Act 3

IT'S MSLEAD'S BIRTHDAY, SO HERE IS AN EXTRA CHAPTER!

32

1001 Arabian Nights

"A truth once seen by a single mind ends up by imposing itself on the totality of human consciousness."

― Anonymous, The Arabian Nights

If the proof of what Gray was looking at hadn't been staring him in the face he would have never believed it. Ever.

Unfortunately, he could not deny the evidence he was presented with.

Natsu, the terrible demon dragon himself, was in love.

He hadn't believed it the first time he'd seen it. There was just no way. He'd, marginally, been able to wrap his head around the idea of Natsu being on somewhat friendly terms with them, but the idea of him being in love was just ridiculous. Heck, it wasn't all that long ago he would've scoffed at the idea of Natsu even being capable of the emotion.

However, in the weeks since Lucy and the others had reported the dark guilds were interested in her he'd begun seeing evidence he just couldn't refute.

Previously, Natsu had spent as little time as possible around Lucy. He hadn't even wanted to look at her. Once they'd become friends he'd been friendlier, but the distance had still been there. Now, ever since the incident with Midnight, they were nearly inseparable. The newly dubbed dragonslayer even seemed to enjoy going out shopping with her.

Sure he growled and grumbled and whined but everyone could tell it was mostly for show as he always had a little smile on his face as he followed Lucy out with Happy. Sometimes even taking her hand as they walked around.

Nor could the dragonslayer seem to keep his eyes off her. If he'd been allergic to looking at her before it seemed like all he did now was sneak glances at her either openly or out of the corner of his eye. It was kind of hilarious to watch actually. He'd never known Natsu was capable of that kind of subtlety.

Of course, this also presented a problem.

Gray knew he didn't know the particulars of Natsu's past, but he knew enough to figure Natsu probably didn't have the first clue about what to do with a woman. Let alone a woman showing as much interest in him as Lucy was. And there was no doubt in his mind that Lucy was interested. She had a soft look in her eyes whenever she dealt with Natsu, even at his most obnoxious, that he recognized very well.

It didn't help that Natsu was an idiot and probably had no idea Lucy was even showing that kind of attention.

He didn't get Lucy's taste, but if she was really invested in the dragonslayer she was going to need all the help she could get. Maybe it was time he had a talk with Natsu about it?

Gray wavered with indecision. Was it really any of his business to push it one way or another? Sure, Juvia had placed a pretty nice sum of jewel into the betting pool Cana had started on the sly over when Natsu and Lucy would end up together.

But helping out Natsu sort of made him sick to his stomach.

They were frenemies at this point, but even Gray had to admit it was sort of getting pathetic how Natsu would perk right up whenever he saw Lucy enter a room. Or even how his entire mood could shift whenever she brought him a job or bribed him from a fight with a promise of food.

Really he had no idea what he was doing.

But it wasn't like Natsu would even listen to him anyway.

He watched with just a hint of disgust as he saw Natsu eyeing Lucy openly where she sat at the bar, chatting with Erza and Levy over the latest Heart Kreuz fashions. A subconscious smile was working its way over Natsu's lips, and he was only halfway paying attention to Happy's words in his ear from where the kitten was perched on his shoulder with a fish.

Gross.

Oh for the love of the first master, he had to put a stop to this before Natsu started etching his initials with Lucy in a tree or something. Gray couldn't suffer through this agony any longer.

Telling himself he was doing this for his own sanity and not Natsu's, Gray got up, snagged the dragon by the back of his vest and dragged his choking ass out of the guild without so much as another word.

"Ack! Gray! What the hell are you doing!?" Natsu struggled, kicking his legs as Gray dropped him out of the guild. He was up in a tower of flames in an instant, but Gray just rolled his eyes at the show. That was all it really was now.

Maybe in the past it would have been intimidating, a worry that End was about to start a deadly rampage.

But now Gray just knew Natsu was pitching a fit over being thrown out like a smelly pair of shoes.

"Easy flamingo-face, I just wanna talk to you," Gray announced, his arms folded as if that gave him all the right in the world.

