Hoho, what's this? An update? After over a month? OMG! I'M NOT DEAD! Yeah sorry about that folks. At first it was a little writers' block, but after i got over that, I went back onto my laptop and it just... couldn't log in to my account. Well, my mother board was crashing and it took forever to get it fixed. But, I'm here now and I have a pretty long chapter here ;)

Anyway, DISCLAIMER! I do NOT own Fairy Tail! All those rights go to Hiro Mashima! I only own this plot here! Enjoy!

Chapter 17

"We're here sirs," the driver called from up front. I looked up from Natsu's sleeping face and nodded through the window. We had given him those pills again, but he should be waking up very soon. The carriage jolted to a stop and the driver climbed down from his position. A moment later the door opened. I lifted Natsu's head from my lap and pulled him onto my back so that we could get out.

Some people wearing black shirts came over to us with a chair, to which I set Natsu down in. I slapped him a few times on the cheek.

"Hey, Natsu," I whispered, getting in his face. He started to stir, but didn't wake up. I stood up straight and narrowed my eyes at him. Then I got an idea. I went to the side of him and bent down so that I was eye level with him.

"Hey Naaatsuuu," I whispered and blew into his ear.

"YeeeeeeOOOOOWWW," he yelled, springing out of the chair and away from me. I smirked as I watched him rub his ear in irritation.

"The hell just happen?" he yelled, though not as loud before. He looked around at all the people staring at him, but once his gaze settled on mine, he glared. I snickered.

"That was you, wasn't it?" he demanded. By now, my snicker turned into a laugh.

"Don't do that again," he ordered, but I only laughed harder. He turned away from me and headed in the direction of the large building that I was told the conference was going to be held in. I tried to control my laughter as I followed him.

As we neared the building, some people with the same black shirts on went up to Natsu and escorted him toward the side of the building. I hastily followed behind, trying to catch up to them. When I rounded the corner, Natsu had already walked into the building through a back entrance guarded by a large a burly man. Getting a little nervous from being left behind, I went up to the man.

"Excuse me, um, I'm with the young man with pink hair who just walked in here. Natsu Dragneel," I told him, not quite looking him in the eye.

He narrowed his eyes at me, giving me a skeptical look. "Who are you?" he questioned in a deep, booming voice. Involuntarily, I stepped back and gulped.

"G-Gray Fullbuster," I stuttered, getting a little nervous.

"What's your relationship with Mr. Dragneel?" he asked.

"Uuuuh…"

"Gray!" I jumped and looked up. Behind the man was Natsu looking relieved and surprised. "What are you doing out here?"

"S-sorry," I mumbled, feeling uncomfortable, but not as nervous anymore.

He sighed. "It's alright, Jason, he's with me. He's the guy." The man, Jason, nodded.

"My apologies, sir," he said in a more polite voice. He bowed and moved aside. I quickly went over to Natsu and took his hand. He led me through several hallways before stopping in front of a white door. Inside were Lucy and Loke.

"Hey guys," Natsu exclaimed, closing the door. Lucy smiled and came over to us to give each of us a hug. Loke, on the other hand, just stood to the side and smirked, though he gave a polite bow when Natsu looked his way. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shook his head.

"I'm so glad you're here. They were just about to give up on you and start without you. I kept telling them to wait a little longer, that you'll be here. I actually thought you were too nervous to come," Lucy told us.

"Sorry about that. We were on a date and we lost track of time," Natsu replied, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

"That sounds fun! What did you do?" she asked taking a seat.

"We just went into town and looked at all the vendors for the Fantasia parade. Then we got ice cream."

"That sounds really nice." Then she turned to Loke. "Why don't you ever take me on dates," she teased. Loke shifted his weight and looked away, embarrassed.

"L…Lucy," he said uncomfortably, a light blush on his cheeks. Lucy giggled.

"Just kidding," she told him. He looked at her, relieved. She giggled again.

"But I'll make sure we'll go on a date too. To set an example of course, but it also sounds really nice. I've never been on a date before!" she exclaimed. We all smiled at her.

