After making the fire dragon slayer promise that he not tell anyone where her stargazing spot was, Natsu and Lucy both climbed their way back into the bedroom (well, more like Natsu climbed down while Lucy was holding onto him piggy back style since he insisted that they just climb down because it was faster). Lucy settled herself in the bed while Natsu changed into his pyjamas really quick and then took his spot on the bed. Both of them fell asleep so quickly that they were definitely gonna be energized for the next day.
As they fell asleep, Nashi and Happy opened one of their eyes and tried hard to stifle their laughs. They had heard everything that transpired during Natsu and Lucy's conversation, since the duo didn't bother to lower their voices, and only pretended to sleep when Natsu came into the room to check on them. After he left, both Nashi and Happy went to spy on them using the same passageway that Lucy used to get to the roof. They were worried when the two mages started arguing but relaxed when Natsu hugged Lucy.
It was only when the duo got up to head back to their room that Happy grabbed Nashi and flew back to the suite in record time just so that they wouldn't be caught for spying. They knew that leaving the dining room early would force Lucy to have some alone time on the roof, and Nashi undoubtedly knew that Igneel or someone would urge Natsu to go check on her before going to bed. It was the perfect plan for Natsu to tell Lucy what he talked about with Igneel and allow them to spend time with one another like old times.
Though Happy knew that Natsu and Lucy were not a couple, he had gone along with Nashi's plan because it was about time the two stopped dancing around the obvious feelings surrounding them. Everyone in the guild and even the dragons, knew that Lucy had some form of feelings towards Natsu except for the said dragon slayer. Now that Laxus and Gajeel placed the seed of thought in Natsu's head, it was only a matter of time before the two actually became an item.
Nashi, on the other hand, only believed that her parents were only weird and acting the way they did because Natsu hadn't been around for such a long time and it was like their relationship went back to how it was before they were married and had her. But she knew that the more they spend time together again, everything will go back the way it was. She pulled out a locket that was hidden underneath her nightgown and opened it to reveal her parents, her and Happy posing for a picture with bright smiles.
Feeling sleep take over, she closed her eyes and hugged the locket close. "Our happy family..."
The next day, after eating breakfast and getting dressed for the day, everyone went back to training again. Team Natsu, Nashi, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Levy, Metalicana and Igneel all gathered on one of the largest islands of just flat ground and prepared for the sparring fight. The first was Lucy against Metalicana and Igneel while the second would be Gajeel against Metalicana, the iron dragon slayer wanting to get back at his old man for landing an uppercut to his jaw in the middle of dinner, and the third being Natsu and Lucy's rematch.
Lucy already stood at one end of the field, her offensive stance already in place. She was only limited to using her dragon slaying magic and celestial spirit magic, which was fine with her and Team Natsu got excited to see how she fought in a very serious fight with the two dragons. Metalicana and Igneel stood at the other end, smirking in excitement since it had been a long time since they fought with Lucy in a spar and couldn't wait to see if her skills were still up to par with their own.
Erza stood at the edge of the field and raised her hand. "Ready!" She announced as the three only nodded. "Match... START!"
As if in the speed of light, Igneel and Metalicana dashed straight for Lucy, the former casting a Fire Dragon King's Iron First while the latter casted an Iron Dragon's Club. Lucy immediately leaned back, sliding underneath their attacks before she flipped her body and held herself up with one hand and landed a kick to Metalicana's jaw. Then jumped back up to trip Igneel's foot with her own. Both dragons stumbled but they caught their footing quickly and looked at the girl proud.
"Must you always start a spar with those attacks, you guys?" She asked in a taunting way.
"Never expect less from our empress." Igneel replied.
"Heh... lucky hit." Metalicana added.
Lucy only laughed before she dashed for the two at rapid speed. "Nature Dragon's..." A yellow green aura surrounded her fists as the fairies watched her aim for the ground, which they found to be odd. Only Igneel and Metalicana seemed to hear her soft chant and they both looked to one another in defensive stances. "...Earthbound!"
