Hey guys! Sorry this one is a bit late today. I had some editing to do to make this flow since I changed where the chapters were, and it took longer than I thought lol. That said, I truly hope you guys enjoy the long chapter. Please note though... THIS CHAPTER IS NSFW! PLEASE NOTE THE PURITY MARKS (####) AND AVERT THINE DELICATE EYES IF SUCH THINGS BUG YOU!

Love you guys! Enjoy! :)

~~Kytrin

THIS FIC UPDATES EVERY 3 DAYS: Post, Break, Break, Post!


CHAPTER 43

Succubus

A succubus is a demon in female form or supernatural entity in folklore (traced back to medieval legend) that appears in dreams and takes the form of a woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual activity.


They managed to arrive back at Lucy's place without interference. Surprisingly enough the place didn't smell of dust, so Lucy thought perhaps Levy had gleaned the location of her home out of Mira and cleaned up or something. After all they had been gone for months

As soon as they were through the door, Natsu strode on ahead, dropping their bag by their bed and flopping face down first in the covers.

"This feels amazing," Natsu moaned. He rolled over, fighting with his vest to get it off. Lucy smothered a laugh as his elbow got stuck and she walked over to help detangle him.

She rolled him over to his front, even as his arm was bent in his clothes much like a chicken wing was. She couldn't help but giggle over his complaining whines. It was utterly dorky and endearing in the way only Natsu could be, and it helped bleed off some of the stress of the last few days.

She finally wrestled his vest off, exposing his muscular back. Her eyes travelled appreciatively over the finely inked paths and tattoos crossing over his tawny skin as Natsu relaxed into the mattress, seemingly unaware of her eyes. Though she seriously doubted that was really the case.

Unable to stop her curiosity, Lucy raised a single finger and began to trace the intricate tattoos with the digit.

A smile drifted across Natsu's lips as Lucy's fingers drifted from one side of his body to the other. It tickled a little, and Natsu smothered a small giggle. He would never live it down if he let Lucy know he was ticklish.

But Lucy's hands were hesitating by his neck, resting over his shoulders.

"You're holding a lot of tension up here," Lucy observed, "Are you ok?"

Natsu sighed softly into the pillow. He didn't exactly want to talk about it, but she was also the only one he could afford to let his guard down completely around. Not even his family got that.

"It's leftover." He mumbled into his pillow and shifted so she could hear him properly, "Leftover from the village." He unconsciously tensed again as he went back to that moment, and closed his eyes, "I used to do that." He whispered, "I used to pile the bodies of the people I helped kill. I used to watch as the others danced and sang and..."

He shuddered at the memories, not wanting to think about them anymore.

"Oh Natsu..." Lucy breathed, and he jumped slightly when he felt her stretch out along his back and wrap her arms around his shoulders before burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"You had a flashback didn't you?" She asked softly, her gentle lips caressing over his skin, and he nodded shakily.

He didn't know how to describe the sense of being back in that moment. Of feeling that helplessness that he could only watch until she'd charged in and pure fear and rage had snapped him out of it. Fear for her and rage that he'd been forced to witness it again.

However, it didn't seem like he needed to.

Lucy nodded against him and sat up, settling herself on his hips. Before he could do so much as start to look over his shoulder to find out what she was doing she pressed her delicate hands against his shoulders and began rubbing.

She smiled at his curious look, though it had a tint of sadness to it, "I understand what flashbacks are." She told him softly, "I've had more than one over the years." She caressed a hand over his face, "I can't take it away from you, but at least I can help you work out the tension, and remind you that you're here and not there anymore."

Natsu nodded at her, his mouth opening but closing just as quickly. Relaxing under Lucy's caresses was hardly difficult. There was no unspoken command in her voice, no way to make him stay if he didn't want it.

Lucy used to be more careless with her words and accidental commands. While he had never minded, the fact that she had always tried and never wanted to restrict his movements made his trust in her absolute. But the care she took now made him smile all the same.

He was there because it was precisely where he wanted to be. And they both knew it.

