Crystal: Sorry this took so long! I just been so busy getting my life together that I hadn't had time to get chapters done, but without further a due let's get to the chapter.

Teasing

It had been quite a few days of sailing that Levy and Yukino had done, but the ports they had rested upon had no information on Fairy Tail's whereabouts. Levy sighed scratching the back of her head in confusion. "I don't know, Yuki!" she wailed in despair as she paced around the ship's deck. Yukino didn't like seeing Levy so upset and so she took the map from the distressed princess.

"Okay, Lucy was taken from Hargeon. Their captain expected a bribe from the king in exchange for Lucy so if they've already stocked up then they must be headed towards Magnolia!" Yukino said in realization. "So all this time, we could have devised a plan to wait for them to arrive at Magnolia?" Levy face palmed.

Yukino sighed before nodding. "Don't feel stupid. You're actually brilliant for getting us out of Magnolia. After all, your father had no intention of letting you search for Lucy and would probably confine you in your room. But now I'm sure he's busy getting the guard to search the seas for you and the navy so we'll be unnoticed when we get back", the silver head smiled reassuringly.

Levy nodded slowly feeling even a bit better as she smiled at her friend. Yukino reciprocated the smile, but as she looked up, her eyes widened. Her body began to tremble as she saw exactly who was getting near them. "Sabertooth", she muttered as fear invaded her. Sabertooth was the second most feared pirate clan after Fairy Tail, and an encounter with only two people on board was a bad idea. Levy blinked in confusion before looking at the wooden ship heading their way.

"Who's Sabertooth?" the blunette questioned. "Only the second most dangerous pirates after Fairy Tail", she murmured. "We can't show we're scared! We'll fight them", Levy looked at Yukino with a serious expression as she grabbed a sword from a nearby stash, her survival instincts kicking in. She would not be weak in front of them. After all, she had to rescue Lucy and there was no way she was going to die right her and now.

"Levy, there's no way-" Yukino almost be began to argue before six men were surrounding them with smirks. Yukino back away against Levy as she too took her sword ready for battle. The men chuckled before lunging forward at the blue haired mage. Levy managed to do a backflip landing her foot across the pirate's face before twisting her hands on the floor to push another two off board. The men looked utterly shocked at such a small girl being able to overwhelm with such ease. Yukino remained stupefied slightly not use to knowing Levy this way before she shook her head.

She smirked as she too moved forward engaging her sword in battle with two of them. She almost wanted to chuckle at their horrible coordination. It was most likely their nervousness at her skill that had them on edge and led them to make clumsy attacks. One particular attack aimed straight for her head catching her slightly off guard. She squeaked as she ducked her head and slashed at their ankles. She cursed under her breath as more of them jumped onto their ship. She looked over her shoulder as she finally saw what Levy's magic consisted of.

Levy took two of her fingers straight in front of her as she wrote letters in the air. The word water was written and soon took form. "Water!" she yelled as a wave of water launched forward making the upcoming men slip. The white haired mage was in awe seeing the rare magic her friend possessed. Out of nowhere however both were under the blade of a sword. "Fuck", Levy cursed as she felt a slight sting from the sword digging slightly into her neck. "Now lookie what we have here", a voice interrupted them.

The two girls looked at the owner of the voice seeing two people standing before them. She was assuming she was seeing the captain of Sabertooth himself if the tri hat was any indication. He had blonde hair in spikes and blue eyes. "I was concerned to see that none of my men were returning. I almost thought an army had been stopping them, but what a pleasant surprise to find two beautiful ladies giving my men a roughing up. Seems not only will I get to take whatever treasure you have here. I'll have two beauties as a prize", he chuckled as he winked at them. "Shit!" Yukino muttered.

~~xXXx~~

Lucy was cleaning the deck as she was ordered, but she put a hand at her heart as she looked up almost helplessly. "Yuki, Levy", she muttered under her breath as the bad feeling seemed to increase. For some reason, she felt as though they were in some kind of pinch and she felt powerless to do anything. She felt a shiver run down her spine as a finger slid down her back. She jumped forward in shock using the broom to try and hit whoever was trying to get smooth with her.

Natsu of course had gotten use to her measure of self-defense as he grabbed the end of the broom pulled it forward before she fell into him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She had to restrain from hitting him for they had a deal and she had to not oppose him. He smirked seeing how she seemed to be holding back from beating the shit out of him, but he had been caught off guard the other times. He could easily overpower her now had he wanted to, but it was fun to tease her.

He took her lips once more slipping his tongue into her mouth again, but yet again she did nothing to stop him. "Wow, how dull. What a virgin", he whispered teasingly and she seemed to flame up in both rage and embarrassment before she pulled him back into a kiss taking the initiative to place her tongue on his mouth this time so ferociously he almost felt his breath hitch in his throat. She finally separated from him both out of breath. Her face was still flushed as she pushed back away harshly pulling the broom to continue to work.

Gray neared her curiously, mop in hand, after watching Natsu retreat still in a daze. "I was kinda shocked, you know?" the black haired teen commented. The blonde stopped her work to look at Gray curiously. She had gotten on good terms with him despite them being enemies since they sometimes had deck duties together, but he was extremely kind to her. "What is?" She questioned. "Well, that guy. He's never paid attention to a girl before, it's kind of strange", he sighed as he took a seat on the floor Lucy had just swept. The blonde looked at the male incredulously.

