Hi folks, again still not sure whether this story will be continued or not. This is just something for me to pass the time with and have a play about with my writing. But please feel free to let me know in the comments what you think.

I do have an END goal (see what I did there? hehe) with this story however- just not with everything in between. So we will see if this story takes flight or goes in my recycling bin!

Anyhooo...

Chapter Two

6 August X793
(A year after the Alvarez war)

Dear Mother,

There's not much I can put in words. Nothing that can really mask how terrified I am. I may not be physically stronger than the others but my heart makes up for it. My willingness to continue my façade of a normal Lucy still goes on, though Gray can see beyond that. He knows everything now and had been my support since. I know he's still mad at me, he makes a point of telling me so. He begs me to share my secret with the Guild, or even the Master to see if there really is a cure. I've looked though. I've read almost every book in the Guild's archive about demons and curses. I even made an unannounced trip to Crocus to check the royal library, without giving much away to Queen Hisue, I still didn't find anything. I believe now it's clear what my fate will become and for that reason, I'm so scared. I hide it all with a smile, keeping my emotions ravelled in a blanket, hiding my true feelings to my friends.

I know now that Natsu and Happy are suspicious of me. The times I would rage about them breaking and entering my home used to be annoying but also playful, secretly I didn't mind it. It meant I was never left alone, like I was in our mansion when I was younger. They are always with me. However, this curse has been getting worse over time and I can't risk them knowing, them finding out what's wrong. I need to remain being Lucy just a little longer. Until my time is up. Then I can join you Mom, both you and Dad.

Something is coming, I can feel it. Something bad and I'm nervous. If it is my time to go, I need to be prepared. Though, if it does come to an end, it would have been worth it to save his life…

OXOX

Natsu tugged at the scruff of his dark red shirt, grumbling at the mirror back at his reflection. The only reason he decided to wear this stupid formal get up was to please his partner. The last time he wore something uncomfortable like this was back when they were helping Blue Pegasus at the ball, and although they praised how elegant he looked, he had other thoughts!

But alas, she had begged him to dress up nice for her book ceremony and he automatically agreed- without thinking twice on the matter. He believed that this was because he wanted to cheer his blonde partner up, especially since the last year she had been unusually herself. Lucy was not Lucy at all, even though he knew she had been trying super hard to be. But he didn't press on her personal affairs, he knew better than that.

Though he assumed it had something to do with her book release.

Just 2 months ago, the celestial wizard had published her novel 'The adventure of Iris' which was based on their story. And when he said their, he meant himself and Lucy. He was surprised to hear that a character in her book was based off him, along with several of their guild mates. They all played a part in her novel, which was why she was eager for them to come to Crocus with her to witness the award ceremony.

However, she had been so uptight and stressed about the whole thing that he was eager for it all to be over- for her sake. She was tense, he could sense it. She was highly strung, he found that out the hard way and most importantly, she was distant with him and he did not like that one bit.

But still he had hoped that after today, once the book ceremony was over, she would resume being her cheerful happy self. Especially when he had a surprise for her!

"So…Iris is Lucy?" Happy gasped, holding the book between his paws. While Natsu had been changing, the small furball had stayed occupied by reading the summary at the back of the cover, fascinated that Iris reminded him of their Lucy.

"I guess?" Natsu span round from his reflection, wriggling his shoulders as he shuffled on the dark grey blazer. "Whatcha think Happy?"

The blue cat frowned, studying his partner up and down with a twist of his nose. He placed the book down, adjusting his own bow tie before shaking his head. "You look weird" he stated, not fully invested. "Lushy's rubbing off on you"

Natsu smirked at his comment, lightly brushing the blazer jacket down and straightening himself up. He did indeed look weird, but this was all for playing the part for Lucy. He was wearing a matching coloured set of pants that tied in his look and black shoes that rubbed his feet. He really did miss his sandals.

But this had all been selected by Levy, despite his objections.

"Lucy better appreciate this!" he scoffed.

"Oh she will, trust me!" Levy timidly appeared from behind the curtain of the dressing room, her hands clutching a long piece of fabric. He eyeballed it instantly as she came towards him.

"What's that?"

"A tie…to go with your suit" she claimed, revealing the item of clothing in her small hands.

