GUYS! I completely forgot about the little contest/ idea search thing I wanted to do that I was supposed to mention in the last part! I have a rough outline put together for the big finishing arc (prior to the little half arc at the end) and I wanted to get some input before the current arc is over! I'm looking for more scenes to add, and I'd love to get some ideas from you!
If you've got something you'd like to see, or a question you'd liked answer, or a scene you think would be fun to add, let me know! Put it in a review, shoot me a PM, however you wanna get it to me. You'll have until the final installment of this arc, which is coming up very soon, so don't wait! Once I get to the last chapter before the final arc, I'll put all the ideas into my author note so everyone can check them out and vote! Whichever one gets the most votes (perhaps the top two) will be added in.
I'll be sharing all the ones that I like and/ or will fit into what I have planned so everyone who wants to can vote! I'm hoping for more ideas than just sexy ones, because I'd love to be able to add them to the regular story, so keep that in mind. And of course, you'll get credit for your idea if you'd like.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
"Is it done?"
"Yes sir. I visited this morning before they woke up and cast the spell. Are you sure it will be enough?"
"I'm sure."
"Why don't we just tell him? Wouldn't that be better?"
"We just want him distracted and out of the way. Don't worry, my plan will work."
"You're doing it again," Lucy said.
"Doing what?"
"Staring."
Natsu didn't budge as he said, "Hmm."
Lucy continued to read her book, but after the third time through the same paragraph, she sighed and set it aside. "What's wrong, Natsu?"
He'd been like that all day. No matter what she was doing, he'd been right there, with that same scrutinizing expression on his face. As the day wore on, she had noticed he looked more and more annoyed as he continued to not find the answers he sought.
Natsu propped his chin in his on his fist, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. "I don't know."
"Why are you staring at me?"
"I don't know."
"Natsu, that's not an answer." Lucy didn't mind having his attention, but the staring was starting to get under her skin. "There has to be a reason. Is there something on my face? Or in my hair?"
"No, nothing like that." Natsu leaned closer across the table. "I just… I have this need to figure something out."
"Something out… about me?"
"I think so."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
"I just…" Natsu groaned and covered his face with both hands. "I woke up with this certainty that there is something about you I know that I don't know that I know and I need to figure out what it is. Does that make sense?"
Lucy leaned back a bit and slowly nodded. "I think I do." This had to be it. Whatever his dragon was doing, it was obviously being more active about getting him to realize that she was his mate. Lucy couldn't say the words of course, but she wondered if there was anything else she could do to help him figure out what was going on.
"It's driving me crazy," he groaned again. "It's like this itch that won't go away, and I can't think about anything else because my brain is so thoroughly stuck on you."
"Maybe I can help?"
Natsu fisted his hands in his hair. "No. I don't like this. I don't like not being able to control my own mind. I'm not doing this." He shot up out of his chair, hard enough to push the table a couple inches. "Let's just watch a movie. Maybe I can distract myself for a little while."
"But Natsu-"
"No. Whatever it is, I won't figure it out obsessing over it. If I was, I would have by now. It's been several hours, and I've had enough of it. I want to do something else." He moved to the living room and started going through the movies there. "If you don't want to join me, that's fine, but I'm going to try and zone out for a bit."
Lucy could see how twitchy he was as he looked through the small selection, and decided it would be better to not try and force him into anything. He was obviously frazzled and talking about it was making it worse, so instead, she followed him into the living room and helped him get the TV set up. He growled at one point and slid his hand across the shelf, tossing most of the cases. Lucy didn't say anything, just let him have his moment.
He reached into the pile, grabbed one at random, and handed it to her before cleaning up the others. Lucy got the movie started, something in Spanish that she didn't recognize, and then moved to sit on the couch. Natsu joined her soon after and sat on the opposite end. He leaned against the arm and folded one of his legs up next to him. At first glance he seemed relaxed, but when Lucy looked closer, she could see how tense his muscles were, and the little twitches every so often as he tried to hold his pose.
