And I'm BACK with another chapter! Apologies for the wait but I think some of you will appreciate my efforts very much. And please don't forget - keep those reviews rolling in! I find myself spurred on each time my email says I have a new review! Enjoy!

"This is so awkward," I complained, leaning to the side as I walked down the oddly shaped tunnel. I had to keep my hands on either wall to steady myself. "I'm gonna have back problems after this."

"Don't worry, Princess. I'll give you a nice back massage after we get out of here," I heard Loke say behind me in his usual sleazy tone. I didn't react, keeping my eyes ahead.

We walked down the crooked tunnel for almost a half hour, with me complaining the entire time. Being top heavy as I was, it did not feel great leaning like that for such a long time. When I finally saw the opening, I cried out in happiness and hurried forward, desperate for relief.

I basically toppled out of the tunnel, hunched over as I attempted to pull and stretch my spine back into place. Loke wasn't far behind, chuckling as he glimpsed my position. I shot him a glare as I placed my hands on my back and straightened before stretching backwards. A very unladylike sound escaped my throat at the painful sensation.

Loke wisely kept quiet as I finished my stretching. Once I was satisfied that I'd done all I could, I straightened up and finally took a look around. We were in another large dome of the glowing blue ice, though in front of us, the ground was almost completely missing. There were twelve platforms of stone in rows of three raised above the seemingly bottomless pit, creating a path I could jump across to the other side where there was solid ground once more. The individual stones were covered in the green moss, but it didn't seem to glow like the rest I'd seen. On the other side was a blank wall, but there were several narrow columns of ice running from floor to ceiling that glowed that serene blue color on about twenty square feet of solid ground.

"Well, I don't see Natsu," Loke said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And this place gives me a real uneasy feeling."

"Me too," I said, thinking hard. "I know we're looking for Natsu, but we're also still on a mission. If I can find the next clue, too, then that's what I need to do. So, regardless if it seems pointless, I still need to check it out over there."

"Fair enough," Loke said simply, eyeing the platforms.

"Okay, I got this," I said, mostly to myself as I neared the edge of the pit with the closest platform on the left side. Taking a deep breath, I jumped, clearing the three foot gap easily. As soon as my feet touched the moss, it glowed an unusual orange color before several magic circles appeared down the left side row of platforms I was facing.

"Oh shit -"

"Lucy, move!"

I didn't need Loke's frantic warning, as I was already diving back across the gap, landing next to him. Mouth hanging open, I watched as each magic circle down the first row of platforms exploded one after another, until they reached a couple of those ice pillars and shattered them.

"Are you okay, Princess?" Loke asked, extending a hand to help me up.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I replied shakily, accepting his hand and getting to my feet. I stared hard at the shattered pillars and blackened platforms, biting my lower lip. Clearly this wasn't meant to be an easy task. I supposed I was going to have to risk a trial-and-error approach. "I think… I think I'm supposed to get across in a certain way."

"What? You mean like a puzzle?" Loke tilted his head slightly in question.

"Exactly," I said. "There's probably a pattern I have to follow."

"There's gotta be a different way," Loke argued, furrowing his brow. "If you do it wrong, then you'll be blown up. Just call Gemini back and have them freeze over the pit like they did in the maze."

I smiled sheepishly as I twirled a tendril of hair around my finger. "Um, about that. It's a Tuesday, and I can only summon them once on Tuesdays." My cheeks burned a little in embarrassment.

Loke sighed. "That's unfortunate."

"It'll be okay," I reassured him, approaching the edge of the pit closest to the middle platform. "I can do this. Wait here." Steeling myself, I leapt.

Once I landed on the soft moss covering the platform, the moss lit up, emitting its usual dull green glow. I waited for several moments, tensed and waiting to see what would happen next. When nothing did, I let go of the breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Well, I think the green glow means I'm doing it right," I speculated, touching the softness of the plant life. "At least that'll give me some more warning." Standing up straight and looking back at Loke, I asked, "Should I hop forward straight or move diagonally?"

