The next morning found Lucy curled up on the infirmary bed, tucked safely into the side of the snoring Natsu with Happy squished between them. Her fingers were tangled in his scarf, as if holding onto it would anchor him to her, and he'd somehow managed to rest his cheek against the top of her head. There hadn't been any need for blankets, as Natsu's heat was more than enough to keep the chilled celestial mage warm.

Naturally, upon quietly entering the room, Mira had turned right back around and walked out, returning a few minutes later with Reedus. She'd given him a look that had clearly ordered him to paint, and Reedus quickly went to do as he was told.

Nearly an hour later found Mira beaming at the paper he'd stuffed into her hands before scrambling off to safety. She folded it carefully, stuffing it into her pocket to later gift to Lucy - who she was sure would blush and sputter but accept it - and went back to carefully cleaning the guildhall, which had nearly been destroyed the previous night when Natsu's brief appearance had filled the place with flames.

"You're in a good mood."

Mira, who'd been humming as she swiped at the bar, glanced up. "Master," she greeted warmly, her blue eyes sparkling. She smiled warmly, returning to what she'd been doing. "I went to check on Lucy...I made sure to place a minor spell that would keep noise and everyone out. She and Natsu were sleeping, and I thought it best not to disturb them."

"Ah." Makarov, who'd seated himself on top of a clean portion of the bar, nodded. "Good choice. That brat hasn't slept properly since Lucy was hurt."

Mira tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, pausing to ask, "Any word from Levy, Master?"

"Not quite yet," he answered with a sigh. "She, Gajeel, and Lily haven't reported to me since their arrival to their job's location...I'm sure they'll be back soon enough. Gajeel said he'd keep Levy safe, and I believe him."

"The demon though..." Mira's voice was uncertain. "Look what it did to Lucy...I hope they're alright."

"They'll be fine," he replied firmly. He gave a bright grin, studying the destruction around them. "I am glad my child has woken...it was a long few months without her."

The ex-S-Class mage nodded cheerfully, poking at an unconscious Cana, who'd passed out at the bar with a barrel of alcohol cuddled in her lap. Cana moaned, toppling off the bar stool and onto the floor, where she proceeded to sleep again. Mirajane beamed, wiping at that spot. "For all of us. That party we decided to have will probably happen again when Lucy is capable of coming down to join us."

Makarov sighed. "Don't let them destroy too much," he wailed, "The Magic Council received several complaints last night and sent them to me!"

"Erza, Gray, and Wendy must be in a rush to finish that job before they come back," Mira mused. While Natsu and Happy had come back immediately, she'd received word from Erza that the rest of Team Natsu was going to finish the job they'd accepted before heading back. They planned on returning within the day, more than likely late at night, so Mira wasn't too concerned.

"They don't have to destroy a town to do so," Makarov muttered.

She flinched. "True," she agreed. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, saying in a hushed tone, "Has the First returned yet? She said she would return to check on Lucy."

"Not yet," he answered. "I'll alert you as to when she returns, though. She should be coming back within the next few days, I believe." He sighed heavily. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do...." Mira watched him slowly make his way into office he used, shaking her head to herself. At least he didn't seem to be so hunched over anymore...the master of Fairy Tail was returning to his usual self, as was everyone else.

Mira giggled to herself, smiling at the destruction around her. How long had it been since everyone - especially a certain dragon slayer - had been in a good enough mood to party? She was glad that it had happened, even if she did disapprove of how much Natsu had destroyed in his brief appearance the previous night.

Her eyes softened. Natsu...the young pink-haired mage had been beyond worried. He'd been frantic when someone had first voiced the possibility that Lucy might not wake up. He'd gone momentarily insane with rage, attempting to beat the hell out of them - "them" being Wakaba and Macao - before Erza had been forced to haul him back up to sit with Lucy. He'd then proceeded to try and shake the poor celestial mage awake, stopped only when Erza warned him that it would hurt her.

Footsteps caught her attention and she glanced up - and proceeded to smile gently when she saw who it was. "Ah, Natsu, awake, I see."

