A New Family

"You'll like it, there's a lake nearby with tons of fish. Trout, rainbow and salmon in the spring that come up the river," Happy explains enthusiastically. The cat floats beside his companions as they head home, his pure white wings flapping every few beats to keep him in the air.

"I don't care about that. My home is with my tribe, not with you two males. They'll be back to save me again, wait and see," Natsu's female shouts. She struggles over his shoulder like a dying bore twitching for life, crying out its last fighting breath. She claws into the back of his mixed fur coat but the material is too thick to feel her tinny nails through. Her legs in front of him kick the air, sometimes smacking against one of his stout thighs.

"Who cares? I'll chase them off with the power of my Sacred Rod again. Show them who's dominant," Natsu simply says.

While her flailing is nothing he can't handle, having fought against worse things, he can't understand why the female is struggling against him. She saw him chase the Female Tribe off in order to protect her. She should be taking pride in the fact that he's chosen her and not fighting against him. Overtime, he'll learn what this female's every move and intent means but she's a mystery to him as of now.

But none of that matters. After fending off the Female Tribe with a single blow from his Sacred Rod and being honored with the title of Brave, a title reserved for the strongest male in the tribe, Natsu's elated mood can't be thwarted so easily. No other human in the Male Tribe was able to stand up to the females, not even Laxus, who was the former Brave of the tribe. A single look from that red headed female sent Laxus kneeling to the ground with a wave of pain in his crotch. The power of his Sacred Rods had not risen to the challenge but rather had its wrath incurred. Eventually, all of the other males in Natsu's tribe succumbed to the same pain in their crotches, having them fall in battle with little to no resistance.

For a moment or two, it felt as if that was going to happen to Natsu, bringing about a pain in his Sacred Rod he never knew could exist. That pain translated into something completely different once he grabbed onto those large mounds attached to his females' chest. He was originally hoping that somehow she wouldn't be taken away from him, not when he recently claimed her, but instead his Sacred Rod awoke at such a fast and intense rate that it was as if the Gods themselves granted him unlimited power. This female Natsu has chosen allowed him to tap into the power of his Sacred Rod and beat back the other females, having them run off in terror—though why exactly he's still unsure of.

Nastu's Sacred Rod has calmed down since winning such a fierce battle but the euphoria that it bought about hasn't left his system. At the time, it was unnerving to see the power those females held over the males, but thinking about it now is funny to Natsu. It still makes him want to piss in laughter remembering how Gajeel got smashed into the ground by that small, bird-like female with blue hair.

Natsu's earned the right to keep this female.

When he first caught her, he thought she could be lunch for the tribe. After that, he debated about keeping her as a pet. Neither of those things sounded right though. The thought of any male sinking their teeth into her pale flesh makes Igny build in his blood, and she can't be a pet, not when she's human like he is. A very different kind of human but she has feeling, too.

Sensitive feelings from the sound of her high pitch protests, being carried off to Natsu's hut. Located away from the village to keep some privacy, there are dense oaks, maples and pines towering above his home to one side, creating shade and close hunting grounds. The land suddenly cuts off on the other side of the house, dropping to a valley below and providing an excellent view to scout for trouble. Out this far from the main village there's nothing to hear but the call of birds and the territorial cries of chipmunks.

In the season of blooming life, summer is at it's peek with warm, comforting days that set the foliage to be a vibrant green, trees in full bloom and flowers dancing along side them. In this landscape Natsu calls home, the place is perceptually struggling to keep warm, an aspect that doesn't bother him, since he can't really tell the difference in temperature a lot of the time thanks to how feverish his body constantly is. His tribe has set up the village in an area where the winters can be harsh, making it that much harder for the summer to set in properly regardless of how much the Big Igny shines down. It can make the nights largely contrast to the day, the cold air of the darkness taking on a winter like grasp most of the time no matter if it's summer, especially when the cold wind comes down from the nearby mountains. That doesn't stop life from struggling for a place to belong, as the plants and flowers always come back every year.

Shouldering his way past the treated buffalo skin that acts as the entry door way to his hut, Natsu gently sets the female down on a thick pile of pelts he and Happy use for their nest—silky cougars, course black bear and smaller pelts of fox, raccoon and coyotes.

She immediately scoots to the other side of the nest, pressing her back against the wall and keeping her guard up. "What do you want from me?" she asks intense.

