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September 15th, X778

It took the group a long time to find a space that Natsu and Wendy felt was safe enough. Dawn crept in on gentle fingers when he decided that a little series of cabins they'd found would be safe for the time being. Gajeel reluctantly left Levy to do a quick check of the other cabins after they'd selected one; Wendy's quiet plea was the only thing that convinced him to do it. Wendy was terrified of who might be hiding in them.

Natsu hadn't missed that – the "who" and not the "what."

Wendy seemed inclined to collapse onto the single bed in the cabin they'd chosen despite the bite of chill that crept in thanks to an unlit fireplace. Levy went to see to that without being asked while Wendy, exhausted, scrubbed an eye with a wide yawn and whispered, "Can I look at Lucy's arms now, Natsu?"

He nodded curtly, face a mask of stone. "Yeah." He set Lucy gently onto the bed. She'd fallen asleep some time ago, curled into him. Her face, already a mess of bruises, was swollen and blotchy from crying. His heart twisted when she murmured a protest against being awoken when he gently shook her. A tiny smile tugged at his lips. It was gone just as quickly. Natsu pushed some golden hair from Lucy's face and murmured, "C'mon, Luce, Wendy's gotta take a look."

She grumbled, prying sticky eyes open to peer at him. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before rocking upright with a grunt. In a voice wracked by tears and pain, she rasped, "Can you help me get the coat off?"

"'Course." Natsu helped Lucy peel her coat off, and she choked on a sound of pain when it stuck to a few wounds. His heart skipped a beat at the sound. Natsu hated this. He hated it more than when he'd first realized what he'd become countless years ago. He bit back a complaint about it; it wouldn't help Lucy, and he couldn't complain when she had so many worse things to complain about than his discomfort.

Wendy told Natsu to retrieve the first-aid kits, and as he did so, she inspected Lucy's arms. Charle surprised Natsu and Wendy both by jumping up to curl up against Lucy's hip. With as soft a touch as possible, Wendy began to inspect the runes on Lucy's arms. "It's going to hurt, but we have to clean them out, Lucy."

"Just do it." Lucy sounded defeated. It didn't fit her. It didn't sound like the Lucy Natsu had grown so fond of. This Lucy sounded like a stranger, and he hated that, too.

Standing off to the side, Levy watched them in silence, flower crown still perched atop her blue-haired head. It was a beautiful thing now, filled with various flowers and blossoms and leaves. Her hazel eyes were clear and calm, though curious. As Wendy went to work on picking supplies she'd need to clean Lucy's arms, Levy asked her quietly, "Where did you find it?"

Wendy glanced up, startled. "Your crown?" she checked. Levy nodded once, and Wendy offered a surprisingly wicked smile. She returned her attention to the task at hand, even as she spoke. "I was trying to follow everyone. I saw what happened. When we got close to the place those people were staying in, I tried to hide behind a house. There was a rock bed there. I thought it was weird that there were a lot of flowers growing in the rocks, so me and Charle dug through them and found it sticking out of the dirt. There was some kind of mark beside it, carved into a big rock."

Anguish splashed over Levy's face. "It was so close and I didn't see it. This is humiliating."

Not taking his eyes off of Lucy, who didn't so much as flinch when Wendy gently splashed some water from one of their bottles over her arms, Natsu said, "You couldn't have, Levy. I bet it was a rune meant to hide it from you. You can't see through all of 'em, no matter how hard you try." He almost hoped the comment would spark some of Lucy's usual interest, but it didn't. Natsu's heart sank. He didn't know what to do to help her.

Wendy dabbed some kind of ointment onto one of the runes on Lucy's arm as gently as she could. "Charle noticed it first. I bet I wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't come with us." Wendy threw a beaming smile at the white feline, who hardly seemed to recognize her praise.

Wendy was finishing up with the third rune on Lucy's right arm when Lucy's voice shattered the peaceful silence that had fallen. "What do they mean?"

