Summary: Getting lost in the woods is the least of their worries when Natsu and Lucy blunder their way into a cursed village and a prophecy that leads them to understand something about themselves.
Big thanks to Snogfairy for taking a look at this and giving me the shove I needed to actually fix a bunch of stuff I was waffling on!
Author's Notes: Mostly pretty PG-13, but there's a bit of violence, cursing, off screen death of OCs that happened long in the past, and a really NSFW scene towards the end. I'll admit this is a little weird and definitely darker in tone than my fluffy stuff. Nothing too bleak, I promise. I should probably warn everyone now that I have some strange kinks, though. It only seems fair to alert you all going into this.
For anyone reading this on FF net the NSFW section was primarily cut, so if it feels like there's something missing, there actually is. If you'd like to read that redacted part, hop on over to my Archive of Our Own account (there's a link in my profile) and you can find it there once we get to that section. It's not exactly important for the story, so you're not missing anything if you'd rather skip the naughtiest bits.
The time frame also got a bit messed up thanks to some things that happened during the Tartarus manga arc. I had originally planned this to take place in that ambiguous post-Tartarus future, but, well, Mashima had certain people show up...
Author's Note Addition: I should've probably warned you all that this might get a bit... weird? I'd say stick with it since I don't think this goes exactly the place you might think from what happens in this chapter, but I wouldn't be offended if it's not everyone's cup of tea. This story felt like a gamble from when I first started writing it, but let me just say that things end up happening in a way that doesn't feel like a total cop out to me.
This is a really long chapter since I couldn't find a good place to break this up. I have a terrible tendency to write long stories as one big block without thinking about appropriate places to add chapter breaks. My bad... Also, this entire story is actually finished and up on my tumblr account (same username) in case you are impatient and want to go read it now. Also, also I'll try to post a chapter once a week until the whole thing is up so there's no need to demand updates - they're a commin' whether you want them or not.
Natsu woke up in stages, becoming aware of his surroundings before he was completely awake. He definitely wasn't lying on Lucy's bed because it wasn't nearly comfy enough. Quietly, his brain supplied details from yesterday as his eyes flickered open. Oh right. Crazy cursed village with the prophecy thing.
He raised his head slowly when he felt a weight on his chest, glancing down and grinning at the sight of Lucy sprawling over him. She had a leg thrown across both his hips, her left hand tangled up under his scarf so her fingertips were resting against his chin, and her slightly parted lips pressed against his collarbone. The feeling of her soft breath fanning his bare torso had him suppressing a shiver of appreciation.
Man, she was so cute.
She was also going to completely freak out when she woke up. He knew from experience because this kind of compromising position wasn't an unusual occurrence when he spent the night at her apartment in Magnolia. Teasing her just led to getting banned from her bed and having her refuse to touch him at all, neither of which he cared for. The best thing to do was just pretend to still be sleeping and let her sort herself out.
Speaking of which… Lucy made the telltale adorable snuffling sound that always preceded her waking. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, Natsu let his head drop back to the pillow and shut his eyes. Muttering something unintelligible, the girl lifted her face from his shoulder and then let out a squeak of dismay. He could picture the round eyes and panicked expression clearly.
With some awkward flailing and very careful maneuvering, she attempted to free herself. Natsu found his jaw clenching as she ended up with her thigh in between his, hip pressing down on his very quickly becoming uncomfortable groin. Her shifting caused rubbing and blood started to abandon his brain. Oh, this was bad…
"Natsu…?" Her soft voice drifted to his ears, nearly drowned out by the pounding of his heart.
So, so bad. "...Yeah?" he whispered in response, sounding strained.
"I knew it! You are awake!" Lucy rolled off him, thigh brushing him in a marvelous way, and Natsu sat up quickly.
"Sorry. I thought you might want to sleep more," he lied easily. The fire dragon slayer was pretty sure letting slip that he liked to watch her sleep would just make her more wound up, and the bright red of her face already said a lot about her current level of embarrassment.
