Author's note: I didn't intend to two-shot this, but I didn't want them to have a one night stand either. So here you go, another part. Enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews and favorites for part one!

Things did get weird, Natsu muttered to himself as he banked the fire for the evening.

But not for the reasons he had been afraid they would. On Tenrou Island, all Natsu and Lucy could think about was staying alive. Their status as "rivals" had faded out in their fight for survival, and their status as lovers had been buried under the emotions of fear and sorrow.

Still, shortly after they'd been revived, Lucy had told him sheepishly that her last thoughts had been, "At least I won't die a virgin!" His thoughts had been of a similar nature, although not quite as carnal. He had been grateful that he found Lucy; that he had known a taste of love before he died.

Except... they didn't die. The first guild master, Mavis Vermillion, had saved them.

Then they had come back to the "new" guild in shambles and no one having any place to stay or any money. Everyone on Tenrou Island had been reset to Level One - no money, no fame, and not nearly as much strength as they should have had. They were now destitute. Lucy's apartment was locked up, and although Natsu's and Happy's house had been still standing, it was in desperate need of repairs. And they barely had any money for food, let alone for roofing materials.

So he'd gone with Lucy on her quest to try to find her father, since there was not much else they could do until the guild had some jobs available - the remaining few jobs offered to Fairy Tail had been quickly snatched up by the returning crowd. And Natsu, perhaps more than anyone else in the guild, understood her need for some connection to what their life had been for the disastrous attack on the island.

Then they found out that her father had died. Just one month before they returned, he was already gone. Natsu had felt her heartbreak, seen it in her eyes, echoing his own misery seven years ago when his father had left him. He had done his best to be her friend, and to be at her side, but after a while he had sensed that she needed some time alone to sort out her emotions. So he had left her briefly, and during that time the most wonderful thing possible happened - she made peace with her late father when she discovered that he really did love her after all.

Things had gotten weirder, sadder, and more horrible than either of them could have ever guessed.

It wasn't until she agreed to come with him on his first job since their return that Natsu had some hope that the weirdness wasn't going to apply to them, as a couple.

The job wasn't hard. But they did it well, not blowing everything up for once, and had been paid enough for food for a few weeks. So they had treated themselves to dinner in the town.

It wasn't a mage town, so the waitress had been very confused when Natsu had politely asked to have his french fries doused in a Bloody Mary and then set on fire. Lucy had laughed at the expression on her face.

"What?" he mumbled around a mouthful of fries, their blue hot flame sputtering out as he stuffed them down his gullet. "It's like ketchup, only it can burn!"

Lucy had only shaken her head, smiling, picking at a salad.

"Don't want anything more substantial?"

Happy munched on a whole fried fish, ignoring them politely as he consumed it in feline bliss.

"I've had stomach issues since we got back from Tenrou Island," Lucy admitted in a furtive whisper, leaning over the table. "I think I need more fiber in my diet." She sat back up, and said brightly, "So salads it is!"

Hmmm. So this was the sort of conversations that lovers had over the dinner table.

It was interesting. He was close to Lucy, closer to her in a way that he had never been with anyone else, human or dragon. She was like an extension of him. He was aware of her at all times, her state of being, her mood, her feelings. Well, all the dragon slayers were much more strongly attuned to the emotions and bodies of the people around him, but it was on another level entirely with Lucy.

He'd been attracted to her from the start - she was beautiful and kind. But that initial attraction had eventually turned to the love his fellow guild mates, and then deepened into something new that frightened him.

He hadn't wanted things to get weird. He had been afraid to walk down the path of them, a couple, his wonderful Lucy as his true partner and other half. All it had taken, though, was one particularly wild party where she drank a little too much, and then she had seduced him.

Now that they'd emerged on the other side of the path, he discovered that being in love, that being lovers, wasn't really that fundamentally different from being best friends after all. There was just another layer - a layer of flirting, slightly more personal conversation, and sex. Twice now. That first awkward time, followed by a much sillier time in the shower the following morning.

He steered his mind quickly back away from that line of thought. Lucy was in front of him, her too tight shirt opened up to give him a marvelous view of her magnificent rack. He could never get enough of looking at them... and he knew that having the most luscious set of boobs in Magnolia on his team would have cost him the S rank exams.

(Well, not that anyone actually ended up passing, since Laxus was back. Now that wasn't fair. Natsu been denied seeing those wonderful talents in action, in bikinis, in training, for almost a week, for what had turned out to be a futile exercise that almost got them all killed.)

"Stop looking at my chest and eat," Lucy set, and unceremoniously stuffed his hamburger in his mouth.

Later on, their bellies full, they crawled into Natsu's tent together, Happy suddenly having the urge to "fly around and get some fresh air" as he had said with a wink and a giggle. They had watched the Exceed flutter off into the evening sunset, his feathered wings lofting him into the currents above the forest.

