Well, this is over a month late, and certainly not being posted on Christmas day, but you're not a fanfic writer unless you screw up self-appointed deadlines eheh :S Took extra time editing this one cause its a biggie - hope ya like :)

Chapter 21:
Soulmates on the Stairs

Resolving to ring Spetto when I was back at The Guildhall, I helped Natsu off the train. He looked a little green, but unlike Wendy, he refused to sit down until he felt better (mostly because Gray said her thought it would 'do him good').

I carried our bags, Natsu's scarf still around my neck, and my soul mate marching ahead with purpose.

He managed to walk alongside the rest of the guild, but only for a few streets - half way between the station and Fairy Tail he was throwing up into a trash can.

I stayed back with him, glad that Lisanna was keeping Levy company, and keeping her occupied by discussing my Mother's research. They were both carrying books from her concealed room, all the tomes Erza hadn't managed to squish into her ridiculous cart of luggage.

When we finally got to The Guildhall, I found that they'd put up decorations in my absence. Everyone was already sat down, bags thrown here and there, and the excited chatter told me our fight with Raven Tail was being retold.

The thunder legion were sat right at the back of the pub, happy to be back with Laxus, who himself looked unnaturally smiley despite the tinsel scarf wrapped around his neck. His eyes followed Mira around the room as she put Santa hats on random guildmates, and judging by their smiles, his team didn't seem bothered by his lack of attention.

Before I could turn my head, something fluffy collided with my face, the force of it making overbalance with luggage still swung over both shoulders.

I felt Natsu's steadying hand, and regained by footing before pulling the exceed off of me, holding him at arms length.

Happy looked almost cute with such wide eyes.

"You missed me that much huh?" I asked.

"I didn't miss you!" Happy protested, putting his ears back. "Natsu kept whining about picking up your emotions when you were away. Now you're back he can focus on me again!"

Happy spread his wings, and I let go of him as he flew into Natsu's chest, purring as Natsu put his arms around his cat.

"You sure that's all Happy?" Natsu asked. "Cause you were practically crying when I said you couldn't help bring Lucy back."

"I only wanted to come cause I'm part of team Natsu! You were all gonna be together without me!"

"Come on buddy, ya know there's no team Natsu without you."

"FOR THE LAST TIME" Gray shouted from across the Guildhall, "WE ARE NOT TEAM NATSU!"

"YOU GOT A BETTER IDEA ICE QUEEN?" Natsu yelled back. As Gray got up from his seat, Natsu held Happy out to me. "Luigi, hold my cat."

To my surprise, Happy jumped out of Natsu's arms, his claws latching onto the scarf around my neck - clearly not trusting me to catch him.

Natsu vaulted over the table, lighting his fists on fire, and a few guildmates cheered them on. It could've been Natsu's magic, him getting so riled up I could feel the warmth in my stomach, but I had a feeling it was more a sense of relief. It was nice, comforting even, to be back in the presence of friendly violence and drinking.

"Go get him Natsu!" Happy yelled, punching the air with his paw.

I put him down on the nearest table top, thinking he'd want to fly over to watch, but as I deposited Natsu's bag on the floor Happy asked,

"What're you doing?"

"Going to my apartment. I need to unpack my things - I'll be back in the morning."

"You can't go home now! Movie night's in a few hours! It's a Fairy Tail tradition - you've gotta stay for it!"

I smiled at these words and Happy seemed to think he'd been to affectionate, because he scowled threateningly then leapt off the table.

I put my bag down next to Natsu's, laid his scarf over the top, and decided I'd stay until the evening. I wasn't that eager to get back to a cold apartment on Christmas eve anyway.

Deciding to check on Levy, I headed for the door to the library, but looking around at the decorations I saw that she was instead sat at a table. She was chatting with Yukino, sat at the end of a table where the rest of Sabertooth were in the middle of a card game.

Rufus tipped his red zorro hat to me as I sat down next to Levy, and I smiled at him as I noticed he'd exchanged its huge pink feather for holly and jinglebells. Even Dobengal looked festive, though the santa hat looked completely out of place on top of his blank ninja attire.

"Levy's just been telling me about your Mother's research," Yukino said.

"I thought it might help," Levy explained, "Yukino's been researching celestial magic a lot longer than I have, so she might see things I didn't."

The two continued their conversation, and it didn't take long for me to realise I how little I understood about magic. I spoke only to answer questions on my abilities, trying my best to keep up with what they were discussing.

I understood most of what they said about why dragon slayers get travel sick.