"Well we should probably head to the conference hall now," Natsu finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Right. A lot of the big companies are coming here. Like the Sorcerer's Weekly!" Lucy said excitedly. "I've always wanted to be interviewed by them!" Loke chuckled. Lucy gave him an annoyed look, but otherwise didn't say anything. We walked out of the room and saw two young women in black shirts standing there, hand raised ready to knock.

"Hello Miss Heartfilia, Mr. Dragneel. We are here to escort you and your, erm, lovers to the hall now," the one on the left said, looking at me. I looked to the floor.

"Alright, thank you," Natsu responded.

The minute we walked into the hall, all went silent. I could feel every pair of eyes watching us as we climbed the steps that lead to the stage. There was a long desk with four chairs and four long weird looking sticks with odd looking balls on them. Later, I would find out that these sticks were actually called microphones.

We all walked up and took our places in each chair. Then a middle aged man came up onto the stage in front of us.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Crocus's evening press conference. We have here Natsu Dragneel of the well known Dragneel Plantation and Lucy Heartfilia of the Heartfilia Plantation. With them they have brought their slaves, taken off the fields and called lovers. Questions will start now, starting with Miss Heartfilia." With that, he quickly walked off the stage. Hands immediately rose. Lucy looked around and randomly chose a hand.

"Miss Heartfilia, what exactly is your reason for turning down the engagement with Mr. Dragneel? He is of a family with much power and wealth. Yet you seemed to have chosen someone lesser," a woman inquired near the front. Lucy smiled.

"Indeed, he does have much power and he's a good man. But this marriage wasn't of my choice. The Heartfilia Plantation is doing just fine without any more help. But I also believe in love. While I do like Natsu, it is Loke who I have come to love and care about," she replied confidently in the stick. Her voice rang out through the hall so that she could be heard by all. I was slightly amazed by it. Meanwhile, the woman stood there, completely surprised, but she sat down when Lucy didn't go on.

"I have a question for Mr. Dragneel," a random person shouted out.

At the sound of his name, Natsu snapped out of his dazed look and looked toward the voice. "Yes," he responded.

"Who is the dark haired slave? I was informed that you and Miss Heartfilia were going to bring slaves who were their lovers," the man asked. He stood up and gave him a curious look.

Natsu, in turn, smiled before answering. "He is my lover. His name is Gray Fullbuster. I took him out of the fields a few weeks ago. We have been going out for a small while. Not as long as Loke and Lucy, but he and I have been connecting."

All was silent as every pair of eyes stared at him in shock. And all the while he kept smiling innocently, maybe obliviously, waiting for their reaction. Even I couldn't contain surprise. He's too blunt for his own good.

No one reacted outrageously as the reporter sat back down, now over his shock. It was a few minutes until someone asked another question.

"I have a question for Gray," someone called. Surprised, I looked over to the voice. It was a woman. She looked rather excited.

"So you two are lovers," she stated. "And you worked in the fields. But how did you come to meet Mr. Dragneel if you worked in the fields initially?"

"Well, I guess Natsu was on a stroll one day and he came to the barley field where my cabin was posted," I started. "There were some problems with our Authority and I was whipped. Natsu saw the wounds and took me in."

"Were your wounds really that bad?" she persisted. I nodded.

"I was told they used a new whip. It had five tails rather than one and it had spiked balls on the tip of each of them. So it left wounds unlike any other I have had," I answered. She nodded.

"I also have a question for Loke," she went on when no one else spoke up. I looked over to the orange haired slave. He gave her a charming smile as he waited for her to go on. She blushed and looked to the ground for a brief moment.

"How did you meet Miss Heartfilia?"

"Well, unlike Gray, I worked in the Big House, under my Master," he answered. "I worked as one of his personal slaves in his quarters. I often passed her in the hallways, running errands for Master Heartfilia. One day, she simply pulled me over to talk to me randomly. After the first time doing that, we did it more often and one thing led to another." The woman nodded in fascination before taking her seat once more.

