Summary: Part of the Hoarding Lucy 'verse! A re-working of some of the recent arcs in the Manga. Natsu comes back from his year away to discover that leaving your wife behind is bound to cause marital problems.
Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Natsu/Happy/Lucy friendship, some one-sided OC/Lucy, Happy/Charle, Wendy/Charle friendship, Gray/Juvia, Gajeel/Levy, implied parental Aquarius/Lucy, implied parental Igneel/Natsu, and general friendship feels.
Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR! And a Happy new hundred chapters! First I want to thank you all for giving me over EIGHTY NINE HUNDRED reviews! My personal resolution is to double that next year XD. I also resolve that in the next hundred chapters I will finish Battle of Roses, continue with the Therapy Sessions series, rewrite more fairy tales, and I do believe I promised a Dragneel Brother double date some point in the future. Until then please enjoy the four hundredth chapter!
Natsu had imagined his homecoming from almost the moment he had left.
He dreamt of returning home and being greeted by Lucy's warm smile and sparkling eyes. To fee her soft embrace and smell her strange but absolutely perfect scent of stardust, flowers, and something sweet. He imagined she would pull away and give him a longing look that he would match before they met with a passionate kiss which would lead to another, and then another, and then Happy would declare them disgusting and fly away, leaving them in peace to take each other's clothes off.
The rest would vary and the result of such daydreams often left Happy flying away and declaring Natsu as a creepy, disgusting pervert (go figure). It was almost enough to make Natsu turn back and go home right there and then, but he didn't.
He worked all year ensuring he was stronger, more powerful, and better prepared to take down Zeref.
And then after a long, gruelling, walk home. Natsu's spirits lifted as he got closer and closers, and his fantasies became more and more vivid. Her dark eyes darkening, the feel of her soft lips against his, her cool skin heating up beneath his hands, her nails digging into his shoulder, and her breathy sighs fuelled him to full out run through the forest.
"Natsu!" Happy gasped as he flapped his wings furiously to keep up. "Wait for me!"
"Hurry up, Happy!" Natsu called over his shoulder. "We're almost home!" he laughed delightedly and Happy beamed in return. Together they sped through the forest towards their cottage and Natsu kicked the door down without a second thought. "LUCY!" he bellowed cheerfully. "WE'RE HO…me…." He trailed off bewilderedly.
The house was empty.
And not just empty as in Lucy was out of the afternoon but empty as in empty. The air was cold, and stale, and smelt like no one had been there for as long as Natsu had been gone. He took in a great big whiff only to choke on the dust that floated around, Happy did the same his eyes bulging in disgust. Every bit of furniture had a thick layer of dust on it which made everything look grey and dirty and not right.
Natsu felt a strange twang in his heart at the fact that Lucy allowed the house they had loving made together go in disrepair for the second time since they were stuck on Tenrou Island.
He took a step inside and almost choked again on the cloud of dust his footstep caused. He coughed and spluttered his whole way to the coffee table where he managed to spot a piece of paper that might just explain what was going on.
His stomach plummeted.
It was the letter he had left Lucy with a note from Lucy written neatly on the back. The fact that you can do this without even considering discussing it with me speaks volumes. You can obviously live without me, her words filled Natsu's stomach with a cold, icy, dread, and if you can live without me…well then, I can live without you.
The ink had been smudged as if she had cried while writing this but that wasn't the real kicker. The real, horrible, sickening, punch to his stomach was the item that she had left right next to the letter. He shakily picked it up and blew the thick layer of dust away from it in order to see the golden shine…..
…..She had left her wedding ring behind.
The letter spontaneously combusted into flames.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Natsu originally ploughed his way towards Magnolia with the full intention of bursting into the guild building, grabbing Lucy, and reminding her very much that she was his wife and no one else's. However, he hadn't even reached the outskirts of Magnolia when he heard two travellers talk about the Grand Magical Games and turned round.
Obviously no one would be home if the Games were going on.
Natsu's new plan took formation as he made Happy fly him across the country at full speed (Happy whined the entire journey not that Natsu really paid him much attention). Natsu was going to beat the crap out of Fairy Tail's winning team (because who else would win but Fairy Tail?), he would show Lucy was a strong provider and protector he is by beating Gray, Laxus, Erza, and Gajeel black and blue, and then he sweep her into the best kiss they will ever have before he carried her home and reminded her that they were husband and wife.
It was genius.
Natsu quickly learnt that it was going to take more than to show up and beat the crap out of someone to win Lucy over, however, when it actually happened.
The crowd gasped and cried out over his awesome show of power and ability but he soon quickly realised it wasn't Fairy Tail he was fighting and when he scanned the crowds all he could see was Lucy's furious face as she clutched the remains of her top to her naked, pale, flesh.
Then he was promptly tackled by the guards and was arrested.
Although the Royal Family had absolutely no trouble clearing him of all charges (much to the indignation of their own guards) Natsu had come out to find only a tearful Happy awaiting his freedom.
"Where's Lucy?" he demanded harshly.
"Natsu!" Happy sniffled. "Lucy won't talk to me! She said I was a bad friend to not have warned her!" Happy wailed and flew into Natsu's arms. Natsu patted Happy gently as his little friend sobbed into his shoulder. "She said not to follow her and when I tried to she sent an arrow as a warning shot at me!"
Natsu grimaced. Lucy was the kindest person he has ever known and if she was setting Sagittarius on Happy then she was beyond angry with the pair of them. "I'll have a word with her," he promised Happy, "she'll been grovelling for your forgiveness in no time. Think of all the fish you could get."
It was a last ditch attempt to cheer Happy up. After all Happy loved fish and loved making people grovel before him or embarrass themselves before him.
This time, however, Happy looked even more miserable as he looked up at Natsu with tearful eyes. "I don't think that'll work," he mumbled. "She's very, very, cross with you. She said she didn't want to talk to you especially."
"Well she's got no choice," Natsu set his jaw determinedly, "I'm her husband. She has to talk to me. Cheer up, Happy," he grinned defiantly at Happy's doubtful stare, "this is Lucy. She forgives everyone. If she can forgive Flare then she can forgive you and me."
And with that Natsu went off in search of his wife.
He had to go back to the stadium and it took a long time catching Lucy's scent, a lot of kneeling and sniffing the ground was involved (Natsu ignored the strange looks he got from passer-by's because who care what they thought?) but he did eventually catch that elusive scent of stardust and raced after it.
