Grizz: *groans* Fuck a duck, screw a guinea. My brain feels like mush.

Mira: Well, that's what you get for procrastinating with NaLu Week. Go eat some ice cream, it will freeze your brain to prevent it from becoming anymore mushy than it already is.

Grizz: *Snorts* I didn't procrastinate. I've been busy at this for the last three weeks! I'm TIRED.

Mira: And I'm Betty White.

Grizz: *laughs* Alright, alright, I'll give you that one. Anyway what do you think we should tell the readers for this upcoming week?

Mira: Be prepared for a wild roller coaster with the tear ducts working over time. Also, a slight cliche cause why the hell not.

Grizz: *eyeroll* I can do cliches if I want. I just prefer not to. It keeps the readers on their toes. Plus you're just mad I spoiled it for you.

Mira: …. Bueller. BUELLER!

Grizz: Anyway, my lovely and ever faithful readers. If you have not read the A/N I put in Vampire Trinity when I updated, then I'll explain why I haven't updated anything else since May? I think it was. Besides Life being well Life, I've had my attention solely on getting NaLu Week done. And I must say I'm quite proud with how it's turned out. Hell, I've even made my Beta cry with some of the oneshots. Anyway, I still have a little bit of writing to do so I'll leave my muse, Mira to sign us off.

Mira: Welcome to NaLu Week! It's gonna be an exciting and fantastic week full of amazing stories! Enjoy the wild roller coaster ride that will be NaLu Week 2018!

Summary: Human Lucy and pet dragon Natsu. She doesn't understand it. Why her pet dragon always brings her dead animals. She could never guess it is his drive to protect his human and his gratitude that leads him to his activities.

Pre NaLu Week Bonus: Drive

Rundown buildings pass by at a crawl. Trash litters broken sidewalks often only broken up by pedestrians or homeless people curling in alleys and doorways to escape the early December snow.

Breath fogs the car window and the blonde behind the window leans back with a sigh. To put it simply—she doesn't want to be in this part of the city...She doesn't like to be in this part of the city. Seeing those down on their luck and forced to live on the street stabs at her heart with a needle of ice. Her mother had raised to be kind to those in need and to help any way she can. It's why she and her friend volunteer in soup kitchens, run and organize charity events and the ilk… And apparently why said friend is taking her to the center of the city of Magnolia's most crime-ridden neighborhood. Why are they in said neighborhood? She has no clue.

She sighs, her head falling against the cold glass once more. Until she hears a giggle.

"Cheer up, Lu-chan. We're almost there." The blonde casts a halfhearted glare at the bluenette in the driver's seat.

"Maybe I'm a little moody because you kidnapped me from my apartment the night before Christmas, Levy," The blonde huffs, sitting up in her seat. "and the worst part is you won't even tell me where we're going."

Levy smiles, pulling into a parking lot. The car comes to a stop and Levy raises a hand to the short, run-down building in front of them. "This is where I wanted to bring you, Lu-chan."

The blonde looks up, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the sign reading:

Magnolia City All Animal Shelter

"Ever since the whole situation with Loke I've been really worried about you living on your own but because I know you're stubborn I reached out to a friend to get something that will bolster your security and allow you to keep your independence."

She slides out of the car after her friend, frowning in confusion as she shrinks into her coat. "So you brought me to the worst part of town to get a dog?"

Together they walk up the salted sidewalk to the single metal door and Levy giggles. "No, Lu-chan, not a dog."

"A cat?" This earns a shake of the head and she scowls. "Well, what else could it be?"

Levy smirks, glancing over her shoulder. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Inside the building, the duo pauses in front of a desk where a small blue cat sits sleeping in a bed. She smiles, reaching out to scratch the cat while Levy rings the bell.

"Be with you in a minute!" Comes from a door behind the desk. As they wait Levy scratches the cat as well, a loud purr letting the women know the cat is enjoying the attention.