He was a bit surprised when Lucy hesitated, her face still close to his. Her coffee eyes dropped down past his scarf to his chest and then bounced back up. "Natsu… about last night… I don't want you to think that I have a problem with people thinking… or even, maybe, us being -"
The tent flap was pushed back, putting a halt on whatever track their conversation might have taken. "I beg your pardon, but I heard your voices and thought you might wish to have some breakfast." Llamalla, face lined with experience, beamed at them from the entrance.
"Yeah, I'm starved!" Natsu sprang to his feet, knocking the blankets aside and pulling on his belt and jacket quickly. As annoyed as he was by the interruption, the dragon slayer had a feeling whatever promising admission had been about to trip off Lucy's tongue was going to stay buried for the moment. The girl's face was practically glowing it was so red. It was better to let things rest until they were ready for the heavy conversation she'd been about to plunge them into.
Leading the pair outside to where the villagers had thrown their party the night before, the woman extended her hand to indicate a place where plates of simple food were laid out and others were eating. "Please, help yourselves to whatever you would like. I am afraid it is not much, but it should suffice to fill your bellies and give you energy for the morning."
"It looks wonderful," Lucy said, and the girl picked up some slices of fruit. She sighed at the sight of Natsu scarfing his way through one of the platters, spewing gobs of food when he complimented the older woman on the taste.
"I trust the two of you slept well last night?"
Turning at the familiar voice, the celestial wizard smiled. "Chieftain Daun! Yes we did, and thank you again. I was actually hoping we could ask you a few questions. If we're going to break this curse, I'd like to have a bit more information."
The old man inclined his head. "I will assist you however I can. Please, ask anything you like."
"Well," she started, tapping her index finger against her chin, "could you tell me exactly what the curse is? Do you know who cast it?"
"As best we can tell, the curse prevents us from leaving the area surrounding our village. There is enough of the forest for us to hunt, but not much else. I am afraid I do not know who would wish us ill or would have the power to do such a thing."
Lucy glanced at Natsu who had stopped eating to listen. "Would you mind telling us how long your people have been under this curse? You talk like it's been a long time."
"Oh, it has!" Daun said, moving to stand next to her. "A very, very long time."
"But… Radi doesn't look that old, and he talked as if he remembers what things were like before."
Brushing his knuckles against his well-trimmed, white beard, the chieftain frowned. "Ah… that… It is strange, yes?" He laughed sheepishly. "Sometimes it is hard for us to recall things. It may be that it only seems like a great deal of time has passed. The seasons do not change here, and the sun takes a peculiar path across the sky."
"What year is it?" Natsu asked abruptly.
The elder blinked at him in confusion. "I am sorry… I do not think I understand."
"It's X791 for us," the young man prompted.
"X… 791…" Daun shook his head. "Please forgive me, but I truly do not understand this. Your year reckoning is not one I am familiar with."
Exchanging looks of surprise and unease, Lucy and Natsu were at a loss. This certainly wasn't what they were expecting to hear. "What the hell…" the dragon slayer muttered.
"It is possible the curse affects our sense of time or perhaps even the flow of time itself," Daun offered. "It is difficult to track the hours in a consistent way. I am not sure I could accurately tell you how much time has passed or if it has passed for us at all."
"Wow," Lucy breathed, feeling her stomach pitch with apprehension. "That's a very powerful curse if it can do that."
"Indeed," Tarsk agreed, slipping into the discussion as he approached. "It may be difficult if not impossible to unravel such a thing, even for ones such as yourselves."
Biting off a chunk of flatbread, Natsu chewed noisily and gestured with the remainder. "There's gotta be some clues, right? Do you guys remember anybody strange being around or any kind of weird objects showing up? Some kind of changes happening?"
"Well," Daun said slowly as he mulled over the question. "You are the first newcomers we have encountered since the curse struck. The only visitors we would have before were known to us and came from neighboring villages. However… As you ask about the strange…"
Perking up with interest, the dragon slayer made a supportive motion. "Yeah?"