Lucy was sitting outside a café with a weird tiny cup of coffee and a lot of paper surrounding her. For a moment Natsu drank in the sight of her, her hair was longer, a lot longer, and incredibly enticing. He wanted to twine it round and round his fingers and smell all of tha Lucy scent that would be embedded in it.
He moved without thinking and soon sank into the seat opposite her.
"Go away," Lucy said not even looking up from her paper, her hand glided across it as she scribbled some words down. "As I told Happy, I don't have anything to say to you."
Happy whimpered and ducked his head behind Natsu. Natsu however refused to back down and simply fixed Lucy with a stubborn glare.
"I'm your husband."
"Are you?" Lucy lifted her head up to meet his eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes flashed dangerously as her hold on her pen tightened. "Are you sure? In my experience husbands usually stay with their wives."
Natsu flinched at that but opened his mouth with an argument, with an apology, with something when suddenly a teenage boy appeared. He couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen, he was shaking nervously, had pimples all over his face, and was so insignificant that any other day Natsu would walk past him without a second glance.
But this boy had just won a beautiful smile from Lucy and now Natsu had to bite back the urge to set the boy's hair on fire. "You're….you're…..you're….Lucy Heartfilla!" the boy stammered. "I love you!"
"Thank you," Lucy smiled demurely, "that is very sweet of-"
"Dragneel," Natsu interrupted through gritted teeth, "her name is Lucy Dragneel not Heartfilla."
The boy glanced at Natsu nervously. "Erm…."
"Ignore him," Lucy said reassuringly gentle, "its Heartfilla. I reverted back to my maiden name after my husband left me." A little bit of the table snapped off as Natsu's grip on the edge tightened to the extreme. "How can I help you?"
"I'm a big fan…." The boy blushed as he held up an old edition of Sorcerer Weekly, "…of your modelling," Lucy looked a little disappointed at that but nodded all the same, "Could I have your autograph?"
It was only a glimpse but it was enough. The image of Lucy posing in some lacy underwear was forever ingrained in Natsu's brain along with all the other ones from his actual experience. The fact some teenage boy (and all other members of the male population) had seen that was enough to make Natsu explode.
It was the second piece of paper to spontaneously combust since he had come home.
The boy screamed and promptly dropped the magazine. "NATSU!" Lucy shrieked furiously. "Put it out!" she hissed. "Now!"
"No," Natsu glared at what was quickly becoming ash on the pavement, he then suddenly grabbed the boy by the collar of his t-shirt and dragged him in close. "If you come near my wife again with your perverted fantasies and pictures I'll burn every bit of hair on your body and that will just be the beginning, got it?" the boy whimpered pitifully. "I said," Natsu grounded out, "got it?"
"I g-g-g-got it!"
"Let the boy go," Lucy snarled, "or I swear to God I will wear your balls as my new favourite pair of earrings."
Natsu let the boy go. The trembling teenager staggered back and fell onto the road, Lucy rushed to his side and went to offer him a hand to get up but the boy screamed and ran away before she could even touch him.
Good, Natsu thought savagely.
Lucy glowered at him furiously.
"What?" Natsu growled. "He had a picture of you naked."
"So does half the country!" Lucy snapped. "I was an underwear model for a few months, how do you think I earned my money?"
"I left you some so you didn't have to!"
"I'm not some hooker," Lucy said furiously, "you can't just leave without saying goodbye and leave a couple thousand on the table after abandoning our bed at the crack of dawn."
"I was providing for you!" Natsu protested. "And I wasn't abandoning our bed. I told you in my note that I'll be gone for a year. I was always coming back."
""Were you?" Lucy asked disbelievingly. "How was I to believe this when it was the first time you even mentioned leaving and you were already gone and was nowhere to be seen? You just up and left without even considering discussing the notion with me at all! How was I supposed to know or trust anything?!" Lucy screeched. "Tell me something Natsu," she said in a deceptively calm voice, "did I do something wrong or did you just never had any respect or trust for me to begin with?"
Natsu wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that of course he respected her, and trusted her, and loved her, and that he hadn't said anything because he was trying to protect her….but as he tried to form this words in the face of Lucy's tearful but furious eyes and the suborn set of her mouth, he couldn't say anything.
"Erm, you guys," Happy interrupted nervously, he shrank back when both Natsu and Lucy shot him angry looks. "The guards are coming this way…..so….erm…unless you want to get arrested again, I think we should go."
"Urgh!" Lucy threw her hands up in the air. "Fine!" she barked. "You can come back to mine just for now and we'll continue to talk about this later."
Natsu grinned triumphantly. He had won the argument if Lucy was letting him come home with her and he reminded the world that she belonged to him and that Fairy Tail was superior to whatever loser guild the country could scrounged up for a winner for their stupid games.
It was shaping up to be a good day despite Lucy's anger, the annoying boy, and being arrested.
Natsu reached out to take Lucy's hand as they walked side by side…he missed by a mile when she suddenly pulled her hand away and kept it close to her chest as she ensured there was two feet between them at all times.
Forget what he had just said about this shaping up to be a good day…it was still a load of crap.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Arguing with Natsu was getting Lucy nowhere.
Once they got back to her apartment (which she hated because it was too refined and clean and plain compared to the characteristic cottage that she and Natsu had poured their blood and sweat into) she had let rip into him.
She was cross about a lot of things starting with the fact that there was a traumatised teenager running about the streets of Crocus who was probably in need of therapy now. All because Natsu couldn't control his temper.
Natsu was too indignant about everything, about her determination to live her life without him, about her use of her maiden name, about her modelling career, and the fact she dared to leave without consulting him (the hypocrite!) that he argued back ferociously.
They had a raging row which caused Happy to burst into a fresh flood of tears. The sight of her small, blue, furry friend sobbing made Lucy's heart ache (though really she was pissed at Happy too), and she reluctantly gave in in order to comfort the tearful cat.
Natsu apologised too, for upsetting Happy, for terrifying the teenage boy, for being possessive, over-protective, and inconsiderate about Lucy's new career, and even for destroying her clothes at the Grand Magical Games.
He didn't apologise, however, for leaving her or for not discussing anything with her before he did so, and he definitely did not apologise for abandoning her when she had needed him the most.
Afterwards he let a sullen silence fall and Lucy felt a new rage bubble up in her stomach as he still hadn't asked her how she was feeling. It had been one year and one week since Tartarus attacked Fairy Tail, and still, no one had asked Lucy what happened to her when she was all alone with the Demons.
