Chapter 45: Gate of the Lion, LEO
The following morning.
Fairy Tail Guild Hall – Reconstruction Site.
10:23 AM.
The new guild hall smelled of sawdust, fresh lacquer, and Mirajane's restorative stew, a combination that was rapidly becoming the official scent of recovery. Laki Olietta had finally coaxed the east wall into something resembling plumb. Macao was attempting to hang a door. Wakaba was supervising from a cushion, which meant he was napping.
Natsu Dragneel pushed through the half-finished entrance, Lucy at his side and Happy perched on his shoulder.
"Aye! We're back!"
"And Natsu didn't even get lost in the forest this time!" Happy added proudly. "Only had to circle the same tree seventeen times!"
"I was scouting," Natsu muttered. "Terrain analysis."
"You were lost."
"Strategic lost."
Lucy bit back a smile. Four days. Four days since the village, since the inn, since she'd woken up tangled in his warmth with morning light streaming across their bodies. Four days of him vanishing into the trees before dawn, returning only to eat and sleep and vanish again.
She hadn't asked where he went. She was afraid of the answer.
But he was here now. That was enough.
"OI, STRIPPER! ERZA!" Natsu's voice boomed across the half-empty hall. "WHERE IS EVERYONE?!"**
"I am right here, Natsu."
Erza materialized from behind a stack of lumber, her expression serene, her armor conspicuously absent. She was in simple clothes, a red tunic, black pants and held a hammer with the same natural authority she usually reserved for greatswords.
"Gray is currently being disciplined for public indecency."
"I WASN'T BEING INDECENT!"
Gray's voice echoed from somewhere behind a half-finished wall. "MY CLOTHES JUST, IT DISAPPEARED! IT HAPPENS!"
"It happens because you make it happen."
"THAT'S MAGICAL SLANDER!"
Erza sighed. It was a small sound, but it carried the weight of seven years of putting up with Gray Fullbuster's wardrobe malfunctions.
"He'll rejoin us when he's found appropriate attire. Or given up and accepted his natural state. Whichever comes first."
"Aye!" Happy chirped. "Gray's natural state is shirtless!"
"THAT'S NOT… ACTUALLY, THAT'S FAIR…"
Natsu wasn't listening. His gaze had swept the room, cataloguing who was present, who was absent, the angle of the light through the unfinished roof. Lucy recognized the look, it was the same focus he'd worn before challenging Erza, before facing Gajeel, before every battle that mattered.
But there was no enemy here. Just lumber and laughter and the slow work of rebuilding.
What are you looking for, Natsu?
"Hey, Luce."
He turned to her, and the focus melted away, replaced by something softer. "Aren't you gonna summon him?"
Lucy blinked. "Summon...?"
"Loke." Natsu said it casually, like it was obvious. "You got his key, right? Figured you'd want to show him off."
She stared at him.
"...how did you know about that?"
"Happy told me."
"Aye!" Happy confirmed. "I flew to the forest this morning and told Natsu EVERYTHING! The cemetery, the King, the key, the crying, I told him about the crying too!"
"HAPPY!"
"What?! It was very emotional crying! He should know!"
Lucy buried her face in her hands. Behind her, she could hear Erza's hammer pause mid-swing.
"...you acquired another key?"**
There it was. That careful, measured neutrality. Lucy peeked through her fingers.
Erza's expression was perfectly composed. But her grip on the hammer had tightened.
"Last night," Lucy said quietly.
Silence.
Then Erza nodded once. "Good."
Just that. One word. But Lucy caught the faint softening at the corners of her eyes, the almost invisible relaxation of her shoulders.
She's proud of me.
The thought was warm and strange and slightly terrifying.
"Well?" Natsu grinned. "You gonna summon him or what?"
Lucy reached for her key pouch. Her fingers found the new key, gold, heavier than the others, warm against her skin.
"Open."
She took a breath.
"Gate of the Lion. LEO!"
Golden light blazed across the half-finished guild hall.
And Loke stepped through.
