**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. They belong to Mashima.

Just a quick NaMi one shot, though there may be more to come in the future, who knows? Anywho, let me know how you like it.

Next update will be: Fiery Jade!

Ciao! Read and Review! Pleeeeaaaaseeee.

Lucy scowled as she stepped out of the dark, silent streets into a small, one-room potion shop lit only by a few flickering candles. She'd had it up to here with the dragon slayer. She tried everything she knew to get him to confess to her. But he was soooo dense.

The shop owner was behind a counter, his hooded face half lit by the candle that flickered in front of him. As if that weren't creepy enough, sickening odors assaulted her from every direction. Decay. Sickening sweetness. Sweat. Hundreds of other unidentifiable smells, mingling into one unique scent that just made her want to puke.

But if the shop owner had the potion she was looking for it would all be worth it. Maybe then he would finally realize that she was more than just another member of his guild. He would know that he was meant to be with her – forever.

Her face contorted further into a scowl while she hesitated. If the guild found out she even set foot in this shop she would almost certainly get that for punishment. If they found out she bought a potion on the black market, she could be faced with prison. Even expulsion.

But this shop had the potion she needed. The one that, if consumed, would make the person who consumed it pursue the person he loved.

And she needed it. No more subtle hints. No more leaving her apartment window open. Her door unlocked. No more "accidentally" coming out of her bathroom naked while the pink-haired mage and his flying cat were perched on her couch. No more pretending to be cold just so he would move a little closer to her.

She willed her legs forward till she was at the desk. She forced the words from her mouth, hearing her voice speak in low, grating tones as though it belonged to someone else.

"Is it true that you have the carpe desiderium (A/N – latin for seize [your] desire) potion here?"

The lower half of the face, barely visible in the flickering light, twisted up into a smirk. "It might be true."

Lucy scowled. "What do you mean it might be true?" She hadn't come all this way, exposed herself to the dangers accompanying entering a black market shop, for nothing.

"Depending on how many jewels you have, it might be true." The man replied, his features still twisted into a smirk.

Ah. So that was the game. She had to confirm that she had the payment before he would confirm that he had the potion. Actually a smart way to do business if you were into selling illegal things.

"How many jewels would it take to find out?" She asked.

"1.8 million," came the reply.

Lucy flinched at the number. She thought she'd been prepared to hear those enormous numbers, but when they actually came out she discovered she wasn't nearly prepared enough. She had to force herself to reach into her purse and extract the jewels. And even then, she had to force her hand to drop nearly two year's of rent on the counter.

