A/N: So as stated in the description this is going to be an A:TLA/LOK AU, so I'll be trying to work in those mechanics with the FT ones, should be an interesting challenge. Also for the sake of this fic Wendy is aged up to 15 and Natsu is 16, the age Avatars generally discover who they are. If you haven't already and want to read a little prologue as to how we got here you should check out the last chapter of Lilac Hearts, you can get to it on my profile. It's a series of one-shots for the past Wentsu Week and if you wanna read the rest of it too be my guest. I know one of the categories is humor which I find inevitable due to the nature of the characters but there will be some serious moments too, just as a heads up. So read, review, fav and do whatever. If you have any questions about certain details in the story or if some things don't make sense to you don't hesitate to tell me whether it be via review, private message or on my tumblr (which is also in my profile btw) and I'll try to clear things up and maximize the experience. Hope you enjoy!
"Hurry up Natsu! We're going to miss our second train," the small blue spirit told the firebender, pulling on his arms. He was sprawled all over the train station floor obstructing the busy rush hour traffic. It was a wonder all the people stepping on his back didn't snap him into consciousness.
"Mmffpt" Natsu's words were garbled through his closed lips, doing his best not to throw up. He didn't understand why they couldn't just fly all the way to this Magnolia city. He was on his way to learn airbending after all. But his master had insisted he take a train after crossing the ocean. He could be a real jerk sometimes. Well that and Happy would probably pass out if he had to lug him that far. Finally Natsu managed to get on his feet with some help from the nearest wall and a couple of unfortunate passerby.
"See Happy, no problem at all," he said with a nauseated look on his face. Happy's sigh was lost through the sound of rushing wind because next thing he knew they were airborne. His motion sickness started to soothe away as the air blew through his hair. He was excited about his airbending training and couldn't wait to get started. Ever since they told him he was the Avatar he'd been on a non-stop high to ready to kick evil's butt. Not that he wasn't ready to kick butt every other day of his life.
After yet another nauseating train ride Natsu and Happy finally arrived in the town of Magnolia. Being part of the Fiore region in the Earth Kingdom it had been mostly populated by Earth Nation merchants long ago. Now it still remained a merchant town but much more diverse with benders and non benders alike flocked to the town to find anything from the latest silks to rare potions and ointments rumored to kill even the strongest hangover. The Eastern air temple was near so the fact that his airbenbending master lived there wasn't too odd. Still even after all these years and despite all the changes the air nation has gone through airbenders tended to keep to themselves.
The town was bustling, people running everywhere doing this and that. Trying not to get lost in the crowd the pair set off into town admiring the shops and stopping to buy from food stalls along the way, easily distracted by all the new snacks and cuisine at their fingertips. As he scoffed down his fourth bowl of noodles Natsu remembered why they were there in the first place.
"Oi, Happy. You remember which way was the guild place?" Happy looked up from the fish he was nibbling at and surveyed their surroundings only to shrug his small shoulders. Natsu knew that if Mystogan found out that he arrived late to meet his new master he'd live to regret it, but the looming threat seemed much less urgent and serious with the ocean between them. Still, he didn't know anything about the mysterious airbending master except for her name: Wendy Marvell. He tried out her name under his breath which was apparently loud enough for the street vendor to hear.
"I've heard of that lass. Sweet girl, strong bender. What's a fire head like you looking for an air nomad for?" he asked.
"Well you see Mr. Food Vendor, I'm the Avatar and she's gonna be my airbending master," Natsu said nonchalantly between bites. The vendor seemed pleasantly surprised that his noodles were being chowed down by who was probably the most powerful person in the world.
"Well I'm honored to have the Avatar eat from my modest establishment. If you'd like I could point you towards where you might find the young sky maiden. She enjoys a cup of my special noodles every once in a while."
"Really? That would be really helpful mister!" Natsu exclaimed.
