Natsu blearily cracked open an eyelid and peered around the small bedroom of the tree house. He sighed contentedly and looked down at Lucy; grinning to himself he kissed her hair, then her forehead and began peppering kisses on her cheeks and neck. She groaned and flailed her arms, refusing to wake up. He dodged her sleepy punches and aimed a kiss at her lips.

"THWACK!"

Natsu's cheek burned as his face was forcefully pushed away with a strong backhand.

"OW! LUCE!"

She glared at him sleepily and pouted, "why did you wake me up!?"

Natsu looked at her sheepishly, "…I wanted…to kiss you?..."

She rolled her eyes at him, the nodded her head in approval. Natsu grinned and dipped his head down, pressing his lips gently against hers. The kiss began chastely, but soon became heated as Natsu rolled the over and caged her under him, moving his lips insistently against Lucy's. He allowed her to pull away momentarily for air, before connecting with hr mouth again and probing her lower lip with his tongue. Lucy groaned and broke the kiss, gasping. Natsu began trailing kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone. Lucy ran her hands through his hair, tugging lightly at the pink strands, making him growl as he nibbled her neck.

"mmm…er…N-Natsu," Lucy gasped as he sucked on a particularly sensitive patch of skin.

"I…think…you're go…nnna, leave…so…mme, ma-marks."

He pulled up and looked at her grinning mischievously, "good," he pecked her lips lightly. "Then everyone knows your mine…"

He began kissing her more tenderly, Lucy moaned and pushed at his shoulders; he whined at her and pouted.

"No!...Natsu, marks means the girls ask questions. And we need to head back…the storms over now."

Natsu groaned and rolled off her. Lucy felt something hard brush against her thigh and blushed; he looked at her grumpily.

She sighed and gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry ok, but we can always do this later."

A grin spread across his face, "Really?"

"Yeah…but we'll be in more trouble if we don't head back soon."

"You're right…I just wanted to stay longer."

Natsu got up reluctantly and headed to the washroom, to deal with the problem in his undershorts. You're gonna kill me one day Luce.

Lucy stretched and walked across the room to pick up her dry sundress. She slipped it over her head and inspected the pink marks on her neck. She couldn't even cover them with her hair. She was surprised he had been so compliant, but now that they were both aware of each other's feelings, he had clearly become very affectionate, very quickly; not that Lucy minded. She was concerned though; what if he expected something from her that she wasn't prepared to do.

Natsu re-entered the room, blushing slightly and picked up Happy. He took Lucy's hand and entwined their fingers; grinning, he pulled her towards the door.

"Come on then, let's head back."

They made their way quietly through the damp jungle; Natsu looked around carefully. Lucy tilted her head, puzzled, "Natsu are you sure Gildarts would still be around? We spent the night at the treehouse; surely he would have given up?"

Natsu frowned, "we can't be too careful, he can be persistent when he wants to be…"

"No offence, but they were just some dodgy pictures."

Natsu chuckled, "yeah, but he probably liked em…a lot!"

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. Lucy shivered and cringed, "NO Natsu! Just…NO!"

Natsu smirked and wrapped an arm round her waist, "I don't need pictures though…" He kissed her cheek and rested his forehead against hers.

"I've got my girl who I can look at any time…" He winked at her suggestively.

Lucy went bright red and turned her head away quickly, he chuckled, "You get so easily flustered Luce…You're so fun to tease."

She scowled at him, cheeks still pink and pried his hands off her hips, "No looking for you, unless you behave!"

He outed and placed an arm round her shoulder. They continued walking until they reached the edge of the jungle and the beach came into view. Lucy heard faint snores and frowned; she nudged Natsu and pointed towards the source of the loud, gravelly sounds of slumber. Gildarts sat, propped up against a tree, sleeping soundly; a bottle of rum in one hand and Natsu's white scarf in the other.

"Oh shit!" Natsu exclaimed, tugging at his hair.

"I used my scarf as a false trail. Now he has!"

Natsu kicked his feet angrily in the sand. "How am I gonna get it back!?"

Lucy pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head as Gildarts stirred slightly. They hid themselves behind a thick palm tree; as he settled back against the bark, snoring louder. Natsu and Lucy breathed collective sighs of relief and grinned, nervously at each other. Happy bounded over to them, from his quest to attack butterflies and mewed when he saw Gildarts. He cheerfully trotted over to the sleeping pirate.