Her reward was a tiny flask, no bigger than her pinky, with a clear liquid inside it. The man pocketed the money and said, in his raspy, slightly high-pitched voice, "Make sure he consumes it. It's odorless and tasteless, so it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Thanks," Lucy managed as she turned and hurried out of the shop. She kept a fast pace till she was a good distance from the building, not wanting to chance somebody seeing her. Not that she needed to worry. The streets were darker than midnight, and the entire city lay under a thick, murky blanket of clouds.

~~~The Next Day~~~

Erza smiled from her spot at the bar, her eyes on the pink-haired dragon slayer a few seats down. He was currently engaged in a conversation with Mirajane, his hands moving in every direction as he remembered some experience they shared in the past. His beer sat forgotten on the bar next to him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lucy come up. The blonde approached the bar and came up right next to Natsu, her body almost pressed against him.

"Natsu~" she cooed. "It's been a while since we've been on a quest together… Just the two of us~"

Erza couldn't help noticing the way Mirajane's eyes lost their smile at this interaction. The barmaid suddenly became very focused on polishing the spot on the bar right by Natsu's seat.

"Well, of course!" Natsu said, completely oblivious to what was happening. "Team Natsu always sticks together, so we're always going out on missions together."

"I know…" Erza's eyes widened a little as she thought she caught Lucy's hand tipping toward Natsu's drink behind his back. "But I'd love to do a mission with just the two of us. It would be like my first job here at the guild again."

Erza tried to get a read on the blonde, already questioning what she thought she'd seen. Lucy obviously liked the dragon slayer, but she wasn't that desperate, was she?

"I don't know Luce," Natsu said. "I'm not really in the mood for a job right now. Been training my ass off the last few weeks and I'm pretty beat." He offered her a toothy grin.

"Oh," Lucy seemed unfazed by this response. "Well, if you change your mind, I'll be at my apartment." She smiled seductively at the dragon slayer. "Taking a bath~" With that she pinched his cheek lightly and turned around, heading out of the guild.

"Umm… Ok Luce," Natsu said, staring at her retreating form with a confused expression on his face. Erza sighed as she also watched the blonde depart. Apparently she'd been wrong about that too.

"So anyway," Natsu paused, chugging the remainder of his beer in a matter of seconds. He then put the mug down on the very clean counter in front of him. "Where were we?"

"You were just talking about my battle with Jenny," Mirajane said with a sweet smile.

"Yeah," Natsu said. "It was so amazing to watch. She was sure she was about to win when she went into her battle form. And then you transformed into yours and BAAM!"

Mira smiled as he dramatically waved his arms to simulate an explosion. Then he cut off, his expression going totally blank for a few minutes. He just sat there frozen in place.

"Natsu?" Erza asked after he didn't move for over a minute. Maybe the blonde had slipped something in his drink after all.

"Natsu?" Mira looked concerned as well. "You there Natsu?"

Erza was just about to go get the master when Natsu blinked and resumed talking like he never stopped. He only stopped a moment later when he apparently noticed Mira and Erza staring at him.

"Something wrong?" He asked, looking from Erza to Mira.

Erza opened her mouth to speak, but Mira beat her to it. "Natsu, did something just happen?"

"What do you mean? I mean, Lucy just came in and asked me to go on a job with her, which I'm totally not doing, but that's all that happened."

"Huh." Erza blinked. There was definitely something going on here.

"Man…" Natsu sighed. "Anyway, Mira…" His hand crept across the counter to capture hers as she continued to wipe the bar.

Mira froze, looking at him in surprise. Erza choked on her strawberry cake. Natsu was just staring into Mirajane's eyes.

"Mirajane. I don't really know how to say this…" Natsu looked down, then looked back up determinedly. "But I've always liked and admired you. I love the way you're always protecting the people you care about. The way you always have a smile for everyone else no matter how life is treating you. I especially like your real smile, the one that lights up your face and makes your eyes sparkle like twin stars… I can't tell you how much I missed that when we thought Lisanna was dead…."

Natsu took a deep breath before continuing. "And that doesn't even scratch the surface of all your wonderful qualities, Mira. But, what I'm trying to say is… I really, really, like you… and…" he gulped. "Would you go on a date with me?"

Erza felt like her jaw was about to hit the floor. Mirajane squeaked out a "YES!" before she fainted behind the bar. Macao, who was nursing a drink nearby, was pounding his head against the table along with Wakaba. Lisanna, on the other side of the bar, looked a little sad. Everyone else was either too far away or too busy to realize what just happened.

Natsu just happily walked out to prepare for his date.

~~~Lucy's Apartment~~~

Lucy's smile was beginning to disappear. It had been almost an hour now. With Natsu's inhuman endurance and speed, the dragon slayer should've easily made it to her apartment by now. So where was he?

Could something have gone wrong? No. She'd turned at the last instant, peeking through the crack in the guild door to make sure that he'd finished drinking his beer. The shop owner had assured her the potion would take no more than 5 minutes to take effect. So where was the dense, pink-haired dragon slayer?

Was it possible that he still didn't even know he wanted her? No. Somewhere deep down, he had to realize it. There was no way anyone in the guild could resist her sex appeal and charms. Especially Natsu. Unless…

Wait. Was he gay? The idea never crossed her mind before. But considering how he seemed to not even react to the many times he'd seen her naked or mostly naked, it was a legitimate possibility. But that meant…

Her mind was instantly filled with images of Natsu getting beaten to a pulp by either Laxus or Gray as he came out and professed his undying love for one of them. She suddenly felt bad for the pain and suffering the dragon slayer would suffer because of this.

No. Maybe he was still working up the courage. She could understand why he would still be nervous to approach someone with her appeal. The poor boy probably assumed he didn't stand a chance. Well, she hoped he would hurry and get over here and find out just how lucky he was. He'd better hurry, because sitting in the water this long was going to make her beautiful skin start to get wrinkly.

Half an hour later, when the water started causing her hands and feet to start wrinkling up, she decided it was time to get out of the tub. She dried off as quickly as she could and got dressed, applying some cream to the visible areas of her skin and paying special attention to her hands and feet, where the wrinkling effect was bad. Then she waited another half hour till her skin looked sufficiently supple and creamy again before heading to the guild.

