To everyone's curiosity, neither Natsu nor Lucy spoke about what happened. The only answer Natsu would give his guildmates when they asked what he did and why he was gone for so long was that Porlyusica refused to let him leave, on the thought that he would ruin all her hard work.

Lucy, on the other hand, was a different story. Like her rose-haired best friend, she didn't tell anyone anything that had happened while she was missing. In fact, she hardly spoke the entire week she's been back. The only person that she'd have a somewhat complete conversation with was Natsu, and even then it was hard for him to get her to talk.

But Fairy Tail had an idea. After all, two months of being Zeref's, the black wizard, prisoner was something no one except for those who witnessed it could understand.

But that wasn't the only reason Lucy never spoke of it. A big part was that she couldn't even remember most of her time as a prisoner. They were fragments inside her head that didn't make any sense, which scared Lucy even more than it would have if she had her full memory. Was the time so bad that her brain forcefully blocked the horrid memories? It wasn't unheard of, Lucy knew.

She stared at the neatly stacked letters on the desk near her bed, fingers aching to reach out and hold them close to her as she often did with her keys. But she refused to reread them another time and experience all the pain her dear family had felt while they wrote them.

She was relieved to be home again after all this time, even with her closet being filled to the brim with Natsu, Happy, and Plue plushies, courtesy of Juvia. Though, the original Plue Lucy had on her hospital bed with her was resting on her pillow. She gladly welcomed the comfort of her home, but it still didn't feel safe, not yet. Not until Natsu arrived.

Her gaze moved from the letters to the scar on the palm of her hand. A delicate finger traced over the fresh scar as the memory of where it came from resurfaced.

Lucy was being held in a cell once more. Her clothes, the same ones she was wearing the day she got taken, were tattered and covered in grime. In front of her Zeref glared down at her wickedly, his black eyes teetering to red before switching back, flickering like a dying light lacrima.

"How did you lead him here? What did you do?"

What she did? Lucy didn't know but she wasn't about to tell him that. She knew who was here, who would always come save her even if he had to walk through hell and back to get her. She knew that he was going to come bursting through like a ball of fire any second now and take her home. Natsu always did. And he doesn't like to give up easily.

A burning in Lucy's chest made her reel back. That was only part of the story to her scar. That was the day of her rescue, no doubt, but the entire memory was just fragments like the rest of them. There was a knee to her gut that had flown her halfway across the room like she weighed nothing more than a feather. That was when Natsu came in.

Dust and smoke collected in the air as it followed a loud explosion. In front of Lucy stood a great wall of fire, surrounding her in an almost protective nature as it shielded her from further abuse given by Zeref.

Natsu was her first thought.

She was right, he was here for her, and he came in just as she thought he would. Through the flames he walked, his scaled scarf whipping around behind him until the man she'd been waiting for stood in front of her.

"Natsu..." He didn't respond to her soft voice, instead dropping her celestial keys into her hands as he got into his familiar fighting stance. The fire died down and Zeref stood unscathed as he glanced at his brother.

Natsu's forearms were morphed into scales, the same as the scales that were highlighting his cheeks. His onyx eyes were slit and his flames burned hotter than ever before. A deep growl emitted from his chest as he glowered at Zeref.

"I will burn you to ashes for what you did to Lucy!"

It was a blur on what happened next. A dull throbbing came from the two identical cuts on her hand as she thought about what happened next.

The battle wasn't to Natsu's advantage anymore. He was strong, but that didn't mean that his magic power was limitless. Zeref released a powerful surge of magic towards his younger brother without mercy and from what Lucy could tell, it was going to be a direct hit.

Her right hand clenched around the key she had blindly pulled from her keyring, Taurus' familiar power flowing through her veins. The axe-shaped tip cut into her skin, leaving behind trails of blood as she flung her wrist.

