Natsu

How could someone do such a thing? I watched Lucy wince as she reached for a cup, her ribs obviously hurting her. She's a defenseless girl. Why would anyone target her? An unfamiliar stench had covered her dress and hair. When she discarded the frilly monstrosity to take a bath I memorized it. The fact that Lucy refused to say who it was didn't bode well with me, but it didn't quite match her father's scent.

That makeup she wore to cover the marks stunk, smothering her natural scent of starlight and vanilla.

"What's got you so on edge?" Gray whispered as he watched Lucy and Levy in the small kitchenette. They were cooking dinner, Levy taking lead and Lucy watching with interest, helping when she could. She didn't tell anyone someone hurt her, but you could see in her mannerisms something wasn't right. She was back to jumping at every quick movement, her breath shallow and fast to overcompensate for the pain. Her smile never fully reaches her eyes.

"Lucy was attacked the other day, and she won't tell me who did it." Dark eyes narrowed on the girl, Gray's jaw clenched at the thought of someone hurting one of his friends.

"Have you been able to find them?" his voice remained even, if strained.

"No luck. They left town that night." I unclenched my fists and forced my eyes back on the recording currently playing in Lucy's sitting room. "He reeks of Crocus and the Palace."

"I'll keep an eye out." Gray sighed before turning back to the television himself. His face twitched into a smile before he bumped his shoulder into mine. "Y'know, for someone who doesn't like her, you sure are awfully concerned about her. You haven't been taking advantage of her hospitality have you?"

"Pu-lease. That scrap of a girl doesn't interest me at all. She's Levy's friend and she's connected to Layla somehow." I rolled my eyes. "You're sure Layla didn't have a twin?"

"Pretty sure. No other living relatives either. Besides, Lucy acts like a girl from this age would, albeit more sheltered. I just don't like the last option."

"What last option?" I frowned at Gray.

"Lucy might be Layla's daughter."

"There's no way Layla would fall for a man that treats his daughter so coldly and allows her to get harmed while she's in his charge."

"Natsu shut your mouth," Gray elbowed me sharply in the ribs.

Levy

"Are you sure this stuff isn't poison?" Lucy asked quietly as she stared at the tiny vial Levy had snuck into her apartment.

"I'm sure," Levy stirred the pot of pasta, sure to keep the noodles from sticking together. "You need to eat and then take it all in one quick drink."

"It looks like poison." Lucy's voice was flat as she poked at the delicate crystal vial.

"Would I poison you?" Levy let out a long sigh. Lucy seemed to be closing back in on herself, holding herself away from everyone else like she had when they had first met. Natsu had been acting strange too, but Levy never really could pin down the dragon.

"Maybe. I am kind of a burden," Lucy's voice was almost too quiet to hear. Before Levy could refute the claim the timer began shrieking and shaking, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Oh, could you stir this for a moment." Lucy reluctantly took the wooden spoon from her short friend. Levy began buzzing around the kitchen, checking on the baked bread and meat sauce.

"You don't have to do so much for me, you know." Lucy sighed out as she stirred the noodles, stopping Levy dead in her tracks.

"I don't quite know what you mean," Levy sighed before setting down the bowls she had piled high in her arms. "You're important to me, and you don't look like you've been eating."

"What if I'm not able to bring the magic back," there was a pained look in Lucy's eyes, much like a scared cat.

"So what if it doesn't come back. You're still my friend Lu. I don't want you to think I'm here helping you and spending time with you just because you have dreams of returning magic to the world. It's not what your mother would have wanted." The words slipped out so easily, and Levy wouldn't have even realized she had said anything if Lucy's eyes hadn't widened to the size of saucers.

"What do you know about my mother?" Lucy's voice was like a pained whimper as she rushed to Levy's side. The boys were so engrossed in their own discussion they didn't even notice the odd behavior of their friends.

"I can't tell you. I'm bound by a Celestial Wizard's promise." Lucy swallowed down the lump in her throat, her mouth suddenly feeling dry.

"Mom was a Celestial Wizard." Lucy stepped back from her friend, her eyes darting to the vial sitting innocently on the counter and then back to her friend. "Did you know who I was when you met me?"

"I had an idea," Levy said truthfully. "I'm sure you've heard it before but you look so much like Layla. But that's not why I wanted to be friends with you."

"I believe you." Lucy was looking pale faced and scared, which didn't reassure Levy one bit that her friend believed her words. "It's just a lot to take in." Levy closed her eyes and nodded, understanding that it would all seem so far fetched and dreading the day when she would have to share everything with her friend. "I think I'm going to lie down for a moment."

"Of course. I'll bring you some food in a moment." Levy opened her eyes to see the sad look in her friend's eyes.