"If you go down this road you'll see a cake shop to your left. There you're gonna turn down that road then keep going straight until you see a rather large building with a huge sign and probably several very drunk people inside. I'd bet my cart that Miss Marvell is there sitting in one of the tables of Fairy Tail."
"Fairy Tail... that's the place my master sent us, he said it was a guild of some sort."
"They call themselves that often. Many people would argue it's a exclusive pub, members only type deal, but they are pretty welcoming to everyone. Others insist they're some sort of gang considering all the property damage that happens wherever they go."
"What about you sir?" Happy asked.
The vendor looked at the small spirit curiously as if he couldn't believe he was having this conversation with a flying cat. "Why, they seem like a family of sorts. They're good people. Hold on to them if you can Avatar. I'm sure you won't regret it. And welcome to Magnolia."
After a couple of wrong turns and a few more snack stops Natsu and Happy finally stood in front of the Fairy Tail building. It was huge and showy but also kind of worn out and looked like it had taken some heavy damage in some areas.
"Why aren't we going in Natsu? It's been five minutes," Happy chided.
"I don't know, I'm getting a weird feeling about this." The firebender shifted his feet, visibly uncomfortable, as if something tangible was preventing him from going inside.
"Maybe you're nervous. Normal people would be," Happy said reassuringly, placing his tiny paw on the highest part of Natsu's leg he could reach.
"Whatcha talking about! I'm the Avatar, no way I'm nervous," Natsu said with new confident air that always comes out whenever he's challenged.
"Sure," Happy said as a tall, scary looking blonde man exited the building.
"Crazy, every last one of 'em," he muttered under his breath before walking away into town not even looking at the avatar and the small spirit. Natsu took advantage of the open door and walked into the building.
It was a large hall with many tables and a long bar at the very end of it. There was people clustered everywhere. Most of them were sitting around drinking or having a meal. Others came in and out what looked like a back door often carrying pool items and even each other. There was even a couple of people looking at a bulletin board reading the various flyers and papers pinned to it. There was a fight between a very large, dark man with white hair fighting an almost naked black haired guy so no one noticed when they came in.
Natsu lead the way to the bar where a pretty white haired woman stood clearing empty glasses and serving fresh drinks to everyone around. Despite looking so busy she turned to Natsu once they reached the bar.
"What can I get you? A nice cold beer or how about a warm meal? The wings are great," she said in a sweet voice that had a slight edge, as if she was going to make him get something whether he wanted to or not.
"Errr... We're actually looking for someone," Natsu said settling down on the nearest stool.
"Maybe you could point us towards them," Happy added flying up to Natsu's shoulder.
"Oh!" the bar wench said at the sight of Happy. Her surprise quickly turned into a look of knowing. "She's over that table in the corner," she said pointing to the far right where several girls were sitting and chatting amiably.
"How can you be so sure you know who we're looking for?" Natsu asked.
"Oh, you'll see. I suggest you go quickly, I'm sure you have a lot of Avatar training to do," she said with a wink.
They decided not to spend any more time with the observant woman and hurried over to where she had pointed them too. There four girls, pretty similar to his age, Natsu guessed, sat around the table. Three of them had blue hair, which seemed like an odd coincidence to him, and the fourth one was a blonde. It wasn't until he was standing at the foot of the table when they acknowledged his presence.
"Hey there! Can we help you with something?" said the perky blonde with a smile.
"I'm looking for someone, my master sent me here," he answered trying to figure which one of the girls was Wendy.
"Ooh you must be the Avatar! I've read so much about you. Well your past lives," said one of the blue headed ones, this one with glasses.
"Thanks! I think... Are you-" he started but got cut short by another blue haired woman. She was probably the tallest of the three and had long wavy hair.
"Wendy? No, That's Levy, and that one in the corner is Lucy," she said pointing to the blonde that spoke first to him. "I'm Juvia and this one over here is Wendy."
Finally the mysterious girl was revealed and Natsu didn't know what to think of her. Her hair was the darkest bluest of all and was cut short, just under her chin. The front of her head was shaven and decorated with a blue arrow traditional to air masters. Her smile extended all the way to her large brown eyes which greeted him with warmth. He opened his mouth to introduce himself but was once again cut short, this time by a new fifth voice.