There has been no one to hold her and comfort her for her loss, or soothe away her tears, or help her fight off the nightmares.
She had been utterly alone and the person she needed, and wanted, the most seems to think he can waltz in and out of her life as he pleases regardless of the vows he had made her.
Twice.
She was almost tempted to pick up the nearest vase and chuck it at Natsu's head but one look at the forlorn Happy, and she restrained herself in order to keep the peace for him. Instead she studied her so called husband and took in all the new differences that appeared in the last year.
He had grown taller, and broader, and had a little more muscle on his arms and legs than before. She could easily imagine that his abs had become more defined and every inch of his body was harder and hotter to touch but she immediately shoved the thought out of her head and flushed at the indignation that she was still lusting after him despite being furiously cross with him.
His face had become more sculpted and there was something older and more mature about him. His hair, like everything else, had grown, and looked insanely wild with the long length.
It was then she realised that they had been standing in sulky silence while Happy nervously hovered between them for a good five minutes. She had to do something, and quick.
"You look like you could use a haircut," she coughed a little to clear her throat, her voice was embarrassingly husky and hoarse from all the shouting before, "I could summon Cancer and get him to give you one if you like."
Natsu smiled a painfully shy and timid smile. "That would be nice," he mumbled.
So she called Cancer and while Natsu fidgeted beneath Cancer's expert claws and scissors, Lucy explained that the guild had been disbanded (Cancer had to shove Natsu back into his chair at that, Natsu had leaped up furiously and began to shout abuse about Master), and how she had no idea where anyone was, and that she was all alone.
It led to another awkward silence as Natsu's green eyes shined with guilt that was so painful that Lucy could barely look at him.
Dinner was another awkward affair, only Happy really ate, and then finally, finally, Lucy found her escape in being tired.
She hastily bid Natsu good night in the most polite way possible and had rushed to her bedroom to where she can have peace and quiet when she realised that Natsu was following her.
"No!" she snapped as she slammed the door in his face. "You're not allowed in my bedroom!" she shouted through the wooden door.
"Why not?" Natsu whined.
"Because I said so!" Lucy scrambled for her wardrobe and hastily yanked out the spare pillow and blanket she had kept if anyone was to crash at hers. Sadly, the only ones that did was Loke when she really needed company and Jason when they had been working too late at hers on the newest article. There had been no other friends. She pulled the door open and threw the blanket and pillow as hard as she got. "You could sleep on the sofa tonight!" she spat out.
And then promptly slammed the door before Natsu could say another word.
It didn't stop him from shouting on the other side about how 'because I said so' wasn't a proper answer but Lucy paid him no attention as she prepared for bed and took a long shower in her en suite bathroom. Eventually he gave up and Lucy climbed into bed resolutely keeping her back to the door lest she was tempted to give in and go to him.
She didn't sleep that night.
She had a year to get used to the empty, cold, bed that came from being alone. Since the day she had met, and subsequently married, Natsu her bed has never been empty or cold. They had always cuddled, her had always pulled her to him and held her in his arms, and Happy (for most of it) had always snuggled between them. She had a year to get used to not having that constant comfort and warmth, and yet, tonight, knowing that Natsu and Happy were just on the other side of her bedroom door, Lucy had felt the emptiness of her bed more keenly than before.
Her bedroom door opened.
She stiffened and clutched her duvet tightly to restrain herself from leaping out and screaming at Natsu. She will not let him see that she missed him just as much, she will not let him know that she longed for him to crawl into bed with her, she will not….
"Natsu!" Happy whispered loudly. "We shouldn't be in here! Lucy will be cross."
Natsu mumbled something that Lucy couldn't hear, her mind and ears more focused on the slow, deliberate, footsteps that were making their way towards her bed. Her heart hammered with excitement as she bit her lip and tried to decide whether she should just let him in or kick him out when he crawled into her bed.
"Natsu!" Happy whispered again. "Look at this."
Lucy's heart sank to her stomach.
The wall!
She had taken every advantage of her job at a magazine to virtually stalk all of her friends from the guild. She had hunted every little shred of information and clues to their whereabouts and stuck it on a map with their photos.
The whole thing broke her heart all the more because she never, not once, found a single clue to where Natsu and Happy had been.
Natsu's feet squeaked against the floorboards as he turned to look at Lucy's shame. Lucy held her breath for something…anything…Natsu inhaling sharply, or holding back a sob as he finally realised how alone Lucy had been, or running out of the room ashamed, or climbing into bed and shaking Lucy awake to apologise to her….
He did none of those things.
There was an endless silence that dragged through the minutes and after what felt like hours, Lucy abruptly sat up. "Fine!" she snapped. "You can come…..in…." she trailed off as she took in the empty bedroom and the open window.
He had left her… again.
She didn't sleep for the rest of the night as she laid there wallowing in misery as she wondered for the billionth time in the last year and a week what exactly was the point in making the same vows twice if Natsu was always going to leave her.
The sun rose and Lucy got out of bed cranky, miserable, and absolutely furious. Her mood was made worse when Natsu burst through the window and the unmistakable sounds of a mob could be heard outside.
"What." Lucy snarled furiously. "Did. You. Do?!"
"Never mind that," Natsu grinned stupidly, "grab the stuff off the wall. I'm going to fix everything."
"By having a mob tear my apartment?!" Lucy shrieked as Happy zoomed across the bedroom and started to snatch up all of her notes. "If you think destroying my apartment is going to make me come home you have another thing coming! I'll find some-EEK!"
Natsu had swept Lucy up in his arms. His vice like hold had gotten stronger and hotter since he had last held her in his arms and Lucy burned at the touch as she tried to squirm away. "The fact you just called our house your home gives me hope," Natsu informed her, "and I'm going to work on that by reuniting you with our family and make everything better again."
And with that he jumped out of the window.
While still holding Lucy.
To say she screamed would be an understatement as she buried her face into his neck and held on for dear life. The arsehole laughed delightedly and with Happy they escaped the mob, the legions of guards out for his blood, and ran out of town and into the sunset (so to speak. It was only nine in the morning after all).
Lucy tried to escape once she could no longer hear a bloodthirsty mob but Natsu wouldn't have it and Lucy soon found herself hitched over his shoulder as she smacked her bottom chidingly.
