A/N - Last chapter? LAST CHAPTER!? Alas, this IS the last chapter! And boy oh boy, what a last chapter this is! I have a favorite part that is hopefully pretty obvious.

Please enjoy this pretty much entire chapter dedicated to Natsu and Lucy finally having some time together and discussing important life decisions together.

Former Arrangements

By Genavere

Chapter 22

Along the table stretched stacks of dirty plates scraped clean of all the food they had once hosted. Spicy and mild dishes, chicken and beef, soups and pies. If it had been on the menu, it had been ordered, cooked, and brought to their table. Even a platter of fish had been piled high and brought out so all three of the original members of Team Natsu could feast together.

Most of Fairy Tail had seen the eating habits of Natsu on more than one occasion and expected that kind of behavior from him, but they had not been prepared for it from Lucy. Yet, there they both were, tearing into the food as if they were starving.

For them, it felt like they had been. Even with the meals provided while on bedrest, nothing could compare to the fatty, carb chocked food that they consumed now.

It had been a little over a week since they had made it back to the guild. Both of them had slept for close to two days from exhaustion and the remaining poison still in their systems. When they woke up, they were greeted by Makarov and most of the guild flooded around them until Porlyusica scared all of them out.

They learned of the events that happened after they got back. The official dissolving of Dark Eclipse by royal decree, the charges being laid against Duke Sawarr and the investigation into his family's illegal dealings, and the proceedings that were going through the captured dark wizards.

Lucy found it oddly satisfying to learn that there were possibilities that the Junelle family had sabotaged her father's business dealings and brought about his bankruptcy. It meant that even as he fought to save everything he had built up for them, it had not been his fault for it going under. If it had, then how could he go from nothing to being able to pay for her rent and gifts with his old guild? That had been something that always bothered her, especially since she never managed to rebuild their relationship.

Along with the news of everything that happened while they were asleep, Levy had brought her Michelle and all the letters to her mom that had been stolen.

"Thank you," Lucy wept at the sight of the items she had thought lost forever, especially after the fires they had started. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I will ever repay you for getting these back for me."

"Well," Levy said, leaning forward. "It's not really me you have to thank. Gajeel was the one who tracked these down. We knew you would want them back, plus Queen Hisui had asked for us to find whatever documents we could find that the duke had."

"Is that how they were able to find charges on him?"

"Yep! We couldn't let him get away thinking he could take our favorite couple away."

"Well, tell Gajeel that I am so happy, and that he is amazing!"

From the bed next to her, a pair of narrowed eyes leveled on them. "You better not be calling that metal bucket amazing," he grumbled. Both women burst into laughter at his reaction, tears filling their eyes.

The days after waking up had been filled with enduring Porlyusica's strike rules on them, eating only approved foods—which were never hardy or meaty, to their dismay, and being stuck in bed. Concerns regarding the poisons the hunter wizard had used kept the healer's eyes extra furrowed during her observation. It had only been that morning they were released from bed rest and told to scram by the ornery healer. Upon freedom, they had both dashed for the bar to put in an order with Mirajane for everything they could.

No one had been wiling to challenge the healer or her orders, not even Happy after Carla threatened to never speak to him again. That did not mean he did not try to help them escape for the first five minutes they found themselves alone. The room had even been magically sealed by Freed after that so neither of them could escape.

Now free of any bandages, restrictions, and disapproving eyes, they gorged themselves. With a mouth full of food, Lucy had not the patience nor care to tell Natsu not to spray his food all over. If she had, Happy would have for sure commented on her own table manners, which were non-existent.

After the two-weeks of having to be prim and proper with the pompous duke, caring about manners or how others perceived her had plummeted immensely. When things got back to normal, then she could worry about it and go back to eating like normal. For now, the way each piece of steak, cooked perfectly with enough juice to melt on her tongue left her in pure bliss.

"My, you two weren't kidding when you said you wanted the whole menu!" Mira chuckled. Loading up some of the cleared dishes on her tray, she smiled fondly at the three. "I'm sure you will hear this a lot, but it is good to have you two back and healthy again."

Lucy swallowed the food in her mouth and smiled at the woman. "Thanks, Mira! It's good to be back."

"And free from that prison," Natsu spat out, mouth full of chewed food. He swallowed a bit and chugged his fire whisky to keep from choking.

"I wouldn't call the infirmary a prison," Lucy gave a weak chuckle, scratching her cheek. "Porlyusica was just making sure we didn't further disrupt our healing."

