~*****~

When nothing else comes for us, we charge forward, delving deeper into the beast. "I don't know about you guys, but it looks like it's getting brighter," I mention, my eyes squinting in the new light.

"Yeah, we haven't been attacked by any weird rocks lately, either," Natsu retorts.

"Who knows, maybe the others found a way to beat him up from the outside," Happy comments.

I snort. "Knowing those reckless bunch of wizards, I'll bet they're using brute force."

"Could be," Natsu chuckles. He began sniffing again. "Hey, wait, I can smell it a lot clearer now--" Natsu comments. "Loke's gotta be that way."

"Cool! Let's get him!" Happy cheered.

"Aye, sir!" Natsu, Ballad, and I respond cheerfully.

We continue flying towards the light. "Hey, Natsu, what do you think that light could be?" Ballad asks shakily.

"That's the spot! Bet the whole Zodiac's in there!" Natsu exclaims.

Happy shuddered. "It's so bright! And my feathers are melting!" He cries.

"Yeah, I don't know how much longer I can handle this!" Ballad sobs.

"Just get us in as close as you can, okay?!" I call back.

"Aye, ma'am!" Happy and Ballad shout.

Just as we get close enough, my stomach drops instantly. There on the brilliant light, lays the Celestial Spirit King, chained down tightly. "What the heck is this?" Natsu gasps.

"That isn't possible... is it?" Happy asks shakily.

"The Celestial Spirit King!" I exclaim.

"Well, if the Spirit Beast is as hungry as we think he is, he'd try and eat himself for sure!" Happy mentions. "That orb must be it's stomach!"

"Wait, so where do you think we are?!" Natsu asks.

"We're right above the center of the Spirit Beast. His belly!" Ballad reiterates.

"Hey, big guy! Stache-face!" Natsu calls loudly. "Wake up, will ya?!"

The chains react to his voice and start tugging the Celestial King downwards to the light. "That can't be good!" Happy cried. "What do we do?!"

"Keep him from gettin' dragged into that mess!" I exclaim. "Come on, guys!"

"Aye, ma'am!" Happy and Ballad chirp.

"If those chains that are pulling him in, if we can break 'em, we'll be good!" Happy exclaims.

"Sure thing!" Natsu shouts. "Fire Dragon Crushing Fang!" He bellows. He slugs one of the chains and it does nothing. "Fire Dragon Roar!" He bellows again, but yet again, the chains remain strong.

"They didn't even budge!" I gasp.

"Please tell me you were holding back!" Ballad cried.

"Well, yeah, I can probably burn through 'em, in a minute," Natsu retorts. The chains move and start pulling on the Celestial Spirit King again.

"It's too bad we don't have one!" Happy cried.

"Dammit! Gotta think fast--" I growl as I start scrubbing at my hair violently. A familiar scent wafts over my nose and I snap my gaze onto the chain Natsu is pulling at. "Hey! Loke is that you?!"

Natsu peers at me suspiciously before the scent hits him, too. "Whoa! What the heck are you doin'?! Hiding?!"

"This doesn't concern you, human," Loke's voice rings out. "Be gone."

The image of Loke appears on the chain for a moment. "If Loke's in that chain, then what about," Happy stops himself with a gasp. "Uh, Natsu? Aria? There are thirteen chains around the Celestial Spirit King."

"Lemme guess. One for every member of the Zodiac?" Natsu grumbled.

"If you count the snake lady, yeah," I shrug.

"B-But why would they do this?" Ballad stammers.

"All for the sake of the king," Taurus' voice rings out.

"All for the sake of the king," Libra's voice echoes.

"And I thought they were weirdo's before," Happy hums. "They're gonna shove the real king into that thing's stomach unless we can stop 'em! But what can we do?!"

I snap my fingers. "Drop us in!" I exclaim excitedly.

"Did you get hit too hard in the head?!" Ballad squeaked

"Oh, come on! When have we ever came up with a plan? We'll play it by ear once we're in there!" I explain.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu agreed.

