A/N: Hello everyone! It's time for another chapter update and i hope you guys will all enjoy the read.

Feel free to leave a review if you're enjoying the story thus far :3

Chapter 4: My Eyes Are On You

Lucy's Apartment, May 23, 7:50pm

It was getting late, the sun has set and a celestial mage continued to tape up her findings across her office bulletin board. The girl stepped back, holding a now half empty cup of tea as she carefully takes in the new findings that'll help her pinpoint a specific detail she might be missing. Lucy glanced back at her clock, waiting for Levy to arrive at her apartment and hopefully crack down the mystery even further.

I pulled up every book i could get ahold of from mom's collection. Even managed to print out from the library anything at all related to the stolen artifacts. However, i can't find anything related to that stupid box...

*bzzzzt...bzzzzt...bzzzzt*

Lucy flinched, catching her breath from the sudden noise that broke the silence and ran towards the buzzing door.

"Levy! I'm so glad you could make it. Sorry to bug you in the middle of the night, but i really need help with this"

"Hi Lu-chan and don't worry about it. You know me, if there's anything to do with magic and books, you know i'm there"

Lucy laughed and closed the door behind the blunette.

"Have you tried contacting Loke?" Levy walked towards Lucy's office which was now looking like a train wreck. The papers were strewn all over the place as well as an overfilled trashcan full of crumbled papers. The blunette placed down her awkwardly large bag onto the floor by the doorway.

"Uhm, i mean, i already told you what he told me. I really don't want to pester him again..." Lucy shuffled in behind Levy and sat in the chair that was facing the messy bulletin board.

"Lu-chan, you realize our boys were definitely involved in that heist right?"

Lucy snickered, "Our boys huh?"

"Don't you start missy!" Levy huffed.

The blonde stifled her laughter and continued, "Yeah well..." scratching the back of her head lightly as she eyed the strange box in the newspaper clipping, "Something tells me that box is definitely an important object" Lucy grabbed the piece of paper and handed it to Levy.

Levy looked at it carefully, holding a finger under her chin as she studied it.

"If we can figure out what that box is or what's in it...i can almost guarantee you, the rest of those books and scrolls will make sense"

Lucy pulled up her pile of dusty books and placed it by her feet, "I found some references to magic rituals and spell binding casts but none of them refer or relate to that box. Maybe i'm just missed something?"

The blunette turns around and pulls up her bag towards the middle of the room, "I've managed to get some books recently from the library, but there was still some books i wasn't allowed to take out of the library just yet"

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "You really got in that restricted section already?"

The blunette laughed, "Yes, but i also found loop-holes around that little system..." she grinned and pulled out a large binder from the bag, "I've managed to copy many of the dark magic books that were hidden away. Now...i know what you're thinking, i could've gotten in trouble BUT!...I kept to the rules. The books did not leave the library and i figured this would help us a lot especially with the way you described that box. I swear i saw something referencing to an ancient book that was locked away while i was scanning through the volumes..."

Lucy shifted closer towards Levy and looked over her shoulder, "Just make sure you don't lose your job Levy, i wouldn't be able to live it down and express how guilty I'll feel about that"

The blunette put on her red glasses and sighed, "If we can help the police and special agency even just a little bit, It'll be worth it Lu-chan"

"I take it Gajeel has said something?"

"Well, he brought it up a few times while we were out...about someone named Erza that was really getting on everyone's cases lately and how they've been working all around the clock these past couple of months"

"Did they not catch anyone during the heist escape?"

"He told me they only got the lackey's...basically the decoys. The stolen items and the actual criminals behind it went elsewhere undetected...so he's been really grouchy about it" Levy sighed and continued flipping through her binder.

"I see, that's such a bummer, no wonder the news never really brought it up"

"Yeah, that's why i'm willing to help you with whatever i can Lu-chan, i really want to help them too as well" she smiled at the blonde. Lucy grinned and started flipping through another binder that Levy had in her bag.

Meanwhile...somewhere outside of the city of New Magnolia...

