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 ChapterAddition: Major author's note at the end. If you'd like to read the quite NSFW piece that comes directly after this one you can check out my profile for the link to my Archive of Our Own account.

Following Natsu out of the village, she maintained her aura of confidence until they passed the tree line into the forest. There really was no guarantee that she could find another way to break the curse no matter how much effort she threw at it. Still, the alternative wasn't that terrible… Not that she would verbally admit it, but there had been some very striking late night fantasies about her pink haired friend in the privacy of her bedroom.

There didn't seem to be much to prevent her brain from running amok as the two made their way through the trees. The trip seemed twice as long as it had the first time they'd made it, and the extra time only seemed to make her obsess more.

Her legs felt like jelly, and her partner was oblivious judging by the way he was zooming ahead. His face still had that strange, lifeless quality to it that was so very 'un-Natsu.' It was unsettling. He hadn't even noticed how far behind she'd fallen until she called out just before he left her range of sight.

Jerking in surprise, he lurched around to look at her and blinked dumbly. "Lucy… What are you doing back there?"

"Well, what are you doing up there?" she shot back, wobbling her way over to him. "Are you okay? You seem pretty shook up."

The shutters snapped closed again, hiding his emotions behind blank eyes. "It's nothing."

Lucy grabbed his arm when he started to move away. "Don't shut me out, please… That guy got under your skin, didn't he? I saw the way you looked."

Natsu's jaw worked for a moment, and his eyes darted to everything but her face while he mulled over a response. Just when she began to fear he might refuse to answer at all, the dragon slayer sighed. "Yeah… I guess he did. I dunno why, though. It's not like I care what he thinks."

"C'mon." Lucy hooked her elbow with his, leaning slightly on her friend for support as they started walking again. "Tarsk is an arrogant, bigoted idiot, and I can't blame Cyra for wanting to get away from him. The fact that he trapped everyone in this curse because he thought he knew what was best for them is just… just -"

"You don't think I'm a monster, do you?" Natsu interrupted, peering at her out of the corner of his eye.

She smiled softly, patting his forearm. "I'm pretty sure I already answered that. It wouldn't matter to me if you suddenly turned giant and scaly, you'd still be Natsu. I'd be surprised, sure, but then again you do some pretty strange stuff."

The fire wizard's jaw shifted side to side as he considered what she had said. "You seriously wouldn't care?" His voice rang of skepticism.

Her hip bumped his, causing her to glance off gently before she corrected her trajectory. "Nope. It doesn't matter to me if you're a dragon or a man. You're Natsu, and someone I lo- someone… precious to me." She grimaced at her own verbal stumble. Why was it still so hard to say what she felt? After their talk this morning, it seemed like her deepest wish might actually be possible.

"I just…" he started and then stopped, frowning as he tried to mash his feelings into words. "Igneel raised me. It's not like I didn't know what he could do - we fought and stuff for training - but it was different seeing those dragons in Crocus killing people and destroying everything. I guess I didn't want to believe those terrible stories people tell about them…" The strain in his arm was still there under her fingers. "I… don't want to be like that. I don't ever want to make you afraid of me."

Butterflies started thrashing around in her stomach at his declaration. "It can be hard to accept that the person who has the power to protect you probably also has the power to hurt others. I imagine it's especially true when it's someone who loved and nurtured you like Igneel did. That's the same with humans, though, and if you can trust them to do the right thing you can live with the knowledge and learn t-to love them because of that, not in spite of it. It's all in how they choose to use their power."

Engrossed in her thoughts and watching her boots, Lucy took longer than she normally would to realize Natsu had fallen silent. Raising her head, she was a bit surprised to see him staring at her with an intensely thoughtful expression. After a long moment, he opened his mouth only to close it and offer her his huge, unburdened grin. Her heart did a sudden fluttery dance in response.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Y-yeah?"

"We're here."

Waning sunlight struck her square in the eyes as they passed the edge of the forest, making her blink and sending spots streaking along her vision. She rubbed them with the back of her hand and let go of Natsu's arm. Not wanting to waste time, Lucy ignored the dazzled state of her eyes and made a beeline for the altar. "Right," she muttered to herself, "I can do this.

Tossing her notebook on the ground next to where she knelt, the celestial wizard began tracing the etched stone with her fingers, pausing now and then to make notes or puzzle over wording. Natsu hung back for a while, not wanting to distract her, but the sun began to creep down towards the treetops, and his anxiety started to get the better of him.

Edging ever closer to his partner, he watched her actions carefully. Her taut shoulders and barely audible grumbling didn't strike him as a good sign, and he struggled to keep his mouth shut. By the time he was standing near her elbow and peering down at her notes, Lucy finally dropped her pen and ran a shaky hand through her pale hair.

"Did you find anything?" Natsu asked cautiously.

The look she cast up at him was definitely not a good sign. She looked defeated, even apologetic. No, that wasn't what he'd been hoping for.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is much more… explicit than I was expecting. I figured there'd be a loop hole or something with how crudely written Tarsk's changes were, but…"

He shifted his weight, crossing and then uncrossing his arms over his chest in a display of disquiet. "So, uh, there's nothing else we can do?"