"Do not interfere with this, mortal," Virgo's voice echoes out.

"All for the sake of the king," Gemini chime.

"You're neither needed nor wanted here, so go." Sagittarius states softly.

"Do you guys really want us to drop you? Or is this a test?" Happy asks.

"Course we do!" Natsu exclaims. "Go ahead!"

Ballad and Happy stare at one another before shrugging. "Bombs away!" They chant loudly.

We land on the King's gut softly. "Hey, I know you can hear me." Natsu hums lightly. "So listen good. I don't care how sweet your dreams are. I will tear you from them. Then I'll make ya fix this mess. 'Specially the bit with Lucy. You made her cry. Put so much as a quiver on her chin again, and I will shave your 'stache with fire!"

"Good talk," I comment impishly. "So are you wanna jump in first? Or should I do it?"

Natsu grins at me, his knuckle tapping my shoulder. "They said bombs away, so let's give 'em hell!" Natsu exclaims. He grasps my hand, and we leap into the pink orb. "Hope your belly's empty, cause this is gonna hurt!" We take a deep breath, sucking in the magic beneath the Celestial Spirit King.

It's painful to say the least. It feels like it's gonna tear a hole straight through my gut. Ballad's little paws grasp at my overcoat as I stumble, and she sweeps me into the air. "You seriously need to reconsider acting like a cave man all the time! You're gonna burn a hole right through your stomach with what you've been eating lately!"

I laugh as I cup my belly. "Don't be so dramatic!" I comment.

"Yeah, now that we've eaten, we're all fired up!" Natsu agrees. "Get back in there! I'm gonna tear those chains apart!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy and Ballad cheer.

"Hey, check it out! The light just got a little dimmer!" Happy exclaimed.

"That's awesome!" Natsu grins. "You ready, Aria?!"

"You bet!" I shout. I sling my arms upwards as I perch onto Natsu's shoulders, slinging them downwards as our bodies pitch and swerve towards the orb.

"Double Dragon Secret Art: Celestial Fire Exploding Ice Blade!" We bellow loudly, destroying the orb. At the last moment, I feel Natsu wrap his arms around my torso and tugs me back to his side just as the thing sparks. The resulting explosion rockets us out of the monster just in time, slamming us hard onto one of the planets.

Natsu groans as I palm at my head. "You good?" He grumbles.

I grimace as the planet shakes beneath us. I grasp the cats and settle them on Natsu's chest. "Yeah, for now--" I groan. I cup his face tenderly and press a soft kiss to his head. "Just hold onto me, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsu grunts irritably as he sits up to return my affectionate pecks. We're thrown off balance by something and it takes nearly every ounce of magic I have left not to topple.

A light envelopes everything and it's suddenly back to normal. "Amazing!" Happy sighs as Natsu curls into my lap, groaning every few moments. "I almost forgot how pretty the Celestial World could be."

"Me, too..." Natsu groans.

"Thank you so much, you guys," Lucy hums.

I rub at my back. "Think you could brew up some fancy bubble bath when we get home? I think I might've torn a muscle hittin' that planet." I comment dryly.

Natsu laughs. "Make that two, I'm totally exhausted."

Lucy laughed. "Sure thing! Just don't think it's a reward for being so reckless yet again!" Lucy comments with a bright smile.

"I'm just glad to see everyone is safe," Erza hums.

Natsu attempts to get up. "Man, I haven't felt this bad since the last time I rode a train." Natsu comments.

"No kidding," I grunt.

"Ya leapt into an Eclipse Spirit's stomach acid," Gajeel commented. "What the hell'd you expect?"

"Just had to hog all the gun, didn't ya?" Gray scoffs.

I wave my hand at him. "Don't be so callous, I never get any fun with flame brain around," I mention irritably. "Did the others make it out?!" I ask wildly.

"Yes!" I hear Carla exclaim.

"Thanks to you guys!" Wendy cheers.

"Yes, thanks! I wouldn't have lasted much longer!" Carla chirps.

"Did you miss me, Gray?!" Juvia chirps.

