Oh my freaking Mavis! Gabbie made me laugh till I cried with this!

Not to mention things are beginning to take a new turn...

--Natsu--

"Hey Natsu, when can we go on another job?" She looked up at me, removing her hands from the table and fidgeting with her sleeves.

I took a moment to think about before shrugging. "We can look at the request board next time we're at the warehouse, but for now you're taking it easy. Wendy's orders." I told her with a stern look. I didn't want to get in trouble with Erza and Wendy, but I most definitely didn't want her hurting her leg anymore than it was.

"No jobs for me then, at least for a few more days. I just wanted to start getting at Jude again soon..." She murmured the last part before getting up. I know that we had only had a run in with his men the other day, but it sounded to me as if she's had more personal run ins with him before. "I'm going to head to bed Natsu, I'll see you in the morning." She yawned before getting up and walking down the hall to her room. I stayed still, racking my mind for a reasonable explanation that she would want to get back at Jude other than her leg and Juvia.

"Goodnight Luce," I called after her.

"Goodnight Natsu." I heard her sing back before I heard the door click shut. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I swear that there was more to her story with Jude than she was letting on. Why she couldn't tell me though, I didn't know. Why the hell does she have to be so complicating?

I took what was left of her pizza, my stomach still not completely satisfied. She only had a little bit left, but it was better than nothing really. We had pretty much slept the whole day away, meaning Gajeel must've had to find someone else to run patrol with. Wait, scratch that. Makarov had said that we had to start running patrol with four people now, so he must've had a couple of other people with him. Lucy and I were excused for one more patrol, but we would begin the day after tomorrow.

"Ah shit, I forgot to go pick up Happy." I frowned, standing up and walking towards my home phone. Hopefully he wouldn't mind staying with Wendy and Erza for another night. It was too late for me to go out and get him, not to mention dangerous. I shouldn't be going out alone now that it's a full out war with Jude. I dialed Wendy's number, hoping that either she or Erza was still awake. I mean, it wasn't too late, so they should still be awake.

"Hello?" I heard Wendy's voice through the receiver.

"Yo, Wendy!" I greeted, relieved that she was still awake. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, we were just about to go to sleep right now." She yawned, emphasizing her point. "Is everything alright? Lucy's leg isn't acting up?"

I shook my head no, momentarily forgetting that she couldn't see it. "No, she's fine. I was just worried about Happy. We ended up sleepin' the whole day today and I forgot to pick him up." I explained, a slight frown on my face. I felt bad for forgetting something that important.

"Oh! He's alright. He and Charle just went to sleep actually." I sighed, he always goes to sleep pretty damn early.

"Thanks Wendy. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright, bye!" I hung up, placing the phone back on its machine. At least he was okay. I'll have to go buy him a fish or somethin' tomorrow to make up for it though. Oh well.

I walked back over to the counter, picking up the dishes before putting them in the sink. I'll just wash 'em tomorrow. I thought as I turned off the lights in the kitchen and back to my room to grab a change of clothes. Right now, all I wanted to do was take a nice hot shower--I felt all gross and shit.

I grabbed a change of underwear and a towel, totally intending to just sleep in my boxers again. I was too lazy to put on anything else. I walked back out of my room and to the room next to it which happened to be the bathroom. I looked myself in the mirror, taking note that I needed to shave my face. Stubble was already beginning to grow. I turned on the shower, taking off my dirtied boxers as I waited for the water to heat up.

A couple of minutes later, I stepped into the shower, ready for random thoughts to begin assaulting me as I cleaned myself. At first my mind was blank, nothing coming up until I began to wash my hair. What would it feel like if soap got in my eye? It'd probably hurt, but would it really hurt that bad? I mean, it's been awhile since soap has been in my eye... I opened my eyes, shampoo from my head gliding down my forehead slowly, my chest pounding as I awaited the pain. I wasn't expecting it to actually hurt that bad though. "Shit, shit, shit!" I swore, clenching my eyes shut tightly as I continued to sing my song of curses. Why the fuck did I just do that? I really have no idea.

I looked up, painfully opening my eyes and allowing the hot water to rinse away the scalding soap. Note to self, never let yourself do that again. I grumbled, continuing my shower without any further thoughts.

When I got out of the shower, the mirror was fogged up, steam billowing throughout the room and keeping it warm. I dreaded opening the door, a cold draft soon to take away the warmth. I hurriedly dried my body off, putting on my clean boxers and discarding the used towel against the wall. I quickly opened the door, turning the lights off and dashing back into my room. It was colder than I thought it'd be, goosebumps erupting on my arms. I dove for my bed, rolling myself in my blankets as I fought to be warm again.

It didn't take long until I was warm again, but I was also doing major head nods. I closed my eyes, falling asleep within seconds.

When I woke up, I could hear the sounds of the shower. I guess that meant that Lucy was up. Man, I needed to shave badly, the stubble growing to the point that it felt like sandpaper.