Yukino thought it was a symptom of not being able to connect with their parents magic. As dragon magic is unlike any magic on Earth, dragon slayer's magic might be interlinked with their parent's. If slayer's magical core couldn't maintain a stable connection with their dragon parents' magic, the slayer's cores might might grow unstable.

It would explain why I didn't get travel sick. My Mum's magic was always with me in my keys, every other dragon being trapped in Nirvana. Levy thought that, because Nirvana was a celestial machine, that might mean it was located in the celestial world. Apparently time moves slower there than it does on Earth. So if it difficult for the slayer's magic to maintain a connection into world running slower than ours, then putting them on a fast moving vehicle in a fast moving world was overkill. The girls suggested their connection (and magical cores) could become so unstable that it makes them feel sick.

"But if time there moves slower," Levy said, "does that mean Acnologia hasn't had seven full years to try and break free of Nirvana?"

Yukino nodded,

"If Nirvana is up there, the cage has been locked for almost two and a half years in that time frame. I don't know how long it would take to break out while fighting the rest of the dragons."

I felt my stomach drop at this. Yukino made it sound like Acnologia could break out tommrow. If he did break the cage, would it affect the zodiac keys? We hadn't even found all of them, and even if we did, could Acnologia be locked away again? I don't know whether all of Fairy Tail could defeat the most powerful dragon to ever exist - I certainly couldn't if he broke out tommrow.

Don't think like that I told myself, reaching for my keys for comfort.

Rembering the new silver spirits I'd found at home, I pulled the ring gate keys and put them on the table.

"Do you recognise any of these?" I asked, pushing my keys towards Yukino.

Yukino seemed to give herself a little shake. It looked like I wasn't the only one having misgivings about fighting Acnologia. She pulled the keys towards her, sorting through to find the new ones.

"This one is for the clock constellation," she said, tapping the grandfather clock shaped fob, "I think he's a protection spirit."

She found the harp key next.

"This one is for the constellation of the Lyre. I believe she plays music if summoned."

She frowned down at the key with a dog bone engraving on its end.

"I think this one is the chisel? I'm not sure...but," her eyes lit up as she found the cross shaped key, "...this is the constellation of the southern cross. I tried to look for him back when I was at Lamia scale - he's a kind of celestial encyclopedia."

I pulled my keys back across the table, and removed not just the cross key, but the chisel and Horologium too. I couldn't bring myself to part with Lyra, but I confidently pushed the three silver keys across the table towards Yukino.

"You have these."

Yukino stared at me.

"Lucy...I can't—"

"—Yes you can. I have my zodiac spirits, and I think you'd get more use out of them than I would. I'd feel better knowing you had more keys in your arsenal."

"B-but your contracts?"

I picked up the cross key and said firmly,

"Open, gate of the Southern Cross!"

There was a puff of spirit smoke at the end of the table, immidiately followed by heavy coughing. A hand emerged from the smoke, wafting it away, revealing a very old looking spirit. His head was, true to form, a metal cross, though he also had arms and legs, both of which were crossed as he floated in mid-air.

"Miss Lucy, how-ho-h—" the spirit gave a long yawn "—nice to see you. I am Crux..."

Crux smacked his cheek as if trying to keep himself awake.

"Hi," I said a little lamely, "um, I was just wondering. Do you know how to transfer contracted spirits...to a specific celestial mage?"

Crux bowed his head in what I first thought was a nod, but then he started snoring.

Cross shaped clouds of air blossomed from his nose, and I looked over at Yukino, wondering if he'd actually fallen asleep or if this was normal.

Before Yukino could do more than shrug in confusion, Crux gave a start and sat up straight again.

"Yes...transferral." He gave another yawn, and it was very hard not to immitate him. "Yes...simply hold the keys in the desired mage's hand, and vow to give up ownership. Channelling a little magic would help I th-thi—" he let out another yawn, "—think."

"Thanks Crux," I swept his key through the air, Levy stifling a yawn beside me.

Yukino looked incredibly guilty as I picked up the other two silver keys and held them out to her.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive." I said.

Yukino smiled, clearly trying to surpress excitement as she laid her hand on top of the keys in my palm.

I took a deep breath, and imagined some of the golden light in my chest flowing up towards her hand. The keys beneath Yukino's fingers began to glow, their silver light shining and merging with the my gold magic.

"I hereby revoke my claim on the contracts for the southern cross, the chisel, and the clock," I said firmly, "hoping they find solice in service to Yukino Agria."

The keys suddenly went cold, and as I stopped chanelling my magic the silver glow died.

Yukino lifted her hand, looking between me and the three keys in my palm.