Lucy leaned back in her own spot and forced herself to watch the movie. If she continued to watch him, he'd probably notice and it would just make it harder for him to relax.
Half an hour later, as Lucy finally started to figure out what was going on in the movie, Natsu groaned out loud and his head flopped back against the couch. "I. just. can't. make it. stop."
Lucy sighed as she scooted closer. "It's because you're trying too hard."
"I'm not trying too hard to do anything! I'm just trying to relax! Why is that so hard to do!"
Natsu reached over and yanked her into his lap, causing the air to whoosh out of Lucy's lungs, so he could bury his face in her hair. Once she'd regained her breath, she adjusted so that her back was flush against his front and his arms were wrapped just below her breasts. She raised her hands and slid them into his hair. "You can't just force yourself to relax. It'll only rile you up more."
Natsu grumbled in her ear, but she didn't catch any of the words. His hands came up and softly squeezed her breasts. "Perhaps I should try something else to clear my mind."
Lucy felt her skin tingle and her pulse leap at the prospect, but she ignored it. "If focusing on me is the problem, I think that's a little backwards. Just let me try and help you. Just close your eyes and try not to think about anything. Focus on my hands in your hair, or the voices on the TV. Maybe even the waves outside, I know you can hear them from here. Just relax and stop trying to think so hard about everything."
Lucy continued her soft, soothing instructions as her fingers rubbed his scalp, first back and forth in straight lines, and then in large circles. Natsu's head nestled more comfortably against the back of the couch and he sighed.
Some time later, Lucy realized his breathing had lengthened, and he was softly snoring. She carefully pulled her hands away and looked up at him. She hadn't intended to make him fall asleep, but she didn't mind that it had happened. He'd been growing more and more agitated throughout the day, so she supposed it was probably better for him to be asleep.
She glanced at the clock and saw that she still had a couple hours before they needed to worry about food, so she got comfortable and went back to the movie. It soon became clear she had missed too much, but she tried to catch up again before it was over. In the end, she was only somewhat sure she knew was going on. Since Natsu was still asleep, she started it over and did her best to interpret what she could.
Not even an hour later, Lucy had fallen asleep as well, warm and comfortable in Natsu's arms.
"Dad, how do you know when you've found your mate?"
Igneel glanced over at Natsu from where he'd been curled up napping. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
Igneel raised an eyebrow at his son as he continued to watch him. "Is that so? It has nothing to with Grandeeney?"
"Well duh, that's why I'm curious." Natsu looked over his shoulder at his father. "They've known each other for years. Why did it take so long for them to figure it out?"
Igneel grunted a little as he moved to lay next to his son. "I'm not sure if there's a good answer for that question. My guess is that they weren't ready yet."
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, his young face as perplexed as Igneel had ever seen it.
"The dragon in all of us knows who our mate is, there's no doubt about that. But I think that he won't tell you unless you're ready for it. Perhaps Grandeeney and Zinger just weren't the dragons they needed to be for their inner dragon to tell them until recently."
"Their inner dragon?" Natsu frowned, even more confused. "You're all dragons. What are you talking about, dad?"
Igneel lifted a foot and gently poked Natsu in the chest with a claw. "There's a dragon in you, son, who lies dormant until you finally meet your mate. His whole purpose is to let you know who they are, and when the time is right, to help you access that magic we hold in reserve to protect them.
"When you meet your mate, your dragon will let you know, make no mistake. It may take a few years, like with Grandeeney and Zinger, until you're in the right place or the right time. It may take a few days or months, while you get to know them."
Igneel's smile softened. "It make only take a moment, when you see them wandering through the forest looking for a fierce dragon to carry them off to their lofty tower and keep them there forever."
Natsu looked up at his dad and watched as he stared wistfully off into space. His father had only mentioned his mate a couple times in his whole life. Natsu could tell that it hurt a lot for his father to talk about her, but his curiosity drove him to ask.
"Hey dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't know, can you?"
Natsu rolled his eyes and hit his father's leg. "That's a terrible joke."
