Author's note: First pure fanfic in a while (original fiction has been sucking out my brain for a long time.) This came about because I realized there was a whole week missing in the manga, before the S-Rank exam, and there was plenty of opportunity to slip something in there about a party...

They are not mine, I make no profit off my fanfics. Please accept my apologies for any typos my spell check missed.

It was on the night before the S-rank exams that Lucy realized she had never seen a formal floor plan of the newly rebuilt Fairy Tail. Few of the actual guild members had. Levi had taken the original blueprints from the architects, clutching them as though they were something precious, and no one had ever seen them again. Lucy suspected that she had squirreled them away in the library to keep them safe.

So there was still the occasional surprise for various members of the guild, as the new building was large and went deep underground as well as being three stories tall and quite long. She had explored a little (they all had) but she had not really studied the place in depth, as many of the rooms were off-limit, such as the S-rank room on the second floor.

She looked up at that room, with its secret billboard of high-paying missions, and sighed. She had promised Cana she would help her do her best during the exams, but only one person would pass, and everyone had really good reasons for wanting to become an S-rank - reasons that were much more noble than Lucy's desire for more income. She would have to wait her turn.

She slumped at the bar, exhausted from training during the week. Most of the members were still out. She hadn't seen Natsu or Happy since they had dashed off. What Lucy needed right then was a stiff drink and a good night's sleep, but Mirajane had warned her that tradition dictated there be a party the night before the exams.

Lucy was definitely going to need to leave before then.

When Mirajane, swamped with half a dozen drink orders at once, asked her to get a fresh bottle of vermouth from the "geta room," Lucy had had to ask her where it was.

"Just down the main hallway, third right, and then the storage room on the end," Mirajane had said with a wink. "I'm surprised you didn't know that already. We expanded it in the rebuilt guild because the old one was so tiny."

Lucy took off down the main hallway, pondering her words. Why would a shoe closet need to be big? Why did the guild have a room just for wooden sandals, anyway?

She found the door where Mirajane had said it was, and looked at the small wooden sign on the door. In rather fancy script, burned into wood, was the phrase, "Getta Room."

Ah, so it wasn't for geta, but something else.

The little wooden sign hung on a nail, and some instinct caused Lucy to flip it over. Sure enough, the reverse of the sign simply said, "Occupied."

Curious.

She flipped the sign back to its original orientation, and carefully turned the elegant brass handle, trying to avoid making noise. The storage room was dark inside, and she fumbled around blindly for the lights.

Inside was what she expected from a storage room: Shelves, filled with giant jars and cans of all the food service goods, paper goods, and other necessities to keep a guild of a hundred strong members fed and hygienic.

To the left was a wall with more shelves. To the right, the room expanded back quite a ways. Lucy tiptoed her way through, looking at all the shelves for the possible location of vermouth... the goods seemed to be stored in alphabetical order, from the applesauce near the front to the rolls of toilet paper near the back.

Abruptly, the shelving ended, and in the last ten feet of the room, there was a double bed.

Lucy blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what she saw. This was a storage closet, filled with all sorts of... things that needed to be stored, and yet there was a bed here. A rather cozy looking one, neatly made with fluffy pillows.

She looked back at the rows of canned goods, then back to the bed. A small nightstand with a lamp was next to the bed, and she took a few steps toward it, her heart thudding in her chest.

She opened the drawer of the nightstand.

Inside was a box of condoms.

She quickly shut the drawer again, screwing her eyes shut.

Of course. Getta room. "Get a room" - the phrase so often shouted to those Fairy Tail members who were showing their affection a little too publicly for good taste. She now understood where a few people disappeared to after being told those words.

Her face was as hot as if Natsu had set it on fire, and she knew she was a bright red. Trying not to think about what occurred on that bed - probably on a daily basis - she found her bottle of vermouth and escaped the room as quickly as she could.

Mirajane was mopping down the counter when Lucy handed her the bottle, still blushing down to her very toes.

"Thank you," Mirajane said sweetly, and hefted the bottle as if it was a feather. "Everyone seems to want martinis tonight! On that note, I need more olives." She disappeared behind the door that led to the kitchens, where the non-mage staff was hard at work making enough food to feed the small army that was Fairy Tail.

