CHAPTER 29
"So you're Natsu huh?"
Natsu blinked at the battered and bruised, but grinning, old man and cocked his head a little, "Who're you?"
The battle was over. After he and Lucy had helped Mira and Lisanna out, the remaining cultists had been quickly dealt with. It seemed Hades had favored a select few powerful minions and a large number of weak ones. The cleanup was now underway, but he hadn't had a chance to do more than ask what they wanted him to do than this strange little man had appeared.
"Forgive me." The man chuckled, "My name is Makarov Dreyar. I'm Fairy Tail's new Master."
"Whoa," Natsu tilted his head at him, rubbing away the smear of blood he could still feel staining his cheek as he did, "you're a tiny little gramps aren't ya?"
"Humph!" Makarov gave him a sour glare, "and you've got a big mouth, don't ya?"
Natsu gave him a surprised look, but broke out into a wide grin, "yep!"
Makarovs face softened back into a smile, "glad to have you with us! We've heard a lot about you, and we needed a little bit of backup by the time you arrived. They did quite a bit of damage to us, but that would have taken care of them for the time being."
"I trust Master Hades was dealt with?" Makarov questioned.
Natsu smirked, "you could say he was... disarmed."
He broke off into a peel of giggles which made Makarov very suspicious and Lucy ducked her face in her hands out of embarrassment.
Natsu's morbid sense of humor was going to take a bit for them all to get used to.
"Well good," Makarov said cautiously, eyes squinting at Natsu, "I am curious though, is this going to be goodbye again?"
"Lucy told us you were on a trip to control your adult surges," Makarov continued, Natsu turning to give Lucy a fairly stunned look she had shared that news with virtual strangers.
"Laxus figured it out," Lucy added to Natsu, "he's a long story, but we can say he knows quite a lot about Apocolypse dragons because he was technically one in a past life."
"Whoaaaa really?" Natsu gawked at her, stunned by the revelation as he hopped around to find the person that Lucy called 'Laxus.'
Lucy watched the movements, a little stunned by them. She stared at Natsu as he moved, hopping on the balls of his toes. His hair was longer now, tied up in the back in what looked like a messy bun of sorts. Clearly he hadn't cut it in some time. He wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants and boots since she had summoned him right out of the winter climate.
However it all fit him so... snug.
Lucy really couldn't help but notice how the fabric was pulled taut over his broad shoulders, or the way he had filled out.
"But nah," Natsu continued, stopping his bouncing, "I was actually starting to head back today. This saved me a lot of travel with Happy, which let me tell you, I'm happy about that!"
Lucy turned towards him in surprise, thoughts that she was really going to drag him out to go shopping for new clothes that actually fit him, bursting from her mind with the admission that he was staying.
"Really?" She practically screamed, and judging by the cross-eyed look on his face, it had been much too close to a real scream for her to not call it such.
"Luuucy!" He whined at her, but was immediately cut off when she nearly smothered him in a tight hug.
"You're really back for good?" She asked softly, her voice thick, and their bond full of emotions Natsu wasn't sure he could name, but reciprocated entirely.
"Yeah." He purred at her, curling his arms around her in a warm embrace, "Yeah, I'm really back for good." He shifted so he could press his forehead against hers, "I'm a full dragon now."
"Stupid." Lucy laughed, "You were always a dragon."
"Yeah, well now I can turn into one too!" Natsu grinned back at her.
"It's probably best that you don't for the time being." Makarov interrupted, though he was smiling at how very affectionate Lucy's familiar was being with her. He'd worried a little about that, despite Bob's assurance that he didn't need to, and was pleased to find his old friend had been right.
"Now..." He projected his voice to get everyone's attention, "I know everyone's tired and wounded, but we need to move quickly if we're going to get this mess cleaned up." He looked around, "An attack of this magnitude isn't something the magic council, or the crown, can ignore. So we need to make it look like it never even happened."
He swept the crowd, "I want everyone with demonic blood and the ability to move between dimensions to collect the cultists and drop them into hell." He scowled, "If they're so very devoted to their so called god then I say we introduce them! Fae blooded and elementalists kindly tidy up the battlefield as best your magic allows. I want everything as pristine as we can make it."
"Bickslow, Jellal, and I can do a cleansing." Lucy spoke up, "It'll purify the area and ensure the spirits are sent on."
"Do that." Makarov nodded approvingly, "Everyone else, work with the others in whatever capacity you can."
Natsu cracked his neck a little and smirked darkly, "If we can get everything piled onto the remains of the airship... I can carry the whole thing to hell. I'll just need a place to transform."
