I'm sorry if the quality of this chapter has gone down a bit. Only a small portion of it is pre-written and I am trying to type it fairly quickly because I feel bad for how long you've had to wait. I know what I want to happen so it shouldn't turn out too bad and I won't post it if I think it's terrible…so there you are.

Thank you for being patient with me!

Here is chapter 3 of FtF.

Just as Natsu had predicted, Lucy was absolutely beyond the capability of thinking rationally. A feral battle cry tore from her pink lips and with unbridled fury and reckless abandon, she surged down the slope towards the members of the dark guild. A key was in her hand and the pink-haired dragonslayer highly doubted that even she knew which one it was. Her anger had engulfed her and she was completely obsessed with making Demon Card pay for taking Levy…and doing so with her own two hands.

The blonde never noticed that the young man was less than six inches away at all times, attention carefully divided between the dark guild arrayed at the bottom of the hill before them and the celestial mage at his side. If they so much as singed a hair on her head or even a loose thread on her skirt he would tear them apart limb by limb before they could even blink. No one could hurt his Lucy and get away with it—not while he was by her side.

It was unnerving how the dark guild simply stood still at the bottom of the hill even as the remainder of Fairy Tail's strongest topped the rise. Gajeel was already nearing the first line of Demon Card members with Pantherlily right alongside him and Natsu and Lucy weren't too far behind with Happy still recovering what strength he could whilst clinging to Natsu's shoulder. Just before the main body of the guild that had just started to emerge over the top of the hill sprinted Gray, Erza, and Juvia. The leader of the next small group was Cana with Jet, Mirajane, and Lisanna at her side.

Although Jet could have been much farther ahead by that point, he had hung back with the others—he knew the importance of the others getting there sooner, even if Levy was his teammate. He knew that he and Droy didn't hold the part of her heart that they had both coveted, and he knew that the leader of the pack did. Jet understood, so he remained at a slight distance.

Lucy's quick glance back at the others, in which she had deduced the bit about Jet, caused her to stumble and immediately focus her attention forward again. Her rage bubbled up again and she couldn't have cared less—the Demon Card members were getting closer and closer with every step she took and she'd be damned if she didn't at least pound six or seven of those assholes into the ground before they inevitably took her down, too.

And still, Natsu eyed those rapidly nearing dark guild wizards with a calculating stare, trying to figure out just what their first move would be, aside from taking Levy. After all, Gajeel would be upon them in mere seconds and they hadn't moved an inch. They showed no signs of fear.

Natsu discovered why this was just in the nick of time. The ground underneath Lucy's left foot began to buckle upwards just as Gajeel propelled himself into the air to avoid the same phenomenon. Natsu changed his footing in an instant, lunging toward his blonde nakama and lifting her off her feet as an explosion sounded from where Gajeel had been moments before. It didn't take more than a second for the mine that Lucy had stepped on to blow. With the vibrations of those two explosives permeating the ground, all the rest on the hillside began to detonate. The sound was absolutely deafening and the pink-haired man pulled the blonde tighter against his chest to protect her from any flying debris.

For the first time since the beginning of the mad dash to get to Demon Card and get Levy back, Lucy shrieked from fright, her adrenaline rush dulling at the influx of her fear, and clung to Natsu as he looked after her…like always. The reality of the situation had finally begun to sink in and the blonde celestial mage realized the near stupidity of their actions.

Everyone, it had just dawned on her, was completely exhausted. They had just fought against each other for hours on end and most of them had collapsed. So…what were they thinking, believing themselves capable of taking out what seemed to be a highly talented dark guild? Their worry for Levy had clouded their judgment and this was the price they would have to pay. At the very least, she would die in this field of mines and take Natsu with her, since he was doing his utmost to keep her safe. Happy would be caught up also, as he was still kind of weak. Maybe the others would gain some sense and realize the futility of this once she and the others had died…

At least she'd be able to cling to Natsu until the end, if these were truly the last moments of her life.

But then Lucy's heartbeat slowed to normal and rational rather than hysteric thinking took root deep in her mind. The explosions had quieted, all sound now seeming muted and far away from the temporary hearing loss that was always associated with sudden loud noise, and Lucy began to comprehend what was around her. Natsu's strong arms were still present, holding her like a bride with one arm around her back and one hooked under her knees. Happy was safe between the two, completely unharmed, and the dragonslayer turned his dark eyes to the celestial mage.