"NO! HAPPY! NO!" Natsu whispered urgently.

Lucy tugged him back behind the tree.

Happy sat himself next to Gildarts titling his head from side to side. He sniffed him, wiggling his whiskers and chirruped when he saw Natsu's scarf. He tentatively prodded it with a paw and nuzzled his face into it. Happy grabbed it in his mouth and began tugging it away from Gildarts.

"That's it Buddy! Get the scarf!"

Natsu cheered quietly from behind the tree. Lucy jumped when Gildarts began to wake up again. Oh shit! She patted Natsu's arm and pointed. He grimaced as he watched Gildarts groan and open his eyes, looking down curiously at Happy. The cat gave another tug on the scarf held tightly in Gildarts's grip.

"Sorry Happy," Gildarts chuckled. "I'm keeping hold of this. I've got a score to settle with the owner…" He grinned darkly.

Natsu and Lucy watched, trembling behind the tree. Gildarts pulled the scarf away from the small blue cat. Happy, widened his eyes and stared up at Gildarts cutely, mewing pathetically. Gildarts scoffed, "That ain't gonna work cat!"

Happy's eyes narrowed and he exposed his small white fangs in a snarl. Gildarts blinked at the cat's aggressive behaviour.

"Jeez cat, I ain't givin ya the dumb scarf…"

A low growl resounded in Happy's throat as he paced threateningly in front of Gildarts; his blue tail, puffed out, back arched, he resembled a tiny blue tiger. Gildarts watched Happy warily, pulling the scarf further away. Happy pounced, suddenly; attaching himself to Gildarts head, yowling and spitting wildly.

"AAAHHHHHH! Get off me ya crazy cat!"

Lucy and Natsu chuckled behind the tree as they watched Gildarts try and tug Happy off his face. The cat clawed and bit his nose and face madly, digging his claws I Gildarts's scalp. The scarf floated down to the floor, as Gildarts stumbled around with a blue ball of fluff, attached firmly to his head.

Natsu raced darted around the tree and picked up the scarf, bolting away across the beach, Lucy following close behind. Natsu rooted round in his pocket and pulled out a small piece of dried cod. He tossed it behind him; Happy immediately detached himself Gildarts's head and bounced gleefully along the sand towards the source of food. Gildarts whimpered, gingerly prodding the cuts on his face. He looked up and watched the flash of pink and blonde dashing across the sand. Natsu waved his scarf tauntingly above his head.

"SUCKER!"

"WATCH YOUR BACK NATSU DRAGNEEL!"

Groaning Gildarts leant back against the tree. Happy had finished his treat and padded over to Gildarts, looking at him expectantly.

"What I ain't got anything for ya. You scratched my handsome face up, ya damn cat!"

Happy's eyes narrowed dangerously again.

"I'm sorry!...P-please d-don't hurt m-meee…"

Lucy bent over, gasping for air as they reached the door of the mess hall. Natsu tied his scarf round his head, pulling back his unruly pink locks.

"HA! HA! That was fun partner!"

He grinned lazily and kissed the top of her head. Lucy frowned, blushing and slapped his arm.

"Be careful! Do you want people to see?!"

Natsu pouted, "what's the problem with that?"

He let his hands treail from her waist to her hips, making her scowl.

"What will Laxus do if he sees this!" she hissed.

Natsu laughed and smirked, "he was the one who told me ta talk to ya."

Lucy raised her eyebrows in disbelief; Natsu sighed and scratched his head.

"Listen…I'm serious OK. We'll talk to him first. Me and him had an agreement and he's gotta hold up his end of the bargain." Natsu grinned smugly.

Lucy bit her lip and looked away across the lagoon.

"I'm just really happy that a girl like you is interested in a guy like me…"

Lucy blushed; "I'm just worried about how the crew will react. They're a bit crazy you know…"

Natsu chuckled, "It'll be fine! Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

He placed a hand on the mess hall door.

"Good luck kiss?" He grinned at her hopefully.

Lucy pouted, blushing and waved her hand dismissively, "…later."

