Rated M
M is for MATURE, people.
If I can pretend to be, then you can too!

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! *sob* However sometimes I wonder if Mashima-sama used to follow me and my friends around to help him dream up a few of his characters!

At least let a girl dream!

*~.🌒.~*

Unexpected Guests

Lucy glowed a brilliant crimson at Natsu's very public show of affection, and had it not been for the amazingly compelling way he'd overwhelmed her—she more than likely would have pulled away. But this beast made her toes curl and her legs weaken with the ferocity of his kiss. When they did part, Lucy was still crimson; somehow growing more so when she noticed the queen fanning her face. "My my, aren't you the little dragon charmer!"

Sidestepping from Natsu, Lucy lowered her head, "Apologizes, your maje—"

"Think nothing of it," Mirajane winked at her. "I'm just glad that someone managed to tame him."

"Wait, tame? Who?" Natsu crooked a brow.

Abjectly focusing on Lucy now, Mirajane continued, "So tell me, Juicy, where did you find pishsalver? Have you been playing with our little Wendy?"

"Pishsalver?" Lucy tilted her head, question marks practically floating above her head.

Levy nodded, "It's a nectar the horned-horseflies help Wendy make, no Queen Mira, apparently she got tiny by crawling out of a hand mirror..."

"Oh my..." Once Mira received an accurate explanation for Lucy's previous condition, the queen insisted they stay the night so she could bake more cakes. If the stipulation for returning to Fairy Tail from London was that one must return as a miniature, then the she was happy to see that their upelkuchen cake stock was well filled.

"That is a lovely gesture, your highness," Lucy started. "But I fear we must head out so that we can bring the March Hare back to his senses."

"You will do nothing of the sort!" Mirajane stated, seemingly kind-hearted though Lucy took note that neither Hatter nor Dormouse wanted to challenge her on the matter. "You will dine with us tonight, and I will issue a challenge to my sister on the morn. If anything will bring her newest pet to play, that will."

"That ain't happenin," Natsu frowned as he swept up his hat and placed it upon salmon spikes, "we're Inbetweeners."

Brushing down her apron, Mirajane leveled a look on the hatter. "Very well then, Natsu. What is your suggestion?"

"I..." The Hatter's jaw hung open as he started to say something... then did it again as he thought he might have another.

"Mmhmm. That's what I thought. Sorry Hatter, if you want the March Hare returned—intact—this is the path." Then she turned to Levy, "at least one of you... will have to forego your neutrality."

Levy's ears wilted, "Gaajie's never going to forgive me for this..."

Lucy frowned, "Bollocks! If he's not crawling at your feet after this, then he's got more screws loose than... than that hatter over there!" As her arm swung towards Natsu, who simply grinned and waved gingerly.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Levy nodded. "If it'll help my rabbit, then I'll do as I must."

"Today I have seen a mouse step into the shoes of a lion. Very well done, Levy-dear. Please stay and help me with dinner. Busy hands make for more restful sleep."

Lucy offered to help as well, but the queen shooed her and the Hatter out. "No, no, the Dormouse and I must scheme. On your way you two! Your rooms have been prepared upstairs and I'm sure you can entertain yourselves in pub or in the garden out back. Dinner's at seven, don't be late!" The door shut just as soon as both of them were right outside kitchen walls.

Tweedle Dum had his head down on a table while Tweedle Dee patted his back, trying to reassure him that their existence was not as meaningless as he now seemed to think. Lisanna froze when she noticed Fairy Tail's newest couple standing at the bar though. Murmuring in a hoarse voice, she said to her brother, "Sorry Dum, the room just got really crowded... I'm gonna go watch the road."

Elfman raised his head, "Oh, uh... Lemme get myself together and I'll—"

"No, please..." The girl looked back at him for a moment, "stay here and collect yourself. I'll letcha know if I need you."

