AN: Hello there, I hope this posting finds you well.

This story is a fulfilled request for ObeliskX, who wanted a story based off a picture showing Natsu and Lucy as the gods Ares and Aphrodite. The picture can be found at imgur WoXw9hD. And just so we're clear, I've turned this into a Fairy Tail meets Greek mythology rather than faithfully sticking to the request, and so Natsu and Lucy will not be the god of war or the goddess of love for reason that will be explained in the addendum.

This story will have three chapters. This chapter will set things up, the next chapter will have the smut, and the third won't be a chapter per say, but rather an addendum where I explain why I had certain gods take up certain roles in this story, because I imagine a few of you will see things and think 'wtf'. The last two chapter will come out at the same time. I had originally decided to make it one long chapter, but i felt it was too big.

And finally, I do apologise for the lack of creatvity in regards to the title. I literally could not think of anything that sounded better.

And with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the story and feedback is always appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL.

High above the clouds, upon the peak of Mount Hakobe, lies the city of Magnolia, home to the Sidh, the gods and goddesses of Earthland. And within this city, amongst the grand palaces and homes of the Sidh, lies a dingy forge which stands out from the other buildings due to its less than pristine nature. But if you were to ask the owner of the forge, he'd tell you that a clean forge is one that doesn't work, as working metal is grimy work. Then he'd tell you to piss off for wasting his time.

From the forge came a clanging sound, the sound of metal striking metal as the owner of the forge continued to practice his trade. This man was the iron dragon, Gajeel of the Black Steel, the deity that every craftsman prayed to for success in their endeavours. Although at that moment in time, Gajeel had little time to answer prayers and guide crafters, as he carried out his duties as the blacksmith of the gods. His brow furrowed in concentration as he continued to hammer the steel of the blade he was working on, making sure to hit the exact spot he needed to with every strike.

As he dipped the smouldering metal into the barrel of water, causing steam to erupt, his concentration was interrupted. "What are you working on there, Gajeel?" came the voice of the only other occupant in the room.

Gajeel turned towards the voice, a slight upward curl on his lips as he gazed upon the young, or seemingly in the case of goddesses, woman who sat on another barrel near the forge's window, where the best light for reading could be found. She had short blue hair and wore a short orange dress, displaying her toned legs which swung back and forth from her perch, emphasising her severe lack of height. She was Levy, the Keeper of Knowledge and the guardian of the Endless Library but for some reason, she seemed to enjoy reading in Gajeel's forge while he worked, simply enjoying his presence. And he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy hers. "One of Erza's swords," he answered the previous question, before striking the steel again.

"One of?" queried the librarian with a raised eyebrow, placing her book down to focus on the smith.

Gajeel nodded to a large number of barrels filled to the brim with swords in varying conditions, easily over a hundred weapons. "All those belong to her," he explained.

Levy's eyes boggled at the sight. "What on Earthland does she need with so many weapons?"

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders as he went back to working on the blade. "I guess she's the goddess of victory for a reason," he theorised. "You don't earn such a title unless you've got the right gear for any situation."

"Guess so," Levy muttered, although still not really convinced anyone really needed that many weapons.

The blacksmith rose a challenging eyebrow at the title of the book she had been reading. "Heh, like you're one to talk," Gajeel chortled. "'Tales of Fiore'? Haven't you read that book like a thousand times? And lived through most of those stories anyway?"

The petite woman blushed in embarrassment and scowled. "You're exaggerating, you big lug," she countered, although both of the occupants in the forge knew that he really wasn't.

Gajeel chuckled but before he could continue to tease his guest, his nose caught the scent of someone he really didn't want to see. "What do you smell Gajeel," Levy asked after seeing him sniff the air, her embarrassment giving way to her natural curiosity.

"A skank," he snarled, glaring at the figure who darkened his door as he put down the sword he had been working on, lest he gave in to the temptation to lob it at her head.

