The crackling of a small bonfire filled the night and illuminated the small hill just outside of Magnolia. Lucy rubbed her cold arms and covered her mouth as she let out a tired yawn. They had been stationed by the edge of town for most of the night, though their numbers had significantly dwindled. Only the core members of Fairy Tail remained on-site, waiting for the return of Natsumi's counterpart, a man they had only just learned about but even so, they felt as if they shared a small bond with the man.

"How long do you think he'll be?" The beautiful blonde woman asked her best friend in a small voice. "Can you sense him at all?"

"No, he left my range maybe half an hour after he left." Natsumi replied softly. She followed the blonde's gaze across the landscape. "But he felt like a completely different person when he was fighting… When at home, he is cool, calm, and collected, with a hint of sadness and loneliness. But when he arrived… I don't really know how to explain it aside from everything being at minimum."

"At minimum?"

"I was getting hints of longing and sadness as he looked out at us from the rooftop but he seemed to have squashed it to focus on the task at hand. It was like a serene emptiness. It's not something I am capable of doing, maybe because of my hormones and instincts as a female dragon slayer… or maybe it's a defensive mechanism that he developed over the many years that he had spent at war, so he wouldn't fly off the hook and go berserk…"

"He felt kind of terrifying." Mira admitted as she joined the women at the fire. "When those explosives were lobbed over our heads, I turned and saw him on top of a nearby building but once he saw you about to be trampled, Lucy, he leapt to the ground and moved as fast or even faster than Jet does. I don't think I've ever felt you as angry as he was when he saw Lucy in danger."

"Yeah. That doesn't surprise me considering what he has been through." Natsumi nodded rapidly. "I saw his approach out of the corner of my eye, I could barely track him, and I'm capable of tracking Jet fairly easily due to the magic signature. But Natsu wasn't outputting any magic or curse energy, that was pure raw physical power."

"Well considering he crushed a Quin'ael's skull with barely any effort…" Lucy chuckled weakly. She turned back to the women gathered around the fire and another yawn forced its way out of her. "I don't know how much more I can handle… I'm cold and tired."

"Hm?" Natsumi's head snapped up and she turned to look past the hills. "He has re-entered my range, he's on his way back… And he's bringing the culprits too, they feel scared to fucking death."

Wendy curiously looked up at the older dragon slayer and quietly asked, "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"Physically, yeah." Natsumi gave the young woman a small nod. "Plus, he has Lelyanna there and we all know that she's got some insane healing magic. So even if he was injured, she'd take care of him."

"Just physically?" Lucy tilted her head at the pinkette's wording. "Meaning?"

"Now that he's not stifling his emotions, they tend to fluctuate between fairly neutral to fairly bad depression. I say fairly bad because my demon side is fuelled by negative emotions, just like that, so I'm kinda geared towards detecting things like that."

"Is he ever happy?"

"Yeah. But like I said, he's lonely and it's clear that he misses the woman he loves; her presence, scent, touch… He's happy when he's doing stuff with Lelyanna, Henrietta, and I. He enjoys our company even if there's no conversation going on. But I can tell that something is missing." Natsumi lightly scratched her cheek with her forefinger. "For example, when he's in his office, you'd regularly find Lelyanna relaxing on a couch in there while reading a book; either smut novels that she found in his world or the medical journals that he rewrote from the knowledge that existed in his world. That particular body of Henrietta's is almost always by his side too, but I've noticed that it's only recently that her company has had a positive effect on him, maybe because it's not a clockwork one like the rest of the ones in our world. He created the intelligence that pilots that body, and it has the ability to learn and adapt by itself, so that could also be another reason that he finds her comforting. She's begun to feel like a normal person instead of being an android created for war. Hm… maybe it's a sense of comradery, they're both weapons of war in his eyes."

"Weapons of war?" Mira blinked softly and tilted her head. "Hm… Master did say something about him being enhanced in some way…"

"Chemical enhancements." Natsumi quickly clarified. "They injected him with lots of different things that caused his body to mutate. That's how he can put out so much physical force like it's nothing, and he can probably tank hits that'd down even Laxus and Gajeel. Hell, I doubt even Elfman could down him."

"That must have been painful…" The white-haired woman whispered. She brought her hand to her lips and gasped as she imagined the man in a dark, musty room, strapped to a cold metal table with thick leather belts then injected with strange substances through large metal syringes held by wicked-looking men who cackled maniacally. "I'm sure it's not as bad as that… but it's still a very horrifying thought."

"I've never asked him how it was done. I only know of what the chemical augmentations were and what happened as a side-effect."

"Side-effect?" Lucy glanced at the dragon princess before returning her gaze to the small bonfire.

"Accelerated reflexes. He's told me that he can enter a state of hyper-awareness where his mind is able to process things at a much faster rate for a short time. This causes him to perceive the world as if it has slowed down around him, and due to his enhanced physical abilities, he can exploit that mutation to devastating effects."

"Did he give you any examples?" Mira asked.

"He had to think about an example that I'd be able to understand, since his world was far more advanced than ours. You'll know what I mean when you see inside the manor. But think of it this way; say if I held a gun up to your face." Natsumi lifted her hand with her forefinger and thumb extended and pointed it at the woman's stunningly beautiful face with only a few centimetres between the tip of her finger and the woman's nose. "Say I fired this gun, are you confident that you could dodge it?"

"No."

"Well… He can certainly do that… and he demonstrated it too." Natsumi brought her hand closer to herself and turned it over so she looked at the palm. "He stood between me and the metal targets he has set up in his estate. With the muzzle of his handgun two centimetres from his face, right between his eyes. And he told me 'Whenever you feel like it, pull the trigger, and make sure to give me no warning', and so I did just that… I watched him carefully for a few seconds before squeezing my finger on the trigger. The hammer snapped forward but not only had he moved beside me, his hand was on the top of the gun with his thumb blocking the hammer." She wiggled her thumb in small circles and lifted her eyes to the stunned women around her. "I couldn't feel anything even remotely hostile coming from him, but I knew… in that instant that he moved, he could've killed me in that very moment and I wouldn't have even realised. He always has a knife strapped to his left thigh, he could've easily drawn it and driven it through my neck, well, through any part of my body."

"Damn…" Grace finally opened her mouth to say something. She let out a long whistle and tried to imagine what it would've felt like to be in Natsumi's shoes in that very moment. "Yeah… He's definitely some kind of monster."

"He's almost here." Natsumi moved away from the fire and started to walk up the nearby hill. As she neared the crest, three figures came up from the other side and loomed over her. "How did it go?"

"Messy. You lot didn't have to wait for me." Natsu replied as his glowing, bloodred eyes flicked to the guild members gathered behind Natsumi. He yanked on a vine that he had been holding onto and three human-shaped bundles of vines were flung over the crest of the hill and tumbled down the other side. "These three were behind it all, well, behind the monsters at least. I don't know their reasoning for the attack or if someone was behind them and I don't really care. Deal with them however you see fit; throw them in jail, execute them, whatever."

