And I'm back with this very loooong chapter. I hadn't realised the words was over 6k till I uploaded it. However this has two sides. One section following our fire dragon slayer and then the other showing our celestial wizard's, just so you could see how both were during that same time!

Hopefully you enjoy.

Chapter Two

We're just friends

He awoke by the sound of a door closing shut, but never chose to open his eyes. His dream was just too good to wake from. It really was. But as the minutes went on, he began to stir, his head twisting and throbbing like someone had blew a balloon inside and it was ready to pop. What was worse was the urge to be sick. Peering a single eye open, he felt his body stretch, admiring the room around him. He was in the living room, on the sofa where Lucy had left him last night. The cup on the coffee table had been cleared away and the cushions he had causally thrown to the floor were now placed in a neat pile on the other chair beside him. He grumbled, slowly sitting up to adjust himself, curious as a blanket that had been draped across him, fell into a heap in his lap, revealing his bare chest. He frowned, his hand reaching his head as he rubbed it hard, trying to understand what had happened the night before. Only flickers of memories popped into his head. Drinking with Gray, fighting with Gajeel at one point and being outside with Lucy.

Lucy.

He lifted himself higher, peering over the sofa back to catch sight of the open bedroom door. Did she already leave without him? Was that what he heard? He frowned harder, the strain of the painful beating in his head still lingered and the more he rubbed his head or applied heat to his hand, the worse it got. He couldn't think straight.

Was that because of all the alcohol he drank last night or was it that he was conflicted by the strange physical dream he had that was sending his senses wild beyond relief. He could remember snippets as he regained consciousness, his cheeks reddening as he blushed as bright as Erza's red hair.

His dream was filthy, hot and completely perverted. His best friend Lucy, under him as she begged for more. He groaned, shaking his head from the image, gripping the blanket that was now concealing his erection.

"Dammit, get your head out the gutter!" he snapped at himself, whacking the side of his head causing him to gurgle from the rapid pulsing and force up bile to his throat. He really was going to be sick.

Without hesitation and the unsatisfaction of a Lucy Kick in his direction, he leapt up from the sofa and bolted to the bedroom, rushing into the open bathroom door and throwing his head into the toilet bowl. He clamped up, his knees digging into the cold bathroom tiled floor, his hands hugging the seat as he lurked his entire contents of his stomach into the bowl, adding the retching noises to go along with it.

Dragon slayers were never sick…not like this surely. Did alcohol really have that much of a bad effect on him? As he forced out the rest of his bile, he wiped his mouth and twisted by the sight of the explosion he had left in Lucy's toilet. At least he didn't throw up over her living room floor anyway, otherwise she would be mad.

He rose up from the floor, flushing the chain and watching as it vanished down the small hole. No evidence left behind. He smiled smugly to himself, turning the tap on and washing his hands, his eyes now focused on his pale face and dull eyes. He really did look ill, even worse than the time he ate all the ether-nano all those years back. He cringed. How could Cana do this on a regular basis? Was she immune or something?

He reached out for his toothbrush from the pot on the shelf, something that Lucy had insisted on. She had said that if he did ever stay over with Happy, they both should have one- just incase. Natsu's was red of course, while Lucy's was pink and Happy's little one was blue. He smirked.

He slithered on the toothpaste and brushed his teeth, gaggling all the way as his stomach once again turned and twisted from the sudden motion in his mouth. And that's when he noticed it. He stepped back, still glaring at the mirror at his body. His fully naked body.

Since when did he strip down? With a light panic and the toothbrush still in his gob, he rushed out the bathroom door and glared wildly in search for his clothes. If Lucy was to walk back in, she would have a complete heart attack let alone go mental that he's just causally strolling around with everything hanging loose. He had done this before, which resulted in one of her famous Lucy Kicks. And regardless of what anyone said, they did hurt…a lot.

Besides that, after his dream he had, the after-effects were still very noticeable and more so as it whacked against his bare legs as he charged around the room to locate the very things to keep it in place.

He did find them however, folded up neatly on the side table in the living room. Lucy must have done that. He knew she had a thing about cleaning, thinking back when she completely blitzed his own home.