He wiped his mouth clean with his arm and gave her a look. "Oi, what 're you talkin' about? You were trying to get out of there just like me! You even suggested I start a fire—hmph!"

"Why don't you try this boar leg," she hissed, shoving the huge chunk of meat and bone into her partner's mouth. "It looks like it would fit in that mouth of yours just perfectly!"

Mira chuckled. Their antics had truly been a part of their family that had been missed. "I wouldn't worry about that. The Master already thought you may try that and had the infirmary fire proofed. We're actually thinking about doing that for the whole guild!"

They both blinked as she walked away, tray stacked twice as high as her with empty plates.

They looked at each other and Natsu grinned, "Guess your plan wouldn't have work after all!"

"Shut it!"

Happy watched them, munching on another fish happily. Not once had he left their sides since they came back. Their items that he had taken full charge of during their absence were finally back in their rightful places. Lucy's keys on her hips and Natsu's scarf around his neck.

In the infirmary when others were there to keep on eye on them, he would go back and forth between them. When one slept, he would spend time with the other. With Natsu, he'd play games and they planned out a camping trip they would take. One that involved fishing, star gazing, and a giant bonfire.

When Natsu would fill the room with his snores and Lucy sat up in bed, she would read out loud to him, or he would just lay against her as she wrote notes for her next novel. At night, when no one else crowded the room, they would all crawl into one bed and fall asleep together.

Having them back made everything feel right again, and that meant catching up with lost time. That meant heading to Fairy Hills and presenting Carla with another fish to woo her.

"Hey, Natsu? Lucy?" He looked up at them as they turned to him.

"Yeah, little buddy? What's up?" Natsu asked, finishing the boar's leg Lucy tried to choke him with.

"I know you just got out of the infirmary and such, but…would it be okay if I hung out with Wendy and Carla for a bit?"

"'Course you can!" He gave Happy a wide grin. "After everything you did to help bring us back, you deserve a break."

"And who knows," Lucy said, smiling. "After all the heroic deeds you did to bring us back, that might have earned you extra brownie points!"

"You're right!" Wings propelled the blue exceed into the air as he clung to a fish. "See you guys later!"

They laughed as he disappeared out of the hall. Any mention of winning favor with the white exceed seemed to put him in a good mood, and they were both eager to let him have that after they heard how he had reacted to their disappearance. And neither were willing to forget that it had been Happy who saved Lucy's life.

Glancing across the table at her, Natsu leaned forward, grin forming into a smirk. "So, Luce, ready to finally head home?"

Heat blossomed over her cheeks and up to her ears. How he could be so forward in public without being embarrassed was beyond her, but knowing that no one else would be home to interrupt them sent a shiver down her spine. "Yeah, let's go home."

He took her hand and pulled her off the bench to the very doors Happy had gone through only a minutes earlier. Out on the cobbled streets of Magnolia, they set a slow pace, shoulder to shoulder in the quiet hum of the afternoon.

Vendors had taken breaks after the morning crowd, and many of the cafes were filled with resting travelers. The canal that she once lived next to bristled with workers loading boats and taking them down river to other areas in town and outer villages. Life continued on for normal people.

A soft breeze caught loose strands of hair as they headed in the direction of their home and she tucked them back behind her ear. As much as she missed her apartment and the memories that they had made there, a new sense of comfort filled her. Just knowing they would live under the same roof from now on brought a wave of warmth through her chest.

The constant surprises of him popping in through her window, waking up to find he had snuck into her bed, or finding the kitchen completely raided and a disaster would be no more. And the need to constantly jump back and forth between the two places would be gone. They could settle down and make it theirs together.

She looked down at their entwined fingers, their palms pressed into each other. Heat radiated off his skin onto hers, warming her from the cool breeze from the water. They were together, safe and alive. The troubles of the last couple weeks nothing but nightmares now.

Sound from the sleepy activity around them muted to a dull roar. From under her raised sleeve, a glimpse of her scarred wrist made her breath stutter. Ghost fingers gripped it tightly, from Bear Flint all the way to Ignia. Sizzling flesh wafted a stench she would never forget.

