A/N: Heya guys. wiErD here and I got another one-shot for one of my favorite pairings, NaZa. I just got another idea for this pairing so let's see how this turns out.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its elements. All belong to its respective owner. Support the official release.
- Disguised Love -
It's just another day in Magnolia.
The streets were littered with its townsfolk as they walked outside to do their daily activities throughout the day. The ever-glowing sun continues to rain down its warmth light towards the earth and the cool breeze of the wind fluttered along, carrying leaves as they flew in a rustle to wherever the wind took them.
Settled north of the town was the ever famous guild of Fairy Tail.
A large obnoxious building stands as the town's pride and joy as it housed all of their talented mages that were known throughout the continent. Not to mention, they are currently the strongest guild in the country of Fiore as of now.
It's obvious to say that they were well known to even some people outside of the country.
Several famous mages are also part of the said guild and were regarded to be one of the strongest as well.
One of them is Erza Scarlet, the mighty Titania who is famous for her unchallenged skill and her unique talent in utilizing Requip Magic where she can wear various types of armors depending on their type and advantages towards the situation.
Her quick judgment and skills are also key to her overall fighting prowess that even only a few could match her in an open battle. As other mages call her by her other alias called, The Knight, Erza currently lives a comfortable life with her friends and family.
However, at this certain day, she will come to realize her greatest challenge yet.
...
Love.
As she was an expert on this kind of thing―disregarding her secret fetish on smut novels, Erza never had a good experience with love herself as a certain incident occurred a couple of years back that resulted in her heart to be scarred to feel the same thing ever again.
Of course, she still inhibits her love for her friends but the love she forever locked deep inside her heart is something different.
A love that she once held to the person who gave her the name 'Scarlet' is forever gone. And the chance to resurface those feelings may not be able to come to light.
Well... at least that's what she thought.
When the gears of fate started to move once more, a certain event will eventually trigger her to bring back these feelings on to another someone.
...Someone she didn't deem to have the chance at since she regarded him as only a trusted friend.
..
..
..
It all started on a certain day...
...
The guild is as lively as ever.
The unforgettable scene of flying chairs and bodies were always the prominent sight for the guild members of Fairy Tail. It's just one of those days where every single mage wanted to vent out their anger or frustration towards one another.
Heated arguments and dissing insults filled the air around the guild hall as several of the mages, mainly to the usual people who always start their fight with their rivals occupy the spotlight.
No one sure knows how it started... Probably someone just made a little accident but didn't apologize afterward which fuelled the tension between both sides. Or they just couldn't stand in each other's presence so the fists came flying first before words.
Sounds of breaking furniture and violent clashes between rivals were heard all around and the ones who weren't involved in the carnage simply watched from afar, seemingly astounded as always to find the current state of their guild becoming another war-torn battlefield.
Others just ignore all of it as Erza silently enjoys with her favorite strawberry cake right in front of her.
She sat on one of the stools in front of the bar counter which is the only place left untouched from the carnage.
No one wouldn't dare to mess a place where the Titania is located. As much as the brawls go worse, the mages kept a warning not to get the redhead involved in it or else there's going to be a bloodbath.
Speaking of her, it was quite unusual for the scarlet knight to ignore the ongoing brawl since she was always the one who would put a stop to it when it gets on her nerves. And today's brawl is now worse than yesterday.
The damage was unbelievable and the number of casualties skyrocketed, either due to getting heavily burnt or frozen in the process.
It's obvious who the perpetrators are.
"What's wrong, Flame-brain?! Had enough of the fight?"
"Heh, I'm not even trying! Heck, I'm owning this match pretty easy!"
"Keep dreaming! I counted way more than you!"
"Ha! I could say the same to you!"
Another fit of insults filled the air as Natsu and Gray had another bout with each other once again―this time, a competition to defeat as many people as they can to see who the winner is.
The ones who were dragged into their competition were merely treated by their respective magic since most of them are no match for the two. While others tried to fight back, they couldn't just overpower the two elemental rivals as they kept pouring their magic onto them like they're some sort of disposable targets for their pointless competition.
Seriously, nothing's gained from every bout they make against each other…
…
Several of their friends watched with sweated gazes as their competition soon turned into a more violent one. Lucy and the other girls sat on one of the tables as they watched the two continuously battle every each of the guild members they can find within their line of sight.
"Haaaa... Natsu and Gray are sure taking up pretty seriously." The golden-haired mage slumped down to her seat, seemingly tired as the sight of her two teammates now bored her.
"It's not all that bad now, Lucy-san... I'm sure Natsu-san and Gray-san don't mean it like that." The other voice came from Wendy, who is part of the team as well.
As usual, she would be the acting person to justify the two boys' actions despite how violent they can be.
Lucy knew how kind-hearted the girl was so there's no need for any words to say from her reply.
"I know, Wendy... But today seemed a bit worse than usual. I'm surprised that Erza hasn't quelled the whole thing yet. I wonder what's eating her?" Her eyes looked at the solitary redhead at the bar counter, seemingly lost in thought after finishing up her cake.
"You're right... I wonder what's wrong?" Wendy nodded along as soon as she realized it.
"Well, I'm pretty sure she's going to do that sooner or later." Another perky voice resounded beside Lucy as Levy came joining the conversation.
"Aaaaah~ Gray-sama! So daring~ So cool~"
Another voice came up from behind as Juvia cheered dreamily on the ice mage with sparkling eyes as if every part of him makes her affection for him grow even further no matter how ridiculous it is.
CRASH*
The sound of a chair crashing into something made everyone stop their current ventures. Their eyes landed on the bar counter where the redhead once sat at, though at that point, their gazes went cold.
