I'm only on episode 34, but I was so touched by Loke's and Lucy's interactions in 31 and 32! So sweet! I'm trying to figure out if I would like them as a couple. So far, I'm holding off, but hey, who knows? And also Leo's protection of Aries! Soooo warm and fuzzy!

Ahem.

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Fairy Tail universe(s). And I don't know that everything here is accurate, since I am new to Fairy Tail.

The first gulp of air was the sweetest thing he'd felt in his entire life.

Stranded in the human world for 3 years, he'd learned to breathe shallow. Not that it was the actual oxygen he needed, though his body in the human world did need that as well—it was more like he was breathing the ambient magic of the world.

He breathed it with the air. What he really needed to survive was magic, wherever he was. The magic there was…well, it was basically compatible, but it was the equivalent of a bag of stale, flavorless potato chips compared to a royal banquet hall feast, if it was put in terms of food.

He stayed on his hands and knees for what felt like a long, long time when he arrived back in his own realm.

He'd almost suffocated for those first two and a half months. He couldn't have fought back if he'd wanted to when Karen beat him—when she'd bruised him, cracked his ribs, taken out her anger on him while he was weak with the effort of staying in the human world. He'd endured worse (though only barely); one didn't live for centuries, contracting with various humans any time one of them acquired your key, without meeting some truly despicable, power-hungry wizards.

Over the past few generations, though, the Celestial Wizards he'd met and heard about from his fellow spirits had been getting…well, Karen hadn't been the very worst, and he'd leave it at that. And Celestial Wizards from the beginning hadn't been exactly angelic, though as with anything, some were better than others.

It was probably the nature of Celestial Wizardry. The ability to summon another being at a moment's notice to fight your battles for you? To protect you, or to do your physical work for you? Not exactly the type of ability that attracts the most caring type of personality, or the most courageous, even when the wizards themselves are officially aligned with fighting for good.

Except for Lucy. Somehow, she'd broken the mold.

He'd meant it when he thanked her for letting him meet a truly wonderful Celestial Wizard; he'd never known one so caring. For a mortal, she was...amazing. Truly incredible, because he'd never imagined that such a human could exist, let alone become a Celestial Wizard. And on top of that, become one that had the strength of heart to actually do the impossible—to change the law of the Spirit World.

To save him.

She'd done the exact opposite of what a Celestial Wizard should—she'd risked her own life for the sake of a spirit. And not even one of her own contracted spirits. She'd clutched him and cried and demanded that the door open, even as he was in the process of disappearing. She'd almost gone with him into the nothingness because she wasn't willing to let him go.

Her friendship held him. Held his little remaining life force in place, and by doing so, kept his human-world body from dissipating into nothing. How could it have become so deep so fast? How was she able to anchor him, when he wasn't even contracted to her?

She'd even stood up to the Spirit King himself.

Her courage in doing that alone astounded him—and that's an accomplishment, to shock the Lion, the leader of the 12 Zodiac Spirits, with your courage. He'd been terrified, sitting speechless and shaking, at hearing his sentence spoken aloud after 3 years of living it. But she'd stood up, and shouted back at the King himself.

All he'd wanted was to finally make reparations for his crime. He'd been ready to die; it was his sentence and he was guilty.

But…her heart. Her heart alone had saved him, both from his sin and from the punishment for it. Because of her, he'd been pardoned by both the King himself and by Karen's ghost.

Because she'd taken him as her friend.

It couldn't have actually been as long as it felt, kneeling on the floor of the Zodiac Heaven and finally finally breathing deep of the magic of the spirit world. It felt like hours. Really, it was probably only minutes, because he was shaken out of his stupor by a soft fluffy pink-and-white ball of tears.

She ran into the main hall of his chamber, where he'd been returned, and bowled him over onto his back with her tackle. His arms instinctually wrapped around the little ram collapsed on top of him, breathing in the scent of her magic and amazed that anything could be as sweet as the air he'd been so thankful for only moments ago.

"Leo! Leo, I'm so sorry!" Aries sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry!"

He squeezed her tight. "Easy, little sister," he murmured. "I'm alright. Everything's ok now." He heard the awe in his own voice, even as he reassured her. "We're both free from her now."