He yawned, rubbing at an eye in an adorable motion that had Mirajane giggling softly. Rubbing the back of his head with his other hand, he mumbled out, "Luce needs breakfast."

"Of course. I'll whip up something right away...do you and Happy want something, too?"

He gave her a brilliant grin, showing his fangs off for all to see. "Yeah. Happy will want a fish. I'll take whatever you're making Luce, except-"

"Light it on fire, I know, but you can do that yourself. I'll get a glass of water for Lucy, too," Mira mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "She's dehydrated and needs the water. I want you to make sure she drinks it, okay?"

"Sure," Natsu agreed, yawning again. He looked around at the destruction, taking in a few of their nakama. "...huh. Anyone go home last night?"

"Not that I know of," Mira admitted. She smiled affectionately. "Everyone was up until at least dawn...I'll be right back with that breakfast for you all. Why don't you go back up to Lucy? I'll bring it up for you."

"Thanks, Mira," he called after her, then looked around him with an affectionate look on his face. Adjusting his scarf so it wasn't tickling his nose, he started back up to the room Lucy was still asleep in, ducking through the doorway and quietly closing the door behind him. He paused to take in the celestial mage, his onyx eyes gentle.

Her brow had been drawn down in a nervous look as she mumbled in her sleep, and she clutched the poor suffocating Happy to her like a lifeline. The Exceed shot him a pleading look, and he smirked at him mockingly before moving over to lightly poke Lucy's shoulder. "Luce," he said, "Time to wake up."

Her eyes snapped open and he had to nearly bend all the way in half to avoid getting a fist driven by a powerful golden mist in the face. Happy squealed in surprise, and Natsu toppled backwards, rubbing his back and growling something under his breath before giving the exhausted blonde an accusing look. Lucy blinked blearily at the ceiling before sitting up, scrubbing at her eyes for a moment. She looked down at the dragon slayer, then looked at the wide-eyed Exceed. "...sorry."

He huffed, but his gaze sparkled with curiosity. "What was that? I didn't know you could do that," Natsu said, grinning as he hopped to his feet, flames flickering to life in his excitement.

Lucy tiredly swiped her hair out of her face. "What was what?"

"You did this...thing," he cried, letting fire blaze to life on his fist. "Like this! But not with fire like me!"

"Oh." Lucy looked bewildered. "You taught me that." He stared at her, the flames dying out and she cursed under her breath, frustrated. "Forget about that...it's...I don't want to..."

She was saved from explaining by Mira stepping into the room, a warm smile on her face and a huge tray of food and drinks in her hands. "Good morning, Lucy. Hungry?"

"Not really," Lucy muttered, but reached out to grab some toast when Natsu's grin vanished and he scowled at her. She nibbled at it, grimacing at the taste. "Thanks, Mirajane," she said quietly.

She winked in response, removing a paper from her pocket. "I have a present for you...Reedus painted it this morning." She offered it out for the celestial mage, and Lucy took it, carefully unfolding it. She stared at it for a moment, her cheeks flushing before her entire face turned red.

Naturally, Natsu was curious and it soon resulted in her fighting to hide the paper from him, the grinning dragon slayer struggling to grab it as Mira squealed happily and held the food out of the way. Happy shot out of the bed to avoid being squished between the two. Due to lack of muscle, it wasn't long before Natsu was triumphantly holding the paper, one arm lightly grasping the blonde's waist. She was nearly sitting in his lap, and he'd used his legs to pin hers down.

Ignoring Mirajane's happy cooing, the fire mage flipped the paper open, studying it curiously before grinning and proceeding to promptly shove it into his own pocket. Lucy's jaw dropped. "Hey, that's mine, you jerk!"

"Not anymore," he responded, grinning down at her. "It's mine."

"Aw, you two are adorable," Mira squealed, setting the tray down.

