All Rights to Hiro Mashima

Whoops. Look at that…a little smut snuck itself into this chapter and I have absolutely no idea how it did. Oh well…look for those purity marks (XXX) my precious cupcakes. Read safe.

Dedicated to Crackerbits: Darling...thank you for reading everything all at once (the best way to keep good flow with a story like this) and hope you did well on your exams!

BEWARE! HOT DRAGON BOY! SUDDEN LEMON! I DIDN'T PLAN FOR THIS!

Chapter 35: Mookaite

A type of Jasper that is striped with yellow; named for Mooka Creek where it is mined in Western Australia; the indigenous peoples of Australia believe that this stone will promote an ageless spirit and a conduit for mothers to speak to their unborn children; also known as the 'Supreme Nurturer.'

She woke late in the morning if the position of the sun was any indication, her bones creaking and tendons sore.

Her magic had been depleted once again, she was sure of it. The symptoms were obvious in hindsight, although, the cause wasn't.

But, she was warm and cosy and there was a nose in her hair and someone was purring, so suffice it to say Lucy was just fine where she was at the moment. Moving was unnecessary.

A sneaky hand slid up the length of her torso to cup her breast.

Oh.

Oh.

She was most definitely naked and there was a body behind her, that was also naked and male and deliciously muscled. But that was alright because she knew that body that was attached to that sly hand – now lightly tweaking her hardening peak, jolts of pleasure shot down to her toes – belonged to the only man-Demon-Dragon…person that could rile her up in all the right ways.

But she was so sleepy still, and even though his ministrations felt wonderful, her body just wanted to rest.

"I know you're awake."

His voice startled her out the place between consciousness and dozing – she wasn't really unhappy that it did, seeing as they had so much to talk about – and she whined a little before she pulled the duvet over her head and wrapped it around her, dislodging his hand from her breast in the process so that it fell down naturally to her waist. "No. I'm still sleeping."

"Luce."

"She's not present at the moment."

The smell of campfires accompanied a slight huff and memories of gleaming teeth and smoke and smirks filled her mind.

That's right.

Natsu's back.

All of him, his memories and knowledge and hopes and dreams and his Dragon was back. He was whole. He was all hers again.

Finally…

She whipped off the blankets and shimmied and squirmed around in his arms – much to his every growing amusement – until they were face to face again. "Natsu."

"Lucy." That infuriatingly endearing smirk from their childhood, something that hadn't looked quite right on END, but looked at home with his pink-hair and onyx eyes and—

"Was it a dream? Did you…? Are you…?"

He knew what she wanted. Proof of some sort so that she knew without a doubt that he was back and whole and his brain was complete again after so long. So he untangled his limbs from hers and bounded off of her bed. He watched her face fall for a moment. Her delicately hopeful look gone as he stood silent and naked before her.

Until it became giddy amazement when his wings and scales and horns and tail and everything a Dragon should be, came back with a vengeance.

She gasped and laughed crawling forward over the sheets and the bed, not caring a whit about her bareness because he was back and nothing could keep her away. It was nothing at the moment compared to the need to reach for him. He was there in an instant, immediately in her arms, revelling in the feel of her skin and the scars and the strength of her limbs. Lucy clutched him closer and hiccupped a small sob. "…so not a dream then. This is real. You're real. You're Natsu and you're here and you're a Dragon."

"Yes…" He breathed into her silky golden hair. Nothing else needed to be said or heard in that moment because she had been without all of him for going on eleven years, half her heart had been ripped out, gone without him, then stomped on when he had come back only to not know her completely. A mockery of him.

END, a Demon, a bringer of darkness and death and all that was wrong with the world.

And yet, she loved that side of him too. The flirty Demon that surprised her and loved her back with all of his being, even though he was designed not too, and she had never heard those words out of his mouth, she knew it to be true. She held no doubt in her heart.

