Chapter Forty-Seven

"I thought I killed all of you." Mard Geer sneered as people stared at the new hybrid that had taken the one going after Happy. It screeched loudly and shook its head at him.

"He says you are a liar and a bad man." Happy shouted and struggled with the book.

"What? It's a failed prototype and can't speak." There was a second screech and it weaved back and forth on its hind legs.

"I'm not a failure…that's you." Happy translated and started to make headways in getting the book away from the chaos under him.

"You little runt." Mard Geer sneered and clicked his fingers. Two hybrids turned away from Natsu and Gray and leapt at the interloper.

"No!" Lucy cried out as the leapt at the smaller hybrid. Mard Geer sneered but it quickly faltered as the second, larger hybrid appeared. It head butted one of the two aggressive hybrids and took it down. The runt used the moment of surprise to jump up and latch onto the throat of the other hybrid. It thrashed its head back and forth trying to dislodge it but could't.

"What are those?" Laxus asked and the Zodiac Guards shook their heads.

"They're hybrids that survived being culled by Mard Geer when he realized they weren't perfect little machines." Lucy said as she rejoined the others. The suit and crazy hair disappeared and she was breathing hard. It took a lot of magic and control to summon and keep on Celestial Wardrobes and she hadn't enough practice with it.

"And you know this how?"

"I might have spared their lives…" She didn't look at Laxus as he drilled holes into the back of her head.

"You spared….NO SENSE OF SELF PRESERVATION!" Laxus shouted and Natsu snickered as he finished killing the hybrids that had cornered him. He looked at Gray and saw he was down to the last of his so he leapt quickly over the carnage to wrap his arms around Lucy. She sagged against him and he nuzzled the side of her head.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm better now. But I'm worried about them. They aren't a match for these new hybrids." She said and watched as the two smaller hybrids dipped and dodged around the others. But they were bleeding from claw swipes and the barbed tips on their tails. But none of the attacks were fatal. Yet.

"You are worried for draconics?" Freed asked and she shook her head.

"She means the mangled hybrids. They're not under Mard Geer's control. They're able to think for themselves." Natsu explained and they watched as the two tormented the other hybrids; but they had an advantage the others didn't. They were able to converse and the others would run into each other trying to go after them.

"They really are conversing aren't they? It wasn't Happy just saying things to distract the evil bastard." Laxus was in awe.

"Why is everyone so surprised when I translate for creatures?" Happy asked landing on Laxus' shoulder. He looked at the Exceed and his brow furrowed.

"Where is that book?"

"Mirajean has it."

"Why the hell did ya give it to her?!" He bellowed and Happy leapt off of his shoulder and landed on Gray's when he appeared beside Natsu and Lucy.

"That isn't important." Gray cut off his leader and pointed. Mard Geer was retreating, the militants covering his departure. The runt of the first generation of hybrids shrieked and broke away from the larger one and went after him. Lucy screamed out for it to stop but it kept running. It's larger companion shrieked. Happy had tears running down his face.

"The little one said it's going to avenge the bigger oner. But the bigger one says it just wants the little one to be safe."

"No…" Lucy whispered as militants opened fire on the runt. Many of the bullets bounced off of the hard scales, but a few hit soft spots. There was screeching but it never slowed down. It swiped out and Mard Geer swore as he was slices by the claws. But he used his black magic to send the runt flying through the air. Right at a piece of rebar that was sticking out of the rubble. Lucy turned into Natsu's shoulder unable to watch it get impaled.

"What the hell is that?" A cry went up from the militants and Lucy whipped her head around. Between the runt and the rebar was a large hulking figure. Everyone stared. It stood on two legs; but was as large as a Snow Ape; but a weird shade of earthy green. Scars covered its body and it had a mane of ragged white hair that sprouted around horns at its forehead.

"A…beast of some kind." Mard Geer regarded it as he retreated. The beast bellowed and the militants scrambled to get away as it set down the hybrid and then ran towards them. Once the militants and Mard Geer were out of sight; the beast stopped and turned around. Everyone tensed; when suddenly Lisanna appeared and wrapped an arm around the beast's waist.

"Lisanna what are you doing?" Mirajean yelled as she appeared; holding Mard Geer's book to her chest.

"It's okay big sis!" Lisanna called out and waved. "It's just Elf-nii."

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted and they watched as the beast shook and then shrank. Suddenly Elfman was standing where the beast had been. He knelt down, his hands on his knees gasping for breath.

"That was new." Elfman shook his head and Lisanna clapped her hands. They looked at her.