Lucy's face flushed, though she didn't fight to get away from Natsu like she once would have. For one, there was no point. What damage could she do? And two, she'd gotten used to it within the nightmare. That's what it was, right? A nightmare. A bad dream that she'd lived in real time? That's what the others were describing it as anyways... Carefully crossing her arms, Lucy leaned slightly against the dragon slayer, and he leaned against her in return, glancing down at her curiously as she spoke. "Hand me a new thing of toast, would you, Mira? The jerk made me drop mine..."

"Sure," the ex-S-Class mage giggled, handing her a thing of toast - and then handed her a second when Natsu snatched it before Lucy could take it.

"Weirdos," Happy accused. Mira waved the Exceed over and she tucked him under one arm before heading out of the room, calling, "Why don't you bring her down later, Natsu? Everyone else wants to say hi, too, you know! And Erza and the others will be returning later today!"

Natsu snorted something Lucy didn't hear in response before reaching out carefully to drag the tray of food the barmaid had brought closer to them with his free hand, the other still lightly resting on her hip as he gave her a pleading look. "...lazy," Lucy sighed softly, picking up the box of matches Mira had left with them. She lit the bread in his hand on fire, and he smirked as he sucked the flames off of the match before beginning to happily munch on his toast. The dragon slayer was careful not to let the flames get near her hair, and Lucy grumbled about personal space as she nibbled at her own food.

When both had finished eating - Lucy decided she was done after half of a second piece of toast, claiming her stomach couldn't handle more, and Natsu had devoured the rest of the meal - they sat in complete silence, listening to muffled sounds below them as the guild began to wake up and join in with the cleaning. After a few minutes of this, Natsu blinked and mumbled, "Why did she take Happy?"

Lucy sighed, shrugging. "Who knows," she murmured, shaking her head. Mirajane always did weird things like that. She'd learned long ago before all of this mess...no, that wasn't right. How did she even refer to what had happened? She pressed her lips into a hard line.

Noticing the sudden tenseness, Natsu rested his chin on her head, peering curiously down at her. "Luce?"

She carefully shook her head. She was fine, and she didn't want to explain what she'd dreamt of just yet. Her thoughts drifted over to what Natsu had told her last night, all of what had happened since she'd fallen unconscious.

According to her dragon slayer, the attack after their mission had been real. It had been a demon, he told her. Jellal had stopped by as if sensing something was amiss and confirmed it for them. A demon that had specialized in malicious ancient magic that couldn't be stopped from the outside...not that they hadn't tried. Apparently Erza had been the only one willing to draw a blade across the mark in an attempt to break the curse.

Her team had taken little to no jobs since they'd brought her home. None of them had wanted to leave her side, but the small reminder from Wendy about Lucy's apartment needing her rent paid had convinced them to leave. All of them except Natsu and Happy had left, the original members of Team Natsu determined to not leave her side unless absolutely necessary. Upon their team's return, however, the landlady had revealed that another member of their guild had payed the rent...nearly five years' worth!

Lucy's jaw had dropped at that and she'd demanded to know who so she could pay them back, and Natsu had mused about how suspicious they were of a certain iron dragon slayer, who had received extra special attention from Levy during the days afterward.

It had gone on like that, Natsu describing the lack of energy within their guild for the months after with Happy's help. She'd learned that they'd requested the assistance of their friends in Sabertooth, a few other guilds, and those in the Magic Council...though the Magic Council hadn't been so willing to help. Natsu had told her that Sting, Rogue, their Exceeds, and Yukino had come by to check on her whenever they passed through, Yukino even offering to stay at Lucy's side when Natsu had been concerned about his own lack of money.

In the end, however, it turned out he'd only left her side for food and other necessities...until the last job, when she'd woken up.

"Erza threatened to beat me unconscious," Natsu had mumbled with a pout. "Somethin' about being too clingy..."

Lucy had giggled at that.

Suddenly, a huge sense of longing filled her and she raised a hand to lightly tug at his scarf, her large brown eyes turning upwards to meet curious onyx ones. "Natsu?" she asked softly, searching his gaze. "Can you...can you help me? I want to..." She waved at the door, expressing her longing to see everyone with her eyes rather than her voice.