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "When I said explicit, I mean that he kinda spelled it out pretty graphically. A dragon and a celestial wizard have to do it right here on top of the altar to break the curse. I'm not really sure that's what he originally intended since it's so garbled with all the alterations, but… That guy is seriously bent. I know this isn't what you wanted…"

Natsu studied her carefully, taking in how her fingers tugged at the edge of her skirt and her pearly teeth nibbled at her lower lip. Chocolate eyes regarded him with caution under blond lashes. "Okay," he breathed finally. "So… we… I mean, what do you want to do?"

"It should be fine," Lucy said quickly, surprising him when she hopped to her feet.

"Fine? Just fine?" Natsu sulked. "I don't want to do this if you don't."

"It's not that I don't want to…" She found herself blushing and frowned in irritation. Now was not the time for her usual reactions. "It's just that the wording on the curse says we have to… love each other."

The fire wizard muttered something under his breath, catching her attention. "Say that again."

He puffed out a sigh, looking up to a sky that mirrored her blush in reds and oranges as if to steel himself, and then locked gazes with her. "I said I've got my half of that covered."

Lucy was silent, blinking at him.

Tugging at his scarf, Natsu kept his eyes on her. "Do I gotta say it out loud? I'm… not so good with words."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked, voice more calm than he expected. "When did you start feeling this way?"

"I just told you that I'm not good with words." He smiled crookedly. "And I think it was back on Tenrou… when you wouldn't run away. At least that's when I started to think about it. About us."

She'd been fairly certain after what he'd said that morning, but hearing his confession out loud left her feeling strangely adrift. Eventually she said, "I can't believe this. We wasted all that time."

"Wasted?" Natsu looked confused.

She seized his scarf and pulled him forward to clumsily press her lips against his before drawing back, fingers still clenched in his neckwear. "I feel like an idiot for not just saying I've been in love with you for ages. We could've been together, but I keep tripping over myself."

Natsu snorted and started to laugh. "Oh, man! It took you long enough to finally admit it."

"What." Her voice dropped to a chilly tone, but it didn't stop his chortling. "You knew that I was crazy about you and didn't say anything to - mmf!"

The fire mage cut her off with a quick, heated kiss. He could get used to doing that. "You really didn't know how I felt? It's not like I was trying to see anyone else naked."

"What the hell was up with that, anyway?" she huffed, trying to squash the wretched threads of embarrassment that dug through her.

He shrugged as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "I like looking at you naked." Waggling his eyebrows he leaned in. "Maybe I could see some now that you've told me you love me?"

"Where is this coming from?" the celestial wizard shrieked, swatting him on the arm and giving a little push against his chest.

"Pfft. I grew up in Fairy Tail. You think I don't know more about sex than most people twice my age?"

Her mouth opened and then clicked closed. "I honestly hadn't given that any thought, but wow… It's a wonder you're not a complete pervert when you put it that way."

"There's a big difference between saying 'I love you' and having sex, though," he said, diverting the topic and scrubbing a hand through his spiky locks. "I can't say I didn't think about this… probably a lot… definitely a lot lately…"

"Oh, thank goodness," she breathed, patting him on the sternum. "I kind of thought I was the only one who fantasized about you climbing through my window and into my bed one night to -" His eyebrows had spiked high on his forehead at her admission. "You know what, I'm not going to finish that."

He snickered but stopped suddenly when she traced a careful index finger over his glorious abs with a sultry smile. She could feel the ridges of his muscles even through the thick cloth of his coat. "I don't think I would've picked this for a place to start this part of our relationship, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. There's something about all this that's actually kind of -"

"Forced?" he asked, still not liking the thought.

"I was going to say… risque. You don't think there's something a little sexy and thrilling about all this?" The blonde leaned in towards him until her breath tickled his jaw and made him swallow hard. "The two protagonists who've been dancing around each other for years finally declare their love in a cursed grove under the threat of evil magic. Giving in to their repressed passions and quenching their thirst for another is the only way to save everyone, so why would they resist?"

He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Shut up," she explained. "This is quality romance material. I might use this for my next novel."

"Are you sure you're really okay with this?" Natsu let his fingers brush over her bare arms, but seemed hesitant to go any further.

She slid her fingers up over his shoulders, shifting to stand closer. "All this time I've been fighting with myself. I knew what I wanted but… there's just this block that tells me I shouldn't want this, and it just drives me crazy every time." Lucy kissed him gently, reveling in the way his breathing hitched. "This way I can't back out, and I really don't want to."

"I just don't want you to regret this," he murmured, "I couldn't stand -"

Her index finger against his lower lip temporarily silenced him. "This is my choice. You're what I want," she declared.

"Oh," Natsu said, blush starting to rise under his tan while he beamed at her hugely.

Their conversation lulled again, and the longer the quiet dragged on the more ragged his grin became. Lucy realized, despite his bragging, the dragon slayer was even more nervous than she was. "You have no idea what to do next, do you?" she teased.

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Sort of…" Natsu eyed the elevated stone slab dubiously. It certainly didn't look comfortable and wasn't exactly his ideal choice for their first time engaging in this activity.