He began to relax as Lucy's fingers dug into his muscles, drawing a pained hiss at some of the stiffer areas until he felt his spine turn to jelly. He let out a soft grunt, huffing a breath into the pillow.

" 's nice." He mumbled.

"Are you drooling on the pillow?" Lucy asked, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Maybe." He grinned.

She laughed a little, which did more to soothe his aching heart than her massage had, and he suddenly had the overwhelming urge to see her again. Properly. And hold her.

He shifted a little, indicating he wanted to roll over, and couldn't help purring softly in delight when all she did was rise off his hips only to settle back down as soon as he'd stopped moving. There was a light blush on her cheeks as she did, but it was followed immediately by a smile as she leaned over and kissed him softly.

He purred softly into the kiss, and curled his arms around her as he kissed her back.

####

There was a spark of heat in her kiss, but for a change he felt no rush to fan it into a flame. Instead he curled her closer and slowed down as he lazily ran his tongue over her lips and slipped it inside to caress hers.

"Lucy..." He growled softly against her lips, and gently ran his hand up her side to massage one of her breasts softly.

He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly wanted to touch and feel all of her. To finish the cleansing her massage had started until neither of them suffered from bad memories.

He felt a simmer in his belly, a slow burn that filled his chest and made him feel full. Lucy's teeth closed gently around his lower lip, causing a rush of air to escape his lungs.

Her hands travelled down his chest, her fingers falling over his stomach and trailing through to his waist. Her thumb rubbed against the scar on his side, the newest addition to it still shiny tissue.

Natsu let out a soft growl when her fingers probed the sensitive tissue, but when she looked up, his eyes were bleeding into shades of muted red.

Lucy smiled at him, shifting her hips over his so she could better reach him. She leaned forward, hands scooping around his neck to kiss him again, lips savoring the taste of smoke and fire between them.

"I love you Natsu," She whispered against his mouth. His response was muffled by the kiss, and his accented growl, but she knew he tried to respond.

She too wanted to feel him. She wanted desperately to take care of him and chase all of his memories away.

So when he reached for her waist, no doubt to flip them over and for him to shower affection on her, she stilled his reach by setting her hands on his wrists.

He looked up at her in a bit of hazy confusion and she almost laughed. She leaned forward on her knees.

"Will you let me?" She asked, making sure to phrase it in such a way he couldn't confuse it for a command.

Natsu blinked as he processed the request, and smiled at her, "As long as it pleases you."

Lucy smiled back as she lifted his wrist and gently planted kisses against his palm. She knew he was hardwired to please her, so she wasn't surprised by his choice of words, but it made her happy he was willing to let her take care of him for a while too.

She giggled a little when he waggled his fingers at her and let go of his hand. A hand that immediately settled at her waist, but made no other moves than that. Good.

She grinned at him and leaned back over him to begin trailing small kisses and licks over the tattoos on his neck and shoulder before venturing further down to explore every inch of his chest with her tongue.

Natsu growled softly at her exploration, a little surprised by how good it felt, and wriggled his hips a little as his blood began rushing south in response to the sensual fire she was feeding.

However, he made no other move than that.

He liked what she was doing, and was curious to see what else she would do as she traveled down his body. Though he couldn't entirely stop the pleading whine that escaped him when she reached his hips.

She flashed him a saucy grin as she slowly undid the buckle on his belt and pulled his pants open and off.

"Eager are we?" She murmured in amusement and wrapped her hand around him, pulling a cross between a groan and a whine from him.

"Lucy..." He growled hotly as she stroked him lazily before leaning down to plant a kiss on the tip. He curled his fingers in her hair, unable to resist, and his hips jerked a little on their own as she ran her tongue against him.

The motion had Lucy smiling at him as she pulled away, eliciting another whine from him, "I have something different in mind." She murmured as she began stripping her clothes off before his hungry eyes.

She watched his eyes widen as he began to register what it was she was going to do. His hips flexed invitingly, the muscles in his stomach rippling in response to what he was seeing.

Someone really was eager. Lucy felt a bubble of pride rush through her for causing such a response in him.