"And you couldn't have done it inside?" Natsu demanded, "With y'know, walls and crap? You had to drag me out by my neck?"

"It's not something we should be talking about in front of Lucy." Gray drawled, mild amusement coloring his voice, "Unless you want me to ask about you mooning over her in there?" He smirked.

Natsu went still at that, his heart freezing for a moment as he processed Gray's words and, predictably, exploded, "What're you talkin' about Dairy Queen?" He demanded, a bright blush creeping up his cheeks.

Gray raised an eyebrow and he smirked, "You know, if you're going to deny something you should probably actually deny it."

"Shut up!" Natsu huffed, "I'm not mooning over Lucy alright! Your ice has obviously frozen what passes for your brain!"

Gray beat back his instinctive surge of temper, and his smirk widened as he deliberately stretched lazily instead.

"Really?" He purred, "So you're not watching her every minute? Or practically glued to her hip?" He cocked his head slightly as his smirk turned into a wicked grin, "And I haven't seen you light up whenever she enters a room? Or her do the same when you do?"

Natsu had his mouth open, ready to give a scorching retort, but blinked when he registered Gray's last words, "She does?" He asked, a slightly dopey smile tugging at his lips.

"Okay. I just felt my lunch come up," Gray rolled his eyes, "Good grief... could you have it any worse?" He snorted, "Or be any more obvious?"

"I am not obvious!" Natsu protested hotly, his entire body lighting up like a firework, contrary to his statement. His face was as red as one of his flames.

And then he realized what he said as soon as he caught sight of Gray's smirking face.

"I mean, that's not- shut up!" Natsu spluttered, feeling as if he had been taken completely by surprise.

"Alright, alright," Gray groaned, throwing his hands up in surrender, "Try to deny it all you like if that makes you feel better."

"Hell, I could be wrong," He dropped his hands into his pockets, realizing belatedly he had lost his pants. Gray wondered where they wandered off to.

Gray was more surprised Natsu hadn't even commented on it yet.

Perhaps he was really captivating his full attention for once. A feat he formerly thought was impossible.

"But one thing I know I'm right about," Gray jabbed a finger into Natsu's chest, "There's something working its way between the two of you, so you better man up and figure out your feelings."

"What's there to figure out?" Natsu grumbled, his eyes twitching in frustration. He didn't see what Gray's plan was to bring him outside and tell him all of this.

Sure, he cared about Lucy. A lot. Fine, there was no denying that. She was nest after all. And Natsu wasn't even going to try to figure out how Lucy had managed to creep in through all of his defenses as effortlessly as she had.

Lucy was still as weird as the day he met her with her weird words and references to things. It didn't help that she'd taken her place as the Guild Chronicler, as Makarov's request, and was always going around with one book or another in her hands when they weren't on a job. He'd seen her carry one book around in particular at times it was a wonder she ever left it alone. But it would often disappear before Natsu could get a good look at it. Although it hadn't really made an appearance in quite some time now that he thought about it.

Still, as the Guild Chronicler, it didn't surprise him she guarded all of her writings jealously. If it was anything like a dragon hoarded their treasure, then it was a wonder he even saw the tomes.

However, even with all of her weirdness, Natsu couldn't help but be drawn to her. It was like he was hyper aware of her presence, and at first he thought perhaps that was because of the bond. But it hadn't so much as tickled in months.

Perhaps even longer.

Natsu had lost track of when he last felt it. But for whatever reason, he still felt compelled to follow her wherever she went. Especially after the incident with Midnight. So he did, and he was content with it.

For the first time in centuries, he was happy.

He didn't want anything else besides what he was experiencing now.

As greedy, brash and and selfish as he was - and he was still all of those things, Natsu didn't want to be greedy with her.

He was afraid if he took too much, all of the good things which had happened to him since she came into his life would disappear. He was terrified of losing what he had gained.

Natsu didn't have room for 'love' in his life - whatever that even meant. He wasn't sure what ideas Gray was spouting, but it made no sense to him.

Sure, he knew the particulars, but for all Natsu's time alive, he had never once experienced anything close to the love shared between two people. At least not of that nature.

