When Lucy woke up, she realized two things. One, she felt safer than she ever had before. And two, Natsu wasn't actually in her bed, but sprawled out on the floor. She pulled his unconscious body into the bed and then promptly passed out again, holding onto the disappearing slayer. The movement, however, woke Natsu up. He then returned the embrace and passed out as well. Lucy was beyond tired because of the emotional stimulus from the day before, Natsu was tired because he hadn't truly slept well in three years. Laxus was the one to find the two, and he went back to the guild and told the others that it was safe to say that Natsu would be staying for a long time.

At 17:00 Natsu's POV

I woke up to Lucy starting at me, as if memorizing every part of my face. I smiled gently at her. She then looked as if she thought she was dreaming.

"Your not dreaming, I can promise you that." I said.

"What guarantee can you give me, other than your word." Lucy accused.

Her point was valid, and I reminded myself that I had disappeared not once, but twice. I got an idea. I pinched her cheeks, than kissed the area I pinched.

"That work?" I grinned.

Lucy smiled, if a little reservedly, and giggled a little.

"For now." She teased.

"Tell you what, every time you think your dreaming, tell me, and I'll wake you up." I offered.

Lucy burst into tears at my offer.

"Lucy, what's wrong? Please don't cry, I... I hate it when you cry, and I hate myself for making you cry twice. Please tell me what's wrong." I begged.

"It's really you, your really Natsu. I've been waiting for you for three years, you idiot." Lucy sobbed, clinging to me.

I held her closer, trying to comfort my, I don't know what our relationship is right now. She clearly feels for me more than a friend, and I do as well, but Loke is her boyfriend.

"Lucy, what are we?" I asked, suddenly and before I had time to think.

"What?" She asked, sniffling a little.

"What would our relationship be called, I know it would be something more than friends, but at the same time you have a boyfriend." I elaborated.

"I don't know. I know, or at least I think I know, that my relationship with Loke is the product of you leaving, and my desire to have someone. He was who I turned to, I guess." Lucy seemed to be thinking really hard about this.

"I don't really care, he made you happy after I hurt you, twice. He was a better friend than I had been. For all I care, you can stay in your current relationship, even if it does hurt me. I'll respect your life post my leaving, but I would like to know which boundaries I shouldn't cross." I said.

"Oh, my, Mavis, who taught you propriety?" Lucy looked at me seriously.

"Funnily enough, I did." I answered.

"What? Explain now!" Lucy demanded.

"I read every single book in the Fairy Tail library before I left." I explained.

"What did you start with?" Lucy asked.

"The dictionary." I answered simply.

"Really?" Lucy asked, mouth agape.

I had sat us upright, her sitting in my lap facing me. Her legs were wrapped around my waist and I was sitting with my legs crossed. Lucy had looped her arms around my neck, and I was holding her torso.

Gray suddenly burst into the room.

"Flametard, fight me damnit!" He roared.

I turned my head, Lucy had gone beat red. I disappeared, knocked Gray out cold, then reappeared, returning to the same position Lucy and I had been in before the interruption.

"Yes, really. Why would I lie to you? Especially after all I put you through." I said as if nothing had happened.

"Uhh, yeah. We should get ready to go to the guild now. Oh, and I think me and Loke will be breaking up soon. He gets a little jealous over our time spent together, so if I want to spend time with you I'll need to break up with Loke. I'll need too call him Leo to show him I'm serious." Lucy grimaced at Loke's likely reaction to her news.

"Okay, want me to wash your back?" I asked.

"Please do, I'll do the same for you." Lucy offered.

"Thank you. My shoulders seem to have lost their flexibility, or they're just so broad that it's useless to try and wash my back without help, or a brush." I smiled a little at my own helplessness.

Lucy smiled in return, then got off of me, grabbed my hand, and dragged me into the bathroom. We got undressed in a comfortable silence, after all we were people of the opposite gender and we were now naked in a bathroom together. Sure, I had seen her naked before, but her willingness for me to see her naked made this different somehow, plus I knew, in every detail, what sex was now. This was very different from the last time I had seen Lucy in the nude. Now, don't get me wrong, Igneel taught me about sex, but there is only so much you can teach a six year old about procreation.

"Natsu, I want to be honest with you." Lucy began.

"You can hit me, you can hate me, but I can't let you kill me." I said.

"No, it's not that that." Lucy shook her head lightly.

"Then tell me." I said softly, pulling Lucy closer to me, all previous embarrassment forgotten.

"I basically did not sleep at all the entire three years you were gone. Not even laying down with Loke helped. I only feel safe with you around." Lucy breathed out, hugging closer to me, despite the nudity of the situation.

"Well, I'll be here for the rest of our lives. I promise to protect you for the rest of my life, and that protection means I'll be right next to you. No one will touch you, no one will hurt you, not even me. That I promise." I said, right before passionately kissing Lucy on the lips.

She melted into the kiss immediately. I felt the need to comfort her in more ways than should technically be appropriate for best friends, so in the middle of a tongue dominance battle, I pulled away.

"If we go any further, you physically won't be able to go to the guild, and I'll be dangerously hyped up on hormones." I warned.

Lucy nodded in acknowledgement and proceeded to wash herself in the shower, I did the same and we both took turns washing each other's backs. We silently climbed out of the shower, then Lucy threw me a towel. I smiled graciously at her. She gave my body a once over, then turned red once she realized that she was now staring at my penis. She began to wildly look everywhere at once, and I had to catch her. She was mortified, but I just laughed it off. We quickly dried off and got dressed. I got dressed a little weirdly, but Lucy didn't see my dressing procedure, so I'm not going to explain it. All will make sense once I talk to the guild, hopefully. If I'm being honest, even though it happened to me, I'm still having trouble understanding it.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm?" I responded.

"You haven't said a word the entire way to the guild, something's wrong." Lucy accused.

"Well, if I'm going to be totally honest, the three year disappearance, is not something I was planning on." I said, keeping my explanation cryptic.