"When you finally put me down," Lucy said in a deadly voice, "I am going to murder you."
"Heh," Natsu laughed weakly, "no you won't."
And for good measure he carried her until the sun actually did start to set and he had no choice but to put her down and set up camp.
As soon as he did Lucy kicked him so hard he flew into a tree. "How dare you?!" she screeched. "How dare you up root me like that! I have a job, Natsu, and rent, and friends, and commitments to keep. This might escape you with your wander-lust and utter lack of commitment but I have people who rely on me."
"Yeah!" Natsu snapped. "And they're waiting out there!" he pointed in a random direction. "Fairy Tail needs you to put them back together. Your family needs you. Who cares about some stupid job and strange perverts?"
"I do!" Lucy cried out. "Because when I needed someone the most they were all I had."
"You have me!"
"Pfft!" Lucy snorted bitterly. "Yeah, and Loke is a virgin," she said snarkily.
Natsu's eyes bulged out in surprise. "He is?!" he yelped.
Lucy fixed him with her nastiest 'are you really that stupid?' stare. "I was being sarcastic," she said coldly, "after all how can I have you when you're either not there or too busy causing trouble to be any real help."
Natsu looked hurt at that. His green eyes widened and there was such a pained look in them and etched into his face that Lucy felt as if she had just kicked a puppy. And a really adorable one at that.
She almost wanted to apologise to him for that but the fact is it was true. He expected her to camp out and go on a long journey to find all of their friends but he didn't bring any of the things she needed. Like a blanket, or spare underwear, or even her toothbrush, and he left such a mess that she had no doubt all of her things will be stolen and destroyed by some crazy, angry, lunatics.
Instead she turned away and crossed her arms, and said absolutely nothing. She refused to do so no matter how many times Natsu tried to talk to her that night.
Happy, unable to stand the silence and awkwardness and fury, flew off to the nearest river and didn't come back until he had enough fish to feed him for a week. Lucy ignored his sweet offer of fish and chose to lay down on the cold, dusty, ground and try to get some sleep.
She was epically failing in that endeavour when Happy and Natsu finally chose to go to sleep as well.
The fire began to die down and Lucy felt the cold more than ever before. She must have shuddered or trembled obviously because Natsu suddenly scooted up behind her and wrapped his arms round her.
She wanted more than anything to sink into that warmth and breathe in his smoky scent but her anger bubbled up in her stomach and she elbowed him away from her with a hiss. She then shuffled forwards and resolutely kept her back to him.
She was freezing cold for the rest of the night apart from the back of her head where Natsu's eyes were burning into her.
She didn't get any sleep that night either.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Wendy had an inkling that there was a problem when Jura offered them a room to stay in and Lucy had asked for two. After all it was Natsu and Lucy, ever since Wendy had known them they had always been together. Always. Holding hands, gazing adoringly at one another, and snuggling into one another. The idea that Lucy wanted to be in a room separate from Natsu screamed volumes.
It got worse from there on.
Wendy trailed behind Natsu and Lucy the entire journey to find the next Fairy Tail member and it was excruciating. Lucy kept several feet between her and Natsu at all times and every time he tried to get closer, each time he tried to reach for her hand, or he caught her when she tripped and tried to make a joke about her clumsiness, Lucy slapped his hands away, elbowed him back, and hissed horrible words.
They snapped, and snarled, and glared at one another every so often and it pained Wendy to see both of them so angry and hurt and upset.
"Lucy is really cross," Wendy murmured to Charle, "she has never been this angry before. I'm not sure if she is even going to forgive Natsu."
"I don't blame her," Charle sniffed, "I would be just as cross if the man I loved had abandoned me when I needed him most."
At this Happy vanished quickly and instantly reappeared with a bouquet of flowers and weeds he hastily picked up. He had yanked them so quickly and so hard that some of them still had the roots on them with mud clinging to the bottom.
"Charle!" he wailed. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"
"Don't be stupid, Happy," Charle flushed as she accepted the flowers, "you didn't abandon me." Happy slumped in relief as tears streamed down his cheeks. "Honestly I know better than anyone, other than Lily, how important our bond to our partners are. If the roles had been reversed I would have picked Wendy over you too." She then turned a brighter pink and tightened her grip on the flowers. "And who the hell said you were the man I loved anyway?! Idiot!"
Happy collapsed at that and Wendy really tried to stifle her giggles as she collected him in her arms and comforted him. "Charle," she smiled, "don't tease Happy."
"I'm not teasing," Charle mumbled as she crossed her arms, "I said nothing about loving him."
Her blush gave her away though and when Wendy pointed this out to Happy he went on a full out wooing session by throwing flowers and fish and compliments at Charle which did nothing but rile her up and make her snap at him.
It was entertaining and a warm welcomed distraction from all the awkwardness that was happening right in front of her as Lucy and Natsu fell into another argument.
Finally they got to the village which had been easily to spot thanks to all the dark, stormy, grey clouds that were looming ominously over it. Much to Wendy's distress they found Juvia half unconscious in the rain with the highest fever she had ever encountered, and, as horrible as it sounded, much to Wendy's relief and happiness Juvia was in such terrible straits that she needed constant nursing.
Wendy really couldn't stand being n Natsu and Lucy's presence any longer.
Especially since a bitter comment had left Lucy's lips and Natsu looked so outraged that it was almost a miracle the roof of the hut they were in didn't burst into flames.
They had left to find Gray while still arguing, and Wendy happily blocked it all out so she could focus on Juvia's health.
Charle, however, watched worriedly and Wendy could swear she heard her murmur something along the lines of "Poor Happy!"
After hours of tending to Juvia while Natsu and Lucy were undoubtedly arguing their way across the country, Wendy almost burst into tears when Juvia's fever went down and her blue eyes flickered open and she recognised Wendy.
They soon went in pursuit as Juvia was fuelled on a deep desire to keep Gray alive and much to Wendy's distress they immediately ended up in a hectic, bloodthirsty, battle which thankfully ended quickly thanks to Natsu delivering the final blow.
That was when they all gathered together and for the first time in what felt like forever Wendy clapped eyes on Gray and Erza and felt that she was at home.
And to make things all the better, Gajeel, Lily, and Levy trampled across the battlefield towards them.
It was a shock to find that Gajeel was an officer of the law now, Natsu definitely looked like he was going to wet himself with hysterical laughter, but the world went back to normal when Gajeel tried to abuse his power and have them all arrested for petty reasons.
