Wheels of Fire

Jealousy and Promises

It was another pleasant summer morning in Earthland. However, Lucy woke up to shouting nearby. She grumbled at first, thinking it must be Gray and Natsu fighting again. At least she heard Natsu's voice, but the other sounded different.

"Loke and Natsu?" she hummed, still half asleep. "Since when have those two become so..." She stopped as she remembered that this was not Natsu Dragneel. "Oh crap," she grumbled, scrambling out of bed. Natsu Dragion was on the floor nursing a hurt shoulder and crying weakly while Loke loomed over him with a jealous glint behind his blue sunglasses.

Loke sneered at the sniveling boy. "Why are you here at this time of the day? I know you try to sneak into her bed, you perverted little—"

"Fireball!" Lucy shouted. She ran forward and knelt beside him, instantly fretting that he might have been seriously injured by the powerful Celestial Spirit. "You poor guy. Did he hurt you?"

Edo-Natsu suddenly grabbed Lucy and shielded himself in her arms. "Help me, Princess," he cried out. "It's that scary jerk, Loke."

"Princess!" Loke roared lividly. "She's my princess. No one but me and Virgo can call her Princess."

Lucy glared up at him. "Well, he does too now, so get over it."

"Lucyyyyy," Loke whined. "Don't tell me you finally hooked up with this fire-brat."

"Quiet, Loke. This isn't Natsu. Or, not our Natsu at least."

"Waaaaah," Fireball cried out wetly. "Don't hurt Lucy, please! Hurt me instead, just don't hurt her. Only, maybe don't hurt me too much, Mister Loke," he added.

Lucy felt him shivering with terror and stroked his back in comfort, hushing him softly like reassuring a child it was all a bad dream. "It's not the Loke you know. This is my Loke."

"Yes, her Loke," the Lion bragged.

"Shut up, Loke," Lucy grumbled.

Fireball sniffled. "I ... I heard his voice downstairs, and I thought he was here to assassinate you again, so ... so I ... I tried to stop him from sneaking in, but then he hit me and ... and I thought ... he was gonna ... gonna kill me and ... and ... and I was so scared. It was scary, Lucy." He grabbed her again and hid his face into her pajamas. "It was really, really scary!"

"Easy," she soothed, hugging him despite the wet face that felt gross on her bosom. "You're safe now. There's nothing to fear."

"Wait, what? Assassinate her?" Loke yelled in outrage. "Natsu, have you really lost it? How could I ever hurt Lucy? I live for Lucy. I'm her knight in shining armor. You know me better than that. And I didn't hit you. I barely shoved you. Since when were you so weak?"

"I told you," Lucy sighed. "This isn't Natsu Dragneel. This is Edolas' version, Natsu Dragion."

"Edolas?" asked Loke. "Do you mean that place without magic? Oh wait!" he cried out gleefully. "Does that mean the other Lucy is here, the one with short hair and black leather and looks oh-so-dangerous like some seductive dominatrix who wants to give out spankings?"

"No!" Lucy said with a peeved thud. "Perverted Lion."

Edo-Natsu giggled softly. "Lucy Ashley does worse than spankings."

Loke leaned in eagerly. "Do tell!"

"Shut up," Lucy screamed, stomping a foot in frustration.

"Kyaaah, I'm sorry, don't hurt me," Fireball wailed, cowering down and covering his head.

"Che! Fine," sighed Loke. "So, how did he get here, and why is he in your house?"

"Where else could he go?" she asked.