ROUGHLY 10 MONTHS AWAY

The night sky rumbled angrily, warning pedestrians to take cover within the safety of their homes. Natsu turned to look at the dark clouds that loomed over him, urging him to hurry home before they burst and drench him with rain water.

Pulling his duffle bag up, he picked up his pace towards the place he called home that he shared with his Russian blue cat, Happy. His condo's building was lit with the chandelier lights hanging at the lobby, alongside rows of lamps lit to a golden hue to set a classy atmosphere.

A man whose name plate read Maximo was standing behind the reception's desk. He had dark complexion which hinted at his race and a curly bush of hair stood atop his head. Maximo, as Natsu had observed, only worked during weekends early mornings, and late night weekday shifts which made him think whether the young man was still a student or merely had too many regular daytime jobs. To Natsu, the dark-skinned man was too quiet and unwelcoming to be trusted.

The condo Natsu was living at was one of his father's many units but it was placed under Natsu's name, seeing as it was his parents' graduation gift to him. It was an expensive room, one that Natsu would never be able to afford on his lifetime. The building had two elevators for convenience and he was thankful for the extra lift when two people (sometimes more) were shagging on the first one.

Natsu pressed the Up button in the elevator and spared a glance outside to see that God or whoever was up there controlling the weather was merciful enough to spare him as it started its downpour. The elevator opened to reveal two people eating each other's faces. Natsu grimaced, not having enough energy in him to hide his disdain.

He turned to the other elevator to see that it was on the highest floor of the building. He contemplated taking the stairs but his bladder was demanding a toilet and walking while needing to control one's bladder is never a good combination.

Sighing, he pressed the other elevator's button and decided to take a cup of coffee as he waited, trying to make matters worse with his ongoing battle with his bladder. Approaching Maximo, he asked the man for coffee and the younger man did, though it looked like it was against him to do so.

A gush of wind entered the lobby, making Natsu shiver from the harsh bites of the cold air and prickling of the drops of rain that managed to enter the building. He hid his face against his scarf to better protect his face from the cold and stuffed his hands inside his coat's pockets.

The hotel's glass door opened and in came a woman whose hair was covered in a salmon-pink scarf probably to protect her hair from getting wet by the rain. Strands of brown hair that jutted out from under her scarf, dancing with the wind. She let out a huff and placed a manila envelope on the floor as she took out a towel from her hand bag and attempted to dry herself.

The woman sighed, her arms and legs now somewhat free from excess raindrops. She looked up at the two men who were standing near the reception desk. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Good evening, Maximo!" She exclaimed, waving her hand to the receptionist behind Natsu. He turned to Maximo and was shocked to see the man with a small smile on his face and a dust of pink starting to cover the receptionist's dark cheeks.

Maximo started to wave his hand and muttered a small greeting to the lady but she was gone. The only proof that she had ever been there was a wet spot by the entrance of the condominium, the excess bite of coldness that accompanied her when she came in, and the manila envelope that laying forgotten on the floor.

Natsu stared at the brown envelope that made his coffee table its new home. It had been on his condo for more than a few days now. Working as a detective at the local precinct, he figured waiting for a person to look for it would be easier than to file a lost and found for it.

He already had too much on his plate, a measly compilation of words didn't have to add up to it.

He patted Happy once more before leaving again. He was being called for an emergency meeting in the bullpen again. Only this time, he was willing to go seeing as they only had about a year now to prepare for his undercover mission.

"How's your perp count, Natsu?" Natsu turned to his childhood friend who was now the precinct's desk worker.

"Going strong as always, Lisanna." He grinned at the white-haired beauty. "I've only got ten more to go to reach our goal and Gray's still eleven away. My victory's already ensured."

"Stop spouting nonsense, flame brain." A raven-haired man smacked the back of Natsu's head. "Everybody knows who's the better detective between the two of us."

"You're right." Natsu smirked, "And it's me."

It's still early in the morning, the sun had just risen but Natsu knew that the ice bastard could jail some perp or two anytime and beat him. The thought fired him up and he was immediately back to his desk after the emergency meeting.