"Strange... I found life as a constellation surprisingly pleasant." Pantherlily commented.

"I liked it, too!" Juvia chirped as she leaped onto Gray's arm. "But I couldn't live in the stars without you, so come with me!"

Gray laughed. "A real fighter doesn't twinkle." Gray teases.

"Hey, Carla! You should've seen me, Natsu, Aria, and Ballad beat down that Spirit Beast! It was super tough but I did it for you!" Happy chirped.

"So, has anyone seen the celestial spirits?" Carla asked.

I scratch at my head. "They gotta be somewhere around here," I mention.

"They would be... so long as we were swift enough to save them." Arcadios hummed.

"But if every human was returned to normal, then why wouldn't that be true for spirits?" Princess Hisui asks. "Are you seeing this?"

"Yes," Arcadios hums.

"So this is it. The real Celestial Spirit World..." Yukino sighs. "It's just so beautiful..."

"Hey! What's up?!" I hear a familiar voice.

We all whirl around. "Look! There they are!" Pantherlily cheers. I smile affectionately. Everyone as been returned to normal.

"Pisces! Libra!" Yukino gasps.

"You're all back to normal!" Lucy whimpers. "I wasn't sure I'd ever get to see you like this again!" Lucy barrels towards Virgo and hugs her. "Virgo! I'm so glad you're okay! I missed you!"

Virgo's head tilted in confusion. "Well, thank you, but I must admit that your tears perplex me. Did I miss something, Princess? Sorry..."

Lucy chuckles, but smiles nonetheless. "Never thought I'd be this glad to hear that word. Seriously, though. Do you not remember anything?"

"At first I was confused about why you'd visit our world for no reason, but then I looked ya up and down and realized you came by to show off that bod!" Taurus butt in.

Lucy shakes her head. "Yeah, no..."

"How strange. I didn't realize there was an impending celebration." Capricorn comments.

I'm kinda glad they don't remember anything-- mostly because I did not need Lucy's spirit knowing I slept with Gray so long ago. Levy catches my eye and giggles, her finger pressing against her lips as if she's saying she's keeping quiet, too.

"What's up, Loke?" I chirp as I approach the flirtatious weirdo.

"Not a whole lot. Long time no see, Gorgeous~" Loke beams.

"Keep your paws where I can see 'em!" Natsu exclaim immediately as Loke cups my hands. "And did you forget? I saw you earlier today, dude!"

"You sure about that?" Loke asks.

"So, you don't remember talkin' all high and mighty about your spiritness and avoidin' girls like they're the plague?" Happy asks.

"No way! That's crazy!" Loke beams as he loops his arm around my shoulders and tugging me to his side. I growl lowly. "Come now, I love women, they love me. Right?"

"Hands off." I snap immediately.

He sulks away, arms hung low. "Well, so much for rubbin' it in his face that we won," Happy sighs.

"Yep. We'll take the high road," Natsu retorts.

We all laugh cheerfully. "Lucy Heartfilia," The Celestial King's voice rings out. "My old friend."

"Your majesty!" Lucy gasps. "I guess you've forgotten everything that happened, too."

"Good to see ya, Mustache face!" Natsu cheers. "By the way, you nearly ate yourself!"

"Shards of memory. Tattered recollections of black and vile dreams. And the few bits of cogent thought that remain, slipped my mind a few minutes ago." The Celestial King hummed. "I suppose that's part of getting older."

"Well, he almost remembered," Ballad sighed.

"However, I need no memories to sense that your arrival and the destruction of my black dream are intertwined. And in the place of whatever evil you removed, the white wind of rejuvenation now soars through my world. The specifics are of little consequence." The Celestial King explains. "Let if suffice to say I am deeply in your debt. And I intend to repay every last one of you."

"So a Reward, you say?" I perk up. Natsu laughs at my comment.

"Celestial Spirit King!" Princess Hisui calls out. "My name is Hisui E. Fiore from the Kingdom of that name. And as the Princess of that country-- no, as a Celestial Wizard who failed her charge, I offer you my deepest apology! I was reckless. And that nearly got you killed!"