He grasped his boxers and pulled them up over himself, all while gagging on his toothbrush for being held in his mouth for so long. He almost choked when rushing back to the bathroom, spitting out the foaming froth and placing the brush back in its holder before resuming his dressing. The only clothes he had was what he had been wearing last night. He sighed to himself, formal attire it was till he could get home. He buttoned up his white shirt, leaving two top ones undone before shifting into his black trousers and black shoes. He ruffled his pink hair to complete his look before leaving the apartment, by the window of her bedroom, his usual way of entering and escaping.

However as he jumped down, he wished he had taken the normal approach as his eyes bulged from his sockets once more, and eruption in his stomach ready to release whatever else was left inside of him. He groaned, holding his stomach and walking ahead. Perhaps he was hungry? Maybe that would solve his awful feeling and rotting insides?

Instead of heading home, make a quick detour. Mira's surely got some delicious breakfast waiting for him anyway.

The guild was quiet, mainly because everyone was feeling just as bad as he was. Slamming the doors open with his usual cheerful greeting, everyone had either hushed him or complained about their pain while clutching their heads and sobbing into pints of water. Natsu's bottom lip straightened as he walked across to the tables, sitting down beside Laki who was slowly pushing the food around on her plate and gurgling by the sight of it.

"You too huh?" he watched as she slowly nodded, her hand now reaching for her forehead with a slow sigh.

"I don't feel too good…" she rose up from the table quickly, her hands now grasping around her mouth as she darted towards the toilet doors, disappearing within them and leaving her plate of food. He could hear her puking, just by his dragon hearing being almost 10 times better than normal.

"Morning Natsu…" Kinana was the one to greet him at the table this time, her pad in her hand and her pen in the other. Her smile revealed that she was the most capable out of any this morning. "How are you?"

"I've been better…" he slugged. "Where's Mira?" he looked around the room at the few drained members of the guild. Kinana's smile faded softly.

"Mira's…not well either. Too many glasses of wine I believe" she too looked around the room at the other guild members. "I think the reception got a little out of hand, most people are out for the count" she explained. "Surprised you're standing, between you, Gray and Cana you guys took out half of our liquor"

Natsu's hands reached his head, recalling the memory and the pain to go with it.

"I feel it, I can't remember much"

"That's a hangover for you. Its why I don't drink" Kinana admitted sweetly. "So" she turned her eyes to her notepad. "Think you can stomach some food?"

"Anything you got! I'm always up for food!" he beamed brightly, ignoring the fact that his stomach curling was trying to answer for him. Kinana nodded, scribbling down on the paper.

"I'll be back with some breakfast, oh!" she paused in her tracks, pointing her pen at him as she remembered. "Happy came by, asked me to tell you- he's at Fairy Hills with Carla…and not to worry" Natsu smirked as she nodded to resume her walk back.

He hadn't wondered where his blue feline friend had disappeared to, knowing full well it would have been anywhere that Carla was. The cat was smitten, especially now when she had finally accepted his fish and his affection. He smiled. It took them long enough. Plus they looked good together. Occasionally now Happy would travel on missions with Carla, Wendy and even Romeo which hadn't fazed Natsu in the slightest, especially too as he was mostly off doing jobs for the Magic Council, it made sense for Happy to keep himself occupied.

Since holding his title as a Rank 1 Wizard saint, Natsu had been going on a lot of solo missions for the council, the perk of being the strongest wizard was he had the power to take out threats that the council thought would cause chaos. And although he missed doing his missions with Happy and Lucy, it was also nice to let off some steam and not be feared that they would be harmed in anyway. Them staying here was a way he could protect them. Or so he thought.

"If it isn't the tease!" his eyes jolted up from staring down with his thoughts, landing on the chuckling brown haired female who had took her position on the other side of the table in front of him. "So…did you get laid?" blunt and loud as usual, causing the few members to rise their heads to look over. Her smile remained the same, unfazed by the sudden eyes now watching them. Natsu however eyed her warningly.

"What?" he looked at her with complete confusion, a normal thing when he was involved in one of Cana's filthy conversations. Most of the time he would have a single clue what she was going on about. This was definitely one of those moments.

"You know" she winked, leaning over the table into his space. "You and Lucy" his face reddened by the name as she leant back in her seat, kicking her leg over the other to get comfortable. "The look on your face says it all, plus you reek off it" he frowned, taking the plunge to sniff himself.