A gentle familiar giggle floated on the wind and caused the dragon princess to look at her team, only to find them talking among themselves. "Ah well, let's go hand them over to the old man, he can make the decision on what we should do with them." The pinkette led the group down the hill and to the small base camp that they had set up while they waited for their return. "Hey Gramps, Natsu found the troublemakers."

The old man looked up; his attention snatched up by the shouting woman. He pushed himself to his feet with a groan as he forced his old bones to obey him and he moved away from the fire that he was sat by, approaching the two fire dragon slayers as taller man unwrapped the three bundles to reveal three ragged middle-aged men underneath. Their faces were pale and gaunt, tainted as a side effect from using necromantic magics and defiling corpses. "If we hadn't been able to stem the flow of undead, they would have flooded into the city and caused an untold amount of damage. Some may have even fled and sought shelter from the light within the sewerage systems and clean water cisterns under the city. If left to linger, they'd have poisoned the city's water supply…"

As the man talked, Natsu grabbed each man by the scruff of their collar and forced them onto their knees in front of the elderly man. He withdrew his pistol from the holster on his thigh and held it loosely at his side. "In my opinion, their intent to cause harm is very clear. They had enough numbers that it would've decimated the city had we not had any advanced warning. Since I'm new to this country, I don't know what your customs are in dealing with situations like this. But where I'm from, they'd be executed on the spot."

"One of them is going to run…" Whispered a gentle voice, the warning carried along by the cold winter wind. "We've seen their type before…"

Natsumi looked around quickly, searching for the source of the voice. But when she came up empty-handed, she turned to the pinkette next to her who had begun drumming his fingers against the grip of his pistol. "I'm not going crazy and hearing things, right?"

"No more than usual." Natsu quietly shot a jab back at her, a faint smirk dancing on his lips before they settled into their usual thin expressionless line.

"The usual procedure is to hand them over to the guards. However, due to the nature of their crime, we're capable of handling this ourselves. Should they go to trial, they'd be seen by a judge who'd just give them the death penalty; either decapitated by a guillotine, hung at the gallows or a firing line."

One of the men glanced at all the faces around him, his head twitching back and forth in a panic. Without warning, and with his hands still tied behind his back, the man kicked off the ground and tried to run away. He barely made it two steps when his right knee exploded with pain and a gentle click was carried off by the winds. Looking down, the necromancer saw that he was missing everything below his knee and the rest of the leg had fallen off to the side.

"Told you~." The winds giggled once again.

"Okay, who's there?!" Lucy shouted, slowly turning on the spot and looking out into the darkness around them.

Natsu quickly executed the three men with a bullet through the backs of their heads, blowing a large portion of their faces from their heads and painting the snow a reddish-pink. He put the pistol away and turned to look at the blonde, or most specifically, just a little to her left. "Luce… stop playing around."

"Wha-?" Lucy blinked at the man's gentle voice, a stark contrast to the dull business-like tone he had up until that point. But another giggle snapped her out of her confusion and she looked over her shoulder as a woman appeared in a flash of golden light. "Huh?!"

"I swear, I'm not haunting you, Darling." The older blonde woman giggled playfully as she walked past her younger self. "I just wanted to see this world for myself."

"Holy crap, her tits are bigger than Lucy's!" Grace shouted in shock as the ghost came to a stop in front of the salmon-haired man and rested against his chest, looking up at him with large chocolate brown eyes that were filled with love.

"Hm? Wait, is that meant to be Gray's counterpart, Grace?" The spectral Lucy's eyes snapped to the raven-haired woman then they slowly ran down her body. "I guess so, since she seems to be just as incapable of keeping her clothes on as he was."

"What?" Grace looked down at her body and found herself only wearing her pastel blue bra and panties. "Ah crap! Where the hell are my clothes?"

Natsu let out a weary sigh and gently caressed the blonde's cheek with the backs of the fingers of his right hand. "Don't tell me you decided not to go back to the afterlife…"

"I told you before, Natsu, remember?" Lucy replied softly as she pressed her ethereal body up against the man's chest while being careful not to fall through him. "I told you that if I had any degree of power left, that I'd use it to ensure that you have a happy life. That's why I came here."

"Yeah, I remember." Natsu murmured and he gently embraced the ghost. "I just didn't expect you to do something like this."

"Well, I had to do something to make sure you weren't trying to get yourself killed."

"I wouldn't do you disservice of even entertaining that idea, Lucy."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Cana stepped in between the pinkette and the spectral blonde. "Before you two start the married couple routine, what's even going on here?"

"Married couple routine?" Lucy blinked at the lush and cocked an eyebrow at her husband. "Do you think we were arguing or something just because he and I are married?"

"Wait, what?"

Natsu sighed softly and gestured to the woman resting against his chest with a wave of his hand. "Everyone, this is Lucy Dragneel, my late wife – who seems to have decided to haunt me until I find peace with my new life and am capable of leaving my previous life behind."

To further emphasis the point, Lucy held up her left hand to the brunette while grinned brightly. "See~! Here's the ring he put on my finger on our wedding day."

"The real one is in my room." Natsu added.

"Here you go, babe." A man with luscious long blue wavey hair came over to Grace with a bundle of clothing in his arms. "Kai found them in the snow just few metres from the bonfire you were at."

"Wait, is that supposed to be Juvia!" Lucy's attention was immediately stolen by the strangely familiar man in a deep blue suit and coat. She passed through Natsu's arms and ran over to him, her yellow sundress swishing around her legs. "Whelp, no more joking about how Juvia can get wet at a drop of the hat… though I suppose I could call Grace a frigid bitch instead…"

"Oi!" Grace flashed the ghost a quick glare.

"Hm, oh, sorry." The man bowed his head politely to the spectre while the woman beside him quickly dressed herself. "Kai Lockser." He introduced himself and held out his hand to the ghost out of habit but faltered when her ethereal nature came to mind. "Ah, sorry, Kai forgot that you're a ghost…"

"I can still interact with things. But I can't enjoy the things I used to, like spending some 'quality time' with Natsu." Lucy shook the man's hand and looked between him and the raven-haired woman. "Are you two dating, or married?"

"No, why would I date someone like him!" Grace replied defiantly. She turned her head away from the water mage next to her, her pale cheek becoming tinted with pink.

"My, my~ aren't you quite the tsundere~." Lucy giggle playfully and leaned her transparent face closer to the blushing woman. "How cute~!"

"Um, Natsu?"

Natsu lowered his gaze to the beautiful blonde woman who had approached him while the ghost of his wife messed with the female version of his best friend. "What's up, Baby? Ah, sorry, force of habit."

"It's okay. I wanted to thank you for stopping that undead Quin'ael from trampling me." Lucy rubbed her arms and looked up at the man through her eyelashes. "I, um, also wanted to ask you something… Is everything ok?" Her eyes landed on the genuine smile and the small amount of warmth in his eyes as he watched the ghost torment various members of her guild. But she could also see a lonely sadness in the abyssal onyx-green eyes.

"Yea-…" Natsu took his eyes off of the ghost and looked down at the woman stood in front of him, finding himself lost in her large chocolate brown eyes. He faltered for a moment and changed his answer, deciding to be honest with her. "No… I'm… just barely getting by, I guess. Seeing you all, while it's not driving me into a pit of despair, it is causing my heart to ache."