"Hmm…" Loke pondered, eyeing the platforms carefully. "I'd say diagonally. So if you have to jump out of the way of the row, you know that the platform you're on now is safe."

I nodded in agreement, tensing once more before leaping diagonally to the platform ahead on the right. The moss covering the platform glowed that sinister orange color, and I knew I had messed up. I heard Loke call out in warning, but it wasn't needed since I was already diving back across to the previous platform. After clearing the right side row, innumerable magic circles appeared before they all exploded one after another, all the way to the far wall where more of the ice pillars shattered.

"Who the hell set all these traps and enchantments?!" I screeched angrily at no one in particular, holding the throbbing knee I had landed on as I looked at the destruction.

"Must be some incredible treasure," I heard Loke say, but just barely since my ears were still ringing from the blasts. I had to agree with him. Our mission had nothing to do with treasure hunting, but I was definitely becoming curious as to what was so special to need so many enchantments protecting it.

Gritting my teeth, I stood again, glaring at the platform ahead to the left. I didn't waste any time, bending my knees and leaping towards it. I landed on my feet thankfully, but the moss beneath me glowed orange again.

"Dammit!" I was already turning around and jumping back again, clearing the row before the magic circles set off another round of explosions down the left side. The pillars on that side had already been shattered, so what remained was just destroyed more. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I eyed the platform straight ahead.

'This has to be it.'

I jumped forward with no fanfare, landing easily on the fuzzy moss. Relief flooded my senses as the moss glowed green at my landing. "Whew! Okay, I'm making progress!" I heard Loke tell me to be careful from behind me, but my ears were still kind of buzzing so I didn't respond.

I looked at each of the next three platforms, trying to determine which one I should try next. 'There's no way they'd all be the center row, right? No. There's no way it'd be that easy."

I decided to try the right side first, hopping over to it and landing neatly. The moss glowed orange, and I audibly growled aloud at having to backtrack immediately to avoid the line of explosions. What I hadn't been expecting was that it had come really really close to getting me that time. The blast almost knocked me off balance and flung me over the edge, causing me to claw at the stone platform to keep from falling.

"They're speeding up!" I called back to Loke, the tremor in my voice indicating my distress.

"Just come back, Lucy," I heard Loke yell through the ringing in my ears. "We'll find another way!"

"No!" I ground out, crawling back to my feet and facing the left side platform. "I can do this." Clenching my jaw, I leapt over the gap, landing gracefully in the moss. When it instantly glowed green, I let out a sigh of relief as I wiped the sweat from my brow. Even as frigid as it was down there, I was starting to feel a little warm after so much physical exertion.

"Only one more to go!" I stared ahead and realized something dire.

Loke must have realized it too, because I heard him ask from behind, "Uh, Princess? What if the safe platform is the one on the far right?"

Dammit. Dammit dammit dammit.

"Uhm… Well…" I looked around the area, checking for any signs on how I could go about this. It would be impossible for me to clear the center row in one jump and hop right onto the right side platform. I shrugged to myself, knowing I had no other choice. "I guess I'll just keep moving. Gonna go center this time."

At that, I jumped diagonally to the center row's last platform. My feet barely grazed the mossy surface before it glowed orange and the magic circles appeared. I didn't slow my momentum, taking another huge leap across to the solid ground I had been aiming for, but I was only barely fast enough. The chain reaction of explosions had already started, and one of them caught my heel, blasting me with a massive force forward. I tumbled head over heels a couple of times before landing in the rubble of pillars on the right side. The explosions tore down the center row, smashing the last of the icy pillars in a cloud of ice.

And then I heard a yell.

Natsu's yell.

The fog of ice dissipated, and unbelievably, I saw Natsu lying among the pillar ruins, looking unhurt but very much alarmed.

"Natsu?" I said disbelieving, shoving myself to my feet.