When she got to the guild, she saw Erza sitting at the bar. Lisanna was giving her an iced tea, her usual beverage. Elfman and Evergreen were hanging out at a table near the bar. Macao and Wakaba were also hanging out near the bar, both looking just a little more depressed than usual. Nab was at his usual place near the request board. Gajeel and Levy were at a table, across from each other. Nearby, Jet and Droy continued to stare enviously at the iron dragon slayer. Gray was currently in his boxers, and Juvia was staring at him from a nearby tail, blood dripping from her nose.

But the guild was noticeably lacking a boisterous pink-haired dragon slayer.

"Hey Erza," Lucy said coming up to the bar. "Have you seen Natsu?"

"Natsu?" Erza said casually. "He left a couple hours ago to prepare for his date."

"Date?" Lucy asked, startled as a light pink dusted her cheeks. "But he hasn't even asked me yet?" She knew the potion would make him pursue the person he loved, but she never imagined he would be so bold as to get ready for the date without even asking her first.

"Oh." Erza said, her face still impassive. "I suppose I should've been clearer. He's getting ready for his date with Mirajane."

Lucy froze, certain she heard wrong. "Wha—?"

"Yeah," Erza said as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "It was the strangest thing. Right after you left Natsu just stopped talking in the middle of a conversation. Didn't even move for a whole minute. Then, out of the blue, he asked Mira to go on a date with him."

"That can't be right," Lucy said, a blank expression on her face as she stared at the older girl. "Natsu was supposed to ask me for a date."

"So you were expecting him to ask for a date today?" Erza cocked an eyebrow. "Something happen between you two recently?"

"Umm, no…" Lucy stammered. "Nothing out of the ordinary…"

"Are you sure?" Erza asked, her tone searching. "I mean, Natsu's not the kind of person I would expect to suddenly ask someone on a date, so if you were expecting him to ask you out today something must've happened between the two of you."

"Umm…" Lucy's mind was in overdrive as she tried to come up with an explanation. Suddenly, as a faint sheen of sweat covered her fair skin, a solution came to her. A solution for both her current problem in answering the knight and for Mirajane.

"Well, if you must know," she said, looking down. "Natsu was supposed to ask me on a date today because… well," she blushed, putting on what she hoped was a properly embarrassed expression. "I'm not exactly a virgin anymore…"

"What?!" Erza's eyes widened.

Lucy forced tears to her eyes. "Yeah… It was kind of an accident to be honest, but a couple nights ago Natsu was over at my place as usual and I… well, I forgot he was there and came out of the bath to get dressed. He was sitting on my bed waiting for me to come out and, er… I was shocked and went to attack him. He blocked on instinct… And, well, one thing led to another…" She blushed deeply, forcing the tears to keep coming. "He said he would take responsibility and tell the guild… And he was going to ask me out on our first official date today…" She buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe Natsu would do something like this."

"Funny you should say that," Erza said, her voice still calm and even, though perhaps a little more hostile. "Because I can't either."

Lucy wasn't sure how to interpret that statement. She'd expected the knight to respond with fury at the pink-haired dragon slayer and rush off to punish him and drag him back. She looked up, cautiously, to catch the redhead's eyes. She did see anger there, but it was impossible to tell who it was directed at or why. She decided to push the bluff a little further, hoping to trigger the knight's outrage and desire to protect her friends.

"As upset as I am about what he did to me, I can't help worrying about Mirajane," she said, her voice the picture of worry and fearfulness for her friend. "I mean, she's been hurt so much in the past… and if he's going on a date with her to just fuck her and leave her like he did me…" She left the thought unfinished.

She was surprised when the knight firmly grasped her arm and started pulling her away from the bar. Was she going to bring her to confront Natsu? She'd kind of expected her to go herself. "Umm, Erza? Where are we going?..."

"To see Porlyusica," the knight replied.

"Porlyusica?" She was confused. "But I'm not hurt…"

Erza shrugged her shoulders. "Porlyusica is skilled in all things medical. She'll be able to tell if you're still a virgin or not."

Fighting back her sudden fear, Lucy bit her lip, forcing tears to come back to her eyes. "You… You don't believe me?" She was doing her best to sound betrayed. Victimized.

