A/N: This story is intended primarily for developing a relationship which doesn't get the screen time that I think it deserves. The romance will come later. I personally believe that Natsu and Mirajane have every reason to be incredibly close friends, if not more. Throughout the course of the story, my goal is to prove to you that this pairing makes perfect sense. My biggest concern at this point is not to ram them together just for some immediate lemons, but to make sure that I write them in a way that is convincing and believable, staying true to the characters we all know.

Blanket disclaimer, I do not claim to own Fairy Tail or its characters. Please support the official release.

Natsu woke up the same way he usually did, by rolling out of his hammock and landing on the hard wood floor with a loud yelp. As always, he'd been snoring loudly with his mouth open and drool all over his chin.

With a sleepy groan, the pink haired young man pushed himself up off the floor and rubbed the back of his head. In moments, his eyes looked wide and alert.

"Morning, Happy!" Natsu spoke up excitedly, displaying his apparently boundless reserves of energy.

Happy had been curled up on his shoulder, and was sent flying by the flailing jump-start to the day. The projectile exceed crashed into a pile of Natsu's unwashed laundry, providing a soft yet odiferous landing for him.

"Morning, Natsu..." Poor Happy replied, while peeling a particularly sweaty smelling pair of white pants off of his head.

Natsu started stretching various arm muscles after standing up. "Oh hey! Today's the day of that thing!"

Happy squinted across the room at Natsu, either from sleepiness or confusion.

"You know, the thing!" The dragonslayer continued, "The thing that Gramps said was so important that we couldn't take any overnight jobs before today!"

After letting out a big yawn, Happy just nodded and smacked his lips a few times. Natsu, on the other hand, started getting ready with purpose, weaving his way across the messy floor in order to get ready for the day. "Oh, we should probably go wake up Lucy, too!"

"Aye sir..." Happy croaked quietly.

However, when they ultimately arrived at Lucy's apartment, they found that she had already made her bed and left.

The morning sun bathed the Fairy Tail guild hall in a very welcoming and soothing light. The mood inside the building was pretty relaxed and quiet, too. It seemed suspiciously empty though, considering how the master had supposedly arranged a special event to take place that day.

Kinana remained behind the bar, keeping herself busy while Wakaba and Macao sat on the stools and kept her company. Pantherlily was at the bar too, sitting on the counter in his smaller form, with his arms folded and head bowed in meditation.
At one of the nearby tables, Gray leaned back in his chair, chatting idly with Mirajane and Lisanna. The ice wielder had managed to keep his clothes on, so far. Mira's legs were crossed, and her arms were folded, but not in an agitated or annoyed looking way. She retained the same aloof, sweet smile that she usually wore, as she listened intently to whatever Gray was talking to her about. Lisanna looked pretty attentive as well, with her hands folded politely in her lap.

Natsu interrupted the comfortable scene by loudly kicking the door open. Everyone turned to greet him, and Happy quickly flew off to sit in Lisanna's lap. The fire-breather then stood in the doorway after his boisterous entrance and scratched his head, confused by how quiet the place was.

"Huh... wha? WHERE THE HECK IS EVERYBODY!?" He stomped over to Gray's table, fuming. "We've got that big important thing today!"

Gray looked over with teeth grit in annoyance. "Would you keep it down, flame brain? Everybody already left!"

Natsu pressed his forehead up against Gray's, bearing his teeth angrily "ALREADY LEFT!?"

Gray didn't back down, "It means they WERE here, and now they AREN'T here, need me to explain it more clearly?"

Natsu growled, steam practically coming out of his ears at this point. "HEY! I don't need any of your sass today, you frosty bastard! Just... WHERE DID THEY GO?!"

At that moment, both boys felt something strong grab the backs of their necks, before both of their foreheads were forcibly slammed into the surface of the table, leaving them temporarily dazed.

"Enough. Both of you." Erza dusted her hands off with a smug smirk at her handiwork.

Lisanna squeaked at the abrupt end of all the yelling, and Mira giggled quietly, covering her mouth with her hand.

While Lisanna gingerly lifted Gray's face up to check if he was still breathing, Natsu quickly recovered and directed his angry confusion at his attacker, "NOT COOL, ERZA, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WH-..."