"You okay, Luce?"

Of course he'd ask her first when he had taken the brunt of the damage. But the only inflection in his tone was worry, not pain or even despair. He was worried…for her.

Suddenly, Lucy was reminded of the reason why she had never doubted their chances of success in the mission to save Levy prior to her panic attack—this was Fairy Tail. They could succeed at anything that they set their minds to and they generally did succeed. Levy had absolutely nothing to worry about, because Lucy would get there in time. Natsu was apparently still raring to go, and even if he didn't show it, he knew when something was truly hopeless. He would back off if he thought this situation was going to end in disaster. And so Lucy was comforted.

"I'm fine," Lucy answered with much more conviction than she would have moments earlier. "Now put me down. We have some Demon Card ass to kick!"

She really wasn't quite as confident in her own abilities to kick ass, but she knew that everyone else around her could do plenty of ass-kicking…so she would contribute what she could. Levy wouldn't have to be alone for long because they were all on their way to save her. Erza, Gray, and Juvia had nearly caught up with Natsu and Lucy now as the duo started running side by side again.

Ahead, Lucy saw that Gajeel had already engaged in a fierce battle against four other mages. All four of his opponents seemed to be rather formidable, even from a distance, but it didn't faze the iron dragonslayer in the least. Lucy knew he must have been nearly as enraged as she herself was and she wasn't inclined to worry too much about how he would fare in that battle because Pantherlily stood back to back with him. The celestial mage watched the two fight together like a well-oiled machine for a few minutes before focusing her attention where she needed to.

The Demon Guild mages had begun to surge up the hill to meet the headlong rush of Fairy Tail.

Lucy just realized she was holding a key in her hand and with a glance she saw Virgo's sign. As she and a Demon Card mage neared each other, the celestial mage grinned, plan forming in her mind.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

"Yes, Princess?"

The spirit didn't seem at all disconcerted by the fact that she had been called out while her master was running in a dead sprint down a moderately steep hill at a group of vicious-looking mages that were charging upwards.

"Virgo…I need you to dig a hole in front of the people in front of me," Lucy said as low as she could, even though her words were broken and distorted from the way her chest was heaving and her breaths were coming in bursts. Despite that, Virgo seemed to understand. She nodded once mutely, eyeing the burly man lumbering up the hill, and disappeared into the ground.

Six feet separated Lucy from the man when the earth beneath him crumbled in. Lucy vaulted over the hole and Natsu was right beside her, landing much more easily than she did. He knew she was planning something when she gave instructions to Virgo, so he'd decided to trust her. It would save more of his strength so he could protect her later.

"Dig a trench in front of them next, Virgo!" Lucy gasped out as Virgo popped back out of the ground. The blonde gestured widely at a line of about seven mages advancing up the hill almost neck-and-neck with each other.

"Understood," the pink-haired maid promptly disappeared into the ground again. Natsu saw Lucy reaching for her keys again and wondered whether she was already going to call Loke out to help. After all, wasn't the lion spirit pretty much like her trump card?

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy swiped the new key through the air, and the pink-haired man was mildly relieved that she wasn't really calling on Loke just yet. For a few moments, he had been worried that the blonde was starting to see this battle as nearly hopeless, thus the fear that she was calling out Loke. He would be a valuable asset, yes, but he was pretty much the strongest spirit she possessed and she needed to save his power in case someone really nasty came along.

Speaking of power…how was her store of magical energy holding up? Worry once more plagued the dragonslayer as Lucy leapt the trench that six of those seven mages had fallen into. He punched the seventh hard in the stomach before he could get to the blonde and quickly caught back up with her as she ordered Taurus to just dive into the fray. She had two spirits out now after having just survived her first Fairy Tail brawl…how much more energy did she have?

"Virgo," the young man flicked his dark eyes briefly to where she'd addressed her celestial spirit, "can you get me one of those whips from the spirit world?"

"Yes, Princess," was the polite reply and within a few seconds the pink-haired woman had disappeared and reappeared with a whip in hand. "What will my punishment be today?"

