Wow...this chapter just literally poured out. I love it when that happens. Well, only one more chapter to go after this. Thanks so much for sticking with me on this when it was supposed to be a one-shot lol Love you guys!

GaLu Week: Day 7 - Secrets (Part 6)

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

RESTORING HER HEART

Lucy yelped as a blast of magic shot past her face and threw herself back as another followed quickly in its wake. Things were not going well. She'd been cautious, planned everything out for this mission, and she'd been certain she'd had it in the bag. She wasn't one to fly blindly into danger, especially when she was on her own, but she also wasn't foolish enough to assume that everything would go according to plan.

Still, she hadn't been worried that it would be anything she couldn't handle. She'd read the request carefully and had gotten every bit of information available on the group of bandits that had been harassing the people of Clover. There'd been nothing overtly dangerous about it, just a simple capture. Of course, that was before she'd found out there was a mage or two in the blasted group.

The information had also come at an inopportune moment...after she'd already found them and announced her intentions. She'd easily knocked out the non-magical thugs with the help of her trusty whip and Taurus, but as the men had fallen, the leader and his right hand man had emerged from the woods, looking none too happy about the decimation of their band of thieving men.

Now, between one attack and the next, she was having trouble formulating a new plan. Happy had been a big help, scooping her up and zipping her out of the path of one especially nasty shot, but the weaving in and out of trouble wasn't getting them anywhere. They needed a counter attack.

Of course, that was fairly difficult with one mage flinging about a gross looking black goop the consistency of tar, and the other shooting out violent blasts of water which seemed to harden the thick sludge of his partner. They were a formidable team and from the looks of it were well versed in using their skills to work together.

Lucy knew it would take only one combined hit from each of them, and she and Happy would be done. They had to keep moving, but more than that, they needed to take these two out. She just needed an opening. She could handle the water mage just fine, but the sticky goo magic was something else entirely. If she could just take him out, Gemini-Gray could easily manage the poor imitation of Juvia.

Deciding Scorpio's sand magic would work best against the 'tar mage', Lucy glared down at the man in question and reached for her Spirit's key. In the next moment though, Happy was winging off towards a tree to avoid another burst of magic.

"Happy, watch out!" Lucy yelped as the two crashed into the dense branches of a large oak.

Lucy reached out for the dazed Exceed, pulling him in tight to her chest as they tumbled to the ground. She didn't want him to get hurt anymore than he already had, so she curled herself around his little body, and called out for Aries. The pink-haired Spirit popped out with a shriek of apology, then spilled out a thick puff of wool just in time to catch the two.

They landed with an 'ooph', and Lucy scrambled to check over her little friend even as she directed Aries to watch for enemies. She was relieved to see Happy wasn't seriously injured, but he wasn't going to be flying them anywhere any time soon. That slight knock to his head had left him a little loopy, and Lucy knew he'd need a while to recover.

She needed to put him somewhere he wouldn't get hurt, somewhere they wouldn't find him if by chance they managed to defeat her. So, she studied the area with a critical eye and found a decent sized hole in the base of one of the trees. Moving the small Exceed, she placed him inside and covered the opening with a few well placed limbs before she turned back to her fight. She could hear the heavy footsteps of her opponents and knew she didn't have much time.

Thanking Aries for her help, she sent the Ram back and reached for Scorpio's key. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion...Scorpio!"

With a flash of light, the red and white-haired man appeared, his eyes already narrowed for battle. Briefly she gave him a rundown of the other mage's abilities and her belief that his sand could overpower the one with the goo. Nodding his head, he faced the two men that burst into the clearing.

"Where's your little helper?" the water mage sneered.

"None of your damn business!" she snarled back, then turned to her Spirit friend. "Now Scorpio!"

With a shout of "Sand Buster!" Scorpio's tail came up, sending a blast of sand at the two bandits. The massive whirlwind hit them head on, knocking the unsuspecting men off their feet, and Lucy cheered. Things were looking up. She was finally on the offense and not running around trying to avoid their well-timed hits.

But her excitement was short-lived as the two clambered to their feet and fired a pair of dangerous missiles at her and her spirit. Scorpio responded with another gale of sand, but both of her opponents darted away just in time to avoid it. Lucy growled out her frustration, then grunted at her partner. "We need to separate them. If you can take care of that one," she pointed, "Then I'll go after the water mage."

Scorpio nodded his head in agreement, and the two split off, driving the pair of goons apart. Lucy faced down the water user with determination. She could hear Scorpio behind her using his Sand Spear, but she didn't bother to look. She trusted her Spirit to watch her back, just like she knew he trusted her. They were a team, and they had worked together enough to do so flawlessly.

So she focused on her own fight. Drawing her Fleuve d'étoiles out with a snap, she moved toward her opponent. She could take him on. She knew she could, but she also knew if she got into trouble, she could always rely on Gemini-Gray to lend a hand.

"You think you can defeat me with a water whip?" the cocky bandit scoffed. "Water is mine to command you bimbo!"

Lucy felt her blood begin to boil at his insult. She was neither an idiot nor an airhead, and she hated when people made such assumptions based on the color of her hair. With eyes blazing, she sent her whip flying towards his face. The irritating man smirked, lifting a careless hand to steal the water from her attack, but the smug look dropped from his face as he realized that it wasn't working.

"What the-"

The words were cut off as the celestial weapon struck him, the heart-shaped tip digging into the skin of his cheek with utter precision. Lucy grinned at the look of astonishment on the man's face and slashed at him again, this time slicing a long gash across his other cheek. "This isn't Earthland water, moron."