"There is the grove where we once left offerings for the forest guardian during the times of year we occupied this place." The elder hesitated at the sharp look he received from Tarsk but continued anyway. "We have been unable to approach it after the curse. Anyone who goes near finds themselves turned around in the forest, yet we have no trouble in all the areas surrounding it."
"That sounds promising and suspicious," Lucy said, nodding her head thoughtfully. "What is this forest guardian?"
Shaking his head with a dismissive chuckle, the shaman smiled. "It's just a legend. No one has ever seen -"
"Just because it cannot be seen with your eyes -" Daun started.
"We have no need of a mythical guardian!" Tarsk cut him off. "It did not protect us when we were attacked by those dragons, and it did not prevent -"
"Because we stopped paying our respects and leaving offerings when Llamalla was no longer able to travel -"
Natsu held up a hand to halt the rapid fire argument. "I think we get it. Mysterious grove that no one can enter sounds like a good place to start looking."
Lucy observed the display, curious about the disagreement but not ready to dig deeply into something that might be quite personal between two authority figures. "I think you're right. We should check this place out."
"I am not sure that would be wise," the shaman cautioned. "We do not know if it is dangerous, or if you would even be able to approach -"
"If they believe it is the best decision, we have no place to stop them," Daun said confidently, and Lucy wondered if he wasn't still a bit peeved from being undermined about the guardian. "If these two are truly our fated saviors then no barrier will hold them back. I defer to your judgment, Lady Lucy."
"But first," Llamalla materialized in the middle of the tense exchange and completely ignored the dark glance Tarsk gave her, "I think our guests might appreciate the opportunity to bathe." She extended a weathered hand towards where a group of women and children were gathering. "If you will follow me."
Lucy quickly followed, already feeling the slightly grimy sensation of having not gotten in her normal hygiene routine, and Natsu traipsed along behind without comment. The group didn't travel far, only going to the bank of the crisp stream that ran near the village edge.
"Um…" Lucy hesitated when she saw some of the other women starting to strip off the layers of their colorful clothes. "Is there a separate space for guys…?"
"Feeling shy, dear?" the elderly woman teased. "Your young man does not seem to be." Sure enough, Natsu had tossed his coat, belt, and sandals on the ground and was in the process of removing his pants. Lucy blushed and turned away, but not before noticing the appreciative glances the dragon slayer's highly toned physique was getting from the others.
The blonde fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Why did she struggle so much with this? "I just thought since we're strangers… or maybe that men would bathe somewhere else…"
"Ah, our men know better than to try anything foolish," Llamalla chortled. "They just usually bathe later in the day after working in the forest or fields. If you would prefer, there is a more secluded area just around the bend."
"N-no, it's fine," Lucy insisted, peeling off her clothes as quickly as she could and retreating into the cool water.
It wasn't a big deal, she privately reiterated. She'd been in communal baths before, with Natsu even, and this wasn't really any different. Using some of the gritty, soapy substance one of the other girls passed to her, she scrubbed at her limbs and ducked her head under the surface of the stream. It would be quick, she'd be clean, and then they'd be on their way. No big deal at all.
"Llamalla, do you mind if I ask about the guardian?" the celestial wizard said, sweeping some of her dripping locks out of the way. "The chieftain mentioned your name."
"Oh, that!" The old woman nodded. "My family was once the caretakers of all the sacred sites in the lands we regularly traveled through. We were charged with arranging offerings for the guardian, and I confess it was my favorite of places. I am afraid I have not been able to perform my duties the way I once did since the curse sealed the grove."
"Did you ever see it? The guardian?"
Llamalla smiled. "I cannot say I ever had the honor. When I was a child, my father swore he once saw a man's shadow that transformed into a huge bird. He said the wind from its wings was great enough to sway the trees, and it kicked up such a storm that it knocked him over. But he… had a habit of sampling the ceremonial liquors from time to time, so I was never sure."