I climbed out of bed groggily and scratched back as I stretched, a yawn erupting from my mouth. I might as well go and make breakfast, but first, what time is it? I turned around to face the alarm clock in my room, the time reading ten A.M. I turned back around, walking through my door and towards the kitchen. I probably should have put some socks on first though, the floor was fucking freezing. Whatever, I was too lazy to go back to my room and grab them. I walked into the kitchen, the tile burning my poor feet they were so cold.

I walked on my tip toes, opening to fridge and grabbing the eggs, sausage and bacon. I was cracking the eggs into a bowl, prepared to make some french toast when I heard Lucy callin' out to me. "Natsu!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled, turning off the stove and moving the pan to a chilled burner so that the bacon wouldn't burn. My feet had gotten used to the cold by now, my bare feet padding against the wooden floor boards as I walked towards the bathroom. "You called?" I asked, stopping just outside of the closed door. I could feel the heat of the steam from her shower with the door closed, and I duly wondered how hot of a shower she had taken.

"This is kind of embarrassing to ask, but I kind of forgot to bring some tampons from my house. I need you to go and buy me some. My period came early." I blinked, my brain racking to find the meaning of what she had just said. I mean, I knew what a period was, I wasn't that stupid, but what the fuck was a tampon? "Hello? Are you still there?"

"Oh, yeah sorry." I apologized, my hand reaching up to scratch my head. "But, um, what the hell is a tampon?"

"Oh my God Natsu! Just go fucking call Erza and tell her to buy me some! Tell her I'll pay her back too. Jeez, you're such a fucking idiot I swear." Woah, where the hell did that come from?

"Are you alright Luce? I mean, that was pretty aggressive."

"Jesus Natsu, hurry up and call Erza already!" She snapped, and I scurried off to find the phone. Damn, I didn't think that she could be this scary. I was back in the kitchen, the home phone sitting on the island. I grabbed it, quickly dialing Erza's number. I didn't want to invoke Lucy's wrath again.

"What do you want Natsu?" Erza snapped, and I grimaced. I must've woken her up.

"Uh, it's not me that needs something. Lucy told me to tell you that she needs tampons?" It sounded more like a question, my mind still unsure of what a tampon was. "She also said that she'd pay you back."

"Okay, I'll be right over." She hung up on me, and I looked at the phone after hearing the click that signaled the end of the call. I seriously wish someone would tell me what the fuck a tampon was! I set the phone back on the island, walking back over to the bathroom door.

"Hey Luce, Erza said she'd be right over."

"Thank you!" She beamed.

"You're welcome?" I walked back to the kitchen, ready to start making breakfast again. I had just turned the stove back on when the doorbell began ringing. I groaned, turning the stove back off and moving the pan again before marching over to the door. I didn't even bother putting any pants on before I unlocked it and pulled it open.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" Erza asked, her eyes blinking unphased. "Are you going to let me in or not? This is a women's emergency you know." I flushed a bit, moving out of Erza's way to let her in.

"I was too lazy to put clothes on." I answered her first question with the shrug of my shoulders. It didn't seem to bother Lucy anyways, so why should I put any clothes on?

"Go put on something while I give these to Lucy." She demanded, holding up a box of what I was assuming was tampons. I nodded quickly, scurrying over to my bedroom while she hurried over to the bathroom.

I opened up a drawer, deciding to just put on some pajama pants. I still didn't feel like putting a shirt on though, but at least I'd be wearing pants I guess. They were black with the Survey Corpse logo from Attack on Titan on the left leg. They were my favorite pants and they were comfy as hell. I slammed the drawer shut, walking back out of my room at the same time Erza walked out of the bathroom. "Aren't you going to put on a shirt?"

"Nah, pants are just fine." I waved her off, walking back to the kitchen to finish making breakfast. She followed me into the kitchen, kicking her shoes off before sitting down in a seat at the counter. "Erza, can you tell me what the hell a tampon is, 'cause I have no fucking clue as to what the hell that is."

"No wonder Lucy made you call me. I'd call me too if I was stuck with an idiot like you."

"Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I put the first piece of bread onto the pan.

"They're for when you're on your period. Kinda like pads, but better." My mouth formed an 'o' shape, my mind finally understanding what they were. No wonder Lucy was yelling at me earlier, I really am a damn idiot. "Have you shaved yet? You're face looks all stubbly."

"Yeah, I know. I was gonna shave when Luce got outta the shower, but I had to wait for you to get here with the tampons." I answered, her head nodding in understanding. It was quiet after that, the sounds of the hair drier carrying down the hall and accompanying the symphony of the sizzling of the bacon. "Did you have breakfast already?"

"No, I rushed over here." I nodded, cracking another egg so that I could make more french toast. I was just about to put all of the food out on the counter for us when the window shattered, glass flying everywhere. I ducked my head, shielding my eyes from the spray of glass. I didn't have time to see if Erza was okay before I felt myself being tugged down to the ground, the plates of food that were in my hands falling and shattering onto the ground. It was a bad time to not be wearing any shoes.

