Lucy's POV
I can't believe Natsu's my boyfriend. To be honest, I've had a crush on him for a long time, but I thought he wouldn't be interested in dating. Looks like I was wrong which I'm glad. Words can't explain how elated I feel. If this was a dream, then I don't want to wake up. On the whole way back to the others, Natsu's arm never left my waist as he walked beside me. Even when we joined back with the others, his arm still didn't leave my side.
Everyone noticed our return and then confusion crossed their faces. I could see them glancing at the way Natsu held me. The Dragon Slayers except for Natsu and me began to sniff the air and their eyes widened in unison. I think I know what they smell which brings a smile to my face. "You didn't" Gajeel asked in surprise which confused the exceeds. "We did" I replied, my smile growing.
From my reply, Kaito fell to his knees in shock with his jaw hanging wide open. Kyan walked up to him and tried shaking him but got no response. "What's going on?" Kyan asked, clearly wondering why his partner was acting this way. "They've become mates" Rogue answered. He stood beside Sting who was sitting on the ground leaning against a tree with his stomach bandaged. Looks like Rogue tended to his wound. I feel a little guilty about earlier. I should apologise to him later. "Mates?" Happy questioned with a tilt of his head. "Their scents are mixed in with each other. Letting other Dragons and Dragon Slayers know they're off the market" Sting explained sourly.
When Dragons and Dragon Slayers date or in the correct term mate, they transfer some of their own scent onto their mate to tell other Dragons and Dragon Slayers they're mated. A mated couple can exchange scents simply through cuddling, but mating is the best way.
"Does that mean you guys...hehe" Happy asked, hinting his question, and then Wendy's face went bright red. "No Happy we haven't mated in that way. Besides it's not mating season yet" I explained. "Mating season?" Celestia questioned. Suddenly, a big yawn escaped my mouth. Being up for over twenty-four hours was catching up to me. Without a word, Natsu pulled me over to where we were sitting before the whole Sting thing and then laid us down on the grass. He positioned us on our side with his arm over me, spooning me from behind, and our backs facing the rest of the group like he was blocking everyone from me. He raised his hand to my head and then began stroking my hair. "Sleep" he said calmly which lulled me gently to sleep.
Around a couple of hours later, we woke up from our nap and I found Happy and Celestia sleeping against my stomach. The four of us in this position gave me a warm feeling like we were a family. As I sat up with Natsu, Celestia stirred and fluttered her eyes open before letting out a yawn. Happy fell backwards off my stomach as I stood up but didn't wake up. Typical Happy. "I better carry him" I mumbled and was about to pick him up until Natsu crouched down next to him. He tapped Happy's head repeatedly which disturbed his sleep. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" he said with each tap until he sat up and rubbed his sore spot. He whipped his head around to glare at Natsu who returned the glare.
While they were glaring at each other, I noticed the others were all awake and walking away. "Ok, come on you two, everyone's leaving now" I told them and broke their glaring contest. As I followed the others, Natsu came up beside me and grasped my right hand. I smiled, 'so yesterday wasn't a dream' I thought. Something landed on my left shoulder, and I turned to see Celestia sitting on my shoulder. Another light weight landed on top of my head which I was sure it's Happy. Natsu glared up at Happy and muttered "lazy cat" which made me giggle.
When we reached Clover Town, we headed to the train station and said our goodbyes to the Sabertooth group. I pulled Sting aside so I could apologise about earlier. "Hey um, I wanted to say sorry for Natsu kicking you earlier" I said. "Ah... it's alright, although his kicks are deadly" he replied, lightly holding his bandaged stomach. I noticed a drop of sweat appear on his brow. "Are you ok?" I asked, noticing his weird behaviour. "Y-Y-Yeah, why d-do you a-a-ask?" he stuttered and more sweat appeared on his face. I noticed his eyes were flicking to something behind me. Without warning, I whipped my body around and found Natsu behind me glaring at Sting while being covered in his black flames.
As soon as he noticed I was looking, he extinguished his black flames and dialled down the glare to a grumpy expression. "Natsu...Stop. Scaring. Sting" I scolded him. He looked away and then walked back to the others. I lightly sighed and then turned back to Sting. "Phew" he sighed in relief while holding his chest. "I thought he was going to kill me" he mumbled to himself.
"Looks like we've got to go" I said, noticing the others have finished their byes. "Yeah. We may have started as enemies but we're leaving as friends" he said smiling and holding his fist up for a fist bump. I smiled and gave him a fist bump. "You're always welcome to visit Fairy Tail" I said. "Same, I hope to see you at Sabertooth sometime" he said and then a possessive growl erupted behind me. I sighed, knowing who it was coming from. "Time to go" Sting said and then quickly re-joined his guildmates. I walked back over to the group and stood next to Natsu. I grasped his hand, and he squeezed my hand. We said bye with a wave to Sabertooth one last time before we walked aboard the train heading to Magnolia.