Levy turned in that direction to see that it was Sherry, the goddess of Love and coincidently, Gajeel's wife, clad in her usual light silk dress that emphasised her curves and her long bright pink hair done up in its usual ponytail. "Hello, Gajeel my love," she purred, sparing a brief look of disdain at the blue haired woman.

Sherry was used to men falling over their feet to win her favour. God or mortal, it didn't matter, with a few words and a flutter of her eyelashes she could get any man to bend to her will. Once upon a time, Gajeel had been among them, although these days the only thing he felt for her was disdain. "I ain't your 'love', skank," he spat. "Get outta my forge before your toys overcrowd it again."

"Now, now," Sherry scolded seductively. "Is that any way to talk to your lovely wife?"

Gajeel simply scoffed. "When that wife can't keep her fucking legs shut or leave me the fuck alone, yeah it's a perfect way to talk to her."

Sherry frowned at his words. "I wish you wouldn't spread those rumours," she said airily. "People are starting to get the wrong idea about me."

"No they aren't," Levy said butting in, refusing to watch another fight between her… whatever Gajeel was to her, and his wife. "They're all saying you're a slut who can't keep her legs shut, especially after that incident with Ren and the net. And that Gajeel deserves better."

Actually what the other gods had been saying was far more vicious than what Levy had retold, and it was the small woman who mostly said that Gajeel deserves better.

Sherry's seductive expression turned sour at being spoken to like that by Levy. "Nobody asked you, you little book worm," she hissed at the smaller girl. "Why don't you run along and play with your books."

"Don't you tell her what to do," Gajeel growled. "Unlike you, she's welcome in my forge any time."

Truthfully, Gajeel didn't know why she liked reading in his forge when she could get all the peace and quiet she could want in the library, but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed her company and presence, and she seemed to feel the same. If only he wasn't shackled to that faithless harpy.

"But Gajeel-" Sherry began before was cut off.

"No," he spat, thumping his fist against the wall, making the goddess of love jump as his pupils became slitted. "You don't get to come in here and start badmouthing her. You have no right. I have no desire to see you, so unless you actually have something important to say, I suggest you skedaddle back to your boy toy."

Sherry eyed Gajeel's form and her gaze lingered on his slitted eyes, knowing that he was a few steps away from transforming into his dragon form. There were times she forgot that he was one of the few dragons who sided with the Sidh when they fought the tyranny of dragonkind and freed the world from their reign, even if he was ugly like a dragon. And though she was a goddess, she knew that she was no match against Gajeel in a fight, should he decide that's how he wanted this meeting to end. After all, it was not the individual might of the Sidh that defeated the dragons, but rather the dragon's inability to work together. Even her lover, Ren, one of the Lords of Battle under Ichiya, the Master of War, was no match against the might of a dragon.

"I just wondered if you had heard the news, that's all," she said breezily. "After all, it's all over town, but then I never know what makes it to this dingy forge of yours."

Gajeel, however, wasn't willing to play her games. "If it's all over town then it won't be hard to find out," he grumpily shot back. "So you can either tell me and leave, or just leave."

The pink haired woman deflated at his words, and decided to just tell him. "Fine, if you're going to be that way," she said with a roll of her eyes. "The word around town is that Natsu the Summer Drake has defeated the Dark One and is returning to Magnolia."

Gajeel couldn't help the small smile that grew on his face, and Levy was happy to see him smile. Like Gajeel, Natsu was one of the few dragons to fight alongside the Sidh and for the past fifty years he had been fighting Zeref, or the Dark One as he was mostly known as.

Zeref was Natsu's brother, and while Acnologia had been king of the dragons, Zeref was by far, the most powerful. Even the combined might of the Sidh, led by the Sidh Queen Mavis and their dragon allies hadn't been enough to put the lone Zeref down. It took Mavis sacrificing her life to destroy the dragon's body, forcing the bodiless spirit to wander the cosmos.