Lucy sat back down on her bar stool, willing herself to calm down. But her traitorous mind was still cycling through all the people that must have used the Getta Room, both the new one and the old one, over the years. Certainly Gray and Juvia had ducked out a few times after being heckled. Had Erza ever been in there? What about Natsu?

The though of Natsu in that storage room with someone gave her a queer feeling in the pit of her stomach, one she didn't like at all. Fortunately, Natsu was oblivious enough that she'd bet a thousand jewels he didn't know about the Getta Room, either.

"This seat open?" a sweet voice said from behind her shoulder. Lucy turned to see Lisanna, freshly rescued from Edolas. Lucy still didn't know her very well - the six months that Earthland's Lucy had been at Fairy Tail, everyone thought that the youngest sibling of Elfman and Mirajane had been dead.

"Of course," Lucy said brightly, even as her mind was amending her previous thoughts concerning Natsu and the Getta Room to include Lisanna in the equation. The two had been close, so close that after Lucy had learned about Lisanna, she sometimes wondered if Natsu was trying to use her as a replacement for the long lost friend.

"How are you doing?" Lisanna asked, starting off with normal pleasantries while she waited for Mirajane to come back.

"Not bad," Lucy said, keeping the conversation light as well. "Cana and I have been training hard these last few days." She rubbed her sore arms. "Even my spirits are tired." She had promised not to call them again until it was really time to fight - none of them had complained except Aquarius, but she knew they needed some rest. They were at a serious disadvantage without Loki.

"Juvia and I have been working hard as well." Lisanna also smiled and stared at the row of bottles on the shelf behind the bar. "Juvia is so strong... but she's so emotionally weak in this world."

"You said that she and you were good friends in Edolas?"

Lisanna nodded. "Yes, definitely." She smiled, no doubt remembering happy memories. "You and I were ... okay, I wouldn't say we were closefriends, but you liked the fact that I wouldn't be bullied." She laughed, a tinkly sound. "But I really like you in this world a lot better." She sighed. "In both worlds, you joined the guild just six months ago."

Lucy felt her jaw fall open. "But I - er... Lucy was running Fairy Tail in Edolas!"

Lisanna nodded firmly. "Domineering. That is one of her biggest traits. She took over within a month." The smile faded a little. "You are much kinder here, and much more cooperative. I... can see why Natsu likes you so much." Lisanna looked away.

This conversation was definitely taking a turn in a dangerous direction.

The younger girl continued on her own, staring off into the distance. "Natsu and I always called ourselves a family," she said, her voice quivering a little. "And we were the same in Edolas... and then you came along."

Lucy thought of her counterparts in the parallel world - Edo-Lucy the dominatrix, and Edo-Natsu the shrinking violet who only gained his confidence when he was on a machine that moved. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Natsu was overjoyed to have you back. He always spoke of you with such fondness," Lucy insisted.

Lisanna sniffled a little, wiping away a tear. She was trying to keep herself under control. "Yes, but it's you he fell in love with."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Lucy protested, holding her hands up as if to ward off the very idea. "It's not like we're dating or anything."

Her eyes narrowed even through her tears, and she grinned a bit despite herself. "I heard he sleeps at your house all the time, though. He never did that with me."

"Well... yeah! As in, sleeps. He likes my bed for some reason," Lucy said the last part with some bitterness. She had always been protective of her privacy.

"He never once visited my room like that. Not here, not in Edolas." Lisanna shook her head, her sadness quickly dissipating in keeping with her usual sunny nature. "Has it ever occurred to you that he likes your bed because you're in it?"

Lucy was spared having to answer that accusation by Mirajane returning from the kitchen. She immediately sensed the mood coming from the two girls, and without a word started mixing her younger sister a strong drink.

"Natsu is my family," Lisanna repeated in a quiet voice. "But to him, I'm family in the same way that Happy is his family, and Makarov is his family, and the whole guild. We are all his family, and he loves us and will fight to the death for us. But I've seen the way he looks at you - here in Earthland and in Edolas. He loves me, but he's inlove with you."

Mirajane plopped the drink in front of her sister, keeping mum about the conversation. Lisanna drained it in one long go.