"Your smell is off then" he muttered, pulling his nose away from his arm. "I don't smell any different" it was true, Natsu's dragon nose could tell all, and in this case as he inhaled in, all he could smell was himself…and a slight whiff of Lucy. But that was mainly because he had been sleeping at her home. Her scent was bound to be attached.

"Nah, you smell of sex. Rough and heavy" she touched her nose and smirked. "My nose knows all"

Natsu scoffed at her. What did that even smell like anyway?

"You're wrong, nothing happened" he defended. Cana shrugged her shoulders, her eyes drifting to Kinana who was making her way over with a plate of hot steaming food and a two glasses, one that looked like orange juice, the other looking like beer. Cana's smile grew wider.

"Beer for me? You shouldn't have!" Kinana smiled as she placed the beer in front of Cana, who quickly grasped it with her hand. She then placed down the plate of food in front of Natsu with the orange juice to complete it.

"I saw you coming Cana" the barmaid uttered. Her head turned to Natsu. "If you can't eat it all, I understand. If you're feeling sick, probably best just to pick at it. But the orange should help!" she displayed her cheerful smile before turning on her heel and walking away once more. Natsu thanked her quickly before she left, suddenly ramming into the toast and beans that were sprawled over the plate.

With his mouth full, he swallowed thickly, all for his throat to clog and his stomach to fold over. Cana eyed him as he struggled to hold it down, eyes suddenly turning glassy as he turned paler.

"You're really not good at this hangover thing eh?" Cana sniggered as she gulped her beer. Natsu frowned, forcing his food down before looking at her smug face.

"You drink all the time, how are you not like this?" he argued, irritated by her confidence.

"Exactly, I never get hangovers cause I'm always drinking…duh" she answered, sticking her tongue out at him. "It's 10am and I'm already on my 3rd beer" she shrugged, pulling the beer closer to her lips and chugging hard. Natsu watched with disgust as she guzzled the contents of the mug to the bottom before slamming it to the table and wiping her chops. "Yummy! Kinana!" she lifted the empty mug above her head and waved it, getting the attention of the barmaid behind the bar.

"Coming up Cana" Kinana's soft voice echoed from behind him as he continued to stare at her and her satisfied gloat. With the way he was feeling, it was really ticking him off that she could act so normal. And times like this he wished he was wearing his scarf, just so he could tug on it to calm him down and prevent himself from fire blasting that arrogant look plastered on her face.

"What's the matter with you?" her smile faded as he rose up from his seat, his hands digging into the table to keep him up.

"I'm going home" his voice was hoarse.

"You haven't eaten your food?" Cana looked at his untouched plate and then back at him. "Alcohol really did do a number on you didn't it" she laughed again, shaking her head shamefully. Natsu ignored her, sliding from his seat, he waved to Kinana and headed towards the door. His head still felt heavy, rocking him back and forth as he lurked up to the double doors. Maybe another nap would do it?

He opened the door and stepped out, completely unaware that someone had bumped into his chest and bounced off him. Luckily managing to catch her arm to stop her from falling all the way back. Good thing too as she had the small red headed toddler clutched to her side. Her eyes wide and completely thrown back by the sudden appearance of her friend, she blushed, standing upright and moving her arm round protectively to the child.

Glad his reflexes were still intact, regardless of how crap he was feeling.

"Natsu…" her voice trembled as she blushed harder, stepping back more to let him through. He groaned in response, finally releasing her arm that was now keeping him balanced from his heavy head. Instead of acknowledging her with his usual greeting, he passed her instead, with no smile or mutter of a greeting.

He wanted to go home and having to dwell in another conversation was perhaps his worst nightmare, especially when it was her of all people. He wouldn't be able to pull himself away from his dream or his suffer with the pain that was rising in his head, the two things just weren't compatible. And without even thinking of her feelings and leaving her to stand there, he darted off, with the only goal in mind- home.

He was a straightforward thinker after all, Lucy had told him this many times and even Gray and Erza once or twice during a heated brawl. If he had something set to mind, that would be his goal no doubt and nothing was stopping him to divert his path.

And this is why, while on his scout home he found a particular man following him extremely annoying. He had just entered the forest through the dirt path from the Magnolia park when a thin boy dressed in dark overalls followed him, clutching something in his hand and attempting to capture Natsu's attention, all while squealing out his name.