"Can't I just wear my scarf?" he whined, peering over at his white scaled neckpiece that was draped across the chair. The look Levy gave him was enough of an answer for him, as she placed herself before him.

"You want to impress Lu right?" she wondered, blinking innocently at him.

"Yeah Natsu~" Happy teased.

Natsu's eyes rolled up with annoyance but gave in anyway as Levy shimmered the fabric around his neck and under the collar of his shirt. She then tied it, her hands magically flapping the fabric around in front of him before pulling it up and letting it sit nicely against the buttoned shirt. She stepped back to admire her masterpiece, proudly clapping her hands together.

"She's going to love it!" she announced brightly.

"Yeah, well she gets this for 4 hours then I'm taking the dam thing off!" Natsu declared, sulking. Happy sniggered, his paws covering his mouth.

"You plan to take a leaf out of Gray's book eh Natsu?" the cat chortled.

"That's fine, there will be an after party anyway. So I can pack your normal clothes in a bag to change into after, ok?" the small female suggested sweetly.

Natsu thanked her as she left, spinning back to the mirror once more to look at himself. Surprising what clothes did to change a person's appearance. He looked like an adult, even with his childish personality. He looked his age, a smartly dressed 20 year old with a charming fanged smile and pink hair. What wasn't to like?

He wondered if this was what Lucy was attracted to? She had always gone on dates with men that wore what he had on now, calling them gentlemen with a sophisticated attitude- whatever that meant. But they were smart men, with prince like features that would sweep her off her feet and carry her away to her castle, like she was some sort of princess.

Natsu snorted.

Behind all this glamour and fabric, he was merely the opposite. A dragon, a beast that would whisk her away to a tower and protect her from any unworthy knights that tried to claim her. No one had the right to claim her. And a part of him wanted to keep it that way. Whenever Lucy did go on dates with guys, her time with him and Happy was reduced dramatically. And they didn't like that. Sharing Lucy that is.

"Natsu, are you day dreaming?" Happy quickly distracted his thoughts, waving causally over at him. "You looked scary!" The dragon slayer mumbled softly as a reply, brushing his thumb over the tie fabric. "What were you thinking about?"

"Huh…just being a dragon" he whispered, eyes falling.

"You're not just any dragon Natsu, you're the Dragon King!" Happy chanted proudly. Once again, Natsu snorted at his feline partner. Titles meant nothing to him really, but since the defeat of Acnologia, people began to call the great Salamander the Dragon King- being Acnologia's successor. Though he knew that he had all the Dragon Slayers to thank for that victory.

"Yeah, yeah…come on buddy" he grinned, shooing him along out through the curtain to follow Levy.

Both ready to take on the show…

XOXOXOX

"The Kemu Zeleon Literary Prize for the best new novelist has been awarded…" the presenter called out over the microphone. "May I present the author of The adventure of Iris, Lucy Heartfilia" the large ballroom quickly filled with cheers and whistles as the blonde made her way up to the stage. Everyone clapped vigorously as she strolled across the stage to collect her award, blushing by the amount of faces staring up at her. She couldn't see her guildmates, but she sensed them there, all proudly praising her as she accepted the trophy from the presenter.

"Thankyou" she muttered nervously, holding the award close to the chest. "Thank you so much"

She never had expected her novel to be published for everyone to read, let alone receive an award for it. There had been so many sleepless nights where she had forced herself to write about her journeys with her team, eager to record all those memories down with ink and paper. And now here she was, standing respectfully in front of hundredths of people, sharing those experiences with them.

"Thank you, Fairytail" she whispered under her breath, hoisting her dress up so she could gracefully step down the stairs to the ballroom floor.

Levy had been the first to greet her, along with the metallic dragon slayer who had tagged along beside her.

"Lu we are so proud!" the bluenette forced herself into Lucy, embracing her tightly while receiving complaints from Gajeel behind her about being careful.

"Thank you, it honestly seems like a dream come true!" she said, admiring the award in her hand. "I'm a proper author now…" she shook her head, still overwhelmed by the reality she was in.

"I know! And I can't wait for the sequel!" Levy blurted, "You have to let me read your drafts ok?" she tugged on Lucy's arm, her eyes practically begging her friend to accept her offer. But while Lucy was happy to see her friend's enthusiasm, she wasn't quite sure that there would be a sequel. She nodded with agreement, but her smile shortly lowered.