"...Did it work?" She asked faintly.

"Give them a go," I suggested.

Yukino hestitated for a second, then took the three keys from me. Holding one up in the air, and saying,

"Open, gate of the chisel!"

The flash of spirit smoke above the table made the rest of Sabertooth look round, all of us staring up at the 'chisel' that began to emerge.

It was more like a robot than a building tool, a metal sphere with a halo floating above it. It turned in the air, apparently looking around with the small green disk at its centre.

"Greetings." It said, sounding like a robot from Wall-E'. "I am Caelum...Request. Where is Yukino Agria?"

"...Here," Yukino said nervously.

Caelum swivelled to face Yukino more properly, and let out a happy sucession of bleeps.

"Affirmative. Does Miss Yukino desire to make a contract?"

"Um...yes please."

"Affirmative." Caelum bobbed up and down in the air, seemingly happy with this answer. "My services are available seven days a week during working hours. Do you accept these terms?"

"Yes."

"Affirmative." The robot chirped several times as if processing. "Caelum is happy to be of service. How may I assist Miss Yukino today?"

"Could...could you tell me the extent of your abilities?"

Caelum bleeped reassuringly,

"I have several forms, each containing seperate mechanisms. Does Miss Yukino wish me to display each of these forms?"

"Um...if that's okay?"

"Affirmative. My primary ability is projecting magical beams of energy, the power and size of which depend on my current form. Warning; each form requires twice as much magical energy than the last. Do you wish to proceed?"

"Yes." Yukino said.

Caelum suddenly glowed bright white, its metalic body unfolding and elongating into a floating sword.

Suddenly glowing bright white again, the robot began rearranging itself. When Caelum's white light faded he'd finished assembling into what looked like a large, drone-based machine gun. There was a small shriek from someone in the Guildhall as Caelum's reloading guns clicked and whirred.

Before people could turn and get a good look at this form however, there was a flash of white light, and the robot's body seemed to shatter. It divided into at least fifty floating daggers, hanging above our table like deadly iciciles.

The Guildhall had grown quiet as each part of Caelum glowed white again, everyone watching as he transformed into his final form. At first glance I saw it was a metal spider the size of a car, its many legs crashing down on the table top, but as the light faded fully I saw that its body was actually just an armoured machine gun.

One more flash of white, and Caelum shrank back to its cute and spherical form, happy and docile as it bobbed up and down in the air. The robot's cheerful voice seemed very loud in the quiet Guildhall.

"Can I be of further service Miss Yukino?"

"N-no thank you Caelum," Yukino said, a little red with so many eyes drawn to our table.

The robot beeped happily again,

"I hope my services have been adequate. If you do not wish to lodge a complaint, I will wait to be called upon again."

The robot hovered in the air for a moment longer, but when Yukino didn't say anything, it gave another beep and vanished in a puff of spirit smoke.

Muttering broke out around us as Yukino stared down at the key in her hand. It was almost comical, knowing such a sweet person held the key to a massive war machine.

Sting was staring at his girlfriend in awe,

"That robot had bigger guns than me."

A few people laughed, and talk began to bubble up again.

The red exceed Lector swooped down, skidding a little as he landed on our table.

"Was that thing yours Yukino?" He asked excitedly.

"Umhmm." She murmered, still staring at the key in shock.

Lector punched the air with a paw,

"Man, Sabertooth rules!"

Sting grinned at his cat,

"You know it buddy. Two dragon slayers, two exceeds, a mimic, a ninja, and a badass celestial mage. We'll be the strongest guild in no time!"

"Keep dreaming Pal!" Natsu shouted, throwing Gray off him and shaking his fist threateningly at Sabertooth.

Unfortunately, Natsu's momentary patriotism gave Gray an opening to punch him in the face.

Natsu tumbled backwards over a table but rallied quickly, smoking at the mouth.

"You asked for it stripper!" He yelled, jumping up onto the table. "This fire dragon's iron fist is going right up your—" Erza's reprimanding shout cut Natsu off, and both boys dropped out of their fighting stances.

"How many times have I told you two not to fight on the furniture!"

Erza stormed up to the boys, who stood rooted to the spot as something gold glowed into existence in her hand.

For a moment, I thought she'd summoned a weapon, but instead she thrust out a large piece of clothing. I would never have guessed Erza kept a 'getting along shirt' in her requip inventory, but I would've bet Jewel on the fact that Natsu and Gray wouldn't both put it on without complaint.