"You're late. You were supposed to arrive here yesterday evening. I hope you have a good excuse."
Natsu looked down to the table to see a small white, catlike spirit, not unlike his friend, was the one scolding him.
"Whoah, Happy. She's just like you!" His friend flew towards the table to stand in front of the unnamed spirit. His eyes went big and jaw dropped to her obvious displeasure.
"Please behave yourselves, you're among civilized people."
"Come on Carla, don't be so harsh on them, it's not a very nice welcome." Natsu turned to face Wendy who had spoken for the first time. She got up from her seat and walk around the table to his side. He turned to face her and she stretched out her hand.
"Nice to meet you. As you know already I'm Wendy and that over there is my friend Carla." He shook her hand, still staring into her eyes. He caught himself when a slight blush crossed her face and he began to look at anywhere except at her.
"I'm Natsu," he said focusing his eyes on her round little nose. "Mystogan said you're going to be my airbending master. I didn't know airbenders got their tattoos so young."
Wendy gave a small giggle. "Yes, if we've been training since we can bend we become masters pretty young. I got my arrows at about 12 and my hair is still growing out."
"Yeah Wendy's amazing! I'm sure she'll be a fantastic teacher," said Lucy, placing a reassuring hand on Wendy's shoulder.
"Hey, why don't you give Natsu a tour of the guild?," Levy prompted. "Hopefully you won't keep him cooped up in the Air Temple all the time. I'm you'll fit right in and want to spend time with your new friends, don't you think so Juvia?"
The woman perked up from what seemed like a daydream of sorts and scrambled for words. "Oh yes! I'm sure you'll everyone will warm up to you. I bet Gray would love to meet you!"
Looks exchanged across the other three women before Lucy spoke. "I'm not too sure about that Juvia, Gray can be a bit...icy."
Juvia frowned to herself for a second before smiling again and getting up from the table. "Good point. I'll get him anyway, he promised to go to the market today and it's getting dark."
With that she disappeared through the tables and rivers of people looking for this Gray person.
"Well I'm not sure we have enough time for a proper tour since we're already behind schedule. But next time we're in town I promise to show you the sights and introduce you to everyone," Wendy said.
"Hopefully by then you'll know how to read a watch," Carla said flying past Happy to settle in Wendy's hands. Happy followed suit and nestled himself in Natsu's pink messy hair, still staring dumbstruck at the white spirit.
"Then let's get going then! Can't wait until you teach me to air whip people around," Natsu said starting to walk towards the exit.
Wendy didn't seem to miss a single step and materialized right next to him without him even noticing.
"You do know that airbenders are generally pacifists, right?" she asked as they walked out the front doors of the guild.
"Yeah, 'course. So can you really fly? Or is that just rumors?" he pelted her with questions which seemed to overwhelm the small bender. She sighed deeply and continued walking, steering him down a street that may or may not seem familiar.
"Come on," she said. "We'd better hurry up if we want to catch the last boat to the temple. I'm told it only takes a couple of hours so I hope your motion sickness isn't too bad."
Natsu looked at her surprised. Everyone in this town seemed to know a lot about him.
"You're quite a handful. Mystogan sent over some tips with his letter. I also hope you won't break anything too much, it's a very old place."
"I don't break everything!" Natsu said, indignantly crossing his arms. "Things just get in my way," he added in a small voice.
She laughed, this time a full long laugh that pleasantly filled his ears. "Don't worry, you'll learn to control that," Wendy said placing one of her soft hands on his arm for reassurance.
"I hate to interrupt this conversation but, is the boat that's leaving ours?" Happy's question made the other three heads turn towards the water now in near view.
"It is! Let's go!" Wendy said grabbing Natsu by the arm and running with a blast of air propelling them forward at speeds Natsu didn't think possible. This girl was just full of surprises, he could tell.