We were asked about the wording of our update schedule where I say we update once every two days. Yes, it can be interpreted to mean Every other Day. But that's also the reason we don't say 'We update every other day.' It's two days between the posts.

Please, I beg you. In Parallels we had so many people talking more about the update schedule than the actual content of the chapters. I'm going to address this JUST ONCE. So please, please, please, please, for the sake of my sanity, let the weird way I phrase update schedules go. Please?

THIS FIC UPDATES ONCE EVERY TWO DAYS. Post, Break, Break, Post, etc...


CHAPTER 6

Pixies

a supernatural being in folklore and children's stories, typically portrayed as small and humanlike in form, with pointed ears and a pointed hat, and mischievous in character.


Lucy sighed in relief as she sank down onto her cushy sofa. It had been a very long couple of days after the mess in the square. Not only had Gajeel escaped, but she and Gray had needed to deal with the cleanup as well. Several of the wounded or dead had been poor and so devastated by the attack. She'd managed to direct several to various charities that would help, but several more hadn't been so lucky.

For those she'd pulled money straight from her personal coffers.

An action that had granted her several more hours of work to be sure, but it had been more than worth it in her mind.

Her mother had clawed her own way to the top, and had made sure Lucy understood that the wealthy had a duty to help those in need wherever they could.

It was something she followed with almost religious fever.

She was just lucky that the Heartfilia income was self-sustainable, and she had people she could trust in charge of the business side of things.

She shoved her thoughts away and debated pulling herself out of her inviting sofa to make something hot to drink when a mug of hot chocolate suddenly appeared in her line of vision. A mug that was being held by Natsu.

She blinked at the demon in surprise and then smiled a little as she accepted the mug, "Thanks Natsu." She replied, and raised an eyebrow when he cocked his head slightly at her.

Was it her imagination or was he looking at her with more life than he'd ever displayed outside of battle?

It was hard to tell, but it really looked like there was a spark of something in the back of his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Do you want to join me?" She ventured after a moment.

He cocked his head the other way, a faintly puzzled expression sliding over his face, before he slowly turned and sat down beside her.

Lucy had discovered that saying commands as questions such as 'would you like to-' tended to confuse Natsu. She wasn't sure he understood what a 'want' was, but he seemed like he was able to read into the implied command behind it.

His weight shifted down besides her, causing the cushion to compress when he edged in close to her.

Like it tended to lately, Natsu's warm weight draped itself over Lucy's side, his chin pressing lightly into the side of her head.

She didn't even flinch away when his heavy form dropped near her. As strange as it was, Lucy was starting to get used to the oddness of Natsu's impromptu snuggles.

Whenever he thought she was cold he did this. Whether it was to curl up next to her, or to provide her a blanket. He functioned almost like a source of heat.

Of course his very presence disturbed the foundation of her life, so Lucy really didn't find it in her heart to feel guilty about him doing nice things like this every now and then.

She noticed him staring at the cup of hot chocolate in her hand, with almost a curious look in his eyes, and feeling sparingly generous, she tipped it to his face.

"Do you want a sip?" She asked.

Of course he cocked his head at her in that way he tended to do when he was confused or acknowledging he heard her command. It seemed he didn't understand the context of what she was saying though, so she pressed the rim against his lips very gently.

She didn't think he had hot chocolate before.

Natsu blinked, a flicker of actual surprise crossing his face as he realized just what his mistress wanted. He reached up to gently grasp Lucy's hand, startling her a little in the process, to steady her hand and carefully wrapped his lips around the mug to take a tentative sip.

For some reason Lucy half expected him to react badly as the chocolate was still scalding hot, but he didn't. Instead he blinked slowly as he seemed to absorb the flavor of the drink, and after a glance at her carefully bent his head to take another, bigger, sip.

Lucy stared at him in astonishment. That was... the most animated she'd ever seen him by far. It wasn't speech or anything, but it was proof there was something going on behind his blank expression.

"Do you like it?" She asked tentatively, not sure if he would actually respond in any way.

However, before he could respond he abruptly jerked away and shot to his feet with a dark scowl.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked warily, reaching instinctively for her keys.

He was glaring around the room, an angry growl rumbling in his chest, and his nose going a mile a minute. Something had set him off. Though she couldn't imagine what. They were in the Knight's quarters in one of the most secure buildings in Magnolia.

Natsu snarled, uncaring of the hot chocolate splattering against the blanket. He reached for Lucy, tugging her up to her feet.

As usual she had no idea what he was doing, and was even more confused when he wrapped the blanket around her head, stifling over her nose. He left her eyes free to see, but all she could see was him apparently stalking towards the air.