"Mr Dragneel, mr Dragneel!" he waved his hand in the air, out of breath from trying to keep up with the pink haired slayer. Who calls him Mr Dragneel anyway? The more he repeated it, the more it nerves it would bursting in Natsu's head. And that had to stop.

Reaching half way through the forest, his house was up head. It was just a little further, he could make it if he just…

"Mr Dragneel!"

He stopped firmly, causing the poor lad to crashing into his back and bounce off him to the ground, his butt hitting the solid path with a thud.

"It's Natsu!" the dragon slayer claimed as he turned his head.

"Natsu…" the boy choked, wincing as he lifted himself up and rubbed his sore bottom.

"What do you want?" His voice showed his irritation, something completely out of character compared to when he was when he was younger. But the years had changed and like his friends had said before, Natsu had matured. Plus with his striking pain in his head and his urge to get home, things weren't looking so bright for the poor boy distracting him from his goal.

Shakingly, the boy held out his letter.

"From the Magic Council sir" he yelped as Natsu snatched the envelope from his hand. He didn't have time for this, his hammock was calling him and he had gotten so close.

He ripped it open, curling the envelope between his fingers as he read the letter inside. An urgent request for him to head out to the southern isles, in the floating village of Haven. His brows tensed as he looked back at the boy. The reason for the urgency, the rapid and quick response was due to a sighting of a dragon…

"A dragon?" he re-read the word out loud, turning back to the letter with uncertainty. "Is this a joke?" he pulled his eyes back from the letter, watching the distressed boy shake his head with discomfort.

"No sir, the Chairman is on his honeymoon…so the council agreed for you to head out and…investigate. In case it's not friendly, they want you to…dispose" he gulped at the last word, which Natsu nodded to confirm. What they wanted was extremely clear in their letter, locate the dragon and destroy if a threat. Suppose the Dragon King was best fit for the job.

"And what if it's friendly? Dragons can be friendly" he deflected. The boy shrugged his shoulders to Natsu's reply, unsure how to respond. He was just an errand boy after all.

"I guess they don't want what happened those years ago during the Grand Magic Games with those dragons" the boy answered worryingly. This made Natsu frown harder.

Those dragons were full of rage and destruction, but they were also under the control of the future Rogue, which didn't help the situation. If anything they had been provoked.

"Look kid, you better go" he handed the letter back to the boy and uttered him along the way he came. The boy dug his heels into the dirt path.

"I can't go until you agree you're going to leave…immediately" the boy claimed. "My orders were to hand you the letter and to make you leave as soon as I've given it"

"They want me to leave now?" Natsu hollered, his eyes straining from how wide they had gotten. The boy nodded. "They're out of their mind"

"Sir, it's a priority. Because this dragon is so close to the floating village. The council are worried they'll be attacked" he paused, his hands rubbing together in front of him. "You have to leave now"

"And what about my guild? My friends? I've not long come back from their last silly mission" he interjected angrily.

The boy shrugged his shoulders, again unsure how to reply. He had been given a script but hadn't expected the great rank 1 wizard to be so difficult when being called for service. If anything, they had expected him to be excited to head out and challenge a dragon.

"Sorry sir"

With a sigh of defeat, Natsu brushed his messy pink hair back. He didn't want to leave just yet. He had so many things to do. He wanted to go fishing with Happy like he promised, fight Gray like he had planned to do the moment he got back, and Lucy…his stomach curled once more, but not due to sickness but pure guilt. If he didn't say anything now, she would move on like she said she would. Then his dream would never come true.

"You are mine"

A groan escaped his throat, his eyes now focusing on the small boy smiling back at him.

"Fine, let me get my things and we'll go" he huffed, turning back to face his original goal. The boy nodded, following his trail towards his home. The quicker he left, the sooner he would be home. That's what he was thinking.

"Why so glum Lucy?" Wendy's innocent voice startled the blonde as she mindlessly rocked the small toddler to sleep in her arms. Her thoughts were mimicking her facial expression, disappointed and puzzled.

"No reason" she lied instantly, her eyes avoiding Wendy's. It was a lie, in fact ever since this morning she had been perplexed.