When the duo hears a giggle they look up to find a woman with short platinum hair standing in the doorway. She smiles, walking toward them and glances at the cat. "Happy seems to love you two, then again he loves anyone who'll pay him attention." Then she turns, smiling at the bluenette. "Hey, Levy, I assume this is the one you were talking about over the phone?"

Levy nods. "Lisanna, this is Lucy. Lucy this is Lisanna. She works full time here looking after the animals."

Both women smile, Lucy extending a hand.

"Hello, It's nice to meet you, even if she refuses to tell me what we're doing here."

Lisanna giggles, shaking her hand. "I know what you mean. Lev can be downright devious when she wants to be." After she lets Lucy's hand go she walks around the desk to another door. "If you'll follow me I'll show you why she decided to bring you here. I think her choice will definitely be right up your alley."

Still confused but more ecstatic, she follows the platinum-blonde through tiled halls echoing with barking and the noise of large fans running. Walking past a hall full of cages she guesses are where they keep the dogs, Lucy follows Lisanna through another door before coming to a large metal one that lacks a window to see through. What concerns her though is the warning sign screwed to the door:

Warning! Do not enter without closed-toe shoes, a hard hat, and food!

She swallows, looking over to where Lisanna is already putting on a hard hat. "Why do we need hard hats?"

The caretaker easily smiles, holding up an extra hat to the blonde. "It's only for safety precautions. City law states that extra protection is required when dealing with them but really they're just a bunch of softies that wouldn't hurt a fly."

"And who is they?"

Lisanna grins, reaching for the door handle with a bucket of fish in hand. "Why dragons of course."

Standing halfway in the door, Lucy pales drastically when she hears the reply. She steps backward, her eyes glancing around for any sight of the scaly fire-breathing reptiles.

"D-Dr-Dragons?!"

Lisanna sighs heavily, turning back to the blonde. "Lucy, I promise you they won't hurt you. If anything these guys are more scared of you then you are of them." She steps toward the woman, offering a hand. "Just trust me, these guys won't hurt you."

Against her better knowledge, Lucy takes the hand, allowing the caretaker to pull her completely through the door. When Lisanna holds up the bucket, Lucy takes it, watching anxiously as Lisanna shuts the door behind them. The caretaker turns back, smiling sheepishly at her.

"Sorry but it's shelter rules. Dragons like to make a snack out of cats and dogs so in order to not end up losing the other inhabitants we have to keep the door shut even if we're inside"

The blonde nods. Slowly, watching and listening to Lisanna has her anxiety dwindling, such that when the caretaker holds out a hand for the bucket Lucy asks hesitantly, "Would it be okay if I held it?"

She's surprised, Lucy can tell, by the question but her easy-going nature has the caretaker nodding in acquiescence. "Alright, but if they get to be too much just throw the bucket away from you."

With another quiet nod, the blonde follows Lisanna. The further they walk the more Lucy notices the rising temperature until they reach another door, this one nothing more than a door sized chain link gate. On the other side, Lucy can see a small field of grass surrounding several medium sized trees growing in large planters. On several of the tree branches, the blonde can see piles of grass that remind her of a bird's nest she had found as a child.

"Dragons are a slight bit harder to take care of than dogs or cats because they can be extremely grumpy and territorial if they don't have a nest of their own so we had the atrium or Dragonarium as I like to call it built to allow up to twenty dragons of ranging size their own space." As she speaks she pulls a key ring from her belt and unlocks the gate, allowing Lucy in first before shutting and locking the gate back. "Only the larger ones tend to make nests on the ground so we've found that as long as the tree branches are large enough the smaller ones are perfectly happy with staying up and away from the older ones."

Lucy looks up, surprised to find the ceiling made of glass, allowing her to see the snow falling from the clouds in the sky. Much to her shock, the snow that touches the roof melts right away. Only then does she notice she's nearly sweating in her coat that when outside, barely stopped the cold.

Lisanna smiles, walking up to stand beside her. "Dragons run hotter than normal animals. As such the Dragonarium is almost always the hottest place in the shelter. Great in the winter when the blizzards can make it hard to heat such a large space, in the summer not so much."

