My brain is full of Minecraft things and the next arc of this story, so I've kind of hit a wall. My apologies for taking so long to get this piece put together.

We're getting close to my deadline of December to be done with this, so I think it's okay to let you guys know I have two arcs left. Well, about two and a half, but the half is clean up and wrap up of the story. I've been making notes and evaluating my expectations for how I want to finish this and I am very excited to see what you guys think of the ending.

SPOILER ALERT: They're going to have a happy ending. I can't bring myself to not give them that.

Also, our little one was difficult at the ultrasound last month, but we found out last week we are having a little girl. I was hoping for another boy, but I'm warming up to the idea. I just hope she isn't too much like me, or I'll have my work cut out for me, lol.

Michiamotippete: I hope it doesn't spoil anything, but Lucy's dreams with Igneel were not memories.

Wildfire0707: Glad to have you on board!

As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!


"So where are you going this time?" Levy asked.

"The Amazon," Lucy answered.

"Really?" Juvia set aside a bowl and moved to lean in towards her phone. "Can you live in the jungle?"

"Well, there are places nearby of course, we'll just be visiting the jungle."

"That sounds like fun," Juvia said.

"You'd better take a lot of pictures," Levy added.

"I will," Lucy promised as she continued to pack.

After a beat, Levy spoke again. "So I have a question. Well, we all do."

"What's that?" Lucy set aside the clothes in her hands, concerned about the tone in Levy's voice.

"Well, we were wondering… why you're still helping Natsu look for somewhere to live?"

"What? Why would I stop helping him?"

"We don't think you should stop helping him," Juvia corrected.

"We think you should try to convince him to… live a little closer," Levy said.

"Like in Magnolia," Juvia finished.

Lucy felt tears prick her eyes as she returned to her packing, avoiding looking at her phone. There were still months to go before Natsu would leave, but every time she thought about it, it hurt a little bit more than the last time.

And then Natsu would feel it and ask what was wrong, or try to make her feel better. It was hard enough thinking about it- it was too much to have him try to fix it.

"These trips are also a chance for us to explore and spend time together. Not to mention I've been writing articles about my trips for the magazine, and I'd like to keep doing that for as long as I can."

"Oh don't try to use work as an excuse," Levy said. "We know you love writing about fashion, so this has nothing to do with that."

"Guys-"

"We think you're avoiding being happy," Juvia said quietly.

"What? Why would I do that?"

"Because of the first one." Juvia's eyes were sad, but fierce. Lucy appreciated that she didn't use his name. They'd agreed to never use that name around her again.

Juvia continued. "You have avoided any and all relationships getting serious ever since you dated him. Not all men are the enemy, Lucy. We think you can trust Natsu. He is honest and sweet and he treats you very well."

"Even with the inheritance, he's not acting like some stuck up snob or trying to buy you with gifts," Levy added. "He spends time with you, cooks for you, and he buys you sensible gifts."

"Not to mention the way he looks at you," Juvia pointed out. "Juvia would kill for her beloved to look at her in such a way."

Levy sighed. "It's a little off topic, so we'll come back to it, but for the record, I've seen Gray look at you in a similar way more than once."

Juvia lit up. "Really?!"

"Focus," Levy said. "Lu, we love you. We trust your judgement, and we don't want to tell you how to live your life, but Natsu is the real deal. We know you love him, even if you haven't admitted it to yourself, and we think you need to fight for him."

"Agreed."

Lucy swallowed and took a deep breath.

This wasn't like the first time, she knew that. The first time had been terrible. It had been because of her father. It had resulted in the most traumatic experience of her life. It had been nothing like this.

But this wasn't anything that could last.

Natsu would go home, and she would be left her to lick her wounds. She would put on a brave face and go on with her life, maintaining a friendship with Natsu because that was what she agreed to.

She'd live out her life with a demon popping in every so often to say hi before running off to his own world again. Lucy had no doubt the wound be ripped open every time he visited, and she'd have to put the bandage back on herself when he was gone and try to pull herself together.

What if she never married? Would they continue the way they were now? Would he stay for a day or two, use her body in ways that would haunt her dreams for months after, and then return home, still friends?

Could she handle that if he asked?

There were so many questions, and the more she asked, the more she seemed to have.

If only she had been able to keep her heart locked up. Maybe she shouldn't have started their relationship. Maybe she should have ignored the kisses. Maybe she should have ignored what Happy told her, ignored the fact that she is Natsu's mate. Maybe she should ask what that actually means for her.

