(Lucy's POV)

"I'm well stronger than you!"
"Haha, sure. That's why you can't beat me in a fight!"
"You wanna go!?"

I awoke to the sound of two bickering boys, and slowly began to open my eyes. When I did, I noticed metal bars caging me in.

Hold on.

"KYAAHH!!!" I screamed, jumping up from where I was lying, but just because it's me, I managed to bump my head on the top of the cage.
"Ouch...." I mumbled to myself.

"Hey look!" Gajeel pointed a finger at me. "Bunny girl woke up."
"Since when was I called Bunny Girl!?" I yelled at him, rubbing my head.
"Don't ask any of us," Gray chuckled. "No one knows what goes on in Gajeel's head."

By this point Gajeel had gone off to find Levy and tease her about her height. Really mature.

"Tell me about it." Natsu sighed.
"Your one to talk, airhead!" Gray retorted.
"Well at least you know what's in my head!" Natsu yelled, pointing to his spiky, pink hair.
"Yeah, nothing." Gray muttered.

"H-hey!" I called out. "Why am I in a cage?"
"Because I caught you." Natsu smirked at me. I froze, remembering what happened.

The kiss....

"Y-y-you kissed me!" I yelled.
"Yeah? So?" Natsu huffed.
"Dude, you know what that means, right?" Gray looked over at him.
"I-It means you like me." I muttered.
"You seemed like a friend to me." He shrugged.

What a dense idiot.

"No you idiot!" Gray yelled. "It means you love her!"
"L-love?" Natsu gave Gray a questioning look and tilted his head to the side like a lost dog. I swear,

"N-never mind then..." I smiled awkwardly. He didn't know. I'm okay.

Stop panicking. He didn't know.

"Oh, Gray," I began. "Why aren't you with Juvia?"
"Well, just look." He pointed to the cage in front of me, so I peeped through the bars and saw Juvia....

She had hearts in her eyes and was mumbling "Gray-sama~"

"She's been like that ever since I announced that I was going after her." Gray told me.
"She's never done this before," I sighed. "She must really like you."

"So, moving on...." I said. "Why exactly are we in cages?"
"You're all precious cargo," Natsu smiled. "We can't let you run off."
"And what's going to happen when we get there?" I pursued.
"We present you to our dads, they approve, then we take you to the temple, an-" I interrupted Natsu.

"Temple?"
"The temple is where we keep the women until we can gain their trust." Gray told me. "We visit them everyday, and when we feel that we can trust them, we let them roam around our territory."

"But, why is it called the temple?"
"It's a sacred place." Natsu said bluntly. "Where all the babies come from."
"B-babies!?" I yelled, a little too loud.
"Stop asking questions; it's annoying."

Tch. Fine.

When we got into the male territory, I looked around at the vast area and saw many people, both male and female, walking freely around.

"Where are all your huts?" I asked.
"Hidden away in the forest." Natsu replied.
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"Fair enough." I sighed, looking away.

Then I caught a glimpse of something tall and grey.
"A building made of stone!?" I yelled out in disbelief. The boys looked at each other, then at me.
"Yeah....." Natsu said.
"I've never seen one before!" I gasped, looking up at the vast amount of stone.

"Well, welcome to the temple, Luce." Natsu smirked at me.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We all entered the temple and were greeted by 9 old men.
"Yo Natsu!" One man with red hair smiled. "You catch one?"
"Of course I did!" Natsu replied.
"Who're they?" I whispered to Gray.
"They're our fathers." He replied, then walked over to Juvia.

All the girls were taken out their cages and were given to the hunters to present to their fathers. Natsu grabbed my wrist and pulled me over to his dad,  with a big smile on his face.

"See dad!" Natsu smiled. "Told you I'd catch one!"
"Yeah!" He returned he smile. "I'm proud of you son!"

"So," He bent down to my level and smirked at me. "I'm Igneel, what's your name?" I looked over at Natsu, but then began to blush. Calm down me! The kiss meant nothing! Okay!?

"L-Lucy..." I stuttered.
"Nice to meet you Lucy." Igneel then stood back up properly and looked down at me seriously. "Please be kind to my son."
"Y-yes s-sir..." I replied. He looked kinda scary when he wasn't smiling.

I looked down the row to see everyone else being introduced. Of course, Erza and Mira were arguing, and I saw Jellal and Laxus sweat drop. Gajeel and his dad seemed to be laughing at Levy. I guess it runs in the family then. And Romeo was hugging Wendy, who looked kinda scared.

Poor Lisanna was crying, I'm guessing because Bixllow's dad looks scarier than Bixllow himself, which is saying something. Rogue's dad looked like he really wanted to be anywhere but here, and Gray and his dad were getting scared of Juvia.

I have to say, she looks terrifying.

"Hello there my children!" I turned round to see Makarov walk in through the temple doors. "Tonight we will hold the annual festival in the courtyard! So get ready!"

Festival?

This should be entertaining.....

(A/N): Thanks again to _grace01_ for helping me out, and thank you for the votes and comments too.

Love you all. Xx

Word Count: 930