"No sis! It wouldn't be manly of me at all to let you go off alone right now," Elfman started. Then he whined when Tweedle Dee rolled her eyes and left through the front doors anyway. "Heey! Wait for me sis!" His chair flung against the wall as he raced after her out the door.

A sweatdrop fell down Lucy's brow and Natsu started laughing. "Those guys are great, right?"

"I keep getting a weird vibe off of Dee. I don't think she likes me much." Lucy thought aloud.

"Not a chance," Natsu waved dismissively. "People 'round here are crazy about Dreamers."

Lucy was pretty sure Lisanna was crazier about a certain Mad Hatter at this point though. Perhaps it'd be best to change the subject, "Hey Natsu? How many dreamers have you met?"

Walking behind the bar and rummaging through cabinets, he replied innocently and honestly. "Tons!"

"Really?" Lucy did not bother to hide her surprise as she sat at a bench.

He looked at her over his shoulder, "Well yea, we entertain them almost daily."

Oh right... Lucy had forgotten that Natsu saw the Nobodies as dreamers. "No... I mean, everyone around here calls me a dreamer. I'm asking about dreamers like me... did you ever meet a Layla?"

"No... no Layla..." Natsu placed an inordinate amount of bottles he'd removed from shelves onto the counter. "You mean like Alice?"

"Alice!" It wasn't her mother, but maybe she was getting somewhere. "What was she like?"

Natsu shrugged, pulling multiple corks loose. "I dunno."

"You don't know?" Rats. Another dead end.

"I was just a kid during the Iracebethan War. For the most part, I kept my head down, did my part as an apprentice hatter." He began pouring a variety of bottles into two tall glasses. "All I really knew about Alice was that she brought the Bandersnatch over to the whites."

"The Bandersnatch? Didn't Queen Mira mention him earlier?"

"Her." Natsu finally met her eyes.

"Hmm?" Lucy tilted her head, noticing an odd spark in the Hatter's eye.

"The Bandersnatch was a her."

This man had always been hard to read, but Natsu seemed troubled suddenly; thus Lucy felt she must ask, "Something the matter, Natsu?"

He stared at her with that same expression, like his mind had trailed off. Raising a brow, she asked him again. "Natsu?"

"No-nothing, hey Juice!" He pushed one of the glasses forward. "It's not tea but it's pretty good, give it a try."

Wrapping fingers around the glass, Lucy frowned at him. "What are you not telling me?"

Natsu leaned his forearms on the counter and looked deeply into her eyes, "Exactly what are you asking?"

"Uh..." Gods she could never focus when he looked at her like that. Question... question... he wasn't responding well with her asking him what the matter was, and got all weird when she asked about the Bandersnatch thing... should she press it? Or would it be better to let it go? Gods she hated not knowing! Knowledge was a woman's best weapon, "Bandersnatch. You said she was a woman?"

Natsu made a face, "I said it was a her, dunno if one could call her a woman." Then Lucy's ears perked when she swore she heard him mutter something under his breath as he knelt below the counter. She might be mistaken, but it sounded like: "A woman woulda stuck around."

When he lifted back up, he held a purple berry and dropped it into her drink. "Look Juice, because of the mess Dumbbell's gotten in, it's lookin' like war is comin-uh-now. This may be the last evening we get to, well, be us, for some time. Isn't that enough talk about the past for now?"

"Well yes... if you were born here and already had a base knowledge of what was about to happen." Lucy lowered her eyes, feeling an odd mixture of frustration and sadness.

"I'll tell ya what's about to happen." Natsu stated, craning his neck down so that she'd look at him again. "We're gonna have a drink, enjoy dinner with the whites, and put up with Mira's talk about needing a champion. Then we're gonna head up stairs where I'm going to try to mate with you," this made Lucy's eyes widen, "and your gonna avoid it cuz you wouldn't let the queen wedding us."