I could hear glass shattering in the distance, my mind racing to Lucy. "What the fuck?!" She exclaimed, Erza and I sharing a look before we both got up and ran towards the bathroom. Glass cut into my feet as I got up to move, I grit my teeth and kept going. "Get the hell away from me!" I could hear the hair dryer and the grunts of a guy. She was probably blowing hot air in his face.

I watched as Erza tackled someone who was trying to get into the bathroom, and I ran inside. I saw Lucy hit someone with the hairdryer before pressing the hot metal part onto his skin. Sheesh, brutal. I yanked the guy back using the back of his shirt, bringing him down to the ground before punching him and knocking him out. "You okay?" I asked, trying to keep a wince off of my face. My feet were killing me and I'm pretty sure I was leaving a trail of blood.

"Yeah, thanks." She breathed, her hair half dry. Damn, how long does it take to dry hair?! I practically had breakfast finished and she started when I didn't. Maybe it was because her hair was long? "What's wrong with your feet, why are they bleeding?"

"The glass kinda blew up in the kitchen too. I think they broke all the windows as a distraction." I explained with a frown, sitting myself up onto the counter. "Do you think you can pull the glass out for me? I'm gonna need to wrap it up before putting some shoes on."

She nodded, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a first aid kit. I didn't hear Erza anywhere, but maybe she went to go scout for more people. I winced when the first piece of glass was removed and Lucy apologized. I waved her off, thinking about why the hell my house would be targeted. They only seemed to just go after Lucy as well... "Hey Luce, why were those guys after you? They didn't even give me or Erza the time of day."

She paused, her arm extended with the tweezers in hand. Her face paled at the question, but I didn't even think that was possible since she still looked like a sheet of paper. She should actually still be asleep, maybe she's pushing herself to appear like she's okay. I frowned at the thought. You don't just lose that much blood and not be tired all of the time. "I don't know." She finally replied tersely. She went back to taking the glass out of my feet, her lips pursed.

"Lucy, they didn't even care about me or Erza, but they only came after you. You don't have any affiliation with them do you?"

"Of course not!" She snapped, setting the tweezers down on the counter beside me as she stood up. "I don't have and I don't want anything to do with them! They destroyed my life and I will do anything it takes to bring them down!" She yelled, her eyes welling up with tears of frustration maybe? All I knew was that they were tearing up and I didn't like that.

"I'm sorry, but I need to know everything Lucy. They wrecked my house and came here solely for you, I gotta know why! It's a war dammit, we need to know everything."

I watched as she turned around, running her hands through her hair. She finally turned back around after a minute, tears streaming down her porcelain face. "Natsu, I lied to you." She whispered, pain clearly evident in her face. "The lead on my mother's death never went cold...It was never even opened because they already know who did it--I already know who..."

"What are you talkin' about Lucy?" My face was hard, confusion erupting inside of me. Why the hell would she lie to me about something like that?

"Jude killed my mom, Natsu. It was Jude." My eyes widened in response, anger setting in.

"Why the hell would you lie to me about something like that?!" I shouted, forgetting about the glass that was still in my feet and standing up. The bathroom wasn't that large, so she was already pretty much backed up into the wall parallel to the counter, her head moved forward a bit to avoid hitting the towel rack.

"Because they told me not to say anything." Tears were running down her face, pain and regret laced in her words. "I didn't have a choice Natsu!" I backed away a bit, sitting back down on the counter to give her enough room. She was genuinely upset, and I felt kind of bad. The last thing I wanted to do was make her cry, but that's exactly what I just did. I ran my fingers through my hair frustratedly, scratching the back of my head. At least it kind of made sense why they would only go after her now. They would be damned if they left behind a witness. But when she said "they", who did she mean?

"I'm sorry Luce." I eventually apologized with a sigh. "I just want to keep you safe. It's best if I know everything, there could be a potential threat anywhere." She sniffled before nodding. Just then, Erza came back in, blood splattered on her clothes and face.

"I've taken care of the rest. We should have a couple of minutes to get out before backup comes, so hurry up and grab what you need. I'm going to head back to the warehouse and tell them what happened and to get Wendy to prepare to fix your feet. I'll see you guys in a bit, and stay safe." She glared at us while pointing before walking away, the glass crunching under her.

Lucy stayed quiet for a moment before grabbing the tweezers and pulling out the remainder of the glass. "Go get dressed, you can brush your teeth at the warehouse." She stood up and walked across the hall to her room. I guess it was a good thing that she hadn't unpacked yet. I bandaged my feet before hurrying over to my room, pulling down a duffle bag from my closet and stuffing what I would need inside of it before getting dressed. I was just about finished packing up when I heard a knock at my door. "Are you ready? I just go a text from Erza telling us to hurry up."

"Yeah, let's go." I nodded, grabbing my favorite jacket before walking out. We were on our way back to the warehouse, my mind a jumbled mess. But the question there was just one question that kept nagging at me. Why would they go through all of this trouble to get Lucy when they could have waited for a better opportunity? I needed answers, and I didn't think Lucy was being completely truthful with me.