The chair had unexpectedly crashed into Erza who was now lying face flat on the floor. The bar stool where she was currently sitting at was also destroyed and the silent response from the redhead caused all of them to shiver.
Everyone knew what would happen when she gets knocked over during her peaceful breaks.
"Uh oh... Here she comes..." Levy noticed the redhead slowly standing up.
For a moment, she stood still but then her venture turned straight towards the fighting duo.
The others also took notice of the scarlet knight, including both Natsu and Gray who stopped their fight with each other as soon as they saw her walking her way towards them with a shadowed expression.
The sound of steel boots echoed throughout the hall as the noises died down in her presence as if the whole place had gone silent the moment she stepped into the fray with a silent yet frightening expression.
Natsu and Gray gulped nervously in fear as they broke apart from each other and tried to straighten themselves.
"Natsu... Gray..." Her voice hung heavily in the air despite its monotonous tone.
It made her even scarier since they couldn't even tell behind her current expression. Though they both knew what was coming.
"Y-Yes?" The two meekly replied simultaneously.
Everyone watched in anticipation as they saw her slowly raised both her hands as if reaching out to them like they were about to be pulled away into something horrible.
The two boys knew what their experience when they faced Erza's punishment. Needless to say, they've been scarred for life after that whole ordeal. They couldn't think of ever getting out alive if they went through the same experience again.
...
And it seems like it's going to repeat again.
Natsu thought of running away but if he did, he knew that it would even end up with a more than just a beating.
Buuuuuuuut screw it...
"Sorry! Gotta go!"
With a sprint, the fire dragonslayer went straight for the exit within seconds, leaving everyone stunned of what just happened. Gray had his jaw dropped in the ground while the rest of the people stared in open shock as the pinkette left behind a trail of dust.
Erza stood silently in shock as soon as the dragonslayer made a run for it.
.
. .
. . .
A few moments of silence went by until the whole guild finally finished processing of what just happened.
Everyone had their different thoughts after witnessing the whole scene.
Most of them are probably having the pinkette being already dead, the moment he ran away from the scarlet knight since this is actually the first time they saw the dragonslayer ran away from her to avoid punishment.
"Did Natsu just run away from Erza?"
"That's something bad now, is it?"
"I don't think it's just bad... Natsu never even considered running away no matter how Erza beats him up."
"H-He's going to be alright, right?"
Different statements were exchanged between the girls, trying to talk about the situation. The rest of the guild simply talked with other things as well, mainly to the type of punishment the pinkette's going to get once he's caught later on.
"Oi, oi! Natsu's finally got some backbone, eh?"
"Stop it! Erza's gonna kill you."
"Iyaaa... I'm just saying that the kid already has what it takes to defy Erza. That's something you don't see every day."
Wakaba and Macao said their own statements as they watched from afar. The others who overheard their conversation also made them began to think as well, concerning this new development.
...
Meanwhile, the scarlet knight seemed to have calmed down for a moment though her expression was replaced with an unusual frown which doesn't seem to have been alleviated, probably for a different reason.
"That's the third time he ditched on you, Erza. You don't suppose that you did something to cause him to scurry off like that." Gray spoke. It seemed like he already noticed the strange behavior going around his two teammates.
Erza heaved a deep sigh for the first time.
It wasn't always like that, though.
It began one day when Natsu started to avoid getting into contact with the scarlet knight whenever possible. Every time she tried to talk with the group, the dragonslayer would always pull away from the group and do some jobs alone to cover his excuse.
Even on certain occasions when she tried talking to him personally, he would have his own attention on somewhere else.
And she didn't like being ignored for no reason.
...
Gray knew something was wrong and judging from the look on the redhead's face, it seemed like she didn't know anything either.
"So you noticed, huh?" Erza crossed her steel-clad arms with a frown.
"Did something happen between, you two?"
"Not that I remember... It all happened so quickly. One day, we were both talking then in the next, he would just avoid me for some reason."
"Maybe, he did something that might piss you off... You were gone like a few days ago, right?" He asked.
"Hnn..." She nodded. "Did something happen while I was gone?"
Gray shook his head.
"Nah, I don't think so... But Natsu and Happy were on a job the other day though they did come back at the same day."
"I-Is that so?"
"Yeah... He seems fine though but I find it strange that he keeps avoiding you now these days without any reason at all. I guess that's also the reason why you're down all of a sudden, am I right?"
Erza nodded.
"I don't know what's going on but I'd like to talk to him about it." Her lips traced into a deeper frown as her eyes set themselves on the floor, showing her depression which was very unlike of her to do so.
Gray sighed in response but he placed his arm over her shoulder before leaving.
"Anyways, you gotta fix this thing with him. I don't know what is going on but I don't want you two distancing yourselves with each other just because of a misunderstanding."
After that, he walked away.
"...I'm not gonna cause any trouble for now so rest assured. Go talk to him to see what's really wrong with him. I hate to say this but he's not really into himself these days." He added as he gave a wave from his hand.
It wasn't a good response to concern from him but Erza knew he was worried as well so she smiled as the ice mage retreated from the scene and settled with the rest of their friends.
...
The course of the guild continued like usual.
Erza sighed inwardly as she stood at the open guild doors with a worried look.
Multiple things circled around her thoughts about the dragonslayer. She could hardly find any reason for him to avoid her this much.
Besides that, both of them were close friends with each other. Erza couldn't think of a thought that would make the two of them separable from each other. They both trusted one another and hold each other dear like a real family would.
So how come he would avoid her at all times?