As if on cue a large black scaled reptile the size of a large German shepherd rises from a pile of hay and wanders over, rubbing against Lisanna's leg with a rumbling purr. The caretaker giggles, crouching down to set a hand between the horns sweeping around the sides of its head.

"Hello, Skiadrum, did you miss me?" The dragon rumbles, headbutting her. She laughs, glancing up at the blonde to find her watching awestruck. Lisanna waves, gesturing for her to bend down. "Come on, the only way they pay you attention is if you get on their level."

Lucy gets on her knees and Lisanna grabs a small fish from the bucket, offering it to the dragon before speaking again.

"Skiadrum here is a shadow dragon. He—"

"I didn't know there was a difference?" Lucy speaks softly, afraid to spook the large gentle animal. The caretaker turns to her, grinning.

"There is, believe me, each dragon is about as different from one another as humans are. There are seven classifications of dragons depending on what kind of element they breathe but there are also subcategories upon subcategories that would take forever to explain." She runs a hand down the dragon's back, pausing to scratch particularly hard between its furled pitch black wings. "Fire, metal, lightning, air, shadow, light, and poison are the main categories that scientists have discovered so far. Right now we have," She pauses, looking around the atrium in a quick mental count. "I wanna say four of those categories here. We had all seven but Lev adopted the metal dragon we had, my sister just adopted the lightning dragon yesterday, and the poison was adopted last week by a lovely barmaid my sister knows."

Her hand stills on the dragon's back and Skiadrum, annoyed at being ignored, walks forward trying to stick his nose in the bucket. Lisanna wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him backward and scowls.

"Skiadrum, you know better than that. Only one fish per dragon in between feedings."

Rumbling in annoyance the dragon turns around, rubbing his head against her stomach. She smiles, running her fingers up and down his neck as she looks back at Lucy.

"Anyway, Skiadrum here is the oldest of the dragons here right now. He's pretty quiet and tends to leave the other dragons alone but if you're not careful he'll disappear on you."

The blonde smiles, reaching out to run a hand down his side and shakes her head. "He's nice but if I am gonna get a dragon then I need one that's a bit smaller, and maybe a bit more energetic?"

Lisanna shrugs, leaning back to look the shadow dragon in the eye. "Sorry, old guy, looks like you got turned down again. Maybe next time?"

He huffs, a wisp of what looks to be black smoke coming from his nose and he turns away, returning to his nest. The women get back up, Lisanna leading Lucy closer to one of the trees.

"I forgot to warn you. The dragons here are pretty smart, they seem to understand almost everything we say. The younger and smaller ones like to play innocent and adorable to get on your good side, don't pay attention to it. All they want is the fish."

Lucy nods, watching Lisanna approach a particularly small white dragon watching them from where it's curled in a nest of woven grass and feathers. The caretaker smiles, reaching up to scratch it.

"Hello, Wendy." It purrs, turning its head to allow her access to the skin under its white scales and Lisanna looks over her shoulder. "Wendy here is the youngest dragon we have at the moment. She and her mother, Grandine, were brought in before Wendy hatched and have been here since. Grandine should be…" She looks around, finally turning her gaze up higher in the tree and grins. "There she is."

Reaching back the caretaker grabs a fish from the bucket, holding it above her head. "Come on down, Grandine, there's someone who wants to meet you."

Lucy almost misses it, watching the older dragon leap from the top of the tree to glide down in slow lazy circles, but she hears the little one chirp quietly as if asking a question. She smiles, reaching into the bucket and holds up a smaller fish to her.

"You want one too?"

The dragon blinks and launches forward, small sharp teeth snatching the meal from her fingers. Lucy jumps back in shock, opening and closing her hand to check she still has all her digits. Lisanna giggles, looking up from where she runs a hand over the larger dragon's spine.

"Sorry about that. I forgot to mention sky dragons are extremely quick. They're some of the fastest dragons out there besides lightning dragons and can sometimes move faster than the human eye can follow. Wendy's going through a growth spurt at the moment and is sometimes a little faster then she can handle. You should see when Grandine teaches her to fly, it's kind of hilarious to watch."

