"Lucy, what's the problem?" Ace asked as he and Lucy entered their apartment. After seeing his Fairy Tail guild mark, Lucy swiftly turned around and left the guild again surprising Natsu and Lisanna who watched the entire scene unfold. But Ace, confused by her reaction, chased after her and tried to get her to respond to him as they walked to the apartment. Once they were inside: Lucy placed the bag with the gift she bought him on her desk and turned around to face him. "Are you going to talk to me now?"

"Why?" Was all Lucy asked.

"Why what?"

"Why?" Lucy repeated once more, this time crossing her arms as she glared at him with a furious expression.

"Lucy, I can't respond if you don't tell me what you're upset about?"

"Why would you do that?" Lucy asked taking a step forward. "Why would you join the guild? You're not even a wizard."

"I mean Natsu and Mirajane said-"

"If Natsu and Mirajane said jumping off a cliff would be a good idea, would you do it?!" Lucy yelled stomping her foot.

"Lucy, what's the problem if I join the guild?"

"Ace, did you really not really not listen to any of the stories I told you? There's a lot of danger involved with being a wizard, and being a member of Fairy Tail also puts a bigger target on your back." Lucy replied taking another step forward.

"Yeah I understood that, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go rushing into danger or looking for a fight."

"That's the problem, you don't do that and you're too good a person to be putting yourself in harm's way like that!" Lucy yelled as now she was standing right in front of Ace.

"And that's a prob-"

"Of course it is! Damn it, Asemu! You're not the type of person to fight back when someone tries to start something with you or even attacks you!" Lucy yelled, lowering her head and jabbing a finger into his chest. "You don't even know magic and you joined a magic guild!" Now her finger became her open palm slapping his chest repeatedly. "If a job goes wrong, who's going to help you?! If someone attacks you, how are you going to fight back?!" Ace's eyes widened as she closed her hands and began beating his chest with the side of her fists. Then slowly, her hits began to slow down and grow softer as she began to tremble slightly. "If you get hurt...how am I going to forgive myself? How can I rest easy when you're on a job without me and I don't know if you're okay? Why did you do something so reckless without talking to me about it first?" Ace caught her hands once she began to tremble more and more, gently placing them down at her sides. He then carefully placed his hands on her cheeks and raised her head to see her expression. He let out a deep breath seeing tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"Lucy listen I-"

"Why can't you understand why I'm saying this?" Lucy asked, twisting her head out of Ace's hands. She walked over to the bed and sat down, burying her face in her hands as she tried to compose herself.

"Lucy, can I please say something?" Ace asked, kneeling down in front of Lucy. She removed her hands to look at him, only to be met with an extremely remorseful and upset look on Ace's face. "I didn't want to upset you. If I knew it would've upset you like this, I wouldn't have done it." Ace said as he covered his guild mark. Lucy remembered what Happy said earlier and now struggled to stop the tears from flowing even more.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because I wanted to be part of your world, Lu." Ace replied as he hesitantly reached for her face again. She moved her head back slightly in response, so he moved his arm back down to his side.

"What do you mean? You're a part of my life again."

"All of these crazy adventures you go on, all these places you travel to, I don't get to experience that with you. I know I'm not expected to, but I want to do those things with you and your friends. Even if I'm less than a novice compared to you guys: I want to experience those moments with you, because I want to enjoy my time with you Lucy. I'm willing to handle whatever comes if it means I can do that." Ace said, hesitantly reaching for her left hand with his right hand. This time she didn't take her hand away from him and instead reached for his, grasping it slightly as she felt her heartbeat begin to increase. "Why are you so scared if something happens to me?"

"Because I care about you, don't you see that? I care about you so much that I'm scared by just the thought of you getting hurt, and if I could've prevented it then I would never forgive myself if it happened." Lucy admitted as she began to tighten her grip on his hand. "We've been just fine so far, why would you want to change that?" Lucy asked while she moved down from the bed and sat down on her knees in front of him.