There was a moment as they all tried to comprehend what she meant before understanding dawned in Levy's gaze. "The runes on your arms?" Lucy simply shot her an unreadable sharp look in confirmation, waiting. Levy glanced at Natsu for permission, and only when he'd made a small gesture did Levy approach. She drifted over and gestured to the runes Wendy was tending to. "Those mark you for me, as my sacrifice," she admitted almost guiltily. "The others explain what they wanted from the sacrifice – what they wanted me to give in return."

Disgust splintered across Lucy's face, the first emotion she'd shown since Natsu had watched her pale, terrified face as she'd been forcefully bent over a blood-stained wooden bowl. "Get rid of them." The words cut through the otherwise silent air like the blade Natsu knew Levy had pocketed after leaving the cul-de-sac. "I don't want them to scar. I don't want to have to look at them every day." She pulled away from Wendy's touch and shoved her arms in Levy's direction, as if Levy would be the one to fix everything that had been done to her.

Levy winced, glancing at Natsu. She didn't know what to say or do. So, Natsu stepped up. "Luce," he began, and the numb hopelessness that had lingered for the last few hours was gone; it had been replaced with a guttural rage Natsu thought he'd only seen on Igneel once. It sent chills down his spine. Had she been a goddess or spirit, Lucy would have been a deadly force. He considered his words before trying again. "I don't think Levy can do that, Luce. Wendy's going to do her best though."

Lucy was quiet for long enough that Natsu wondered if she'd even speak again, her gaze warring between fury and agonized hopelessness. Finally, the anger gave way, and she blinked back a flurry of tears. She said nothing more. Neither did the others as Wendy bandaged her arms.

The door to the cabin cracked open, making Lucy flinch violently when Gajeel re-entered the cabin. Natsu couldn't believe it when he locked the door behind him. Gajeel never did things like that. Yet…the way Lucy's shoulders loosened told him she appreciated it, and Natsu decided he didn't really care why Gajeel had decided to do it. He was grateful he had at all.

When Wendy declared herself finished and began packing up her first-aid kit, Lucy jerkily rolled onto her side and curled into a ball on the bed as if she were the only one in the room. Charle didn't so much as grumble a complaint when she was tossed around by the movement. She only adjusted herself and re-curled up by Lucy's hip again.

Silence reigned as Wendy finished putting her things away. Not even Gajeel, who stood so close to Levy that their arms touched, broke it. Levy looked brokenly guilty enough that Natsu almost reassured her it wasn't her fault, but he didn't dare with Lucy still awake. He didn't know her thoughts towards Levy regarding what happened, and he didn't want to risk upsetting her further at the moment.

The silence was thick and uncomfortable as Natsu helped Wendy settle in for the night. Wendy didn't so much as think twice about crawling into the bed. She collapsed into slumber beside Lucy, out like a light within a matter of moments. She was exhausted after all of the terrible excitement. Natsu snorted quietly and tossed their blankets over both of them. He sat on the edge of the bed. He found it comforting that they were only inches away rather than the dozens of feet that had separated them during the earlier events of the day.

Only when Lucy and Wendy breathed deeply and evenly, indicating they were soundly asleep, did Natsu speak. "What the hell, Levy." It was the only thing he could think to say; he was speechless otherwise as he recalled the group and the things they'd intended to do to Lucy – things they'd likely done to several other people.

Softly, Levy said, "It was a cult of sorts, I think. It started with Erigor when he got his hands on my diale, and when the world twisted as it did…others learned of the power he had. The power I had. What he tried to do…it was something he did everytime an outsider he didn't like found their way into town. I think my diale brought out the darkness in them more than they already showed beforehand. He'd started talking about incorporating my diale into it all a few days before you showed up. I'm surprised he didn't try it with Lucy."

It was a broken explanation that explained everything and nothing, all at the same time.