Each stood in the joint shirt, only one arm at their disposal, and I can only assume a combination of Erza's authority and some kind of bet kept the boys from destroying it, as the laughter broke out amongst the Guild.

It was the busiest Christmas eve I'd ever had.

Levy and Yukino retired to the library after lunch, and I was glad to hear Makarov had arranged for Levy to stay at Fairy Tail over the holidays. Gajeel no longer being here meant no one was around to keep an eye on the academy, and with Levy worrying so much I was glad she'd be surrounded by friends over Christmas.

Mira and Lisanna were busy preparing a large lunch for the next day, so I helped out by washing up any tandards and trays I could find.

On one of my rounds collecting glasses from tables, I saw Jellal arrive, but he didn't stay to chat. He headed up the the infirmary, no doubt to question Flare.

Natsu and Gray managed to convince Erza it would be in the Christmas spirit to let them take off their conjoining top. Sting and Rogue had challenged them to a competition deciding who had the strongest Guildmates, and suffice to say Natsu and Gray took it very seriously. To my surprise, she agreed, though I think it was mostly so they'd leave her alone; she seemed to want to join Jellal and Flare up in the infirmary, no doubt to learn more about the tower of heaven.

The result was some afternoon entertainment for the guild, who watched the boys arm wrestle, play hangman, and even see who could hold their breath for the longest. Elfman made sure to yell about how 'manly' they were being every so often, at which point Jet and Droy would groan and order a round of shots. They were both hugging each other merrily by the time Mira had finished preperations for the Christmas meal tommrow.

Tired but glad to have been of help, I left the clean kitchen a quarter of an hour before movie night was meant to start.

As I walked out into the Guildhall Natsu ran up to me looking gleefully triumphant.

"Gray totally flopped in the last four sets of press ups, but Fairy Tail still won. No thanks to me."

Natsu flexed his arm proudly but I wrinkled my nose at the smell of sweat,

"You need a shower." Natsu grinned,

"I smell great, look," he tried to hug me but I dodged out the way.

"Natsu!"

"Fine," Natsu said exasperatedly, truding over to our bags, and taking both of them downstairs with him to the dorms.

I headed down to the room full of couches, finding a few people already there, making sure to get the best seats.

After quarter of an hour, pretty much everyone was sat on the floor with cushions, or on a sofa.

Pantherlilly was curled up on Levy's lap, Happy trying to siddle up next to Carla who was ignoring him, sat comfortably on Wendy's lap. Mira was sat between her sister and Laxus, plopped right in the middle of the thunder legion. Lisanna sat next to Bickslow, looking pretty damn nervous, and as I caught her eye I gave her a thumbs up, gesturing for her to strike up a conversation.

She chatted with Bickslow without too much trouble, though it helped that Lisanna could get on with pretty much anyone, and after a few minutes she seemed to relax. Erza was sat on her own, Flare clearly still with Jellal, but she looked quite happy despite being surrounded by happy couples; Juvia and Gray, Cana and a large bottle of brandy, Elfman and Evergreen, and Romeo's parents (who were making kissy faces at each other to embarrass their son).

Natsu still hadn't turned up when Mira started the vote on which Christmas movie to watch, so I decided to go and find him.

I headed down one floor to the dormitories and strode along the boys' corridor, standing in front of his bedroom door at the end and knocking loudly,

"Natsu, are you nearly done!?"

The bathroom door to my right opened and I felt my stomach not so much drop as fall through the floor. Natsu was standing in the door way, scowling, with only a towel around his waist, his hair tousled and his bare chest still dripping from the shower.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He said, thankfully not noticing my brain had stopped working. "Why aren't you in pajamas?"

Concentrating very hard on looking into his eyes, I crossed my arms,

"Happy told me I had to stay for movie night, but I don't have any in my bag."

Natsu rolled his eyes and opened his bedroom door,

"I'll lend you some."

I didn't move as Natsu stode into his room, taking the opportunity to look him over as he pulled open one of his draws and pulled out some pajamas. He tossed them over to me and I caught them blankly, feeling my face heat up as Natsu raised his eyebrows,

"Your spirits are really rubbing off on you Luce. You planning on just perving on me while I change?"

I let out a squeak of what was meant to be disgust and quickly shut Natsu's bedroom door, standing alone in the hallway with pajamas in my arms.

Wishing I had Erza's requipping ability, I slipped into the boys bathroom to get changed, leaving my clothes and keys on top of the counter - I'd need to change back into them before walking home.

I came out just as Natsu was shutting his bedroom door, wearing long sleeved pajamas and his white scarf. His hair was steaming as he ran hot fingers through it, styling it as it dried. It dawned on me that that was probably why he smelled smokey.