"I have a question for Gray," a voice called out. It was another woman as I glance over to the voice. She stood up and my blood froze. It was the same woman from the ice cream parlor. Shaggy, long brown hair and striking purple eyes. She wore a woman's dress suit, unlike last time, where she wore a long black hooded cloak. She had a humored, knowing look, as if she knew what I was thinking.

"I'm sure you're aware of the rebellion that is currently in place." I nodded. "Well then, with that in mind, did you become lovers with Mr. Dragneel here in order to give the rebellion more support?"

The question shocked me to a point where I couldn't answer for a few seconds. I just stared at her, my mouth open. In my peripheral, I saw Natsu, Loke and Lucy had similar expressions. I blinked a few times before finally answering.

"No." My voice rang around the room, surprising me slightly. But I didn't stop there. "I genuinely care about Natsu. He informed me of the rebellion after we officially called ourselves a couple." It wasn't a total lie, but I couldn't tell them that Loke told me to get close to Natsu in order to help the resistance.

"But it might be because of your relationship that the Dragneel Corporation is cooperating at all," she pressed. She looked at me even harder now, her piercing eyes burning holes in my face. My heart started to beat faster, pounding in my ears. Sweat started to form on my brow and the nape of my neck. I had the urge to fold my arms across my chest, and the silence in the room definitely wasn't helping.

"I was already trying to convince my father to participate in the rebellion long before I even knew Gray existed. My relationship with him only gave my father and me better light to the situation at hand. We are a couple, rebellion or not," Natsu declared, easing my tension completely. I looked to him and gave him a smile, which he returned whole heartedly with his trademark grin.

I looked back to the woman. She looked completely stunned, as did the rest of the audience. They all stared at him. I felt something pulling my hand and give a squeeze. Knowing it was Natsu's hand, I squeezed back. The woman sat back down without another word.

A another few moments of silence passed before a man called out, "I also have a question for Gray." I looked over to the man.

"What is it like to work in the fields?" he asked. I sighed inwardly. This was a question I actually expected.

"It's horrible. I don't exaggerate when I say its hell. The authority are cruel, whipping us over the smallest things, or just because they want to. There's blackmailing, sexual harassment, under nourishing food, lack of winter clothing, simple medical help," I listed off. All the while the entire crowd stayed engaged, writing vigorously on their note pads.

"Mr. Dragneel, what made your family so reluctant to join in on the resistance when you knew that your slaves were being abused?" a man asked.

"Well that's the thing. We didn't know. We didn't know the extent of the Authority's behavior until I saw Gray's injuries. Same with my father. Although the press was also a problem, since the rebellion is seen in a bad light," he answered. There were several nods as he said this.

"Miss Lucy, I'm sure you are aware of the last Master that tried to have an affair with one of his slaves, yes?" Lucy nodded. "Weren't you scared at all if that were to happen to you and your slave?" Lucy gave a weary smile.

"Yes. You can't imagine how frightening the fear of being caught was. I had some slaves covering for us, but there was always that risk. I was truly scared, but I couldn't just ignore the feelings I had for him," she responded, glancing over to Loke. He gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand under the table.

"Are either of the slaves educated?" a random person called out. Some murmuring broke out. I looked over to Loke, waiting for him to answer first.

"Well, I'm getting better at reading. Lucy has been teaching me for a while now," he finally answered. The room fell silent quickly. "But I was never officially educated." He glanced to me now.

"I'm just beginning to learn to read. My Master has assigned me a tutor a few days ago. Other than that, I don't really have an education," I answered. More murmuring broke out, louder this time.

"Are you all aware of the recent radical attempts of resistance?" a woman called out. The room quieted, but there were still a few spare voices.

But I was surprised. I've never heard this. Radical resistance? I looked over to Natsu, but he looked just as confused as I felt. Looking even further, even Loke looked shocked. But Lucy didn't.

"No," Natsu spoke out at the same time Lucy said, "Yes." They looked to each other, surprised.

"Ok then, Miss Lucy, what is your view on them?" she inquired further.

"Well, it seems that we aren't paying this rebellion enough attention enough as it is. I'm sure it's tough being Bistros, but there are ranks where they can enter as official help in the rebellion, instead asking for unnecessary attention."

