Chapter 3

A Few New Faces

"Well, that's encouraging," the blonde muttered to herself. The only thing that kept her from completely freaking out was the knowledge that she would be meeting up with a bunch of old friends.

Lucy couldn't stop wringing her hand, and the closer they got to the guild, the worse it got. She was working herself into a full blown panic attack, when Natsu grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" he asked, staring in her eyes, searching out the truth.

She would have said she was fine, because that was what she was used to, but something told her that he would actually see and call her on the lie; so, she chose to tell the truth.

"I'm nervous about meeting your guildmates."

He looked at her like she'd grown a second head.

"What do ya mean? You don't have to worry about anyone in Fairy Tail," he hit her with a bright, beautiful smile. "We're all family, and if anyone does something you don't like, just let me know and I'll take care of them."

Natsu's grin was infectious, and Lucy felt all her fears fading away. He pulled her through the town, Magnolia, pointing out the best places for food and to just hang out. There were a couple of landmarks; like Kardia Cathedral and the giant cherry blossom that would change colors in a few months.

As he pulled her around, Lucy found herself falling in love with the modest town. She asked Natsu about everything, until they were finally standing outside the guild hall.

He gave her one final grin before he kicked in the door, "Hey everybody, we're home!"

A few people responded, but most just went about their business. Lucy quickly spotted Mira behind the bar and made her way that direction. When Mira spotted her, she let out a loud squeal, ran around the bar, and nearly tackled the blonde when she went to hug her.

"Lucy! I'm so glad you're here!" Mira, always the gossip, couldn't help but ask, "Natsu brought you? I knew he disappeared yesterday, but I never thought he would have made his way to the castle."

She was looking at her with so much anticipation, Lucy felt her mouth go dry and she had no idea how to respond.

That's when she felt an arm drape itself across her shoulders, but she recognized the slightly smoky scent. Natsu.

"Hey, Mira," he said casually. "Have you met my Luce? She's kinda weird, but I'm keeping her anyway."

Lucy glared at him and she was about to tell him off, when Mira let out a loud high pitched squeal. The barmaid wrapped the pair in an incredibly tight embrace.

When she finally released them, she grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her behind the bar, shooing Natsu off when he tried to follow.

"Sorry Natsu," she giggled. "Girl talk."

Natsu looked like he was going to argue, but before he got the chance a shirt ended up draped over his head. He sniffed the shirt and he didn't appear to like what he smelled. Flames practically erupted out of him as he threw the shirt back at a guy who was basically naked.

"Watch where you're throwing your shit, Stripper!" he yelled as the flaming cloth hit the other guy in the face.

"Fuck you, Flame Brain!" the guy yelled back.

"Gray, your clothes," the brown haired beauty next to him said. Lucy might have thought she would be able to rein this Gray person in, but then she hoisted a huge wine barrel above her head and started chugging.

It looked like a brawl was forming, and Lucy had no intention of getting mixed up in it. She chose to stay behind the counter with Mira and just watch.

The whe guild seemed to be gearing up, when a thunderous voice rang out, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Lucy looked up to see the largest person she'd ever seen, though to call it a person would be a stretch. She knew her mouth was wide open, but she couldn't force herself to close it.

"Oh," Mirajane quietly gasped. "I didn't realize you were still here, Master."

Lucy shot her friend an incredulous look. "He's the master?"

The gigantic being seemed to notice her for the first time. "Oho, what's this? A new member?"

Lucy could only nod as Mira said, "Mmhm"

That's when person let a huge grin split his face, and incredibly, he started to shrink. He went from twenty feet to ten, to six, he kept shrinking until he was just about waist high to Lucy.

He's tiny.

The now small man grinned up at her and gave a small wave. "Hiya."

Lucy found that she could only wave back.

With a quick nod, he did a strange backflip thing onto a upper floor railing, or he tried to, but he ended up hitting the banister instead. He recovered well and stood to face the guild.

"Do you see these?" he yelled, holding up a rather large stack of papers. "You brats have the Council breathing down my neck, again! Look at all this paperwork; Hargeon nearly blown up, Crocus frozen over, and don't even get me started on the Everloo fiasco."

Lucy cringed, remembering all the times her father had lectured her in a similar way, and she was prepared for a new onslaught, but it never came.

She looked up out of curiosity and found the master grinning. Suddenly, the stack of paper burst into flames. He tossed the burning mass aside.

Natsu lept up and grabbed it in his mouth like a dog. A grin broke across Lucy's face.

