So, I know I have updated in a while. But a good friend of mine has recently had an accident, she's been in a coma for 3 months and she woke up a few weeks ago with brain damage and deafness among other things. I've been with her and haven't had time for much else.

Whaaaaat? A new chapter? Whaaaaat?

What are updates? I have never heard of those before?

BIG BIG BIG thank you to Jaewalkerr, my lovely beta-reader whom I adore very much because she is fabulous. Without her this would not sounds as half as good. xxxx

Italics are Natsu's thoughts that cannot be heard by others.

Previously on The Peacekeeper:

Eyes widen in fear, or that is what would have happened if the room wasn't full of frozen people. Abigail rose from her seat.

"It was you. Chakara of Energy. You killed my sister with your strange words."

Her eyes burn with something unrecognizable, though many in the room assumed it was fury and bloodlust. She stands directly in front of him and drops to the floor in a dozega.

"Please help me!" Her voice was laced with desperation and when she lifted her head, black tears were streaming down her cheeks, leaving onyx tear stains on her face.

"Help me kill my family."

The room was motionless, not only because of Abigail's spell, but also out of shock.

"Please." Cried the sobbing girl. Tears dripped from her eye and down to her cheeks, rolling off her face, staining the carpet jet black. "My mother is a daemon, and my siblings are creatures of death, they will destroy the world. She is having more babies every day. Many of them were deformed and dead within a few days. They could destroy themselves, but they would take the world with them. I will tell you how to kill them and where the den is. Please, please, I…." Her body shook and she wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was trying to keep herself from shattering into pieces. She wiped her cheek with her bare shoulder, smearing the tar-like tears down her arm. "I… kill…. Baby… safe… help… I… Death…. Please…" Her words became more desperate and less coherent as she continued to speak. Finally, shaking and covered in a thick, black liquid, that at first had appeared to be her tears, she collapsed and did not move, save for her breathing.

The spell broke and chaos enveloped the room. Natsu and Happy busted though the front door. Chakara picked up the unconscious girl, while Yuki glared at her. Laxus and Gajeel started yelling and Carla glanced over at Lucy expectantly. Not a moment later, Lucy flew out of her seat, screaming, causing all the dragon slayers to clamp their hands to their ears and several windows to shatter. Natsu raced across the room, grabbing her out of the air and holding her as her body jerked and her face turned white. Fearfully, he shook her violently, shouting her name over and over in his mind.

"Shut up! I can't think!" Cobra hissed at him.

"LUCY!" Wendy's hand light with her powers and frantically doused Lucy's body in the warm glow. "She's ice cold."

"HOLY SHIT, IT'S BLOOD! THAT CHICK WAS CRYING BLOOD. THAT BLACK STUFF WAS BLOOD! I CAN SMELL IT!"

Chakara was tapping Abigail's check lightly, murmuring for her to wake up.

"So, we have an unconscious girl... dragon… thing lying unconscious on the floor, covered in black blood. How is that not disgusting?"

"I'm talking about Lucy! She's unconscious and may be under a curse or something that could harm her!"

"Guys. She is dying." Yuki's soft voice somehow managed to catch the attention of everyone in the room. Her eyes, fixed on a point in front of her, are devoid of emotion.

"What?" Happy's voice trembled with fear.

"She is dying. She will die soon."

"Who?"

"The girl."

"Which girl?"

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it fucking matters!" Laxus yells.

Lucy shakes her head slightly and sits up, Natsu's arm wraps protectively around her back, supporting her upper body.

"The end is near humans." Her raspy voice rung throughout the room and a pregnant silence filled the room.

"Uh. Lucy?" Happy edged closer to his celestial companion. "Your voice sounds yucky."

"Listen closely to what I have to say, you pathetic beings."

"She's possessed." Chakara stated solemnly, eyes flicking from the girl in his arms to the blonde woman in Natsu's arms.

"How do you know?" Laxus hisses.

"Her eyes glow red and her energy is overcome with dark desire."

"You will never defeat me and my children. We are strong in numbers and our powers are beyond comprehension of such miserable creatures. We will annihilate the world and you are powerless to stop us. Even this girl, whose body I inhabit, could not repel my mind attacks. One of you cannot speak, nor perform magic. The strongest amongst you will fall. You and your loved ones will die."