"Natsu?!" I heard Loke call simultaneously from across the room in an even more incredulous tone.

"L… Lucy?" Natsu was propped on the pile of shattered blue ice, looking around wildly before his gaze landed on me, confusion apparent on his face.

I made it to Natsu's side as fast as I could (with a pronounced limp from my burnt heel), kneeling harshly in the rubble and doing my best to ignore my injured knee screaming in pain. I wasted no time in wrapping my arms around the dragon slayer, pulling him close to me letting out a sigh of relief. I only held on to him for a moment before pulling back to look at him. He looked completely fine, other than confused and possibly exhausted.

"Lu-"

"Natsu, where have you been?!" I blurted out fiercely, smacking his chest. "I have been so worried! I thought… I thought…" Tears sprang to my eyes and I had to choke back a sob. Gritting my teeth to hold it together, I smacked him on the chest again, angrily asking, "Where the hell did you go, you jerk?!"

Natsu's expression softened, his brow drawing together in concern. "I'm sorry, Luce," he said gently, bringing a hand up to brush my cheek. "I found where the Sleipnir were going. I tried to get back to you, but I fell into some kind of pit. I think it was one of the traps the riddle said something about."

"Wait," I said, eyes widening. "You've been trapped this whole time? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, clutching a hand to his stomach. "But man I'm starv-"

Natsu stopped talking abruptly as his eyes widened, sitting up and grasping my forearm, pulling me closer to him. His eyes swept the length of my body as his brow furrowed. "You're hurt. What happened?"

"I think," came Loke's voice as he appeared beside me in a swirl of golden mist, holding Natsu's pack as well as the first aid kit, "we all have to do some explaining. It's very late, Princess. It's probably best we stop for the day anyways."

"Loke, why is she all beat up?" Natsu growled at Loke suddenly.

"Ask her," Loke replied smoothly, narrowing his eyes slightly at the Slayer. "She's the one that kept insisting we look for you, even though this place has been trying to kill her every step of the way."

"C'mon guys, chill out," I said with a hint of exasperation. "I'll be fine. We all just need some rest."

"And food?" Natsu tacked on in a hopeful lilt.

I smiled at him, restraining a cringe at the throbbing injuries running the length of my body. "Yes, Natsu, and food."

I released Natsu and got to my feet, suppressing a groan at the ache I felt. The adrenaline of looking for Natsu and searching the cave had finally worn off, so I was even more aware of how much pain I was in. My head throbbed beneath the bandages wrapping it, my ribs strained with each breath I took, my knee ached, and now my heel was burned and raw. The soreness would probably be worse the next day, too.

I took the bag from Loke and started unpacking it, but right as I pulled out the first pole, a wave of dizziness flowed through me. I managed to stay upright without swaying, but my vision swam and I could feel my hands shake. I closed my eyes and gently shook my head, trying to stave off the sensation. Reopening them, I could see Natsu was staring at me, eyes narrowed. To my left, I could see Loke giving me a similar look.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. The look made me a little nervous. "Wh-what is it?"

"Maybe you should call Virgo to help set up so you and Natsu can rest a bit," Loke finally said, reaching out and taking the pole from me. "You're looking a little…"

"You look like you're gonna pass out any minute," Natsu said as he got to his feet, uncharacteristically aggressive with his tone. He reached out and took the bag from my other hand. He continued, "You need to rest, Luce. And I need to check out your injuries."

I opened my mouth to argue, determined to not let either of the guys see me show any weakness. However, after the day I'd had…

I knew I was anything but weak.

But I really did feel like I would pass out if I didn't stop soon.

Instead of responding, I pulled Virgo's key from my holster and summoned her. She wasted no time heeding my request, but not before she unrolled my sleeping bag and promptly picked me up bridal style and placed me on it. I barely even had time to splutter at the masochistic spirit man-handling me before she turned to face Natsu. Natsu blinked at her.