"Like you said," Erza replied, her voice hard. "I can't imagine Natsu doing something like that. Natsu's as loyal as they come. And he may be a bit of a blockhead, but there's no way I can imagine him doing something like what you're describing. So this is a simple test. If it turns out you're telling the truth, which I highly doubt, I'll find Natsu and beat some sense into him. But if it turns out you're lying…"

"Wait a minute," Lucy said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "How do you know she'll be able to accurately tell whether I'm a virgin or not? Maybe her results will be wrong. Are you going to do something drastic based on a test you can't even know if it's accurate?"

"Funny that you should suddenly be so worried Lucy," Erza said as she entered the infirmary. "I've never known you to doubt Porlyusica's abilities before. But don't worry. Her tests will be 100% accurate."

"Erza," Porlyusica said curtly, approaching the two. "She doesn't look injured." As usual, the old healer didn't bother with niceties, nor did she mince words.

"She's not," Erza said. "I need a favor from you."

Porlyusica sighed. "What is it, Erza?"

Lucy smirked inwardly as her free hand touched her keys. She could finally escape! Before she could grasp them, though, a gauntleted fist grabbed her hand and yanked it away from her keychain.

"I need you to tell me whether this woman is a virgin, and if she's not I need to know if you know the person she lost her virginity with. Can you do that?"

Porlyusica sighed. "Give me one good reason I should attain such personal information and share it with you, Erza."

So Erza explained her reasons, and by the time she was done Porlyusica's expression was even more grim than usual.

"Alright," she said quietly. "But from the looks of it, you'll have to hold her while I perform my tests…"

Lucy struggled as the knight pulled her over to the bed. "I can't believe you're doing this to me," she cried out, continuing to struggle futilely against Erza's grasp. "I've just been used by my own teammate and you're accusing me of lying! What's wrong with you people?!"

"I'm not accusing you of anything," Erza replied quietly. "I'm just verifying whether you're telling the truth or not. If you are, you have nothing to worry about."

Lucy was thinking frantically. How could she get out of this mess! Her arms were currently being strapped to one of the infirmary beds, Erza's strength easily overcoming her attempts to break free. There had to be something she could do. Perhaps she could explain away whatever results Porlyusica's tests returned. It would help if she knew what kind of tests the old healer would be performing.

Suddenly a golden light flashed next to the bed and Leo appeared in front of her in a defensive posture. Lucy sighed in relief. Now they couldn't go through with their plan without causing a huge scene.

"When I felt Lucy in danger, I never expected to be defending her from the guild…" Leo said. "Stand down, Titania. I would prefer not to fight."

"Then don't," Erza said. "Lucy's not in any imminent danger. Porlyusica is just going to perform a couple simple tests on her. The results of those will determine whether or not she's in any actual danger."

"What kind of tests?" Leo said, not dropping his defensive posture.

"Well, Lucy here accused Natsu Dragneel of taking her virginity and then refusing to take responsibility. Of course, this was after she discovered that Natsu and Mirajane have a date this evening. So it's pretty simple. Porlyusica is doing a test to find out if Lucy is still a virgin, and if not, whether it was Natsu who took her virginity. And if she was telling the truth, then Natsu's in for a world of pain."

Leo looked confused. "Is that true Lucy?"

Lucy gulped, searching her brain for answers. "No! Erza's mad because Natsu chose me over her, and now she's concocted this plan to take revenge on me and make it look like it's my fault!" She knew it wouldn't make sense if Leo thought about it for any amount of time, but she was counting on his love of women and his devotion as one of her celestial spirits would overcome that barrier at least long enough for her to escape.

"So you're saying Erza's jealous?" Leo's brow crinkled as he assumed a defensive posture again.

"That's a joke." A new voice sounded from just inside the infirmary. Lucy looked over, startled, to see Gajeel standing there. Erza and Porlyusica seemed just as startled.

"You've forgotten a dragon slayer's hearing, bunny girl," Gajeel said. "And I heard everything. From the Salamander asking Mira to date him to what you told Erza about him."

His voice suddenly turned dark. "Now I may not always get along with the Salamander, but that doesn't mean he's any less my family. One, he's part of this guild, and two, we're both dragon slayers. And I know for a fact Salamander's never been with you. For one, if he had, he would be the first to take responsibility for his actions. He definitely wouldn't run off and ask another girl out the very next day. But just as importantly, if Salamander bedded you, his scent would be all over you, and yours all over him. Which it's not."