She kept an ear open for the sounds of battle behind her, but firmed her stance. It was time to take this jerk down. With a flick of her wrist, she slung the magical whip out again, wrapping it about his neck. He gasped at his capture, his hands yanking desperately at the offending rope, but Lucy didn't give him time to counter. Drawing on every bit of strength she possessed, she gave the sturdy whip a mighty yank, one that ripped the bandit off his feet and sent him flying through the air and straight into one of her famous Lucy kicks.

Lucy watched his face go slack as he sailed away from her and smacked roughly into a tree. She nodded in satisfaction at his fate and sassed, "Who's the bimbo now?"

"Lucy!" The sharp call came a moment before she felt the tug that signaled her Spirit leaving this world, and she spun around just in time to see a large mass of black headed straight for her. There was no time to avoid it, no time to gasp or shout. It was going to hit her.

Suddenly a heavy weight plowed into her body, knocking her sideways into the dirt. The thick goop landed with a loud splat just beside her, and she gasped as a massive wave of fire shot over her head and all but decimated the last remaining bandit. She let her head drop to the ground in relief. It was finally over.

Then the weight above her shifted, and her eyes jolted open. It wasn't over. Whoever had shown up to help her out could still be an enemy. Using the self-defense moves she'd learned from Erza, Lucy drove her head back, slamming right into the face of the man who'd tackled her, and then she rolled out of the way, her hand moving to her keys as she stood to her feet.

She stepped back in surprise though as she took in the sight of a groaning Gajeel struggling to sit up, a wince on his face and blood pouring from his nose. All at once, she felt bad for hurting him, but remembering what he'd done, she shut the remorse down. What the hell was he doing here? She scowled down at the man, then turned around, knowing now who had taken out the other mage from her mission.

"Natsu..." she muttered, folding her arms beneath her chest. "I thought I said not to follow me."

"It's a good thing I did. Look what could have happened!" he said, his expression completely unrepentant as he flung a hand out towards the defeated goop slinger.

Lucy knew what he said was true, but she also didn't like that he'd just ignored her request for more time. True it wasn't much of a request - more of a demand really, but that wasn't the point. He'd screwed up, and she deserved to take as much time as she needed without him showing up unannounced. "I would have figured something out," she stubbornly argued.

"You know as well as I do what would have happened if Gajeel hadn't pushed you out of the way."

Hearing the other man's name, she huffed, "Why the hell did you bring him, anyway?"

The fire mage, however, ignored her question in favor of continuing his rant. "Luce, what were you thinking? You could have been hurt going up against all these people by yourself, especially with 2 strong mages like this?"

At his needling, she growled impatiently, "Well, I didn't know there would be any mages until I got here!"

"How could you not know? Didn't you read the job request?" he fired back obstinately.

Lucy gritted her teeth. Was he seriously questioning her about that? He was the one that always ran off half-cocked, not her. "Of course I read it! The mission paper failed to mention that little detail!"

His face still screwed up with frustration, Natsu snapped back, "Well...I didn't know that!"

"Well, maybe you should have asked!"

"Well..." He paused, then threw out his finger in accusation. "You shouldn't have left without me!"

Narrowing her eyes in anger, Lucy shouted, "Well, you shouldn't have shown Gajeel my diary!"

Lucy watched as all of Natsu's bluster fell away, his shoulders slumping with regret. "I...you're right."

The blonde didn't know what to say to that. She'd expected him to keep fussing at her like he normally did, but it was like that one statement had cut all his argumentative strings. He looked at her with sad eyes, the ones she could never stay mad at, and then he continued, "I was only trying to help Luce. I hated knowing you were sad. I just wanted to do something to make it better."

She said nothing as the pink-haired man moved closer and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for everything to get so messed up."

"Me too," a voice behind her interrupted.

She turned and found Gajeel just next to her, far too close for her peace of mind. She wished he'd just back up. Everything she'd felt before was still there, only now it was buried under all that resentment and anger. "You just...shut it. I've got nothing to say to you," she groused.

Gajeel frowned, but stepped back, putting his hands up in an appeasing manner. There was a look on his face that Lucy didn't recognize, an expression she'd never seen before cross his features. She briefly wondered what it meant, but shook her head. After everything that had happened, it didn't matter.

Facing her best friend again, Lucy sighed. "Happy already explained everything to me. I know you weren't trying to hurt me."

Hearing her words, Natsu's face lit up. "So, does that mean you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I forgive you," she muttered, rolling her eyes. Her grumpiness lasted only a moment as Natsu bounded up to her, throwing his arms around her shoulders. She couldn't help but laugh at his easy grin. He was such a goober sometimes, but he honestly was the best friend a girl could ask for.

His face turned serious a moment later though as he looked down at her. "Luce, you gotta promise me you won't ever leave me behind again. If you're pissed, then yell at me, but don't leave. Okay?"

Lucy felt her eyes mist at his heartfelt plea, but she stuffed the tears down and folded herself against him. "I promise, Natsu."

Natsu gave her a long hug, his strong arms closing around her tightly before he let her go and stepped back. "Now...about Gajeel."

A/N: Don't know how I forgot to post this chapter, but I'll go ahead and apologize for that. This girl's brain is almost always waterlogged. lol

We're only one chapter away from the end guys, and I have to admit, I've had a good time writing this short story. I think I'll miss it a little bit. It was a first for me to write Gajeel and Natsu working together and showing a slightly friendlier side. I think I like it. :D

Anyway, be sweet and leave me a quick note...let me know if you're looking forward to the last chapter or if you'll be sad it's going to be over. Loves...