They pushed the doors open to be greeted by a very terse looking Erza. Natsu cowered behind Lucy who began to sweat nervously.

"Oh!...Ha!Ha! Hey Erza. Good to see you!"

Lucy grinned a little too enthusiastically.

Erza frowned at them and grabbed their wrists, dragging them towards the bar.

"Do you two have any idea how worried we were!" Natsu fumed at them as they shrank back on the chairs she had pushed them into.

"How mature of you! Disappearing off, when it suits you and at such an unpredictable time as well! Are you not ashamed?!"

Natsu was whimpering as he clung onto Lucy.

"P-please Erza. We were…we were just running away from Gildarts and then we went to the…t-treehouse and then it rained and so we…s-stayed longer…we're very, very sorry!"

Lucy pleaded and stared wide eyed at the angry pirate.

"There will be NO EXCUSES! I will talk to Gildarts later, but you two!-"

"They're going to speak to me." Makarov stood solemnly behind Erza, his bushy eyebrows raised.

"Oh…y-yes Captain," Erza bowed her head and walked away.

"Follow me."

Lucy and Natsu shuffled towards Makarov's office.

They stood nervously in front of Makarov's desk

"We're sorry!" Natsu blurted out. "We were just getting away from Gildarts!"

Laxus frowned at him, while Makarov clasped his hands together a wan smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Lucy agreed, "We got stuck at the treehouse because of the storm."

Laxus crossed his arms and looked between them, "we'll talk about this later you guys."

The door of the office slammed behind him; Lucy and Natsu were left with only Makarov in the office.

He grinned at them. "Don't worry I'm not mad, but you did make me worried. I almost sent out people to look for you, but Cana was able to explain the situation to me."

Thank God! "We're really sorry Captain."

"No it's ok. I need to talk to Gildarts later, he hasn't been acting very maturely lately and that stunt you two pulled was quite funny."

He grinned cheekily, "Did you two talk?"

"What?..."

Makarov laughed heartily, "Come on, you didn't think I would notice. Laxus tells me what goes on from time to time."

Natsu flushed, "We did talk…"

The Captain giggled and covered his mouth in a girly manner.

"Oh!?"

Natsu huffed and placed an arm round Lucy, "Look me an Luce are together now, is that what ya wanted to hear Gramps?"

The Captain beamed at them and nodded, clapping his hands gleefully. "Oh! This is too cute!"

Then he looked at Natsu seriously, "I hope there was no funny business!" He wagged his finger threateningly.

"NO! I'd never-"

"Good. Ok then pack up your stuff, we're leaving in the afternoon."

"Thanks Captain."

They sat down tiredly at a table after dragging a duffle bag each back to the mess hall. Gildarts had been holed up in the Captain's office after he had tried to attack Natsu when he returned from the beach covered in cat scratches; Happy sat smugly on a stool, watching the bedraggled pirate get hauled away by Makarov. Natsu had been a bit jumpy since the meeting in Makarov's office; Lucy bet it was because of the impending talk with Laxus. It was nice though; he held her hand in his under the table and hadn't let it go. Laxus finally strode over to their table, his heavy boots thudding on the floor.

"Would you like to tell me what two were up to at that shack?"

Natsu clenched his fists, "It's not a shack-"

Lucy stopped him by punching his arm hard; he massaged it scowling and turned to face Laxus.

"We talked OK and now you've got ta talk to Mira!"

Lucy could have sworn she saw Laxus blushing. "Alright! Keep it down!"

The blonde pirate sighed and pulled on his short blonde hair. "So what? You two together now?..."

"Yes!" Natsu replied, gleefully pulling Lucy against his chest.

Laxus grumbled and looked at Lucy, "You happy bout this?"

She nodded, "yeah I am."

Laxus grinned, "just look after him kay, you'll be dealing with 19 years' worth of pent up sexual frustration…"

Natsu went bright red, "don't say that!"

Laxus chuckled and walked away, "well done Natsu, ya finally grew some balls."

Lucy laughed as Natsu sank back, embarrassed and completely flustered, "Who's easy to tease now?..."