Natsu tilts his head to the side. "Want from you? Nothing. I found you, I get to keep you."

"You can't treat me like some animal."

"Aren't we all animals?"

"Well … yes, but that's not the point."

Happy plops down to lie on top of Natsu's head, ruffling his pink hair. "Don't be scared. Natsu's a really nice guy once you get to know him. He makes an awesome charred boars' meat with his Igny."

Natsu takes to sitting in front of the female on the pelts, crossing his legs and squeezing his dirty feet in both of his hands. "What's your name? I heard it shouted by one of the other females but I wasn't really paying attention," he grins.

She hesitates, judging his sincerity. "… Lucy."

"Oh, that's odd. Doesn't sound very strong. Kind of soft."

"I could say opposite for your name … Natsu."

"Thanks!"

"Seems that everything males do is the opposite of my tribe."

"Your formal tribe," he reminds. "This is your home now. I hope you like it. I know it's not much but you can collect things to bring here, too, if you want."

He realizes that it's a bit of a mess in his house but everything has a reason for being here, mainly because he's developed a habit of collecting memorabilia. Those old spears with splintered handles were the first weapons he made when he was small, there's no way he could discard something that sentimental. Those piles of animal skulls are from his tribes' triumph over the Tiger Tooth Male Tribe from the north, who stupidly thought they could encroach into his tribes' lands. Their reward for their victory was a bountiful feast, taken from the northern tribe's caribou stash. There are old pelts lying around, bits of rock and piles of wood, different herbs and smaller chunks of food that Natsu never bothered to clean up, discarded on the floor. He has to admit that junk like that lying around probably doesn't leave a good impression for Lucy but there was never a point in getting rid of them when he never knew when his last meal would be, living in such a harsh world.

"I don't plan on doing such a thing," Lucy says as if insulted. "Collecting items would mean I've found purchase with my life, something I don't want here."

"Come on, don't be grumpy." Natsu gives her a wide smile, grinning from ear to ear and shrugging easily. "You'll come to like it here soon enough, but we should sleep. The Big Igny in the sky is going down and I'll have to get up early to hunt, since I didn't catch much of anything today." He hums in ponder. "More than usual, now that I have to feed the two of you."

"Don't worry about me, Natsu. I can catch all the fish I want. I've been practicing my hunting skills. I'll even store away extra fish for the winter," Happy says. He rubs at his companion's sunset pink hair before lightly getting off of his head.

Natsu scratches his friends' pointy ear. "As you should be doing."

"I'm not sleeping anywhere near you two," Lucy pouts. She searches the nest disgusted as if looking for ticks, which he's made sure to remove.

"It might be nice during the day but it's getting cold at night with the days getting shorter. I don't exactly want you to die just when I got you."

She juts her chin out. "I won't die from such a thing. I'm a lot tougher than I look."

"You're ten times smaller than me. Except for whatever is on your chest."

Natsu eyes those mounds that rest above Lucy's rib cage, covered by leopard skin and string. He doesn't know what they are exactly. Fat storage maybe? She must be well fed if that's the case. All he knows for sure is that Lucy has some sort of power stored within those lumps that affects his Sacred Rod. He wants to keep her around not only because of the guy-wrenching intuition he has telling him to do so but because of that potential power she can bring to him. Then again, maybe what she did to him earlier today isn't what he thinks. He's not sure how to understand all of this, considering he didn't know what a female was when he woke up this morning.

Natsu's startled out of his thoughts when Lucy unexpectedly pounces forward. Her swift movements turn her into a blur that darts past him towards the huts skin door, feeling the way she slices through the air next to him with no hesitation. She has no muscle, ligaments narrow, her entire body soft and curving with the dexterity of a butterfly but, damn, is Lucy fast. Way faster than any other male with their bulky builds. How can she move like that?

Instinct rears its head at this fleeing target, years of hunting practice having Natsu's eyes see not a human running away but rather a rabbit trying to escape from the jaws of death. With an accelerated heart and no thought to what he's doing, Natsu snaps around and snatches Lucy by the ankle. She trips and lands harsh on the dirt floor against her stomach, knocking the breath out of her.

She glares back at him with a sneer, bearing her dull fangs. "Let me go!"