Tugging on the sleeve of her shirt to cover it, she pushed down the urge to throw up everything they had just eaten. How could she have forgotten about that, she mentally berated. It had a thorn in her side since Guiltina and something that she had been trying to ignore with little success. "Hey Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

Panic struck her. Thoughts of everything they had endured since that fateful day years ago when they first met in Hargeon. Were either of them ready for what she wanted—no, what she needed to suggest? Both of them could be stubborn about anything if they felt the need to be. Would he think she thought so little of him for bringing it up and come to hate her? Bringing up all the trauma they had gone through might send him running.

"Lucy?"

Jerking her head up at his voice, she realized they had stopped moving and he had moved them to the side of the street. Out of the way of others and where they had privacy. That was just like him, she smiled. He always took care of her.

Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she took his hands into hers. He showed no discomfort from the pressure of her grip. "Natsu…would you—" She bit her lip, thinking over the words that needed to come out. As a writer, one would think it easy to form the right words and speak them. "I…have been thinking a lot. About everything that happened and could happen."

A shaky breath filled her lungs. "I need to start therapy, Natsu. I—We…both of us should go to therapy!"

He looked at her, brows furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

Did she think they had an issue in their relationship? The last time he had heard anyone mention the word therapy had been Mira to one of the old farts about going to marriage therapy with their wife. They were not even married yet, and she felt they needed it? "Why do you think we need that?"

"Well…" How did she describe the feelings she had been having? The dread and panic she felt whenever someone grabbed her wrist? The predatory eyes that haunted her dreams before claws ripped through her abdomen? Or even the growing weakness those same claws instilled in her as they tightened around her throat?

If they had gone to therapy after Guiltina, when she had healed and they were back home and safe, would Bear Flint have been able to manipulate her as easily? Shamefully, she doubted it would have changed much. Without her keys and with Natsu in the dungeons, her ability to do anything had been limited.

Yet, no matter what he would say, she knew he had scars that needed healing, too.

There had been so many nights he had woken up yelling, drenched in sweat. Panic attacks that he had needed an anchor to pull him back to the present. To remind him that she still lived. That he had rescued her and kept her safe from his foster brother.

Since the day they had met, he had always been there to save her, and she strove to do the same for him. They both needed this.

Freeing her hands from his, she rolled her sleeve up and took his hand in hers. The moment his fingers wrapped around her scarred wrist, her entire body tensed and a prickling behind her eyes brough tears forward. Each breath had a mantra repeating in the back of her mind just to stay conscious.

His own body grew ragged, eyes narrowing and as hard as he tried, he could not stop his fingers from tightening over the raised skin. No bruises would form, but there would be no escape if she tried.

"T-this, Natsu," her voice broke into a sob. "We need to heal from this. From all of it."

For a breath, neither said anything. They remained motionless as they took in the implications of what Lucy meant. Slowly, he brought his other hand up. Her breath hitched, eyes focused on the movement. Removing his fingers carefully from her scar, he took both of her hands and interlaced their fingers again.

The visible reaction of the tension in her shoulders leaving struck a chord within him. What Lucy wanted them to go to sounded nothing like the therapy Mira had suggested to the older men. What she suggested sounded more like a form of healing of the mind.

His eyes narrowed.

There had to be a trigger to explain why she brought it up now. Had something happened while she had been in the manor and he had been locked in the dungeons below? A growl brought her attention back up and he stepped closer, voice low. "Did they do something to you that you haven't told me, Lucy?"

If they had, he would find them and tear them apart.

A smile graced her lips. Pulling a hand away from his, she caressed his cheek and hummed when he leaned into the palm. "I told you most of what happened during that time, but…the hunter, Bear Flint, he kept grabbing my wrist like how I had you take it."

Her lower lip quivered before it disappeared between her teeth. "He figured out quickly that I panicked anytime he would do that, and he used it against me. Each time, I fought the panic. Tried to push down the urge to throw up or to see his eyes, but I couldn't. I couldn't, Natsu!"

A wetness caressed her cheeks and she realized the tears had overflowed. "I need help. Need to talk to someone who can help me heal. Who can help both of us heal." She shook her head, stepping into him until her chest pressed against his. "I can't be weak anymore."

Lips crashed against hers. Warm hands gripped the sides of her head and kept her close even as she returned the gesture in desperate motions. Fingers bundled his vest together and pulled him in deeper. They stumbled back, the brick wall of a building pressed against her, cooling her heated skin while he inflamed it.

Tongues battled for dominance. Teeth clinked together. The sharp pain of her tongue rolling under his fangs brought a moan from deep in her throat where his fingers curled into her skin and kept her close.