"Do you want to know what it feels like to have his big hot cock inside you?" The ghostly Lucy whispered teasingly into her living counterpart's ear. "It's very addicting~, especially when he fills you up with his deliciously hot semen."

"Eeek!" Lucy jumped out of her skin and turned around in a flash. The devious smile of the woman in front of her caused her heart to race as she was being forced to back up. She soon collided with something firm and very warm, so she raised her head slowly and came eye-to-eye with Natsu. She gulped softly, her face aflame from embarrassment.

"Don't mind her, she's been like this for years. I guess I was kind of a bad influence on her."

"Don't worry, I was a virgin too until I met Natsu~." Lucy's ghost continued. She brought her teasing grin closer to the blonde and giggled lightly. "He opened my eyes to a whole new world of pleasure and turned me into a very naughty girl."

"Lucy, stop teasing the poor woman. You're going to make her implode from embarrassment, especially considering it's coming from someone who looks like her slightly older sister… even if it's just herself."

"Fine, fine~." The spectre giggled and stepped back. She tilted her head side to side as she debated what to do. "I might stick around a little longer, if you don't mind." Lucy smiled at Natsu then lowered her gaze to the blonde who had backed up against his chest and then she slowly turned on the spot, looking at the gathered members of Fairy Tail. "Please look after him for me. It'll be hard for him to adjust to life with you all, especially after losing everyone in ways that'd surely scar you. But if you wear his shell down, bit by bit, then I'm sure he'll find those missing pieces once again. If you have any questions about him or our world, then you can ask me but I can't exactly tell you everything…. I'll probably be floating around his home or at your guild, but I'll make myself known if I am there." She flashed them all a bright smile then turned back to her husband. "I'll see you around, Darling. Try to keep your chin up, ok?"

"Yeah, I knew it. You're going to haunt me." Natsu laughed quietly and he grinned at the beautiful spectre. "I don't mind, really, just don't make a mess of my house. You're not a poltergeist."

"I can be anything you want me to be, Natsu~." Lucy shot back playfully with a sensual purr. "But don't tempt me, I may start moving things around on you."

"Bloody menace." Natsu sighed theatrically, earning a giggle from the woman before she vanished with a flash of golden light. His eyes remained on the empty space left behind and he murmured, "But I do love your mischievous side…"

"Master, I think it's time we head home." Said Henrietta as she stepped up to Natsu's side. "You still have things to do."

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu took a step back from the blonde who was unconsciously snuggling against his warmth and looked over to the dragon princess who was walking towards them. "We're heading back now, what are you going to do?"

"I might find my own way home. But I should be back by breakfast."

"Well, it's been a long night, so it'll probably be a late breakfast anyway."

"Mr Natsu?"

The man in question looked up from the floor and saw the purple-haired succubus Iris hovering near the stairs. "Hm?" He took one of the nails that he held between his lips and hammered it into the new wooden floorboard that he was installing.

"Is there anything you need help with up here?" Iris asked lightly. She carefully floated over to the man and looked down at him. When Natsu pointed to the floorboards lined up against the wall, she darted over and grabbed a few before coming back and handing him one. "Was it necessary to replace the flooring?"

"Mhm." Natsu nodded. He nailed the board down onto the floor's frame, which left his mouth clear of nail and he replied, "Yeah. I ripped them up to add in some new plumbing and electrical wiring, plus I wanted to put some insulation down and also route some in-floor heating so you girls can be as comfortable as can be up here no matter what the weather is like outside."

"Isn't it difficult crawling across that frame? Considering you're considerably heavier than you look. Aren't you afraid of cracking it?"

"Nah, this is all structural to begin with so compared to the weight of furniture and everything else, plus the potential for a tonne of people, my weight is insignificant." Natsu looked up at the winged woman and his eyes were naturally drawn to her considerably short skirt and loose cut-off tank top that barely contained her freely dangling breasts. "And even if I was standing on just a single beam, my weight will be dispersed across the frame." He pointed to a small cardboard box near where the floorboards sat and gave the woman a slight smile. "Since you're willing to help, could you grab that box of nails for me."

Iris looked down at her full arms and her tail wiggled behind her. She darted across the room and grabbed the box with her heart-tipped tail and brought it over to the man. "Here you go."

Natsu murmured a quick word of thanks and returned to installing the new floor for sisters' new home. "Where are your sisters?"

"They wanted to sort out the first floor first. Well… Bella is doing that. Cyn is working on the signage since she's a good painter."

"Alright. Have you three been reading the books I gave you? For therapeutic massages, for example."

"Yes." Iris nodded eagerly. "I wanted to ask you something about that too. Would you allow us to use you as a learning aid? We can practice on each other, but well, we're all girls and you're the only guy we know and are comfortable with right now."

"The only issue with that is that my muscles will be harder to work than a normal guy's." Natsu explained. He rose to his feet and removed his shirt; he met the woman's gaze and silently prompted her to see for herself.

Iris placed the boards on the floor and touched down, her bare feet pattering lightly against the new floor as she approached the man and lightly touched his scarred chest. As her hands roamed his upper body, she looked up at him with a seductive glimmer in her eyes and flutter of her eyelashes. "Wow, it's really firm. I see what you mean, it might be difficult… Is there anything you can give us that'd help?"

"For someone like me, well, my wife and I had a little trick that we liked to use on each other with massages. We'd manipulate our magic and move it alongside our hands as we worked on the recipient's muscles. The flow of magic along the muscle fibres caused them to become unknotted easier than just her physical movements alone. Alternatively…" Natsu cleared his throat, his eyes roaming the woman's incredibly attractive body. He did his best to fight against her natural charm and refocused on her face. "There were certain massage tools you could use that would vibrate against the person and those vibrations would loosen the muscles too. Of course, these could be used to stimulate certain parts of a woman too."

"Oh~?" The succubus' eyes darkened with playful lust and she leaned in closely, bringing her face close to his and squishing her soft full breasts against his firm chest. "Maybe you could get some of these things for us so we can investigate your claims~?"

"Sure. I'll probably try and get a variety for you since they'll come in handy for female clients who need a certain type of stimulus to help them wind down."

"A special kind of massage, hmm~?" Iris bared her small fangs as she brought her face even closer and nibbled along his jaw. "While I only want to have sex with men, I don't mind helping women look after themselves. I tend to teach them a few things."

"You're not really doing much to lessen the idea that succubus live for seduction."

"Said the sexy man who took his shirt off in front of a succubus. If anything, you're the one at fault for turning me on." Iris purred playfully against the man's skin but she backed off a little, putting a step's worth of distance between them. "You should really put it back on before I try and undoubtedly fail to pin you down to the ground and have my way with you, like the naughty little succubus I am."

Natsu slipped his shirt back on in an effort to quell the succubus' horniness. He grabbed a floorboard and went back to work. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iris collect up the boards and nails again and she floated alongside him; handing him whatever he needed when he needed it. "Do you have any idea for the walls, or do you just want them to be plain white?"

"I think we should leave it as is, at least for now." Iris replied after glancing around the new and improved lounge room. "If we want to spice things up in here, then we can do it after we've settled in."