Lucy pulled back and trailed her hands up his torso, mapping his skin and scales. So familiar, yet so very foreign. She knew all the planes of his body intimately. But these additions she remembered so clearly from her childhood. Natsu had been prone to wearing vests and tunics that were loose, or none at all when he was younger, but she had never touched him like this. She never had the want to, or the determination, or the need.

But now she wanted to know just how it felt when his skin cracked and split into those ruby scales on his cheekbones, she wanted to watch as those feral eyes took in everything about her, how his wings twitched and shuffled behind him.

Lucy let out a bemused laugh, it was small and cracked slightly, but showed her mood was lifting. She tapped a single finger on his gleaming ivory horns that grew out of his head. Unlike with his Demon, they didn't spiral, but shot straight out and the tips looked absolutely deadly. "I don't remember these from before…"

That wonderful toothy Natsu grin lit up his face. "They're new Luce. Only Drakes get them, and they only truly grow when the Dragon comes of age. It's the second to last step in the process, it has something to do with the Dragon Fire and magic and something else…but when Igneel explained it I wasn't really listening. I started to just grow them before…I—I, um. Died."

Lucy quickly shook her head and cupped his cheeks, his pupils blowing wide as she leant in closer. "I understand. It would have been hard to see through that rune wall, it was purple after all."

Natsu nodded, ready to curse that wall once again, but thought better of it. If Lucy had been with him and not behind that blasted barrier, she could have died in the same manner as him, or been wiped out by Tartaros or sold off by her father, given to another man. But those runes – against all odds – had kept her safe and secure and alive so that she could fight and live another day.

He would have to thank Freed's father one day soon.

Lucy laid back onto her pillows, guided his head down to her chest and he curled around her, his muscular tail creeping up and circling around her thigh, natural as can be. He purred as he heard her heart beat strong and fast. That heart that he held in its entirety.

And then it struck him about how much he actually loved her. Maybe even from the moment they had met all those years ago when he had offered her his hand, offered her adventure and escape and fun when she had taken that hand and laughed and loved and filled his life with light.

He scooted up the bed and nosed her shoulder, brushing her hair away so that he could see those marks, his marks on her skin. He loved the way she shivered as his entire body laid against hers. Skin to skin, with nothing in-between.

Natsu placed a single kiss on that new scar and sighed happily. "I love you, Lucy."

Her answer was quick and her voice strong. "And I love you as well, always have, I think."

He answered with a hum of contentment, his hot breath skating and skimming across her naked skin. Goose flesh rose in its wake, while his tail stroked her inner thigh in a way that it would have seemed unconscious if she couldn't feel his smile against the crook of her shoulder.

The air crackled and sparked like live flames, the atmosphere changed into something sultry and hot.

He dove for her mouth, needing to feel her lips against his again while she tugged him up by his horns. They were in sync, as always, but there was a desperation that was entirely new in the way they moved against each other.

XXX

She was wet and wanting after a few deft strokes of his fingers against her slit. She couldn't remember exactly how he felt buried between her legs and she needed to remember that…immediately. It had been far too long.

Natsu had lowered his mouth to her nipples, wanting to play and tease and bite at her soft skin, leave bruises that only he would only ever see when his horns were grasped and he was tugged forcefully up to collide his lips with his mate's needy mouth. "I need you Natsu. Now."

No foreplay, no preamble. She needed to feel his burning length pumping in and out of her, needed to feel his head dragging across her inner walls, needed to see him loose himself in the pleasure only she could bring him. "Please." Her growled word caught Natsu off guard for a moment, but only one, before he forcefully spread Lucy's legs, clawed hands digging into her supple thighs and teased her absolutely dripping entrance with his pulsing, angry red head.

There was only one choice for her now. "Do you want to walk tomorrow?"

"Fuck no."

And that was enough for him. He snapped his hips forward in one smooth movement, slamming his scorching length into his mate so forcefully that all the air left her lungs in a single grunt. "Shit. Luce…goddamn." She was still so fucking tight.

He could remember, vividly, how she felt when the Dragon was locked up behind the Demon, but this…right here was absolute fucking bliss. So he picked up a punishing pace determined to make his Lucy scream and beg for release. This wasn't making love.