Completely accidentally, Lucy met his gaze due to his persistence and hung her mouth open at his bothersome smirk. With not another phrase coming to her at the moment, she sputtered, "You-you are insufferable!"

"And you're scrumptious. Those clothes suit you. Do they fit well?"

"Yes..." Lucy agreed coyly, "I do not recall you ever sizing me, how did you manage?"

"No idea. Just did." Straightening out, the Hatter lifted his glass, "to short engagements!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, but clinked hers with him anyway, adding, "and short leashes."

As she tipped her glass, Natsu whined, "I can't drink to that!"

From within her glass, Lucy said, "Mmm... so good."

Pouting, Natsu pushed his glass to her as she finished. This brought Lucy a good laugh, "Master Dragneel! Did I finally find one of your buttons?"

Glaring at her, the hatter snatched back his glass. "I'm gonna need this after all."

Lucy laughed again, reaching for it. "No, no! You gave that to me!"

Natsu gave a chuckle as he backed away, bringing the drink to his lips. "Aye, but that was before I knew my fiance was gonna be so mean tonight."

"Fine," She leaned on a hand and watched him drink about half of it and added, "short leash it is."

Natsu gagged, "That's not how that works!"

Lucy opted to simply keep her smile on.

With an eyebrow twitching, Natsu set the remainder of his drink down. "Fine..."

Picking up the glass, Lucy nodded to him. "Thank you, love." It felt so foreign, calling him that so openly... but Lucy thought she might could get used to it. Once she finished the rest of his glass, she blinked curiously into its insides, "how strong is this stuff?" When no answer came, she looked up and didn't see the Hatter anywhere. "Natsu?"

She leaned over the counter and asked for him again, then yelped when she was suddenly apprehended and pulled over the counter and onto the floor, pressed against a dragon. With a cunning grin, Natsu then rolled them over and pinned her wrists down. "Short leashes are easier to untangle anyway." Then he leaned over her so that his lips were next to her ear. He could feel her pulse as he whispered. "So long as you hold up your end."

He began to nip at her ear then and Lucy sighed, trying to decipher what he'd said accurately. "My end?"

Lifting up from Lucy's ear, the hatter captured her lips and they both moaned into their kiss. Lucy tried to caress him, but he had her wrists firmly against the floor. His strength was more than a match for her, yet while she tasted him—such trifles did not seem to matter. She trusted the man, even though he always insisted on testing such things. The latest of which was when he lifted himself up and offered her a hand while saying, "You toasted to a short engagement." Complete with a sly smirk,

Taking his hand and shaking her head as he pulled her to her feet, she replied, "I've gathered that you wouldn't have it any other way."

Wrapping arms around his lady, he purred back, "You must be the half that works with logic, cuz that is a pretty great observation."

Lucy smiled coyly and pecked his lips, "So kind of you to notice."

The Hatter grew a devilish grin, but their attention was pulled to the kitchen door swinging open. Levy walked out with a large platter, but stopped when she noticed the two of them. "Am I interrupting something...?"

Mirajane was right behind her, "Come now Levy, hot plates here!"

"Oh! Sorry," Levy stepped past the doorway and followed the queen to a table where they sat the platters down.

Lucy unwound from the Hatter's arms and came to the two women, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh Juicy! You are just so sweet!" Mirajane gushed, "why don't you go grab us some plates? We'll need seven sets I do believe."

"May need more than that if a few others join us." Natsu added, scratching his head from under the hat he'd recovered from the floor.

"Yeah..." Levy sighed, "the Nobodies may be getting lonely without us in the forest lately."

Lucy was reaching up on a shelf grabbing plates when she added, "They were over last night, so it might not be all that bad."

"It's never great when nobody's there to meet the Nobodies, though." Natsu shrugged, "we've good and spoiled them."

"We sure have," Levy smiled up at Natsu, but her smile faltered some as her mind moved to her lover. "It must be driving Gajeel crazy, not being there now."