Lucy took a deep breath. She felt sorry for Lisanna - but the girl also looked relieved. Lucy realized she'd been working up the courage to say those words for some time.

But... Natsu in love with her? No way. No way, no how.

Nope.

"I'll take one of those, too," she said to Mirajane after a moment, and then grinned at Lisanna, determined not to think too much about Natsu's feelings for her - or her own for him. "Wanna bet a thousand jewels I can out-drink you?"

Before long, Lisanna and Lucy's little drinking contest had attracted Cana, who broke her very short lived vow of sobriety for it, and then Juvia, and many other members of the guild. Just as Mirajane had promised, the night before the S-rank exams was turning into a party. Everyone else was happy to drink and sing as if nothing out of the ordinary was going to occur in less than twelve hours.

Cana, the usual champion drinker, was still being surprisingly restrained, no doubt to avoid a hangover the next morning. So it was with one final chug of the bitter alcohol that Lucy was declared the winner when Lisanna passed out on the bar.

And as always, before long, someone threw a punch and the entire guild descended into a joyful brawl. Most of the participants were those who were not taking part in the exams, and who didn't have to worry too much about injuries or Mornings After The Night Befores. Cana and Juvia, taking pity on Lisanna, carried her up to the girl's dorm so she wouldn't be caught up in the mess.

Giggling, Lucy also escaped the fight and stumbled to the Getta Room, expecting to find her own sanctuary from the brawl. Her head was swimming and she was going to be in for a horrible time in the morning unless she drank some water soon. There had been plenty of bottled water in the storage room, and she was going to snag herself a few of them before heading home.

She almost groaned aloud when she saw that the sign had been flipped over to "Occupied."

Then, in one of those flashes of insight that seemed like a fabulous idea when you were drunk, she stuck her ear against the door, wondering if she could tell who was "occupying" the room.

But it was silent. Whoever was inside there was being so quiet that the brawl coming from the guild hall was still louder than their... activities.

Feeling disappointed - and a bit dirty, even through her drunken stupor, she turned to go. And almost bumped right into Natsu.

She hadn't seen him in a week, not since he and Happy had run off to train for the exams. She blinked at him in surprise, her eyes swimming from the copious amounts of ethanol flowing through her blood. Two Natsus quickly refocused back into one.

"Lucy!" he said with his normal infectious grin. "I missed you!"

A drunk, emotionally confused Lucy found herself embraced by the man who was supposedly in love with her. Not that he had a very clear way of showing it.

"What are you doing at the Getta Room?" he asked her, holding her at arm's length, suddenly looking suspicious. "The sign says occupied."

"I was just trying to escape the fight," she said honestly, her blush from earlier in the evening returning in full strength. She was surprised at how normal she sounded, even though she was more wasted than she had ever been while still being upright. "I didn't even know about it until Mirajane asked me to get some vermouth from it."

"Ah! Well, come on in then."

She gaped as he opened up the room, apparently ignoring the "occupied" sign.

"Natsu, what are you doing!" she hissed.

"I'm the one that flipped the sign over," he said by means of explanation. "I was going to wait in ambush for Gray, but he and Loki are still off doing whatever they're doing so I don't think he's coming here today."

Lucy's alcohol softened brain tried to comprehend what Natsu had just said. He would attack Gray here? That was so low.

"Come on! You don't want to be seen, do you?"

And Natsu grabbed her wrist and yanked her inside without any further warning.

The door closed with a final sounding click. Outside, the noise from the brawl continued, but in here it was eerily muted.

"I'm surprised you didn't know about the Getta Room earlier. It's a great place for a mid-afternoon nap."

Natsu strolled down the aisle of shelves, leaving Lucy to sway unsteadily on her feet. She was slowly sobering up now that she wasn't guzzling alcohol in a stupid attempt to out-drink Lisanna, but she wouldn't be able to think straight for hours. Lucy was a happy drunk, usually, and sometimes a philosophical drunk. Was she acting drunk because she was expected to act drunk, or was she actually just that drunk?

Tonight it was the latter, no questions about it.

And here she was, in a room that couples used for sex, with Natsu.