His hands balled into fists, and smoke trickled from his mouth, but for whatever reason he didn't light his flames like he normally would have.

It took her a second to realize he was actually heading for the window, and in that same moment Lucy also realized just what Natsu's far more sensitive nose had picked up before hers.

Gas.

No wonder he didn't light his flames. No wonder he had wrapped her face in the blanket. No wonder he was now pushing against the window because of an enemy he couldn't fight.

His body swayed, movements thickening as he reared a hand back. His fist shattered through the window pane, just as Lucy's brain kicked in enough to realize there was no alarm, or shouts from her neighbors. This was targeted at them specifically.

Which meant this was planned.

Taking Natsu on head first was not an easy victory. They had to make him disoriented, unable to fight.

Easy to pick up.

Someone wanted Natsu.

That was the only explanation behind it.

Her blood ran cold at the thought.

Lucy watched as Natsu's eyelids dropped, his wrist resting on the jagged window pane as he sunk down to the ground. A long slice pulled at his skin as he dragged his arm free from the shattered glass, and Lucy rushed over to him quickly.

His eyes were dimming rapidly, and she suspected whatever they were using must work faster on demons than humans.

There were some ranchers that used old beekeeping techniques on demons with surprising success. And it seemed like those were what were part of what was being employed here.

His eyes drowsily met hers from where he was slumping down against the wall, blood trickling down his arm. Lucy grasped her keys tightly with one hand, and squeezed his bleeding wrist with the other.

He blinked at her rapidly, brows furrowing together as she squeezed his wrist again, this time to stem the bleeding.

"It's okay Natsu," she soothed as she saw him struggling to get up, "I'll get us out of this."

She flipped to the key she wanted most with practiced ease, and slashed it through the air, "Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" She called, and flashed a grin as Taurus appeared and his stardress formed around her automatically, "Taurus, someone's trying to gas us. Can you give us an exit?"

"Can do Mmmmmmiss Luuuucy!" Taurus mooed after a moment of obviously ogling her form. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some things would never change.

Thankfully, Taurus wasn't inclined to dawdle as he pulled his axe and bashed it against the wall the window had been on with all his strength. Which, predictably, took out the whole wall.

Her superiors were going to have a fit over the damage.

However, the gust of fresh air that brought in helped perk Natsu back up, so it was worth it in her opinion.

Unfortunately it also brought out the ones who had been trying to gas them in the first place.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the lead brunette and her prominent Fairy Tail mark, "Fairy Tail's after Natsu huh?" She growled, handing the woozy demon over to Taurus, and pulled her whip taut, "Well you're not getting him!"

She felt a trickle of old anger, boiling down into her bones. This was just like what had happened to her with Phantom Lord all those years ago. This is what guilds did to people who couldn't defend themselves. They wanted to take someone and profit off their wealth, or in this case Natsu's abilities.

Lucy would not let them have him.

"We'll just have to see about that won't we?" Cana smirked back as she expertly spread several cards in her hand, "Card magic!"

Lucy had never seen card magic in action before, but it as one crackled with lightning as it sailed towards her it wasn't hard to figure out what kind of magic it was. Lucy scowled darkly as she lunged out of the way and cracked her whip forcefully at the group of guild mages.

There were several satisfying yelps as the ground shook and dust and debris filled the air, but it was unlikely that was going to be enough to deter her captors for long. This woman, Cana Alberona if she wasn't mistaken, was an S class wizard in her own right. And there was no telling how powerful the people she'd brought with her were.

At least her attack should've alerted everyone else in the building there was a problem.

Cana certainly proved she wasn't just a Fairy Tail lackey a moment later when she threw her cards wide, missing Lucy completely.

Of course when Lucy turned, completely baffled over how Cana could miss, she realized she had done the wide toss on purpose. The mage snapped her fingers, her lips curving into a saucy smile.

"You're a tricky one, aren't ya Miss Heartfilia?" Cana pointed behind her at where the cards were plastered over Natsu's drowsy form, "Lets play nice, shall we? It'll just go by better for everyone."

The cards were flipped over, their backs facing Lucy so she couldn't see what was on the other side. But Lucy tensed.

Logically she knew Natsu was a weapon and capable of taking a blast to the face, but something in her stopped still at the thought of letting whatever magic Cana had up her sleeve go off and damaging him.

The thought of his curious face as he sipped hot chocolate flooded into her mind, making her heart wrench in terror.

"Natsu!" She growled and glared back at the woman, who was shuffling a deck of cards, almost lazily, "You're the one not playing nice! Get those things off him!"

Cana tsk'd and pointed at Lucy, "I'm not the one dressed like a cow and breaking apart the building. So sue me for having a little bit of insurance."