Natsu set a hand on her shoulder, "We're gonna get'em, and it won't matter how much he acts like he don't wanna get got."

Walking over with plates in hand, Lucy started laying them out, "Do we have any plans on how we're gonna pull that off?"

"I'm gonna march right up to the son of a jackal and knock some sense into him!" Natsu smirked, pumping a fist.

Mirajane looked up at the Hatter without a frown or a smile. "It's about time the Tweedles return. Hatter, go and fetch them please?"

Natsu frowned, but straightened his hat and nodded, "Yea, sure."

Mirajane watched him leave, shutting the door behind him, and Levy started, "Mira, I know you think this is the right move, but starting—"

"Shh..." the queen put a finger to her lips. Lucy raised a brow when she noticed that Mirajane was silently counting. Once she got to about forty-five, she smiled. "Sorry dear, those dragons do have some amazing ears."

"They do?" Lucy blinked.

"Oh yes." Mirajane nodded.

Levy fidgeted, "Your highness... the more I think about it, the more I think all of this is way too heavy."

"So Natsu could always hear everything anyone said from anywhere in the clearing?" Lucy puzzled out loud while setting out silverware.

"I do wish there was another path." Mirajane sympathized, "but with the red queen once again taking hold of the Jabberwocky, it is only a matter of time before she brings him to lay down her law. She sees the villagers of my kingdom as traitors, I have my people to consider..." the queen's gaze drifted to Lucy. "As I must ensure the safety of our dreamer here."

"So you'll meet her on the battlefield... with no champion of your own?" Levy frowned, "how is giving Gaajie an easy win going to bring him back to me?"

"Don't wage war on my account!" Lucy shouted.

Mirajane looked between the nervous Dormouse and concerned Dreamer. "I understand that it is tradition that no White Queen should ever bring pain to another living thing... but I did not take any vows. You may find that I am skilled enough in my own right to champion myself. After all, war is never pretty, and I assure you—that is what my sister seeks now. My informant has also reported to me that Erza has not yet returned to the Red Keep. Thus, there are only two places she would take the Jabberwocky, and since one of those places is right here—where she's not—then she's certainly there, planning her strategy. Make no mistake ladies... our arrival will be no surprise."

Both girls went quiet.

Mirajane hummed as she began to pour drinks.

"Your highness?" Lucy started. "If my presence is causing you and your people hardship..."

"You presence is bringing the people hope." Mirajane stated as a fact. "Already the people are singing about the golden haired Dreamer, and how her arrival is signifying the beginnings of a new golden age. Nearly all the dreamers bring peace—eventually. There's just something about one's arrival that begs action, solution." Mirajane moved from pouring drinks to lighting candles, brightening up a darkening room. "And you have captured the heart of a Hatter." Mirajane looked over her shoulder and winked at her, "that's good luck, you know."

Levy sat down with a reeling mind, and Lucy came to sit next to her. Then she looked up at Mirajane when she walked back to the table. "Could Natsu be taken...? Just as she took Gajeel?"

"Your concern for him warms me, Juicy." Mirajane began, taking a seat across from them. "Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel, has but to claim his birthright... then the Red Queen could never claim him."

"His... birthright?" Lucy and Levy both said.

Mirajane sighed, "Oh dear, he has not told you. ...I think I've said too much." The queen took a good swig of the drink before her.

Something occurred to our Dormouse then, and it felt sharp as pins. She flew to her feet and slammed both hands on the table, "Wait, are you saying that the Mad Tea Party is where BOTH of them have been hiding?!"

With the question hanging in the air, the ladies' talk was interrupted by doors being thrown open, admitting Tweedle Dee. The cat-lady walked up and sat herself to the white queen's right side and pointedly looked at Mirajane—and only Mirajane. "Sorry m'lady... I had thought I might skip dinner tonight. My appetite isn't... here tonight."

