~*****~

"Her grave?" I hum curiously after Mira approaches Natsu and I.

"That's pretty morbid this early in the morning," Natsu mentions.

"Yeah, no kidding." I snort.

"Well, since Lisanna's still alive, it's pointless to have it up." Mira shrugs.

"And I'd rather not have to look at it again." Elfman adds.

Ballad grunts. "Then just go knock it over."

"That seems a bit harsh," Lisanna giggles.

"The church said the decision's up to us, so we have time to think it through." Elfman hums.

"Natsu will never take down the one we made." Happy chirps. "Right, ya big softie?"

"You just had to go and bring that up." Natsu grumbled, his cheeks flushing.

I giggle. "That's so sweet," I mention. Natsu grimaces and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Well, we could leave it as a monument to the day she came back home. Changing it might be a bit pricy. And don't you dare try to front the fees, Aria." Mira wagged her finger at me as I opened my mouth.

I pushed my lower lip out in irritation. Lisanna giggles again. "Speaking of the church, this is a special time for them, isn't it?" She mentions.

"Whaddya mean?" Natsu asks.

"The archbishop's coming to town, or something like that." Elfman states.

"Hold on, I've heard of him before!" Happy gasps. "It's kind of a big deal for him to come here! This Arch-fish-up guy comes into town every few years to perform a big, important ritual!"

"You got most of that right." Mira chuckles. "Throngs of people make pilgrimages from faraway lands just to catch a glimpse of him."

"Really? For one guy?" Natsu asked.

I sigh. "You seriously don't know anything," I comment.

"It's not like you pay attention!" Natsu retorts. I snort at him, causing his face to let off steam from the blast of cold air against his face.

Later that day, I hear Wendy mention something about one of the churches being burned down. "That's a sadistic hobby," Carla hums.

"No kidding," I snort.

Lucy suddenly gasps, peering closer at the newspaper in her hands. "I know him! He works for the council!" Lucy mentions.

I peer over her shoulder and hum. "Seven years and he hasn't stopped frowning," Happy mentions. "Natsu, look!"

"He's dead to the world, isn't he?" Romeo mentions as Natsu continues to snore away; face buried in my overcoat. I sigh irritably and try to pull it away from him again.

"Brain dead and oblivious is pretty much par for the course with him." Lucy mutters.

"I can't believe someone would set fire to churches. Times have changed." Happy sighed.

"I'm having trouble catching up with everything." Wendy sighs.

"Not to mention our seven-year cat nap destroyed my clairvoyance." Carla mentioned. "The future is nothing but fuzzy pictures to me now."

"That's not good," Wendy hums.

"It's quite annoying." Carla sighs.

"That's a weird smell," I comment as I pick up a new smell in the guild hall. Natsu's head snaps up, cracking against my chin. "Welcome to the world, sleeping beauty." I grimace as I rub at my chin and speak around my bitten tongue.

"Hey, Lucy! You have a visitor!" Romeo shouts. We all turn to the entrance to the guild hall. My head tilts as I stare at the woman at the door. "The blonde with the pigtails is the one you want."

"Thank you for the help, young man," The woman says politely.

"Who the heck is that girl?" Natsu asks skeptically.

"No idea," Lucy shrugs.

The woman approaches us and smiles down at Lucy. "Excuse me, but are you Lucy Heartfilia?"

"Yes, ma'am, I'm a Heartfilia, but-- who's asking exactly?" Lucy asks.

"Who am... I?" The woman stammers, still smiling politely. She then begins to well up with tears. My stomach clenches and I have the incredible urge to comfort her. "HOW COULD YOU FORGET YOUR DEAR MICHELLE LOBSTER?! YOU MEANIE!"

"WHAT?!" Lucy yelps.

"Her tears are like waterfalls." Wendy hums.

"Oh, man she's got a tasty name," Ballad hums.

"Don't you start that." Carla retorts.

"Man, way to be a jerk, Lucy," Natsu mentions.

"Yeah, for real, you know I hate when people cry, and here you are, making someone cry." I sigh.

"I'm so sorry. I guess I shouldn't expect you to remember me after such a long time." Michelle hums, although she's still got a tear in her eye.

"Would you like some tissue?" Kianna asks nervously.

"How could you forget a vision like that?" Elfman asks.

"You're engaged to Evergreen, I don't wanna hear it," I retort plainly.

"I am not!" Elfman barks at me.

"Allow me to start over," Michelle says politely. "I'm Michelle Lobster, of the Lobster Family. It's good to see you again, Big Sister Lucy!"

"Hang on--" Lucy stammers.

"SISTER?!" We all roar.

"I guess Daddy Lucy was sewing wild oats on those business trips!" Happy shouts.