8:29pm

(Fairy Tail - Zeref's Melancholy extended)

In the distance, an old Victorian mansion stood on the top of a hill that overlooked the city. Despite its eerie appearance, the landscape was beautifully kept. Black and white roses trimmed the outside of the gates before twisting its way into the courtyard, filling a large, circular garden. A small, white marble water fountain centered the garden and yet for some reason, it just didn't keep keep the mansion from looking less intimidating. The black marble like columns were centered out front. The aged dark mahogany wooden walls looked old but it was still well kept despite its age.

Out front, only a couple of black ordinary cars were along side a black Mercedes stretch limo parked to the side of the entrance. It looked as though the place should've been heavily guarded, but there wasn't anyone around. Not one person was standing outside.

Inside the mansion, a young, black haired man, looking to be in his early twenties, stared out the window with a small smile lingering on his face that did not reach his eyes. His thoughts were completely elsewhere, as if he was thinking about the past. The man's eyes were distant, not paying any attention to the door that opened to his large oval office that centered the mansion. The ceiling was high with strange symbols and designs etched into the black and white marbled ceiling. The walls were dark gray, not quite black but it left this mysterious feeling from the somber looking room. A small chandelier hung high near the etched ceiling barely illuminating the room because of the large open window that covered the wall behind the man's desk.

"Lord Zeref, I'd like to report, the preparations are nearly complete. Also...while we're waiting to hear back from the last group, If our calculations are precise as per usual, our moon approaches closer" A dark, long haired man with a lean build approaches slowly into view. His composure held some elegance and a face with a smile that should not be there as for his eyes were holding something else entirely, something dark...sinister. He partially bowed towards the man by the window and placed down a box onto the glass table nearby.

"I see you've finally retrieved my box. I appreciate it, Mard. You may go now"

"If i may be so bold to ask, but when are you going to retrieve the boy?" he smirked as he watched Zeref approach the box slowly.

"We won't"

"My lord?"

Zeref smiled down at the box, fingers tracing slowly around the black metal etchings. Each symbol on the box held a magical seal that went straight towards the flame like keyhole.

"We just need his heart to open it, another one of her brilliant ideas that seemed to stick as I've made this box"

Mard Geer sneered towards the box, "Shall i deliver it elsewhere then, My lord?"

"...In due time"

The metal clasps glowed a malicious, bright red when Zeref placed his hand over the box as steam escaped through the keyhole and yet the wood remained completely cool to the touch.

"...If we are careful, no one will dare to try and get in our way...as i return this dreadful world to how it use to be..." Zeref moved his hand away and turned towards an old styled-Victorian doorway, trimmed with gold etchings of ancient symbols trailing down the wooden beams.

"As it should be..." Mard smiled deviously, eyeing the box that still glowed a bright red, "...I'll assume you have a destination in mind for this box?"

"Yes, but she is not ready"

"If you'll excuse me then, my lord, I'll continue our preparations" bowing back towards Zeref and turned away from the room, closing the door behind him.

Zeref looked towards the mysterious doorway that suddenly morphed into a foggy-like mirror, holding an image in front. A long-wavy haired blonde girl in a white dress started smiling towards his direction.

"So long as she gets closer to him, i won't need to step in. Everything will just fall into place and i can work in peace" he closed his eyes while still feigning his smile, "I'll bring you back, Mavis...that i promise"

Lucy's Apartment

May 24 4:50 am

"Levyyy..." Lucy groaned, laying her back against the floor, eyes completely closed. The two girls spent a literal all night research jam only to end up with...

Zzzzz...zzz..zz

Lucy turned her head around to see a sleeping girl aside her. Books piled high, papers and sticky notes littered everywhere, leaving little to no clear walking space. The blonde stood up and started clearing the floor, rearranging the loose notes next to the newspaper clippings that corresponded to each one.

Sigh, All that work to literally end up back at square one

Lucy internally whined to herself before accidentally stumbling over an open binder. With a large thump onto the floor, Levy jumped out of her sleep and stared at the now grounded blonde.

"Lu-chan are you alright?" the blunette scurried off the floor to quickly help Lucy back up.

"I'm fine, honestly" Lucy looked back at the floor and picked up the heavy binder. "Phew, i thought for a second i might've damaged this" She handed it back to Levy and the blunette grabbed it carefully.

Levy gave it another look over while Lucy turned around and tried to massage her foot, "Then again, now my toes really hurt" The blonde sat down and looked at Levy carefully, "Levy, you don't have work today?"