But... the bed at the end of the room did look so comfortable, and she was so tired...

Her feet began to follow Natsu automatically.

She was in the Getta Room with Natsu.

And he wanted to take a nap.

The queasy feeling returned to her stomach, and now she recognized it was a small pit of jealousy gnawing at her. She was out a thousand jewels with herself. Natsu had been in this room many times, it seemed, but maybe, just maybe, she was the first girl to have ever been in there with him.

With a loud sigh he plopped down on one side of the bed, leaning back with a smirk of satisfaction. "It's almost as nice as your bed, Luce."

"Where's Happy?"

Natsu pointed at the wall, indicating that the cat was in the main room. "He found a rare fish that he's trying to give to Charle. I told him I'd give him some alone time with her, since he won't see much of her during the exams."

The bed loomed in front of her, like some sort of monstrous being from a nightmare. She lifted one leaden leg toward it, then another, never having felt so embarrassed or nervous in her life.

It's not as if you haven't slept in the same bed as him plenty of times, one of the sobering parts of her mind whispered. This is no different. Look, he's about to doze off! It's like he doesn't even realize what he seems to be asking for!

And then, something inside Lucy snapped.

Her bullying, rude, domineering Edolas counterpart had seduced Edo-Natsu within a week, according to Lisanna. A week!

Defiantly, Lucy plopped onto the bed, making it bounce as much as she could to test the squeakiness. It was surprisingly quiet, and felt nice and firm beneath her.

"Springy," she murmured to herself, and then rolled from her back onto her side, peering in as closely to Natsu as she could without climbing on top of him.

"Is something wrong, Luce?" he asked, his expression one of curious innocence.

"No." She just looked at him, propped up on one elbow, admiring the uplift of his eyebrows and the wonderful spikiness of his hair. Then she started giggling, and rolled over onto her back, holding her belly as she guffawed. No way! Lisanna was totally wrong - Natsu didn't even know what it meant to be in love with someone.

"Lucy, you're drunk!" He sounded horrified.

"Well, I was drunk. Now I think I'm more heavily buzzed than anything." She held her hand up in front of her face and stared at her Fairy Tail stamp for a moment, and giggled some more. "Or no, I'm drunk." She leaned back over onto her elbow and grinned at him. Goodness.. he just looked so kissable. She wanted to reach over and kiss him silly, but he still looked so stunned at her inebriation that Lucy almost fell sorry for him.

Nope, he'd definitely never had a girl in this room with him before.

"Natsu," she said wickedly, "don't you even know what the Getta Room is for?"

"Well... yeah," he said, starting to comprehend and blushing beet red. "But I thought you just wanted a quiet place! This is where I go when I want to get away from the noise. I didn't mean - it's not that I-" He looked so stricken that she felt the need to cut him off by placing her finger on his lips.

"I know, Natsu, and I'm happy that you're thinking of my well being, even now. In just a few hours, we'll be enemies," she said softly. "Who knows what will happen in the exams?"

"Lucy," he said, his voice cracking. To her surprise, he reached up to also touch her arm with his hand. She scooted in closer to him, and the cautious embrace melted into a tight hug. A friendly hug, Lucy told herself.

"You'll never be my enemy, silly," he murmured.

"Rivals then. Cana is as dead set on getting S-class as you are, and I promised her I'd do my best." Lucy didn't want to think about the fight, didn't want to think about having to be against Natsu. "I know why you picked Happy to be your partner, but I'm a bit sad I couldn't also be your partner too."

"To be honest," Natsu said slowly, tracing one of his fingers against her back. "I didn't pick you as my partner because you can be a bit distracting to me."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he backpedaled. "That came out wrong. What I meant was..." The fierce blush was returning. "You're so pretty, sometimes I find myself just staring at you."

The confession was not what Lucy was expecting.

"With Happy, I know what he can do and he knows what I can do... with you, there have been a few times lately where I... awwww, I'm screwing this up aren't I," he groaned and leaned back away from her and fell back onto the bed dramatically.

You're the one Natsu is in love with.

"I think I understand," Lucy said, and also leaned back on the bed, content for the moment just to know his reasons. "You sure haven't seemed distracted to me, though."