Apparently Leo heard enough. "I'm disappointed Lucy," he said as light surrounded him.

"Wait!" Lucy screamed. "I didn't dismiss you!"

"You didn't call me either," the lion reminded her just before he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Now for those tests," Porlyusica said grimly.

~~~The Strauss Residence~~~

Mirajane checked her makeup one more time in the bathroom mirror as the knock sounded on her door again. She couldn't believe Natsu had actually asked her out on a date! She was sure he would end up with Lucy. Or Lisanna. Or even Erza. She wished it would be her, but she never dared to hope the dragon slayer would actually choose her over the others who he seemed so much closer to.

She adjusted her form-fitting, strapless dress, making sure the black fabric covered the strapless bra she was wearing underneath it. She turned around one more time, checking to ensure that the bra wasn't showing above the low-cut back. Satisfied, she straightened out the hem of her dress one more time, pulling the silky fabric down to the midpoint of her thighs where it belonged, before slowly descending the stairs.

She waited until another knock sounded, then opened the door, half expecting to see Natsu in his usual baggy black pants, bare chest, and black vest. But when she opened the door she was surprised. The dragon slayer wore a pair of nice, navy blue jeans that ended just at his black shoes. Above that he wore a dark red shirt that hugged his muscular chest and six-pack, with his signature black vest over the shirt. His white, scaly scarf was also in its usual place around his neck, and she smiled slightly, thinking how the dragon slayer never parted with this treasured accessory. I wonder how he'll fit it into the wedding attire.

She slapped herself mentally. It was way too early to be thinking about weddings! This was just the first date!

"Wow Mira… You look… Amazing!" Natsu exclaimed, a slight blush on his cheeks. Mirajane smiled wider, feeling her own blush surfacing at the compliment.

"Thanks Natsu, you look pretty good yourself," she said. Natus grinned and offered his arm to her, which she took as she stepped out of her house and shut the door behind her. "So what does my little dragon have planned for us today?" She said with a grin.

"It's a surprise," Natsu replied as the pair stepped out into the streets of Magnolia.

Mira noticed a lot of stares as they walked down the streets. A lot of men were looking at Natsu with envy in their eyes. And Mirajane could feel the envious eyes of many of the girls on her. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. After all, Natsu's popularity skyrocketed after the Grand Magic Games and the destruction of the Eclipse Gate. Then after he became the hero that saved Ishgar from the invasion of the Alvarez Empire, his popularity went up even further.

"So Natsu," she asked, wondering if she really wanted to know the answer. "What made you decide to ask me out anyway?"

Natsu shrugged. "I can't really say, fully. I just felt like if I kept waiting, someone else would come along and take you before I got the chance. So I decided I needed to ask even if I was afraid you would reject me…"

Mira giggled. "You were afraid I would reject you? I've been hoping you would ask me for years, Natsu."

"Really?" Natsu blinked, surprised. "I thought you would've gone for someone like Laxus… or even Freed. I mean, his magic is rather similar to yours."

Mira just laughed again. "I'll admit Laxus is physically attractive, but that's about as far as it goes. He'd make a great fling, but I'm not a fling kinda' girl. I've always wanted to have a relationship I knew could be permanent…"

She paused, then said. "And even if I did want Freed, which I don't, you would have a better chance with him than I would."

"What?!" Natsu almost shouted. Then looked around at all the people staring at them and lowered his voice to a loud whisper. "Freed's gay?!"

Mira couldn't help giggling at the dense dragon slayer. "Why am I not surprised that you're the last person in the guild to figure that out?"

Natsu blushed. "Stop making fun of me Mira…" he whined.

Mira just laughed again, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'm not making fun of you Natsu. Sure, you can be dense sometimes, but it's one of the things that I love about you."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome," Mirajane smiled. Just then they came to a stop in front of the theater.

"We're going to see a movie?" Mirajane quirked a brow as she looked at the dragon slayer. She would've thought he'd take her for something active, not that she was complaining. Then again… "What movie are we seeing."

Natsu just offered her a toothy grin. "It's called 'The Demon that Conquered the Dragon.' It's based on an old legend about a war between the dragons and the demons, long before humans even existed. The legend says that a prominent general in the dragon army fell for one of the strongest demon warriors. The story is about the two, trying to fight on opposing sides in the war as they secretly develop a relationship in their time away from the battlefield. It's supposed to be really good. Enough action for the men, but lots of romantic mushy scenes that girls will like too."

Mirajane was surprised. "Wow Natsu, I never would've expected you to put so much thought into a movie."

Natsu blushed. "To be honest, I had some help from Wendy."

"Ah," Mirajane smiled, squeezing his arm gently. "It was very sweet of you to ask her though. A lot of guys would just go to a movie they really want to see."

Natsu shrugged. "It does look interesting to me," he said with a smile. "So I guess it's partially that way."

Mira just laughed as they bought tickets and headed into the theater. She honestly wouldn't have much cared what movie they were seeing, so long as it was with him. But she wouldn't tell him that. It was much better to go see a movie she would be pretty sure to enjoy as well. As they headed to the concessions she just hummed to herself. This was truly going to be a great date.