"Nope, i took today off and now i'm glad i did, look here Lu-chan" She quickly handed the binder back to Lucy, specifically pointing towards the bottom of the page, "i nearly forgot because i fell asleep, but i think i finally found something"

Lucy narrowed her eyes to the pointed column, "Zeref's books?"

"Yeah, but that's not what i'm referring to, keep reading"

The blonde continued reading down until it finally captured her attention, "All books were accounted for a few hundred years ago in the city of Crocus only to have disappeared without a trace. There is no known current location on the whereabouts of the books however, the most devastating of the books was left locked away in the hands of the magic council last seen in 1837 at the Old Magnolia Kingdom..."

Lucy looked up at Levy, "Locked away? In Old Magnolia?"

"Mhm, and New Magnolia city was built right on top of that said kingdom"

"But then that means...?"

"Exactly, it was last seen here"

Lucy dropped the binder beside her, "If it was left in the hands of the magic council, supposedly locked away, you don't think that's related to THIS locked box do you?"

"Who knows? Point is, we finally have ourselves a lead"

"Not quite, there's a possibility a ton of artifacts locked away and moved around. How do we know if its that book, Even if it was the said book, its dangerous Levy"

"Dangerous or not, the criminals are running around under our noses. They were doing nothing but stealing old books, scrolls and now conveniently a locked box"

"Maybe we should backtrack anything at all related to the books of Zeref's, anything at all related to fire or whatever that box had in it" Lucy grabbed the newspaper clipping with the image of the box and handed it to Levy.

"Mind doing me a huge favor Levy?"

"Let me guess, I'm going to be left alone with this?"

Lucy cringed and attempted to smile, "I'm just going to work for a little while today and then ill be at the club tonight. Meet me there? Maybe we can see Gajeel too."

Levy thought for a moment and yawned, "Fine, I'll meet you there, just make sure to be safe Lu-chan" Tapping her shoulder for reassurance.

"Thank you so much Levy, You're a life saver" Giving her a quick squeeze, Lucy ran off to her bedroom to ready for work.

Fairy Tail Clubhouse 9:12pm

(Gareth Emery - You'll be Okay)

Lucy was smiling while talking to a couple of co-workers when Levy finally showed up with a smaller bag of books slung over her shoulder.

"Lu-Chan! I'm here, finally!" Levy patted Lucy on the shoulder. The blonde whipped her head around, still clinging her glass in one hand.

"Levy, you made it!" Lucy swung around to see Levy with her bag, "Let's go take a table over there, it'll be easier with the books" Both girls walked over to the closest booth by the bar and sat down next to each other. Levy lifted up her bag and placed the heavy thing onto the table. Lucy looked around wondering if they'll have anyone remotely useful come in today.

"Did you try calling Gajeel?" Lucy sipped her drink as she helped the other girl pull out the thick binders.

"Yeah, he said, if he can get some free time today, he'll be here" Levy smiled up at her, "Also i have some news, take it with a grain of salt though..."

"Oh? So you did find something then?"

"Sort of, I'm not sure if it'll help but i did find some information in the darker magic books in this binder here" Levy lifts it up and places it in front of them, "Aside from the usually obvious part of, do not ever read any unknown magics out loud but..."

Lucy nodded for her to continue, "...but?"

Levy bit her lip contemplating before letting out a huge sigh, "The Books of Zeref, aren't exactly...Magic spell books..."

Lucy placed down her drink and moved closer to Levy to whisper, "Then what are they Levy?"

The blunette moved the binder over and pointed to the page with a red marker, "The books of Zeref are all compressed books of magic that sealed away demons of the past, each one particularly stronger than the previous however, after his last known book, he called it his final work and hasn't made one since. However no where else does it mention what it is exactly"

Levy turns the pages further in and points to another column that looked like a complete alien language, "However down here, it mentions how to seal away demons in all shapes and forms...including books. The thing that scared me the most is this bit here..." Levy circles in red over the page, "The last known time this particular sealing spell was used, caused a massive disturbance in the magical world that rippled the continents, to just seal a fire demon"

"A fire demon...? You don't think that whats sealed in the chest do you?"