Something brushed her leg, startling Lucy out of her train of thought, and before she could shout a warning Natsu popped up, showering water everywhere. "Hey," he started, but was cut off when she roughly shoved him backwards into the stream again.
"What are you doing?! Geez!" the girl cried. The village women laughed at the scene, the fire wizard's pouting, drenched face and Lucy's hands on her hips. Unfortunately, the blonde momentarily forgot that she was only waist deep in the water, putting her breasts on full display.
And he looked. He definitely looked. Before she had a chance to wrap her arms around herself and sink back into the current, Natsu's eyes dropped just long enough to assuredly get an eye full. Instead of commenting, he just blew out a spray of water and headed towards the shore. "I just wanted to tell you I was done. Didn't hafta get violent with me."
Her face was burning. Before, she might've put it down to Natsu suddenly having an attack of normal male hormones, but he only ever seemed to focus his intermittent perversities on her, and lately it was happening more often. More frustrating was how often her cultivated sense of propriety and embarrassment got in the way of taking a chance on something she wanted.
Just last week, she'd accidentally barged in on him using her shower and just stood there ogling his very nearly naked body. The towel dangerously loose around his lean hips and the fine droplets of water trailing down his sculpted torso made it so hard to look away. He'd seemed almost curious and waiting for her to do something. Unfortunately, that something had been her yelling and slamming the door rather than tackling him to the tiled floor like she very much wished to.
If she could just get over this irritating tendency to overreact, she had the feeling there might be something pretty amazing on the other side. Maybe she needed to just do something drastic…
"Oh my, I know that look." A woman who appeared to be in her thirties nudged her in the side. "He's quite taken with you, is he not?"
"W-what?" Lucy blurted intelligently. "No, it's not like that at all!" And there she went again, running full tilt into the wall of her ground-in obligation to decorum.
Laughing, the woman simply nodded. "You can tell yourself that now, but when he cannot take his eyes off you… I do not think it will be long before he is asking for a chance to feast more than those pretty eyes of his on you."
"They will have beautiful children, do you think?" Llamalla put in, receiving quick agreement from the others. "There is little as grand as a fated match."
"Oh geez," the blonde muttered. "It's not fate…" She was pretty sure Mirajane would fit right in this conversation, which made her think of home and the task ahead of them. Quickly, she went back to washing herself.
Several hours later, the two wizards were tromping through the forest while Lucy stared intently at the map Daun had given them. She had set aside the odd behavior of the shaman and the chieftain in favor of hunting down any possible clue that could tell them how to break the stupid curse.
"Are we lost again?" Natsu had been plodding along beside her with his hands in their customary laced position behind his head, oddly quiet. Until now.
With an exasperated noise, Lucy lowered the map and glared at him. "We are not lost. We weren't lost before, and we're not lost now." She brought the parchment back up to her face and muttered, "Not my fault there was a dumb prophecy sitting in the middle of our path."
Silence reigned again for a few more minutes. Noting an enormous stump that the elder had used as a landmark, the celestial wizard angled her steps to the West. She spared a glance at her partner to make sure he was following and noticed his keen nose still crinkling periodically.
"Are we almost there?" he whined when he saw her looking in his direction. "This is getting boring."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yes, and why do you keep sniffing the air? Do you smell something?"
He paused, letting his hands drop to his sides before answering. "This forest smells… weird."
"Weird? Weird how?" Her brow furrowed, concerned by anything that would tip off her companion's draconic nose.
"Weird new," Natsu explained with a grimace. "Like it's never been traveled or something. There are not a lot of people or… I dunno. I guess no modern smells, if that makes any sense."
Cocking her head, the girl frowned. "That's… really strange. People pass through this forest all the time. What do you think it means?"
"That we're not in Fiore anymore." The dragon slayer's mouth was pressed into a thin line, and he very obviously wasn't joking despite what under any other circumstances would be a ludicrous statement.
Lucy had no response to that, deciding to concentrate on where her feet were going in the thick underbrush. He was definitely right that this particular area didn't seem to have seen much traffic, and there was no worn path. The map indicated that the grove should be close, though.
