After putting a drunk Lucy back into her room, Natsu was finally going to hit the hay. He started walking back towards his dorm, when suddenly he heard someone's sobbing. He turned around, recollecting his steps, hearing the sobs getting louder and louder. He then made it to a familiar room. "Erza?"
Natsu slowly slid the door open, looking at Erza. She still had the same blue bathrobe as everyone else. She was on her bed, curled up in a ball. "Erza?" He called her once more, this time the door was fully open.
"Natsu?" She got up from her curled up state, quickly wiping away some of the tears that had strolled down her cheeks. "W-What are y-you doing here?" She slightly stuttered.
"I heard you sobbing from all the way down the hall," he came in, sliding the door and closing it. "Just came to check on you, is everything alright?"
"I'm fine." She lied.
The room was filtered with silence, Natsu just kept on looking at her. He knew Erza long enough to know when she lied. "Erz-"
"Like I said, I'm fine!" She told him once more. Even then, she knew she couldn't bare the weight of lying to him.
"Stop. I know when you're lying!" He retorted back, causing her to startle. He then moved to her bed, sitting down next to her, face to face.
"I…," she could no longer hold back the stream of her tears. "I broke up with Jellal." Her words were barely audible.
"You… broke up with Jellal?" Natsu's eye widen. This was new news to him.
"Yeah…" her crying subsided.
"Jesus Christ, what did he do this time?" Natsu's eyebrows furrowed. "I told him if he ever made you cry again, I'll kick his ass."
"He didn't do anything," she wiped away the remaining tear away from her face. "I'm the one that ended it."
"Why?" He asked her.
"It wasn't because I don't love him anymore or anything else," she said. "It's because, I can no longer lie to myself."
"What exactly is that supposed to mean-" Erza then leaned closer to him, locking lips for the first time.
What felt like years were only mere minutes. What felt like paradise was just a mirror reflection of Erza's plain dorm room. Natsu can taste sweet sensation combination of both strawberry, cream and cheese from her lips while Erza can taste the bitter yet amazing flavors of various meats from his lips. Bitter and Sweet, a nice bunch of flavors that suit both of them. Her arms swayed around behind his back, wrapping them around his neck. With each passing second, flavor turns into desire, both of them wanting more and more of each other. "The reason why I broke up with him was because my heart belonged to a dimwit already..." She said, releasing her arms from his neck and braking the kiss.
"Heh," Natsu happily chuckled. "Since when?"
"For a long time already," she admitted. Her smile then turn upside down. "But you love Lucy, so I'm not going-"
"Wait, Lucy is just my friend." He quickly interrupted and reassured her of his stance between him and his blonde friend.
"R-Really?" She asked.
"Yes, nothing more," Natsu was slightly annoyed that most people he knew jumped to conclusions about his and Lucy's relationship. "If I had a nickel for every time somebody jumped the same boat, I would certainly be one rich dragon slayer."
Erza chuckled at his joke as he did as well. The laughter subsided shortly after a few minutes, returning the atmosphere back to its serious state. "… Do you feel the same way I do about you?" She asked him.
"We grew up together, we battled together, we cried together," he held her hand, making her blush. "It's hard not to develop feelings like this for one another."
"That is all very valid," she said, still feeling his warm hand on hers. "We've also bathed together, slept together and kept on motivating each other." She added. Normally, people would blush out of embarrassment but neither did, considering that they've done so since they were little kids.
"Point taken," he chuckled then moved in closer, his eyes met hers once more. He stared into her beautiful brown eyes whilst she looked into his soothing dark eyes. Like staring into the abyss, they were entranced by each other. For a short few moments, Natsu came back first. "But yes, in the most subtle way, I do feel the same way about you. I love you Erza Scarlet."
Upon hearing those words being uttered, Erza's heart beats faster of content. Blush turned to yet another stream of tears. "I'm so happy to hear those words...," she said. She hugged him, still a few tear drops fell on his shoulder, but he didn't mind it. "I love you too, Natsu Dragneel."