A huge grin spread across his face. "Sure," he said eagerly, then paused. "Tell me if ya want to come back here though. Okay? Mira said it'd be bad to stress ya out too much."

Lucy muttered something about Mira needing to mind her own business, and he threw his head back and laughed loudly. He gave her a final small hug, and then squirmed until he's un-pinned her now numb legs, somehow retaining his balance as he lifted her. He shifted her until he thought she seemed comfortable, than started for the door. "C'mon then, let's get you downstairs..."

The second he stepped into view, a huge cheer filled the guildhall. Lucy's eyes widened at the sight before her.

Somehow, in the span of two hours, even less if possible, the guildhall had been picked up from the night before. Everything had been put back in its original place, and the building's interior looked spotless. But things had been added, too, the celestial mage realized. Each table that littered the floor had carefully pressed and cleaned tablecloths, made of beautiful white cloth and edged with carefully stitched in golden stars. A vase, made of white porcelain, had been set in the center of the tables, filled to the brim with peach-colored flowers, a golden glow seeming to radiate off of them. A buffet table had been set up along one of the walls, just brimming with all sorts of food despite the fact that it was rather early in the morning. The bar, decorated in a similar manner, had golden lights attached along the edge of it and dangling from the ceiling, following the curve of it. Banners and streamers of white, peach, and gold decorated the walls, balloons seeming to have appeared out of nowhere, and in the middle of the guildhall, there was a massive sign, that read: Welcome Home, Lucy!

Tears flooded her eyes, and Lucy found herself gripping onto Natsu's scarf, burying her face into it to try and give herself a moment. Finally, she lifted her face again, a huge smile breaking across her face as she took in each and every one of her nakama. Elfman was grinning, still holding the sign high above his head with Evergreen rolling her eyes beside him. Freed and Bixslow weren't far away, a cheerful looking Lisanna standing near them alongside Mirajane and Laxus. Cana was shouting her greetings despite seeing Lucy the previous night, waving a barrel of alcohol around as Happy happily floated around their heads. Jet and Droy stood off to the side - Levy was nowhere to be found, Lucy noticed, and neither were Gajeel and Pantherlily - and even Juvia was there, beaming shyly at the celestial mage in greeting. Makarov stood at the head of the group, giving Lucy a warm smile.

It was then that she realized ten other figures had joined in the fray, standing off to the side. Loke was giving her a devilish smirk, an arm thrown around Aries' and Virgo's shoulders. The ram looked rather embarrassed, but Virgo didn't seem to care, instead gracing Lucy with a bright smile that she rarely saw upon the serious Celestial Spirit's face. Capricorn hung back behind them alongside Taurus and Sagittarius, though his face was softened, and Scorpio and Aquarius were also there. Aquarius was pretending to look annoyed, but Lucy recognized the look of relief in her eyes, even if she said nothing. Gemini was hopping around, cheering along with the rest of her nakama, and Cancer was snipping the scissors in his hands eagerly, eyeing her hair excitedly.

It was too much, and she could barely take notice of each and every other guild member there before Lucy burst into sobs, burying her face in Natsu's shoulder. The dragon slayer snickered, patting her shoulder awkwardly so he wouldn't drop her. "C'mon, Luce, what the hell are you crying for?"

"Thank you," was the only thing she was able to choke out, her hand lightly resting on his cheek for a moment. "Thank you."

The fire mage only snickered again and let a huge grin cross his face. "It was nothin'. It was actually Wendy's idea...she thought it'd be fun for when you woke up. Place was actually a huge mess earlier...I think your Spirits showed up to help, 'cause otherwise it never would have gotten this clean..."

"We can't stay," Loke announced, finally pulling away and shooting Lucy an apologetic grin. "Spirit King's already throwing a fit over how many of us stepped out on our own accord...but I thought it'd be a good idea."

"Thank you," Lucy repeated, shooting him a grateful look. "It means...it means a lot, Loke."