Lucy smiles, kneeling beside the white dragon. A question occurs to her and she glances at the caretaker. "How long does a mother dragon stay with their young?"

Lisanna inhales sharply. "That's a bit of a problem. See, scientists think the nurturing and growth stage lasts about three years. It's nearly impossible to separate a youngling from its mother before then because the mother is extremely protective, and if separated too young the youngling dies before too long." They share a sad smile, the answer clear between them and Lisanna gets up, patting Grandine once more. "There are still two more types, maybe one will catch your attention?"

Despite how shocked she had been when they had started, now being here for twenty minutes and having listened to Lisanna's explanations Lucy's more than determined to find one of these balls of scales she may be able to take home with her. Seeing her determined expression Lisanna grins, walking over to a tree further away from the gate. As they approach the tree a white light flashes in front of them, hitting the ground mere feet from them and sending of a wisp of smoke.

The caretaker scowls, turning to face a massive pile of straw where Lucy can just pick out a white snout poking through.

"Weisslogia, don't be rude." There's a rumbling sound similar to a bark and Lisanna crouches, glaring at the pile of straw. "I know it was you. Now come on out and meet my friend."

Another bark and Lisanna rolls her eyes, looking up at the blonde. "I don't think Mister Grump will be coming out anytime soon. The other light dragon we have, Sting, decided to try and steal Weisslogia's nest a few days ago and Weisslogia is holding a grudge against him."

Lucy nods in acknowledgment and Lisanna stands up, reaching into the bucket to throw a fish near the nest before walking away. The blonde, however, pauses. Quietly she watches as a pair of horns similar to deer antlers emerge from the pile followed by a narrow snout covered in white whiskers. Under the chin, the whiskers come together to form what appears to be a small beard giving the dragon a sort of ancient wisdom kind of look. When the dragon snaps up the fish, casting her a wary eye she smiles and turns away.

So far, all the large dragons she's seen have ranged from the size of a large German shepherd like Skiadrum to the short, squat and muscled form of Grandine. Adding Weisslogia's long thin body to the picture she's surprised the dragons have such different body types.

"Lucy." She looks up, jerked from her thoughts by the whisper-yell to find Lisanna holding a hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter and pointing at a white form stuck in between a forked tree branch. Lucy walks closer, giggling as well when she sees the reason for the laughter is, in fact, a miniature of the light dragon trapped between the branches.

The little light dragon—she assumes it's a light dragon—is about as long as her arm, as thin as a dachshund, with legs that are long and spindly. Overall if she didn't know better and ignored the antler-like horns sprouting from its head as well as the wings she'd think it a white wiener dog and chihuahua mix.

Getting over her laughter, Lisanna reaches up, one hand pinching the wing joints together, the other pushing its tail to tuck under its body and carefully frees it from the branch. She grins, holding the little dragon up to Lucy.

"This is Sting. He and Natsu are our resident troublemakers. Well," She pauses, glancing at a pile of half burnt straw in one of the planters. Shaking her head she looks back at the blonde. "Sting's the one who turned Weisslogia into Mister Grump for the time being. He's somehow got it into his head that he can go around and mess with the bigger dragons without repercussions. Before the metal dragon was adopted out he, the metal, and Natsu would keep each other distracted and largely out of trouble."

"Why are you holding him like that?" She's curious, watching the dragon be so calm in Lisanna's grasp. The caretaker grins, turning to show her more easily.

"You know the way mother cats and dogs hold their young by their scruff to keep them calm?"

She frowns in thought. "Doesn't it release endorphins to calm them?"

Lisanna nods. "Yeah. The same goes for dragons but since dragon scales are so tough you grab them by the wing joints simultaneously and it stops them from trying to wriggle free." As if in reply Sting huffs, turning his head to glare at the platinum-haired worker. In return, she grins, leaning closer to him. "Hey, you're the one who got stuck in a tree. Next time I can just leave you for Weisslogia to toy with."