Wendy squeaked quietly and Carla touched a paw to her knee. A strange black glow crept up Lucy's body, shrouding her in darkness, but she continued to speak.

"This girl will be the first causality of this war. Her death will mark the end of human reign and the beginning of the era of Dragons."

Lucy suddenly screamed and her body jerked in repetitive spasms. Completely unable to see her, Happy pawed at his friend, frantic.

"Lucy!"

The darkness tore at her skin, leaving droplets of blood on her porcelain skin that trickled down her face, arms, legs and stomach, leaving a trail of bright red blood behind them.

"Help me!" She screamed, completely helpless.

"Lucy!"

"It's killing her!" Laxus yelled, horrified.

Screaming in fright and determination, Wendy increased her healing. Slowly the fog thinned and faded to grey. Then it suddenly disappears altogether. Lucy's body twitched once, then twice and then she sat upright in Natsu's arms, one hand clenching his scarf for support. Eyes fell on her weakened state as she coughed and Lucy felt Natsu's tightened grip on her shoulder, hugging her closer.

"I know where they are." Her voice was raspy and cracked twice before she had even finished her sentence.

"Who?" Laxus asked.

"The dragons. I can see it," She tapped two fingers twice to her temple, "In my head. Like a map. I know where they are."

"Then what are we waiting for? We've gotta get 'em!" Gajeel exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "I hate being cooped up in here and the quicker I get home to Levy, the better. Let's go right now. Right this second."

Natsu shook his head furiously.

"We can't. Not yet. Natsu can't use his magic, Lucy can barely stand. Sting and Rogue aren't even here! We should wait and make a plan."

"But she might not remember by the time we're ready. We should go now!" Laxus protests.

"No." Yuki states calmly. "To go now would be like handing your executioner the axe. We wait for the others to arrive and devise a plan. Marvel, do you have some free time this afternoon?"

Wendy, whose hands were full in an attempt to repair all the pin-pricks in Lucy's skin that were made visible by tiny droplets of scarlet blood, nodded absently.

"You and I will see if we can find a cure for Dragneel and Heartfilla's loss of magic." She looked at the once-pink-haired-dragon-slayer with an odd expression. "And perhaps some hair dye. I am quite partial to pink."

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Laxus snapped, sitting back down on the arm rest of the couch, evidently unimpressed with Yuki's plan.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you need orders from me to go about your daily business?"

"It's not every day I get recruited to kill off a bunch of dragons is it?"

"I suppose not. You and Chakara will look after the dragon girl. Dragneel will care for Heartfilla. I doubt he will object. I do not care what the rest of you do for the afternoon as long as I do not see or hear you and there is a hot dinner waiting for Wendy and myself when we return. Redfox, is there a way we can contact your mate? I wish to make an enquiry about Heartfillla's habits and her teammate is unavailable at the moment."

"Uh sure. There's a crystal in my bag."

"The black duffel bag with numerous tears I presume."

"Uh…"

"Marvel, please collect me when you are finished with the girl. I do not wished to be disturbed otherwise. When Eucliffe and Cheney arrive I expect you to inform them of all that has happened. Excuse me." And with that she disappeared into the bedroom, closing the newly-repaired door behind her with a soft click.

"Remind me why we are taking orders from a little girl again?" Gajeel murmured to Cobra not exactly quietly. A chunk of ice materializes above his head and hovers for a moment before crashing down on top of him, rendering him unconscious.

Instead of reporting to Yuki like she was supposed to, after she finished healing Lucy, Wendy helped Laxus tidy up the kitchen. After several attempts to begin a conversation, Wendy finally tried to strike up a conversation with the much larger, much more powerful, and much more terrifying dragon slayer.

"This house is never going to be the clean is it?"

He grunted in response. Discouraged, she glanced over to him. When he pushed his hair back again, she caught a glimpse a patch of chocolate brown scales embedded into his neck. Cana's mark.

"What are you staring at?" Laxus growled. Startled, Wendy stepped back a few paces, resulting in hitting her temple on the cupboard door that was only hanging by the bottom hinge.

"Ouch!" Wincing, she clamped both hands on the top of her head and crouched down. Hot tears prick the back of her eyes, before they could spill over, she attempted to blink them back, determined not to cry in front of the intimidating man.