~~~In the infirmary~~~

Porlyusica faced Lucy, Gajeel, and Erza with a very serious expression. "My tests have confirmed that Lucy is still a virgin."

Lucy shivered as Erza glared at her. "What… What are you going to do to me?"

Erza just stared at her for a few minutes before reaching into her pack. She pulled out a beer mug. "Now that that's confirmed, I have one more request for you," she said to the old healer."

"I hadn't decided whether to do anything with this till I found out for sure she was lying." Erza spoke calmly, a harsh tint to her voice as she presented the mug to the old healer. "This is the cup Natsu was drinking out of just before he asked Mirajane out for a drink. I took this while nobody was looking because it looked like Lucy slipped something into it before she left the guild. If she did, do you think you could find traces of it and identify it?"

"It's very possible," Porlyusica said. "If she did slip something in, even if there's no physical residue left, the magic signature would still be there… I'll be able to tell you in about 10 minutes."

As the old healer left, Erza looked at Lucy. "I decided I'm not going to punish you," she said quietly. "At least, not directly. I'm leaving that to master. After all, he's very protective of his children. I can't imagine what he would do when he found out someone attempted to drug one of his children, then lied to try hurt him, and continued lying until she was caught. But whatever he does, you can bet it will be worse than that.

Lucy shivered again. She couldn't imagine what punishments the master could come up with that were worse than that. She didn't want to. "Don't tell the master," she whimpered.

Erza just looked at her coldly. "If you had taken any of the chances I gave you to confess that you were lying about Natsu, I would've just given you a sound thrashing and kept the matter of Natsu's drink to myself. But you carried the lie as far as you were able. Whatever Porlyusica finds is going straight to Master Makarov."

After 10 more minutes of Lucy pleading with Erza and Gajeel to not let the master find out about her behavior, Porlyusica came back in with a grim expression on her face. "I found remnants of a potion's magic signature in the cup," she told Erza. "It was an extremely rare and dangerous potion found only on the black market. The potion is known as Carpe Desiderium, and its effect is that whoever consumes it will immediately fell a compulsion to pursue the person they most desire. My guess is that Lucy assumed that the person Natsu most desired was her, and her plan was to use the potion to force him to ask her out. But when he asked Mira out instead, she lied because she was angry and wanted to force the two apart."

"That doesn't sound that dangerous though," Erza said. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

"The potion has a dark side to it," Porlyusica said. "If Mira had said 'no,' one of three things would've happened, depending on the personality of the person to whom the potion was given. One, he would've taken her forcefully, which, knowing Natsu, wouldn't have happened. Two, he would've sunk into depression, refusing to fight, to go on jobs, to come to the guild, and eventually to even eat till he literally starved to death. I personally think this would've been the most likely for Natsu. Or three, he would've been overcome with anger. He would've beaten and possibly killed anyone who he thought was getting close to her, and eventually killed her so no one else could have her either."

Erza and Gajeel both had their jaws set hard, staring at Lucy in pure anger. She shook with fear, trying to shrink back into the mattress. "But everything worked out fine, right guys?"

"Worked out fine?!" Erza roared. "You played with the life of one of our guild members! And not just any guild member. Natsu Dragneel! The mage who has single-handedly saved all of us – including your sorry ass – more times than we can count!" Erza's sword was in her hand now as she advanced faster toward the bed.

Lucy froze, tears coming to her eyes as she was certain the scarlet-haired knight was going to end her right there. But Porlyusica stepped between them.