Turns out, it was about another case, one that was being led by Juvia. However, criminal attacks and misdeeds were usually connected these days which forced the whole squad to gather in hopes that it could give them a new lead for their individual cases.

Half a day passed without real action and Natsu was stuck reviewing old cases. The city of Magnolia was one of the top cities with not much crimes happening but when they do, boy do the bad guys go all out. Usually, they were just the usual cases of lost dog - or some kind of pet, a belonging that was found near the station or whatnot, and the most bland of them all, a lost child. Natsu hated dealing with lost children.

While he loved his co-worker's daughter, Asuka with everything he has, it didn't erase the fact that children were lousy and moody beings. He was lousy and moody, and having to deal with someone with the same behavior as him, he would surely die. He could barely even take care of himself.

It was around mid-afternoon when a blonde-haired woman walked through the precinct door. Her hair was disheveled and bags were forming below her eyes. Natsu looked at her and grinned, thinking that she must have been mugged or was dealing with an abusive boyfriend.

He motioned for Lisanna to take the lady to him. She sat in front of him and grimaced or maybe was going for a smile but her expression was filled with too much worry and anxiousness that her lips seemed to forget how to form an upward curve.

"What happened?" Natsu asked, hesitant now that she was in front of him. Upon closer inspection, she looked pretty, something that Natsu didn't usually notice. There were leftover bits of eye shadow on her eye lids and he could sniff out the faint smell of hair products when she brushed her hair out of her shoulders.

"My manuscript is gone." The lady spoke. To Natsu, her voice was oddly familiar though he couldn't exactly pinpoint where he had heard it before. "Last time I saw it was about four days ago when I was leaving the office."

"Manuscript?" Natsu echoed, starting to get bored of her. If it wasn't anything so dire, he didn't want anything to do with it.

"Yes, manuscript. It's for my story." She answered. "I was trying to get it published and I just got it back from my copy reader because I was having it checked but I forgot where I put it. I'm afraid that someone would find it and try to publish it under their own name. I worked hard on it for more than a year now."

"What the hell?" He muttered before sighing. "How boring."

Natsu opened his desk drawer to pull out the application for lost things when he heard a sudden bang against his table.

"What do you mean, boring?!" The lady exclaimed. Her eyes flared with energy and her hair flowed from her sudden outburst. Natsu decided he liked her like this better than when she looked so sullen. "Can I see the Captain?!"

"Whoa, miss." They both looked up to see a black-haired man whose hair should have been too long for a cop. "I'll take over your case. This idiot doesn't have a clear sense of priorities."

The woman sighed and turned to glare at Natsu before following Gajeel to his desk.

"So what's this manuscript about?" Natsu heard Gajeel ask. Natsu clicked his tongue before zoning out. Guess today was another bout of failure for him. Well, Gray didn't catch any perp either which spelled good news to him.

Natsu zoned out for the rest of the day, opting to gaze at Lisanna's smooth movements as she arranged stacks of papers that littered the front desk. Looking at her now, he wondered why they never went anywhere beyond platonic friendship. Though he does remember how Lisanna harbored deep romantic feelings for him for a good few years of their high school and college days before she went out with that jerk that broke her heart.

A sudden shrill from the precinct's mini kitchen shook him from his daze, the timer signaled the end for whatever their resident wannabe-cook, Mira, was making. He blinked, glancing at Gajeel's table to see the woman who lost her manuscript standing up, shaking the metal head's hand with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Detective Redfox." The blonde-haired woman said, aggressively shaking the detective's hand.

Gajeel stood up, stuffing his other hand inside his pant's pocket. "I'll contact you as soon as there's anything new with your manuscript." He let go of the woman's hand before fishing around his back pockets and retrieving his wallet. He took out a business card and handed it to the lady. "Actually, my girlfriend's an editor of a publishing company. If you don't have a publisher yet, maybe you should give her a call."