"That's what i'm afraid of and going by how the chest looks..." pulling up the news-clipping that was tucked on the other side of the book, "That's your fire symbol with the same written dialect as this book here"

Lucy nearly choked on air before blinking repeatedly at the matching symbols to letters from the book and chest. She spoke shakily, "T-this is just a theory though, right? There is no definite solid correlation between the two..."

Levy grimaced, "Yeah, just a theory, but if i had to be honest, this is the closest evidence we have Lu-chan" The blunette carefully stroked Lucy's back in comfort.

"You girls okay?"

Levy looked up to see Mirajane smiling down at the girls with a of couple drinks on the tray for them, "Yeah, sort of"

Mira placed down the drinks and sat across from them, "Field research i presume?" referring to the open binders and papers strewn across the table.

Lucy regained her composure and smiled towards the white haired girl who was wearing a bright red dress with pink ribbon trimming, "I wouldn't say field work, more just research for an upcoming paper" Lucy cleared her throat as she tried to advert her gaze back to Levy. The girl next to Lucy noticed and grimaced back towards Mira.

"We're just trying to solve a little mystery is all to be honest."

"Oh, am i able to help you girls in any way?"

Lucy knit her brows together and looked back at Mira, "Maybe?"

"Oh goodie, what could i do for you Lucy?"

"Do you know by any chance if Gajeel has ever talked to anyone else besides Loke?"

Mirajane sat back and held a finger to her lips as if she was thinking whether to answer or not, "Well..."

Lucy, leaned forward, "Please Mira? We're just trying to help him, if you can call it that. More like..."

Levy cut in, "...more like if any of his police buddies ever walked into the private room to talk business"

Mira's eyes widened, looking quite shocked to be honest, "My word, what has happened?"

Lucy fidgeted slightly, "We have been researching for anything related to the heists that's been happening around the city and..."

The blunette waved Mira to lean in closer, "We think we found something important but of course getting ahold of Gajeel tends to be a pain..."

The white haired girl giggled, "Well i don't know. I'm not really suppose to let anyone know of the private bookings seeing as its an invasion of privacy..."

The blonde and blunette nearly slumped, "...but i could definitely try to put in a word for the two of you. Let's just say i have loop holes of my own" Mira flashed them a bright smile, with a hint of underlying motive behind it.

"Oooh Mira you're the best!" Lucy cheered excitedly, "...what's the catch?"

(Cosmic Gate - Should have known)

Mira held a hand to her chest looking almost insulted, "Catch?, Whatever could you mean..." Mira leaned onto the table, leaning her head onto the back of her hand while smiling towards Lucy.

"Mira, i know that look...its the same look Cana gives me..." Lucy felt shivers all over her skin, nearly flinching.

"Well..." Mira nodded towards the bar counter to encourage the blonde to look.

Lucy's mouth dropped slightly, even though he wasn't there earlier when she arrived but now, Natsu was sitting at the end of the bar.

"What exactly is it you're insinuating Mira? That i should go up and talk to him?"

Levy sipped her new drink that was brought over, "Is he related to the heists, Mira?"

Mira smiled and stood up from the seat, "Maybe? He only just moved over because i told him you'd be here today Lucy. Normally he sits in the back room lounge by himself"

Lucy sputtered and covered her face, "Again saying weird things that don't make sense" she mumbled.

The blunette grinned, "Oh Lucy, are you two acquainted now? When was this?"

"Oh shush you, i know you came here to have a chance of seeing Gajeel. You and I both know you could've just told me all of this at my apartment later..." Lucy huffed at the petite blunette who was now getting just as flustered.

"Oh yeah? I warned you not to go there! Ahem..." Levy got up and raised her voice slightly, "Natsu, Over here!"

Lucy nearly shrieked, "LEVY! NO! STOP!" and attempted to pull the small girl down back into her seat. Lucy could feel her heart thumping against her rib-cage and it was not because of the music.

Mirajane giggled and walked away humming, "My job here is done"

It was only moments later and Lucy can see someone approaching from the corner of her eyes.

Levy was beaming, "Natsu! How're you doing?"

"Hey there, Levy" Natsu looked down to see a blonde burrowing her face into her arms on the tabletop, "What is Lucy doing?"