He winked. "Anytime, Princess," he replied, and then disappeared in a flash of light alongside the other Celestial Spirits. Lucy watched them go with a fond look on her face, her hand falling instinctively to the empty place at her hip.

"They're on your desk at your place," Natsu answered the unsaid question.

"Natsu, stop hogging her to yourself!" Cana suddenly wailed, throwing a glass she'd been drinking out of at his head. "You've had at least...however many hours you were up there last night! Give the rest of us a turn!"

He growled when the glass struck his head, shattering, glaring his annoyance, but Lucy patted his chest with a giggle. "Come on, Natsu," she said warmly, tears still falling down her cheeks. "Cana's right."

"Which is why we prepared this!" Lucy found herself yanked from Natsu's arms, shoved into a comfortable plush chair by a happy Mira, who winked at her. "There's a whole party for everyone - again!" she announced, explaining to Lucy at the same time. "Fairy Tail style!" She paused, then whispered in Lucy's ear, "Be glad Gajeel isn't here...there's going to be karaoke later."

Lucy found herself giving a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

The second Elfman had tossed the sign aside, the party began. Lucy was enjoying herself immensely, though she didn't necessarily enjoy the amount of food shoved into her hands. Natsu took care of that for her, however, not once leaving her aside when the usual wildness started up. He made sure that any small brawl that was started stayed away from her rather than joining in, something Happy teased the both of them about.

Every now and then, someone would stop by to chat with Lucy, and Lucy greeted each and every one of them with a huge smile, relieved to see them alive.

Eventually, Juvia drifted over to greet her, giving the celestial mage a happy look that quickly turned to one of surprise when Lucy offered her arms for a hug. She hesitantly gave it to Lucy, using it to hiss in her ear, "Do not upset my love further, love rival. He is very upset with himself."

"...okay?" Lucy frowned. What would Gray possibly be upset about? She was his teammate, and he was probably just as worried as the rest of the guild, but did that really require extra warning...?

"'Cause that bastard said what he said, you left and got attacked," Natsu had said.

...oh. That makes sense...

It was about two hours into the party and nearly ten in the morning that the doors to the guildhall flew open and a grinning blond dragon slayer shouted, "We're here!" Sting's blue eyes landed upon Lucy momentarily, the grin brightening. Rogue, standing just beside him, rolled his eyes as Lector lectured Frosch on something or another. Yukino flushed as she came to speak with Lucy, leaving her fellow Sabertooth mages to join in with the food portion.

Lucy's eyes snapped wide. "How did they get here so quickly?"

"How is he moving like that?" Natsu demanded, looking annoyed. "He was on a train for hours!"

Yukino smiled warmly. "Master Makarov contacted Sting last night," she explained to the other celestial mage. "He said you'd woken up and there was going to be a party, so we came to welcome you back to the waking world. As for their motion sickness...we met with friends on the way here."

"LUCY!"

Lucy yelped when her head was suddenly slammed into a hard breast plate, scarlet colored hair falling around her as Erza crushed her in a tight hug. The powerful requip mage had tears in her eyes as she smiled at Lucy, who cried, "Erza!"

"Watch it," Natsu muttered in exasperation. "She's still sick, ya know!"

"If you ever frighten us in such a way again," Erza scolded, "I will punish you, Lucy Heartfilia."

"No last names please," Lucy pleaded, grimacing. But still, she laughed softly, hugging Erza back as tightly as she could. When a familiar flash of blue was seen, she released her in favor of throwing her arms around Wendy for a hug, laughing and crying now. "Wendy! Charle!" She didn't dare hug the annoyed looking white Exceed, who had proceeded to try and fend off a fish offered to her.

Suddenly, Natsu tensed, his onyx eyes narrowing as he edged closer, leaning protectively over Lucy's chair. Lucy blinked as he somehow managed to rest his chin on top of her head, glaring at someone as they approached. It took nothing to realize who was awkwardly approaching, rubbing the back of their head and messing up their messy hair further. "Oh, stop," she scolded Natsu quietly. "I'm not angry with him, so you can't be. You got it?"