Natsu noticed how the blonde-haired lady's eyes sparkled at the mention of an editor. Why, Natsu could never hope to know. Sighing, he shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't have been as harsh to her. He became a detective not to compete with Gray but to help people and what he did just before didn't reflect his best intentions.

He stood up to apologize to the woman but she was already gone. Natsu turned to Gajeel's desk to find him already processing the woman's case.

Mira, the Captain's assistant, approached his table and told him to go to the Captain's office while giving him the cookie that was fresh out of the microwave. He obliged, hoping that Gramps had something fresh about his case.

"Natsu, how's your perp count?" Gramps asked. His grayish hair seemed to be receding more and more as the days passed. Natsu couldn't really blame the old man though, seeing as their precinct was pretty much notorious for its problematic detectives.

"I'm getting there Gramps." Natsu grinned, sitting himself down on the chair opposite of the Captain's desk even without being invited to do so. "I'm one perp ahead of Ice Brains and I'm planning on working harder to keep it that way and eventually take it further."

"Well, I'm very glad to hear that, young man." Gramps said. On his desk was a brown folder with the force's logo. Below it was the word Confidential written in bold, black letters. "However, I'd like to remind you that dealing with problems like lost manuscripts are also our responsibilities which means that it's also our priority to settle them."

Natsu groaned. He should've known he was being called for a lecture.

"Yeah, yeah. I realize that. I was gonna go and apologize to her but she was already gone."

"Good. I admire your drive but do keep in mind that even the small things can escalate to serious and alarming situations." The Captain's lips twisted upward in a small smile, the wrinkles around his mouth making themselves known. "Anyway, I didn't call you here for a talk about your behavior. Duke Everloo will be coming to our city in a few months and I would like you to take a look at the security measures. Erza will be busy with planning your undercover case with Gajeel and Gray will be trailing over the Duke himself by the start of the pageant. Which leaves you to the planning of outside security. It's wider and more your area than anything else."

Natsu grinned. Finally, some action. "Do you have the details already?"

Gramps nodded and handed him the folder that was sitting on his desk. "Everything's inside. We are expecting the Duke by early June so make sure you get everything done before that. I expect a full report before the end of May. You and Gray are in-charge should anything go south."

The old man dismissed him and Natsu made to go back to his desk to look over the details of the visit. He glanced over the notice board for anything new. There, on the very center, was the case Gajeel was currently handling.

ATTENTION: LOST MANUSCRIPT

DESCRIPTION: 120 PAGES OF A4 SIZED PAPERS STUFFED INSIDE A MANILA ENVELOPE

LAST SEEN: 4 DAYS AGO, 2ND OF APRIL X784, PLACE UNKNOWN

IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL 788-0999 OR RETURN TO THE 99TH PRECINCT OF MAGNOLIA.

Natsu sighed, still not over the idea of not being able to apologize to the lady. He got back to his desk and opened the folder. Grimacing, he ripped the face of Duke Everloo's ugly mug off of the files and threw it on the trash can beside him.

"I feel ya, what a piece of trash, right?" Natsu looked up to see Laxus, the precinct's sergeant and scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm thankful for the action his visit is giving me but I'm not exactly thrilled to see his face again so soon." Natsu grumbled. "I mean, the man was charged for rape, he should've been in jail instead of loitering around the streets like a goddamn royal."

"I agree, though what can we do? The man is a royal." Laxus said, before leaving to sip his coffee peacefully on his desk.

Natsu sighed and finished looking through the file for the duke's visit. Apparently, he was here for a photo shoot with the contestants for Ms. Fiore and some advertisements. Right, he was the royal family's laughing stock which meant that he wasn't really given any real responsibilities.

Grabbing his notepad, Natsu wrote several of the things that he has to take care of before planning anything concrete for the event. By the time he finished, the sun's setting was beginning to paint the sky a mixture of red, yellow, and orange, making the sky look multi-hued.

He stood up, grabbing his leather jacket that was hanging off the precinct's rack and bidding his good byes and see-you-tomorrow's to the people inside the precinct.