Suddenly, Virgo took the bag from Natsu's hands, setting it aside before picking him up in the same fashion and courteously placing him next to me. Natsu yelped at the action before snapping, "What the hell?"

Virgo ignored him as she started the rest of the set up, but I could guess what she was getting at. "Natsu, you're not looking so hot yourself," I said, my gaze lingering on Virgo's busy form before looking back at him. He had pronounced bags beneath his eyes, and his shoulders drooped uncharacteristically. "How much sleep have you gotten?"

At that, Natsu lowered his head a bit and averted his eyes. "Enough," he replied shortly. If I looked hard enough, I could see a slight flush to his cheeks.

"Natsu…"

He kept his head turned, avoiding my gaze. Biting my lower lip in concern, I glanced around to Loke and Virgo, who were finishing the set up. "Hey, guys. I think we got it from here. You can go back now."

"Of course, Princess," Virgo said, dropping the blanket in her hand and bowing. She had already gotten the tent ready, in her typical eager-to-please fashion. Giving me her obedient stare, she dissipated into golden fog.

Loke, however, gave me a pointed look. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I said, giving a quick sideways look at Natsu. "We found Natsu. We'll be okay now."

"As you wish," Loke said a bit grudgingly, shoving his hands in his pockets as he fizzled out.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, I turned to face Natsu again, who was still avoiding looking at me. Frowning, I asked, "Natsu, are you sure you're okay?"

Natsu hesitated a moment, his body tense. "I… I'm fine. It's just…" Turning his head to look at me, I could see the worry etched in his features. "I left you alone. I ran off and left you and… and you got hurt. If I had been more careful, you wouldn't -"

"I'm fine," I said, cutting him off. Maybe "fine" wasn't the right word, because I was fighting against a lot of pain at the moment. But Natsu didn't need to beat himself up for it. Turning around and grabbing the bag, I continued, "I just need some rest. And you probably do too. But first let's get you some food. I can't believe you've gone three days without eating."

"Luce…"

Natsu's tone stopped me in my tracks. I craned my head back to look at him, and felt my heart catch in my throat. His eyes were dark, shadowed by his pink locks, and his teeth were clenched and bared. Tilting his head a fraction, I could see one eye staring at me, narrow and pained. I parted my mouth as I held back a small gasp. Suddenly, Natsu reached out and grabbed me by the arms, crushing me to him in a fierce hug.

"I'm so sorry," he growled in my ear. The warmth and safety I felt in his embrace made me feel weakened. I had no problem taking charge and being strong when Natsu had gone missing, but there had always been that panic in the back of my mind, repressed by my determination to be brave and find him. The feeling of relief as he held me was almost enough to make me cry, but I couldn't. Natsu was already in rough enough shape, he didn't need to worry about me any more than he already had.

I returned the embrace, resting myself against him for a long moment. Neither of us said anything for a while, until my screaming injuries he was crushing finally caused me to cave.

"Natsu," I said with a strained voice. "I'm… Still hurting a good bit -"

That was all it took for Natsu to release me quickly. "Sorry! I just… I'm really glad you're okay. I mean, not okay, but you're alive."

"You're not exactly in top shape either," I said, glancing over Natsu's fatigued form again. Pulling the bag to me once more, I pulled out a loaf of bread and a slab of cheese. Offering it to him, I said, "You need to eat. Did you get any sleep at all?"

"Not really," he admitted, taking the food from my hands and stuffing it in his face. Through chewing his food, he explained, "Wush choo busy tryin' choo eshcape." When I gave him an unamused look, he grinned sheepishly at me and swallowed, then tried again. "I was too busy trying to escape. I fell down this looooong ice tube, and I got stuck at the bottom. It was so tight that I couldn't move my arms or legs. And no matter how much fire magic I used, the ice wouldn't melt! It kinda freaked me out, so I never really stopped trying to escape."

