After resting for three days, Lucy felt she had almost made a full recovery from her stroke. Zeref had suggested she take it easy for a couple days before she began her training and she had readily complied. Although Zeref's healing spell seemed to have done the trick, Lucy had noticed a few things that made her nervous. For one, she was tired all time—so tired that she didn't mind staying in bed all day. For another, gaps where beginning to show up in her memory.

These lapses weren't major, but little things like the names of old acquaintances or things she had done on previous missions seemed to have grown foggy.

While she had been bedridden, Zeref only come to see her once. He had only stayed briefly and asked a series of questions—where was she born, what foods did she like, ect. He had also inquired about Natsu's whereabouts but Lucy hadn't been able to give him a good answer. Although Natsu visited her every day, there seemed to be long stretches that were unaccounted for. She tried not to let this bother her. After all, she had been sleeping so much that she was probably sleeping right through his visits.

Zeref's absence also saddened her but she pushed those feelings aside. She was in love with Natsu so continuing a close relationship with Zeref would be selfish. Besides, she knew Zeref was probably busy trying to rehabilitate his brother or searching for information about gathering magical energy.

Lucy heard footsteps coming up the tower's staircase and glanced at the clock. It was almost 11pm—where had Natsu been all day?

The door opened and she could tell that Natsu was trying to be quiet. He took off his shirt and pants so that he was wearing nothing but boxers, and then slid into bed next to her.

Lucy inhaled softly. He smelled faintly of sweat. He had definitely been doing something physical.

"Hey there," she murmured as she rolled over.

Natsu curled up behind her. "Ah, you're awake."

"Yeah, what were you doing?" she asked.

"Getting a little workout in."

"I can tell."

"Why, do I stink?"

"No—well you smell like sweat but it isn't a bad smell." She snuggled closer to him.

Natsu's arm pulled her closer. "I like the way you smell too, especially right now. Were you thinking of me?"

"Actually, I was. How would you know—" Lucy stopped, completely horrified. "Wait, what do I smell like?"

Natsu nibbled on her ear. "Like Lucy, it's great."

"Does my scent ever… change?" she asked.

"Yes." Natsu's hand ran along the curve of her hip and she shivered. "It's changing right now."

"Ug, that's disgusting. Stop smelling me." She tried to scoot forward to put some space between the two of them but Natsu pulled her back.

Lucy felt betrayed by her body. Had she ever felt… enticed around Natsu before? Her mind poured over their past interactions.

Natsu moved from her ear down to her neck. Whatever he was doing, felt good.

"We shouldn't do this," she whispered. "This is Zeref's home."

"Fuck that guy." Natsu's voice became sharp and gravely. His open hostility was jarring.

"He's trying to help."

"I can't wait to get away from this place—did you know the forest just outside of this castle has turned completely black?"

"No," she said weakly.

"Zeref's worried about me being stable—meanwhile, he practically a ticking time bomb."

Lucy was quiet for a moment. She was wondering what had set Zeref off so that he had unleashed his deathwave. She'd only known him to unleash it once—when they had traveled back in time. In that instant, he had been newly cursed and had just accidently killed his friend so a lack of control almost seemed inevitable. Was he really more unstable than she thought?

Natsu rolled her onto her back and climbed on top of her. "Let's stop talking about Zeref." He kissed her firmly, forcing her mouth open with his tongue.

Any attempts that Lucy had made at telling her body to settle down were failing to pieces. When had Natsu become so goddamn sexy? Had he always had those chiseled abs and wide back? Everywhere he touched her seemed to delight her senses.

His body pressed firmly against hers and Lucy's adrenaline spiked when she felt something firm pressing against her nightgown.

She broke their kiss. "Natsu, I think we should take a break." What he was doing felt great but she didn't want to take things to far while they were a guest in Zeref's home.

He looked at her and his eyes had changed. The pupils had lengthened and the irises and grown, filling his entire eye.

He didn't move.

"Natsu, can you please back up?" Lucy's voice rose an octave.

His lips parted and Lucy could see that all of his teeth, not just the canines had lengthened and become sharp. A forked tongue flicked across his lips.

"Natsu, you're beginning to scare me." She tried to move her arms. He had them pinned to either side of her head.

His head lowered towards her breast and his tongue flicked out, tracing the thin fabric. He released one of her arms and grabbed the collar of her nightgown. In one quick motion, he ripped a piece of the fabric off.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed. Her fear had skyrocketed into full blown terror. Natsu was gone. Some sort of monster had taken his place.

With her free hand, she slapped him in the across the face.

Natsu hissed at her but didn't back away. Mustering up all her strength, she punched him in the nose. It was awkward since she was lying down and couldn't get force behind the punch, but his head jerked back.

Lucy waited to see how he would react.

Several moments passed and she held her breath. Finally her heard Natsu's real voice.

"Lucy?" he asked. "What happened?"

Natsu looked down at her and she was relieved to see that the whites of his eyes had returned.

"Oh thank god. Can you get off of me?"

Natsu looked down and blinked in confusion. He brought his hand towards his face and did a double-take when he saw the ripped cloth in his hand.

"What the hell? Why am I holding this?"

He was still on top of her and she wanted him off…immediately. She started to edge her way up so she could crawl out from underneath him.

"What happened? Oh no! Lucy, did I…" his voice trailed off.

"Yes, you were an asshole," she finished.

He rolled off her and she sprang to her feet. She walked to the other side of the room on shaky legs and stared at him.

"I'm—I'm sorry," he stammered.

"Please get your things and leave. I'm really upset right now and would like some time to myself."

Natsu ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I didn't mean to do this. You have to let me explain."

"We can talk tomorrow. Right now, I want you to leave."

Natsu gave her one more pleading look but something in her eyes told him that she was serious. He walked to the corner of the room and picked up his pants and shirt, then left.