He sat up and leaned over to her again, his mouth half hanging open as if he wanted to say something, or do something, but he was unsure. He snapped it shut, hesitating.

"Lucy, I-"

A sudden loud pounding on the door interrupted him, and he jumped back. Lucy cursed mentally.

"Open this door right now Natsu! I know you're the one in there!"

"Gray," both Lucy and Natsu said together.

Natsu had a deer in the headlights look. "He must be back."

Lucy was certain her expression was identical. "Lisanna and Juvia came back earlier this afternoon..."

"I'm giving you to the count of ten to vacate this for all the people who need this room, you stupid dragon. Ten..."

On cue, a feminine voice rang out, "Juvia wants to help! NINE!"

"How many times have you done this to him?" Lucy hissed, her eyes wide. It wasn't fair! She was going to get caught with Natsu and they hadn't even actually done anything! So not fair...

"I've lost count. No time to explain, but follow me." He jumped off the bed, and yanked her upright unceremoniously. She wobbled for a few moments, trying to steady her stomach. That fifth shot of rum was beginning to seem like a bad idea. "Down here," Natsu hissed.

"Four!" Gray shouted and Juvia sang.

In a fit of confusion, Lucy reached into the drawer next to the bed and grabbed a handful of the condoms. She stuffed them into her pocket before following Natsu. Just in case, she told herself.

The large bed was about a foot off the ground, and there was a sliding trap door underneath it. With a practiced motion, Natsu slid it open, wriggled under the bed, and dropped inside. Having no choice, Lucy followed, wincing as her breasts were smooshed against the hard floor.

"ZERO!" And Gray kicked down the door with a loud thunk, but by then, Natsu and Lucy were safely in a small, dark tunnel.

"Gray doesn't know this is here," Natsu said with a smirk, and cautiously rolled the trap door back into place. "There's actually some other tunnels down here too, but only Makarov has the keys to those doors."

The light from above was gone, but Natsu lit one of his fingers, and took Lucy's hand. He pulled her along the cramped tunnel.

She realized they were passing underneath the main guild hall, thanks to the sound of feet stamping and craziness from above. Her head was pounding too, and her heart, in a way that could not entirely be explained by the danger and the alcohol. Her hand was burning where it touched Natsu, for reasons that had nothing to do with his flames.

She had been unconsciously counting her steps, and about four hundred paces away, the tunnel widened a bit and started to slope upwards.

The two stumbled out of a hillside that was nearly shrouded in bushes, hiding the mouth of the artificial cave.

"Whew!" Natsu said with a laugh, slapping one of his thighs. "That was a close one!"

"What's he going to think when he realized the room is empty?"

"He'll still blame me, I've done that to them a few times." He grinned at her. "It's almost more fun than challenging him to a fight when they go there."

Lucy sent a silent apology to Juvia and Gray, and wished them a happy evening together tonight at least. Then the temple bells ringing in her hand demanded attention.

"Ugh, I need a glass of water or three," Lucy moaned, all the giggling gone. She clutched her head and pulled on her hair in an effort to make the pounding stop. No more happy drunk Lucy.

"Let's get you home." Natsu took her hand ahead. "We have a big day ahead."

"What about Happy?"

Natsu waved his other hand toward the guild. "He'll be fine. He's with everyone else, and he knows where to find us."

They set off down the hillside, just a short walk back to the city. Lucy loved the town of Magnolia at night. The thoroughly domesticated river gleamed in the moonlight, as gondoliers steered their boats and romancing couples cuddled underneath the starry sky.

"So pretty," she mumbled, half to herself, momentarily forgetting her discomfort.

"Yeah," Natsu agreed, and squeezed her hand.

That tiny gesture caused her heart to start slamming in her chest again.

They reached her apartment too fast. She fumbled with the key, half wondering if Natsu was going to stay out on the doorstep, but of course he didn't. Of course he had to follow her in, plop down on her couch like he lived here. She pulled off her boots, almost losing her balance as she hopped on one foot.

She managed to not-stumble to the kitchen, and proceeded to chug two glasses of water in quick succession. She also took an aspirin for good measure.

There. No hangover for her!

Now... what to do about her problem on the couch?