"You know what I say about that? Forget the Council. The power to overcome reason is born from reason. Magic isn't a miracle. When the spiritual flow within us and spiritual flow in nature connects, they will form an embodiment for the first time. You will need a strong mentality and a lot of concentration for that. I mean, pouring all of your soul into whatever you do, is the magic.

"If you keep worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher ups, your magic will never improve." The master grinned down on all the guild. "Do not fear the fools on the council. Do whatever you think is right! That's the way of the Fairy Tail Guild!"

A loud cheer went up, and the guild became even louder than before.

The Master made his way back to where Lucy was standing. After a few basic questions, he gave a quick nod and went on his way.

Mira motioned her over, "So, where do you want the guild mark?"

Lucy thought about it and after a minute, she decided on her hand, so she would always be able to see it and think about her new family. She picked pink because it was her favorite color.

She searched out Natsu, excited to show him her mark. He was a few tables over, going to town on a large plate of food.

Lots of people smiled at her as she made way over to the pinkette.

Lucy couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face as she waved her hand in front of Natsu's face. "Check it out Natsu! Now I'm officially part of the guild!"

Natsu barely looked up while he mumbled, "That's great, Luigi."

"THE NAMES LUCY!"

That got his attention and he gave her a sheepish look, "Sorry Luce."

How can I stay mad at him when he looks so damn cute?

That's the time most of the guild decided to come and introduce themselves, or to catch up in a few cases.

The man who threw his shirt off earlier was Gray, and when he managed to take off his pants in the short time it took him to introduce himself, Lucy came to the conclusion that he had a stripping problem.

"Gray-sama, your clothes," this came from an old friend at The Castle. Juvia had been taken out not too long before Lucy and even though they had their share of differences, Lucy really had missed the water mage.

Next came the Strauss siblings and their partners. Mira introduced her to a quiet, well mannered man with green hair named Freed. The man with Lisanna was quite the character; he was wearing something akin to a jester's costume, with a helmet that hid strange blue hair and some crazy eyes.

"It's manly to introduce yourself," this came from Elfman. Lucy had seen him a couple of times, but they'd never actually met.

Standing next to the behemoth was Evergreen, who was rolling her eyes. She reminded Lucy of a lot of the girls she had grown up with, so she hadn't spent a lot of time with the older girl.

She met so many people in a short period of time her head began to swim, but the most memorable was the last.

He wasn't very tall, a few inches taller than her, slender. His orangish hair was spiked and he was wearing sunglasses indoors. Where most people settled to greet her with a handshake, he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick, yet sensual kiss.

"Hello, Princess," he said with a wink. "If you need anything, you just let your faithful servant Loke know, and I'll take care of it."

She felt a jolt, though she knew it didn't have anything to do with the kiss. Taking a chance to really look at him, she couldn't help but feel like she knew him from somewhere.

Natsu growled behind her and she quickly pulled her hand back. Lucy felt an arm wrap around her shoulders before she was pulled behind him.

"Don't touch her!" his voice was deep and rough. Lucy knew she should be frightened, but she was just so confused. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and a small sound rang out.

Loke glanced down at her waist and his eyes widened in fear. At first, Lucy thought it was because of her whip, but when he looked back up at her face, she knew it had nothing to do with the bit of leather.

"Y-you a-aren't a Celestial Mage, are you?" his voice cracked, and it was hard to believe this was the same guy who tried to seduce her with a kiss to the hand not even a minute earlier.

Lucy simply nodded. "Yeah, why did you want to know?"

He completely ignored her question, seeming to be trapped in a memory. Lucy's kind nature came into play and she reached out comfort the scared man, but stopped when she heard a deep growl fill the air.

Natsu thought he was doing pretty well, considering how weird he was feeling. Something had been off in him the moment they stepped through the door.

At least half of his concentration stayed with Lucy at all times, even when he was fighting Gray. It wasn't so bad when she was around Mira, he felt as relaxed as he ever did, but when she made her way over to him, he noticed something.

All the god damned stares. Every single man in the guild was looking at her like she was a piece of meat. He caught a few whispers about her, and was so focused on trying to figure out who it was, that he didn't pay attention to what she was saying.

"That's great, Luigi."

"THE NAME'S LUCY!"

He snapped out of his stupor and got a good look at an angry.

She's really cute when she's angry. I wonder if she'd get that flushed for any other reason? What am I thinking?

He smiled up at her with what he knew was his most sheepish smile. "Sorry, Luce."