She didn't know. But she wanted to patch things up with him if that's the case.
She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she failed to notice a familiar voice calling her name from the distance.
It only took a few more seconds as the figure moved closer just to snap her out of her train of thought.
"Erza... Erzaaaaa..."
"O-Oh, Mira... Sorry, I was just lost in thought."
"It seems like it... and it looks like you're still bothered by his behavior." The white-haired barmaid stated correctly.
One of the persons who noticed the pinkette's recent behavior was Mirajane. As her reputation as the guild's best gossip, she easily took hold of the situation. Even Erza had consulted her several times during the initial stages of the problem though she only answers with vague and sometimes unhelpful suggestions.
And now with the problem getting a bit serious, she had to come around to help.
She seems to have an inkling of the reason behind Natsu's constant avoidance of the redhead but she didn't want to be sure of it just yet. She wouldn't want to meddle with the affairs of other people as such she would leave the matter only to the people themselves.
She stood right beside Erza with pondering look.
"It's not that I'm bothered. I'm just worried. I didn't know what happened between us but I think I might've done something wrong to cause him to avoid me." Erza reasoned.
"And it seems like it will be hard for you to confront him if he keeps running away from you, isn't it?" She inquired.
"What are you getting at, Mira?" She replied with a suspicious look.
"Well, judging from how he acted towards you, I guess it would be difficult for you to approach him as you are... Forcing him to talk will not help either so don't go thinking any sort of ideas." She reminded.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
There was a moment of pause between them until an idea popped right into the barmaid's head as her expression beamed towards the scarlet knight in joy.
"I got it! Okay, how about this? How about you disguise yourself as a different person?"
.
.
.
"Huh?" Her question simply made her head to tilt sideways.
"Like I said, a disguise... Natsu would immediately run away if he saw you as you are, right? We can mask you with a different disguise and try to approach him as a different person." She explained.
"Where did this disguising thing come from? I thought we were going to think about making it easier to approach him."
"Exactly... That's why you have to be a different person so that he wouldn't notice you when you approach him." Mira explained.
"I don't get it... What's the point of becoming a different person? Wouldn't that be tricking him in the process?"
"That's exactly right."
"I refuse..." She flatly denied.
"Heeeeeeeeh, why not?!" Mira whined.
"First of all, it's useless... Natsu can easily see through any disguises, remember?"
"Oh, right... I haven't thought of it like that."
Natsu wouldn't be deceived since he had a keen sense of smell. He could easily see through people's true nature just by recognizing their scent. It almost seemed like the pinkette would never be fooled by anyone if he had a smart head.
"It's useless to trick him like that. I'll just have to talk to him like I usually do, alright." Erza was about to drop the suggestion until Mira stopped her.
"Wait, we can ask Wendy for help."
"Wendy?"
"Hnn..." She nodded "If we can alter your scent with her magic, Natsu might think you're a different person."
"Hey, I didn't ask for any disguising in the first place. Plus, how would this help me know what's going on with him?" Erza demanded.
"Well, that's easy. You should pose as a stranger and befriend him along the way. I think Natsu just needs some other people to let him interact normally apart from his friends."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Who knows...? Anyways, how we should do it? I can call Wendy here if you want it done." She smiled sweetly but Erza was already having doubts about the whole disguising thing. Not to mention, her behavior towards the situation seemed oddly suspicious since she was planning something apart from the usual objective.
However, she doesn't have much of a choice now since she knew that her matter with the dragonslayer would only grow worse if they let it remain like that for too long.
She wanted to resolve things with him.
Find out what's bothering him.
Erza released a defeated sigh.
"Fine... Let's get this over with. But I don't like the idea of tricking him, you know... What do you think might happen if he found out it was me all along?" She asked.
"You worry too much, Erza... Don't worry, I'm sure he wouldn't notice you once we put you on your perfect disguise." She stated proudly.
"Alright, alright... So what are we gonna do?"
"Well for starters, let's have that armor removed."
Erza had a bad feeling about this.
After that whole thing with Mirajane's plan along with Wendy's help to alter her scent, she was turned into a different person. She wore a simple red dress skirt adorned with frilly decorations at the shoulders and edges of the skirt itself. Her hair was turned light brown though the style of her graceful hair cascading down to her shoulders and back remained. A long pink hat was placed above her head to show more of her elegance though it seemed like a stark contrast to her strong character. A pair of slippers adorned her footwear while leaving most of her thighs exposed in the process.
All of this was made possible with the disguise magic along with Wendy.
Her cheeks blushed in a shade of red at the outfit since she was pretty uncomfortable with these kinds of clothes. Not to mention her realization as a different person would be difficult to maintain since she was poor at acting.
"Damn that Mira... I just hope this won't backfire on him and me..." She whispered to herself as she steadily walked through the busy streets of Magnolia.
The height of the noon was still ongoing and the activity of the town itself remained bustling as ever.
A couple of eyes turned over to the unfamiliar person, seemingly in a daze.
I mean, who wouldn't take their eyes off for a second to just witness such a beauty?
Everyone including the females was enthralled by her presence. As if her disguise was the opposite of her normal presence as a strong female mage in town.
Erza ignored the stares as she proceeded on her way in following the barmaid's instructions. She held a small crumpled paper on her hand where the instructions were given to her by Mira.
"Hmm... It seems like I have to find him first, huh..." She muttered to herself while shifting her head around corners on the buildings, hoping to spot a shade of pink.
Countless different people walked in random directions as she found herself within a sea of crowd. With her sharp eyes, she quickly scanned each of every unfamiliar face of the people in her vicinity but she hasn't spotted a pink-haired dragonslayer yet.
