I'm sorry, you guys. I'm not sure you're ready for this.

For you NSFW readers, there's an alternate chapter and it is LONG.

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


Lucy almost asked him at breakfast the next day.

"Hey Natsu?"

"Wha'sup?" he asked, his mouth full of bacon and hashbrowns.

She smiled at him. "Nevermind. Just finish your breakfast."

He shrugged and returned to his food.

She almost asked him again when they were out exploring the jungle.

Natsu had insisted that they swing on the vines like he'd seen in the Tarzan movie. Lucy had tried to explain that it wouldn't work the same as it had in the cartoon, but he didn't believe her until he fell out of the trees several times. Once he figured out the vines weren't placed right, and that they were too flimsy, he used his magic to produce them instead. He even convinced Lucy to join him for a little bit.

It was while they were taking a break in the limbs of a large tree, watching a couple monkeys from inside their magic bubble, that she tried to ask again.

"Hey, Natsu?"

"Yeah?" He didn't look away from the monkeys, who had pulled some fruit from the tree and were now munching in between gestures and screeches at each other.

"Nothing. Nevermind."

He looked her way. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Later in the afternoon, she tried for a third time.

"Hey, Natsu?"

Natsu was sitting at the table, going through a magazine he'd gotten from a stand in the resort. He didn't look up or say anything when she called for him, so she said his name again. "Do you need something?" he asked, his eyes still on the magazine.

Lucy lost her courage again and looked down at the book in her lap once more. "No, it's nothing."

"There's been a lot of that today, Luce. You okay?"

Lucy wasn't sure how to put it into words. After she'd woken up to find Natsu gone from the cabin, she'd searched for a while before finding him out on the dock with Erza of all people. When they'd joined her on the deck, the demon had assured her that she was just checking in and Natsu wasn't in any trouble. Natsu had been rather quiet until Erza left, at which point he'd suggested they go find something to eat and then head to bed. She had been very interested in the second part, so she'd agreed, but after scrounging up a quick snack, all Natsu had done once they'd returned to their room was wrap her up in his arms and fall asleep. She hadn't pushed for anything more, choosing instead to revel in the feeling of his arms around her as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

She had assumed that Natsu probably thought she needed a break after they'd finally had sex, but she couldn't see that as the cause for his actions over the day. He'd been more hands off with her than he had since they'd started fooling around.

He hadn't held her hand like he normally would. He hadn't looked at her with those steamy, swirling golden eyes like he normally would. He'd barely managed to have more than a five minute conversation when he could usually go on for hours. He hadn't tried to remove her clothes even once throughout the entire day. He'd even gone so far as to tell her to cover up before they'd left to go out into the jungle!

Not only that, but he'd been less enthusiastic about everything. His current state was lackluster compared to usual. He wasn't smiling as much, or getting as excited about things, or being as hands on as usual. Not to say he was being rude or unreasonable- on the contrary, he was even more considerate than usual, but kept a distance between them and was almost too polite when he spoke to her.

It was driving her mad.

"I was just curious if something was wrong."

He turned his head her way but didn't lift his eyes. "Of course not. Why do you ask?"

"You've just been acting strange today. Are you sure you didn't get in trouble with Erza? You weren't like this before she visited."

"I'm not in trouble, Luce, don't worry. She would have punished me as soon as she showed up if I was."

"Then why are you acting so strange?" she asked.

"I didn't know that I was." He finally raised his eyes her way, and she was worried when she saw only black looking her way. "What would you like me to do differently?" he asked innocently.

Lucy didn't like his tone, didn't like his expression, didn't like his attitude, didn't like any part of the situation, and yet, she had no idea how to fix it. "Just act however you want," she said rising to her feet. "I don't want to control how you act, Natsu. That's not something people do in a healthy relationship."

With that she walked out, missing the flash of gold and the intense stare that followed her out of the room.


Natsu was in trouble. It had been no more than forty eight hours since he'd realized Lucy was his mate, and despite his best intentions, he wasn't holding it together very well.

He'd thought keeping his hands to himself would keep his dragon under control, that it hadn't helped. He'd tried keeping his distance, but that only angered it more. He'd tried holding his breath and putting ointments up his nose to try and keep from inhaling her scent, but his increased senses had proven that would be impossible. His magic, his senses, his everything was so tuned in to Lucy, he couldn't get a break from the need to mark her as his- the need to intertwine their souls and irrevocably tie the two of them together.

It was driving him mad.