Lucy felt her self gritting her teeth and tilted her head to glare intensely at the blunette who was now wearing the biggest shit eating grin she has ever seen.

"Work is just piling up and she is just exhausted you know? I was hoping maybe you can cheer her up?"

"Huh? Aren't you her friend?" The pinkette looked confused and sat down across from them.

"Yeah, but there are just some things that i can't even do..." Levy flinched when she felt Lucy kick her leg under the table.

"Stop making it worse!" Lucy mouthed quietly towards Levy before finally sitting up and taking a deep breath.

"I don't get it..." Natsu seemed to actually look confused and shook his head. "...You both are weird..." He mumbled as he looked away towards the bar for a moment.

Lucy glowered at him and then back at Levy, "Levy, Can i talk to you for just a moment? Great!" Yanking her friend over to the side and away from their table.

"Just what are you guys planning behind my back!" Lucy whispered loudly.

"It wasn't my idea i swear, It's all Mira's!" Levy was failing to convince Lucy and continued, "Cana told me all about how she set you two up almost a week ago. So i asked Mira about it and she seemed absolutely thrilled to try her hand at it and i figured I'd give her a heads up since we were coming here today" Levy moved away quick enough to avoid a slap to the arm.

"You guys are so impossible to deal with, now what exactly did you expect me to do with him?"

The blunette was laughing before she felt her arm get punched lightly, "Okay, okay! Mira did say he was around for the heists, and yes more than one so maybe, just maybe you can i don't know, loosen his lips?"

Lucy huffed, "You know i'm not that type of person..."

Levy folded her arms and tilted her body slightly angled and looked towards the pinkette as she leaned in towards the blonde, "No one says you have to sleep with him you know...Just talk to him"

Lucy's face reddened, "If he was there the others were too! What information do you expect me to get from him?!" Her voice raising while feeling her throat tighten from the anxiety, "There's no way he would know more than they do, even if he was involved!"

Levy shrugged, "You never know..." she smirked, "Besides, hes totally into you. You heard what the girls said, only comes out when you're around Lu-chan"

The blonde facepalmed, slowly dragging her hand down across the face. "Whatever...just so you know, if anything goes wrong, I'm holding all of you responsible" pointing her skinny finger at Levy and then towards the bar. Lucy huffed and walked back towards their table.

Natsu's gaze snapped towards them and yet somehow he was covering his mouth from what it looked like to be a grin. Lucy only barely noticed as she sat down, "What's so funny?"

"...Nothing" His grin was getting wider, exposing his canines and then turned himself around to face her entirely.

Lucy felt herself shrink back slightly and averted her eyes. Levy sauntered off to the bar and sat by Mira who too, was grinning back at her and Natsu.

"Why is everyone so bent on targeting me..." Lucy grumbled under her breath.

"Who's targeting you?" The pinkette leaned towards her, hands folded.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock, "N-no one" She cleared her throat.

HE HEARD ME? BUT I BARELY SPOKE!... Lucy mentally scolded herself.

...Wait, that grin he had...It can't be...There's no way he has heard me and Levy, we stood so far back...How good is this guy's hearing?

"Luce?"

Lucy waved her hands at him, "Nothing, i swear...i was just thinking. Uhm, What have you been up to lately?" She quickly threw it out there to change topics.

He shrugged, "Nothing really. It's been unusually...quiet" His hand lingered over the glass that held some reddish-brown liquor.

"Unusually?" Lucy grasped a possible straw and leaned towards him carefully, "Why would that be unusual? If you ask me, that'd be a good thing..."

Natsu glanced at her questioningly while his finger flicked lightly at the straw in his drink, "It should be a good thing but knowing this city for as long as i have. I feel like something is just...off"

Lucy twirled her fingers lightly against each other as she tried to pry further, "How long have you been around town?"

"...long enough"

Lucy glanced at the binders in front of her and tried to inconspicuously close and shove them back into Levy's bag. Natsu watched her and half-smiled, "What are those?"

Urk, he probably saw these when i pulled Levy away, Dammit, Don't panic...Don't panic...

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her accusingly, "...Trying to hide something?"

