Act 3

36

"Sometimes people leave you
Halfway through the wood
Others may decieve you
You decide what's good
You decide alone
But no one is alone"
― Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods

Natsu… Can you hear me? Look through the gate...

Natsu was exhausted. After the whole debacle with the evil-mermaid-spirit-thing, he was so tired he never even wanted to so much as look at a glass of water, much less a river again.

When he voiced his complaint to Lucy, she just advised him not to say something like that in front of Juvia otherwise she might get her feelings hurt.

And then he would get drowned.

Again.

Happy was sound asleep, curled up on their pack as the train rattled back to Magnolia. The little cat had also exhausted himself in the adventure despite not being a part of much of the action.

The party the villagers had made after their success in completing the job could rival one of Fairy Tail's own celebrations.

His stomach was a little queasy on the trip back, having used some of the medication Lucy brought him from her world. It wasn't as effective as Wendy's troia, but made travelling a hundred times more bearable than it would be without.

He blinked as a glass of water suddenly appeared in his vision, and he looked up to see Lucy extending it to him, "Here you go. Still not feeling good?"

"Not bad," Natsu smiled at her but accepted the cup gratefully. He gave it a sour look, still seeing the water as his nemesis, but since Lucy had gone through the trouble of fetching it for him, he supposed he'd survive. He drank it, despite the lingering taste of mud and river which refused to dislodge itself from the back of his throat.

It helped a little.

He leaned his head against the cool glass of the window that had been partially cracked open.

"Thanks," He set the glass aside and leaned back in his chair, watching as Lucy curled up on her seat next to him.

He glanced down at her, sitting so close to his shoulder and with her legs tucked neatly under her body. She sat innocently, but her bottom lip was caught between her teeth and she nibbled on it distractingly.

That increasingly familiar tightening in his stomach alerted him to the direction his thoughts were taking, as did the quickening of his pulse.

He cursed himself for getting so distracted over something as foolishly simple as her biting her lips. It was hard to dismiss the idea of leaning over to soothe her reddening mouth with his own.

His mind flashed to the memory of the spirit, pressing against him and using Lucy's mouth to kiss him. He wondered how the real one would feel.

The spirit had forced his feelings to the surface in a way Gray had only partially succeeded in achieving. Natsu was no fool. He had been the one to instigate that kiss with the serpent. Knowledge that it took Lucy's form didn't stop Natsu from wanting to scrub his tongue off, but it did help soothe him to know he had almost immediately recognized the fraud for what she was.

There was no denying he had been captured thoroughly under her spell.

He was forced to admit his feelings for the woman seated beside him. The one who drove his heart into his throat with a smile or a flash of humor in her eyes.

Lucy nibbled her lower lip again, the motion sending another jolt down into his stomach.

He was a goner.

Shaking his head to finally rid himself of that increasingly stubborn thought, he nudged her with his elbow, "What're the matter, you've got that creepy look on your face again."

"What?" Lucy protested at him, her cheeks flushing, "Do not!"

"Sure you do!" Natsu cackled playfully, pleased he could make her blush, "You never make that face unless you're thinkin' about something. So what is it?"

He would take any distraction he could get at the moment.

Lucy's blush deepened but she sighed, "Well, I was just thinking that since we got this job wrapped up so fast we'll have more time than we thought before the festival." She hesitated, "Maybe...we could go early?" She asked hopefully, "It'd be kinda nice to take a break and relax for a little while first."

Natsu blinked at her, not having expected that, "You mean you wanna go play tourist or something?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah. We see a lot of new places, but it'd be nice to just explore one for a day or two before we had to get back to work y'know?"

That was all she wanted?

He burst into laughter over her blushing about this, "Why didn't you say you wanted a break?" He grinned, "Sure we can go early! It sounds like fun!" As long as he was with her he was happy to do pretty much anything.

His mushy thought turned to happy pride when her face lit up in delight, "Really?" She gasped, "Thank you Natsu!"

"No sweat!" He beamed, "We'll take Wendy and make it a real holiday!" He eyed her shrewdly, "But that wasn't all you had on your mind was it?"

He knew her well enough by now to know she didn't chew on her lip like that unless she was really trying to figure something out. And if she was trying to sidestep the issue then it had to be something big. Which meant he really wanted to know.