The town's busy hours are at this time of the day so it's really difficult to find one person amongst the crowd.
'Where are you, Natsu?'
She pressed on familiar places such as the Cardia Cathedral or even the South part of town where he would always go along with Happy.
However, in those places, she didn't find him.
...
A few minutes passed and Erza failed to find the pinkette.
There's only one place she hasn't checked yet.
Her eyes stared over to the outskirts of town where his house was located. It's the only place she hasn't considered looking around so there's a chance that she might find him there. Plus, Happy should be there as well. She might ask him about the pinkette's recent behavior if she still failed on locating him.
With her mind set, she began to trudge on the path towards his house.
"H-Hey, watch it!" A shout came from the person she accidentally nudged.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to―" Erza had to stop after managing to hear a familiar voice while also able to take a good look at the person she just bumped into.
A voice she was used to hearing inside the guild―mostly on brawls. The tall, muscular figure that stood right in front of her which she deemed impressive and the two black onyx orbs that stared right into hers in seriousness. And most of all, the all-too-familiar pink hair that stands out wildly accompanied by a scaly scarf that is usually wrapped around his neck.
It was Natsu.
Erza felt her cheeks rising in temperature for some reason as she stared right into his eyes. It is as if she was in a state of trance.
Natsu seemed to feel the same feeling as hers but he managed to snap himself out of it and offered a hand of apology towards her.
"Are you alright?" His voice called her back to reality.
"A-Ah, yeah... T-Thank you..." She accepted the hand as she recomposed herself. She changed her voice as hard as she could to avoid any suspicion.
"Sorry, I shouldn't shout like that. I'm kinda a bit of a hurry."
"It's fine... I wasn't looking around either. I apologize as well." She bowed.
"I'm Natsu by the way. Yours?" Natsu introduced himself which surprised the girl in the process.
"A-Ah, w-what?" Because of the sudden introduction, she let out a flabbergasted statement.
"Natsu is my name. Natsu Dragneel. I'm a mage of Fairy Tail. How about you?"
It seemed like this is the part where their conversation should start since the pinkette to the initiative to introduce himself to her without noticing it whatsoever.
However, Erza just realized that she haven't thought about making her own backstory for her disguise. She almost forgot that she was a different person from the eyes of everyone. One wrong move could result in the exposure of her disguise from him.
"U-Umm... I-I'm Z-Zeira." She struggled to put out the words from her mouth all the while, avoiding his gaze towards her.
"Zeira? That's a pretty name." He grinned widely.
"I-Is that so?"
"Yeah. Anyways, I'm sorry about earlier. I'm just trying to avoid someone. I'm not a criminal just so you know."
"R-Really?" She played along.
"Hnn..." He nodded. "Well, it's not like I don't want to avoid her willingly. I just don't want to be a bother." Now Erza was getting interested about the whole thing.
"A bother? Why?"
She was about to ask the reason why but Natsu simply changed the conversation.
"It's nothing important... More importantly, were you going somewhere by any chance?"
"E-Eh? I mean, I was about to go somewhere but―"
"Cool! Can I accompany you?"
"Huh?"
"I said, can I accompany you? You look like you walk alone in this town so I figured you needed company since there's some bad guys and all."
Now, this is quite surprising. Erza never thought of him as a considerate person. As she recalls, Natsu never offered any kind of request to a complete stranger or even to his friends since he lacked the personality but it seems like she was wrong.
On the side note, she wondered why he wouldn't try this kind of thing with her or even to his friends.
He might be shy to do so or that Gray might insult for that kind of thing... She didn't know really but now she just learned that one side of the dragonslayer. It seems like she hasn't really known him that much.
"I guess, I could use a help... If it's not asking too much." She finally got the hang of her disguise as she was able to speak properly.
"Nah. Not at all. I'm actually free anyways. My friends are in the guild at the moment so..."
"I see..."
"So where do you want to go? I'm actually familiar with the town so I can take you anywhere you want." He suggested with a grin which she found sweet along with his friendly attitude towards her. It only made her smile in return as she stepped forward closer to him and reached out a hand.
"Really? Well, I guess I'll be relying on that. Nice to meet you, Natsu." Erza (Zeira) beamed.
"Same here... Let's get along, Zeira." Natsu returned with a smile of his own and accepted her hand.
The warm touch of both of their hands soon caught both of them in a daze as Erza and Natsu looked at their hands with respective blushes on their cheeks. An awkward feeling immediately surfaced between them until Natsu finally broke off the now silent atmosphere between them.
"S-Sorry!" The pinkette drew his hand back first and glanced away to hide his flustered look.
"I-Iyaa... I-It's also my fault. I shouldn't stare like that."
She also looked away in embarrassment, holding the hand she reached into. An uncontrollable blush went up on her cheeks as she thought about the moment earlier between them.
Since when did she start to feel conscious about the dragonslayer?
It was normal for her to simply accept his helping hand but why did she suddenly felt her heart beating faster than usual? He was her friend so there's nothing to feel embarrassed about it. Looking at it like that, this is the first time she'd ever held hands with him.
Erza felt a little bit disappointed to how short their hands stayed with each other. It almost felt like she wanted more of his warmth but―
SLAP*
―She slapped both her cheeks...
'W-Why did I think something like that?! STUPID ME! I'm supposed to find out about his problem not enjoy myself!'
A deeper shade of crimson occupied her cheeks at the realization.
Just why was she expecting something like that?
The way she felt about that moment somehow makes her a bit of a perverted girl. He is her trusted friend. She wouldn't dare to think anything obscene towards him.