Given that the Female Tribe came after Lucy with weapons and war animals, she means something to them, an aspect Natsu can sympathize with. If he was taken from his tribe, Natsu's sure the other guys would fight for his safe return, as well. But it isn't that simple, at least, not to Natsu. There's something about this Lucy female he can't give up. From the moment he realized what she was, it doesn't just feel necessary to keep her around but an absolute need. He can't possibly let her go, simple as that. He won't question his gut when it's never steered him wrong before.

Despite this, irritation builds in Natsu's blood at Lucy's refusal to accept that she is his now. He's tried to make this transition as easy as possible for Lucy, showing that he means no harm by being extremely gentle and explaining to her that she has nothing to worry about. It's almost like she's ignored him this entire time with the way she's acting. If soft reassurance isn't going to work then it's going to have to come down to dominance. He needs to make her understand that the claim he's put over her is no small matter. With him being the stronger of the two humans here, it should tell her that he can provide, hunt and give her shelter, that he can keep her happy and comfortable. He won't let Lucy be harmed, not when he considers her apart of his family from this moment onward. She needs to understand these things and if it means having to argument with her to prove his point then so be it.

Natsu drags Lucy back by the ankle and scuffle's her to the ground. He's easily able to capture her frail wrists in his hands and uses his ample weight to drive her to the dirt floor, keeping her arms pinned to the ground above her head. He distinctly notices how much larger his hands are compared to hers, as under the callous of his palms he can feel her wrists bones. It makes him wonder how breakable Lucy really is but he'll think about that later. Hovering above her petite frame, he presses a knee to her inner thigh and keeps it held down, making it harder for her to move around.

Natsu lowers his face to Lucy's, bearing his sharp fangs right back at her. "Stay," he demands.

She doesn't give into his foreboding presence, either not sensing it or too stubborn to submit right away. She glares at him, that heat in her eyes surprisingly stunning. "Why should I?"

"Because I like you," he admits with a huff. "I don't take things unless they're interesting. Plus, you're fun to have around. I got more excitement out of today then I have in weeks. Beyond that, though, you made my Sacred Rod awaken."

Her eyebrows furrow. "Sacred Rod …?"

"You know, that thing between my legs."

"She doesn't have one," Happy reminds amused, watching them from the nest.

"Shit, that's right." When they first met, she was naked from her bathing and after tackling her to the ground, he got a full look at ... at nothing! There's nothing for the female down there. It absolutely freaks Natsu out. "Did it get injured in a battle? Torn off or something?" he asks curiously.

"Don't say such things," Happy shutters, crossing his legs and curling into a ball.

All around baffled, Lucy unconsciously shakes her head. "I have no clue what either of you are talking about."

"Come on, you have to know what a Sacred Rod is. It's something all males have. It's our pride," Natsu says.

"Well, I'm obviously not a male. I don't seem to have whatever you're talking about."

He backs his head up confused. "Then how do you piss?"

"I am done with his conversation," she says appalled.

He lifts up a little to look down her shapely body. For Lucy, there's definitely no bulge where the Sacred Rod should be, it's flat as an open field of wheat past her leopard hide. Unlike him, she's taken to covering a cloth between her legs and wrapping it under the animal skin she wears to cover whatever she could possibly have down there, if there's anything at all. If Natsu did that his Sacred Rod it would cry, as it likes its freedom too much. His thick pelt wrapping that slits to one side and reaches down to his calf legs is good enough to contain his modesty.

"Don't you want to know about one another? You're like me but different," Natsu genuinely asks.

Lucy doesn't say anything to that, but there is a curious intake of breath from her, seeming to take a silent agreement with him. Her earthy eyes linger on his stomach past the opening of his animal vest and slowly inches up towards his face. Natsu can't help but tense up, wondering what she's seeing. How different looking is he in her eyes?

Suddenly, she scoffs and quickly dismisses him. "I don't care to know. I've figured out enough to know you don't want me for me."

Dammit, most males find satisfaction with the basic things needed to be kept alive—simple life and simple happiness. Females aren't the same; at least his female isn't, because from the sound of it she doesn't want objects alone but a bond. Natsu luckily understands that. Being with his tribe for a good chunk of his life, their laughter, teachings and friendship can never replace anything. He would do anything to keep his tribe safe.

"You're not some "thing" to me," he says, locking their eyes together. "You're Lucy. All I want is to have you by my side. It's something ... I feel is right."