"I'm glad you're okay," I said in relief, giving him a small smile. Handing him the waterskin also, I continued, "I'll finish setting up the tent then so you can get some rest."

Draining the waterskin in one go and shoving the last of the bread into his mouth, Natsu reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me from getting up. "No. You shouldn't be moving at all. We need to check out your injuries first anyway."

Still hanging on to one arm, Natsu leaned forward, brushing close as he snagged up the first aid kit from behind me. His proximity made me feel a twinge of longing. Hugging him had been sweet relief, as our physical contact had been very limited over the previous few weeks. My blood smouldered lightly in my veins, remembering the tingle and warmth I felt with the dragon slayer. I couldn't describe how it felt to be near him after the panic I'd been experiencing for three days. When he released his grip and leaned back once more, I felt a pang of sadness.

"Okay, I wanna look at your head first." Reaching out, he started undoing the wrap around my head. "How did this happen?"

While I recounted everything that had happened since the moment he disappeared, Natsu did his best to delicately rebandage my head. From there, he cleaned and wrapped my knee, which turned out to be bleeding pretty bad. When we got to my heel, we both saw with a cringe that the blast had completely seared through the leather boot and left some nasty looking burns on my skin. We managed to carefully remove the boot and slather some of the burn salve over it. It seemed like it had been ages ago that Natsu had first bought it for me, after he accidentally burned me during his distress. It was hard to believe it was because Lisanna had cheated on him…

Once my foot was good to go, Natsu asked, "Anything else? I kinda can't see past the cloak."

"My ribs," I said, the pain from them intensifying the moment I thought about them. What a pain. "But they're as good as they're gonna get, I think."

"Let me look anyway," Natsu said, making a grab for my cloak.

"No!" I argued, snatching the cloak back. In hindsight, it was a bad idea because it hurt a good bit to move so quickly. "Are you crazy? It's like, negative 50 billion degrees in here!"

"Then let's get you into the tent," he said without hesitation. "You need to be laid up and resting, anyway. Have you eaten?"

"We both need to be resting," I argued, "but we need to at least finish setting up…"

"It's pretty much done," he argued back, a frown gracing his features. "C'mon. I'm sure you need to eat, and we both need rest."

Giving in, I nodded before standing. I did my best to avoid using my injured foot, and that together with the rest of my injuries made the experience very unpleasant. Natsu noticed me struggling, but as he edged towards me to help, I shot him a look that said, 'You better not.'

I did my best to repress the pain as I crawled through the flap of the tent, landing very ungracefully atop my bedroll already inside. Natsu was close behind, tossing his bedroll beside mine before hauling in the bag and first aid kit.

After having me eat, Natsu started up his pestering once more. "Just let me take a look. You might have broken something -"

"Well even if I have, it's not like we can do much to fix it right now," I huffed. Pulling my cloak more tightly around me, I added pitifully, "It's really cold in here, ya know."

"We can at least wrap them," he said simply, lighting his palm on fire and rapidly heating the inside of the tent. Once the temperature was nice and toasty, he put it out and tilted his head with a lopsided grin. "Feel better?"

I gave Natsu a look but didn't say anything as I sat up, opening my cloak and slowly lifting my shirt. Beneath my breasts, in an area that was more than difficult to see for me due to visual obstruction, a large and fiercely ugly bruise was taking up a large portion of my skin. The bandage I had placed over the scrape earlier was now dwarfed by the size of the bruise that had been produced. I winced at the sight.

"You've definitely broken some ribs," Natsu said in concern, reaching out to brush his warm fingertips across the abused flesh. I inhaled sharply, but more from the sensation of his touch than pain. He explored the area gently, poking and prodding as I bit my lip, trying my best to not make a sound at the tenderness I felt in my ribs. As he trailed his hands up higher, closer to my chest, I could feel heat rushing to my face.

'Now is not the time to be getting turned on, Lucy! Put it back in your pants!'