"I believe I can assist with that." Freed said as he stepped forward with a slight bow, "It happens I'm practiced with concealing enchantments. I can write a temporary one around the beach to allow us to work in peace. You will have the luxury of transforming without having to worry about terrifying the townsfolk."
"I'll help you Freed." Levy said, "My magic isn't suited to cleaning up the beach anyway."
Makarov smirked proudly as everyone quickly broke into groups and got to work, "Thank you Natsu." He murmured, "This sort of disaster is not something Fairy Tail can afford so soon."
"Don't worry about it Gramps." Natsu replied just as softly, "You guys protected my mistress when I couldn't.
I'd do a lot worse than dump cultists on that bastard's head for that."
Natsu huffed and jogged over to Gray to help him begin tossing the bodies of the cultists back onto the remains of the ship. It took a while, but they soon had everyone loaded up.
The beach was still a long way from being fixed, but at the very least Natsu could get a huge eyesore out of the way.
He stepped into the ring that Levy and Freed had built, pulling his shirt off over his head and throwing it in Happy's face.
His feline let out an offended sounding growl, but only sighed when Natsu's pants quickly joined his shirt.
Lucy almost tripped over Happy entirely when she spotted Natsu strutting around completely naked, wondering when things had changed enough that he just didn't care.
"I wonder if Gray's stripping habit was contagious after all," Lucy whispered, causing Natsu's head to snap over to her.
"Ha, ha" Natsu said to her, "I'm about to transform and I'd like to keep the one out of two shirts I still own. Along with the single pair of pants I have left to my name."
"What happened to all your clothes!" Lucy protested, and Natsu's cheeks warmed.
"My surges happened you prude!" Natsu shot back at her, looking a little flushed in the cheeks, "I couldn't exactly control when I turned into a giant dragon and sometimes I couldn't strip fast enough!"
Lucy yelped and slapped a hand over her eyes when Natsu turned to face her too much, causing the demon to sigh and turn back around.
Peering through her cracked fingers, She went still as she looked at the flex of his back when he loosened up.
There was a dark smattering of tattoos all over his back and arms, something she hadn't seen before when he was wearing his shirt.
The tattoos which had originally been small and only crawling up his spine when he first left, were now sprawled and spinning out in intricate patterning all over his back and shoulders.
It was... strangely entrancing to look at.
It wasn't quite hypnotic, but she had the wild urge to trail her fingers over those fine lines and curves. She had no idea what they meant, but they sort of reminded her of wings with the way they swept up from Natsu's tailbone to wrap around him.
"Impressive." Laxus rumbled, and she blinked as she looked up at him.
His eyes were locked on Natsu, however, trailing over her demon assessingly. Almost like he was looking for something and not finding it.
"What's impressive?" She asked curiously, drawing his attention.
"You mean you don't know?" He asked in surprise, and nodded at Natsu's back, "I meant his markings. I can't remember a display like that since his old man." He smirked, "I guess he really does take after his father."
"Display?" Lucy asked, peripherally aware the conversation had attracted Natsu's attention, "I don't understand."
"They're like a peacock's tail." Laxus replied, "All male dragons get 'em, and they're used the same way to entice the opposite sex. Sorta like how in humans we take a date to dinner and stuff to prove we have qualities she might be attracted to."
"Oh." Lucy replied, not really sure what else to say, "Do you have them too?"
"Only some." Laxus admitted, rubbing his shoulder where the curvy lines appeared, "I'm too human for them to manifest fully. Just like I'm too human to have power surges." He smirked slightly, "I used to have a very nice set though."
"I'll have to ask you more about that," Natsu smirked at Laxus over his shoulder, "I'm not sure exactly what they mean, and I can't exactly see them."
He rolled his neck and took a deep breath. When he spoke again his voice was deeper, and with a vibrating bass to it that made the hairs on the back of Lucy's neck stand up and a shiver run down and tremble in her stomach, "but later."
Ruby red scales rippled over his body, Natsu shifting to his hands and knees as he moved. He shivered, a throaty groan pulling from his chest as his back arched. Lucy watched in fascination as she saw the change ripple over his body. Muscle flexed taut and began to stack on top of one another, Natsu's body twisting as bones rearranged themselves and he grew more mass.
A tail sprouted forth, becoming clear very rapidly why he had needed to abandon his pants.
He grew, body transforming several stories tall as massive wings burst free. Lucy's eyes went wide with awe as the stretched out clear across the beach, Natsu towering over them all.
This was an Apocolypse dragon?