"Watch it kid." Roughly, he hooked his hands beneath her underarms and lifted her from the ground into a standing position. "Show me." None too gently he brushed away her hair that was covering her forehead. "Nothing you won't recover from. Suck it up, kid."

Wendy sniffled and gave a small nod. A single tear rolls down her cheek as she bit her wobbling lip.

"Ahh." He ran a hand through his hair uncertainly. "Give me a break. I don't know the first thing about kids. You want some ice or what?"

Wendy shook her head. Laxus reached for her, and this time when he picks her up, he does it much more gently. Sitting her on the bench, he ran a cloth under cold water and held it to her head.

"How's that?" He asked unceremoniously.

The kitchen door opened, or it would have if it wasn't scattered on the ground in pieces, as Yuki entered.

"What are you doing? We must act immediately. There is no time to waste. The library closes after dark. Redfox's mate has given me invaluable information." Without waiting for a reply, she marched out of the door. "Marvel!"

Wendy pushed herself off the bench and threw the rag over her shoulder, accidentally hitting Laxus in the process.

"Coming!"

Wendy and Yuki poured over book after book, often taking notes or reading passages aloud in a hushed whisper to the other. The pile of books grew larger and larger, but they hadn't even filled out half a page of notes before Wendy let out a soft squeak, earning her a stern look from the severe librarian.

"Yuki-chan. Look at this."

The dark haired girl wriggles closer to her blue-haired companion.

"Heriotza Ura." Yuki traces the dark words with her index finger. "Shi no mizu. Death's Water. What about it?"

"Read it." Wendy's voice was a mixture of urgency and excitement.

Yuki quickly scaned the paragraph, lightly touching places here and there. "A magic no wizard can create, Heriotza Ura is often located near a dragon's lair… Harmless to all animals, but often fatal to regular humans if swallowed in any quantity… If a wizard were to drink it, the Heriotza component would be rendered useless by the magic that flows in the body and would then be converted to Sustrai Ura. Stealing Water. The water steals what the drinker values most about themselves." Yuki paused and frowned at Wendy. "I do not understand. How can water steal?"

"I know. But look here at the end of the page." Wendy touched the last paragraph and read in a hushed voice. "The effects however devastating are reversible."

"What? How? We must regain their magic quickly."

"The page is torn."

Yuki huffed in frustration. "Geez."

"Should we look for it?"

"I guess. It's so clichéd though. Like in a story, just when the characters are getting to the good part in book they're reading, the page with the information they need has been ripped out. And..."

"Yuki-chan?"

"I forgot what I was about to say."

"Maybe the author backspaced?"

Yuki snorted. "Sure."

"The page?"

"Yeah. Let's look for it."

Back at the cottage, Rogue was helping Lucy write directions before she forgets the way to the lair. Lucy lay in bed again, having showered and changed her clothes. Natsu was showering, for once, so Rogue had offered to help her write directions. Chakara performed a quick analysis of Lucy's energy levels had proven her energy and spirituality levels to be much higher than before. "More alive. More human." He had said. Rogue sat beside her, his legs stretched out on the bed, leaning back against the broken headboard. Lucy sat with her eyes closed, dictating what she saw.

"Left at the eagle."

"Sorry, what?" Shaking his head, Rogue resolved to not look at her again until he had finished writing down her directions.

"The eagle?"

"Yes."

"Lucy? There could be hundreds of eagles in the forest."

"Unlikely. Eagles are solitary animals. They prefer to be alone. Like you."

"Like me?"

"They like being alone. Except for their mates. Eagles only ever like spending time with their mates."

"I guess that's why I like spending time with you." That was his first mistake.

Lucy's eyes flew open and her mouth dropped slightly along with a sharp intake of breath. Rogue's second mistake was to look at the once-beautiful blonde. Her eyes, flooded with disbelief, captivated him.

"What?" She was breathless. It was the single most beautiful thing someone had ever said to her.

Rogue's hand reached towards the girl beside him. He tenderly cupped her face in his hand. His hand was large enough to wrap around the side of her head, fingers tangling in her hair, and have his thumb brush softly against her lower lip simultaneously.