I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to think of literally anything else. I was beyond elated that I had finally managed to find the pink-haired wizard, but I was also forced to remember our distancing. It was a mood killer in itself.

After his observations, Natsu wrapped my ribs quickly, his body seemingly tense as well. He didn't really say much, though his stiff movements indicated something was up. Once he was finished, he began packing away the first aid kit as I finally laid back to rest. I had had a long day and was thoroughly exhausted. Only a moment later, Natsu laid down next to me on his own bedroll with a sigh. My ribs hurt too much to roll onto my side to face him, so I turned my head to look at him instead. The light in the tent was dim, but I could tell he was looking at me, too.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked nervously. The silence had been almost deafening. I felt like I needed to say something.

"I…" he started, but the silence returned as he held back.

"Natsu, it's okay. It's just me," I encouraged. I watched him shift around for a moment, clearly uncomfortable.

"It's just…" he tried again, reaching a hand out to me. His thumb brushed that certain spot on my neck, the place where he left his mark. "It's been a few weeks, and your mark is gone now. I… I don't want to pressure you into anything but since we're currently not… I mean, I'd feel better if…"

"Oh," I said, my eyes widening in realization. "You want to mark me again?"

He hesitated for a moment, but in the darkness I saw him slowly nod his head after quiet deliberation. "I… I understand if you don't want to. You're already hurt, and it's already really hard to control myself as it is, I just… just want some peace of mind, I guess. That all of this isn't for nothing. It sounds like you went through a lot looking for me, and..."

I could feel myself melt on the inside just a bit as he trailed off, and my improper feelings from earlier surged back to the surface. Though I was nice and warm under my cloak as always, I could still feel the heat that radiated from Natsu. I had the same control problems, and I had to remind myself over and over that it was for the best that we stay distant. But, it was a mark. His mate mark. I had no intentions of going anywhere, so there was no harm in allowing it so we could both have that reassurance.

"Of course."

I watched Natsu swallow thickly at my words before shifting a bit to get closer to me. Propping himself up, he leaned over me, looking down. My breath caught in my throat, taking in the look he was giving me. It was hungry, but restrained. My heart pounded in my chest, and with the silence surrounding us, I was almost positive that my partner could hear it. He started to lean down, bringing his face closer to mine, and I couldn't stop that feeling I had been trying to squash down from rising up. He was so incredibly handsome, and my attraction to him only grew as he continued to show the ways he cared for me.

Natsu lowered his face to the side of mine, burying his nose in my neck where my hair surrounded him. I listened as he inhaled slowly, his lips cautiously brushing the sensitive skin at the juncture of my neck. I felt a small shiver race down my spine, and then a pinch of pain startled me. I couldn't suppress the small gasp that escaped me, having been unprepared for it even when I thought I had been. The pain was very brief however, before it disappeared and was replaced by another feeling. His sharp fangs in my neck didn't compare to the feel of his warm tongue sliding across the delicate skin, and his soft lips gently suckling at that tingling spot.

After a moment of Natsu using his tongue to soothe the spot, he finally pulled back, looking at me. As he pressed his lips into a hard line, I could see his onyx eyes were even darker. I did my best to control my breathing and make it appear normal, but the rise and fall of my chest gave me away. As Natsu's hard body hovered above me, I absentmindedly licked my lips, focusing on how I could still feel his thighs pressed against mine as he continued to look down at me. We stared at each other for a long moment, the silence stretching into eternity as we both waited for the other to make the next move. After a few moments passed, Natsu picked up his hand and started lowering it to my face. He stopped halfway, however, his brow drawing in frustration.

With a defeated sigh, he rolled away, leaving the space around me impossibly empty. My heart was still pounding wildly in my chest, and I couldn't help but worry if all of it was simply too much for Natsu. It was almost too much for me and waiting had been my idea. As Natsu settled into his bedroll, he whispered, "Goodnight, Luce."

"Goodnight, Natsu. I'm glad you're safe."

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