The blonde empress punched the ground and suddenly vines came from the ground and headed towards the two dragons. When it was close enough, both of them jumped up as Igneel casted a Fire Dragon King's Roar to burn the vines and Metalicana casted an Iron Dragon's Sword to slice them. Lucy then brought herself up as she aimed her eyes towards the dragons and took a deep breath as she casted a Nature Dragon's Roar. They were both hit, but that didn't stop them from recovering and headed her way.
"Nature dragon slaying magic!?" Gray exclaimed at the attack. "That's incredible!"
Metalicana then casted an Iron Dragon's Lance as his arms transformed into poles and like Gray's own Ice Make Lance spell, headed straight for Lucy. She dodged one, but got his with the other. She skidded across the field as Natsu, Happy and Levy worried that she might've gotten hurt, but they relaxed when she immediately got up and cracked her knuckled. Her aura grew and both dragons knew that she was gonna get serious and their aura grew too.
The immense power felt a little suffocating, but Nashi seemed perfectly fine. Igneel then casted a Fire Dragon King's Wing Attack as Lucy cancelled it with a Water Dragon's Blast, the water bubble that headed straight for Igneel exploding upon contact. Metalicana then casted another Iron Dragon's club towards his leg, extending the spell so that it would hit Lucy even though he was so far away. The blonde sensed the incoming attack and she jumped just in time to send a Water Dragon's Roar.
"She can also use water dragon slaying magic!?" Natsu also exclaimed, shivering at the thought of how that would work with her Aquarius Star Dress. He was a fire dragon slayer after all, he and Gray may not get along because of the whole fire and ice bit, but Lucy using the water element was a way more accurate opposite than ice. "I shouldn't make her mad on purpose..."
As a result, Igneel was hit on the gut by the iron dragon's attack and a tick mark could be seen forming on his forehead. "Hey! I ain't your target, you fool!"
"It ain't my fault that you didn't dodge." Metalicana replied calmly.
"Say what!?"
"Must the both of them always bicker whenever we spar?" Lucy thought, mentally facepalming herself. Though she couldn't really be surprised. This is always what happened whenever she fought with the male dragons two against one, it was practically a mirror image of how brawls started back at the guild. She could only sigh at what was about to happen next.
"You seriously being petty right now?" The iron dragon asked.
The fairies, minus Natsu and Gajeel, sweatdropped at how copy and pasted the scene before them seemed while the two male slayers couldn't help but laugh ironically at their dragon parents' childish behaviour. The blonde empress rolled her eyes at both of their immaturity even though they were supposed to be wise dragons - but children do learn from their parents as they say. But thanks to her annoyance, Lucy's guard dropped and everyone else were just caught up in their own thoughts about the dragons' argument.
As such, no one noticed the smirk on Igneel and Metalicana's face as they suddenly turned away from each other and Igneel suddenly attacked Lucy with a Fire Dragon King's Iron Fist again. The blonde's attention recovered and she dodged the attack by jumping away, only to be hit with Metalicana's Iron Dragon's Lance that pushed her off the island. The fairies immediately freaked out, their jaws dropping, because they were sure that one of the dragons mentioned that there was no ground other than the islands in their realm.
"YOU DID NOT JUST PUSH ME OFF!" They could hear Lucy shout as she fell.
The fairies and the dragons ran to the side that she fell since she did not come back up using her whip or anything like that, and when they looked over the ledge, her body was nowhere to be found. Happy, Carla and Pantherlily brought forth their wings and began to fly around underneath the island and followed the trail where she fell, only to come back with worried and nervous looks. Both Igneel and Metalicana looked at each other worriedly, as they knew a couple of female dragons that would kill them for letting Lucy fall.
"Guys! What are we gonna do!?" Happy asked in a panic. "We couldn't see Lucy's body and her screaming stopped! Is she gonna be falling forever now!?"