"And yet, you set it up for me all the time." Igneel grinned and turned his head so he could look down at his son. "What do you want to ask me?"
"Can you tell me about… your mate? The one you lost?"
Igneel's grin faded and he turned to stare out over the valley that they called home. There was a sadness in his eyes, even as his face remained passive. "What would you like to know?"
"What's it like to have a mate? I mean, I get the part that we all only have one, and that we want to protect them for the rest of our lives, but what about the other stuff? Do I have to spend all my time with her? Do I have to get her dad's approval to be with her? And if he says no, am I supposed to duel him or something, because we don't like to be away from our mates?
"Do I have to share my food?" Natsu frowned as he crossed his arms. "I don't know if I want one if I have to let her eat off my plate. I don't like to share. Not even with Happy."
Igneel's mouth twitched up a little at the corner. His gaze shifted to watch Grandeeney, where she was lying next to her recently found mate. "You won't mind so much if you find her. In fact, you'll want to share with her. You'll want her to eat so much, she feels sick from eating it all, just to make sure she's had enough."
"That doesn't sound right." Natsu moved so he could watch over the valley as well. "Why would I want to make her sick?"
Igneel sighed, but said nothing for a while. "It's hard to explain," he said eventually.
"When you find your mate, you won't have to spend all your time with them, but you'll want to. When you're away from them, a part of you will crave them and all it will want is to return to their side."
"When I'm away from you, all I can seem to think about is when you'll be back again… I want to be around you all the time… My entire being craves your presence…"
"When you find them, you'll feel as though you were never complete before, like you have spent your whole life waiting for them to make you whole."
"When I'm with you, I just feel… I feel whole."
"Whether it's your food or your attention or even your horde, you'll want to give them whatever they want, whatever you can, just to make them happy."
"... my biggest desire is to give you whatever you want and be around you as much as possible."
"They'll be a part of everything you do. They'll be in your thoughts throughout the day and night. You'll want to spend time with them, whether they're there or not. You'll feel lucky to know them, let alone love them and receive their love in return. You won't feel complete without them around- you won't want to be away from them for any time at all- even for a day.
"My thoughts revolve around how beautiful I think you are. How wonderful you are as a person. How lucky I feel to have met you. How much I would give up just to spend time with you. Lately I've been thinking about the end of my contract and wondering if I can somehow convince you to make another one with me immediately after this one ends so I don't have to go even one day without being around you."
"Whether you'll admit it or not, your whole being becomes dependant on them. Your magic, your happiness, and to a point, even your sanity.
"My body, my emotions, my thoughts, my- my entire being doesn't feel complete without you around. I shouldn't be so dependent on you, for any reason. For my magic, for my happiness, for my sanity, and yet that's what it feels like."
"If you lose them… They take so much of you when they go, that you feel as though you died, too."
"If you were to drop dead tomorrow, I feel like my life would end…"
Igneel grinned and looked down again. "You are rather dense sometimes. Perhaps you should just bring her to me and I can tell you."
Natsu hit his dad in the leg. "Hey! I am not dense!"
His father laughed and easily rolled him onto his back. Natsu fought for a little while, laughing as he was knocked over again and again.
When he'd finally worn himself out, he quit fighting and just looked up at his father.
"If I did bring her, how would you know?"
Igneel grinned. "That's my little secret. Just know, if I were to meet her, I would know in a heartbeat she was your mate."
Natsu jerked awake, disoriented for a moment when he saw the walls and soft light around him instead of the harsh red landscape. The TV in the corner was still going, the characters in some show chattering quietly to fill the silence.
Lucy was his mate!
Natsu rubbed his hands over his face hard as he finally put the pieces together. That stupid other presence in his head. His growing attachment and inability to keep his hands to himself. His annoyance and restlessness when she wasn't around.