Suddenly Lucy understood why everyone was always so terrified of them. Why even the name had haunted others.
Lucy of course felt no terror being near Natsu, but looking at him — he certainly cut an intimidating figure just by sitting still and yawning.
He was certainly a beautiful creature though, Lucy couldn't help but marvel at his gorgeous scales and the patterning that stretched along the entire length of his body.
His body glittered like gems, as if he had rubies encrusted into his scales to serve as his armor.
Natsu grasped the loaded up ship with his foreclaws, his large head swiveling around towards Lucy.
One pretty, golden eye leveled with her, looking concerned.
"Scared Luce?" Natsu's voice was hesitant.
"Of you? Never," Lucy ran a hand against his muzzle, causing her dragon to huff and melt against her arm.
It nearly knocked her off balance, but Natsu luckily straightened with Lucy's arm still around his snout. Her feet hovered off the floor before she dropped down and she could feel Natsu laughing. The vibrations from his throat shifted through the sand.
She smiled as he pulled back a little, "I'll be back in a minute."
She stepped back, halfway expecting him to take off and kick up tons of sand in the process, but instead all he did was vanish with a ripple. She waited breathlessly for his return, anxiety that something would happen with him in hell in that form, but less than a minute later he popped back onto the beach. He was growling softly, and his scales seemed to be steaming a little, but she knew that was normal and trotted over to him.
"It's done." He rumbled, "Dropped the whole load onto a mountain and left."
He seemed to shake himself and just as quickly as he'd shifted, he seemed to collapse back down on himself until he was the Natsu she'd always known.
She kept her eyes firmly on his as she smiled, "Nothing happened while you were there then?"
He shook his head, "Nah. I was in and out too quick for the bastard to even find me let alone catch me."
He took his clothes from Happy and gratefully pulled them back on, "Hate going there though."
"I'll try not to ask it of you too often then." Lucy replied firmly.
"Alright brats!" Makarov called, "Trash is clear! Let's tidy the rest up and call it a day!"
There was a round of cheers and in far less time than Lucy would've expected the last traces of the battle were vanishing under the steady beat of the surf.
She curled her hand into Natsu's and smiled, "C'mon." She said, almost shyly, "Let's go home."
He beamed at her and nodded, eager to see the place she'd set up for them. He knew it was on Strawberry Street, not far from Gajeel and Levy's place, but far enough away they wouldn't be tripping all over each other either.
Which was good. He loved them greatly, but the idea of having a nest just for him and Lucy was entirely appealing.
"Will there be any fish there?" Happy asked hopefully as he leapt up to curl around Natsu's neck.
"If you don't mind waiting for it to thaw yes." Lucy giggled, "I happen to have some salmon in the freezer currently, and you're welcome to it."
"Salmon!" Happy gasped, "Natsu you gotta help it thaw! It'll turn out all mushy if it goes wrong!"
"Relax buddy." He chuckled, "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Lucy blushed a little as she led him into a cute little apartment building a couple blocks down from Gajeel and Levy's, "I hope you like it." She murmured, "I actually bought out the whole building from the lady who used to own the place and converted it into a house for us."
Natsu closed the distance between them, his hand shifting slightly so their fingers threaded together. Their arms woven together neatly in this position, his heart thumping happily at their proximity.
Lucy looked at him in surprise by how he held onto her hand, but they made it to their new home and Natsu looked at it in awe.
"Oh wow Luce, you did great with this place!" Natsu gushed, rushing in the moment she had the door unlocked.
After that it was a mad rush as he investigated every room with Happy.
He quickly found the room Lucy had designated as his own, noticing that they had moved everything from Levy and Gajeel's place over to this new one.
Still, he couldn't help but think how much he would rather be sharing a room with Lucy.
He bit his bottom lip as he considered the thought, finding the temptation of it maddening when he was across the hall from the woman he loved.
She was so close to him, having evolved into the very picture of perfection.
He dropped his pack in his room and stalked after Lucy to find her. She was already situating herself in the kitchen when he came back, wanting to inspect her more carefully.
"You were injured earlier," Natsu whispered to her, not saying anything to Happy when the feline jumped onto the kitchen counter and began licking his paw.
"Happy did you see the first aid kit anywhere?" Natsu asked the cat, who stopped grooming himself for five seconds to think about the question.
"Maybe," the cat drawled before he slunk off to find it.
In the meantime, Natsu was focused on cleaning Lucy's cuts.
He took a clean dishcloth and put it under the faucet to get it wet. His hand steamed under the waterjet, making the hand towel warm enough to easily move grime and clean her up.