By the time he reached his apartment, Happy was already making a fuss because of Natsu leaving him without a fresh fish and a bowl of water. He seriously needs to take better care of the cat if he wanted his Russian Blue pet to last a while longer.

Reaching the kitchen, he took out a plastic container that had fish inside and left it out to thaw before giving it to Happy. Flopping down on his couch, he brought his legs up to rest on the table before fishing his back pockets for his phone. Natsu called Max's Pizza for his weekly doze of cheap pizza before turning the TV on to watch while he waited.

Switching from channel to channel, Natsu's eyes drifted to and from the TV. There wasn't anything new on the news that he hadn't heard of while he was at the precinct and he wasn't a big fan of television dramas. His eyes scanned the wide condominium before it landed on the envelope that was securely sitting on his coffee table.

Then, he was reminded of the blonde-haired woman frantically thanking Gajeel for helping her find her manuscript.

He didn't understand how something like a manuscript could bring so much worry in the woman's face. Was it her only copy? She did say that she was trying to get it published for a few months now. If so, she must be dumb for only having a single copy. In today's generation, physical copies were only printed out for formality.

Thinking about the woman's face painted with uneasiness, it finally dawned on him. The manila envelope on his coffee table might just be it. Now that he realized it, the woman did drop her file about four or five nights ago. But, the woman had brown hair. The girl at the precinct had golden, halo-like strands.

Natsu picked up the envelope and examined it, finding out that it did match the rather vague description that the golden-haired woman provided.

Sighing, he decided to drop it off the precinct by his next shift, figuring that it would do nobody any good if it just sat in his condominium alone for days on end.

The precinct was abuzz when he sat down at his desk after clocking in. It was barely ten minutes to his shift and everybody was already so busy. Natsu placed the envelope inside one of his desk drawers for safe-keeping before handing it out to Gajeel so that he wouldn't confuse it with other work-related documents.

Speaking of the devil, Gajeel emerged from the break room with a coffee-filled MPD-issued mug on his hand and a croissant on the other. Raising his hand, Natsu was about to call for Gajeel when Laxus, their Sergeant, called him.

"Dragneel, take Fullbuster with you." The scarred man's deep voice was imposing even for Natsu, making him nod without question. "There's a hostage situation at 2nd, Sergeant Scarlet and her partner, Jellal are already there but you're requested for back-up."

Natsu placed his gun in his holster before fetching the keys from Gray's desk. By the time they arrived, Magnolia Central Bank was already surrounded with police, medic, and even firefighter vehicles, making it hard for the pair to score a proper spot.

"Update?" Gray immediately asked Jellal, Erza's partner who was a former fugitive turned cop because of a pardon.

"Seeing as this is one of Magnolia's biggest banks, the hostage's number is quite large." Jellal said, his hand on his gun. "There are approximately a thirty workers inside, probably twenty or so civilians, and ten guards."

"You don't sound sure," Natsu growled. "You guys have been here for about an hour now, how come you don't have anything definite?"

"The negotiator's a new guy." Jellal answered as if that made everything make sense.

"Have him come back, my partner will do it." Natsu said, pointing to Gray who was quietly observing the situation.

"We can't, unless he has the training." Jellal refused. "This is a big case, we can't leave it to someone who doesn't have the knowledge to take on something like this."

"I can do it." Gray nodded, turning his attention to the blue-haired man. "I'm originally a crisis negotiator and I was one for a few years. I'm quite good at it if I say so myself."

"We already have a negotiator inside, man. There's no need to send another guy."

"Have Warren come back and send Detective Fullbuster in." A woman's voice interrupted the conversation turning argument between the three. They all turned to Erza, barking orders left and right for the sudden change of negotiators. "Get him a bulletproof vest patch for negotiator."

"Erza," Jellal breathed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Gray's a prodigy. There's no need to worry."

Natsu and Gray grinned, pleased to have Erza on their side for once. Gray was handed a bulletproof vest that said Negotiator on the front while Warren was being asked out. A few minutes passed before Gray was sent in.