"Gajeel!" Levy snapped as she smacked him. "What have I told you about abusing your power?!"
Everyone gasped as they took in something gold and glittering on Levy's left hand. "Levy," Erza said quietly, "is that….?"
"Hmm?" Levy hummed and then she glanced at her hand. "Oh yes!" she beamed ecstatically. "Gajeel and I have been married for nine months!" she announced as she held up her hand for all of them to see the wedding ring.
"YOU'RE MARRIED?!"
"Gihihi," Gajeel draped an arm round Levy, "Don't be so shocked. If Salamander can get a girl to agree to marry him after one day's acquaintance then I can definitely do it on over a year's friendship."
They gazed at one another adoringly and Juvia clapped her hands and squealed excitedly. "Juvia is so pleased for you!" she cried out. "And so very pleased for herself!" that means one less Love Rival for Gray-sama's affections. Juvia is thrilled to count Levy-san as a good friend as she does Dragneel-san."
"Heartfilla-san," Lucy corrected with a cold fury that was becoming far too common much to Wendy's distress, "if you insist on such formality then you should address me as Heartfilla-san."
"Dragneel!" Natsu hissed through gritted teeth. "You are and always will be a Dragneel!"
Lucy raised an eyebrow at that. "Will I?" she questioned. "Are you sure you won't want to sign some papers before you leave again so you won't be obliged to come back."
Everyone's mouth dropped open at that. "W-w-wait," Gray stuttered, "are you two…..having marital problems?"
Wendy knew how he felt. Natsu and Lucy had been a pillar of support. Demons could invade, the sky might rain cats and dogs, and all hell could break lose, but everything would be all right because Natsu and Lucy were devoted and in love and so much stronger together. It inspired and comforted everyone in the guild. Just like Alzack and Bisca, the very idea of them splitting up seemed just as impossible.
Everyone's worlds were being rocked and it was rather terrifying.
Natsu looked pale at Lucy's suggestion that he might want a divorce but that didn't stop him from turning on his heels furiously and shooting Gray the most murderous look he could muster. "None of your fucking business!" he hissed. He then grabbed Lucy's wrist and began to drag her away from anyone.
"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked furiously. "What are you doing?!"
"I have had enough with your attitude."
"My attitude?!"
"Yes," Natsu grounded out, "your attitude. So we are sorting this out now before you upset anyone else."
Lucy spluttered indignantly as Natsu continued to drag her deep into the woods and away from everyone else.
"I can't believe it," Levy said softly, "Lu-Chan is usually so forgiving and nice. I have never seen her like this."
"Neither have I," Erza said, "I do hope that Natsu is able to resolve this problem."
"Juvia can understand where Dragneel-san is coming from though," Juvia said serenely. "After all her husband had left her without discussing it with her or asking her opinion or even reassuring her that it's not her he was leaving behind." Behind Juvia Gray stiffened as if each word was aimed at him. As if she sensed he's unease Juvia turned and gave him a radiant smile. "Juvia understands this because Juvia has yet to forgive Gray-sama for leaving her."
Wendy was then objected to the mortifying view of Gray grovelling…..it was not pretty.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
As soon as they were far away enough that even Gajeel and Wendy wouldn't be able to hear them (which had been miles of Lucy glowering at Natsu's back as she simmered furiously) Natsu twisted Lucy in front of him and shoved her against a tree. He pinned her with his best, determined, stubborn, stare.
Lucy glared back. "What?" she spat out.
"You know what," Natsu said angrily, "you know exactly what has been bothering me since I came home and found your wedding ring on the coffee table."
She didn't even soften for a second. "You left!" she shrieked. "I woke up and found you gone with nothing but the shortest of notes to explain why."
"That doesn't mean you take your effing ring off!"
"What was the point?" Lucy said miserably. "You obviously didn't consider us married since you had no problem taking Happy with you on this great mysterious and ever so important training."
"It was better that way," Natsu mumbled, a little taken back by the utter misery that was etched in Lucy's face. He had been prepared for a fight, to argue some sense into her, but he was utterly lost in face of the possibility that Lucy's anger was fuelled by something he incapable of dealing with. He could barely cope with his own sadness let alone another person's. "It was dang-"
"Oh don't give me that dangerous crap!" Lucy spat out, a fiery glint of sheer anger dance in her eyes. "I'm a Fairy Tail mage. When we first met we were taking on a slave trade gang, what was technically our honeymoon was spent in the mountains fighting Vulcans which we also fight on a near daily basis because our house is in a forest full of them, since then we have faced criminals at varying degrees of danger, demons, dark guilds, the blackest of magic, and even our own guild members at one point. We eat danger for breakfast!" she declared. "So don't tell me you left me behind because you were protecting me," she crossed her arms and settled for glowering at him with such self-righteousness that Natsu struggled to argue against it.
It didn't stop him from trying.
"I don't know why you're so angry," he evaded, "you make it sound like I abandoned you but I hadn't. I was always going to come back. I said as much in my letter."
"How could I trust your word?!" Lucy cried out. "You vowed to be with me until death do us part…..twice. And the moment the going actually gets tough you upped and left me. I'm sorry if I suddenly find your word rather untrustworthy when you can't keep a promise you made to me twice over, with witnesses."
"I have kept my vows and still stand by them today!" Natsu declared instantly. Lucy snorted derisively which set Natsu's teeth on edge completely. He almost reached out and grabbed her so he could shake some sense back into her silly head but he strongly suspected if he did that Lucy would have no qualms transforming into her Taurus form and break his neck in retaliation. So instead he grabbed the tree behind her, caging her in his arms, and dug his fingers into the tree with all of his rage. The bark splintered instantly and Lucy flinched slightly. "Okay," he breathed in deeply, "okay….I had to go, I had to," he met Lucy's defiant glare, "I am a Dragon Slayer that has yet killed a Dragon. I needed to train. It was important if I was to ever avenge Igneel." Lucy's eyes softened ever so slightly and Natsu restrained the urge to cheer at his victory. "So I needed to focus on that one hundred percent and that was why I didn't bring you with me," he carried on quickly, "you would have distracted me."
"Bullshit!" Lucy replied immediately and her eyes hardened again. "You brought Happy. And as helpful as he tries to be Happy is nothing but a distraction. He prefers to laze about and fish while watching you suffer. Don't deny it I've seen you two train for the S-Class exams. Happy did nothing productive other than make you a comic act as you ran away from boulders."