Or maybe she should have sent him back when she first summoned him.

"Lu, are you listening to us?"

"Yes," Lucy said, her voice thick with tears. She cursed silently as she turned her back to her phone and continued to pack.

"Lucy?"

"Lu…"

"It's nothing, I have to go. Natsu's calling for me." Lucy blindly reached for her phone and ended the call before tossing it on the bed.

The tears fell freely as she sat on the edge and buried her face in her hands.

She'd really screwed up.

She really shouldn't have fallen in love with a demon.


It was somewhere over Mexico, as Natsu brought her to yet another orgasm in their private magical bubble on the plane, that she decided giving her heart to Natsu had been foolish, but the relationship was definitely not.


Lucy sighed as she laid back in her chair and allowed the breeze to cool her. She was alone, for once, so she fully intended to enjoy the quiet while it lasted.

Natsu had settled them many miles from the Amazon, but she wasn't complaining. They were at a resort on the coast of Peru that had a long stretch of private beach and cabins spaced far enough apart you felt like you were there alone.

As she drifted in and out of sleep, Lucy wondered if she'd ever felt this relaxed.

She'd been to nice locations in the past of course. Her father had treated them to vacations in more than one beautiful place around the world, but she had never felt this kind of peace before. Maybe when her mother was still alive, but not since then. Even when her father had taken her when she'd been older, there had been expectations she'd had to fulfill and she'd been forced to act like the proper young lady for her father's guests, in any setting. She'd hated those trips.

This, though.

This she liked.

The place they were staying had a full service spa, with every amenity imaginable. Massages, mud baths, facials, pedicures, manicures, body wraps- the whole nine yards and then some. There wasn't a spot on her body that hadn't been pampered by the resort's staff.

Or thoroughly explored by her dragon lover.

Natsu had been insatiable since they'd arrived. She couldn't go more than a few hours without him finding her and dragging her off to a quiet spot to play with her body. He'd even convinced her the previous night to take her clothes off on the front porch. She'd almost been too embarrassed, until he reminded her that his magic could hide them from prying eyes and silence any noises she made.

And she had definitely made noises.

They hadn't gone all the way yet, and Lucy wondered how long Natsu would allow that to continue. She sensed a restlessness in him, or perhaps it was just his dragon, that was unsatisfied with being limited to how he could touch her. She felt it more when the gold saturated his irises and stared at her with a hunger that made her breath come a little faster. She just couldn't bring herself to say yes yet, though.

Lucy still had no idea how their relationship would change, or even if it would, if they finally had sex. Happy hadn't been forthcoming and had been hiding in their realms ever since the party. She could tell Natsu missed him, but knew that she didn't have a good reason to argue to keep him there. Not only that, she knew he liked having the apartment to themselves at night.

She sighed as she sank further into her chair, the faint breeze keeping her just cool enough in the shade as she tried to ignore the many other negative thoughts that tried to come to the forefront of her mind and bother her.

When she felt a touch on her leg, she twitched and then settled again. This happened twice more before a warm hand settled on her knee and familiar lips began to pepper her thigh with kisses, slowly trailing up towards her hip.

Lucy opened her eyes to watch Natsu behind her sunglasses. She was struck once again by how incredibly gorgeous he was, with his tanned skin and windblown hair. His hands on her skin were always so gentle, and watching him slide her legs apart and settle between them always made her body hotter.

"What are you doing, Natsu?" Lucy asked even though she already knew.

"Just playing," he responded, his voice husky as he ran his nose up her leg and breathed in her scent. "I'm glad they finally found a lotion that doesn't overpower your scent. Took them long enough."

"I'm sure they don't normally have to try and appease such a sensitive nose," Lucy reminded him as he reached up and untied the wrap at her waist.

"No doubt, but I did request it when we first arrived. I've hated all those smells on you this week. It made it difficult to find your real scent."

That must be why he'd insisted on her taking so many baths and convinced her to swim so often at night before bed. He'd wanted to wash the smells off of her.

"I'm sorry that you've been so inconvenienced," Lucy said with a grin.

Natsu's responding smile was gentle. "As long as you were enjoying yourself, I didn't mind so much." His fingers lightly tugged on the ties at her hips. "Do you mind?"

Lucy's smile increased as she reached down and slowly untied her bikini bottoms herself. "Of course I don't."