Mirajane rested an empathetic hand on top of Tweedle Dee's. "Oh my sweet Lisanna..."

Elfman and Natsu came in next, the two laughing together about some ridiculous thing they'd watched a dodo do. Once their mirth died down, Tweedle Dum turned to the women at the table and smiled, "Mmmm, smells great in here!"

Natsu seated himself in the chair between Lisanna and Lucy, as Elfman took the seat on Mirajane's left. One place remained empty. Mirajane rose once the others were all at the table. "My dearest friends... I feel so fortunate to have you all gathered here this evening. This night was meant to be a celebration for the White Kingdom's independence... but news has brought the foul stink of battle in its wake. Now we must cherish this evening as best we can, for not a one of us can say what tomorrow brings." Mirajane lifted her wine glass, and all seated at her table did the same.

Once they all took a drink (or a long swig like Tweedle Dum), food was passed around. Elfman and Mirajane attempted idle chatter... but Natsu was the only one light-hearted enough to reply. Lucy watched around the table. Lisanna pushed food about with her fork, and Levy glared at her meal with a twitching brow. Just as Lucy had planned out the proper things to say to help reassure her friend, the little Dormouse stood and bellowed out across the table. "Please, Queen Mirajane! Let me be your champion! I can't let you sully your hard earned reputation to settle something that should stay between myself and Gajeel!"

Mirajane paused, with a half risen fork. She blinked at the Dormouse and tilted her head. In fact, everyone stared at the tiny girl offering to challenge a dragon. "Levy..."

When the queen hesitated, trying to find the right words to best spare the mouse's feelings, Natsu spoke up in a low voice. "That's... just crazy enough to work..." A smile grew on his face as he sat up and leaned toward Levy. "Haha! Leave it to a fellow Inbetweener to come up with sumthin so half-cocked! It's brilliant!"

"Umm..." Lucy frowned, "Natsu?"

He leaned back and pounded a fist onto the table, "Ironeyes will take one look at our Dormouse and freeze right in his tracks. No challenge, no spell would be enough to coerce him into a battle to the death against his own mate!"

Lucy wasn't the only one staring at the hatter as though he'd grown a third eye. Though Tweedle Dum gleefully pumped a fist and agreed, "Damn right he wouldn't! He's way too much of a man for that!"

Lisanna's ears lowered, yet she remained silent. It was the queen that spoke next. "Levy? Is this truly what you want...?"

"Aye." The Dormouse nodded. She leaned one hand on the table as the other pressed against her heart. "I will see to it that the Jabberwocky harms no one, Queen Mira, you'll see!"

The White Queen was silent for a while, and Lucy could feel tension on the Tweedle's faces when the queen finally spoke again. She raised a glass to Levy, "Very well, Levy Lionheart. You will be my champion."

Levy blushed, but raised her glass as well.

^.^

Time sat there, in his mausoleum awaiting to be forgotten and his mind wandered. He recalled all the different times he'd visited the human realm while searching for Layla's offspring. He'd visited the 20th century first, for he'd taken Layla for a more modern woman. He had been incorrect, but found the era had borne quite a grand collection of poetry. There was one, written by a most intriguing mortal named Langston Hughes that kept springing into his mind.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
and then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Jellal could not help but grow a small smile.

Drip, drip, drip.

o.o

Lucy had slipped away once dinner wound down; she needed a moment. If this Jabberwocky was as fearsome as everyone says... then she'd just watched her friend sign her death warrant. This wouldn't stand... why had Natsu been for it? So what...? They were all supposed to just stand around and bear witness to Levy's demise? Surely Gajeel was being controlled... CONTROLLED! This wasn't some child's story where love conquers all! Her dear friend was going to be eaten alive tomorrow with a broken heart, and then the Jabberwocky would either be slain or proceed to the next edible in sight. Levy would be throwing her life away for nothing!

