Good Evening my Lovelies! How is everyone's Christmas Eve going? Mine went spectacularly until I tripped over one of my cats and went sprawling...

So now I sport a nice wrap around my ankle, again, and am confined to the couch until it no longer hurts to move said foot. Now, I know I said no more until after Christmas, but I figured I had time since I sprained my ankle.

As always, I will put a disclaimer: I own nothing, not the characters, guild names, or locations. All that belongs to the great Hiro Mashima.

Remember to R&R!

Much Love,

BlackRose999

The Star Queen

Chapter Nine: Something Worth Fighting For

Timeskip: Two Months

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that, marveling at the growth of her belly. People could now easily tell she was pregnant. Running her hands over her stomach, she smiled in wonder. She could almost feel the baby's heartbeat within her, though she knew it was impossible. Contentment crept into her as Natsu felt her joy, and as she put on a pair of white wedge heels and a short white sundress she felt it. The burning, stinging pain of whatever ailment she was suffering from. Only this time it was worse.

Clutching her stomach, she dropped to her knees. It felt as if someone was wrenching a knife into her spine and pouring acid into the wound, the pain was so intense she couldn't keep it in. She howled in pain, screaming for Natsu. He pounded up the stairs two at a time, Gajeel and Levy hot on his heels, and flung the door to their bedroom open with such force it dented the wall behind it.

"LUCY!"

Still screaming in pain, she writhed on the floor, desperately holding her stomach as if she could will the pain away from her child. Natsu was by her side at once, petting her hair and her face.

"Lucy! Lucy, baby look at me! Hey, it's ok!"

Whimpering, she slowly felt the pain subside, and as she did Natsu carefully laid her head onto his lap. He rocked her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear and willing calm into her. Gajeel and Levy watched in shock at the scene before them, silently afraid to breathe in case it made this worse.

"Gajeel… Send Levy to Porlyusica, tell her it's urgent. I'm worried about the baby."

Nodding, she hurried out the door and down the steps as fast as her heels would allow, leaving the two men to take care of Lucy. When she stopped crying, Natsu picked her up and laid her on the bed, covering her with a knitted blanket, and kissed her head. He let her sleep, feeling her lingering pain and exhaustion through the bond, and went downstairs with Gajeel. Once they were out of earshot, he rounded on Natsu.

"What the hell was that Natsu? What just happened and how long has it been happening?"

"Since the engagement party, she doesn't know what is happening or why. And we don't know how to stop it."

Gajeel raked his fingers through his hair, smelling the air around them as much as he could to see if it was magic-induced by an unwelcome party. He found nothing.

"There's nobody here but us, so whatever it was it's long gone now."

Natsu paced the room, worry, and concern written all over his face.

"I don't understand Gajeel… I love her with everything I have, but… I don't know if I can help her. The pregnancy, the phantom pains, and the Lisanna ordeal have me paranoid to the point I'm afraid to leave her alone for even a second."

"Have you noticed her scent has changed?"

Natsu appeared taken aback by this, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. He'd spent so much time smelling the baby on her, he'd never thought to look closer at her.

"No… Why? You smelling something I'm not?"

"I smell stardust on her. Like when we went to Celestial World, the smell of it is all over her. And usually, it isn't unless she's using her magic. I think whatever is bothering her has something to do with her magic. Could she be rejecting it?"

Natsu looked at him with terrified eyes, fully aware of what rejection of magic could, and would, do to her. She was his life, his sanity now. To lose her was to lose himself. Frightened by the notion of this, he bounded back upstairs, stopping to stare at the sleeping form of his wife. He quietly dropped to his knees, Gajeel behind him, and there he prayed that she would live. Even at the cost of his life, he prayed.

Gajeel heard the door open and went downstairs. There he saw Levy with a very grumpy looking Porlyusica, who carried a medical bag with her. The older woman glared at him but made her way upstairs nonetheless. She pushed past Natsu, who immediately jumped up and hurried over to the bed with her. She felt her forehead, careful to not wake her, and frowned when she felt no fever. Pulling back the covers, she placed a hand on her belly, relief in her face.

"Whatever it was, she still has her child. Why wasn't I informed of her illness before this? I could have saved her a lot of grief."

"We didn't think you would want us around, you don't like people and you like uninvited guests even less," Natsu responded with gritted teeth, angry that she would accuse him of letting his beloved wife suffer. "So no, I didn't come to get you."

She winced at his blunt words, fully knowing them to be truthful. She did hate people, she loved only her solitude, the quiet and the serenity of the forest around her hut. She hated the noise, the hustle of the world that had gotten itself into such a tizzy over time. Everyone always had too little time to sit back and enjoy the world around them, in her opinion.

"She's losing her magic, it appears to be drawn out of her. Like someone with a lacrima has been stealthily sucking the magic from her while no one is paying attention."

This put everyone around her on high alert, this kind of murderous intent would not be tolerated. Natsu felt his blood begin to boil, someone was doing this intentionally, and he planned to find out who. Sensing his rage, Gajeel put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to quell the raging inferno inside him. It worked, with a dejected sigh, Natsu turned back to Porlyusica.

"What can I do? How can I help her?"

Porlyusica sighed, as much as she hated people, she hated giving bad news more. Standing from the chair she was seated in, she regarded him with pained eyes.

"You can make her comfortable, and make her meditate once a day to draw in energy from the earth. Other than that, I'm afraid I can be of no use to you."

Feeling the tears rise in his eyes, he nodded and allowed Levy to lead her out, and when he was alone with her, he let himself shed a few tears. She woke then, feeling the agony screaming through her mark, and immediately went to his side.

"Natsu? What's happened? Are you hurt?"

