Lucy awoke to the comfortable warmth of Natsu once again. She opened her eyes and was met with darkness. Wait, what? She reached a hand out and touched something warm that felt like some sort of thin membrane. Oh. Now, she remembered. Natsu had wrapped his arms and wings around her, so his wings were probably blocking out the light. She shifted her position in his arms to try to face what she hoped was his face. She waited until her eyes had adjusted to the darkness before trying to make out Natsu's familiar head of pink hair. There. She reached out and ruffled his soft pink locks. He was still asleep but she felt him nuzzle into her touch. She then observed his horns. They looked pretty cool. What would happen if she touched them? Wait. No, she wouldn't touch them yet. First, she wanted to find out more about ryus. What if there was some weird thing that if she touched his horns, they would be mates or something? Not that it would be that bad... WAIT! WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?! GAH! Well, he was better than any of the suitors she'd met until now... You know what, maybe it was time to wake him up. She prodded his cheek with her index finger until he stirred beneath her. Then she heard him yawn and say, "Lucy?"

"Good morning, sleepy head," she giggled.

"Good morni- Wait, its still dark out. Why are you saying good morning, weirdo."

"I am not a weirdo," Lucy huffed. "And its not dark out, your wings are just blocking the light out, stupid."

"Oi, I'm not stupid," Natsu said as he removed his wings from around her, hissing in pain as he moved his injured one.

Lucy squinted because of the sudden brightness. Natsu did the same. Once her eyes had adjusted she stretched her arms up towards the sunlight.

"Ah, the sun feels so good."

"Yeah, I guess. Say, Luce?"

"Yeah," Lucy said looking at him to find him blushing slightly.

"Do you plan on getting off of me, or..."

"AH! I-I. Shut up, you idiot! Of course I plan on getting off of you!" Lucy yelled blushing before promptly smacking him over the head, and scrambling off of him.

"Ow!" he complained. "I just asked a question, you don't have to smack me!"

"It was justified," she said puffing her cheeks out.

"How was it justified?" he asked, sweatdropping.

"Do you want another smack on the head?"

"No! No! It was completely justified! Don't hit me!" he said, cowering slightly.

"Good," Lucy said, smiling smugly.

"Weirdo," Natsu muttered.

"What was that?" she asked menacingly, her hand raised to smack him.

"Nothing! Nothing!"

"That's what I thought. I have to go now, okay?"

"Why?" he whined, pouting cutely.

"I already told you why, Natsu," she said exasperatedly.

"Doesn't mean I like it," he grumbled.

"Neither do I, Natsu," she said softly. "but I have no choice."

"I know. Its just I'm so bored the whole day, and maybe a bit... lonely..."

He said the last part quietly and it made her heart clench in guilt.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. How about I bring you some books to read tonight?"

"Books?" he asked as his nose scrunched up in distaste. "That sounds boring."

"It is not!" she exclaimed defensively. "Books transport you into whole other worlds and you get attached to the characters more and more throughout the story! The world of books is absolutely wonderful!"

Natsu looked at her dubiously, obviously not believing her.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me because I will make you read a book!" she declared.

"But, Luuuceee! I don't wanna!" he whined.

"You will read a book!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"FINE!"

"YE- Wait really?!"

"Yes, if you really want me to read it that much."

Frankly, Lucy was surprised he gave in. He was incredibly stubborn.

"Just promise me it won't be some sappy drama or romance or whatever," Natsu said.

"I wasn't planning on it. I was planning on picking something you might actually like, you know," she said raising a brow.

"Good. Now, you should probably go before you're late," he pointed out.

Lucy glanced at her watch.

"Shit! You're right! I gotta go! See ya, Natsu!"

She ruffled his hair one last time before taking off.

"BRING ME BACK SOME FIRE WITH YOU!!" he bellowed after her.

She shook her head, smiling.

"OKAY!" she hollered back.

It was hard to feign sleep when she was feeling all giddy inside from last night's events and this morning's. Thankfully, she didn't have to for long, for Juvia came in skipping to her bedside.

"Rise and shine, Lucy-san!" Juvia sang.

"I'm up, Juvia."

"How is Lucy-san feeling?" Juvia asked, now serious.

"I feel great, thanks for asking!"

