A/N: Motivation comes and goes… Thank you to every single one of my reviewers. I wish I could respond to everyone individually. And thank you everyone who favorites or follows (or both!) this story. It really does keep me striving to continue. I'm sorry my updates are few and far between, but they are coming! I promise!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

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Darkness hung thick in the air, only the faint light from the moon shone weakly though the window. Natsu Dragneel laid flat on his back, his head propped in the palms of his hands. His onyx eyes watched the sky outside, the stars reflected in their abyss. He tried to remember the different constellations that Lucy had taught him. Ones named belonging to her Zodiac spirits, some to silver keys and then the many that they'd never met before. Someday he'd get her all the celestial keys that existed. Dragons were quite good at finding treasure. A heavy sigh escaped his lips causing the blonde beauty beside him to shift easily. He cursed silently in his head and held his breath until she'd stilled once more.

The dragon slayer squeezed his eyes shut. He took long, even breaths as he attempted to calm the fire raging inside his chest. He wanted nothing more than to leap up, fists clenched, and tear apart all of Magnolia searching for the scumbag who'd dared to touch Lucy in such a fashion-against her will on top of everything. Hearing her confess everything in her own words had been difficult to handle. He would not leave her side. Not tonight. Not ever, if he were being truthful with himself.

It was easy to be the clown of the group, to hide the extent of his emotions behind a goofy smile. But knowing what happened to Lucy made being oblivious lack its appeal. The years had melded into one another since the salamander had first locked eyes with the blonde summoner. He'd been drawn to her. It had taken him several years to really understand why.

The year he and Happy left to grow stronger had strained the dragon slayer. He'd often found himself thinking of Lucy, dreaming of seeing her deep chocolaty eyes, imagining pulling her once again into a hug. Maybe that was why he'd made such an entrance into the Grand Magic Games. He'd come back to her first. His heart wouldn't let him stay away from the mage. The following couple years were difficult. Drama was a friend to Fairy Tail, always had been and continued to be after they had rebuilt. Then, without much warning, everything settled down. The guild had not been without a truly major and intense conflict since Zeref. Lucy had grown into a woman. She'd begun to date. Patiently, Natsu waited. Now, he cursed himself.

In the end, he was a coward. A weakling to his emotions. The fear of rejection—losing his mate—kept him from ever saying a word. As far as the dragon slayer was concerned standing at his best friend's right hand was better than risking losing her by confessing the sentiments that plagued him. He flipped over onto his side and gazed out the window, tracing the stars with a finger in the air. The only constellation he was able to find was one of the dippers. However, he wasn't positive if it was the big or the little one. The rest of the stars blended together and the dragon had problems successfully connecting the lines between them. If Lucy was awake she'd help him.

Exasperated at watching the abyssal sky he collapsed onto his other side, the window completely leaving his view. Natsu's eyes had adjusted fairly well to the dark. The silhouette of Lucy Heartfilia slowly rose and fell with each of her breaths. The moon's rays cascaded over her glossy hair creating a halo that perfectly frame her face. Even in her dreams, she was hurting. A scowl contorted her features, her brows knitted together in what Natsu could only assume was fear. Her breathing was no longer even, instead sporadic and shallow.

Natsu felt pained. Lucy was trying so desperately to hide everything she was feeling. The celestial mage hated feeling as if she was a burden to anyone.

He gently brushed his toes against Lucy's smooth leg. Certain that the girl was snoozing deeply beside him he tucked his ankle under hers and gradually bounced her leg over his, enveloping in the touch of his silken skin. She stirred uncomfortably beside him, her face contorted into something resembling distress. "It's me, Luce," Natsu whispered nearly inaudible. The blonde relaxed. Her subconscious latching onto the sound and comfort of his familiar voice. The dragon slayer took solace in knowing that he was able to calm her at least in one way or another.

As his onyx eyes turned to lead he let himself become swathed within the scent of Lucy.

Everything that followed was just a dreamless slumber.

Lucy Heartfilia awoke with the sun streaming through her window and birds chattering loudly outside, preparing their journey away for the winter. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and rubbed, cleaning the remaining sleep from their corners. She let out a contented sigh as she stretched, arching her back toward the ceiling. She flopped back onto the cushion of her bed with an oomph. A loud groan caused her to turn her head to the left and look at her best friend, unconscious beside her. Natsu Dragneel laid sprawled on his back with his mouth agape and heavy breathing coming from the cavity of his chest. Pink hair stuck up in every angle imaginable from his head and a slight bit of drool had dried on the side of his lip.

The celestial mage let out a small chuckle as she watched the dragon slumber.