His cheeks were flushed across his tanned skin and rosy locks of hair were falling over his eyes. They matched the color that was quickly beginning to crawl along his neck and coat the tips of his cute ears.

She took a bit of time to crawl over him, letting his eyes fall over her with an intensity that had her breath stuttering. The warmth that rushed through her when he watched her made her feel like she was the center of his world. There was certainly no denying the desire he felt. It was plain on his face, very much the demon he was. But more importantly, the adoration he felt for her was overwhelming.

She had no doubt he loved her. With everything in him, he loved her deeply.

It made her so happy as she bent down over him, her long hair pooling over onto his chest. Natsu's hand lifted to caress her crown, his touch gentle and reverent.

"My Natsu." She breathed, her own feelings reflecting back at him as she reached down to steady him, and sank slowly down onto him with a pleasured moan.

She watched as his eyes widened at the new sensation and fully bled red gold, but paid it little mind as she settled her hips firmly onto his. The feel of him inside her was indescribable. He was, naturally, hotter than she was used to, and larger. Large enough it felt like he was already caressing every inch of her, and she hadn't even started moving yet.

She was startled out of her appreciation, however, as Natsu sat up a little and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist. Had she teased him a little too much?

She was certain she had until he started frantically re-arranging the pillows and scooted back against them, his arms keeping her secure, so he was propped up. Evidently he wanted to let her keep playing, but also wanted more contact with her, and her heart melted at the sweetness of it.

She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him as she rolled her hips and began to move gently against him, "My demon." She panted softly, "I love you."

Natsu wasn't sure he could remember how to speak well enough to return the words, so he nuzzled her softly, a soft whine escaping him as he eagerly trailed his hands over every inch of his magnificent mistress and queen.

Words weren't adequate for the mind numbing pleasure of her sweet heat wrapped so tightly around him anyway.

So he reverted to what he knew instinctively. He growled quietly, sweat trickling down his neck at the feel of the slow building heat between them. He kissed and nibbled at her neck, his hands trailing everywhere he could reach, and a shudder of heat rocked through him, pooling in his belly near where they were connected.

They rocked together, the heat slowly building up between them. Lucy's hips rolled together, forcibly keeping a slow pace that was agonizing.

Their gasps for breath filled the heated air between them. It took every ounce of strength Natsu had not to buck up into that maddening heat. Lucy felt like heaven, coaxing the demon in him to the light.

But he cherished the burn. Cherished every slow, thrumming ache that consumed them.

They were alive. They had found freedom and comfort in one another, and Natsu was willing to ride that feeling for as long as possible.

Eventually, however, the heat between them built into an inferno that neither could control anymore.

Lucy's movements became sharper, faster, and more erratic as she neared her peak, and Natsu couldn't contain his heated growls as he felt her ultimate pleasure getting close.

He tightened his grip on her hips as she moved, his own hips rising to meet hers of their own volition. He bent his head to suck one of her nipples into his mouth while one of his hands trailed down between them to rub at her clit, eager to see and feel the ultimate form of her pleasure again now that it was moments away.

He grinned a little at Lucy's heated gasp of surprise, and the way she leaned into his teasing.

"Natsu..." She moaned thickly, and he raised burning eyes to meet hers as that tightly coiled band inside her snapped. He growled hotly as he felt her pleasure pour over the bond while she gripped him tightly, and suddenly the heat within him exploded into an answering eruption that had him roaring his pleasure around her breast.

####

His eyes fluttered as they came down together, tight pleasure coursing through his body like a song he never wanted to forget the words to. He breathed out roughly, slowly calming down as sense began to trickle back into his mind.

He smiled sweetly up at his beloved mistress and reached up to kiss her. He enjoyed the feeling of them connected together a little while longer before he hooked his arms under her thighs to help her lift off his softening member.

"Lucy that was-..." He licked his lips, suddenly feeling very sleepy as he gathered her close to his chest.

He flopped sideways back on top of their covers and taking her with him. It had been incredible to say the least, and he very badly wanted to do it again with her.

