Chapter Fourteen

"Hmmm." Lucy moaned and stretched. Over her shoulder Natsu was curled around the blankets that she had been wrapped in, snoring softly. She smiled and stepped out of the aisle, holding onto the surrounding ones to support herself. She felt a little unsteady; like she was recovering from a bad flu.

She blinked as the sunlight nearly blinded her. Lisanna, Mira and Elfman were sleeping propped up against the circulation desk, covered with blankets and leaning against one another. Erza and Cana were asleep near the the stacks that lead to a small alcove with no windows. She guessed the rest of the girls where there. She turned and tilted her head. Yukino was sleeping next to Sting while Rouge slept on the other side of his friend. She stepped around them and saw Levy curled up under a table that had books piled high. She peered at the covers and smiled. Gardening books. A few feet away Gajeel, Gray and Wendy were sleeping, laid out side by side. The males flanking her in what Lucy felt was a protective positioning.

"Mid-day greetings." Laxus' voice made her jerk and covered her mouth with her hands. He grinned and her eyes narrowed on him. He held out an alien food item that looked like an apple and she took it. He tilted his head and she nodded and followed him towards the front of the library. They sat down on a long ago discarded couch and she tentatively bit into the fruit.

It's skin was the same thickness as an apple but it was sweeter and creamier. It's taste something between strawberry sweet and citrus. She ate it with relish. Laxus leaned back and watched. When she was done, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is everything okay here?"

"For now." He answered.

"Spit it out." She said after a few moments of silent. "Say what you want to."

"You are not one for subtly huh?"

"Not when everything around you tries to kill you." She replied and he chuckled.

"What are you?" Laxus asked and her face scrunched.

"Human?"

"Are you sure?" He asked and turned to look at her harder.

"Considering this is the only world that I have any memory of living on…yeah." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are you asking that?"

"You held onto Wendy for twenty minutes when her skin's temperature reached that of a dying star. It should have injured you within seconds and killed you before the first minute. Natsu is the only one to ever touch her in that state and it was only for three minutes and he was unconscious for the equivalent of two hidden moons."

"Uh oh. He's gonna take that as a challenge isn't he?"

"I appreciate that is what you are choosing to focus on." He said warily. She shrugged and raised a brow at him. "When you were holding Wendy…the starlight did something strange."

"It brightened, and came in through the windows stronger." She said and he nodded.

"I've never seen that."

"Well neither have I." Lucy uncrossed her arms and held her hands out. "Natsu mentioned it was like a Unison Raid…maybe it was that."

"Unison Raids have only happened between two Dragis."

"Has it ever been attempted with one Dragis and another individual?" Lucy asked and Laxus tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "If you don't try something you can't know. And I get from Natsu it's a rare occurrence but the circumstances last night called for me to do anything I could to help Wendy."

"It is rare. I have only seen three Unison Raids in battle in my lifetime. Last night's events weren't the same as those."

"How so?" She asked and turned, sitting up on her knees to look at him.

"It was more intense for one." He rubbed a hand over his chin. "I could feel the power wash over the entire room. And never once during a Unison Raid did the two involved change appearance like you and Wendy did."

"We changed appearance?" He nodded and pulled out the same flat black disk he'd used earlier for the map of the library, and pressed on it. Lucy watched a video replay of the events that happened last night. Her breath was stolen as she saw the changes in both herself and in Wendy. He ended the replay and she looked at him and then thought for a moment.

"Is there any way to find out if I'm not human?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like a blood test?"

"Blood test?" His brows came together and she nodded.

"Here, before…" She waved her left hand around to emphasis the state of the world. "we could take someone's blood and run tests on it. We could find out if they had illnesses or where they came from…who their family was…or even if they could help others."

"Help others how?"

"Blood donations, organ donations, tissue donations like that."

"What donations?" He tilted his head and Lucy had to keep from laughing because it reminded her of a golden retriever.

"We found a way to donate parts of our bodies to others. Doctors, healers would take things out from one person and put it into another to try and make them feel better."

"That's barbaric." Lucy laughed at his disgusted look.

"Maybe to someone who has a magic healer on hand…but when you live in a world without that or without the technology to immediately fix something…you learn how to survive and try to make things better. And it's not like we do it in a cruel or painful way. Initially it was, but we'd advanced medically and scientifically."

"Ugh." He shivered and shook his head. She giggled at that and reached out and punched his arm gently.

"Man up. You're supposed to be a big tough Dragis."

"I am big and tough." He said and knocked her over with his hand to her face. She laughed as she struggled back up. "You are the weak one."

"Yeah yeah…humans are inferior." She rolled her eyes. "But I can still kick Dragis ass if I have to. I'm just being nice right now."

"Sure. Sure." He humored her but didn't believe it. She grinned and he chuckled but then he sobered up. "Why are you wearing that suit?"

"Ask Natsu…he's the one who demanded I wear it."

"Of course he demanded it."

"Yeah and it was before the translator worked so if he explained why I can't tell you what he said."

"Why haven't you changed out of it? It's been a few days." His eyes narrowed on her as she blushed and ran a hand over her face.

"It's comfortable and…"

"And?"

"I…feel safer with it on." She ran her hands over the arms of the suit. "I know if I didn't have it; I'd have been killed when the queen…I mean, the Aerial Silverback attacked me. And I'm pretty sure it helped keep me warm while I was sleeping on the roof before Natsu found me."

