Did someone say update?

As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!


It had been two days.

Two days of avoiding any sort of meaningful conversation.

Two days of avoiding eye contact.

Two days of waiting for something to give.

Lucy was making herself a snack after work and she couldn't seem to think about anything else than what had driven her to kiss Natsu. After their awkward conversation, she had decided she was going to forget the whole thing and pretend it never happened, but Natsu had been acting weird as well, making her wonder if he had figured out what she'd been trying to get at. The fact that Happy still wasn't with them made the quiet of the apartment that much more oppressive.

It was driving Lucy crazy.

She'd gone out the previous afternoon to do some shopping, and even though she hadn't found anything, she had refused to return until bedtime. Not that it mattered, since Natsu had apparently holed himself up in his room with no intention of leaving for anything but food or to use the bathroom.

Once Lucy was done, she put away her ingredients and grabbed a spoon to eat her ice cream with. As she left, she didn't bother to watch where she was going, so she nearly ran into Natsu as he was rounding the corner to enter the kitchen.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said as he moved out of her way.

"No, it's my fault," she said as she moved in the opposite direction. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Really, I should have been paying better attention. I don't want to make you drop your food."

"It's okay, really. There's always more."

Natsu nodded and then made his way into the kitchen, still not looking her way. Lucy kept her eyes down as well as she continued to head for her bedroom.

She was halfway down the hall when she suddenly stopped. With a huff, she turned around and retraced her path.

This was ridiculous. They were supposed to be working together, per their contract, plus they were friends and roommates. There shouldn't be such an uncomfortable bubble between them, and since she'd created the damn thing, it was her responsibility to pop it.

"Hey, Natsu?"

The half dragon jumped as she entered the room, causing the box in his hand to fall onto the counter. "Geez, Luce, you scared me!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"You can be awfully quiet when you want to be," he said as he began to clean up his mess.

"Sorry," she said again. She set her bowl on the counter and wrapped her arms around herself. "Do you mind if we talk?"

"Sure, yeah. What do you want to talk about?" He continued to pour his bowl of cereal, using the excuse of his task to continue to look away from her.

"It's about two nights ago."

Natsu jerked, causing the box in his hand to fall again. He sighed as the cereal once more scattered across the counter. "What about it?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I obviously crossed a line, and I shouldn't have pushed like I did. I'm really sorry."

Natsu blinked several times and then half turned her way. "What line do you think you crossed?"

"I shouldn't have kissed you. It's obvious that it put a strain on our friendship and that's the last thing I wanted. I can't take it back, but we could pretend it didn't happen. I just hate how the last couple days have been and I want to fix it."

She doesn't know I know.

Natsu had to admit, he had been acting strange the last couple days, but it was only because he still wasn't sure what to say to Lucy. Having heard what she told Plue, their physical relationship had been the only thing he'd been able to think about since. He was still terrified of his lapses in awareness and worried that he was doing things he shouldn't do, but wasn't sure who to talk to about it. Loke was an option, but since he was still unavailable, Natus couldn't talk to him just yet.

He wanted more than anything to kiss Lucy again, even if he had to fight with that other side of him to stay aware. The taste of her lips was the single greatest thing his tongue had ever had the fortune of tasting. Even now, he was affected thinking about her hands on his face, and her soft lips pressed against his. It made his body hot in ways that fire never could, and created a desire in his belly for more of her.

But what would that more be? He'd seen things in his realms, other demons and dragons doing things with each other and other races that made him feel queasy. Things he couldn't imagine doing to Lucy. Dragons in heat could be unpredictable, and demons were worse if they lost control of themselves. He had trouble keeping himself present just kissing her- he wasn't sure how difficult it would be to maintain control if he were to try doing more, even if it was what Lucy wanted.

The big question was why. Why did Lucy want to do those things with him? Was it a desire to be with a mythic being, or did she have feelings for him in some way? He'd long ago accepted the fact that he cared about her, more than he had for any other being besides Happy and Igneel. It didn't matter that it had only been a few months, he knew for a fact that he would not be terminating his contract early for any reason, and he wouldn't be taking any of her memories before he left. He wanted to see her again, come visit her again as often as possible, after their contract ended. How did Lucy feel, though?

