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 Note: 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.
Author's Note Chapter Addition: There's a bit of naughty at the beginning of this last chapter, so if that's not your thing, I apologize. Hopefully you can skim through it without too much pain. Main author's note at the end of the chapter.
"Wow," she murmured, smiling drunkenly. "That was pretty incredible."
He nodded, forehead dipping to touch hers while she toyed with his hair. "Yeah…"
"Maybe next time I can be on top," she said and then hesitated. "I mean… if you want to do that again -"
The look he gave her made her silent. "Lucy, I would do that every couple of hours if you'd let me."
"That might be expecting a bit much. I'd like to actually accomplish something once in a while," she joked. "But I think I can indulge you now and then."
"Like right now?"
"You can't be serious." The blonde stared up at him. "You are serious. As much as I'd really like to, I don't have the kind of recovery power you do."
"I guess we'll have to practice a lot to get your stamina up," he grinned, teeth on full display.
She snorted. "Just shut up and kiss me some more."
The dragon slayer complied quickly, mouth working over hers with renewed energy. His fingers twined strands of her golden locks around themselves, luxuriating in the softness. He was more than happy to stay like this for as long as possible.
Finally, she broke away, breathing hard again. "I hate to do this, Natsu, but... my leg is falling asleep. You're sort of laying on it."
He grumbled and rolled over, sliding out of her regretfully, and belatedly realized that the surface they were on wasn't particularly large when he nearly plunged off the edge. His squawk of surprise as he scrabbled to stay on drew a laugh from his exhausted partner. Without him in her immediate frame of vision, she gazed up at the night sky.
The good humor that had been humming in her veins dwindled, and Lucy's face betrayed her disappointment. "It didn't work?" She pointed up to the unchanged stars overhead when Natsu looked at her. "Did I mess something up?" Struggling to sit up, Lucy wracked her brain for anything that might have been overlooked in their frenzy.
Natsu's limbs still felt strangely heavy, but he slid down off the altar top, sandals making a puff of dust when they hit the ground. He tucked himself back inside his pants, staring up at the heavens with a frown. "I don't know about you, but that sure felt like we did everything right to me."
"That's not what I -" The celestial wizard shook her head, smiling despite the situation. Swinging her legs over the side of the stone surface, she instantly became aware of an essential truth about sex she'd never really taken the time to consider before.
It was sticky. She was sticky, especially in a now very tender place between her legs. Her partner watched her expectantly, looking confused when Lucy only shifted her hips towards the edge of the altar instead of standing up. He caught on quickly when he saw the creamy white fluid painting the inside of her thighs.
Well, damn if that didn't do some interesting things to the banked fire in his belly.
"Oh, uh, maybe I can help you with that…" Natsu began digging into the baggy pockets of his pants, pulling out her underwear that he'd stashed away earlier. He hesitated, staring at the fabric for a moment while she readjusted her shirt to cover her breasts before extending it to her. "You might want these too."
Lucy rolled her eyes with a crooked smile and accepted the article. Just as she was about to propose heading over to the stream they had passed on their way to the clearing so she could clean up, the dragon slayer planted his palms against her thighs and dropped his head to lave his tongue repeatedly up her sensitive core. She shrieked in surprise, and he made a face that clearly said he wasn't sure what to think of the flavor of their remnants. "What are you do- Actually, I'm not sure I want to know."
"I didn't have anything to clean you up with," he replied defensively, reaching past her to grab his scarf and coat when he was done. "And it's not like it tastes bad… Just kinda weird."
She sniffed, turning her face away and sliding down to the ground. "Earlier you said you liked the way I taste. Now it's weird?"
Noting the way her cheeks turned pink, he couldn't help the cocky grin that crawled onto his mouth while he wound the scaled scarf around his neck. "I do like it, but I think I could get used to how we taste together too."
The light dusting of pink burned into full crimson. Lucy shimmied back into her underwear, pausing to pick up his belt while she was bent over. "I think I'm going to amend my statement about you not being that much of a pervert, because you're doing a really good impression of -"
His hand shot out and seized her elbow, using it to turn her body to face the altar. "Look!" She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened in shock. The script etched into the stone was slowly unraveling like a loose string being pulled on a knit sweater, evaporating into the air.
"W-wait… Does that mean…?"
Strong fingers pulled her back, making the celestial mage stumble slightly and bump into her partner's chest. Natsu made a sound of alarm and shielded her with his body as light began to pulse from the altar, growing in intensity as the last of the words vanished from the surface. "Shit! Let's get out of here," he hissed, tugging her along when her legs refused to cooperate.
She glanced over her shoulder as they hurried towards the line of trees surrounding the clearing. "You don't think something bad is going to happen, do you?"
"Not taking any chances," the dragon slayer grunted, giving a quick tug on his companion's arm to bring her in front of him where he could push her along. "This whole thing has been really weird and I -"
The light burst, nearly blinding Natsu when he chanced a look behind. He wrapped his arms around Lucy, curling over her like a shell to protect her from whatever was going to happen next. Squinting against the radiance shoving back the night, he sucked in a sharp breath when he saw a shape in the light. As quickly as it had erupted, the luminance vanished like a switch had been flipped, leaving the fire wizard with spots dancing in front of his eyes.