Natsu found himself beginning to stir as music met his ears. It was faint and beautiful. Almost as if the wind was rising crystal instruments into the heavens. Slowly, he began to gain cognizance and realized the symphony he had heard in his dreams was actually Lucy, laughing warmly beside him. What a dolt, he thought affectionately to himself, I am completely enamored with her. The things Gray would say to me… He began to focus clearly, looking into Lucy's chocolate eyes still heavy with sleep—and frowned. The light that normally shone with her smile was dim, faint enough that he had to struggle to find the slightest of illuminations.

Her dreams the past evening had tormented her all night long. Her cheeks were puffy as if she was on the verge of tears: reliving the nightmare. Though Lucy laughed she didn't quite mean the joy that she normally would.

Natsu propped himself up and extended his hand out to stroke her arm. Lucy flinched away as if his touch had physically burned her. The dragon slayer watched her expression change into fear and then quickly into shame. "Luce."

The blonde shook her head and chewed on her bottom lip; she refused to meet his gaze. "I-I'm going to go take a shower," she mumbled.

Natsu watched helplessly as she lifted from the bed and disappeared behind the bathroom door. He could smell the tears leaving her eyes as he scrutinized the entrance helplessly. Steam wafted from under the door after a few moments. Soon the muffled sound of her sobs was replaced by the splash of water on marble. Reluctantly, the dragon slayer threw his legs off of the mattress. With an exaggerated yawn he stood and stretched. In one swift motion he discarded his shorts from the previous day, tossing them into Lucy's laundry hamper to avoid her celestial wrath for clothing on the floor. A clean pair was produced from the third drawer of Lucy's extravagant dresser. Natsu had claimed that particular tray as his. As the years had passed by, the dragon had snuck more and more of his possessions into that wooden tomb.

Natsu stalked off to the guest bathroom to brush his teeth and attempt to tame his mop of pink hair—to no avail, as usual. Ten minutes crept by of Natsu fidgeting on the couch, plucking stray blue hairs off the upholstery. Still, the steam slithered from under the bathroom door and the scent of soap played with his senses. His onyx gaze glanced towards the bar at the kitchen, then passed it to the stove. It was only a brief moment of contemplation before the dragon was bustling around in Lucy's refrigerator. He gathered together eggs, milk, and butter and proceeded to place them on the island as he rummaged in the pantry for flour and maple syrup. Natsu had never exactly been a great chef. He had a mastery of fire that he often let slip out of control and burn every morsel of food he attempted at cooking. But he'd be damned if he couldn't make his hurting best friend some fluffy pancakes.

Lucy stumbled out of the bathroom, coughing as smoke assaulted her nostrils. Through the haze, the celestial mage could make out a tangle of pink hair and muscle scrambling through the kitchen, shoving open windows and cussing loudly. She watched, amused, as Natsu threw a smoking pan out the window and into the canal, making a mental note to have that blasted dragon buy her another cast iron skillet. Her laugh caused Natsu to turn and face her, his cheeks tinted pink with shame. He scratched the back of his neck as he offered her the one pancake that survived the turmoil.

Hard as a rock and black, the pancake was effectively a disk of charcoal.

At least the timbre of Lucy's giggle made Natsu smile. "So, Luce… How about I buy you breakfast at the café you like?" he offered, throwing the "pancake" into the canal with the rest of the failed creations.

"Sure," she replied. "This place needs to air out anyway. Must you set my kitchen on fire every time?"

Natsu grimaced.

The autumn air was crisp, summer attempting to hold on futilely. The pair had chosen to sit on the balcony at the café overlooking the sparkling city of Magnolia. In the distance the silhouette of the Fairy Tail Guild sat as its ambient protector, stationed solicitously near its heart. Natsu watched Lucy's large brown eyes wander to the building: their family.

The waitress interrupted whatever Natsu was going to say. "What can I get for you guys?" she asked, silencing the spell that had the two mages captivated. Their server was a plump, middle-aged woman with electrifying orange hair that frizzed around her heart shaped face. Her eyes were kind and a vibrant cyan.

"Hot chocolate to start for me, please," Lucy requested, tugging at her arm warmers.

"Coffee. Black. As hot as you can make it," Natsu murmured, skimming over the menu.

The woman smiled and gave a curt bow, "Coming right up Fairy Tail wizards."

The service they received was phenomenal. Their server, Sapphire, refilled their glasses consistently and made sure their needs were met. Halfway through their meal she explained to them that a Fairy Tail team had saved her son two years prior. The Thunder God Tribe had been on a mission a couple cities over, ridding a forest of a guild of thieves that her son, a merchant, had gotten mixed up with. Sapphire had nothing but genuine appreciation for Fairy Tail for assisting her son find his feet again. Two mugs of cocoa and three mugs of coffee later, their bellies were satisfied. Lucy had enjoyed peach and cream crepes, so fine that they nearly melted on her tongue. Natsu had inhaled a heaping order of huevos rancheros, saturated in the spiciest hot sauce the café could find.