He scowled at her and pouted, "just you wait and see Luce, just you wait and see…"

The threat fell on deaf ears as Lucy snorted and gulped from her tankard. She looked around the mess hall and saw Levy, Mira, Lisanna and Cana huddled in a group at the bar; whispering and pointing and her and Natsu. Lucy grimaced, I am not gonna be prepared for how many questions they're going to ask me, let the interrogation commence!

Gajeel walked up to their table grinning wide. "So Salamander, did ya finally get some after 19 years."

Natsu shook his head blushing, "N-no, but I did get a girlfriend!" He pulled Lucy closer.

"Well done man! That'll take Stripper down a notch, his boasting was getting unbearable."

"But what about you and Levy?" Lucy asked quietly.

Gajeel shrugged, "I don't like to show off." With that he strode off towards the bar, while Natsu snorted into his mug.

The pirates boarded their respective ships; (Bacchus had tried to take Cana with him, but Gildarts had refused) and set off on the coarse to Tenrou Island. The three pirate ships sailed next to each other, over the deep blue waves, the late afternoon sun reflecting off of the crests. Lucy and Natsu ran back to their cabin as Lucy watched Mira approach them on deck a gleeful smile on her pretty face. You won't be so smug Mira, when Laxus talks to you!

Once they had reached the safety of the cabin, Natsu had flopped on the bed, while Lucy grabbed a cloth to try and dust the wooden surfaces. Once she had unpacked, Natsu had grinned at her cheekily and patted her spot on the bed. Sighing she hopped over him and laid down, curling against his chest.

"This is nice…" He whispered as he nuzzled her neck, Lucy hummed in agreement.

Lucy felt at home again, wrapped up in Natsu's warmth, with Happy purring at the end of the bed and the sound of the waves lapping against the side of the ship.

"Can I kiss you now?"

Lucy grinned at the hopeful look in his black eyes, "yes…you can."

Natsu pulled her across his chest and closed the distance between them; Lucy felt her body heat up, as their lips met and moaned slightly, she could feel Natsu smirk into the kiss, before he moaned himself when she bit his bottom lip, lightly. They broke apart; Natsu touched his bottom lip with his finger as Lucy giggled softly.

"Ya little minx."

He rolled them over, pulling Lucy underneath him and attacked; biting down lightly on the sensitive part of her neck.

"Ah! Natsu, you bit me!"

"You bit me too!" He nuzzled the small bite mark on Lucy's neck.

"Yeah, but not on your neck!"

He chuckled lowly and kissed her again, before paying attention to her jaw. Lucy ran her hands lazily through his hair and over his back; he hummed in approval and connected their lips again.

"Ahem!"

Lucy opened her eyes and looked towards the door. Mira stood there in a long sleeved black dress, with a very smug grin on her face. Lucy quickly pushed Natsu off her, he looked at her puzzled; then he saw Mira and flushed heavily.

"Er…I'll be in the washroom…"

Lucy mumbled some choice curses under her breath as she watched her boyfriend hide in the bathroom.

"Oh, Lucy I just came up to tell you to come down to dinner," Mira said with a sweet smile.

No you just wanted to spy on us! Nosey pirate!

Lucy sat up and tried to sort out her mussed hair, "we'll be down soon Mira."

"Ok then…and Lucy us girls are having a small sleepover in Erza's cabin, Levy will bring you along."

Oh God!

"Ha, ha sure thing…I can't wait."

Mira grinned, "Neither can I! See ya soon Lucy."

Once Mira had left, Lucy banged on the washroom door, "you'd better come out you coward, you left me to fend for myself!"

The door cracked open slightly as a black eye peered out. "Can I kiss you again now?"

"NO!"

The door swung open as Natsu flopped forward and grovelled on the floor in front of her, gripping onto her legs.

"Luceee…I'm sowwwyyyy!" He mock sobbed, looking up at her with wide puppy-dog eyes.

Lucy groaned as she felt her anger fading.

"Get up! You're lucky I can't stay mad at you long!"

Natsu scrambled to his feet and pulled her into a bear-like hug.

"Love you." He whispered into her hair.

"Love you too." Came the muffled reply.

"Come on, let's go get some food and get this over with."

"Lucy I don't want you to leave me tonight, can't you get away from that girls' night early…please?"

Lucy smiled at his glum face, "believe me I'll try, it's gonna be frustrating as hell!"