"There is none," even though she was out of breath, exasperation still sounded out in Lucy's tone. "You can go back now, Virgo!"

Poof. Gone. Natsu wasn't sure if he could ever get used to that—especially when one of his nakama had turned out to be a celestial spirit all along and could just practically pop out of the woodwork whenever he wanted to. Like now, when Lucy had raised yet another key and cried, "Open, Gate of the Lion! Loke!"

Now Natsu wasn't too worried that she was desperate…but he still wasn't sure about calling the lion spirit out just yet.

"Juvia, behind you!" a shout from somewhere behind Natsu, Lucy, and Happy sounded, and there was the sound of splashing water. A mage with power similar to Virgo's had tunneled underground up the hill and come up behind Juvia, preparing to attack her. Jet had called a warning and sprinted forward at superhuman speed, tackling the man just as Juvia utilized her ability to turn her body to water. The two tumbled through her and bowled over one more Demon Card member before coming to a stop just shortly before the trench.

Happy relayed this news so Lucy and Natsu didn't have to turn around and Lucy nodded grimly, lashing her whip out at the person in front of her. Taurus bellowed—more of a furious moo, as usual—and knocked three men out of Lucy's path with one great swing of his axe.

"What do you want me to do, Lucy?" Loke demanded, punching a mage with force enough to send him flying against one of his comrades. Natsu decided that Loke's question was a good one because the blonde had still never given a single order to the celestial spirit beside her. Just what was her purpose for calling him out if she wasn't even going to have him fighting?

"I want you to go to Gajeel and help him break in to save Levy," Lucy instructed quickly, ducking a mage's rune magic as Natsu used his wing attack on the offender. "Can you do that?"

Loke seemed surprised that she hadn't called him out to help her, but he got over it quickly and nodded. He was gone just a few moments later and that left Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Taurus right in the midst of a teeming mass of Demon Card mages…all with ugly sneers and decent magic prowess. It didn't take very long for Erza, Gray, Juvia, Elfman, and Wendy to somehow worm their way into the group to fight with Natsu and Lucy…but it also didn't take long for them all to be separated.

In the turmoil, with worry nearly paralyzing him, Natsu realized that he had been separated from Lucy.

Ten minutes…twenty minutes…Lucy had lost Natsu. Happy clung to her neck as she valiantly protected herself and the little blue Exceed. She had long ago forced Taurus to close his gate because her magic power was depleting rather quickly with Loke out, too. Now it was just she and Happy and Wendy and Charle against the mass of Demon Card members that sought to capture them. Of course the blonde was happy that they didn't want to kill the sweet little Wendy, but she wouldn't be captured without a fight.

It was then that a loud magically enhanced whistle shrieked in the air and a magically enhanced voice accompanied it.

"By order of the Rune Knights of Fiore and the guidelines of the Magic Council in Era, this battle must cease immediately!"

The battle was suspended by that, and several Demon Card mages bolted or teleported, leaving the scene of the crime they had initiated. Half of the men surrounding Lucy, Wendy, Happy, and Charle had done so, opening a gap through which Lucy saw a whole battalion of the Rune Knights.

"Stop! Do not ru—"

The man couldn't finish the words he was speaking, for it was then that a vortex of blue flames engulfed him, spinning like a typhoon around him. A bloodcurdling shriek was emitting from the midst of the flames and when the inferno died out, he was covered in blood and burns and collapsed to the ground without another sound. Wendy gasped and started to step forward, but Charle said something against it, tugging against the girl's dress. The sky dragonslayer obeyed, looking on with wide eyes.

"Find the fire mage!" a man who appeared to be the second-in-command roared without the magical enhancement in his voice. He was loud enough without it.

"Here! Here he is! It's the Salamander!"

Lucy's heart dropped out of her chest and she pushed through the Demon Card members as she heard an indignant shout of protest from what were undoubtedly Natsu's lips. And she knew his protest was fully justified because his fire didn't do that to people. He wouldn't do that.

"Good! From this moment on, we will be taking the Salamander of Fairy Tail in for questioning in the assassination attempt on our General!" the man addressed the guilds at large. "This fight will be immediately ended and you will go your separate ways. Now!"