She wagged a finger and held up the deck, "How about it Miss Knight? I'll drop my magic if you drop yours?" Her eyebrows waggled.

Lucy made a growling sound that might have made Natsu proud if he even knew what the emotion was.

Reluctantly, she beckoned for Taurus to set Natsu down and closed the gate. She didn't release her grip on her keys though, her magic just at a hairsbreadth away.

"Atta girl," Cana grinned, holding her deck up and the cards flapping away from Natsu and spinning back into her hand. She could see a bright red, sparkly heart on the side.

There were little smears of glitter on Natsu's cheeks, and Lucy felt as if she had been duped. Those cards were dummies. Nothing more than children's cards sometimes given out as party favors.

"You!" Lucy gasped and jerked her hand up.

"Now now! You don't really want to fight me do you? Not that it will matter in a minute. You've already gummed up my kidnapping attempt by making all that noise," Cana scowled at her, "And to think we were trying to do you a favor!"

Lucy snorted derisively, "A favor?" She mocked, her knuckles whitening as her grip on her keys tightened, "Is that what you call trying to kidnap Natsu and me?" She glared darkly at the other woman, "Don't make me laugh Alberona. You guilds are all alike. You wouldn't hesitate to lock me in a cell to rot or ransom back, and you'd try to use Natsu as a weapon in your constant guild wars."

Cana's scowl sharpened at Lucy's bitter words, "Oh like you can talk!" She snapped back, "Your precious council is going to use Natsu as a weapon too you know!"

"At least that will be against the demons trying to destroy us!" Lucy retorted sharply, "Something, I note, no guild seems to care about!"

Cana frowned. Lucy's bitter hatred of guilds seemed to run even more deeply than their agents had let on. Was there some kind of personal vendetta there? It certainly sounded like it. Most Knights might dislike guilds, but whatever Lucy's problem was it seemed like it was personal in nature.

Unfortunately, that made it unlikely she would be able to get through to the Knight before the footsteps she could hear in the distance got to them.

"I very much doubt you have any idea what the good guilds care about." She told Lucy as she backed up a little, signaling her team to leave, "And I don't have time to explain it to you either."

She held up a card, "But I'll leave you with this Lucy Heartfilia... why would guilds exist in the first place if the Council was as rosy as you seem to think it is? Think about that. And watch your back. You might find a knife in it before long."

She launched the card, creating a smoke screen that left Lucy coughing just as Gray and several others joined her.

"Lucy!" Gray called out as he shoved his way through the smoke screen, fanning his arms out to try and clear it up.

Lucy was waving her hand in front of her face as the smoke finally began to clear, leaving the wreckage of her home in its wake.

"Yeah Gray," she walked over to Natsu, who was finally starting to sit up. He was lifting his bloody hand in the air as if confused as to what to do with it, and Lucy took his hand.

His eyes met hers and Lucy thought maybe he was trying to reassure himself that his mistress was in one piece while he was unable to fight for her.

She didn't need the help, but it was nice to know it was there if the situation arose. Still, she wondered what Natsu thought about being a hostage - if he could think at all. Something she was seriously beginning to think might be possible.

"Was that Fairy Tail?" Gray demanded, his eyes scanning over and around, no doubt being thorough in his inspection for traps.

"Yeah, they were trying to make a play for Natsu, and me by extension," Lucy grumbled as she turned Natsu's hand over. There was a long gash from where the glass had cut him deeply, and she cringed in sympathy.

Natsu didn't even flinch as she ran light fingers around the wound, gently prodding the sluggish stream, "I'll answer your questions in a second though, although the story is pretty straight forward. I need to get Natsu's wrist bandaged."

"What a great watchdog," Gray drawled lightly, and nearly jolted a foot backwards when Natsu's eyes flashed towards him for a second and he growled.

"I don't think he liked that Gray." Lucy smirked without looking up from her task.

"Since when does he not like things?" Gray demanded, a little unnerved by the unexpected reaction, "He's been a vegetable except when he's fighting or eating since you found him."

Lucy shrugged a little, "Maybe his sensitivity is growing the longer we're bonded." She replied and finished tying off the bandage, "Better Natsu?" She asked him with a small smile and gently ran her fingers over the non-wounded side of his arm.

He cocked his head slightly and whined softly, surprising her a little. It wasn't the same whine as his hunger one for fire. Maybe it was because he'd gotten hurt?

That made sense. He was flesh and bone after all. And no matter how sturdy he was, getting hurt had to well... hurt.

She smiled at him, "Don't worry." She soothed, "You'll be fine. Just leave the bandage alone while it heals alright?"

