A pink-haired girl was laying on the floor with a large gash across her shoulder. She was dressed in a long white kimono that was covered with dust and spilled blood that accumulates on the floor below her. She still held her sword, or what's left of it in one of her weak hands. She barely managed to stay conscious after the fight with the redhead Erza Scarlet. The only thoughts that passed through the head of Ikaruga were about her battle with Erza, who had destroyed her beloved sword 'Mugetsu Ryu' beyond all possible repair. "How was it possible that I lost..." She asked herself repeatedly. "She was weaker than me! I smashed her armors over and over again!" thought the green-eyed girl. The anger that flooded her body made her blood move faster and faster, causing her vision to weaken and increased the amount of blood leaving her body. She fell unconscious feeling weak and cold.

...

...

Her eyes started to open slightly as she heard a voice that she didn't know.

"...You..."

Her eyes tried to focus on the voice she heard but with no luck, her power to move or even to open her eyes left her. She felt someone's eyes on her body. Someone looked at her intensly. She could hear his slow steps that approached her direction. She tried to find out about the man she heard approaching her.

Crack!

Crack!

She listened to his steps that crushed pieces of stone that were around her. A strange feeling entered her body and she knew that feeling very well but forgot. The beating of her heart echoed in her ear while one thought entered her head. "A-am I afraid?" she asked herself in amazement. She never felt so frightened since that day.

She felt weak, very weak. Her body refused to go and defend itself, and she just gave in to her fear. Her consciousness began to slip from her as her last thoughts moved from her head. "Please, not again...".

...

...

"Mmm...What? Where?" said Ikaruga as she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred and she blinked several times to try and see where she was. She saw flashes of white light. And finally she could see once more. Her eyes revealed the Tower of Heaven. The fact that she could see the whole tower meant she was far away from it.

"So you're finally awake?" asked a voice she didn't recognize. The voice made her jump in surprise and prepared herself for an attack.

Many people were in front of her. Three of them were the helpers of Jellal the tower construction. This included the cube-man, the cat-girl and the brown skinned boy she defeated with ease before her battle with Erza. The rest of them she didn't know, but guessed that they were friends of the red-haired warrior that defeated her two team members. One of them was a shirtless black-haired boy, another was a blue-haired girl in a blue dress that stood next to him, and finally there was a blonde girl and a cat that was hovering around her.

"Who are you?!" she asked with anger and tried to retrieve her sword, only to find that her beloved Mugetsu-Ryu was gone.

The blue-haired girl moved quickly and stood between Ikaruga and the black-haired youth. "Gray-sama, stay behind Juvia!" she said angrily as her hand began to turn into liquid and take the form of a transparent blue blade.

Ikaruga was in a bad situation. She was standing in front of potential opponents and even if she was stronger, there were many of them, and she was still weak from her battle with Erza. Not to mention she didn't have any kind of weapon to defend herself. She then noticed that she and all her enemies were in an air bubble that was made of water and, from the looks of it, the blue-haired girl was the one who controlled it. Her condition was really bad and her chances of survival were not good at all.

"Hey, calm down you two! Nobody is going to fight now!" said the shirtless boy and pulled the water girl back. "We gotta get out of here as fast as we can!" he finished and pointed to the tower.

Ikaruga moved her head back to the direction of the tower that turned into a giant, bright-blue Lacrima, and she saw flashes of light and large explosions. "What's going on up there?" she asked quietly.

"That's Natsu." said the flying cat.

"Natsu? Do you mean Salamander?" she asked with surprise as she saw the power of the famous Salamander.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of bright light and felt an immense magic power and could see that it had a form of a dragon. At the same time she could see something red flying around the tower chasing a blue spark, destroying large parts of the tower in the process.

After several seconds of chase, the blue spark flew over the tower and summoned a colossal circuit of magic that meant bad things for Ikaruga, especially since that they are not far enough away.

All of them stared as Natsu flew like a missile to the direction of the magic circuit.

Ikaruga became dizzy as she moved back and began to feel her power leaving her again, and she sank back to the bottom of the bubble.

-;-

...

...

"...Mmmm..."

