Hello everyone! First of, thanks for everyone who reviewed, faved, and alerted. I can't believe it's close to 100 reviews...
To my unnamed guest reviewer: Thanks a bunch for the review. As for Wendy's mate... well, keep reading.

So, yeah, what can I say... Sorry for the beyond-late update, to make a long story short, shit happens. Anyways, so here is chapter 10, the last chapter to "A Favor." Its 9,026 words, so do enjoy the extra-longness of it, by far the longest chapter I've ever written.

I won't say anything about this chapter; I'll just let you get right into it. However, I would like to thank all of my reviewers overall. You are the most awesome followers ever. Especially, I'd like to thank 89niners-best-team-ever and Hejmdal for reviewing every chapter. Elfman would like to say that you're the man and woman(now that he knows that such a word exists, lol)!

Still, without all of you, this story wouldn't be what it is, so thanks everyone!

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

"A Favor"

Chapter 10:

Natsu walked out of the bathroom, shaking his head in an effort to try to get rid of the excess water in his hair. He was wearing his "more mature" boxer-briefs today – which meant they were of a solid dark red print with an elastic band decorated with little yellow dragons in different attack poses. He ran his magically warmed fingers through his pink locks to quicken the drying process. A smile made its way onto his face as he approached his bedroom's bed and looked at Lucy's sleeping form. She looked peaceful and still profoundly asleep. In fact, he was surprised himself to be up this early in the morning after the party they had both attended the night before. Fairy Tail had always been known for its out-of-control parties, but last night had definitely set a new record high. He assumed that, after last night, Magnolia's government officials would think twice before allowing a Fairy Tail wedding to take place in their city.

Both Lucy and Natsu had been the maid of honor and best man of the ceremony, respectively. Lisanna had acted as the only other bridesmaid, next to that other iced nuisance as the only groomsman. The ceremony was conducted at Kardia's cathedral at noon and the reception had taken place at Fairy Tail. However, once the drinking had started, all hell had broken loose, and highly intoxicated guild members had spread around Magnolia to unleash all sort of chaos.

Magnolia looked worse than after the so-called festival Fairy Tail had had when Laxus had tried to take over the guild. Even Mira had ended up drunk, and that was definitely a first. The bride and groom didn't seem to care and were too concerned with each other to notice any of the destruction as they left for their honeymoon later in the evening to some exclusive hotel near the beach. The guild had collectively paid for the couple's two-week stay there, and the two newlyweds were very grateful.

Natsu had made sure to bet with his fellow black-haired dragon-slayer that the two would return with a plus one in their party. What else were they going to do in a fancy hotel intended for romantic getaways? Given who the bride was, the pink-haired mage had managed to piss off Gajeel enough to bet against him. Poor sucker, he'd be losing a fair amount of jewels all thanks to his male pride. All the better for me, Natsu thought as he chuckled quietly, moving to pull the blankets over Lucy's sleeping body.

The pink-haired dragon-slayer walked towards the window after he had finished his task, looking at the rising sun. He was happy for them. After three years of ups and downs, Gray had finally asked Juvia to remain his forever. It was about time, if you asked him. Juvia had known she'd found the man she wanted to share her life with the second she had met the stripping Popsicle, but it had taken a much longer time for him to realize the same thing. One of Natsu's favorite things once the couple had gotten together was to witness the water mage's jealousy outbursts that resulted in floods of all shapes and sizes and usually ended up involving innocent bystanders.

Juvia behaved very similarly to the way both dragon-slayers did, and they particularly took pleasure in watching the woman make a grand variety of different scenes in all sorts of places and around all types of people. Both him and Gajeel laughed hysterically at the ice mage's expense, and, whenever the iced pervert caught them at it, he would start a monumental fight that almost every time resulted in the guild's partial destruction. It was fun as hell; that is, joining forces with Metal-freak to gang up on the paradoxically reserved stripper known as Gray Fullbuster.

Teaming up with Gajeel had actually become something of a frequent activity for Natsu – rarely for a job, but often for some night of fun in town. The black-haired mage knew how his twisted mind worked pretty well, so the two could really go overboard when they wanted to. He still remembered that first time they had worked together. Just thinking about it brought a wide sinister smile to his face. That "search and retrieve" mission through one of Fiore's moving trains had really been one of the best times he had ever had in his life.

The train with both their mates had, indeed, already left Magnolia station when the two dragon-slayers arrived, so Happy and Lily had to drop them at the last cart. As it was to be expected, the second they had reached the moving vehicle and landed on the railing, Gemini had appeared out of nowhere and made sure to retrieve all necessary information from the two males. It was obvious both Lucy and Levy would have expected the boys to follow them and had come up with some delaying plan, and phase one meant knowing how the two dragon-slayers were thinking of proceeding. Having a smart mate definitely had its perks – navigating through the girls' traps would definitely make everything all the more fun and exciting.

When they entered the first cart, Gajeel stepped into a floor that had been mined with holes by Virgo's characteristic handiwork. Had it not been by the black-haired mage's quick thinking and one of his long iron swords, the girls would have won before the game had even started. Once he had made it back safely onto the railing, the two dragon-slayers realized what they were about to get into, their smirks growing wider and wilder as they let their battle and survival instincts take over.