Juvia scanned her over to see if she was telling the truth, and gave her a dazzling smile saying, "Juvia is very glad."

"So, why are you so happy today, Juvia?"

"Juvia is happy because it her and Gray-sama's 413th anniversary!"

"Wait," Lucy said, putting her hands on Juvia's shoulders and looking her in her eyes seriously. "You mean to tell me that you and Gray are together?!!"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Juvia said, waving her hands in front of her face. "Allow Juvia to explain. Today is the 413th day since Juvia met Gray-sama! Juvia cherishes everyday since she met Gray-sama! That is why she is so happy all the time!"

"That's great Juvia!" Lucy said sweatdropping a little. This was just like Juvia but that was one of the things she loved about her, so it didn't matter.

Erza knocked on the door at that moment and entered after Lucy gave her consent.

"I heard everything and I have a great idea!" Erza declared. "You should give Gray an anniversary present, Juvia."

"Juvia, that's a great idea!" Lucy exclaimed.

"But Juvia is content with just being able to see Gray-sama everyday, and what if he doesn't like Juvia's present?" Juvia said nervously wringing her hands.

"I'm sure he'll like anything you give him, Juvia," Lucy said reassuringly.

"And if he doesn't," Erza said cracking her knuckles. "I'll make him."

Lucy and Juvia both sweatdropped.

"But what should Juvia give Gray-sama?"

"It should be something you made yourself," Lucy said.

"Lucy's right. It will be more heartfelt that way."

"Alright," Juvia said, clearly more pumped up now. "Juvia will do her best!"

Erza nodded approvingly while Lucy voiced her consent.

"You better get Lucy dressed now so you can start making it," Erza said.

"Of course. Come Lucy-san. Juvia will dress you now."

"Ok."

Once Lucy was ready for the day, they heard a knock on the door, but no one entered. Who could it be? Lucy knew all of her guards' "entrance habits" and the only people who would knock and not enter until she said to were Erza, Virgo, Mira, and Lissana. Though she didn't see the last two much since Mira was her seamstress and Lissana was the head chef, but both of them could fight, unbeknownst to the king, of course.

"Come in!" Lucy called out.

The door opened to reveal, surprisingly, Gray.

"Gray?!" Lucy asked incredulously.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I-I'm fine but are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he said a bit harsher than intended.

"Ok," Lucy said, deciding not to push the issue any further.

Something was up with him, and she hoped this wouldn't affect his response when Juvia presented him with his gift.

"Ok. Let's go have breakfast minna!"

"Yeah!" everyone but Gray and Juvia who was studying him worriedly shouted in unison.

After breakfast, Lucy, of course attended her various classes which bored her to death. She swore that she would probably be infected by boredomitus or something if she continued to live like this, to which Erza and Cana just laughed and Gray, well, Gray had no reaction. He just wore this sad expression on his face the whole day. She wished he would tell her what was wrong, but he didn't say a word.

She had some spare time on her hands, and instead of going riding, she decided to go to the library because a) she had to get a book for Natsu, b) a talk with Levy was long overdue, and c) she wanted to see if the vast collection of the royal library had anything on ryus. So, her and her little entourage were now headed to the library.

She pushed the doors open and called out, "Levy-chan!!"

She was answered with a high-pitched, "Lu-chan!!" as Levy tackled Lucy in a hug, making Lucy land on her bum on the floor. She looked down at the girl grinning at her with sparkling eyes. Levy scrambled off of her and held a hand out to her, that she gratefully took, then dusted herself off.

Levy was a petite girl, about two inches shorter than Lucy, but despite her diminutive figure, Levy had a sweet and spunky personality. Seriously, that girl had a lot of spunk. She had bright azure locks cut shoulder-length while her bangs were held back by an orange bandana. She wasn't as developed as Lucy and Erza in the chest area, although that might just be because Lucy and Erza had really big busts, while Levy had a normal size one, but her biggest "asset" was by far her rear. Her skin was a pale creamy color and her eyes were a deep chocolate color with flecks of gold in them. All in all, she was quite beautiful and cute.

"I haven't seen you in days, Lu-chan," Levy pouted.

"Sorry, Levy-chan. Things have just been a bit... hectic lately."