"Leo," she said, squeezing him back. "Leo, forgive me! If it wasn't for me, you never would have—"

"Shhh," he hushed. "Don't ever apologize to me. There's no need."

"But…but you…" she strained to control her crying. "I thought you were never coming back. And it was because you traded places with me!" She lost the battle, collapsing on his chest once more.

"No, it was because I was too stubborn for too long. I'd trade places with you again in a heartbeat."

The events following that moment though... How many times had he rehashed the entire three-month battle of wills in his own mind? How many times had he realized he should have only tried to free Aries, and allowed himself to stay under Karen's control? How many times had he played out conversations he should have had with Karen, or even with Master Bob, to make their owner understand exactly what she owned?

He stroked her hair. They were two of the closest of the Zodiac Twelve. As the leader, he considered all of them his friends, and after so many centuries together, they were his permanent family. He'd take any amount of punishment—even death—for any of them. But sweet Aries, with her docile nature and shy, unassuming personality, triggered his protective instincts the most, and she clung to him as an older brother.

The lion would always protect the lamb, as it were, and the lamb would always keep him from getting carried away.

"It's alright now. You're safe. I'm safe. We're both back where we belong."

Aries didn't lift her head, and he frowned absently down at her pink hair. Something tugged at his mind. Something he'd wondered the whole time he'd been stranded…

"Aries?"

She sniffed. "Hmm?"

"Are you contracted now?"

His lamb didn't answer, but he felt her whole body tighten as if she was trying to withdraw into herself. That was all the answer he needed.

He let his head drop back onto the floor. Forgiven of Karen's murder, but not spared from the consequences that had fallen from it. He hadn't been around to protect Aries from her next contractor. But now he had a duty to Lucy as well.

"I'll still protect you," he whispered. I don't know how. But I'll find a way. I won't let them keep abusing you, little sister, he promised in his thoughts. He just hoped there was a way. He squeezed her again.

If only he knew where her key was. He could…he could get it to Lucy.

The thought was strange.

In the past, if he'd had any opportunity to influence where his and Aries' keys went, he'd made every effort to hide hers (and secondarily, his own) where it could never be found. Of course, it was against the rules for him to actually get another spirit's key, or to keep his own, so he'd only ever had mild success with that effort. He'd had more success with making sure their keys stayed together.

But now they were separated, contracted to two different wizards. His owner was good, and hers was apparently not.

That's what it was to belong to someone, though. To be owned. You had no control (or very little) over who got your key, and while technically it was possible to reject a contract, the consequences were so mind-bogglingly heavy that no spirit ever seemed to remember that it was possible. It drained your pride, your magic, your life force, and even that of your whole group as long as the rejected wizard was alive. And of course, you couldn't do anything to speed that wizard's death, directly or indirectly, or you'd be banished for all eternity.

As he had been.

He was still going in circles in his mind at Lucy's accomplishment. It was thanks to her that he could hug Aries again; that he could breathe again.

Of course he'd try his damnedest to get Aries' key into Lucy's hand. He could research on his own; he could try to work out a trade or other kind of arrangement. He'd have to talk to Lucy about it.

"You're not free either," he heard his little sister squeak from his arms. "You're contracted too. I saw her take your key."

He stroked her hair again. "I'm…yeah, I'm contracted," he said. "But she's different."

Aries sniffed again, and he continued. How could he explain Lucy? All the Zodiac Spirits were connected at some level, because they could sense when each other were in extreme pain or terror or bliss. And they always knew, by a magical visual cue, when the others got contracted. (At least they received that cue if they were in the Spirit World. He had some catching up to do, apparently, from his time away. He needed to know who currently owned Aries, and whether the others had changed or acquired owners.) But the sense didn't extend to the less extreme emotions; there was no shared sense of sight or hearing or anything else, so she couldn't know yet about Lucy, or about the details of his…his salvation.

"She's…I trust her."

Aries lifted herself to meet his eyes for the first time. He met her eyes evenly and smiled.

"No, I'm not going crazy. I truly, deeply, completely trust her. She's my friend, and I'm hers. Her friend."