"Because it's not the same when you're not here. Before we got roped into this engagement: I used to spend my days wondering what to do, and that's why I started helping Ryu with the company. Then you came back into my life and all of this happened, now I look forward to every single day I get to spend with you. And when you go out for your jobs: I do my best to keep myself occupied...but then it's not the same. I don't get to hear your stories, hear your laugh, see your smile, I can't get you out of my head when you're not around Lucy." Ace admitted, looking down as he felt his cheeks begin to warm up. Lucy held her breath and it felt like her heart dropped when he stopped talking. "I'm not saying it like I want to spend every single moment with you...I want to let you breathe too. But I just wanted to experience everything you've told me about, and I wanted to experience it with you. So, is it so bad that I want to be with you?" Ace asked, lowering his head even more. But when he moved it back up to see why Lucy was so silent: she then jumped into his arms, burying her face into his chest.

"Why couldn't you just be honest with me? If that's how you felt, then why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lucy asked, using his shirt to muffle her voice.

"Well today was because you didn't give me a chance to say anything at the guild. But before today: I just didn't know how to tell you properly." Ace admitted as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"Of course it doesn't...I'm still upset with you." Lucy said, looking up at him as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. He chuckled slightly before noticing how red her eyes and nose were from her crying. "You can't let Natsu convince you so easily, I've made that mistake so many times."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ace chuckled as he tried to let go of Lucy. But she made an annoyed grumbling sound when she felt his arms begin to lift up, so he swiftly put them back down and kept her in his arms. "This is a first."

"I want my fiancé to hold me while I'm upset, is that so wrong?" Lucy asked, puffing her cheeks again so he began to laugh sheepishly.

"No I guess not." Ace replied as he turned the both of them around so he could lean on her bed. Lucy then turned around in his arms and rested her hands on top of his as they sat quietly looking at the ceiling.

"Ace?" Lucy broke the silence and caught Ace's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I asked you this during our first night here, but now that we've had more time together: I'm going to ask you again. Are you okay with this?"

"Well the floor is still hard even if we're on the rug right now."

"No dummy, I mean: are you okay with our engagement? Are you okay with living with me? Are you okay with the thought of spending our lives together?" Lucy asked as Ace rested his head on top of hers.

"What kind of question is that?" Ace asked, holding back a chuckle the best he could. "I just said all of that, and you're still asking me that?"

"Well I just want to be sure."

"Alright then, I just want to warn you that my answer's different now." Lucy, confused by what he meant, turned her head and looked up at Ace who looked down at her with a warm smile. "I was alright with this in the beginning because it was with you. Now I wouldn't want to be in this with anyone else but you. I'm not alright with it, now I'm happy with it."

"Good, because so am I." Lucy said as she nestled her head into his arm. "I've just gotta get used to the fact you're going to be a member of Fairy Tail now."

"It'll take time, and I promise I'll do my best to stay out of trouble if it'll help."

"Oh please. We're Fairy Tail wizards, we cause nothing but trouble." Lucy chuckled as she raised her right hand to look at her pink guild mark. Ace did the same with his left, and the two smiled as they placed their hands together.

"Is this a bad time to say I'm going on a job with Natsu tomorrow?"

"...are you trying to make me mad again?"

"Wow, that's heavy." Ryu said as he and Erza sat by the shore of Lake Sciliora behind the guild. Erza had just confided in him why she was upset earlier in the day, which was confirmation that she and Jellal were no longer together. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. Jellal's always going to have a special place in my heart, and I'll always be there when he needs me."

"But still, that sucks. You said you loved him for most of your life right?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Yikes." Ryu winced before turning to look at her. "But you're still in good spirits."

"Well I don't have much of a reason to be that upset over it." Erza said as she sat back and let out a relaxed sigh. "How was the train ride here?"

"Man, I hate sitting in one place for a long time." Ryu groaned while he remembered the trip from Dahlia Village to Magnolia. "I've always hated it, it's so uncomfortable." Erza laughed at his reasoning and nodded.

"Seven hours is way too long of a ride. But you could've gotten up during a stop to stretch your legs."

"Ah yes, the five minute stops because no one is going to get off of the train coming from the middle of nowhere. They get on to get away from that area." Ryu replied, making Erza nod in agreement.

"Fair enough."