The light dragon growls and Lisanna sets him up on the tree branch. Lucy walks closer, offering up one of the last fish in the bucket. Sting sniffs at it, licking her fingers as well before carefully pulling the fish off and taking off for higher in the tree. The caretaker turns to her, arching an eyebrow to ask the silent question.

Lucy just shakes her head, turning back to watch the light dragon. "He's adorable and more of the size I was thinking but if he's willing to get on the bad side of a dragon four times his size he might be too much of a troublemaker for me."

Nodding in acceptance the caretaker walks over to the tree she had glanced at. "That leaves our final draconic occupant." She pauses, looking back at the blonde. "I just don't know if he's gonna be willing to leave his nest or not."

She frowns in concern, walking up beside the woman. "Why wouldn't he? Even Weisslogia came out for fish."

Lisanna sighs, her eyes wandering to a blackened mark in the artificial grass near one wall. "We used to have two fire dragons. One being Natsu and the other was a much older dragon named Igneel. Both were really close, often with Igneel being one of the only ones to have any patience for his antics. Three days ago, we don't know what happened but when I and a couple others came in to clean the Dragonarium we found that Igneel had died overnight. Natsu was crushed. Ever since he's refused to eat, play with Sting, or even leave his nest. We've tried everything but with it being the holiday season everyone's gone and I've been so busy with taking care of the shelter I haven't had time to focus on the little guy."

Her story rings with Lucy, and the blonde looks at the charred nest, her mind seeming to make itself up. She nods, walking around the tree to find a little black dragon about Sting's size curled in the straw looking pitifully small. She smiles sadly, kneeling in front of the planter.

Up close she can hear the dragon whimper, a sound that pulls at her heartstrings.

She reaches out, laying a hand on the dragon's body and his eyes pop open. Inwardly she gasps, shocked by just how much grief is within the jade green eyes. He—Natsu, she has to remember—whines, shuffling his wings and turns his back to her. Instead of moving away like she had when the others ignored her, she stays put, gently setting her hand back on him, this time running her thumb over his hide in soothing circles.

She knows Lisanna talks to them, says they're intelligent, and she believes it. So then why does it feel ridiculous for her to try? It shouldn't.

"Natsu," It feels like she's talking to a spooked animal, trying to use a calm and soothing voice. Maybe she is? "come now. I know you miss your Igneel." She glances at Lisanna in question earning a nod. "I know you're missing Igneel, but you can't do this to yourself. Lisanna says you're playful and energetic and always getting into trouble with Sting."

His head tilts, giving her the idea he's listening. She smiles sadly sliding her hand up to his neck the way she's seen Lisanna do with the others.

"I'm looking for a dragon to take home with me. Someone who's energetic and playful and who won't let me be lonely."

He turns his head, one jade eye staring into her own chocolate brown as if to say why me?

She knows it can be taken one of two ways. And she leans down, gently tracing the scales between the horns on his head. One horn, she notices, is broken in half—the top three inches of it missing.

Gently rubbing the smaller scales of the ridges over his eyes has a purr rumbling through his body. His eyelids fall halfway closed and his body uncurls, the small spikes on the tip of his tail tapping the nest in pleasure.

"Wow, Lucy." The blonde doesn't remember seeing Lisanna sidle up to her side. She nearly jumps up, stopping herself at the last second before spooking the dragon. Nervous about keeping the dragon calm she holds a finger to her lips to keep the caretaker quiet then slowly reaches for the last fish.

"Natsu," She coos, watching his jade eyes open in curiosity. "if you eat I'll let you come with me. I even have a nice juicy fish here for you."

Slowly she pulls it out of the bucket. His eyes are on it, the only part of his body moving besides the tip of his tail slowly flicking back and forth. He rumbles in what she guesses is aggravation and gets up. He stretches, opening his mouth in a wide yawn revealing an adorable forked pink tongue surrounded by serrated teeth sharp enough to take a finger off in one bite. With his rump in the air, his wings stretch wide, revealing orange membranes that contrast to the color of his scales.