"That's if I write one" she pointed out. "I haven't even thought about writing another yet"

"Oh you will" Levy encouraged. "Won't she Gajeel?" she turned to her companion, who frowned disgustingly in response- like how was he supposed to know? "Plus I need to know what happens between Iris and Blaze!"

"Don't force bunny girl, shrimp!" Gajeel grunted, shaking his head. "Now get to it, there's some tasty metal over there I got my eye on!" he tugged his partner's wrist, shimmering her away through the crowd while Levy slowly pulled her friend an apologetic look.

Not that Lucy minded as much, preoccupied with the idea of a second book. She hadn't really taken the time to think about what would happen next. There was so much left unbalanced now that she didn't think she would have time to write a sequel. Maybe she could at least start something?

"LUSSSSSSSHY!" she was quickly left stunned as both dragon slayer and his charming cat came charging into her view. Instantly Happy had bolted into her chest, settling there contented while Natsu shuffled himself in front of her.

"Woah…Natsu" Lucy's eyes fluttered up and down at his attire, blushing by how smartly dressed he was. "You look…" she paused, struggling to get the word that deemed appropriate to say out loud to compliment her best friend.

"Clean?" Happy answered for her, chuckling. "Levy made him shower"

"Yeah and sprayed some crap on me" Natsu groaned. He took a whiff of himself as he lifted his arm, already feeling restricted by the blazer. "I can hardly smell anything"

"Aftershave, she called it aftershave" Happy corrected him, smirking.

"Well it smells awful- I'm sure it's burnt my nostrils" he complained, wriggling his nose.

"Let me smell" Lucy stepped forward into his personal space, stepping up onto her tiptoes of her heels to inhale the scent around his neck. The strange, close interaction made Natsu shiver as he held his breath to stay completely still. His eyes peered down to watch her sniff away at his now oddly changed scent. Her smile grew amusingly as she pushed herself back. "That smells amazing" she admitted.

Her comment made him flush instantly, but to avoid the embarrassment he turned his face away and scowled.

"Yeah well you have 2 hours left" he grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"2 hours left?" she repeated not fully understanding. He nodded. "Till what?" she looked to Happy for an explanation, who was now flying beside them. His paws covered his mouth, sniggering.

"Till Natsu starts his stripping habit" the feline commented brightly. "He's gonna put Gray to shame"

"Natsu, you wouldn't dare!" Lucy warned sternly. "You promised me you were going to behave!"

"I ain't gonna strip, jeez Luce. But I am getting out of this!" he yanked at his tie, showing how uncomfortable he was really feeling. "How do the guys you date cope in this stuff!"

"It's called making an effort" Lucy taunted, rolling her eyes playfully at her partner. "Besides you do look really good" she found herself reaching for his collar on his shirt, adjusting it slightly after it had moved out of place from his pulling. "There" she muttered, confirming to herself.

"Yeah…thanks"

Her hand lingered for a moment, brushing the blazer to feel the soft fabric and straightening it out.

"You know, when you get married you'll have to wear this stuff for a whole day…" she said giggling. "How will you cope?" this made Natsu smirk harder, that answer was simple.

"Not get married- easy" he stated proudly, with a tight shrug. Happy sniggered once more, an awkward yet devilishly grin pulling from the corner of his mouth as he watched Lucy's face shimmer.

"And what if she wants to get married, hmm?" her voice settled in a questioning tone that made Natsu quickly gulp. Now how does he answer that?

"Um…well…I…uh" he choked on his words, not really sure how to respond. "I guess that's for the future me to deal with eh?" he nervously laughed, eyes now shooting up to Happy whose cheeks were now filled with air and ready to blow.

Just as he was about to call out his favourite tease, he was stopped as both Lucy and Natsu sent over a threatening glare. After all, the conversation was getting a little too heated. And both mentally thanked the hairball for disturbing the conversation.

"Don't you dare say it cat!" Lucy growled, now pointing her shiny award as a weapon to beat him with.

"I wasn't gonna~" the feline sang shamefully.

"Yeah, yeah… I know your game hairball" she insulted, rolling her eyes jokingly at the blue exceed. "Now…before you both decide to ruin the day…I need a drink!" she flapped her hand away at them, brushing them off smoothly as she walked away with her award. As she left, Happy turned to his partner with a soft tilt to his head.

