Yesss I'm back! Thank you for the warm welcome :) I've decided to post chapters as they're completed. You've all been so amazing.

Just a quick reply to the guest who mentioned dragon mating. I wont be using it, not in that sense anyway. Natsu will still be dependent on Lucy but the reason why will be different and explained in upcoming chapters. But on that note, I think its rude for people to tell others what to write about. The beauty of fanfiction is that we can write about whatever we want, even if it doesn't happen or make sense in reality.

I'm so happy there are people who are still interested in this little fic of mine. Thank you again so much.

Anyway, enough about me lol here's the first chapter of the re-write. Hope you like it :)

xx


Chapter One


With slightly narrowed eyes, Natsu Dragneel swept his gaze over the throng of students making their way slowly into the main assembly hall.

Before his awakening, he had loved coming back to the place he considered a second home. The overall atmosphere was simply comforting to him. Leaving after graduation was something he never wanted to think about. Now however, he was eagerly looking forward to it.

His parents had told him that it would be harder for him now - had warned him that it would take an immense amount of concentration and self-control to keep himself from being overwhelmed. And so he had practiced over the summer. Days on end he would train his mind in preparation of what was to come. But it was obvious the moment he stepped foot onto the Academy grounds, that it wasn't nearly enough.

No amount of warnings or hour long mediations, could have prepared him for the reality of what he would have to deal with for weeks on end

Back at home it was easy to handle. His house was situated atop a steep hill that overlooked the village, with a wooded area resting between the two, and every home was a good distance from the other, to give the families a semblance of privacy and normalcy.

Here, it was chaos.

Cluttered, cramped, nauseating chaos.

The first thing that hit him upon arriving was the stench. From overused perfume to the sweat pouring down someones neck, he could smell it all. And the odor was so pungent, so disgusting, that he could hardly be blamed for emptying his stomach right where he stood.

Then, the noise started.

He let out a pitiful whine as hundreds of voices talking over each other assaulted his sensitive ears, and he very nearly spun around to hightail his ass back home just to get away from it all.

But Natsu Dragneel never gives up anything without a damn good fight, so he grit his teeth, buried his nose in his scarf, and focused.

It had taken him a good 10 minutes to remember all of the advice his mother gave him, and another 10 to apply it. Then once he felt some of the tension in his body ease up, and he was confident enough to move, he made his way through the gates with his sister close behind him.

Wendy, his blue haired, brown eyed, adorable baby sister was starting her first year at the Academy. It was also her first time attending a public school so she was understandably nervous. Even so, she had begged him to let her find her way from her dorm to the assembly hall on her own, and Natsu, never being able to say no to his sister when she gave him that look, sighed and relented.

So there he sat, leg bouncing anxiously as he searched for her little blue head, and trying not to notice the looks he was receiving. Being in his final year, he recognized a majority of the students, and sent a small smile of acknowledgement to whomever locked eyes with him. He couldn't really care less, if he were being completely honest. His mother though, had begged him to remain the same boisterous, kindhearted soul she had raised him to be. To not let their family secret change him. So for her sake, he promised to try.

For now though, he was more concerned over what was taking his sister so long. She should have arrived by now.

'Tch.. so much for being able to make it here on her own' He thought to himself. 'knew I should've just dragged her here myself..'

The feel of someone suddenly taking the seat next to him caused the pink haired boy to tense slightly, and as nonchalant as possible, (he didnt want to be so obvious) - he lowered his nose to bury inside the fabric of his scarf. He knew who it was of course, and deep down in his heart, he didnt mind that she chose to sit there. They were best friends after all. It was just that now he could barely stand her scent, and her proximity was making him edgy.

"Morning, Natsu! Gajeel! It's so good to see you guys!"

Natsu inwardly sighed and gave her what he hoped was a warm smile. Whereas Gajeel simply grunted in response, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Hey, Lis. How was your break?"

"Oh, it was nothing special." She beamed, shifting slightly on her seat to face him more. "Tell me about yours, Natsu! You look so different!"

"You think so..?"

He didnt think he looked that different from last year. Sure, his skin had darkened slightly thanks to all those hours he spent under the sun. And all the field work he had to do, did wonderful things to his physique. He'd also allowed his hair to grow out a little - only because he couldn't be bothered maintaining it. But still, in his own eyes he still looked the same, so he found it odd the way his peers reacted to seeing him again.

"Eh. He still looks puny and weird to me."

Natsu turned and slowly stood, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he did so, and once he was fully facing Gray, - another member of their group - he bared his fangs and snarled.

"Say that again... I dare you..."

Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes to hide the slight intimidation he was currently feeling, and looked past him to Lisanna who was watching Natsu with a worried expression on her face. He was about to ask her something cheeky, something that would definitely rile the other boy up, but Gajeel had been silently keeping an eye on his hotheaded cousin and stood to interrupt, catching the pinkettes attention.

"Brats taking awhile. Let's go find her."