"No, not hiding. Levy just left her stuff here while she so kindly left me here...alone..." Lucy forced a smile that literally looked so fake and it got Natsu to crack a smile. The blonde grimaced and tried to think of another distraction as she continued to shove the binders away, "So Natsu, You're a fire mage?"

He was taken aback and looked at her confused from the sudden change of topic, "Uh, yeah? It was kind of obvious though wasn't it?" he couldn't help but shake his head at her in disbelief.

"Well, if it were a different situation, i would've found it very uhm...interesting to watch" Lucy smiled, "In fact, its the first time I've actually seen any one wield fire and fight with their fists at the same time"

Natsu scoffed but couldn't stop himself from smiling at her, "Is that so? Well just to clear things up, it's not just any fire though"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Natsu leaned in and held up his hand towards the middle of the table. Lucy watched carefully as he lit his fingers up into a low flame. She couldn't help but feel at awe as the lighting made it look like the flames were dancing across the table.

"This is dragon fire, I'm a dragon-fire slayer"

"What?! Those still exist?" Lucy snapped her gaze back at him who was now smirking at her.

"Yep, taught by the fire dragon himself, Igneel"

Lucy felt herself mouth the word dragon and her brain nearly short-circuited, "How do dragons still exist?"

Natsu laughed, "They do, just not anything like before. My old man is clever and down the line forced himself to change into a human to blend in. As for the others, I'm not sure, but there's still some others out there"

Lucy took a deep breath as she took that all in, "wow" she breathed in between, "Now i am sure I've heard everything"

"What?"

"Where is uhm...Igneel now? I-I mean, not to be rude or anything but, from what i heard, you hang around here a lot...and i'm just curious...why not hang with him?"

Natsu blinked and his smile dropped. He slid back into his chair and averted his gaze, "He's been busy and told me to stay here until he comes back" he grumbled. Lucy wasn't sure if he was agitated at the question or towards the man that left him here.

Levy suddenly popped by them making Lucy flinch, despite that, felt relieved from the sudden tense atmosphere.

"Lu-chan, sorry to interrupt, but i'm going to head home. Got a text from Gajeel, he told me he can't make it" the disappointed blunette huffed as she reached over to pull up her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Levy, Should i come with you?"

"What's that? I can't hear you over the music..." The blunette stifled a laugh and started to quickly walk away.

"Levy! I'll remember this!" Lucy yelled across to her.

Ooooh I'm so going to get back at her for this, mark my words Levy! Lucy fumed silently to herself before realizing Natsu was getting up.

"Uhm, I'm sorry i didn't mean to-..."

"Do you need to get home?" he cut her off.

Lucy grimaced and thought for a moment, "Uhm" she got up and tucked a string of blonde hair behind her ear, "You don't have to take me home, i can just ask Cana..."

"It's fine, I'm offering" he grimaced and held out his hand.

Lucy swore she felt her face go up in flames and yet there was no smoke for any proof of it, "O-ok, sure, thanks"

Mira looked over to Cana next to her, "You think our plan worked?"

Cana cackled as she looked at her deviously smiling friend, "Damn straight i think we finally won the jackpot" Mira and Cana both clapped hands. "You do realize we'll have to tell the old man right?"

Mirajane nearly twirled as she hummed, "Of course, the little boy grew up and is finally taking a girl home"

Cana wiggled her brows, "You think they'll get that far?"

The two girls continued back and forth for the rest of the night as they attended their customers.

On the way to Lucy's Apartment 1:30am

The streets were quiet. The wind was calm and the air was warm despite the lack of sunlight. There was only two people walking down the empty street with the lamps barely illuminating the area above them.

Lucy held Natsu's hand loosely as they walked down the street together. She couldn't help but wonder why they were holding hands to begin with, this was something couples did and as far as she was concerned, they were far from it. Besides that, she also noticed how unusually warm his hand was, despite how loosely she was being held. Does being a dragon slayer make one's body temperature that much higher? Lucy stole a few glances up at him and saw he was wearing that white scarf again.

"Isn't it a bit too warm out to be wearing a scarf?" she blurted and closed her eyes, realizing maybe that was a bit rude.

He glanced down at her, "Huh? Hm, I don't think I ever get hot anymore..." Natsu closed his eyes for a minute as he thought some more.