Or what Lucy assumes are his scales until she notices a large black spot where he'd been laying along with the smudged black on her hand. She wants to ask Lisanna but she knows it can wait until she completely has Natsu's attention. Speaking of which…

She's drawn from her thoughts when he hacks a cough, a large red and orange flame shooting from his mouth and hitting the fish. She drops it on the ground, wearily watching the Scottish terrier sized dragon leap after it.

While he eats she takes careful notice of the differences between the little fire dragon and the other dragons she's seen.

He's no bigger than Sting—only coming up to maybe her shin in height—but his legs, neck, and head are bulkier with muscle than the fleet-footed light dragons. It comes to mind if he was a human he'd be more of a fighter than the sky or light dragons. His snout is wider, allowing for bigger teeth and more jaw strength. On the right side of his jaw, she sees a large scar, even visible through the black that disappears under the jaw bone.

"Why is he black?"

She looks to Lisanna, utilizing the distraction to ask some questions.

Lisanna points at the charred marks on the wall. "After we removed Igneel's body he burned the nest and rolled in it. This is the closest anyone has gotten to him since so we haven't quite had a chance to give him a bath."

So the black is really just soot and ash. That's one question off her mind.

"What are the characteristics I need to know?"

At this point, he's done with his fish. He turns, walking up to Lucy with wide eyes. She can only watch in wonder as he effortlessly leaps onto her shoulder. His nails dig into her coat, allowing him a grip and he purrs, rubbing his cheek against hers.

Lucy giggles, ignoring the soot mark on her face for the time being to scratch his chin as Lisanna crawls forward.

"Well if he's the one you want there are a couple things you need to know. Fire dragons burn the hottest of all dragons. Excellent for the winter but forget about blankets in the summer. Also, since it seems he's already so close to you, you may wanna forget about even trying to train him to sleep on the floor or wherever you put his bed. He'll just end up beside you come morning. As for diet wise, he'll eat just about anything but he also eats a lot. Instead of three meals a day we have to split it up so he gets a snack in between each meal or else he starts trying to go after the cats and dogs."

Gently scratching the fire dragon's head she sits back, throwing a thumb over her shoulder at the gate.

"One of the volunteers forgot to feed him one time and we had to get a new door because he nearly burnt through it."

They both giggle, unaware of the dragon beginning to doze in his spot wrapped around her neck.

"So, feed him more than three times a day, lose the blankets during summer, anything else I need to know?"

The caretaker frowns, her eyes softening at the sight of the peaceful little creature. "Yeah, two big things. In the underworld, fire dragons and metal dragons are most often used in fighting rings. Two years ago, Natsu was rescued from one. We assume that's where he lost half his horn and got the scar on his cheek. He has a short temper and will try to fight anything he deems fight worthy. Natsu is young, we estimate him to be about five years old. Dragons tend to live for about half a century so he still has a lot of room to grow. Are you prepared to take on such a long journey?"

Lucy looks down at the dragon, reaching up to scratch his head in thought and grins. "Yeah, I think we can handle it."

The caretaker grins. "Awesome. Let's go ahead and get him washed up and some more food in him then we can write up the adoption papers."

As if in answer the dragon rumbles his content, his eyes closed in a light slumber.

A year later…

"Natsu!"

He jumps up, his wings flapping in excitement. That was his human, his special one, called him.

He must go. With that thought he leaps off the bed, racing down the hall as fast as his claws can without skidding on the wood. If he really wanted to go fast he would fly but fly bad. Fly no allowed in the special human's house.

So he runs. Around the corner and down the steps he so likes to drape himself across to nap.

At the bottom he flings his tail around, the extra limb allowing him to spin on his claws down another hall into the room of all the good smells and all the good food he can only eat when his special human says he can.

Skidding to a stop before he can hit the little wooden doors that are so fun to pry open he turns, panting, to find his special human standing over the gift he hunted that morning when she let him outside to go flying.

He purrs. Good gift yes? Gift good? Human gift like?

His human groans, kneeling to look him in the eye. He likes looking in her eyes. His human's eyes are so deep he thinks he could fly forever in them.

