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February 15th, X779

It was hard not to laugh when Natsu saw Lucy's face upon claiming that the world wouldn't stop moving beneath her feet after months at sea. She looked delightfully hilarious, with her arms thrown out for balance. Happy certainly wasn't helping; he was unhelpfully weaving between her ankles, yowling for attention. Even Gajeel snickered as he taunted, "Having a hard time walking, blondie?"

Lucy glared at him. "At least I'm not the one who looks like a porcupine made out of shrapnel, Gajeel."

For once, Gajeel didn't get annoyed. He simply shrugged, cackling to himself as he dropped the bag Wendy had made him carry for her onto the ground. Levy hid her own smile as she handed Charle over to a giggling Wendy, leaning in to murmur something in her ear.

Gray's dark eyes glimmered with laughter. "It'll stop when you get used to being on land again, Lucy," reassured Gray, hands shoved into his pockets.

"I'd like it to stop now."

Natsu had missed Lucy's ridiculous little complaints. He coughed to hide a laugh, drawing a half-hearted glare from Lucy that faded as quickly as it had formed. Warmth swelled in his chest until it took the form of a hum. He ignored the looks thrown his way, grateful the others couldn't seem to understand those sounds like Lucy seemed capable of doing. The hum continued as Lucy turned to Levy and Gajeel and asked with clear hesitance in her voice, "You two are sure you don't want to tag along?"

"We're certain," reassured Levy. There was a sad, but knowing look on her face. She likely did want to continue on with them, but knew Lucy was still uncomfortable around her and that Natsu wanted her away from Lucy as soon as possible. "We're going to seek answers regarding Mavis's whereabouts elsewhere, I think. We'll find a way to keep you informed if we hear anything. You practically radiate power now, Lucy, so it shouldn't be hard to track you again if we need to. I'd be surprised if some of the others didn't come looking now that you're back on land."

"I wouldn't mind seeing Mira again," chirped Wendy, bouncing at the thought. "She made delicious food."

"Like I said earlier," Gray added, flashing Lucy a small, playful grin. "Juvia needs me to help her with that soul, and I ought to check in with Jellal and Erza, but I'll find you guys after that. You can't seem to stay out of trouble." He reached out to playfully ruffle Lucy's hair, only knocking her more askew. Gray snickered at the way she swatted at him with exasperation.

Natsu wasn't sure how he felt about the little friendship that had developed between the two. Not because he was jealous though. Natsu was definitely not jealous. He had no reason to be.

"We'll be off then," said Levy, smiling warmly at all of them albeit a little sadly. "Good luck on finding Loke, you three. If we come across anything, we'll try to find a way to get news to you. And to you, Gray."

Gray echoed her, giving them a playful wave before spinning away and heading back for his ship. Natsu watched him go, aggravated with how easily Gray's power seemed to come to him as he and his ghost ship abruptly vanished before their eyes. He didn't like that Lucy had to decide whether or not to give him some of his own – not because he wanted his power back, but because it clearly wasn't something Lucy liked deciding.

Natsu narrowed his eyes when he realized Gajeel was smirking at him. "What?"

"Nothing," cackled Gajeel, spinning away. Levy sighed heavily and bid them all a final farewell before trailing after him. The last Natsu heard of them, she was scolding him for his behavior.

Silence fell, and for the first time in months, it was just Wendy, Lucy, and Natsu – and Happy and Charle, who were irritably flicking snow from their paws. Wendy turned to Lucy expectantly. "Which way do we go to head towards Crocus, Lucy? We still have our maps, but Natsu and I are really bad at reading them." She smiled sheepishly when Lucy sighed heavily.

"Of course you are," Lucy murmured, playfully tugging on Wendy's ponytail. She held her hand out and Wendy fished them out of the side pocket of her backpack. "I don't know how you two made it as long as you did."

"Levy tracked Gajeel for us," Wendy chirped, passing the maps over.

"Again," Lucy said, spreading open the map before her. It was such a familiar sight that it sent a wave of emotion that Natsu had to swallow it back. "I don't know how you two made it as long as you did."

The meadow they were crossing must have been pretty once upon a time, thought Lucy. Wendy skipped ahead, the cats loping after her with their tails held high. Lucy followed after her, unable to help the smile that crept onto her face, and Natsu trailed at the rear of their small group. As always, Lucy could feel his eyes burning into the back of her skull, as scared as ever that the moment he took eyes off her, she'd vanish. The thought had her falling back to slip her fingers into his. Natsu relaxed, attention diverting towards Wendy instead as she giggled at something Happy did.

Lucy's heart squeezed in her chest. She'd missed this simplicity so much while she'd been scrambling to track them all down. She'd missed Wendy's laughter, though it seemed less now, and the way Natsu had questioned her about various things, though he'd not done it once since she'd found him.