"No!" Lucy shouted, shoving an enemy mage so hard that she stumbled to the ground as she tried desperately to make her way toward the Rune Knights. The horde of mages between her and her destination seemed endless and she wondered if she'd get there in time…and if the Rune Knights would even hear her appeal on Natsu's behalf. She somehow doubted it, but she had to try—!

After what seemed like an eternity as most of the battalion began to disperse, an advance group rushing away with the injured man, Lucy finally burst through the front of the watching mages, actually pushing Mirajane aside to do so. Gathering all the breath she could as she saw Natsu being pulled away, struggling but not looking to her, she shouted, "Natsu!"

He looked up, eyes meeting hers and widening as she stumbled out from the horde of mages. She sprinted towards him once she'd regained her balance, even roughly shoving aside a Rune Knight that tried to intercept her.

"Lucy!" he sounded relieved—damn him, he was worried about her again when he was being dragged away by Rune Knights on a false charge?! A charge of attempted murder, no less?! There was something wrong with this, and she wouldn't stand for it!

The blonde was relieved that Natsu actually tugged a bit more against the Rune Knights that held him tightly between them and had clipped anti-magic cuffs to his wrists already. Lucy didn't care when one of his captors caught her hard across the stomach by just sticking his armored arm out. She merely grunted and leaned over his arm as far as she could, reaching for a fistful of the dragonslayer's vest. She succeeded in grabbing it and she wasn't sure what she was doing but she wouldn't change her mind after it had been made.

No one really knew whether to be surprised or not when Natsu seemed to have the same goal in mind as Lucy did. They both leaned toward each other, Lucy upwards and tugging down on the collar of his vest, and Natsu leaning as far as he could out of the grasp of the Rune Knights that Lucy had begun to see as her enemies for taking him away.

They met in the middle with a searing kiss that was stopped much too abruptly when three men seized Lucy and shoved her back away from Natsu and double that number went to subdue Natsu.

"No!" Natsu said, struggling. Would he fight to break free?! She found herself desperately hoping but instead what came out of his mouth was, "Please! Luce, please take my scarf!"

He couldn't take it off himself but she didn't particularly want to remove it, so she tried to tell herself that it wasn't because he thought he was doomed. She just couldn't take Natsu's prized possession from him when he was going to be thrown in a cell in Era before she had enough evidence to stop them and she knew how much the scarf meant to him. It would be a comfort to him there, wouldn't it?

"I can't, Natsu!" Lucy said, valiantly struggling to stay nearer to him so they could talk.

"I don't want them to take it," Natsu hissed, but not in anger. "Please, Lucy, take my scarf!"

She wasn't even close enough to do it anymore even though she wanted to with him pleading that way. She stretched her fingertips out and fell a good foot short. She could see the conflicting emotions in Natsu's eyes from this distance but she couldn't for the life of her reach his scarf no matter how she strained.

"Damn it, woman!" the guard that was mostly restraining her gave a great heave and sent her falling hard a few feet away on her hip. Lucy felt her thigh scrape up and was fairly certain that most of the Rune Knights had just received a glimpse of her bright, seafoam blue-green underwear, but at the moment she really didn't care.

"Lucy!"

Natsu wasn't the only Fairy Tail member to call her name and try to get to her. Behind her she heard someone stop Mirajane and she saw someone to the left stop Gray and Erza. Juvia, to the right, bristled angrily at the treatment these men were showing her nakama.

"Take it!" one of Natsu's retainers ripped the white-scaled scarf from the dragonslayer's neck violently, revealing the puckered scar on the side of his neck that he rarely showed. Then, with a careless flick of the wrist, the pink-haired man's prized gift from Igneel floated through the air. It was definitely out of her reach, but Lucy lunged for it anyway, unwilling to let it hit the ground.

She could admit that she thought she was in love with Natsu—she was pretty damn sure of it—so anything precious to him was precious to her. If she was capable of protecting anything dear to him, even if it meant making sure his scarf didn't hit the ground, she would do it. And so she was relieved when the soft material dropped into her hands. She held the fabric up, hugging it closely to her bosom. The heat that remained from his abnormally warm skin made her spine tingle and his scent wafted to her nose. The woody, earthy, smoky smell she'd always associated with him seemed almost permanently imprinted into the scarf…and she didn't care. She loved it—it was so him.

