It's a new day and so much more is new for Lucy. She was starting to wake up and saw she was asleep next to Natsu again. This time she was glad that it happened now that she's allowing herself to want it, now that she knows she actually does like the idea. Lucy sat up, but she felt a little sore.

"What the heck?" Lucy questioned as she wondered why her body felt stiff. She looked and saw she and Natsu were asleep on the floor instead of the bed with a blanket over them. "I guess we did get a little crazy."

"I'll say." Natsu said as he woke up himself. "It wasn't all that bad sleeping on the floor. A lot more is going to feel different, isn't it?"

"I'll say." Lucy said as she kissed him. Things are going to be different and they both like it. Once they got themselves put together, they got themselves dressed and cleaned so they could go on with the day. Both of them walked out of their apartment and they welcome whatever might come.

"You want me to walk to work with you?" Natsu said.

"Don't you need to be at the fire department?" Lucy asked.

"Not unless there's a real emergency. Don't you want people to see your new boyfriend?" Natsu said.

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone call you that." Lucy said.

"Because this is the first real relationship I want." Natsu said as he took Lucy's hand and the two of them started walking. Lucy looked down at their hands and it felt so warm with her feeling safe. As she tightened her grip, she could just feel their strong connection. She's seeing she's making the right choice.

...

Lucy

Lucy walked into work and she felt really good about herself. She hasn't felt something like this in a long time. As she walked in, Levy spotted her and saw the smile on her face.

"Someone sure looks happy." Levy said.

"You bet." Lucy said as she was on the verge of squealing. "I feel like I'm back in high school."

"Understandable since you're staying with someone you knew since high school." Levy said. "So are you going to tell me what happened last night?" Lucy made sure no one else was listening. She pulled Levy closer and told her all about it in her ear. "No way!"

"Your idea really worked." Lucy said. "When I made the first move, I actually found myself being happy. I realized that being with Natsu is actually what I want."

"I knew it!" Levy said.

"I just can't believe I waited until now for me to see all of this." Lucy said. "If I knew being with Natsu would be this enjoyable, I would have dated him earlier and he would have been high school sweethearts."

"Sometimes we're blind to what could be right in front of us and we need something to open your eyes." Levy said. "Haven't you ever seen a film in high school or something where old friends do become more than that?"

"You got a point." Lucy said.

"So now that you're fully enjoying it, tell me all the details. Is he really all that good?" Levy said.

"Levy..." Lucy said with a laugh. "You're really into this. When was the last time you went on a date?" As both of them shared a laugh, someone was coming over.

"Hello, Lucy." Lucy turned around and spotted Gary.

"Gary! Hi. What are you doing here?" Lucy asked.

"Who is this guy?" Levy asked.

"Gary works with Natsu down at the fire department. So what brings you here?" Lucy asked.

"I was hoping we could talk." Gary said.

"But aren't you needed at the fire department?" Lucy asked.

"No. I have some free time. So can we talk somewhere private?" Gary said.

"Sure. I don't see the harm in it." Lucy said as the two of them walked off.

...

Natsu

As for Natsu, he headed for the fire department. He felt just as great as Lucy, but he did a lousy job of hiding it. He actually danced around when he made it to the fire department and got Sting's attention.

"Wow. What's got you so happy?" Sting said.

"It's Lucy. She's into me." Natsu said. "By that, I mean emotionally and physically with..." He used his hands to gesture what he meant.

"Damn." Sting said as he laughed at this.

"I know!" Natsu said. "I've waited for years to finally be with Lucy like this and now it's finally happening. Now I know she likes me. We've already slept together, but now she's into me and now she's really my girlfriend."

"I'm not sure girlfriend is good enough for her to be called that." Sting said. "I'm only saying that because it's you. Although, I think it's great. Does this mean you're going to stop sleeping around? Cause that means more women for me."

"Yeah, I'm going to stop because Lucy is the only for me." Natsu said. "Now that I have her, I don't feel like I got some sort of hole in me. You should try getting a girlfriend too. No one really likes a womanizer."