So many things that she'd missed, thought Lucy with a sigh, and just as many would continue to be undoubtedly different.

It hurt.

She kept that to herself as she warned, "Wendy, don't go too far ahead."

"I know," Wendy replied with a smile thrown over her shoulder.

Lucy wasn't convinced, but didn't warn her further. Wendy knew to be cautious. She'd been so before she'd ever met Natsu and Lucy, with her little hideaway deep in a cavern protected somewhat by Grandeeney. At least they didn't have to worry about the cold for the time being; she was nice and toasty beside Natsu, who was consistently exuding heat in a way he'd not done in a long time. She was sure it wouldn't be long before the power he'd unintentionally been given faded again, and she hoped that he'd let her replenish it again – if not for Wendy's sake, then her own. Not that Lucy knew how that worked or what she'd done outside of touching the scarf wrapped around his neck, but still.

Thinking about that, Lucy asked, "Natsu…are there any gods who might not be happy about what I can apparently do?"

"What do you mean?" Natsu's onyx gaze slid towards her, wary.

"I mean, will people be mad because I'm some kind of…whatever I am?" She frowned, gesturing to herself. "Gajeel didn't seem overly thrilled about it, and I know you aren't happy–"

Natsu's eyes snapped wide and he said sharply, "Luce, I'm not happy about the fact that Mavis might have something to say. I don't care about the rest of it. I'm…" He faltered, pressing his lips together into a hard line. "I'm grateful, because if that wasn't the case, you'd probably not be here."

Lucy couldn't help the softened smile that formed. It faded quickly as she prompted, "What about the other gods though?"

"Who cares?" Natsu shrugged. "They can't change it. Did Gajeel say something?"

"Hey, Lucy!" Wendy called before Lucy could answer him and reassure Natsu that no, Gajeel hadn't said anything, just that it was merely a concerning thought she'd had. "Look what I found!" They looked over to find Wendy pointing excitedly at something. Natsu released Lucy's hand so she could jog ahead, his eyes gleaming with some amusement as he trailed after her at a slower pace.

Lucy hadn't taken more than two steps when Wendy's eyes snapped wide with shock and alarm. "Natsu!" shrieked Wendy at the same time that heat sweltered over Lucy's back. She stopped dead in her tracks, whipping around.

Natsu was gone.

"Natsu!" Lucy gasped, bewildered. He'd been just a step behind her–

Lucy had but one moment to register that a hole had seemingly opened up in the ground beneath where Natsu had been before the world suddenly shifted around her. Lucy yelped as the ground buckled beneath her. "Lucy!" screamed Wendy, lurching towards her as it dissolved away.

Lucy caught one final glimpse of Wendy's panicked face before she plummeted into the darkness, too.

Natsu's body ached in odd places as he slowly sat up, silently seething to himself about the fact that he'd not noticed the ground giving way before it was too late. He was the sun god. He was meant to notice things like this.

A distant sob caught his attention. "Lucy?" Wendy cried. "Natsu?"

His stomach churned at the realization that Lucy had fallen, too. He scrambled to his feet, unable to see much around him. it was incredibly dark, and he was far enough down that the weak winter's daylight wasn't making it very far. "Wendy!" Natsu shouted back, and he heard her sob again, this time in relief. "You good?"

"I'm okay," Wendy called back.

"I'm not," came Lucy's shaken voice from somewhere above his head. He hated the twist of fear in her voice. It was closer than Wendy's though, indicating she was halfway up the cavern he'd fallen into. "Natsu, where are you?"

"Further down." It was the only thing he was certain of. Natsu squinted up, spinning slowly in place. Something nearly tripped him. He had to be at least forty, maybe fifty feet down. It was a miracle he'd not been hurt worse than his aching side, where the fallen god had caught him. A quick check told him it hadn't ripped back open at least. "Are you hurt, Luce?"

"No." Her voice trembled still. "Really, really sore, but nothing major."

Natsu fished around in his bag's side pocket, grinning when he found what he was looking for. He snatched up the flashlight and flicked it on, immediately scanning the space above him. The light caught on something that flashed gold, at least a dozen feet over his head. Lucy. It took seconds to realize the issue at hand. Somehow, she'd managed to land on a ledge. it was small enough that she should have missed it, and it was creaking and threatening to give way beneath her weight.

Lucy was peering back at him, her face pale. "Are you okay?" she called down.

"Yeah." Natsu looked around himself, trying to puzzle out where he'd ended up. His brow furrowed at the track laid out on either side of him. Panels of wood were even spaced apart, pinned there by beams of curving iron that trailed off into the tunnel. Old arches of oak curved over his head, supporting the ceiling of earth and rock. "What the hell is this?" he muttered under his breath, bewildered. He'd never seen anything like it before.

