"Natsu, get your ass up. We're going to the guild," Gray demanded, eyeing his partner who was slumped pathetically over the couch.

"I messed everything up…again," the dragon slayer moaned. "Maybe that's all I do – destroy shit."

"Would you get over yourself? You didn't mess anything up. Laxus was the one who didn't tell Lucy about her being his mate – that was his mistake, not yours," Gray reasoned.

"It's not like he was keeping it from her forever, though. He was confused, and then I ruined it."

"They're mates, Natsu, they'll get over it," the ice-make mage said.

"But what if they don't? Then I'll have to carry that around for the rest of my life. I can't stand the thought that I ruined Lucy's happiness. Again," Natsu said dramatically.

Gray just rolled his eyes. "If you don't get off this damn couch, I can promise you your miserable life won't be that long."

"Are you threatening me, snow queen?"

"Maybe I am, ash brain."

Natsu gave a weak laugh and sat up, his tired green eyes meeting those of his mate. Without any words spoken, Natsu felt the comfort his mate lended him. It hurt so much to think that he might have prevented Lucy from feeling that same warmth with her own mate.

Gray just shook his head, bending down to lightly kiss the fiery slayer.

"C'mon. I'm starting to get poor from not working and I don't like it," he grumbled.

"Fine," Natsu relented. "But if Laxus kills me when we walk in the guild, I just want you to know it's all your fault."

"If you'd seen Laxus recently you'd know he's in no mood to kill anyone…"

Gray frowned at the thought of the once proud lightning slayer moping about the guild. The bulky blonde sat at the bar all day, his scarred eye trained on the door hoping a certain celestial mage would walk through. Not even the other members of Raijinshuu could cheer him up. It was rather heartbreaking.

The ice mage, however, was certain it would blow over. He and Natsu had been through hell and back many times in their short relationship, especially at the beginning. If the mating bond could pull them through, then surely his friends would be fine as well.

An hour later, the fire and ice duo walked through the doors of the guild. As expected, the first eyes they met were the stormy grey ones of Laxus looking for Lucy. Natsu physically flinched at the look of disappointment that crossed them when Laxus realized his mate still hadn't come, and Gray had to resist the urge to hold him. They walked over and sat down at a table in the corner with Wendy, Gajeel, and the Exceeds.

"Still nothing?" Gray asked as Natsu laid his head down on the table.

"Nope," Gajeel said brusquely. "Seems sparky over there fucked up real good this time."

"Gajeel!" Wendy whipspered admonishingly. "That's not fair."

"What?" the iron slayer asked defensively. "It's his fault for not telling her, and now every night I have to listen to Levy go on and on about how sad Lucy is or all the weird shit she's doing to distract herself. Y'know bunny girl picked up baking? Massive amounts of cupcakes. If I have to eat one more goddam cupcake—"

"She's just trying to sort everything out. At this point, she doesn't know if her feelings are real or if it's just magic," Gray said. He knew the feeling well as it was something he'd struggled with himself a few months ago. He glanced over at the lightning slayer, self-conscious about the fact Laxus could likely hear every word they said. If he did, though, he didn't show it.

"So stupid," Gajeel grumbled. "What's it matter as long as she's happy? Hell, even you two managed to get past that one."

Gray looked around suddenly, making sure no one heard the careless slayer's words.

"Would you keep it down, metal head?" he hissed.

"What? Too embarrassed to admit you're mated to that flame-brain? I guess I can get that," Gajeel sneered.

"That's not—" Gray begin, but Natsu just placed a weary hand on his arm.

"Gray, it's fine," Natsu said in a very un-Natsu-like way that hinted at maturity.

"No, it's not. I'm not ashamed," Gray said, his voice growing louder and louder, drawing a bit of an audience. "I don't want to hide anymore. They're our nakama, they're family, they deserve to know."

"Know what?" Mira prodded from the bar, her gossip sensor going off.

Gray stood and looked down to meet Natsu's shocked, wide eyes. He knew that the reason they'd been hiding their relationship was mostly for the ice mage's benefit, but he was tired of it. If the time wasn't right now, it never would be. And at the very least, they could help pull all the gossip mongers' attention and let Lucy and Laxus heal without the spotlight.

"Natsu and I are mates," he said, reaching a hand down to rest on Natsu's shoulder.

One could have heard a mouse fart in the stunned silence that followed. Shocked expressions spread like the plague from person to person as they processed what just he'd said. Mira's face suddenly turned upward into a visciously excited and she clapped her hands together, running over to them for a suffocating hug that betrayed the demon inside her.