This was a primal fuck that was long overdue. It was fast and heavy and was so hot that it made even him, the Fire Dragon, sweat.

Lucy's nails dug painfully into his back, scoring bright red marks down his shoulder blades. He roared as the pain and pleasure mixed into something heady that turned his world upside down.

He could feel everything about her, see how his cock went into her and came out slick with her wetness, how her eyes were clenched shut as if in pain, but he knew it was complete pleasure. See how her beautiful mounds bounced with every…single…powerful thrust.

"…Natsu…" The moan of his name was everything he ever wanted to hear and he had been so wound up for hours and hours having her skin against his, that sadly he was nearing his end and he knew that she wasn't. Not yet at least.

As if it had a mind of its own, his tail snuck up and rubbed circles against her needy clit, pushing a whimpering scream out of her throat.

He smirked. That appendage was handy to have, it freed up his fingers to grope and pull and roll her taught nipples as she begged for more. "I'm…gunna cum! Natsu please!"

"Let go Luce." Natsu bent down and bit right through the healing scar on her shoulder, drawing blood and revelling the taste of her life force.

That spark of pain coupled with every part of her body being stimulated gave Lucy the push she needed to jump off that cliff and plunge straight into rapture. It was one of the quickest, most powerful releases she had ever had and it stole the breath straight from her lungs. She couldn't even scream in ecstasy, only groan something that might have been Natsu's name breathlessly.

"Fuck yes Luce. Ah, FUCK!" Her walls tightened and he pulsed inside his mate, groaning her name as he painted her walls white.

Natsu withdrew slowly, smirking as his mate winced as she moved her legs slightly. His pride exploding as he saw that he had done his best to keep his promise.

He purred into her shoulder, stroking the broken skin of her mark lightly. He was fully aware of marking her this time and it made something inside him settle to a pleasurable simmer. Yes, the others were his own, none were the Demon's but…he wasn't totally himself when the rite was completed.

XXX

Small fingers smoothed out the lines on his forehead pushing the frown away, and he looked up into Lucy's gigantic amber eyes and saw nothing but sated happiness and love and joy.

Horns and wings disappeared until all that was left was just Natsu, the man that loved Lucy more than he ever thought possible.

"I want to give you everything Luce. Anything you want, it's yours. I promise. You only have to ask."

She shook her head with a bemused smile. "What do you mean Natsu? I have everything I want right here. My best friends are back, we are safe and warm at the moment, and I have a family once again. I have you, all of you, just like it was supposed to be."

Natsu kissed her forehead before rolling over, dragging her sweat slicked body to lay sprawled across his own. "Luce. I mean after the war. When we defeat Zeref and wipe his Demons from the face of Earthland after we bury the twelve deep below the ground."

"Well…I want to go on more adventures with you, my Dragon. We…have so much more to explore, this land that we live in is still so wide and ours for the taking. I want to visit my Kingdom again, just once, to say goodbye properly. I want to go to the sea, to that little hut on that cliff."

Natsu smiled widely and purred, he would love to go on every adventure only if his Luce was by his side. "Alright love, I believe that I promised you long ago to take you to the Luminous Pools in the Red Plains. Igneel told me to take you there before he went missing. Apparently, the stones that line the hot springs glow in the light of the moon. Then the ocean, the jungle, what used to be Nix and beyond. Anywhere and everywhere."

She sighed wistfully, slowly dragging her nose across Natsu's collar bone and placed a single kiss over his heart. "And what of Igneel? I know…that you gave up your search because I was imprisoned by my own father, and you were needed as the Crown Prince. But…would you want to start to look for him again?"

"If you had asked me that ten years ago I would have dropped everything and kidnapped you away so that you would search with me. But now…I have many more things to think about. I'm older, perhaps not wiser, but we have both lost and loved and lived through so many things. I died Luce…and that puts many things in perspective."

"Are you giving up Natsu?"