"You didn't tell her the surprise?" he wondered.

"Nah, I'll wait till the morning"

XOXO

Lucy's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes flashing by how close they really were. By how eager he had been to say something to her. The way he forced himself to her, the way his breathing hitched causing her to follow suit, made her believe that there was some sort of confession to escape his lips. But at that moment, it dropped. He declared it didn't much matter and tugged her like some sort of doll, leaving her wondering.

"Here I am, moved to tears by the things you did and you don't even care?!" it was safe to say she was angry, from the moment he grasped her wrist and whisked her down the steps of her apartment. His face turned revealing his trademark grin, believing that would simmer her down.

"What does it matter though?" he had said, ever so plainly. "We're still gonna be together from here on out, right?"

She didn't get a chance to fight it, nor to accept it as she was pulled out onto the streets, ready to start the 100 year quest that Master had somehow approved for them. And just like that, they were off to begin their new adventure.

Natsu had quickly released her hand and a sudden feeling of regret swarmed her as they approached the rest of the team outside.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu pumped his fists into the air, charging ahead of the cart that Erza insisted on pulling.

"So, what's this quest then?" she asked, flickering between her teammates as they began to move.

"This…is our mission" Gray had the flyer stashed in his pocket, but was reluctant to hand it over to his blonde comrade. He steered his eyes away from her glance, showing some sort of uneasy tension between the two of them. Something that the young Wendy had picked up on as she timidly walked beside Gray.

Snatching it from his hand, Lucy began to read it through. Her head pulled up dramatically, eyes alerted.

"Giltena!" she exclaimed, reading the flyer out loud. It was Erza who confirmed it.

"It's a place between Ishgar and Alakitasia" she explained firmly. "It may take a few months to reach there"

"M-Months?!" Lucy gasped.

"Well it is a 100 year quest you dummy" the ice wizard snorted, stashing his fists into the holes of his jeans. "What did you expect? To be home by sunrise?"

Lucy grumbled at his sarcastic tone, with her eyes rolling.

"I thought this job would be in Ishgar that's all" she replied to him bitterly, while holding the piece of paper in her hand. She stored it in her little pouch attached to her hip and keys.

"S class missions normally involve a lot of travelling to new places. I myself have not been to Giltena yet either" Erza admitted.

"I wonder what this place will look like" Wendy murmured innocently drawing up the scenery in her mind. "Maybe it's a tropical island"

"Or a dragon's pit!" Natsu announced excitedly. "With loads of delicious fire!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at her pink haired partner, though she secretly hoped Wendy was right. A sunny sandy island was exactly what she needed.

"I assume it would be like any other normal populated island" Carla said, transforming into her human form. She brushed her fingers through her white permed hair and blinked, catching Happy's heart shaped eyes glowing at her. She huffed back at him.

"So, we're travelling by boat right?" Lucy asked. She looked to Erza in particular, though she noticed Natsu's face pale instantly by her question.

"Of course. There is no other way to travel there" the red head claimed. "We will need to head to Era to get to the Pacific docks; I suggest we camp there" she explained firmly.

Lucy smirked at Erza's suggestion, skipping up beside her to see her pink dusted cheeks. She clamped her hands around her back, eyeing her with an all-knowing look.

"Staying over at Era?" Gray questioned her instantly. "Wouldn't it be better to crash at Sheila or Clover?"

"Absolutely not" the older female grumbled. "We have to pass through there to get to the docks"

Gray knew he had struck some sort of nerve within his armoured friend, as the leather strap she was tugging the cart with had quickly tightened in her grasp. And the cart's steady moving over the cobblestoned path quickly accelerated as she stormed ahead of her team mates.

No one mentioned the sudden speed increase, mainly because none of them wanted to annoy her further- after all Erza was pretty scary.

Although Erza's reason for stopping over at Era was justified, Lucy knew that there was one more benefit to their stop.

It may not have been obvious to the others but Erza's relationship with a certain blue haired mercenary was now ongoing. It was complicated- much to what Lucy had described in her book. But there was definitely something there, as she picked up on. It had been announced that the Queen of Fiore had pardoned Jellal and his team for their crimes, making them now completely free from their burden. Which also meant he could finally join a guild and be apart of something for himself.