Pushing her way past a mass of vines and tall ferns, the girl stopped short at the sight before her. She only had a second to goggle at the beautiful, verdant clearing before Natsu plowed right into her back, nearly sending her toppling forward into the grass.
He grabbed her arm, starting to apologize, but left his mouth hanging open in surprise. The lush meadow sprawled out in front of them, surrounded by a ring of ancient looking trees. Wildflowers bloomed in clumps, lending their sweet fragrance to the air and splashes of vivid color amongst the green. The strange stone altar in the center was the only thing causing dissonance in the otherwise bucolic scene.
"Wow," Lucy said.
"No kidding," Natsu agreed, stepping cautiously around her. "Maybe there's something to this prophecy thing after all. We didn't have any trouble getting here."
"I can't say I'm all that enthusiastic about it, but I guess I'll take what I can get if it'll help us out of this." She had never seen a place like this in her life. It just seemed so terrifyingly alive. The air practically vibrated with magic.
His nose picked up the natural scents of flora and something strange that was standing out loud and clear. "I smell something really weird. Kinda familiar, but…" Sniffing zealously now, the dragon slayer steadily moved towards the great stone monument. He pressed his nose to the rock and inhaled deeply, eyebrows creasing.
Having followed closely behind, Lucy waited for a few moments before questioning him. "What? What is it?"
"I smelled it all over the place since we got here, but it was too weak for me to figure out what it was. It's really strong right here." He looked up at her sharply, eyes shining with leashed optimism. "Lucy… It smells like dragon."
She couldn't help the gasp that popped out. Her first impulse was to ask if he was sure, but before she spoke, the girl realized there was no way Natsu would be mistaken about such a thing. "Do you think it's still here?"
"No. Maybe? I dunno." He shook his head, bracing himself with palms lying flat on the smooth altar top. "If it was here, the smell would be stronger all around the area. The weird thing is that just this," he tapped the stone with his index finger, "smells like a dragon's been here recently… What are you doing?"
Kneeling, the blonde had started running her fingers over the vertical surfaces of the altar's base. "There's writing here. It looks like… but that would be weird."
Natsu snorted. "Weirder than being in a cursed forest that sorta reeks of dragon and has some crazy prophecy attached to it?"
"Good point," she laughed quietly. "This writing looks like the language used for celestial wizards and their spirits to write contracts and communicate. It's just a very old version of it."
His eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "Okay. I guess that is pretty weird after all."
"Well, I think I'm going to need a bit of help here if I'm going to translate it. The difference in the old form is enough that it'll take me a while trying to do it on my own." She stood, brushing the dirt from her knees, and pulled a silver key from her belt pouch. Grinning and taking a few steps back to give her room to cast her magic, Natsu felt confident that if anyone could solve this expanding puzzle, it was Lucy.
"Open, gate of the southern cross!" she cried, extending the key and unleashing a burst of magical energy. She could feel a strange and heavy resistance from the barrier between worlds and pushed harder with her power, body beginning to shake from the strain. "C'mon!" the girl said through gritted teeth. "Why isn't this working?"
One last mystical shove parted the gate, and Lucy bent forward, wheezing from the exertion. "What happened, Grandpa Cru-" She broke off at the sight of Loke standing where she'd expected the elderly spirit.
"That's a very good question," the lion answered, face grave. "What the hell is going on?"
"I was trying to call Crux," she responded, having gotten her wind back. "We're kind of in a bind here, and I needed someone to help me translate this. What are you doing here?"
"We could feel your summons, but Crux didn't have the power to get through to you. I came instead." He glanced from the dragon slayer to the celestial wizard. "Do you two even know where you are?"
Natsu glared. "No! Actually we have no idea what the heck is going on here. We were in the forest and all of the sudden got caught up in some crazy old curse in this village, and there's a weird prophecy about us breaking it. And I smell dragon."
