A/N: I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to get to you guys. I've had a very busy past two weeks, and I experienced a small bit of writers block because I wanted this to be PERFECT.

First, I just wanted to say thank you to all my wonderful readers. Thanks for reading this little part of my imagination, and encouraging me to continue.

I love you all! I hope you enjoy the epilogue. ^_^

They rode the horses to near exhaustion. The journey north was long, and the weather continued to get colder the further they went along. Every night they stopped, allowing the horses to rest for a few hours, before they were bacck on their path. Natsu barely slept, he barely said a word as they rode, passing town after town, village after village. After days of traveling, they finally saw the huge city of Crocus; it was built out of a mountain side, strategically placed to help battle the northern winds.

They entered the city only long enough to give the horses away (after removing all insignia of Magnolia), then they were walking.

After a couple of miles, Natsu realized the visibility was starting to get worse. The wind was drifting so much snow, it looked like an oncoming blizzard. But Gajeel never slowed. In fact, he didn't even seem bothered.

The storm got worse, the wind got louder, the snow got heavier, and suddenly Gajeel turned around. "It's time to get your head focused. This is the beginning. Start considering yourself on your own from now on."

Natsu stared at him, confused as all hell, when he watched as Gajeel took one step backwards...and completely disappeared.

Panicking, Natsu ran forward to the place Gajeel had just been, but as he reached the spot the dragon-born had vanished, Natsu felt as if he had hit a wall. The storm was suddenly whipping around him dangerously, the snow so thick he couldn't see an inch in front of him. He screamed out Gajeel's name, but the wind was so loud, he couldn't even hear it himself.

He stood there, unable to see, unable hear, and slowly came to the realization that this was no accident. Gajeel knew exactly where this barrier was, and he knew exactly what it would do. Was this a test that all dragon-borns had to go through? If he couldn't see or hear, and the snow was way too thick to smell through, how was he supposed to know where to go?

It took another couple of minutes of blindly staring into the whirling storm before Natsu could completely calm down. If Gajeel could make it through, and every other dragon-born in that colony, then he could too. Gajeel had said that it was time to start considering himself on his own, but he had been on his own for a long time.

Natsu closed his eyes and concentrated on nothing. He forgot the sounds of the wind hammering against him. He couldn't feel the cold snow blanketing him in every direction. He was on his own, in a field of nothing.

After a few minutes, Natsu started to feel a pull. It was light, like the pull of a piece of thread unraveling from a shirt, but it was there. He kept his eyes closed, but he honed in on this pull. He unconsciously felt himself turning around, facing the opposite way, and that's when the pull got stronger. He took a few steps forward, concentrating on the feeling and letting it guide him. After a few feet, Natsu took another step, and suddenly the feeling waned. He stopped and recalibrated, then turned slightly to the left. Immediately, the pull returned, and he continued forward.

The pattern continued for a while; he would feel the pull getting weaker, and then he shift slightly left or right until it came back full force. Over and over this repeated, until finally, he felt like a hundred hands were pulling him towards his destination.

Natsu took another step, and then suddenly, there was light.

Bringing his arm up to help shield his eyes, he opened them slowly. The first thing he saw was Gajeel, standing a few feet in front of him with his arms crossed, his wings spread out behind him, his tail flicking back and forth across the snow. His face was smug, his smile wide enough to show his pointed teeth. Behind the dragon-born of iron was what looked like a modest village: several small houses were on either side of a wide road. A large stone fountain decorated what had to be the middle of the village, the water somehow flowing freely and unfrozen. Natsu could see many people meandering throughout the small village, coming in and out of houses that had signs on their doors or meeting each other to talk animatedly.

Behind Gajeel stood a young girl with long blue hair and sky-blue wings, her face seemingly too innocent and pure for the dragon qualities she bore. She was smiling at him, her hands clasped in front of her. Further behind them and to the left, leaning against a building, were two other dragon-borns: one of them with wings so white, they could blend perfectly with the snow, the other with wings so black, Natsu almost mistook them for his shadow.