Sure enough Lucy blushed again, "Well... it's just my curiosity. You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but..." She bit her lip again, making him actually twitch with the urge to lean over and suck that poor abused lip into his mouth, "How do you know so much about spirit politics?" She asked in a rush.

Huh?

Natsu blinked at Lucy, suitably distracted. He slowly tilted his head at her as if he hadn't heard her. Again, he didn't understand why she was worried about asking him a question like that, but then remembered for as smart as Lucy was, she didn't know the full history of this world.

"Oh, that," Natsu scratched his head, recalling how he explained to Lucy that the mermaid spirit would face judgement from the Celestial king.

"It ain't hard to guess why," Natsu slipped his hands into his pockets, "You've heard of the Celestial War once or twice before now, right?"

Lucy nodded, frowning to herself. Yes, she had recalled the war's importance.

Even Fairy Tail, to some extent, had gotten involved in the fight. Although it had largely been limited to dragons, demons, and other such creatures.

The records in her special book were incomplete. Although it made sense considering how Natsu had come to possess Leo's key.

"I guess, in some messed up way, you could say the Celestial War was my fault," Natsu frowned as he folded his arms over his chest, glancing out the window.

"I told you before I was born a human," Natsu looked at Lucy, who stared back at him with her full attention. He couldn't help but feel warm at how intently she was looking at him, as if knowing this was important.

"Not a lot of people actually know that fact about myself," He rubbed a hand through his hair, "Or know that my brother, who brought me back to life as a demon, was Zeref."

Lucy's eyes widened, her mouth opening as she tried to place where she had heard that name so many times in the past. Natsu grinned crookedly.

Look at who was starting to recognize names. Finally.

"Wasn't he the one who started the Celestial War?" She asked, putting the pieces together with shocking speed. Natsu was impressed and nodded his agreement.

"Yeah. He was sort of like you," Natsu leaned his arms down onto his knees, turning his gaze to stare at the wall in front of them as the train rattled onward.

"He was smart. Scary smart. Zeref could do anything he set his mind to, even something as crazy as bring the dead back to life," He shook his head, "He had plenty of time to figure out a way too. Mages have such long lives, it was like a blink of an eye to him. Most mages wouldn't attempt it, the cost is so steep. But- I guess he was lonely."

He glanced down at the compartment floor, an irritated growl building in his chest.

"Zeref looked up many ways to cheat death. One of those ways was with something called the Eclipse Gate, which harnessed the power of the Celestial Spirits and bound them to the keys they used as magical conduits," Natsu explained but still didn't look at her.

"Even though he constructed the gate, which he hoped could open a portal into the past to save me, I guess his research brought him to the demons instead. The Eclipse gate was later scrapped and its use changed," Natsu shrugged, "So for a time after he brought me back as a demon, he abandoned his research into the Celestial Gates."

"At the time, I was very confused and little," Natsu shrugged, "My brother tried to help me, but I was too powerful. I had such an incredible amount of demonic power in me, it probably would have killed me again. That's when I came to meet Igneel."

"My memories before him are really hazy. I can't say I remember much about Zeref. Just that he allowed Igneel to raise me and teach me dragon magic," His hand found Igneel's scarf and he smiled at Lucy, "You know what happened after that."

Lucy nodded, her hand finding its way into the crook of his arm, letting him draw strength from her, no matter how subconscious a reaction it was.

"You became a dragon after that, and met Leo - he was friends with Igneel, right?" Lucy asked encouragingly, Natsu nodded.

"Yeah. Leo and Igneel went way back, and when Igneel adopted me Leo kinda became like a big brother." His lips twisted into something that held too much regret to be a smile, but wasn't quite anything else either, "He wasn't exactly nest, but he was close. He helped teach me how to fight, and a bunch of other stuff."

Those had been good times. Some of the best times. And it hurt now to know they were long gone and that not all of it was because of Zeref.

"That's how you wound up with his key." Lucy murmured, "You inherited it from Igneel."

Natsu nodded, trying to swallow the lump of emotion that was trying to form in his throat, "Yeah." He flashed her a smile, "But he's way better off with you. He can actually do something constructive besides nag me and flirt with every woman he sees."