"It was a Takeoverian spell. Big brother didn't want anything to happen to the little hybrid; after hearing what Happy had said that it and its friend were saying. I don't think Big brother even realized he'd shouted it. But suddenly he turned into the big monster thing."

"Did you give him blood Blonde?"

"No! You know Wendy healed him, not me." Lucy slapped Laxus' arm and looked at the Strauss siblings. Elfman looked sheepish while Lisanna was smiling brightly. Pride was clear to see in her face.

"Elf-nii don't look so glum. It was totally awesome and badass what you did. The way you caught the hybrid just in time was incredible to see."

"Yes. Thank you for catching it." Lucy said and she and Natsu approached the runt who had been staring at Elfman and his sister. As they approached it turned and looked over at them and screeched and wiggled excitedly. Happy perked up.

"It says, 'Hello friends! We weren't too late were we?'"

"Too late for what?" Lucy asked and held her hand out. It bumped her hand and wiggled under her palm, much like an excited puppy. The larger one screeched and clicked its jaw and slowly made its way over.

"It said, they had heard Mard Geer's call to battle and was worried one of us would be hurt."

"Oh…" Lucy flushed and smiled at the runt and then over at the larger one. Natsu also smiled softly. He held his hand out to the large one and it lifted its wing and flicked his hand with it gently.

"No, you made it in time. And I appreciate it. You helped protect us all of us." He said and the larger one nodded and laid down The runt immediately broke away from Lucy and started to nudged it's companion.

"It's asking if the larger one is okay." Happy explained. Everyone was closing in close together, Loke and Freed keeping an active eye out on their surroundings.

"It's injured pretty bad." Laxus said looking at the larger one. It growled. He looked at Happy who rubbed the back of his head. "What did it say?"

"It said the pain is nothing, but it's hungry. And the hunger hurts worse."

Natsu threw his head back and started to laugh. Which caused others to join in. The hybrids watched. Lucy pulled free of Natsu and pulled Happy off of Gray's shoulders. She whispered in his ear and he nodded and flew off. Before they knew what he was doing; he was back and he had a small sack in his hand. She pulled out something and Natsu started to grin.

"You are always so prepared." He whispered as Lucy set down the small squares and then ran a silver wand over them. They grew rapidly in size and she looked over her shoulder at him.

"I learned a thing or two while on the station."

"We know that." Gray murmured and watched as she opened the squares and pulled out packages of food. She ripped several open and walked over to the hybrids.

"I'm not sure if you can eat these or want to. But it's food." She waited as they sniffed the package. Then they opened their mouths. She threw in the packages and they chirped.

"They said it tastes better than the things they've been catching and eating." Happy translated and Lucy laughed to herself. Natsu opened a few more and fed them to the hybrids.

"Thank you both for coming and helping." Lucy said and pulled out the healing tools they had used last time. "Are you okay with me healing you again?"

They growled and Happy nodded. Everyone watched as Lucy carefully healed the injuries the best she could with the tools on hand. She stepped back and the hybrids scratched and then nudged each other before they each nudged her shoulder and turned and walked away. They stopped half way down the street and looked back and growled again.

"They said, goodbye and they'll try to help again if they can."

"Just be careful!" She shouted and watched as they disappeared. She turned and looked at Natsu. "They…came to help us?"

"I know. I can't believe it either." He said and pulled her in for a close hug. He looked around and knew that there was going to be a lot of explaining to do. And he didn't look forward to it. Or the chewing out he was sure that Laxus was going to give him. But at the moment he didn't care. He was so grateful that they had arrived when they did. He held onto Lucy and watched as Happy landed on Mirajean's shoulder and was glad to see that everyone looked more or less okay.

"Wait…where's Wendy?"

"I'm here." She said as she, Bixlow, Eve, Habiki and Ren appeared around the rubble of a fallen building.

"So we didn't have any losses today?" Lucy asked as she snuggled closer to Natsu, enjoying his warmth as she felt exhaustion creep into her body. Everything felt heavy and she was exhausted. She watched as everyone started to talk at once about what they had seen. Loke walked over to Lucy and Natsu and put his hand on her head.

"Making friends with draconics now huh?"

"You've said it yourself. I'm reckless." She yawned and he rubbed her head.

"That you are." He looked at Natsu and nodded. "Take her to the Magi-Hover and let her wash and rest. She used a lot of magic today. More than she probably should have. Especially having agreed to that stunt with the twins pretending to be her in the Aquarius outfit."

"It worked tho…and it was their idea."

"I'm sure it was." He nodded at her. Natsu nodded and pulled Lucy up into a cradle and headed for his Magi-Hover. Everyone watched them walk off. Then they turned and spoke amongst themselves.