"Snowstorms a bitch, ain't it?" Natsu focused back on Gajeel, who was still standing there smugly. He was so overwhelmed he couldn't form words. There were so many people here, more than he thought, and they were obviously living so peacefully with the four dragon-borns in front of him. Were there more inside the town?

"Hello, Natsu." He looked down to the young girl, whose smile seemed as bright as the sky. "My name is Wendy. Juvia told us we would be expecting you."

He bowed his head at her, still too shocked for words. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two dragon-borns on the left start to turn around and walk back into the village. Wendy followed his eyes, watching the two leave as well, before she turned back to Natsu. "Don't worry, everyone who makes it past the storm is welcome here."

Natsu continued to stare into the village, watching the two dragon-borns start to interact with a few of the human villagers. "I thought...i didn't know there would be so many...humans here."

Gajeel grunted, turning to look into the village as well. "Yeah, well. That old dragon slayer was right, and he was wrong. You can't just bring anyone into this village. This is our village, and anyone who wants to live here has to make it here on their own. If you had brought Lucy here first off, everyone would have assumed she was a spy who had seduced you into bringing her here, or something to that effect."

Wendy cut in, her small, sweet voice trying to reassure him. "It's for our safety. All of the humans here found this place alone. They were outcasts, in one way or another, and they all made it past the storm on their own. If you couldn't guess, that storm was made by the witches here, including Juvia. I'm not sure what the mechanics are behind it, but I know that it has kept us safe from people who wouldn't accept us or who would harm us for a long time."

Natsu nodded his head, accepting their vague explanation. It was better that she wasn't here anyway; he needed to complete this journey on his own. He needed to make sure he would never hurt her, and she needed her freedom.

Gajeel walked up to him and set his heavy hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, flame brain. Let's introduce you to the bastards who will be helping me beat the shit out of you for the next few months."

Natsu smiled, allowing himself to be led by Gajeel and Wendy. He knew that Gajeel was telling the truth; he wasn't going to be treated easy just because he was new here. But that was okay.

Anything to help him become a better man, a better dragon.

Approximately one year later...

Lucy never tired of the ocean view. For the past year, she had been standing on one of the many docks that held the vast amount of boats that visited the harbor, staring out into the endless horizon and watching the sun set in the sky. She couldn't make it every day, every sunset, but every time she met the night out there by the ocean, it took her breath away. She knew that at any time, she would be welcome to travel the endless waters, that if she wished to leave, no one would stop her.

She had seen so much in the past year; her and Levy had traveled to different towns for book orders, supplies, even a random a vacation. But she always made her way back to Hargeon.

She would like to think that it was because her and Levy had made a nice home together; they shared a small two bedroom apartment on top of their bookstore, and they did almost everything together. There was also the friends they had made: a couple of buildings away, their new friend Cana ran a pub. Even though she was a woman serving a bunch of traveling fishermen alcohol, she held her own and was even known to rough up her most rowdy patrons. Levy and her had been spending some time with Cana, eating at the local eateries, shopping for new material, spending nights talking and laughing. There was also the couple that visited their store more than anyone in the entire town. King Jellal, and his wife, Queen Erza, had become very good friends with Lucy and Levy. Erza (who was incredibly intimidating, but had a huge heart) was able to visit more often than her King, but it was not often that they would miss at least a few visits a week.

Lucy loved her life here. She had never felt so alive, so free. But deep down, she knew that she was staying in this harbor town for a completely different reason.

One day, as Lucy and Levy were reorganizing the shelves on a particularly slow business day, a messenger from the next town over came in with a request. The book listed was a popular title, however it was hard to find. Their shop had two copies, and they both agreed that they could bare to let one of them go. It was Lucy's turn to travel, and she gathered her pack and followed the messenger on her horse.

After a few hours, they had made their way into Alcalypha. Lucy gave her horse over to the messenger, who had offered to take him to the stables for her, and then she took off towards the towns bookshop. The town was in the middle of a festival; decorations covered every building, ribbons stretched across the alley ways, and booths full of all kinds of different foods and games were lined up throughout the main roads. The crowds were huge, and it took Lucy way longer than usual to reach the quaint little store in the towns center.