At the moment, it was even worse sitting in silence next to her on the plane. She'd sat in her own seat first and decided to put her bag in the middle, forcing him to sit in the aisle seat away from her. He knew she was doing it on purpose, because she was still mad at him, but he couldn't help the hurt that raced through him at her actions. That she was choosing to keep space between them was much worse than the self imposed distance he'd been trying to maintain.

He considered trying to use the sleep spell he'd used the night Erza visited again, but knew it would only buy him a couple hours again. That wasn't nearly enough, and he had no idea how to deal with the problem. He didn't want to leave Lucy, but he was beginning to think that perhaps he didn't have the self control to keep from bonding to Lucy.

He might really have to leave…

"I don't understand why you're doing this," Lucy whispered.

Natsu immediately perked up. His master was talking to him, and that was more important than anything else in that moment. It was loud on the plane, so no one else would have heard her, but she knew he would be able to.

"Do you regret what we did? Because I'm human?

"Because honestly… I can't imagine anything being more perfect than what we did together. I know that we've been… doing things for a little while now, but none of that compares to actually being with you.

"It was… so much more than I can put into words. But I hate that it's created this distance between us. If I had known this would happen, I never would have suggested we sleep together. Well, you know, in that way."

Lucy knew Natsu had incredible hearing. How good, she couldn't say, but she was pretty sure he could hear her. Even if he couldn't, getting it off her chest felt good, so she continued to talk, even through the tears that collected and fell down her cheeks.

"I've come to depend on you- on having you around. Whether you're getting in the way or talking to me while I work or even cooking us food, I like having you around. The way we've been… I don't like it. It's like I'm living with my father again. Acting polite around each other, but never having a real conversation or even making meaningful eye contact.

"I don't want to end up hating you like I ended up hating him…"

Natsu couldn't take it anymore. He hated the pain he could hear and feel coming off her. He hated the distance between them. He hated the tears he could see and smell. He reached over and grabbed Lucy's hand to tug her to her feet. With his magic, he created a bubble around them and pulled her behind him into the aisle and towards the back of the plane. Using his magic, he scanned the plane for an quiet space, but only found the bathroom empty.

He didn't care. He continued to pull her behind him towards his destination.

What good was magic if he couldn't use it to have his way with his mate wherever he wanted?


Lucy barely opened her eyes as Natsu rubbed her hand to wake her up. When she eventually managed to wake up enough to look around, she realized that the plane had not only landed, but everyone else had already gotten off.

"I didn't realize we were home," she said groggily.

Natsu grinned. "You were sleeping so nice, I almost didn't wake you up. Unfortunately, I don't think the people working here would be okay with me just carrying your passed out body around."

Lucy smiled a little and then smacked him before stretching out her arms and legs. "Let's get out of here, then. I have a hankering for something made at home. The food at the resort was good, don't get me wrong, but there's just something about a home cooked meal."

"I'm guessing I'm going to be the one cooking the meal, huh?"

Lucy grinned and when she stood, she leaned a little too far forward as she slid her leg over the top of his. Natsu growled a little and ran his thumbs over her nipples through her shirt before she finished standing in the aisle next to him. "You ready, slowpoke?"

"I'll show you a slow poke," Natsu muttered to himself as he stood and followed her off the plane. His dragon was all for his current goal of feeding and then seducing his master, so for the moment, the pull was dampened as they made their way out of the airport and away from the crowds.

"You're lucky it's dark," Lucy said as they found a dark area to take off from.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, master. I chose our return flight on purpose. I refuse to take any sort of transportation if I can avoid it."

"That reminds me," she said as he used his magic to poof away their luggage to another dimension. "You seemed better this time than usual. What did you do?"

"I tried a spell Wendy told me about. It's not as effective as when she uses it, and it's got limited uses before I get used to it, but it did enough." Once she had her arms around his neck, he wrapped her legs around his waist, being more handsy with her than he needed to be. After a while, Lucy giggled. "Are you planning on taking me home, or are we going to stay here all night?"

Natsu looked around and weighed the pros and cons of both. "Well, if we stay here, I could have you again sooner…"

"No." Lucy shook her head. "We are basically in an alley. I don't care if the dumpsters don't stink around here, I have standards, and they are higher than this."

"But a plane bathroom is okay?" he asked with a grin before taking off.

It took Lucy a moment to gather herself, but she managed to find her voice again. "Well how else would I join the mile high club?"

Natsu frowned at her. "What does that mean? Mile high club."

Once Lucy had explained, Natsu forced out a laugh. "You humans are weird."