Once they entered the second cart, Loke was waiting for them, particularly keen on giving it his all to stop the two males from moving forward. The Lion spirit had greeted them with an arrogant side grin, his body aching to return the pink-haired man's favors with interest. As it was to be expected, the spirit was already angry with Natsu for burning his hair a few days back, and he really didn't show any restrain. Natsu assumed he had come out using his own magic in order to preserve Lucy's, which led him to believe they had a long way to go in order to reach their mates.

Leo actually ended up detaining them for longer than either Natsu or Gajeel had expected. He possessed incredible martial arts techniques that counteracted the dragon-slayers' fast reflexes and movements. Such melee abilities matched with his Regulus magic had given them a pretty decent fight, while destroying most of the cart in the process. Eventually, however, as it was meant to happen by having two very powerful and determinate mages as his opponents, Leo tired out and allowed Gajeel to land a blow on him that sent him back to the Sprit World.

High-fiving after their joined victory, the two dragon-slayers moved forward, but every cart they went into, they encountered some sort of trap, whether it was some of Levy's spells or one of Lucy's spirits. Still, both males moved through each and every one of those train compartments. And every time they reached a new town and stopped at its station, they had to decide whether the Levy or Lucy they saw running through the crowded platform was indeed one of the real girls or just Gemini taking one of their forms. Natsu had never felt his adrenaline running higher, and Gajeel had confessed some time after that he had felt the same way.

This was a game of endurance. The pink-haired fire mage supposed the two girls would have anticipated Wendy casting Troia on the two of them. Perhaps they had envisioned them begging her to do it instead of what had actually happened, but, either way, the girls knew this was all a race to outlast the effects of Wendy's spell. The dragon-slayers were completely focused on getting to their mates, and unluckily for the traveling bystanders, neither mage had time to waste to stop and consider them.

Neither had the girls, if he might add. First, there were Levy's secret solid script spells dropping like crazy every other cart, throwing all sorts of attacks (excluding, of course, those containing the two elements the dragon-slayers manipulated), regardless of the poor soul they ended up attacking. Passengers had been laid unconscious, vomit induced, paralyzed, scared out of their minds, or blown through the room with a "Gale Force Wind" spell that Natsu had never seen before. Gajeel had commented how much he particularly despised that spell. Apparently, the "Shrimp," as he so often called her, liked to use it a lot when she wanted to get away from the iron mage's reach without having to move herself, which resulted in him getting blown out of their bedroom window more times that he could count. No wonder he's given up on replacing that windowpane, Natsu concluded.

Then, there were Lucy's spirits. Avoiding Cancer's scissors to make sure they wouldn't get knocked out, and who Gajeel seemed to had pounded on harder than even Loke. Natsu assumed his attitude had something to do with the fact that falling to Cancer could result in him losing his own prideful mane that had taken who knew how many years to grow and refusing to let all of his hard work go to waste. The fire mage momentarily wished the spirit had, in fact, cut his hair. He could bet the look on Metal-head would be priceless, but that would have to be left for a future prank since currently they had mates to chase.

Next was Taurus, who Lucy had apparently misinformed about the situation and seemed adamant to protect his mistress's gorgeous body from the dragon-slayers' hands that wanted to pierce and tattoo it on several places. Damn, could Lucy come up with some good bullshit! No wonder she was a writer. Natsu had delivered the finishing blow on the perverted bull once he had said something about how he should be allowed to fondle some of the blond's curves if he accomplished his mission. That comment had definitely raised the pink-haired mage's fire's temperature a few degrees and made his fire dragon's iron fist three times stronger, sending the spirit flying through one of the train's walls as his form disappeared into the unknown. Gajeel had guffawed in his characteristic way and said something about how much fun it was to see the "fired up" Salamander "truly fired up." Natsu remembered scowling at him, deciding to refrain from using his fists and mentioning instead something about how he was just as possessive as he was.

When they reached the restaurant compartment, all hell broke loose. Well, technically, all hell had already broken loose the moment the two dragon-slayers had landed on the train. All the carts behind them had been either partially or completely destroyed by them, with or without the help of Lucy's spirits. However, once the smell of food entered the males' nostrils, the sudden realization that they hadn't eaten all day had come crashing down on them. It had taken every fiber of willpower in their beings to keep away from the delicious fragrances that invaded their sense of smell, but they knew the delicacies had been probably tampered with. The fact that there was a conveniently placed plate of fire chicken and some chocolate-covered nails on the table closest to the door, further confirmed the boys' suspicions.

Finally, after who knew how many hours past and miles traveled, the two dragon-slayers had made their way through all but three of the train compartments. At about that time, the train stopped at a new town and Natsu watched as Levy, once again, ran through the busy platform; only, this time, the girl was carrying a familiar yellow purse with her. Natsu had yelled to Gajeel to get a hold of her scent, and, after his reassuring nod, the two men burst out of the train, destroying another cart in the process. Just then, Lucy had flown over their heads with her whip tied on some lamppost ahead. The two men had been kind of shocked by the blond's agility and dexterity and had stopped dead on their tracks, mouths agape as they watched her swing swiftly and land next to her bluenette friend. Without wasting another minute, the two females had disappeared through the crowd, leaving the still immobile dragon-slayers behind.

Catching up with the girls hadn't been much of a task after that. After all, the two dragon-slayers were faster and had those heightened senses to aid them in their pursuit. To their credit, Lucy and Levy had run into a very expensive thermal bath resort and locked themselves in one of the facility's elevators. The two men had actually seen them smile back at them when they had showed up at the resort, since the elevator was all made of glass. Gajeel had turned to Natsu at that time and told him just how busted those two were. That look on the girls' faces proved just how much they had enjoyed their little trip around Fiore and trying to outwit their dragon-slayer mates.