Natsu's eyes went wide as he realized that was how Lucy had known what his father looked like. Igneel's lingering magic from his scarf must have affected Lucy's dreams. That must have been why she'd avoided the nightmares he'd expected. It hadn't been his scent, it had been Igneel's magic! The dreams Lucy had eventually told him about made so much more sense now. It had been his father's magic that had kept her away from those dark dreams and simply cast them as storm clouds in the distance instead. Somehow, it had recognized Lucy and worked to help protect her from the nightmares.
Gods, it all made sense now!
Lucy stirred in his lap, reminding him that she had fallen asleep on him during the movie. He froze, every muscle in his body refusing to move as she readjusted and settled against him once more. That new heat in his veins flared and his instincts roared at him to wake her up and mate with her, here, now, now. He couldn't wait, he had to do it now.
Natsu's hands grasped her shoulders, but he stopped himself before he woke her.
He couldn't mate Lucy. He couldn't mate a human. It wasn't possible! It wasn't right. Dragons and humans couldn't mate- they weren't compatible. Lucy would never be able to bare magical children, and if he did mate her, it would stop her from aging. It would take away her human life, and she'd be forced to leave her home. Her job. Her friends.
As long as you keep your fangs out of her.
Natsu's nostrils flared. Leo had known! He'd told Natsu he wasn't allowed to mate with Lucy because he knew that Lucy was his mate!
Natsu used his magic to hold Lucy up as he slid out from under her and then laid her out on the couch. Once she was settled, he began to pace and considered teleporting to Leo's office that instant. The angel had known and hadn't told him! How could he?!
An old story surfaced in Natsu's mind and he realized it was probably better that the angel hadn't. It could have caused serious harm to Natsu's mind or magic if he had. Dragons needed to come to those revelations on their own, so he should actually be grateful that Leo hadn't said anything.
Had he known? Had he known he shouldn't tell Natsu, or did he do it to mess with him? The urge to find out was almost enough to get him to act, but Lucy's soft breathing kept him still. He couldn't just leave her there all on her own. It would take too long to get the proper protection runes up, and even then, he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving. There were no angels here keeping an eye on her when he wasn't around. It was just him. Him and the knowledge that no one would be able to find her while they were on this trip.
Despite the mental itch finally being scratched, Natsu found that he was still jittery. Figuring out that Lucy was his mate was monumental, and his desire to complete the mating ritual immediately was weighing on him. That instinct would take some time to control and he would need space to do it.
Natsu grabbed a blanket, blasted it with his heat, and then laid it over her so she wouldn't get cold. It had grown dark at some point and he didn't want her to wake up while he was gone. Once he had tucked her in, he left the cabin without a sound, heading for the ocean.
He just needed a little time to think.
An hour later, he wasn't feeling any better. If anything, he was more confused. He needed to talk to someone, but who? Happy wouldn't understand, and it would take him too far away to go use the portal to go speak with Grandeeney again.
He wished his father was there to talk to…
Then he realized there was one person he might be able to talk to. Someone who could travel to the human realm on their own and could meet him where he currently sat at the end of the dock. Someone who had their own strange significant other.
Natsu mentally reached out and then whispered her name.
"Erza…"
"I don't understand, sir. If we just told him the human was his mate, that would mess up his magic and make him no threat at all. Wouldn't that be better?"
"I'm not trying to ruin him forever, we just need him distracted."
"But-"
"Enough." The man at the desk rose and frowned at his companion. "One more argument, and I'll have you removed faster than you can say 'Please, no.' I have given you my orders. Follow through with them and leave Natsu to me. Do you understand?"
The other man nodded once and then bowed. "Yes, sir."
"Inform the other kings I would like to speak with them before you return to your watch."
The second man bowed again. "Yes, sir."
I know everyone has been looking forward to Natsu finally figuring out his shit, and here it is! I really wanted to play it the way that it did for two reasons. One, SO MANY of you don't read the dirty version. Two, Natsu is weird. I wanted him to have that realization in an unusual way from the start, and when I had the idea to add in the conversation with Igneel, I had the hardest time not jumping the gun and putting it in sooner. I hope you guys enjoyed it though, because I really enjoyed writing it.