Seeing his suggestion for what it really was, Natsu inclined his head slightly and without saying another word, followed him out.

"See? Didnt I tell you?" Gray snorted, taking Natsus vacated seat. "Still weird."


"Get a hold on that temper, salamander." Gajeel warned once they were outside. "You were seconds away from spittin' fire in there."

Natsu huffed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets and glared up at the darkening clouds. 'Great' he thought somewhat bitterly. 'Rain'

"You listening to me?"

"Yea I heard you." The pinkette glowered. "I'm trying alright?."

"I'm just saying" Gajeel continued, giving Natsu a stern look. "It ain't like before when you were both equal, and you gotta remember that."

"Get off my ass. I was given the talk. Im not an idiot."

"Then don't act like one." Gajeel scoffed, pushing off the pillar he'd been leaning on.

"The kids coming." He said, jabbing his thumb in the girls general direction. "I'm headin' in."

Natsu remained where he was, just glaring at the spot Gajeel had been. He knew that his cousin had a point. And he meant what he said earlier. He was trying damn it. Every little thing just seemed to royally piss him off.

"Man this sucks." He sighed irritably, raising his hand to run through his hair. "Not like I didnt know it'd happen but still.."

He sighed again, absentmindedly kicking at the ground, when a sweet, tantalizing aroma drifted along with the breeze, capturing his full attention.

A mixture of vanilla, strawberries, and something else he couldn't quite place was light in the air, and slowly growing stronger. He sniffed a few times, and his head turned in the direction it seemed to be coming from, which was also the way Gajeel had pointed, and when his eyes landed on the smiling face of Lucy Heartfilia, the world seemingly fell away.

Not only did he suddenly have tunnel vision, it felt as though he was hit with a million different emotions all at once.

His breath hitched. Butterflies erupted violently in his gut. His eyes zeroed in on the slight curl of her lips, causing all traces of his previous resentments to vanish completely. And as he watched the way her expression softened, at the way her hands moved as she spoke - a low voice whispered a word through his mind that had him both excited and terrified at the same time.

"Mine"


Wendy was the first to notice him. She saw how tense his body was, how his mouth hung open, hand frozen in his hair, and how his gaze seemed to be transfixed on the girl standing next to her. The sight made her frown. What was wrong with him? Why'd he look so... weird?

" - pretty excited about it to be honest."

Having sensitive hearing, she heard the way his breathing stuttered after the elder girl spoke, and her eyes sparkled with understanding.

Her big brother has a crush!

She couldn't help but giggle, her mind conjuring up images of the couple being all cute and in love. She envisioned picnics, walks under the stars, a declaration of undying love! She imagined an outdoor wedding and adorable little nieces with pink hair and big brown eyes, running around calling her aunty. Her cheeks tinted slightly, her hands covering her eyes as she took a moment to squeal at how adorably sweet it'd be. So as her Imagination ran away with her, she decided that since she was such an amazing person, she'd help her brother out! And since she knew how awkward her brother truly was, he'd need all the help he could get.

Wrapping her fingers around the elder girls hand, she gave her a wide smile, and dragged her towards her brother.

"Come, Lucy! I want to introduce you to someone!"

If Wendy had been paying a little more attention, she would have noticed the blondes darkening scowl, and the obvious distaste written all over her face, the closer they got to the pinkette. But no. Little Wendy did not notice. So she soldiered on until they were standing right in front of Natsu who, much to Wendy's dismay, was still staring like an idiot.

"Brother!" She beamed, releasing Lucy's hand to wrap her arms around him, for the sole purpose of having him not look like such a doofus. "Sorry I took so long! I sorta got lost but Lucy here helped me out."

Bubbling with happiness, she kissed him on the cheek then turned to Lucy.

"Lucy, this is Natsu, the brother I mentioned earlier." She said sweetly. "Do you guys know each other? You're in the same year right? Are you friends?"

Natsu couldn't help it. He couldn't stop himself either. He simply acted, completely ignoring his sisters questions. And poor Lucy had been very unprepared for the breach of personal space. Because when it came to Natsu Dragneel, she never had to worry about something like this happening.

So when he closed the distance between them, she froze in shock.

He had placed one of his hands on the side of her face, lowered his head until his nose brushed lightly against the junction between her neck and shoulder, and after inhaling deeply he murmured against her skin; "Why do you smell really nice..?" then proceeded to purr.

Wendy slowly raised a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes widening at the implication of her brother's actions.

Was this really happening?

But the spell broke before she had a chance to digest the information, and simply watched with a sense of mortified awe as the blonde wrapped her hands around Natsus scarf, and literally tossed him over her shoulder with a fierce roar of indignation. And the only thing she could think, as her eyes followed the figure of her brother sail through the air, was that her dad was going to love this girl.

"You sick, twisted pervert!" The blonde bellowed, not caring if anyone heard. "If you ever touch me again, I'll destroy you, got it?! And I smell good because I bathe you freak!"