The couples ended up staying for a little over a week at the resort; the dragon-slayers secretly praising Mavis all-mighty for making it a thermal bath resort and spa which meant little to no clothing required, which, in itself, meant tons of sorry losers ogling their ridiculously good looking mates in skimpy bikinis (all thanks to Virgo's own perverted taste in making clothing for Lucy, and in this case, her three friends) which resulted in them getting excuses to engage in several "jealousy" fights. Needless to say, the two dragon-slayers had made sure to tease their mates about their attitude for the duration of their "vacation" at the resort. Natsu particularly, since it was now clear he was not the only one who enjoyed random and in mass destruction.

Their escapade had most definitely resulted in one of the highest bills Master Makarov had ever received. All four Fairy Tail mages involved were just beyond glad they hadn't been present when he had gotten it. According to Gray, Mirajane, and Laxus (who had been forced into the comforter position once again, much to his anger and dismay), the master had been so pissed he had yelled in his angered rant he was even considering expelling them from the guild for their ludicrous behavior. Natsu couldn't really blame the old guy. The property damage had indeed been calamitous; it extended to five different towns, plus the added individual claims of numerous bystanders that had found themselves in the way of the persecuted mates or the persecuting dragon-slayers –varying from monetary remuneration to psychological and medical treatment–, and the extra damages to the final town once the boys had finally managed to reach the two girls (which also included part of the bills for their last minute vacation).

Natsu assumed he must have spent longer than expected reminiscing and looking out the window, since, next thing he knew, the sun was fully out and shinning down brightly on him. He felt the familiar arms of his mate circle around his waist as she whispered, "Up already, handsome?" He smiled, chucking a little, and moved his hands to hold onto her arms tightly, "Morning, sleepyhead. Glad to see you woke up in a good mood."

She giggled and kissed his neck, "Well, thanks to that awesome spell from Wendy, I haven't had a hangover in years." He laughed openly after her answer, not without quivering a little after her affectionate morning treat. It had been over four years since they had been together like this, and she still managed to elicit all sorts of involuntary responses out of his body.

"Sure as hell comes in handy," he replied. He loosened her hold on him and turned to face her. His hand moved to comb her unruly morning hair as he said, "You should get ready. You need a shower to get the smell of liquor out of you, and I need to meet that Metal-head at the guild."

Lucy pouted and frowned. "Are you trying to say I reek, Natsu Dragneel?" she asked as she pulled her arms away from him, faking annoyance.

He chucked once more and forcefully pulled her back towards him, making her camisole-covered chest press against his naked one. "No. I'm saying I want you to stop smelling like alcohol so I can make sure you smell of nothing else but me once you exit that shower, Lucy Dragneel."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds with amused smiles adorning their blissful countenances. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips before breaking away and heading to the bathroom without saying another word. Natsu watched her leave, following the movement of her hips as they swayed from side to side until she disappeared behind the closed bathroom door. His smile widened, "Lucy Dragneel." He loved the sound of that name. It had officially become hers seventeen months ago after he had arranged all legal documents on his state.

As the son of a dragon, he didn't believe in participating in the whole wedding business. To him, the pledge of commitment was the deepest gesture of affection between two mates. He still, however, wanted the Fiorian government to give Lucy all the rights a spouse should be recognized with, so one morning he had dragged her to Magnolia's City Hall and signed a marriage license. There had been no grand ceremony, unlike the one that had just taken place the day before. He had asked the guild to respect his wishes, and no one had forced a ridiculously big party on their behalf. They did, however, use the news as a great excuse to blow responsibility out the window and get drunk for a night, though. He didn't care as long as they left his intimate business with his mate private.

Natsu had really learned to love that document once his possessiveness had ganged up on him the night after the signing and he came to the rather late realization that she would now bear his name. That was perhaps the only thing the pink-haired dragon-slayer liked about the human ceremony, but he had to admit he liked it a lot. The paper lied proudly nailed to his wall of fame in his house ever since that day. He had decided long ago that if changing her name to "Lucy Dragneel" didn't yell to the four winds who held the blond stellar mage's feelings for the bunch of persistent idiots who continued to pester them, nothing else would. Some people were just dumb and stubborn, and not in a good way. Despite the years, he still enjoyed putting those bastards in their place, though; and he doubted that would ever change.

Natsu walked into the closet and searched for clean clothes, stepping out shortly after to find his scarf messily tied around the bedpost. He heard the shower as it stopped running, and, soon, Lucy came out wrapped in a white towel. She approached him and stopped before him. "Would you mind?" she asked, "It's so much faster when you do it." Natsu smiled, dropping his clothes on the bed before saying, "Sure thing, Lucy," and digging his warmed up fingers through her blond tresses. He couldn't deny that he loved to do this as much as she enjoyed him doing it.

After a few minutes, once her hair had been completely dried off, he slid one of his hands down to get a firm hold of the strands of hair on the nape of her neck. "Now, for that scent problem of yours," he added with a husky voice, grinning seductively at her and pulling her forward until his mouth was covering hers completely. She let one of her hands reach up and run through his pink locks while the other glided through his naked torso and stopped when her fingers hooked on his underwear's waistband. She pulled down on them teasingly. Natsu growled and forcefully ripped the towel off her body, his free hand running indelicately over her exposed midriff.