"Hey Luce, got anything to eat? I'm hungry."

The sexual tension from not even a half hour ago was fizzling faster than her buzz, and without a word she dropped a bag of pita chips onto Natsu's lap, then sat down next to him, trying not to be in a huff.

She was frustrated. She had wanted Natsu, wanted to kiss him, wanted to hold him down, wanted to see just how far he would go with her, while they were in the room, and now he was acting all... normal, inhaling her last bag of sea salt chips.

She reached over and grabbed a chip from the bag, munching on it angrily.

And now he was on her couch, eating her food, and he was still being totally oblivious about it!

She wanted to scream.

Instead, she swung her legs up and around onto his lap, so that she was lying fully supine on the couch, her back up against the armrest.

"Hey!" Natsu said, barely moving the bag of chips in time. "I'm not a footstool!"

"Well, it is my couch," she snarked, and then giggled, unable to keep the angry expression on her face. She really was a happy drunk... "You're comfortable," she said.

"And you're still drunk."

She waved it away. "It takes two hours to fully metabolize alcohol. The water will help a lot."

Natsu had finished devouring the entire bag of chips. He set it on the end table, since her legs were trapping him and preventing him from taking it to the trash can. She wiggled one of her feet experimentally.

"My legs really are long," she observed dreamily. "Although my feet are rather big."

"Not as big as your t-" Natsu caught himself before he went further. She raised one eyebrow at him, daring him to continue. "-your toes are just long, I meant," he recovered smoothly.

"Pervert," she muttered anyway.

"What's perverted about that?"

"You're a foot fetishist!"

He laughed, and tickled her foot in revenge.

She shrieked, and threw a pillow at him. He continued to tickle her feet, and she continued to half laugh, half scream at him to stop. A few moments of tussling, and she had thrown her legs back down and pulled him on top of her so his hands couldn't reach her feet any more.

Ah. Now the sexual tension was back.

His face, inches from hers. His lips, hovering above hers. His eyes, so surprised, so wide, so innocent.

He still looked utterly kissable, and this time, she gave in to her desires.

She didn't know quite why, but kissing him was one of the most comfortable experiences she'd ever had. It just felt so right. He shifted so that his legs were between hers, taking some of his weight off her, but also having the effect of bringing their bodies even closer together.

He broke the kiss, his eyes darkened with a new found passion, even though they still retained their innocence.

"You are definitely still drunk," he whispered.

"I've never been more sober," she said, although that wasn't true at all.

"I don't... I don't want things to get weird," he said desperately. "I like you Lucy. I like you so much but I don't want-"

"This isn't weird at all, Natsu," she said, interrupting him. "This feels right. This feels good."

He sighed, and braced himself above her. She watched him, slightly dazed by the remnants of alcohol and the kissing and her own buzzing hormones, but she was disappointed when he simply was getting off the couch in a way that would not hurt her.

"I can't do this, Luce," he said, his voice cracking in anguish. "You're going to hate me in the morning if I go any further and I don't want that."

"I will never hate you, Natsu." She shook her head vigorously for a second, then stopped when she realized it was making the room spin. Baaad idea. She sat up, and gingerly held her head in her hands. "Ooh," she moaned, and it was a sound of pain and not desire.

Natsu was instantly at her side, arms around her, lifting her up. "I'm putting you to bed."

"Stay the night with me Natsu," she purred, looping her arms around his neck.

"Not when you're like this," he said firmly, and wedged open the door to her bedroom with his foot. He laid her tenderly into the bed, a far cry from her earlier jump into the bed in the Getta Room, and gently swept back her hair from her forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the docks," Natsu said, and he turned to go, but the drunk-on-hormones Lucy wasn't about to let her prey get away that easily.

She sat up from the bed, grabbed him around the waist, and pulled him right back into the bed with her again. He fell onto her, legs akimbo, and she clung to him tightly before shoving him off to the other side of the bed and trapping him with her arms.

"Lucy," Natsu said, giving her a bemused look. She answered it by leaning over and kissing him again. This time, she kissed him so thoroughly she left him no doubt that she intended to go through with whatever... whatever it was she was doing.

