Hey Guys,

This chapter continued what Lucy and Natsu started, but also begins to set the story up for the subplot going on that leads up to Natsu and Lucy's wedding. I will try to post the next chapter by Friday, but I have a lot of meetings that day, so it might not be until Saturday.

As always, I hope you enjoy and feel free to review and comment.

- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Lucy

Lucy had just sat down with her salad when her door was slammed open.

"Lucy!" Wendy cried in earnest. It scared Lucy so badly that she nearly dropped her salad. After righting it, she stood and ran over to Wendy.

"What's wrong?"

"You have to come quickly! Natsu's in trouble!" Lucy's world stopped for a moment, but she took a deep breath and counted. Natsu had always been able to take care of himself, and her when she needed it, and Wendy, though a lovely person, had a tendency of blowing things out of proportion.

"What kind of trouble?"

"There is a contest at the guild between Laxus, Gajeel and Natsu. They are going to battle it out in ten minutes." Lucy thought for a second, a bit confused. This sort of thing was nothing new.

Lucy cleared her throat and went to sit back down with her salad. "Wendy, they've done this multiple times before."

"Yeah, but Lucy, you're getting married in six days! You know my healing magic doesn't work as well on him as it once did!" Lucy's world slowed and then came rushing back in sudden clarity.

"That no good, fire-breathing, son of a wyvern!" She screeched and headed out the door. She honestly knew that Natsu would be fine. He was in no real danger, but her wedding was. Wendy's healing magic hadn't been working on Natsu as well recently because of how often it had had to be used on him. She could still handle the big stuff, but for whatever reason, she could no longer heal the small bruises, cuts, scrapes, and even scares. Lucy swore that if Natsu showed up on their wedding day looking like a giant wound, he wasn't getting a wedding night!

She could hear the crowd two blocks away and picked up her pace from a jog to an all-out sprint. Just as she rounded the corner, the fight began and ended. In one all-out, dragon fueled, testosterone-filled moment, all three dragon slayers released their most powerful attacks. It was blinding, scorching, and piercing all at the same time and it left her dizzy and disoriented, along with everyone else. When Lucy could open her eyes once more, she realized that she had been knocked to the ground and that her outfit was scorched and burnt through in some places, though thankfully her skin seemed to be fine. Lucy groaned and lifted herself halfway up.

Looking over to where she had seen Natsu, she now saw just empty space, but she did see his feet sticking out from a second-floor window. Gajeel and Laxus didn't seem any better, but they had at least stayed on the ground.

"Is everyone all right?" Erza asked, stepping forward to take charge. Gajeel nodded and then cringed at the motion.

"Yeah," Laxus muttered. "I guess that settles it. For now, let's call it a draw."

"What!" Natsu's voice screeched from the building as he popped out and landed on his two feet. "No way! If you're standing then this fight ain't over!"

"Geez Flame for Brains, learn to read the room," Gray said stepping forward through the crowd. He was half naked of course, much to the appreciation of Juvia who stood nearby holding his discarded shirt.

"What did you say, Ice Princess?"

"I said read the room. No one wants to continue fighting."

"Oh yeah! We aren't even in a room!"

"It's an expression!"

"Yeah, well express this," Natsu yelled, taking a swing at Gray. Gray, sidestepped and tripped Natsu.

"Cool it, man! I'm trying to stop you from getting injured before your own wedding." Suddenly Gray spotted Lucy, who was watching, while trying to get to her feet. "Jeez Natsu, would you pay attention! Your fiancee is on the ground and you haven't even noticed." Natsu's fighting and defensive stance loosened as he spun around and looked at her. He was by her side before she could take two breaths and steadied her wobbling form.

"Lucy, what are you doing on the ground?" Angry beyond her own ability to talk, Lucy punched him in the head and started walking home. She heard him hit the ground, but a few moments later she heard him walking up behind her. She knew he wouldn't say anything and for that she was glad. She needed to cool down and think.

When they got to the apartment, Lucy left the door open so he could come in and she sat hard at the kitchen table. Taking her fork, she started stabbing at the salad and shoved whatever her fork had on it into her mouth. Natsu, poured her a glass of water and sat next to her. "You're mad at me."