"Oh no! don't go there! Don't even go there!" Sting said.

"You know, I bet Lucy has some single friends that she could set you up with." Natsu said. "She did once tell me about this friend of hers named Yukino and she's quite the looker."

"Then again, maybe it is time I stop playing around and get serious about a relationship." Sting said. Natsu chuckled and was starting to wonder if he would have been like Sting if he hadn't had or met Lucy. It was then that he noticed something on the computer that Sting was using.

"What are you doing there?" Natsu said and that was when Sting got serious.

"Oh yeah! Speaking of Lucy, there's something I need to talk to you about." Sting said as he turned to it and Natsu had a look. "Do you remember how her apartment building caught on fire and it was because of some damage in the building's wiring?"

"Yeah..." Natsu said.

"Well, I thought something was strange that a building like that would just catch on fire because of some faulty wires." Sting said. "So I decided to do a little investigating. It turns out that some broken wires wasn't what caused the fire."

"It wasn't?" Natsu said.

"No." Sting said. "The wires were damaged, but there was more to it than we thought. Those wires didn't break, someone cut them up. Someone cut those wires and made it look like they broke."

"Say what?!" Natsu said as he was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah. I went back to the building and checked it all out." Sting said. "Whoever cut those wires did a pretty good job to make it look like they weren't tampered with. Some of the building is damaged, but I did find this among the rubble." He pulled out a small black piece from his pocket and handed it to Natsu.

"What is this?" Natsu asked.

"A metal can that was burned in the fire. Who would leave a metal can in the middle of a hall?" Sting said. "Unless there was something flammable inside it."

"Are you saying someone started that fire on purpose?" Natsu said.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Sting said.

"But who would do that and why? That's crazy." Natsu said.

"I'm not really sure." Sting said. "Whoever did it is in a lot of trouble, but I did notice something else. This might be just a coincidence, but the fire started on the same floor Lucy's apartment was on. I could be paranoid, but what if..." Sting didn't get to finish as he heard a door slam shut. He looked back and saw Natsu was gone and he had an idea where he might have went.

...

Lucy's Apartment

Natsu went all the way to Lucy's apartment building. He had to find out who would do this and why since it put Lucy in danger. Once he made it to the right floor, he found the spot where the fire originated from. The hall was greatly damaged with hole in the floor, weakened structure, burn marks, and more. He needed to find some sort of clue that could tell him who did this and why.

"Why would anyone start this fire?" Natsu asked himself as he looked around. He found a hole in the wall and saw the wires that allegedly started the fire. He took a look at them and he could see Sting was talking about. They were damaged from the fire, but they were also made to look like they broke on their own. "Sting's quite the detective." Natsu looked around until he noticed something shining underneath some rubble. He cleared it away and found something in it. It was black, probably from the fire, but the real color was silver and it was made of metal. It was a silver bracelet and Natsu has seen it before. "Oh no..." He knows who started the fire and he couldn't believe it.

...

Lucy

Lucy was with Gary and was in a more secluded part of her work place.

"No one else is around. Can we make this fast, Gary? I've got to get back to some work." Lucy said.

"Lucy, what is the relationship between you and Natsu." Gary said. "The truth was that I wanted to ask you out, but I noticed how you are with Natsu. So I thought I just come out and asked."

"Me and Natsu?" Lucy said with her blushing. "We were just friends before, but we've decided to become more than friends."

"Really? When?" Gary asked.

"Just last night actually. We've had a few moments, it was awkward and such, I wasn't quite sure before, but now I am." Lucy said.

"So you're officially with him?" Gary said.

"Yeah." Lucy said as she turned away as she was getting all flushed. "We've been friends for years, but I guess I never really noticed how great Natsu and I are together until now."

"Sorry, but that was something you shouldn't have said to me." Gary said. Lucy was confused by that, but before she could question him or even turn to him, something hit her in the back of her head and she was knocked out cold. Lucy got caught by one fire that was warm and comforting, but now she's trapped by another flame and this one is insane.