"Natsu..." Mirajane's voice cut him off, and she slid an envelope across the table to him.

Natsu went quiet and rubbed his sore forehead with a sigh, before picking up the envelope. He turned it over between his fingers, to see that it was addressed to him, written in Master Makarov's handwriting. "What's this?"

"Just read it, Natsu!" Lisanna piped up in response, smiling wide. She then went back to gently shaking Erza's other victim. "Graaaay..."

While Gray slowly returned to full consciousness. Erza tried to soothe him with an apologetic hand on his shoulder. Natsu opened the envelope and read the message contained inside.

"Attention all my beloved children of Fairy Tail,

I have devised an exercise to help demonstrate the strength of our family bond, and help kick-start our guild's full return to its former glory. This venture should also improve our overall synergy, as well as each individual wizard's ability to adapt and work in teams.

Today, each active member of the Fairy Tail guild has been randomly assigned a parter, with which they are obligated to complete at least one job. I've made a few adjustments to make sure that each pairing contains two wizards who don't normally work together. Each team has had appropriate jobs assigned to them, to make sure the challenge is suitable for the wizards involved.

Prove to me that you are able to act with maturity and rise to this challenge. Get to know your partner better, and have fun out there."

Further down the page, there was a personalized message for Natsu.

"Natsu, your partner for today's exercise will be Mirajane. While you're both some of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail, and I know you get along well, I don't think I've ever known you two to really team up with each other before. This will be Mira's first job since she's decided to go back to taking regular wizard work again, so I want you to make sure it goes well for her. She will be able to tell you more about the job itself, since I gave her the information. I'm sure you two will take great care of each other.

Make me proud,
-Master Makarov"

When he neared the bottom of the page, Natsu silently mouthed the name "Mirajane..." with surprise. Once he had finished reading, he lowered the page to see that Mira was smiling at him and awaiting his response. "So, everybody else already got their assignments and left?"

"Mmhmm!" Lisanna spoke up again to answer the question.

Natsu glanced down at the letter again, before looking back at Mirajane's hopeful expression. "And I'm with you today, Mira?" His big trademark smile started to spread across his face, "That's pretty cool, actually! This should be fun!"

Mirajane nodded her head eagerly in agreement, "I think so too! When the master mentioned the idea, I thought it sounded so fun that I decided to join in!"

Natsu chuckled warmly, the anger and pain in his face quickly forgotten as he looked to the others. "So who did you guys get?"

"I got Erza!" Lisanna answered excitedly. Erza gave the thumbs up, and smiled with an approving nod.

Gray was back to normal and relatively calm at this point, though he kept staring at Erza with a miffed expression.

You could practically see the gears turning in Natsu's head as he tried to fully process this new situation. "So... what about Lucy? Who did she get paired with?"

"She was put with Bisca, I think." Gray seethed, after making a chunk of ice in his hand to put on his swollen forehead.

Natsu looked a little concerned about Lucy's safety at first, before his expression brightened back up again, "Well, I'm sure she can handle herself just fine out there. She's become really good with all those spirits of hers!"

Erza understood Natsu's slight trepidation, and leaned down to ruffle his pink hair a little bit. "You know she's an amazing wizard, Natsu. Bisca's no slouch either. The two of them can function just fine without you there." She smirked.

"Yea yea..." He answered, before looking over at Happy. "Well, what about my little buddy? Does Happy get to come with me?" Lisanna had her arms folded across the front of the blue cat's stomach, absently hugging him close. Happy looked pretty content where he was, his eyes glazing over from the comfort.

Pantherlily was the one who spoke up though, after hopping down from his perch and marching over to group's the table. "He's with me, actually."

Natsu blinked in surprise, "You two are together? But I thought the master was trying to create unusual groups?"

"Well, it's true that we are both exceeds, but the master had a specific job in mind for us. One where our... smaller size and flight abilities will be necessary." Pantherlily replied with a stoic nod. "Besides, we don't normally work together without Carla there. It'll be... an interesting bonding experience." The black exceed gave a big warm grin, baring his sharp teeth.