"Here," Lucy said, "Maybe it'll help if I start." She began loosening the fasteners on her top, courage building along with her excitement. Now that she'd conquered her wall of sanctioned modesty, a welcome sort of giddy steadiness had settled in.

She eagerly moved to hop up on the altar only to be stopped by his touch on her elbow. "Hang on." Natsu peeled off his coat and laid it across the cool stone surface. "That'll be better."

"Such a gentleman all of the sudden," Lucy said, tipping her head so she looked up at him coyly through her lashes.

Momentarily mute in the face of her suddenly seductive posturing, the dragon slayer just stared down at her until she started to frown. "A-are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked, voice tinged with anxiety. "I know it's the only way to break the curse, but I don't want to ruin what we've got -"

Her finger on his lips halted his stuttered sentence. "It's okay. Don't think of it like that. Just consider it an… opportunity that I'm finally taking."

A laugh escaped him. "If that's what you want."

She pushed up slightly on her toes to press her lips to his again. "It's definitely what I want. If you're trying to get rid of me, you're going to have to do something a lot worse than sleep with me when I'm asking you to."

He snickered and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I dunno. We might be really bad at this." Then his searing mouth sealed over hers.

Deciding to follow through on her new bold impulsiveness, Lucy opened her lips and carefully ran her tongue along the back of his upper teeth. Startled, Natsu hesitated for a split second before leaning in further and attempting to catch her wily tongue with his own, managing to mash her upper lip against her teeth in the process. They dueled briefly before Lucy snorted and had to pull back and laugh.

"Okay, this isn't a fight. You don't have to win," she chuckled, letting her fingertips play with the hair at the base of his neck and making him shiver.

Broad hands flattened against her smooth, partially bare back, though his fingers flexed as a sign of his nerves. "Yeah, sorry. I kinda got carried away there." Her top was already draping slightly away from her body, and he skimmed a palm up under the fabric. If the way she hummed was any indication, she seemed to be enjoying it. "Right. I can do this."

He brought his mouth back to hers, attempting to pick up where they left off. Lucy obliged him happily by parting her still smiling lips and letting his tongue skim across hers. The sweet warmth of her mouth was exotic in a way he hadn't been expecting, and he cautiously shifted closer for a better taste. The slow push and pull of lips and teeth gradually settled into a rhythm that started to lull Natsu's senses into a pleasant euphoria.

The slender fingers burrowing into his hair and massaging his scalp further drugged him, and he found himself letting slip an embarrassing whine when she paused. Lucy's torso shook slightly with a suppressed laugh, and he nipped at her swelling lower lip in retaliation. His sharp teeth scraped at the flesh, but not hard enough to pierce. An intake of breath through her nose surprised him but not as much as her fingers twisting and pulling in his hair to force his mouth tighter against hers.

Natsu's growl reverberated through his chest, some guttering flame in his belly kicking into a full inferno at the prickling pain caused by her nails on his scalp. He'd had no idea he was into that, really, but it felt so good.

Tilting his head slightly and using his nose and chin to shift the angle of her face, he sucked at her bottom lip before letting his tongue start to desperately roam the cavern of her mouth. She still tasted like the sweet summer fruits they'd eaten for lunch, thick and sugary.

Her ample breasts were now firmly smashed against his bare chest, and she kept up with the insistent tugging on his pink locks. The fire in his stomach seemed to be sucking the oxygen away from his brain to feed itself, growing and licking lower and lower. He was starting to feel dizzy, and the reaction to the bulging heat in his groin had him sliding his fingers down her back to press their hips together.

Lucy released his head from her death grip and pulled away suddenly, panting and staring. "W-wow. I don't think being bad at this is going to be a problem for us."

"Heh. Yeah." He couldn't help but grin even as nerves jangled around in his body. His traitorous brain caught up and started whispering insidious doubts, but the slow, insistent pulsing between his legs helped to drown him out. Brown eyes gazed up at him expectantly, waiting impatiently for his next move.

Author's Note Chapter Addition: In case anyone is questioning my reasoning behind how things turn out: the very first draft of notes had Lucy pulling a bit of a rabbit out of her hat and finding a loophole in the curse. It just honestly seemed too convenient. The second and third drafts had her being all blushy and embarrassed, and Snogfairy (Thank you!) kindly pointed out that it didn't quite… work. This last draft is the result of me retyping the entire story from and making changes as I went and ended up much closer to what I had intended. I figured that part of Lucy's hesitance was likely due to the social norms of the class she was brought up in – where she probably was taught she shouldn't want that kind of thing and definitely shouldn't pursue it herself. It just felt like a little bit of justice for Lucy to use the awful hand hand she was dealt as a ladder to get over one of her personal hurdles to something she wanted. She was meant to take advantage of a situation where some creep tried to manipulate them into something uncomfortable. Not sure if it actually reads that way, but there you go.

As I said up top, if you'd like to read the kinda naughty bit that comes directly after this one, you can slide on over to my Archive of Our Own account (same user name, same story name) and pick up where this leaves off. If that isn't your sort of thing, then feel free to skip it since it isn't necessary for understanding the story.