"Do you think that Lucy is going to be okay?" Mirajean asked Laxus as they set up camp in another building several blocks away from the battle zone. He nodded and jerked his head over at the Magi Hovers that were lumped together forming a protective barrier.

"Between that barrier and the spells laid down by Freed and Eve, I would be surprised if your earth-land bugs got in here."

"I meant with the Generals when they find out she let hybrids live instead of killing them." She said and looked at him and he met her gaze.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Laxus…"

"I think you are suffering from hysteria woman. Maybe you need a good night's sleep as well as Lucy."

"Maybe I do." She smiled up at him and then turned and looked over at a box that was surrounded by multiple layers of runes. Freed had spent several hours layering the spells over the box that held the book of Mard Geer. Laxus put an arm around her shoulders and turned her away from the box and led her towards his Magi-Hover.

"Take it as an order. Get some sleep. We'll work out everything once everyone is rested."

"Okay. Thank you Laxus." She said and gave him a quick hug before entering the Magi-Hover that had opened for her. He watched her go in and then walked back towards Bixlow and Freed and Evergreen. He looked around and sighed wearily.

"Tell us about it Boss Man." Bixlow said, his visor and helmet were off. He looked worn out. More tired than Laxus could remember ever seeing him look. And that was saying something. Evergreen pulled off her glasses and shook her head. He looked around and realized all of his friends looked exhausted and aged.

"Go get some rest. I'll take first watch." He said softly and they all shook their heads. He growled and bared his fangs until they turned and headed for their Magi-Hovers to rest.

"That was sweet…taking the first shift to let them rest." He spun around and stared.

"Woman! You are supposed to be resting yourself!" He snarled and she smiled up at him without concern of his snarling expression.

"I couldn't sleep."

"You barely had time to try." He countered quickly and she shrugged. She leaned against him and sighed.

"I'll try later. Right now, my mind is too busy and my heart is heavy."

"Fine…I'll let you off of the hook fo now." He said and wrapped his arm around her and pulled her under his duster. She sighed and patted his arm where it sat over her middle.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." She looked up at the sky.

"The stars are so pretty…even while being up at the station; their beauty was evident and hadn't changed. I appreciate that."

"Yeah…I guess they are."

"Oh you only guess?"

"I appreciate their strength and power more than their beauty." He said and shrugged and she rolled her head on his chest and looked at him.

"Strength and power?"

"Yeah…you know the liquified draconics that happened the other day?"

"Yes." Her brow was furrowed.

"It was the stars and the Unison Raid they had with Lucy. They were offering to help heal and empower us all; but I needed help against a pregnant draconic. So I told them that instead of healing me; to help me take them out. Their power was insane."

"Have you told Lucy?"

"No. I don't want her to risk her life by trying to form another Unison Raid to completely eradicate all of the draconics on this planet and not just the ones close to her." He shook his head. "Natsu would be uncontrollable if she did something that would put herself into that much danger."

"Good call. I guess." Mirajean said softly. "Have you told your grandfather about Elfman?"

"Not yet. Not sure how to explain that one." He shook his head. "I mean, you all only met Blondie when we all met. So there is no way she gave the powers over."

"I know. It doesn't make sense. I mean…" Mirajean looked up at him. "Could it be the food we were eating? The alien; to us—food?"

"I wonder…" He looked over at a tent that was housing the guys from Blue Pegasus. "Maybe that is something they can test for?"

"I'll talk to Elfman tomorrow to let them run tests. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"He is…and he will be. I promise."

"Thanks, but I don't know if that is a promise you can make or keep." She said and turned and curled into him. "Hug me."

"Right…you all find comfort in embraces." He muttered and wrapped his arms around her. She nodded but didn't speak. He inhaled deeply and then lowered his nose to her hair. He inhaled, noting that her scent was soft but held a spice that he couldn't name. Maybe it was one of the scents form this planet he hadn't learned the name of.

"It'll be alright. I promise." He grounded out softly and again she nodded against him but didn't speak.

"Natsu?" Lucy rolled over but he wasn't there. She sat up and frowned. She pulled herself up out of the nest and left the sleeping chamber. He was standing by the console. She walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and rested her cheek on his back.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Just thinking."

"I'm sorry."

"Lucy…"

"I know I upset you by being in the middle of the fighting. Of showing up and then facing Mard Geer instead of running away or staying away to begin with." She whispered softly. His muscles relaxed a little and he wrapped his hands around her forearms. His thumbs rubbing up and down on her forearms.

