A/N: I hope you like it :)

Team Natsu was just in the middle of another mission. After days of searching for the dark guild Natsu's favorite part of every mission began, the fighting. Some of the guild members were strong and the dragon slayer loved a challenge, but he stopped enjoying the fight when he saw that one of their enemies was attacking Lucy. With her back to the enemies there was no way she would see this coming and Natsu was too far away from her to protect her. The dragon slayer was about to scream at her to move, even if it would probably be too late, when an ice shield blocked the attack.

It didn't take much imagination to know who had just saved Lucy. Natsu watched how Gray smiled at Lucy and told her to be more careful. The smile and thank you the blonde gave Gray made Natsu uneasy in a way he hadn't experienced before. He should have been the one to protect her and receive that reaction from her and not Gray. A feeling he could only describe as a mixture of anger at Gray and disappointment in himself for not being able to protect Lucy was making his heart feel heavy. Sure, the most important thing was that she was safe, but he wanted to be the one who protected her.

An attack of his own opponent pulled Natsu out of his thoughts. For now he had to focus back on the fight. Whatever this strange feelings was, he didn't want to feel it ever again. In the future he just had to make sure that he stayed close to Lucy so he could protect her. Walking back a few feet he was now almost back to back with Lucy. Feeling her presence so close to him and knowing that he was now close enough to save her if needed, the uneasy feeling began to lessen, but didn't go away completely. Little did he know that the feeling would flame up again only a few hours later.

It turned out to be a hard fight and the mission could have easily been a S-ranked one. All members of team Natsu were beyond exhausted and had received a few injuries that needed treatment immediately. They all agreed on going back to the guild, so Wendy could take a look at their wounds.

Halfway to the guild Lucy's foot have out. She had twisted her ankle during the fight and after walking for so long it had gotten worse. Loke, who was still with them after he had fought alongside them, didn't hesitant to pick her up and carry her bridal style.

"Wouldn't it be better for your wounds to carry me on your back?" Lucy asked after the spirit had secured her in his arms.

"A princess like you should be carried in style." Loke smiled charmingly at her.

Lucy blushed at that, but didn't protest anymore.

Natsu had watched the exchange closely and his blood began boiling. Loke might be her spirit, but he was her partner. He should be the one carrying her. The close proximity between Lucy and Loke was bringing that strange feeling to the surface again. They looked wrong together. With clenched fists Natsu stepped in front of Loke, blocking his way.

"I can take it from here."

"But Natsu you're hurt." Lucy protest.

"So is Loke. It's my duty to take care of my partner. Go back to the spirit world Loke." Natsu's face was determined and his voice was bordering on anger.

"As you wish." Loke gently handled Lucy over to him and gave him a knowing smirk before disappearing.

Why was Loke looking at him like that? Did he know something that he didn't and what was this feeling? The more Natsu thought about it the more he got confused. Nothing made sense.

"Natsu, is it really okay for you to carry me? Am I not hurting your wounds?" Lucy's soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled at her.

"Alright, thank you." With that she leaned her head against his shoulder and for a second he could see a blush on her face.

This whole situation might be confusing, but one thing he was sure of. That her reactions were directing at him felt right. This was how it was supposed to be. Holding her even closer to himself the dragon slayer and his team made their way back to the guild.

About a week later Natsu sat on Lucy's couch. He had already eaten all the food in her fridge and was now waiting for her to come home so he could show her the new mission that he had found for them. It was a great mission in his eyes. There would be lots of fighting involved for him and a big reward that would cover Lucy's rent for at least two months. However his excitement vanished when Lucy entered her apartment. Normally her sweet vanilla scent greeted him, but now there was another scent on her as well.

"Where were you?"

"At the guild. The more important question is why are you in my apartment again?"

Completely ignoring her question and irritation Natsu stepped even closer to her and sniffed again. He wasn't imagining it. Next to her normal scent he could smell iron and steel.

"Why is Gajeel's scent all over you?"

"I talked to him at the guild."

"About what?" Natsu was now more than irritated. He had thought that the strange feeling was only related to the mission, but now it came back with full force.

"That's none of your business." She told him stubbornly and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine." With that he stormed out of the apartment and into the forest.

Hours later he realized that he must have burned half the forest down with his fury. He was angry, at himself and at Gajeel, but not at Lucy, never at her. This feeling was messing with his heart and head and he didn't know how to get rid of it. If he was honest with himself he didn't even know what this feeling was. All he knew was that he always got it when Lucy was around other men. This realization didn't help him find out what was wrong with him and it was frustrating. Punching just another tree, which went up in flames immediately, he decided that he would talk to Gajeel tomorrow and ask him why Lucy was with him. Maybe he would even beat him up on top of that, because that would surely make this feeling go away.

The next day Natsu sat at a table in the guild, determined to fight Gajeel as soon as he would step through the guild doors. Lucy had been avoiding him all morning and that made him even angrier. She was clearly upset about their fight yesterday. That was all Gajeel's fault and as soon as he would show up Natsu would give him a piece of his mind. However when the guild doors opened his plans changed completely.

There was Gajeel, but not alone. He had his arm around Levy and Natsu could smell that their scents were mixed together. Natsu had never seen the iron dragon slayer so happy as he was now with the small script mage in his arms. It was obvious that they were mates and Natsu felt almost guilty suspecting him.

"I helped Gajeel with asking Levy out. That's why I met him yesterday." A soft voice said and true enough there stood Lucy next to him. She wasn't looking at him, but at the happy couple which was now walking over to the far corner where Gajeel normally sat alone. She was smiling, but in her eyes he could see longing and a little bit of sadness.

"I'm sorry, Luce. I shouldn't have assumed things. I was just so..." He stopped. What had he been? He had gotten that strange feeling again and he still didn't know what it meant.

"Jealous?" Lucy offered after he hadn't spoke up of a while.

For a moment he could only look at her in surprise. He had heard of that emotion. Igneel had told him that he might be feeling that if someone else was courting his mate. Back then Natsu hadn't cared about that and so he had forgotten all about it until Lucy brought it up just now. Jealousy. That was what he was feeling every time he saw Lucy with other men. With that realization another one came. However the confession he was about to make shouldn't be made in a hall full of loud guild members.

"Can we talk? Somewhere else?" He asked her softly.

Lucy seemed to be surprised, but nodded none the less. Gently taking a hold of her hand he pulled her out of the guild and into the nearby forest which, thanks to him, had now fewer trees than the day before.

When they arrived at a clearing Natsu faced Lucy and took a hold of her other hand.

"You're right. I was jealous. The reason why I'm jealous every time you are close to other men is because you're my mate. Igneel told me that dragons are really possessive of their mates and I guess I'm no exception." At that he searched her eyes for a reaction. Finding the emotion he was looking for he smiled at her. "To make it short, I'm in love with you."

With that he lay a hand on her cheek and pulled her closer. He gave her enough time to pull away if she didn't feel the same way, but when she closed her eyes and leaned in he knew that she loved him as well. Finally he met her lips with his in a soft first kiss. Maybe jealousy wasn't as bad, after all it made him realize what he felt for Lucy.

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day :)