Natsu is a kind-hearted person. Despite his reckless nature, he doesn't hold anything to think badly of his friends. Erza felt ashamed of what she just did. Not only she was deceiving him, she was also having obscene thought about him as well.
Her imaginations tend to go far, no thanks to her smut novels by the way. They're always getting in the way of her straight mind.
As a result, her tough façade crumbled in front of him, all the while not noticing the pinkette staring at her in confusion.
"You okay, Zeira?"
"U-Uhh... Y-Yeah... No problem here. Hehe~"
"A-Anyways, where do you want to go?" Natsu changed the topic, finally having his embarrassment out of his system. Erza also glanced back as soon as she regains her composure.
"O-Oh, uhh... I kinda lost my way on the main street so I'd like to know the way back."
"I see... Well, I can take you along the way. I was returning back anyways."
The dragonslayer started walking away from her, gesturing her to follow in which she did as she dragged her feet alongside with him and went straight back to the main street.
...
The sun is still up high and the crowd remained busy as ever. Chatters and murmurs filled the lively town as the duo walked along the path. The sight of the guild building can be seen in the distance.
"So... Natsu is a mage of Fairy Tail, huh?" Erza (Zeira) began.
"Well, yeah. Though I don't have any request at the moment. Plus, I'm also taking a break."
The woman lit her face with a surprise but immediately held it in to avoid him from noticing. Pretty sure, Natsu doesn't take any breaks no matter how many jobs he and Happy had gone so this is quite surprising for her to know.
"Really? This is the first time I heard the Salamander taking a break once." She blurted out loud without realizing.
"So you heard about me. I thought you didn't know me, Zeira." He asked in confusion which caused the light brown-haired girl to stutter in response.
"W-Well, I did hear about on some rumors but I wasn't able to recognize you when we first met." She smartly replied. He seemed convinced by it as he hummed in thought.
"Hmmmmm... Is that so?"
"Yes, yes..." Erza nodded for extra effect.
A momentary silence went between them as they walked.
"So Zeira... What about you? Can you tell me about yourself?" He asked again which also surprised her as well.
"W-Wha-What? Me?"
"Yeah. Anything small. You don't need to tell me everything, though."
"Well, I like reading books..."
"I-I see..."
As she started talking, she noticed a small change in the pinkette's expression though as quick it is, he seemed a bit troubled when she mentioned her hobby. A sweatdrop went over his expression as he tries to keep up with her favorite hobbies.
Erza could not help but pout annoyingly at his response.
If she had the chance, she would've struck him with a hammer down to the ground.
Natsu soon noticed her frowning expression.
"W-What's wrong?"
"You seemed not interested about my hobbies..."
"I-It's not like that! I just remember a horrifying experience with books, you know. I tend to avoid discussing them just so I won't have to remember it again."
"What happened?" She asked out of concern.
"Well, there's this friend of mine who looks exactly just like you. She's a bit violent at times even when we're kids. She forced me to read everything to learn about language. Man, I barely even got pass that test. And if I made a failing grade, she would beat me up until I get it right."
It all makes sense now.
Erza could not help but sweatdrop in response after realizing what he meant to say. It looks like he still remembered the time when she taught him a lot of things during their days as a kid.
Though she wondered why he still remembers it like always. Is she really that scary to him?
Either way, she definitely knew that Natsu literally sees her as a violent woman and nothing else.
"So you don't like this person?"
"Ah, no... Not like that. Erza may be a bit bossy but I still regard her as a friend. Well, I guess there's more than that." Her brow quirked in curiosity after finally mentioning her name. All the while her cheeks slightly blushed.
"What do you mean more than that?" She asked.
She didn't know why but her heart once started racing once more. Natsu paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant to say it but after looking at her face, he simply sighed.
"She's more of a close friend."
Erza's blushing face disappeared.
"I see..." Her voice turned monotone.
"Well... There are a lot of things about her but more than, she's the only person whom I could really trust." He paused.
"...You see, I trust her more than anyone. Plus, I think she's pretty vulnerable even though she acts tough, you know. I just can't think myself leaving her alone when she's like that."
"Eh?" Erza uttered in surprise as he speaks.
"That's right... There is time when she doesn't always put up a strong face towards others. She also feels lonely and sad at times but she doesn't show it to anyone, especially to her friends. Even though she seemed strong to overcome anything, she still has her flaws and that could cause her to feel despair in the end. That's why I try to keep a close eye on her. At least, that's the promise I've been entrusted to by someone."
"Promise? Who?" As she asks, his face developed into a frown.
"Yeah... Sorry, I can't tell you... It's just that, he's not here anymore. He protected both of us just to live on."
A sudden thought struck her as soon as she realized who he was referring to. Erza was completely shocked to see how Natsu still remembered Simon all this time. It was also her first time hearing the promise they made with each other.
Though unheard of this, she was surprised that he continued on keeping his promise all this time. Erza felt happy inside but something kept nagging her at the same time.
"I see... But you said you were a bother to her. Why would you think so?" She wanted to ask about his reason of avoiding her all this time.
What did he mean by being a bother to her?
Natsu never did anything that could cause her trouble. Though not as light as his constant brawling with the others but still, there's not a single time where she sees him as bothersome. It worried her for quite awhile after knowing the reason.
However, the pinkette seemed reluctant to share his thoughts on the same topic as he slowly looked away and gazed at the clear skies in open wonder.
Another moment of silence went between them until he spoke up.
"Well, it's just me being the way of her happiness."
..
..
"Eh?"