His tongue moved lustfully with hers as her hand left his hair and curled around his neck, bringing their bodies closer together and deepening their kiss in the process. She broke apart to breathe, letting her head hung back as he instantly moved his mouth over her sensitive neck. He heard her moan his name, successfully driving the dragon-slayer into ecstasy. He forcibly pushed their bodies over the bed, throwing the neatly folded clothes unceremoniously onto the floor and letting his ardent desires take over as he crawled on top of her.

Gajeel woke up finding himself lying over a patch of humid grass instead of in the comfort of his soft bed and his mate's warmth. His hands instantly made their way onto the sides of his head as he incorporated. "What the fuck happened last night?" he wondered aloud. "Did I end up here on my own or did that blue-headed deviled Shrimp tossed me out of our room again?" After shaking his headache away, he stood up and looked around him. Nope, this wasn't Levy's work. For some reason or another, the iron dragon-slayer had dragged his sorry drunk ass to Magnolia's park.

To further his predicament, he had – for some other mysterious reason – dropped his tuxedo into the fountain and wrapped his bowtie around the neck of the dancing naked cupid sculpture at the center of the fountain. What the…? How much did I actually drink last night?

He suddenly seemed to think that there was something important he was failing to remember, but no matter how hard he tried to search the recondite spaces of his metal mind, he kept coming up on empty. Before he could continue his pondering, a girl's frightening scream forced him to turn and face the child. The ten year old was pointing at him, not taking her eyes away from him. After a few seconds of staring, she yelled again, "Mamma! Mamma! A naked pervert! A naked, freaky pervert that looks like an ugly beast is staring at me!"

Gajeel scowled, What do you mean I look like an ugly beast, you annoying brat! Her mother soon came into view, and if the girl's screaming had been annoying, her mother's wails were on an entirely new level. He furrowed his eyebrows and ran his left hand through what he presumed was his disarrayed-beyond-relief mane of black hair. Suddenly, it hit him, Wait, what did she mean by "naked?" He lowered his lazy red eyes only to find out he had pulled an Ice-freak and was currently standing on a park, in the middle of the day, on a Sunday, surrounded by children, in what Mira liked to call "his birthday suit."

"Fuck!" his mouth automatically uttered. Great, now add to his current dilemma the fact that he was cursing, naked, in front of children of all ages and their pissed off parents. Fuck, fuck, fuck! He frantically looked around for his clothes, not caring to cover himself at the moment, and finding his underwear over one of the agape fish heads splurging water out of its thick lips into the center of the fountain. He had to admit the stupid fish looked beyond hilarious with his boxer-briefs acting as a pseudo wig that made the fish look remarkably like Warren. Gi hee! Fucking hilarious!

"Hey, you, pervert, have some decency and cover yourself. There are children around!" some random voice yelled out.

The iron mage scowled and walked over the fountain to retrieve his underwear, which was surprisingly dry, and put it on. He then turned to where he had heard the annoyed voice yell at him, finding a man holding to whom he presumed to be his son by the hand. He tsked, "Don't be a fucking hypocrite. That fucking, pussy angel is just as naked as I was two seconds ago."

That did it. His little audience all stood frozen in their place with their mouths so open, a mid-sized bird could have chosen the cavity to make its nest. Idiots. Without another word, Gajeel picked the rest of his clothes up, except for the bowtie, and made his way back to his house in the outskirts of Magnolia. I'm sure this will come back to haunt me later. I bet those assholes will go complain to Makarov. He shrugged, Fuck it. If he woke up on a fountain naked, who knew where the rest of his crazy guildmates had ended up! All he knew was that he wasn't alone in this. That fucking party last night was seriously something.

Once he was close enough, he smelled his mate's distinct scent; he side grinned in his characteristic way. Levy and Gajeel had been living together for almost two years now, and around eight months or so ago, he had pledged himself to her. When he opened the door, he found the place turned completely upside down. That wasn't very common. Ever since she had moved in, their house tended to stay clean and tidy. He tossed his wet clothes into the laundry bag as he entered with his perfectly practiced aim.

"Hey, Levy, you here?" he said, walking into the living room with a quizzical expression, still trying to figure out what could have possibly happened to his house. He made his way into his bedroom, finding his mate's sleeping body spread all over their bed's mattress. Correction, make that his mate's seminude sleeping body. He chuckled and kneeled before her, pushing his weighty hand lightly onto her shoulder in an effort to wake her up. "Hey, Shrimp, wakey, wakey. It's noon already."

The blue-haired girl opened one of her eyes, revealing its hazel iris staring menacingly back at him. The second she fixed her angry gaze on his, that important thing the dragon-slayer had kept trying to remember since he had woken up came crashing down on him.

Last night, as they made it back home from Juvia and Gray's wedding, Gajeel had tried to seduce Levy and she had continuously pushed him away, refusing to let him have his way in one of Magnolia's dark alleys. She didn't care how drunk they were or how arousing he found the entire enterprise. Having sex on a public place was never going to happen, no matter how much he begged her to give in to that stupid fantasy of his. Since he was drunk, he had been very stubbornly persistent, and she had been forced to recur to that form of blackmail. For years, it had been Levy's greatest not-so-secret weapon when dealing with her troublesome mate.