"Hey Erza?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?" Ryu asked as he ran his hands through his dark blonde hair.

"Sure thing."

"What would you say if I offered you a job?" Ryu asked, facing her one more time. Erza turned her head and raised her eyebrows in surprise from his question. Well she already had her own obligations here to the guild, so she couldn't exactly leave to work under him.

"Ryu, I appreciate the offer but-"

"I don't mean hiring you as a worker, I mean hiring you as a wizard for a job." Ryu clarified, pointing at the guild mark on her left shoulder then to the building behind them. "I have to go on this big journey to Caelum in a few days, and I'm going to need someone to act as my escort during the trip. I was going to put a flier out to the other wizard guilds in the country, but I wanted to ask you first." Ryu explained as he scratched the back of his head. "Name your price and I'll do my best to match it. We should be gone for roughly a month, but it could take a bit longer. If you don't want to or have other obligations then I understand."

"Oh? Well if you put it like that then I have no reason to deny your request." Erza replied, nodding her head as she heard the details.

"Really? That's awesome."

"I don't come cheap though."

"Well I didn't expect a wizard of your quality to be cheap either." Ryu said as he extended a hand to Erza. She smiled and reached for his hand, shaking it as their agreement was set in stone. "So what do I have to do to officially hire you?"

"Just come back inside the guild hall with me and we'll talk with Mira and the Master to approve the job."

"We're really sorry about earlier, Lucy." Natsu said as he and Happy sat on the floor of Lucy and Ace's apartment. It had been several hours since the two had left the guild hall, so they decided to go check on them. But luckily when they arrived: nothing seemed to be wrong. So Ace invited them to stay for a bit and join them for a movie night.

"Aye, if I knew he was going to do that then I would've stopped him."

"It's fine, as long as these two don't do anything reckless it'd be fine. But all he did was just get him to join the guild right?" Lucy asked as she and Ace emerged from the kitchen with two bowls of popcorn in their hands.

"Well that and we're going on a job together tomorrow." Natsu replied and immediately the two stopped walking. Lucy turned and glared at Ace who sheepishly looked away.

"He did tell me that part actually." Lucy grumbled and sat down on the other side of Natsu. Happy snickered at the sight in front of him as he decided to play the movie himself. So he walked to the other side of the room and flipped a switch on the small black box in his hands, making a projection shoot out from the round crystal at the top of the box.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of job is it?" Lucy asked as the opening credits began to roll for the movie.

"Nothing too big, it's just dealing with some pests."

"Another pest control job?" Happy asked as he remembered being 3/4 of the way down a frog's digestive tract during their mission.

"No clue, it's just that something's not letting some archaeologists finish their job. So we just clear whatever's there out and call it a day." Ace explained as he tried to reach for some popcorn from Lucy's bowl. But when she noticed his hand, she swiftly pulled the bowl away and pointed at the one between him and Natsu.

"It's an easy mission, that way Ace can kinda get an idea for how the whole job process goes. Now shhhhhhh." Natsu said as he raised a finger to quiet the others around him.

"You didn't really have to invite me out for dinner, you know." Erza said as she and Ryu sat down at a restaurant Ace had recommended in the town's Central Path. It wasn't a super extravagant restaurant, but it was nice enough for the occasion.

"Please, it's my treat now that you're going to accompany on my trip. Not to mention my sister-in-law is apparently pissed at my brother now, so those plans went down the drain."

"So if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this trip for?" Erza asked as the waiter came by and handed them their menus. The two nodded to thank the waiter, before opening the menu to read the contents inside.

"It's something related to my dad's will. It's not really all that surprising since that's where his family's from." Ryu replied, surprising Erza as this was new information to her.

"Your family's from Caelum?"

"Yup. He asked for me as his oldest to go there, but I know the trip isn't going to be easy sailing. That's why I wanted to come see you, so I could ask you to accompany me there since you're a very capable wizard." Ryu explained further, making Erza quietly sigh once he said that part.

"That's the only reason?" Erza asked, surprising Ryu. Maybe he was mistaken...but she sounded disappointed right there, didn't she?