The words he said to her felt like stabbing her directly into her heart. For a moment there, Erza wanted to reveal herself to him but she remembered the plan as she quickly asked him by grabbing his shirt, not out of anger but out of genuine worry.
"What do you mean by that?!" She couldn't help but scream. Natsu felt dumbfounded at her sudden change of expression.
It almost looks like he was talking to the real Erza as he was still, in fact, unaware of the disguise.
"W-Wait, Zeira―"
"Since when did I―she think about that?!"
"Hold on, Zeira. You're stretching my clothes way too much!" He warned as they could hear a slow ripping sound of his clothes being torn from her strong pull. Not only that, she could also see his exposed body structure that somehow cut her off from her serious expression and blushed heavily instead.
"S-Sorry!"
She immediately pulled away.
"Ah, it's nothing. It's a good thing that it didn't get torn." Natsu reassured. Erza watched him examine his clothing but her original purpose soon came back as she started to ask again though in a calmer fashion.
"Why do you think that you're being the way of her happiness?" She wanted to know. At least, she wanted to understand behind his reason for saying all that.
After all, this was the time she knew that he was somewhat hurting her for some reason. And she wanted to find out why.
However, she noticed that the pinkette was slightly smiling though bitterly apart from his usual happy grin.
"Sorry, Zeira... This is something that only I can do to solve this. I hope you would understand."
Erza felt dispirited after hearing his reply. Upon seeing that expression, she could not hope to force him to ask any further about it. She respects him and so she would continue to do so. Even if he really doesn't want to share with anybody, she doesn't have the reason to force it out of him. She wanted to respect his private matters.
Though it still left her with questioning thoughts about his reasons for avoiding her.
And it looks like he won't be revealing it to her easily.
"Sorry for asking too much. I know I shouldn't shout like that in front of you. It was really disrespectful of me." She bowed her head with sincere apologies.
"You don't have to do that... Though you remind of her when you apologize like that." He slowly started to laugh as she looked at him in surprise.
"I-Is that so?"
"Hnn... Anyways, we're almost there to the main street. Where exactly are you gonna go by the way?" He asked.
"Well, I was hoping to go for some lunch. I'm quite hungry right now."
"I see... Good timing, my stomach just went full hungry on me. Can I come along?"
"Uh, sure... I guess."
Erza carefully watched him gleefully walked beside her. This kind of personality was completely known to her. She really didn't think that he would act this way without his friends watching him. She could recall the times he had spent his time together with them though there was not a single moment where he would show this type of attitude towards them.
The matter about Happy could very well be similar to the others since he doesn't usually talk to them about this.
The blue Exceed had a way of sharing a lot of things from the dragonslayer. Whether it be a wood with a carved name of Erza=Monster, he would tell every single thing without fail.
"So where do we eat?"
"You'll know soon enough."
Natsu obediently followed the brunette as they reached the main street and started walking to a particular direction where they would spend their time eating their lunch.
...
It didn't take long for them to reach the place as they stood on a familiar shop that Erza find the most favorable place to eat at. The same thing could not be said for the pinkette though.
The dragonslayer began to show signs of sweat all over his face as he stared at the sign of the shop located above his head. He looked at nervously as if he was reluctant to follow the brunette inside as soon as she started falling in line.
"Something wrong, Natsu?" She asked as she saw him shifting his head sideways, seemingly in a state of caution.
"No, it's just this place is well―uhh... I think I'm gonna stay here outside. You go on ahead."
"What are you talking about? The sweets here are really delicious, you know."
"Well yeah but this place is a bit too dangerous for me... It's used to be the place where Erza comes through here. I might encounter her if I stayed here a bit longer."
Oh, that's right. Erza almost forgot about her own disguise there. She was so preoccupied about the strawberry cakes baked here that she was an entirely different person in the eyes of others.
She gotta set her acting skills straight from now on.
"I think she's not going to come here today. Plus, it would be better if we both eat together."
"Well, that's true but I don't usually eat cakes, you know. I just came here to see if you want to eat your lunch. I can eat somewhere if you want―" Before he could finish, Erza immediately grabbed onto his right arm and began dragging inside.
"No buts. We're going in!"
"Wai―Wait, Zeira!" Natsu couldn't even begin to force his own arm back as Erza pulled him along. He had a second thought of really drawing his arm back due to the girl's likeness of the scarlet knight but it seems like it's just her alone and not her.
He doesn't know why but he could see a striking resemblance to the woman everything back when they first met and how they first interacted. It almost seemed like he was talking to the real Erza.
Buuuut that can't be it, right?
Her scent is entirely different despite the likeness. Plus, she's not a mage, to begin with, and is actually a frail girl in appearance.
At least that's what he thought about Zeira all the while not entirely aware that they're the same person as the scarlet knight.
Natsu simply sighed while thinking and decided to let Zeira have her way.
...
The sound of the bells ringing was heard as the duo stepped inside. Several customers sat on their table to spend their day eating sweets. A line of people is seen in front of them as they also waited in line beside each other.
"The shop looks quite busy than usual," Natsu commented.
"It seems so. I wonder what's up."
"Are you really sure that she's isn't coming? With this many people, I think I should just wait outside―you know, spy if she's coming or not." He wanted to reconsider but Erza looked at him with another pout.
"I thought you were going to eat with me?"
It was an effective attack.
Erza noticed him, conflicted on his decision until he finally sighed in defeat once again.
"Okay, okay but I'll be quick, alright?"
"Nope, not gonna happen. You're gonna wait here until I also finish my meal." She gestured her finger right between her lips cutely.
"Now you're starting to look more like her, you know."
"Well, isn't it fine? At least call me, Second Erza from now on." She teased.
