Long wait again this time around, I know. I've been struggling with motivation for this story, plus some writer's block on top. But I have enough for a small chapter so I'll give you that.

Chapter 20

tie your napkin 'round your neck, chêrié

Judging from the amount of smoke in the room, the pipe currently hanging in Igneel's mouth had been stuffed more than once this morning already.

"What the hell," Lucy coughed as they walked into the room (and subsequently into a cloud of smoke), swatting at the wads of smoke that obstructed her path. But Natsu released a sound that would be best described as a wail of unadulterated joy before inhaling deeply.

"No, not hell," he said decidedly as he patted his stomach, "Less sulfur."

Lucy cast him a dubious glance.

"And definitely not smoke from a pipe," he went on, pointing an accusing finger at Igneel. "What did you blow up this time, old man?"

Slowly taking the pipe out of his mouth, Igneel bestowed him with a slightly murderous and, at the same time, very affectionate glance. Lucy wasn't quite sure how he did it.

"Nevermind now," the inventor sighed, shoulders slumping, "I thought it was destined to become a great invention..."

Lucy bit back a comment on how he always said that when something blew up around him, deciding to spare his feelings. They were fragile when it came to his beloved inventions.

"Even now you can't stop fiddling and tinkering, can you?" she chided instead, and received a shameless grin in return.

But her own froze right off when Natsu chimed in.

"Lucy is mine now," he declared proudly - out of entirely nowhere - and Lucy just slapped her hands over her face.

Igneel looked torn between bursting into laughter and being swept over by pure, proud rapture. He seemed unable to close his mouth, the joyful expression of disbelief etched deeply into his face.

"Glad to see you two up," he finally beamed, rubbing his chin, "So can I expect any grandch-"

"Pervert!" Lucy screeched, cutting him short as she stomped across the room.

"Careful, she might sneeze on you," Natsu commented, earning himself an equally dangerous glare as she whirled around.

"Stop teaming up on me, you monsters" she seethed, crossing her arms over her chest as she slumped down onto the couch beside Igneel, doing her best sulking impression. It didn't have the intended effect, and she gave up on it after she went ignored.

She missed how both men exchanged amused glances.

Then Natsu settled beside her, wedging her in between himself and Igneel on the couch that was not meant to hold three people, and Lucy had a weird sense of deja-vù.

But then the cat (Happy, she'd been informed he'd been dubbed, which had elicited a snort from her), jumped onto Natsu's lap, and she was reminded that times had inevitably changed. And that not all the changes it had brought with it had been bad.

For a moment, comfortable, exhausted silence settled. Then Igneel cleared his throat, taking a long draw from his pipe. A whiff of wood smoke and cider drifted over to Lucy. It smelled quite nice actually, and certainly better than the dark smoke that was finally beginning to clear as it wafted out of the open windows.

For some reason she'd always been quite fond of Igneel's pipe smoking habits.

"So," Igneel started, emphasizing the word, and then just trailed off. Apparently he was waiting for either one of them to take over. Lucy glanced over at Natsu, who was already looking at her for help. Since she could resist neither his lost puppy gaze nor the chance to pass up on some storytelling, she decided to rise to the occasion.

"So. Yesterday Natsu was over at my place to... discuss a message that was sent to him by his brother. But when-"

"Wait," Igneel interrupted, "When you say his brother... you mean... the devil?"

They both nodded.

"And when you say he sent a message... he probably didn't use the mail service?"

They both shook their heads.

"Go on," Igneel allowed, scratching his chin and staring straight ahead into nothingness.

So Lucy tolf him what had happened.

"Well, and then suddenly a demon appeared in my living room mirror and a fight broke loose," she said as she drew the story to a close, "and Natsu and me escaped after I attacked him with my hairspray and we ran to the river because Natsu said so because he had a plan and then we ended up jumping into the water to escape from the creepy guy and... well. I don't remember much after that. But here we are."

Igneel's eyes had become gradually emptier with every word that left her mouth, and now he simply blew a large cloud of cider scented smoke into the air.

Lucy watched as it slowly dispersed.

"So... the devil himself is after our lives now," he concluded after a moment of silence, and then turned his head towards Natsu. "What trouble did you get yourself into this time, young man?"

