A/N - This chapter was supposed to be MUCH longer, but I struggled a bit due to real life stuff. Had a party this last weekend that my husband and I hosted (so exhausting) and after getting drunk, spent the whole next day just zoned out. Did find out that I turn into a valley girl when I drink, which I did not know. So, learned something new about myself!

To get the next chapter up, I decided to split this one from the other portions and then I will spend a bit more time getting the big bulk of everything done that I wanted with the extra time! Hope you guys enjoy this shorter chapter!

Former Arrangements

By Genavere

Chapter Twelve

Every inch of the once grand dining room burned in an ever-growing fire that licked up and turned tapestries and pictures to ash. Enough explosive force had been put into the Brilliant Flame that all the doors and floor-to-ceiling windows in the room had been blown out. Destruction spread to the adjourning rooms and flames from the charred doors began to spread further into the over-extravagant manor.

Outside on the once clean paths and trimmed grass, glass shards shone from the raging fire above. Like an upside-down sky, they gleamed like stars compared to the clouded sky above that glowed in reds and yellows even after the sun went down.

Cracks in the marble ceiling spread above Natsu as he walked through the flames toward one of the openings that had been a window. He surveyed the destruction and grinned. It was fun destroying property knowing they would not be made to pay for it. What would the duke guy do? Issue a complaint to Fairy Tail after he had the gull to kidnap two of its members? He scoffed at the thought. Gramps would never stand for that.

With the manor in flames and the sky lit up, anyone looking for them would have a clear sign of where to look. Nearly as his sign on the palace to reform the guild, he chuckled.

A gust of wind blew passed him, catching the smoke, heat, and flames, feeding them further. There would be no saving the manor, not if he had any say in the matter. Yet, none of that mattered when he caught a familiar scent on the wind.

Lucy.

Since their capture, he had not seen his partner, but he had caught her scent on the dark wizard a few times. Each time he had caught her scent on him, it had pissed him off. But, in some ways, he knew it had been a good thing. It meant she was still in the manor and the lack of her blood meant she was not severely injured. When the Bear-what-his-name guy complained about her and tried to goad him, that only proved it. Whatever Lucy had been doing while captive had been working, and now they were both free.

All three of the powers inside boiled up in his chest, in his blood. Power overflowed, desperate to find and protect her. There had been no doubt in his mind that she had done her best to protect them that night. Now, it was his turn.

Fists clenched, he shrugged off the coat he grabbed earlier and tied it around his waist. While he did not need it, Lucy tended to end up in an unclothed state he rather kept covered until they were back home.

With the coat off, he focused his power and felt a burst of it from his back. Large, dragon-like wings spread wide and billowed out as he leapt from the window. His nose led him toward the garden and a patch of hedges that had a strong scent of the celestial mage. Landing on his feet, he sniffed the area quickly and moved to another area that was just as strong.

There was no blood, just her scent at different intervals along a path that led him away from the manor. Again, he could not help the grin that flashed his fangs as realization came to him. She had marked her path for him to follow. "Always the smart one."

That meant she had seen his sign and knew he had escaped. All he needed was her scent and he could track her, and she had made sure he would catch it. When he found her, he would make sure she knew how proud he was of her. Especially after he had caught whiff of the fire she started.

Legs pumping in excitement as he followed her trail, a second familiar scent mingled along the path. It was fresher than Lucy's, but not by much. His eyes narrowed as a growl pulled from his chest. No, he thought, his legs pushed faster over the manicured lawn, that bastard would not touch her!

The further he pushed on, legs and arms pumping harder than they had in almost two weeks. Fear and unbound anger pushed his heart hard into his ribs as the scents grew stronger. When they mingled accompanied by a coppery smell, his wings took over and sent him through the air as he caught her voice.

The same voice that whispered nothings in his ears after a nightmare.

That gave the stars a sound when she laughed but sent them both into fits of laughter when undignified snorts would escape.

The voice that keened so loudly at their passion.

The one that had admitted her love for him in a moment of pure exhaustion and fear at the claws of a dragon god at her throat.

The voice that called out his name in pain.

"Lucy!"

He flew across the clearing, his claws extended and ready to shred apart the larger man.