"I think we just got set up by Happy," Natsu said sheepishly. They were sitting cross legged, knees touching, as there was no room in the tiny tent for anything else. He hadn't planned on being alone with her in the cramped tent. With Happy around he'd have to keep himself under control. Without Happy..

"He just wanted to give us some privacy," Lucy said with a small smile, and then placed one hand on Natsu's knee. He gulped. "It's really thoughtful of him."

Ohgodshesunzippinghershirt

Lucy tugged on the zipper of the shirt that held the universe. He was partly relieved, and partly horrified to see that the bra she had on was totally different from the last time... it had been pink lace before. This one was a bright blue satin.

It took every ounce of willpower for him not to jump her right that minute. Pretending to be normal around her was going to be impossible now, wasn't it?

As if she was reading his mind, she said, "It's okay Natsu. You don't have to pretend any more."

She had known...? Had she really been aware all along how much she affected him? How much he enjoyed having her around, not just for the pleasure of her company but because she had the most glorious pair of breasts he had ever seen?

She presented him her back. "Help me undo this," she said shyly. "It's not a front clasp like the other one was."

With shaking hands, he fumbled with the taut scrap of satin for a few moments before he realized that it needed to be pushed in, not pulled out, to be released. The cloth gave suddenly as the weight of her bosom pulled down on the front, and she gave a slightly relieved sigh.

He touched the faint welt on her shoulder where the straps had cut into her flesh. "I never realized that it was so uncomfortable to wear one of those."

She shrugged and leaned back into him, the movement causing her newly freed breasts to undulate in a gentle wave. He nearly lost it right then, even as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "You get used to it after a while. There are more comfortable ones, but for battle I need all the support I can get."

His hand crept up to touch one of them, marveling at the silken texture and squishy but heavy flesh. "I can see why," he said, his voice cracking. With a sigh he reached down to kiss the top of her shoulder, loving the way she twitched in his arms at the contact. He nibbled his way to her neck and kissed there as well, then up to her ear, which caused her to gasp and start squirming. This was fun!

After doing inappropriate things with his tongue to her ear for several minutes, she was reduced to a supine puddle against him. He set her gently down onto the blankets while she recovered for a few moments. He took a deep breath, and started removing his own clothes.

When they were both naked, he groped around one of his pockets until he found the last condom that Lucy had grabbed their final night before the exam.

"I'm pretty sure it's still good," he said, ignoring the expiration date so prominently stamped on the package. He tore it open and slipped it on; he was getting much better at that. Practice makes perfect. "It was frozen in time on the island with me."

She sat back on her elbows, looking at him with a surprised scowl on her face. "You took that with you to the exams? When did you possibly think we'd have a chance to use it?"

"My victory celebration, of course!"

Before she could pop off a retort to that answer, he pounced on her again and started kissing her deeply, holding her close and pressing their bodies together.

"Someday," he murmured against her lips, "I'd like to try this without one."

She blinked a few times. "You know that causes babies, right?"

"Yeah, well, maybe someday I'd like to have a family of my own..."

He must have looked so wistful saying that. Lucy smiled softly and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. "Someday," she agreed.

Then she kissed him again, and opened her legs for him. He entered he slowly, savoring the wonderful warmth of her around him, beneath him. For now, this was enough. Being with Lucy was like being home. She was home. And coming home after a mission was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

He still wasn't quite sure he was doing this right, but after many minutes Lucy cried out and tightened around him, arching beneath his arms, so he was clearly on the right track. Maybe he needed to ask some of the other guys for tips...

He could no longer hold himself back, and he came into her with a smothered growl, gripping her arms and then gasping to get himself under control.

She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, and kissed his shoulder softly.

After a few minutes of being as close as two humans could be, he reluctantly left her and grabbed some tissue to clean up the inevitable mess. "Sex can be so sloppy," he complained.

Lucy started getting dressed into her pajamas. "Hah, it'll be worse once we're ... trying for a family." She blushed fiercely, more embarrassed about the implications of unprotected sex than the lovemaking act they'd just shared.

She looked so pretty, so utterly desirable, that Natsu actually felt his loins stirring again, something he'd been told was almost impossible for men. But they were out of condoms, and Happy was probably going to return any moment.

Happy... He gave a sniff of the air, wincing.

"Let's air out the tent," he said suddenly, and opened up the side flaps, letting in a blast of cool, fresh air.

"Why?" She sniffed heavily as well, then realized that the small enclosed space smelled musky and sweaty. "Ah."

He grinned at her, and reached over to kiss her again. "Be right back," he said, and went to go find a discrete spot in the woods to bury the cleanup mess.

He stopped a few feet away, and looked up at the stars peeking through the forest. He felt more at peace than he had in a long, long time.

If this was what "weird" was like ... then there had been nothing to be afraid of after all.