There were a few more questions after that, but I didn't really listen anymore. Hearing about another movement coming into play had my mind occupied the rest of the time.

After about twenty more minutes of questions, none of which I answered anymore, the conference was called to a close. The man who introduced us in the beginning came back up to the stage.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen for attending today. It is now time for these four to get back home. Have a good night." With that, Natsu stood up. I followed suit and trailed behind him as he got off the stage and went back to the room we were in prior to the conference.

"So what is this about radical attempts?" Natsu asked the minute the door closed.

"Just as it says. A group of Bistros are doing more than necessary to help the rebellion. It's a very recent thing actually, so I'm not surprised you don't know about it. Tomorrow's newspaper should have a story on some of it."

"Oh," was all he said. Loke smirked and took Lucy's hand.

"We should probably go. We have a curfew," Loke told us, leading Lucy to the door. "Until next time."

"You alright?" he asked after a few seconds of silence. I nodded, but stayed silent. He sighed and came over to take my hand.

"Don't let some of the things they said get to you." I nodded. There were a lot of racist comments during the last part of the conference.

"Let's go." I nodded again and followed him out of the building.

When we got back, a few lights were still on in the big house, but otherwise, all was quiet. A butler greeted us at the door and led us back to Natsu's room.

We silently got ready for bed. It wasn't until approximately after midnight, did I hear a sound come from the window. Natsu stayed asleep, snoring obnoxiously, while I, still wide awake from the conference, went to the window to see what the noise was. What I saw standing there had me frozen to my spot.

.

.

.

.

"Lyon!"

SOOOOOoooooo, good chappie? Might be a bit weird, but I stayed up late to get this on the minute I got my laptop back! Anyway, I'd like to say thanks to Pholas for giving me the Lyon idea! ARIGATOU PHOLAS! I was at another road block but then I remembered your review and I'm just like, BAM!

Anyway, again, I'm so sorry this happened! I hope this chapter was good enough to make up for the time I lost :'( And again, to my readers, feel free to add in some ideas just like IvoryQueen and Pholas did! All rights and recognition will go to you! Anywho, comment, like and if there's anything i can do better, feel free to speak up! Hopefully you won't have to wait as long! Though, since school started, my schedule will get a little tight, so be prepared for any late updates! Until next chapter, Scarlet out! Loves y'all!

Review Responses:

Blackened Ice: Thank you! ^^ That really means a lot! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

theabridgedkuriboh: All will be explained in due time. But hopefully not for too long ^^

IvoryQueen: Arigatou, you really helped me there too! But no, that wasn't Cana. Cana is a slave back in cabin Fairy Tail. This woman is another one of my OC's As for Igneel, I would picture him as one of those dad's who's reluctant to let their kid date. So naturally he wouldn't like Gray, but he doesn't completely dislike him ;) As for the radicals, that'll come later ;) As for Igneel again, I doubt he'll be the bad guy again, but you never know :) ANd your welcome! I do like writing fluffy moments ^^ I'm glad you liked last chapter!

Pholas: I'm glad you love my story, it really makes my life ^^ And I will always write cute and girlie! So long as my reviewers like it, and since you do, I will XD But again, ARIGATOU you really saved me at the end there with the Lyon idea! As for the admirer, that actually gives me an idea ;) I hope you enjoyed!

x0xalexis8: Isn't he cute! ^^

ForeverinAbyss: Thank you! I'm so happy you like it! That really means a lot to me :)

oOAnriOo: Haha I'm sooooooo happy that you're enjoying yourself! It really means a lot to me! And Happy is also my favorite kitty ever! mumbles: besides my actual cats ^^ I'm glad you like Igneel's reaction! I didn't see too many people who laughed at his reaction, so that really made my day ^^ And when I was watching Fairy Tail, I also actually had a strange urge to yell 'Aye Sir' once in a while. It's a funny feeling, but yay! We're not the only ones!

Skydancing Dragon: This shall be continued finally! Anyway, I'm so happy that you're enjoying yourself! What you said really makes my day everytime I look at it ^^