Note: Natsu/Erza is completely out of my wheelhouse. My first attempt wasn't perfect and I'm not 100% pleased with it but I'm also tired of looking at it. This is attempt #2.

Tell me I'm pretty, it's my birthday!

The crosswind took her hair in one direction and the leaves in another. Erza watched the newly naked, spindly branches of the last tree on the block rattle against one another. She closed her eyes and waited for the whisper that always came along with the wind – the soft voice that spoke of long dead, empty love – but it never came. Maybe it was the season. Maybe it was her heart no longer straining her ears.

Erza spun around before opening her eyes. Bright reds and yellows reflecting off the surface of the river nearly blinded her. Another gust of wind chilled her hands and she wished she'd remembered her gloves. Something pressed against her arm and when she turned, there was a smile almost as bright as the sunset.

"You forgot these." Natsu handed over a pair of familiar gloves. They fit perfectly even though they were new.

"Thank you."

His arm slid around her shoulders and his cheek pressed against her temple. It was nice to have him close and not have to look up – not that Erza liked to compare. She never intended to do it, but still managed to twist herself in knots trying to decide what was a simple appreciation of something different and a comparison. Natsu deserved more than her broken pieces.

"Hungry?"

"No, but I bet you are." She smiled at him and he stole the most casual of kisses.

"I'm always hungry."

"How silly of me to even ask." The sound of Natsu's laugh filled her chest with something warm. Something soft and familiar. Something safe.

Their flat used to be her flat. It was spacious and ridiculous and she loved it. Natsu never once suggested she move in with him. His things slowly migrated to her space and then, one day, he'd stopped going back to the house at the edge of town. Erza knew his house left him as empty as her heart had felt. Now, though, she liked to think they'd moved forward from patching each other's cracks and fissures. They had something new that belonged only to them.

He never remembered to hang up his coat or scarf but he never forgot how she took her tea before bed. Heavy on the honey, easy on the lemon.

Natsu had absolutely no opinion on their bed sheets but the way he sprawled out across them just after a bath proved an appreciation for the plush softness she preferred. Erza slid into the bed beside him and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. His grin was something savage that reminded her of younger, lighter years.

"You took long enough," he said, rolling over to face her.

"I was gone for twenty minutes."

Erza slid her hands under her pillow and watched him closely. Nothing he did really surprised her anymore but sometimes she indulged the masochistic voice in her head. The voice that told her he'd get tired of the one day a year she took the train to Hargeon. He'd decide he wanted a lover who wasn't still mourning the loss of a thing she'd never truly had, and leave. Natsu never asked why she went to stare at the waves and wonder at the abruptness of death and the aftermath. In truth, she knew he didn't need to. Natsu had his own losses and failures.

He smiled again and derailed her train of thought.

"It felt like an hour."

"You're so needy," she whispered.

Natsu tugged her hand from under the pillow and wrapped her arm over his hip. "Come here."

"What?" She let him pull her close and moved from her pillow to his.

"I missed you today."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Erza. I just wanted you to know that I missed you. I know where you go and why. But I still missed you."

"Sometimes I think it's too much and I should stop. Nothing changes."

"Nothing?" he asked softly, still smiling. "You think nothing changes?"

"Tell me what you mean."

"You and me, Erza. Everything has changed." Natsu kissed the apple of her cheek and brushed his thumb over the spot. "We all took a blow that day. If you want to stop going out there, then stop. But don't do it for me. Do it for you."

"Do you miss her? And what about –"

"Yes," he interrupted smoothly.

Erza waited for his expression to fall into something heartbreaking but it didn't. Natsu's smile was solid. It made her feel solid, too.

"I don't know how to not miss them but that's not where I end or begin. And it's not where you end either, Erza."

"I'm sorry." Tears stung her eyes but she tried to hold them off. She didn't want to cry.

"You gotta stop saying that. We have enough good days to balance out the bad."

"Are you sure it's enough?"

Natsu's palm slid against her cheek and his fingers into her hair. The first kiss was soft and reassuring. It was all the reasons Erza loved him – and she did love him. His lips were gentle and sweet and chased away the shadows that still lurked in the deep corners of her heart.

But the second kiss burned her. Natsu was still a dragon in his heart and sometimes all Erza wanted was to be consumed. His mouth was greedy and took from her lips and her neck. Her eyes slid closed when she felt his weight over her. She loved her control but she trusted Natsu with her submission. He wasn't the most efficient lover she'd ever had but he could read her easily – and he wasn't hard to please.

His final kiss was wet and a little sloppy. The satisfied but rough sigh against her lips was anything but. Erza felt like maybe her cracks would never leave her, but she would love him with every broken piece.