"What happened?" Lucy demanded, peering behind them. The altar was bathed in the subtle light of the moon and stars - the right stars this time. "It worked! We're back!"
Natsu was still staring, mouth gaping open. "W-whoa… Did you see that?"
"See what? The light?" she asked curiously, stepping out of his embrace.
He stood rooted to the spot, clutching his coat, and shook his head. "No… I thought I saw…"
Gently touching his arm to get him to look at her, Lucy gazed up at him in the sudden dimness. "Saw what, Natsu?"
"A dragon," he whispered. "I thought I saw a dragon smiling at us…" The fire mage shook his pink head, laughing lightly. "I must'a imagined it."
Lucy studied his face briefly before taking his hand with a warm smile. Her free fingers cupped his cheek, and she leaned up to give him a kiss full of promise. "Come on. Let's go home."
The trek back to the village felt much shorter this time, buoyed as they were by excitement and the lingering, pleasant after effects of their lovemaking. Natsu had redressed himself by the time they made it to the edge of the forest, though he picked at the stains on his coat with amusement.
"You know, I think I might never wash this again and keep it as a reminder of this… 'adventure.'"
"Don't you dare," the blonde warned. "You already have that stupid maid uniform -"
"Oh, wow. I hadn't even thought of that!" he broke in. "Any chance you'd wear that again?" The raging blush that burned along her cheeks made him chuckle.
"So you expect us to believe that your village was cursed by a dragon, that a dragon slayer and a celestial wizard just happened to somehow stumble into whatever dimension you were trapped in, and that they broke the curse which caused your entire village to appear out of nowhere right when we were in the area looking for them?"
If there'd been any doubt of their success, Erza's stern, skeptical voice carrying on the wind erased it.
"Lady wizard, I understand that it must sound implausible, but -" Chieftain Daun was cut off by an irritated ice make mage.
"Pretty sure 'implausible' doesn't even begin to describe this," Gray complained. "We know Natsu and Lucy were here since you have their travel packs, but where the hell are they?"
"Awww, did you miss us that much, Snowflake?" the dragon slayer called out as their friends came into view. "Maybe you should of come with us instead of deciding to fight those thugs on your own."
A small, blue shape barreled right into his chest. "Natsuuuuu!" Happy sobbed. "I was so worried! You and Lucy were gone for three whole days, and we couldn't find you anywhere!
Petting the exceed's furry head, Natsu's expression softened. "Yeah, sorry, Buddy. I didn't mean to worry you."
The feline sniffed dramatically, clinging to his friend's jacket like his life depended on it, and then his nose wrinkled. Big eyes peered up to the pink haired wizard's face. "Natsu… why do you smell like you took a bath in Lucy perfume?"
Face blanching, the young man tried to cover it by laughing and patting the cat on the head earnestly. "H-hey, it looks like everything worked out okay! The curse is broken, and we're back home."
"The chieftain was telling us about it," Wendy chimed in, cradling a disgruntled looking Carla in her arms. "It must have been really hard. How did you do it?"
Lucy stepped forward, brain racing for a way to explain things to the young girl. "Well, you see… We had to.. and then we…"
"Lucy figured out how to get the curse script off the altar it was sealed on," Natsu supplied quickly. It wasn't, strictly speaking, a lie, and even Tarsk's face, half hidden as it was behind the gag, betrayed that he believed it. The traitorous shaman looked outraged.
"Well done!" Erza declared, nodding in respect. "I guess spending all that time with Levy has been beneficial for you. You should thank her for teaching you about script magic when you get back to Magnolia."
"Ah hah hah!" Lucy tittered nervously. "I'll be sure to do that…"
Daun hurried forward, using his staff to propel himself. It was obvious the last few days had weighed heavily on him, but the smile on his lined face spoke of life and renewed hope. "We owe you more than we could possibly repay. You have done so much, risked so much to help us."
"Here, here!" Radi cried, rapping the spear he'd been using to menace Tarsk on the ground and getting a rousing shout in response from the other villagers. "To Natsu and Lucy! The bravest, most gracious master wizards." Maulin and the other hunters whooped, urging everyone else to join in.
"Man, it looks like there's going to be party now," Gray commented over the din. "And here I figured we'd have to rescue these people from Flamebrain's crazy antics." Natsu just stuck out his tongue, still feeling too good to start an argument.
Logs were tossed on to the large cook fire in the village center and food seemed to be appearing from every corner in a steady, if small, stream. "Please, feast with us," Daun cajoled the guild wizards. "We would be honored if you would accept our humble accommodations for the night."
Erza agreed without hesitation. "I believe there is much for us to discuss anyway. A lot has changed in 900 years, and you'll need help if you're going to become a part of this country again."
"I could eat," Natsu agreed, patting his flat stomach and casting a surprisingly salacious grin to Lucy. "Need to rebuild my energy after all that."