"Come here," he crooked his fingertips at her, "I want to get your nicks cared for."
"I'm sure they're not serious." Lucy protested, but complied anyway as she moved over to join him.
"Let me be the judge of that?" He murmured and tugged lightly at her shirt, "Off Luce. You know the rules."
"Yeah, yeah." Lucy huffed, her cheeks heating a little as she pulled off her shirt. She quickly forgot her embarrassment, however, as the motion pulled at more than one scrape and bruise. She hissed and instinctively hunched over as one particularly tender line of black and blue ones pulled at her side.
Natsu scowled at the sight of it and began gently inspecting the area, checking for cracked ribs or the like, "What happened here?"
"I got slammed into one of the support beams on the airship." She grunted painfully, "Hades didn't like it when I insulted Acnologia."
That pulled a reluctant smile from Natsu's lips despite his indignation she'd been hurt at all, "I bet he didn't."
He gently ran the cloth over the area, "It doesn't look like it cracked any ribs or anything, but we should probably bind it up anyway."
"There's a big jar of that salve Porlyusica makes in the first aid kit." Lucy replied, "And Levy made the bandages."
Natsu nodded, "Good. That will help a lot."
Happy chose that moment to come back in his larger form, delicately carrying a large box by the handle. He carefully set it down and immediately shifted back to his smaller form, "I hope that's got everything you need in it."
"It does Happy, thank you." Lucy replied, a little preoccupied with the various hurts she was becoming increasingly aware of now that Natsu was tending them.
Natsu eyed the box in amusement, pleased that Lucy's tendency for preparedness hadn't left her, and began rummaging around in it. Within seconds he'd pulled out both the salve and bandages and began gently applying the healing cream to his mistress.
"This wasn't how I wanted to reunite with you." He murmured after a few moments of silence, "I wanted it to be a surprise. Like what Jellal did for Erza. I mean, I'm glad I got here to help, but it pisses me off to see you in pain like this."
At his words, quiet and angry, Lucy looked up to see his single minded focused lasered on the task at hand. His hands moved with a slow gentleness one might rarely expect from Natsu. She knew he was sweet beneath his energetic layers though, but now he was still angry.
He applied the healing salve to her, his body warming it up naturally so the coolness of it didn't bite into her skin when he applied it. Ever cognizant of her comfort, he applied the bandages, even though she could tell he was distracted by his anger.
No doubt he was thinking he was too hasty with dealing with their enemies. He was a demon after all, and making them suffer for hurting his nest was a part of the bloodlust he felt for them having dared to raise a hand against her.
She reached up and set a hand against his jaw, his fingers pausing in their movement when she did so. His eyes met hers, curious for the halt but not moving.
"These will heal just fine Natsu, and I won't be any worse for them," Lucy promised him. She looked closer into his forestry eyes, obscured a little by the shaggy pink locks that framed his face. He was due for a haircut to be sure.
"You're here with me now, and you're not leaving any time soon, right?" Lucy asked him.
"No, I'm here to stay," he vowed, growling low to her and sealing the promise with a bump of his forehead to hers.
"Good, now put the thoughts for revenge out of your mind for now. I want to spend time with you and just relax now that you're back," Lucy spoke with a huff of impatience, but leaned over to stroke at Happy's chin. The cat purred in delight and flicked its tail.
"Alright, Alright," Natsu laughed and finished up his bandaging, handing her shirt back.
"Let me get the fish out for Happy, and we can see about a movie night?" He asked hopefully, "it's been like three years since I've had one and you must have something new you've liked since then."
"I've got a couple of picks," Lucy said smoothly, watching the easy way Happy leapt up onto Natsu's back at the promise of fish and craned his head over the demons shoulder to better look at it.
Natsu returned to the counter with the frozen fish, closing the freezer door with his heel. Lucy almost laughed at the easy way he and Happy interacted, with the cat jumping on and off Natsu with such ease that he hardly seemed to even notice.
It was such and endearingly domestic sight that Lucy couldn't help smiling at it. She had missed this. A lot. She hadn't even realized just how much in a way.
"I'll order us up some pizzas." She said, prompting him to look up at her and grin, "All your usual favorites?"
"You bet!" He beamed, "I haven't had a good pizza in years!"
She giggled as she picked up her phone and started dialing, "We'll remedy that tonight."
She leaned against the counter as she made the call, unable to resist brushing against him. After so long without him, she couldn't get enough of having him real and solid and beside her.
And judging by the smile he flashed her, he seemed to feel the same way.
Life was good again.