As soon as she shut the door behind her, the tall, green-haired librarian raced up to her. "Oh, thank the Gods you're here, Lucy!"

Lucy was caught off guard by the normally calm and calculated Freed. He had never shown even the slightest bit of stress, but yet here he was, in a full out panic attack.

Lucy placed her hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him. "Yes, I am here. Calm down, and tell me what you need. I'll help any way I can, I'm in no hurry."

Freed sighed, the tension in his shoulders started to disappear. "Normally, during the festival, we are not so busy, so I gave Bixlow and Evergreen the day off. They aren't too much of a help around here anyway, but today has been absolute hell. I haven't had a break since I opened this morning! People just keep coming in, and a few small children even knocked over a shelf in the back. There are books everywhere, and the palace is expecting the delivery of the book you brought. I don't have enough hands or time to do everything, and I can't leave the shop closed while I deliver the book, not with all the business we've had!"

Lucy smiled calmly at Freed, trying to reassure him. "It's ok, it's ok. Go deliver the book, I'll stay here and keep the shop open. I'll even try to get the back cleaned up and organized while you're gone. When you come back, you can take a break and I'll stay until you close."

Freed smiled at her, and she felt him completely relax under her hands. "Thank you, Lucy. I'll owe you one after this."

Lucy smiled at him again, then handed him the book she brought and sent him out the door. Soon after he had left, a drove of customers entered the bookshop, and she was busy for the next hour helping them find the books they wanted.

After she had helped the last customer of that group, she decided to start trying to pick up the mess of books in the back. They were scattered everywhere, and the bookshelf was tipped over and leaning against another haphazardly.

Lucy started with the bookshelf, using all the strength she had to stand it back up and scoot it back in place. Then she spent the next twenty minutes going through and placing all the books back onto the lower shelves. As she finished placing all the books back onto the shelf within her reach, the bell on the front door sounded.

"Yo! Freed!"

Lucy jumped at the voice booming through the bookstore. She walked to the front and met Bixlow, who was digging through the front desk completely at ease. "Bixlow, I wasn't expected you to be here. Freed said he gave you the day off."

Bixlow looked up at Lucy, chewing loudly on a piece of candy. "Hey, Luce! Good to see ya! And yeah, he told us to leave for the day, but I've been seeing people walk in and out of this thing for the past few hours, so I dropped off all my goodies and came back to help out."

A sudden feeling of relief passed through her, and she smiled widely. "Oh, thank you. Freed is taking an order to the palace, and then taking a break, and I've been trying to clean up a fallen shelf in the back. The shop has been very busy. We could both use your help!"

Bixlow smiled back at her, fumbling around for another piece of candy, as another group of customers walked in. "Ain't no problem, Luce! Go finish what you were doing, I got this."

He left the counter to go help the group, and Lucy walked back to finish cleaning up. She looked to the right and saw a ladder propped up against the far wall there, and figured it would be needed to put the books back on the top shelves.

Gathering the books into a pile on the table next to her, she climbed the ladder and started replacing the books. She could hear the bell on the front door ringing continuously, and she was very thankful that Bixlow had decided to come back. If he hadn't, Freed would have come back to a messy store and a very frazzled Lucy.

Climbing down the ladder, she gathered as many books into her arms as possible. She was almost done, and dammit, she didn't want to make any more trips up and down the stupid ladder.

Miraculously, all of the books fit in her arms. Yeah, she was going to have to hold them under her chin, and climb up the ladder with one hand and practically blind, but she still got them all in one trip.

As she slowly and carefully climbed up the ladder, the book underneath her chin slipped out and fell, plopping on the floor with a loud thud. Lucy cursed, but continued her climb to the top. She would climb back down and get the last book after she had put the rest back.

She had two more in her hands when a tall shadow came around the corner.

"Oh good, Bixlow, could you hand me that last book? I don't want to have to climb back up this thing."

Lucy placed the two books onto the shelf, then held her hand out for the fallen one. She heard Bixlow walk closer to her, then felt the book being placed in her hand. It was heavier than she thought, but maybe she was just tired and ready to be done replacing the shelf.