To Natsu, it's always the waiting that sucks during hostage and bombing situations like this. Not because it made him bored but because every second they wasted waiting could be used for actually doing something productive to rescue the hostages. Every minute they waited, the closer the people inside the building were to death's doors. But being a detective for years now taught him that sometimes, waiting was crucial.

Although that didn't make Natsu's restlessness ease itself. It made itself known through the constant stomping of his foot while he crouched down behind their police-issued car. Waiting like this made Natsu want to be a negotiator and be the one to be inside the very building that was on the verge of collapse but he knew himself well enough to know that he wouldn't have the patience for something like that. He was more of an action guy, after all.

Gray was out again before they all knew it, his hands up in the air before joining Natsu and the others. "There's thirty employees there, just like Warren said. But there are fewer customers seeing as it's still only early morning. I counted and there are only sixteen people and eight guards."

Erza nodded, jotting down everything on her flip-note. "Their demands?"

"The usual." Gray said. "Money and letting them go scot-free from here. There's nothing to negotiate about, they're pretty close-minded and they don't mind hurting the hostages."

"Do you have any idea who they may be?" Jellal asked to which Gray nodded.

"I've been to many hostage situations and their style is similar to the way Tartaros do their stuff." Gray pointed out. "I'm sure this is one of their lackeys."

"Course of action, detectives?" A uniformed officer asked the four of them.

"Yes, send Gray in again after a few minutes." Erza ordered. "I need you to distract them while we take them out from the inside. We'll infiltrate through the back."

"Don't you think they would expect that?" Jellal asked.

"No, not usually." Natsu shook his head. "The department takes negotiations very seriously and focus on it if we can make do with their demands but this is something that's too big to let go."

"Fine," Jellal said. "But we're only sending a small number of people. We can't go. They've seen us and it'll be suspicious if we suddenly disappeared. Natsu, call for Gajeel and have him lead the uniformed officers."

Natsu nodded his head, turning to his radio. "4253, you're asked for on 2nd for a 707. Don't let yourself be seen by the bombers."

A second later, Gajeel's voice sounded from the radio. "10-4."

Turning to Jellal, Natsu nodded his head. "He's on his way."

Not long, Gajeel was on the scene and was simultaneously deployed to the back of the bank while Gray went back inside to begin negotiating.

Everything was quiet aside from the whispers of nosy pedestrian and police officers trying to get them to walk away or to at least step away from the caution ribbons.

Before they knew it, the hostages were starting to pile out from the entrance of the bank with their hands on the back of their heads while they were being led out by a few uniformed officers.

"Where are detectives Fullbuster and Redfox?" Erza asked one uniformed cop.

"They're still inside, tying down the bastards."

'

The three nodded their heads. "All units, on high alert!" Erza barked out. Gajeel and Gray were going out, escorting seven individuals with bizarre outifts.

"I guess even the terrorists experience spending problems." Natsu joked. "Figured they'd run out of funds sooner or later what with all the illegal shopping they've been doing."

"Bomb squad, deploy." Jellal calmly ordered. The said people were about to go inside the bank when all seven bombers laughed.

"To and for the Emperor!" They all shouted before a series of explosions erupted from inside the building, sending debris all over the surrounding area.

"Take cover!" Natsu shouted, grabbing Gray's shirt and ducking behind the car for protection.

When the shower of rock and splinters finished, the once glorified looking building of Magnolia Central Bank was degraded to something like remnants of history.

"Shit." Natsu grumbled as he looked at the bodies covered in rocks and blood lying on the street.

"Just how big is this thing really?" Erza wondered out loud as she looked at the dead remains of the terrorists.

When they got back to the precinct, Erza called for an emergency meeting at the briefing room in ten minutes.

While waiting, Natsu decided to take a sitting break on his desk and get his head together before the meeting.