Lucy's expression changes into one of utter surprise, making her eyes widen and a small gasp pull against her lips. Redness creeps against her neck and up to her ears, the skip Natsu can hear in her heartbeat having him worry that he ruined everything, as he's only ever heard such a stutter in the heart out of fear. Thankfully, Lucy stops struggling against him, meaning he must have said something right within his honesty.

"I don't want to treat you bad," he says. To prove his point, Natsu slowly lets her go, backing away and giving her some space.

Lucy quickly sits upright and scoots away on her butt towards the skin door.

Panic ripples through his gut, having him snap an arm out and fist the string that connects at the front of her leopard skin top. He pulls back without thinking, and as quick as the lightening that struck Laxus, he notices rosy patches resting on top of those mounds. He almost forgot that Lucy has nipples like he does, having seen them for the first time when he caught her bathing, but it's the large chest they sit upon that first clued him into the fact that she was a different from him—and then all hell broke loose when he looked down at her crotch to see nothing but light blond hair.

Lucy squeals and swats frantically at his arm. "Let go!"

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to! Don't get closer to the door though. That's all I ask," Natsu says worried, releasing the string.

Despite her sneer and the way she crosses an arm over her chest, as if she can hide her hills from him, Lucy doesn't move farther away. She sits defensively, legs curled as if ready to run and her head ducked low, prepared to head-butt him if he gets close enough.

"Uh, do girls not show their chests?" Natsu asks confused.

"No, we do not. We are modest in our ways," she says hard.

"I don't really get it but …" He sighs exasperated, rubbing a hand across his upper lip. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you and I don't want to make you unhappy. You might not like it but I want to keep you around. You're pretty. Strange but pretty. I want to—" He looks to the ground frustrated, trying to find the right words. "You don't have to trust me but don't run away. We'll get to know one another and then you'll see that I'm not such a bad person."

Happy comes around to stand beside Natsu. "It's better to stay here with him than any of the other males. Mas Ter doesn't seem to like you, Gray will throw his Sacred Rod at you constantly without mercy and I'd hate to see what would happen if you got around the others. You're getting off easy with this simple caveman."

"Thanks," said caveman snorts.

Seeming to trust some of the cat's words, Lucy's flustered expression relaxes a little. She looks into Natsu's midnight eyes. He holds completely still, letting her do her thing.

Past the insult, Happy is both right and wrong. The males of the Tribe took Natsu in without question after Igneel, his adoptive parental figure, disappeared. Natsu was found by Mas Ter in the woods long ago with starvation hollowing out his small body and predators hovering near, waiting for him to die of a broken heart. For the longest time, Natsu didn't feel the need to avoid the elements, content to wait for Igneel in the exact spot he last saw the fire dragon. It wasn't until Mas Ter reached a hand out to help Natsu that he saw something in the old man's kind expression. It looked like a glimmer of hope for the future. A reminder of what Igneel told Natsu; that thinking of the future will make him want to live.

All those years ago when Natsu was first brought to the Male Tribe, the younger males around his age—Gray, Elfman, Jet and Droy—showed him what it meant to find friends. The older males taught him the ways of being human, such a foreign concept to him at the time when all he knew was the way of the dragon. All of them showed this once depressed child what it meant to look forward to the future again, learning how to survive on his own in what was normally considered such a helpless world. After all these years, Natsu would trust his fellow males with anything.

That's why it's a complicated situation when Natsu thinks about them interacting with Lucy. She's new territory, someone Natsu isn't sure how the others will react to. Whats worst is that there's something about Lucy that's powerful enough to bring about the wrath of all of their Sacred Rods. He's not entirely sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Will they fear her? Lucy definitely fears them, considering her behavior so far. They might want to use her as a weapon to incur their Sacred Rods again but the thought of anyone else tapping into her power makes Natsu fist his hands. The guys would be using Lucy like some object instead of acknowledging her as his new family member. Sure, he might want to tap into that power, too, but Lucy doesn't seem too keen on getting near him right now and he's not going to force her to do anything she doesn't want to. One day he would like grab her chest again and figure out what makes her so compelling to his Rod but he'll wait for her to get more comfortable before that happens.

For her own safety, Natsu decides to keep Lucy to himself until she's ready to meet the other males and to make sure that the guys don't do something stupid. A lot has happened in a short amount of time and thrusting Lucy back into the world of the males may not go well if she's so averse to simply sleeping in the same house as him. Maybe in the meantime keeping Lucy safe will allow her to bond with him. That way, she'll be happy.