His face burned red at the thought.

Yeah he so wasn't going to get into that with frostbite.

"Plenty." Gray replied, breaking Natsu out of his thoughts, and fixing him with a knowing look, "Trust me on this. You don't want to let the chance pass you by. Lucy's a gorgeous woman, inside and out, and if I wasn't very happily married I'd be trying to get her to look my way the way she looks at you."

He shrugged, deciding he'd pushed it as much as he was going to be able to today, "Just think about it flame brain." He said over his shoulder as he headed back for the guild door, glancing around for his clothes as he went.

Natsu snorted as he watched Gray go, "Shows what you know." He muttered, "Lucy doesn't look any different now."

Though he couldn't deny that she was gorgeous. A fact he'd been noticing more and more since he'd stopped snarling at her all the time. Particularly since one job where she'd wound up naked. That had been great. Not just for the view, but because it had finally tipped Leo into making one of his cheesy, over the top, declarations about her beauty resulting in the lion spirit nearly getting a coconut to the face.

That alone had left him cackling for several minutes even if it meant Lucy had robbed him of his shirt for a while.

He shook his head, shaking the memory off, and followed Gray back inside. Droopy drawers didn't know what he was talking about. Things were fine the way they were. It wasn't like Lucy was in love with him anyway.

He didn't really notice the way his entire being lit up as he went inside and Lucy ran up to him with a smile, one he couldn't help returning.

"Hey!" She exclaimed breathlessly, a happy grin on her face, "Everything alright? I was a little worried when Gray dragged you out like that."

"Huh?" Natsu crossed his arms and smirked cheekily, "Oh yeah right. As if there's anything to worry about!" He laughed.

"Gray couldn't beat me any day of the week," He taunted at the ice mage, who gave him a look which could freeze the sun itself. Natsu however remained unaffected.

But stupid Gray, his words had penetrated through Natsu's skull. Now he couldn't help but watch the way Lucy's lips curved up. They were full and glossy, with just a hint of pink to them. The sweet smile parting her lips made them look like soft petals.

Stupid Gray.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Gray.

Why was he thinking of this stuff now?

It wasn't the first time he thought of it though. Not if he was honest.

There was one time before. Right before they were attacked after meeting Wendy for the first time.

They had argued about something stupid. Deers. But then afterwards... something had drawn him in closer to her. Natsu swallowed thickly, his eyes dropping down to Lucy's plump mouth, his fangs biting down on the side of his tongue. It was a desperate attempt to ground himself, and he was lucky enough that it worked.

Still, it wasn't enough to fully uncoil the tension in his body, so he opted instead to distract himself.

"What's up? We get a new job?" He asked her with more eagerness than he usually displayed. He was intent on finding something to occupy his time. Desperately.

Lucy laughed at Natsu, her heart melting a bit at the sight of his excitement. He really was adorable when he got like that. Like an excited puppy. It made her want to snuggle him or something equally ridiculous, and every time she couldn't help wondering where her cranky dragon had gone.

It was true the insights from her book had initially helped her to understand him better, but she hadn't actually treated him any differently than she would've without the knowledge. She was the same way with everyone else in the guild. She never used what she knew outside of better understanding her friends. It never really crossed her mind to.

Levy thought that was probably why the book had picked her in the first place, but that was neither here nor there. That was why she had locked it in her nightstand in the bottom drawer. She wouldn't read even a page more of it until she was ready to tell Natsu about it.

"Well, technically it's your turn to pick." She grinned, "But I spotted a couple that might be fun." She held up a pair of flyers, "One involves helping out at a festival. Wendy wants to go with us on that one. The other is investigating some weird happenings at a village in the mountains. Something about the local men vanishing in the night."

Natsu's eyes widened at the choices. On the one hand, the festival would surely be a lot of fun, and they probably wouldn't have to work for all of it so they'd be able to enjoy it too. And as much as he'd never admitted it...he really loved festivals. They blew up fireworks and all kinds of stuff. They were great.