Nothing, because humans made no sense, regardless of what they did or didn't do. Nothing, because it said nothing of why they'd felt the need to torture his Favored – his Lucy. Nothing, because it made no mention of how Levy had come to lose her diale to the likes of Erigor in the first place.

And everything, because of course a god's diale brought out the darkness in an already jaded soul.

Igneel would have throttled Natsu with the scarf he'd given him had he been there. Natsu scrubbed his hands down his face with a quiet curse, suddenly tired in a way he'd not been in a very long time. He wished he could sleep and escape the world like his friends could. He gave it a few moments before he lifted his head and let his hands drop heavily into his lap. "How'd you lose your diale?"

Levy's sharp, clever gaze latched onto his. Her cheeks turned a mortified scarlet. "Err…"

Gajeel took one look at her and said drily, "You've got to be fuckin' kidding me, Levy."

"I was angry!" she fired back. "You were really rude that day–"

"Levy, that was seventy-three years ago. You don't just walk off and–"

Levy uttered a dismissive sound, cutting him off. She tugged nervously at a lock of blue hair and admitted quietly to Natsu, "I…I lost a bet."

"You what?" Natsu choked on a shocked laugh, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Levy waved her hands in a helpless gesture. "Gajeel doesn't like wagers, and I have a…habit of sorts. I was angry, so I left Valhalla under the guise of inspecting the quality of my work and acquiring some new reading materials." It was a vice of hers, in the eyes of many, though Mavis had never minded her love for knowledge. "I came across someone willing to make a wager with me. I'd won every single time before," added Levy defensively when Natsu glared at her in disbelief. "He offered his most prized possession, so I did the same. I gave him a riddle no other had solved before and he just…apparently somehow solved it. It was humiliating."

Natsu uttered a strangled sound and gawked at the springtime goddess. All of this. All of this trouble, and pain, and suffering, and decades of wondering where Levy was. All because she'd lost a bet.

He was going to kill them. Both of them. Gajeel would have known. He'd likely have guessed the second he'd suspected something amiss, and he'd not bothered to mention the possibility of Levy's habit or what might have happened to her.

Exhaling slowly through his nose and trying to prevent the ash that flew from searing his friends as they slept soundly beside him, Natsu seethed, "If I find out we were kicked from Valhalla because you lost a bet–"

Levy immediately interrupted him, eyes flashing. "Mavis would never do that. I may have been trapped for seventy-three years, Natsu, but I did what I was supposed to for every second of it. I am not the reason you cannot return to Valhalla."

Despite what he'd said, Natsu hadn't truly thought Levy had been the reason for the Fall. If she had been responsible, then they would have been able to return the second they'd freed her from her entrapment. Even now, Natsu knew that if he were to try to return to Valhalla, he'd be thrown back down. It was a feeling he had deep in his bones – one he knew the others had, too. He'd simply not wanted to acknowledge it.

Now, given no other choice, Natsu grimaced and glanced back at his sleeping companions. He fought the urge to tug the blanket further up to Wendy's chin, to make sure Lucy was comfortable and not feeling any of the pain in her arms in her sleep. "I don't know what else to do," he finally muttered, hopeless. "What are we supposed to do when Mavis won't tell us what we did wrong, Levy?"

Grimly, Levy touched her diale with gentle fingers. "I think," she said slowly, "it might not be us that did anything, Natsu. Perhaps Mavis is simply tired of humans. Perhaps she threw you from Valhalla so that the order would be disrupted – so that she'd no longer have to deal with the humans and their corrupted existence." Her voice was colder than Natsu had felt when he'd watched that blade touch Lucy's throat…as if Levy would have been perfectly happy to never see a living human ever again.

Natsu didn't blame her, not after everything she'd gone through, but still.

What a boring world that would be – one without his Lucy.