And he still had no idea what was going on with this inner presence that had suddenly shown up. The more he blacked out, the more he began to feel that other presence, and the more he thought he might be able to control it, or at least keep a hold on himself when it tried to take over. He'd managed it the night Lucy kissed him, and after that experience, he had become certain of at least one thing- the inner presence desperately wanted Lucy.

It wanted to have her in any way it could. It wanted to hold her, kiss her, make love to her- pull her in and never let her go. It wanted to bask in her presence and absorb the warmth that only Lucy was able to provide.

Natsu could admit that there was a part of him, the conscious part, that wanted that, too. It had surprised him when he figured out how many of his inner personality's desires matched his own, especially when he'd never been interested in that kind of thing before. He'd been propositioned by various other races, succubi, even dragons before, but none had ever made him want to perform those acts until Lucy.

Still, until he could discern her reasons for wanting such things, he wasn't sure he could follow through on those desires. They were friends and roommates, so they obviously cared about each other, which meant they needed to be careful about possibly getting other emotions involved. And on the off chance that she only wanted it because he was of a 'mythical' race, he'd have to find a way to tell her no. That was a bad reason to be with someone, and after being a virgin as long as he had, he figured he deserved something more special for his first time.

Natsu continued to just stare at Lucy for a while, making her uncomfortable. Perhaps she'd misread the situation. Maybe he'd just been busy, not necessarily quiet. Feeling like an idiot, she grabbed her ice cream and started to walk backwards out of the room. "Nevermind, it was stupid. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just going to- eek!"

Plue showed up just as she was leaving the room, causing Lucy to trip. She tried to grab onto the wall to stop herself as she fell, but she failed, and when she moved her foot to catch her balance, she only succeeded in falling faster.

Before she could hit the ground, though, an arm wrapped around her and stopped her descent. Lucy opened her eyes to find Natsu squatting, one arm wrapped around her and one held away from them with her bowl in hand. His legs were on either side of her body to support them both and Lucy actively avoided thinking about how certain body parts were closer together than they should be as she pulled away. Natsu let her scoot across the floor as he settled back onto his feet and held out her ice cream.

"Thank you," she said as she took the bowl.

"You're welcome." Natsu watched her face turn red as she moved to stand. "Wait, Lucy."

Lucy paused, one knee on the ground and her free hand on her other knee, ready to push herself up. "What?"

Natsu felt the fade, but fought it as he reached forward to squeeze her hand. "If you want something from me, you have to ask. You can talk to me about anything, because I'm your friend. And as your demon, I have the ability to make a lot of things happen. So if you want something, don't be afraid to talk to me about it. Just ask, okay?" Then the fade happened again, and his mouth opened on its own. "Master," he purred.

The heat that flashed through Lucy at that moment was more than she'd ever felt before, more than any other man had ever been able to create within her with touch, and Natsu had done it with one word. Her mouth went dry as she watched a smile work its way slowly across his face and his swirling eyes focused on hers with so much intensity, she worried she might drown.

"Natsu…" His name was merely a whisper, but it affected Natsu like he'd been hit by a cannon. As his body jerked forward, he was unable to stop himself from yanking the bowl from her hand and then pulling her against him.

Suddenly, there was a pop to his right and Lucy was being yanked out of his arms. The fade was too strong this time and as rage filled him, and he lost himself once more.

When he came to later, he was lying face down and hands were running through his hair. He groaned as he pushed himself up and lifted his face to see Virgo sitting there. She didn't even blink as she continued to feel across his scalp.

"There's a lump, but I think he'll be okay," she said as she pulled her bloody hands away. She wiped them on the apron of her maid's uniform, and then stood up to head for the kitchen.

"That's good to hear," came a rasp from behind him. Natsu quickly turned around, but groaned as his head began to pound. He lowered his head to the floor again, and when the banging lessened to a dull thump, he slowly lifted his head again to find Leo sitting on Lucy's couch.

"Glad you're okay," the angel said.