On the other hand, there was a really high chance he'd get to throw down with whatever was causing the disappearances, and he always loved a good fight.

He whined softly with indecision as he looked between them, "Wow Luce... you really did find some good ones!"

He stared from one flyer to the next, as if trying to determine something to jump out at him. He growled in frustration, looking increasingly more tied up over what to do.

Whatever he picked, they would have to give their absolute all otherwise it would look bad on the guild. Natsu didn't even stop to wonder when he had started to care so much. His temporary membership had somehow morphed into permanent residency. Natsu didn't question it.

Instead he plucked both from her hands and waved them in the air.

"Both," He announced.

"Both?" Lucy questioned, looking surprised. Her mouth seemed to open in protest, but Natsu cut her off.

"Yes, both. Both is good," Natsu said simply.

He shoved the flyer for the festival in her face, "The festival doesn't even start for the next two weeks! We can do the other job and be back in plenty of time!"

Enthusiasm shone on his face, fervent and clear.

So much in fact, Lucy felt herself caving under the thousand watt force of his smile.

"Fine, but the next two jobs I get to pick!" She announced.

Natsu huffed and smirked right back at her, "Whatever, like you didn't pick these fliers out?" He challenged, "Don't think I didn't see that job about the giant flaming spider!"

Lucy's cheeks flushed, caught, "Wha- but that's-!"

"Perfect!"

"So why don't you pick out that one instead?" Lucy huffed at Natsu, crossing her arms. It had the effect of accentuating her breasts, and Natsu's eyes flashed down for a traitorous second.

Playing his distraction cool, he replied with the first, honest response that came to his head aside from his own random, immature hormones.

He gave her a look as if she were a very slow turtle, his hands dropping into his white scarf and the other sliding a thumb into the belt around his hips.

"You don't like spiders," He answered simply, "So we're not going. Duh."

Lucy blushed at that, unable to refute that kind of logic, and ridiculously pleased that he felt that way, "Thanks." She smiled at him, letting her gratitude and happiness shine through.

She resisted the urge to lean in and give him a kiss for it as well. Though she was tempted to do it anyway. She'd found she quite liked giving him kisses like that. Though the thought of doing it in public, where everyone would see and make a big production of it, was mortifying. Natsu would probably go as red as his scales too.

So she firmly pushed that line of thought away and grinned, "Might as well go get packed up then. The rent won't pay itself."

Sometimes she wondered if Natsu would be willing to dip into his hoard to help them keep their cozy little apartment, or even get a better one, but every time the thought crossed her mind she dismissed it. That was up to him and she knew how dragons were. Besides, they were doing fine on their own. Even if he did seem to have developed a habit of crashing in her bed lately. Lucy wasn't even a little ashamed to admit she was a heat vampire and slunk in close to Natsu during the colder nights.

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed excitedly and landed on Natsu's shoulder. The kitten had thoroughly bonded to his dragonslayer and the two were nearly inseparable. It was cute. When Happy wasn't driving her up the wall.

Which, considering who his 'parent' was... happened frequently.

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed enthusiastically and curled his hand gently into hers to tug her along, "I bet we can get there and back in a week!"

"Probably more like ten days." Happy smirked.

"Hey! Who's side are you on?"

"I'm a cat, I don't have a side," Happy said cheekily, his tail flicking around to rub at Natsu's nose. The kitten was still very small and would remain that way for at least the next year or so according to Lily.

"I have salmon in the fridge at home," Lucy bribed, causing the feline to gasp and set small paws on Natsu's cheek so he could look around at her.

"Lucy's side," He said immediately, causing Natsu to grumble under his breath.

"Traitor."

Lucy laughed, her eyes flashing down to where Natsu's tan hand was still curled gently around hers. His grip was strong and rough, calloused from years of combat and manipulating flames.

But when he held her hand, he was gentle.

He didn't seem to mind, or even notice but there were some things Lucy couldn't help but pay attention to. Especially when Natsu did uncharacteristically sweet things like hold her hand, or resist taking a certain job because it might make her upset.

No matter how 'fun.'

That was still subjective in his rather insane mind.