Which explained why he was staying in Era. Jellal had been spending some time working and rebuilding the Magic Council and this (in Lucy's mind) explained why Erza was so keen to stay over.

"We can take the train to Hargeon then. There's a boat on the docks that can take you into the outskirts of Era" the ice wizard announced, accepting Erza's request to stay in the city.

"A train?! A boat?!" Natsu complained loudly. He arched over and sluggishly allowed his arms fall in front of him. "Ugh…" Already feeling his face go a sickly green.

"Cheer up Natsu, it won't be for long" the small dragon slayer encouraged sweetly.

"Yeah! Erza can knock you unconscious and you'll be there before you know it!" Happy chimed as he landed onto his friend's shoulder.

"Oh yippee" the fire wizard tooted sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I could cast Troia, but it won't really work well on you Natsu" Wendy said shamefully, "I'm not that strong"

"You're plenty strong Wendy" Carla told her firmly. "Don't put yourself down like that" this made Natsu slowly wave her off, smiling with reassurance.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Erza will probably knock me out before you get a chance to cast it anyway" he sniggered, hiding his sudden fear as the redheaded female snapped her head back towards him. "I mean…yippee!" he repeated causally, avoiding her direction.

XOXO

The train ride was longer than she remembered, but she assumed that was due to how quiet everyone was in their seats. Erza had her head wrapped in a magazine that she had brought at the shop at the Magnolia platform and appeared to be fully engrossed in the latest article about the Magic Council and the new wizards to take up the post as the 10 Wizard Saints.

When Lucy asked about it, Erza had quickly summarized that they are on the hunt looking for the 10 strongest wizards to take up the rankings but no one has been confirmed.

That surprised the blonde, especially knowing that two of the strongest wizards alone were sat in the cart with her right now. She had at least expected the Magic Council to reach out to Erza and Natsu about the positions, but perhaps there was more to it, after all she wasn't a member of the Council, so she didn't know how it worked.

"We're here" Gray announced. The train came to a slow stop and Lucy was the first to grab her bag and step off the train onto the platform. Boy, did coming to Hargeon bring back memories! Silent tears more than anything, but she quickly wiped them away before anyone else had the chance to notice.

She gingerly worshipped the ground, possibly more than Natsu did as he slithered off the train. Weakly, he crawled across the wooden decking over to his team, sluggishly reaching up Lucy's leg for assistance.

"Get off the floor will ya!" Gray shouted, eyeing the pale dragon slayer who had now face planted the ground.

"You know he doesn't do well with his motion sickness Gray" Happy pointed out, landing to his father figure's side and patting his head gently. A soft moan escaped the sick wizard.

"Wendy seems fine" he pointed out bluntly.

"Troia works well on other dragon slayers, just not so much on Natsu" Lucy admitted softly, admiring the view of the small town. She heard Gray huff at her explanation, but refused to retaliate. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and stepped down the wooden steps that entranced the small docking town.

As if it had been almost 10 years ago that she had met Natsu and Happy on her travels. A runaway 16 year old who wanted to be more than just some harpooned daughter. And since them meeting, so much had happened.

For only 3 years had gone by for her (thanks to the timeskip back on Tenrou Island) but just under 9 years between then and now. It was like she was in some sort of strange dream. The town itself appeared to be the same as how it was all that time ago, perhaps a few more market stalls brought up here and there, but still it was like nothing had really changed.

She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't in some sort of wild imagination of hers.

"Brings back memories eh Loopy!" she felt Natsu's large hand pat her shoulder as he came up beside her. He too looked like he was admiring the same view, and perhaps thinking the same thing. She turned to smile at him, surprised that her partner was now back to his original cocky self, gleaming cheerfully at her as he walked on ahead with Happy in tow.

She blinked, watching them scout ahead.

"You reminiscing over there blondie?" Gray chuckled at her, catching her off guard. He shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning back as they watched Natsu and Happy disappear off into the distance. "Come on, let's get something to eat" he tilted his head over at the direction of some cafes near the station, encouraging her to follow him.

"What about Erza and Wendy?" she asked, monitoring behind her. The others had gone to collect Erza's cart from the storage compartment at the back of the train.

