The memory of our earlier argument continues to plague me, it's true that we are both pretty fiery people, but it is unusual for us to fight like that. Although I certainly won't complain about how it had ended, I'm not normally that rough with Levy, but we both benefitted from the change in pace. I have to adjust my tightening pants as I reminisce, my feet continue to carry me forwards and away from our adopted training ground and away from the girl I'm daydreaming about.

It was a miracle that I was able to relay my plans to Lily without Levy overhearing, nosy little thing that she is. It might have had something to do with all the warmup sets I had given her to complete, I definitely went a little more overboard than planned. The Exseed had merely nodded his agreement and given me a hard pat on the back, before breaking out into an uncharacteristic beaming smile.

Grumbling at the unfamiliar feeling of butterflies in my stomach, I try to focus my thoughts on the task at hand, I must find Lucy and get her help. The plan was that Lily would train with Levy, whilst I ran a small errand, her face had pinched a bit as she realised, I would be absent, but her body remained relaxed, a massive improvement since our last parting. Little did she realise that the errand would hopefully be the buying of her perfect engagement ring, and I definitely needed a female's help with this.

It's only a short trip to the apartment that Lucy now permanently shares with the Fire Dragon Slayer. I already know they are home as their scents waft towards me the closer I get, and it seems like I am the one that is going to be doing some interrupting this time, my grin widens at the thought of payback. Desire and arousal surround the building like a heavy perfume, I have to push through it like a fog and I enjoy hammering on their door, the noises on the other side halting immediately.

The door opens barely a crack, Natsu's steely black eyes meet my own, a loud growl sounding as he takes me in, "what the hell do you want Iron Head?" he down I can see that he is almost entirely naked, he has a small towel draped around his hips which he clenches in his fist.

My reply gets caught in my throat, the snarling outraged roar of the Dragon pierces my skull, catching me off guard. It feels like talons and a spiked tail are thrashing inside my mind, clawing for release, to fight, to protect. Natsu stares at me, his eyebrow lifts as he notices my change in demeanour. "How interesting…" he whispers before looking back into the apartment, "Gajeel is coming in babe, make sure you're decent," and the door is thrown open.

"DRAGON! He is a threat, must take him down! Do something Dragon Slayer…" the Dragon roars in unending fury, Natsu has to drag me into the room as I can barely support my own weight. His hands on me feel wrong, I know he is only helping, but the screaming is getting louder as I am physically shoved down on to a sofa, the Dragon Slayer moves back to give me much needed space.

Natsu chuckles at my obvious agony, "Hey, you overgrown lizard inside Gajeel. Listen up, I have claimed my own mate, yours is more than safe. Levy is no more than a great friend to me and my mate, and I guess this jerk is too," he murmurs the last part, looking away uncomfortably as the thrashing slowly settles.

The pink haired mage walks away, leaving me in the space alone as the pounding in my skull slowly recedes, the Dragon is still on alert, but Natsu's words seem to have had an effect on him. "Why didn't you react like this when we were at the guildhall? I had an entire conversation with the flame brain, and you didn't even bat an eyelid!" I demand, letting my eyes close as I impatiently wait for his reply.

"I…I don't know, I do not remember encountering this Dragon Slayer and his Dragon before," he mumbles, "maybe it was the aftereffects of those blasted restraints that flattened my power entirely," he rails angrily, recalling my temporary imprisonment in the Fairy Tail dungeons.

A quiet cough breaks my reverie, my eyes fly open to find a rather timid looking Lucy staring down at me, her hands twist in front of her body as she looks me over. "How nice of you to just drop in," she snarks at me, she may look timid, but her tone is dripping with venom.

"Oh, poor bunny girl, were you in the middle of snuggly time?" I tease, my smile widening further as the pain has finally fully subsided. An irritated Natsu reappears, now fully clothed and hisses at me as I mock his mate.