Claws and steel clashed. Lifted by his wings, he used the height as an advantage to pry the swords apart and land a kick to the hunter's jaw. The blow sent him flying back and land in a heap on the ground.

He shoved the urge to continue the fight down and flew back to Lucy's side. Heat melted all the needles around her to liquid metal as he moved her away from them. Icy skin met his heated hands. He removed the coat from his waist and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Lucy?"

His hands caressed her bruised face and wiped the blood from her split lip as she smiled up at him. "Took you long enough."

"Got lost," he flashed her a grin. "So I had ta make some doors." Their foreheads pressed together for the moment, both taking a moment to relish that they were together again. "Are you able to stand?"

She gave a small shake of her head. "My left leg is completely numb. I can't even feel my toes." A pained whimper from her made his body tense. There was something broken in her body, she was sure of it, even with drugs from the needles. There was a pounding in her ears, head, lips. It hurt to breath.

When he looked at her leg, he was grateful the thick needle protruding from her leg had not melted with the rest of them. Grinding his teeth, he knew he could not take it out until they were safe, and their time there was running low. "Let me get you out of here—"

"Natsu," –His entire body froze at the tone of her voice, even with it laced with pain and exhaustion– "I am with you, right here. Nowhere else. So don't you dare hold back."

A sigh escaped his lips. "Aye, sir." He would make quick work out of the bastard and take Lucy home—after they had ensured any contracts were well and properly turned to ash. While he had wanted to make sure she was safe elsewhere, he knew the tone she gave him. Any attempt to move her elsewhere would bring him ringing ears and a Lucy-kick when she felt better.

But if he did move her, there was no guarantee that she would be safe there, either. If she were attacked while he was away from her, he would not be able to protect her. "Watch my back for me." He laid a gentle kiss on her lips as he laid her down again.

Knuckles cracked and flames flared up, he crouched in front of Lucy. Golden eyes flashed red as they watched the dark wizard push himself up. Emotions and desires threatened to rip control from him. Anger, hatred, a need to protect, a desire to tear the man's limbs from his body and beat him with them. He wanted to prove that none could harm his partner in anyway and get away with it.

A small voice warned him of Lucy's safety and reminded him of the night of their capture. His wings snapped out and hid her from the hunter's sight. In his opinion, the guy had seen enough of his partner and his eyes would be the first to be plucked.

Bear Flint spat out several pieces of his teeth. That young punk, he grunted as he stumbled to his feet and snapped his head to glare at the Dragon Slayer…his eyes widened.

"W-what kind of monster are you?" Never had he seen such magic transform a wizard, not even the other dragon slayers looked like the beast in front of him! He had heard rumors of Natsu Dragneel being a monster, a demon, an enemy no one wanted to face, but nothing he saw had deemed those rumors as anything but that.

In his gut, he felt a twinge of an emotion he had not felt in a long time: fear.

"You dared to touch Lucy," Natsu's voice was rough, a guttural tone, one that would have made Lucy's toes curl if she could have felt half of them or that her chest wanted to collapse in on itself.

"It was just a job."

A growl from him followed and she could not help but give a small smile. Yes, she hated fighting if things could be talked over instead, but there were some enemies that did not deserve that chance. After all the torment over the last two weeks, the years of stalking, and everything else, Bear Flint deserved no mercy.

Realizing there would be no escaping without a fight, Bear Flint called his swords back to his hands. The threat in front of him was nothing more than an animal. A beast. Something to be put down and set on a mantle as a trophy. A smirk pulled at one side of his lips. "Time to put you down for good, monster!"

"Sounds like a challenge to me!" Flaring out his wings, Natsu pushed off the ground and flew right at the dark wizard. It was time for the hunter to become the prey.

A/N - One of the other reasons why I struggled with this chapter, I believe, was getting some of the other writings that I needed to done for my Serialization Fiction series, and some ideas for other fanfics. One idea that I had been tempted to do was mixing the book Ella Enchanted concept with FT. I like the idea of writing a Cinderella story, but I have always loved the Ella Enchanted book and wanted to combine them. Along with several other ideas just pushing to get out.

We will see what comes out since I have so many projects right now and another fanfic for the anime Munto to do!

Thanks for reading!