Ikaruga moved left and right, trying to find the most comfortable position. "Hmmm, gaa!" She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she shifted about. Her eyes opened instantly and she jumped off the bed she slept in. She looked around trying to figure out where she was, as she held her irritated shoulder. She sat back down on the large, comfortable bed, noticing the many pillows in all sorts of different colors. She glanced down at her attire. She was wearing pink pajamas with little flames on it. The pajamas hugged her body and was barely able to hold her ample bosom in the buttoned shirt. The room was small but it had a very homely feeling to it. "So I'm not in a hostel?" she asked herself, then shrugged. She was already used to that, since once after a mission, her two team members broke into a random house and spent the night there. She didn't approve of it, but she hasn't stopped or complained about it.

It took her a few seconds to get up from the bed that was still warm and pleasant. She examined the walls of the room that were filled with pictures of many people she has never met. She ignored them and went towards the door, which was wooden with a metal handle. She always used to ignore images that testified that other people would live in a place where she was, it was always something that would make her feel a little bad, but emphasis on 'a little'.

As she approached the door, her hand passed on her pain zone only to see that below her pajama top her chest and stomach were wrapped with clean bandages. "That's rare..." She was surprised to see that her team members applied first-aid properly for the first time. It wasn't that she wasn't ever hurt in one of their tasks. But it is rare that they had treated her so well.

She finally came to the door, seized the handle, and opened it. She discovered a small hall that led to the small, yet very colorful living room. She went around the room, examining every detail. One wall had caught her attention and she approached to study it more closely. It was another wall full with pictures, but instead of pictures of smiling people, there were pictures of people and huge monsters and under their name were what looked like bounties. "So we broke into someone's house who has a little skill", she said quietly. The smell of something cooking pulled her in to the kitchen.

She stopped as she came into the kitchen and looked around. The room was small with a small table for four people with four wooden chairs. To her right she saw a big pot on a iron stove and inside the pot some kind of red stew was cooking. "Still hot" she thought as something shiny caught her attention as she turned to it. It was a kitchen knife on a wooden cutting board. "Huh!?..." all of a sudden she heard voices from somewhere inside the small house. She grabbed the knife from the kitchen and went to the source of the noise. She saw a door she did not noticed before and moved closer to it.

She put her ear against the door, but could not understand anything being said. And without another option the curious pinkette opened the door and walked into the room in without hesitation, but soon stopped after she noticed another person in the room. And what she saw caused her to freeze in place and to drop the knife she was holding.

"Mmh?" said the half-naked boy, a towel the only thing covering his lower half. He turned his head to the side to see Ikaruga in the doorway, whose eyes were focused on him and whose cheeks had a tint of red. "Ah!, so I see you're finally awake!. How are you feeling?" he asked with a smile that made her heart stop for a moment. Ikaruga remained silent as her entire face turned red as she looked at the pink-haired boy's face.

The dragon slayer stared at her for a few seconds before he began to move closer to her. Ikaruga kept silent even as the boy stood in front of her. "Are you sure you feel good enough to walk around? Maybe you should go back to bed?" he said with concern. This brought Ikaruga back to reality and caused her to scurry out of the room

The pink-haired girl ran around the house until she came into the room where she woke up in. "W-what's going on here?!" she asked herself as she leaned against the door and one of her hands was on her heart that was pounding loudly. "Where am I? Where is my team and who was that guy?" she remembered the innocent smile of his and her heart began beating stronger even more just thinking about him.

'Knock!' 'Knock!'

Ikaruga let a an 'eep' before she dove under the bed sheets. "Wait a minute! What am I afraid of!?" she thought angrily, "I'm the Chief of Trinity Raven! I don't fear anything!" she thought with clenched fists and got up from the bed.

'Click'

As soon as she heard the doorknob open all of her courage escaped her and went back under the sheets. She listened to the footsteps that gradually made their way towards the bed in a slow rhythm. Ikaruga could feel that someone was standing over her and staring at her hiding spot. She began to feel weak, until she finally heard his voice.

"Hey, you okay?" asked someone in a gentle voice.

The only person that Ikaruga could think that owned the voice was the same one she saw in the bathroom.

"You sure slept a lot, so I thought you'd be hungry!" he said with an energetic voice.

Ikaruga wasn't sure how to react, and as one thought went through her head she slowly pulled the covers until her head was visible to the boy.