He startled her with a growl. "Never. You know me better than that Luce."

"I know Natsu, I'm sorry I even suggested it. But…what could be more important than finding your father."

"Well…you for one, now that we have officially mated and completed the rites. The second is that now I'm officially the Drake of the most haphazard nest I've ever heard of. Honestly, how am I going to lead those idiots anywhere? Plus have to pseudo-dragons bow to my authority on the battle field?" He scoffed lightly, "It will be a nightmare."

Lucy stifled a giggle against his skin, tickling him into squirming. Lucy lifted her head once again to offer her two cents. "I had no idea that mating and Dragons and nests and all of this was so complicated…"

"I barely listened when I was younger, and Igneel didn't take much stock in it either because we were at peace I believe. But now…"

"The war."

"Yes. There are couple more reasons for staying close to home."

"Oh?" She raised a single golden eyebrow in question. "Pray tell my Dragon, what are they?"

Funnily enough, Natsu actually blushed a light shade of pink close to his hair. "Well, one is that I will be going through the last steps in coming of age, coming into my magic really, at the next full moon." He startled suddenly. "Actually…Gajeel and the twins will as well. Oh, Gods, this is going to be a shit storm."

Lucy sat up suddenly looking him straight in the eye. "What will happen?"

"After our training is finished, and the magic from our teachers accepts up, we must…uhm…transition? At the first full moon after our coming of age. Gajeel was slightly younger than I was, and so were the twins, then they were possessed…and I was dead and then reborn then possessed…"

Lucy grabbed his face in her hands, her gaze like stone. "What. Will. Happen?"

"…Dragon Force."

"And that is?"

He pouted, his lips sticking out comically as Lucy squished his face. "Full Dragon, Luce."

She let go of his face as if scalded. "What?!" She squeaked, face going red. "You're going to turn into a full Dragon? All the time?"

"No weirdo! It'll just be one of my forms."

"…alright. When is the next full moon?" He was a Dragon first and also a Demon, why couldn't he have another form as well? She would still love him no matter what he looked like at any given moment.

"Six days."

"Hmmm…I've never seen a full Dragon before."

He chuckled and pulled his Queen back to lay her head on his chest again. "Igneel was amazing, I hope that I look half as badass as he did…does." He corrected himself absentmindedly.

"You believe he's still alive."

"Of course he is," Natsu scoffed and gripped his chest, nails digging in above his heart. "I know he is. I hold his magic in my veins, his Fire is a part of me. I know that I would know if he was gone from this world."

"I believe you Natsu. I want to meet Igneel. Do you think he'd like me?"

"He'd love ya, Luce. He already did just from my stories of you. He could never get over the little girl that would love a sword as a birthday present, loved to play in the dirt and swim in ponds, opposed to parties and jewellery and shoes."

She chuckled and pinched Natsu's side playfully. "I was a unique child, and my best friend was a weirdo Dragon-boy. What was I supposed to be? A pretty little Princess locked away in a tower? A doll for my father to order around."

"Never." He growled and nipped her earlobe, kissing it lightly to soothe the slight ache. "You were always Nova, even that first day I saw you."

She smiled and accepted his praise silently. "What was the second reason?"

"Oh, I would want to stay close to watch my family grow Luce. Any younglings we have will be precious to me."

Lucy sat up, her heart pounding in her chest at her stupidity. She had not once, over these last few amazing weeks, thought about protection. About becoming a mother with END's children, or Natsu's. They hadn't even spoken on that subject.

She drew up the sheet around her body, hiding her nakedness from her mate, much to his confusion. She suddenly felt vulnerable under his gaze and she didn't like that one bit. "Luce?"

"…Natsu? I—I…we didn't use protection. Not once. I…might even be pregnant now! I can't be now!"