"Guilt is for the selfish and craven," The Celestial King hummed. "You acted only to save my old friend's world from catastrophe. Then you faced your failures to the last. There is no shame in that. And do not hunt for culprits in the shadows. The fault in this belongs to all. For each of us were held prisoner by the frailty of our own hearts."

"But still--"

"Remember: Even this took place beneath the guidance of the stars. Smile!" The Celestial King ordered as he brandished his own wide grin. "If you have no other business that needs to be settled here, then I shall return you to your own world in no time at all."

"Princess--" Virgo chirped as she approached Lucy.

Lucy gasped. "Your key!"

"I got it back somehow, but it belongs to you. Please accept my service once again." Virgo stated softly. Lucy took the key back and smiled fondly at it, holding it close to her heart. "Thanks! I hope you call upon me soon! And if I'm ever late to work, whip me."

"Hey! You should take back our key, too!" Gemini chirps. "Call us anytime, okay?"

"Everyone one of us is ready to rush to your side," Loke reassures her.

"Yes, indeedy, my good lady!" Sagittarius exclaims.

"You're hot and a rockin' boss, too!" Taurus cheers.

"Since you've begun to weep, I could recite a poem to brighten your mood," Capricorn mentioned.

"Thanks, I'm good," Lucy chuckled through her tears.

Every single Zodiac spirit that Lucy had a contract with gave her back their keys, smiling fondly at one her, and it was nice to finally see such a relieved smile on Lucy's face.

~*****~

Thankfully, we lost no time at all in the Spirit World. The Celestial Spirit King dropped us off the same exact time that we had left, and while it woulda been kinda funny to miss another seven years, I felt relieved I didn't have to play catch up again.

As soon as we get back to Magnolia, Natsu drags me to his place and babbles wildly about how cool it would be to live together. I just stare fondly at him, brow raised as I lean against his table-- well, the overturned table. "Natsu, I'm sure living together is a good idea, but am I even going to have space for my clothes and other stuff?"

Natsu cocked his head. "I could build ya a cabinet if you need one." Natsu retorted with a shrug. "Built every thing else in here. It's no biggie."

I peer around anxiously. He built all this? "Did you build the house, too?"

Natsu laughed. "Nah, that's way too hard to do by myself! Gildarts helped me with it!"

Happy plopped onto my head. "Don't worry, we got plenty of hammocks for everyone to sleep in!"

Ballad grimaced. "I like the idea of sleeping by a window on a fluffy bed."

I nod in response. "Yeah, if you want me to move in, some things are gonna have to be changed around."

Natsu perks up. "Sure thing! Right, buddy?" Natsu asks Happy as he soars to his hammock with a nervous look.

"Can I keep my hammock at least?!" Happy asked wildly.

I laugh. "I'm not trying to get rid of stuff, I'm just saying that women have different needs than men. Like for instance--" I point to the bathroom. "The bathroom can't be filled with stuff that doesn't belong in the bathroom. And the kitchen can't be that cluttered. I know you can just eat fire if it breaks out, but I do enjoy cooking dinner every now and then." Natsu nods eagerly at every word and I'm finding myself worried that maybe I'm pushing too much on him. "If that's not okay with you, you can say no, you know." I mention lightly.

Natsu just beams, his cheeks flushed as he rubs at the back of his head. "I'm just really glad you wanna live with me. I don't like sleeping alone anymore."

My throat locks up at his unbelievable innocence. My heart pounds roughly against my ribs as I avoid his gaze. "Y-Yeah... I feel the same." I comment lightly.

Ballad giggles. "That means we're in!" She chirps. "Just don't snore too loud, otherwise, Aria will probably throw your butt outside!"

Natsu laughs. "I'll keep quiet, I promise!"

I cough into my fist and turn my gaze onto the nearly broken clock on the wall-- surprisingly it still works, despite all the cracks in it. "I'll go get my clothes, why don't you organize? It may take a few days to do this, just to warn you."

