Okay, I liked the reviews-I'm glad to see that all five of you like this story so far! :)

ANYWAYS, I'll just get to the story now!

Enjoy!

-BookBearer

Chapter Two: The Mission

Natsu's POV:

"Another shot please, Mirajane." I ask her as I swirl the beer at the bottom of the cup round and round. Lately, I've had a lot of time to ask for more rounds because I really haven't been doing much.

To be more specific-I haven't been doing much with Lucy. I mean, it's been a week since I accidently said that we 'slept' together in front of the whole guild, and she still has not been talking to me. Of course I set the record straight with everyone, and made it clear that we didn't actually sleep together-but even with that she's still acting like she's ignoring me!

What else does she want from me? I've apologized, I've set the record straight, I-amazingly-given her space…what next? Does she want me to get on my hands and knees and beg? Because I will! I...I just want us to be normal again.

Mirajane sets the cup down next to me and I hand her the dirty one. She looks at me, and then sets the mug down-leaning on the counter top, her eyes searching mine.

"Well." She starts, "something's bothering you-I can tell. You're not the normal Natsu Dragneel that you usually are. Heck, you didn't even fight with Grey when you walked in here this morning. And you walked straight over to the bar ordering," She counts the number of mugs sitting around me, and then looks at me again.

"Ten beers. If you order anymore, Cana's going to be proud." She raises her eyebrows questionably. "What's going on Natsu?"

Sighing miserably, and then adverting my eyes down to the brown mug, I decide to tell her. "It's Lucy…We haven't talked for literally a week, and I feel as if I'm about to go crazy. Grey and Ezra have gone on missions without me 'cause I refuse to go without Lucy."

I groan, and run a hand through my pink hair. "She won't talk to me! I've tried talking to her, but she continues to ignore me and it's-again-driving me insane! I mean, I get this need to be around her, ya' know? And I just wanna…be there for her. And it kills me every second that I'm not near her, or around her. It's kinda like that feeling of not knowing-"I look at Mirajane, and frown at the big smile that was plastered on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" I ask her, and she only smiles wider.

"Well, I think I have found the answer to your 'Lucy' problem. How about instead of you pouring out your feelings to me, you should say what you just said to her. She'll completely understand how you feel, and boom. You two are partners again."

My head snaps up, and the wheels in my head turn as I think about what Mirajane just said. That's actually not a bad idea! I'll go up to her, and after a few awkward moments, say what's on my mind! Girls like that type of stuff-being emotional or something like that! She'll surely forgive me then!

"Yes! That's a great idea Mirajane!" I push the untouched mug of beer towards her, and stand up abruptly. "I'll go to her house and tell her now!"

She frowns, and then picks up my mug, "Wait, actually I don't think she's at her house-she went on a mission not too long ago."

I stop and look at her, my eyes widened. "What? She went on a mission without me? B-But we're a team! Team Natsu!"

Mira only shrugs, and turns away, dumping the mug out and cleaning it. "Remember Natsu, you haven't told her your heartwarming explanation yet. Plus, Lucy is a big girl; she can handle a 100,000 jewel mission…She's gotten stronger, really."

I stare at her dumbfounded, until I hold out my hand. "What mission did she go on? I'm going with her!" I say firmly, waiting for the information that I needed to find Lucy.

Mira only gently sets the cup down and looks at me with a look of concern. "Natsu, Lucy can handle herself…if she decided to go on this mission alone then I think it's best if you let her finish it on her own."

I only continue to stare her down until eventually; she sighs and shakes her head slowly-turning away to get the paper. "Fine Natsu…but I'm telling you this is a bad idea." Ignoring her warning, I sit there and wait for her to immerge with the paper.

"Hi Natsu!" A cheery voice calls sweetly. I turn, and smile when I see that it's Lisanna. She walks up to me, and leans against the counter on my left.

"Hey Lisanna." I reply, and look to see if Mirajane is done yet. Lisanna looks up to me, and notices the anxious look on my face.

"Hey, what's got you in a hurry? Something wrong?" I shake my head and look down at her. I really don't feel like pouring out my feelings to someone else right now, and plus; it was pretty embarrassing telling it to Mirajane in the first place.

"No, it's just Lucy went on a mission without me, and I just need to know where is, so I can catch up with her." I explain, and Lisanna nods understandingly.

"Here, I'll go with you to help look. Then all three of us can finish the mission together."