With a smile the pink haired dragon slayer pulled a moderately sized bag of jewels from his pocket and placed it into the kind hands of their waitress. "How would you like your change?"

"Keep it," Natsu told her, turning. Sapphire blanched visibly and scrambled to escort the two from the balcony and onto the cobblestone below.

"T-thank you," she gasped. Her only response was one of Natsu's thousand watt smiles and a wave from Lucy.

"Do you even know how much jewels you just gave her?" the celestial mage asked once she was sure they were out of earshot. "That had to have been enough to pay for at least half a month's rent."

Natsu shrugged. "Yeah, she was nice."

Lucy stared dumbly at her best friend's back as he playfully swung his hips as he walked away from her. Dragons were known for hoarding treasure and come to think of it, she'd never really seen Natsu go out and spend his earnings from their quests.

She let her imagination warp her away as they walked towards their guild. She remembered her mother reading her a fairytale when she was very little about a princess locked in a tower guarded by a dragon.

Little Lucy's hair was done up in bubbly, pink ribbon. She wore a pink sundress and clutched madly at the doll in her arms. Tears streamed mercilessly down her face, leaking from her large brown eyes. Layla Heartfilia dropped the book she'd been reading in shock to the grass underneath them. She scooped her daughter into her arms, "Darling girl, what's the matter? Are you okay?" Lucy shook her head intensely, the ribbons striking about like snakes at her ears.

"No, mommy… Why did he kill the dragon? I didn't want the dragon to die. I hate that stupid p-prince!" she wailed, clutching against her mother's bosom.

"Oh Darling," Layla murmured, looking towards the cloudless sky. "You know what?" she pried the little fingers from her dress and placed her hands kindly on Lucy's shoulders, steering her to look into her mother's face. "I think I read it wrong! In fact, dear Lucy, I know I did. My mind wasn't in it, I'm sorry. Would it be okay if I read it again?"

Lucy looked at her mother skeptically but nodded all the same, her tears becoming silent as she settled back into the grass and nuzzled her face into her doll.

Lucy's face beamed at the memory, she smiled up at the sky thanking her mother. Layla had stationed herself against the bark of the tree and weaved an entirely new story for her. One with a valiant dragon and a brave princess who fell in love and ran away from the kingdom together. Tied up perfectly with the clichéd happily ever after that made her little heart swell with excitement. After Layla had swept her up for a bath and the memory settled into the crevices of her mind.

"Yo, Luce? Where's your head right now?" Natsu waved a hand in front of her vision, successfully bringing her back to reality.

"Just… Remembering my mom."

"Oh," Natsu murmured, looking sheepish for interrupting. Lucy laughed and lightheartedly pushed him to the side. The dragon slayer grimaced and pretended to trip wildly, stumbling from one end of the street to the other.

It didn't take long for the pair to reach the guild.

"Natsu! Lucy!" A blur of blue flew towards them, colliding against them and attempting to wrap his tiny arms around them both. Happy excitedly reached into his knapsack and pulled out a rather pungent dead fish. It had obviously spent the last couple hours marinating in his bag, turning a sickly grey-green. It took Lucy all she had to not shriek and punch the carcass away. "Carla, Wendy, Romeo, and I all went fishing this morning! I saved you guys a fish!"

"Thanks, Happy!" Natsu said exuberantly, fearlessly taking the fish from his grasp. "I'll just go give this to Mira to cook later."

Lucy watched Natsu meander to the bar and secretly hoped he'd be asking the takeover mage to dispose properly of the rotten fish. The blue-haired Exceed busied himself by flying back over to his corner with Pantherlily and Carla, resuming whatever conversation had been interrupted.

"Hey! Lu-chan!" Levy Redfox's voice called out to the celestial mage. "Over here, come join us!" She gestured eagerly to the open chair beside her. Lucy gratefully accepted the offer.

At the wooden table, Levy had sprawled several large and ancient scrolls to decipher. Juvia occupied the tiny corner of the table that wasn't covered in parchment with a bowl of chowder, forgotten as her eyes were fixated across the room at Gray Fullbuster. The ice-make wizard was standing next to the street rat, Gilly. He was trying to teach her how to play Billards, helping her grip the cue and pull it back. The teenager was focused, purple eyes drilling holes into the white ball. She jerked the pool cue forward, jamming it heavily into the green felt. Lucy winced, feeling the girl's teeth chatter from impact. Gray shook his head and murmured something to her, then realigned her shot. This time, she managed to hit the ball with a satisfying click as the blue chalk left a mark on its smooth surface.

Lucy lifted her eyebrows at Juvia, smirking. "My, Gray sure is good with kids, don't you think, Levy?" she questioned loudly, her focus never leaving the water woman. "He'll make an excellent father one day."