"You did what you believed was right; and if you hadn't; I might not be here. So I can't complain too much."

"It still doesn't make it any easier on the fact that you had to watch while not being close by."

"Yeah…But I was…in a way." He said, his hand moving down to her wrist and touching her skin then trailing his fingers up the sleeve of the scalut.

"You are always with me. With or without the scalut." She whispered against his back and he nodded slowly. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder and he shivered. She pulled her arms back from around his waist and he turned around. "Natsu I…"

Her words were cut off as he cupped her face and kissed her. Hard. She gasped and he angled her head and deepened the kiss even more. Her hands grabbed onto his shoulders, her nails cutting into his skin. He hissed and pulled back, his forehead resting against hers.

"Have you been studying or something?" She asked when she finally caught her breath. He grinned and nuzzled her. She sighed heavily and ran her hands up his neck and cupped his cheeks. He met her eyes again. "Natsu I…"

Again he cut her off with a kiss, and she slid her hands up into his hair. His pink locks were soft between her fingers as she twisted them together. He pressed her up against the wall she hooked a leg around his, pulling him closer.

"Natsu? Are you eating Lushee?!" Happy's terrified voice jerked them apart and they turned, gasping and looked over. The blue Exceed had tears running down his face and his mouth trembled.

"Not like you think." Lucy whispered under her breath and Natsu gave her a look before he walked over and knelt in front of his little friend.

"No Happy. That is how people of earth-land so affection. Lucy isn't a Dragis, so I can't show affection like normal. It would hurt her."

"You promise?" The shaky voice asked and Lucy walked over and petted his head. She put her hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"We both promise. Kissing is a normal showing of affection for humans."

"That's called kissing?"

"Yep." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "That is also a kiss. There are lots of different types of kisses and a lot of different meanings behind kisses."

"Humans are weird." Happy sniffled and Lucy grinned and nodded. She pulled him into her arms and gave him a hug.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"I'm worried about the friendly hybrids." He whispered as he nestled close. Natsu put an arm around her shoulders and led the two into the sleeping room. As Lucy settled down into the nest; Natsu grabbed more blankets and laid them over Lucy and Happy. He curled up behind them and wrapped his arms around them so he could scratch Happy's head.

"We all are. But they were happy to go off on their own." Lucy whispered and the little blue head under her chin nodded.

"I'm not sure how to feel about them walking away. I know that they technically are our enemies but they helped us."

"Just because they're draconics does't mean they are instinctively our enemies." Lucy whispered. "Just like there are good and bad humans, Dragis, Exceeds or any other race—there can be good draconics. We met them."

"Yeah. Luce is right." Natsu whispered softly. "They are good ones."

"But that made them enemies to Mard Geer, and now he knows they exist. He's going to try and find them and hurt them."

"Maybe. But I think they knew that was a risk when they decided to help us." Lucy murmured and she turned her head and looked at Natsu. He saw the conflict in her eyes and he offered her a small smile. She turned back to Happy.

"Just try and sleep Happy. We're here together and nothing is going to happen to us." She whispered and he nodded and snuggled close. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Natsu laid there; staring down at the two of them. His heart clenched and he wished that this was over. That he had had a chance to get his hands on Mard Geer. To end him once and for all. But he hadn't been able to. He hadn't been strong enough, fast enough or smart enough to get there. Instead he'd been stuck fighting draconics and watching as Lucy and the others had fought him. He'd never forget when he'd seen Gemi and Mini pretending to be Lucy; or the fear of seeing the second Lucy—the real Lucy; his Lucy appear and nearly land a blow to the enemy.

He tightened his hold and nuzzled closer to her as she slept. She was reckless, selfless and so brave. He needed to up his game. To get on par with her. She deserved an equal. And he didn't think he was one. Not yet. But he would be. He vowed it right then and there. He'd continue to get stronger and would work hard at getting smarter and better at planning and strategizing. He wouldn't let her be the only one who was capable of leading the charge against Mard Geer to end his tyranny once and for all.

He had cut her off twice because he was scared of what she was going to say. That she wasn't sure he was worth being his growlkin after what had happened. And he couldn't bare the thought of hearing her say that she was even less sure of them being together. So he'd distracted her the best way he could think of. But of course she'd been one-tracked minded and tried to bring it up again and again. If Happy hadn't appeared he was sure she would have tried a third time.

He listened to the breathing of her and Happy and smiled to himself. They were safe, and they were with him. That is what he needed. Knowing they were safe and in his arms. It meant more than he could express. And he worried about losing it. Losing them.

"I can't lose you." He whispered as he slipped into sleep.