Summary: Continuation of The Lady and the Highway Man. Natsu brings Lucy home to start a life as an outlaw.

Pairings: Natsu/Lisanna friendship, Lucy/Lisanna friendship, implied Gray/Juvia, Levy/Lucy friendship, overprotective Erza/Lucy friendship, some mention of sibling overprotective Mira/Lisanna/Elfman, implied Cana/Booze, and of course, lots ofNatsu/Lucy.

YouTube Prompt: Natsu/Lucy tribute to One Republic's 'Stop and Stare'….it seems fitting.

Lucy didn't think about the implications of running away with a Highway Man until he took her into his camp.

She clung desperately to his back as she buried her face into his neck and groaned. What had she been thinking? Well…she hadn't. She had been so intoxicated by this person that she threw all rationale and sensibility out of the window and leaped into his arms blindly for a new life. Now she was somewhere she didn't know, uncertain what was to come, and worst of all, probably brining her father's wrath (when he finds out….which maybe a few months) on these people's heads.

Could she even be a help to them? She lived in such a gilded cage that she doubted she could even do the basics for them.

The camp actually looked magical. The tents were made from scraps of all sorts of fabrics, she could see some silk ones that made her suspect that was where her dress was going once the jewels were picked out of it, and were decorated beautifully with flowers and trees, and small candles that when lit would add to the ethereal effect. People milled around in a comfortableness that Lucy lacked, girls perched on men's laps without fear, boys fought half naked without scandal, and there was nothing stopping that terrifying redheaded woman from beating up two tearful boys.

There was something warm and welcomingly that almost washed all of her fears away.

Almost.

"Welcome home!" A white haired girl smiled at Natsu. Her hair was cut so short that Lucy might have mistaken her for a boy if it wasn't for the blue dress hugging the girl's curves. She spotted Lucy and blinked. "Natsu…" she said, hesitatingly at first, but then an amused smirk took over. "Why is there a girl on the back of your horse? Did you marry without telling me, your best friend?" she asked loudly.

At this suddenly everyone froze in what they were doing, and turned to look at them. Lucy squeaked in embarrassment as they suddenly surrounded her and loudly asked questions.

"Who is this?"

"Natsu got married? Who the fuck would marry that retard?"

"Language, Gray – where the hell are your clothes?!"

"Oh crap! Anyone can lend me a pair of breeches?"

"Juvia can lend Gray-sama her bloomers! Who is this? Natsu-san, did you bring home another rival for Gray-sama's love?! "

"Oh, she's so pretty! Was it love at first sight?"

"Natsu! You dare get married and not invite us to the wedding?"

"What?!" Natsu squawked. "No! Lucy's our new recruit, look!" he held up her gown. "She donated this to the cause along with her jewellery and some other riches. She wants to help. She's not…." He trailed off and looked away from his friends.

"It's all well and good to bring another to our cause, Natsu," the redheaded woman in armour said, "but we aren't exactly coping ourselves. Can we afford to feed another mouth?" she asked.

"And where exactly is she going to sleep?" A near naked brunette asked. "We haven't got much room left in our tents for another."

"She can sleep in my tent."

There is a deathly silence and Lucy felt her cheeks burn with a furious embarrassment that made her shake.

It was nothing on the redhead though. Her face burned as brightly as her scarlet hair, her whole body trembled with suppressed rage, and Lucy would later swear steam was coming out of her ears.

"YOU DARE BISMIRCH A FAIR MAIDEN'S VIRTUE?!"

Lucy was horrified to see Natsu then go flying over the top of the trees….it didn't last long though. The girls soon had her between them as they tried to find her a place to sleep.

Though it was definitely not Natsu's tent.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

Life in Fairy Tail, which was what everyone called the camp, was difficult and hard work….but Lucy loved it.

She had not been allowed out first. She would like to say that it was because Natsu was being an overprotective sod but the truth was everyone was being an overprotective sod. She wasn't in the all clear from searchers just yet, her Father would have surely sent some, and there were plenty of people ready to hand her in for the reward money. If she wanted her freedom with Fairy Tail, she had to stay behind. Lisanna shared a sympathetic smile as she was going through the same thing. A couple years ago a nobleman had shot at her and injured her badly. She could never have children, the scarring was awful when she pulled her dress up to show her, but she had lived. And as much as she wanted to join her brother and sister on their heists, no one would let her.

"But there is a lot of work at the camp too," she said cheerfully, "someone has to make sure everyone is fed, warm, and clean. It can be quite tiring."

It wasn't exactly the glamorous life Lucy imagined when she accepted Natsu's offer of running away but there was something more enjoyable about doing everyone's laundry with Lisanna than sitting at home waiting to hear what man her father betrothed her to.

Also Lucy felt she had to prove herself with a weaponry skill in order to have a chance to leave the camp. If she had a method to defend herself with then no one could argue she was weak. So afternoons were spent practicing her archery, she had been taught by a master archer as a hobby, and now it was time to do more with it. Lisanna helped, as did Levy when she wasn't on a job with her friends Jet and Droy, and Erza often gave her tips, and Cana gave her drunken encouragement, and Juvia…erm, well Juvia more or less kept reminding her to stay away from Gray.