"Please don't." He flatly refused.
As they talked, they eventually reached their turn as they prepared their orders near the counter.
"I'm going to pick for the strawberry cake. That deluxe one." She pointed out her finger over to the menu. A bright expression present on her face as Natsu noticed it.
"Do you also like strawberry cakes?"
"Yeah, got a problem?" She asked.
"I-Iya... It's just that you happen to like the same cake as Erza though."
"Well, I do think we have a lot in common."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing~"
She shifted her gaze back up front and left the dragonslayer quite puzzled over her reply.
It didn't take them minutes to wait for the order as they settled their food on a vacant seat. Natsu had ordered some chocolate cake of his own though not as grand as something like Erza (Zeira) does since he doesn't have enough money to buy for his own.
"Itadakimasu!" The two spoke before digging in.
Erza happily took her sweet time eating the cake while Natsu ate it at a rather slow pace since it was his first time eating one.
Of course, the two also took their time conversing with one another. Natsu wanted to ask more about herself in which she had a difficult time making up stories about her background since she was constantly in disguise. So far, there hasn't been any sort of incident that could make him suspicious about her.
Despite all the similar personalities they have, Natsu seemed unaware of it.
Eventually, she also tried asking about his own self as well though she already knew what things he's going to talk about.
Natsu kept talking about his life with Igneel, his early days in Fairy Tail and until present. He also talked about their friends in his own honest thoughts about them. Needless to say, almost every end of his talk with another guildmate, he would put up a dissing remark about the ice mage.
It looks like his rivalry with Gray would never end.
"Heeeh... What about Erza? Do you have something to talk about her?" The brunette asked her real self to the eating pinkette.
"Ah, her... Well, you probably know a lot about her when I first mentioned her to you before."
"And that is?"
Natsu cleared up his throat for a moment and decided to speak.
"She's ill-tempered, bossy, and had a bit of a knack beating up people like they were her breakfast!"
Erza's veins formed a tick mark.
"...She also had this very scary tone of voice that even I couldn't hope to reply back! She's always mean and has no patience whenever I tried to talking about the whole reason! Not only that, she always interrupts my fight with Gray and I couldn't even tell the number of times she beat me up. Sure, it was stupid but she could've been a bit more soft than violent!" He pressed on, not noticing her growing irritation.
"... And also there's this one time that I bathe with her. I accidentally hit her while talking but I kept apologizing for that sincerely with all my heart! But she just sent me her fist! And it freaking hurts!"
Okay, that was on him, though.
Despite all that rant, Erza tried keeping herself calm a bit first before sending him a fist as well. Good thing she was holding quite a bit than usual otherwise, she would've punched him to kingdom come.
"A-Anyways... what else do you think about her other than her bad sides, huh Natsu?" She spoke as though she was leaking out her seething anger towards him. Natsu is still rather oblivious of her current expression due to being preoccupied with the current subject.
"Oh, yeah... Well, there are lots of things that are rather good to her than being bad so I'll just say the most obvious good thing I see in her..."
"... She's very lovely."
.
. .
. . .
Blush* Shuuuuuuuu*~
Thanks to his direct reply, Erza's face melted into a higher deep of blush she could've ever made. Because she was next to close with the pinkette, the words he said were loud and clear.
All that building anger was immediately crushed by an overwhelming feeling of happiness and embarrassment.
Basically, she was defeated in one attack. Not physically, but emotionally.
Her heart couldn't stop beating fast as she could hear its intense pulse as she looked at his face. Although she was a bit confused right now, she could somehow notice she was blushing as well.
Now, this is something new to her.
How could the dragonslayer possibly hold an impression such a blush? Could it mean that what he said was true and that he was attracted to her?
Is that the reason why she was being avoided?
Erza kept thinking but her growing embarrassment simply prevented her from doing any such straight thoughts that all she could do is to instinctively act like what she could only do in this type of situation.
W-What are you saying?! A-Are y-you really sure about what y-you just said?"
"Yeah." Natsu blurted out. Unlike her, he wasn't flustered or anything right now.
"I-It's embarrassing, you know!" She quivered in embarrassment.
"Really? I thought it wouldn't turn out like that. It will be a different story if she heard it, though."
"W-What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I feel comfortable talking about it when she's not around so I don't really mind if it's you, Zeira. I get a different feeling I tried saying that to her anyways." He admitted.
"Does that mean you can't tell her about this?"
"Sort of."
"Is that the reason why you're avoiding her?"
"No."
"I see..." Erza felt relieved. "Then why are you avoiding her? Would it be better if you talk to her about it?"
Natsu laughed sheepishly in response.
"Ah, it's complicated really. I really don't want you to worry about it. Plus, it's not like she's going to come around now. I'm just glad she didn't though."
Another tick mark formed.
I swear Erza kept having mood swings every now and then when Natsu talked nicely about her but at the same time ruins it just before it could build up the emotion. She didn't know if it was intentional or not but judging from how he still sees her as Zeira, it might be the case.
Another few minutes went by and the two already finished their meal as they were done talking with their conversation.
"Hmm... There's still time. I never thought the day would take longer than usual. We've been sitting here for quite some time now." Natsu looked at the outside as he pondered.
"You're right... Don't you have any jobs right now? I'm sure there's one to pop out on your request." Erza (Zeira) asked.
"Nah, I don't think so. The requests keep getting fewer and fewer since I got so many complaints from the clients so Gramps probably decided to postpone the request and let me settle down for awhile."
"Is that why you're in town?"
"I think so. I should probably lessen my power a bit and try not to break anything. Erza keeps reminding me that so I'm training myself to hold back for now."