After that eventful day Jason had showed up to upset Natsu to new levels of endangerment, she had managed to acquire the best bargaining chip against Gajeel. By the time the dragon-slayers had caught up to her and Lucy at the resort, they had forgotten all about the little embarrassing picture that had triggered the entire thing. The girls hadn't chosen the thermal baths by mistake; they knew their mates' minds would get clouded with a whole new range of other distracting thoughts and ignore the reason why they had followed them there. Before jumping out of the train, Lucy had called on Loke and handed him the drawing, making him promise to keep it in the Celestial Realm regardless of what Gajeel, or anyone else, cared to offer for it in exchange. And the celestial spirit always kept his promises, just like his master.

Weeks later, the two couples were discussing the issue of who had won their little game, and, of course, the males had kept boasting of their undisputed victory. That was until Lucy had tired of them and corrected their wrong assumptions with a sinister smile. The dragon-slayers' equally awestruck faces were still the most hilarious sight the script mage had ever seen in her life. Realizing they had been so overwhelmingly defeated they hadn't even noticed had definitely stopped their bragging. Of course, every time Gajeel did something out of line, Levy would make reference to the safely guarded proof of the most embarrassing moment of his life. He hated it; she loved it – simple as that.

After the mention of the disgraceful picture the previous night, the iron mage had stop insisting. However, the second they entered their home, he had resumed his teasing and started trying to get her off her dress. Levy's dress was actually a gift from Lucy. It was a beautiful garment made in the Celestial Realm, which Gajeel had managed to tear in ten seconds flat the instant he had managed to get his hands on her. The angry, still somewhat drunk, and underwear-clad woman had chased the black-haired mage around their entire house, until she finally caught up to him near the door. Wasting no time, she pulled her solid script pen from her garter and spelled a "Gale Force Wind" that sent him flying through the dark night into who knew where. She had then huffed annoyed and made her way back inside, collapsing onto their bed and succumbing to sleep almost instantly.

Before Levy could manage to open her mouth to yell at her careless mate, he stood up and swiftly pulled her onto his lap as he sat on the bed's edge. She struggled to get away from him, moving her knees in an attempt to stand up, but he held onto her firmly. Levy glowered at him, "Gajeel, let me go!"

"I'm sorry about the dress, Levy," he stated, ignoring her demands. "You said it yourself, I can be an insensitive ass when I want to. I'll talk to Bunny Girl and make sure she gets you a new one, okay? Hell, I'll bug the shit out of her until she agrees to have that pink-haired weirdo make you and even prettier one."

The blue-haired mage sighed, stopping her movements; she knew Gajeel would really harass the fuck out of Lucy until she agreed to his request. The man below her could really be the stupidest of idiots and the most affectionate of partners, all at the same time. What she hated the most about the entire thing was that she couldn't really stay mad at the almost-naked mess of a man she called her mate. She had her at "sorry" and "Levy." The dragon-slayer rarely apologized, and he only called her by her first name when he was completely and utterly serious and honest.

She laid her elbows on his shoulders, bringing her body closer to his in the process, and began to play with his troublesome hair. "It's alright, Gajeel. Don't annoy Lu-chan too much," she said, staring into his entrancing red eyes and giving him a soft smile.

The iron mage released his strong grip on her hip and started to caress her waist slowly. "I'll try. No promises, though," he answered, providing his own grin. Zeref forbid he passed out on the chance of messing with the blond-haired mage, which guaranteed him one hell of a fun fight with the Salamander later. That action, of course, also had the very likely possibility that the stellar mage would unleash some of her sprit-breaking revenges. Maybe I should just ask nicely… and beat the shit out of the Salamander anyways.

Levy pulled on his hair lightly. "So," she asked amusedly, "Care to explain what the hell happened to you?"

Gajeel laughed, "Well, a certain blue-haired demon sent my obnoxious drunk ass flying last night. Apparently, I found some new source of entertainment in that stupid fountain in Magnolia's park, and I ended up decorating it with my stupidly annoying penguin suit." He stopped momentarily to pick up the girl and allow her feet to circle over his waist, silently reveling on the new form of contact between their lower bodies. "I have no fucking clue what happened next. I just know I woke up naked in front of a crowd of children, and I might have taken shit too far and taught those nosy brats a few new words."

He heard the script mage giggle at his morning adventure. Making a walking motion with his right hand fingers, he moved them up her waist to her bra's lacy underwire, playing casually with it. "So, what's with the sexy number, Shorty?" he seductively said as he let his fingers graze over the fabric. "Is this for me?" he added, dangerously bringing his mouth close to her cleavage.

His hot breath tickled her sensitive skin, gasping as she nodded and murmured a stuttering "Ye-yes." The dark-haired mage kissed his way up her chest in an excruciating slow pace, feeling his partner tightening her hold on his hair and waist. He smirked arrogantly over her skin, and let his hands continue their unreserved perusal of her body. One found its way down towards her bottom while the other cupped one of her lace-covered breasts.

When he reached her neck, Levy pulled his hair strongly, forcing his mouth to leave her skin. Using her free hand, she cupped his cheek and whispered, "My turn," crashing her lips over his passionately. Her tongue instantly found his and she dominantly pushed and tugged over his lips and mouth. Gajeel growled in response to her playful aggressiveness and his hands moved to grab her by her hips again. Without breaking the intense kiss, he lifted her up and flipped her over onto the bed, letting his weight fall over her. She tightened the hold over his hair as he lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "Why do you even care about that dress? I think you look way better without it."

