Warning a little heat near the end of the chapter pretty mild mannered compared to what's coming hehe.

Ember Reverie: I love that you get Natsu so well! I laughed thinking about him being contained in there with Gajeel and Laxus. Probably their worst nightmare haha.

NaLuAlways26: awww thank you as an avid reader myself hearing you binged on this makes me crazy happy!

: Thank you I try to make sure I update every friday :)

savwafair: great! I tried really hard to make that part not a pain or boring to read. I'm not a huge fan of so much detail it puts you to sleep.

Alright once again thanks for reading and the support I appreciate it all! Here's chapter 7 I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 7

"In answer to my problem if a Dragon Slayer has not already claimed their mate they become more aggressive and possessive of their chosen when and or if another slayer is going through their maturity stages." Levy starts to tap her chin thinking a little.

"Well then it could be because of Wendy right? She's about the right age to go from girl to a full grown woman?" I say but tilt my head thinking for some reason it just doesn't sound right. "I mean all the other slayers are too old to just now be hitting…?" I stop seeing Levy shake her head.

"Female Slayer's actually mature faster and more smoothly than male's," she smirks, "just like with all species."

I laugh then get serious and see Levy do the same, "Oh!" I turn to see a triumphant look on her face. "Has anything strange happened with Natsu lately?" I scrunch my face about to immediately deny it but what happened early gives me pause and then I start to really think about it. "Well actually," I explain what happed earlier the best I can then start listing every little thing I can think of.

"Ok as odd as this sound I keep finding little presents everywhere and I ask Natsu about it but he never answers just smiles. For example I find flowers all over my apartment not like big bunches or all at once. Just a random wildflower here or there; like on top of my dresser or my desk. Then a couple months ago he blew up my kitchen trying to make something and refused to say what but I found a recipe from Mira for my favorite chocolates. These are just a few things off the top of my head, now why are you asking?"

Levy smirks, "well it sounds like a certain dragon slayer is ma-tur-ing!" She ended that fun sentence in a sing song voice, which I immediately begin to deny while turning a red that would make a tomato proud. "No, no, no th-there's no way I-I he," I stutter with steam blowing out of my ears.

"Oh come on Lu! You have to know how he feels about you or at least how you feel about him! Think of all those moments through thick and thin; all of those extreme missions and life threatening moments. Not to mention you stopped dating a long time ago and don't tell me its cause no one asks you! Loki told me all about how he's had to help beat guys off of you with a stick."

"Wait," I hold up a finger and skipping over all the important stuff she just mentioned and focusing on the only life raft detail she gave me. I clear my throat, "When did you talk to Loki?!"

Levy pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me, "I know what you're doing and I won't let this go but to answer your question. Loki was in the guild hall visiting with Gray when he randomly stood up said he had to go and poofed. He came back about 30 minutes later looking like he was ready to kill someone. He sat back down with Gray and with a big sigh thumped his head against the table."

"Gray asked him what was wrong and Loki told about the guys that were practically stalking you! Said it wasn't as bad now that you had quite modelling and you moving back to Magnolia really helped. Then Natsu was a big factor in keeping guys away from you something about a death glare? But Loki was all riled up then because some guy was harassing you but wasn't touching you so you were just putting up with it! Why Lu? If some jerk face is bothering you, you should've taken him down a peg!?"

I smile weakly at her knowing exactly when she's talking about, "it was some scrawny little pre-teen trying to look cool in front of his buddies. And he didn't say anything I hadn't heard a million times before so I was just ignoring him but then he grabbed me. I was shocked and my adrenaline spiked a bit which is what attracted Loki." I laugh, "You should have seen this kids face when Loki appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed him by the ear and asked where his house was! One of his friends piped up and Loki dragged him home and made him tell his mom exactly what he'd been saying to Lucy." I giggled at the memory.

Levy smiles looking relieved, "Oh wow! Boy did he ever exaggerate but then again it is Loki." We share a chuckle and I sigh knowing there's no way around this conversation but then again its Levy maybe talking it out will feel good.

"You're right I've known for a while now about how I feel for Natsu." I take a deep breath and launch into my dilemma knowing if I stop I won't be able to get it all out. "I've always had a crush on him, I mean how could I not?! He not only brought me into this life and gave me a home; he helped mold me into who I am. I thought I had contained all of my feelings into a box and threw away the key cause ….Well look at him he's not clueless but he doesn't give a thought or even show an interest in romance. Then he up and disappears on me and I have an entire year alone to stew."

I huff thinking of all the anger I felt at first then the sheer loneliness, "that little box didn't stand a chance under all the pressure I put it under, all the questions and memories dancing through my head. So much happened to us I barely had the time to process it all and then when I did I just laughed at how stupid I'd been." I chuckle and shake my head, "I had fallen in love with him so long ago and just ignored it, well not ignored but it just hung out in the back of my mind. I slowly stopped kicking him and Happy out not only out of the apartment but out of my bed."