However, fifty years ago, the spirit of Zeref managed to possess the body of a young man, and through that possession returned to the mortal realm to wreak havoc. While the human body could only wield a tiny fraction of Zeref's dark power, it was still more than enough to give all but the most powerful Sidh and Dragons pause.

Natsu, as Zeref's brother, had volunteered to defeat this new incarnation of his brother and it had taken him fifty years to do it, plunging the world into a bitter cold for that entire time. Gray, the god of winter, knew to ease off outside of what was supposed to be actually winter, but without Natsu's warmth, the frost could never fully recede. Until now, that is. "That's great news," Levy commented with a smile. "It means the humans will get a break from the fifty-year winter."

Gajeel nodded, although he was more concerned about Zeref being put down than any benefits to the humans. Sherry though, opening scoffed. "Who cares about that," she sneered at the bookworm.

"You should," Levy snarkily shot back. "After all, now that humans don't have to worry about freezing to death all the time, they can start doing other stuff. Like screwing around on their spouses. Then more people would be praying to you so they don't get caught."

Sherry flushed with anger at her words, while Gajeel let out a bark of laughter that cut off any retort. Remembering why she was there, she focussed back on her husband. "Well, anyway, he's supposed to be returning tonight, and King Makarov is throwing a massive feast in celebration and in Natsu's honour," the pink haired goddess continued on, before adding with a cruel sneer. "I'm sure he'd consider a night with the goddess of love a suitable reward."

It had not been the first time Sherry had flaunted her lovers and numerous affairs at Gajeel before. Levy felt that the other woman got some sort of sick satisfaction from it. When they were first married, the blacksmith's response had usually been one of anger, until he humiliated her and her lover Ren by catching them under a magical net and exposed them for all to see their betrayal. Since then, after requesting Makarov for an annulment which had yet to go through, his response was usually one of indifference and contempt. However, this time, Gajeel's response was much different.

Throwing his head back, Gajeel laughed, harder than either Sherry or Levy could recall seeing him laugh before. And the fact that he kept this up for almost a full ten minutes began to cause worry in the tiny librarian. Finally, after a few deep breaths to catch his breath, Gajeel managed to regain enough composure to explain the joke. "Haha, thanks for that, haven't laughed that hard in ages," he said with a chuckle and a smirk. "And as for you 'treating' the Summer Drake, well you should probably save yourself the embarrassment. There ain't no way he's going anywhere near your diseased cunt."

Sherry gasped at his words. "How dare you-" she began, but she was cut off by another snort from the dragon.

"Save it," he snapped, cutting off whatever defense she tried to muster. "You may be the goddess of love, but you ain't got anything on the Lady of the Starry Heavens. Once he sees Lucy, he ain't gonna see anything else."

Levy couldn't help but nod her agreement in Gajeel's assessment about her good friend and the Summer Drake, while Sherry just complained. "Oh please," she pouted. "Like that bitch has anything on me."

The diminutive librarian scowled in defence of her friend. "She has everything on you, you harpy," Levy spat with an amount of vitriol unusual for the usually sweet tempered goddess. "For starters, she's prettier than you, with a bigger bust," she began, self-consciously folding her arms across her less blessed chest. "But not only that, she's kind and gentle, and she's waited for Natsu for fifty years. You can't handle ten minutes without some strange cock being inside you."

Gajeel couldn't help but chuckle at Sherry's shocked expression. Levy usually kept the fiercer aspects of her character hidden from people, and it was his private honour that she shared that side of herself with him, even if he was the usual target. "I know you probably don't get things like loyalty and fidelity, but to dragons like Natsu and me, they mean a lot," the blacksmith said with a pointed looked at his hopefully soon-to-be ex-wife. "A roll in the hay with a skank like you just isn't gonna interest him. And when he sees Lucy, he's gonna forget you even exist."

This time, Sherry snorted in disbelief. "No man can resist me," she boasted, shooting Gajeel a cruel look. "Not even dragons. After all you fell for me pretty hard."