I look at her, and tilt my head. "But Lisanna-"

She interrupts me, by putting one finger up, and shaking her head as a symbol of 'no'. "Plus-I've been dying to spend some more time with Lucy and get to know her. So…I'm going. It's getting boring being stuck in here, and I'm ready for a mission!"

I was about to object again, but then Mirajane finally comes back with the paper I've been waiting for. I grab it like it's a scrap of meat, and scan over it quickly, reading it out loud;

"She has accepted the position of protecting the mayor of Hargeon Town from harm, and escorting him to the town's annual meeting. Reward is 100,000 jewel if all goes well. Sightings of nearby bandits have been spotted and are assumed to be after the mayor."

I look up at Mirajane with a 'what were you thinking' kind of look, and she only shrugs. "I asked her if she was sure she wanted to do it-much less without team Natsu. She seemed determined, and said yes. So I gave her the job-who am I to say no?"

I only huff in annoyance, and turn away heading towards the door, Lisanna not to far behind. As I make my way to the door, Happy flies above me, and smiles widely. "Glad to see you're not moping anymore over at the bar, Natsu! Where are we going now?"

I look at him with an excited look on my face, and I clench my fists with determination written all over. "We are going to go help Lucy."

"Aye!"

Lucy's POV:

"I said, leave me alone. I told you, I don't need any help!" I growl at the man walking next to me. This only makes his smile grow wider on his face, and he crosses his arms.

"You know, you shouldn't push people who are trying to help you away like that-it's not really lady like." I glare at him, and look the other way, continuing to walk through the endless green trees, and plants. Since it was so damn hot and humid, I put my hair up into a messy bun, with some strands sticking out. I was wearing jeaned short-shorts, with a Southwestern-Print knit top on. To pass the time, I looked over to my 'companion' and to try to figure him out.

He had a tall, muscular figure, about six foot two, ocean blue eyes, a mountain of golden blonde hair on the top of his head, and an all pearly-white large smile; and his name was Marcus Wright-and no. Not the 'Marcus Wright' from the Terminator-I asked him that already.

"So are you always this loud and demanding?" He asks, with a cocky grin on his face. I turn my head to him, and send him another icy glare, and huff angrily.

"I am not demanding! And I am not loud!" I snarl at him, and he only chuckles, as if amused by my outburst.

"I bet you're loud in other cases…" He says, and looks down into his back pack looking for something. I frown at what he means about what he just said, but when I finally get it, my face explodes in a red color, and I clench my right fist, and point at him with the other.

"Shut it you perv!"

He howls with laughter, and nudges his shoulder with mine. "Chill out Lucy, I was only yanking your chain-just having some fun."

I roll my eyes, and look away from him. "Yeah, yeah." After a few minutes of silence and climbing, he looks at me again with that same cocky grin on his face.

"I figured it out; you've never done it before! That's why you're so uncomfortable with the topic! And how old are you again? Seventeen?"

My blush grows brighter, and I turn my head to him, and scoff. "Excuse me! I am Nineteen years old-thank you very much! And…yes! I've done…it before!"

He only crosses his arms, raises his eyebrows, and tilts his head to the left. "Oh really?"

Standing my ground, I raise my head up proudly, and nod. "Yes."

He places a finger on his defined chin, and thinks before an idea pops into his head. "What's 'sixty-nine' then?"

"Sixty-what?"

Again, he howls with laughter, and clutches his stomach as if he couldn't breathe. My face erupts into red flames, and I stomp my foot angrily, realizing that was the wrong answer.

"Oh-shut up! Fine! Fine! I haven't had it! And I'll have you know I'm saving it for a very special person!"

He finally calms down enough, and sighs, wiping a pretend tear away from his eye. "Oh, you are too funny…But I can respect that-really."

After a few moments, I sigh and smile slightly. "Thanks." We then continue to walk in a peaceful silence, talking here and there about random things.

Ironically enough, Marcus was heading in the same direction as I was.

And was on the same mission as I was.

To escort the same man to the same man to the same towns meeting that I was.

And to travel through the same forest at the same time that I was.

And to be alert for the same bandits that I was.

I had-unfortunately-met him on the train ride here. We bumped into each other, and eventually started talking. He told me about himself, while I told him about myself. At first I thought our conversation was a onetime thing-you know once we finished, we'd go our separate ways. But of course, that wasn't the case.