"Y'know, that's not good for your hair," I said, glad that he was wearing long sleeved pajamas.

Natsu rolled his eyes.

"You were the one who told me to hurry up."

Natsu jerked his head in the direction of the corridor and I walked ahead of him, quickly striding down the corridor and back out into the stairwell.

We climbed one flight of stairs, but as we reached the landing Natsu pulled me to a stop

"What?" I asked, turning around to see Natsu pointing at the ceiling.

I looked up.

Someone had strung mistletoe on the light above us.

My stomach gave a nervous backflip as I looked back at Natsu, depesrately trying to keep my face blank as I raised my eyebrows,

"You that eager to kiss me again?"

"Maybe." Natsu said quietly.

His answer made me feel like the golden magic in my chest was glowing. I didn't know whether it was magic or my heart thrumming as I stepped closer to him.

I lent up on my tip toes, determined to do something quickly before I could think about backing out, and gently pressed my lips against his.

I felt Natsu's warm hand slide into my hair, and as he kissed me back I felt like the golden magic in my chest was singing.

Feeling like I'd drift away if I didn't hold onto something, I reached out and grasped the front of Natsu's shirt, and Natsu pulled back suddenly, apparently thinking I was pushing him away.

His hand still in my hair, he looked at me uncertainly,

"This okay?"

"Yeah," I smiled up at his nervous expression, "I'm all fired up."

A grin spread on Natsu's face at these words, and this time he lent down to kiss me. His arms came around my waist, pulling me closer, and—

"—I KNEW IT!" Gray yelled, making me jump. I drew back a little, Natsu keeping me close with his arms still around my waist.

Gray was stood in the doorway to the movie room, pointing at us triumphantly,

"LEVY OWES ME 50 JEWEL!"

Natsu glared at him,

"I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE!"

Gray ignored him, running back inside the room and slamming the door behind him.

From beyond the door I heard a muffled shout that sounded like an announcement for 'NaLu'. Natsu scowled at the closed door.

"Wanna go in then?" I asked, feeling nervous now that we were just standing there with our arms around each other.

Natsu looked back at me, frowning,

"I can't beat him up if Erza's in there."

I rolled my eyes, taking one of his hands off my waist and lacing our fingers together.

"We can't miss a Fairy Tail tradition Natsu."

He looked down at our interlocked the fingers and sighed.

"Fine...But only cause it's you."

My heart thudded a little at these words, and trying not to grin too much, I led the way up the stairs and opened the door.

There were a few wolf whistles as we walked in, and I felt heat rising in my face as Natsupulled me over to the end of one of the sofas.

Gray had sat back down next to Juvia, but he was waving at us emphatically, goggling at Erza.

"How are you not reacting to this? They were just making out on the stairs!"

Erza shrugged,

"They've kissed loads of times already."

There was another round of wolf whistles at this, and I was extremely glad that Mira started the movie.

Natsu let go of my hand so we could sit down, gently resting his arm around my shoulders, and I lent into him gladly.

Very aware we were being watched, I glanced around, my eyes stopping on Lisanna.

She was giving me the same thumbs up I'd given her. I couldn't help but grin.

It was very hard not to fall asleep while the movie played. I washed dishes for half the day, Lisanna and I dancing to Christmas songs on the radio as we worked. Now, on a comfy sofa, listening to gently tinkling Christmas music, and leaning against a human hot water bottle, I felt unbelievably relaxed.

When the movie ended, everyone got to their feet, and I yawned widely as the lights were turned on. I was dreading the walk back to my apartment - it was so much warmer in here.

"Tired?" Natsu asked.

"A little."

"Come on then," Natsu said, getting up and holding out his hand.

I took it, pulling myself into a standing position, and feeling eyes on us as we joined the queue for the door.

Happy ran over to us, curling up against Natsu's leg as we filed out the room, his eyes wide as he asked,

"Natsuuuu?"

"What is it buddy?"

"Can we open our presents? It'll be Christmas in a minute."

"Sure - we'll give Lucy our presents too."

"You both got me a Christmas present?" I asked.

The cat scowled up at me,

"Natsu said I had to."

Happy bounded ahead of us, weaving between people's legs as he trotted down the stairs, girls and boys filing into their seperate corridors and older guildmembers going home.

I wasn't all that surprised to see Juvia heading down the boys corridor with Gray, but we were the only two girls in the male procession.

Happy was already sat outside Natsu's bedroom door, his tail whipping back and forth in excitement, and as Natsu opened it the cat slipped inside the pitch black room.

