Sorry I've been away for so long. Been finishing up the semester and visiting family and all those things... It's been a stressful holiday. This chapter is going to be a little rough I think. I was trying really hard to add something and couldn't think of anything. Also this isn't beta'd. So if there's something I can fix let me know. I'm toying with an idea to make it more... unique... So hopefully that's something to look forward to. Until then... Happy Holidays, and see you in the new year. Peace out.

Cobra sat back, slightly winded as he let Titania take over. For once she was completely focused on the fight with her counterpart. He winced as his scales receded. They hadn't blocked everything, and while his body was absorbing every poison she had thrown at him and from the knife as fuel, it wasn't indestructible. The poison didn't heal him, just gave him an energy boost. Erza turned to him after throwing her Edolas counterpart through a wall, "Go help Lucy."

Cobra nodded, and turned, running. He had gotten a decent amount of revenge for his girl, but Edo-Erza was as tough as the Earthland version, and Cobra knew if he stayed he would end up fighting both. He slowed himself when he realized there weren't a lot of people in the immediate vicinity, and began to stretch out his listening magic. He finally pinpointed his girlfriend, as well as Gray, who was fighting some weirdo over a key, and Natsu, who was rushing to Gray's aid. Lucy was complaining about how heavy a giant octopus was.

Cobra frowned before rounding the final corner to find his girlfriend under a very large octopus, a small girl with brown hair trying to pull her out.

Cobra groaned before rushing in and lifting up on the octopus, allowing the girl to pull Lucy out. Lucy grinned up at Cobra thankfully, and he heard her soul begin to sing as he scooped her up and nuzzled her hair, glad that she was alright.

"Are you her prince?" the girl asked, much to Cobra's amusement.

"He's my dragon," Lucy replied, "Thanks for pulling me out Coco."

The small girl smiled happily, even as she collapsed back on the ground due to her burned feet. Lucy pushed herself back from Cobra, studying him, worried.

"I'm fine Tinkerbell," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear him.

She nodded, "Let's go."

"We need to get out of here."

Lucy blinked, "But, Natsu, and Gray."

"They're with Erza."

Lucy immediately relaxed, "Right, we need to get more help then."

Coco immediately sprang up, "Follow me!"

Lucy and Cobra gave her a puzzled look, but followed. They moved deeper in the castle for a bit before coming out near the stables. Coco opened on of the doors, cheerfully greeting the animal inside, and then ushering Lucy and Cobra on top of it.

Lucy blinked as she watched the castle transform from above and winced, "This is just like a Gildarts shift."

Cobra studied it for a moment and nodded, agreeing with the likeness. He scowled as the concentrated magic began to saturate the air and began to concentrate. He finally managed to focus in on Gray, Erza and Natsu and pointed Coco in that direction. Coco nodded, and they all ducked as the Legion crashed through the wall and Lucy yelled at her friends to get on.

"Lucy, did you get turned into this?"

Cobra face palmed and the two of them peered over the side of the beast, Cobra wondering how stupid his friend was before catching Gray's thought that it wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

He sighed, "Suppose not with this group."

Lucy glanced at him curiously and he shook his head as the three clambered aboard. "We've got to stop this," Lucy said, as the rest nodded. Erza kept an eye on her Edolas counterpart, and Cobra glanced at her warily as he pulled Lucy closer to himself by her waist. Lucy glanced at him, surprised, pleased, and wondering if this was really such a time for this.

Cobra glanced at her, ignoring the furious thoughts of Edo-Erza as they rose and began to fly towards the giant lacrima that was Magnolia.

Lucy frowned as they got closer to the lacrima, wondering if Wendy had managed to convince the Exceeds to leave. From the way everyone was scowling, she sincerely hoped that something had gone right.

"Me too," Cobra grumbled quietly as he pulled her closer to his chest. They were nearing Extalia when they saw the chain begin to move, and Lucy shrieked. Cobra scowled, wishing he could have left Lucy somewhere else. Somewhere with no danger or chance of getting killed. Lucy looked up at him, worried, but glad they were together.

Cobra wished he had her optimism.

"Concentrate all our magic on slowing it down!," Lucy said suddenly, focusing. The rest followed suit as the legion they were riding on began to push back on the lacrima island. Cobra frowned as he saw Extalia getting closer, but refused to bail because Lucy refused to bail, and he would not live without her.