"I talked with a hostage and turns out the terrorists from today was actually a secret organization under the name Avatar. They've been on the run for a few years now but have been very subtle about their movements that the police hasn't caught wind of them yet." Erza started, letting a picture pop from the television behind her that showed the seven people from today's bombing incident. "Which makes it weird that they suddenly come out on the open like that."

"From this, and by the way they conducted the hostage situation, we're thinking they may be working under Tartaros." Gray butted in. "From our little encounters with Tartaros members, they call their leader Emperor which was something that the Avatar members from today voiced just before they blew out the building."

"Are there any survivors?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, actually." Erza said, clicking the mouse on her hand. "This is Mary, the youngest member of Avatar and the lone survivor. The official statement was that everybody was dead for her protection but she's currently in intensive care and we will conduct interrogations once she's well enough."

"This is a new lead." Gray said. "May this take us somewhere."

"Meeting adjourned." Erza called out.

Everybody nodded in unison. Before taking a seat on his desk, Natsu proceeded to the break room for a caffeine break. It wasn't even noon yet and a lot of shit was already piling up one after another.

"Lisanna," Natsu smiled at the receptionist who was sitting at one of the chairs by the table. "Whoa, are you dealing with shitty criminals too?" Natsu joked, pointing to the two mugs of caffeine sitting in front of her at the table.

Lisanna laughed before handing one of the mugs to Natsu. "This is yours. I thought it's almost time for your coffee break and I was having one so I figured I might as well make you one too."

"Thanks!" Natsu smiled, taking the caffeine-filled mug and drinking it with much gusto.

"Busy?" Lisanna inquired.

"Yeah, though I think you shouldn't ask unless you wanna get in trouble." Natsu jested before ruffling her hair. "Anyway, gotta go. Thanks for the drink."

Natsu was about to go back to his desk to start working on his report when he saw the blonde-haired woman sitting in front of Gajeel's desk. He hurriedly walked to his desk to take out the envelope he brought with him to have her give it a look when Gajeel reappeared from the back with a bunch of manila envelopes piled on his arms.

Figuring that her manuscript must be one of those piled on Gajeel's arms, Natsu closed his desk drawer and started working on his written report about today's incident.

When he hasn't even written more than a few sentences, Natsu was already feeling dread seep into his skin, into his brain, and eventually, all the way to his bones. He was about to give up on the report when his radio sounded.

"We've got a 487." The officer from the radio informed. "Suspect's turning down 8th. Anybody copy?"

Springing up, Natsu grabbed his radio. "Dragneel here, 10-4!" He answered even though he wasn't a responding officer anymore.

Natsu went back to the precinct with the shoplifter in tow, before throwing him to the cell.

"Looks like I'm two perps ahead of you, ice-dick." Natsu smirked at Gray who was still working on the incident from this morning from the briefing room.

"Only because I've been holed up inside this fucking room, trying to solve bigger issues."

"Still, a perp's a perp."

Natsu went back to his desk to continue his dreaded report when the blonde-haired woman smiled sadly, shaking Gajeel's hand. "Thanks for trying, detective."

"I'll call you when there's more." Gajeel said, gathering the pile of envelopes in his arms again before turning around.

Before Natsu could say anything, the blonde woman was already walking away.

"Hey, didn't you find her manuscript or whatever?" Natsu asked Gajeel.

"Nah,"

Natsu piqued at the mention of the still missing manuscript. He ran back to his desk to grab the envelope from the drawer before catching up to the blonde-haired woman.

"Hey, it's me." Natsu said, smiling at the woman to try and have her warm up to him just like how she did with Gajeel. "I'm sorry for my attitude last time, I was just having an uneventful day."

The woman before him blinked before smiling. "It was fine. Do you need anything, sir?"

"Well, I noticed you looking at piles of envelope a while ago. How many batches did Gajeel show you?"

"Gajeel?" She asked, tilting her head in a way Natsu never once thought to be cute before. Until her. "You mean Detective Redfox?"

Natsu nodded his head, waiting for her to answer him. "Well, he took out all the envelopes from the storage so around ten batches."

