AN: Just another short story with Loke and Lucy. ^_^

Lucy hummed as she walked along the edge of the stone path outside of her apartment. Plue skipped alongside her with a smile on his face. Lucy's eyes were closed and a grin spread across her cheeks, her hands behind her back.

"Hey Lucy! Lookin' good over there! Heading out to a date?" Said a man who Lucy regularly saw running a boat down the river daily.

Lucy's eyes opened as she waved to the two men on the small boat. "Yes, I am actually."

"Be careful you don't fall in now! Don't want to mess up that pretty hair of yours!" Called the other man.

Lucy giggled and waved goodbye to the two as they floated further down the river. The celestial wizard looked down at her little spirit and smiled. "Don't worry Plue… I'm not going to fall in." She leaned down and scooped up the tiny spirit. "Now let's hurry and get to my date. I'm sure Natsu is already there and getting impatient!"

"Pu pu." Responded the small dog.

The festivities in Magnolia were always colorful and bright, no matter what the towns' people were celebrating. Lucy looked around as she smiled to herself. People were laughing, running around, not worrying about a part of the town being destroyed by the Fairy Tail guild. No, they were carefree and enjoying every minute of this day.

Lucy inhaled a deep breath through her nose. She could smell all of the delicious delicacies from all of the different towns, and she wanted to try them all. Lucky for her, Natsu alone could probably eat everything in sight; he always seems to have the biggest appetite. A blush came over Lucy's cheeks as she thought about the dragon slayer.

Natsu and Happy were waiting patiently next to the big tree in the open park. Natsu had his hands casually behind his head as he talked to Happy.

"Man… Lucy is so late…" The dragon slayer moaned.

"I think you're just early Natsu. Lucy said to meet up at noon and it's only eleven!" Happy said as he floated next to Natsu's head with a paw lifted up.

Natsu rolled his eyes and looked on to the many vendors surrounding the park. "But everything smells sooo good! I'm starving and I couldn't wait any longer. It's boring waiting at home."

Happy sniffed the air and smiled. "Yeah everything smells really good, but there aren't any fish vendors around here!"

Natsu looked back at the blue cat. "Honestly I'd take whatever I can get my hands on little buddy!" Natsu brought his hands in front of his body and punched a fist into his palm. "Why don't we just grab a quick bite before Lucy gets here?!"

"Aye Sir!" Chimed Happy as he high-five Natsu's hand. The two made their way excitedly over to the many vendors, drooling over the delicious food presented to them.

As Lucy walked down through the many vendors set up, her thoughts stayed on the dragon slayer she was to meet with. Little did she notice the two men behind her who had been following her ever since she made it into the heart of the town square. One man came up quickly from behind her, wrapping an arm around her neck.

"Hey beautiful, what are you doing out here? Enjoying the festival?" The man said with a grin across his cheeks.

Lucy looked at him as she removed his arm away from her shoulders. "Excuse me, I'm not entirely sure that I know you so you can just buzz off. I'm meeting someone here."

The man was relentless and took hold of Lucy's wrist. "Now, now, don't be like that missy. My friend and I just want to have a bit of fun is all."

Lucy looked at him nervously. "Y-your friend?"

Another man came up from behind her again and grabbed her shoulders lightly, leaning in close to her ear.

"Yeah we just want a bit of fun."

Lucy struggled in their grasps. "Look, I don't know who you guys think you are, but you better let go!" Lucy looked around to the towns' people and wondered why they were not doing anything to help her. Or why these thugs had chosen to do this in the middle of the day in public.

The man behind her snickered as he noticed her looking around. "I see you noticed. We have concealing magic… no one can see or hear you right now, deary… you're all ours…"

Lucy's eyes widened as her attempts to get away failed. She closed her eyes tightly and threw her head back, calling out for the dragon slayer. "NATSU!"

"NO one can hear you! Didn't you just hear us?" Said the man in front of her. He had taken hold of both of Lucy's wrists and was now pulling her away from the crowd.

Lucy pulled back with all of her might but the man behind her made it harder to get away.

She suddenly heard the man in front of her grunting and his grip loosened from around her wrists. The hands on her shoulders suddenly disappeared as well. Lucy opened her eyes and saw who had saved her, hoping it was the fire dragon slayer she had called out for.