She took in a deep breath to calm herself, and Natsu caught himself watching her chest rise and fall. He was really losing it. He never thought about another woman like that. In most cases, he barely even noticed the difference between the sexes, only thinking about how it would be to fight them.

Natsu did his best to focus on his food while the members of the guild took it upon themselves to introduce themselves, trying to figure out why he wanted to beat the crap out of everyone who touched her. He thought he had gotten it mostly under control when Loke strolled up.

He wasn't holding back, using all his skill to try and seduce the blond, and Natsu knew he wouldn't be able to hold back much longer.

The breaking point came when his lips touched the back of her hand, right in the center of her new guild mark.

Natsu wasn't even aware what was happening, one second he was sitting watching the blonde, the next he had pulled her behind him and was growling at the man before him.

He touched what's mine!

"Don't touch her!"

Natsu's already short fuse was non-existent. He was one step away from attacking his guildmate.

The scent of fear filled the air and it nearly pushed him over the edge.

He heard Lucy say something, but he was so lost to the scent he couldn't focus on what she said. Natsu noticed her hand reaching out for the other man and everything went red.

When asked about it later, Natsu would say he didn't remember attacking Loke, though very few would believe him, it was the truth.

The next thing he remembered was one of Gray's Ice Shields being in front of him and Loke's nose dipping blood.

Lucy's hands were on his shoulders, like she was trying to hold him back. He looked back at Loke and saw that he still looked terrified, but his gaze was centered on the blonde.

She stepped around Natsu and he took off, waxing poetic about how it just wasn't meant to be.

The shield melted away and everyone went back to what they had been doing. Only Lucy looked like she cared about what just happened, everyone else was so used to that kind of thing they just ignored it.

Not long after that, the couple, minus one cat who was still eating, made their way back to Natsu's.

"Soooo," Lucy drawled. "Are we going to talk about what happened back there?"

The pinkette gave her a funny look, "What do ya mean? Did something weird happen?" He didn't remember anything out of the ordinary. Fairy Tail was just the same as it always was.

She looked at him like he had two heads or something, so he reached up and touched his shoulders just to be sure.

"Are you kidding me? You totally attacked that guy! Not to mention you started a brawl when we first got there!"

"Yeah, so?"

"That doesn't strike you as strange?"

He could only shake his head no.

She rolled her eyes and popped her hip, drawing his attention to the jangling that came with the movement.

"What's with the keys?"

His question caught her off guard.

"Th-these? I told you about them yesterday. These are my keys to my Celestial Spirits."

"Celestial spirits?"

"Yeah," she pulled the keys out of their pouch and he moved closer, liking her shiver when he did. "These three are called Silver Gate Keys. They're fairly common, and you can buy them almost anywhere. But these gold ones, they're super rare. There are only twelve of them in the whole world, and I'm lucky enough to have three."

Natsu was standing right next to her, his breath tickled her neck and she tried not to show just how much it affected her.

Suddenly, he turned and started tearing through what looked like a pile of trash. Natsu was throwing things all over the place and mumbling about where he left something.

Lucy watched with a mix of horror and amazement. How can he be okay with living in such a filthy place?

"Aha!" she jumped at his exclamation.

He turned to her with the biggest grin she'd ever seen splitting his face. Her heart seemed to stutter in her chest. She felt almost trapped by that smile, it was harder to breathe, and she couldn't move as he made his way back to her.

Natsu grabbed her hand and led her to an empty spot on the floor. He settled down and pulled her with him.

Once they were settled, he handed her a box that had seen better days. Lucy was sure it had been beautiful once, but hadn't been kept in the best condition. It was about the size of a very large matchbox.

He was looking at her like a child on Christmas, his excitement was palpable. His dark eyes danced and she found herself really wanting to kiss him, but she held back.

"Go on," his voice thundered in the silent house. "Open it."

Her fingers slid over the worn wood and she slowly flipped the lid. What she saw had her gasping, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Nestled in the old velvet, were four gate keys.

Lucy looked back and forth between the man and the keys several times before she threw herself at him. She pulled him close, and in the heat of the moment, she sealed their lips.

The blond realized what she was doing and pulled away quickly. Natsu appeared really dazed and Lucy felt like he was looking right through her.

The fire in his eyes returned with a vengeance, but before he could do anything about it Lucy got busy inspecting the keys.

There were two gold and two silver. The silver ones were Con Nicholi, Canis Minor, and Pyxis, the Compass, but it was the gold ones that really got her attention. He had Virgo, the Maiden, and Sagittarius, the Archer.