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders, having long ago gotten over his mistake. "Didn't realise what a horrible skank you were," he answered, before sending an almost nervous look towards Levy. "I was blinded by your beauty and it made me miss what was right in front of me."

Levy smiled warmly at Gajeel's hidden message. She had longed harboured affections from the iron dragon, and was crushed when he married the goddess of love. She wanted almost nothing to do with him after that, but she forgave him when she and the other Sidh discovered Sherry and Ren caught in his net. She felt that the pain of being cuckolded was punishment enough, and she didn't want to add to his pain. She still wasn't exactly sure where they stood, but she knew that Gajeel cared for her, and for now, that was enough. "Thing is, Natsu's always been head over tail for Lucy, and she's always felt the same way. She is after all his mate, and the main reason Natsu turned on his brother all those centuries ago," Gajeel continued on. "You may have gotten me to fall under your spell, but you won't be able to seduce a mated dragon."

The iron dragon smirked at his wife bristling. "I am the perfect woman," she sneered. "No man can resist me."

"Wanna bet?"

The goddess of love didn't even hesitate, although he could see Levy rolling her eyes at how easily Sherry was being played. "The terms," she queried, with an arrogant tone.

"You spend the night with Natsu, after he's seen Lucy, you win," Gajeel stated, but not without disbelieving scoff. "If he doesn't even send you another look once she appears, which he won't, then I win."

"And what are the stakes, dear husband," Sherry asked, enjoying Gajeel's scowl at the title.

"Name 'em."

"If I win, you will make me a girdle that will make everyone fall in love with me as soon as they see me," she declared, with a starry love in her eyes.

Gajeel merely rolling his eyes at his wife's obvious and somewhat redundant choice. "Fine, I'll even let you name the materials," he agreed. "But if I win, which I will, then you gotta wear whatever I make for you, for a whole decade."

Gajeel, as well as being a dragon, was the god of the craftsman, and could work metal like no one else in existence. Therefore, anything made by him would be of incredible quality and beauty, despite himself being a bit harsher looking. Sherry did not see this as much of a forfeit, and figured her husband, despite his frosty deposition towards her, would use this at another futile attempt to win her heart. So either way, she would win. "Deal," she said with a cocky smirk, one that was mirrored by the iron dragon.

Each of the deities held out their hand and shook, solidifying the wager with Levy witnessing the deal. "And now with that out of the way," Gajeel growled. "Get outta my forge!"

His snarl surprised Sherry and caused her to jump, before the flustered woman made her way out of the forge. Glad that his harpy of a wife was gone, Gajeel ignored the swords he had been working on and picked up a new piece of iron. "What are you making now," Levy asked, recognising that the craftsman was starting a new project.

"I'm making a sign that says 'I'm a dirty skank' for when I win," Gajeel said, with a devious smirk and a happy heart as Levy's musical laughter filled his forge.

Word of Natsu's victory over Zeref spread far and wide across all the realms. From Makarov's Palace at the very top of Haboke to the smallest corner of the mortal realm. In fact, it was the mortals who had the most cause to celebrate. For fifty years they had suffered the bitter cold created by Natsu's absence, and his return brought warmth and summer back to the mortal realm.

One of the last places to hear of the Summer Drake's return was the Starry Heavens, or better known simply as the Afterlife.

When mortals died, they were collected by one of the numerous celestial beings and brought by way of the River of Aquarius, a river that flowed into the sky, to the Hall of Judgement, where the Lady of the Starry Heavens would read their life's story and determine whether they were good enough of a person to be permitted into the Fields of Gold, an idyllic expanse where people would spend the rest of eternity in paradise, or the Palace of Perdition, where the truly despicable would be tormented until the end of time to pay for their crimes. Occasionally, Yukino, the goddess of justice, would decide that an individual had suffered enough to pay for their crimes and they would then be permitted into the Fields, but those were rare cases.