She couldn't let Levy face him alone. Resolving to fix this dilemma, the star maiden gripped the hilt Virgo had given her the night of her Debutante. "Alright then... Fleuve d'etoiles. Let's see what we can do."

^.^

Despite how the Hatter longed to go after the woman he yearned for, he thought it necessary to stay with his Dormouse and boost her courage. He'd seen a new side of her today that only solidified what he'd been taught about the other half of a dragon's soul. Mira had gotten it all wrong. Levy wasn't Lion-hearted, she was Dragon-hearted. As the night wore on, Natsu drank with the Dormouse, sang with the Dormouse, even let the Dormouse wear his hat. Eventually he also assisted Levy to a bed Mira had prepared for her. It was good that she would sleep deeply, and he would have the perfect sort of tea ready for her in the morn should her head ache as he suspected it would.

As he descended the stairs, only Lisanna remained in the main room. She looked up at him as he returned, "Hatter?"

Their eyes met and Natsu smiled at her, "Yea?"

She stood up and walked up to him, handing him his teacup. "This fell while you were helping Levy to bed. Crazy it didn't crack."

The hatter took it from her and inspected it, "Guess I'm just lucky. Thanks Dee." He smiled again as he placed it back in an interior pocket.

Lisanna smiled in return and placed her large cat paws behind her back. "Um... Natsu?"

Already smelling the air so he could locate Lucy, he answered, "Yea Dee?"

"So... is the Juicy going to stay here... or were you going to leave Fairy Tail...?"

Finally giving his full attention to her, he scratched his head. "Huh. I just sorta thought she'd stay here, since she has her mirror nowadays." His hand instantly went to his chest, where the mirror still resided. Hmm. He should probably get that back to her.

"Oh..." Lisanna bit her lip, "that would make her the first... since I guess the Mother was never really a dreamer."

"She's the first of a lotta things, Dee."

Tweedle Dee struggled with something to say next. Though she needn't have bothered, Natsu took one last sniff of the air, growled—and was gone, right out the front door.

^.^

Panting, Lucy threw her whip out into the night sky again. A smile curled when her weapon wrapped around the exact iron fence pole she'd aimed at. After several dozen tries, things were finally starting to be looking up. Never in a million years did she think she'd be teaching herself to crack a whip like this. Lucy the dragon tamer, that's what they'd call her!

It took a surprising amount of energy to focus her whip into the stream of stars that formed it into the glorious weapon that it was. Honing it alone had been a challenge. Thank the gods she'd kept so many spirits with her back in London, bolstering her strength. Virgo had been so patient with her. Pulling her whip back took a rather unique flick of the wrist that was beginning to make her muscles ache. Being a spirit summoner had never been so physically grueling. Turning around to go for another fence post, she threw Fleuve d'etoiles and was stupefied to discover none other than the Queen of Hearts behind her—catching her whip with her forearm. The woman was dressed in nothing but bright red trousers and bandages that bound her breasts; her scarlet hair in a neat, high ponytail. With Lucy's whip wrapped about her arm, she narrowed her eye upon the dreamer. The queen's other eye was covered with a peculiar patch with a red lacrima set inside it, cut to the shape of an eye.

"Your-your highness! I'm—so sorry!" Lucy sputtered, fear and surprise swiping her wits and confidence away.

With only a slight jerk of her arm, Erza disarmed Lucy and coiled the whip around her arm. Though without Lucy wielding it, the power faded and was soon nothing but a hilt again. Erza narrowed her eyes on the dreamer before her. "We would have never pegged you a warrior."

"What... what are you doing here?" Lucy's eyes darted to and fro.

"We have come to return this creature. He is useless to our cause." Erza watched the dreamer through wary eyes. Lucy nearly slipped when the huge snout of an iron dragon leaned forward, out of the shadows.