"Certainly you must jest, Gray! That pirate is a complete pervert and he's always touching me!" Lucy squeaked uncharacteristically. Gray chuckled as he shook his head. "Well, he's really only like that to you. He's never once touched a girl on our ship or anywhere else and much less ever liked one, but as soon as he saw you, I was surprised when he chose to take you as our 'prisoner'. About the whole ransom money, he had no intention of asking for it. He only lied to get a feel of what kind of person you were", Gray explained as he looked ahead not looking at anything in specific, but only seeming thoughtful.

Lucy seemed to let the words sink in. since the beginning, that boy had no intention of asking for gold in exchange for her? She didn't think Gray was the dishonest type and he seemed clearly perplexed by his captain's behavior. She almost felt special that Natsu was only like that to her. She suddenly blushed furiously realizing what an outrageous, no, blasphemous would be better to describe the thoughts she was having. She refused to like that boy. He was infuriating, stubborn, perverted, good looking, kind, a person who cherishes his crew like family. Stop! She had completely digressed from her intention to hate him.

Despite the constant teasing on his part, she never really actually disliked it. Sure it was uncomfortable when he kissed her suddenly, but it's not like she 'hated' the feeling. She cursed under her breath. Gray had managed to bring her mind into a great chaos and now all she needed was a distraction. The black haired teen chuckled and looked at her knowingly as he stood. "You've really changed him, commander", he muttered before stuffing his hands in his pockets and heading downstairs.

"Why?!" the blonde groaned as she furiously continued to sweep at the wooden floors of the deck.

~~xXXx~~

Night had arrived once more as Lucy sighed as she was to go to sleep by the captain's side. She entered the room feeling the exhaustion from another day of chores get to her. At this point she didn't care about having to wear such embarrassing night gown, but when she opened the drawer she had been assigned to keep her clothes in, she found a very expensive looking gown. She turned to the bed where Natsu was already lying on. "What's this?" she asked.

"What it looks like. A night gown for you to wear. Honestly! I was just teasing you the first few days. From now on, I won't touch you since you seem to hate it so much", Natsu commented. The blonde was confused by his sudden change in attitude. Did Gray possibly have something to do with his change of behavior? She said nothing as she finally changed and went to crawl under the covers. Despite the silence, she pulled up the covers to her nose. "T-Thank you", she mumbled as he smiled at her. "Your welcome", he chuckled as he went to move his hand towards her face,

He was going to kiss her as usual! She thought as she closed her eyes, but only felt his hand brush against the side of her face. She blinked in confusion as she opened her eyes to realize he had only pushed her hair behind her ear. "Sheesh, you do hate me that much. I already said I wasn't going to touch you anymore", he mumbled and for some reason he sounded hurt. He turned away from her as he covered himself not even taking the time to bid her good night.

She felt sort of guilty and embarrassed. Not only had she made him feel bad with the misunderstanding, but she had also realized she had actually anticipated his kiss. After she had gotten use to them, she kind of felt a sense of warmth, but no way in hell would she admit that. She didn't want to trust him as much as she already was. She had to think about Levy and Yuki. Especially, Levy who was stranded somewhere who knows with who and what danger she could be in.

"Natsu, I'm sorry", she murmured softly. He seemed to jump back to face her his eyes alight. "Hey! This is the first time you call me by my name", he seemed to be ecstatic before he remembered he was supposed to be angry as he frowned. "Look, I don't hate you", she said simply and forwardly. He seemed to let a grin pass his lips before he wrapped his arms around her waist. "So you're finally succumbing to my charms, Luce. Wait, so just a few moments ago were you actually wanting me to kiss you?" He muttered huskily as his breath ghosted her lips. She felt as his hand slid under her gown to slide past her thigh teasingly.

Forget manners! Lucy felt her blood boiled as she regretted ever spilling her previous words to him. "You stupid pirate! I knew it was too good to be true! I hate you, pervert!" she screamed angrily as she smacked the pink haired captain across the face as he cackled loudly enjoying her flustered behavior.

"You're seriously the best, Luce", he smiled suddenly catching her off guard. "Huh?" she mumbled as she gave him a quizzical look. "You're something else. You're different from other girls. I like that", he grinned widely at her making her pout and blush immensely before she turned away from him. "Don't say such nonsense, idiot", she mumbled a bit sadly as she heard him sigh and shuffle back into position. He was calling her different than other girls and she was. Because after all, no other girl had taken as many lives as her. No other girl had dirtied their hands as much as her. Of course, she was different.

While other girls her age would be learning to play an instrument, learning to cook and clean, learning to dance or sing, and having fun, she had only known the coldness of a blade at her hand, the feel and pungent smell of rotting corpses, the smell of blood, the pain of wounds, the horrible memory of her parents's assassination. She would never be like other girls.

But at the moment he had said that to her, she felt she wanted to believe that she was a good different. However, it only left her wanting to know what she looked like in his eyes. Was it a good image or did he know just how dirty she was after already knowing she was the Key Master Assassin? But he had said he liked her for her difference. But what could he possibly see in her that he didn't see in others? She shuffled once more to glance at him to find him sound asleep next to her.

She had turned again, however, she felt his arm once more encircle her waist as she was pulled against him. She felt herself growl as she almost went to hit him, but she noticed that he was actually still sound asleep. She calmed down and relaxed in his hold a deep blush on her cheeks. The intent seemed innocent as she didn't retract. It was almost as if he could read what she was thinking. His hold felt almost comforting so much that soon she too had drifted into slumber as well.

Crystal: Sorry for the late and short chapter again! I've gotten sick during the time of finishing this up! I don't even know how it's possible to get sick in summer! Anyways please review on this crappy chapter and I'm hoping the next chapter will be better!