Currently, the Lady of the Starry Heavens, Lucy, sat upon her throne, reading the life of the man her assistant Capricorn had brought her. Lucy had eyed the man with distaste. Even before the presence of the goddess of death and the stars, this man stood with a posture and look of arrogance. She was not the kind of goddess to demand people bow and scrape before her, but she found arrogance, whether it be from a mortal or a Sidh, to be a distasteful trait to possess. Still she could not judge someone whose life she had not read, and would not until she had done so.

Unfortunately, the man was not making it easy. "Is this really necessary," he said arrogantly. "I think you'll find that I deserve the highest position there is in the Fields of Golds."

Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes and forced a smile, breaking away from her reading. "There are no 'positions' in the Afterlife," she explained gently. "You'll either go to the Fields, or the Palace, depending on how you lived your life."

This answer did not seem to please the man. "In life I had fortune and lands a plenty," he scowled. "Do you not know who I am? I am Sisyphus, the-."

Before he could continue on what Lucy was sure would be an annoyed and annoying tirade about how awesome he is that the gods would of course know who he was, she showed him the cover of his life book. "I know," she said, cutting him off. "It says on the cover."

"And before you keep going on how you deserve to go to the Fields, you should know that the only thing I've really learned about you is that you are a loathsome individual who hurt many people just for gold," she continued, her voice growing hard. "You sold your wife's family into slavery and extorted sexual favours from your daughter-in-law when your son couldn't pay back the money you loaned him. You have thrown hard working families onto the streets and stole from or cheated every person you've done business with. What possible reason would I have to allow you into the Fields?"

Sisyphus looked horrified at the implication that he had done anything wrong in life. "I fail to see how there's anything wrong with enjoying the finer things in life," he defended, harshly.

Lucy's eyes grew hard. If there was one thing she despised more than those who were horrible in life, it was those who died with no remorse for their ill deeds. "Then I hope the memory of them keeps you warm," she hissed at the greedy man. "In the Palace of Perdition."

Sisyphus's mouth dropped, before his face twisted into one of rage. "How dare you," he yelled angrily, upset at being denied the luxury in death that he had enjoyed in life.

Such was the arrogance of the man that he actually moved to strike her. However, before he could actually touch the goddess of death, he was struck with by a force he could not see, sending him flying into the entrance to the Hall of Judgement. He dazedly looked up to see the goat man that had brought him to the hall standing between him and the impassive Lucy, and a large Minotaur besides him. "You will not dare hurt Lady Lucy," the goat man, Capricorn, declared. "Her judgement has been passed. Taurus, kindly escort Sisyphus to the Palace for his sentence."

The minotaur smirked wildly at the man, whose bluster had been replaced by fear at the two large beasts. "Happy to doooo it, Capricorn," he mooed, stomping over to Sisyphus's battered form.

Taurus then grabbed Sisyphus by the throat and brought him eye to eye. "Can't believe you were stooooopid enough to try and hit a goddess, let alone Miss Loooocy," he said with an ominous chuckle. "You're gonna regret that."

With little more than a choked gurgle from the human, Taurus pushed his way out of the hall, disappearing behind the closing door. Absent of Taurus and Sisyphus, Capricorn turned to Lucy with a concerned look on his goat like face. "My apologies Lady Lucy," he said to his mistress. "I had no idea that a mortal could actually attempt to strike one of the Sidh."

Lucy merely smiled at her apologetic assistant. "It's fine, Capricorn," she told him. "I doubt even Cana could have foreseen such a thing."

"What was that," came another voice, one familiar to Lucy.

Both goddess and celestial being turned to the direction of the voice, seeing two new figures enter the Hall of Judgement. "Princess," came the passive greeting of the person wearing the maid outfit, the celestial being named Virgo. "Lady Cana has decided to visit us."

Lucy smiled at the Mistress of Fate as she sauntered across the hall towards the goddess of death. "Thank you Virgo," she said addressing the maid before turning to her old friend. "Hello Cana, what brings you here?"

"Heard some news that I knew you'd be interested in," Cana said with a slight slur in her voice. "But after questioning my powers of clairvoyance, I'm not sure I want to share it anymore."