The last comment had Loke doing a double take. "Dragon? Wait." He held up a hand when the fire mage opened his mouth. "Save that for later. I'm pretty sure I have limited time here, so let me get this out. You two are in the celestial realm."
"What?!" Lucy's shriek made the two men wince. "Oh no! That would explain some things." She turned to Natsu. "The reason the stars are all wrong and the fact that time seems to be flowing really strangely. We've been here for a whole day already so that means -"
"I don't think time is behaving the way it normally does in our realm here," Loke interrupted, reading his master's growing distress. "You're in some kind of… bubble that we spirits haven't been able to pierce before. Not that we've tried very hard, I'll admit, but it always seemed strange that we couldn't pass through this space."
Natsu raised a rosy eyebrow. "Always seemed? Just how long has this been here?"
"It's difficult to reconcile with your time, but I'd say… maybe 900 of your years?"
"N-nine… hundred?!" The dragon slayer gawked along with his partner. "How is that possible?"
Loke shook his head. "I'd love to speculate, but Lucy's going to run out of power much quicker than normal because of this curse 'bubble.' You said you needed this stone translated, so I'd better get to it." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled a pair of glasses similar to the ones he normally sported and swapped them for the ones sitting on his face. "This should speed things up."
Less than thirty minutes later Lucy was already feeling drained. She hadn't been this worn out from a single, non-combat summoning since she first started practicing her magic. Loke had only made it three-quarters of the way around the stone altar, though his magical glasses allowed him to transfer lines of translated text to one of Lucy's notebooks simply by tracing a finger across the page.
"You doing okay?" Natsu questioned her, taking in the paleness of her skin and sweat beading on her forehead.
The girl rubbed at her eyes and breathed deeply. "Yeah… I'll be fine. I don't think I can keep it up much longer, though."
Laying a broad palm against her back, the fire wizard sent a small surge of soothing warmth into her body. She sighed and gave him a little smile of relief. "Don't push yourself too hard, Lucy. We'll figure this out."
Loke stood and approached the two mages who had seated themselves in the grass nearby while they waited. "Sorry. The glasses sped the process up, but not enough for me to completely finish."
"Does it say how to break the curse?" Natsu asked anxiously.
He was surprised by the odd, uneasy smile that appeared on the spirit's face. "Oh, yeah, that… Apparently all you two have to do is make love on the altar."
They stared at him blankly until Lucy started to glower. "That's not funny."
Loke's laughter was strained and not really humorous. "Oh, I really wish I was joking. It's all right here." He passed the notebook back to his master, nodding when she quietly thanked him. "Before you do two kids anything crazy, I'm going to do some research and see if any of the other spirits know something helpful. I can't pass through here freely, so you'll need to summon me again after your magic power has recovered."
He paused and turned to Natsu. "She can't just call us the way she normally does, so make sure you look after her."
The dragon slayer nodded seriously. "Yeah, this place is kinda messed up. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to Lucy."
Giving the two a jaunty salute that did nothing to dispel the tension in the air, Loke dissolved into motes of light. The partners momentarily sat in silence before the celestial wizard exploded. "What kind of insane curse is this?! Who makes a curse where people have to.. to… do that to break it? That's just sick!"
She pushed herself to her feet with aggressive force but underestimated the amount of energy she'd spent keeping Leo's gate open. Her legs buckled, sending her crashing into Natsu with a grunt.
"Take it easy. There's got to be more to the curse than that. It just too weird." He helped her to her feet, keeping his hands on her arms when she swayed unsteadily.
"You're right," she sighed. "Hopefully there's something in the text that will help this all make sense." Scrubbing at her eyes again, the girl slouched into his touch.
"C'mon. You're completely wiped, so I'll carry you." Lucy looked up sharply as Natsu started to maneuver her into a position where he could pick her up. Having her face suddenly so close to his made the dragon slayer pause, and he could just feel her gearing up to protest. "Piggy-back ride?"