"Is that Gajeel? Useless!? Gajeel's not—"

Erza raised a hand to silence her, "Love has dulled the Jabberwocky's blade... just as that confounded emotion has so many others. Tell us, Dreamer, has love tainted your warrior's spirit as well?" Erza tossed the hilt of Fleuve d'etoiles back to her (Lucy was relieved beyond measure that she'd managed to catch it).

Taking a step back, Lucy channeled power back into her whip. "Absolutely not."

"Calm yourself girl. We shall not attack here in our traitorous sister's country."

"You majesty..." Lucy entreated, "I had thought we were friends! Why are you—"

"We've no more time for this," Erza frowned. "You dreamers dive into our world and steal the hearts of the ones others love. I was a fool to try to befriend you, and the red court has never suffered fools." Lucy tensed as the queen walked by her, stopping at the fence's gate and spoke menacingly. "We have something of yours that was once ours... come and claim it if you dare."

"Wha...?" Lucy turned to see the last glimmer of the Red Queen as she slipped into the shadows, vanishing to the naked eye. It took the snort of the extremely large dragon to bring her back from in her head. Warily, she stepped up to the iron dragon, the Jabberwocky. "Hey there, uh... Gajeel. I just so happen to know there's a Dormouse that's been super worried about you... but I don't think you'll fit through the door like this."

The both of them turned when the Hatter burst out of nearby bushes—to land on his chin. "Ugh... I really can't stand queens..."

Following after him, Mira stepped out of the bushes, holding up her skirts primly. "Aww, you don't mean that!" Then she smiled at Lucy, "that was wonderfully handled dear... and I must say, I've never been more proud of my sister!"

Gajeel snorted at that, and Natsu pulled himself to his feet, cracking his neck.

"You guys... were watching us?" Lucy asked accusingly.

"Oh don't blame Natsu, dear. I detained him. Couldn't have him starting a fight right in my back yard now could I?" The queen replied innocently.

"Uh huh..." Lucy deadpanned.

With Natsu around, Gajeel laid his massive head down with a grunt. His fearsome shape took on the appearance of molten metal as it shrank into itself until it was the size and shape of the March Hare. He laid there, belly to the ground with nothing but his unkempt mane for hair covering his nudity. "Tell the Shrimp I..." His gruff voice trailed off as eyes rolled into the back of his head. Mirajane quickly removed the cloak she wore and put it over him as Natsu pulled him up.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lucy worried.

"This guy's a tank," the Hatter nodded to her, adjusting Gajeel's arm over his shoulder. "He just needs some R ."

As he passed her, Mirajane put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Mind magic. It takes some adjusting afterwards... I'll send for Porlyusica to look in on him."

With eyes on the two dragons slowly making their way back into the building, Lucy couldn't help but frown. "Isn't it a little weird that she just handed him back like that?"

"Perhaps." Mirajane chewed her cheek. "But I know her better than anyone and let me tell you... my dear sister... she's in pain." Lucy was touched by the worry the White Queen so clearly felt for her sister. "I think, for the most part, she did not want dear Jabberwocky to suffer it as she does."

"Queen Mira?" The Star Maiden began, "do you... know why Queen Erza suffers?"

Mirajane stared past Lucy as she sighed. "...I have a few hunches." Shaking her head, "come now Juicy. The cakes are done, and the hour grows long. Sleep and fret not, for the Jabberwocky is no more." Taking her hand, the queen led the two of them back inside.

With the tavern buzzing about Gajeel's peaceful return, Lucy retreated to the room the queen had made for her. After a soak, Lucy sat before a mirror in a night gown as bright as the White Queen's hair. She stared at herself, her mind repeating something Queen Erza had said.

You dreamers dive into our world and steal the hearts of the ones others love.

Natsu had said something similar once... it was hard to remember though, she'd been so delirious. The Cheshire Cat had also said that the people here were drawn to dreamers. Then Lucy recalled Lisanna... had Lucy stolen the Hatter from her...? What else could Erza have meant? How would she even know?