Once they had fully finished reflooring the third floor, Natsu took some wood polish to it and buffed it up to a showroom shine. As he had worked from the furthest section of the floor back towards the stairs, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat down on the second highest step and ran through a mental checklist, "Alright. We've finished restructuring the rooms, laid the matting and in-floor heating, and refloored this place. All that's left is to sort out a fully-fledged bathroom as well as a proper kitchen."

"Do you mind if I bring Cyn and Bella up here to check it all out?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Natsu gave the woman a gentle wave of his hand. "Just make sure not to touch the wood just yet. Or if you do want to walk along it, then keep your wings out and be ready for a slip." He watched the woman zip down the stairs and he closed his eyes, leaning to the side and resting against the wooden railing.

It had been a few days since the undead horde had threatened the city and he had attended the emergency callout. Seeing all the faces he had grown up with and watch die one by one all alive and well stirred up a mixture of emotions within him but it had made him feel lonely in the days since as, from Natsumi had told him, they were still in a state of shock from seeing him and also seeing his dead wife's ghost and were still processing things.

A gentle presence slipped into his mind and he slowly reopened his eyes. 'What's up, Anna?'

'Hey Natsu, are you at that building you bought for the succubi?' Lelyanna asked curiously.

'Yeah.' Natsu replied and he nodded lightly. 'I'm doing the renovations here since all the materials were delivered to the manor yesterday.'

'Well… I just wanted to let you know that Lucy has dropped by and is asking for you. She's actually with me right now, in your library.'

'I'm going to be here a little while longer. I've dealt with plumbing and power on the third floor, as well as flooring. Now I just need to do the bathroom and kitchen, and the renovations are done. From there I'll need to get furnishings for them and help set up the business in general.'

'Do you want me to send her over? It's a little distracting having her get all excited about your collection of journals with knowledge from your world. More so since it seems that Lady Ceres has raided book stores and filled it out with lots of different novels. There are some… exciting novels among them too.'

'Whelp, I know where to find you then… reading some smut in the library with your fingers buried deep into your pussy.' Natsu let out a playfully weary sigh and smirked slightly.

'I was actually about to do that on your bed, touch myself while wrapped up in your scent, but she ruined my plans… Anyway, should I send her to you?'

'No, this isn't really all that interesting. Well, I suppose you should ask her instead, and if she still wants to come see me then sure, she can come here.'

'I'll ask her now.'

'Before I let you go; when you were in that sex shop at the mall, did you happen to grab any of the toys from there?'

'N-no, as interesting as they were, it was a little too much for me at the time… I see you when you get home, Natsu.'

'Yeah. See you later.' Natsu felt the woman's presence recede from his mind. He'd have to have a chat with Ceres about supplying these girls with some toys to help them keep their libidos in check while also servicing the women who come to them. The three sisters excitedly came racing up the stairs, so he stood up and moved aside to give them room. Three flashes of dark purple hair zipped by him and he slowly followed them as their bare feet pattered around the new flooring. "I've punched those nails in a little below the surface so none of you should end up catching on them and hurting yourselves."

"It looks so fancy!" Cynthia cried out happily. She lifted off the floor and floated down so her face was near the polished mahogany floor. "How'd you get it so dark but so shiny?"

"I used a dark stain on the wood and once I laid it all down, I went over it with a coat of floor polish which brought out that shine and the texture in the grain." Natsu wiped his hands on a cloth that he had tied to his belt as he approached the enthusiastic women. "I'm going to start working on the bathroom in a sec, but apparently someone was looking for me at the manor and has been sent over here. So, if one of you could keep an eye out for a beautiful blonde woman with rich chocolate brown eyes and send her up here when she arrives, I'd be thankful."

"I'm still doing stuff down near the front door, so I'll keep an eye out for her." Anabelle replied with a warm smile.

Natsu pulled off his shirt as he made his way to the newly created bathroom and he felt three pairs of lustful eyes immediately glue themselves to his back. He had decided to go for a more of a modernist style for the living space, and the bathroom was no exception. It would be something completely out of the ordinary for this time period while also feeling luxurious so the sisters had tangible evidence that their lives had improved over what they had in Edelweiss. Hopefully, this would cause them to pour their hearts into their job and cause the business to boom.

The man began to carefully affix glossy black marble tiles to the walls and floor in such a way that he constructed an intricate pattern with the white veins that ran through the black marble. Every now and then, he felt someone poke their head into the room to check on the progress. Their excitement was so palpable that it made the room feel brighter.

"This looks so fancy too!" Cynthia gasped softly. "You're really going all out for us, huh?"

"This is just as much for me as it is for you three." Natsu replied lightly, sparing a quick glance at the woman over his shoulder as she floated above him. "It keeps me busy and stops my mind from wandering off to places I prefer it doesn't go to. Plus, if it makes you three happy, then when you work downstairs, that happiness will radiate to others and cause them to want to return here often."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Weren't you working on signs?"

"The paint needs to dry now so I can see how it looks."

"Hm, well, I don't exactly need a hand just yet. It's probably best that I do these tiles myself so I can get them placed properly."

"Then do you mind if I just watch you work?"

"Providing it is just watching and that's it, then it's fine."

"I promise that I'll to try not to seduce you." Cynthia giggled softly and sat on the new bathroom floor by the door. She rested her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands as she watched him like a hawk while her tail swept back and forth across the floor. "I'm surprised that you're not really effected by our charms."

"Believe me, I'm doing my hardest to control myself." Natsu admitted with a quiet groan. "The scent that you girls give off is making me horny and it's distracting but thankfully it isn't overly strong here thanks to the scents of the wax and polish, the grout… Once you three have lived here for a little bit, it's really going to do a number on me."

"Don't worry, the feeling is mutual." Cynthia smirked as she spread her legs slowly to show her drenched underwear. "You've got all three of us dripping wet. And honestly, it's not just your body doing it to us. You are a very kind man, Mr Natsu."

"What happened to not seducing me?" Natsu spared the woman a quick grin as he got to work installing their bathtub.

"I don't know what you're talking about~ I'm just an innocent little succubus, sitting here peacefully and watching you work."

"Heh, I don't think innocent and succubus fit very well in a sentence." Natsu playfully jabbed, earning a giggle from the seductress.

"Oh, but I can tell you what fits very well with succubus," Cynthia grinned mischievously as she crawled over to the man on her hands and knees and whispered into his ear, "It starts with 'C' and ends with a sweaty, moaning mess."

"I'm about to tie you up and make you sit in the corner, Cynthia." Natsu gave the woman a quiet but deep growl, causing her eyes to darken even further as a visible shiver shook her body. "On second thought, you'd probably get off on that."

"I would." Cynthia breathed into the man's ear and gently bit it with her cute little fangs before backing away from the man and giving him space to work.

Just as Natsu finished installing the shower and bath tub, someone gently knocked on the doorframe and drew his attention "Hm?" He glanced over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of silky blonde hair; it was all he needed to see to know who it was. "Oh, hey Lucy. Seems like you found the place easily enough?"

"Yeah." Lucy gave a simple reply as most of her attention was caught up at the bathroom's design. "I didn't know you had a knack for this kind of thing."