He hugged her, his tears silent, and his pain loud. After a good minute, he calmed enough to tell her the whole truth of what Porlyusica had said. She took it in stride, amazing him further when she shed not a single tear. Instead she pulled him ever closer, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

"It may stop with time. We will wait, for the sake of the baby we will be vigilant and resourceful. There has to be some account of this happening before… and if there is we will find it."

The next week had Lucy in a tizzy of motion, she labored day and night, when she wasn't training with Erza, she was reading ancient books and manuscripts in the hopes she might find her ailment. She found nothing. Angered by this, she ripped her hand through her silken hair and snarled at the open book before her. Natsu, dozing in the chair beside her, felt it through the bond so potently he could taste the burnt coppery flavor on his tongue. Waking, he looked at the nearly-sobbing form of his wife.

"Luce? Baby, what's wrong?"

"This… This, nonsense is wrong Natsu! I can't find anything on this stuff! And instead of you helping me, you're sitting there snoring away!"

Natsu, to his credit, did not rise to her challenge. He instead reached for her hand and rubbed his calm into her, she sighed, feeling the emotion like a gentle breeze on wet skin.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have spoken to you like that…" She said quietly, her heart hurting enough for both of them. "I just don't understand this Natsu. I can't find any recollection from any stories about Celestial mages… It's almost as if someone purposely took them."

"You need a break, something to distract you. How about we take a small vacation, something to ease your restlessness?"

She shook her head, fear seeping into their bond like water through a cracked glass. She couldn't, wouldn't leave the safety of her guild with Lisanna out there. She may have been beaten, but who knows what dark magic she could turn to if she wanted Natsu back hard enough. And if she knew Lucy was already pregnant with Natsu's child… Well, Lucy feared what she might do.

"No. I don't want to leave unless it's a mission with our friends, what if Lisanna is out there past the city limits, just waiting for me to stroll by? She doesn't know about the pregnancy, Natsu… And she's tried to kill me already."

Lucy took a shaky breath, her hands rubbing the swell of her stomach as she looked at him pleadingly. "What will she do once she finds out we conceived?"

Natsu gripped the arm of his chair tighter, resolve filling him with deadly calm. He'd never allow harm to come to his wife, especially now that she's carrying his child. He felt the draconic side rearing it's ugly head as his fear and uncertainty began to grow, but then there was silence, the silence that only came when Lucy touched him. He leaned into her, feeling the calm take over.

"I'm not going anywhere Natsu, I promise."

She took his white-knuckled hand in hers, and gently laid it on her stomach. Her thumb rubbed the back of his hand lovingly as if she could take the darkness out of him with only her touch.

"I plan to be around a very long time, no matter what happens, I'm not leaving you."

He kissed her, wrapping his arms around her and groaning when her nails raked gently down his back. Deepening their kiss, he pressed her tighter into him, his lips ghosting over her neck and setting her mark aflame with desire. Moaning softly, she returned the favor by touching him, smirking at the low growl he emitted as she stroked him into fullness. Pulling her dress up, his hand reached down and pulled off her panties, pushing her down on her back on the table behind her. They were well out of sight from the doorway, so they had no care of being caught.

He was atop her, kissing down her body to her navel, he toyed with her, bringing her ever closer to the edge without letting her fall. Snarling with need, she pulled him up and kissed him greedily, pulling his shorts open so his manhood could be freed. She moaned as he entered her, the desire to be filled by him met with perfection. His pace was slow and deep at first, then as his needs became too great, he picked up the pace to a harsher, more erratic rhythm. Before too long, they were both spent and fulfilled, and slowly they stood. Lucy's hair was slightly mussed, though when she ran a hair through it and shook it loose, it appeared to be normal. Finding her panties across the room, she slipped them back on and smiled softly.

"Feel better?"

Natsu grinned, his chest heaving with exertion.

"Don't you?"

She giggled, and sauntered up to him, her mate mark glowing with prideful joy. She was proud to be his mate, she was proud to see how far she'd been able to come. Lucy loved him with every inch of her soul, her heart would beat only for him, and her chest drew breath because he demanded it. Lucy was his Mate, every inch of her crafted only for him.

"Want to take a mission?" She offered quietly as she caressed his shoulders. "We haven't taken a job in almost a month, bills need to be paid and the fridge needs to be restocked."

Nodding, he stepped out of her embrace and kissed her cheek, making his way upstairs. They stopped at the bulletin board, looking over the jobs until they agreed on one and made their way over to the rest of their team. Happy looked ecstatic to see Lucy somewhere other than the library for once and sped toward her to give her a hug.

"LUUUUUCY!"

She giggled as he buried his face in her chest, smiling warmly at the other three members of their team. Bianca had unintentionally joined them when she'd married Gray, and since then she'd become more and more comfortable with them.

"What's that? You find us a job Lu-chan?"

"Yeah, we're to protect a magic bracelet at a formal event in case someone steals it, it's worth a lot of jewel. Like, in the millions, valuable."

All three of them had eyes as big as saucers, and their jaws hit the floor. The group got up, readying themselves for the journey, and checking over everything to make sure they had all that was needed. Lucy reminded them that it was a formal event, and the men groaned. That would mean tuxes and the ladies' evening gowns.

"Come on guys, let's get going!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go, Lucy…"

Lucy smirked, her hand delicately in Natsu's, and laid her head on his shoulder. "I have everything I need right here…"

"Eww, wedding bliss. Remember when we were that bad Bianca?" Gray jokingly laughed, his dark blue eyes landing on her icy pale orbs. The six of them trodded out to the road, laughing and joking the whole way.

Not once noticing a figure in the trees watching them.