"Open, gate of the bull, Taurus!" Lucy cried. The spirit came out, axe slicing through the black ball of energy and successfully saving Natsu from what quite possibly could have been his imminent death. "Star dress; Taurus form!"

Lucy wasn't sure what had happened after that. She knew that she was low on magic after those months and that summoning Taurus took a lot out of her, as did the star dress. She didn't last long in the fight against Zeref, but she did last long enough to give Natsu enough time to recover. But those were all things that Lucy just assumed. She didn't have all the exact details on it either. After a black surge came her way, and a blur of pink, it was blank. It was like a story that had no ending, just empty pages.

A series of knocks erupted at her window before the person slid himself in like he owned the place. Technically speaking, for the rest of the month he did.

"Luce, I think that's all of it." Natsu was smiling as he plopped himself on the bed before noticing the look Lucy held. "What's wrong?"

"What happened, Natsu? After Taurus, what happened?" He was taken aback by the fact that she spoke two sentences rather than the choppy ones he's been getting accustomed to. She looked up at him with doe-like eyes, patiently waiting for him to answer her.

"It's simple, Luce. I beat Zeref."

"Natsu."

He could never just lie to her, not even if he wanted to. She always knew when he lied to her, because she knew him like the back of her hand. His smile dropped as he stared straight ahead.

"It wasn't anything bad Luce, I promise. I did exactly what you told me."

Natsu didn't know how they got here. All he knew was that this man, Zeref, almost killed Lucy. And he was not going to let him live long enough to regret it.

That was how he ended up on top of Zeref, his fists engulfed in hot flames as he slammed them repeatedly into his brother. He was blinded by red, his only thoughts being Lucy and terminating their enemy. It wasn't until he heard her croaking voice did he realize how close he was to succeeding in his plan.

"Stop, Natsu..." His balled fist paused abruptly, mere millimeters away from its target. Lucy's hand that bared her guild mark reached out towards him, obvious fear clouding her pretty brown orbs. Those two words made his heart drop before he glanced down at the mess he had made of Zeref's face.

He had almost killed someone.

"After that, the Royal Guard had come to take him away, and Gajeel had found us. I told Gajeel to take you to Fairy Tail."

"Why didn't you go?" Natsu leaned back against the window as he stared at the letters that Lucy had neatly laid on her desk, next to her precious book.

"Because I love you. You read my letters right? So I left so I could become better for ya. Ya don't deserve someone who was E.N.D, and ya don't deserve someone who nearly became a killer. But I couldn't stay away from ya. I still had something to give ya anyways." From a hidden pocket in his one sleeved top, Natsu pulled out a beautiful sapphire necklace that looked familiar.

Maybe the reason why it looked familiar was because it was the same one that she had seen in Hargeon so many months ago.

The two didn't say a word as Natsu delicately pulled her long blonde locks to the side so he could clasp the necklace around her neck.The raindrop shaped sapphire hung perfectly, resting just below her collarbones.

"So? I just confessed to you. I'd feel a lot better if ya'd say somethin'" Natsu waited as patiently as he could, but why should he? He always attacks things head on, so what made this any different? And Lucy wasn't one to beat around the bush either. Well, at least not when it came to her best friend.

"I've always loved you, idiot." She didn't give the rose-haired man much time to celebrate his returned feelings as she leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on his lips before withdrawing instantly, her face a color that could rival Erza's hair.

Natsu only pulled her closer in response.

The rest of the night was filled with laughs, kisses, and some very warm cuddles.

Though the two went through much together, they still had each other and their family at Fairy Tail. And who knows? Maybe in the future, they'll be writing letters to their children, telling them about their mom and dad's beautiful love story.

But those thoughts weren't on their minds for now. No, for now, they're going to enjoy the time they have together.

Because letters just don't do justice to Fairy Tail's precious time.

That's all! Man, I loved this story when I uploaded it on FF.net, and I love it even now! I hope you loved this book!

Date, February 22, 2017

Until next time, peace!