"I don't think the ropes can reach that far," Wendy shouted anxiously. Happy echoed her with an unhappy yowl, and it jerked Natsu's attention back to those still above ground.

"Figures." Natsu rolled his eyes. He shone his flashlight to either side of him, investigating how far the tunnels went. Both went further than he could see. Another groaning creak drew his attention back to Lucy. "Luce, that thing's going to give out–"

"Do you think I haven't noticed?" she barked, fear making her irritable. Natsu could practically hear the tears in her voice – and he didn't like it one bit. "What do you suggest, Natsu?"

"Jump."

The world came out without much thought, but after a moment's consideration in which Lucy spluttered a disbelieving laugh and some pondering, it was really the only option he could come up with. He wasn't surprised by her sharp response. "First of all," seethed Lucy, "no, I am not jumping down who knows how many feet. Secondly, hell no."

"The alternative is you fall who knows how many feet instead," Natsu pointed out drily, "and then I have to figure out how to catch you without a good idea of when you're going to fall."

Lucy uttered a curse that made him snicker under his breath. "We should have dragged Gray with us," she said, peering down at him nervously. "He can make stairs and things like that." Natsu didn't disagree, and he hated that she was right. Lucy hesitated as the platform she was on rumbled in warning once more. "You…you'd catch me?" When he opened his mouth to respond, she scowled and warned, "If you try being sarcastic right now, I swear to the stars above, I will kick you into next year."

Natsu couldn't help the grin that threatened to curve to life. It was a small, but fierce part of Lucy he found endearing when it didn't make him want to throttle her. "You really think I'd let you fall? I'll catch you, Luce – I promise."

The weight of that promise lingered in the air – a reminder, just for her, that the gods didn't utter such words lightly. It was a weight that she could clearly feel now, for she threw her legs over the side of the ledge she was stuck on and squared her shoulders. Natsu was quick to set his flashlight on the ground at his feet, making sure to shine the light up so he could still see. Arms free, he called, "Ready?"

"No, but yes," Lucy said. She paused a moment longer and then, with a pathetically small, fearful sound, slid off the ledge. Natsu watched as she plummeted with a yelp. He snagged her as soon as he could. It knocked him askew, and he stumbled a step, but grinned triumphantly at his Lucy as she pressed her face into his shoulder and simply took a moment to rid herself of the fear that had swallowed her whole on the way down.

"Told you I'd catch you," he said, hugging her tightly when she looped her arms around his neck and squeezed the daylights out of him for a moment. Her whole body seemed to shake for a few moments as she caught her breath. Natsu paused to press his face into her air before focusing on the next problem: getting them out. Gently, Natsu set Lucy on her feet. She kept her hand on his arm, as if unsteady on her feet, as he stooped to snag his flashlight back up. He shone it down either side of the tunnel they'd ended up in at Lucy's request, and she groaned.

"Why a mineshaft?" She made a face. "Seriously? Out of all the creepy places to end up in, it had to be some old mineshaft? What were they even mining for?"

Natsu had never heard of mines like these. The mines from his time as a human so many years ago…they'd been entirely different. Not that he'd ever gone into them; he'd much preferred to stay out in the sun, where there was nothing trapping him beneath miles of earth.

Just the memory of what that had felt like had his chest tightening and Natsu realized just how uncomfortable he was with where they stood. He could recall the way it had felt when that wall of ash had blown through the walls they'd sheltered in, burying he and those he was trying to protect beneath its unwavering fury, how it had shoved itself down his throat, clumping in his lungs until he'd choked–

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered, concerned, and he grimaced as he realized he'd begun spouting some of that very ash.

"Sorry," he said hoarsely, swallowing the hum emanating from him. "I…I don't like…the idea of being buried." The exception had always been Igneel's temple, where he knew nothing could collapse in on him thanks to those protective spells. Besides, Igneel had sworn that he'd never allow it to happen again.

Lucy blinked, caught off guard, and squeezed his arm. "We'll find a way out," she told him before focusing on Wendy when she called, "Guys?"

Grateful for the distraction, Natsu peered up at Wendy. All he could see was the shape of her. There weren't many options. Either they had to go up, or she had to come down, and Natsu wasn't sure what the best way was. So, he looked at Lucy expectantly. "What do we do, Luce?"

"Well," Lucy said, considering, "you and I are going to definitely pick a direction and hope it leads to an exit" – Natsu detested the way his breath rattled out of him at the thought of being unable to get out – "but I don't know about Wendy. I don't like the idea of her being stuck up there alone. There's no guarantee we could even find her again, even with an exit one mile away. And then there's the Vhalis to consider."

Natsu nodded slowly and shouted up to Wendy, "Wendy! What do you want to do?"

Wendy was quiet for long enough that Lucy began shifting anxiously back and forth beside him. She relaxed when Wendy finally called back, "Could…could you catch me, too, Natsu?"