He was nearly shocked out of his concentration when he heard the fast approach of the exceeds and Gajeel. Slowly, the forward motion of the island slowed. Cheered, everyone poured more energy and strength into it, pushing against Extalia, yelling with the effort. Everyone cheered as the magic propelling the lacrima island dissipated into the air, and it stopped moving. This also, however, caused them to start falling because they didn't have good footing. Happy immediately grabbed Natsu, and Charle grabbed Wendy. A violet exceed grabbed him, and he immediately looked to see Lucy grabbed by another, and sighed in relief. Coco was giggling nearby as her legion got underneath her, giving her a soft landing. Moments later they had all landed, cheering.

Cobra scowled as he looked off in the distance where he could hear an army approaching, as well as something else.

He got the attention of Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel, and alerted the rest. "We're about to get some visitors, and a mechanical dragon."

Natsu grinned, punching one hand, flames dancing around his hands, "We'll take care of the dragon."

Lucy bit her lip, looking between her boyfriend and friends, "Be careful."

Natsu winked at her, and Cobra tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She pulled him down to her level to kiss him on the cheek, and then climbed aboard the legion as they began to herd the exceeds away from the army. The dragon slayers all nodded to each other, and ran to meet the battle armor that they could feel draining the magic of the land.

Cobra scowled as they approached the dragon, the mad king's voice echoing from it.

"I'll boost you," Wendy said before beginning to chant. Cobra felt his own power grow, and sneered, attacking when Gajeel and Natsu attacked. As Natsu went for the head and Gajeel for the back, Cobra focused on seeing if he could get between the joints and into the cockpit. If he could find a way to sneak his poison in without poisoning his partners he could take out the mad king.

Natsu scowled as he got knocked away, noticing Cobra focusing on the chest plate of the metal beast. Gajeel landed next to him, "What's that idiot doing?"

Natsu blinked before brightening, "That must be where Faust is."

"Too bad his type of magic is useless against it."

Cobra turned around for a second, scowling and Natsu brought Wendy and Gajeel in, "Let's give him a hand."

Gajeel nodded, and the three powered up their roars. Cobra barely jumped free before the blast, frowning when he heard King Faust's laughter from inside the machine. Gajeel scowled, and jumped on it, taking out huge chunks of the metal hide one bite at a time. Cobra snickered as the man inside began to shout furiously while Gajeel mentally commented on the taste of his snack.

"If it tastes like shit, don't eat it," Cobra said, landing next to Gajeel and attempting to change the nature of his magic just slightly enough to be corrosive to metals. Taking a deep breath he began to roar into the hole that Gajeel had created while Natsu and Wendy pounded on the rest of the hide with all they had in an attempt to distract Faust. Cobra scowled, listening for signs that what he was attempting was working. Gajeel huffed and pushed him aside. He was about to take another bite when suddenly Cobra grinned, pulling him back as King Faust began to cough and curse. The dragon began to power down, and the chest plate opened. A cloud of purple gas rose into the air as King Faust tumbled out, cursing.

"Too bad he won't kick it from that," Cobra muttered.

"You're telling me," Gajeel said, scowling.

Cobra eyed the Iron Dragon Slayer and jumped down to join Wendy and Natsu. Natsu was holding Wendy back from healing the man. It was then they noticed the yellow glow in the air.

"Someone'e reversed the anima," Cobra said, "All magic is going back to our world."

"My people," Faust groaned, "No! I must restore the anima!"

Natsu scowled, "You aren't using our lives for this. Come on."

Cobra nodded at Natsu's plan, ready to cause some chaos. Natsu gave him a sharp look and Cobra scowled. Huffing, he relented, "Fine, I won't 'hurt' anyone."

"They'll probably do that fine on their own," Cobra grumbled under his breath, knowing the other dragon slayers would hear him.

Wendy looked troubled as Gajeel snickered, but Natsu shrugged, tying up King Faust and heading in the direction of the capitol where people were already panicking and running in the streets.

Cobra snatched some black cloth, handing one to Gajeel and one to Natsu before helping Wendy make a makeshift cape. Wendy gave him a shy grin, "Am I scary enough?"

Cobra blinked not wanting to dash her hopes but knowing she wasn't going to scare anyone, "You'll do fine Little Bit."

Wendy immediately brightened as she turned to see Natsu had acquired some horns somewhere. Cobra snorted as Natsu immediately got into character, rolling his eyes as they all got into place and Natsu began to cackle.