"Erza," she said sharply. "I think it's best that you and Gajeel leave before you do something you regret."

Lucy continued to shiver in fear for several long minutes, knowing that if it came down to it the healer wouldn't be able to protect her against Titania's wrath. But eventually Erza put her sword away, turned, and walked angrily out of the room, with Gajeel close on her heels.

Lucy was granted a reprieve. But it was a reprieve she knew wouldn't last.

~~~Magnolia~~~

Mirajane smiled across the table at Natsu as she took another sip of her pinot gris. She'd been very surprised to have a first date that was very much like her dream date, ending with a romantic dinner in Magnolia's finest gourmet restaurant. What amazed her even more was how Natsu ate normally, not shoveling his food down as fast as he could get it in his mouth.

Now they were waiting for dessert. Natsu hadn't been about to order anything, but Mirajane managed to convince him to try a slice of her favorite chocolate and white chocolate marbled cheesecake.

When the cheesecake got there, Mirajane grinned as she cut a piece off of Natsu's and slowly pushed the fork toward his mouth.

"What are you doing Mira?" Natsu asked, blushing.

"I'm feeding you dessert," she grinned. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Natsu blushed again as he opened his mouth, allowing her to put the cheesecake in before picking up his fork and cutting a piece off his slice.

"You're right," he said as he pushed the piece toward Mira's mouth. "It does taste really good."

Mira blushed slightly as she opened her mouth, allowing the dragon slayer to feed her a piece of cheesecake. She chewed it slowly, enjoying the luscious blend of the two chocolate flavors with the sweet, crumbly crust that fell apart in her mouth. She then fed him his next bite, and waited as he ate it and fed her another bite. The two continued like that, drawing stares from the other guests, till both slices of cheesecake were entirely gone.

Once Natsu paid their tab, the new couple headed out to walk back toward the guild. The sun was no below the horizon, and the sky was just darkened enough to see the first stars peeking through the blue-gray dusk. A cool breeze whispered across the streets of Magnolia, causing Mira to shiver and huddle closer to the warmth of her boyfriend. He instinctively responded by putting an arm around her shoulder as they walked. They were mostly silent now. Neither really needed to speak. They just enjoyed each others' closeness.

Mira wished the walk would never end, but all too soon she found herself in front of a familiar door.

She turned slowly to Natsu, smiling softly into his onyx eyes. "Thanks for the date, Natsu. It was wonderful."

"I'm glad you liked it Mira," Natsu said, blushing lightly as he returned her smile. "Can we do it again sometime?"

"Anytime you want," Mirajane replied, her heart fluttering. She was about to turn to go, but Natsu caught her, pulling her gently into his arms. Staring into her eyes with his deep, beautiful black orbs, he moved his face ever so gently toward hers, till she felt the warmth of his lips against hers. It barely lasted for a second before he pulled back again, releasing her lips from the kiss.

"Good night Mira," he said as he turned, happily heading off toward his house.

"Good night Natsu," she called after him. I love you.

~~~Guild infirmary~~~

"Um guys?"

Lucy Heartfilia hadn't called out to anyone for a long time. She was really hoping that they would forget about her and the punishment she was sure they had planned. But now she couldn't take it anymore. Her bladder felt like it was about to burst, and she needed to get to a bathroom, quick.

There was no response. Great. Everyone had gone home for the day and left her strapped to this fucking bed. What the hell was wrong with these people anyway? She tried again, uselessly, to fight against the straps that held her down.

"Come on guys, this isn't funny!" She yelled, loudly now. But there was still no answer. Not even a sound to indicate someone was actually still in the guild.

"Guys?..." Suddenly she felt a warm trickle run down her crotch between her legs and onto the bed. Fuck. No No NO! I have to wait! "Guys come on! I really have to pee bad!"

But her bladder had other plans. Another trickle slipped out, making a large wet spot in her panties. Then another. Lucy tried to hold it longer, but it was too painful. Suddenly, like a dam breaking, the entire contents of her bladder spilled out, She felt the warm, slightly sticky liquid soak her panties, pour down the insides of her thighs, and pool under her ass in the bed.

"Ok guys! This is totally not cool!" Again her shouts fell on deaf ears. If there was anyone else in the guild, the apparently were playing 'don't listen to Lucy.'

It was the beginning of a very long night for Lucy.

Alright - that's that. Don't forget to drop a review plz!