Every day for the rest of their lives if it was even possible.

He already knew there was no one else for him in this world. There couldn't be. It was just impossible for there to be another Lucy.

"I want to be by your side for as long as you will have me," Natsu mumbled into her ear.

Lucy stilled at that, her boneless body suddenly going very stiff against his. He blinked sleepily, frowning a little when he looked at her.

Had he said something wrong?

Lucy shifted to look at him intently, "Natsu... you know a comment like that could be considered a marriage proposal?"

Natsu stared at her for a moment before grinning broadly in relief that it was surprise and not upset, "Let's get married then!" He replied cheerfully, "As long as it means I can stay by your side I don't care what it's called."

Lucy stared at him in shock and reached out to caress his cheek, "You mean that?" She asked softly, "Even if you had the freedom to walk away right now and experience the world on your terms?"

Natsu leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, "It's always more fun with two." He purred, "And I can't think of anyone I'd rather see the world with than you my queen."

Lucy's heart melted and then overflowed with happiness as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, "Then we'll make the world safe enough to travel for fun, and see it all together." She whispered back thickly, "And I'll stay by your side for as long as you'll stay by mine."

Natsu's face lit up, his fingers combing through Lucy's hair. He laughed giddily and leaned over to kiss her, unspeakably happy she had agreed.

"So you'll marry me?" He asked with excitement, joy glowing on his face.

Lucy bobbed her head in agreement and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, laughing in disbelief over his proposal.

"When this is all over, we'll get married and see everything together," Natsu's heart felt achingly full. Their whispered promises fueling his desire to live and see the end of this all.

Igneel had been right.

Before Lucy, there hadn't been a single good thing in his life.

But she had showed him so many marvelous things with her strength alone. She soothed all of his aches and pains. Even the ones he didn't know he had.

She was a balm to his soul, she had given him a fresh start after he had cheated death.

Natsu didn't need to go on adventures or see the world. Lucy was his world.

-::-

The next morning, and the next few days after that, were filled with more laughter and lovemaking than Lucy had ever imagined was possible.

Natsu fully let his demonic side out to play after their first time together, and she learned very quickly that her demon had no reserves about molesting her at any time and in nearly any place. The only time he backed off was when she was too sore to take him, and even then he tended to growl lustfully at her until she was ready to play again.

Happy had learned the hard way that he was not to come barging into their lair without sufficient warning first. The one time the little cat had tried he'd nearly gotten quite an eyeful of Lucy bent over the kitchen counter. Only the fact that Natsu had been in his demon form, and had quickly cupped his wings around her, had saved her modesty even a little.

Luckily for Happy, Lucy had been too far gone at the time to even care.

After a few days though, restlessness started to creep in as well, and they had decided that despite how nice it was having time to themselves, it was past time to head back to the guild and find out what the latest was.

"Damn Salamander." Gajeel grunted as they walked in, "Could ya possibly make things more obvious?"

Natsu just smirked as he pulled Lucy closer and nuzzled her neck. She was saturated in his scent, and he was proud of how thoroughly marked she was that it clung to her despite the bath she'd taken.

"Obvious?" Lucy asked and glanced at Natsu in mild confusion.

"Don't be a prude metal mouth," Natsu just grinned in unrepentant amusement and stretched his arms out over his head, "So what did we miss?"

Sting came up behind Natsu and clapped his hand on his brother's shoulder. His eyes gleamed happily and and smile was almost as broad as Natsu's.

"Wendy got reamed by mom and dad." Sting laughed, "It's a shame you missed it. They were trying to keep it down, but you could hear them all the way out in the street."

"Sting!" Wendy huffed, shooting her horrible, annoying, brother a glare, "It wasn't that bad!"

"No?" Sting drawled with a smirk, "Then how come you were half deaf for an hour afterwards? And Erza had to assure passerby that no one was being tortured?"

Natsu doubled over cackling as Wendy's cheeks turned red and puffed out.

Lucy rolled her eyes a little at their antics, but couldn't resist a small smirk of her own. Because really, Wendy should've realized that would happen when she stowed away.