Natsu was over her in a flash, his mouth hot and insistent on hers as he kissed her. Their teeth clacked a little but Lucy didn't care. He was even more thorough when he was aggressive like this, so she sank into the kiss, forgetting everything else around her.

She forgot the conversation with her friends.

She forgot that Natsu would eventually go home.

She forgot about her article and her job.

She forgot about her anxieties about being a dragon mate.

She forgot about her worries over finally sleeping with him.

She forgot about the broken heart in her future.

She forgot her own name.

There was only now, only Natsu, only the feelings he could create in her body.

Only the feeling of his hands on her skin and the reverence in his eyes.

And she revelled in all of it.


"Natsu, where are we going?" Lucy sighed as she climbed over another large root in their path.

"It's up here," Natsu answered.

"What is up here?"

"You'll see!" He sounded excited, and as annoyed as she was, Lucy couldn't convince herself to be upset with him.

He'd woken up that morning insistent that they head for the jungle while it was still dark. She wasn't sure why this day was so much better than the others, but she hadn't been able to ask. He'd bundled her up in his arms and taken off, effectively keeping her quiet as she dealt with her fear in silence. He'd offered to distract her, but she'd said no. There was no getting used to flying with him if she hid from the experience.

By the time they'd landed, she'd actually felt okay with it. She'd even spent some time watching the landscape fly by below them.

Now, though, she was considering asking him to magic her somewhere not so hot. She loved the heat, but this was awful.

It was a wet heat, so she was sweating from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her socks were damp and uncomfortable and her skin stuck every time it touched other skin. Her shorts were too short, so she was almost certain her thighs were chafing, and she'd finished her water an hour ago.

"Natsu…" Lucy whined.

"What's up?" he asked from behind her, causing her to scream and lash out at him.

When her foot made contact, he grunted and was tossed several feet away, right into a tree.

"Natsu! Don't scare me!"

"What are you talking about, Luce?" Lucy whipped around to find Natsu standing behind her, coming from the direction he had been leading her.

"N- Natsu?"

"Yeah? Who else would be out here?"

A groan nearby had both of them looking over. The first Natsu made it to his feet and wiped some of the dirt from his skin. "Geez Luce, did you have to kick me so hard?"

Lucy felt her fear kick up as the first Natsu started to walk her way. He froze when he finally looked up and locked eyes with the other Natsu. "Uh oh."

The blonde turned in time to see the other Natsu's eyes begin to swirl, while red scales appeared peppered across his skin. "Leave," he hissed.

There was a pop and a large lizard fell to the ground near the tree before slinking off. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself and moved closer to the real Natsu. "What was that?"

"Mimic. They're a type of demon, but they're not particularly strong. I'll stick closer so you don't run into any more."

"Any more? How do you know there will be more?"

"Because we're almost there," he answered with a grin. "He kind of spoiled the surprise, though. I found a portal that connects this world to the demon realms. It's not easy to get through, not fully anyway, but I can use it to get you into them in a way that will allow you to visit without being in danger."

"I don't understand."

"Basically, you visit the realms as a mirage. Your body stays here and you can't interact with anything, but you can see what they look like."

"If it's so hard to get through, how did that lizard one get here?"

"Not through there. He no doubt felt the energy from it and came here to settle in this world. The guardian in the barrier between worlds will no doubt come through and collect him at some point. That's part of the reason for these in the other realms. The demons miss the feel of home and seek them out, making them easier to catch and return."

They entered a small clearing, and found themselves surrounded by strangely colored animals. There were a pair of monkeys low in the tree, both a strange red shade with solid white eyes. They screeched at the pair and then raced up the tree. Small bugs and butterflies in varying shades of red, yellow and orange floated through the air, making noises much louder than their bodies would suggest capable. A black lizard poked out from behind a blood red leaf and shot its tongue out several feet, pulling many of those bugs back into its mouth.

Lucy's mouth fell open as she realized the trees were also strange. They were a mix of red, black and a sooty gray color. When had the colors change?

"The portal affects the area around it a little bit, too, but don't worry. Regular humans can't get in here so it's not in danger of being found." He took her hand and pulled her towards a mostly obscured cave. "You ready?"

Lucy gulped, not at all sure, but nodded her head anyway. "Sure."

With a grin, Natsu pulled her forward and they entered the cave, the darkness completely surrounding them as they stepped into the space.