"Watch it man, I am more than happy to toss you out of here. What the hell do you need from me now?" his voice turns into an exasperated whine as he slips next to Lucy and draws her into the side of his body. I smile as I watch the possessive action, knowing that I would have done exactly the same if things had been reversed.

Smirking at the clearly loved up couple, "it's about bloody time they fessed up to each other," I smirk, "actually it's Lucy that I was after." The pair stiffen, Lucy's eyes narrow on me as Natsu takes a warning step closer. "Calm down pyro, I need her help in picking something out for Levy. It's personal alright?" my face is heating up and I want to knock the growing smirk off his face, that damn bastard is going to use this against me if I'm not careful.

"The great Gajeel wants to go on a shopping trip with Lucy huh? You are so whipped man!" Natsu chuckles, a second later he is doubled over as Lucy elbows him hard in the stomach.

"I suggest you shut it idiot, or there will be no snuggly time, as Gajeel put it, for a week!" she angrily hisses at the pained man, he merely groans and rubs his stomach. Her eyes light up as she asks, "what are we shopping for?" her excitement is infectious and the butterflies that had stilled come back to life in my stomach.

I am not talking about this in front of this moron, "let's go, I'll tell you on the way," I say, standing from the sofa and walking towards the door. I can hear Lucy and Natsu behind me, they are clearly kissing, and I have to restrain myself from making gagging noises.

Lucy finally frees herself and skips after me and out of sight from the Fire Dragon Slayer, as we disappear from view, Natsu calls loudly to me, "you better take care of her rivet face or there'll be hell to pay!" I scoff at the words, but a part of me can understand his desire to ensure Lucy's safety, I would be the same with Levy.

A thought occurs to me, I wouldn't let just anyone waltz out the door with my mate, I know Natsu is the same. This must mean that he truly trusts me on some level, it's a weird feeling and I rub my chest at what feels like…acceptance?

"Soooooo…are you gonna tell me or do I have to beat it out of you?" Lucy asks, way too cheerful in her desire to 'beat' it out of me. I can't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, and optimism that that would even be a possibility.

"A ring," is all I say, I let her piece it together for herself. A high-pitched squealing threatens to deafen me as Lucy bounces around, dancing down the street as we head towards the nearest jewellers. "This is going to be fun…not!"

~.~

"Again!" Lily shouts, my shaking body resumes the position I had been holding, I hastily try to wipe the sweat soaked hair from out of my eyes as I watch my opponent. He moves slowly, trying to circle me, I adjust my body to ensure I keep him in my sights and await his attack. Lily twitches before throwing himself forward, I brace for the impact. When his body takes a hold of me, I raise my knee directly between his legs, as his hold falters, I swing my leg around his and pull it from under him making the large Exseed land on his back with a heavy thud. My knee lands on his right wrist as I clutch my dagger to his throat, my breathing is spiky, and I know I am almost out of energy.

Lily lets his head fall back on the ground, panting he signals that the round is over, and I too collapse beside him. "Jesus Levy, if I hadn't been wearing protection, I would probably be needing serious medical attention right now!" he laughs, but I can hear the raw edges of his pain through the words as he gently cups himself.

"And you said you wouldn't need it, aren't ya glad I insisted on it?" I manage to chuckle out between gasping breaths. I had powered that knee to the groin with every anxiety riddled feeling I had ever experienced, my fury at being weakened by my own dependency on Gajeel, no wonder it hurt.

The sun has moved across the sky, this is the first time that I notice how much time has passed since Gajeel departed on his errand, whatever the hell that was. I'm proud that his absence has not played on my fears, raising my hands to cover my face, I take a deep breath and slowly sit up, much to the protest of my body.