"Yeah, this isn't the first time I've renovated a place. And I don't mean the manor either." Natsu rose to his feet and stretched his arms out above his head with a gentle groan. "Cynthia, your sign is probably done drying by now."

"Oh! Yeah, I forgot about that… I was too busy enjoying the show." The succubus shot to her feet and hurried past the blonde woman, leaving Lucy and Natsu alone in the bathroom.

"Anyway. I renovated my home back there with my version of you." Natsu sat down on the edge of the marble bathtub and gave the blonde a quick glance before turning his attention to the wall opposite him; where he was going to mount the sink, cupboards, and mirror.

"Well… the reason I wanted to talk to you, it was about her." Lucy hugged herself and stepped into the bathroom. She approached the man and sat down next to him, leaving a dozen centimetres of space between them.

"Did it freak you out, seeing your own ghost?"

"Kinda… I felt uncomfortable." Lucy slowly raised her brown eyes to look at the man's face. "I can't imagine how rough it is for you. Seeing the ghosts of those you lost, alive and well… Does it hurt, seeing me?"

"A little." Natsu murmured, but he shook his head to clear away those thoughts. "You've come to me with questions of your own, I can't exactly turn you away, not that I'd do that anyway."

"Could you tell me about them, while you work?"

"Well, all of them were like me, a chemically enhanced super soldier." Natsu pushed himself up onto his feet and started to link the sink to the wall with the flexible metal tube he had installed then began to affix the sink itself to the wall. "Erza seems pretty similar to my one. Is she a closet perv too?"

"Yes." Lucy giggled softly. "Yes, she's a closet perv. She's a big fan of smut novels."

"She should talk to Lelyanna. For a priestess, she's surprisingly naughty. She found a, hm how should I put this, an 'adults only' store," Natsu nodded lightly and continued, "while we were in my world, searching for Henrietta's body as well as some things I needed to collect to make more ammo for my weapons."

"Yeah… Lelyanna did say that the goddess who brought you here seemed to have found a lot more things like that too…"

"I haven't had much contact with Wendy, but she was somewhat shy. Well, at least until the war changed her. Then she toughened up a bit, I was a little sad seeing what it had done to a cute little girl like her. She used to always call me Sir, even when we weren't on a mission."

"Sounds like she used to be like what she is now." Lucy giggled softly and held her hand over her mouth. "She's pretty shy, though she used to be worse. It's actually really cute. What about Grace, and I think Gray?"

"I'm curious about their names. But they both can't keep their clothes on and both give Juvia and Kai the cold shoulder though, as Luce pointed out, Grace seems to be a bit more of a tsundere than Gray was. Gray and Juvia were married, but she was killed in action."

"I think from what Grace had told me, her parents had a little deal; Silver got to choose the name if it ends up a boy, and Mika would choose the girl's. So, I'm guessing she chose Grace whereas Silver chose Gray."

"I take it you want to know about my Lucy now, right?" Natsu asked quietly as he carefully mounted a large mirror to the wall above the sink. He already had plenty of bad luck, he didn't want to break it and get even more.

"If you're fine with talking about her." Lucy's eyes softened as she looked up at the man's incredibly dark green eyes.

"You have… the same kind of feeling that she had." Natsu murmured softly. "She was very kind and caring, and I can feel those same qualities radiating from you. She was crafty and cunning, and wasn't above using her feminine charms to get her way, which was mainly coercing me into getting her things with her cuteness – I didn't exactly put up much of a fight."

"Yeah." Lucy giggled quietly and smiled at the man. "That does sound like something I'd do." She stood up and removed her coat, finding it a bit warm in the bathroom thanks to the man's naturally radiant heat. When she hung the coat from the top corner of the door, she felt a pair of eyes on her, so she turned with a small playfully knowing smirk. But before she could make her teasing remark, she was cut-off by Natsu.

"I know that look…" He smiled wistfully at the woman and took his eyes off her. "You were about to say something along the lines of 'are you enjoying the view?', weren't you?"

"It feels like you know me as well as Natsumi does." Lucy gave the man a gentle smile and brushed off her clothes. She had chosen to wear one of her usual outfits; a blue backless top and a white skirt, with chocolate-brown thigh-high leather heeled boots. Her left arm had a detached sleeve running its full length and she had a white bracelet on her right wrist, made from white lace. Lucy leaned in with a bright smile as she clasped her hands behind her back. "So, give me your honest opinion; how do I look?"

"Breathtaking." Natsu replied quietly, returning her radiant smile with a gentle one of his own. His smile widened she the woman let out a cute slightly bashful giggle. "Yeah… you're almost exactly like her."

"Almost?"

Natsu sighed softly and turned away from the beautiful blonde. "War changed all of us. Brought the worst out of everyone. Keep your innocence as long as you can, Lucy, don't become like we had…" He heard the gentle clicks of her heels draw near and found himself suddenly wrapped up in a gentle embrace from behind. "Luce?"

"Heh heh… I'm sorry, but I might already be on that path… I've lost my father early into my life, I've lost Aquarius, I've seen many horrible things…"

"This world is rough too, huh?"

"Yeah…" Lucy murmured against the man's incredibly warm back. "You know… you're warmer than she is."

"Yeah, I know. " Natsu chuckled softly and carefully turned in the woman's arms so he could face her. "She's a very physical person, hugs me a lot."

"Sorry, that's my fault. I'm a hugger."

"Yeah, nothing has changed there." Natsu smiled gently at the woman, finding himself lost in her chocolate eyes. He tentatively brought up his right hand and slowly ran it through her long blonde hair, earning a faint noise of delight. "You're going to make it hard to let go of her."

Lucy blushed and lowered her gaze to the side. "I've been talking with Natsumi since I met you the other night… I won't say that I don't find you interesting. But I know you would likely want to put distance between us so I don't remind you of her."

"I think it's going to be pretty hard not seeing them in you guys, and you specifically since, well, I was married to Lucy."

"Let me be honest, Natsu." Lucy looked back up at the man, a serious look in her eyes. She released him from the hug and brought her hands up to his cheeks. "I think you should let go of the notion of completely trying to separate us from them. You know roughly how we'll react to things based on how they reacted, since we seem so similar. Even deep down, you and Natsumi are pretty similar. So, just carry on and slowly rebuild the bonds you once had while using the knowledge of your old bonds to help strengthen the ones in your new life." Her blush darkened a little and she brought her left hand lightly grasped his right hand as it combed through her hair. "Like this… not many people know I like to be touched like this since it calms me down. In fact, I think Natsumi was the only other person to find out."

"This is probably going to sound a bit bad… but I'm not exactly a stranger to your body, Lucy… I could easily make your mind break from my touch if I wanted to. So, knowing what makes you happy is pretty elementary." Natsu moved back from the woman and made sure the bathroom was in order before collecting her coat and his shirt and heading out towards the soon-to-be kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder at the woman and noticed her face was completely red. "Are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, yeah." Lucy played with her long bangs as she smiled bashfully at the man.

"You're thinking about the things I've done with my wife, aren't you?"