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before she shook her head. She had been at first, but now she was mad for a different reason. "No Natsu, I'm not angry with you. I'm angry at myself."

"Really? How come? I'm the one who knocked you down and got into a fight a week before our wedding."

Lucy smirked. Natsu was one of the only people she knew who would obliviously try to talk his way into trouble. "Because I forgot something important Natsu. Forgetting it was the whole reason I was even at that stupid fight."

"Is it something for the wedding?"

"No, I'll explain it …" here she looked at her writing desk and smirked, "someday. Now go, I need to eat my lunch and have a few other errands to run. I don't need any distractions." Natsu smiled and leaned forward to peek her on the lips.

"You find me distracting Lucy," his tone went from playful to husky and Lucy shuttered. He certainly knew how to distract her when he wanted.

"Yes, very much so, but we can save that for later." Natsu shot forward and planted a heated and proper kiss on Lucy before pulling back.

"I'll consider that a promise," he whispered and left. Lucy downed her ice water and quickly finished her salad once she had her breathing under control. Throwing the dishes into the sink, she walked to her writing desk. She now knew how she could make him understand what she needed to express in this new letter.

Letter 4

Piece 4 - Your Fight

You just left my apartment Natsu.

You, Gajeel and Laxus just had your big fight and you followed me back to my apartment. You knew something had me mad. You didn't know what it was but you didn't pry either. I promised that I'd tell you what it was someday and today is that someday.

What made me mad Natsu is that I had forgotten that you are a fighter, in every way imaginable. I've already mentioned that I had figured out your destructive and spontaneous sides before this, but that day in the train station, when you tried your hardest to go through that wind barrier I realized that your drive to fight was just a part of you. You weren't fighting to be destructive, or win the battles, or prove yourself to anyone. You fought for others but more importantly you fought because it was an intrinsic part of you.

Most people would find this a turnoff, but Natsu, I couldn't have been happier. Up until then, I was the only fighter I knew. And I know what you're going to say, I don't like fighting. My answer to that is yes, I don't like to partake in the physical kind unless I have too, but I am a fighter. I fought against my upbringing, my father, the world's expectations for me, and my own doubts. What a lot of people don't realize though Natsu is that I fight because it is a part of me too. I always have to have a cause to fight behind and I don't give up because I can't.

When I watched you throw yourself against that wind barrier, I knew. You were a fighter like me and I stopped you because I couldn't lose the only person I had found who might understand that part of me. So, I turned my fight spirit towards you and held you back, hoping that I could win.

Lucy stopped and sighed, she realized that she was starting to ramble now. She'd have to finish this quickly and in a way that could get him to understand.

You are probably wondering how it is that if I'm a fighter that we are so different. I guess you could say that we fight in different forms. You are a physical force and I'm more of an intellectual giant. Just kidding. But no, I think in this sense Natsu, we are equal and opposite. We are equals because we recognize and respect the fight in each other, but we are complete opposites in how we choose to fight. This is why I think we work so well together and actually make the other stronger instead of tearing each other down.

Anyway, I know that was a bit odd and this under no circumstances gives you permission to try and fight me physically. If you do, I will challenge you to a game of scrabble, and we know how that will go.

Forever Yours,

Lucy

Natsu

Natsu sat in the cold stream that flowed near his house and just watched the sky for a while. He needed to calm down and he found that sitting in cold water often did the trick. Today had started out so well! He'd found out he was getting a surprise present and he had decided to give a present in return. Then he'd been able to train and go in an all-out battle with Laxus and Gajeel. It should have been a good day, but somehow it had been ruined.

The voice of the ice wizard suddenly echoed in his head. "Jeez Natsu, would you pay attention! Your fiancee is on the ground and you haven't even noticed." Natsu stood in agitation and stomped towards his house, not caring that he was soaked. He slammed open the door, practically tore off his wet clothes, threw them into the laundry basket, and put on a different outfit once his own body heat had dried him.