Lucy smiled back, but she curled closer to him anyway. To give up one of the few things he'd inherited from his adopted father... that had to have been hard. She wasn't sure she could've done it in his place.

Natsu watched her for a moment, appreciating the gesture for what it was, and returned to staring at the wall, "It wasn't long after that things went crazy." He continued quietly.

"Zeref decided he wanted us to be a family again, which meant me leaving Igneel. And that was something I didn't want. I didn't really remember Zeref and Igneel was my dad. There was no way I was going to leave him. But Zeref didn't see it that way, so he figured out how to jam the gates open so he could take me away from Igneel to a world where we could 'be a family again' or some crap like that."

The amount of bitterness in his tone hurt to hear and Lucy wrapped her arms around him, not caring that it left her sitting in his lap to do so, "That wasn't your fault Natsu." She murmured fiercely into his hair, "You were just a kid, and Zeref wanted to take you away from the only family you remembered. Zeref was to blame. Not you."

Natsu let out a hard laugh, although he didn't seem like he believed what she said, her words brought him some comfort. His arms wrapped around her waist instinctively, the steady comfort of her weight pressing against his lap was nice.

"I guess, but It sure as hell made the whole war complicated to explain. Igneel kept it a secret who my brother was, and swore Leo to secrecy. But the fight lasted a long time. I might have been really little, but I still fought with everything I had to stay with Igneel until-"

Natsu swallowed thickly and his grip on Lucy's hips tightened, his chest rising and falling to a beat only he could hear.

"Zeref hurt Igneel. Bad," He whispered, "I didn't think it was even possible, but he gave him injuries he later died from. Maybe he would have lived if I hadn't been so stupid and desperate to accept the council's help. But I wasn't thinking straight. I-... I fought with my brother."

"I don't know how I beat him, I was young, but I was so furious," Natsu said quietly, "We were alone in Mavis' library, a section of Fairy Tail I burned down a long time ago. I blacked out, and when I came around, I was standing on the battlefield, surrounded by celestial spirits, dragons, and mages, I used every ounce of my demonic and dragon magic, and attacked Zeref like a monster."

"I killed him, and he fell through the gate, which caused it to slam shut," Natsu finished, "I thought it would stay shut forever with Zeref gone, but then-"

"I showed up years later," Lucy finished the story.

With as much contact as Natsu had with the Celestial spirits over the years in the war, it only made sense he would know so much about it. But.. for some reason, Lucy had a feeling that Natsu's reputation as the Monster End had begun on that day.

Because wasn't it afterwards when Igneel died, Natsu was abandoned by his nest?

And then pushed away from the humans and demons he tried to make a new home with.

"Natsu..." Lucy breathed, her heart going out to him and met his eyes, "I wish I could undo what happened." She told him softly, but earnestly, "Or that I'd been there to fight with you. I really do."

Maybe she wouldn't have made much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but at least he wouldn't have been alone. And that alone might've made a huge difference. Unfortunately, it was like wishing for another day with her mother. Something she might long for, but knew she would never get. All she could do was deal with what was and the moment.

Natsu blinked at her and gave her a small, bitterly sad, smile, "If you had you would've seen how much of a monster I really am."

Lucy shook her head, "If the stuff you pulled when we met wasn't enough to do that, then what makes you think I would ever see a monster in a frightened, grief stricken, little boy?" She asked softly.

Natsu blinked at her again, a bit thrown by her gentle logic, and something in him swelled with emotions he was having trouble naming.

It made him happy though, and the smile he gave her reflected that, "Thanks Luce." He murmured, allowing himself to hold her close and breathe in her scent. Strawberries and cream. It always soothed him, and he couldn't help basking in it now as it softened the sharp edges left by his memories.

It took several minutes but he eventually calmed down enough to pull away and smile at her again. That was when he became very aware that she was still in his lap and had her arms wrapped around him as tightly as he had his around her.

She was close. Very close. And all at once his thoughts derailed as he realized just how close those petal soft looking lips of hers really were.

Lucy became hyper aware of that fact when she felt his hand coming to rest from her hip to her lower back. Suddenly her position on his lap felt far too encompassing, and she realized it wasn't very lady-like of her to be sitting on him like this. But Natsu didn't seem to mind the position.