"I like spending time with you, Lucy." Very slowly, he leaned forward. Gently but firmly, he kissed her cheek. Something in Lucy shattered and it was as though a floodgate had been opened.

In the next room Chakara's head jerked up. Lucy's spiral of dark energy had been shattered, and her heart was warm again. He grinned for a moment, then bent back over the dragon girl, desperately attempting to enter her mind to revive her.

"Here it is!" Wendy shouted, waving a worn yellow corner of a page in Yuki's face. "I must have torn it when I took it from the shelf. It is falling apart after all."

Yuki snatched the paper from the girl's hand.

"Read it!" Wendy urged.

Yuki glared at her, and attempted to fit the paper to the page of the book.

"In order to regain what was stolen, it must be given by another or be regained themselves."

The girls paused.

"What?" Wendy asked ludicrously.

"I think it means that they have to have someone else give them what they lost." Yuki said thoughtfully.

"But Natsu-nii lost his hair colour and his magic and his voice! How can they be given to him? And Lucy-nee has lost her magic, and her value for herself and…"

"Oh." Yuki breathed.

"What?"

Yuki shook her head. "Oh."

"What?" Wendy demanded, shaking her companion.

"Heartfilla has lost her love."

Wendy sits back on her heels. "Huh?"

"Remember when Dragneel kissed her? But she did not respond? And the dragon girl was almost dying? Heartfilla ignored her. She has lost her love for her comrades and compassion for the stranger. Dragneel's hair, he was very proud of it. It made him an individual. It is not the hair he has lost, it is his sense of self. And his voice, was a way he supported his nakama, how he gave orders. His sense of authority is gone. He no longer can argue with those he disagrees with."

"The magic is their strength?"

"For Dragneel, it was his way of protecting his friends, in particular, Heartfilla. He can no longer protect her without his magic."

"Lucy-nee, she told me once that her magic was the reason she left her home. She used it to defy her father and join a guild."

"Her independence."

The two girls glanced at one another and grinned.

"We did it!"

"Not quite we still need to recover their lost values."

"Let's do it then Yuki-chan!"

"Yes, let's!"

"That's it! You two get out! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THAT BOOK YOU DISGUSTING CHILD!" The two girls sprint away from the library, for all their talents in magic, the two were not equipped to deal with a furious, 60-year old librarian.

Rogue pulled back after a few seconds, afraid that he had crossed a line. For a second Lucy didn't speak. A red flush crawled up the back of her neck and spread like wild-fire across her face.

"Rogue…" She tasted his name on her tongue, the name that suddenly meant something very different. "I think…"

Before she could finish her sentence, the bedroom door slammed open, revealing Natsu Dragneel, clad only in a towel. He casually strolled in and stopped, spotting Lucy blushing furiously and Rogue with a somewhat sheepish look on his face.

He grinned. Too hot for you to handle Luce? Suddenly he untied the knot at his hip, and whipped the towel from around him, leaving him stark naked. He then proceeded to casually walk over to Lucy's side and plopped himself down beside her.

"Put some clothes on you idiot." She snapped at him.

He shook his head impishly and stared at Lucy intently, who was now blushing for an entirely different reason.

Rogue stood up. Silently he touched Lucy's cheek, the spot where his lips had been a moment before.

"Are you leaving?"

His hand fell down to his sides before he scooped Fro up in his arms and exited the room swiftly.

Da fuq?

Lucy turned to her naked team-mate. Her blush subsided and now her face displayed anger.

Natsu's grin disappeared off his face at her the sight of her furrowed brows.

I didn't mean to make you mad. Sorry Luce.

He knotted the towel back around his hips, and sat back down beside Lucy. He slung one arm over her shoulders, drawing her into him. Affectionately, he nuzzled her neck and whined.

"You sound like a dog."

He drew back and pouts. Lucy bit her lip, attempting to bite back the giggle that had formed at the back of her throat.

Lucccccyyyyy. I didn't mean to make you angry.

"I know." She leaned her head against his bare shoulder then jerked back in surprise. "I can hear you again."

You can hear me again?

"Yeah."

Did I do a bad thing again? I'm sorry.

Lucy blinks at her clueless friend. She sighs loudly. "No, Natsu." She leaned against him and he wrapped her up in his arms easily, both momentarily forgetting that Natsu was close to being naked. "You didn't."