Natsu, still lost over what the hell he'd just done, and confused with the desire to do it again, simply nodded and raised a hand in peace.

"Aye..." he mumbled weakly.

"Good luck with school, Wendy." Lucy continued to snarl, her fists clenched at her sides as she glared at the boy laying motionless on the ground. "And no we are NOT friends!"

And with one final growl, that Natsu inwardly melted over, she stormed into the hall.

Once she was gone, Wendy sighed heavily and shook her head.

"What just happened..?" Natsu breathed out in disbelief. "What the hell... did I... holy crap.."

"Come along brother." The blunette said as she walked over to help him up. "Let's just go in and sit down okay? We can talk about this later."

Natsu inclined his head and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Yea..." he responded, still somewhat dazed. "Let's go..."


She was well aware of all the stares, of all the whispers and spiteful comments directed at her person. But she ignored them all, never giving them the satisfaction of a reaction.

They were all insignificant.

None of them mattered.

And anyway, it was for the best that she was left alone. If anyone found out about her secret, she knew that their dislike would be the least of her problems. So she did nothing to prove them wrong. Nor did she bother going out of her way to show them that she was nothing like the horrid person they'd made her out to be. After all, their opinions were meaningless.

As she sat patiently in her seat for the assembly to begin, her mind wandered to what happened outside. She couldn't believe that the pink haired moron had invaded her personal space like that, and when she finally realized what he'd done, and how close he was, she had wanted to do something far worse then simply tossing him.

There was something about the pinkette that she just couldn't stand. Ever since she first laid eyes on the boy, she absolutely despised him. Her blood would boil whenever he was near her, and she always felt the urge to hurt him. There had been a few times where she had to flee the room he was in, just to keep herself from outright attacking him, where she had to grip the edges of her seat to stop from reaching over and attempting to gauge his eyes out. And it wasn't just him either. She felt the same animosity for Gajeel Redfox, and now even Wendy.

At first when the small girl had approached her, she had been tempted to tell her to piss off the way she came. But something was begging her to be nice, a voice in the back of her mind that she hadn't heard since she was a child. So she plastered a smile on her face and tried.

She had thought that the violent tendencies she felt towards the cousins, was simply because one was a loudmouthed idiot, and the other - a sarcastic jackass.

But then she met Wendy. Sweet, innocent, warm hearted Wendy. And her ire towards her made her think. Her ill feelings of the girl had her doubting herself. It made no sense.. she had no reason to despise her. So why then, did she feel the urge to make the younger girl cry? Was she exactly like everyone claimed her to be? A cold, emotionless bully?

Sighing inwardly, she wondered how the year would turn out. Mainly because she noticed during her brief... interaction with Natsu, that her dislike for him had grown exponentially stronger over the summer, and she just knew that this year was going to be much, much harder for her to keep her negative emotions in check.

"Alright children, settle down please."

Shaking her head, Lucy took a deep breath to settle her frazzled nerves, and listened as the deputy principal, Mira-Jane Strauss, opened the assembly with her usual welcoming speech.

'One more year..' She thought to herself. 'One more year then I can finally be rid of all these idiots..'

"And now to introduce our head students." Mira announced with a warm smile. "They are here to assist you all with any issues you may have, if you cannot get in touch with a professor."

Lucy shifted slightly in her seat from excitement. She had been informed that the first candidate for head girl had been turned down, so the offer was offered to her since she was second. It was pretty obvious to her that Erza Scarlett was that certain someone, and she was going to find out why she rejected the offer later. But she definitely wasn't complaining. It's been a dream of hers for so long after all.

" - And he will be working alongside Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Please come up and introduce yourselves."

As Lucy stood from her seat to make her way onto the stage, she wasn't surprised by the lack of applause after her name was announced. She wouldnt let them ruin her excitement for owning the position though. They could all go to hell for all she cared.

Jellal made his small speech, receiving hoots and catcalls at the end of it, and when he moved aside and gestured with a smile for her to go ahead, the student body fell deathly silent.

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, for those of you who don't know who I am." She made a show of eyeing the elder students, and gave them all a wide smile. "As this is my final year, i will endeavor to make it a very memorable one for all of us."

There was only a few who applauded for her but she wasn't bothered. What was starting to bother her though, was the feeling of someones eyes on her.

She didn't have to search to know who it was, she could just tell it was him. Her eyes sought him out anyway and sure enough, his dark eyes were trained on her. She arched a brow, silently asking what the hell he was looking at, but his gaze didnt waver. He continued to watch her the entire time she stood there. And even when she was dismissed back to her seat, she could still feel him following her every move.

The intensity of his gaze was unsettling. She didnt like it one bit and she vowed to make sure it stopped.

One way or another.


AN ~ And so we start on our journey together again :) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, faves and follows. You're all so awesome.

Ps, see you next update! It wont be far away :)

Xx