"Is that all?"

"Heee." She giggled softly and blushed and buried her face in her hands. She lifted her head and looked at him.

"What?"

"I feel like a child." She shook her head. "Its also that…when I wear it, and Natsu isn't around…I feel like he is. It's like…a tie to him."

"Why does that make you feel like a child?"

"It's a stupid crush and you'd think with the world going to shit I wouldn't be flustered about a guy."

"So you like that knuckle head?"

"A little." She held her fingers up and held her forefinger close to her thumb. She blushed and shook her head. "He's saved me…fed me…protected me and my friends. And he's been…honest with me."

"Honest?"

"Yeah." She nodded and looked crossed the expanse of the first floor towards where everyone was sleeping. "He's shared a little about Dragis life with me. Like the forgette and fang snapping."

"He taught you about fang snapping?" Laxus asked his eyes widening.

"Why is a welcome gesture so surprising?"

"Wel…welcome? Hahahaha!" Laxus threw his head back and laughed and shook his head. Lucy looked at him in surprise.

"He lied to me?"

"Natsu…" Laxus shook his head. A look on his face that was part humorous and part thoughtful. "I guess to him, seeing how his parents fang snapped every time they entered their dwelling it would be a welcome gesture to that idiot."

"So it's not?"

"No."

"Thank the stars I didn't snap at any of you when we met." She shivered dramatically. "What does it mean?"

"It means a Dragis would like sink their fangs into a partner…" Her blank look made him chuckle more. "Mating."

"Oh!" Lucy's mouth fell open and she blushed to the roots of her hair. She buried her face in her hands. "That idiot."

"He is that in spades." Laxus chuckled and ruffled her hair. She slapped his hands and pulled her hair out of its holder and finger combed it. She started to pull it up when he grabbed a strand. She watched as he rubbed the strand for a few seconds before she jerked it away from him. He looked at her and grinned.

"Jerk." She chided and he grinned wider. "What's so fascinating about my hair?"

"It's softer than Dragis' for one. And the color is also nice."

"Your a terrible liar. You did that for a reason…and I think it's to mess with Natsu."

"So clever. Why are you interested in that idiot."

"He's not a complete idiot." She shrugged and smiled. "And he makes me smile. I haven't had too many reasons to do the in the past two years."

"He can make just about anyone smile." Laxus conceded gently. He looked at the human beside him. He had wanted to talk to her to demand she remove the suit and start avoiding Natsu. But as they had talked, he realized that even if he ordered it; she'd defy him. There was something about her that reminded him of Natsu. They were a complimentary pair. Both had fires in them; both were reckless and selfless, as well as decent fighters. He had pulled the surveillance videos from the night they'd met and watched as she had protected Natsu from the Shadowcrawler Draconic.

But also; they were both broken. She didn't believe she was worth saving while Natsu didn't believe he had anything to live for besides fighting the Draconic war. They cared about others. While they may not understand the worlds the others came from; or the lives they each led, they were both looked at one another without judgement.

"What's going on here?" Natsu's voice was gravelly from sleep. He dragged himself over to the couch and dropped onto the arm next to Lucy and yawned.

"Talking." Lucy echoed his yawn and elbowed him. "Why'd you start that?"

"Start what?" He winced and rubbed his side.

"Yawning is contagious." She yawned again and shook her head. Laxus himself struggled not to yawn. Natsu shrugged and leaned close to her and fang snapped. Laxus watched as Lucy blushed but returned the snap the best she could. He watched as Natsu leaned back and stretched with a sleepy smile on his face.

"What's the plan boss?" Natsu asked as he lowered his arms and looked at his superior.

"Determine what we can remove now from here. Pack the Magi-Hovers and head to the Guild Station."

"Levy will want to take the gardening books so she can help…Droy?" Lucy looked at Natsu who nodded. She looked back at Laxus. "As for the rest of the books; there should be some language and culture books that might help with the other survivors since not all of them speak the same language."

"Those are good ideas." Laxus nodded and stood up. He stretched and looked down at the two of them. "I'll speak with the red headed one…see what else she thinks should go."

"Her name is Erza." Natsu stressed her name and Lucy smiled and shook her head slightly. Laxus tilted his head and turned and left. Natsu watched his leader leave and then slid off of the arm and leaned against Lucy who grunted under his weight.

"What are you? Five?" She asked laughing as she tried to push him off of her. She gave up and laid down while he laid over her. His arm settled around her waist as he curled behind her. "What's with the snuggles?"

"I'm tired." He whined. "I rolled over and didn't feel you and realized you were gone and got worried."

"Why?"

"You have no sense of self preservation. You could have wondered outside and gotten carted off by a Raider or a Draconic." She rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance.

"You are really rude when you first wake up."

"Well of course…who enjoys waking up?" Lucy didn't have an argument to that. "What did you two talk about?"

"He just wanted to make sure I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome."

"What is that?" Natsu lifted his head and looked down at her in confusion. She chuckled and booped his nose before sitting up and popping up off of the couch. She turned around and eyed him as she walked backwards. He was up and off of the couch and following her.

"It's a condition when a kidnapped victim begins to see their kidnapper as their friend or protector or leader. He wanted to make sure I was thinking on my own."

"Was he now?" Natsu raised an eyebrow and one side of his mouth lifted in a mischievous grin. "What did you tell him?"

"That hanging around with you is my act of charity for the year."