Her face felt like it was going to burst into flames so she turned away and scuttled towards where the villagers were setting up blankets and pillows for seating. Wendy caught the blonde's embarrassed expression and looked to her fellow dragon slayer. "Is Lucy okay? Did something happen?"
"Lots of things happened," he replied cryptically. "But right now I'm starving. C'mon, Wendy, let's eat!"
Morning brought a selection of hangovers for everyone. Daun had unearthed casks of special liquor brewed from fermented fruits that the village created just for special occasions and ceremonies. The natural sweetness managed to hide the insanely high alcohol content and lead to the Fairy Tail wizards overindulging.
Not that the villagers had stopped them. Lucy distinctly remembered a woman constantly refilling her cup and encouraging the others to drink more too. She'd actually ended up sprawled in Natsu's lap with the fire mage planting wet, scorching kisses on the back of her neck whenever the others weren't looking. If the villagers hadn't housed the guild mates all in the same tent, Lucy strongly suspected she would've followed through on her earlier thought to take advantage of his irrepressible energy.
Breakfast had been sparse and quiet in contrast, but Daun had extracted a promise that the guild mates would return for a visit. Erza had gone one further and insisted on bringing back official representatives from the kingdom as soon as possible.
"And you got the full payment for the job?" Lucy asked excitedly as they made their way back out of the forest.
"Sure did," Gray answered, hands jammed in his pocket and shirt already unbuttoned. "Those bandits were pretty weak, honestly."
"Yes!" the blonde exclaimed, raising her fist in the air. "I was afraid I wasn't going to make rent after… all this." She hesitated, looking back at the lagging Natsu who had been thoughtful and subdued all morning.
Slowing her steps and effectively dropping out of the conversation between her other teammates, the celestial wizard pulled even with the trudging dragon slayer. "Hey, you okay? You haven't said mu -"
"I don't think we should tell them," Natsu interrupted, keeping his voice low. "About what happened. About us."
She was taken aback as much by the seriousness of his face as his words. Her heart twisted in her chest, aching with sudden regret and a strange emptiness. "Okay… I think I understand, but I hope we can still work together... I mean, it's not like we really promised each other anything -"
He snorted, nudging her with his shoulder. "Don't be weird. If that wasn't a promise, I don't know what is. I just meant that I didn't want to tell the others 'cause they'll probably get crazy about it."
"I guess you've got a point." Relief swelled to fill the brief hollow. The last thing she wanted was to just go back to how things had been between them.
"Sure I do," he said. "I want a chance to get used to this before everyone starts trying to get involved. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I don't want things to get ruined because the others keep poking at us."
"It'll be hard to hide," she said quietly, but a mischievous smile flittered across her face. "I guess there's something kind of… thrilling about the chance of being caught." Her elbow bumped his side playfully, and the grin he gave in return looked almost wicked.
"What're you talking about?" Happy butt in, alighting on Natsu's shoulder and making the two humans jump.
"Uh, nothin' much," the fire wizard mumbled.
Tipping his furry head, Happy observed his two closest friends with keen eyes. "I can wait. You'll tell me later, right?"
Natsu laughed, reaching up to scratch the exceed behind the ears. His little friend would almost certainly find out long before the others just from the amount of time he spent with them anyway. No doubt he'd trill a phrase that was now obviously true. "I sure will, Happy. I promise, it'll be worth the wait."
He glanced at Lucy and shared her soft, warm smile. Yes. It was definitely worth the wait.
Author's Ending Notes: Heeeey, how 'bout that super cheesy last line, yeah? I hope this wasn't too weird for you all, and thank you to anyone who actually stuck it through to the end. I've been working on this for months, so it's a bit of a relief to have it pretty much finished. Feel free to let me know if anything didn't make sense or was just too bizarre to handle. Also typos. *shakes fist* I hate typos but do a lousy job of finding them.
I struggled with this so long that I'm not at all sure I got across the things I wanted to. As for Natsu…. I feel like that kid internalizes a lot of bad stuff, and it gives me the desire to poke at him constantly. The dragon slayers' little talk about turning into dragons seemed resolved too fast for me, and then Natsu turns around and makes that chilling comment to f!Rogue about throwing away his humanity. I feel like that really needs to get explored more. On top of that was a pack of kids who'd been raised and loved by dragons suddenly confronted with other dragons practically obliterating an entire city. That never seemed to raise any thoughts other than "oh we didn't manage to beat them." It felt like it should be more jarring, like watching your mom/dad's cousin casually blow up a city block or something. Combined with the dragon slayer turning into an actual dragon thing, it doesn't feel like much of a stretch for Natsu to wonder if he would be capable of that too.
This is an example of the reason I don't like to release my long fics until they're totally written. I honestly didn't quite understand what story I was trying to write until I'd actually rewritten the whole thing. If anyone wants to discuss this (public or private, your choice), my ask box is open, and I am not at all above making revisions if folks feel like I really dropped the ball.
So there is my insanely long Author's note. Thanks for following along and I hope I didn't drive you all away with my weirdness.