"So what's going to happen now?" She asked curiously, "Will Wendy be staying?"

"For the moment yeah." Sting replied, "I pointed out that if Tartaros was willing to shoot me out of the sky then it was debatable which nest she would be safer at. Better for her to stay where we can keep an eye on her than to risk another confrontation just to fly her back." He shrugged lazily, "She's under strict orders not to fight unless she has no choice, and Porlyusica has agreed to teach her human healing."

Lucy smiled a little at the way he said that without any kind of prejudice. It seemed being around Yukino and other humans had done quite a bit to help adjust his world view. She just hoped his transition was less painful than hers had been.

"But that's not all that's going on." Sting continued obliviously, "You're just in time."

He pointed towards the edge of the bar where Yukino was sitting. Just beyond her, the door was opening to reveal Jellal.

And behind him...

Yukino gasped as she stood up, her stool clattering over in shock.

"Sorano!" Yukino cried out and nearly barreled over Sting in order to wrap her arms around her surprised sister.

"Yukino!" Sorano gasped, her arms dropping numbly around the sobbing girl. Her eyes sought out Jellal, who smiled and nodded in response.

"Yukino!" Sorano repeated, tears stinging her eyes as she gathered the younger woman close to her.

"How is this possible?" Sorano whispered as they pulled apart, and stared at her little sister in wonder, "I thought you were dead. I searched every single group of children those bastards kidnapped, but I couldn't find you."

Yukino sniffled a little, "They never took me." She replied, "After they found the place you put me I crawled under the house. They tried to corner me there, but they couldn't fit where I was. They were going to burn it to get me out, but their leader said to leave it."

Sorano stared at her sister in surprise and burst into laughter, "That's my clever little sister!" She grinned proudly at Yukino, and hugged her again, before sitting them both down at a table, "So what happened to you after that? What have you been doing all this time?"

"I waited for you." Yukino admitted softly, "I didn't know where to look for you, so I waited for you to escape and come home."

"Oh Yuki..." Sorano breathed, fresh tears stinging her eyes, "I didn't know. I swear. I never would've let you stay in that horrible village all alone."

Jellal cleared his throat as he moved to the bar. Makarov was sitting on the countertop, looking happy by the exchange.

"Come now children, let's give the sisters some privacy, Erza needs to speak with you all about the next stage in the plan," Makarov chuckled, "Now quit your gawking."

Natsu snorted as he eyed his brother making what equated to doe-eyes at Yukino. Sting definitely had a thing for the human.

He hooked an arm around Sting and all but dragged his brother down into the wine cellar. There, they had a small congregation of a small number of members.

In the middle stood Erza, Gray, and Rogue.

"Good. Now that you all have stopped eavesdropping on what should be a private conversation, we can get started," Erza's smile was chilling.

Jellal was the only one of their group who didn't have a chill run up their spine at Erza's terrifying smile. He simply chuckled as he walked over to join her, "Don't be too hard on them. They were just eager to see Yukino happy."

Erza snorted, but her expression relaxed into a warmer smile, "Regardless, it's past time we got started here." She motioned for the others to hurry up and join them already, "Gray and Rogue have completed their work in the council building."

"Most of it at any rate." Gray replied, "We haven't been able to dig up all the secrets yet."

"However, we believe we have more than enough to deal the council a crippling blow." Rogue continued, "They are, without a doubt, the most corrupt drakes I've ever heard of. It's fortunate we're dealing with this now before it has a chance to get any worse."

"How bad was it?" Lucy asked softly, and Gray grimaced.

"Bad." He told her, "Really bad. Secret labs, unethical experiments, mutations, demonic cross breeding, torture, espionage... the works. And that's just what we've discovered so far. I'd bet my next mission pay that's only the tip of it."

"It's enough to work with however." Jellal spoke up grimly, "If even a fraction of these accusations stick it will see the council and the Knights disbanded."

"Which means we'll have to have our top candidates ready before that happens." Erza said firmly, "And we'll have to be very careful how we play this. If we release all the evidence to the public at once we run both the risk of riots and their own PR claiming the evidence is false. Neither of which will help us any."

