his newfound girlfriend.

Ah. Girlfriend… Natsu's mind drifted, the creepy smile reappearing on his face. Cana scoffed at him.

Is he zoning out right now?? In the middle of a conversation?

"Even if I did know where Lucy is I wouldn't tell you that Natsu." She gave him a friendly knock on the head, snapping him back into reality.

"What the hell? Why not?!" He smacked her hand away.

"Because! It's fun to see you all riled up like this!" Cana laughed at the scary looking face he gave her.

"But seriously Natsu, it's so weird seeing you act this way. I mean I didn't even think you knew what romance was!" Cana's teasing grin settled into a fond smile.

Natsu clicked his tongue annoyed.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Natsu fiddled with his scarf again pouting. "Gah! This is so frustrating- just why the hell is she mad at me?!" Natsu ran a restless hand through his hair, wanting to punch something.

Where was Lucy? She's been avoiding him for two days now. Natsu felt a sharp pang in his chest and he winced. Cana studied his solemn face for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Figures." She muttered. "Natsu you really don't know anything about relationships do you?" She placed her hand on her hip and wagged a stern finger in front of his face.

"Communication is key!"

"Wha-?" Baffled Natsu blinked blankly at the brunette. What was she on about now?

"Idiot- she's not mad at you. And you've gotta talk about your frustrations with Lucy to Lucy! She won't know you're hurting if you don't tell her." Cana's tone was stern.

Natsu's eyebrow twitched, for some reason her choice of words pissed him off.

"Who says it hurts!" He snapped. "Sides I can't talk to Lucy even if I could. She keeps avoiding me lately and I have no idea why."

Cana flicked Natsu's forehead, such a small action surprisingly hurt.

"Shuddap- that's just because Lucy's shy." Cana smirked at him again. Natsu felt pale.

"Shy..?" He gritted his teeth and mentally slapped himself. He felt like an idiot for getting riled up. Lucy was easily embarrassed so of course her avoiding him lately made sense. Cana spun around on her heels, feeling satisfied.

"I hope you know, you're Lucy's first" she glanced back at the slow thinking mage. "Well… everything so don't overwhelm her too much"

Natsu's face lit up as his cheeks flamed red.

He was her first… everything? Cana waved a hand as she walked off. The sunset made the air look as warm as the dragon slayer felt.

Natsu, feeling giddy, decided it was high time to find Lucy.

--

"Cana told me you were feeling shy!" Natsu kept Lucy trapped in a bear hug. Face flushed Lucy let out a squeak trying to escape from his lap.

"So I'm just gonna hold onto you until you stop feeling so embarrassed!" Natsu flashed her a big toothy grin.

——

Natsu seemed to wake up from his cat nap, he stood a few feet away from Lucy's writing desk as she scribbled out an outline for a new scene.

"Did you have a good nap in my bed you freeloader?" She teased. When Natsu didn't say anything she looked over her shoulder at him.

Natsu looked agitated. One fist was clenched and the other was tugging on his scarf. He couldn't decide if he wanted it to cover his mouth or not. The fire breather was glaring hard at the pink carpet floor.

"Hey now, something wrong?" Lucy asked softly. He didn't say anything.

Lucy didn't like how upset Natsu looked so she went over and held his clenched fist in her hands. He relaxed a little but didn't look at her. Did he have a bad dream or something? His pursed lips were drawn into a hardline.

Lucy felt a warm smile play on her lips and wondered if he was pouting.

"Ya know you can be pretty cute sometimes" she giggled when he looked back at her sharply.

"Hey I ain't cute!" Natsu didn't like the idea of looking "cute" to Lucy. Manly, strong. Handsome even. But not cute!

Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu and looked up at him grinning. This just felt right. Seeing Natsu banter with her made her feel at ease.

"Aw you blushing now?" Lucy teased but her own cheeks were red. He scoffed, although he couldn't help smiling at her. Natsu wrapped his own arms around Lucy and gave her a gentle squeeze. Lucy closed her eyes as she listened to Natsu's heartbeat thudding away in his chest. She felt warm and cozy. She felt safe. After a moment of swaying in each other's arms Natsu finally broke the silence.

"I dreamt…" Natsu hesitated. "You didn't remember me again…"

Lucy lifted her cheek up and rested her chin on Natsu's chest as she looked up at him. Her eyes were marred with worry and concern, a sad frown on her face. Natsu stroked her hair and studied her dark brown eyes.

"But you remembered Grey and it pissed me off." He scowled at the memory of the dream. Lucy couldn't help but laugh. Was that really what he was upset about? She doubted it.

"My bad- sorry dream-me took a stab at your ego." She stood on top of her tip toes and bumped her nose against his. Natsu leaned towards her touch, grumbling.

Even though Lucy knew he claimed it was because of Grey, she knew forgetting him really hurt him. She couldn't imagine what Natsu felt when he found her in Sabertooth. With no recollection of their time together. He probably felt abandoned… again.

Lucy kissed him lightly on the lips. She wanted to remind him how much she loved him, and how she was sorry for hurting him.