There's also a stirring within Natsu's heart, a settling seed becoming one with that beating organ, that he can't understand. He continues to be bothered by the other males' reactions towards Lucy. Beyond their confusion, weariness and hostility, something about their Sacred Rods awakening because of her and having them bow before his female that doesn't sit right with him.

Slowly lowering her arm, Lucy lets her breath go and reluctantly says, "I'll stay."

The pit in Natsu's stomach lifts away and he glows with pride, having successfully persuaded such a stubborn person to live with him.

Happy dash up to the female and raises an arm as if waving hello. "Glad to have you here," he smiles.

Something about the talking animal intrigues Lucy and she gives him a small smile back.

Jealousy rises through Natsu—why does she accept this male easily when he's the one that will provide for her?—but he tries to stuff it away. Everyone can't help but be drawn to Happy, a natural affect he has on those around him with his plush fur and wide eyes. Natsu will make it his goal to receive such a smile from Lucy someday.

"You have to promise me one thing though," Natsu says.

Eyeing him wary but willing, Lucy asks what that could be.

"You have to swear that you will not leave this house unless you're with me."

"At all? But what if I want to bathe? Have to pee or something?"

He shrugs. "Then I'll stay close by."

Her upper lip pulls back in disgust. "You can't expect me to have you follow my every move."

"I want to make sure I can trust you to be on your own. You say that you'll stay the night but what about tomorrow? I don't want you running off on me."

Sighing heavily, she turns away from him and looks at the floor. "You don't have to worry about that. I promise that I will stay here."

Not liking having her eyes turn away from him during such a large promise, Natsu reaches forward and gently grips her chin, turning her head up to look at him. He hovers his face close to hers and locks their eyes together, the tips of their noses bumping. "You swear?" he asks intent.

Breathless but for a moment, Lucy quietly says. "Y-yes."

"Thanks," he smiles brightly, letting her chin go.

"But I'm not sharing the same nest with you!" she quickly interjects. "I-I'll take one of the furs and sleep at the other corner."

"I'm telling you, you're not gonna like it. The air may be warm but sleeping on rock hard dirt is going to hurt and make you cold," he says.

"I'll deal with that on my own."

"Fine but if you end up hating it don't be afraid to come ball up with me and Happy."

XxXxXxX

Lucy doesn't want to admit that the male was right. She can't. Not when the only possible outcome to her defeat would be to crawl into Natsu's nest and sleep beside him.

The hard dirt floor against her hip sets it aching and no matter how long she tries to sleep in the same position, the ground doesn't warm underneath her. The heavy bear pelt wrapped around her does little to help. The dirt is frozen down to its core, trying to capture her life force while she sleeps. The cool night's air serpents it's away inside the hut, creating an unwanted second blank that overtakes all other senses. Natsu didn't bother lighting an Igny before going to sleep, apparently none too concerned with the drop in temperature and sleeping contently in this chill.

How can the heat in the air drop this drastically from night to day? It never felt this cold back at the Female Tribe, Lucy thinks. When it would become this cold, all of the females would take to sleeping in one large hut, surrounded by Igny and the warmth of companionship. Males don't seem to be the same, taking to keeping their territory strictly to their own and not sharing the land. How do any of them survive the winter? It must be because the Male Tribe is located up in the mountain range, in contrast to the Female Tribe that is located on a flat plain down below in the valley where warm air gets trapped.

Upon the morning that changed her life drastically, Lucy had her bathing ritual interrupted by a strange looking creature that tried to impale her with a spear. Past her surprise and confusion, she could tell right away that Natsu was human but not quite like her—his build wider and muscles taunt with strength that is unimaginable in the human body. Being in such an exposed state, confusion was warded off in favor of defense, as she fished out from the pond the spear that Natsu luckily missed her with and chucked it back at him.

Lucy knew she was in trouble the moment Natsu swiftly dogged the spear and caught it one handed. Seeing as she couldn't fight, she took to running. She's normally light on her feet, considered one of the faster women of her tribe, but this male was able to outrun her and eventually pin her to the ground with ease, an astonishing outcome.

After coming to find that Natsu didn't know what she was either, Lucy took his every action as life or death. He wrapped tree vines around her wrists and ankles, tied her to a stick and brought her back to his village with the help of his flying cat (although Lucy's not entirely sure what Happy is, but his appearance is closest to that of the feline animal). Natsu put Lucy humiliatingly up on display in the middle of his tribe, all of them the mysterious species she came to know as 'male'.

