"AHHHHHHHH!"

Natsu jerked awake to the sound of a scream. Within a second he was on his feet, surveying the campsite and trying to figure out the source of the sound. He saw the shadowy outline of an equally alert Gray and Erza scanning the woods around, prepared for a fight. His pulse quickened – as much as the dragon slayer liked a good fight, no one wanted to be caught unawares in the darkness of night.

Then again, darkness is quickly remedied when you have a campfire literally at your fingertips.

He felt the tension leave his shoulders when he saw a groggy Lucy comforting a tearful Wendy. He knew without asking what had just happened.

"She had a nightmare," Lucy said simply, rubbing the younger girl's back.

"I'm sorry," the younger girl sniffed. The sky dragon slayer was trembling and tears slipped through her long eyelashes. She looked young and delicate in the flickering light of the fire.

"Quite alright," Erza said, sheathing her sword. She knelt down so she was eye level with the younger girl. "What was the dream about?"

Natsu chuckled to himself – it was funny to see Erza act so motherly. But then again, with Charle and Happy off visiting the Exceed, it made sense that Erza would be particularly doting of Wendy.

"It's silly," Wendy said, blushing. "I didn't mean to scream and wake everyone."

Erza smiled tenderly at her. "It's okay. The best way to get rid of a nightmare is to share it with your nakama. That way we can fight off the fear together."

Natsu made eye contact with Gray, who was smirking. The two boys shared another chuckle at Erza's unusually sweet demeanor. This earned them a glare from Lucy, who misunderstood the gesture.

"It's not as if you've never had a bad dream, Natsu," she said scathingly. "You too, Gray. I've been sharing a campsite with both of you long enough to know."

Erza frowned and opened her mouth to scold the boys, but was stopped by Wendy, who looked at them curiously and asked "Is that true?"

Natsu scowled. "Jeez Luce, we weren't laughing at Wendy."

"Yeah, what kind of assholes do you think we are?" Gray asked as he edged away from Erza, who was still scowling at the boys. He locked eyes with Wendy and smiled at her. "We all have bad dreams sometimes. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Natsu puffed his chest out and crossed his arms. "Yeah Wendy – there's nothing to embarassed about – we'll help you fight off those scary dreams!" He set fire to his fists to emphasize his point.

Gray raised an eyebrow. "We don't have to physically fight it, flame brain," he said.

Natsu glared at the ice mage. "Shut up, snow queen," he retorted.

"What did you call me?!"

"Stop it, you two," Lucy admonished and Erza got to her feet and smacked their heads together and Wendy giggled.

"Owww…." Both boys groaned, rubbing the freshly developing bumps on their heads.

"More importantly," Lucy said to Wendy, ignoring the elemental mages, "what got you so worked up?"

"Well…" Wendy hesitated, but the older girls nodded their heads encouragingly (the boys were now bickering out of Erza's view about whose fault it was they got smacked). "I dreamed the campsite was attacked by Vulcans, and I got separated from the group. And there was a really big one chasing me…and I was tired and out of magical power…"

"We'd never let you get separated like that," Erza said with conviction. "Right?" she called sternly to Gray, who had captured Natsu in a headlock.

"Hmm?…of course no-AH DON'T BITE ME YOU FREAKIN' ANIMAL!" He threw the pink-haired boy, who was laughing maniacally, away from him. "YOU BROKE THE SKIN YOU FREAK!"

This set Wendy and Lucy into a fit of giggles and caused a dangerous glint in Erza's eyes.

"Nakama shouldn't fight!" She shouted as she kicked both boys hard into trees.

"So, are you feeling better?" Lucy asked Wendy through tears of laughter as she watched the boys scuttle up trees in vain efforts to avoid Titania's wrath.

"Much," Wendy gasped, still laughing at the scene before them.

"Good," the blonde mage said. "Anyway, I think Erza is the scariest thing in these woods," she said as the mage in question swiftly cut down the trees Gray and Natsu were trying to use as refuge. The boys ran to each other and cowered in each other's arms as the scarlet-haired woman stepped closer.

"Mhm…" Wendy watched the scene in fascination. "Do you think Natsu and Gray have nightmares about Erza?"

Lucy looked at her thoughtfully. "You know, I bet they do."

"That must be way scarier than any dream I've ever had," Wendy said seriously.

"Probabl- oh no – ERZA! This is a historic forest – please don't kill all the trees!"