Natsu's response was immediate. "Yes." He couldn't consider another option. Lucy had been different – much closer, not quite such a drop – but he'd ensure Wendy didn't fall either.

"What about Happy and Charle?"

Natsu jolted when Happy, hearing his name, promptly hurled himself into the dark space.

"Happy!" shrieked Lucy as he plummeted a short distance, landing nimbly on a smaller ledge further up than the one Lucy had managed to land on. Natsu swore, trying to follow his cat with the flashlight as Happy paused to shake his fur out, then leapt to another ledge even further down, and then another, and then another. Finally, he reached the ridge Lucy had been on. it creaked warningly beneath him, but Happy had jumped straight for Natsu before they even had time to consider how to help him.

Natsu dropped his flashlight in his rush to catch his ridiculous cat. Happy purred in pride, nuzzling his face against Natsu's as Happy wheezed, "Happy." She had a hand pressed over her chest and her face was blanched with shock. Natsu would have teased her for it had his own heart not been racing wildly. For someone who'd initially hated the idea of Happy tagging along, she was incredibly keen on ensuring his safety now.

"Um, I don't think I want Charle to do…that," Wendy told them, stunned.

A snort escaped him. "Tuck her into your coat, Wendy." Charle was going to be thrilled.

As Wendy did as she was told, Lucy grabbed Natsu's arm again, this time with wide eyes. "Natsu, are you serious? She could get killed if she hits anything–"

"She won't," Natsu said confidently. He couldn't help the ounce of fear that he might not catch her creeping in though. He had to catch Wendy. He wouldn't give himself the chance not to. "I'll catch her."

Mostly because no more than a few heartbeats later, Wendy swung her legs over the side of the hole, scared but determined. Natsu didn't take his eyes off her for a moment. "I don't want to be alone again," Wendy had told him. It was one of her biggest fears – losing Natsu and Lucy both. She'd already lost Lucy once, even if she'd come back. He wanted to ensure she didn't have to face that fear again, even if it meant facing the mines with them. "Ready?" he called up.

"Yes," said Wendy, voice shaking.

"On the count of three, Wendy," Natsu warned. "One…two…three!"

On "three," Wendy took a deep breath and shoved herself into a free fall. She squealed as she dropped through the darkness, only a shadow in the flashlight's glare. Natsu darted forward a step when he realized he wasn't in a good spot, and just narrowly snagged her out of the air.

Natsu yelped when Charle slashed at him irritably with her claws, growling as she wriggled free of Wendy's coat. "Oof!" gasped Wendy when he dropped her in favor of instinctively slapping a hand over the claw marks. He could feel blood trickle between his fingers. Wendy managed to – luckily, in his opinion – avoid the metal railings that lined the track they stood on. Even so, she winced as she rubbed her backside upon being helped to her feet by Lucy.

"Sorry," muttered Natsu.

"Charle," scolded Wendy as she brushed herself off. Charle merely narrowed her eyes at Wendy, tail lashing in disapproval. She pulled her own flashlight from her bag and began shining it this way and that, eyes round. "Wow! It really is an old mineshaft, isn't it?"

Lucy sighed, exasperated. "Did you think we came up with it off the top of our heads?" Wendy shrugged, focusing on each of the directions they could go with a hum.

Natsu took his flashlight back from Lucy, who hefted Happy into her arms. Happy purred, as if he had no care for what was happening to them. He seemed simply content to be held for the time being, though Natsu doubted it would be for too long. Lucy often complained of how heavy Happy had gotten, accusing Natsu of feeding him too much. "Can you tell which way we should go, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

Natsu did his best to try and get an idea, his gaze slowly shifting back and forth as he considered. He tried not to think about the very real possibility that he might choose wrong and essentially imprison them beneath the ground. When he turned his face left, there was nothing…but to the right, there was the smallest feeling of something on his face, so he firmly turned in that direction. "Let's try this way. If we don't find anything, we'll try the other way." He stretched his hand out to Wendy, wiggling his fingers, and she was more than happy to link her hand with his. He'd not missed the fear on her face despite the bravery she'd shown so far.

"Ready?" he checked with Lucy, who reluctantly nodded.

Together, the trio started down the dark, endless tunnel.

The peace is over! AND some very sad information about the end of Natsu's human life. ;)

Unfortunately, I will NOT be updating next week! I am going on my first official vacation that I've ever had that doesn't involve a family event, so I'll be enjoying that to the full extent! AND I get to go to my first concert as an adult (haven't been to one in over fifteen years). I'm super excited. :D

Thanks to reviewers (marn-marn, DREAMCHASING, Guest #1, InWonderl4nd, littleanimoo, 3idiotsrule, takeagamble27, BurstingDragons, BetaDreamer, & Lexi1994!) as well as those who favorited and followed!