Reluctantly agreeing, she climbed on when he knelt in front of her. The trip back to the village was silent other than Natsu checking on Lucy's well being and a few refusals to put her down even when she assured him her strength was returning.
The sun was dipping behind the treetops by the time they arrived, bathing the landscape in orange and gold. Natsu let his partner clamber down from his back at the edge of the village clearing, stopping to wait for the chieftain who was heading in their direction. Tired from the long day and extended uncertainty, the dragon slayer found himself musing that the light made Lucy's hair sort of look like it was crafted from vibrant fire.
And then his stomach started to rumble in hunger.
She cast him an amused glance as Daun and Tarsk arrived to greet them. The elder bowed, but it was obvious from his bearing that he was anxious about their return. "Lady Lucy, Master Natsu, welcome back." He hesitated only briefly before asking, "Did you make it to the altar?"
Lucy choked at his choice of wording, a vision of long white veils and impossibly broad grins above a bow tie zipping quickly past her mind's eye. "Uh, yes. Yes we did. I still need to do some translating on the text we found before we can move forward."
Daun's face lit with tempered hope, and he nodded excitedly. "I understand! Please, join us in our evening meal. You must be tired from your expedition." He gestured for the two partners to follow him, bringing them back to the center of the village.
Though there was no great fire or dancing this time, Lucy observed a simmering anticipation in the villager's activities. It seemed word of their trip to the sacred grove had filtered through and the admiration offered reminded her how much these people were depending on their 'saviors.' She didn't care for the reverent and cautious way they were being treated, but it definitely ramped up her desire to bring an end to their troubles.
The only anomaly in the buoyant atmosphere was Tarsk's stony face as the shaman chose to stand apart from the others. Just as he had before, when he caught her looking in his direction, he bowed and slipped a neutral smile onto his lips before drifting away.
"That guy's creepy," Natsu muttered, leaning in to be heard over the waves of casual conversation surrounding them. "He keeps staring at you."
"Hmm. I suppose we look pretty strange compared to the villagers," she reasoned, but her tone made it clear that she didn't entirely believe it.
"He wasn't eyeballing me." Shaking his head, the dragon slayer narrowed his eyes at the shaman's back. "I don't like it. Something's off about that guy. He almost seems mad that we made it back."
Lucy watched the man for a long moment. It definitely wasn't that she disagreed with his assessment, but for the time being… "There's not much we can do about this right now. Let's just keep an eye on him."
Silent while he chewed and swallowed the piece of bread he'd bitten into, Natsu finally asked, "Do you think that stuff Loke gave you will tell us what to do next?"
Her cheeks flushed darkly thinking of what the celestial spirit had said. "Hopefully there's something else in there." She was trying hard not to let her imagination run away with her, but some deceitful part of her mind tittered gleefully and provided explicit ideas on what a delightful 'chore' breaking the curse could be.
"You okay?" The dragon slayer studied her intently.
Lucy coughed and fanned her blazing face. "Y-yeah! I'm fine. Just tired. I think I want to get some sleep before I start going over the translation."
His nose quivered, scenting the air around her, and his eyebrows twitched. He looked like he was suppressing a smile, and Lucy had the dreadful thought that maybe he could smell what she was thinking. That was almost dismissed until his eyes dropped subtly to her lap and then rose back up, and she realized that there was a chance her own body's reaction to her steamy thoughts about him might actually give her away.
Before she had a chance to panic, he rose to his feet and stretched his muscled arms over his head. "I'm bushed too. Let's hit the sack." The fire wizard reached down and helped her up, nodding to Daun when the chieftain looked at them questioningly.
It was hard to ignore the amused and bizarrely awed glances from the villagers watching the young man lead his partner to their private tent. Fresh blood rushed to Lucy's face, making her feel a bit dizzy and much too warm. Somehow she doubted her insistence they were 'only friends' had really convinced anyone, and she couldn't help but feel mortified when thinking how they might react to Loke's revelation on breaking the curse.