She giggled, placing one hand over his shoulder while the other cupped his left cheek. He stared deeply into her eyes as he laid on his forearms over her. She smiled up at him as she caressed his cheek affectionately, later combing the unruly short stands of hair that insisted on falling over his face. He returned her gesture with one of those smiles reserved exclusively for her. "I think we need to shower, Gajeel. I reek of food and alcohol, and you stink of a mixture of sewer water, liquor, dirt, and sweat," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"Damn it, Levy, way to ruin the moment!" Gajeel growled on top of her, as he prepared to stand up. The blue-haired mage held him firmly by his forearm before he could completely incorporate, lifting herself up to give him a quick peck on the lips before adding, "I never said we should do it separately." She then squirmed from under him, taking advantage of his shock, and made her way to their bathroom and turned the shower on.

The dragon-slayer snapped out of his stupor seconds latter, realizing the implications of her words. "Gi hee, damned woman always manages to amaze me… In all the possible meanings of the word." Not even a minute after the girl had slipped into the bathroom, he moved with incredible speed towards it, jumping into the shower with her back in his clutches.

Happy flew jovially into Fairy Tail, not stopping until he reached the bar's counter. The guild smelled strongly of disinfectant, and the debris of what had once been tables, stools, and benches had already been gathered at one of the corners of the building. The place was empty, not surprising the Exceed by even a second. All of Fairy Tail had really surpassed themselves this time; he was sure they would be hearing not only from Magnolia's officials but from the Magic Council as well.

Mirajane suddenly entered the guildhall as she exited the kitchen, bringing with her a large carton box. She dropped the heavy box on the counter, and the particular sound of what could only by glass hitting glass let the blue cat know those were probably replacements for last night. "Good morning, Mira! How are you feeling?" he asked cheerfully.

"Wonderful, Happy! I did have a terrible headache when I first woke up, but Wendy was nice enough to take care of that problem earlier," the white-haired mage replied, shinning a bright smile back at him. "There's so much that needs to be done!" she added.

Happy grinned, "Aye, sir! We really got out of hand last night." He waited a few seconds, and then approached the white-haired barmaid, putting on his cute-beyond-relief face. "Mira," he said, staring her down with his little pout, "Could you get me a fish? You see, Natsu burned half the kitchen down last night and that included the fridge. I'm really hungry… and I really didn't want to be there when Lucy walked out of their room and suddenly remembered why Natsu had burned the kitchen."

Mira giggled, and petted the Exceed's furry head. "Sure thing, Happy. Don't worry." She walked back into the kitchen and brought back a large fish, almost as if she had been expecting him to ask for one. "Here," she said as she handed it to the cat. "Now, why exactly did Natsu decide to burn his own home?" she asked, incapable of withholding her curiosity. Some things will never change, Happy mentally told himself.

Happy took a few large bites of the chubby animal before answering. Regardless of how much he had stuffed himself the night before with yummy food, he could always find some space left in his stomach for fish. "Well," he began, using his free paw to scratch the back of his head as he swallowed, "You know how Loke always chooses the worst times to show up unannounced?" He saw the girl nod, and he continued, "I'm not entirely sure what happened 'cause I went straight to my room when we got back home. I think Natsu wanted to play with Lucy and I could make out their giggling at times, but next thing I know, Natsu is cursing and I then I heard a loud bang. I rushed out of my room to find Loke with no hair again, the kitchen half destroyed, and Natsu and Lucy in their underwear."

Mira gave him a quizzical look, "And Lucy wasn't mad at Natsu for burning their house down, or at Loke for showing up like that?"

The blue Exceed raised his shoulders, "I don't know. Natsu was really livid, though. He kept gritting his teeth and saying between breaths how Loke should be blinded or something like that, while he shoved a blanket over Lucy's shoulders."

Mira stared at him for a brief moment, trying to put all the pieces together. "Mira," Happy said worryingly. The barmaid shook her head, "Ah, I'm fine, Happy. I was just thinking… Anyways, do you want to help me get the guild ready for our crazy friends?"

The white-haired mage watched the cat frown, averse to the idea of doing any sort of work. "I'll give you some of that tuna you like so much in exchange," she said next. Instantly, the little furry creature's smile returned. He raised his right paw, placing it in a salute position. "Aye, sir! Why didn't you say so before?" he said enthusiastically.

Some things will never change, Mira thought as she smiled back at the gluttonous blue cat.

Lucy found herself being pulled to the side the second she made it into the sanitized guild. "I need to talk to you, Bunny Girl," Gajeel said as he grabbed the blond mage's hand, forcing her to let go of Natsu's hand.

"What the fuck, Metal-head! Let go of her," the upset pink-haired dragon-slayer yelled annoyingly, grabbing a hold of the blond's wrist and pulling her back towards him. Natsu watched the iron mage shake her hand some more and continue in his task, giving him an amused smirk. He scowled.

"Relax, Salamander, I'll only take fifteen minutes of her time," Gajeel responded, not letting go of the stellar mage, who kept being pulled from one side to the other by the relentless dragon-slayers. "Just go find Wendy and see why the fuck she wanted us here," he added, "I'll be right there."

Natsu's annoyed expression disappeared and was replaced by a knowing smirk. "I'll still beat the shit out of you for touching her later and dragging her like a rag doll," he said before he skipped his way towards the bar.

Lucy giggled and turned to face the iron dragon-slayer. He stared at her momentarily with an inquisitive raised eyebrow. "He just has some pent-up anger he needs to get rid of," she explained. His red eyes bore on her, "Why? What did his drunk ass do?" She let her own knowing smirk come forth, "What did you do last night, Gajeel?" He huffed, finally releasing his hold of her, "Long story short, I woke up naked at Magnolia's park and ended up perverting a rather large crowd of insolent brats this morning… Now, what did Fire-breath do?" Lucy chuckled. "Did that, by any chance, had anything to do with Levy flying you out the window, again?" she rhetorically asked, just to upset the iron mage some more.

