Lucy was shocked how fast Natsu blew through each of her spirits. She was nearly out of magical energy. She had only enough left to call out one more spirit. It would have to be Loke.

Lucy grabbed her last zodiac key, holding it up in front of her. She twisted it to the side as if unlocking an invisible door.

"Gate of the...Lion. I open thee. LOKE!" She shouted as Loke stepped into this realm in between her and Natsu.

"This must be your most powerful spirit. He doesn't look so tough." Natsu mocked the king of the zodiac keys.

Lucy was struggling to stand, her knees threatening to give out at any given second. Her breath was heavy and loud. Natsu had managed to get some pretty good hits on her while she attempted to summon another spirit.

She knew that within a few more hits. She wanted to prove she wasn't a threat. But she certainly didn't want to seem weak. If she was to keep her pride she'd have to rough him up a little. If Loke didn't succeed, she'd have to do it the old fashion way.

Natsu and Loke charged at each other, going full speed. Lucy hoped Loke would be a match for Natsu. He had taken down the rest with merely a few swings. Natsu's fire blasted at Loke, singeing the tips of his orange hair.

Loke prepared a counter attack and knocked Natsu square in the jaw with a glowing fist. Natsu look a few steps back and began to inhale. Lucy's eyes widened as the attack powered up.

"ROAR OF THE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu shouted as flames shot from his mouth and encased Loke in it's path. Loke fell to his knees, never in his life had he ever felt flames that hot. His energy was drained and he would no longer be any use to Lucy, so he forced himself back through his gate and vanished.

"Now it's just you and me, Realm Walker." Natsu chuckled.

Realm Walker was the term given to Celestial wizards. It was almost slang and was used most commonly for insults. Lucy stood at her end of the battlefield, not yet prepared for a physical battle with him.

Without magic, she wasn't sure how much damage she would cause. Loke struck him twice, yet neither were enough to make any difference. Lucy nodded her head and mentally prepared herself for an ass kicking.

Natsu's flaming fist came up yet again, just as it had at the very beginning of the fight and yet again Lucy moved her head out of the way before it made contact. But then Lucy's body took over and she felt as if she no longer had control. Natsu took another swing, this time Lucy didn't bother moving out of the way. She caught his fist, mid-swing, in the palm of her hand.

The crowd began to mutter among themselves as they did before. They had been silent the whole time, watching intently. But Lucy had stopped an attack with merely her hand. He left fist was brought up and made contact with the side of Natsu's face with enough force to knock him back slightly.

Then, as he was caught off guard, Lucy hit him with a clean and smooth upper cut to his jaw and without hesitation she kicked him square in the stomach, causing him to hit the ground a few feet away.

Natsu stood up, gripping his stomach with his left hand. A pained look on his face, it was clear that Lucy had cracked at least one of his ribs with that blow. Lucy could see the rage in his eyes, he wasn't pleased with the fact that she had actually injured him.

That's when Erza stepped in, placing herself between the two of them. Her stone cold glare kept Natsu at bay as she acted as a barrier. "That's enough, Natsu. Go back in side and have a drink."

Natsu nodded, doing as Erza commanded. He knew that if he didn't he'd have to take on Erza too. It just wasn't something he was in the mood for, any other day would have been different.

Erza turned back to Lucy, a small smile creeped across her face. "I don't know what you were thinking, challenging Natsu. But you did very well."

Lucy looked around, she didn't even realize that the sun would be going down in a couple hours. She had managed to keep Natsu busy almost the entire day. The thought of this made a wide grin flash across her face.

Gray took his spot next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "The was the longest fight I have ever seen Natsu in." 

Lucy was proud of herself, but she wasn't sure if what she was initially trying to do worked. She wanted him to see she wasn't that powerful. But it didn't seem like that's what he was thinking of. Which made the entire fight for nothing. 

"Lucy, Eva is at Gray's waiting for you." Levy spoke as she neared the three of her friends. 

Lucy nodded at her. "I could defiantly use some rest."

"I'll whip you up something to eat and drink when we get home, aright?" Gray smirked in her direction.

"That sounds wonderful." Lucy responded. 

The for of them took the long way back to Gray's house. Staying at a pace that Lucy was comfortable walking in and eventually they arrived. Eva greeted them at the door and Gray headed straight into the kitchen to work on her dinner, as he suggested.

Eva, Lucy, Erza, and Levy sat down in the living room and began conversing about today's events. Eva wasn't granted the pleasure of watching the fight that occurred. Erza had ordered her to stay in the house in case something bad happened.

"What were you trying to prove, dear?" Eva questioned after Levy retold the story in great detail.

Lucy looked down at her feet. "I was hoping that if he saw my magic wasn't powerful enough to take him down, than maybe he'd believe that Celestial wizards aren't powerful enough to do any of the things they were blamed for." 

Eva placed her hand on Lucy's."Lucy you.." She paused, debating weather she would tell her niece news that would change Lucy's life.

"What?" Lucy questioned.

But then Eva shook her head. "It's nothing, dear. I hope he saw what you were trying to do."