"I knew it! Gratsu is canon!" she cheered, the guild erupting around her in similar sentiment. Even the dragon slayer at the bar spared a half-hearted grin for the couple. Mostly he just seemed thankful that all the attention was off of him for a moment.

Mira ran back to the bar and pulled out a chalk board.

"That means Cana and I split the winnings," she declared victoriously.

"Everybody pay up!" Cana yelled out from where she was wrapped around her keg.

"What?" Gray asked dumbly, earning a smirk from the demon mage. There was no way anyone had predicted him and Natsu. He hadn't predicted him and Natsu.

"Gray, sniffing out romance in this guild is my job. You didn't honestly think you could hide it from me?" she asked, causing the ice-make mage to blush because – actually – that's exactly what he'd thought.

He glanced down at his pink-haired mate. The sudden excitement in the guild seemed to distract him well enough as he got into a brawl with Gajeel and smashed a table with Elfman soon joining in shouting something about true-love being manly. It seemed everyone was looking for a reason to cheer up after the rift between the blondes. Gray smiled lightly at he watched Natsu jump around in a manner much more Natsu-like than he'd been for quite some time. Suddenly his green eyes caught his own.

"What are you smirking at, frosty?"

"Just how stupid you are, dragon breath," Gray grinned, jumping in to join the fight. Mira watched as the group of brawling mages grew until finally she yelled at them to take it outside before they destroyed her guild. They tumbled out the doors in a whirlwind of flying fists and pained groans that were signature Fairy Tail.

Shaking her head, she walked back to her post at the bar, glad that the atmosphere had picked up a bit. Everyone had been so happy about Lucy and Laxus, and so destroyed when they fell apart. They'd needed a little pick-me-up.

"Well, Mira," Wakaba slurred over his beer as she started wiping down the counter. "I was sure you were wrong this time. That'll teach me to bet against you again."

"Yes, I do have a knack for these things, don't I?" she said vaingloriously, batting her eyelashes. Her blue eyes moved across the now-rowdy guild to the sulking dragon slayer who stood roughly from his chair and headed out of the guild. "Let's just hope my other prediction comes true as well."

"There! Don't they look perfect?" Lucy asked, an unnaturally large grin plastered on her face as she pulled her millionth batch of cupcakes out of the oven.

"Yes, Lucy, they do. Just like the batch before them and the batch before that and the batch before that…" Levy groaned. She never thought she could abhore the scent of freshly baked pastries as much as she did then.

Lucy frowned slightly. She knew she was being stupid, but after telling Laxus that she needed some time to figure everything out she realized that she had no idea how she was supposed to do that. He was all she could think about, and surely in order to think logically about their relationship she had to stop pining over him like a puppy?

Once the initial shock of being his mate had worn off, she realized that she had kind of known all along, even if not in those words. In their one-week relationship, he had become a source of comfort to her, of love and warmth and – in a way - stability. And while her mind told her it didn't make any sense, her heart raged in protest.

She furrowed her brown, glancing at the keyring on her hip with Libra's new key gleaming brightly. The day after they – she – decided to take a break, she'd found the key on her doorstep in a pretty little box. Despite her initial excitement at the prospect of getting the key, she hadn't yet brought herself to use it, as if she were waiting for something.

"Lucy?" Levy's voice asked, cutting through her thoughts.

"Mmhmm?" Lucy asked, her head snapping up to meet the bluenette's gaze.

"I'm going to head to the guild for a bit. Are you okay by yourself?"

Lucy laughed a little too forcedly. "Of course I'll be fine, Levy. I'm a Fairy Tail mage, I can handle myself."

Levy frowned. "You know that's not what I mean."

Lucy's fake smile fell a bit as she nodded and looked away. "I'll be fine. Go say hi to Gajeel for me."

She heard her door shut as she began cleaning her kitchen and stuffing her face with cupcakes. Her little apartment seemed so quiet and lonely now in a way it hadn't just a few weeks ago.

Lucy cleared her throat and looked around, determined to find something to do to distract herself – that's about all she did these days. Suddenly, a knock at the door caught her attention.

"Levy, you know you don't have to kno…ck…" she trailed off as she opened the door, her eyes meeting the blue-grey ones she'd been dreaming of all day.

"Laxus…" she breathed.

She knew he was going to come eventually, but even her wildest imagination couldn't have prepared her for the sight that waited for her.