Gajeel glared at her and refused to even grace her with an answer. After a few seconds of staring daringly at each other, the blond mage finally spoke, "Loke self-invoked himself last night onto our living room and saw me in my underwear, so Natsu burned half our kitchen down and left poor Loke in an even worse state."

Gajeel guffawed. "Can't say I blame him, though. I'd poke the fool's eyes out to keep him for prying into what's not meant to be seen," he added seriously. He watched the girl stare at him amusedly and say, "You know, sometimes, I wish I didn't find how those twisted dragon minds of yours work entertaining. I swear…" She shrugged, "So, what did you want to talk about, Gajeel?"

The dragon-slayer scratched his head nonchalantly, "Well, I might have ripped the Shrimp's dress beyond repair last night, and I promised her I'd get her a new one. So…"

The blond laughed pleasurably, interrupting him, "So I was right. That is why you woke up at the park!" Mavis knew she found the way her best friend resolved half of her arguments with the stubborn dragon-slayer out of this world hilarious. Gajeel keeps pushing her off the bed… out the window; Gajeel takes things too far with Jet and Droy… out the window; Gajeel can't control his urges… out the window; Gajeel disturbs Levy's reading time… out the window; Gajeel tries to pull Lily's whiskers out because of his teasing… out the window. Lucy had actually started writing them down just to keep track of it all.

"Tch, whatever, Bunny Girl," he immediately responded. Just like he knew how to push her buttons, she knew perfectly well how to mess with him. "Sure did make up for it this morning, though," he added as his proud side grin reappeared on his face.

Lucy laughed. "I bet… Look, I'll ask Virgo to get you a new dress for Levy-chan. You're lucky you caught me in a good mood. I'll make sure to ask her to include a set of celestial underwear. I know you'll both enjoy it," she stated teasingly, and winked. Obtaining the desired effect, meaning managing to make the black-haired mage blush, she laughed openly.

"Damn you, Bunny Girl!" Gajeel scoffed. "But… I appreciate it. Gi hee" he finished stating as he walked away and averted his gaze from hers.

Lucy watched the embarrassed dragon-slayer leave. She scanned the guild for her blue-haired friend quickly and made her way towards her. The solid script mage was sitting next to Cana near the bar, chatting amiably with Wendy and Charle while the brunette dug into her beer.

"Morning, everyone!" she said once she was close enough.

The three mages and Exceed greeted her back as she sat down next to the dragon-slayer and joined their conversation. For a moment, Lucy wondered what Wendy was still doing talking to them, when she was supposedly looking for the male dragon-slayers. Oh well, she'll find them later, I guess.

Gajeel found the pink-haired dragon-slayer sitting at the bar chatting with his blue cat. He plopped onto the seat next to him and said, "You have some evil mate there, Salamander." He watched as Natsu turned to acknowledge him and ask with a big amused smirk, "What'd she do this time?" Gajeel sighed, but before he could answer, the fire mage started laughing, saying in between his chuckles, "I can still see it… the blush, Metal-face… She embarrassed you, didn't she?… What'd she say?"

The iron mage glared at him, "Fuck off, Fire-breath!" shoving his shoulders and trying to hide the faint red on his cheeks. He paused for a moment as he remembered something important, then, he added, "She said she'd get me some undergarments from the celestial realm from that pervy maid for Levy."

At the mention of the word "underwear," Happy decided to leave the two dragon-slayers to their own devices. He'd had enough bad experiences concerning those to know that even if he didn't wear any, those little pieces of clothing were nothing but trouble. Just look at what those accursed stupid flame-themed boxer-briefs had done to him three years ago. Hell no! And if the conversation involved Lucy in any way, shape, or form, it was a double warning sign to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. And, thus, he did.

Natsu straightened up. "Ohhh!~" he playfully said, knowing smirk still on his face, "Those are some really nice treat… You'll like them!"

Gajeel smiled to himself, Gi hee, I knew he'd take that bait. He stated, "Really? Maybe I should ask that Lion spirit what he thought about them, you know, to get a second opinion. After all, he has seen Bunny Girl…"

A flaming fist on his jaw interrupted him, forcing him out of his seat as he fell ungracefully on the floor. The black-haired mage raised his head to find the fire dragon-slayer surrounded by a dark aura and his body entirely covered in flames. "Don't fucking mention that shit again, Metal-face. Loke should be glad she wasn't wearing any of those last night or he'd be dead," Natsu said. "Immortal being or not. I'd find a way…" he added darkly.

Gajeel guffawed pleasurably and wiped some tears that came out of his eyes, "Fucking hilarious… You're so easy to provoke, Salamander." He stood up and brushed the dust off his pants. "Though, I'd nailed the fucker to the ground, too," he added, smug side grin on his face. "Guess he didn't see much, huh?" he continued as he sat back down on his stool.

Natsu took a deep breath, calming himself, and retook his seat as well. "No. That stupid pervert was still drunk when he showed up, so he tripped and stumbled to the floor – face first, I might add – without even being able to finish his 'My Princess' monologue," he said, mimicking the celestial's spirit tone of voice and hand gestures. "I had her covered in a blanket in no time. That's why she isn't pissed out of her mind right now. Believe it or not, Lucy is pretty shy when it comes to that, so she'd rather have me burn the house down than some pervert ogling her."