"Eh heh heh heh… um… maybe." The blonde hid her face behind her hands but peeked out through her fingers at the man. "I know you had it off so it wouldn't get dirty… but could you put your shirt back on, it's a little bit distracting."

Natsu let out a quiet chuckle and grabbed his shirt. After he put it on, he began laying out the panels for the new kitchen across the floor. He paused for a moment to look at the woman who stood nearby, curiously watching over him. "Did you want to help?"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin…" Lucy murmured, nevertheless, she stepped forward and did her best to help the man where she thought she would be the most help. As they were assembling the mahogany bench, Lucy looked up at the man with a gentle grin. "You know, I'm having less trouble talking to you than I thought I would. Putting the fact that you're a guy aside, you feel a lot like Natsumi. Not completely, but similar enough that I feel fairly comfortable around you."

"What's the guild like?" Natsu asked softly, a small smile growing on his face from the woman's kind words. "Everyone seemed fairly happy, given the circumstances."

"It's fairly relaxed but very fun. Everyone has their own little gimmick too. For example, Mira loves to dress up in various strange and unique costumes. These quirky things we do seems to be a coping mechanism for Jaegers in general, since we have such a dangerous job." Lucy replied. She took a step back and gave the man room to place the black marble bench topper onto the base. "A lot of fights break out too, nothing serious though. Throwing punches seems to be one of their ways of blowing off steam."

"Yeah, sparring is something we did too." Natsu chuckled. Once the benchtop was down, he crawled under it and laid on his back as he began to fasten it to the base. "What about you, what do you like to do?"

"Heh, I think you should try and guess." Lucy got down on her hands and knees, half hovering over the man so she could watch him work with her large curious eyes.

"Lucy loved writing and reading. She loved shopping for clothes and makeup. Loved talking with her friends, those that were still alive… Closer to the end, our numbers were shrinking, we didn't have many people left that we could call our friends." Natsu sighed softly and shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. "She loved going on date nights whenever we had the time free between missions, even if we had to sneak off the base to have one. Whether it was a cinema, a theatre, a quiet library, a restaurant, or even just to the edge of a nearby river or beach, she didn't care, just as long as we could spend time together and forget about the war for a short time."

"Well, I definitely love those first few things." The blonde gave the man a small sad smile. "I can't really say anything about the dating side of things… Though, I definitely think they'd be appealing."

"You were saying that you lost Jude pretty early." Natsu glanced down along his body at the woman. It probably wasn't best to ask about her parents, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. "What about Layla?"

"She's alive and well. She's running the family business and it's going well."

"That's good to hear." Natsu gave Lucy a gentle smile and slid out from under the bench. With the isolated bench finished, he started to install the cupboards and bench sections along the wall.

"So, um…" Lucy murmured bashfully. She pushed herself up and sat atop the new bench. She twirled her right bang around her index finger while her cheeks became dusted with pink once more. "What's the difference between her and I? Honestly."

"Your eyes are brighter than hers, probably because you aren't weighed down by a mountain of frozen grief. But you also see slightly softer than she is, but we were soldiers so that doesn't really surprise me. We had to keep ourselves extremely fit." Natsu stopped what he was doing for a moment and walked over to Lucy, his eyes on her body. His hands twitched slightly and he looked into her rich chocolate eyes. "Do you mind if I touch you, I won't do anything inappropriate."

"Go ahead. Like I said, I'm pretty comfortable around you. Probably because if she fell in love with you, then you're not the kind of man I need to be cautious around." Lucy gave the man warm smile and leaned back on her hands, opening up her body to the touch of his delightfully warm hands. She shivered lightly as his coarse skin scraped across the top her smooth, supple thighs before they moved to her sides and ran along the exposed skin up to her arms. They were so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest against her breasts. "W-well?"

"You must take really good care of yourself." Natsu noted calmly. His eyes roamed her milky skin while his hands took their own path across the woman's body. He could smell the familiar scent of vanilla that reminded him of the woman he had lost; a collection of bittersweet memories flashed before his eyes. "Your skin is amazingly silky smooth, and while I can tell that you're considerably fit, you have a pleasant softness that… makes me want to squeeze you, to hold you and caress you."

"Hehe, try not to get too excited~." Lucy let out a gentle yet sensual purr, but her eyes immediately shot wide open and she hid her mouth behind her hand, shocked at what slipped out of her mouth. "She's right, you are a bad influence."

"You wanted me to be honest. And the scent of those succubi isn't exactly doing me any favours. I was fine before but with you here, it's really testing my willpower." Natsu chuckled lightly and smirked playfully. A small amount of warmth sparked within his eyes as his gaze met with Lucy's chocolate brown eyes. "I didn't think it'd be that easy to get that kind of reaction from you."

"I guess you really do know what I like. The way you touched me excited me." Lucy admitted bashfully. She gently swatted at his hands and turned him around, silently telling him to get back to work with a gentle push on his back. With the absence of his warm body, she couldn't help but murmur, "Now I feel cold…"

"I mean, it is winter."

"Shush." The blonde giggled and smiled at the man's back. He made short work of the kitchen and was installing the oven and cooktop, and the fridge-freezer, which respectively ran on fire and ice Lacrima.

"Alright. That should be everything sorted out. I just need to turn the power back on at the breaker box and turn on the water valve, and make sure everything is working." He looked over his shoulder as a pair of heels clacked against the hardwood floor. "I'll be back in a sec, just need to run downstairs."

"Okay, I'll wait here."

Since he was no longer doing any renovations, Natsu's body flashed with light from using Requip and he switched into his usual dressy clothing minus his coat. He ran his hands through his long spiky hair to neaten it out a little and made his way to the stairs. His boots clacked against the wooden steps as he hurried down the stairs. On his way down, he passed Iris on the second floor and told her that he was finished upstairs, and when he reached the first floor, he did the same for Cynthia and Anabelle when he passed by them on the way to the basement.

The mains inflow valve and power breaker box were sat at the very front of the basement, the side that was closest to the street. The water was supplied to the building with a quick turn of the valve, and the power shortly followed as he opened the cover and flicked each individual breaker to the 'On' position. The water heater in the corner clicked on and he saw the temperature gauge slowly rise.

"Alright… that should be everything. I just need to check the new installations to see if there are any leaks." Natsu murmured to himself before closing the cover and heading back upstairs. He found the sisters slowly walking around their new living space, eyes wide with awe and happiness. He was about to say something to them but the second they noticed him, they leapt at him. Natsu quickly found himself tackled to the ground, landing with a hefty thud as all three women hugged him and nuzzled him affectionately. "You three seem happy."

"We'd be kissing you, but we wouldn't want to leave you with a rather large problem in your hands." Cynthia giggled from her position directly on top of him. "Though, we'd gladly take care of that problem we would've created, right?"

"Yep," "Certainly," Iris and Anabelle replied with a seductive purr.

All three tails were swaying energetically as the sisters devoured Natsu with their eyes. He let out a gentle sigh and chuckled. "Well, this is certainly a new experience. I can definitely say that I've been preyed upon by three succubae all at once now."

"It seems we don't even have to kiss him." Cynthia sat up on the man's lap and slowly ground her hips in circles against his manhood. "That nose is doing all the work for us; he's already waking up and getting nice and big~."

