This chapter took forever to write due to the fact that I accidentally erased it before posting so I had to re write it from scratch. I just hope that it makes sense.

Happy holidays!

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The second Natsu was out of the room Rissa felt torn between screaming and getting dressed so that she could sneak out the window and run like hell.

It took her less than 0.02 seconds to make up her mind that running would be the best thing to do right now. At least until she figured out what was up with Natsu and how she was going to handle it.

She bounded off of the bed and across the room to her dresser and quickly pulled out a pair of pants and a cream colored shirt with pale green and pink flowers. She dressed quickly, her hands shaking, her breathing erratic, her eyes flickering to the door from time to time as she silently prayed that whoever was at the front door was accurate enough of a distraction to keep Natsu while she escaped.

Once she was done dressing she grabbed a pair of slip on shoes and headed back to the bed so that she could reach the window and cast one last look towards the door, her anxiety spiking to near hysterical levels when she heard the drone of Natsu's voice as he spoke. She slipped out the window and wasted no time in slipping her shoes on before she took off running towards town.

Intending to get lost somewhere in the crowded area so that Natsu wouldn't be able to find her for a while, her mind awhirl with questions. Questions like- What the hell was up with Natsu? He was usually so calm and even tempered. So shy and sweet natured. What had changed? When had something changed?

Then there was the last one. What had Natsu been trying to do by feeding her his flame?

She reached the corner of the house and shook her head as if to clear it as her a thought slithered through her mind. She'd known what Natsu was doing. Or at least she thought she had. Even if she hadn't known consciously, she had still known.

And that was part of the reason she felt so frightened now. That and she didn't understand why he had done it.

Binding a person to a dragon slayer was tricky business. Expecially since most dragon slayers wound up accidentally killing their potential mates with their flame when they preformed the exchange. Then there was the near constant mating because the dragon slayer was being driven to impregnant his mate.

From what little she knew of dragon slayers and their dead and lost magicks it was considered a great honor to both be mated to a dragon slayer and bear their offspring. Because the dragon slayer wound spoil the woman pregnant with his offspring outrageously. It was even said that the dragon slayer would take on a partial dragon like appearance so that he could better protect his new family.

These things were terrifying to someone who knew that dragons had a nasty tendency to devour people. Seeing them as prey and little else. She couldn't help but think that in some ways Natsu saw things the same way though he obviously tried hard not to act on it.

Though she got the feeling that he must have slipped a little bit back there after feeding her his flame. And what the hell had he meant by they would continue where they left off once he was done answering the door? She knew he meant something pervy by it but for the life of her, she didn't know what though he had made it sound as if he had more than simple kissing in mind.

She bared her teeth in a silent snarl and growled. The pervy jerk! She thought darkly as she ran through the town, weaving her way in and out of alleys in an effort to leave her scent in various places to distract Natsu just in case he was already after her.

She was so busy laying a false trail for him that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and that it never occurred to her that she might fall into the hands of someone worse. She didn't notice that there were three men in scarlet hooded robes closing in on her until it was too late and one of them grabbed her from behind.

Startled and scared that Natsu may have already caught her she let out a blood curtling scream a second before she was slammed against a brick wall hard enough to knock her unconscious before she could manage to scream again.

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Natsu couldn't have been more annoyed with Erza and Grey's timing and didn't bother hiding it despite the fact that they were his friends and were worried about Lucy- no scratch that. His mate. Because bedding the girl aside, that was exactly what she was now- And wanted to know if she was okay.

Apparently news about the prior night's events had already reached the ears of everyone in the guild and they were out for blood.

That was all well and good but it wasn't their job to protect Lucy anymore. It was his.

Still that didn't mean that he had to be poilite or even civil with them. His dragon side overriding his common sense. After all if he pissed off Erza, she'd skin him alive. Or at least she would if she wasn't so quick on the draw.

She kept looking at him strangely and asking him peculiar things. He inwardly smirked at her silly efforts to figure out what was wrong with him when Grey happened to look away for a moment and blinked then pointed and asked in a comical tone, "Hey isn't that Lucy heading toward town?"

Natsu turned his head and craned his neck a little bit and caught the smallest glimpse of blond hair and sighed and rolled his eyes a second before excusing himself to go check the bedroom. His mind kicking into overdrive as it hissed furiously-

She wouldn't dare run away.

He reached the bedroom and pushed the door open and did a quick sweep and wished that he could say he was shocked and surprised to find the bedroom was empty and Lucy was nowhere to be found. But to be honest, he wasn't any of those things. He was pissed that she bothered to try running from him.

Silly girl. Didn't she know by now that he could track her anywhere in the world by her scent alone? Of course she doesn't know that. She can't remember anything. She suffered severe head trauma and you just terrified her. It's only logical that she would run from you. His rational mind hissed at him.

He made a frustrated sound and then turned and quickly made his way back to where he had left Erza and Grey and stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him, his fingers tightening to the point where he wound up crushing the door knob without realizing it. "I need to go and run someone down. Can we visit later?" His tone was so cold, and aloof.

Nothing like the Natsu they had grown up with. It was startling to them as much as it was uncomfortable. They both nodded their heads and he gave them a quick smile then took off running towards town while thinking about how he was going to drag Lucy back to the house kicking and screaming if he had too.

Why would she run? Didn't his Lucy know by now that he would never hurt her? He wondered as the rational voice in the back of his head responded. Uh, no. And by exchanging your flame with her earlier you thoroughly scared the wits out of her. Think about it, you should have given her more than a two second warning. Not only that but she probably thinks that you plan to rape her or something.

Natsu shook his head and made a frustrated sound. He would never, ever force himself on someone in such a way! It was cruel and sadistic and- You aren't exactly yourself at the moment. That same pesky voice said and his steps faltered a little bit as it occurred to him that he didn't have to go after Lucy. She may just need time to calm down and sort things out on her own.

I could give her some time I suppose. I could sit and wait for her to come to me and talk about what happened rationally. Maybe I can put some of her fears to rest before I jump her pretty little bones. He thought as he stopped completely and was about to turn around and go do exactly that when he heard a familiar blood curtling scream and jerked his head to the right and narrowed his eyes before growling low in his throat. The sound feral even to his own ears.

Dammit! He couldn't leave that girl alone for a frigging second! I should face facts, she'd be dead in a ditch somewhere without you around to save her. He thought as he started running again in the direction that Lucy's scream had come from, his pace quickening with his intention to catch her before she could get hurt or escape him again.