In fact, the way his warm hand gripped the bare skin of her thigh had her heart crawling into her throat. Heat radiated outward from his body, causing a flush to roll down her spine and decorate her cheeks.

She felt frozen where she was, barely able to breathe between the heat building between them. Lucy dropped a hand against his cheek, heart hammering in her chest.

She wet her lips, staring up at him, and the motion seemed to attract his attention downwards. Had he-?

The intensity behind his eyes was almost too hot to handle. His green eyes were sharp on her, intent with something instinctual that had a rush of excitement burning through her. She couldn't help but squirm on his lap, his grip tightening against her skin enough for her to feel the branding heat from his palm.

The soft inhale of breath from Natsu wasn't her imagination. It couldn't be.

The way he was looking at her now though wasn't fair. Natsu was attractive. It was something she had noticed from day one, even though at the time it had annoyed her. But now they had grown close together, Lucy didn't know how she could possibly resist him.

"Natsu..." She set a hand on the back of his neck, a hand hesitant at first, but more bold when he didn't pull away.

Natsu growled softly in response as he let her guide him closer. It felt like he was burning up inside, and he was absolutely loving it.

She was warm and pliable under his hands, and he itched to run them all over her and find out if she was as soft everywhere as she was here. He kept them steady though. He would not take more than she was willing to give. He was determined on that. No matter how much he wanted it.

And he wanted it very badly.

Ever since that moment on the river, when he'd been forced to face how much he truly desired from her, he'd been quietly burning. Now the real Lucy was here and inching towards him and he ached to share this flame with her. To make her burn for him the way he did her.

It was a sweet torment, and the slow anticipation was making it even sweeter even as he whined softly, pleadingly, for her to hurry. A sound that had an equally soft, breathless, laugh escaping her perfect lips but she did speed up.

He nearly groaned when their noses brushed and was practically quivering with excitement as their lips began to brush together.

Yes! This was what he wanted! This and so much more!

But their moment was shattered by the sound of Happy whining as he woke up from his nap and sitting up, "Is there any fish?" The kitten mewled sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his paws.

Lucy ripped herself from Natsu so fast, the dragon was certain she was going to give herself a concussion just by accidentally flinging herself into the wall.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he watched Lucy tumble backwards off his lap and onto the floor of the compartment.

Despite his overall frustration over having been interrupted, Natsu couldn't help the snort of laughter that burst from him at the sight her of desperately trying to hold her skirt down as she tumbled onto the train floor.

Or how rapidly she rose to her knees, her face burning bright red.

His snort grew into a full on cackle, his arms folding over his stomach as he laughed and pointed, unable to voice words to the hilarity of what was happening.

They had been so close...

and then Happy-

and then the floor-

Natsu laughed harder, tears pricking at his eyes as he threw his head back, unable to stop himself.

Happy was very confused over what was happening, or how Lucy slowly rose up to her feet, looked insulted for a second, before she too joined Natsu in his wild giggles.

"Wow... you two are so weird," Happy gave them both a baleful look and curled back up onto the pack, looking at them attentively.

"Says the talking cat." Lucy quipped as she sat back down next to Natsu, her own heart still pounding fiercely. Both from what had happened and what had almost happened.

She shared a grin with Natsu and felt herself relax, despite the heat still throbbing through her, and the tingling and whining she felt in places. She could tell by the look in his eyes that Natsu was feeling exactly the same, and that made her feel better.

She giggled a little and curled up against him, happy to let the raging fire that had sparked to life between them settled back down into a simmer for now.

Of course, she knew it wouldn't stay there.

It couldn't now that they were aware of it. And they would have to talk about it soon. But for now at least she was content.

Mslead is sick. She can only weakly offer you a sneak peek and crawl off to bed. Love and smooches

"Sounds fun," Gray grinned and stretched out, "Why don't we all go? The festival is on the outskirts of Magnolia. It's close so we can all put up for the night in the same place."

"Ew, I don't want your stinkin' face getting in my way," Natsu growled at the ice mage.

Gray shoved his way back into Natsu's personal space, his eyes icy and irritated, "Oh yeah? Not like I wanna hang out with you anyway! It's just a great place for me and Juvia to go!"

"No way! I called dibs!"

"You can't call dibs on a festival you jerk!"

"Watch me, I just did!"