Natsu slaps his hand on his bicep and grins. "I'll get it done in no time! And we'll have dinner ready tonight so you can relax!"

I laugh and nod. "All right, see you then~"

~*****~

The next few days passed by quickly, and true to his word, Natsu managed to get the house in order, all the while mentioning that he had been asked to watch after Asca for Bisca and Alzack after we finished moving. "Don't fill her head with ridiculous ideas," I mention as he gets ready to leave.

"Come on! The kid loves me!" Natsu chirps. "You really gonna spend all day in bed?"

I hum as I curl my arms around the pillow my head is on, peering up at him as I kick my bare legs back and forth. "Can you blame me? You make it so warm in here, it's nice to actually lounge somewhere where I don't have to constantly turn up the heat."

Natsu stares down at me, his cheeks flushed. "I'll just bring the kid around today if she wants to."

I yawn delicately and stretch out. "I might go to the guild hall later, or I might go get something for dinner. I don't wanna go on any jobs unless you're free." I explain. Natsu hums and continues to stare, his face flushing darker and darker. "Seriously, be careful with Asca! There's been problems with morons running around town causin' trouble." I explain. "And I don't wanna hear that you got into trouble with her, got it?"

Natsu grinned and leaned down before leaping onto the bed to curl to my side. "Don't get too cold without me, now!"

I laugh and shove at him. "Go before Bisca and Alzack are late!" I exclaim.

Natsu barrels out of the house. "See ya later! Love ya!"

My cheeks flush as I stare after him. "Goodness, he gets super riled up nowadays, doesn't he?" Ballad hummed as she pulled herself from her bed, patting at her fur. She gives a delicate yawn. "Should we go get something for dinner? Or should we take a nap?"

I rub at her head affectionately. "How about we get something to eat? I'm kinda starvin'."

"Let's get sushi and dumplings!" Ballad cheered.

~*****~

I stare at the vegetable selection in the market later that day. "Miss Aria~" I hear Asca's sweet voice chirp. "Look at what I bought today!" She exclaims as she holds up a cute little snow globe.

"Oh, wow! Is that from that little pawnshop?" I ask as I kneel down to her.

Ballad hummed. "I think so! I remember that little snowman!" She chirped.

"Hold on a second, you've seen that thing before?" Lucy asks as she, Natsu, and Happy trail behind Asca.

I giggle. "Sure do, Bisca and Alzack sure got some fond memories of that it," I mention as I press a finger onto it. "Wanna see something cool?" I ask.

Asca's eyes widen as the snow inside begins to fall and rise as if it were snowing for real inside. "Wow! Your magic is so pretty!" Asca sighed. She then peered up at me with her wide eyes. "My mommy said that you and Natsu are like her and daddy!" She mentions with a wide grin. "But I've never even seen you kiss each other like mommy and daddy."

I chuckle. "Well, that's because some people don't like doing that in public. I'm sure your parents like their privacy as well."

Something flashes in Asca's eye, and she turns to Natsu. "Hey, Natsu! I want you to kiss Miss Aria! On the lips!" She orders.

"What the heck--" Natsu grunts as Happy and Lucy begin giggling. "You're way to young to be asking me to do that!"

"But you promised to do whatever I said today..." Asca murmured with tears in her eyes.

I chuckle again and rub at her head. "How about we wait until later, okay? You have to remember that other people have their limits--" I cut myself off with a squeal as I'm lifted up. Natsu kisses me with a rough edge to it as if he's forcing himself to do it in front of people.

Asca cheered loudly, holding her snow globe upwards. Just as she does, something swoops down and swipes it from her hands. "Hey!" Asca cried.

"Sorry, little girl!" The thief on the paraglider exclaimed as he held it up. "But this belongs to the Orca Wing Sky Pirates now!"

"Who in the heck are those jerks!" Natsu shouts.

"Sky pirates?" Lucy echoes. "These must be the ones Wakaba and that other guy were trying to warn us about!"

"Give it back to me! Please!" Asca cried as she ran after them. "That's mommy and daddy's! It has their memories! You can't take it away!"