"You know Natsu, to get there and back in time for the festival, we're going to have to ride a train," Lucy announced to him, hating to have to break that news to him, but knowing she was going to have to anyway.

"That's okay, I can get Wendy to cast Troia on me before we leave, and then use some of that weird stuff we got from your world that seems to work really well," Natsu didn't seem too opposed by the idea.

Lucy didn't have the heart to tell him they were almost out. It would take another trip to her world soon to replenish her supply of motion sick medication. And it was impossible for it to work nearly as well as Wendy's magic anyway. At least it made travel more comfortable for Natsu.

"Alright." She agreed giving him a smile, "We should probably head back to my world for a day or two soon though. At least to check the mail and make sure everything's alright."

There was no real sense in risking becoming a missing person or something after all. At least not until she could turn her money into something portable and bring it to Earthland. After she finished getting Jellal the engineering books he'd wanted anyway.

This world was her home now, and though she was proud of how she was paying her way she saw no reason not to spend the money she had on her friends or on making life a little more comfortable here.

Besides... turning it all into gold or something would mean she could go back any time without getting tangled up in problems with being 'dead'.

"Sure." Natsu agreed absently as he began rifling through the pack they still shared, "We should have enough jewel after the festival to last a while, so we can go then!"

"I wish I could go." Happy sulked around a mouthful of fish.

"Sorry Happy." Lucy said apologetically, "I just don't know what being in a world without magic would do to you. You're practically made of the stuff."

"I know... But I still wanna see it."

Lucy reached over and rubbed his ears, "What if we brought back more pictures and some samples of the kind of fish we have there?"

"Would you really?!" Happy exclaimed, "That would be fantastic!"

Natsu grinned, slinging the pack back onto his opposite shoulder, deciding to wait until they got back to their place so he wasn't trying to juggle both the bag and a cat.

In truth he was a little hesitant about returning back to Lucy's homeworld. Last time they arrived there they had been followed and it resulted in Lucy being shot.

He wasn't a fan of not being able to roast people waving guns in his face. But it wasn't like they could just ignore the problem. They would have to deal with it eventually. And the sooner it was handled, the less they would have to worry about something nasty waiting for them on the other side.

It couldn't have been a coincidence that Lucy was chased into this world and then followed again. Even on this side people were hunting her thanks to her unique abilities.

Ugh it was frustrating. Life had gotten so much more difficult since Lucy slammed into his life. But at least it was interesting.

His smile spread as they turned onto Strawberry Street.

With a little maneuvering, they managed to evade their landlady and slip into their room. There, Natsu began to immediately throw clothing all over the place to pack away while Lucy more sedately folded her own neatly.

"If you just bunch up your stuff, I won't be able to fit my clothes in there!" Lucy admonished. It was an argument they had almost every time they went everywhere on a job, but it always played out just in the same way.

"So? you pack way too many clothes anyway! Why do you need so many?" Natsu glanced at her as he reluctantly began to mash his clothes into a shape vaguely resembling a fold. It was done with great reluctance, but at least it would give her enough room.

"I do not pack too many! You just don't pack enough! We have plenty of clothes for you so you don't have to wear just one outfit a week!"

"It's a pain in the butt, I don't have to worry about clothes at all when I'm in my other form," Natsu whined

"Well you can't walk around naked Natsu."

This time however, Natsu seemed to pause. His eyes flashed over to where Lucy was gathering their toiletries and zipping them into a neat bag. He swallowed audibly, his cheeks growing a little rosy and he shoved his clothes into the bag with so much force, Lucy thought he might have been in danger of ripping out the bottom.

"R-right," He mumbled.

Lucy eyed him curiously, wondering what the bag had done to him and why he was suddenly stuttering, but Natsu wasn't looking at her. Instead he had his nose buried in the pack. Probably taking inventory of what food they were low on or something.

Though she wasn't sure why he even bothered with that. He either ate it all on the first day or turned his nose up at it and went hunting instead.