As she brought the last book around, she noticed that it was much taller than the shelf it belonged on. "Bixlow, this isn't the right book." Lucy turned it over, determined to see where it really belonged so it could be put back in the right place. "Where did you get..."

Words left her. Her hands started to shake slightly, and her legs suddenly felt like they were made of jelly. The cover was made of old leather, and the dragons dancing across it were almost flying off of it. Her brain immediately went into her memory, showing her visions of a campfire and the smell of roasted meats. Her emotions flooded her, making her feel the same butterflies that had been fluttering through her for those two days almost a year ago.

Without breathing, she turned to look down at Bixlow, to ask where he had found this...

Looking up at her was not her tall, helmet wearing, tattooed faced friend.

His pink hair was dishelved, falling into his eyes haphazardly. His eyes were bright and wide. His shirt was tight, stretching across his stomach and chest to show the hard muscles underneath them. He wore a long cloak on his back, and his pants were loose and tied below his knees, leaving his sandaled feet exposed. He radiated heat, just like she remembered.

The book fell from her hands, and then suddenly, she was falling, too.

Natsu caught her, and Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck hard, pressing her face into his collarbone. One of his hands held her around her waist, the other was threaded into her long blonde hair. Before she knew it, tears were running down her face and soaking his shirt.

This couldn't be real.

She felt his hand drift towards her face, and then he was gently pulling her from his chest and lifting her face to look into his.

He was exactly as she remembered him, as she had been imagining him for the last year. He was more muscled, however, and she could feel the confidence radiating from him.

As she stared at Natsu, she felt his thumb wipe away the tears beneath her eyes, his fingers never leaving her skin.

How was he here? How did he know where to find her? "How...?" The word slipped from her mouth on a breath.

He smiled at her, his eyes never leaving hers. "I told you I would find you." His deep voice sent chills down her body. She couldn't think, couldn't comprehend how to make words. The only thing she was capable of was staring into the eyes that had been haunting her dreams every night.

"Yo, Lucy, need some-"

The sound of Bixlow's voice so close shocked her, and she reflexively jumped away from Natsu's arms. She saw a quick shadow cross his face, but before she could react, Bixlow came to stand next to her.

"Hey. Everything alright back here?" Her friend was staring at Natsu, but he was standing almost protectively in front of Lucy.

A whirlwind of emotions were still soaring through her, and she opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would come out.

After a few seconds of silence, Natsu took a deep breath and looked to Bixlow. "Everything is fine. I'm...an old friend. I was just making sure Lucy was alright." Another shadow crossed over his face, and then he turned around and walked through the shop, the little bell on the door ringing to signify his exit.

Lucy took one step forward then stopped, paralyzed. What just happened? Did she really just let Natsu walk away from her again?

"Lucy?" She turned towards Bixlow, whose face showed concern and confusion.

"I have to go..." Lucy started forward, but was suddenly stopped when her arm was grabbed.

"Luce, are you okay? Is he going to cause you trouble?"

She stared at her friend as a sudden rush of panic surged through her. She had to get to him before he left again. "Bixlow, that's the man who saved me."

His eyes lit up in understanding, and then he was all but pushing her through the shop. "Go, girl, go find him! But you come back and let me know you're okay, or else I'm sending a search party!"

Lucy spared no more time. She ripped the door open and ran out into the town, turning and running towards the exit. If she had to run through the gates and out into the roads beyond, screaming his name, she would. She was not letting him leave her again.

For the first time in their small history, luck was on her side. After ten minutes of running through the crowds, she spotted him, his pink hair standing out to her like a beacon.

"Natsu! Natsu!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, but never turned to face her. Lucy kept running towards him, thankful that there were barely any people to get in her way this far from the center of town.

She stopped a few feet from him, "Where are you going now?"

Natsu turned to her, his face a careful mask. "I promised you I would find you. I just wanted to keep my promise...and make sure you were safe and happy."

Her confusion started to make her angry. "So that's it? You're just going to come here, stay for a few seconds and then leave me again?"