Loke, her celestial spirit, had shown up and knocked the two men out. Lucy's brown eyes were wide as she stared at the tall man beside her. His olive-green eyes were piercing the men through his blue tinted glasses. His golden glow was surrounding his body from his Regulus magic he had just used on the men.

"Loke…"

The lion spirit's arm went around Lucy's shoulder, pulling her in close to his body. He pointed at the men below him. "If you ever, try to pull this stunt again with Lucy… you will have to answer to me."

Loke held up a fist and made it glow once more. The men were shaking in their shoes as they scrambled to get up, fleeing the scene as quickly as they could, terrified by the stare Loke was giving them. As soon as they disappeared, Loke pushed Lucy away gently and spoke.

"You ok gorgeous?" He said with a seductive smile.

Lucy moved away from him and brushed off her outfit. "I could have handled them myself."

Loke smiled as he adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Is that why you called out for Natsu?"

Lucy stuck out her bottom lip and turned her head away from her spirit. She put her hands on her hips and held up his key. "You can go back through your gate anytime now, pal."

Loke walked behind Lucy and wrapped his arms around her. "Aww, come on beautiful, can't I at least make sure you get to your date safely?"

Lucy held up a threatening fist as she glared at Loke over her shoulder. "You can take your arms off of me."

Loke laughed and let her go, holding his arms up as he watched her get flustered. He brought his hands down into his pockets as Lucy eyed him out of the corner of her brown eyes.

"What are you still doing here? I said you can go back to the celestial world now."

Loke bowed his head and smirked. "And I made a promise to protect you. So I'm going to make sure you meet up with Natsu safely."

Lucy sighed at her stubborn spirit before turning on her heels and walking away. "Ok… fine. You can walk me to my date."

Loke smiled and followed a few steps behind Lucy, loving every moment as he watched her walk in front of him.

Natsu and Happy were stuffing their faces at one of the food vendors in the park. The man running the small tent watched the two nervously as their mouths seemed to become unhinged as they opened their mouths wide. Natsu was gnawing on meat and anything else he could get his hands on. Happy was beside him munching away on a fish body happily.

The old man was holding out a hand as he shook in disbelief at the dragon slayer stuffing his face in front of him when a woman came up from behind him.

"Hey did you hear? Someone saw a dragon pass over the other town just a few days ago."

The old man's eyes widened as he turned to the woman. Natsu immediately stopped eating and listened intently.

"A dragon you say?"

"Yes! A dragon! I was told he just flew right over. It didn't destroy the town or try to eat the livestock. But that's just what I heard."

Natsu dropped his meal and ran over to the woman and man. His fists came up excitedly as he spoke. "Where was this dragon heading?!"

The woman stared at him confusingly. "Why would you want to know something like that?"

"It could be Igneel! I've gotta go check it out! Come on Happy!"

Happy looked up with his fish still in his mouth. "But I'm eatin'…. Can't we look for Igneel later?"

Natsu's body began to burst into flames as he held his fists out at his sides. As he opened his mouth to talk, fire shot out into the air. "Come on little buddy! We've gotta go look now!" Natsu started running past the old man and woman, leaving a dust trail behind him. Happy flew up quickly and flew after Natsu.

"Hey wait for me!" Called the blue cat.

Natsu had fire in his eyes as he called back. "There's no time to wait little buddy! Try to keep up!"

The old man watched Natsu and his cat run away rapidly. He turned to the woman.

"I don't think you told him which way to go…."

The woman shrugged her shoulders and went back to her tent.

Lucy and Loke finally made it to the tree she was to meet Natsu under. She looked at the clock in the distance and saw that she was a few minutes early. She smiled and turned around to Loke.

"Well I made it here, you helped me, and now you can go."

Loke smiled and put his hand over his chest as he bowed to Lucy. "If you need me to walk you home, all you need to do is call upon me."

Lucy waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, just get out of here."

Loke grabbed her hand lightly and kissed it sweetly, his olive-green eyes staring up at her. "I mean it Lucy. If you need me, I'm just a call away."

Lucy looked down at him and blushed bright red. As Loke watched her, he smiled and slowly began to disappear back to the celestial world. Lucy stepped forward slightly as his body left her world. Her heart was beating in her chest, her thoughts lingered on him. Her lips curled into a smile as she looked down at her keys, his golden key shining still.

"Thank you Loke."

The blonde girl looked up and put her arms behind her back. She smiled brightly as she waited for the dragon slayer to show up for their date she had planned for the two of them.