"What? You don't want…you don't want kids Luce? I thought…"

"NO! Nonono, that's not it! I want children someday Natsu. I want to be a mother, I always have. But not now! I can't now, not in this war, not when I need to go into battle at the drop of a hat and defend my family and this Kingdom. It wouldn't be fair to me! To the child, brought into a world in turmoil. How could I do that to a baby without knowing that I wouldn't be killed in a fight? That she might never know her father because he was slain? It wouldn't be fair to you, you would need to split your time and energy and mind…and then you would be conflicted and worried and—"

She was cut off by Natsu's lips on hers, a hungry kiss that devoured her breath and stole the anxiety from her limbs. She was panicking and her Dragon knew that, but this was the only way he knew to calm her down.

He panted when the need to draw air into his lungs became too much. "Oh thank the Gods, Luce. Please don't scare me like that. I thought you were…rejecting the idea…I have always wanted to be a father." Lucy shook her head, leaning her forehead against his own. "I promise love, I will be the best father that Igneel raised me to be, I will make you proud."

"I know Natsu. I know. Just…"

"Later."

She nodded, swallowing back tears at his understanding. "I still need to speak to Porlyusica, I need to know. If I am with child I will need to keep out of the fight. I will never put an innocent soul in danger."

"You can't be pregnant. It's not possible."

"I…what? How can you be so certain? We have joined many times in the past two weeks without using protection or a spell or potion from Porly."

"Demons are sterile love."

"…I…see…"

"They are essentially dead beings possessed by an entity of Hell. They cannot create life, only destroy. It's the same with females. Just imagine Kyouka with a baby…"

"Urgh."

"Yah."

"Then…can you even have offspring? You were dead…you were possessed." Lucy's heart clenched painfully with the thought that Natsu would be denied his right of fatherhood. She slipped her hand into his, squeezing to show her support for him. There were always other options, many children orphaned over the course of this war that needed good homes.

"The Dragon in me Luce. It knows somehow, I guess. I will still go to the grumpy old witch and have her poke around. It'll give both of us peace of mind."

She brought their connected hand to stomach, brushing a small circle in thought. "Then, I could still be? Pregnant that is? If you can still…"

"No. There is a specific time for each Dragon, three days set around their birthday that they are incredibly fertile. And it only works if they have a mate…Why do you think that there are no Dragons left? They are technically a dying breed…especially after Alvarez invaded."

"So…spring?"

"Spring."

"What will those days entail my Dragon?"

Natsu grinned devilishly down at his mate, his fangs gleaming in the light. "I will hunger for you, Luce. For my mate." He all but purred in her ear. They had just bonded less than an hour before, but she would never have enough of Natsu, not now, not ever. "I'll be ravenous, for your taste, for your sounds."

The air warmed as lust pooled and swirled between them both, like a living breathing thing. It wasn't truly far out of reach for them.

He rolled them over until she was beneath him, her legs deftly wrapped around his hips, his pulsing length laid heavily against her still slick womanhood.

"Show me."

He sheathed himself inside the warmth of his mate in one motion, groaning into her shoulder. "Gladly love." Her answering moan was enough to fire the need in his blood once more.

He would give her anything yes, even if she didn't ask for it. One of those things sat in the pocket of his trousers on her floor. A single golden ring.

There were so many things to look forward to when the war was over for good.

-ooo-

Six Slayers sat in a rough semi-circle in the back of the training field where they were sure to not be overheard. This conversation was going to be…strange. But also enlightening.

Four were relaxed and laid back.

One was suspicious as all hell and kept giving the others sceptical looks.

The last was just trying to forget the feeling of crying tears of blood.

"Wanna tell me why you dragged me all the way back here?" The Thunder God had an inkling about the proceedings, but would rather here it straight from the horse's mouth as it were. "I've got shit to do that has nothing to do with playing games with you five."

"You were not raised by a Dragon, but you have the magic and instincts of one. We assumed that you would have questions." Wendy shifted in her spot between Rogue and Gajeel, while Sting sprawled in the grass, soaking up the weak rays of sunshine breaking through the clouds while all the Exceeds napped on top of him.

If they didn't know that he was a Light Dragon Slayer, most would be convinced that Sting was a gigantic cat.