"Why'd he have to go say that," Natsu muttered and looked over at the waiting lacrima. He sat before it and placed his head on the table, just looking at it and wondering what to do. What he really wanted was to turn it on and go on a rant about why he was feeling like this, but this was supposed to be her gift. Although, taking a moment to think about, he realized that the day's events and the next piece actually did work well.

Sighing, he turned it on.

Piece 4 - My Jealousy

"Hey Luce, I just got back from your apartment. Today was the day I battled Gajeel and Laxus and you wanted to kill me, then you didn't. I guess it really doesn't matter. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that you weren't the only one who was upset. I guess I hid it pretty well, but I wanted to kill Gray after he said what he said." Natsu closed his eyes and repeated the line for her just in case she wasn't sure what line he was referring too.

"Jeez Natsu, would you pay attention! Your fiancee is on the ground and you haven't even noticed."

"Look, Lucy, sometimes I still wonder why you agreed to marry me. I know that I have my good sides, but I also know I can be a real pain. So, I won't lie, sometimes when another guy is more attentive to you than me, I worry that maybe you'll trade me in for them. That was why I made sure to kiss you like that today, even though we've agreed to wait until after the wedding for sex." Natsu rubbed his face with his hand.

"I can still feel that kiss right now. If it had gone any longer and you didn't stop me I know I would have taken you on that table. It really is a good thing you convinced me to wait. Because you're right, we need to have a really long honeymoon for me to learn to get this under control so I don't cause scenes. I'm just glad that the master agreed to lend us Tenrou Island until we are ready to come back. There's a bet in the guild, by the way, of how long we will be gone for. I'm not supposed to know about it, but Cana tried to bribe me. She doesn't understand, of course. None of them do, even the other dragon slayers. You get it thought." He paused for a moment, wondering why he was so different. Everyone else could control their dragon urges with ease and he had for years with more control than everyone else, then suddenly he just couldn't. Sighing, he turned back to the lacrima.

"Anyway, now you know why sometimes I do stupid crap or get very attentive right after another guy, especially Gray, shows you any kind of attention beyond the normal. I'm jealous and not the ridiculous possessive kind. If you honestly told me you'd prefer another, I'd try to convince you otherwise, but if that didn't work I'd let you go. I'd never recover, but you'd have your freedom."

"Honestly though, the first time I became jealous was pretty early on. Do you remember those people who worshiped the purple moon so they became demons? Well, you probably don't remember one small part, but it is one of the things from that mission that sticks out clearly in my mind. It was after everything. We were about to go home and everyone was beginning to settle down. That was when I noticed that you were close to Gray." Natsu's eyes narrowed and smoke rolled from his nostrils.

"And I mean, really close to Gray. He was sitting on the ground and you were leaning in. I thought for a moment you were going to kiss him and my heart actually stopped. I didn't recognize the feeling at first, but later I'd realize it was shock, mixed with anger, dread, and raging jealousy. You didn't kiss him though, thankfully. Instead, you were staring at his scar. I was still so fired up though from the almost kiss that I remember the conversation, word for word.

"It looks like it left a scar," Natsu says in his best Lucy imitation.

"Huh? It doesn't really bother me." He mimics Gray's baritone.

"It's on your face!" "Lucy" exclaimed.

"I don't care where new scares show up. As long as they're visible scars." "Gray" replied with a zen-like calmness.

"To my horror, you winked at him and said, "Oh… sometimes you have good answers."

"I had to do something. The smug smile on Grey's face and your wink were enough to send me over the edge. So, I decided to make Grey look the idiot."

" 'Huh? Then what are invisible scars?' It worked and we started fighting like usual. You just sighed at our fighting and smiled. That was fine. I was the reason you were smiling this time so it was okay. It was only afterward that I realized that I already thought of you as a good friend, in fact, my best human friend and I was willing to make sure no one stole you from me."

Natsu stopped and shook his head, his blood racing when he thought of the next part. He collected himself however and smiled at the lacrima. "Of course, I should have really been worrying about other people coming to try and take you away, but that is my next talk, which I'll do after I run some errands." Natsu turned off the lacrima and grabbed his laundry. He normally took it to a laundry mat in Magnolia and paid them to do it for him, but since he needed to go back to the stream to cool off, again, he might as well kill two birds with one stone