He was different. The same orange hair, the same sunglasses, the same easy posture, but the weight of him had shifted. He was solid now. Present. No longer fading at the edges, no longer borrowed time and borrowed existence. In addition, he wore a fine looking black suit.
He was home.
"Miss me?"
His voice was its old self again, warm, teasing, effortlessly charming. But his eyes, visible over the rim of his sunglasses, were wet.
"LOKE!"
Happy launched himself at the spirit's face, sobbing into his hair. "YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE NOT DYING! I WAS SO WORRIED."
"Hey, hey…" Loke laughed, catching the tiny Exceed and prying him gently from his scalp. "I'm fine, I'm here, please don't get fish oil in my hair…"
"TOO LATE!"
Gray emerged from behind the wall, miraculously shirtless, his expression cycling rapidly through confusion, recognition, and genuine relief.
"Loke? You're… I thought you quit the guild."
"I did." Loke's smile softened. "And then Lucy changed the rules of the Celestial Spirit World for me, so I un-quit. It's a whole thing."
Gray stared at him. Then at Lucy. Then back at Loke.
"...you're a spirit?"
"Zodiac spirit, actually. Leo the Lion. Twelve gold keys, very exclusive." Loke adjusted his sunglasses. "I'd give you my card, but I left them in my other pocket."
"YOU'RE A WHAT?!"
The explosion came from the entrance.
Cana had frozen mid-stride, her barrel of ale suspended in mid-air. Macao had dropped his door. Wakaba had woken up. Elfman had appeared from nowhere, his massive jaw hanging open.
"LOKE IS A SPIRIT?!"
"A ZODIAC SPIRIT?!"
"THAT'S WHY HE'S SO FLIRTY?!"
"THAT'S NOT… THAT'S NOT RELATED…"
"DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!"
"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A SPIRIT?!"
"CAN YOU DO SPIRIT TRICKS?!"
Loke held up his hands, laughter bubbling beneath the chaos. "One at a time! I'll explain everything, yes, I'm a spirit, yes, I'm Leo, no, I can't do 'spirit tricks,' whatever that means…"
"CAN YOU TURN INTO A LION?!"
"That's not how any of this works,"
"BUT CAN YOU?!"
The guild descended into joyous, raucous interrogation. Mirajane watched from the bar, her smile serene and knowing. Erza stood apart, her hammer forgotten, her gaze steady on the orange-haired spirit who had returned from the dead.
Lucy let the noise wash over her, warm and familiar.
Then Natsu's hand closed around her wrist.
"Come here."
He pulled her away from the crowd, through a gap in the half-finished wall, into a small alcove of stacked lumber and unfinished beams. It was private. Quiet. The chaos of the guild faded to a distant hum.
"What is it?" Lucy asked.
He didn't answer.
He just kissed her.
It was slow. Deliberate. His hand came up to cup her jaw, thumb brushing across her cheekbone, and she leaned into him like she'd been waiting for this all along.
She had been.
When they finally pulled apart, her lips were tingling and her heart was pounding and she was smiling.
"You know," she murmured, "we can spend more time together at my place. I don't understand why you don't come over as often."
His thumb traced lazy circles on her cheek.
"We haven't been together since the village. Four days." She searched his face. "You've been in the forest the whole time. I miss you."
Natsu's expression flickered, something unreadable, quickly smoothed over.
"...I know. I'm sorry."
"And then there's Erza."
His hand paused.
"I'm still confused how to act around her," Lucy admitted. "When I know you also plan to make her your girlfriend."
She said it plainly. No accusation. Just the truth, laid bare between them.
Natsu was quiet for a moment.
"Don't worry about it, Luce."
His voice was gentle. Certain.
"Everything will be fine."
He leaned closer, his forehead resting against hers.
"Don't you remember what I said about Loke? I didn't know he was a spirit, or any of that other stuff. But I knew he was afraid of you and that meant only you could help him."
His breath was warm against her lips.
"That's one of the things I like about you."
Lucy's heart swelled.
"...there's one other thing I forgot to mention."