"Natsu, I said you could keep your kills but you can't keep bringing them inside."

Human not like? Gift no? He rumbles. His eyes going wide in terror, he crouches, wings pinned tightly to his sides. Always protect his wings. That's what he was taught. Protect his wings and he can fly away from danger he can't fight.

His human sighs this time, her voicing falling lower. "Natsu, you're not in trouble."

No! He won't fall for it! He won't fall for her loving sounds and soft coos and ooh, that's it. He purrs, leaning into the hand scratching the scarred scales on his cheek. Those scales always itch when he sheds.

He sighs, sitting on his rump to lean further into her touch. It doesn't matter how scared he is of her, he loves his human and her soft voice and softer touch and hands that seem to know all the right places to scratch.

Up. Up. He rumbles, tilting his head down for her to scratch between his horns and she giggles.

"Oh, what am I gonna do with you?"

Eyes half-lidded, the look of content he gives her speaks more words then even he can recognize from his human. She sighs.

"I'm not mad, Natsu. I just wish you would stop bringing your kills inside. The neighbors are starting to get suspicious when I have to keep burying the bones."

He rumbles. Gift you. Good gift? Like gift you?

She shakes her head with a smile. "Sorry, I don't understand dragon rumble."

Now he groans. You smart. You not know dragon? He gets up, walking around her and drags his gift in front of her. Then he drops it, sitting on his haunches and purring. Gift you. Gift like love love you.

He's never been able to read human faces like other humans and older dragons can but he can read the signs in their voices and touch. That's how he knew his human was a good human, that his human was to be his.

She lets out a short laugh, rubbing his head again. "Okay, I understood that—"

Other humans! He turns his head away, glaring at the wooden door his human enters their nest through. He can hear their voices along with several dragons he recognizes from the old bad good nest he used to live in.

A bell rings and he growls. He opens his mouth to bare his teeth at the intruders and his human laughs, setting a hand on his head.

"Easy, Natsu. Let's go see who it is." Rumbling his agreement he climbs up the arm his human offers him and settles on her shoulder. When he loops his tail around her neck he rubs his cheek against hers, purring his content and happiness.

His human rises and he digs his claws in, his wings flapping loosely to hold his balance until she stands tall and he can see everything he can't see unless he sits on the rock he no allowed to be on when eating.

Then his human walks to the wooden door, the scents of other humans and dragons getting stronger when she opens the door.

He rumbles why here? You no here! to the other dragons with the humans and the light dragon, his playmate from the bad good nest rumbles in return.

Humans come. We come humans.

Natsu snorts, his tail flicking in irritation. My nest. You no nest.

His human rubs his jaw, drawing his attention and he turns an eye to her. "Natsu, behave. They're here to celebrate with us. Surely you and Sting can get along for a little while."

Human like. Human want. Human get. Though he shows his disagreement with a flare of his wings in warning to the light dragon.

Human pet. Fire dragon no better prey. The lightning dragon standing beside the human reminding him of the nice human from the bad good nest rumbles with arrogance.

He allows his eyes to fall halfway closed and spits a small fireball at the yellow scaled dragon twice his size.

Who human pet? Pet. With that he turns from the lightning dragon back to the Light. Human gift. Human like. Want show humans?

The light dragon purrs his agreement and both jump off their human's shoulders to walk to the room of good smells.

XxX

Lucy smiles, watching her dragon walk toward the kitchen with his usual self-assured step. It's hard to believe—for her at least—that it has already been a full year since she adopted the little fire dragon.

Looking at him now, his crimson scales a nice healthy sheen compared to the miserable soot covered reptile she had first met she wouldn't have believed they could be one in the same.

"Hey, Lu-chan." She shakes her head, getting rid of her thoughts, and steps aside, holding a hand up to the rest of her apartment.

"Come on in, guys." With that her friends walk in, pausing to leave their shoes by the door before continuing into the living room.

She follows after them, her eyes landing on the metallic gray dragon clinging to Levy's back. "Hey, Levy-chan." Her friend looks back at her and she gestures to the dragon. "When did Gajeel start riding on your back instead of your shoulder?"