Lucy merely rolled her eyes at her friend's teasing. "If you'd like, I'll have Virgo go get us some Caelumian wine in way of apology," she offered, before wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Although it seems that you've already had plenty to drink. Partying with Bacchus again?"

Cana gave a carefree shrug. "You know it. What can I say, the man knows how to party."

Lucy rolled her eyes again, although she gave a slight smile at her friend's antics. "Of course," she said before getting down to business. "So what was this news you wanted to tell me?"

The smile Cana shot her friend was odd, at least from the usually sarcastic and snarky Mistress of Fate. Instead of her usual cocky smirk the brunette wore a genuine smile. Normally Cana would tease Lucy a bit more with her information, but she knew this meant a lot to the goddess of death and didn't feel the need to draw things out. "Natsu's beaten Zeref," the Mistress of Fate told her. "He's coming home Lucy."

Capricorn couldn't help but watch as his mistress's face lit up like the morning sky as her beautiful smile appeared once more. It was a smile he had not seen for fifty years. Sure he had seen, polite smiles, or smiles of kindness, but when she thought no one was watching, she struggled to keep the sadness from her face. Lucy was a selfless sort, and she knew that Natsu was needed to fight Zeref, but every day her lover was absent was a fresh injury to her heart.

Lucy couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes, but the smile on her face was untouchable. "He's really coming home," she whispered to no one in particular. "He's coming back to me."

Cana moved to embrace her friend, sharing in the other woman's happiness. "Yeah, he's coming back," she commented softly. "Now maybe we'll see that beautiful smile of yours more now, yeah?"

Lucy gave a watery chuckle and nodded her head, before Cana continued. "Also, Makarov is throwing a massive party tonight to honour Natsu's return," she explained. "So you're definitely coming."

In the last fifty years Lucy's presence at the famed parties of Makarov lessened as time went by, until she practically stopped coming altogether. She would still see her closest friends, but focused mostly on her duties as the goddess of death, finding it difficult to be around large groups of people, particularly the less scrupulous gods who sought to take advantage of Natsu's absence and supplant him as her lover. Goddess or mortal, women always had to deal with that kind of thing.

Yet the thought of a man's hand upon her, a man that was not Natsu, had her physically ill. If she could not have her dragon, then she would remain celibate for all eternity.

Nevertheless, Cana was overjoyed when Lucy didn't hesitate before she nodded her consent. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," she whispered happily. She wiped away a few tears before turning towards Virgo and Capricorn. "Virgo, I'll need something to wear tonight."

"Of course Princess," said the passive maid, although there was a small inflection in her voice that indicated she was happy for her mistress. "I have just the thing. It'll be perfect for your romantic reunion with Master Natsu."

As Virgo quickly dashed off for the garment that she, unknown to her mistress, had designed just for this occasion ages ago, Lucy then turned to Capricorn. "I'm sorry to do this to you Capricorn, but could you handle things here," she said, suddenly flustered at the thought of dropping the responsibilities she had taken care of for the past half century. "It's just…"

"Think nothing of it, Lady Lucy," the goat man said with a gentle smile. "It's a duty I will happily shoulder. And may I say that Lady Cana is right; it is nice to see you truly smile again."

Lucy's face once again lit up, before turning to Cana, who was smirking at the blonde goddess. "Guess we should start getting ready then," the brunette commented.

"But the feast is later tonight, right," Lucy queried in confusion, despite her happiness. "That's still hours away."

"Sweetie, you're about to be reunited with your lover who you haven't seen for fifty years," Cana countered. "You can't look anything less than divine, and even for goddesses like us, that takes work. Now let's go find Cancer to do our hair."

Lucy chuckled as Cana grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to find the crab celestial being, leaving a smiling Capricorn in the hall. And while Cana chattered about everything that had been going on in Magnolia, Lucy's mind was occupied by a single thought.

"He came back to me."

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it and remember to review.