"If you've moved on, I'm not going to stand in your way, Lucy. All I've wanted this past year is for you to be happy, and if you've found happiness with-"

"Moved on? Moved on from what?" She was almost shouting now, his vague answers and incomplete explanations grating her nerves.

He stared at her for a short minute, his face still the perfect blank mask. "Moved on from me."

Lucy was stunned. How could he think that after only seeing her for a handful of minutes? "What makes you think I've moved on?"

Natsu sighed, looking down at the ground briefly before raising his eyes to her once more. "The man in the shop. If you've found someone else-"

"Bixlow!?" She interrupted him, shocked at what had come out of his mouth. "Bixlow is just a friend. He grew up in Magnolia, he recognized who I was and he knows of what happened. He was just being protective. Natsu...there's no one else."

The mask that he had been hiding behind fell instantly, and his eyes became wide. "There's...no one?"

Lucy felt her eyes tearing up, and relief she didn't know she was missing radiated through her. He was only going to leave because he thought she had moved on.

"For the past year, I've lived my life, seen new places, met new people, discovered myself. But...there's only you, Natsu. It will always just be you."

It took less than a second for Natsu to react. Her eyes could barely keep up as he launched himself across the distance between them, and she was almost surprised that she didn't see his wings flying behind him. Without any warning, he collided with her, his lips smashing against hers. Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck, sinking into his warm, hard body.

His arms around her waist were the only things keeping her planted on the ground. She opened her mouth slightly, and his tongue invaded, caressing the inside of her mouth.

This was exactly what she had been missing. She had spent the last year learning about her true self, making new, trustworthy friends, doing things she loved to do. She had been free, and she thought she was happy.

But now, as Natsu slid one of his hands up her back and around her head to gently caress the side of her face, and as she gripped onto the hair on the back of his head and felt the heat radiating off of him and through her, she knew that she was nowhere near happy before.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Natsu pulled away, both of them panting to catch their breath.

Lucy looked up into his eyes, "How did you know where to find me?"

Natsu smiled, reaching up to tuck back a strand of hair behind her ear. "Gajeel and I went back to Hargeon, to see if we could at least get a lead. We found Levy there, and she said you had come here. He stayed with her, and I got here as fast as I could."

She looked at him in confusion. "Gajeel? Why did he want to come with you?"

Natsu laughed lightly. "He insisted. He said that two noses were better than one. And then he insisted that he had to stay with Levy."

Lucy smiled widely, remembering all the conversations her and Levy had shared about the two dragon-borns they barely knew. "Well, that's an interesting development."

He leaned forward and kissed Lucy on the forehead lightly, and she suddenly forgot all talk about her friend and the other dragon-born. "I thought the same thing."

The two of them stood there together for who knows how much longer, his lips resting gently on her forehead, their arms wrapped around each other lovingly, until a loud cheer from the center of town brought her back to reality.

Pulling away, she smiled up at Natsu. "Bixlow asked me to come back and let him know I'm alright. He's probably getting a bit worried right now."

"I'll follow you anywhere, as long as you let me."

Lucy threaded her fingers in his, still amazed that this was all real.

As she and Natsu walked back into the town, hand and hand, she thought about how amazing it was that her life could change in an instant.

A year ago, she was getting dressed in preparation for a ball thrown in her honor, in expensive silks and ribbons and jewelry. Then in an instant, she was sitting around a fire in front of a cave, talking with a man about how his appearance didn't make him a monster.

This morning, she was organizing her bookshop with her best friend, talking and laughing like two ordinary sisters. Then in an instant, the man who had helped change her entire way of living had come back, conpleting her life in a way she didn't know she needed.

Lucy was glad that they had both had the time apart to learn about themselves, but nothing could compare to the happiness she was feeling now.

Natsu completed her. And now they could learn to live, to love, together.

And that, my beautiful people, is...not the end.

well, that's the end of their journey, BUT I plan on writing more epilogues. SO! Keep me on your favorites and stay tuned to read about Lucy and Natsu's adventures now that theyre together, some snippets of Gajeel and Levy, and maybe even a chapter explaining just what happened with Grey and Loke in Alcaphyla.

I love you all! Please review and let me know what you think!