Then another, much more paranoid thought rushed into her and gripped her heart in a vice. Just how strong was this 'drawn to Dreamers'? Was it strong enough to make a dragon believe she was the other half of his soul? He'd said it himself hadn't he? Everyone around here loves Dreamers. The thought was terrifying...

Sleep did not come easily. Lucy had gone through the motions and laid herself in the bed... but it felt so cold, and she couldn't shake the feeling strangling her insides. She lay awake with her back to the door when he entered, the man she'd given her heart to. He must have noticed her in the bed, for he closed the door quietly. Then she listened as he hung his hat and coat. It was the gentle splashes of the water basin that finally had her rolling over to watch him. Having heard the rustling blankets, Natsu looked up from where he was bent over, water dripping on his face. The Hatter grinned and scratched his head, "Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought."

Unable to keep from smiling at such a grin, Lucy chuckled. "I believe the queen prepared you your own room?"

"Yea she did," the Hatter agreed walking to her bed. Leaning over, his warmth soothing her as he laid a gentle kiss on her lips. "But that room didn't smell as good as this one."

Lucy shifted over as Natsu made himself at home in her bed. So many of her worries already glossing over by nothing more than his presence. With his head on her pillow, Lucy brought a hand to stroke his cheek. Natsu closed his eyes at her touch and cooed contentedly—such a funny sound coming from a supposedly formidable dragon made the lady giggle. Peeking an eye open, Natsu feigned offense. "It better not be me you're laughin' at."

"Me? Never," Lucy smiled back, but then bit her lip. If she didn't speak with him about this now... then she might not muster the courage to later. So as Natsu sought out her neck for a little disciplinary action about lying, the lady shied away and brought fingers to his lips. "Hey Natsu...? Can I ask you something?"

Taking her hand from his mouth and holding it between them, he replied, "Of course."

"It's about what the Red Queen said... that goes right along with something Cana mentioned, and you too, actually." Natsu rose a brow, but continued listening as she struggled with her words. She tried as best as she could to explain her concerns to him. Of how easy it would be for someone from Wonderland to think they loved a dreamer, and how she'd seen it first hand with so many. As she started listing out names (Juvia, Gray, Laxus, Erza), Natsu raised the hand he held and bit one of her curled fingers. "Wha? Hey!"

Golden eyes leveled on her, "Are you trying to say that I only think I love you? Cuz you're a dreamer?"

Lucy averted her eyes, feeling heat rise on her cheeks. "I just... don't want you to make a mistake by confusing—hmm?"

He was glaring at her. Without breaking their eye lock, Natsu placed her hand on his chest. First was the immense warmth, followed by the steady beat of his heart. "You feel that Juice?"

"Ye-yes."

"It feels like that thing never really did anything before you came around." Natsu's other hand ghosted up her arm, over her neck to caress her cheek. "Give me a little credit, wouldja? I've never recognized the scent of someone before I'd met them, but you... I've known you, cuz you're the other part of me."

Lucy adjusted herself so that her head laid on his bare chest, and closed her eyes to the rhythm of his heart. "I'm sorry... I suppose maybe I'm just getting cold feet."

"Cold feet? Want me to heat up the blanket?"

The lady giggled, "It's a figure of speech, Natsu."

The Hatter smirked up at the ceiling and rested his head on an arm while his other curled around his love's slim waist. After a moment, he added, "You said both Gray and Juvia?"

Sluggishly raising her chin to look at him, she replied, "Crazy right?"

"Weird for sure. Those two have only had eyes for each other since we were kids."

"You know them well?" Lucy queried.

"Used to, yeah. But they're reds through and through... so it's way better that you're here with me."

Lucy snuggled up to him more. "Agreed. Now shush, I must see to Levy in the morning."

Natsu smiled to himself, happy to bask in her presence for the remainder of the night in peace.

Rock, paper, scissors.

Seriphia
aka
Lick

*~.✨.~*