"I don't ever wanna hear that referred to as, Sewing Wild Oats, ever again." I mention lightly.

Michelle just smiles. "While the Lobsters and Heartfilias are related, Lucy and I aren't really sisters."

"I see, so you're a distant relative of hers." Carla hums.

"That makes a little more sense," Kianna mentions.

"Yeah, they do seem pretty different," Wendy comments.

"Looks to me like they've got a couple things in common," Elfman mutters as he peers closer at Michelle.

"First it's Gildarts and Cana, and now Lucy has a shellfish for a daughter?" Natsu hums.

"You're both... really dumb." I mention.

"I was just kiddin', there's no need to act like Lucy!" Natsu complained.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Lucy barked at us.

We flinched and cowered into each other. "It means she's acting rude!" Ballad chimes in without a care in the world.

~*****~

Natsu grunted irritably as he stared at the two from the bar, leaning against my leg as I sat on the bar top to mess with Elfman. "Would you mind explaining why you call me Big Sister?" Lucy asked Michelle.

"Because you're older than me, silly goose!" Michelle giggled.

"Okay, no offence, but I thought you were the one who's older." Lucy retorted.

"Oh, that's alright." Michelle smiles.

"What's the matter, Natsu?" Lisanna asks. "You look confused."

"That girl's totally from the future. I get it." Natsu states.

"I don't think you do..." Lisanna hums.

"Even though we've been bringing this up constantly, ever since we got back to the guild, Flamebrain forgot we spent seven years on Tenrou Island." Happy stated haughtily.

"When you take that into account, it makes perfect sense," Carla adds. "Lucy may not have aged physically, but her actual age remains unchanged, so she's technically older."

"I think that just broke my brain," Ballad says as she holds her head tightly, letting it loll around for a minute.

"Apparently, so did Natsu's," I laugh as I poke at his face.

"His poor little brain can't handle all this," Lisanna giggled as she poked the other side.

"That's our Natsu!" Mira laughed.

"At long last, I finally found you," Michelle starts tearing up again.

"Come on, don't cry! Here, why don't I take that case for you?" Lucy asks delicately.

"Oh, that's right. I'm supposed to give this to you." Michelle says. "You're so thoughtful, Lucy!" She tries to hug Lucy, only for the case to slip from her grasp and land on her foot. She lets out a screech and starts holding it tightly. "The entire point of my journey was to find you so I could deliver that! On another topic, could I have some ice for my footsie?"

"A real man woulda saved her footsie!" Elfman roared.

"So why didn't you save it, ya jerk?!" Lucy barked.

"This is heavy," Wendy complained.

"No kidding, is it full of cement?" Kinana struggled to hold it up.

"Are you sure they're related?" Natsu asked.

"They're both blonde, busty, and have their own personal brand of crazy. Sounds like family to me." Happy hums.

I hum thoughtfully, my chin grasped in my fingers. "I dunno... I'm gettin' a skeevy vibe from her." I mutter mostly to myself.

"Okay, what the heck is in this thing?" Lucy asked as she and the others manage to load the case onto the table.

"I'm not sure, honestly," Michelle hums. "All I know is your father wanted you to have it. I was his assistant until just a short while ago, and this is my last errand for him. Actually, he passed the case on to me when he was on his deathbed. So, here we are. My last assignment for Mr. Jude's come to an end."

"His final moments. And you were right there with him..." Lucy says softly.

"He never stopped worrying about you after you went missing all those years ago," Michelle says. "But he was sure you were alvie somewhere. It's because he held onto that hope that he asked me to find you and give you this memento. He went peacefully as if falling asleep. And ever since then, I've been searching for you. Finding you has been my sole purpose. And now it's all done. I think Mr. Jude will finally be able to rest in peace."

Lucy swallowed delicately before turning her gaze onto the case. "So... what's in it?"

"I don't know. I was only told to deliver it, so I never looked inside to see for myself." Michelle explains.

"Thanks Michelle," Lucy murmurs.

Natsu grunts as he stands up. "Open it up!" He chimes. "Don't leave her hanging like this. Seriously, she busted her butt getting this thing here. The least you could do is let her see it. So hurry up, everyone's waiting."

"I think you just wanna see it," I mention lightly. Natsu shushes me violently and I quickly draw a line over my lips as if I'm saying I'll zip it.

"Okay--" Lucy stammers. She carefully unlatches the small clasps and tugs the case open. "Can I close it now?" She asks as we stare at a wrapped up item.

"That smells funky," I mention as I clutch my nose tight.

Lucy picks it up. "May it's this cloth."

"Nah, it's got some kind of magic on it," I say painfully. "But whatever it is, it smells really old. It's kinda makin' me dizzy."