Firstly she had woken up by a strange feeling which then lead to discomfort and pain, all happening…down below in a place where no one had ever ventured. Strange enough that it also linked to a very hot and steamy dream she had been having, all regarding her pink haired dragon slayer. And yes, she said hers…

When she woke up, her bedsheets had been scrambled to the floor with just a pillow meshed to her side to keep her warm. Her nightie, that she distinctively remember wearing, had been found across the other side of the room, discarded away and ripped apart into pieces like an animal had found it offending and for the icing on the cake, when she did get around to tidying up her bed, items not belonging to her were found amongst them, tangled up and left on her floor beside her bed. The owner of these items, she found in her living room, where she had left him, spread out on her sofa, looking lifeless and…completely naked. Strange.

Of course the first thing Lucy did was cover him, finding a blanket from her bedroom and hiding the indecent dragon slayer's form, blushing red while she did so. She then resumed her day as normal, not forgetting that she had a sweet little 2 year old in her presence.

She folded Natsu's clothes from the night before on the chair and scooted back into her bedroom, clearing up Ruby and then onto herself. She brushed her teeth and washed her face, drying it off with a towel and then that's when she noticed it. She wanted to scream, but her inside voice only let out a suppressed squeal as she leaned into the mirror to investigate. A mark, a redish purple, and clear as day. It was large, the size of a pear that was positioned on the crook of her neck down to her collarbone. And when she stood back, she noticed that there was more than one.

One plastered itself on her breast, one just under it on her ribcage, another to her side and one…further down below her stomach. It was like she was a full course meal, someone had the pleasure of munching on her.

She wasn't stupid, she knew what they were. She had seen the girls at the guild covered in them before and when she asked about it, they were happy to go into details. Hickeys, love bites… that's what they were and from studying them more closely on her own body, she was sure that was it.

But how did they get there? Who did them? She couldn't remember…

Colour drained from her face as she recalled her dream, her passionate dream of love-making. If you so called it that. Embarrassed and completely thrown away by all other accusations. She didn't hesitated to dress quickly, collect the child and storm out the apartment in such a flush that she didn't even look twice at the sleeping fire wizard who was beginning to stir.

Poor Ruby had no idea what was happening when she was swung into her pushchair and strolled across the cobblestoned path in such a hurry, all while Lucy muttered away to herself till she reached the small home that housed Levy and Gajeel. Who better to know about intimacy with a dragon slayer than the girl married to one?

She pulled up to the door and knocked lightly just for the large grumpy looking male to answer. His nose twitched and his eyes shifted to behind the door, his foot stepping to the side to allow her to enter. As the door shut, he called out.

"Eh shrimp, it happened…bunny girl's here to chat ya ear off about it" he looked back at Lucy who frowned at him with annoyance, just for him to mirror her look. "She's in there" he pointed across the hall to the room, just as Levy peered round to greet her.

"Wait…you…know?" Lucy's lip quivered suddenly, as she glared at Gajeel who had taken it upon himself to leave abruptly. He turned back to her with a smug look.

"You stink of the salamander, pretty dam sure he's claimed you" without catching her reaction, his head flipped back and he continued to walk off, just as Levy's face dropped with disbelief.

"What? You and Natsu?"

Lucy's face dropped instantly, as if just talking to the iron dragon slayer had confirmed her dilemma. She had placed Ruby to the floor, who excitedly crawled across to play with Levy's son Saito, all while Lucy explained her dream and her morning. Levy was also quick to confirm what had happened, much to Lucy's complete horror. How exactly was she going to face him now? She had just abandoned him in her apartment without a single word.

Anxiety filled her, her heart couldn't stop pounding and her glassy eyes looked as if they were on a verge of of tears. How did it happen? She was distraught, alarmed that this particular situation happened to be her first time and she could hardly recall how and what lead to it. He didn't even seem remotely interested in her? And the conversation they had last night had confirmed that too. She said she was ready to move on.

Her head filled up with questions with no one really to answer them. She forced herself not to return back to the apartment either, not quite ready to face him and be bombarded with the same questions that she was thinking, but from him. What exactly did this mean for them? We're they admitting this relationship go further? Was he just using her for a quick relief?

