~ Lucy ~

Its both exhilarating and terrifying. We are well above the trees, my feet dangling as I cling to this obnoxiously powerful dragon slayer. A little warning would have been great, but that just isn't Natsu. Natsu has always been and will most likely always be driven by impulses, hardly ever stopping to think about his actions before he forges ahead in his typically energetic way, somehow able to drag each and every person he comes in contact with along with him. Sure they all bitch about him, but Natsu is like the heartbeat of the guild. If it weren't for him our family would crumble. Don't ask how I know, its just something you can feel and see when you watch them interact. This obnoxious, boisterous, impulsive and reckless slayer was a light that outshines the freaking sun. Not that it meant I wont knock him upside the head for this later of course, I mean someone has to do it. The lovable idiot.

Daring a peek I pull my face from where I had nuzzled into the hollow between his shoulder and neck and take a few calming breaths before opening my eyes. The first thing I see is Natsu, his shit eater grin causing me to roll my eyes even as my own lips pull up into an answering smile. I then move my gaze to look ahead, eyes widening in childlike wonder. The darkness that had been so threatening on the ground morphed into a thing of beauty, speckled with colors I had no names for. I had spent my entire life watching the sky and dreaming of the cosmos I would never reach, but here, high above the many layers of life that shrouded my eyes to this infinite beauty, I was close enough to have the urge to reach out and touch the stars. Only the knowledge that even as high as we were I would never reach kept my arms at my sides. The dark wasn't blackness as id always thought, but a purple so dark it rivaled the onyx of Natsu's eyes, streaks of silver moonlight illuminating the land below us in ways no painter would ever be able to capture. Darkness had always meant fear, death, perpetually 'dark' things, but here I can see it for what it is. A balance to the light, just as captivating but in a soothing way rather then the excitement of day.

Natsu is dividing his attention between flying us and watching my face, eyes alight with his own wonder but being unusually quiet as he watches me take it in. I quirk an eyebrow, eye meeting his own with a silently amused question.

"You love the stars. I haven't seen you happy in so long Luce...to be able to be part of the reason your practically glowing right now makes me feel...complete. Ah, it doesn't make much sense but it feels good to know I made you happy, even by accident." His response heightens my elation and I lean down to pepper his shoulder with airy kisses.

"Natsu, you've always made me happy, even when I wanted to kill you." He grins sheepishly at that, eyes leaving mine to focus ahead.

"Yeah well...I was an idiot who was trying desperately to keep us platonic. I never got to enjoy your happiness like this. Its new and feels fucking amazing." Grinning I note the red tint to his cheeks but don't say anything, allowing him to think he actually hid his embarrassment. Another deep breath and I lower my eyes to look below us, the crazy stirring in my stomach doing little to ruin the moment as I watch treetops fly beneath us. How many people actually get to see this? Its amazing to watch the landscape race under your feet.

Too soon those trees begin to get closer and I look up startled to see Natsu again smiling down at me.

"No worries Luce. But its time to land." His wing-beats are erratic as we get closer to the ground and it takes me a moment to realize he is focusing very hard on landing us. The idiot took off on his first flight and it never occurred to me he wouldn't know how to land! Annoyed but unwilling to risk our lives by punching him now I huff and prepare for the chance of a rough landing.

~ Natsu ~

Sometimes I really wish Lucy wasn't so smart. Even after so long apart she reads me like one of her damn books. I was trying to hide the fact that im unsure how to land, but I must have failed because she tenses in my arms and I can practically already feel the punch coming. Damn. So much for being smooth and romantic.

As we finally hit earth my sandled feet skid along and surprisingly we don't tumble or hit with enough force to buckle our knees. I'm given only a second to relish in my own victory before that punch lands on the back of my head. My arms immediately move from her waist to my head, cradling the painful bump as I watch her stalk a few paces away and swing back at me with hands on her hips.

"You idiot! You could have killed us!"

"Yeah, but I didn't! Calm down Luce, jeez..." Her eye roll is adorable but I know laughing at her will only land me with more bodily harm. Touchy female, MY touchy female. With a whoop I swing her back into my arms and spin us around, my wings snug against my back to keep myself balanced.

"LUCE! We just flew! Holy shit that was amazing!" I can see her trying to hold on to the anger but the combined joy of both our reunion and our flight has her softening in an instant.

"You moron." Its not an insult this time but an endearment and love is like a beacon in her eyes, one that has me stopping our spin and dropping her enough so that her booted feet hit the ground while keeping her body flush against my own.

"Yeah. I know." I keep quite for a moment and watch her face, drinking in the knowledge that this wasn't one of my dreams but the real live Lucy standing in my arms. "I missed you Luce." Before she can respond my lips claim hers fiercely, the drumming of my pulse making me light headed as I fill myself again with her taste. So many emotions are battling for dominance in my head its hard to think, my head spinning as I flash from one emotion to the next in a way that leaves me reeling to catch up, but the acute need to claim my mate is pounding at me relentlessly and I give up trying to understand myself. Thinking and talking could wait. Right now I just needed her.