Massive thanks to Lolibeagle for checking this and making sure everything is where it should be.

Disclaimers: Fairy Tail and the characters are owned by Hiro Mashima. The only thing I own is this story based on Mashima's work.

The cover art is owned by the amazing Bludy-chu (Deviant Art, Twitter, Tumblr) who was kind enough to give me permission to use her beautiful artwork as a cover.

The self-defense principles, skills and techniques that I describe in this story are used for entertainment purposes only. Do not try any of this.

Chapter 6: Unguarded

Natsu groaned and forced his heavy, tired eyes open. He blinked repeatedly as his eyes adjusted to the brightness in the room. Even though he was lying down, he felt dazed, wobbly and exhausted.

Shit. Why do I feel like a truck just ran over me? What the hell happened?

He looked around, and realized that he was in a hospital bed. At his side, half-seated on her chair, half-laying on his bed, was Lucy. Her head was resting comfortably on her arms. She was facing away from him, her blond hair shining in the bright white light that flooded the room.

Natsu strained to remember how he got there, but his mind was a dense, blurry, haze.

What happened?

Determined, Natsu pushed through the haze. As he searched, the mist slowly cleared. He remembered losing Lucy after their training and searching for her. He remembered the heart-stopping fear he'd felt when he thought that he was going to lose her. He remembered the fight and finally taking the guy down. His last memory was looking at Lucy as she stood triumphantly over the guy she'd fought and meeting her eyes. He remembered the relief he'd felt on seeing her safe, and the tender, relieved smile she gave to him when she saw that he was okay. He remembered looking into her eyes then and experiencing the depth of her feelings for him and knowing just how much she loved him back.

His last memory was the feeling of being loved very sincerely and very deeply by the girl he loved back. It was overwhelming at the time. Even now, the feeling resonated with him as if it had only just happened.

Natsu looked down at the sleeping girl next to him and moved his fingers gently into her hair. With her resting next to him and watching over him Natsu felt infinitely safer than he'd ever felt in his life.

"When did I grow to love you so much, princess?" Natsu murmured as he twined thin strands of blond hair between his fingers.

Lucy groaned in her sleep.

"You said it all started on that mound in school," she mumbled tiredly, slowly turning over, "but it didn't really hit you until you held me outside your house that day I came to ask you to train me."

She met his eyes and smiled. "Good morning."

Natsu's already foggy mind was spinning now.

What the hell? I know I don't know much about this love stuff but is this how it's supposed to go? I know I've never said any of that stuff.

Lucy caught his puzzled expression and smiled even wider. She liked that expression on the usually self-assured Natsu. She sat up and laced her fingers through his.

"You have a concussion," she explained plainly, leaning over him on the bed. "You've been sleeping for about three days. You slip in and out of consciousness and even talk a bit when you're awake."

Catching his surprised expression she explained further. "It's okay if you don't remember any of it. The doctor said you won't since your brain's still recovering from the shock. You won't even remember this conversation the next time you wake up, well, unless you've recovered this time."

Natsu took a while to internalize that.

"Oh" was all he could manage.

After a long process of digesting what Lucy had said Natsu couldn't help but ask, "So I've said that sort of thing before?" Somehow, Natsu didn't want to know the answer.

Lucy giggled playfully at him.

"You've been telling me you love me every time you wake up. It's always the first thing you say every time you open your eyes."

Natsu emitted a long, embarrassed groan. His pride was officially shot to hell!

"Wait, I remember the fight but I don't remember hitting my head."

"You won't remember. The doctor says you probably won't ever remember the blow itself or what came right before it. What's the last thing you remember?"

Natsu colored slightly but he wasn't afraid to say it.

"Looking at you after I got off that guy."

Lucy smiled at her own memory of that moment. It was in that moment when he looked at her during the fight that Lucy felt the sincerity and intensity of his love for her. There were no words, but she believed in it. And that confidence in his feelings gave her courage.

Lucy took a deep breath and prepared once more to explain to Natsu how he got there.

"The guy I hit wasn't knocked out. He got up and grabbed one of the knives on the floor and tried to stab me with it. Before he got to me you pulled me away. We fell. Gajeel said that when you saw that we were falling you wrapped your hands around my head, protecting me from the fall. I was fine, just shaken up. But you hit the ground with full force. You were knocked out immediately. I woke up in the ambulance and sorted everything here."