I blush knowing the pervy smirk she's giving me and just continue to stare at the ceiling. "He had a drawer at my place, we grocery shopped together, cooked together, ate together. We were a family and I was ok with just that I didn't think I needed more. Then they were gone and I realized I do need more but is he willing to give me more? Does he even know what more is? Next thing I know he pops back up and we're off again on another whirlwind adventure."

"We got everyone back together then the whole Alverez mess happened and now it's like there's this wall in between us." I growl frustrated, "I know it isn't just him it's on my end too. I mean how do I go back to how we were? Not to mention how he's changed!" My face glows red thinking about how he was cuddling me this morning and just where his face had been.

"Ooh ho ho and what exactly just ran across your mind Lu?" Levy giggles, "That's an interesting shade of pink your sporting there, almost the same color I was when we were talking about my love life." I mutter what Natsu did under my breath hoping in vain that she wouldn't catch it or make me repeat myself.

"HE HAD HIS FACE WHERE?!" And that hope lived a short life, "Um in my chest?" I say looking anywhere but directly at her. "Lu just how often does he grope you in bed?" I squeak in protest meeting her gaze only to find a serious calculating look.

"Well before once maybe twice it was rare, but nowadays it's every time. It's the main reason I kick him out. I wake up to him completely wrapped around me with no regards as to where he's exactly wrapped or to what he's grabbing." I mutter embarrassed thinking of some of the positions I've woken up to lately. "This morning was modest if I compare it to the other times."

"If I were to guess I'd say it's Natsu that has Gajeel all up in arms, so to speak. I just don't understand why he's going through this so late? I mean Gajeel went through his stages within the first few months after the Edolas incident. Then Laxus well my guess is when he tried to take over the guild by force." She and I both wince at the memory. "I mean the maturity stages present themselves differently based on the slayer and the type of magic they wield."

She must have seen the curiosity written all over my face because she elaborated for me. "The book briefly mentions that it depends on the element for example: Laxus's first stage was big, flashy, and aggressive while Gajeel was quiet, stable, and made him sturdier as a person."

I nodded in understanding, "that all makes sense, so if I'm getting this right….. Oh god." I groan and smack my head into the bed.

"Yeah Natsu's is probably going to be loud, bright, and bold would be my guess." Levy laughs at my agony. "Anyway I don't think we quite have to worry about that just yet. Any ideas on what could've caused the delay?"

I tap my chin trying to think of an answer, "Could it have something to do with us being in stasis on Tenrou?" We think of it and both end up shaking our heads, "Or maybe he was so focused on finding Igneel that his stubbornness just pushed it back? And now that Igneel is no longer the highest priority…" We both become somber over the idea even though it fits.

"We can discuss it with Master and Natsu when we get back. If we're right then I'll talk about it with Gajeel."

"Why wait until after why not just talk to Gajeel either before or with the others?"

Levy nibbles her lip, "I just want to have all my ducks in a row for that particular conversation. Remember I tried bringing it up before and he told me to drop it which I obviously didn't."

I nod in understanding, "No worries Levy it'll all work it's self out!" We share a hug and a smile, "Now I don't know about you but I'm ready to pass out!"

"One more thing Lu," she takes my hand in hers, "it'll all work out with Natsu I just know it."

We share a soft smile, say our good nights, and crawl into bed before I turn out the light I see that it's almost midnight! Thinking how grateful I am that we have nothing to do but have fun tomorrow I sigh and drift off in an exhausted slumber.

Meanwhile in Magnolia….

After hours of sparing; that always seemed to get carried away; both Gajeel and Natsu are finally worn out. "Looks like we're the last ones standing Salamander," I turn to see metal freak is right Laxus and Wendy seemed to have sneaked off to their beds.

"I'm crashing ya pink haired freak, you better make it to your room to crash cause there ain't no way I'm listening to your loud ass snoring!" I'm suddenly too tired to even answer his snarky ass comment with one of my own.

I make my way to my room about to crawl into my bed but head for the shower for once. "Freaking Metal breath got his funk all over me." I growl not liking that I couldn't smell Luce anymore. I strip down planning to make this quick when I see a pink bottle with a note sitting on the shelf in the bathroom.

"Natsu-san Juvia figured having something of Love-Rival's would help."

I open the bottle and take a suspicious sniff knowing Juvia it could be anything. A sniff turns into a deep breath as I smell Lucy's scent. I was expecting her shampoo that she uses or her soap but this…. This is Luce without anything. I quickly hop into the shower with new vigor knowing I definitely owe Juvia one. I scrub my body with the warm comforting scent.

I smile just thinking of her promise to spend the entire day with us. Her beautiful sleepy face pops in my head; I wouldn't start the day any other way. My body responding at just the thought and the smell wasn't helping. Man my body is responding more and more; it was getting annoying. I mean I always had this kind of problem around Luce but lately it was getting down right crazy.

I sigh knowing I wouldn't be getting any sleep with my "problem" so I lean my back against the shower wall and think of Luce.