Instead of turning the light on, Natsu lit his free hand on fire, dropping my hand as he walked over to his desk.

I closed the door, walking over to sit beside Happy on the bed, Natsu pulling open a desk draw and retrieving four packages.

As soon as Natsu tipped them onto the bed, Happy pounced on the package I'd given him, claws ripping into the paper. Natsu initially reached for his gift with his fire hand, but stopped, clearly remembering what had happened with Carpricorn's key.

"Doesn't matter if your hands are on fire," I said, "you won't damage it."

Natsu grinned, picking up the parsel and holding it between his hands, his flames providing light for Happy and I to open our gifts.

"What is it?" Happy asked, looking down at his unwrapped present.

"It's a grooming kit," I said, "I thought it'd help with Carla."

"That's like getting someone deodorant as a present!"

"I was trying to help you get a girlfriend fur ball."

Happy sniffed preciously.

"Carla is a lady! You don't just 'get' a lady!"

I rolled my eyes at the cat and looked down at my two gifts.

Picking up the smaller package first, Happy said,

"Don't know why I got you that if all you got me cleaning stuff."

I unwrapped a piece of Fairy Tail merchandise. It was a phone charm featuring Happy, one of the ones we sold online for fans of our 'illusion acts'.

"Thanks cat," I said, despite the cat not looking at me.

"You'd better not loose it! We're a team ya know! We're supposed to stay together!"

"I won't," I promised, stroking his head breifly. Happy seemed satisfied, and though he didn't look at me, he turned his attention to the only present left.

The box from Natsu felt warm as I picked it up. As soon as I removed the lid, light streamed out of it, and for a second I thought of the artefact that had stolen all my magic.

But the flickering light wasn't like my fireworks. Inside the box was a tiny jar, clearly made out of lacrima because there was a small fire burning merrily inside. There was a little arch on the lid, and as I slid my finger over it, the lacrima went from clear to cloudy, dimming the fire's light.

"I figured, cause I've got some of your magic, you should have some of mine." Natsu said, extinguishing the flames on his hands.

I slid my finger along the arch again, filling the room with his fire light, and watching his reaction as he looked down at his hand.

Lying on his palm was my present, a ring made by Gajeel, engraved with a dragon design. Levy had suggested it, knowing about Gajeel's artistic 'talents' (besides the shoo be doo whup jazz guitar).

"It's iron." I explained. "I keep hearing you shouting 'fire dragon, iron fist' when you fight Gray. Thought it would make it official."

Natsu slid the ring onto his right hand, turning it on his finger, the dragon engraving shining in his fire light.

I looked back at the jar in my hand, feeling slightly awkward,

"Seems a bit pathetic compared with a jar of magic."

Natsu shook his head.

"You're more than magic enough for me."

I laughed,

"That was so corny!"

"You're corny!" Natsu retaliated.

With a great glowing warmth in my chest, and Natsu's magic in my hand, I lent forwards and kissed him, briefly.

"Thank you," I said, drawing back only a little.

"You're welcome Luce," Natsu whispered, his green eyes crinkling as he smiled.

Natsu lent forwards a little, but before his lips could brush mine, Happy asked loudly,

"Is Lucy sleeping here tonight?"

Natsu drew back, frowning at his cat,

"Well it is kind of late."

"Is she sleeping in your bed?" Happy asked.

"I'm not gonna make her sleep on the floor," Natsu said obviously.

"You sure that's alright?" I asked, feeling nervous again.

Natsu looked at me, clearly confused,

"Course. I sleep in your bed all the time. Why wouldn't it be?"

I glanced at Happy, both of us clearly wondering how long it was going to take for the penny to drop.

"Well," I said, "y'know...a guy and a girl...sleeping in the same bed...if they're dating, they might..."

I looked at the wall that split Gray (and Juvia's) bedroom from Natsu's, hoping he'd get the idea.

Natsu frowned, looked around at the wall, and I saw his face slacken in realisation.

"Oh! I didn't mean...I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No, I'm not uncomfortable—

"—I'm not expecting"

"—Nor was I!" The both of us looked away from each other, the air between us suddenly tense.

After a pause, Happy asked,

"Soo...are we going to bed?"

"Yep!" Natsu said, picking up Happy's grooming kit and putting it on his desk.

I stood up, putting my phone charm and jar of fire on his desk too, dimming the fire light so I could just make out the outline of Natsu's bed.

He got under the covers, shifting close to the wall and folding over one side of the duvet so I could get in.