Natsu's eyes sharpened immediately. "Please don't tell me Loke kissed you or touched your breasts. If he did, I'm going to kill that bastard."
The shift was instantaneous, the warmth draining, replaced by something hot and possessive. His grip on her face tightened fractionally.
Lucy blinked.
"Oh gods, no. No, nothing like that." She laughed, breathless. "I'm all yours, Natsu. I promise."
The tension in his jaw released. His thumb resumed its gentle motion.
"But this is about us."
She took a breath.
"Yesterday, at the guild hall... Loke's girlfriends came looking for him."
"I heard." His voice was flat. "Brenda. The handbag situation."
"You heard about that?"*
"Happy told me. Also about the bag situation."
"Of course he did." Lucy shook her head. "Anyway, they thought I was the reason Loke dumped all of them. And I may have... mentioned that I have a boyfriend."
Natsu's expression shifted. "You did?"
"In my defense, they were very aggressive about it." She bit her lip. "But the guild may have heard. Which means it's only a matter of time before people find out about us."
She searched his face, looking for panic, hesitation, anything.
She found only calm.
"Erza already knows about us," he said simply. "It's only a matter of time before she becomes part of us too."
Part of us.
Three words. Simple. Absolute. Like he'd already decided the shape of their future and was simply waiting for the world to catch up.
Lucy's heart raced.
"When we return from the resort," he continued, "we'll let everyone find out. Together."**
"...resort?"
"Loke's got tickets, he just handed them to happy." He pointed to the pair from their hidden vantage point. "Luxury place. You'll see."
He said it casually, but his eyes, his eyes were burning.
"I can't wait," Lucy whispered.
She kissed him again.
This time it was deeper, hungrier, four days of absence and uncertainty poured into the space between them. His hands found her waist, pulling her flush against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers threading through his hair.
The world outside the alcove ceased to exist.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Lucy pressed her forehead against his chest and smiled.
"...we should go back before they send a search party."
"Yeah." His voice was rough. "Probably."
Neither of them moved.
Then, reluctantly, Lucy stepped back. She smoothed her skirt, touched her lips, and tried to compose her expression into something that didn't scream *I was just making out with Natsu Dragneel behind a pile of lumber*.
Natsu ran a hand through his already-ruined hair and grinned.
"Ready?"
"No."*
"Good. Let's go."
They emerged from the alcove like nothing had happened.
The guild was still in chaos. Loke was surrounded by a rapidly expanding crowd, fielding questions about spirit physiology, the Celestial Spirit World, and inexplicably whether he'd ever met the Spirit King's tailor.
"I don't think he has a tailor…"
"But his robes look so REGAL…"
"THAT'S BECAUSE HE'S THE KING, BISCA…"
Natsu drifted toward the edge of the crowd, his expression easy, his posture relaxed. His gaze swept across the room.
And found Erza.
She was standing apart, as always, her hammer resting against her shoulder. Watching. Waiting.
Their eyes met.
Natsu winked.
Erza's expression did not change. Her grip on the hammer did not tighten. She gave no visible reaction at all.
But she did not look away.
Then Natsu laughed at something Gray said, shoved Elfman's massive shoulder, and dove headfirst into the chaos.
"OI, LOKE! IF YOU'RE A LION, CAN YOU DO THAT THING WHERE YOU ROAR REALLY LOUD?!"
"That's not how… Natsu, you're a DRAGON SLAYER, you KNOW that's not how it works…"
"SO THAT'S A NO?!"
"…I HATE IT HERE…"
"AYE! CAN YOU CATCH FISH WITH YOUR LION POWERS?!"
"I DON'T HAVE LION POWERS, HAPPY…"
Lucy watched Natsu disappear into the crowd of her family, laughing and arguing and radiating that impossible, infectious energy.
Four days in the forest. Four days of silence and distance.
She still didn't know where he went, or why, or what he was searching for in the darkness between the trees.
But he was here now.
That was enough.
She touched her lips, still warm from his kiss, and smiled. Erza looking at her from a distance.