They stopped their embrace like hug. Still clinging onto each other's body, they both slowly fell onto Erza's bed on their sides. She looked up at him, their faces again meet. "So… what now?" He asked, breaking their moment of silence.
"Cuddle maybe?" She suggested.
"That sounds good." He liked the idea.
They covered themselves with the sheets, huddled and cuddled up, warming each other's bodies and slowly letting the slumber kick into them.
…
The next morning, Mirajane was the first to wake in the girls' area of the resort. Through the next few minutes or so, she fixed up breakfast for the majority of the girls, once it was done, she went to go wake them up one by one, knocking on each in every door in the hall.
"Lisanna!" She woke and knocked on her sister's door. She went in and saw her sister under her covers with one eye open, staring at her sister.
She then walked towards Lucy's room, knocking on the door and yelling. "Lucy!" She proceeded to go on and saw her put her pillow onto her head. Probably a headache due to all that alcohol from yesterday.
She got out and proceeded to wake the other girls. Wasn't long before she reached Erza's room which was last in the hall. "Erza!" She called out from the other side. She tried opening the door but it was locked. "Now why of all doors is hers locked?" She grabbed the spare keys from her pocket and slowly turned the knob right, opening the door. As she went in, she noticed that her bed sheet over herself was much larger than the rest in the inn. "Erza?"
She went in closer, coming to Erza's bedside and proceeded to take of the cover from the head side. "Oi! I'm trying to sleep here!" A mysterious yet familiar male voice said, holding down the cover to his face.
"Mirajane?" The scarlet haired girl came out of the bathroom, startling Mirajane.
"E-Erza!?" She turned around, looking at Erza in her blue bathrobe like yesterday, although it was much bigger on her than before. "If you're there, then who the heck is under the cover!?"
Her distraught yelling caused Natsu to reveal himself from under the covers. "What up." He simply said. He was somewhat nude under the covers.
"Natsu?" She gasped. "Erza!?" She turned back to Erza, hoping to hear her explanation in why Natsu was nude in her bed.
"Don't-" Before she could explain, Mirajane shrieked and fainted on to the bed. Guess her inner fangirl matchmaking self in her was a bit too much for her to handle.
Her shriek cause the nearby girls to come check Erza's room. "We heard someone shriek, it sounded like my sister. Is she alright?" Lisanna was the first to make it from the kitchen table to the room. She checked inside, only to find out that not was Mirajane in the room nut Natsu as well.
"Mornin'." He greeted her, slightly embarrassed at the ordeal.
"Natsu?" Lisanna was slightly curious as to why Natsu was in Erza's bed. Specifically, nude. But that didn't matter to since her sister was her top priority.
"It's a long story." Erza said, facing Lisanna.
"I'll take your word for it." Lisanna went in and got her sister putting her one on of her shoulders and walking her out. She was then stopped by the rest of the girls which huddled about in front of Erza's room.
"What happened to Mirajane?" Lucy, out of the bunch, asked.
"She just got a bit carried away…" Lisanna sweat dropped.
"Morning Erza." All the girls said in harmony.
Suddenly Natsu put on the smaller yet fitting bathrobe, revealing himself to the bunch. "Sup guys." He said.
All the girls suddenly gasped, and chattered among themselves for a bit before Erza broke their little moment. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you all during breakfast." She said.
"Can I join?" Natsu's stomach growled.
"I guess." Some of the girls said.
"You might want to change robes though." Lisanna said, pointing at their bathrobes.
Both Natsu and Erza looked down on their clothes then for a brief moment looked at each other, exchanging happy but slight embarrassed smiles.
Author's Note: This was a request from a good friend over at DeviantArt named Nekoia96. She has some good Natza fanart as well, so go check her out if you want. Also, hopefully this week I'll be able to muster up some strength to write the next chapters of my other Natza fanfics, so stay tuned.