Gajeel bit into a piece of Iron that the little Shrimp had conjured for him that morning, his teeth snapped the metal in two. "First I wanna know what the hell happened to Cobra yesterday. Why could you hear…whatever it was and we couldn't?"

Cobra pinched the bridge of his nose, the migraine from yesterday still pulsed on the edges of his mind. "Soul listening magic, it was what I had before Brain cut me open and shoved the lacrima inside. I could hear…scraping, howling, twisting metal, roars…so loud that I couldn't hear anything else."

"Do you know what it was?"

"There was a seal on Natsu, wasn't there? Could it have been it breaking?"

"No, it was more like…fighting."

"The Dragon and the Demon?"

"…probably."

"Alright. That's all well and good, but I have some questions for you lot. I already figured when I was younger about the bonding and pairs and such, but I've never heard of nests or Drakes or anything like that. Igneel was always so informal about all of it; I don't even remember Natsu making a stink out of being a Drake when he grew up. It sounds like something the little shit would hold over everyone's head."

Wendy ripped up some clover and let it float away on a conjured breeze while Sting snored lightly. Gajeel snorted then wacked the back of the blondes head to wake him, this was an important conversation after all. "Most likely the little shit didn't listen to Igneel, and as far as nests go, the hierarchy truly matters when the Drake has a Queen, and even then…Igneel didn't really care about all that stuff. I was the second oldest when the old man was around and he would rather clash horns with Metalicana and Skiadrum than lord over his species with an iron first. Remember, he was the King of Ignis, which didn't only house Dragons, that was just royal houses. Just like Nix didn't only produce ice-mages."

"Laxus, when you say that you know about bonded pairs, does that mean that you have completed the ritual?"

The hulking man shifted uncomfortably, eyes flashed with suspicion. "It does." He was apprehensive to mention it to most anyone and only his Grandfather, the Thunder Legion, and Lucy truly knew about Freed.

"Am I correct in my assumption that it is Mr Justine?"

"How…"

Ryos shook his head quickly. "You smell of each other, nothing more. We haven't heard rumours or anything like that so you can rest easy. And if you prefer to keep it a secret, then so be it, but as an extension of our nest…Freed is now part of our close family. Just as Lucy is."

"And the Shrimp."

Sting sat up, shocked and well and truly awake now. "What! How did you know so quickly?"

Gajeel's ears pinked endearingly while the others snickered at his embarrassment. "Dunno. She just…smells nice and I feel the need to make her things."

"Those earrings, right?"

He nodded as an answer to Wendy's question. Even though she was technically the youngest, she was probably smarter than everyone else in the circle combined. "I crafted a dagger yesterday, the little idiot doesn't even carry a weapon when she makes plans in battle. I'm going to give it to her tomorrow I think."

"Alright then, also the Tactician. As it so happens, the circle will grow with each new edition. With bonded and eventually, younglings. We protect our own above all else, even comrades in arms, although…seeing that we feel that everyone here in Domus is family, I don't think that it really applies." Wendy gathered her legs under her and leant into Gajeel's side.

"So, Laxus, would you have us keep Freed's involvement a secret?"

"…I'll talk to him, but I think I want to finally be able to acknowledge the bond in public. Like Lucy can. Is…is there any rule against same sex pairings?"

"None that we know of. Skiadrum and Weislogia were bonded to each other, and they were our fathers. In essence; we don't really give a shit." Sting was succinct and straight forward. "You're instincts rule you, to an extent, and if you felt the need to be bonded to Freed, then that's how it is."

Erik winced and ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Alright. I have one question then I'm leaving to find the old bat to see if she can't get rid of this headache…why the hell do I feel the need to sacrifice everything for Starshine?"

"She is the Drake's Queen. She comes first in the nest, after the Drake, and honestly…because she's Nova, in our eyes at least, she is more important at the moment. To crush the growing evil and stamp that bastard Zeref out once and for all…she is to be protected. She, along with Jellal, is the only one who can counteract the black magic and end this all." Ryos' eyes flashed bloody red as he mentioned the traitor of a brother that turned his back on their Kingdom and killed indiscriminately.

