I do not own Fairy Tail. This is an alternate universe from Hiro Mashima's work.


Chapter 10:

The next morning, Natsu woke up first and looked at the blonde sleeping peacefully in his arms. He smiled at her and pulled the blanket up to her shoulder since it was still a bit chilly. His onyx eyes went to opening of the cave and took a glance down at the soldiers, noticing that most of them were still asleep.

Lucy started to stir as Natsu got dressed in his black and gold one-sleeved jacket ensemble plus his scarf. He was pulling on his matching boots when Lucy walked over to him. She hugged him around the waist and smiled as his warm hands covered hers.

"We're going to be okay, Lucy. I promise we will be together." He said in a as-a matter-of -fact tone to her. Natsu looked down at the blonde as he removed her hands from his waist.

"Come on. We need to get a head start on them." The pink-haired boy told her as he took a hold of her hand. Natsu lead Lucy towards the back of the cave.

Lucy watched where she stepped as the rocks got sharper and more jagged as they got to the back of the cave. It got darker so it seemed like there was no way out of it. She held Natsu's hand tighter which made Natsu smile because he knew she was counting on him.

As they got towards the back of the cave, a torch was lit and showed a huge hole in the back of the cave. Natsu looked at Lucy and smiled at her. The blonde looked a bit confused as she looked at the huge hole.

"What is it?" Lucy asked. Her brown eyes were full of confusion.

"It's our way out." Natsu told her taking her hand. "Trust me. Remember?" He asked as his lips brushed her hand.

The blonde blushed as she nodded and looked at him as he guided her to the hole. Natsu smiled and helped her sit down at the edge of the hole preventing her from getting poked by the sharp rocks. He held her hands before letting her slide down the smooth hole in the cave floor.

Lucy tried not to scream and laugh on the way down to a hidden compartment of the cave. She looked around at all the sparkling crystals, amazed at the amount that covered the entire cavern. Natsu came down the slide soon after and smiled as he saw her amazed face.

"Not so bad was it?" He asked while walking over to her and standing next to her.

"What is this place?" She questioned, not letting her gaze leave the sparkling crystals.

The pink-haired boy looked up at the cavern's roof and smiled proudly. "Igneel's secret hide-out. He said it is only for emergencies and in case we need to run away. We've never had to use it because Igneel has been good at hiding from people." His last words were said softly as he looked at the floor. This made Lucy feel worse as she stood by him.

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Lucy apologized as she turned to face him.

Natsu looked at Lucy and smiled a little bit. "It's no problem really. Igneel and I know it would not be home without Lucy." He grinned at her with his signature smile. "We'll be okay."

The pink-haired boy started to walk toward another cave opening before looking back at her.

"Come on, Luce. Follow me. We have to get a good head start." His onyx eyes were on her as he stood there waving his arms at her. Lucy nodded and started to giggle as she ran towards him.


One of Sol's men was keeping watch when noise in the cave came to a stop. He listened closely for a few minutes but not another word was heard inside the cave. The soldier quickly went to his commander and alerted him to the change.

Sol was angered by the news but more afraid of Gajeel when he is angry. A soldier raised a flag to pass the message of the change along to Gajeel's men. They quickly roused the other troops and their leader who was definitely pissed.

He came charging out of the tent and roared orders at the troops who ran for their lives.

"Hurry up! I want to be up that mountain to that cave in fifteen minutes!" The commander yelled as the soldiers gathered the gear. He looked up at the cave and roared even louder.


I apologize for being late. Please, forgive me. I hope you all like the new chapter.