Pairings: Natsu x Lucy and other wonderful surprises shall be revealed as we go.

Timeline: After the GMG's arc. Give or take seven years.

Warnings: None other than mild cursing, violence, sexual themes and some gore; perhaps a wee bit of confusion.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Authors Note: Well there goes that updating streak… My apologises… Now who's ready for some drama? (Also, sorry about the random timeskip. I looked back and saw how much the timeline was drawing – seriously, three chapters for one day? No. So a timeskip.)

One month later…

"My, Lucy you're really beginning to show now, aren't you?" Mariana commented. Lucy, taking Mariana's words rather well considering her somewhat vain nature, beamed and settled down in her seat next to Natsu. As per usual, Richard had already left for work and Natsu was already devouring a plate of scrambled eggs.

The blonde gently caressed her rounded belly, "It's still hard to think that there's another person inside me…" Mariana giggled and stood to fill up Lucy's plate. Before Lucy could protest, her stomach growled deafeningly, effectively cutting her off and splattered her cheeks red.

Mariana handed Lucy the sky high plate, winking. "You are eating for two, after all."

Lucy sheepishly picked up her fork. "Thank you, Mariana, but you really didn't have to. I could have gotten it myself."

"Nonsense," Mariana said, waving Lucy off, "I didn't mind and it was my pleasure to help." Lucy swallowed her eggs painfully, still astonished by the generosity provided by this woman and her husband for two strangers.

"She ate like this before she was pregnant," Natsu added in. With his plate all but licked clean, he dodged Lucy's swing aimed at his head and grabbed her wrist instead. He drew her closer, planted a kiss on her lips and scooped up his plate to leave for the kitchen.

Flustered, Lucy turned to Mariana and said, "I swear I didn't eat like this." Heartily, Mariana laughed. She sank in her seat still mildly horrified by Natsu's statement. She's not even sure why his little comment bothered her because honestly, it shouldn't have.

Grinning, Mariana left it at that and Lucy returned to her plate. She may have grumbled and complained but deep down she was thankful for Natsu's consistency. She was all over the charts and Natsu seemed completely sane.

"Don't over work yourself today, Luigi," Natsu teased when he came back from the kitchen. Lucy grumbled and sent him a glare.

"I haven't heard that in a while," she sighed and accepted his kiss when he offered it. She pushed him lightly and smirked, "Go to work, pinkie." He winked, waved to Mariana and left the house. Lucy adjusted in her seat, rubbing her belly.

Mariana folded her hands under her chin, "He's a prince, dear." Her dark eyes sparked gleefully. Lucy smiled, glancing at the door wistfully.

"He sure is…" she said tenderly, returning her pretty brown eyes to Mariana's face. In the light of dawn, Mariana looked years younger than she truly is. The light virtually erased her crow's feet and smile lines.

Lucy chewed on her lower lip, inclining her head ever so slightly. "Mariana… do you and Richard have any children?"

Mariana met Lucy's inquiring eyes and aged fifteen years before her. Lines returned to her face and a helpless look crossed her face. "We… did."

"I'm sorry!" Lucy squeaked, pushing away from the table. "I didn't mean to pry, just… never mind." She's disgusted with herself from not noticing sooner. It wasn't like Richard and Mariana were very obvious about it but the signs were there if she looked close enough. The biggest hint was the locked door at the end of the hallway which she found the other day and didn't have the courage to bring it up to Mariana or Richard.

Mariana's dark eyes grew large, watering ever so slightly and she averted her eyes. Guilt crawled up Lucy's spine. Her eyes softened and she reached over, gently taking Mariana's hand. Although she never experienced the loss of a child and although she could only begin to imagine how Mariana and Richard felt, now that she was pregnant she could empathize with them more than she could have before. Being pregnant shoved Lucy in Mariana's shoes and even though this child wasn't born yet, she would be absolutely devastated to lose it.

"It's okay, Mariana, you don't have to tell me. I understand," Lucy said her voice low and comforting. Mariana remained quiet for the longest time and Lucy was beginning to worry she'd only served to upset her further when she gradually patted Lucy's hand in return.

"Thank you, dear." Mariana stood shakily and smiled thinly.

"Go lie down," Lucy insisted, tugging the woman in the direction of the stairs. "I'll clean up."

Mariana opened her mouth to disagree but she promptly closed it, her eyes shimmering. She didn't say anything further and retreated to her bedroom. Lucy watched her go; her hands roamed over her stomach, wondering what would ever happen if she were to lose this baby.

After work, Lucy waved farewell to Kyle and held her arms around her stomach as she cheerfully walked towards Natsu's work place. They were close to obtaining the jewels they would need to make the trek to Fiore. They could have easily made the jewels they needed if they took on mercenary jobs but when they thought of that, Lucy's pregnancy was known and Natsu refused to let her do a job.

Sighing, her mind wandered back to the night she woke up with Natsu in a hotel room. Something itched at the back of her mind but the longer she focused on the itch, it disappeared.

She's never felt so helpless.

"Quick! We don't have time! It's now or never, Natsu!"

She stopped abruptly. Where the hell did that come from? Was it the feeling of helplessness that triggered this random sentence? It was her words but…

"Luce! … are you okay?" Natsu's warm hand clasped over her shoulder. She peered up at him, her brown eyes shimmering.

"I think… I think we erased our own memories," she said uncertainly. Natsu's grin slipped off his face.

"That doesn't even make sense," he retorted, adding almost as an afterthought, "weirdo."

Lucy hauled him from the main sidewalk into an alley way. "No, hear me out. I just got a brief memory of me saying – to you – that it was now or never and that we had no time. I'm starting to wonder if we were doing something that eventually got too dangerous and the only solution was to erase our memories. It sounds farfetched but I can't think of another reason unless a wizard purposely erased our memories but if that was the case, we'd be dead by now."

He blinked, a horrified understanding crossing his face. "So what you're saying is…?" He didn't have to finish his thought; Lucy knew exactly where he was going with his train of thought.

She nodded, confirming his suspicions. "It's more than likely we're on the run from a dark guild."

Natsu face darkened. Lucy gently touched his cheek, her fingers trembling ever so slightly. "This means we have to get to Fiore all the faster," she said, letting her hand drop. His face softened and she mentally sighed with relief that he was no longer displaying such a terrifying expression.

"Lucy!" a man yelled, his voice rattling Lucy to her very core. She turned and everything felt as though it was moving in slow motion. She caught a flash of blue moving quickly in their direction, hindered by the rush hour crowd and the great distance between them. Her heart thundered in her chest at the sound of his voice. He –

"We have to go," Natsu hissed in her ear, suddenly yanking hard on her arm to drag her in the opposite direction. "He smells wrong; he could be the one chasing us."

She wanted to disagree but a part of her rationalized that Natsu could very well be right. Even though the man knew her name, it didn't mean he knew them, he could be deceiving her. That made sense. She let Natsu drag her off.

"We're leaving?" Lucy asked, struggling to keep up with him. Natsu paused to scoop her up into his arms and continued to run.

He answered her with a single nod and a determined scowl crossing his face. Under normal circumstances, he probably would have stayed and fought. But neither of them knew anything about their magical abilities and Lucy was pregnant…

But she just couldn't shake the familiarity of that voice.

After god knows how long, I managed to update this story! This chapter was a little lame but it ended where I wanted it to (because I'm a sucker for cliff-hangers) and things are about to get crazy!

~Emerald~