All she needed now was a chance to prove herself, and quite fortunately within her third month the chance came quite suddenly one free evening.

The boys liked to do all sort of competitions. They were competitive, fiercely so, and it always entertained the rest to see them do sportsmanship events such as wrestling to silly things like who could hold their breath the longest. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were the worst for it. Though the others joined in happily enough. This time was archery.

Laxus, who was the camp's co-leader with Erza, held the competition after they robbed a wine merchant. Things like wine usually went to storage for everyone to ration out between jobs but this merchant had a valuable bottle of wine that was worth far too much, and the boys all wanted it for various reasons.

"The money that comes from it would go a long way with Magnolia's poor," Freed said stiffly, "we should sell it."

"No way!" Gajeel barked. "We're not likely to have fine stuff like that. I say we should drink it before the Camp's Lush drinks it all."

"Who rang?" Cana smirked.

The argument got so out of hand that Laxus actually shot several members with arrows, pinning them to the trees, and glowered at them. "If you want that bottle so badly, you have to beat me in archery."

As everyone queued up for the competition, Lucy eagerly got her bow that she had made herself (all right! She had help from several people who can actually carve out of wood but the point was it wasn't her rich but weak bow that she used at home), Natsu caught sight of her and gawked most unattractively at her.

"You know how to use a bow?" he asked.

"Of course," she said haughtily, "what did you think I do all day when I was at home?"

"Stand around in that weird dress of yours."

Actually…that wasn't far off from what she did all day. At least in Court, there was little else to do that was considered polite.

The competition went on and much to everyone's awe Lucy won it as she proved herself a very skilled archer indeed. As nice as it was to beat the boys into silence, win the bottle of a very nice vintage indeed, it was nothing compared to Laxus' small sigh of giving in. "All right Natsu," he said, "you win. She can go out in the field with us."

"Yes!" Natsu pumped a fist in the air before he picked Lucy up and spun her around. "You did it! Now we can ambush people together, and go on super cool missions, just you wait Luce, you and I will be the best there is! I'm all fired up now! Let's go on a job right now."

Lucy just laughed gladly and allowed Natsu to spin her around a few more times and dance wildly around the fire as he babbled excitedly what roads they should target and whether or not they should risk a house job.

The bottle of wine was left forgotten.

(But don't worry Cana drank it all.)

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTTFT

Lucy was sitting cross-legged in a clearing reading a book that she and Levy had stolen on a heist together. It was rare that she would go on a job without Natsu but Laxus needed him for something and Levy caught sight of a book merchant and….well Lucy could never resist a good book, and while everyone else sulked at them not stealing something more valuable (none of them realising just how costly a book truly is), Levy, Lucy, and Freed certainly enjoyed the entertainment that didn't consist of head-butting competitions (Gray's and Natsu's latest craze). Anyway, Lucy was just getting into a very good bit of Robinson Crusoe (one of her favourites before she lived her own adventure) when Natsu suddenly jumped down behind her from the tree. "Hey!"

"Eek!" Lucy squeaked as she dropped her book. "Don't do that!"

He ignored her in favour of pulling her against his chest as his legs wrapped round her. She leaned into his warmth and sighed blissfully, until his hands took a wander and she had to slap him away.

"What have I told you?" she snapped lightly. "They're not valuable goods!"

"And I've told you that they are to me," Natsu grinned. He then went quite solemn on her and she worried that something bad had happened. Natsu always had a stupid grin on his face, or a smug smirk, he rarely looked so serious. "I have something for you," he said as he pulled out his pouch from his picket. He tended to keep the jewels his had stolen in there till he sold them. "The others agreed. It's only right since they were your mother's."

She gasped when she saw her mother's rings fall out. She had thought he had sold them off with the rest of her jewels. While she could live without her hair slides, her ridiculously large pendant, and matching earrings, she had truly regretted the loss of her mother's sapphire engagement ring, and her ruby ring from her own coming of age. They were precious to Lucy more than anything. "I thought you sold them," she murmured in awe.

"You were so reluctant to give them away when you were so ready to give me everything else," Natsu mumbled, "and then you told me that time Cana got you drunk that they were your mother's, and I couldn't do it….I didn't want to give them straight back. We live with thieves, as nice as they are I have no doubt Gajeel or something else would have nicked them, and caused trouble for you. So I waited. The others don't mind. They all have tokens from their families too. So here."

He forcibly slid them on her finger and she tried to ignore the fact that he put both of her rings on the wedding finger. Her hand made her look like a married woman, and that wasn't something she wanted.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"It was nothing."

Not to her. it meant the world to her, and she knew he knew it. Instead of embarrassing him with more verbal gratitude, she chose to lean back in his arms and continue to read her book in peace.

Life as an outlaw was different – it was exciting, hard work, and difficult at times, but it was all worth it. To have the freedom to do what she wished, wear what she wanted, and live the way she liked, to have the friends she had now, and more importantly to have him. Her Highway Man, Natsu, at her side…

This was the life she could live forever.