Natsu blinked slowly and then dipped his head in acknowledgment.

Satisfied that Natsu would be fine she straightened up and faced Gray with a sigh, "Alright. That should be good enough for now..."

"Captain Heartfilia!" A frog messenger spoke imperiously as she pushed her way through the crowd, "The council demands a report of this incident at once!"

Lucy barely refrained from rolling her eyes. She didn't like the frog messengers the council favored. They were entirely too stuck up in her opinion, and some of them were definitely power trippy if the rumors about the prison were to be believed. Exactly the kind of people she'd always hated most.

Though she was careful to keep that hatred to herself.

"I was about to brief my partner." She replied, studiously ignoring Gray's smirk at the faint sarcasm that apparently sailed right past the frog's head, "You're more than welcome to join us. Unless the council demands the report in person?"

Gray suddenly clutched his stomach as he was wracked with 'coughs' that didn't fool her one bit. She ignored those too, but it took all of her willpower to do so. The look on the frog's face was hilarious.

He spluttered out something and thumped his staff into the ground once more. Much to Lucy's surprise, the frog straightened up and shuffled backwards.

"No! I mean, uh. Just make sure that you send your report in to them as soon as possible! They want to make sure their investment will come to fruition." He sneered.

The reptile's eyes dropped down to Natsu, who was once more staring blankly at the floor, seemingly unaware that he was sitting in a pile of rebar.

Gray scowled as the frog picked his way over the debris of their quarters and crossed his arms.

"Their 'investment' huh?" Gray sneered, "Looks like they're not happy about Fairy Tail being bold enough to gate crash the council itself."

Lucy sighed and glanced over at where Natsu was seating, his eyes lazily tracking a moth.

"He may not look like much, but I think they're going to be very sorry they pushed the council's hand on this one," Lucy murmured, her brow creasing.

She watched Natsu lift a hand up, his fingers grasping towards the moth which fluttered just out of his grasp.

A flicker of concern for the demon pushed through her chest, and Lucy had to remind herself - for the hundredth time, that he was not someone she should really have pity for.

He listened to her only because he had to. If he was bound to anyone else, their story would be completely different.

Furthermore, he was the demon that had set their path into destruction.

And yet she couldn't help feeling protective of him.

There was no doubt that Natsu had worked hard to protect her more than once, and even if it was just programming on his part she appreciated it.

She shook her head a little, not wanting to think about it more in the wake of the attack, "Can we head to your quarters?" She asked, "I know you don't use them much, but they're close and private."

Gray nodded, "Sure thing." He replied as they started moving in that direction, "And you can stay there tonight since yours are trashed. There's room to spare." He frowned for a moment and pulled out his phone, quickly dialing his girlfriend, "Juvia?" He said as soon as she picked up, "Sorry, but I'm not going to be able to make it tonight..."

Lucy blinked, "No Gray!" She protested, "You don't have to do that! I doubt they'll try again, and I'll be fine..."

Gray scowled a little at her, "Lucy, Fairy Tail attacked you in the council building. You're my partner. Do you seriously think I'm going to leave you alone tonight after that?"

Natsu let out a sound that was somewhere between a huff and a growl at that, prompting both

Knights to look at him.

"Is he... sulking?" Gray asked in shock as he stared at the demon, but whatever might've been there had already vanished and Natsu's expression was blank again.

"Maybe you offended him." Lucy suggested and shook her head, "Seriously Gray, I'll be fine. The odds of them trying again are low, and I'm not leaving the council building. It'll be easy to raise an alarm if something does happen."

Juvia's voice sounded on the other side of the phone, though Lucy couldn't make out what the other woman was saying, and in the end Gray sighed reluctantly, "Alright. But promise me you'll call right away if there's a problem!"

Lucy smiled and nodded, privately relieved that Gray wouldn't be staying. She cared for him a lot, but the last thing she wanted was him prowling around restlessly while she tried to relax.

He quickly said goodbye to Juvia, and hung up as they got there, "Now, before I go, tell me the details of what happened."


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30 REVIEWS EQUAL A SNEAK PEEK

It was a couple of days after the attack at Lucy's, and she had been called in to speak with the council. In private.

Gray's stomach flopped uncomfortably at the thought, knowing full well that was never a good sign. Whenever the council felt the need to be secretive, it rarely spelled good news.

And unfortunately, with Lucy in the position she was in, that made her a large target.

So that left Gray sitting on his hands in the hallway, waiting for his partner to get out of the meeting with the council. His only source of company was...

Natsu.

His lip curled in annoyance at the blank faced demon sitting across from him.

At the moment he looked normal, but Gray could swear the bastard was making faces at him when he thought he wasn't looking.