A/N: Hello again guys! As promised, another update today. You are going to LOVE the ending. CLIFFHANGER ALERT! ;) I feel soo evil right now! ;)

But you love it really! xx

Lucy's POV

I glanced up at the balcony again from where I sat with Levy, and saw those red eyes staring at me still. Then he grinned that annoying grin of his, before turning and stroking one of his babies.

I narrowed my eyes slightly, before tossing my hair back and returning to listening intently to Levy as she spoke about some new book shed read. It did sound really good, don't get me wrong.

But that jack-ass was just staring down at me from the balcony. I could feel those eyes of his burning into my skull.

'Lu-chan! Lu-chan!' I jerked and smiled at Levy's frustrated face.

'Sorry Levy-chan, just feeling a bit tired.' Her face quickly turned to one of worry, and she put a hand against my head as though to feel my temperature.

'I'm fine Levy-chan, really.' I giggled as she frowned at me, before she threw her arms around me. I stopped laughing when I heard her sobbing quietly.

'I was so scared Lucy. I thought you were going to die.' I pulled her into my arms, tightly holding her against me till her sobs abated. I peeled her off of me and smiled gently.

'Hey, I'm fine. Besides, how could I die? Who would write such an amazing book that kept even you on your toes with every chapter, huh?' She laughed before hugging me again.

'I'm glad you're okay now Lu-chan. I missed you!' She smirked as Gajeel joined us with a plate filled with iron scraps.

'Gajeel's ok company, but he just doesn't understand books at all.' I raised an eyebrow at her teasing, and how Gajeel glared at her before huffing and munching on his iron.

'Shut up Shrimp. I just don't read any of that pussy romance bullshit.' I laughed as Levy turned to glare at him, enjoying the teasing going on.

'What happened while I was out of it huh? You guys get married or something?' Levy's hand covered my mouth and Gajeel hunkered down, shovelling the iron inside his mouth.

'Ssh! You know what Mira get's like when she gets a hint of a couple! Besides, we're not like that!' She hissed, and I nodded, smiling suggestively beneath her hand and waggling my eyebrows up and down to annoy her. She glared and huffed as she removed her hand and started reading her book, determined to ignore me for a while.

'Good luck Gajeel, from what I hear, Levy-chan is really... flexible.' I whispered, making Gajeel choke on his iron and Levy drop her book as her face turned beetroot red, before she started patting Gajeel on the back urgently trying to remove the lodged piece of iron.

'I'm going to go say hello to everyone else now Levy-chan! Bye Gajeel!' I winked as he glared at me while gasping in air, and laughed beneath my breath.

I absolutely loved teasing Levy about Gajeel, because it was pretty obvious to me they liked each other, but they'd seemed to have become more comfortable around one another while I'd been out of everything. I smiled as I wandered over to where Erza, Gray and Natsu sat.

I slipped into the chair beside Natsu, and Happy plonked himself down on my lap before hugging at my chest.

I could still feel those eyes though- staring at me, burning a hole in my back. I ignored it again, and instead pet Happy on the head, smiling down at him.

'Lushy, Natsu got me the wrong fish and now I feel baaad!' I stared down at his big watery eyes, and knew he was playing me, just wanting more to eat.

'Well if you feel ill, no more fish. We'd better go get some medicine, hadn't we Erza?' Erza's eyes brightened, and she nodded seriously, before suddenly re-quipping into a really really short Nurse costume.

'Come Happy! I shall make you feel better!' She said, a huge needle appearing in her hand as she grabbed the little blue exceed, who'd paled considerably when eh saw the size of the needle.

'NATSUUU!' He screamed, but Natsu was already unconscious. Erza had foreseen his intervention, and knocked him out upon re-quipping.

'Um, Erza? I was kidding! He just wanted a fish, you don't have to-'

'No Lucy, he said he was ill. I shall take care of my team mate, even if they do not want it!' I shrivelled under her fiery look as she jabbed Happy with a needle. He yowled, before going really woozy, and hiccupping.