Lucy frowned as she thought, "The council members are supposed to be elected every three years. Typically, they're chosen from among the Wizard Saints as those wizards are viewed as the strongest and thus the most capable of protecting the people from demonic attack. Every so often you get a new candidate in the running, but it's rare they get any real backing. With this Jellal might get the backing, but it won't be enough. We'll need more than just him to win the majority on the council."

Erza nodded, "That's why we're asking for the strongest leaders among the good aligned guilds to help us. Lamia Scale has already nominated Jura. We expect more in the coming weeks."

Jellal looked at Lucy with a faint smile flashing over his face, "I know it's a lot to ask for, but we're going to need your help getting the upper levels on our side. They will be justifiably angry over what we reveal, however the council being kicked out won't stop them from sliding in a substitute that will feed their agenda and ultimately make us fail."

"It's a rough plan to get the majority, and we can't play dirty to do it either," Levy spoke up, "We'll have to be careful if Lucy speaks up for you Jellal."

"Why's that?" Erza asked, frowning over the idea.

Levy hesitated, but Gajeel held no qualms about it. He pointed a thick finger at Natsu, who pointed at himself in confusion.

"What do I have to do with all this?" Natsu complained.

Levy cleared her throat awkwardly, "Well there was the small detail of END murdering the entire royal family and allowing demons to attack our borders."

Natsu's face fell, but he still looked confused, "Okay, but what does that have to do with Lucy?"

"It means we're already playing behind the ball since you and Lucy are a package deal. Anything you do, or have done will reflect on her." Gray translated with a touch of impatience.

"So what do we do? We need Lucy to support Jellal, but the issue of Natsu's past can be a real problem now." Erza questioned.

Lucy groaned in irritation, as the answer came to her in an instant, "If I endorse you, the only way to keep this above board and keep our political enemies from discrediting us..." She sighed, "Would be to reveal all of Natsu's history. Completely. Full disclosure on everything that happened to him and what Zeref forced him to do."

She looked at Natsu, "And that is something I will not do against your wishes." She concluded firmly, "The campaign might be a lot harder without my endorsement, but I won't drag you through that without your permission." She curled her hand tightly in his, "I love you far too much to do that."

"Even if he said yes that's not something we could allow!" Sting growled, "He's already been through enough!"

"It's his decision." Lucy insisted, and met Natsu's worried gaze, "I'm not going to lie to you Natsu. If you do this you'll be exposing yourself in a way you won't ever be able to take back. Everyone will know your story. And there will be some who try to take advantage of it."

Natsu hesitated uncertainly. He didn't want to tell everyone his history. It was a terrible story that he would just as soon forget ever happened. But if it could help...

Gajeel cleared his throat delicately, "I'll point out that if we play it right, we might give the dragons and humans a rallyin' cry." He eyed his nestmate, "I know you ain't big on sharin'. There's not a dragon born that is. But you could show 'em that no one's safe unless they all work together. And if you come out firmly on the side against demons now that you've got your head screwed on straight you'd be a powerful symbol of rebellion."

He smirked toothily, "'Cause if END can rebel against Zeref and his demons... why the hell can't the rest of us?"

Natsu looked at Lucy, his hand squeezing around hers and swallowed, feeling unspeakably sick. It was like he was riding in a boat again.

"I'll do it." He struggled, gritting his teeth and feeling like he was trying to swallow an entire pineapple whole until he looked at the hope on his nestmate's faces, and the sick feeling eased.

"I'll do it." He repeated, this time with more confidence, "If Lucy won't be hurt by it, I'll let them know my past. Within reason."

He bared his fangs, "Some of what's in my head is too dangerous for people to know. I'm not going to make that information public for Tartaros."

"They do have eyes within the city." Jellal agreed, "Your caution is perfectly reasonable. We wouldn't want to tell everyone everything anyway. Just enough to spin your story the right way without actually lying." He looked at both Lucy and Natsu, "You two are about to have a lot of attention on you. I hope you are ready."