"Yeah, I understand. Anyways come in, don't just stand in the doorway!"

Lucy giggled and followed her friend into the library as Erza closed the doors behind them. The royal library never ceased to take her breath away every time she saw it. It really was absolutely massive, probably 5km by 5km. And there were rows upon rows of shelves filled with tomes big and small, ancient and recent. In the middle there were a cluster of chairs and tables, and sofas to sit on or study at. This was why Lucy loved the library, you could just come here, grab a book, and delve into it without anyone disturbing you. She was really about to do just that when she reminded herself that she had a mission to fulfill.

She went over to one of the fiction shelves and scanned the little etiquettes naming the genres until she found "action and adventure". She then proceeded to examining the titles, and if there was one that interested her, she would read the back of it. She continued this process until she came to a book titled, The Fifth Wave. She read the back and it actually looked really interesting. Maybe she would read it when Natsu was finished, if he actually read it. Then she went over to Levy, who was seated at desk near the doors talking to Jet and Droy, her "fanboys". Jet was a pale, skinny guy with bright orange hair tied in a ponytail on top of his head. Droy, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He was fat with dark skin and black hair that curled up on top into a single curl resembling a fish hook.

Levy looked like she wasn't paying attention to them anymore since Jet and Droy were fighting. Probably about which one of them would be her boyfriend, although Levy was interested in neither of them and considered them her brothers. As Lucy approached, she realized Levy had a dreamy look on her face, with a small smile on her lips, and a light blush painted on her cheeks. Ooh... Had Levy met someone? She squealed internally. If she had, Lucy would make sure to get her to spill about him, but first, she needed Levy's help with something.

"Levy-chan!" she called to her. No answer.

"Levy-chan!" Again, still no answer. Apparently Levy was still in lala land.

Lucy huffed and stepped up to the desk, greeting Jet and Droy on her way.

"Levy-chan!" she said while shaking Levy's shoulders.

Levy's head snapped up and she blinked a couple times.

"Ah, sorry, Lu-chan," she said, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I just kinda spaced out."

"Mhmm. Anyway, Levy-chan, I need your help finding something."

Levy popped up from her chair in excitement and asked, "What do you need help with?"

"Well," Lucy said, eyeing Jet and Droy. "let's talk about it someplace else."

Levy looked at her quizzically but complied with a quick, "Ok."

They walked to a corner of the library, and Lucy made sure that no one was within earshot. Then she told Levy, "I need help finding some books on... mythical creatures..."

Levy looked as if she'd been slapped in the face, but she recovered quickly and said, "Oh, do you have something a bit more specific in mind. I mean, there are a lot of books here on myths and fantastical creatures, so..."

Lucy was debating on how much to say, but she settled for, "something... draconian."

Again Levy looked as if she had been slapped in the face and her eyes darted nervously around, before she regained her composure.

"Uh, yeah. I was actually reading a book on that," Levy laughed nervously. "I've recently been on a mythology phase, and I found this book, and it happens to talk about creatures like that. Ahahahahaha..."

Lucy was skeptical. What was Levy hiding from her? When Levy made no move to take her to the book, she asked, "Um, can I see the book?"

"Of course! Let's go get it!" Levy squeaked.

Lucy followed her back to the front desk. First off, why was Levy acting so weird about this, and second, they really needed to talk about her acting skills. Well, actually, Levy could be a pretty good actor under dire circumstances. Whatever this was must be making her extremely nervous. She'd have to find out later. Right now, she needed to read that book.

When they reached the desk, Levy gingerly picked up an old looking tome from the top of one of the piles of books surrounding the desk. She handed it to Lucy and Lucy read the title out loud, "All Things Dragon". She sweatdropped.

"That's the best title the author could come up with?"

Levy laughed. "My thoughts exactly."

They smiled at each other before Lucy examined the book's cover. It was intricately carved bronze with swirls and lines interlacing to form a dragon. Lucy opened the book and it flipped open to a bookmarked page. At the top of the page in bold was written, The Ryu, and underneath was a drawing of a ferocious beast that looked like some twisted humanoid with wings, a tail, and horns. Whoever drew it made it look like the ryu was some kind of malevolent and ugly beast.

"So innacurate," she muttered, but since her and Levy were standing close to each other, she heard her and looked at her with a shocked expression on her face.