Shaking her head she finished folding her clothes and got up to head to the bathroom. She tried not to take too many toiletries when they went out somewhere, but there were a few things she refused to go without. And after the last time Natsu had mocked her for taking her toothpaste and then shamelessly stolen some of it she wasn't going to let him go without any either.

"Here." She said as she came back out, blinking in surprise when she realized her pile of clothes had vanished. Had he actually packed them already?

Slightly disbelieving, she peered inside and sure enough... Natsu had packed her clothes for her. Talk about a first!

She smiled as she handed over the items, "Are we ready then?" She asked.

"Yep!" Natsu exclaimed, seemingly over whatever had made him stutter before, and leapt to his feet, shrugging the pack on with ease, "Let's go!"

He turned towards Happy and scooped him onto the bed after seeing he was having a bit of trouble climbing onto the mattress.

"Got your fish buddy?" He asked the kitten and helped him roll it into a green rucksack to help him tie around his shoulders. Happy was still young enough to need help doing that, and Natsu seemed more than patient enough with him to assist.

It was a little heartwarming to see him doing things like that for the kitten, but Lucy bit her tongue as Happy crawled onto Natsu's shoulder and they both turned to give her identical looks of impatience.

"What're you lookin' at us like that Lucy?" Happy asked with an innocent tilt of his head, "It's really creepy."

At Natsu's cackling response, all signs of affection vanished from the horizon and Lucy tugged at Happy's ears, "Quiet you."

"C'mon then, let's go meet up with Wendy and have her help you with the train and we can get going" Lucy grinned as Natsu punched the air enthusiastically and let out a small roar of excitement.

"Alright! I'm all fired up now!"

Lucy rolled her eyes as they headed out and headed back to the guild to officially take both jobs. For some reason, the trip to the guild always seemed shorter than the one back home, but Lucy chalked that up to she was always eager to get there.

So it didn't take them long to get back and find Wendy.

"Aw, you're not going to the festival?" The little dragonslayer sighed in disappointment.

"Heh, now don't get all sad and gloomy!" Natsu grinned, reaching out to rub her head a little, "We're takin' both jobs! It's two weeks to the festival so we should have plenty of time to do this other one first!"

"Really?!" Wendy gasped in delight.

"Yep!" Lucy promised as she re-joined them, "I've confirmed it with Mira. Natsu and I will take this job first and then the three of us will go to the festival!" She smiled at Wendy, "We just need you to cast a Troia spell on Natsu so we can take the train. Do you mind?"

"Of course not!" Wendy exclaimed happily and reached up to cast the spell, "There! That should get you for a little while at least."

Lucy nodded and looked at Natsu, "We should hurry then. The sooner we get going the more ground we'll cover before it wears off."

"Right. See ya in a few days Wendy!"

"Bye Natsu! Bye Lucy!" Wendy called, "I'll have everything ready when you get back!"

The pair waved as they headed out and Cana chuckled from where she was wrapped around her barrel, "Those three need to be careful or they're gonna start looking like a family."

"Aw, I think it's cute!" Mira laughed, "Who would've thought all Natsu needed was someone like Lucy in his life?"

"Sure sure," Cana grinned, her fingers tracing patterns on the wooden barrel, "Lets just hope they figure it out for themselves. It's almost as bad as Alzack and Bisca used to be."

"Now now," Mira smiled alongside Cana, wiping clean the glasses from behind the bar counter, "Are you telling me you're thinking about changing your bet?"

"Hell no!" Cana smirked viciously back at Mira, double checking over her shoulder to ensure there wasn't a pink haired dragonslayers around to eavesdrop.

"I'm just thinking about making it a little more interesting!" Cana cheered and beckoned for the rest of the guild's attention, "fifty thousand jewel on those love birds coming back together! Any takers?"

The answering cheer was heard from the street, and Natsu blinked, glancing towards the guild as they crossed the short distance to the station.

"Huh, wonder what's got them so excited," He shrugged.

"Knowing those guys... it could be anything." Lucy smirked in amusement before heading over to get their tickets. Thankfully, being in the guild had its perks and they had a queue all their own, so it only took a few moments to get what was needed.