"You're not looking so hot," was Natsu's response. The angel had one arm wrapped around his torso, and his clothes were all torn and blood splattered. From the way he was breathing, it was obvious he was struggling and in pain, and with his swollen eye and blood soaked hair, Natsu was honestly concerned for the angel's well being.

Leo chuckled, but cut off with a groan when it jostled him too much. "Yeah, well, I'm not feeling so hot."

"Shouldn't Virgo be checking you over instead of me?" Natsu asked.

"Maybe, but I'll be okay. Angel healing abilities are better than a demon's after all."

"You sure? Because you look like death."

"I'll be fine," he said again. "I just have to go home. I've been in the Dark too long, so my magic has been basically all sucked out of me. Once I return and rest, I'll be good as new. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn't have that long."

"What is that supposed to-" Natsu suddenly remembered what had happened, and as he looked around, he found no sign of her, except for the melting ice cream bowl at his side.

"Shit…" Natsu lowered his head to the floor again. "I can't believe they got her away from me."

"From what I could tell, you put up a good fight."

"How could you tell that?" Natsu asked.

"I saw the guys who brought Lucy back to replace me as their prisoner. I'm kind of surprised the one guy was still standing, considering how much blood was on him. I'm guessing they surprised you and got her before you could react, and the one you didn't nearly claw to death managed to knock you out so they could take her."

"They took Lucy," Natsu growled, ignoring Leo's words. The reality of what had happened was finally starting to settle in and the rage that filled him was enough to make even the demon kings tremble as he got to his feet. He began to change, unconsciously, and as he stalked towards Leo, he found that he wasn't sure just which part of him was in control at that moment.

"Where is she?"

"She's in the Dark again, but more than likely isn't in the same place as last time."

"How do I get to her?" Natsu asked.

"Virgo will help you," Leo said as he hissed in pain. "She's going to get a couple more hands to help you, and then you're going to return and get Lucy back."

"I don't need more hands, I just need someone to get me there."

"You'll be taking more hands," Leo said firmly. "You have more important things to worry about than just getting Lucy back, don't you see that?"

"No. I don't care about anything el-"

"Zalanoon has figured out what Lucy is and is determined to keep her in the Dark until he gets what he needs from her." Leo's eyes and voice were fierce as he spoke. "You need to stop him, Natsu, which probably means killing him."

"Kill him?" Despite the severity of the situation, Natsu found himself laughing. "You want me to kill Zalanoon? I'm not strong enough for that. His power is on par with the demon kings-"

"And you are the fire dragon king's son." Leo groaned a little as he tightened his grip around his waist. "Your bond with Lucy, combined with your power, is enough, Natsu. You can defeat him."

"I don't think so. I can't possibly beat him while I'm trying to save Lucy and fight off his army. His whole bit is getting people to believe in him and follow him. I can't fight all that." Natsu squinted at the angel. "And what do you mean my bond?"

"Your contract, of course," Leo said. "As her master, it wouldn't look very good to allow a formerly disgraced demon to take her from you, wold it?"

"Still-"

"You won't be alone," Leo said. "I didn't stay in this world for shits and giggles. Virgo is gathering help, and I'm here to summon your friends again."

Natsu looked like he wanted to argue some more, but Leo wasn't in the mood, which he seemed to sense, so he let it go. "Speaking of," Natsu said as he moved to get paper, "how are you here?"

"Zalanoon's minions were trying to get me to fess up to Lucy's location. They somehow figured out I'm her guardian angel and could tell them where she was. I didn't tell them anything, so I'm not sure how they found her, but once they got her, they let me go, as they had promised they would in the beginning.

"That was a foolish move, but I'm not about to tell them that." He picked up the pen Natsu held out to him and began to draw on the paper at his side. "Do you have any other allies that could aid you? This isn't just a matter of getting your master back. This is a matter of protecting the realms as we know them."

"Are you talking about-"

"Yes," Leo said.

"I'm talking about the prophecy."


Hahaha! I wasn't feeling as nice today, and you guys didn't honestly think Zalanoon was gone for good, did you? Plus, Leo is back! I know you guys were worried, but don't despair, he's alive and kicking… for now.