"Thank you Levy, for everything." Lucy reached forward and gave her friend a brief hug, surprising Levy with the contact. She pulled away with a sad smile on her lips before hurrying off to her room. Her door shut almost silently, but it still seemed to draw the attention of Natsu, who now had Gray in a full on headlock.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, eyes narrowing in the direction of the door.

"She seems to be more tired than normal, I think she just needs a break. We did study really hard earlier." Levy sighed at her friend before she began the arduous process of straining the noodles. Gray jumped up to help, but Natsu stayed rooted to the spot, his eyes glued to the door, a dull whine seeming to grow from him until it cut off sharply and he was jumping over the back of the couch to pound on Lucy's door.

"Open up," he growled, almost frantic. "Lucy, open the door."

"What's your problem, flame brain? She's probably trying to get away from you. I get why you're being all over protective but you don't even like the girl. Give her some space."

"I smell blood," was Natsu's only response before he threw his shoulder into the door and invaded Lucy's room.

"What do you mean you understand why he's being protective," I shot Gray a sharp look and he frowned, eyes turning towards Lucy's room and Natsu's weird reactions.

"Someone hurt Lucy pretty bad the night her dad came storming in here. He says he doesn't think it's her dad, but maybe it was the guy I saw her with that night." The blue haired mage's stomach sank at the thought.

"She won't wake up." Natsu growled from the other room. The bluenette's eyes darted to the potion, fear spiking up her spine as she realized it wasn't there.

"Finish this," Levy handed the pot of noodles to Gray before running into Lucy's room, finding the vial broken on the ground and Lucy's foot bleeding from a piece of stuck crystal. "Oh god, I told her she had to eat first." Fear building in her bones at the sleeping form of her blonde friend.

"Levy what the hell is going on?" Natsu growled, dark and low. It was the kind of growl he focused towards their enemies. Levy chanced a look at her friend, suddenly worried for more than just her friend. The cold look in Natsu's eyes was fixed on Levy, much like a predator before the strike.

"I can't tell you everything, you know that." Levy breathed out, trying to sound much calmer than she felt. "Lucy has a dream," Levy couldn't physically finish the sentence, her tongue tying in knots as she tried. "I've been helping her as much as I can."

"What did you do Levy?"

"There was a recipe for a potion that would unlock her second origin, even in a world without magic." Levy began to explain.

"How would that even work Levy?! There's no ethernano! How is she supposed to absorb magical energy if there is none?! What the hell would Lucy need magic for anyway, she's just a human!" The amount of rage seething from Natsu was almost overwhelming. It frightened Levy, terrified her to no end, but she pushed past it, pulling a glowing stone from her pocket. A lacrima crystal, one that had appeared soon after the celestial gates sealed the magic in the stars, sparkled and pulsed within her small palm.

"With this. It still holds magic. Help me get her on the bed so I can get these placed." Levy kept her composure, answering only the questions she could. Natsu gave a stiff, angry nodd, picking up Lucy with no problem at all. He settled her into her bed. His care with Lucy was so at odds with how cold he's acted towards the girl up until now. It was an interesting sight to the blue haired girl, one that she filed away for later as she began pulling more lacrima crystals from the deep pockets of her dress, positioning them around the sleeping girl as Natsu began tending to the injury on her foot. He studied it carefully before leaving to the bathroom, returning shortly with a wet rag and a bundle of bandages. As Levy measured out the spaced between the stones so they were equidistant from the next Natsu carefully removed the piece of crystal from Lucy's foot before cleaning and bandaging the wound.

"How long until she wakes?"

"I don't know. She was supposed to eat before taking it to sustain herself through the process. It can take hours.. Or days."

"Levy there's something you're not telling us," Gray's voice was almost calm from the door, but there was that cold edge to it, reserved for his anger.

"There's a lot I'm not telling you," The bluenette sighed. "Until this is over I can't say anything."

"That's bullshit and you know it Levy." The bluenette didn't argue against him, instead she sighed out, her eyes trailing from the angry Ice Make wizard to Natsu to her sleeping friend.

There was a part of her that wanted to come clean, to tell them who put Lucy on this path, to let them know her fears for their dearest friend. Instead she stayed silent. The old vow branded into her skin by the last magic she had felt. Magic from the Celestial Spirit King himself.

"I just can't," Levy's words were soft and defeated. Just like her.

Natsu

It's been so long since I've felt this kind of rage boiling within me. I haven't been this angry since Layla walked away without saying a word to us, leaving us with a tear streaked Levy that could barely talk. Unable to tell us anything, under contract with the Celestial Spirit King himself.

The scent of magic was strong in Lucy's blood, the stained piece of crystal rolling between my fingers as my rage began to simmer into something more manageable. How had I not noticed the scent before? Was it because she was so much like Layla that I simply expected it to be there?

And what of her lineage? That disgusting man who treated his own flesh and blood so coldly, is that the kind of person Layla would have children with?

That only brought my blood to a boil.

"Where the fuck are you Layla. What the hell did you do now?"