"I'm pretty sure they'll be popping into the cakery" he stated shrugging his shoulders lightly. "And well…besides" he paused, looking across to her sternly. "You and me need to talk"

"Do we?" she mumbled innocently.

"Yes, we do"

She gulped hard, a thick lump forming in the back of her throat as she reluctantly accepted his offer. With her head down with guilt, she followed him across to the small café and sat outside on one of the little tables.

Gray had found his seat immediately, sitting in front of her at the table. He slouched forward, leaning across the table between them to study her features. The strange stare made her rock backwards.

"So, has it happened since?" he probed, watching her curiously.

"Not since last week when you came over" Lucy answered honestly.

"Good thing I did too" he muttered, slouching back into his chair. There was awkwardness between them, both could feel it. Lucy could feel her nerves getting the better of her as she began to twiddle with her fingers under the table.

A young waiter came across, politely took their orders of 2 sandwiches, an iced cider and a latte before scurrying away to fetch them. When she left, Gray slowly continued.

"As if you took this quest" he drawled in a heavy breath, shaking his head to disapprove.

"I didn't really have a say in the matter Gray"

"Well now it's going to be even harder to keep your little secret" he paused, looking over as the waiter returned with their drinks, placing the cider in front of him and the latte in front of Lucy. "You should of said no" he advised, pulling his drink up to take a sip.

"I told you, I didn't get a chance to say no" she defended. "Natsu was so quick to pull me out of the apartment, I didn't even get to pack my own stuff" this made her wince suddenly, hoping that the boys had packed some decent clothes for her to wear and not just the sex appealed items.

"It doesn't matter. If you get an episode in front of them-"

"I won't, I'll try and control it" she interrupted him, her hands out defensively. She tried to reassure him with her smile, but it didn't fool the ice wizard. His stare was a cold as his magic.

"Since you've done such a great job controlling it this last year" he snarked sarcastically at her. "This isn't one of your books you know, the prince isn't coming to save you"

"I don't want a prince" she resorted causally. This made Gray roll his eyes, drinking from his cup. He knew every girl wanted a prince, that's what was written all in of those fairy tales. He looked up, smiling as the waiter reappeared with their food. She placed the sandwiches down and quickly hopped away as Gray leant into the table once more.

"It will end badly" he warned. "You should be back in Magnolia where it's safe"

Lucy's brow lifted. "Without you to stop it?" she huffed. "So far, all we know is that your demon ice magic can stop the episodes"

"Then we both go back" he informed her. He bit into his sandwich, eyeing her curiously as she let out an amusing giggle.

"Like that wont cause suspicion" she teased, fluttering her lashes at him. "And there's no way Natsu will let us leave anyway" she pointed out.

"Then what do you suggest Lucy?" he urged for some sort of solution, but all the blonde did was simply shrug her shoulders as she innocently bit into her own sandwich. She swallowed carefully eyeing him.

"Continue with the mission" she said bluntly. "It's the only thing we can do"

Gray scoffed at her, shaking his head at her poor suggestion.

"And what happens when Natsu finds out what you've done? Assuming that he still doesn't know?" Gray cocked his brow, wondering how she would answer such a deep question.

"Hopefully it won't come to that" she admitted softly. "Because by the time he does, I'll be gone"

"And so will he" Gray told her directly.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that, you see Gray- if I can attach a different host, Natsu will live" she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled weakly. "I can rewrite the book, I can give END a new host" she bit her lip watching Gray's eyes furrow darkly.

"You would re-write that book again…even after what it's done?" she nodded to him. "And who will this new host be? Wont it affect them too?"

"No, only the one who tampers with the book suffers the curse. I was hoping…you would be the host" she chewed her bottom harder, watching Gray's eyes widen. "Please Gray, for me…as a final goodbye, could you grant me this one thing so I can protect him"

"So he'll live and you die?" Gray choked between gritted teeth. "You really think Natsu would forgive me for that?"

"He would have to, because his life would then link to you" she said bleakly. "At least it would give me comfort knowing that he'll be able to carry on"

Gray shook his head nervously, looking down at his remaining sandwich. For some reason he had suddenly lost his appetite. The thought of losing Lucy, it would be like losing his teacher Ur. Lucy was a close friend, she was family, knowing that her ending was near was almost torture for him, let alone for Natsu and Happy.