Lucy watched the soldiers run with a bit of disappointment and a little exasperation. They hadn't exactly been doing well against the soldiers, as most of the Exceeds were lacrima now, but they weren't about to give up either when the magic began to drift towards the large hole in the sky. The soldier's weapons had immediately powered down with the lack of magic and the soldiers had run. Lucy turned, expecting everyone to cheer, to find Edo-Fairy Tail bemoaning the loss of magic and panicking themselves. Edo-Natsu looked like he was close to either wetting himself or curling up into a ball and crying while rocking back and forth. Maybe a bit of both.

Lucy turned to her shorter haired Edolas counterpart, who was more concerned with getting Fairy Tail back into the right frame of mind rather than the loss of magic, and smiled. She was glad she at least had her head on straight.

Lucy turned to Gray, and both began to run towards the capitol with less than a moment's communication between them. She prayed that Erza wasn't too badly hurt fighting herself before chuckling slightly at the thought. She had a feeling everything would be alright. She had barely made it inside the city limits when Cobra, who had been terrorizing a group of townspeople landed in front of her and grabbed her, throwing her up on his shoulder. She yelped, a little embarrassed, as Erik jumped on top of a building. It was then she noticed the scales on his arms and around his face.

"What the hell, Erik?"

"The great Demon King resurrected me to terrorize the people while he stole everyone's magic."

Lucy blinked, attempting to push herself into a somewhat upright position to look at him as he sneered down at the townspeople and Fairy Tail.

"And Natsu is the Demon King?" she asked, voice flat.

Cobra's grin became almost feral, "He's pretty good at it too."

Lucy looked around for her wayward friend, studying him before acknowledging the point. "Could you put me down?"

"Nope!" Cobra said cheerfully, "You're my prisoner now."

He dodged an ice blast from Gray, who was shouting furiously at them.

"Why are you getting lighter?" Cobra suddenly asked.

It was then Lucy noticed she was glowing, "Someone reversed the anima machine."

"Yeah the prince, but why…"

"I think I'm heading back to Earthland."

Cobra grunted, trying to keep ahold of her a moment longer before letting go reluctantly.

Lucy forced her best smile for him, "I'll see you soon."

Cobra nodded, and Lucy turned to see Gray next to her, frowning, "He's not glowing yet?"

"I think the dragon slayers are all going to take longer," she said, noticing that none of them were being pulled into the anima yet before sharing a worried glance with Gray, "Granted they weren't pulled into the anima in the first place."

Gray frowned, before grinning down at the other Fairy Tail and beginning their goodbyes.

Cobra glanced over to where Natsu was giving Mystogan a Fairy Tail parting, and moved to stand near Gajeel and Wendy. The edges of their own magic were beginning to get pulled into the anima, and he was ready to join his girlfriend at home. It was when Mystogan and Natsu met for a dual punch and Natsu began screaming that they began to act as well.

"I feel stupid," Cobra coughed out lowly, causing Wendy to giggle and Gajeel to chuckle eve as they began to rise into the air with the leftover Exceeds.

Natsu turned and gave one last cheerful wave to everyone on the ground before the world faded to black, and they found themselves landing on the ground in the forest near Magnolia.

Cobra found Lucy holding the violet Exceed, shivering. Taking his makeshift cloak, he wrapped it around her, almost snickering at her surprise before his breath caught as she smiled up at him. The small purple Exceed popped her head out as well, grinning up at him slyly.

Cobra frowned. "Erik this is Nightshade."

"Pleased ta meetcha," the small cat chirped, "Good to see you in one piece."

Cobra nodded at the cat, eyeing it suspiciously.

"I'm more of a snake person."

The cat's jaw dropped, before looking at Lucy who was giggling. The cat shrugged, "Then I'll stay with Lucy-hime. I'll be your flying partner when you go on jobs!"

Cobra snorted and Lucy looked up at him, mirth in her eyes, "Come on Erik. It won't be that bad. She's a sweetheart."

Cobra grunted, wondering if the little Exceed was going to be annoying as Happy and Charle and interrupt his time with his girlfriend on a regular basis. So far the Exceed wasn't giving signs of that but he noticed that Happy and Charle were kind of attention whores for their particular slayer. Well, Charle only wanted Wendy's attention. Happy wanted everyone's attention.

"Alright," he finally relented as Lucy was already making plans to have the purple Exceed stay with her. Nightshade purred and Lucy nuzzled her head happily. A moment later a black Exceed caught their attention, dragging a girl with short, white hair and large blue eyes into the clearing. Lucy blinked, startled when she tackled Natsu, tears in her eyes as Natsu yelped. Lucy glanced up at Cobra, curious to know if her soul resonated with Natsu's. Cobra was frowning, and slowly shook his head.