"And your manuscript wasn't there?"

The woman shook her head in response.

"Well, it's a far shot but could this possibly be yours?" Natsu asked, handing her the envelope in his hand.

She took it and ran her hand on it's cover before opening it and taking out its contents. She gasped before looking at Natsu, tears brimming her eyes.

"This is mine!" She exclaimed, pulling Natsu in a hug. "Oh, thank you, detective! Where did you find it?"

"I found it at the entrance of my condominium." Natsu answered, patting her back. "It's a relief we found it though I'll need proof it's yours."

"Gladly." She smiled, taking out her wallet for to get an identification card. She then showed Natsu the papers in her hands and pointed to the very bottom of the first page. "See? It says Lucy Heartfilia. That's my name."

"I'm happy you found it then." Natsu smiled, scratching the back of his neck in apprehension for his next words. "Are you free later tonight? I wanna apologize properly for my behavior last time."

"Well, I am detective. Though I'm plenty satisfied with you finding my manuscript for me." She smiled.

"I insist, though."

"Then, I guess tonight would be my way of saying thank you."

Natsu grinned, harder and wider than he ever has before. "Meet you at Sakura Park by 6?"

She nodded her head. "Kindly tell Detective Redfox about my no longer missing manuscript, Detective..?"

"Natsu, call me Natsu." He offered his hand for her to take.

"Lucy, then." She shook his hand and for the first time, Natsu couldn't help but be aware of how calloused his hand must be and how rough it must feel against her silk-like hand. "Just Lucy."

"I'm sorry for not returning your manuscript as soon as I saw it." Natsu apologized for the third time that night. "The manuscript was dropped by some woman with brown hair so I didn't really think it'd be yours."

It was already ten minutes past nine in the evening and Natsu offered to walk Lucy home and so here they were, walking together while the city slept. As they walked, Natsu couldn't help but think that they must live close together seeing as if they just walked a few more minutes, they would be arrive at his building.

"Well, I do wear wigs from time to time for photo shoots and stuff." Lucy giggled, curling more into herself to keep the cold from clinging to her. "Wait, were you that pink haired guy who was standing beside my building's receptionist about a week ago?"

Natsu's eyes widened at Lucy's words. "You were that brown haired girl?!"

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes filling with excitement for reasons unknown to Natsu. "Oh man, you live in my building?!"

"Damn, I can't believe this!" Natsu barked out a laugh at the coincidence of it all. "I was just thinking about how we must live close to each other!"

Lucy laughed out loud without any care for the people resting safely inside their homes. Once they were inside the building, Lucy greeted Maximo and chatted with him while Natsu waited for the elevator to go down.

Once inside the elevator, Natsu asked Lucy which floor she stops at. "16th." She simply says and Natsu's eyes widen for the nth number of time that night.

"No way," He whispered, pressing the floor number that they both share.

"What, don't tell me you live there as well?"

"I do!"

"I cannot believe this." Lucy chuckled, shaking her head.

Once the elevator door opened, Natsu was about to say goodbye to Lucy when he saw that she was eyeing the way to his room as well. "Which way are you?" He decided to ask first.

"Left, you?"

"Same."

Lucy groaned, palming her forehead. "How is it possible that we live so near yet never run to each other?"

Natsu opted not to answer her question and simply shrugged, leading the way to their rooms. They walked silently until Lucy stopped infront of a door that said 306. "Well, this is me. Good night and thanks for today."

Natsu remained still, making Lucy tilt her head in confusion. "I live right next to you," He informed her, pointing to the next door over that said 307. "I cannot believe this!"

Lucy laughed, clearly not surprised anymore at the news. "I figured we did seeing as my room is the second to the last one of the corridor. I feel safe knowing that I have a detective who lives right next to me."

Natsu couldn't help but smile at Lucy's words. "Well, I don't think I can sleep tonight knowing that there's a beautiful woman sleeping at the room next to mine." He joked before bidding her a goodnight and a promise of seeing each other tomorrow.