"Works for me!" Happy wriggled away from Lisanna's grasp to hop down and stand beside Lily. "So... who did Carla end up with?" Similar to Natsu, Happy tried to conceal his possessive concerns about her.

"She's helping the master look after little Asuka, since Bisca and Alzack both agreed to participate." Lisanna chimed in, helpfully.

"And what about you?" Natsu asked Gray through grit teeth, not wanting to give him any eye contact.

"He's with Cana! I think it's a pretty good match, if you ask me!" Mirajane added, cheerfully.

"If she ever gets here." Gray retorted, glancing over at the door with annoyance.

"Don't worry, she'll stagger her way here eventually." Erza added with another smirk. She certainly seemed to be in good spirits today. "Lisanna, are you ready to head out?" She asked with a sincere, fond smile.

"Sure am!" Lisanna replied, before quickly getting up from the table and scurrying to Erza's side. "Good luck, everyone!" The two departed after many waves and exchanged goodbyes. Happy and Pantherlily left as well, flying through the open door before it had a chance to close behind the two young women.

Natsu looked down at the letter one more time, before giving Mirajane a big smile. "This is gonna be great! I feel pretty lucky, I bet everyone wanted to get you, Mira!"

Mirajane just gave her bright, trademark smile and tilted her head at the compliment, "That's sweet of you to say, Natsu, but I'm sure just as many wanted to fight alongside the world famous Salamander!" She raised her eyebrows and poked the side of Natsu's arm in jest.

Gray just snorted at that sentiment.

Natsu ignored him and carried on. "Now that Lisanna's back, we can talk about more pleasant things for a change too!"

This statement made Miranane glance down for a moment, before flicking some hair out of her face and managing a poised smile. "Yea..." she continued after a short pause. "We sure will."

Natsu then pushed himself away from the table and stood up. "So tell me about this job! Where are we headed?"

"It's a real doozy," Mira stated before sliding the sheet from the job board across the table to him. "Not quite S-Class, but I think it's probably the most difficult one the Master could find."

Natsu's eyes widened as he scanned the contents of the page, "Two bounties for 3 million jewel each? Holy crap!"

"It's a pair of thieves and assassins who have been causing all sorts of trouble near Clover Town, apparently." Mirajane explained, looking at the sheet with a more serious tone. "Both are wizards, rumored to be from one of the dark guilds, though which one is anyone's guess at this point."

"Sounds perfect! I bet these guys aren't as tough as they're cracked up to be! I can't WAIT to beat them!" Natsu grinned wide and pounded his fists together, making flames flicker around his wrists. "Oh yea! I'M FIRED UP NOW!"

Gray rolled his eyes, keeping his arms folded while Mirajane giggled and cheered supportively. After a moment she stood up and picked up a large backpack that had been sitting beside her chair. "Ready to head out then?"

Natsu grinned, shouldering his own backpack. "I think so! Got everything you need?"

"Mmhmm!" She nodded with another bright smile.

After sparing a glance back at the bar, Natsu called out to Wakaba and Macao, "What about you two?"

"Somebody has to hold down the fort while all of you are out having fun!" Macao replied, before turning back to his coffee. Wakaba just turned to give a nod, and seemed too interested in his cigarette to add anything else.

"Uh-huh." Natsu replied with a chuckle, unconvinced that the real reason wasn't just fear or laziness.

"C'mon!" Mira interjected excitedly, tugging at Natsu's elbow before heading for the door.

Natsu beamed his wide toothy smile before jogging over to reach the door first, so that he could open and hold it for her.

"Such an adorable little gentleman." Mira winked as she walked through and made it into the pleasant, late morning sun.

Gray shook his head again and closed his eyes as he stayed in his chair to wait for Cana. He could hear the two continuing to chat outside the building as they walked away, the sounds getting fainter and fainter.

"LITTLE?!" Natsu yelled.

"You heard me!" Mira giggled.

"Are you gonna go back to wearing black and being mean too?"

"Maybe... if you don't behave yourself, I just might." Mirajane added with a musical sounding laugh. There was another pause, before she added; "Twerp," and gave the young dragonslayer another wink.