"They could be happy," Cobra muttered into her ear, "But you're a closer match to him than she is. I don't think it'll work so long as he knows you. She seems to know this too."

Lucy frowned, trying to figure out what he meant, and then sighed, letting it go. Cobra was glad she did. He didn't want to try and explain any more than he had to about his soul listening ability.

It was a week later, and everyone had finally calmed down, nearly everyone in the guild getting used to the presence of Lissana once more in the guild. Lucy was sitting with Nightshade next to her, soul humming happily as she watched them ask the same questions about Edolas, just to hear Lissana speak again. Lissana never seemed to tire of telling the same stories again and again.

Lucy giggled before looking at her boyfriend, who was having a glowering contest with Gajeel from across the room.

She giggled, grinning slightly when he didn't even flinch, "Lacrima or no, you're still a real dragon slayer."

Cobra's lips twitched slightly upward, but he didn't break his staring contest. Nightshade looked up from the cup of milk that Kinana had given her, "Men are weird."

Lucy grinned down at the Exceed, "People in general are kinda weird, I think."

"Good thing I'm an Exceed," Nightshade said snobbily.

Lucy tried her hardest to get annoyed, but found she couldn't. She was content with how things were. Granted if someone had told her a year ago she'd be dating an ex-convict she would have sent them to the looney bin. Cobra being her soul mate, however, felt… right. And while she knew, she still wasn't sure how she knew, that she could be blissfully happy with Natsu, with Cobra she felt, needed. Like she could help him in ways no one else could. It gave her a strange sense of power.

She scooted a little closer, gently laying her head on his shoulder. She waited for the sudden tense, and then waited for him to relax again before leaning a bit more heavily on him. She had been through this routine before, several times before, since he asked her to be official. At first she had been offended and a little sad, but she was, maybe not beginning to understand, but getting used to it as a quirk. Cobra looked down at her, finally breaking off his staring contest, and Lucy smiled happily up at him. Cobra shifted, putting his arm around her waist, a barely there smile on his face. He didn't even wince when Kinana brought out a lacrima camera and snapped a picture of them. Lucy sighed contentedly, her eyes being drawn to the large commotion at the board. She was suddenly glad that she didn't need rent for a little bit, as the clamor for jobs at the request board was reaching a frenzy.

Mira set a milkshake down in front of Lucy, noting what drew her attention, "It always gets like this around this time of year."

Lucy took a sip, giving Mira a confused look, even as Natsu jumped over with a grin, "Mira, I'm taking this one!"

Mira signed the document and watched Natsu go with a smile.

"S Class exams," Cobra muttered in her ear and Lucy made a face. She then pulled out a letter from Sorano.

"Sorano's getting adopted by a small all female guild, the new one, Mermaid Heel," she said happily, "And Sawyer might be going to Quatro Cerberus."

Cobra snickered, "I hope those two guilds are prepared."

Lucy pinched his side good-naturedly as she held the letter out for him to peruse. Cobra leaned closer to get a better view, and wished the council wasn't full of idiots so they could write each other without them thinking they were plotting world domination.

A second later he looked up, glaring at the master before sighing and standing. Lucy gave him a slightly confused look, watching as he headed towards the master sulkily. He came back scowling twenty minutes later, and shook his head when Lucy opened her mouth. "Not allowed to say," he grumbled, sitting down a little ways away from her. Lucy frowned, but didn't scoot closer, sensing he needed some space. She calmed herself, remembering that he wasn't like everyone else.

Cobra sighed, "Sorry Bright Eyes."

Just with that, her eyes softened in understanding and pleasure.

Makarov stood, Gildarts next to him, and commanded everyone's attention, "I'd like to announce the candidates for this year's S Class Exams!"

Lucy cheered with everyone else as names were announced. When Mest's name was announced, she frowned, as did Cobra, before both their eyes cleared, and they didn't think a thing about it more. Lucy stood and stretched, a smile on her face.

"Don't stay too late. I think I'm going to go home."

"Want me to walk you?" he asked, despite hearing her thoughts to the contrary.

Lucy shook her head, pleased that he had asked, "I'll yell if I need help."

Cobra smirked, "Careful walking home Bright Eyes."

Lucy nodded, pulling on her coat and summoning Plue, who chirruped at the Poison Dragon Slayer before following Lucy out. Cobra nodded to the small dog, and then smiled as Kinana brought him a poison laced beer, an ale set on fire for Natsu, who had plopped down, a big grin on his face.

"Luce knows I'm taking Happy as my partner?" Natsu asked, a little anxiously.