How come you couldn't hear me before?

She shrugged and he rested his chin on her head thoughtfully.

You're kind of better now aren't you?

"Was I sick?"

Uh. Not really.

"You kissed me before didn't you?"

Natsu froze. He'd hoped that she had forgotten about it, but she unfortunately hadn't and she wanted answers.

You were lost. I was trying to find you again.

"Lost?"

Yeah.

"Natsu?"

What is it Luce?

"Please don't kiss me again."

Natsu's heart shattered into a thousand pieces at her words. Lucy. Mate. Partner. Friend. Hope. How could she toss him aside this way? She wriggled out of his arms, which had tightened around her, and climbed off the bed.

"At least wait until after this is all over." She held up her hands pleadingly in the universal sign for surrender.

Why?

"Because there's a lot going on and I'm just really confused."

You like me though. Right Luce?

"You're my best friend. But right now I can't deal with anything more than that."

You let Sting kiss you. And Rogue.

"I didn't let them do anything! I didn't want them to, they just did! It didn't mean anything."

Then I can too right?

Lucy took a tentative step back. "What?"

Natsu slides off the bed and stands in front of her. Ican kiss you right? Because later you will say, 'He just did, it didn't mean anything.'

"No."

What?

"Natsu, if you kiss me, I... God! I just told you I'm confused!"

I'm trying to help you Lucy! I need you.

"You're not helping! You're scaring me!"

You were mine first! You're MY best friend.

"It doesn't feel that way anymore."

What?

"It's like I don't even know you anymore, Natsu. It's awful."

You said you loved me.

"I do. I love my Natsu. My best friend. Not…" Lucy gestured to him. "Not whoever this is. This is not my best friend."

Natsu stepped away from the blonde girl in shock. She was right. Desire to possess her had turned him into someone he was not. How could he have let this happen? Jealousy had blinded him. Had made him lose sight of who he really was: a team-player who would do anything to protect his team-mate.

"So, if you don't mind," Lucy said quietly. "I'd like to have my best friend back now. Please."

And for the first time since enter the house, Natsu approached his long-time friend with chaste ideas. He wrapped his arms firmly around his friend and to Lucy the difference was obvious. This was the boy that would protect her with his life. This was the boy that beat up anyone who disrespected her. This was the boy that she had missed for the past few weeks and wondered if he would ever be back.

"Sure thing, Luce."

And, though neither of them could see, Natsu's hair began to fade back to pink.

UGH! Okay! Long chapter. Took a day and a bit to write (in between school of course) and I have confused myself while writing this so here's clarification for you.

The water made them lose the things they valued most about themselves.

Natsu lost his sense of individuality through the colour of his hair. He also lost the ability to support his nakama by losing his voice. His voice is what gave his friends strength. Natsu's third and final thing that he lost was his ability to protect Lucy. He lost his magic.

He regained his individuality when Lucy snapped him out of his heat-induced haze, that was caused by mating season.

His voice came back because he was willing to put aside his own desires to support Lucy as a friend.

His magic may or may not come back depending on if Lucy gets herself into a tricky situation. (Knowing her she will and Natsu will have to rescue her)

Lucy lost her independence. Her magic was her way of claiming independence from her father. It's basically her way of saying, 'I don't need to be rescued all the time.' (Even though she does {Not hating on Luce, she's one of my faves but she's a bit dumb})

Lucy also lost her ability to love others. Lucy is very kind, forgiving and selfless. To regain it she had to be shown these values by another.

The darkness in her heart was worn away when Natsu cared for her when she was ill. (kindness) even more when the others dismissed her rudeness as being tired (forgiveness) and was completely shattered when Rogue kissed only her cheek, because even though he loves her, he didn't push her to the limit (selflessness).

Whew! Righty-oh! Question time! Do you guys prefer long chapters with longer periods of time before updates? Or shorter chapters with shorter gaps between updates? Let me know!

Next time on the Peacekeeper:

"Keep up!"

…

The cave lit up and the inscriptions on the wall glow ominously. Gruesome images of dragons, humans and innards decorated the wall distastefully.

…

"It's blood!"

…

"Stay back!"

…

"She's dead!"

…

"LUCY!