I could feel Happy staring at me as he curled up at end of the bed, and feeling nervous I got under the covers. We lay side by side, both on our backs, feeling almost too excited for sleep.

"Merry Christmas Luce," Natsu said quietly.

"Merry Christmas Natsu," I whispered, smiling as he took my hand under the covers.

"IT'S CHRISTMASSSSSSSS!"

Happy's yell woke me up, and for a second I wasn't sure why.

The cat opened the door and light streamed in from the hallway...hallway?

I opened my eyes.

Natsu sat up beside me, rubbing his eyes as Happy soared around the room. Had the cat not started singing Christmas songs, with the worst singing voice I'd ever heard, I'd probably freak out a little more as the events of Christmas eve came back to me.

"Merry Christmas guys," Natsu mumbled.

"Humbug," I mumbled, pressing a pillow over my head as Happy's 'singing' grew louder.

Desperate to get away from the cat's carolling, I forced myeslf out of bed, saying,

"I'm gonna go and borrow someone's toothbrush."

"Why don't you just borrow mine?" Natsu asked, stretching.

"I'm not walking into the boys bathroom. They might be showering and I've seen more of Gray's birthday suit than I'd like."

Natsu tilted his head in agreement and got up too,

"See ya upstairs then."

Thankfully, Happy followed Natsu as he trudged towards the bathroom, and as I closed the door to Natsu's bedroom Gray's door was flung open.

"FLAME BRAIN," Gray shouted, sticking his head out into the corridor, "WILL YOU STOP STRANGLING YOUR CAT!?"

I grimaced at him, and Gray gritted his teeth as Happy sang even louder,

"This happens every goddamn year!"

Now Natsu was shouting along with Happy, and I quickly shut my eyes as Gray stormed out his room - I wasn't sure how much clothing he would be wearing as he strode past me towards the bathroom.

I took a few steps forwards, waving through Gray's open door with my eyes still closed,

"Merry Christmas Juvia!"

"Merry Christmas love rival! Juvia thanks you for resisting the temptation to look at Gray sama's—"

"—YOU'RE WELCOME!" I said quickly, walking on before she could glorify any of her soul mate's body parts.

Past the danger zone, I opened my eyes, not meeting anyone else until I'd entered the girl's dormitories.

Half way down the corridor, Lisanna emerged from her bedroom, clad in a fluffy dressing gown with cat ears on the hood.

"Merry Christmas," I said, grinning at both her and Levy, who emerged looking even more tired than yesterday.

"Merry Christmas," Lisanna said, pulling Levy and I into a hug.

"Merry Christmas." Levy intoned.

As Lisanna released us both, I gave Levy an extra hug. She patted my back a few times then drew away, trudging towards the bathroom.

Lisanna bit her lip, looking sympathetically at Levy as she dissapeared behind the bathroom door.

With a shared look, Lisanna and I followed, hoping the festivities would cheer Levy up a little.

After showering, Lisanna demanded we all change back into our pyjamas - another Fairy Tail Christmas tradition.

When we reached the pub floor upstairs we found the room had been rearranged, the tables set end to end and strenching from the door to the bar. It was just like breakfast yesterday morning, with every breakfast dish imaginable spread along the middle of the table, and people seated either side, most of them already drinking and all of them in pajamas.

Even Mr Makarov wore a onesie designed to look like a Father Christmas costume.

There were welcoming cries of "Merry Christmas!" as we sat down at the table, and as we loaded food onto our plates, the boys arrived.

Natsu, Gray, and Juvia sat opposite us, Juvia thankfully separating the two mortal enemies.

They all noticed Levy picking at her food, but before anyone could say anything purposefully cheery, Laxus had tapped her on the shoulder. He pulled a small box from his pocket and set it beside Levy's plate,

"Gajeel asked me to give you this if he was gone for Christmas."

Without waiting for a reaction, Laxus walked away, leaving Levy staring at the small box.

It was tied shut with red ribbon, and the tag on top read,

Merry Christmas Shrimp

Her fingers trembling slightly, Levy pulled the ribbon loose and lifted the lid.

Inside was a small, iron flower, like the ones she usually clipped on her hair band. It seemed Gajeel was pretty damn good at making jewellery, because for a small hair clip it was incredibly detailed. Each petal was a thin but not brittle, the edges barely rusty so that the flower was ringed in orange.

Looking down at it, Levy smiled a little sadly, then clipped the flower into her hair.

"I'm sorry." She said, so quietly that only Lisanna and I could hear. "I know its stupid worrying like this. I've just had this horrible feeling he's in trouble. I know I'm not a dragon slayer, so I can't know that but..."