When Lucy woke up the next morning, the cabin was near silent. The only sound was that of the purring white cat near her head. The pain in her arms drew her upright. Lucy looked warily around herself at the secure-looking cabin. She couldn't remember much about how she'd come to be there. She remembered flashes of conversation, of Natsu promising her it was safe. She liked it for its one, small window and the singular door that could be easily defended.

Natsu sat on the floor, calmly sorting through their bags. He was inventorying, Lucy realized, swallowing the lump in her throat, just like she did every night. He knew she liked to do so, and had chosen to do it in her place so she wouldn't have to worry about it. He didn't look up as he said softly, "Gajeel and Levy went to check out the area – make sure there's no one who might come looking for us if they survived. Wendy went with them, to see if she could find something stronger for you to take to help with your arms."

Lucy flinched at the thought. "Good," she muttered. At least Gajeel would do something useful besides mock her for her humanity some more. Another throb in her left arm drew a grumble from Lucy as she slid from the bed. Natsu watched her intently, stopping his process of inventorying things, as she went to retrieve some of the tylenol they'd packed for these kinds of things. When she had it, she didn't hesitate to sit beside Natsu, finding comfort in his close presence.

Carefully setting aside some of Charle's canned food, Natsu asked her, "Are your arms hurting right now?"

It was spooky, how well he seemed to know her nowadays. "Yes." The word came out an irritable hiss. "Why wouldn't they, Natsu? Someone used a goddamn knife and carved them open. Of course it hurts." She didn't mean it – the rude, biting words she spat at him. It wasn't Natsu's fault. He'd done what he could under the circumstances thrust upon them, but she couldn't seem to stop herself as the ire spilled out in venomous words. She just wanted him to stop talking about it – maybe even spark an argument, so she could let out some of that caged anger.

Instead, Natsu ignored her entirely and told her, "Levy helped me clean your coat. We'll have to stay until it finishes drying entirely."

Taken aback, Lucy stared at him. "You…" The urge to fight fled her. She simply stared at him until Natsu finally cast her a kind, shockingly patient look.

"When I woke up," he said, and Lucy's lips parted as she realized what he'd meant. When I'd become a god, he meant. "I was angry, too. I caused a famine. I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn't. Everyone tried to tell me how great it was to become what I am now, but I didn't care about that. I'd had a life. I'd had people I cared about. It was stolen from me. Igneel was the only one who let me feel what I wanted to feel. He was just…there, when no one else was able to be in the way I needed.

"So, if you want to be angry, Luce, that's fine. I know we all failed you. We should have been able to stop it. But we couldn't," his eyes flashed with self-loathing then, disgust written over his face, "and I'll be mad about it, too, for the rest of my existence. We couldn't stop it, and you're allowed to be mad at us for that. But I won't go away because you're mad at me. And when you're done being mad, I'll still be here. Okay?"

Lucy was speechless. The tears were back. She hated them more than anything else. Lucy tried to blink them away, but they wouldn't cooperate. Lucy angrily tried to shove them away when they began to freely fall. "I was scared," she admitted with a near sob. "I was so…so scared, and–"

He looked relieved as he reached out to gently touch her shoulder. Relief turned to startled surprise when she tackled him. "Luce," he muttered as she wrapped her arms around him and hid her face against his shoulder in a tight hug. After a moment, Natsu tightened his arms around her, crushing her to him in return. She shivered when his lips brushed her ear. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you, Lucy."

Lucy only hugged him tighter, even when her arms smarted painfully. She could care less that he'd not been able to help her at that moment. She was simply grateful to have him at all. "You tried," she mumbled into his shoulder. "That's all that matters."

Natsu didn't seem convinced. He pulled back and pushed his forehead against hers so he could search her gaze intently. Lucy thought she might have seen a shadow of the glow that had once pierced his eyes. She didn't flinch, not even when ash sprinkled her face, puffed out on a soft breath. Natsu wouldn't hurt her, not like the humans they'd encountered had. One of his hands slid up to cup the back of her head and he smoothed his thumb over Lucy's cheek in a fond gesture.