The bluenette smiles, reaching up to rub the metal dragon's chin. He purrs, a sound similar to gravel rolling in a barrel, and leans closer.

"I spoke to Lisanna about it and apparently all dragons do it. Once they reach about ten years old they become too large to sit completely on your shoulder and settle with this. I'm not gonna lie, the first week of him doing it wasn't pleasant." She grimaces. "It took a little practice before he learned not to dig his claws in too deep."

Lucy nods, turning to the woman with long platinum hair sitting in an armchair with the dark yellow lightning dragon laying comfortably at her feet. "Speaking of Lisanna. Where is she, Mirajane? She said she would be here with us."

The woman giggles. "She had to cancel. Someone came into the shelter looking to adopt the sky dragons so she had to stay and get everything organized."

"Really?" She grins when Mira nods. "That's amazing. It's about time those two found a good home."

Since the night she met all the dragons in the Dragonarium she's taken a special interest in them, even going so far as to volunteering with Levy there every weekend. She too has fallen for the sky dragons what with Wendy's whimsically clumsy nature and Grandine's kind and gentle personality. If not for the little bundle of fire-breathing scales getting into trouble somewhere in her apartment already she would've adopted them. So to hear them finally being able to find a home is indeed incredible news.

She turns to the final member of their get together. "So, Yukino. How have things been with Sting?"

Having originally met the shy white-haired girl when she wandered into the shelter looking to adopt a dog, she fell in love with the dragons just as hard as Lucy did when she met Lucy's own dragon. Afterward, it seemed like a match made in heaven between the energetic outgoing light dragon and the introverted woman. Not long after the two women became fast friends and now the blonde sees her as a close friend.

The woman sighs, leaning back in her chair. "I don't know how you do it, Lucy. Sting's all over the place and you wanna know what he did yesterday?"

The blonde arches an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

Yukino scowls, crossing her arms over her chest. "He brought a dead cat into the house!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy sees movement and grins. "You mean like that?"

All four women look over to see the fire and light dragons working together to drag the cat Natsu had killed earlier into the living room. The dragons stop in front of the lit Christmas tree, dropping the carcass and sitting beside it. They look proud of their work, their eyes wide and tails lashing in excitement.

Lucy giggles, tapping her shoulder. A signal she's been training Natsu to climb onto his perch and be out of the way. He jumps up, rushing across the room to do so and when he's settled she scratches his chin.

"Natsu does it all the time. He never eats them though. Not until I say he can. I think it's like he's trying to give me a gift."

XxX

He yawns one eye on his human, the other on the bigger dragons.

Human smart. Gift human. Human like. He purrs, enjoying the scratches his human is giving him.

The lightning dragon huffs, his eyes closed, though the fire dragon knows from experience he's awake. Why gift? Why act prey? You dragon. Act dragon!

He knows why he acts like the love-struck dumb prey he hunts. His human is worth it. His human took him from bad good nest and bad bad memories and bad sour scent of missing dragons.

Love love human. He rumbles, laying down on his human's shoulder. No human still be in bad good nest. No like bad good nest. Like human.

The light dragon purrs. Agree. Agree fire dragon. Human take from bad good nest. Love love human.

For the first time the metal dragon, his other playmate from bad good nest rumbles, Agree. Lightning dragon no agree. Human safe. Human love. Human protect. Protect human.

He and the Light purr their agreement. Their humans protect them so they protect their humans. That is what dragons do for those they love.

So, this is pretty much a good example of how the rest of the week will turn out. I've had so much fun doing these that the prompts have just kind of exploded into monster oneshots. And I mean I have one that's over thirty five pages. Yeah, I kinda blew Beta's mind when I sent him the first half of the week at over fifty-two pages total. The second half is even longer and I'm working overtime to get it wrapped up and sent to him.

Anyway, I hoped y'all enjoyed the first taste of NaLu Week and I'll see ya back here on the 18th with the first official day of NaLu Week. My chosen prompt: Fascination. *grins evily*

Grizzly out for the night.