Yet everything Natsu did was out of curiosity and caution, not of hostility. He never once threatened her and instead took to treating her like a newly discovered animal. He was as confused by her as she was of him, only he went about it strangely. Everything he did came down to simplicity, straight forward in his actions and talk. When Lucy thinks about it, it becomes obvious that he tied her up not because she was to be cooked alive for food but in case she was dangerous to him. When Lucy's tribe came to save her, Natsu didn't treat her as if she was a hostage but rather wanted to keep the females away for Lucy's own protection.

Thank the Gods for small favors though. After gaining more knowledge from the village elder, Natsu came to realize that she was human like him and deemed her worthy of kindness. From the way he had spoken to her throughout the day, he truly doesn't see her as a scrap of meat, having promised to take care of her, and that she was now a part of his family. Perhaps he sees her more as a baby bird that needs a helping hand.

It's something Lucy doesn't understand. Why would Natsu want to keep her around? He said that she's entertaining, fascinating in a way, and maybe he's keeping her around because of how different they are from one another, but that's not enough of a reason for her to be kept away from her family.

With a full day having gone by in getting to know this boy, Lucy is no longer afraid of him. Despite his obvious size telling her she should fear him, as he outweighs her by a good eighty pounds from the look of it—an aspect she felt at full force when he pinned her to the ground on multiple occasions today—she came to accept that Natsu isn't a bad person. His actions and words are much too blunt to hide anything but the truth. She's never met anyone else with eyes as pure as rain, letting Natsu's soul leak out from their depths and sincerity drip from his every action. He genuinely wanted to know Lucy's name, to tell her that she was welcomed in his home and to try to understand her.

The shiver that rocks through Lucy's body starts off normal but with no improvement to her body temperature, it becomes a convulsion that shakes her entire body against the ground.

Is she so stubborn as to die on the floor? The cold might not kill her right away but if her body were to become frail ... Without Wendy, the healer of her tribe, how would she survive the pain and sickness? Lucy has seen many females get ensnared in mighty winter's grasp, nothing to be done beyond comfort them as they slowly faded away. She doesn't want that for herself. No matter where she might be and who she's with, death is not an option.

She agreed to stay the night at Natsu's, realizing past her panic at being captured the horrible mistake she could have made. If Natsu hadn't stopped her from leaving then where would she have gone? The land is new, the nights are colder in the mountains and she doesn't know what kind of life could be leering in the woods. It's better to take a chance in this male's hut then to venture out to her possible death.

Across from her, Natsu and Happy curl warmly in their cozy nest. The bigger male gives a light snore under the pelts, a consistent tone like the crickets outside of the hut that would normally soothe Lucy to sleep. Happy has taken to wrapping himself in the smaller pelts, looking to have the head of a blue cat but the body of an orange fox. Neither of them shivers in the night, their breathing even with contentment and dreams.

Lucy groans and rubs her forehead into the floor, her envy in them making her pride burst. She can't take this dry, desolate aching anymore! She'd rather let embarrassment in defeat rule her life the next morning then have death win.

The moment she stands, her hip screams in pain and the cold wraps around her legs past the bear skin, trying to keep a hold of her. Quickly going to the nest, she eyes the lump that would be Natsu under layers of fur and finds an opening in the pelts. She sets the bear skin above him before working her way under the covers. The trapped heat washes over her but doesn't penetrate her skin right away, as her legs and hands continue to feel like blocks of ice. Even in the warmth of the pelts she shivers.

Unable to see Happy due to him being on the other side of Natsu, Lucy faces the male for warmth and silently watches him as her body grows accustom to the heat his body shares with her under the pelts. He looks different in sleep compared to the active, wide eyed awareness of the day—face smooth and his salmon pink hair rustled with sleep. There's something truly defenseless about him in the night. Being this close to him without uncertainty staining her mind, she comes to notice how he smells of the forest, pine burning into smoldering ash, a soothing scent that tells of protection and … strangely enough, a glimmer of home.

Are you going to be okay, Princess?

That would be Virgo. Although Lucy might not be able to see the owner of the voice, she knows that within those bright stars that dot the heavens, she has friends that watch over her. Virgo's bodiless voice, along with many others, have been with Lucy her whole life. They are her guardians that guide her through life as they watch over her from above. She was waiting for one of them to come around.