"Not as much attention as you'll have Jellal," Lucy smirked at him, "Luckily we have you to take some of the heat off us."

She looked at Natsu with a smile, "Thank you Natsu. I know that had to have been hard."

Natsu smiled at her, seeing the unconditional support in her eyes. No matter what she would stick by him, and it made him feel better about his choice. He trusted the others not to abuse his trust in sharing his past. And he trusted Lucy to have his back no matter what he chose to do.

That was more than enough.

"Is there something else going on here we should know about?" Gray asked, looking back and forth between Lucy and Natsu.

Lucy coughed a little and blushed, "Yes, but if it winds up in the campaign there will be unpleasant Aquarius style consequences." She waited for Gray to shudder at that thought and smiled, "Natsu asked me to marry him not long after we got back."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Levy squealed in excitement, "Oh my gods! You're getting married! When? You said yes right? Where's your ring?"

Lucy laughed a little and her blush deepened, "Not till after the war is over so we can go traveling together for a while. Of course I said yes. And we haven't gotten one yet. Natsu kind of asked me in his own way."

"I need a ring?" Natsu asked, mystified. He didn't seem to see the point and he frowned, "Can't we just get married?"

"No you idiot, you've got to actually get down on one knee and give her a ring." Gray snorted, "Wow you're as useless as you are ugly."

This got Natsu onto his feet in an instant and he got into Gray's face with a snarl, "What did you say to me?" He demanded, "I'll get Lucy the biggest ring ever! It'll kick the ass of anything you could get!"

"That's not going to happen you pyro!" Gray shoved his way back into Natsu's face, "You didn't even know you needed one until now!"

Natsu and Gray squeaked when suddenly their heads came crashing together. They yelped in pain as Erza stood between them.

"We must endeavor to make this day as special as possible for Lucy!" Despite the terror she invoked in Natsu and Gray, she looked extremely flustered.

"But uh, shouldn't we stay on point first and plan the wedding later?" Lucy sheepishly spoke up.

Every head turned at once to give Lucy an extremely offended look.

Lucy stared at them awkwardly for a moment, "Uh, I could be totally wrong about that!" She exclaimed nervously, "I mean, it's not like we can't plan the fate of the world tomorrow right?"

"Exactly Lucy!" Erza replied stridently, "I'm glad you see how very important this is!" She marched towards the exit, "I will tell Mira to prepare the finest cakes and desserts! We will not rest until your engagement is properly celebrated!"

"Yeah, this should be good." Gray smirked, getting into the spirit of things, "I'll get Juvia over here to help set everything up."

"You know that's not quite what I meant..." Lucy whimpered.

"Relax Lucy." Gray shrugged, "We've got most of this stuff already in motion, and plenty of time before the election. Besides, it's important we celebrate things like this. A day off won't kill us."

He grinned at her, "So c'mon! Let's have some fun!"

"Yeah!" Levy exclaimed enthusiastically while a toothily grinning Gajeel got to his feet, "Your queen don't know how dragons an' Fairy Tail celebrate engagements and weddings runt. We gotta fix that."

Lucy stared at Natsu's brightly grinning face and felt a laugh bubble up inside her. Maybe it was a little ridiculous, but it was nice knowing her friends were that determined to celebrate this for them.

Perhaps they would be allowed a bit of normalcy before their world went upside down again.

Or as normal as it ever got.


Special thanks to all of our lovely reviewers! We love you guys to pieces, and I really can't thank you all enough for your reviews. They make me smile every time. Please enjoy your Sneak Peek. You've truly earned it!


30 REVIEWS EQUALS A SNEAK PEEK!

"Natsu!" Gray called as he ran up only to skid to a halt as he took in the scene.

"Back off Gray!" Natsu called tensely without taking his eyes off the demoness, "She'll kill you without a second thought."

"Well!" Kyoka exclaimed, staring at Natsu in surprise, "The failed weapon really does speak! I had thought that to be an exaggeration."

"Not failed." Natsu smirked, "Zeref was just too stupid to figure out how to do it right."