Cobra snorted into his drink, watching as Natsu slurped the fire off his drink before sipping it, "She understands."

Natsu relaxed, a soft smile on his face, gaze sharpening when Lissana walked over, dragging Juvia, "I'm going to be partners with Juvia!"

Juvia looked like she wanted to be anywhere else even as Natsu congratulated her on being considered for S Class. Lissana beamed at him as he told Juvia she had made a good choice in partner. Gray walked over with Loke a moment later, and Cobra looked sharply at the lion spirit, who glared back.

"I'm here under my own power," Loke said acidly, "And will be for the trials. Lucy knows."

Cobra relaxed slightly, and toned his magic down as they began to talk and argue loudly around him. He was a little surprised they had come over, regardless of the fact that Natsu was sitting with him.

"It's taking them longer than they took to Juvia," Juvia said next to him, "But Juvia believes they're accepting you."

Cobra looked around him, and while Loke and Gray still shot daggers at him with their eyes, everyone else, including Erza, who had walked over was content to sit there with him. An hour later he was walking out with Natsu and Erza, and he glanced suspiciously at her.

"You aren't hostile anymore," he blurted out after a few minutes of silent walking.

Natsu stiffened, and Erza gave a scary grin. "Lucy gave me permission that if you ever hurt her, I can tear you apart," she said cheerfully, causing both men to freeze, a shiver running down their spines.

Cobra gaped, and then frowned, "Fair enough."

Natsu gaped at Cobra's seeming easy acceptance, and Cobra glanced at him, "I'd deserve it, if I hurt her. You'd be next in line and you know it."

"There wouldn't be anything left," Natsu grumbled as they let Erza get ahead of them. Cobra sighed, releasing the hold on his magic and listening to the souls around them, relaxing as they got further away from town, and the only noises to be heard were the sounds of nightlife in the surrounding woods.

Cobra stared at his girlfriend as she happily hugged their Exceed, nuzzling its head. Cana stood in front of the master, for once not completely trashed, as had been her MO for most of the month.

Lucy greeted him with a determine smile. "Please tell me you didn't," he said, still in shock.

Lucy's eyes narrowed in challenge, "I'm Cana's partner for the exam."

Cobra felt his rage build, before clamping down on it. Lucy was uncannily good at picking out his moods, and he didn't want to have a row in the guild, especially since Titania was cheerfully watching them for any signs of discontent.

"I'm sorry I didn't consult you," she said softly, taking the active reigning in of his anger as a kind of peace offering, "But this is really important."

Cobra listened as her soul sang out the story she had gotten last night, and how much is resonated with her. Cobra's face softened and he sighed, "Fine. Just means now I'm going too."

Lucy blinked in surprise, and Cobra grumbled, "Master was going to make you my temporary parole partner while Natsu was taking the exam. But now everyone that has a chance at taking me down is going."

Lucy began to giggle, then chuckle, and then laugh whole heartedly. Cobra just smirked at her, a fang peeking out from under his lips. "So I have a chance," she said, mirth in her voice.

"You've already taken me down," he said softly, eyes softening, glad no one was nearby to listen in.

Lucy blushed, thoughts swept away by the confession, blinking dazedly as Cana cheerfully grabbed her arm, "Mind if I borrow your girlfriend, stud?"

Cobra raised an eyebrow, "As long as I get her back after training."

Cana hugged Lucy around the middle, one of Cana's arms rising to just below Lucy's breasts, "No promises."

Cobra snorted, and let Lucy get dragged away as he went to meet with the master.

"You'll stay with me," Makarov said as Cobra got near, "No interfering in the exam."

"I hear ya," Cobra said irritably.

Makarov looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "And no poisoning anyone if Lucy gets hurt at all. This is an exam. There's going to be fighting. Everyone that's going understands the limits they can go to."

"Even Natsu and Gray?" Cobra jibed, causing Makarov to chuckle.

"I knew you could joke," the old man said, his gaze scanning the guild.

Cobra snorted, "Since when did I become one of your brats?"

"Since you saved our lovely Celestial Mage," Makarov said cheerfully.

Cobra snorted and stood, leaving, not wanting the old man to pick up on his embarrassment, and oddly enough, pleasure. He ignored it as the old man eyed him knowingly, and scowled at his guildmates as they entered the guildhall. He gazed longingly at the request board, knowing that until he was off parole, he wouldn't be able to take jobs alone. He glanced around and nearly groaned before standing and leaving, not wanting to be in the guildhall that was already getting crowded.