Natsu flushed with humiliation at that.
He always liked to be seen as strong and heroic in Lucy's eyes, he was her protector and provider after all, so the idea that she had witnessed (and very likely laughed at) his torture at Happy's hands over eight years ago stung a little.
"So don't give me that distraction crap," Lucy continued furiously, "what was the real reason why you left me behind?"
"I…..I…..was depressed!" Natsu stammered. "I had just lost Igneel and I needed-"
"I LOST AQUARIUS!" Lucy suddenly exploded. Natsu blinked at the sudden tear-filled rage as Lucy's eyes welled up and suddenly spilled over her cheeks. "I lost the woman who might as well been my mother no matter how much she would have hated being called that. The woman who taught me to stand for myself, who taught me to fight, who used to tuck me in bed at night because there was no one else Damnit! I lost her! And unlike you she wasn't murdered by some bad guy she was taken away by me. I broke her key to save you! I had to choose between her and you. Do you have any idea how many nightmares I have had reliving it over and over again? Do you know how many days I have gone without sleep to avoid them and try to fix her key? How many books and people I hunted down in my attempt? Do you know how much I have suffered in the last year trying to cope with what happened with Tartarus? No, you don't, because you WEREN'T THERE WHEN I NEEDED YOU!"
At this she let out a strangled wail and gave in completely to her tears. Natsu watched in horror as the woman he loved completely broke down. "Lucy…." He whispered uselessly as he pulled her close and held her as she sobbed noisily and messily into shoulder. "Lucy…I couldn't take you," he confessed, "because I couldn't lose you again."
Lucy pulled away with a half confused, half disgusted look on her face. Bewildered by Natsu's confession but simultaneously pissed at the implication that she couldn't protect herself. "What do you mean?" she asked in a dangerous tone that suggested if Natsu didn't answer correctly she would destroy him.
"Zeref promised me that I would suffer tragedy and despair," Natsu admitted reluctantly. "Lucy," he said brokenly. "I lost a version of you only a few months before and it almost killed me. If I lost you forever…."
"You self-sacrificing noble idiot!" Lucy's ire wasn't so effective through all the tears and snot. She groaned and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away the mess. Any other time Natsu might have laughed at her but he was too raw with too many horrible feelings to even try. "Didn't it ever occur to you that Zeref could have taken advantage of your distance and kill me anyway?"
Natsu's mouth dropped open in horror. "I didn't think of that!" he cried out.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she muttered, "idiot."
Natsu sank down onto the ground as he suddenly found himself incapable of using his legs. The horrifying realisation that everything he had done to protect Lucy could have backfired miserably made him numb and he was barely able to remember how to breathe let alone do anything.
"Lucy," he groaned piteously as he rubbed his face. "I really screwed things up, didn't I?
Lucy knelt down in front of him, her knees pushed against his calves as she studied him with her dark, unrelenting, eyes. "A bit," she said in a weak attempt to reassure him, it failed mostly because she agreed with him, "yeah, a lot," she reached out and took his hands into hers. "it hurts that you left me, it hurts even more that you left me when I needed you the most," she took a deep breath and choked over a sob, "and it makes me feel that you don't think our vows were even worth the paper they were written on but what really hurt, what destroyed us, is that you shut me out. You didn't communicate with me. If you had told me before….if we had discussed this, then perhaps all of this could have been avoided," she gestured around her.
Natsu closed his eyes. "How do I fix this, Luce?" he asked. "How do I get things back to the way it was?"
"We can never go back, Natsu," Lucy said sorrowfully, "we've changed too much for that. Everyone has. Why do you think it was so hard just to persuade Wendy to come home?"
"I don't want to lose you," Natsu's eyes blazed passionately though he remained unnaturally still and quiet, "in any shape or form. You're my wife."
"Then talk to me," Lucy pleaded, "communicate with me."
So he did.
At first he talked about Igneel. How it hurt to find out Igneel had been there all along and not bothered to give him a sign or communicate with him or anything, how much Natsu loved him, all the things Igneel had taught him or done for him, and then, of course, how it still ached to think of Igneel dying. Lucy listened to the entire time with a sympathetic understanding on her face that no one has ever shown him before. He admitted that Igneel's death had been his breaking point. That his misery and fear and worry had been building up since he saw Future Lucy die. He then pressed forward with his fear of Zeref, and not just what Zeref had promised him in Tartarus but the elusive things Zeref had said earlier, his tears on Tenrou, and how Natsu couldn't shake off the terrifying feeling that Zeref was obsessed with him.
And then finally he told her everything that he had been up to in their year apart. The training, the hard work, the adventures that pushed him to his limits, meeting with Gildarts, which all inevitably lead him to revealing Igneel's last gift to him.
In return Lucy told him all the mind-boggling details of Aquarius. Natsu could never associate that cold and difficult mermaid with the woman who used to play games with Lucy as a child or with the woman who apparently tucked Lucy into bed when there was no one else, or the friend who gave Lucy (much to Lucy's embarrassment judging by her red cheeks) sexual advice. Lucy recounted, tearfully and shakily, the exact details of her experience in Tartarus from the moment Algeria had separated them to the moment Juvia rescued the near unconscious Lucy from her attackers.
Natsu trembled with barely suppressed fury as Lucy told him about the torture she had been put through. If he could he would bring Jackal and Lamy back to brutally murder them in the most prolonged and torturous way he could come up with.
Lucy sobbed through her re-telling of breaking Aquarius key and how she felt when she found his note. The never-ending pain when suddenly Gray and Juvia didn't come home, Master disbanded the guild, and slowly, one by one, everyone got up and left until it was just her.
She then told him everything that she had been up to, her research, her desperate hunt for a way to fix Aquarius' key, her struggle to master her new powers and what a nightmare Capricorn was as her teacher. She admitted it took her a long time to finally find some sort of normal job and her whole purpose had only been to look for clues on his whereabouts. She told him how much she hated underwear modelling (much to his delight) and that it took so long for her to get out of it because her self-esteem was knocked down to nearly nothing and she was too terrified to ask for her long-dreamt of career as a writer just in case she would be rejected.
Just as she had been by Natsu, and Happy, and Gray and Juvia, and Erza, and Wendy….the list went on.
He dived in with reassurances that his leaving was never meant to be a rejection and he had never meant to make her feel that way.
They then talked in circles about how he was trying to protect her and how she didn't need protecting, she just needed him.