Lucy scoffed as he continued, "...also this scarf was the last thing Igneel gave me before he left..." his voice trailed quieter, "...He made it out of his fallen scales and as far as i can remember..." He paused again before continuing, "...It was the last time i saw him as his dragon form..."

The girl had a small smile slide on her face, "Well i think he did a fantastic job. Looks comfy" Trying to also lighten the mood.

Natsu returned the smile and she felt her heart skip a little, "That's why i take it everywhere...its a reminder of who is always by my side no matter where i go"

Lucy felt her heart warm and couldn't stop her self from smiling even more so. Natsu blinked at her expression, not sure how to feel about it and then averted his gaze. His cheeks were tinted a light pink and the street lights made it quite obvious, despite being dark out.

The girl pondered for a moment, only because curiosity was eating away at her, "Is...it okay if i touch it? If not...its fine, I'll totally understand..."

It got quiet.

...

A little too quiet.

...

Lucy felt herself get slightly uncomfortable as her question hung in the air. She began to wonder if maybe she over stepped their boundary just a bit and immediately wanted to retract her question.

It was only a minute though, a really long minute but as they stopped walking, Natsu let go of her hand. Lucy took a deep breath and turned to look at him anyway. She was kind of taken aback at the look he gave her. His dark green eyes met hers and she watched as he pulled the scarf off his neck and gently wrapped it around her. Lucy felt her face heat up immensely, She did not expect this, not in the slightest. It was one thing to ask to touch it, but to wrap it around her? Something this precious? She felt at a loss for words.

Lucy peeked up at him and saw the sweetest smile on his face. Something you would see if you were looking at someone lovingly. The scarf was soft and very warm. Despite looking so shiny, like leather...it wasn't. Not even remotely close. Lucy didn't need a mirror to see herself, but her face had to have been crimson and wondered if she was going to permanently look like a tomato around this man.

"It's...warm" she pinched the top of it and pulled it a bit higher, trying to cover her face, only leaving her eyes peeking through. Lucy can understand why he wore it, the scarf was very...comforting.

Natsu moved his arm around her shoulder and they continued their walk down the street. It didn't take long to finally reach her home considering how close she lived to the club to begin with.

The lights from the apartment building lit up the entire front side of the sidewalk. He opened the door to the entrance for her and followed behind.

"Do you live nearby?" she asked as they approached the elevator.

"Kind of, I moved closer to the area recently to avoid unnecessarily long traveling..." he scowled a bit at the elevator.

"Is it because of time issues?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.

"hah, no...I just really hate any type of transportation. It makes me, uhm, sick. So, I've been in this area for the sake of the old geezer who told me to keep an eye on the bar..." he grimaced.

Lucy's mouth turned into an "o" and looked at the elevator, "I guess this is where we part ways then..." If she didn't know better, even she heard herself sounding a little bit disappointed, "My apartment is on the 4th floor..."

"No worries, I just came to make sure you got home safely this time" Natsu watched as the girl pulled off his scarf gently. She smiled at the cloth and then turned to him. He felt himself tense up and forgot to breathe for a few seconds as she wrapped the scarf back onto him. Lucy gave him a sweet smile and patted the end of the scarf that lingered on his chest.

"Thanks, Natsu. I'll see you soon?"

He blinked a few times and finally remembered to breathe, "Y-yeah, I'll see you later Luce, see ya!" He waved as he watched her step into the elevator.

Lucy pressed the button and watch the doors close in front of her, slowly shrinking him out of sight. She leaned onto the side of the elevator wall and felt like the biggest weight has been lifted off her shoulder. She wasn't sure how much more her heart could take being around him. At this rate, she'll need anxiety pills to avoid a heart attack. As her nerves very, slowly, calmed down, she couldn't help but smile by how sweet he was tonight. it was such a short night and she felt like she learned so much about him.

Which reminded her... I never learned a single thing about him and the heists, AHH! Damn it! I've been swindled which means...I'll have to do this again?!

As she mentally beat herself up, the elevator bell dinged alerting her the requested floor has been reached. Lucy quickly walked out as she continuously facepalmed herself. Lucy huffed and groaned as she quickly walked towards her apartment, wondering if she'll ever get the information she needs from Natsu without making it as awkward as possible.