"I'm no chef, but I'm confident in my cooking skills!" said the pink-haired boy with a smile

Ikaruga turned her back to him quickly as she felt her heart began beating quickly again. 'W-what? Again?' she thought.

"Eh? Hey! I mean it! It's really good! "he said.

She finally turned her head to him only to see an iron bowl full of stew in front of her face. Inside the bowl was the same red stew that she saw in the kitchen with a metal spoon inside. She carefully took the bowl from the boy and looked at it.

She really felt hungry, and for some reason she didn't want to disappoint the energetic teenager. She held up the bowl in one hand and spoon in the other. She carefully moved the spoon into her mouth.

"Mm!" The feeling that moved up her body was something she had never felt before. It felt like someone poured molten lava down her throat. She dropped the bowl on the floor and began to run towards the kitchen quickly, surprising the boy and made him follow her anxiously. Ikaruga got to the sink and started to wash her mouth and drink water for a couple of seconds.

The boy had arrived next to Ikaruga and stood by watching her recover. He turned his head to the big pot still bubbling with the red stew with one of his fingers to taste it's contents. "Mmm..." He was silent for a few seconds before he turned his head to the pink-haired one that just finished drinking water to calm the burning sensation that was still pulsating in her lips. "So it's a little spicy, but it's not bad" he said with an embarrassed smile.

"A little..." She began to speak in a strange voice. "You call this a little spicy!?" she said with a loud voice that made the boy jump in fear and forcing him to walk a few steps backward. "How do you expect anyone to eat it!?" she said in a voice that reminded him of his teammate Erza.

She pulled a knife from one of the drawers which were next to the sink and began to get closer to the frightened boy. "Where's the vegetables?" she said in a threatening tone.

"T-th-the vegetables?" he asked stuttering and looked around. And finally he pointed to one of the cupboards that were behind her.

Ikaruga moved to the location the frightened boy pointed to her and took out some onions, carrots and other vegetables. After she got them under the sink she put everything on the cutting board, and in one swift motion, cut them into perfect small cubes.

"Wow! You're really good!" said the boy and approached her side.

Ikaruga turned to him, the knife still in her hand. "Meat!" she demanded.

"M-Meat?" he said with a pale face.

She pointed the knife to his face "Meat now!" she said out loud.

"Aye sir! I mean, mame! I mean- I'll be right back" he cried in panic and ran out of the house to get meat for the angry woman.

-;-

Ikaruga sat at the table in the kitchen as the boy set the food in front of her. She looked in amazement at the food that was on the table. She managed to make the the burning stew to a fancy dinner that even she could be proud of.

"It looks amazing!" said the pink-haired boy. "I'm digging in!" he said with a big smile and began to eat.

"I hope you enjoy it, it's the best I could do with the groceries that I found" she said.

"It's one of the best meals I've ever had!" he said with a mouth full.

She blushed at his compliment. "I'm glad to hear you say that, um..." She started to say but was stopped when she realized that she still didn't know the name of the boy.

"Oh! That's right, sorry. My name's Natsu Dragneel!" said the boy and looked at Ikaruga with a grin. "And you?" he asked finally.

"I-Ikaruga.." She said quietly.

"Ikaruga? That's a pretty name! It fits you perfectly!" said Natsu with a smile.

T-Thanks, Natsu..." she raised her head and looked at Natsu who clearly enjoyed the food before him without a care in the world. "Salamander..." She thought as her eyes focused on him and she made herself ready for any attack from the dragon slayer. 'What's he's up to?' she thought as she looked around for a weapon. She then remembered the knife in the sink.

"So Natsu, how did I make It here?" she asked, hoping to find out what happened after she lost to Erza.

When Natsu finished eating, he clasped his hands and looked to the ceiling of the kitchen, "Mmm, okay. Before I got to Erza I found you wounded and bleeding badly.", he explained. "And it looked that you needed help, so I just..." he finished with an embarrassed smile while scratching his head.

'C-Cute...' She thought as she looked at his little smile. 'No! He's just trying to get me to let my guard down!'

"Why did you save me?" she asked finally, with serious eyes.

"Huh?" he said in confusion when he heard the question of the pink-haired. " Do I need a reason to help someone?" asked Natsu.

"Okay, so where's my weapon?" she asked, hoping to find out where her beloved sword is.