He wasn't there the night future Lucy died, but he did hear about it. How angry and upset it must have been for Natsu to watch his partner die before him, whether it was his Lucy or the future one- Lucy was Lucy. But this was more serious, we were talking about their Lucy here. Surely it would break Natsu.

"You have to find a cure" he spoke, almost demanding his will. "You need to, you can't…" he choked, shaking his head. He grabbed her hands that were resting on the table and squeezed them tightly in his, in a way to force the tears to remain behind his glassy eyes. "You can't die…." His voice wobbled. "It would break us all…and" he paused, holding his head up to control himself.

"Gray…" Lucy soothed gently. "It will be ok"

"No it won't!" he was sharp, still holding her hands tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I promise I will look for a cure, but if I can't, you have to pinky promise me here and now…that if I go, you will host Natsu…please" her eyes begged him. "Please Gray…"

XOXOX

Natsu followed his nose, confused by where Lucy had gone off to.

"We did walk off and leave her" Happy mumbled, ashamed that they had left their partner behind back at the station. "Maybe she decided to go to that restaurant she took us to before?"

"No" Natsu's voice was hesitant. "Gray is with her" he only guessed that was the case, inhaling the air around them and picking up both their scents from afar. After all, to him, Lucy had a distinctive scent- one that always stuck out compared to everyone else. He followed the sweet flow down the market street, eyes scanning the stalls to pinpoint his blonde teammate. He walked further ahead, his nostrils flaring.

"Oh, do you think she's angry that we ran off without her?" Happy asked, his ears dropping sadly.

"Nah"

"But you know how she gets all mushy about this place" the cat hummed, watching his male companion continue his search. Natsu grinned. It was true, whenever Hargeon was mentioned, Lucy would melt like butter and tears would flow.

"Yeah, Lucy's weird like that"

"It's like she said back at her house, we're the reason she is the person she is today" the feline chimed pleasingly. "She's very lucky we bumped into her that day then" he continued to ramble on, retelling their first meeting from the beginning while Natsu, still occupied on finding their partner, listened closely. "She was so silly, getting herself kidnapped like that"

"Uh huh" Natsu stopped abruptly.

"She's lucky that you're always gonna be there to save her, right Nat-" Happy croaked, bouncing into Natsu's back and shaking his head from the impact. "Ow- Natsu!" he rubbed his sore head with his paw, wondering why his best friend had stopped so suddenly.

He looked around, staring at the many shops and cafes lined up either side of the street, then turned to his friend as almost eager to question why he was now frozen in place. His eyes buried into the distance.

Happy followed his line of sight, his smile widening.

In the distance, sat outside a little café was Lucy…and Gray. Both appeared to be in a fully depth conversation. Their eyes were locked on each other with complete focus and determination.

"You found her!" Happy praised.

Natsu said nothing. His onyx eyes burning into their interaction. They were holding hands, rather too tightly. And before he was able to even question that, he watched as Gray slowly released her delicate hands and held out his pinky before her. He offered it across to her, and the strange movement seemed to make Lucy smile brightly, as he held out her own and curled it around his. The dragon slayer studied the action from afar, feeling his jaw click effortlessly.

"Are they…on a date?" Happy gasped, holding his paws against his chortling mouth. "Natsu! Are you seeing what I'm seeing?!"

The pinky hold lasted a few seconds, but for Natsu it felt much longer. He wasn't sure what he had just witnessed or what was going on between the two of them but whatever it was- he had seen it. And the feeling in his gut didn't go unnoticed either, like a painful twist in his stomach almost like he'd been punched and it had recoiled inwards.

Without evening realising it, he scowled. His face furrowing as he shot up to the puzzled Happy. He clicked his tongue, waving them away as he turned his back. Like he was no longer interested in finding Lucy at all, or wanting to watch anymore of the show they were displaying between them.

"Come on Happy, let's get some grub" he instructed, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"But what about-" Happy trailed off into silence, looking back at their blonde teammate with worry.

"Don't worry about Luce, she's fine" he forced a nerve racking smile at his flying companion, encouraging him to proceed ahead. "You know…we did pass a fish and grill place not far from here" he muttered, lifting the cat's spirits.

"Really?" Natsu nodded his head, pointing over to the direction he had seen it. "Then, what are we waiting for! Let's go!"