"Sorted?"

"This is the Heartfilia wing of Magnolia Hospital. You've got a private room, your own food on order and I've arranged to have the best neurosurgeon on staff look after you." Lucy neglected to mention that she'd summoned the surgeon out of a scheduled spinal surgery to look after Natsu. He didn't really need to know everything she was capable of.

"Won't they tell your dad about all that?"

"They've informed him. He's in Crocus on business but he called and said we have to have a talk when he gets back. I'll just tell him we got attacked by some bad kids on the way to school, a friend saved my life but he was in trouble and I tried to help him. Dad'll yell a bit about responsibility, take away some privileges, I'll fight him about it, he'll say he'll restore my privileges when I learn some responsibility and that should be that."

Natsu gazed at her. She really was something else. Then he remembered something.

"So will your friends ever learn the truth about what this was all about?"

Lucy opened her mouth to answer but at the same time a nurse walked through the door.

"Oh, you're awake again," she said pleasantly to Natsu. She walked over to him and looked into his eyes. She asked him a few questions which he answered easily.

"Well, you seem pretty lucid. I think we might be at the tail end of it, or even out of it entirely. I'll call the doctor to give you a full check, but my guess is you're well in the clear this time."

Before leaving she shot Lucy a sly, conspiratorial look.

"Did he tell you he loves you again?" she asked mischievously.

Lucy blushed and giggled.

"That would be a yes." She looked over at Natsu as she walked through the doors. The boy appeared to have shrunk. "Nicely played Casanova, you executed a series of fine concussion-induced confessions."

Natsu groaned and rolled over in his bed, wrapping the pillow tight around his burning, embarrassed face.

"Damn concussion's killing my pride!" he grumbled.

Lucy giggled girlishly as she watched his adorable, sulking face. He really was incredibly cute. Emboldened, she got up from her chair and sat down on the bed beside him. Natsu stirred slightly as she bent down to him. His eyes widened as she placed a feather-soft kiss on his cheek.

Exactly how many things happened while I was under this concussion, Natsu wondered.

Lucy pulled away slightly and grinned at him.

"If you promise that I'll be the only one to see that face, ever, I promise I'll protect your pride."

Natsu looked up at the girl who had stolen his senses and wondered whether this feeling of being overwhelmed by her would ever stop.

Lucy saw the change in his expression and smiled. She pressed her nose against his and stroked his cheek gently with her thumb.

"I love you too Natsu Dragneel."

§§§

"I can't believe you guys were spying on me!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I can't believe you lied to us!" Cana threw back.

"Cana shhhh this is still a hospital," Levy reminded Fairy Academy's 'party girl'.

"Hospital smoshpital! It's a public space and the public's got freedom of speech," Cana defended.

"I don't think that's the way it works Cana-san," Juvia added.

"Will you girls just be quiet, you're making a ruckus in a hospital room," Erza ordered, louder than all of them.

The boys just gaped at the spectacle. This was not what they'd imagined girls would be like.

It had been one day since Natsu recovered from his concussion. His doctor had given him a clean bill of health but was keeping him in the hospital under observation for a few days. However, he was now allowed groups of visitors so Gajeel and Laxus, along with the rest of the Fine Five joined Lucy in Natsu's hospital room.

Lucy was pleased that Natsu seemed to get along easily with her weird group of friends. Somehow it felt odd that they'd never interacted before because their personalities seemed to match each other's well, especially Erza's and Natsu's. It wasn't long before Erza was scolding Natsu like he was some disobedient little brother.

Laxus coughed loudly to silence the noisy group.

When that didn't work, he broke.

"Can you girls just be quiet for just one minute!" he screamed.

A nurse promptly peeked into the room. "For the last time Mr. Dreyar can you please keep your voice down?"

Who could keep their voice down in this circus? Laxus complained internally, though he nodded politely to the nurse.

In the silence that followed everyone looked to Lucy. She knew that after everything the boys had risked for her they at least deserved an explanation.

She nodded and began her story.

"About six weeks ago I was walking along Strawberry Street on my way home from school when a group of guys" she looked over to the boys, "the same men you guys caught, drove up beside me in two cars and blocked me. They grabbed me and pushed me into one of the cars. They said they were going to trade me for my dad."