She leaned in even closer, her arms braced on either side of him, her hair swinging down around her face, her breasts hanging down and touching his chest.

"I want to sleep with you tonight, Natsu," she said calmly. "I promise not to hate you - or hit you - in the morning. But the exams tomorrow... we're going to be enemies." It was what she had told him before, but she wanted to emphasize the point. "I want something to remind us that no matter what happens, we're friends."

"It's going to be weird!" Natsu insisted. "I already can't stop thinking about you... can't stop wanting to touch you..."

She laid on top of him, deliberately pressing her breasts further into his chest. "Then why didn't you tell me? I wanted to touch you too... to know all of you."

"Because it will get weird!" Natsu hissed, but he was losing the argument with Lucy's generous bosom, and he shut up when she sat up, straddling his waist, and started to take off her shirt.

A few quick twists of her industrial strength but still quite lacy pink bra, and they were free.

He reached out, hesitantly, to touch one, as if he was afraid Lucy was going to get angry. But instead, she preened before him, stretching her arms up, giving them the maximum effect of bounce and lift, letting them speak for themselves. And they were begging for Natsu's touch.

She sighed in pleasure as his rough hands stroked the creamy skin, then gave a tentative squeeze. He explored them, a curious and wondering expression on his face as he tested the weight of them, watching how they could sway as he pushed them. For all the size of her breasts, she had small, tight areolas, and tiny nipples that were almost flush against the tip. A virgin's breasts. Years later, they would soften and expand even further with motherhood, but for now, they were the fantastic playthings of every man's deepest fantasies.

Soon, though, she grew impatient with his play, and she began to divest herself further. She wanted to be naked for Natsu. She wanted to let him see what he had been missing by being so stubborn.

Off went the belt with her keys, which were gently laid on the nightstand next to her bed. He watched her silently. Aquarius would get angry if they were thrown, even if it was in the throes of passion. Then went her skirt, the short fabric tossed aside much more unceremoniously, leaving her in nothing but her undies.

"Pink lace," Natsu choked out involuntarily.

"I take it you were wondering," she said smugly.

She lifted herself off him and with a few wriggles had them gone as well, toss to the floor. Before Natsu could chicken out again, she attacked him, stripping him of his clothes as fast as she could manage the buckles and bits. How the heck Gray stripped so quickly was a mystery to her.

Once she was done, they just lay there kissing for a long time, Natsu stroking and touching his hands all over her body, learning the shapes and hidden places. She also explored him, discovering that he had a small path of hair from his belly to his groin, that he was definitely a natural redhead, and that the rippling muscles of his stomach extended all the way down to his thighs. His body was strange - he was a physical mage, so he had the bulk and strength of a fighter, but he was also still somehow slender and lanky.

"You're beautiful," she told Natsu, and wriggled against him.

"I'm supposed to tell that to you."

She giggled again and answered him with another long, open mouthed kiss. She was getting impatient - she wanted to join her body with his quickly. But she wasn't really quite sure how to proceed. She knew what her books told her, but in all honestly, they were light on the actual mechanics using terms that weren't euphemisms. He was supposed to thrust his throbbing manhood into her welcoming folds...

Well, she could definitely feel his throbbing manhood, alright. She reached back down to her skirt and fumbled around the pocket for the condoms she had grabbed earlier. She had no idea what she had taken them, but now she was grateful.

"Whatcha got there, Lucy?"

She held up a packet shyly. "I took a few," she explained. "Just before we escaped."

His eyes lit up in comprehension, and she opened the small packet and then held the sticky, thin tube of rubber, unsure of what to do with it. There was a small rubber nipple at the tip. Maybe to help her hold onto it? Her mind reached back into a woman's magazine she had read ages ago, and she vaguely remembered what to do. She pinched the tip, and slid it onto his penis - no, his throbbing manhood. It pulsed behind her hands as she rolled it down.

"You ever done that before?" he asked, fascinated.

"Nope," she said honestly. "I read it in a magazine."

She rolled onto her back and he mounted her. Amazing how someone so clueless could figure out what to do on the first try.

She drew her knees up, gripping his hips. With a sigh, she stretched her arms over her head, grabbing the headboard out of some instinct. She could feel him, poking at her experimentally.