Natsu shucked his coat, belt, and sandals the moment he entered the tent, dropping them off to the side. It was dark without the light of the fire or the lamp overhead, and Lucy ran right into him when he stopped moving. "S-sorry!" She'd been absorbed in working off her own footwear.
He inhaled deeply, and she slowed her clumsy, blind movements in expectation of him speaking. The faint drone of the villagers outside filled the silence until he let the breath out in a gusty stream and climbed into the bedding. "C'mon. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day."
A prickle of disappointment filled her stomach that he hadn't been about to address the weighty issue between them after all. She followed him, laying on her side while he rolled over a few times in search of a comfortable position. "Natsu," Lucy said hesitantly, "What if… What if what Loke said is true? That we need to… you know… to break the curse?"
His restless shifting ceased, and he was still for a long moment before answering. "It'll be okay. You're smart. You'll figure something else out." His measured voice was inscrutable in the darkness, and Lucy really wished she could see his expression.
"What if I can't?" she pressed. "What if there isn't another way?"
She felt the covers tug towards him. "You'll do it. Have more faith in yourself."
"I'm being serious here!" the blonde hissed.
"And so am I!" Natsu let out a heavy sigh. He rolled over to face her with awkward, jerky movements, not wanting to squash her or fall off the stack of blankets that made up their bedding. "It'll be fine. We can't get too wound up over this."
Eyes straining to see him in the darkness, the celestial wizard bit her lip. She would love to just put the topic aside as he suggested, but her nagging worries were making it difficult. "You don't think we should discuss this at all? I feel like it would be better to come to an understanding now than get blind-sided -"
"Lucy." He levered himself up on his elbow, dragon sharp eyes picking out her silhouette in the gloom. "I don't know what you want me to say here. It's not that I don't… That I wouldn't want… I mean, with you… Damn it." His sigh was ragged this time, and she found she was involuntarily holding her breath while he took a minute to collect his thoughts. "I don't want to get forced into something like that, especially not with you."
Ouch, her brain supplied, but it thankfully didn't reach her mouth. Maybe she'd been reading too much into his behavior after all. "I just thought we should be prepared… for the worst, apparently," she muttered, burrowing a bit more into the finely embroidered blanket covering her.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that." Natsu covered her right hand with his own larger one before he realized what he was doing, and Lucy tried to tell herself that the flip flopping of her belly was just a claustrophobic reaction to having him suddenly loom over her in the dark. "Uh, I just meant that you're my best friend, and… I don't want you to have to do something like that unless… unless you want to."
"Oh." She smiled softly. He could be so cute when he wasn't breathing fire and tearing holes through buildings. The deviant bit of her mind managed to worm her next words out against her will. "And what if I do want to?"
Struck as still as if Gray had frozen him solid, Natsu didn't move a muscle, and Lucy feared that she'd jumped feet first into something dangerous. "Uh, I mean… That is…" she stammered. Her heart was ramming against her ribs like a jackhammer.
His laughter sounded a bit shaky, but saved her from blundering through an excuse. "I guess… that would be different." Natsu laid his head down, surprisingly her slightly when he didn't attempt to put a more comfortable distance between them. He didn't let go of her hand either. "Maybe we can save this for tomorrow? I know there's more stuff for us to say, but you're too beat to really do this now."
"S-sure." Mind leaping wildly, Lucy couldn't help but pick apart their conversation. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Did he really want that kind of relationship with her? Was she asking too much of him? Maybe he felt the same -
"You're thinking too hard," he groaned, giving her fingers a small squeeze. "Go to sleep. We'll talk about it later."
"Sorry," she whispered, and he mumbled a reply she couldn't decipher. Even with his insistence, Lucy couldn't shake the tumbling mental acrobatics. What would it be like? Would he be gentle or rough? Careless or thoughtful? Frenzied with desire or patient and understanding? Any of those options sounded so very Natsu, so it was hard to be sure.
And it somehow seemed so very illicit to be thinking these things with him sleeping close enough for her to feel his body heat. She drifted off, lulled by thoughts of warm hands and smoky kisses.