Natsu couldn't help admiring Lucy as she did all the talking. He hated interacting with people like that. He was generally too impatient and it escalated quickly. But Lucy was practically born for it.

She smiled, sparkled and flirted and the guys behind the counter were generally falling all over themselves to please her. It always made him grin to watch, even if a twinge of jealousy curled in his stomach when he did.

Though it never lasted long as she would then turn and give him that victorious little smile that she reserved just for him. The one that told him she'd totally been playing whoever she was talking to, and had come out on top. It was a smile that always made the demonic side of him purr in admiration. Sort of a proof that Lucy did have a calculating side to her.

A fact that somehow made her kindness and genuine smiles, that much more special. It pleased him more than he would ever admit that he knew her well enough to know one side from the other.

Though it did help she never did it maliciously. It was always to get information or try and weasel a discount. He couldn't fault her for either.

"Got it?" He purred as she rejoined him with their tickets, his voice unconsciously dropping as his admiration bled through a little.

Lucy blushed a bit at the sound of it, her insides melting some at the husky tone, "Yeah. Platform three. Train's due to depart in about ten minutes."

She bit her tongue against saying anything else because the very first thought on her mind was that Natsu's voice should be illegal when he spoke like that. Seriously. It was sexy as hell, and it made want to curl up and have him read to her in that voice.

Anything would do. The phonebook really. She wasn't picky.

Of course the moment Natsu boarded the train, he was filled with childish excitement that chased away all signs of his inner thoughts the moment Troia took effect.

He practically ran from one end of the train to the other as he searched high and low for their compartment, eventually laying claim to whichever one he thought would have the best view.

He flopped back on the seat, grinning widely up at Happy as he floated up to land on pink spikes. Lucy more sedately dropped down across the way, her cheeks still warm from the sharpness in his eyes and the wickedness in his smile.

The strange, burgeoning feelings for him she had kept resurfacing at strange times. Times like this where she had trouble figuring out what to do or how to react especially since they had begun to grow in intensity.

It was easier to ignore his natural charisma and attractive smile when he was complete jerk. But over the months of knowing one another and Natsu opened up to her more and more, his devilish behavior had shifted from bloodthirsty intent to something much nicer. Something warmer.

It was the difference between an inferno and a campfire.

She tucked her legs up under her and leaned on her elbow against the window, "Ready for another adventure?"

Natsu grinned back at her and nodded

"I'm all fired up!"

OHOHOH! WE SNUCK A CHAPTER UP ON YOU! AND YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE TO WAIT! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, MSLEAD!

Not enough time for review responses because of the fast update, but I will address a few questions.

1.) A Drake is a leader of a nest. It's determined by a special something they have. They have an extremely vast supply of magic in them. Natsu is a drake simply because he's also a demon, he has way too much power for him NOT to be a drake. Gajeel is one because... well he's Gajeel. Look at the guy. In canon he had a sword shoved through his arm. And he FLEXED IT INTO PIECES. AND THEN ATE IT.

They are unusually strong, even for a dragon, which makes them natural leaders. Igneel was a drake, Natsu is a drake, and Gajeel is a drake. There can be female drakes as well, it isn't specified to just one gender.

2.) Kytrin and I are working on a new fic right now as we speak. Parallels is totally done, so all we're doing now is updating the chapters we've been sitting on.

3.) Laxus will not be appearing in this fic. Him being a dragon would be sort of complicated, and fitting him into the story wasn't working. SORRY LAXUS FANS.

4.) Frosch and Lector are super cute, and they were ORIGINALLY in the fic, but we removed them because... :'D We forgot they were there and didn't even notice. So sorry, those furballs aren't showing up either.

I think that's itttt.

"Doesn't matter what it is so long as I can beat it up!"

He thought about it long and hard as he tried to figure out what it could be, "I dunno what could make men disappear in the middle of the night. But whatever it is, it has to be good. Maybe food?"

"Or fish!" Happy added with a flick of his tail.

"Those are both the same thing," Lucy tiredly replied, letting loose a quiet sigh. Her boys gave her a baffled look and she just groaned.