As Lily and I take an extended rest from our intense training, our chatting is light until I decide to get Lily's input on the Dragon situation. To my amazement, Gajeel hasn't been keeping him in the loop with what is going on, I feel sorry as his face fills with a mixture of worry and disappointment. I bring him up to speed quickly, it's nice talking to someone that allows you to finish your thoughts without interrupting, not that I'm thinking of anyone in particular…

Lily transforms into his adorable kitty form as he councils me to keep my guard up with this Dragon, I listen to his concerns, and whilst I do agree with what he is saying, part of me trusts the Dragon, whether that be foolish or not.

We are interrupted from our conversation by approaching footsteps and a heated argument gets louder as people move towards us. Out of the treeline steps Gajeel and Natsu, they are practically forehead to forehead, yet are still moving forwards. An exasperated Lucy follows closely behind, her eyes rolling at me dramatically as she puffs out her cheeks and shakes her thumb at the two warring Dragon Slayers.

"Your Dragon is not better than mine, Metal Face! We could take you both on any day and win, just you try it!" Natsu roars, his face is beet red as Gajeel merely smirks at him, waving a dismissive hand in his face. He continues past the raging Salamander towards me, he crouches down to place a loving hand on my head, wiping a piece of dirt from my cheek in the process.

Lucy storms over to us, leaving Natsu to his temper tantrum, "I have had to listen to this all the way here," she whines, flopping down on the grass beside me. "Make it stop," she pleads, pressing her palms to her eyes.

"I think he's your problem Luce," I laugh, watching Natsu throw fireballs into the air as he stomps around the clearing. My finger wags threateningly in Gajeel's face, "stop winding him up Stupid Gajeel!"

His eyebrow lifts in amusement, he snaps at my finger and I gasp, pulling it back. "Looks like we both have our hands full," Lucy chuckles at our exchange. Sighing, she stands, "I better take care of this now before he incinerates the entire woodland," she marches over to Natsu and pulls him to a stop.

They exchange heated whispers for a few moments, until Lucy throws herself into Natsu's outstretched arms. His lips are on her instantly, I have to look away from the passionate display, my own cheeks heating as my eyes connect with Gajeel's. He winks at me, his lips twisting in a wicked grin and I panic at what he could be planning.

Before I can start to scramble away, a heavy thud lands next to us and looking over we find Natsu sitting with a now giggling Lucy firmly in his lap. Thankfully they are no longer kissing, and the Salamander is definitely in a better mood as he grins at us.

I take in the scene, two happy couples seated on the lush grass, along with our friend Lily, the sun is shining as we laugh and joke. Could this be any more perfect?

All to suddenly our peace is broken by a piercing scream, it is coming from not too far from us, we all sit up immediately. The boys go into high alert, Lucy and I are roughly pushed behind their bodies, Lily shifts into his powerful form as they scan the area awaiting any unseen threat.

A white-haired female tears into our clearing, her dress is torn across her left hip, her face hidden in her hands, "Mira?" I yell out, recognising the figure instantly. Mira trips over a tree root as her face swings around to where we are standing, she stumbles and lands at Lily's feet.

As Lily tries to lift Mira from the ground, she swipes away at his hand and presses to her feet. She grips the front of Natsu's vest and moves her panicked gaze between Natsu and Gajeel, "it's Laxus, you have to help him, please!" she begs through sobbing gasps.

The men sprint off in the direction she came from without further question, Mira collapses into both me and Lucy, her weight knocking us over as her body trembles uncontrollably. "What happened? Are you ok? Talk to us," I question the sobbing mage. The three of us huddle in a hopefully comforting hug, Lucy looks at me over Mira's head, her eyes are full of concern and I return the look.

After a moment, Mira seems to regain some of her composure, her body still trembles, but she looks at us both in turn, her lips quiver as speaks, "they are going to think he attacked me. He didn't, I swear it! Something isn't right, he's been acting strangely for the past few weeks, but he has never acted like that…" she trails off as loud shouting can be heard in the vicinity.

"Oh god, I have to stop them!" Mira rushes out of our embrace before we can stop her, Lucy and I hot on her heels.

"What the hell is going on? I knew something was wrong between those two!"