"You know…" Natsu looked at the three sisters as his arms were pinned above his head thanks to Iris and Anabelle sitting on his hands. "You three aren't really doing much to go against the image humanity has of succubi, considering you're trying to dominate me."

Lucy watched on with a heavy blush as the three extremely attractive women targeted the man with the full force of their seductive charms. "Kiss?"

The three domineering women turned their collective gaze onto the busty beauty. All three wore a sensual sly grin, with their small fangs gleaming in their mouths.

"You don't know~?" Iris purred. "A kiss from a succubus can turn on any man in an instant and get them raring to go, even if they're getting worn out. The same goes for females if an incubus kisses them, instantly dripping wet~."

Deciding he had to deal with the horny women before they caused him to make a mess in his pants. Natsu firmly grasped Iris and Anabelle by their arse cheeks and sat up while pushing them forward. It was like a switch was flicked in their minds as the domineering women instantly became submissive to him. Iris and Anabelle looked back at the man with their heads low and asses high in the air, while Cynthia cutely looked up at the man with fluttering eyelashes like she was a puppy begging for attention, their tails slowly swishing. "That's enough you three. I'm still not actually done here; I have to check to see if all the new lights and taps work."

"B-b-but…" Cynthia bounced eagerly on the man's lap, her desire blatantly written all over her face and body. She practically had hearts in her eyes and so did her sisters as they wiggled their asses against his hands.

"Wow… it's like night and day." Lucy remarked offhandedly as she stared at the trio of horny women.

Natsu let go of the two women and lightly grabbed Cynthia by the waist. He gently lifted her off his lap and stood up then lowered her onto her feet. He ignored the cute eager look she was giving him and checked the kitchen sink and lights, thankfully getting cold and hot water from the tap. He moved through the rest of the living space and checked the lights in each room before finishing in the bathroom and the toilet. The sink, shower, and bath all worked perfectly. And next door, the toilet filled the cistern when he turned the tap on and refilled both the bowl and cistern each time he flushed. "Alright, everything seems to be working perfectly. Now all that's left is to furnish the top floor so you three can move in, and then we can deal with the business side of the building."

"So~," Iris slinked up to the side of the man and hugged his arm, imprisoning it in the padded cell that was her breasts. "Is it time for sex? I want to get railed."

"I'm going first!" Anabelle argued, snatching up the man's free arm and imprisoning it in its own padded cell.

But this left Cynthia standing in front of him, a very sly smile on her beautiful face as she licked her lips. "You know damn well what going between my tits." As if to make the intention behind her words even more obvious, she slowly lowered her gaze down the front of Natsu's body until it rested on the noticeable bulge in his black dress pants. "Just sitting on that beast made my body tingle all over, the sheer heat it throws off got me hornier than I think I've ever been in my life."

"Natsu…" Lucy sighed softly. She had her arms crossed under her breasts as she tried to muster up a blank stare, though the impact was diminished by the fact that her face resembled a radioactive tomato. "I know you're supposed to be a fire demon, but do you think that there's a chance that there's some Incubus in there?"

"Funnily enough, you're not the first one to ask me that. And as far as I'm aware, no, I've never had an incubus in me nor am I part one."

Cynthia giggled and turned her smile onto the blonde and snaked around behind her. She held the woman by her shoulders and guided her forward until Lucy's breasts were almost completely smushed against the man's firm chest. "How about you kiss him and find out~? If he's an incubus, you'll instantly become wet. Though, from what I can sense, you're already most of the way there~."

"Ok, ok. That's enough." Natsu decided to put his foot down and stop their teasing. It was alright when it was just him, but he didn't want them to force Lucy into an uncomfortable situation. "That's everything for today, so let's go back to the manor and tomorrow we can sort out furniture and bedding."

"Can we have the same beds that you have in your bedrooms, Natsu?" Iris asked curiously as she let go of the man and stepped back, prompting her sisters to follow her example. "They're super comfortable and I slept like a baby the first night we were there."

"Alright, I can do that." Natsu nodded. "But they're kind of a special-order thing, so you won't be moving in right away if that's the case."

"That's ok!" Anabelle smiled brightly. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest and struck a cute pose. "If you'll pardon our intrusion just a little longer until you can get those beds, then we'll be very, very grateful."

"Though, we're already extremely grateful that you've done all this for us." Iris added with a smile that matched her older sister's.

"And we'd be willing to show you just how grateful we are!" Cynthia cheered, with a large friendly grin. But when her wording drew the attention of her two older sisters, she glanced between them with wide eyes. "I didn't mean sex! Though it definitely is an option. I meant working diligently in the job he has provided for us!"

Lucy slipped under Natsu's arm and stood behind him, putting some distance between her and the devious succubus sisters. She peaked around her safety barrier – Natsu's broad back – and eyed the sisters wearily. "Maybe I should try one of those beds myself…" She murmured softly.

"Wanna try mine?" Natsu grinned over his shoulder but it quickly shifted to a gentle smile. "I'm sure Natsumi has been dying to have a sleep over at my place for a little while now."

"Yeah." Lucy flashed him a beautiful smile and nodded gently. "But she also said she didn't want to disturb you until you met all of her friends."

"Alright. Well, there isn't anything left for us to do today, so we might as well lock up and head back to the manor." Natsu clapped his hands together and looked at each of the women in front of him. "I've already given each of you a set of keys to this place so no one has to worry about being locked out. Just make sure you don't lose them. However, I do have one too just in case so I can easily have more cut."

"I'll close the blinds up here; can you girls do the other floors?" Iris glanced between her sisters as she walked backwards away from them.

""Alright!""

"Lucy," Natsu murmured as he turned to the woman behind him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently turned her towards the stairs. "Let's wait down by the front door." As they made their way down the stairs, leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "Well, now that I've settled in to life here, I'm not going to blow up like I did when I met Erza early into coming here. So, feel free to come by whenever you feel like it."

"But isn't it tough being around me?" Lucy glanced up at the man as she rounded the middle platform of the stairs which sat between floors. "I don't want to cause you any pain because I look so much like her."

"No, it's still tough. But not as much as I thought it would be." Natsu shook his head lightly and gave her a small smile. "You remind me of all the things I loved about her. And that may sound painful, considering I've lost her, it's more like I'm looking back at my life with her with a happy dose of nostalgia."

"I imagine that you didn't have much left to hold onto near the end; just your team, and her specifically." Lucy smiled sadly but her eyes still held a caring warmth within them as she gazed up at him and bashfully twirled one of her bangs around her index finger. "Something I noticed when I compared you and Natsumi, especially when you two are in combat; you don't feel human anymore even though you're just as human as she is. It's because you lost her, right?"

"That's a good part of it, yes. But not all of it." Natsu murmured softly. He made his way to the front door and stepped outside. He held the door open for Lucy who quickly put on her blue woollen coat and joined him out in the cold. "Honestly. I had been losing my humanity for years. I was turned into a weapon of war, a ruthlessly efficient weapon at that. But after losing friend after friend in that meatgrinder, and then seeing Happy brutally murdered, only scraps remained by the end. Losing Lucy just robbed me of what was left."