The more she thought about it, the more her worries escalated. She had left Levy's in a hurry after that moment and headed to the Guild, partly because she wanted to know if Erza had gotten to their destination ok and to check on if anyone else had noticed something going on.

However as her thoughts were jumbling in her head, she hadn't noticed the door of the guild had opened, catching her off guard and pounding into the chest of the one person she was hoping to avoid. Not to mention she had stumbled back in such a disarray that her arm was quickly grasped and yanked back, preventing her from landing in a heap with Ruby in toll.

A blush crept on her face when she looked up to him, with her cheeks heated and her mouth dry as she tried to greet him as innocently as she possible could. Only to receive a stoned stare and a annoyed gruff before charging down the street as fast as he could.

She was left there stunned and hurt by his actions. No even a smile or a hello. Was he really that disgusted by what they had done? Fear swallowed her up whole as she looked back in the direction he went, clutching Ruby to her closely for some sort of reassurance.

With her head slumped low, she entered the building quietly and sat at the table the furthest away from anyone else, unsure how to really deal with the sudden sharp pain stabbing at her chest. It wasn't until Wendy had come along, that she was driven away from her reflections...

...

"Are you sure you're ok?" the dragon slayer coaxed, tilting her head. Lucy's eyes bolted to Wendy, a blush creeping on her face. Wendy was also a dragon slayer, with the same sense of smell of Gajeel, surely she had already noticed. As Lucy tried to read her straight expression, Wendy pulled back with her brows raised now fully understanding the crisis. Her nose twitched and then wriggled, her eyes suddenly growing wide as if she had won the jackpot. "Oh…"

"It's not what you think!" the blonde hesitated.

Wendy's brows peaked with curiosity.

"I'm not 12 anymore Lucy, I know what that smells like" she disclosed, hiding her excitement. "Besides, I'm happy for you" her smile was a small one, not too noticeable for anyone else to clock on. Lucy sank in her chair, careful not to squish the small one laying asleep in her lap. "This means you're together now then?" she quizzed, leaning closer.

"Uh…no" the blonde uttered, not really comfortable with the topic of conversation in such a public place.
Wendy's smile lowered.

"You know Dragon Slayers only mate once right?"

"They what?"

"They mate once, they don't have multiple lovers. It's not in a dragon's nature nor is it in a slayers" Wendy confirmed with a rough shrug of her shoulders. "I didn't understand it either, it was teacher that told me"

Lucy knitted her brows suspiciously.

"Anna told you?" she continued, watching as the girl nodded. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Well you never really gave off signs that you liked Natsu that way" Wendy admitted. "Perhaps if you did, she would have told you?" this made Lucy huff at the answer. What did she expect, she wasn't going to act like Juvia. Even though that seemed to work out well for her and Gray. "Lucy?"

"Yeah…well I wasn't sure myself. Plus it's Natsu!" she huffed. "He doesn't show any sort of that emotion"

Wendy giggled at this, her eyes turning to the small toddler in Lucy's arms. Instinctively, she reached over and pulled the child into her own arms, giving her a cuddle.

"We've all known Natsu's liked you for years" the girl gloated. "It was fairly obvious" Lucy shook her head at the comment, quickly denying it.

"N-No…he hasn't" she stuttered for words, her mouth drying up by the sudden claim the young dragon slayer had made. "We're just friends" Wendy sniggered more.

"Yeah, smells like it" she teased.

Lucy's face reddened more. The embarrassment filling her up and causing her to melt into a sloppy pool of water which was ironic as the water wizard herself and Gray had entered the guild, clutching their son tightly. Ren, was a few months younger than Ruby and looked very much like his father, dark midnight blue hair and a stern cold frown. If it wasn't for his soft blue eyes, people would have thought he was an exact copy of Gray.

"Hey guys" Juvia was the one to greet the room, while Gray slowly made his way over silently to the table where Lucy and Wendy were sitting. His head tilted to one side and his eyes dark from lack of sleep, he let out a slow grumble before sitting beside the young dragon slayer.

"You look worse for wear" Lucy acknowledged. He groaned more, flopping his head into his hands. "Hangover?" he nodded delicately.

"Wow, this table is getting more shameful by the minute" Wendy sniggered as she stood up with Ruby still in her arms. "Come on Ruby, do you wanna go see Ren?" she cooed at the small child who quickly giggled back, rushing off to the other side of the room where Juvia was with her son.