Lucy immediately panicked and became a stuttering mess. Levy took her arm and dragged her to the same corner they were in before, and this time she was the one to check if anyone was within earshot. The she whispered, "How do you know that?"

"I-uh, I..."

"Have you... seen one?" she asked warily.

Lucy knew she was caught but something told her that Levy would understand if she told her.

"Yes," she sighed.

Levy gasped then, fidgeting slightly, she said, "Me too."

"Really?!" Lucy asked, shocked.

"Yeah."

"What color scales," she tentatively asked. There was no way she had met Natsu, right? He would've told her if he had met someone else. Yes, he would've definitely told her. Still she held her breath, awaiting her response.

"A metallic black," she finally said. "You?"

"Red," she sighed, the relief evident in her voice.

Levy sighed in relief, too. Then it dawned on Lucy.

"Wait, is that why you were in lala land earlier?"

"W-What?" Levy spluttered. "N-No," she said, even though it was clear she was lying.

"I know you're lying, Levy-chan," she teased. "You were smiling and blushing and your eyes were all dreamy," she said, imitating what Levy looked like.

"S-Stop it, Lu-chan!"

"Not until you tell me~"

"F-Fine, yes. I-It was because of G-Gajeel."

"His name is Gajeel?"

"Yeah and?"

"Nothing. So what's he like? Is he smart like you? Does he like books? What does he look like?"

"Lu-chan," Levy whined.

"Come on! Tell me and I'll tell you about Natsu."

"Natsu?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"Oh."

"Come on, Levy-chan! Tell me."

"Ok, ok. Well, he's really tall for starters."

Lucy laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Levy exclaimed. "He's a giant! He's like six feet tall! I barely come up to his shoulder, and he calls me Shrimp all the time or Shortstack or Bookworm or Shorty, and other things. I swear, he makes up a new nickname for me very day," she huffed.

"Do you like when he calls you that?" Lucy asked casually.

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "I mean no! Yes! Maybe?"

Lucy laughed at her friend.

"It's not funny," Levy huffed, looking as red as a tomato.

"Ok, ok. So what does he look like?"

"Well, the first time I saw him, I thought he looked pretty scary, but not anymore. I actually... kind of... like how he looks."

"Well, what does he look like?" Lucy coaxed.

"Well, he has piercings all over his face and his arms. And he has long black hair, like really long, but his hair is really soft, surprisingly."

Lucy smiled at that but didn't comment, wanting Levy to go on.

"He has red eyes and he's a pretty gruff person. He also has scars all over his arms. He's pretty muscled and has a six pack," she said hurriedly. "And the only reason I know that is because he doesn't wear a shirt," she said with a blush.

Lucy snorted. "Yeah, same here."

"So what's Natsu like?"

"Well, for one, he has pink hair."

"Really! That's so weird!"

"Levy-chan, may I point out that you have bright blue hair," Lucy sweatdropped.

"Oh, right. Go on."

"He has onyx eyes, but if you look close enough, they're actually a dark emerald. He's average height, probably around 5.4 or 5.6, and he's also muscled and has a six pack. Like I said, he doesn't wear a shirt, but of course he wears a scarf. His hair is really soft and he's really warm. Seriously, his body temperature is WAY above normal. He's a really sweet, childish, competitive idiot who always manages to make me feel better somehow. Oh, yeah! He can breathe fire and light himself on fire and eat fire."

"Oh, yeah! I forget to mention that Gajeel eats iron."

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah. He can also turn his skin into iron scales. He showed me! It was really cool. He can also turn his arm into an iron pole, a sword, you name it. And he can apparently breathe a whirlwind of iron, but he didn't show me because he would probably blow my house apart."

"Wait, he's staying at your house?"

"Yeah, and it's a real pain trying to keep Jet and Droy out of my house. Also, Gajeel eats like crazy! I swear, he empties my fridge on a daily basis."

Lucy sweatdropped. "Sounds like Natsu. I bring a load of food that should be enough for a day, and he eats it all in one night! Then he complains that he's still hungry!"

Levy laughed. "Sounds like we share the same pains. But, Lu-chan, where are you keeping Natsu? I mean you can't keep him in the castle, someone would find him."