"Almost," he muttered under his breath.

And then he found her entrance, and slid into her on a sigh.

She squirmed a bit. It did hurt a little, but it was nowhere near as bad as what she'd been led to expect. She grinned to herself. She was a summoner and a mage of Fairy Tail. A little membrane tearing was nothing!

Any lingering pain was gone quickly, as Natsu discovered the rhythm of lovemaking.

"Oh gods, Luce," he murmured against her neck. "I had no idea it was going to be like this..."

"Why do you think people are always sneaking off to the room?" she said, gritting her teeth to keep from crying too loudly. The bed rocking was bad enough by itself. Her mattress squeaked in protest.

"I had no idea," he said with a moan.

She watched the play of emotions and pleasure on his face, fascinated. Her own feelings were there, too, but it was watching him that was giving her the most joy. His eyes rolled back beneath his eyelids, and he suddenly reached down to kiss her, slowing down.

It was the slowing, not the speeding up, that catapulted Lucy over the edge. She writhed beneath him, feeling her blood turn to fire and her mouth fall open in awe. She was barely aware as Natsu also came shortly after her.

They lay there, gasping in the last of the evening light coming in through her bedroom window. He was sweating heavily, so he disengaged and rolled off to the side, eyes closed, his breath slowing down gradually.

After a while, she reached over to kiss him gently.

"See, it's not weird at all," she whispered.

"Yeah," he agreed, and reached down to take her hand. He squeezed it once, then stood up and headed to her bathroom to clean himself up.

Lucy lay back in the bed, wriggling under the covers, not caring that she was naked. She listened to the quiet sounds of him, trying to wrap her mind around what had transpired.

She had no regrets. None. This is something they should have tried a while ago, really.

"Hey Luce, can we leave the window open for Happy?" Natsu asked softly, standing near the window gloriously naked.

"Of course," she said, and sat upright in bed to get a better view of him as he lifted the window just enough for the cat-like creature to fly inside her second story apartment.

He joined her under the covers, without another word.

"We should try to get some sleep," he said, and stroked her hair.

"Mmmm." She was already snuggling into his shoulder. "G'night, Natsu."

"Night, Luce." He kissed her on the forehead, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep far quicker than she expected.

"Oy," Cana called out in irritation, banging on the door to Lucy's apartment. "Get up Lucy! We only have an hour left before the ship takes off!"

"Natsuuuuu~" Happy called out as well. He had stayed at the party all night, completely unaware that Natsu had left until it was fairly late, and then he'd guessed that his partner wanted a good night's sleep in Lucy's queen bed.

"I'll go check the bedroom," the little Exceed said helpfully, and fluttered off toward the open window.

"You do that. And dump Lucy's hungover butt into the shoulder while you're at it," Cana said with a scowl. She blew her hair out of her face, exasperated. The small amount of alcohol she'd imbibed the night before had barely touched her system - she was a professional lush, after all.

A few moments later, Happy returned, his face bright red.

"Um, they're definitely already awake and showering," he said, averting his eyes and rubbing the back of his head very nervously. "I think they'll be out here shortly."

Cana was good at observing her environment, and she sensed the embarrassment of the Exceed and quickly added up the numbers in her head.

"Well I'll be," she muttered, staring at Lucy's window. "Wondered when those two were going to finally do something."

Then she remembered about the bet she had with Mirajane. She cackled and rubbed her hands together. "It's before the exams still! Two thousand jewels for me!"

Within fifteen minutes, a freshly showered and glowing couple emerged from the apartment door, holding hands. Cana tried to hide her smirk.

"All right you two," she called firmly, pointing at each of them in turn. "You're enemies until the exams are over!"

Natsu and Lucy glanced at each other, and laughed a little.

"I guess we are," Lucy said, and reluctantly let go of Natsu's hand.

"But only until the exams are over," Natsu said firmly, and then grabbed Happy and took off running. "I'm going to beat you and become S-rank, though!"

Cana and Lucy watched the pair run off merrily. They did not turn around.

Lucy sighed. Cana gave her a knowing look.

"You love him, don't you?"

Lucy didn't deny it. "How could I not?" was all she said.