Turns out he was just as annoying as the one and only Mr. Dragneel himself. Worse part about it is that I can't get rid of him. He's just as cocky and persistent as Natsu; 'insisting' that he'd go with me.

I mean, I accepted this job to be alone for a while. I did it to be away from Na-some people. I just need time, and he's reminding me of him in more ways than one. From Natsu's uniquely colored hair, and his shining white teeth, that's always on display. From his annoying, and cute personality, to his undying determination to protect-

"Lucy." Marcus says quietly, and spins around, checking the area. I frown and look around also. But all I saw were trees, and more trees.

"What? Why'd we stop?" I ask him, my hand slowly inching towards my small brown leather case. He doesn't reply instantly, but he only bends down and touches the ground softly, and closes his eyes. After a few moments, he didn't move, and my heart beat got faster.

Suddenly his eyes snap open and he gets up fast; his blue eyes looking around franticly. "Shit."

I frown worriedly, and look at him questionably. "What-What is it Marcus?" I grab my keys, and ready myself for a fight.

He looks down at me, with a dead serious look on his face. "We're not alone in this forest. And it's not bandits."

The huge green vine quickly lashes out and I barely doge it, before jumping out the way, and striking my whip at it, tearing the dark green skin, and it gushing out green goo.

Before I could get my chance to celebrate, I'm literally swept off my feet, as another vine wraps itself around my foot.

I fall to the ground with a loud thud, and my breath is knocked out of me. I blink rapidly to clear my vision, and I look around for my keys.

Behind me, my brown leather case is about ten feet away from my reach. I stretch my hand towards them, trying my hardest to get them but the vines yank me away, pulling me towards the ugly, green monster who was howling, its green vines whipping around wildly in the air.

I try to kick the vine off of me, but to no avail. That's when I start to panic, and kick more fanatically. "Uh, Marcus? They told me to watch out for bandits-"I grab a nearby rock, and use its jagged edge to smash the vine that has it wrapped around my ankle.

Finally after numerous attempts, the vine gives way and goes limp, green goo pouring out of the damaged sides. Getting up, I blow away a piece of my hair that had fallen in my face and growl. "They didn't mention anything about a fucking plant monster-thing!"

He uses a quick second to look at me and smirk, before charging for the monster again. "What? Are you scared of a little," He slices another vine that was aiming for his neck, and continues to run. "challenge?"

"Do you really think this is a time for your cockiness?" Rolling my eyes, I reach my keys and aim it towards the ugly monster. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"

Virgo suddenly appears, and is straight at my side. "You called, mistress?"

I nod at her, and point towards the monster, "There is only one way to finish this. Dig a hole big enough so he can fall through-Marcus and I will handle the rest."

She nods, and quickly disappears underground to finish her job. I look to my left to see Marcus still fighting two vines, and I whistle to grab his attention. He spares a few seconds to look at me, and I motion towards the monster.

He quickly gets the hint and nods, slicing the two vines out of his way, and sprinting towards the monster. I sprint after him, and the ground underneath the monster begins to crumble. I know we have a limited amount of time, and we both jump, as the ground underneath gave way.

The monster screeches, and falls into the giant hole, twisting and turning around. I spot its weak spot, and I point. "Now!" I shout, and Marcus and I both strike at that exact spot, him throwing his sword towards it, and I lash at it with my whip.

The monster roars loudly, and combusts at impact-exploding it's green goo everywhere. The explosion was so great, that while we were both in the air, the goo forced us both back, and we went flying.

I groan with pain, when I open one eye, to see Marcus pinned against me, and my back against a large tree. The goo was sticky, so we were both stuck together in an icky-green mess. The green goo was dripping off the both of us, and it had a very weird smell that smelled kinda like broccoli.

Marcus looks down at me, and tries to move, but has no success. "You okay Lucy?" He asks, still trying to move. I attempt to pull my hands and legs away but just like him-no luck.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Just, let's try to get out of this mess." He nods in agreement, and struggles; pulling and twisting to get off of me.

Virgo suddenly appears, and sees the situation that we're in. "Oh no, I'm sorry Mistress. Only Mr. Dragneel and yourself should be in this position-this is my fault. Is it punishment time?"

My face turns pink against the green, and I stutter. "W-What? No! I mean, no it's not punishment time-just…just-ugh. You can go back now, Virgo." She nods, and disappears in an instant.

