Smog, baggage cars, planes, and orange safety vests was what Natsu could see out of the airplane window as he tried to peek over the head of a young girl who had plastered her face against the same window he was trying to look out of. He slowly waited his turn to leave as people fumbled with their bags in the overhead compartments.

'Man I really wish they would just get rid of those. People spend too much fucking time with their bags on the plane.' Natsu thought to himself, annoyed that he was waiting to even get in the long line in the single, cramped hallway of the aircraft. 'I just sat through six hours on this plane with probably fourteen crying babies and seven too many arguing five year olds. GET ME THE HELL OFF!'

Every passenger was visibly pleased when the plane started to unload. Letting out a sigh of relief as he finally made it off the wretched beast of air transportation, Natsu turned his attention to a woman's voice that seemed to be directed to him.

"What a relief huh?"

Natsu glanced over the woman in front of him. Slim, average height, black hair, quite attractive. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite remember.

"What are you just gonna stare at me? Name's Minerva. I've seen you around town quite a bit. You don't see too many pink haired people in Cedar."

"Uh yeah." Natsu chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "So umm-"

"Don't worry." Minerva interrupted Natsu before he could finish, "I just introduced myself to you didn't I? I'm not exactly expecting you to know who I am no matter how small our town is."

"That's a relief." Natsu said bluntly. "N-Not that I wouldn't want to know what your name was. Its just.. AHH! Forget it. I'm Natsu."

"Nice to meet you Natsu. So what bring you from Cedar all the way to Magnolia. You can tell me we are from the same town." Minerva said with an amused smirk on her face.

"Let's go to baggage claim. I'll tell you on the way." Natsu said in defeat. He was too tired to argue against her. Also if he did run into her in town it would be extremely awkward if she confronted him.

Natsu vaguely explained his reason for the trip and the past two years of his life to the now not so stranger from his hometown as they made their way to wait for their luggage.

"So you lived in Magnolia your whole life huh?" Minerva questioned.

"Yeah besides the last year. Just came back to visit for a while." Natsu replied as his eyes were glued to the bag carousel, watching for his luggage.

"Hmmmm. Any reason in particular you moved? Oh! Can you grab that blue bag for me?"

"Really now? I'm a bag boy I guess." Natsu grumbled as he easily lifted the heavy bag. "You know you're only supposed to have about 50 pounds in here right?"

"That's why I had you get it for me." Minerva teased. "That was a nice try, but your question dodging didn't work."

"Oh boy." Natsu said as he grabbed two red bags. "Well it was just on a whim that I moved really. Nothing else."

"That's all? Really?" Minerva said as she thanked Natsu for her bag.

"Yeah pretty much." Natsu said as he checked his phone. "Well my ride is here so I guess I'll see you around. Here or back in Cedar, just don't be a stranger. Not that you would have any trouble with that."

"Wait! Give me your number that way we can stay in touch. How long will you be here for? My convention lasts about a week, but I'll have plenty of free time since I'm staying an extra week for vacation." Minerva said to Natsu's back as he walked away.

"Here." Natsu turned around and replied. "Although I'm not sure how free I'll be while I'm here. I might be able to squeeze you in during my month long stay."

"Thanks!" Minerva chirped. "Bye!"

Natsu waved a hand in acknowledgement as he walked away. He made his way down the area for arrivals until he saw a familiar black car not too far along. Once he was about twenty feet away from the car a black haired boy the same age as Natsu stepped out of the car.

"Gray!" Natsu said aloud.

"Chill man, I'm right here. Took you long enough, damn." Gray said with a fake sounding annoyance in his voice. He quickly put a hand out towards Natsu.

"Yeah right you're getting a handshake! I'm giving you a fucking hug!" Natsu laughed as he pulled Gray towards him. "It feels like it's been forever!" Natsu glanced at Gray's car. "Well I know your shit taste in cars hasn't changed in the past year." Natsu said as waited for gray to open the trunk so he could throw his bags in.

"It's the same Evo IX I've had." Gray retorted as he closed his trunk once Natsu's bags were secured. "Get in, it's fucking hot out here."

"Alright, alright keep your shirt on." Natsu said as they climbed in Gray's car.

"So you tired man? Hungry?" Gray asked Natsu.

"I just want a shower." Natsu replied while looking out the window. "Roads are looking busy, so I'll just take a nap until we get to your place."

"Alright, whatever works man." Gray said as he started his car. Once he turned the key a loud growl could be heard.

"Woah man! You scared those people just standing over there. I might not be able to take a nap if your car is this loud." Natsu teased Gray as he closed his eyes.

"Yeah, you're so funny." Gray rolled his eyes. "I'm making about 450 or so right now. A lot of stuff has been done to this car while you were gone."

"Yeah, I could tell man." Natsu said as he dozed off

"You never change do you?" Gray chuckled as he drove off.