"You sure talk a lot about Erza-san." She suspected for awhile now.
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, you've been like mentioning her during out conversations. Even your statement just now... You don't suppose you l-l-like her or something." She stuttered at the last part.
Natsu as straightforward as he is answered without hesitation.
"Her? Yeah, I like her."
If Erza didn't experience the embarrassment she had earlier, she wouldn't flustered over something like a compliment from the dragonslayer.
He could've meant two things in those words. Of course, the redhead was a bit more sensitive of herself towards compliments so she simply blushed again.
"I-Is that so?"
"You know, I've been noticing it for quite awhile..." He suddenly stopped as his face adopted a rather serious looking expression. The redhead probably blew her cover as she noticed his face in front of her.
"W-What?" She asked uneasily.
"Your face kinda turns red if I said something nice about Erza... Are you perhaps embarrassed to hear something like that?"
"H-How did you know?" She played along.
"Well, I heard about some things in Lucy's book that girls don't really feel comfortable hearing about compliments with another girl. Are you perhaps the same, Zeira?"
"Iyaa... It's nothing like that, I promise. I just find it surprising that you felt things about her that way."
"Is it that really surprising." Natsu tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah, it is..." (For me that is...) Said Erza in her mind as she continues to put up her disguise.
A few seconds went by until Natsu spoke.
"Yosh! Let's go!" As he said those words, he also stood up.
"Where to?"
"Outside. There are still a lot of time to do so let's go exploring for a bit."
"What's with the sudden thought? You know I also live here so pretty much I knew most of the places here in Magnolia." Erza replied while also showcasing her familiarity of the said town in her own place.
"Is that so? Well, there's still a lot of places you probably didn't know from me. Something that is only accessible to me and Happy."
"Hoh? Really?"
"Hmmhnnn. I bet you'll be surprised." He nodded proudly with a smug grin plastered on his face.
"Well, I guess I could come along since there's still time."
"Cool! I promise you won't regret it!" He immediately grabbed her hand gently and finally pulled her along. A surprised expression was made by the brunette as she gazed over to her hand being held onto his. Like what happened to them back then, she immediately began to feel something in her heart that she couldn't explain.
It was beating again at a fast rate but it's like the ones that were happening when she had a case of extreme embarrassment.
It was gentle yet fast. The pulse wasn't exactly that strong but rather on the right amount of force while maintaining the speeding heartbeat. A feeling she couldn't understand surrounds her thought as she looked at his back longingly.
Time seemed to slow down as she let herself get pulled away to wherever he wants her to see. Erza could only confuse herself thinking about him as they went out of the shop and went their way back to the main street.
She was practically silent as she didn't resist to his pull as if she was letting him.
Although with all the disguise happening right now, she felt like it was not that bad to dress up as something of a disguise and learn some new things about the dragonslayer.
...
Time eventually went past quick as the sun sets itself over to the horizon. The town slowly began to clear up and the people returned back to their homes to rest for the tiring day. Natsu and Erza (Zeira) walked side by side with each other.
The latter still talking with the former about the things that happened this day.
"I'm actually surprised... To think that there would be a place that I didn't know in this part of town. I'd like to visit sometime soon."
"Told you... You're welcome to come around. We might play some games and probably just sleep, you know."
"Yeah, thank you. Natsu."
"No problem, Zeira... Anyways, where do you live by the way? I talked to you a couple of times but I never asked about it."
"Ah, I just live in a house just on the other side of this town." She bluffed.
"R-Really? Then I'll acc―"
"I really appreciate the offer but I think I can handle on my own this time, Natsu."
"Is that so? Are you sure about that?"
"Yep, don't worry. I can handle the trip back so don't sweat it."
"I see... Then, my home is just outside of town just at the exit. I might need to go home as well or Happy might complain about raw fish." He reasoned.
"I think so too..."
"Then, thanks for hanging out with me, Zeira."
"Yeah, thank you for accompanying me as well."
Erza was about to turn around and walk until she heard him call her back for something.
"...Hey so uhh... I was just wondering if...if I could hang out with you tomorrow." He asked with a flustered look that left her to blush as well after hearing his words.
"E-Eh?"
"Well, you don't need to accept it if you bothered. I can just ask you again some other time, you know."
"I-Iyee... It's fine... I'm actually okay with it."
"Really?" His face lit up with joy.
"Yeah, I'm free tomorrow."
"Yosh! Then it's decided. Let's go meet in the cake shop tomorrow. I'll wait for you there." He made a proud gesture of his own as his spirits raised higher than usual.
"Sure!" Erza couldn't help but smile in response.
As soon as their conversation finished, Natsu eventually sprinted off in the opposite direction. Erza watched him leave with a faint gesture of her left hand until his figure stopped. His back turned away and met his gaze once again though there's something off.
"You know... Even though, we only just met... I think―I think I like you, Zeira." His cheeks flushed red but he quickly glanced back before returning to his original pace and left the redhead stunned in his words.
Despite the distance, she could make the words he said to her and also the expression he left before leaving simply shocked him. Her eyes stared wide at the pinkette fleeting off the distance and the blushing cheeks soon turned crimson red as she played those words inside her mind.
..
"I think I like you."
..
A/N: And there's the chapter. Forgot to tell you guys that this is a two-shot so I'll be writing the next chapter when I have the time. So far, how'd you like the first one-shot. I was planning to turn it into a Valentine one-shot but I had already made with the other pairings so I left it like this.
Anyways, leave a review and tell about your thoughts with the story. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
- The wiErDos send their regards...