"So…Drake…Queen…"

"Her Right Hand, which is her closest aid and something that apparently Sting thinks he's good enough for…then everyone else. Usually by age."

"Alright. I think I understand."

"We realise that this is all…strange to you, seeing as you didn't grow up here in Ignis Cobra. And we know that you will most likely not want to be below Natsu, but technically, he is the dominant one here. Even Laxus, when Natsu is in his full form, won't be able to match him."

Cobra nodded while Laxus looked miffed. "I won't bow to anyone, understand?"

"Not physically, but your instincts will make it hard for you to defy his commands if he addresses them formally. Luckily enough, Natsu was raised by Igneel, who didn't really care about all that formal crap, but he is still technically the Alpha."

"I have my own contingent to lead…and that includes all of Cobra and Crime Sorciere. I don't have time to go running around when Natsu calls for me."

Rogue nodded, understanding, while Sting nodded off again in a warm patch of sunlight. "I know. Because you aren't a full Dragon…you might not feel the pull as strongly and be able to fight it. And that's alright I guess. Just know, that we will come running if need be, whether you like it or not, unfortunately."

Both pseudo-Dragons nodded and left, minds full of new information and swirling with annoyance. Who knew Natsu having his Dragon side back would give them so many hurdles to cross and hoops to jump through. It was much easier when he was just END and a Demon who they were bound to come across in battle.

Everything was much more complicated now.

But, perhaps it was for the better. If things had kept on without Zeref's influence or even perhaps Igneel's disappearance…then this would have been their lives many years ago. Cobra would most likely not even know them, while Laxus wouldn't have any need to be included in their nest. Nix, Astralis, and Oceanus would still be standing. Lucy would be married to another man of influence, the Dragons would still have their parents, and this family that they covet so deeply wouldn't be together.

Even though they had all gone through great tragedy…they still had each other.

And that was enough, for the moment.

-ooo-

A single guard sprinted down the hallway as fast as his legs would carry him – which at the moment was pretty fast seeing as there was a problem at the main gate and they need the King himself to deal with it.

He crashed into the sitting room, interrupting afternoon tea and discussions that were happening between Titania, her husband, Makarov and oddly enough…the newly dubbed Crime Sorciere, minus the one with the scar.

"My liege," Oscar panted – for that was his name, it was a strong name handed down through the years in his family – and disregarded most decorum, only offering a quick bow. "We have a problem—at the front gates—we don't know what to do—she demanded your presence and offers information about a coming threat."

Imperiously, Titania brought her stony gaze to Oscar's frantic one. "Who is this she that demands the King?"

"It's her….the Ageless Witch."

Makarov blanched. "Erza, get Gray and Lyon. Jellal, gather the Slayers – they are currently out on the training field – and Crime Sorciere and head to the gates. Laxus (he had just stepped into the study to find everyone sudddenly in crisis mode) I am sorry my boy…but you have the task of trying to get Lucy and Natsu to come down and helping. This concerns us all. I think the Thunder Legion should be there as well. Oscar, alert the She-Devil."

Laxus grumbled and tuned around to go back out the same way he came in, not looking forward to trying to persuade his little sister and her Dragon to stop their…activities for a moment. No one had any illusions about what they were doing together in their room, especially because Erik had very enhanced hearing and had stopped Wendy from trying to walk into their chambers before their impromptu information session.

Luckily, if talking didn't work…

…He could always shock them through the door.

-ooo-

"So, my King… do you feel it? The change in the air? The storm that's brewing?"

A growl rents the air, deep and strong. "Why do you still keep us here in this cursed place, unable to transform or fly? Why won't you answer me?"

The man with one arm smirked. "Because I felt like it all those years ago, cousin. That throne was mine and it was given to you."

"Chaos will never win over order, you know that! You are as delusional as you were all those years ago."

"No, oh gracious King Igneel, not delusional, just…crazy."