Asca fires her toy gun desperately, sobbing and crying loudly. "Stay there, I'll get the snow globe, you take out the thieves, Asca!" I exclaim loudly as my coat ripples from my wings sprouting forward. I launch into the sky. I snatch the snow globe from his hands and swing around, holding it up. "Fire now!" I shout loudly.

With Natsu covering her eyes with her hat, he spits out fire balls after each shot and they take down the paragliders.

I cheer loudly. "Woo! Way to go, Sharp Shooter!" I exclaim. Just as I take a step forward, a gun angles at my gut, stopping me in my path.

"No way--" The man growls. "You can't just take somebody else's stuff from them like that!"

I snatch the gun in my grasp and crush it. "You stole it from a little girl who bought it for her parents. I'm being civil, due to that this is a public area. Now if it were up to me--" I snap as I immediately get in his face. "I'd skin you alive for making her cry. Get out of here before I change my mind." The goons run off, shouting something how we were going to be sorry. I immediately changed my tune as I approached Asca. "You totally ran those guys off! I just told 'em they better watch out for the gun slinger behind them, you're deadly accurate!"

Asca beamed happily as I praised her. "Pow!" She chirped. I place the snow globe into her hands and watch as she trots off with it. "Come on, guys!" She calls behind her.

I laugh and eagerly follow after.

~*****~

"We're back!" We all cheer once we arrive at the guild hall.

"You guys have impeccable timing. They're just about to put the finishing touches on the cake," Max calls.

"We've got cake?" I ask as I rub at my growling stomach.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that!" Lucy chirps.

"Welcome back!" Mira cooed.

"So, have they finished making my cake yet?" Asca asks eagerly.

"Almost~" Mira beams.

"No, not there yet! These cakes won't be Fiore's finest unless the cream instantly melts in your mouth!" Erza barks orders at Wendy and Carla. "We can't give up until we've reached that goal!"

"We're working on it, boss!" Wendy retorted. "I mean, uh, Miss Erza!

Carla lifted her wisk hopefully. "Well, will this be good enough?" She stammers.

"Let's see, I'll give it a taste test," Erza hums as she takes a small spoonful. She sighs in delight. "it's melting splendidly! This flavor mixed with the Maximum Sweet Strawberry may prove too much for my tastebuds to handle!" She holds up a small glass with a small, golden strawberry on top. "All right! Prepare for plating!"

They prepare a small, yet extravagant cake for little Asca. "I'm so happy that we actually finished it in time!" Wendy cheers.

"Now, Asca, will you do the honors?" Erza asks.

"Oh, this looks so amazing!" Asca chirps. She picks up the entire cake, and the whip on top begins to melt, causing tension to arise from Erza and Pantherlily, but Asca takes a big bite and coos happily. "That's the yummiest!"

"Oh, I'm so relieved that you like it, Asca!" Wendy sighed.

"You deserve it for all your hard work," Lucy chuckles.

We laugh as Erza sulks about not getting a taste, but I imagine she'll find another strawberry to eat herself.

By the end of the day, Bisca and Alzack returned and picked up their daughter. Natsu yawned tiredly as we strode through the streets. "Man, what a day! Never knew kids were so tiring!"

I laugh. "Of course they are! But it sure is worth it if you ask me!" I sigh as I stare up at the sky. "I love the way Bisca and Alzack look at Asca. They love her more than anything, and that's really all anyone needs." I stretch my arms over my head. "I dunno, it's just something that really hits me, ya know? When Everest left, I've always looked to others to see the kind of familial bond that I'd been missing. No one's ever cared for me the way Everest did. What about you?"

Natsu starts scratching at his cheek, flushing darkly. "Ever since Igneel left, I kinda just started makin' as many friends as possible and holding them real close. But I get what you mean. No one else made me feel that happy before." He hums before glancing down at the ground. "Well, not until we started... bein' around each other more." Natsu grumbles.

I smile affectionately and grasp his hand tightly. "Yeah... I feel that, too."