'There. He is fixed. Now Lucy, tell me everything about the job you went on with Laxus and the Raijinshuu.' She sat opposite me, re-quipping into her usual armour, before she let out a glare.

'If they harmed your honour I shall punish them!' I shook my head, my hands raised defensively.

'No! No Erza! They were really nice! I had a lot of fun, and they took care of me really well, promise!' She stared at me, processing what I'd said before nodding and taking a bite out of her strawberry cake.

'Good. I hadn't wanted to harm them, seeing as how they never left your side, the same as us, while you were ill. I had wanted to help personally, but Wendy and Porlyusica forbade me from it for some reason. Look how much better Happy looks?' I glance nervously at Happy, who was now talking to a salt shaker and flirting with it, before offering to fight the pepper shaker for shoving him.

I owe them two a LOT! I thought to myself, nodding to Erza.

'Yeah, I wonder why...' I trailed off as Happy started to try and eat Natsu's hair, and exchanged a grimace with Gray, who was struggling not to laugh.

'Gray, clothes.' Erza said emotionlessly as she took another bite out of her cake.

'GAH! When did that happen?!' He shouted, turning to look for his clothes. I laughed, clutching at my sides and wiping the tears from my face.

'I missed you guys!' I said, as I threw an arm around Natsu and pulled Happy and Gray into a hug after he'd pulled on his trousers. Erza quickly came around and encircled her arms around me, burying her face into my neck.

'I missed you too Lucy! You have no idea how annoying it was going on a mission with them two without you!' I raised an eyebrow as she pulled away from me, causing her to laugh.

'Hey! We didn't even destroy one building this time!' Gray moaned, stripping out of the shirt he just pulled on. We laughed, and I was happy to be back with my team, though I could still feel his eyes burning into me.

I turned my head slightly to look at where he now sat at the bar, and became trapped in his gaze, his red eyes feeling like they stared straight into my soul.

Bickslow's POV

I couldn't help but watch her as she wandered through the guild, laughing and smiling at everyone. I watched as she laughed with her team, and glared as she hugged those two idiots and that damned cat.

Sure, I'd grown closer to team Natsu while we'd all sat surrounding her bed while she was in the infirmary. We'd traded stories about her, and laughed at all of the ones team Natsu had to tell. We had very few in comparison, and we got the feeling she didn't want us to tell them about the orphanage, so we mostly listened.

Now though, she'd gone back to them and hadn't come to talk to us. I was jealous.

My babies felt it, as they squeaked in anger every time one of her team touched her, and seemed to squeal in sadness as she welcomed their touch. I'd moved from the balcony to sit at the bar, getting a beer off of Mira, and not noticing the sparkly look in her eyes as I immediately focused on cosplayer again.

I grit my teeth as she laughed with them, desperate to hold back my emotions, and was about to turn away to sit with Ever, Freed and Laxus, when her eyes met mine, and I was trapped.

Her eyes pulled me in and drowned me in their warm depths. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

She held my heart in a tight fist just by looking at me.

'Fuck.' I whispered, unable to break away from her gold speckled eyes, their hazel-chocolatey depths drowning me in her. There was nothing else, just her.

I blinked, breaking the connection before smirking down at her, winking.

I was surprised when she blushed slightly, before glaring at me and turning away to talk to the pink haired idiot.

Then, out of nowhere, the pervy lion showed up right beside her, pulling her into a tight hug.

Jeez! How many guys do I have to contend with? I thought, glaring at the ginger, cat eared guy in his damned suit.

Cosplayer pulled away and stared at him, suddenly serious, and I could tell something was wrong.

She turned to her team, grinning and started to walk away, waving back at them as she exited the guild.

Something's not right. I thought, turning to look at Laxus, who had also been watching cosplayer. We exchanged a glance before we stood and exited the guild to follow her.

As we began to make our way to her apartment, Laxus's hand shot out, stopping me as we reached an alley. He put a finger to his lips and we stood at the side of the alley, listening intently.