Eventually the conversation petered out and Natsu found himself cradling a cried out Lucy in his arms. Her back was against his hard chest and her hands were tangled into his as her fingers gently stroked the roughened skin of his own.
He basked in her warmth and the sunlight streaming overhead as he nuzzled in close and breathed in her scent. After what felt like an eternity he remembered her ring and fumbled in his pocket to pull it out.
"Lucy, Lucy," he nudged her. Lucy hummed sleepily in reply as she turned to face him. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly when she caught sight of her wedding ring. It wasn't an impressive one. It might have been gold but it didn't change the fact it was the plainest, cheapest, one in the nearest shop they could find on the day he pretty much forced her to marry him…..but Lucy looked at it as if it was the most precious treasure in the whole world. "Would you be my wife, again?" he asked desperately.
"I'm not having a third wedding," Lucy replied instantly, "the second one almost killed me with the girls battling out to be my Maid of Honour and that dark guild attacking Magnolia. Jeeze, and that was just before Tartarus, how many times has Magnolia been rebuilt now? Four, five times? It's a wonder they even let us come back-"
"You weirdo," Natsu interrupted impatiently, "what has Magnolia got to do with you being my wife?"
"I….don't know," Lucy admitted sheepishly, "I was babbling."
"Like a weirdo," Natsu agreed, "but you haven't answered my question," he persisted. "Will you be my wife again?"
Lucy stared at him for a moment with a soul-searching gaze that made him feel like she could see right through him. He hated it when she looked at him like that because while I felt like she could see and read everything about him, he couldn't get a read on her at all. "….Yes," she said eventually. "Yes. I will."
Natsu cheered and pumped a fist up in the air, he then eagerly pushed her ring back onto her wedding finger. Lucy yelped a little at the force he used in ensuring the ring would bloody well stay on this time but he pressed a soothing kiss on her fingers and she relaxed back into him as they sat there grinning one another.
They revelled in their blissful silence and peace and Natsu leaned into the ever so slight touch of Lucy's fingers against the palm of his hand. In a painfully slow exploration, her fingers moved along his hand and up his arm, they danced over the bandages, and played with the top edge for what felt like forever before Lucy shifted around in his arms and leaned over placing a gentle kiss where the bandage met his skin.
She pressed another one a little higher, and then another, and another, until her lips crossed his shoulder, and nipped at his neck, and teased his jaw –
Natsu snapped by then and pulled her away far enough so he could smash their lips together and he could induce the most delicious moans from her mouth.
Natsu and Lucy had have sex before.
After Tenrou, when Lucy asked for a real marriage opposed to a white marriage (Natsu had no idea what that meant but it was something Mira used to describe his marriage when Lucy first confided in her), they had experimented which often ended in giggles and snickering and breathless fascination. Once they got the gist of it there was more experimentation, which was often shadowed over by a desperation after Games, but was still fun and exciting and brilliant.
Their last time together had been the night before Natsu left for his training and that had been something different altogether. It had first been rushed and desperate and wild as they tried to prove that they were alive and safe and living in spite of what happened. It had been about hiding their tears with gasps and moans and burying their faces into one another's shoulders and necks.
None of these times compared to this.
It was slow and intense. Gentle and yet rough on the edges. It was all exciting and thrilling as all the times before but it had a softness and tenderness that they never shared before. It was all skin against skin, eyes meeting eyes, Lucy's soft hair ticking him, gasps inducing more gasps, and touches inflaming everything. It burned Natsu from the inside out as he felt things he had never thought possible.
He wondered if this was the myth of making love that Erza's weird books banged on about.
It ended the way Natsu's fantasies in the last year ended, how his homecoming should have ended, with Lucy curled in his arms, his hand playing with her hair, and her lips against his chest.
"I love you," Lucy whispered, "I love you so much that it hurts."
"Same here," Natsu admitted, "Lucy I-"
"Aw Jeeze," Gray's voice could be heard as his footsteps thudded closer and closer. Natsu and Lucy simultaneously froze as their eyes bugged out with horror. "Don't tell me you both killed each other. I had serious money on you killing Natsu, Lucy, don't let – ARRGH!" Gray screamed as he stumbled into the clearance and took the in the sight of Natsu and Lucy naked. "What are you doing?!"
"Gray-sama!" Juvia cried out. Natsu swore and quickly handed Lucy her blouse as suddenly Juvia, Erza, Gajeel, Levy, Wendy, and the Exceeds ran towards them. "Juvia heard your distress and…..Oh," she flushed with embarrassment. Her eyes wide as biscuits as she took in Natsu's half naked body and Lucy fumbling with her buttons. "Juvia sees," Juvia smiled awkwardly, "Juvia is pleased to see you have reconciled."
"Oh man," Gajeel gagged, "that's disgusting."
"What are you guys are doing here?!"
"You've been gone so long," Levy said as she kept her eyes onto the ground, "we were beginning to fear that Lu-Chan had brutally murdered Natsu and needed help to hide the body."
Natsu spluttered indignantly at the thought that his friends would help hide his body and not avenge him.
"Well," Lucy said with heated embarrassment, "as you can see I didn't, and instead we reconciled our differences."
"That's one way of putting it," Gajeel muttered, "I should have you arrested for public indecency."
"You can't keep arresting all of your friends, Gajeel," Lily rolled his eyes.
"I….erm….glad to see…." Wendy stammered as she looked anywhere else but at Natsu and Lucy. "That everything is okay!" she squeaked.
An awkward silence fell upon them. It dragged out for what felt like forever and ever and-
"Do you guys mind leaving?" Lucy snapped impatiently. "We would like to get dressed without you lot watching."
"Of course," Erza said bright red, "we shall give your privacy."
And with that she robotically marched away with Wendy, Gajeel, Levy and the Exceeds quickly following (Happy moaning how disgusting and silly Natsu and Lucy are to do that outside in the leaves and dirt),
"Seriously though you guys," Gray whined, "outside, in the dirt, where any of us could have stumbled upon you. Do you have any idea how s-"
"GO AWAY!" Natsu and Lucy bellowed. Juvia grabbed Gray by the waistband of his jeans and dragged him away before Natsu lobbed a sandal in his face or worse. "Icy prick," Natsu grumbled as he fiddled with his one long-sleeved jacket. Lucy hummed her agreement as she pulled her skirt back on. "So…." Natsu said hesitatingly. "Are we okay now?"