"Weapon? Ah! You mean that!" he said and walked out of the kitchen and into the room where she was sleeping and came back after a few seconds. He held a sword, or rather what was left of it after the clashes with Erza.

The dragon slayer handed her the handle of her sword. Ikaruga trembled and cried as she held the remains of her sword. She had had the blade for most of her life, and the dight of it destroyed hit her very hard.

"Ikaruga? Are you all right?" said Natsu as he noticed the sadness etched on her face.

She quickly wiped the tears, now was not the time to feel sad. Especially not while by a potential enemy. "I'm fine Natsu, so where am I?" she asked.

"We are at my house, outside of Magnolia!" he said with a smile.

"Magnolia?" she asked. She heard about the city in the past but never visited in person.

"Yes! Do you want a tour around town?" he asked.

"..." After a few seconds of thought and a looke that was focused on the pink-haired boy, a smile appeared on Ikaruga's face. "I'd love to, but I think I will need something else to wear" she pointed to what she was wearing.

"Mmm..." Said Natsu and moved to the pink-haired girl, "I got it!" he said with a big smile.

-;-

Natsu went around town with someone else on his side, but it was not his furry blue friend. The person who was with him was the same pink-haired girl he rescued from the tower. The dragon slayer went with his regular clothes throughout the city with his hands behind his neck and with a smile on his face.

Ikaruga who was close to the fire Mage looked at the shops she passed with interest. She wore tight jeans that were slightly torn and a tight pink shirt that matched her hair color, and her hair was gathered in one long braid on over her shoulder.

Many people stopped to look at the gorgeous woman that walked around town with the young boy without a care in the world.

Her eyes shifted back and forth, examining whatever they passed, from toy stores to small cafes and lots of small colorful houses. She never seen a town so relaxed and full of life for a long time and this could be seen clearly on her face.

"Natsu, let's go there!" she said excitedly and pulled him to one of the shops that was swamped with people.

After a lengthy tour in town, the two sat facing each other in a small table in a small and popular café. Natsu has never been one who was interested in sweet stuff or quiet places, but even he could appreciate the serenity of the place. He played with his chocolate cake before he ate it with a big bite. This is opposed to his 'date' slowly eating a little Strawberry Shortcake.

Natsu had already finished eating and just stared at Ikaruga who enjoyed every bite she took into her mouth. He smiled and chuckled a little at the sight.

Ikaruga soon finished the cake on her plate and, noticing the smile of the boy across from her, began playing with her ponytail with a smile. "Thank you for showing me the sights, Natsu. It really is a beautiful place!" she said with a smile.

Natsu smiled at her as he got up to his feet "the tour's not over yet! I have a few more places to show you!" he said and began to take her away.

...

...

After quite a short walk through some alleys she eventually asked "Where are we?"

"You will see soon," the dragon slayer said with a smile.

The two reached a large and colorful building with a weird symbol that was blowing in the wind. Ikaruga could see that the logo looks familiar to her but she still didn't recognize it before Natsu caught her attention.

Natsu started to run quickly to the gate while Ikaruga followed after him. He smiled at her and kicked the door that was in front of him and made it open up immediately. He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her inside with him.

The place was bustling with people at every corner, she could see a large number of tables next to what looks like a large bar, and a few high chairs that were around it. The room had stairs to what seems like the second floor. Along the stairs was a bulletin board full of pieces of paper with pictures of people, objects and monsters. All the people she saw were busy with something, some spoke to one another and others examined the message board. Natsu moved up to the bar and sat down on one of the chairs and began to talk to a young girl who was a bartender there.

Ikaruga approach Natsu and saw him smiling at the beautiful girl who was behind the bar. She looked around at all the people who were at the bar. "Fairy tail..., this is a lot less than I thought" she thought with a smile when she saw the little guild that looked more like a bar than a regular guild of magicians.

She finally got to the bar and sat near the pink-haired dragon slayer that finally spotted her. "Oh, Ikaruga I want you to meet Mira!" said Natsu, a grin plastered on his face.

The same girl who was standing behind the bar was Mirajane Strauss aka The Demon. She was wearing a long red dress with pink ribbons on it, and a small part of her hair was collected with one rubber band that made her hair go up. Ikaruga recognized her immediately and began to worry about but smiled politely to her, hoping she wouldn't recognize her. "Nice to meet you Mira" she said.