Gray gave the celestial mage an anxious, lop-sided smile. "Hey, Lucy," he said warily, "Glad to see you awake." Juvia seemed to materialize beside him, glaring daggers at Lucy, as if daring her to say something harsh.

Lucy ignored the water mage in favor of carefully reaching forward to tug at his sleeve. He let her pull him in for a hug that was just a fractional bit tighter than any of the others she'd managed to give so far. "You stop blaming yourself," she scolded under her breath, "Not your fault, okay? Good." She shoved him back as best as she could, though she secretly decided Natsu had assisted her in the matter. The dragon slayer looked ready to explode with anger, fire dancing along his fingertips and searing the material of the chair she sat in.

Juvia looked just as angry as Natsu, but the anger vanished when Gray suddenly threw an arm around her shoulders, the tense set of his own relaxing into his usual chilled look as he mocked, "The hell's your problem, ya flaming bastard?"

Natsu's eyes flashed with eagerness. "You say something, ice princess?"

Erza didn't even try to stop them as they fell into a loud shouting match that had soon resulted in a massive brawl with almost everyone in the guild jumping in. "It's been a while," she sighed, glancing at Juvia, who'd now stopped giving Lucy sharp looks. "I'll let them go at it for a little bit."

Lucy only giggled, her cheeks aching from smiling so much as she watched Natsu eagerly try to launch himself at Laxus, who gave him a dirty look before sending him the other way in an electrified mess and returning to his conversation with Mira.

Oh, how she'd missed this.

As had everyone else.

XxXx

"Lucy!" a voice hissed in her ear, warm hands shaking her awake. She blurrily opened her eyes, staring up at the sharp onyx eyes with confusion. "Get up! Levy and the iron freak are back!"

She shoved herself into a sitting position, yawning in her exhaustion. "What?" she mumbled, "When did they get back?"

The party had gone on all day and long into the night and despite hearing news of her friend's return, the celestial mage found herself annoyed with the fire dragon slayer for waking her up so early, when the daylight was just beginning to filter through the windows. She'd be returning to her own apartment soon, she realized. She just hoped she wouldn't be left alone again.

"Just a few minutes ago..." Natsu glanced at Happy, who' cuddled into her side again. The Exceed had been stubborn, demanding she let him sleep with her to keep her safe, and Lucy had surprised everyone by letting him.

"He'll be fine," Lucy muttered, affectionately patting Happy's head before stumbling out of the bed, nearly toppling over when her legs refused to support her. Natsu caught her, and she gave a frustrated sound. "Damn it," she hissed under her breath.

"You just gotta keep trying," Natsu told her, though he didn't look too happy about it either. "That's what Erza and Wendy said, remember?"

"I guess," she sighed. "Come on, I want to see Levy. And don't pick me up. Just help me. My legs aren't going to work unless I start using them," she added when he moved to do just that. Natsu rolled his eyes, but drew an arm around his neck so she could lean into him while stumbling forward.

It took them a good little while, but eventually, her forehead dampened with sweat, Lucy sank into the chair she'd called home for the duration of the party, groaning in relief. "Where are they?"

"In Gramps' office," he mused, leaning against the chair. "He said to bring you down, that they'd be out in a bit."

"Okay," she answered simply. Lucy rested her head back with a yawn, closing her eyes, grateful that everyone had gone home after the party. Excluding the Sabertooth mages, who'd been gifted temporary housing. Yukino had been granted a stay at Fairy Hills, while Cana had let the two dragon slayers and their Exceeds into Gildarts' empty home for the time being.

It wasn't long before, just as Natsu had said, Makarov exited his office, followed closely by three rugged looking shapes. Lily was exhaustedly draped across Levy's head in a similar way that Happy sometimes did, his eyes closed as he dozed despite his reputation for staying serious half the time. Gajeel looked just as roughed up, his red eyes sharp with wary annoyance despite the fact. His body was tensed, as if he was ready to fight at a moment's notice, and it wasn't hard to see why. Levy, who was leaning heavily against him, had a large amount of bandages wrapping portions of her body - particularly her throat. He was ready to protect her, and he didn't care much for what anyone might say about it.