Pulling back, his breath caressed the saliva that clung to her lips. "You've never been weak, Lucy," he whispered in a hoarse tone. "Not once." His lips captured hers again in a softer, lingering kiss. When they parted again, their foreheads pressed together.

A hush fell between them, broken only by their ragged gasps of air. Warm fingers caressed her face, neck and shoulders. A thumb brushed over swollen lips. Shimmering chocolate orbs opened slowly to catch his.

"When I thought you died," he rasped, "I couldn't handle it. The thought of you gone…"

She watched his eyes grow distant, pulling inward and glazed. She knew the scenes that replayed over and over from the mumblings and cries his dreams brought. The panic that would push him harder in battles just to keep her safe.

In his eyes, she saw her future-self laying on the ground, breathing ragged and wet. Blood pooled beneath her and tears mixed in with each sob.

Saw how he held her limp body up while stuck in the time stop. No heartbeat filled his ears from her chest. Blood covered her face, and her body held the damages of a battle he never saw. The moment he realized she would not wake, it left him convinced of her death and became determined to end the war his brother started.

How he had watched his foster brother's claws cut and burn her throat while he laid on the ground completely drained and unable to move. The words of love she spoke in desperation so she would die with no regrets. The blast of air from wings taking her far from him.

There had been too many instances. There would be more in the future. Being wizards meant danger would great them at every moment of their life. But…she had to say the rest of her piece.

"Natsu."

His eyes focused on her again, a glint of gold and red shined off the sun that made her breath catch. Each beat of her heart could be heard by him. All his senses were far superior than those of a normal human. They even surpassed those of other dragon slayers. Those pulse points proved to him that she lived still.

Heat spread through her, calming the fear, but it did nothing to help bring the words she wanted to say. The smolder in his eyes took her breath away for a different reason. And it happened to be focused on the same reason she needed to finish this conversation.

"What I am going to say, I do not want it to sway your decision in anyway. Whatever you decide, that has to be because you want it." She closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath. All her focus had to be on her next words. "Whether you want to go to therapy or not, I have to do this. I need…I need to get better. For myself. For you."

Looking up at him again, her resolved set. "For our future. I…I want a future with you, Natsu. To be together forever. And in that future, I want us to have a family."

Fingers caressed his cheeks and lips. His breath barely skimmed over her skin; his entire body tensed as if waiting for her to continue. If he were to understand exactly what she meant, she would have to be direct.

"We have each other and Happy right now, but one day, I want to have our own child together. One we can raise and guide through life. I can't do that with how I am now—"

"I'll do it." Hands cupped her face again, pulling her close. "Therapy and whatever else you want us to do," he said, breathless. Eyes searching her face for any signs for discomfort or hesitation.

"R-really?"

"Yeah," he chuckled and scratched the back of his head. All the tension she had felt eased out of her and seemed to have a similar effect on him. "I can't say I will be great at this therapy stuff, but if it means building our family, I will do everything I can do achieve that. I promised you forever, Lucy. That means the whole thing."

"The whole thing?" She felt tears gather again and she tried hard to keep them from falling, but his thumb caught the height of her cheek and they pooled over.

"The whole thing. Everything. All the adventures and more. Together."

"Together." They laughed, smiling and gripping each other tightly. Everything felt lighter. The weeks of being separated, the fears and fighting, all the nightmares that kept them awake through the night.

Lips melded together again. Fingers buried deep into hair and keeping the other close. Nothing around them mattered. The wind that sent flower pedals tumbling through the streets, the cawing of vendors and birds in the street, or the heat of the mid-afternoon sun.

When they pulled away, he laid a soft kiss on her forehead and took her hand firmly in his. "Let's go home, Luce."

She beamed at him. The sun above warmed cherry locks and bought out his natural glow. "Sure!"

A/N - The End.

So, any idea what the favorite part happened to be? (Hint: I am a sucker for cupping the face while kissing)

Thank you everyone who has stuck with me and left reviews and kudos. This has been an exciting journey, and one that I hope everyone else enjoyed, as well!

After this, I will be taking a little break from writing to get caught up on some reading, personal tasks, and figuring out what will be the next piece to work on. Hopefully when the next project comes out, you can all join me for that!

Once more, thank you everyone who read this little passion project of mine and following the adventure that started out simple enough and evolved as it went. And thank you to my discord group who urged me on and helped me hash out ideas while I worked on this. It all meant so much to me, and I am glad I found a good server to join!

Until the next adventure!