We sit there in silence, and only the sound of our struggling could be heard. Huffing angrily, I lean my head against the tree in defeat. Soon after, Marcus does the same thing, and only looks awkwardly around.

He raises his eyebrows questionably, "You punish your celestial spirts?" I quickly shake my head, and chuckle nervously. "No! No I don't-it's just…Virgo, she-ugh, never mind. It's a long story."

He nods understandingly, and after a few minutes a grin appears on his face, "So this Dragneel fellow...you guys do this often?"

I immediately sweat drop, and my face burns a bright pink color. "W-What? No! I mean-sometimes-wait! We don't-he doesn't-I-ugh! You're a terrible conversationalist, you know that?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "Yeah, well it's one of my many talents."

After another few minutes pass, he attempts to change the subject again. "What a…sticky situation we're in huh?" A deep laugh erupts from within his chest and I could feel it running through the both of us-and I smile slightly, because I have a slight-slight-slight tickling problem…

"Hey, don't-don't do that! S-Stop laughing-"I say in between giggles, and I try to push him but I quickly remember that I couldn't move.

Once he figures out what I was getting at, he raises his eyebrows mischievously and cocks his head to the side. "What? Don't do…this?" He hums some random tune, and his voice erupts once more, creating even more vibrations between the two of us-and increasing my serious tickling-problem.

My giggles grow and I use my head to nudge his shoulder to try to get him to quit. "Stop! Please-ha-ha-oh my god, seriously! Marcus-ha-I'm not-ha-aha-kidding! S-Seriously? T-Twinkle-Twinkle-ha-aa-little star? H-How old are you six?"

Finally, he stops humming, and he gradually comes to a light chuckle. I also start to stop laughing, and I sigh, but a smile still on my face. "Really?"

He smiles back and puts an innocent look on his face. "What?"

I roll my eyes, and look straight into his blue eyes. "What do you mean what-do you do this to all the girls you end up getting stuck too in the middle of the forest with some unidentifiable goo?"

At this, his smile gets wider and he looks up towards the sky, chuckling lightly, before looking back down at me. "Actually, no. Believe it or not, I don't meet most girls like this-much less end up being stuck to them like we are."

We both give a tiny laugh at that, and I have to admit-he isn't so bad. I actually think I like this guy…as a friend of course! I uh…like someone else like that.

"So, uh, when do you think this goo will wear off? Or at least harden so we can break it?" I ask him, once again giving it an experimental tug. He shrugs, and looks around the area.

"Honestly, I don't know. But our best guess is by morning. The sun is going down-and we still have to escort the mayor tomorrow. Since the temperature will be hot again tomorrow, it'll harden, and we'll be free."

I nod at his plan, and I rest my head against the tree bark, looking up at the fading sky. "So, what do we do now?" I ask him, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

He looks at me, and smiles. "Well, we could just sit here and wait-or we could get to know each other. Since we've got all this time on our hands-tell me about yourself."

I think for a second, before shrugging, and smiling back at him. "I'll tell you about myself, if you tell me about yourself."

He nods agreeing, and I blow out a random strand of my hair away from my face. "Well, first of all, my name is Lucy Heartfilla…"

"Lucy…"

I hear a distant voice call my name, and I only groan because I was still halfway asleep. I remember that I fell asleep against Marcus's shoulder, and he fell asleep against mine. Since the way we we're stuck, his hands were circled against my stomach, and my hands we're pinned palm first against the tree.

"Lucy!"

I groan, and shift my head against his shoulder once more, and try to slip back into my dreams. But that voice sounded very familiar…Happy?

"Who the hell is this-Lucy?" My eyes open slowly to reveal Natsu standing right beside us, a fierce look in his eyes, but a small hint of relief shown too.

I yawn and blink to clear my vision, and look at Natsu. "N-Natsu, you're here! Thank god-Marcus! Marcus, wake up! Here, Natsu, can you rip-"

I didn't even have time to ask him to take the goo off of the both of us, before he grabbed the back of Marcus's shirt and yanked him outwards, and away from me.

Finally, I get off that damned tree, and stretch my legs and arms, relief washing over me. After a few 'pops' and 'cracks' of my bones stretching, my mind snaps back to Natsu and Marcus and I look to them-worried that Natsu would do something irrational as always.