Lucy lightly stroked the keys before turning back to the pinkette. "Where did you get these?"

"I can't remember where I got the silver ones, but I got gold ones for rewards on jobs. Are they good ones?"

She was surprised when it sounded like he actually was interested. The last few years, every time she talked about her magic she was met with either disinterest or hostility, so his excitement was infectious and welcome.

"Well, that's hard to say," Lucy explained. "The silver's aren't all that powerful, but gold's have a big difference in power and skills. Every one of them are different."

"Let's find out who you got then," he was so excited he was bouncing in his seat.

Lucy was confused though, "What do you mean? These are your keys. Don't you just want me to show you how to use them?"

"What do you mean?" he sounded just as confused as she felt. "I got my own magic, and I don't need 'em. You're such a weirdo."

She opened her mouth to defend herself, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

"You're really willing to give these to me?"

"Sure," he crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back against the wall. "Now come on, let's see what you can do."

Lucy grabbed the keys and stood. She placed each key between the fingers of her right hand.

Striking a special stance, she began her chant, "I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits, I beckon you to my side at once, pass through the gate!" With a flourish and the sound of a door bell, she called out, "Open gates of the Archer, the Maiden, Canis Minor, and the Compass; Sagittarius, Virgo, Con Nicholi, and Pyxis."

The room filled with a brilliant light. It disappeared suddenly and four new people were standing in the small room. There was a small snowman looking thing, a strange bird with a compass on its head, a beautiful pink haired woman in a maid's uniform, and a man with a horse costume and legs.

"Woowww," two voices harmonized. Lucy turned and saw that Happy had shown up and was perched on Natsu's shoulder.

The maid bowed formally, "Excuse me, Mistress, but might I suggest you complete the contracts with Sagittarius and I first, so you don't run out of magic energy too fast."

"Good idea," Lucy said grinning. She turned to Sagittarius, "Are there any days you are unavailable, or any reason I shouldn't call on you?"

He shook his head and saluted somewhere to his side, "Nay, my lady. Anytime you have a need, you may call on me. I will bid you farewell and hope to be of service soon." With that he faded from sight.

"Thanks Sagittarius," she turned to the other Zodiac. "What about you Virgo? Are there any days you have an issue with? And could you maybe drop the "Mistress" thing?"

"What about Queen? Princess?"

"Oh yeah," Lucy had a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "That'll work."

A small, "Yeah right," came from behind her, but she chose to ignore it.

"Princess, I aim to please, so call on me whenever you have need." She bowed once again and was about to leave when she turned back, "Would you like to punish me now?"

"NO!"

"Oh well, maybe next time," with that, she disappeared.

Lucy felt the drain on her magic lessen. Even though it took less magic to set up a contract, to summon two zodiacs at once was a real challenge. She got through the final two contracts fairly quickly and all but collapsed from the drain on her energy.

Natsu caught her easily and held her in his lap. "Are you okay, Luce? You use up a lot of energy there."

She just mumbled unintelligibly and nestled into him.

He was trying to focus on her reaction, but just being around her was affecting him in ways he'd never experienced before. Her smell was calling to him, she really did smell just like spice cake. I wonder how she tastes.

Never one to ignore his impulses, he didn't even try to stop himself when he went to lick the side of her neck. Delicious.

He scooped her up and brought her to his hammock.

"I don't think this is going to work, Natsu," Happy told his friend. "We can't all share a hammock, not for long anyway."

He might not want to admit it, but Happy was right. "It'll do for now."

Laying her in the netting as gently as possible, Natsu took a step back and watched her settle in.

"Natsu," she let out a little sigh before her breathing evened out.

It was hard for him to catch his breath, then Happy had to go and ruin it for him.

"They loooove each other."

Before Natsu could get back at him, he flew to the sleeping girl and cuddled up close. The pinkette watched a few minutes more, then with more care than he would usually take, he crawled in with the pair. He pulled them in close, and drifted off to sleep, feeling more peaceful than he could ever remember being.

A/N: It's been quite awhile, and I'm really sorry about that.

It might take me a little while, but I should be able to update a bit faster this time. I think this story will be my priority, since it takes place at just about the same time as Home, Love, and Dragons and When Lightning Strikes, Thunder Rolls, I want to get it caught up to the other two, which will take a few chapters. Unlike my other stories, this one is more of a slow burn.

If you get the chance, I'd love a review.