"Did she really allow herself to fall just like that?" The two dragons thought, nervous sweat forming on their foreheads.
The two were about to transform into their dragon selves and go get their empress, but a growing aura began to make itself known in the air and everyone's body shook at its increasing power. Igneel and Metalicana knew that power all too well and looked up to where the power was coming from to see Lucy falling from above them at a rapid speed, her eyes narrowed in anger at their trick and her body surrounded by her golden flames. The dragons and Nashi were not surprised by this, but this was obviously a first for the others.
The blonde was definitely royally pissed and she landed on the ground with a large impact, cracks forming from where she stood. Her hands were completely surrounded by her golden flames as she brought them together and aimed straight for the two dragons. "Celestial Fire Dragon Empress'..." She chanted in an angered voice. "...SUN CRATER!"
A massive stream of fire and celestial magic was produced from her hands and the fairies ran for their lives as Igneel and Metalicana took the attack head on and also fell off the island. Lucy didn't have to worry about accidentally bringing them to their doom, but she had to teach them a lesson for using a dirty trick like they did in a fight - spar or not. The attack died down and a mark was left on the ground from the attack, Lucy standing up straight as if she couldn't have killed anyone with that attack.
The fairies, except for Nashi, looked at their nakama with a new perspective as she looked at them with a raised eyebrow, not understanding their obvious look of shock. "What?"
"You... You... You just..." Levy tried to form words but her shock was too great for her to say anything.
"I just reminded them that dirty tricks like that will not work in battle, they're fine." Lucy replied as if nothing was wrong.
Erza was the quickest to regain her composure and looked at the blonde with a proud look. "I must say, I wouldn't have done it any other way. However, don't you think that attack was a little too powerful?"
"For dragons? Oh no, that spell was nothing." The blonde replied nonchalantly, chuckling like she couldn't have killed any regular person with her spell. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes in satisfaction, turning her body to show her side profile. "Besides, I just did that to knock them off the island like they did to me. They could just fly back up, isn't that right you two?"
"You know your majesty, I sometimes wished we never helped you figure out how to combine elements to create a more powerful attack." Metalicana's voice spoke up as he and Igneel revealed themselves in their dragon forms, flying in front of the island.
"Gotta say, that attack is definitely stronger since the last time you used it while training." Igneel added, cracking his neck. "Of course, the sun crater... don't know if that was necessary..."
"You both should have thought about that when you decided to use tricks into a sparring match." Lucy glared at them from the corner of her eye. "Which one was the one who told me that tricks are never used in actual battles again? Or was it both of you?"
Both dragons just evaded the question by clearing their throats as they landed on the island. "I do believe it is me and my son's turn to spar."
"Though, I suggest we go to a non damaged field for that." Igneel said as everyone laughed.
Gajeel smirked and he immediately boarded his father's back with excitement for his payback time. "You better watch out, old man." he warned, earning a chuckle from Metalicana. "I won't go easy like Bunny girl."
Lucy picked Nashi up as everyone else boarded on either dragons' backs. "By the way Luce, how the heck did you get above us when you fell off the island? We didn't see you use your whip or anything."
"Yeah, Mama. Happy was really worried and was looked like he was about to cry."
"Nashi~ don't tell her that!" The blue exceed cried while blushing in embarrassment, the rest of Team Natsu chuckling at how cute he is.
"Aw it's okay Happy, you were only worried about her." Wendy reassured, trying to make him feel better.
"Though the amount of tears was certainly unnecessary." Carla joked.
Lucy just laughed as she placed a finger in front of her lips and winking. "Being an empress certainly has it's perks so I have a few secret tricks up my sleeves that no one but the dragons know. Where would all the fun be if I told all you guys my secret techniques and trump cards, am I right?"
I know I haven't updated in awhile but I'm back on regular (hopefully) daily updates and I just finished a little editing for all the previous chapters! The gang will be back on Earthland in the next chapter though, so the plot is going to be moving again and I'm excited to show you guys what I have planned!