The lightning slayer stood on her doorstep surrounded by a sea of colorful pink and red boxes and bags, vases of various flowers, balloons, and stuffed bears. Frankly it looked like he'd cleaned out a gift shop on Valentine's.

"What is…" she tried again, but she couldn't find the words. However, what she was lacking in speech, the dragon slayer quickly made up with a babble even she couldn't fully follow.

"I wasn't sure what to get you since I guess I don't really know you all that well but I just had to come see you and you're all I think about and I know I messed up but I really want to make it up to you since I've never cared about anyone like this and sure it's kind of scary but when I'm with you I can't be scared about anything and do you like chocolate? I think you do but if you don't you don't have to eat it and I got you this dress because it looked like something you would wear not that I'm trying to tell you what to wear and you can throw it all away if you want to but please just give me another chance I don't think I can be without you much longer—"

"LAXUS!" Lucy shouted, interrupting his bumbling soliloquy. "What is all this?"

Laxus took a deep breath, his eyes betraying his nervousness. "I know I fucked up, and I don't want to try and rush you into anything you're not certain about, but I love you. You're the only person I've ever felt this way about, the only person I can feel this way about. Just please, please give me another chance."

"Laxus," Lucy sighed. "I didn't break up with you. I just…need some time to figure this all out."

"And how much time will that be? I feel like I'm dying, Lucy. Without your smile, your laugh, life's not worth anything anymore without you."

Lucy's heart stuttered at his words. "I feel the same way…" she whispered.

"Then what's the problem?" he asked desperately.

Lucy frowned and glanced to the side. "There isn't one. That's the problem. I keep expecting the clock to stoke midnight and for everything to turn back the way it was, for it to all be too good to be true. It's just all so fast, like a fairy tale, I'm afraid that one day we'll wake up and wonder what we were thinking."

Laxus understood her feelings logically, even if his heart kept calling bullshit. This was one dream he would never wake up from.

"Then let's start over," he said, causing Lucy's eyes to widen.

Before she could ask what he meant, he slammed the door shut. Lucy stood in shock as she stared at the inside of her door, wondering just what was going through that idiot slayer's head. For a few minutes she just stood in befuddled silence, confused as to what exactly she was supposed to do. Finally she was about to walk outside when she heard a knock.

"Laxus, what are you—" she began, opening the door again.

"Lucy Heartfilia," he said, standing there with now only a single boquet of daisies in his arms, the rest of the boxes and bags mysteriously gone. "You are my mate, the one person that I am destined to love and cherish for my entire life. I know that sounds like a lot to handle, but all I ask is that you join me for dinner and see where this thing goes."

He held the flowers out to her. For a moment, all Lucy could do was stare in shock. Then her eyes watered as she realized that that was exactly what she needed to hear. Suddenly being a dragon slayer's life mate – anybody's life mate – was a big responsibility, but just seeing where their journey would take them was something she could handle.

Finally she smiled and took the flowers.

"I'd love to," she said, standing up on her tiptoes and pressing her lips against his.

Laxus smiled stupidly as he held his mate in his arms again, something his hyperdramatic imagination had been convincing him would never happen. Trying to fit into the roles that fate had scripted for them was an intimidating job, but just being Laxus and Lucy together was the easiest thing in the world.

"But, for the record, I want all that shit you bought me," Lucy said with a smirk.

"Whatever you want, my mate," Laxus replied, and they stood there kissing in the doorway.

All at once Lucy's lonely apartment felt like a home, and she knew, deep inside of her, that she was making the right decision. Maybe their relationship was rooted in magic, but weren't their entire lives as mages? And after all, if she had to describe how she felt when she was in Laxus' arms with his lips pressed gently against hers, that would be it – magical. It was magical and warm and beautiful and true, and it all started with a key.

~ THE END ~

I actually finished a story! I know, I can't believe it either.

Don't worry, I will be writing a sexy epilogue to wrap everything up, but this is the end of the main story. I can't believe it took me so damn long to write - a true testament to my procrastination abilities. It was supposed to be just a really short pointless series of lemons. So much for planning.

I also have a confession: I don't actually ship Lucy and Laxus. Like at all. Tbh, I don't actually remember why I picked Laxus for this story in the first place, but I did and I think it worked out okay. XD

Anyway, I hope that you all liked it. Thanks for reading this far, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the reviews! If you want more of my mediocre writing, check out my other stories which I also update with unpredictable frequency.

xoxo xache