Levy trailed off, her hand tracing the flower in her hair.

"It won't be long," I said, "after Christmas, we'll make sure we're ready to face Raven Tail, then we'll go and get him."

Levy looked up at me doubtfully,

"Master Makarov told me we can't make a move until the council says so."

Lisanna pulled her into a one armed hug,

"And since when has Fairy Tail ever done what they're told? Lucy's right. We'll train up a bit, and then we'll bring him home. We've got five dragon slayers - they won't know what's hit em!"

"Yeah!" I said determinately. "If we all band together, Raven Tail don't stand a chance!"

Levy smiled and let out a long sigh. She was still quiet, but as she finally seemed ready to eat properly.

Equally pleased as I was uncertain, I got back to my own breakfast, trying not to think about whether Flare would agree with our theory for gaurenteed success.

After breakfast the whole guild got involved with party games, while Mira, Laxus, Lisanna, and Yukino retreated to the kitchens to put the finishing touches to lunch.

Those who hadn't opened their Christmas presents took to unwrapping their gifts at the table, everyone except Cana passing their gifts around for the other's to look at. Cana's Dad had bought her some super rare Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and apparently she was more likely to loose a drinking game than let anyone lay a finger on them.

A guild-wide game of charades was really something to behold, especially with teams of people using magic to help them act things out.

I rang Spetto just before lunch, having forgotten about phoning her yesterday, and after exchanging Christmas greetings I asked about which private investigator my Dad had used. She promised to send me a detailed list in the post - unsurprisingly there were too many to just reel off. She asked after Natsu, but I could only tell her that 'we' were both great before a distraction forced me to hang up. Loke had summoned himself on top of Natsu, and Natsu wasn't pleased.

Before my soul mate could sent Loke back to the celestial realm, I dragged him off to the side and asked him what he was doing here.

"Merry Christmas to you too."

"Well you usually turn up when something's wrong," I said, trying not to dwell on the conversation from yesterday about Nirvana.

"Nothing's wrong. In fact I'd say everything's going right considering how Natsu didn't just try to kill me."

"What d'you mean?"

Loke cocked an eyebrow,

"Oh come on Beautiful. Are you really telling me I can't go back to Aries and gush about hearing wedding bells?"

"You are hearing things." I said, stowing the thought of Natsu in a white suit for later, and punching Loke in the arm. "And since when have you 'gushed' about me and Natsu?"

Loke grinned,

"You kidding? Aries is crazy about you and lover boy! Why d'you think I was always antagonising Natsu?"

"Because you find it fun to rile him up."

"No, I was trying to rile him up so he'd get jealous and kiss you!"

I stared at Loke.

"You almost kissed me before Era's ball!"

Loke looked a little disgusted,

"I wouldn't have kissed you - I've known you since you were a baby, that would've been wierd! And talking of Era, my attempts to get you and lover boy together got me nothing but a kick where it counts."

"It was an accident!" I protested. "How was I supposed to know my immortal spirit was trying to get me 'laid'?!"

Loke's expression turned serious,

"Woah there I said get you together! As in dating. Under no circumstance is he to do anything more than kiss you, or I'll murder him myself - screw the celestial spirit king's orders!"

"The what?"

"What what?"

"What's the celestial spirit king?" I asked.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter," he said, not looking at me.

"Obviously it does," I pressed, "what's this kind ordering you to do?"

Loke patted me on the head,

"Great talking to you Beautiful, have a nice day!"

"Loke!" But the spirit had already vanished in a puff of spirit smoke.

I reached for my pouch of keys, determined to call him back, but realised I'd left it with my clothes in the boys bathroom.

Levy looked over at my questioningly and I made sure to rolled my eyes.

This celestial spirit king was news, but not news anyone needed to worry about today - espeically since Levy had just started to cheer up.

Hitching a grin onto my face, I returned to the festivities, determined to have a good time, and a good search of Fairy Tail's library later on.

A late chapter it might be, but you'll still find your chapterly fact at the end!
Please enjoy some spectacular (forgotten Victorian) words of the English language, I hope they make up for the late posting :S

Zonderkite; a word meaning idiot, spoken with some irritation, like after being overtaken by a car who nearly crashed into you
Cumberworld; a person who is totally useless - a waste of space (no relation whatsoever to Bandylegged Cumberbund)
Flibbertigibbet; A nosy/gossiping kind of person
Mafflard; someone who's a klutz

Thanks for reading, and extra special thanks for reviews!
Hope to see you in the next chapter :D
M