"I'll give it back to you when I prove you're innocent!" She called, pushing herself to her feet more fully, still clutching the white cloth in her hand. "Until then, I'll keep it safe for you. Alright, Natsu?!"

His little roguish grin crossed his face even though he was in handcuffs and he raised his voice slightly in order to answer her. "I'll be looking forward to it, Luce!"

And Natsu slowly disappeared from her sight with the second group of Rune Knights that had left—the first had been those bearing their injured General ahead in the search for medical attention. They had obviously not seen the feature on healing mages in the last Sorcerer Weekly—Wendy had been the number one mage in their spread covering the top five from all the official guilds. They could have asked her to come along and perform preliminary treatment on the way…but then again, Lucy realized, they could mistrust her because they were accusing Natsu of harming him in the first place.

"Disperse immediately!" the man barking orders had remained behind and was striding toward Lucy, glowering all around him. He was one of those people that looked like he had a problem everyone and everything in the entire world—the type that you could never please. "Do you understand?"

"Sir," Lucy decided since she was there, she would speak.

"What is it?" he growled, glaring at her for daring to speak in his presence when she had just been subjected to his order to disperse.

"Sir, this is a dark guild that took one of our members hostage. If we can't do anything to get her back because of your interference, why don't you help us get her back?"

His cheeks grew splotchy and red from anger and indignation and he puffed out his chest as if he was actually important—which, Lucy amended, he probably was her best hope to save Levy right now and she'd just ruined it. She had already realized that Gajeel and Loke had been unable to even make it in the building and now Rune Knights were guarding the entrances as the Demon Card members filed back in.

"You are insulting me, miss, and I do not appreciate it."

Of course he doesn't. Pompous fool.

"I promise you, Sir, I meant no disrespect," but really, she meant all the disrespect, "I just wanted assistance in getting our nakama back."

"Fairy Tail cannot be trusted, men!" he projected his voice so that all the remaining Rune Knights could hear it. "First their Salamander attempts to murder the General, and now they claim that this guild is a dark guild and has wronged them in some way. Do not trust them! Fairy Tail, disperse immediately! I shall have the council notified of your untrustworthiness and let them deal with you."

"Hey—" the blonde began, but the man's bellow cut her off.

"Be gone!"

Rage. That was all that Lucy Heartfilia felt when facing this man. He didn't believe her when she was telling the truth, and he had the gall to insult her family—the only one she had left. She was beyond rage, beyond fury.

"Come on, Lucy," a gentle hand pressed gently on her elbow, and the blonde looked up at the calming blue eyes of Mirajane. "Come on, we'll figure something out after we get back to the guild. We won't let them keep her here, even if we have to defy the council. We've done it before, and we'll undoubtedly do it again."

Her voice was soft and the man in charge had gone to give orders to three more men—in fact, they were the three that had pulled Lucy away from Natsu. And even though she was positively livid, Lucy could comprehend the sense in Mira's words. And already, a plot was forming in her mind. She would just need Gajeel's excellent nose and his cooperation…Happy and Pantherlily as well…yes. The plan was mostly formed in her mind in just a few seconds.

"All right," the blonde said rather grudgingly as she spotted Jet, Droy, and Wendy coaxing Gajeel to come back to the guild with the others. The mages of Fairy Tail were gathering at the bottom of the hill and reluctantly, Lucy and Gajeel began to move toward them. Lucy did her best to catch the dragonslayer's eye—he'd been staring at the ground with utmost concentration, but when he finally felt eyes on him and looked up, Lucy nodded shortly to him. He looked at her for a moment, then nodded back.

They would talk…and they would get Levy back, in the process gaining evidence to prove Natsu's innocence.

All they needed, Lucy deduced, was a little bit of bait.

So…here's the next chapter. I should be doing homework right now but I really wanted to get this out for you guys so here it is. I hope it's not too bad, and if there are any typos or anything I will do my best to correct them when I have time.

College…is more hectic right now than I had originally anticipated so please forgive my lateness. Love you guys for reading! Thank you so much!