If only she knew how close he was to getting her there without the plane…


"That was perfect," Lucy groaned as she finished her food. Forget resort food, Natsu made the most amazing food on the planet. She didn't care if he'd figured out some way to cheat with magic, or that he wasn't a human, she didn't want to eat anyone else's cooking for the rest of her life.

"Luce… It's just spaghetti."

"But it was so good."

Natsu smiled softly at her. "Whatever you say, love."

Lucy froze, her water halfway to her mouth as he stood and began to clear off the table. He didn't seem to notice her action as he went to the sink to clean up the dishes, a clearly shocked Lucy left to stare at his back alone at the table.

She couldn't believe he'd said the word. It wasn't a confession, of course, but even using it as a pet name had some implications behind it, right? Should she ask what he'd meant by it? Did it mean he'd figured everything out?

Had he, perhaps, actually fallen in love with her?

Was the idea of them staying friends utterly ruined if he did?

She came to when Natsu waved his hand in her face. "You okay? You've been quiet a while."

Lucy glanced over and saw that the kitchen had been completely cleaned up and it was getting late. "Yeah…" She avoided looking at him as she finished her water and moved to put the glass in the sink. "Sorry, must be tired."

"I hope not too tired," he said as he appeared behind her, his hands warm and gentle as he ran them up and down her sides. "I was hoping we might… christian your bed, I believe is the phrase. We've been together in Peru and over Mexico, but I think it will mean more here." He kissed her temple, her answering hum music to his ears. "If you want to, that is."

Lucy swallowed as she nodded.

One more night. She could wait one more night.

After tonight, she would finally talk to him about everything. Whether he had figured everything out or not, she needed to know where he stood, emotionally. It was eating her alive to not know, but for now, she would wait.

Just one more night.

Natsu's thoughts were very close to those himself.

The next day he was going to talk to Lucy and tell her everything. About dragon mates, about her being his, about the struggle he was in and ask for her help to make sure he didn't convince her to bond with him. For now, he was sure he could keep himself in check, but he was going to need help if he wanted to stay with her. That could wait, though. Tonight he was going to show her just how precious she was to him in the best way he could.

The truth could wait one more night.


When Natsu finally rolled away, he stretched out and pulled Lucy into his arms. "Mmmm, nap time," he whispered before kissing her.

Lucy made sure to give Natsu a few kisses before he pulled away and she settled against him. "Sounds like a plan."

In no time at all, Lucy was sound asleep, nestled in his arms and looking too damn adorable for her own good.

Natsu fought with his eyelids for a while, just savoring the sight and feel of Lucy in his arms, before he couldn't fight the pull anymore more.

"I love you, Luce," he whispered, before exhaustion finally claimed him as well.


"I'm sorry, Natsu…"


Lucy woke up alone with the sun shining through the cracks in her blinds. She glanced around and saw that Natsu had gotten up at some point, but that was nothing new. He didn't sleep nearly as much as she did, so it wasn't the first time he'd woken up first.

It wasn't until she was halfway across the room that she realized she was naked. With a little grin, she went over to her desk and grabbed the tank top and shorts that Natsu had thrown there the night before. Despite the cool temp and the thin clothes, her body warmed at the images that ran through her head. After breakfast, perhaps she would have to drag him back into her room for another round.

She stopped outside his room and knocked on the door. When he didn't respond, she made her way to the kitchen instead, expecting to find him working on breakfast. As she entered the room, she realized there were no food smells, as well as no signs of Natsu. With a frown, she moved to check the whiteboard for messages. When she found nothing there, and no note on the table, she went back to his room.

This time when she got no response, she opened the door and found herself rooted to the spot, the blood draining from her face as she looked around.

There wasn't a single sign that Natsu had ever been there. The bed was made and clean, and the closet was half open with boxes, both full and partially opened, scattered around the room. The desk was clean, if a little dusty, completely devoid of the notebooks and loose paper Natsu had kept his notes on while researching her world.

She went back into her room and couldn't find any of the clothes he'd given her, or the necklace with the dragon he'd gotten her in Peru. The living room had been cleaned up too. The drawer with her papers and summoning tags was gone, as well as the red blanket Natsu had been so fond of and the dragon painting they'd hung over her desk. In the kitchen, she found her food wasn't as well stocked. Her cupboards were no longer filled with every available spice and she had an empty refrigerator shelf where a dozen or so hot sauces should be. Plue's feather toy that Natsu had gotten and hung from the window was gone, as well as the plush, ceiling mounted cat bed.

Lucy checked over the apartment twice more, fighting tears the whole time, before she finally had to admit it.

Natsu was gone.