"You okay, Carla?" I hear Wendy ask.

"Maybe she has gas," Happy hummed.

"Oh, it's nothing," Carla murmurs.

Lucy unravels the item and I wince even harder. The smell oozing out of it is making me seriously dizzy. "Michelle... what is this, exactly?" Lucy asks.

"I assume it's something Mr. Jude was fond of; does it look familiar?" Michelle asks.

"Not really. I don't remember seeing anything like this around the house." Lucy explains.

"A weapon!" Natsu tries.

"Yeah, somehow I doubt that." Lucy retorts.

Michelle clasped her hands together. "I just remembered!"

"It's totally a weapon, isn't it?" Natsu asks.

"Get that thing away from me," I grimace as he shoulders it on the shoulder nearest me.

"No, it's not." Michelle shook her head.

"But you do know what it is?" Lucy chirps.

"No, it's just... I remembered that I haven't eaten anything in three days." Michelle claims, and as if on cue, her belly begins to howl loudly.

I grimace again and stumble back to the bar. "You should take her for some food, Lucy," I say through my clutched nose. "And take your smelly weapon with you."

"It's not a weapon!" Lucy barks at me.

"Miss, I'm getting a funny feeling." Ballad mentions as Lucy leads Michelle out of the guild hall.

"Maybe you're the one with gas," Happy comments.

She throws the fish she'd been gnawing on with a shout. "I DON'T HAVE GAS!"

I giggle and release my nose to sniff the air. I grimace when I still smell the old magic.

~*****~

"Quit complainin', that stink is still in my nose." I mention to Natsu as he squirms underneath me.

"It tickles!" Natsu retorts loudly, then clasps his mouth shut when we hear the roar of the guild inside. "Seriously, I feel like my heart's gonna jump outta my throat."

I roll my eyes and press my nose back into the small pulse point just below his ear and huff delicately. I feel his hands clasp at my hips tighter as I continue to rub my nose along his skin, trying to work his scent over the horrible old magic smell. It seemed to stick around now that Michelle was staying with Lucy for a while. Perhaps it was just stinkin' up their apartment. I stop running my nose along Natsu's pulse point when I feel his hips twitch against mine, his breathing shaky as he remains still. I pull my head back and peer down.

"Don't start makin' fun of me--" Natsu retorts as his face flushes bright red. "I can't help it, you're bein' really cute and pressing up against me! Why's it gotta be my ear, anyway?"

I hum and lean back in. "It's near your scent glands." I mention delicately. "Haven't you noticed the other dragon slayers have their own unique scent? Wendy smells like the wind through a forest. Fresh and clean. Gajeel smells earthy, like ore straight from the ground."

"Why do you gotta bring up the kid and metal face right now?" Natsu asks shakily. His hand clasps onto the juncture between my shoulder and neck, his fingers pressing into the small scent gland at the base of my ear. A shudder runs through me. "Is it sensitive for you, too?" He asks delicately.

I take his hand and drag it down to my sternum and laying his palm flat. "Never had someone touch it before," I retort softly. My lips purse against his pulse point before I bare my teeth; I nip hard, earning a surprised grunt. There's a flush of woodsy smells flooding my nose and I beam. "That's better--" I sigh, laying my cheek against his shoulder. "Your smell is the best."

"Don't just-- don't just bite me without warning," Natsu stammers, his hands shaking against my body. "You're seriously makin' me lose my mind--"

I hum and bury my nose back into his pulse point. "That's okay." I say softly. "Don't be embarrassed, it's completely normal." I spent a few more moments inhaling his smell before pulling back with a content sigh. "Thank you!" I chirp. "That should keep my nose relatively normal for a few days--" Just as I pull away, Natsu regrasps my hips and pins me against the wall I'd had him against. "Hey!"

"Not so fast," Natsu grunted, his own nose burying underneath my ear. Another shudder runs up my body as I cup the back of his head, letting him feel his way around his own instincts. "Man, you smell good..." Natsu grunts, his nose pressing higher, just at the junction behind my ear. I don't say a word, I can feel his breath just barely skimming over my pulse point before his teeth nip at my skin. My nerves light up and I suck in a soft breath. My eyes flutter a bit as Natsu presses harder into me, his chest molding over mine. There's a certain pressure pushing against my belly, and I found it increasingly difficult not to rub against it. The hairs on my neck stand on end when I hear the doors open. I shoved at Natsu's shoulders a bit and slipped away when I hear Gray call out for us after turning the corner. "Hey!" Natsu called as he tried following after me. "Wait up--"

"See you later!" I chirp hastily before beelining towards the guild doors.

"Did I interrupt something?" I hear Gray tease.

"YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" Natsu roared, starting a fight.