"Natsu! Put him down now!" I scowl at him, pointing towards the ground and taking charge. Marcus struggles against Natsu's angry grip, and Natsu only looks at me like I'm crazy.

"What the hell were you two doing? Who the fuck is this creep? And why we're you two together?!" He snaps harshly, before pushing him to the ground sending an icy glare at Marcus. My eyebrows raise at Natsu cursing so freely, he must really be mad.

Marcus quickly gets up, and sends the same glare right back at him. "Um, who the fuck do you think you are, pal? You must have a lot of nerve to push me around like that!" He stomps towards Natsu, and pushes him backwards, making Natsu stumble back.

This only seems to enrage him more, and Natsu clenches his fists together tightly, the orange glow in his hands beginning to burn brightly. "Oh you asked for it! Now I'm fired up, pal." He spits the last word out at him, before he starts charging at him.

I quickly run in between the two, and put my hands out to stop them both. "Stop! Both of you!"

After a few moments of just exchanging icy glares and low growls, Marcus turns around angrily and walks away towards the half hardened green goo mess. "I'm going to get my swords-I'll be back Lucy."

I nod and turn back to an enraged Natsu, still glaring daggers in his back. "What are you doing here Natsu? I mean, thanks for getting us out of that goo-but what are you doing here?"

He looks down at me, his eyes darkened with anger. "What am I doing here? You should be glad I was here, if I wasn't that creep could have done something! Who even is that guy? And why didn't you tell me you were going on a mission-you just can't leave like that Lucy!" He shoots at me and I scoff, putting a hand on my hip defiantly.

"Excuse me? I can do whatever I please, Natsu. I don't need your permission to do everything, thank you very much. Also-his name is Marcus-and I could handle myself if it ever came to that type of situation, thanks!"

"Uh," a small voice said from behind Natsu, and I look behind him to see Lisanna with her arms behind her back. "Guys…shouldn't you dial it down a bit?" Happy was standing beside her, and he nodded agreeing. "Aye."

I look at Lisanna and Happy and cross my arms. "Why don't you just go on a mission with them, instead of bothering mine, Natsu?"

He raise his eyebrows slightly, and looks at me as if its the most obvious thing in the world. "Because, unlike them you still need some protection-you joined the guild not to long ago, remember? I'm just saying...they have a bit more...experience than you do. So you should stick with us until you've gotten...stronger?" My eyes widen at his affronting comment and I scoff angrily.

Lisanna groans from behind us, and shakes her head disapprovingly. "Wrong thing to say..."

I turn on the heel of my foot, and look the other direction, avoiding his gaze. "You know what, your right. I am weak. And by doing this mission I will atleast grow a bit stronger-and like I said before, I'm doing this mission solo."

Obviously Natsu wasn't taking that as an answer; he took my arms and pulled me towards him, his brows furrowed together, and his lips in a straight line.

"First of all, you're obviously not going 'solo' on this mission, because this ass was just pinned against you a few seconds ago. And secondly, I didn't mean-,"

I look at him with an unbelievable look on my face, and interrupt him speaking. "Hold on, first," I step back from his grip, and I see a slight look of hurt, but it quickly is replaced with the same determination as always.

"You don't tell me what to do. Second, I know what you meant-I got it. You don't have to repeat it twice."

I step back and frown at him. "I can do whatever the hell I want, Natsu. And if that includes finishing this mission with Marcus, so be it."

Without even waiting for them, I stomp away angrily, and grab my fallen keys and fallen whip. "Let's go Marcus!" I shout to him, as he jogs to catch up with me, both swords back in their place. We both continue forwards, leaving behind the giant goo mess.

"Before we reach the town, let's stop at a motel or something. To change our clothes, and take showers quickly, okay?" I state firmly to him, and he nods simply.

"Lucy," He asks after a few minutes of just the crunching of feet against grass, all while increasing his steps to be in sync with mine. I look to him, and raise my eyebrows, my anger still boiling.

At the look I was giving him, he took a small step to the left, then looks at me, gesturing back at the others who were more then likely walking after us. "Is that Dragneel?"

I grumble, and cross my arms angrily as I continue to stomp away and walk forwards. "The one and only."

OKAY!

AND I'M GOING TO STOP THERE.

It's 2:18 am, and I'm pretty tired…but yeah.

I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to writing more…blah blah blah.

I'm too tired to write an A/N Lol…

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Goodnight guys,

-BookBearer