"Yes," Lucy leaned in and pecked his lips, "we're okay."
Natsu grinned against her lips before he slid his hand up her neck and cupped her face, bring her in for another kiss, and another, and an-
"GET A ROOM!"
"PISS OFF GRAY!"
FTFFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
They entered a honeymoon period (as dubbed by Erza) which according to Gray was absolutely disgusting and revolting to watch (to which both Natsu and Lucy replied with a dead-panned "Don't watch then," before they leaned in and kissed) but they didn't get a chance to truly enjoy and savour it.
They had immediately been swept into a rescue mission that needed undercover work. The entire boat journey was spent with Natsu and Wendy puking their guts up and the undercover was instantly blown. Then they were distracted by Mavis revealing her past with Zeref, and the imminent invasion. They didn't even get to go home as it was too far out of the town and had to stay in the guild building.
The infirmary made really uncomfortable beds for snuggling let alone anything else.
"Do you really have to write in your diary right now?" Natsu moaned as he watched Lucy at a nearby desk. "I mean it's our last night before Zeref and his goons come for the beating they deserve. Shouldn't we be together?"
"I just want to put everything down in paper," Lucy said quietly, "just in case the worst happens."
"Nothing bad is going to happen, not this time," Natsu said hastily to reassure her. He moved closer to her and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm going to beat Zeref, Fairy Tail will stop this invasion, and together we're all going to be happy."
"Speaking of a happy future before a battle," Lucy said solemnly as she turned to look at him. He could read the worry and heartache in her eyes. Tartarus had ruined her forever. "Is just begging for it to go unachieved, and instead enter the history books as some catastrophic tragedy."
"Igneel once told me to speak of your future that'll become our will to live."
Lucy smiled at that. Her eyes warmed with an unspoken adoration that made Natsu grin. "I guess you can look at it like that to," she said softly.
Natsu took the plunge. "When this is all over," he burst out, "when we can go back home….I want a baby."
Lucy blinked. Her cheeks steadily growing pinker and pinker as she took in exactly what Natsu had just said.
"What do you think?" Natsu asked desperately.
"Do you really think we're ready?"
"You don't?" Natsu asked bewilderedly. "We're married. We have a home. We would have secured the future of the whole world with Zeref gone let alone our own and our child. It's the next step isn't it?"
"I hadn't thought of it," Lucy admitted, "I thought if we were to succeed we would go back to normal. Have adventures, be bored while Happy fishes in the stream, and make many happy memories."
"You said we couldn't go back," Natsu pointed out, "that we could only go forward. I want to go forwards with you. I want to make a child with you."
Lucy was deathly silent at that and her eyes lowered down to her hands.
"Lucy," Natsu said desperately, "you said we need to communicate more. That our problems come from not talking. So talk to me, please."
"I'm not sure we're ready for a baby," Lucy whispered, "we're not really over our problems and it would be so unfair on that child to bring them in this…." She gestured weakly at the pair of them.
"What do you mean we're not really over our problems?!" Natsu cried out. "You said we're okay!"
"And we are," Lucy stressed, "we're okay in the sense that we're together, that I still want to be with you, but we're not ready for children okay. Aside from all the danger that is currently on our front door, aside from the fact we're still a bit too young and adventurous, there's the fact we're still healing. I'm still grieving for Aquarius, and you're still grieving for Igneel, and-"
"You still can't trust me to not leave you," Natsu finished quietly.
"You're impulsive and tend to act first before you think," Lucy said quickly, "and I love that about you, I do, but….you always leave without telling me anything. Remember with Tartarus? You just flew off with Happy the moment you figured Mira and Erza were in danger. No word to where you were going or what you are going to do, and then Happy came home without you. I knew nothing. You could be dead for all I knew…" she trailed off hopelessly.
Natsu wanted to shout and rage that she was wrong, that they were ready, that she should trust him more, but he couldn't. There was something stuck in his throat and he felt as if Lucy had just punched him over and over again in the stomach.
Because she wasn't wrong, she was right, and he hated the fact that he hadn't fixed anything, not really, and that they've still had that great awning distance between them even though they're right there beside one another.
There was an explosion.
The battle had begun.
"I've got to go," Natsu said uselessly. Mavis wanted him, Wendy, and Gajeel right at the front. "Mavis-"
"I know."
He kissed her quickly on the lips because he didn't want their last moment to have been so sad and regretful and painful.
But throughout his fight it Ajeel and all the other soldiers with Erza and Bisca backing the Dragon Slayers up all he could think about is Lucy, and how he had still hurt her, and how it hurt him, and all the things he wanted which included running off and punching Zeref in the face, which was probably Lucy's point to begin with.
They regrouped after they managed to deliver some blows to the enemy. Lucy and Cana had managed to capture Brandish though the fact that the woman had managed to break into the infirmary of the guild building and that she had targeted Lucy specifically gnawed at him furiously.
Zeref's troops seemed endless and even though they had the assistance of Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale and all the other guilds, it was still not going to be enough. They could still lose. He could still not have a chance to really resolve things with Lucy. And despite everything he said about looking to the future and making plans, all he could see at this moment was blood and despair.
Enough was enough.
He wasn't going to just stand there while everything else fought his war.
"Lucy," he grabbed his wife's wrist and turned her round, "Lucy this isn't going to end unless I face Zeref."
"What do you mean?" she asked in a low voice.
"It's me he wants to face," Natsu said grimly, "he made that clear enough before…so I'm putting an end to it all before anyone else gets hurt. Lucy," he breathed in deeply, "I will have Happy fly me to his ship and I will beat him to a bloody pulp, and come back to you."
To his surprise Lucy beamed at him radiantly. She then threw her arms round his neck and kissed him. It was such a passionate and brilliant kiss that it made him breathless. "Thank you," she breathed, "good luck," she kissed him again, "come back safe and we'll talk about babies again."
Natsu grinned like a lunatic as Happy flew him towards Zeref, he had a feeling that he had done the right thing (though to be honest he's not entirely sure what it was), and everything was truly going to be okay between him and Lucy now.
He was home once more, he had his friends, and more importantly he had Lucy. He was going to fight the greatest evil and he was going to win. He was going to come back to Lucy where there would be kisses and food and a Fairy Tail Party as they celebrate the fact the world was a safe place.
He was going to make it a safe place for the child he and Lucy were one day going to have.
Nothing could go wrong now.