The ex-S-Class Mage smiled kindly to her. "Nice to meet you too Ikaruga. Why don't you tell me about yourself!" she said.

The question surprised the former assassin "M-me?" She began to stutter a bit. "Wh-what am I supposed to say, that I'm an assassin? That I tried to eliminate Erza?" she thought in panic before she noticed her savior, Natsu, went to talk with a few of his friends, while another woman sat down by her.

"Oh! It is you. How are you feeling after what happened?" asked the same blonde haired girl that she identified immediately after the incident at the tower.

Ikaruga was now in an even worse spot than before, she could try to evade Mira's question in hopes that she still doesn't know what happened. But the blond cow was someone who saw her in the tower and was an even greater risk. But before she got a chance to answer, she heard a whistle noise behind her.

'sshhh!'

Her natural reflexes worked promptly and she turned in an instant and caught a transparent glass bottle that was flying at them from across the room. Her eyes moved to the place from which the attack came and she saw the same Natsu fighting the black-haired boy she identified from before.

"What did you call me, you idiot!" shouted the black haired boy who was missing his shirt for some reason in anger.

Natsu smile. "You heard me, you stripper!" he taunted.

The two returned to fight with each other and miraculously pulled the rest of the people around them to a bar brawl with many participants.

The only thing that Ikaruga could seen through the people and chairs that flew all over was the smiles of everyone. "They're having fun?" she said quietly.

"Of course they are, everyone is friends here!" Mira said with a big smile.

"I don't think it's true about those two.." The blonde said and pointed to the two in the middle.

Both girls stared at the pink-haired woman that moved her head from side to side to get away from wood chips and other bottles that continued to fly at the three of them. But even the patience of Ikaruga had an end and she finally turned around to the white-haired girl with a straight face. "Mira, I need a sword or something!" she said seriously.

Mira looked at her and moved her head slightly to the side with a cute little smile "Weapon?" she asked aloud and duck under the bar. After a moment she gave Ikaruga something and smiled at her.

"A knife?" asked Ikaruga and looked at the knife that Mira left in her hand, it was a metal food knife that wasn't sharp at all.

"Sorry, it's the only thing I could find", said Mira with a sorry smile.

The sword master moved away from the bar, "That's enough for me..." She said softly and began to get closer to the battle royale which took place a few feet from her. Her slow staps started to get faster until she disappeared from the eyes of everyone.

'Sooiish!''sooissst!'

After a few seconds Ikaruga appeared out of nowhere and started to go back to the bar and next to the two girls. There was silence in the room and everybody just stopped. Finally Ikaruga made it next to the blonde who looked amazed and confused.

"W-What did you?" she asked.

"Nothing..." Said the sword mistress as she put the knife on the bar.

"Gaaa..."

'Trad''Trad'

Sounds were heard from most of the people who were in the midst of a battle with each other, before they all fell to the floor except Natsu who was without a scratch.

"Oh, what happened to all of you? You give up?" said The dragon slayer who was standing in the middle of the room with his friends that got knocked out but were still fine. "So I guess I win! Hahaha!" he began to laugh out loud.

'Crash!'

A loud noise that made everyone jamp was heard. Natsu was still in the center of the room smashed beneath a huge fist coming out of nowhere and shook the room.

"That's enough Natsu! Be quiet for a moment." said a little old man that appeared from the second floor. The pink-haired saw the old man's little hand changed back from the giant and to its normal size. He turned his head to her. "A newcomer?" he asked and approached her after he jumped from the bar.

"M-Me?" she said confused.

"Yes master, Natsu brought her" said Mira with a little smile directed to the little man.

His eyes focused on the shape of the pink-haired lady and her body, she felt herself standing in front of a monster. "Should I try to escape?" she thought for a second before she felt something touching her butt. And turned her head just to see the same 'monster' behind her with a preverted smile.

Ikaruga turned quickly and slapped his hand away. "How dare you touch me!" she said angrily, and didn't care who or what he is.

"Oh!Oh!Oh!" he laughed aloud with a smile. "You're really feisty! So I guess if Natsu saved you, you're going to want to join?" he said at last.

"Eh?" she said. "Y-You want me to join?"