Does Love Last Forever?

Chapter 2

It had been two weeks and word had finally reached the guild that the slayers were heading home to Magnolia. Lucy hummed happily as she showered, then straightened her apartment. She had already gone to the market and had her shelves and fridge stocked with food, knowing that Happy and Natsu would probably be hungry for a home cooked meal once they returned. She giggled, knowing Levy was probably doing the same thing. While Natsu still had his house, he had been living with Lucy at her apartment. Levy still had her place at Fairy Hills, but had been staying at Gajeel's when he was there, due to the "no males" rule at Fairy Hills.

Doing one last check in the mirror, Lucy nodded at her reflection, giving one last tug at her hair. She had really missed having Natsu around and had to admit, she even had missed Happy's smart-aleck remarks.

Meeting Levy on the way to the guild, she noticed the script magic mage had also taken care with her appearance. Lucy teased her when she realized she was on her way from Gajeel's place. Levy had blushed, mumbling she wanted to make sure it was ready for his return.

Both were slightly disappointed when entering the guild, their slayers were not there yet. Heading over to the bar, both sat on a stool and began talking to Mira. Both jumped each time the door opened, peering to see who was entering, then laughing at their eagerness. Mira smiled indulgently, glad that two of her couples had finally gotten together.

Soon, the sound from inside the hall blocked the sound of the door and it wasn't until a blue blur hit Lucy that they realized their boys had returned.

"Lucy!" Happy cried, giving her a hug. "I missed you!"

"Hey, Happy!" Lucy smiled, surprised at the affection. "I missed you guys, too!"

"Levy," came a deep voice, and Lily, Gajeel's black exceed, hopped up on a stool next to her. "It's good to see you're doing well!"

Levy grinned and grabbed Lily in for a hug. Mira could almost swear he was blushing.

"Where is Natsu?" Lucy asked, looking behind them towards the door.

Happy shrugged. "He and Gajeel had to go report to Master right away. They'll be down soon."

The small group decided to move to a table so the boys could join them when they came back downstairs.

"Did everything go okay?" Levy asked the exceeds, and they nodded.

"Natsu didn't destroy anything too important," Happy replied.

The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs alerted the four that Gajeel and Natsu were on the way down. Levy and Lucy couldn't help the grins on their face as they saw their mates coming towards them. The grins began to fade as the two guys walked right past them, ignoring them completely, and sat at one of the farther tables.

"Playing hard to get?" Levy joked, looking at Lucy, who shrugged. She was about to get up when Gray yelled something across the guild and Natsu responded, standing on top of the table. The two began to brawl, with Gajeel, beer now in hand, yelling out suggestions.

Lucy sat back down, rolling her eyes. While it was strange that both Natsu and Gajeel had ignored them, they seemed to be acting normal.

"Guess dragon season's over," Lucy gave a half hearted smile to Levy. "We're not the center of their attention anymore."

"Yeah, guess so," Levy sighed. Knowing Gajeel, he'd think it would be funny to ignore her and drive her nuts. She imagined he'd come over to her after awhile, pat her on top of the head, calling her "Shrimp" and making some rude comment that would irritate her. She'd yell at him, storming out of the guild and he'd somehow intercept her on the way home, laughing. Yeah, that was his sense of humor.

However, it was weird for Natsu to ignore Lucy not to mention choose to sit with Gajeel. The two didn't normally hang out unless they had to. Maybe during their mission they had bonded?

Lucy leaned over to Levy, trying to talk above the noise of the brawl which now had several more members joining in. "This might take awhile. I'm going to head on home." She glanced at Happy. "I'll cook up some dinner. Let Natsu know, okay?" She'd surprise the two with a special home cooked meal.

Levy nodded. "I think I'm going to head down to the library. Mira said some new books came in the other day." She didn't notice a certain dragon slayer's eyes following her movements, a smirk playing across his face thinking about his plans with her later.

The two parted, and Lucy made her way back to her apartment, thinking about what she'd fix for dinner. Happy was easy - she had a fish in the fridge for him. Maybe broil up some of the steaks she had bought.