I'm fine, Lucy thinks. She does more than thinking to talk to her spirit friend. It's more like talking with the soul, effortless by this point in her life.

Shall I punish this male for taking you away?

No punishing. … Maybe have him drop in a hole as pay-back but nothing more.

I can't believe you were stupid enough to get caught like that!

Lucy cringes a little. That would be Aquarius. I didn't mean to. Sorry.

Don't come crying to me for help because of your own stupidity. I have an outing to go on with Scorpio. Interrupt and you die.

Yes, ma'am.

If you need anything, Princess, we're never too far away. Shout if you need help.

Thank you. I … I'm okay for now. It's not that bad, really.

Sensing her spirits drifting away like a veil of soft fur rubbing gently against the skin, Lucy sighs quietly to herself as her soul goes quiet.

Through the chaos, Lucy does have to admit one thing: her main reason for not clawing and biting at Natsu to get away at whatever cost is based upon one simple fact.

Curiosity.

Natsu intrigues Lucy's quizzical mind. They're both human yet seem entirely different from one another. He's much bigger then her physically, eyes sharp and jaw line cut, body straight-lined. And yet when he sleeps burrowed beneath the pelts in peace, she's reminded of a small animal finding happiness with its life. There's also what Natsu calls his Sacred Rod. She got a glimpse of it before when her tribe was chased off but all she saw was perhaps something sticking up between his legs. Whatever it is, it's obvious that she doesn't have one, an aspect that Natsu finds horrifyingly odd.

Is it worth no struggle to figure out what Natsu is? Lucy can't help but feel that there's a fine-line taking place. She wants to know what he is but also feels that she can't stay here for her own curious needs. She has to go home where she belongs, where she was raised all her life and where her family waiting. After what the Female Tribe did for her today, whether it was a failed attempt or not, Lucy owes them some effort on her part to escape.

Besides the obvious reasons to leave, Lucy also wants this new thumping in her chest to stop. In the aftermath with his victory against the females, Natsu stripped Lucy of her vines and placed his hand gently on top of her head, saying that she was his from that point forward. He was so elated at that fact, his caresses telling of fondness and that smile of his having a certain charm to it. Those touches and that look did something to Lucy's heart. Something she's never experienced before.

It fluttered. Like the wings of a humming bird, it soared in her chest, and Lucy's not sure if that's good or bad.

XxXxXxX

"Natsu. Hey, Natsu," Happy whispers groggily. His little paws nudge against said males' shoulder above the pelts, disturbing his slumber. It's like waking up a grumpy bear.

"Go away," Natsu groans, smothering further into the furs.

"You told me to wake you up before the Big Igny."

"I changed my mind."

"Get up, lazy. You have to go hunting. Don't you want to get a good meal for Lucy?"

Natsu's eyes snap wide open upon the female's name.

That's right—everything that happened yesterday! Flashes of sound, colors and smells unravel before his senses, stopping upon one face. A girl with long golden hair and soft features.

Natsu quickly leans up on his forearm, frantically searching for Lucy in the waning darkness of the hut as if she was some kind of dream. Alarm grows when he doesn't find her. It isn't until something softly touches the back of his thigh under the pelt that Natsu looks over his shoulder, finding that Lucy had crawled into the nest with them last night. She sleeps at ease against her side, the black bear pelt pulled up to an ear and having her burrow into the warmth of the nest.

Relieved, Natsu turns back to Happy. "Thanks buddy. I'll get right on bringin' back that fish I promised you for waking me up."

"You do that," he says tired. Wrapping himself in the pelts, he goes back to sleep.

Sitting up without any heed of the cold and looking wearily to the girl that he's taken in, Natsu debates once again about leaving her alone. He's slightly afraid she'll go back on her promise to stay but there has to be some trust shown between them if they're going to be together for the remainder of their lives. Plus, there's a sincerity to Lucy, that no matter how hard she tries to deny her feelings and no matter how defensive she might sound, that she'll keep her promises. At the very least, this one promise.

In the distance, a wolf cries out as the midnight black of the forest gets replaced by the violet purple of the rising Igny.

Authors Notes:

This is simultaneously the stupidest and most entertaining thing I've ever written.

The story is rated M, although it may take awhile for that rating to come into effect. As of now, it's more of a T.

Please, leave a chapter review to tell me how its going! I appreciate any feedback!