Lucy looked at her friends who had gone pale with the news that Lucy had been kidnapped. She shook her head, straining to remember the details.

"It all happened so fast, I can't remember exactly what happened, but I know that I was in the backseat of the car and the guy was insulting me. I struggled and fought back, but every time I did he just teased me and made fun of me like my struggling was nothing to him."

Lucy stalled. She was sitting on Natsu's bed and she could feel his hand come up supportively behind her to land on her shoulder. She looked over to him and he nodded to her encouragingly. With renewed courage, she turned back to the others.

"I-I didn't know what to do so I just started to shake my body around violently and utter some broken, incoherent sounds. I even frothed a bit to help the act. I was trying to make them think I was having some kind of attack. The guy in charge wasn't buying it, but the one who was driving pulled over anyway. He told the other one that the boss hadn't given them permission to hurt me. The stubborn one grabbed me and asked me if I could understand him. I nodded."

Lucy looked over to her friends who were deeply caught up in her story. She took a deep breath and continued.

"That next Saturday I was supposed to go to a gala with dad, he'd asked me to go himself. He said it was very important. The man in the car told me that he wanted me to bring dad out to the central piazza at 10pm during the gala. They said that they wouldn't hurt him. They just wanted to talk to him."

The girl's voice cracked as she said her next words.

"Th-They said that if I didn't bring him out they would come back for me. And the next time, they wouldn't be so kind. Then they just tossed me out of the car and drove off."

Lucy stopped her story as she was dragged once more into the weighty, conflicted thoughts that had been haunting her.

"You didn't bring your dad out, did you Lucy?" Cana eventually asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

Lucy broke down with that question and her friends ran to her to comfort her. The tears that she'd been holding back for weeks now spilled out uncontrollably.

"I know he's cruel and tyrannical" Lucy managed to say through her tears. "I know he ignores me and that to him I'm not even his daughter. I'm more like the shiny pen that finalizes his contracts. But-" Lucy hiccupped several times before she was able to continue. Everyone paused and waited for the words they knew were coming next.

"But he's still my father," Lucy finished, bawling.

Silence fell on the room after that last statement. Lucy had chosen to sacrifice herself for her father's sake. It could not have been easy for her to bear that alone.

When she'd composed herself, Lucy finished her story.

"I couldn't tell him what happened" she said, resting her head on Cana's shoulder. "I already live in a cage, if he knew I was in danger do you have any idea what would happen? I can't do boarding school. I won't. And I won't lose you guys. You're the most important people to me in this world."

"So why didn't you at least tell us what happened?" Erza broached carefully, asking what the girls wanted to know most.

"I- I didn't want you to worry. I thought that if I could protect myself things would be fine but...it wasn't enough."

This time, Natsu spoke up from behind her.

"There were five of them and they weren't amateurs. You couldn't do this on your own Lucy."

Lucy blushed softly as Natsu used her name for the first time.

"Don't feel bad about it. None of us could have done this alone. But you have to trust us Lucy. We'll always be here to help you but you have to tell us what's going on."

Natsu looked over to Laxus and Gajeel who both nodded.

"They're behind bars and you're safe. That's all that matters now," the boy reassured.

Erza observed the look the two shared and smiled. Natsu was mischievous and teasing, even harsh at times, but he truly loved Lucy, and Erza was happy that her friend had found someone who was obviously dedicated to her.

Erza raised her head proudly and extended her arm as if to embrace the room.

"Ah love!" She began, "sweet love."

"What the-" Natsu started.

"Shhh" a chorus of anxious voices rang out, silencing Natsu.

Lucy leaned over to Natsu, Erza's melodious voice resonating in the background.

"It's Erza's soliloquy" she whispered, not taking her eyes off Erza. Natsu bristled and Lucy explained.

"Erza considers herse- uh...Erza is a great actress and every once in a while she graces us all with a theatrical exposition on life. She considers i—um...it's a great honor. Just...shh."