"No, of course not. I just meant that it was part of the reason I came to the guild hall directly." Ryu replied, raising the menu to hide his flustered expression. Erza quietly chuckled and let out a sigh of relief. Wait...why was she relieved anyway? Ryu was just a friend and now her employer.

"So, how was your sister's honeymoon?"

"Hm? Oh it was great. She came back last week and she said they had a great time."

"That's wonderful. Marriage is a beautiful thing." Erza commented, making Ryu chuckle and nod in response. "And according to Ace: they're going to live at the house now?"

"Pretty much. Now that Keith is living in Crocus and Ace is here: the house feels practically empty."

"I assumed it had to do with your father's passing." Erza said before covering her mouth, realizing she probably shouldn't have said that. "Oh Ryu I am so sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Sorry? You hit the nail on the head. Fabia doesn't wanna leave mom alone at home, that's why she and Graham are staying there." Ryu said, looking up from the menu with a blank expression on his face. The two then quickly gave the waiter their orders when he walked by before returning to their conversation. "I don't really want to leave her alone for over a month either, but my dad asked me for this in his will and I have to do it."

"I understand Ryu, it's quite alright. Plus it's going to be a group of us isn't it?" Erza asked. Ryu chuckled sheepishly and began looking away, doing his best to avoid making eye contact with her. "Ryu?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever you say."

"Ryu, my dearest friends have the mentality of children. Don't think you're going to hide anything from me." Erza said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. Ryu sighed as he could tell she was beginning to get upset and decided to clear the air.

"It's actually just going to be you and I."

"And why is that? If this trip required you to have an escort, why is it going to be just two people? There are plenty of capable wizards in my guild alone that can accompany us, I have no issue speaking to them." Erza said, opening her eyes and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Because my father asked me to go alone. I'm already going against his wishes by bringing you along, but I know the road to Caelum isn't going to be easy. Whatever this is: my father needs me to settle it alone, and bringing a crowd of people could possibly make a mess." Ryu explained. Sighing and burying his face in his hands, Ryu put his head down as he remembered the conversation he had with his father's lawyer the week before where Lyle specifically asked him to go alone to his home country of Caelum.

"Well from what I've heard, it's not a difficult trip. You just cross the sea and you're there."

"Except we're not going to the northeastern coast." Ryu said, raising his head and making eye contact with her. "We're going to the western island, so we're going to the farthest part of the country."

"Ah see, now that's a bit of a journey." Erza chuckled and began to remember the stories she had heard from other wizards she knew that had traveled to that country. The creatures that inhabited the islands that make up Caelum were quite dangerous from what she had heard, so it's safe to say that someone like Ryu would be risking his life if he went alone. So now she understood why he asked her to join him, and even if it was just the two of them: she was looking forward to this new adventure. "Well then, I should consider packing light since you and I have to make such a large trip."

"Pack whatever you'd like, whatever else you need on this trip: 'll be sure to cover the costs myself."

"Just like every rich boy: using his wealth to solve everything." Both laughed at Erza's comment and Ryu sat back with an amused smile on his face.

"So you want to pay for your dinner then?"

"Don't be foolish. You said it was your treat, so I'm going to enjoy myself."

"Fair enough."

It had been almost an hour since the movie finished and Natsu and Happy had left to rest for their trip the next day. Now both Ace and Lucy were alone in their apartment with Ace washing the dishes and Lucy in their bed, ignoring him the best she could.

"Lu?" Ace tried calling out to her, only to be met with silence. He turned off the sink and stuck his head out of the doorway, seeing she was busy reading a book. He sighed and went to the bookcase, grabbing a book he was reading from Lucy's collection and sat in their armchair to continue it. It wasn't all that interesting, just a generic adventure story with a hero from the countryside stepping up to become the hero of his country and defeat a Demon Lord. She had twelve books in her collection that followed that same premise...one could only imagine how stale that topic must be.

Lucy turned her head from her book, wondering what Ace was doing that he was so quiet. She smiled slightly seeing he was reading as well, before remembering why she was upset with him and going back to her own book. It wasn't so much that he joined Fairy Tail and was going off on a job so soon, she went through the same thing with the same Dragon Slayer and Exceed all those years ago too, but it was more that he made these decisions without consulting her first. She wasn't trying to manipulate or control him, but she just wanted him to talk with her first instead of just making rash decisions. If they're going to be married, he shouldn't be making big decisions that affect the course of his life without at least letting her know first.