The celestial mage practically heard Juvia's heart explode. Her cheeks erupted into crimson as she instantly pulled her gaze away from Gray, trying and failing to pretend as if she hadn't noticed the two across the room. "Juvia thinks Gray-sama excels at everything," she muttered to her soup. "How is married life, Levy? Juvia would like to know."

The petite girl looked up from her scrolls, hitting back to reality hard. "Huh? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say Juvia?"

"How is marriage?" she repeated, looking shamefully down at her hands, fidgeting nervously.

Levy beamed and brushed a strand of azure out of her eyes. "It's fantastic, Juvia. I wish I had better words to explain it," she sighed dreamily. "I guess it's a lot like when we were dating but… It's just a lot more permanent. Every night, Gajeel is the last face I see before I go to sleep. He's the first face I see when I wake up. My name is Redfox so everyone knows that we belong together. He's mine. I'm his. We can discuss any—and everything together without fear of judgement or disdain from the other. We can share everything." Her cheeks reddened, "I don't know how to explain it, Juvia. Lucy is a lot better at creative writing than I am."

"You were doing just fine, shrimp. If not slightly embarrassingly," a gruff voice from behind their table grunted. Gajeel and Laxus at some point had entered the hall, carrying large brown crates and placing them on the bar. Mira began to unload potatoes from the boxes as Levy squeaked and blushed at the arrival of her husband. In a rare display of affection, the iron dragon bent down and swept his lips possessively over Levy's.

"Juvia wishes to be married," the blue haired siren whispered sadly.

"I give up on men," Lucy commented, leaning her head onto Juvia's shoulder. "They suck," she finished, lamely.

"More failed dates?" Juvia questioned.

"Something like that," Lucy muttered, her heart beginning to flutter in her chest. She felt a pang between her legs and silently prayed that Natsu would come back from the back of the bar. Her palms became slick with sweat.

As if signaled, the dragon slayer rumbled back up the steps from behind the bar, carrying two more crates of potatoes. "Alright, sis. This should be all of them," Lisanna huffed from behind him, dropping her crate onto the counter.

"Wonderful!" Mirajane Strauss called, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Okie then! Gilly, enough play time with Gray. It's time to get you to work!" The teenager turned away from the solid seven ball with a pained expression. Gray began to set the pool table back up, fresh for whoever was to play next.

"Work?" Lucy questioned no one in particular.

"Master has decided to give Gilligan odd jobs throughout the guild to help her get on her feet until she can sustain herself. He didn't feel comfortable tossing a child back onto the street. He threatened to call her foster parents, the government, anything. None of it fazed that girl. So instead he offered her residence at Fairy Hills… for a price. I think he wants to teach her discipline. Fix her before she becomes another statistic." Erza spoke from behind the celestial mage, causing her to jump in surprise. Adrenaline coursed through her veins.

"When'd you get here?" she hissed, clutching at her chest.

"Approximately seventy-six seconds ago." The Titania threw her plated leg over the bench and sat beside Lucy. She waved Mira down for a piece of strawberry cake, as usual.

"Mavis, think you could announce yourself next time or something?" Lucy muttered.

"Apologies that not everyone in this guild has a habit of shouting the moment they walk through the door, like some fire breathing dragon slayers we know." She smirked at Natsu who'd joined them halfway through the conversation. He made a face at Erza when she wasn't looking and sat down across from Lucy. Subtly and protectively he reached his foot across the table and wrapped his ankle around Lucy's reassuring her that he was there. The mage felt her heart begin to calm.

The rest of the afternoon passed by as if nothing had changed. Gajeel pulled out his guitar, Natsu and Gray simultaneously set the instrument ablaze and froze it into a cube. The two proceeded to get chased all over the hall by the iron dragon and his metal fist before Erza had stood up and slammed her hands on the table, effectively ending all bereavements of the guitar. Gray and Natsu both sat in the corner, repairing the instrument and spitting insults at each other back and forth. Wendy spoke excitedly with Laxus about how her training was going and demonstrated a sustained and rather intense wind storm that drained barely any of her mana. "You're getting better at controlling your magic levels," the thunder mage said, giving her a high five. Lucy straightened her head scarf and combed the knots out of her hair with her fingers after the gust had died down. She opened Plue's gate and the little Dog Star and Happy danced around the tables, munching on bonbons. The solid script mage concentrated on her texts, marking a few simple notes as she went.

Everything would have been fine. Everything would have been normal. Except for the constant at Lucy's core and the hateful voice in her head, telling her how unworthy of any of these people she was. Dirty. Slut. You deserved it. You asked for it. All your fault. No one will ever love you now.

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A/N: Please, take a moment to review before you go! And if you really enjoyed it, click that follow/favorite button! Please? I'll try to get the next chapter out soon™. Thanks so much for reading!

-GH057