"Shameful?" Gray quipped, his head lifting ever so much. "What have you done?"

"Nothing" the blonde lied.

"Meh, I don't care anyway…" he rested his head back down and closed his eyes, hoping that would help with his painful headache. "Did Natsu go home with you last night?" his question instantly brought Lucy's guard up, her shoulders tense and her breathing hitched. "Woah, I only asked to see if he was feeling alright"

"I don't know, he was passed out on my sofa this morning" she answered bitterly, ignoring the last encounter she had with him. Gray let out a snigger from his slugged position.

"He'll be feeling it this morning then, we did drink a lot"

"I'm aware…you didn't have to lug him and a baby home" Lucy grunted, recalling the harsh memory. Gray sniggered again.

"You talking about Natsu?" Cana's now slurring voice slumbered over them as she pulled up a chair where Wendy was sitting. She thumped her pint glass to the surface, spilling the liquid over the edges of her glass and soaking the table. Lucy rolled her eyes, sitting back to avoid getting wet. "He was here alright! And…yoooou" she pointed wildly at Lucy and grinned ear from ear. "You…did it…I'm so proud" she hiccupped. "It's only taken you what? 11 years? But hey, whose counting"

"I don't know what your talking about" Lucy scrunched her nose, watching the brown haired girl sway in her chair. "Cana, you seriously can't be drunk now?"

"You know what I'm talking about, I had the same chat with Natsu…" she turned her body round and pointed to the table she was last sitting at. "Right there a few hours ago" this had peeked Gray's interest just as much as Lucy's. His head rose up and a brow lifted with suspicion as he aimed at Lucy.

"What's…going on?"

"Just that they banged and Natsu wants to deny it all" Cana shrugged, slurring her words. She held her glass steadily, taking a few whole gulps before looking at Lucy's face. It said it all. Disappointment. "Oh and what's worse is, an hour ago some little punk came in to say Natsu's ran away from his responsibilities" she wiped the froth from her lips and shook her head displeasingly. "Gone on some long mission for the council or some crap"

"What?"

Cana shrugged her shoulders, pointing to Kinana who was clearing up the tables.

"Speak to Kinana, it was her the kid spoke to"

Before Gray could even interject and question Lucy with what he had just head, the blonde was already up out of her seat and storming across the young barmaid.

"Is it true?" Lucy muttered, latching onto the girl's arms. Kinana looked at her fearfully, stunned by Lucy's glassy eyes and wobbling lip.

"What's true?" she asked, peering around to see if anyone else was watching.

"Natsu, is he gone?" her voice was now trembling, concern and hatred bottling into one. Kinana's permanent smile faded instantly.

"Sorry Lucy, he left a while ago. A errand from the Magic Council came to let us know he wont be back for a while" she explained. "He didn't have chance to say goodbye…"

"What about Happy?" Lucy's voice now on edge.

"Just him as far as I know. Sorry Lucy" she watched as Lucy's grip released from her arms, backing away softly. Hurt and discomfort wasn't to say the lease, and when she turned away, she had noticed that everyone else in the guild had seen her sudden outburst. Typical.

"Lucy…" Wendy quickly tried to reach out, but it was no good. Lucy's pain in her chest intensified and with everyone watching her, she had a sudden urge to run away. How would she cope now? He just used her and left her like that? Discarded her feelings like they were nothing? Her stomach curdled and her eyes watered, she needed to get out there.

Dismissing that Ruby was her responsibility, she left her in the capable hands of Wendy before rushing out the door and charging as fast her legs could carry her to the train station. She knew he hated them but if he was planning to travel out of Magnolia, that was the only way to leave. And she thought, if she could get there in time, she may be able to convince him to stay. For her.

Heavy panting and sores on her heels, she yelped, reaching the platform and barging her way through the crowds of people getting off the train. She searched for him, his pink hair, his white scarf. Anything that would resemble him. She pleaded that he was there, somewhere waiting for her. But as the train doors shut and the platform emptied, she dropped to her knees in defeat, tears sprawling from her eyes as she wept hard, watching the train leave it's destination.

He had already gone. He had already left her.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took me ages to write up and change about.

Stay tuned for the next one...