Then again...he used to be like that as a kid too. Maybe that's why they used to get into trouble so much with his siblings and make messes? He used to have these crazy ideas and put them into action before she could tell him if it was a good idea or bad idea. Maybe she was so focused on how kind of a person he was that she forgot how impulsive he actually is? Or maybe he was doing so much to please her that he was keeping his impulses under control? And the one time he didn't: he wound up joining the guild he had just visited for the first time in his life.

But before she could continue with her thoughts, she heard him let out a deep breath as if he was bothered by something. She quickly turned her head to see what he was doing, expecting him to just be trying to get her attention, only to see that he had fallen asleep reading his book and that sound was him trying to make himself comfortable. She giggled and stood up, placing her book down on the bed and walked over to him. She placed her hands on her sides when she was standing in front of him, waiting to see if he was pretending to sleep, but no he actually was asleep. She then carefully took the book out of his hand and placed it by his side, wondering if she should wake him up and let him sleep in their bed. But the sight of him sleeping so peacefully made her feel warm inside, so she decided that maybe she should let him sleep a bit more before moving him to the bed.

At the end, she knew she couldn't really be angry with him. Happy was right, she should let him do what he wants. But that doesn't mean she can't worry about him either, she should be able to voice her opinions too. But right now, seeing him so peaceful after he tried so hard to get her to forgive him, she was grateful that he was back in her life. She'll talk to him in the morning, but for now she should leave him be and get ready for bed herself. But before she did that, it was time to give him another little gift for all he had done. So she leaned forward, raised his raven hair away from his forehead, and closed her eyes as she gave him a good night kiss.

"Uh...Lucy?" Her eyes snapped open and she looked down to see Ace, now awake and blushing slightly, staring at her. Without another word, Lucy grabbed her towel and walked to the bathroom. Once she was inside: she fell back against the wall and covered her face with her hands as she felt like her face was on fire. Then she looked in the mirror to see her face was bright red from embarrassment, but that was enough. Lisanna was right, she needs to be honest with her feelings and she's going to march out there to tell him. So she did just that: she turned around and marched out of the bathroom, only to see Ace in the process of putting their books away and closing their curtains.

"Lucy, is something wrong-"

"Yeah you're damn right something is wrong. I'm going to tell you how things are going to work from now on, got it?" Lucy said as she pointed a finger at his chest.

"Sure thi-" Lucy cut him off by poking him with her finger.

"Let me finish. You are my fiancé. You understand what that means? It means you are the man I'm going to marry and that's why I'm living under the same roof as you and sleep in the same bed as you. I wouldn't do that if I didn't want to be with you, do you understand me?"

"Of course I-" She cut him off again the same way.

"I care about you more than anyone else in the world, and I will not let you think that you can get away with doing whatever you want. I want you to be happy and will do everything I can to make you happy myself. But I will not sit by and accept you making any big decisions without telling me again, got it?"

"I've got-" She tried cutting him off again, but he caught her hand this time and pulled her close. "I've got it."

"Do you get what I'm trying to say? If we're going to get married, then enough of this treating me like your roommate business and start treating me like I'm your partner."

"And how does that work?" Ace asked, leaning his head forward to try messing with her. Taking a deep breath and telling herself it was all or nothing, Lucy pulled him closer by his collar and smashed their lips together, catching him off guard completely. After a few moments: Lucy broke their kiss and took a step back as now her entire body was trembling and her face was feeling like it was on fire. Meanwhile Ace was still in the same spot, in the exact same position, frozen like a statue.

"Th-That's how it works! Now I'm going to go get ready for bed, and I better not hear any objections to this! Otherwise, I'm sending my ring back first thing in the morning." Lucy said as she turned around and marched back into the bathroom. Once the door shut behind her, Ace's legs gave out and he collapsed on the bed next to him. The only thing he could manage to let out was:

"...what just happened?"