Once they were at Gray's apartment, Natsu took a quick shower while Gray pulled some leftovers out of the fridge to heat up. The two caught up for about an hour once Natsu finished showering. The two joked around like they did in the past, with Gray occasionally threw in a question or two for was curious what his best friend had been doing for the past year, but was also genuinely wondering if he was doing alright. After the last of the food was devoured, Natsu had some questions of his own for Gray.

"So Gray," Natsu started, "How long have you been in this place? Its pretty damn nice if you ask me."

"About six months or so now." Gray responded calmly before smirking. "Our rooms are on opposite sides, so don't worry if you bring home some dude, I won't be hearing you taking it up the ass."

"Fuck you man!" Natsu laughed. "Juvia living with you right now or nah? I'm surprised she wasn't with you when you came to get me."

"Juvia? She's still living with her parents." Gray said a bit softly.

Natsu noticed the look in Gray's eyes. He knew that troubled look anywhere.

"So what she hit you with the overly attached mode again?" Natsu questioned.

"Yeah, pretty much. It'll blow over don't worry about it. You'll see her soon enough." Gray responded with a smile.

"Aww look at you. I still remember Sophomore year of high school when you told me it would never fucking happen. Lord behold, but it did like 6 months later!" Natsu said as he gave no effort to mask his laughter.

"Yeah. Fuck you too man." Gray said as he gave Natsu a light shove. "So Loke and Lucy should be back in from school on Friday. What's it Wednesday? That's not too long. Laxus and Gajeel are still living in town so we can catch them in town anytime. Those two and Mirajane are still working at Fairy Tail so we'll be able to see them there. Lisanna and Elfman too probably. Jellal and Ultear show up every now and then. I'm pretty sure they'll be happy to see that you're in town. Meredy has been around a bit too often for my liking, but it's not too bad."

"Damn sounds like everyone has got their own thing going." Natsu said as Gray paused to collect his thoughts.

"Yeah," Gray continued, "Wendy graduates from high school next Friday. Lucky her, everyone will be back. Speaking of Wendy, her older brother Shane, well you know the guy, I'm sure he'll show up for his little sister's graduation, but I wouldn't put it past him to be taking over the world or some shit."

"You pretty much nailed it!" Natsu bursted out laughing, "He actually visited me in Cedar. Asshole wouldn't tell me why he was actually there, but it was good seeing him."

"Him and Laxus always got us good." Gray shivered as he was reminded of their younger days. "Anyways, who else am I missing. Oh yeah! Erza has been out on vacation she told me to apologize to you in her place that she's outta town while you're here. She'll be back some time next week though for Wendy's graduation too. Cana has been a real bore without her. Those two have been getting closer over the past year or so. Aaand I'm done with everyone!"

Natsu's mind lingered over the mentioning of Erza. It's been so long since he had saw anyone, but his mind couldn't get over her name. Hers alone.

"Sounds like a good time." Natsu replied slowly.

Gray carefully scanned Natsu's face. He had intentionally left Erza last to see Natsu's reaction. Gray remembered the day they last hung out. Natsu admitted to Gray before he left that he was not really over Erza and that he was putting on a front. Now Gray wanted to know if anything had changed over the past year. He could not tell from Natsu's face so he left the matter there. At least, for now.

"Well I'm gonna go to bed. Maybe you should too Natsu. It's probably been a long ass day for you." Gray yawned as he walked to his room. "See you in the morning bro."

"Yeah man." Natsu replied as he made a quick trip to the restroom.

3:34 AM

Natsu did a double take at the alarm clock next to the bed he was sleeping in just to be sure. After confirming his insomnia for the hundredth time, he went back to staring at the ceiling. He continued to ponder about his decision. He wondered about his friends, his old job, the time he spent with each and every person he knew here. He wondered about everything he did here before moving away. He wondered about Erza. The thought of seeing her again crossed his mind over and over as he stared at the ceiling.

Pulling out his phone, Natsu started typing to himself in the memo pad. It was a habit he recently picked up to help himself sort his thoughts out at times. By being able to actually read what he thought, Natsu believed it helped him see his situation better as a whole.

'Fuck..' Natsu's fingers continued to tap the screen of his phone.

'Getting caught up in it again.. Real man.'

'This is a vacation. Don't get fuckin upset already over this shit. I gotta enjoy my time here. She's not everything I have here. There's other people. Mom. Dad. Gray. Everyone. Whatever happens, happens. I'm gonna have a good time no matter what.'

Natsu closed the document he created without saving it. He always figured there was no point in going back to reading them. Before retiring his phone for the night, he gave one attempt to calm himself down in an effort to retire as well. Finding Gray's name in his contacts, Natsu quickly composed a message to send to Gray.

'Marika is SHIT.' Was all Natsu had typed before sighing and throwing his phone to ground after sending the message.

"I threw it all away." Natsu mumbled before turning to his side. He closed his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep before it was too late. "Everything."

"FUCK YOU MAN!" Natsu heard Gray shout from his room across the apartment. The pink haired boy chuckled lightly before finally dozing off.

Forgive me.