"So girls" Erza continued, oblivious to the expressions of the people around her, "if you're lucky enough to have a good dragon by your side, have some sympathy for him. He's bumpy and klutzy and he doesn't know what the hell we want, but he's trying. And to you good dragons out there, please try to file down the claws a bit. We like claws, they add color and laughter to our lives, but there's a fine line between teasing and being downright mean. Find the damn lin-"

"Are you out of your mind?" Natsu bellowed, interrupting the self-declared thespian. He couldn't take anymore. "I really don't think this is the kind of hospital you need."

A menacing aura fell over the room at that. Erza turned to face the bed-bound boy.

"Are you looking for another concussion pinkie?" Erza threatened as she closed the distance between them.

"You wanna fight me hag?" Natsu challenged as the shadow loomed closer to him.

Four of the Fine Five winced at that. Lucy eased away from Natsu.

"You're on your own this time hothead," Lucy mumbled as a massive hand came crashing against Natsu's cheek.

Natsu clutched his blistering face. That felt more like a steel rod than a hand.

"Er- Erza," Levy gasped.

Lucy sighed.

"I told you to shh," she whispered to Natsu. "You never interrupt an Erza monologue."

It wasn't long before that posh room in the exclusive Heartfilia wing of Magnolia Hospital quickly exploded in a rumble of chaos.

In the pandemonium the man who was standing silently in the hallway listening to the proceedings swirled his cigarette around his mouth a few times and walked away from the room.

"Sir, I'm sorry" an attendant called behind him "this is a hospital you can't smoke here."

The man turned to face her, and the woman immediately blanched.

"I-I'm sorry Mr. Heartfilia sir. I didn't know it was you," the woman apologized.

The man only turned and continued on his way.

"What's with him?" someone asked, coming up to the attendant.

"I don't know. It looks like he's got a lot on his mind."

§§§

Natsu grabbed the tongs from Gajeel and turned to the barbecue.

"Don't give me that look," Natsu scolded, "grilling is an art, if you can't get it right have a seat and let a real man show you how it's done."

Gajeel grunted but rejoined the group behind them anyway. He figured the idiot wanted to be alone. He wasn't too comfortable with having all these people around him either. He might as well give Natsu a break too.

Natsu sighed and inhaled the wonderful scent of charcoal and crisping meat. The quiet sizzling soothed him and drowned out the incessant noise behind him.

His world was tranquil, ordered and disciplined before the princess fought her way into it. But to keep her around he was willing to tolerate the constant hum of female voices intruding into his life. It wasn't that he hated having them around, but did having friends mean that they always had to be around? It was just too much for him. Gajeel and Laxus were around a lot but they usually did their own thing, so they weren't much of a hindrance.

Natsu decided that he'd have to establish some boundaries. He'd worked hard to build his reputation and he liked his isolation and quiet. He wasn't about to give up everything he was. After all, he was still Natsu.

The boy threw a look at the group behind him. His heart sunk slightly as he surveyed the faces.

I know she said she's grounded, but still, it would've been nice if she could come to my welcome home bar-b-cue. She'd make this whole display much more tolerable.

His eyes ran over the two most recent additions to his life: Gray Fullbuster and Jellal Fernandez.

Hopefully that's the last of them, his mind complained just as a pained, desperate sound cut through the air.

"RRRRAAOOW!"

Natsu spun his head in the direction of the sound coming from the front of the house.

"Natsu!" Gajeel's voice rang out urgently.

"I'm going," Natsu said dropping the tongs and running around the side of the house to the front yard.

"Happy!" Natsu called after the feline. "Happy!"

He was just about to cross the edge of his yard when he saw it, a long, pale, curvaceous leg extending from behind one of the trees.

Unfortunately, the boy was already too close to the tree to stop.

"Son of a-" Natsu yelled as he tumbled on the grass.

He lay there for some time contemplating his misery before the object of his contemplation appeared above him grinning smugly.

Oh, how he hated that self-satisfied smirk.

She lifted her arms and showed a safe and contented Happy curled up in her hands. The feline looked down at Natsu and yawned dismissively at his owner.

What? Are you taunting me too?

"RRRRAAOOW!" it repeated as if in answer.

What has Lucy been teaching you?

"You" he said propping himself up on his elbows, pointing to Happy. "You really are a traitor. And you" he shifted his finger to the duplicitous, trouble-making, blond she-devil, "you're a cheater."