"Happy, murdered?" Lucy asked quietly, her large eyes filled with shock and horror. "W-what?"

"A pro-human riot took him, kidnapped him while we were recovering from a mission back in Magnolia. I tracked them down but there wasn't anything I could do when I found him, he was barely recognisable."

"W-what did you do?"

"What do you think?" Natsu asked coldly, levelling his dead eyes on the woman. He could sense her dread and fear and it made him a little sick with himself, but he did what he had to do. He didn't wait for her to answer, instead giving it to her himself. "I slaughtered them all, and their families, for taking my only son. I am no saint, Lucy, I don't consider myself human anymore. I'm just another monster, like the ones you hunt down. I will slaughter anyone who harms those I care about; I will show them no mercy. If anyone tries to hurt you, Natsumi, Erza, Wendy, Lelyanna… anyone I care about, they will meet a bloody end."

Lucy visibly shivered at the man's declaration. She was lost in his eyes, staring into the abyss, and it chilled her to the bone. Yes, he was like Natsumi in so many ways, but in that very moment, she felt like a mouse before a giant; powerless and terrified. This man was every bit the monster he claimed to be, a monster created by man to fight its wars, robbed of everything it loved by the very group who created it. It wasn't until Natsu broke eye contact with her that she was able to breathe once more, and she gasped loudly for breath.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. But I'm probably a lost cause. I don't think I could ever find those pieces that I lost. I might find ones that look very similar, but they won't fit perfectly into place and there will still be cracks. I will never be whole again."

"Don't say that, Natsu. I refuse to believe that you can't recover from your losses. Just let us help you, let me help you." Lucy shot back, fiercely. She placed a hand on his chest and the other on his cheek, leaning in as she brought his attention back to her and she defiantly stared into the endless darkness in his eyes. "You know damn well what kind of person I am. Do you really think I'd give up on a friend, even if I just met them?"

"No." Natsu murmured softly. He brought his hand up and gently clasped the hand resting on his cheek, running his thumb across the back of it. He shook his head lightly but didn't break eye contact this time, instead he met her determined eyes with a small sad smile on his face. "Yeah… I remember why I fell in love with her… She was just as feisty as you are, she always reigned me in and put me on the right path." Natsu let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes. He let his lead fall forward and gently rested it against Lucy's, touching forehead to forehead. "Alright. Show me what you can do, Luce. If you think you can fix the broken mess called Natsu Dragneel, then I'll trust you, and hope that you can do just that."

"First point of order; You're going to join the guild, and you can bring your…" Lucy paused and giggled playfully. "Emotional Support Priestess. She can join too; I think it's best that you two stick together and continue to work as a team. Oh, and that android maid of yours too, she should also join if you plan on taking her along with you."

"Well, since she was designed for war, she'd be a valuable member of my team." Natsu pulled back from the beautiful blonde as he could hear the Bardot Sisters approaching the door. "Alright, I'll join up. But I can't do it immediately since I've got business to take care of before I can shift focus to other ventures. Getting these girls settled down in their new home being at the top of that list."

"If there's anything I can do to help you, Natsu. Then please, just let me know." Lucy flashed the man a kind smile that was full of warmth and compassion. "Even if you just want someone different to spend time with."

"Alright. I'll take you up on that when the time comes." Natsu's body was obscured by a brief flash of light and his coat was summoned with Requip. He was about to turn to the door when a presence entered his mind, the gentle but powerful sensation that accompanied it meant it could only be one person; the goddess, Ceres. 'What's up?'

'Natsu, I found an ammunition manufacturing plant geared towards civilian weapons, which would suit the needs of that company you want to start. But it's not going to fit inside the basement like the others did. We're either going to have to purchase a warehouse somewhere in Magnolia, or build a specific building on your estate to house these machines.'

'I'll just build a new building. I have already had to set up one for the propellants, so building one more doesn't bother me.'

'Alright. Let me play a little godly Tetris here and get all this into a more compact package, then I'll create a floor plan for you to build around. Once it's built, I can just drop it in and we can connect it all up. Thankfully, it looks all automated, so once we've done the initial set-up, then it'll look after itself as long as it has the basic materials to do so.'

Natsu noticed that Lucy was giving him a curious look, clearly wondering where his attention had been drawn to. When his gaze returned to hers, she opened her mouth to speak, but Natsu gently silenced her by placing a finger to her lips and winking. 'Just remember, I only need the machines to manufacture 10x28 and 8.6x66 in regular Full-Metal-Jacket ammunition. So, find the ones specifically for those two sizes.'

'Yeah, I remember. That's going to make it easier to keep the size down. But I'll make sure to get enough machinery to create a commercial quantity of munitions.'

'Alright, I'll do up a design for the boxes and get in contact with a print shop to sort out the packaging. If I can start getting those sorted before manufacturing gets into full swing, then I might be able to get a stockpile ready for production. Otherwise, I'm going to have to sort out a printing press that'd keep up with the speed of the other machines.'

'We'll deal with that if we need to. I'll let you get on with your little date with that cute blonde. Tschüss~!'

"Sorry about that." Natsu gave the blonde beauty an apologetic smile and slipped his hands into his pockets. "I was contacted by Ceres, the one who brought me here. She was just letting me know that she found some machinery that I need."

"Oh, like Warren's telepathy?" Lucy nodded quickly. She had instantly understood what he had left unspoken.

"Yeah. Something like that. I'm going to need to build another building in my estate to accommodate the machines, so it seems like I'm going to be pretty busy with stuff at home."

"Well… I may not be as strong as Natsumi and Erza, or even your late wife. But if you need some help, then I'd be happy to give you some of my time." Lucy offered kindly, her bright smile never once leaving her face. "Though, I can call on Taurus to help and use his Star Dress to boost my strength… so I might be of some use after all."

"I may just take you up on that." Natsu replied. Before they could continue their conversation, the door beside them suddenly opened and the trio of succubae came almost tumbling out. They were now wearing their thigh-high boots and warm grey woollen coats.

"Sorry for the wait!" Iris apologised loudly. "We had to put the paints away and grab our clothes. It's way too cold for a succubus… You're lucky that you're a fire demon…"

"Yeah, he's always hot," Cynthia added, "and warm too!"

Anabelle quickly locked the door behind them and slipped the key back into an inner pocket of her coat. "Alright, we're all set to go back to your manor, Mr Natsu. I can't wait to go shopping for furniture tomorrow!"

"Oh! Can I come along?" Lucy asked hopefully. "I know a lot of good places to get furniture."

"Yeah, you can come. That'd be a big help since you've been in Magnolia longer than I have." Natsu smiled at Lucy. He headed down to the footpath and started leading the way back to the manor with Lucy next to him and the sisters trailing a few steps behind.

That's this chapter's rewrite completed, though this and the ones following are more like a quick adjustment and polish than a drastic rewrite. The word count increased by about 800 words.

Lucy has finally stepped into the story proper. It might seem like she's moving a little quick, but I think she's the kind of person who'd actively put her all into helping Natsu and her familiarity with Natsumi would mostly carry over to Natsu.

I hope you've liked this chapter, I'll see you all in the next one.