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest, glaring past Lucy with the intent to burn a hole into Igneel's head with his gaze alone.

"I told him I wouldn't do my exam," he finally grumbled, looking away.

Silence settled.

"You mean... that exam where you wanted to drag both of us to hell after driving us insane?"

A little guiltily, Natsu nodded. "Just don't really feel like it anymore. It's boring. You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all," Igneel chuckled, but there was an undertone to his voice that betrayed his carefree behaviour. Lucy knew him well enough to see that he was touched by Natsu's actions - if not by his defiant words - seeing them for what they were.

Smiling to herself, she reached out to stretch her arms across the back of the couch, pulling both of them into her sides.

"My idiots," she laughed affectionately, revelling in their offended gasps (finally!), and at last, after all that had happened, she felt safe and at home again.

And then the door opened.

The sound of the door handle moving and the door scraping over the carpet floor drifted over into the living room from the hallway, and they all froze at the same time.

Lucy closed her eyes in silent defeat, realizing that neither of them had the energy left to get them out of this situation, whatever trap or attack it might be. Her entire world froze over once more, and the only thought that occurred to her was that it wasn't fair.

She felt Natsu's arms close around her as he turned to look towards the doorway behind them, hearing him growl lowly in his throat.

Soft footsteps were approaching, and she felt the now familiar power of Natsu's magic surge beside her.

Then, the steps halted, and for a moment the silence was impenetrable.

And then Natsu spoke.

"What's that child doing here?"

Lucy's eyes fluttered open, her vision slightly blurry, but she quickly managed to blink away any inklings of tears. Her confusion and curiosity were too strong for her not to move.

Besides... Natsu seemed rather unimpressed with their intruder.

How bad could it be?

"Excuse me, I am not a child," a clear voice replied, somewhat offended and definitely hurt.

Lucy turned, now more eager than ever to lay eyes on the mysterious person.

It wasn't a child. It was a small woman.

Leaning her head to the side in her confusion, Lucy took a closer look at their visitor.

She did not seem threatening or menacing in the slightest; on the contrary, Lucy immediately felt at ease around her, knowing deep in her heart that she could trust this person. It was an odd feeling, but she could very clearly feel it. As if she'd met a kindred spirit. For a moment she wondered if it might be some sort of spell, but her mind could not hold on to the thought.

The thought was too ridiculous, and the woman too cute. Her curly blue hair was pushed back by a bandana, showcasing a cheeky face full of tiny freckles, and clever, brown eyes. Lucy understood why Natsu had called her a child; she was of short stature, and rather slim on top.

A smile spread across her face before she knew it.

"Hi, I'm Lucy," she heard herself say, blinking as the words slipped past her lips.

The woman's warm eyes found hers, a little surprised but immediately responsive. She took a step in her direction, but faltered when Natsu quite literally growled at her.

"Please," she said, "Let's avoid any misunderstandings. I'm not your enemy."

"Then who are you?" Natsu hissed, crossing his arms over his chest. Lucy caught herself almost reminding him of manners. "You reek of them."

"Yes," the woman answered, "That's because I am an angel."

"A what?!" Lucy squeaked, her eyes widening. "A real angel?"

"Yes," she confirmed with an amused chuckle, "My name is Levy."

For a long moment, all three of them blinked at her.

"You're Gajeel's friend!" Natsu suddenly screeched, "That small angel!"

He pointed an accusing finger at her, and she crossed her arms.

"I'm not that small," she protested with a pout, "And I'm not Gajeel's friend, either."

"Oh my god, you're the one," Lucy gasped, "The one he fell for. I always wondered what you might look like!"

Trying not to squeal, Lucy bit her lip. The stark contrast in appearance to Natsu's cousin amused her to no end; Levy was one of the cutest people she'd ever laid eyes on.

The poor angel's cheeks turned a fiery red as they all continued to stare at her.

"Oh, is that the grumpy fellow you told me about?" Igneel suddenly asked.

Both Natsu and Lucy nodded.

"And that's his girlfriend?"

Now all three heads turned back to Levy, who at this point had turned beet-red. Her hands curled into fists at her sides as she slowly nodded.

Enter... Levy! Yay. An angel popped up... what does that mean?

Thanks for the reviews as always!

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