'What?... is he... sure?... NO! I can't! ... Loke... That's... impossible!' I frowned, knowing I wasn't catching the whole conversation, and looked at Laxus, who was frowning as well.

Damn lion had probably cast some sort of weak spell to stop people from hearing them.

God cosplayer! Why can't you talk to us? I thought, gritting my teeth, before I had an idea, and sent one of my babies forward, making sure he understood to stay silent, so I could hear the rest of their conversation.

Lucy's POV

'No! I can't! I won't leave after all this. Loke, you need to understand-'

'Lucy, he needs you to be there! He's done as much as he can for him, but he need's your power!' I shook my head, frowning.

'He should be getting enough energy from the spirit world. Are you saying he's can't absorb any more for the healing?' Loke nodded and my mouth dropped open.

'That's... impossible!' I said, my voice louder than I'd meant it to be, and Loke shushed me, glancing towards the entrance of the alley.

'I know Lucy, but a few weeks ago it was impossible for the Spirit King to be harmed in his own realm! Or any realm! He's the freaking king of everything for crying out loud!' Loke clenched his fists tightly, aggravation and worry working its way into his reactions. Suddenly, I thought I sensed something, and my head jerked around, searching for whatever it was, but I saw nothing.

'What is it?' Loke asked, immediately alert.

'Nothing.' I mumbled, frowning before resuming the conversation.

'Loke, Nick should be fine, I can't leave to come to the celestial plane now! I just woke up from that damned spell and everyone's just been celebrating because I'm back. I can't make them go through that, and I have to tell master at least, so no one worries-'

'No Lucy!' He all but yelled before calming himself.

'If you tell anyone, you're in danger of being prosecuted! You're already halfway there because Freed overheard your conversation with Crux! You need to be even more careful from now on! We need to leave, because if he dies, everything get's destroyed. You know that.' I closed my eyes and let out a long breath, resting my head against the brick wall behind and staring up at the sky for a moment before pushing myself away from the wall.

'You're right. But I'm leaving them a note, so they know I'm going for a while. I will not cause my family to worry about me.' Loke's face became strained, before he sighed and nodded in agreement.

'Remember, you can't say where you've gone. Don't say anything, just that you have urgent business for a while, and won't be back for a few months.' I nodded my agreement, before he pulled me into a tight hug.

'I'm sorry this has been shouldered onto you Lucy. If there was any other way-' I shook my head, pushing away before smiling sadly.

'I know. It's alright.' He was still frowning as he stroked my hair out of my face.

'I have to go. I'll be back in an hour to get you, so go pack.' He whispered, hugging me once more before disappearing in a shower of light.

I stood still for a moment, before running out of the alleyway, pausing at the entrance to glance around me. I sent one last look towards the guild, before running back to my apartment.

Somewhere in the Celestial Spirit World

'Your Grace, another person has had secrets revealed to them regarding the state of affairs in the spirit world.' A man with pure white hair wearing a black robe with gold edging kneeled on the floor, his head bowed down before another man who sat in a throne-like chair at the head of a large hall.

He had piercing and cold blue eyes, his face pale white, which was brought out even more by the dark cloak he wore. His silver hair had black flecks in it, and he stared down at the reporting officer emotionlessly.

'What mage has revealed our business to a person un-contracted to celestial beings?'

'Lucy Heartfilia, once again Your Grace.' The man in the throne frowned, his gaze somehow becoming even colder as he pursed his lips together in annoyance.

'Once can be taken as a mistake, however, to make such an obvious breach of our laws a second time requires for action to be taken. Lucy Heartfilia shall come forth to the council as soon as her business here with the Spirit King has been completed and he is resting once fully recovered from his illness. Is that understood?' The kneeling figure bowed his head lower, acknowledging the order.

'Good. Go forth and watch her. Ensure she does not try to escape justice.' The figure stood, his head still bowed as he backed out of the room, shutting the immense doors with a resounding boom echoing in the room.

The main in the chair grinned suddenly, his eyes turning feverish as he muttered to himself.

'You shall not escape me this time, Heartfilia.'