That was indeed the case. He had learned that the easy way, actually. Some years ago, before they had even gotten together, during a mission, the two of them were staying in a hotel where the manager had offered them a free night. He had been particularly keen on giving them a specific room, which turned out to be a special room with a two-sided mirror so the pervert could watch his guests bathe. Due to some accident he couldn't really remember, Natsu had ended up sending Happy flying into the bathroom and breaking the mirror as he landed on it, only to reveal the perverted hotel manager on the other side with an incriminating tube on his hand.

The dragon-slayer had been seriously pissed off and burned the entire establishment down and then proceeded to beat the shit out of the douche bag. Once he had cooled down, he had prepared to hear Lucy complain about him destroying everything he touched, but instead the blond greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for protecting her honor. That had turned out to be a good day for him… not so much for the charred asshole who still got a Lucy-kick in the balls before they walked away.

The iron mage guffawed cynically, "Anyways, serves him right. You know that asshole still has that fucking picture of me? Next time, make it extra crispy for me, alright?" He watched his pink-haired guildmate return his devious smirk and join him in his laughter. However, their pleasurable enjoyment of picturing different ways of torturing Loke was cut short by a voice behind them.

"Excuse me, Natsu-san, Gajeel-san," Wendy said, waiting for the two male dragon-slayers to turn around and face her, "I think it is time now for me to claim that favor."

Both men froze on their seats, seeing right through her fake innocence. It seemed to them as if the blue-haired girl standing right in front of them was about to ask them for a necklace made out of Acnologia's translucent black scales. And, then, she spoke. And the two men realized they would have much better liked to go skin the nasty black dragon of the apocalypse one scale at the time to make a dark cloak that suited the evil girl before them so well, than comply with her request.

The blue-haired dragon-slayer had in one sentence destroyed the boys' much anticipated fun. What she wanted was pretty simple, but too demoralizing for the two older dragon-slayers who had been waiting for years for the time of Wendy's mating. Gajeel and Natsu had spent a sizable amount of time scheming about all the horrors they'd make her potential mates suffer. And, just like that, their plans had come crashing down.

Wendy wanted them to accept her mate instantly, no torture, no pranks, no life-threatening glares… Nothing. The little devil had already even chosen her mate, who was now standing at the threshold of the guild waiting for the girl to signal him to come forth. How in fuck's name had they missed the little girl's entire mating? Ah! That's right, she was not a young girl anymore, and the fucking asshole who had just become her mate had realized that centuries before them. Fuck my life! They both thought to themselves.

"No fair, Wendy!" Natsu yelled childishly.

"Yes, Pipsqueak, what the fuck? This asswipe needs to at least shit his pants a couple times before we give him the go," Gajeel stated.

Wendy giggled. "No need for that. He's well aware of who you are, what you're capable of doing, and that if he messes up, he'll end up a charred up body cut down in pieces in some remote place of Fiore," she said amusedly.

"Got that right," the black-haired mage insisted, while his pink-haired counterpart continued to sulk and try to change the girl's mind with his pouty and miserable face.

"All right, then!" Wendy chirped, getting closer to give her two older dragon brothers a hug. "Great doing business with you," she said as she pulled away. She giggled once more as she watched them frown again, displeased with the turn of events. "Cheer up, Natsu-san! I heard Lucy-san and Levy-san were talking about going to the thermal baths again in a few days," she added, as she turned around and walked towards the guild's door to bring her mate into the rambunctious building.

Natsu and Gajeel sighed defeated. They felt like little kids whose candy has just been taken away, and not any candy, the candy they had been staring at through the windowpane for fucking years! They turned to look at each other. There was no way skimpy bikinis and beating up perverts was going to cut it this time around. Unless…

"I think we should talk to Virgo before we leave, Metal-head."

"Gi hee, just read my mind, Salamander."

Two days later…

Wendy was sitting at her usual table at the guild. Next to her was her dark-haired mate, who had her right arm over her shoulders protectively. She stared at the scene before her as she rested her head on his chest. Natsu and Gajeel were sitting by the bar, laughing and making fun of each other, and being as ridiculously loud as only they could be. Just a few moments earlier their two mates had come looking for them. Instantly, the iron mage had pulled Levy onto his lap, and started rubbing affectionate circles with his thumbs on her thighs, while Natsu had pulled Lucy by the waist and brought her closer to him, burring his face on her stomach and making the distance between them inexistent. Lucy had instinctively wrapped her arm around his shoulders and leaned into his touch.

Currently, the four mages were discussing what sort of mischief they were sure to cause during another of their now well-known-throughout-Fiore "relaxation getaways," which were clearly everything but relaxing. After that infamous train incident, the two couples had gotten into the habit of taking little trips together. And, while these excursions made the four mages lose sleep because of the anticipation, they made the Master lose some of his already scarce white hair just thinking of the bills he'd be receiving.

"And to think it all started with a favor…" she said aloud in almost a whisper to no one in particular, letting her lips curve into a genuine smile.

The End

So, how was it? Hope you all enjoyed it.
In case you were wondering, I left Wendy's mate a mystery on purpose. I think it works better that way.

I do have to say, I'll miss this story now that it's complete. It was one crazy roller-coaster. But I've started working on a new NaLu, first chapter is already up, if you want to go check that out.
Thanks again everyone who read, followed, and reviewed this story. It was great having you!