"Cheater? Oh no! The deal was, if I can get a surprise attack on you, you have to let me get back every trip and every attack you got on me. I just got you. You thought Happy was in trouble so your guard should have been up. And it was a proper attack too. So it counts. Just because you didn't expect me to be here doesn't mean I didn't get a surprise attack on you in the right circumstances."

Natsu stared blankly at her while his brain rummaged frantically for a comeback, any possible loophole.

Damnit! I've created a monster!

The proud smug on Lucy's face widened as she realized Natsu couldn't get himself out of this one.

We've won! Lucy's left and right brain exclaimed, in agreement for once.

"Prepare yourself for humiliation of the highest degree Dragneel!" Lucy boasted triumphantly.

Oh no, Natsu groaned mentally. Here comes the trash talk. She's horrible at trash talk! Divert! Divert! Divert!

"Hey! Who was it that said she was going to protect my pride, huh?" Natsu asked pointedly.

Lucy laughed heartily and bent further over him.

"I never said I was going to protect it from me," she retorted, poking her tongue out at him.

Oh this girl! Natsu thought, his fiery side blazing with devilish adoration.

In one swift move Natsu opened his legs and twisted his body so that he could wrap his legs around his girl's tiny body. With a small jerk he yanked her down to him, catching her as she fell. He delighted in the short, delicious squeal she emitted as she fell.

"Be careful princess," Natsu teased looking at the girl in his arms, "remember, if I want you to fall, you will".

"Is this really the time to be bragging hothead? Have you forgotten? I just owned your ass. And with all the training that's left, you're looking at one princess who won't be falling anymore. You can bet on that!"

"Oh hell no. I'm done with betting. You're a scoundrel! Besides, training or not, I have plans to make you fall over, and over, and over again."

Finally catching his tone, Lucy looked down at him quizzically.

"Hey, did you mean...? Were you trying to make me fall for you all this time?"

Natsu smiled mysteriously.

"I wonder."

Lucy laughed. That non-committal answer was all the answer she needed.

"Silly boy," she teased pressing her hand lightly against his stomach, "I started falling for you the minute I saw these abs under that tree at school."

"Ha, I knew it," Natsu blurted out, rolling her over unto the grass and hovering over her. "You were checking me out! You shallow, shallow girl."

"Well..." Lucy mumbled haltingly, "I mean...I admit that I was doing a little checking out."

Natsu tossed her a skeptical look.

"Really. Only a little bit! But what's not to check out? Besides it wasn't really the abs that drew me in. It was the expression on your face. You just looked so peaceful, so open and at ease, like you didn't have a care in the world. Your expression was so bare; so blunt and genuine." Lucy moved her fingers distractedly over the scales on his scarf. "You were sitting right there but you seemed so far away from me. I didn't know where you were, but I wanted to be a part of your world, even if it was only to touch it for a brief moment."

... And now, so unexpectedly, I am...

Lucy felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

She looked up to see Natsu looking at her with a curious, unreadable expression.

"What?"

Instead of answering, Natsu lowered his face to hers. This time, nothing was going to stop him. She was his.

"It seems you caught me off guard long before our little game started, princess," Natsu whispered just before capturing Lucy's lips in a searing, lingering kiss that set the girl's body aflame. Natsu let go entirely and poured everything he felt for the girl into that kiss. Nothing held him back this time. He was going to give her everything. With her, and only with her, he was going to be bare, blunt and genuine. He'd be his whole self, and Natsu trusted that she'd accept him; she'd scold him, she'd tease him, and she'd love him.

You see readers, as much as a man jokes and teases, as much as he says it's childish and stupid, as much as he fights against it, a man wants to feel safe just like a woman. He wants to let go and find peace and freedom in the arms of the right person.

As much as he denies it and laughs at it, each man is searching to find the one place in this world where he can be unguarded.

The End

A/N

Boom! There we go!

I set out to write a simple, straightforward love story with Unguarded. No complication. No drama. Just warm, genuine love between two people who are willing to open their hearts to it. I hope I achieved that.

Behind the scenes: The ending 2 paragraphs were written and settled just after I wrote the first chapter.

Now, as promised, Fairy Tail Country Club will get the attention it deserves. I know some of you have been waiting anxiously for the next update. Don't worry, I'd never drop it. More Country Club mysteries are incoming! Wait for it ;)