Aries' face clouded. She had to be wondering how it was possible—maybe she'd heard wrong? Or maybe she though Leo really was finally losing it? Three years in the human world…even for an immortal, that kind of physical torment must do really bad things to the mind…

"Aries, she earned my trust. She nearly gave her life for mine." The ram's eyes widened. "Before she had my key."

Her expression changed from profound confusion to disbelief, then to awe as he held her gaze. "I want you to contract with her too," he said gently, when he thought she was close to believing him. "She'll be a good friend to you. I trust her that much."

"I…" Aries shook her head. "My current owner…she's…it's not possible," she said, her voice on the verge of breaking again.

His heart ached for her. How much shock had he put her through in one day already? He hugged her again, finally sitting up.

"If you don't want to, that's okay. I can't blame you. I thought I'd never want to contract again either, consequences or not." He paused to brush a chunk of her bangs away from her eyes, then he traced a finger over one of her horns. "After Karen, I thought I'd never have the chance to contract again. All I'm asking is that you think about it. And if I have even half of a chance to help make it happen, if you'll trust me on this, I'll do everything I possibly can to help her get your key."

After a moment, the little ram nodded hesitantly. "I…I'll think about it," she said at last. Then her eyebrows drew together, worried. "Oh! Leo, but what if…It's been so long since we had different masters!"

He sighed. He'd thought of this already.

"What if we…what if our masters…I don't want to ever have to fight you! I don't think I could."

"And I could never hurt you." He took her chin in his hand and tilted her head so that she had to look at him again. "If it ever comes to that, you have to remember what we are."

She swallowed, but didn't look away, so he continued even more gently. "We are…owned, temporarily. Even with an amazing wizard like Lucy holding my contract, if she gives me an order, I have to follow it because I am hers. Just like if your master gives you an order, you have to follow it because you belong to her for the time being." He felt himself begin to smile. "But we are not tools. We are not objects, or weapons, or keys. We have honor, and as long as we have a contract, our pride is in honoring that contract."

"But Leo, what if I have to fight you? What if both of our masters order it?"

He nodded, acknowledging her fear. "I trust Lucy not to use me harshly," he said slowly. "She would never order me to harm another spirit, especially one who means as much to me as you do, little sister. And if your master orders you to, then you have to try." He didn't add that being a spirit made for battle, whereas she was not, she probably wouldn't be able to injure him anyway unless he let her for some reason.

She swallowed hard and looked away.

He pushed himself shakily to his feet, and she followed his lead and sprang up as well, pulling his arm around her shoulder to help support him. He smiled at the effort. It wasn't entirely necessary, but he definitely didn't mind the steadying. He'd only barely escaped total evaporation, after all.

"Let's go find the others. I need to say hi to everyone." He went to take a step forward, only to discover that her support was more necessary than he'd thought.

"Maybe…maybe you should rest first? The others can come here. You're our leader, and you've been gone so long!"

Leo grit his teeth. Asking everyone to come to him wasn't his style and never had been. He was much more of a seek-them-out and lead-by-example kind of guy. And waiting was out of the question—they were his family.

"No, I want to see them. I'll get stronger just by being in this world. I'm already breathing better." He took another step forward, more cautiously this time. His leg didn't buckle this time, he was thankful to find. "Is there still that sitting area in the common hall?"

She smiled and nodded, then gently nudged him forward.

I'm not completely decided yet about whether to do a follow-up of LokeXLucy moments. I love little vignettes. But not knowing what's already established in canon...I'm not sure. They're adorable, and I'm kind of getting a crush on Loke from these two episodes alone. He's such a womanizer in the human world, and I didn't get to do anything with that in this serious piece! (Or he was, anyway...I wonder how that will change now that he belongs to Lucy? Please DON'T SPOIL IT though!)

(So far, I'm hooked on Gray as my favorite character, cause the Ice Dude is HAWT, but...hm. Yeah. Not sure what the future holds to influence my opinion of Lion Man.)

I'll admit I did a bit of research about the coming fight between Loke and Aries, and I was shocked how brief it was. So if you see some foreshadowing here about that, you can rest assured that I'm not psychic.

So anyway, reviews?