In a low, raspy voice made raw by ash and embers and smoke, Natsu said fiercely, "I won't let someone hurt you like that ever again. Even if it means never going back to Valhalla."

A shiver went down Lucy's spine, though she couldn't tell if it was one of fear for what that would mean one day or one of anticipation, because she couldn't deny that it was wonderful to have Natsu promise such a dangerous thing.

"What happens when I come for you?" Erza had once asked her. "Natsu won't allow it to happen willingly. He'll put up a fight. As good as a person as he tries to be, he is still a god who views things differently than you do."

Erza had challenged Lucy to consider what would happen as a result. What would happen if Natsu chose his affection for Lucy over his work as the sun god, over Valhalla and everyone else in the world.

"But Natsu's not the same. He's not Death," Lucy had dared to argue.

For the first time, Lucy didn't think that way – not anymore. She saw the severity of the vow he'd made. Natsu meant what he'd said. He'd abandon Valhalla to remain as it was. He'd abandon the gods if it meant keeping her safe. And maybe that should have frightened Lucy.

She recalled the look on Erigor's face when he'd pressed the knife to her skin. She recalled how another human had helped him pin her to the wooden platform. She recalled Natsu's cried pleas to Levy, helpless but desperate enough to try while everyone else – every other human and god – had simply stood there and watched.

And call her selfish, but Lucy found that after everything she'd endured, she couldn't bear the idea of giving up Natsu one day. It was such a hypocritical thought. She was human. She was mortal. She was everything that Natsu was not and she knew that they were both aware that one day, it wouldn't matter. Even if she lived to a ripe old age, Death would eventually seek her out. One day, he would have to give her up whether he wanted to or not.

For now though…Lucy didn't care.

"Who needs the sun?" she challenged hoarsely, and a surprisingly wicked smile split over Natsu's face. Lucy found herself leaning her cheek into his palm.

She'd later blame her emotional turmoil for it. Well, she'd try. She'd know that it was far more than that. She'd not really care what convinced her it was a good idea, only that she wanted it to be one.

Regardless, Lucy leaned closer, her nose brushing his. She hesitated ever so briefly to give him the chance to pull back. Rather than doing so, Natsu's breath caught in anticipation.

His lips tasted of the ash he breathed – something that was very distinctly Natsu.

And call him selfish, but Natsu found himself trapping her there with his fingers tangling themselves in her hair, stealing everything she gave him with a greedy gasp. He didn't think he'd ever wanted anything more.

Seated on the cabin floor with only a sleepy cat to witness him kiss his Lucy again and again and again, Natsu decided to hell with Valhalla. To hell with the other gods and Mavis's rules and being the sun god.

Nothing was more important than Lucy.

Not even the world they'd been attempting to save.

I'VE BEEN WAITING TO RELEASE THIS SINCE I ADDED ON THE LAST BIT TWO DAYS AGO. I ended up deleting a completed chapter and coming back to this one. Went "Hm, I could do something here," and this unexpected turn of events is what happened. I figured everyone would be okay with it. ;)

On that note, I may or may not update next week! Unfortunately, due to life and this add-on, I've fallen really behind and need to catch up in order to continue our regular scheduled updates. We'll find out next week if I've done so already.

ALSO! If you haven't seen it and you're a long-time reader of my work, you may remember a fic called Between the Lines. It's getting a much needed re-work/revision/re-write, and I'm unsure of how to start re-releasing it. Please check out the poll on my profile if you're so inclined. :)

The reviews for the last chapter were phenomenal. I truly look forward to reading the next ones. :D Thanks to reviewers (marn-marn, hopelesskar, BurstingDragons, dooryy, MissChuchuuu, XxStar'sDustxX, xennia-x, UnnamedOne, 123kjfb, Guest#1, takeagamble27, Guest #2, nerdalertwarning, MPrime, & Meow Orbit!) as well as those who favorited and followed! You're all wonderful!