Wisely, Natsu kept his mouth shut.

Levy's exhausted hazel eyes lit up upon seeing Lucy, however, and she staggered over to throw her arms around the blonde after plucking Lily off of her head and shoving him into Gajeel's arms. "Lucy!" she cried, her voice hoarse. Tears fell from the solid-script mage's eyes, and soon, Lucy was crying right alongside her, burying her face in Levy's shoulder.

Finally, Levy pulled back, smiling warmly. "We have quite the story for you," she rasped, "And I think you might need to put it into a book, Lucy. But I need sleep, as do Lily and Gajeel. So I'll leave it at this: the demon's dead - we think. We're pretty sure we managed to kill it, or at least seal it, so it won't be bothering anyone ever again. And we destroyed the dark mages controlling it, too."

Lucy's eyes widened. "...there were...dark mages controlling it?"

"Yeah," Gajeel grunted, finally speaking up. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Fuckers were hard to get, I'll tell you that. Had to take 'em all out at once after we figured that out."

"They were protecting the demon," Levy explained. She smiled faintly. "We didn't realize how strong they were until we nearly got ourselves killed going after them the first time. We had to pull back and reconsider how we were going to go about the mission."

Lucy tilted her head. "How did you know where they were...?"

"I'd been looking into the mark on your back," Levy explained. "I found a few symbols, and then one day, a mission with one of them popped up onto the request board, so I spoke with Master about it. Gajeel had already agreed to go on a job with me because I was concerned about my lack of money, so off we went. We left...what was it...a month ago maybe?"

Gajeel nodded his agreement. "Bout that much time."

Levy clapped her hands together. "Oh! And you'll never guess what we found while we were looking for them...Natsu, you'll be pleased about this." She grinned excitedly, leaning forward. "We met with a dragon."

Natsu's onyx eyes snapped wide, his entire body tensing in shock as he stared at her. "You what?"

"We met a dragon," Levy repeated, laughing at his response.

"How?!" Natsu threw his hands in the air, making Lucy giggle at his exasperation. "The only one we've seen since our dragons disappeared is Acnologia!"

The look on Gajeel's face had Lucy's eyes widening. "Was Metalicana...bastard decided to show up and make our lives a living hell for a while."

"You saw Metalicana?" Natsu gave a frustrated huff, crossing his arms. "What about Igneel?" he demanded, his fingers fumbling with the scarf wrapped around his throat. "Did you see Igneel, too?"

"No," Levy said gently. "But Metalicana told us that everything was alright, that he'd show up eventually." She gave Natsu a warm smile, her gaze soft at the look of frustration on Natsu's face.

Lucy reached up to lightly squeeze her dragon slayer's hand, her eyes warm, and Natsu met them for a moment before mumbling, "Guess I can wait..."

"Anyways, we need to go get some rest," Levy announced. She winked at Lucy. "I expect that book of yours finished and in my hands within the week, you hear me? You've made me wait long enough as it is."

"Okay," Lucy laughed, leaning her head against Natsu's side when he moved to stand beside the chair she sat in. Levy winked knowingly, then grabbed Gajeel's arm and started hauling him for the doors of the guildhall.

"Hm," Makarov hummed thoughtfully, "I'm glad that all of my children have returned."

"Me, too," Lucy mused, giggling at the grin Natsu shot her. Her eyes closed, and she found herself falling into pleasant thoughts. She knew without a doubt that she'd have nightmares for a long time to come, but at least she'd have her dragon slayer there to keep her sane.

Maybe nightmares could come true, too...but if they could, then so could happy dreams.

And after surviving the worst nightmare of her life? She was ready for those happy thoughts.

Then suddenly the guild hall's doors busted open revealing Elfman covered in the dark marks Lucy had been so familiar with, and she let out a gasp.

fin.