"He's not in the castle, like you said. He's actually...in the forest."

"What? So you snuck out of the castle?" Levy whispered.

"Yeah," Lucy sighed. She couldn't believe she was admitting this after it had been her little secret for so long. "Actually, Levy-chan, I've been sneaking away from the castle for a couple years now," she said, rubbing her arm.

"What?!"

"Yeah, I need some time to myself, outside of the castle. So normally, I sneak out every morning really early, and every night. But now it's more of an every night thing since I end up falling asleep while talking to Natsu."

"Lu-chan, you bad, bad princess, you," Levy teased. Then her gaze softened. "I understand why you need to go. I know it's not the same, but, no matter how much I love them, being with Jet and Droy all the time can get a little... suffocating."

"That's exactly how I feel inside this castle!"

Then something dawned on Lucy.

"Hey, when did you meet Gajeel?"

"Um, including today, three days ago."

"And where did you find him?"

"At the foot of the eastern mountains."

"Hmm, wait, what were you doing in the eastern mountains?"

"Charting the stars."

"Cool, you'll have to show me once you're finished, but back to the problem at hand. Was Gajeel injured when you found him?"

"Yeah, pretty badly actually."

"Same here. Then, you think him and Natsu were fighting the same battle?"

"It's possible."

"Because Natsu told me he was fighting with two other ryus against something when they were all blasted in different directions."

"Gajeel told me that too! So, they must know each other!"

"Just to make sure, let's ask them tonight, kay?"

"Yeah. But, Lu-chan, even if they do know each other, I can't really bring Gajeel to meet Natsu because he can't walk, or move that much."

"Same with Natsu."

"So, we'll have to wait until they heal then, huh?"

"I guess so."

"But that could mean around a month, at least for Gajeel."

"Same here, but, on the bright side, we'll get to know them better and maybe we'll find out who they were fighting, and where the last ryu they were fighting alongside is."

"Yeah."

Truth be told, that wasn't the real reason Lucy and Levy were happy about the long recovery period. Both of them wanted the ryus to stay, and both of them knew the other thought the same thing.

"Hey, Levy-chan?"

"Yeah, Lu-chan?"

"I won't be taking this book," she said handing it back to her. "If they already drew the ryus in such a horrible way, I don't want to read whatever else they have to say, in that book."

"Yeah, I read it just to see if there might be any useful information, but its all a bunch of crap saying how dangerous and bloodthirsty they are."

"Thought so- wait, Levy, did you just swear?"

"I did? Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I? Shit, I guess Gajeel's rubbing off on me."

Lucy just gaped at her friend in surprise. She had just swore a second time without really realizing it! Then she burst out laughing, holding her sides as tears of laughter pooled in her eyes. Levy pouted at her for a moment before joining in, and both girls were now on the floor, howling with laughter.

"This...Gajeel...sure sounds like...something," Lucy managed to squeeze out in between laughs.

"He sure...is," Levy responded between laughs as well. "And Natsu...sounds like...quite the character...as well."

"You...bet he is."

Erza and Cana, with a moody Gray trailing behind rounded the corner of the bookshelf behind which they were on the floor howling.

"What's so funny?" Erza asked.

The girls didn't respond and just kept laughing. They finally calmed down around five minutes later and this time Cana asked, "Seriously what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," they both said.

"Didn't seem like nothing to me," Cana responded, looking skeptical.

Lucy was at a loss of what to say when Levy came to her rescue.

"We were laughing at these two characters from a book that are complete blockheads."

"Oh, ok," Erza said seeming to buy it, then walked away followed by a drunk Cana and a slouching Gray.

The girls smiled at each other, happy that that lame excuse had worked and happy that they had finally been able to talk to someone about the idiotic but amazing creatures they were taking care of.

Author's note: So yes, I decided to have Levy be the one take care of Gajeel because Gajevy is y second favorite couple!! Tied with Gruvia of course. So where do you guys think Wendy is? I'll let you think about it... Oh, and I know I just started out, but for those of you who have read a tiny bit of my story, please just let me know if you like it. I know I'm going slow with this, but I'm the type of author who likes to lay everything out before going into the big conflict, so have a little faith, there is going to be a big climax in this story! Anyway that's all. Bye!!

NaluLuvr