Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.

I own the idea for the fic.

Treason

(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)

Chapter 1: The enemy of my enemy is…

"I want to know if Jellal Fernandez is hiding in your guild."

Natsu took a second to register the words, his mouth fighting back a smirk and laugh when the words finally sunk inside his head; he nodded slowly, motioning for her to follow him to the building that belonged to his new guild with an evil smile finally escaping him. Talk about killing two birds with a stone.

"Let's go, this is not a safe place to talk."

They walked together, trying to avoid the other guilds' inquisitive searches, and reached the building that belonged to the dragon-slayer's new guild; entering the place with relative ease; just a push of the main doors and they face the other members of Sabertooth, every one of them staring at Natsu in wonder before greeting him and letting him free pass to the stairs, Kagura noticing that everyone was shaking at every step the pink-haired gave.

He smirked at remembering the night when he stormed the building and kicked each and every one of their asses, letting his superiority be known to them.

"Don't worry about them." Natsu said calmly, walking to the stairs and going up to the second floor with the woman close to behind him.

Following him through the second floor, she accompanied him through many corridors, her eyes catching the signs hanging on some doors that revealed her the rooms that belonged to some of the prominent members of the guild before reaching their destination; a door that was next to the guild's Master bedroom, a simple wooden door that was imbued with a terrible-oppressive magic that Natsu was able to open with ease.

He turned to look at her, noticing her questioning eyebrow at what he had accomplish. "This room is for the Master's most trusted wizard, and can only be open if the mage has an undying faith in Sabertooth." He explained, shrugging at her expecting gaze, she wasn't there to talk about that. Though, that didn't mean she wasn't taking mental notes about what he was revealing to her.

'If that's true, you abandoned your guild completely.' She thought with a slight furrow of her eyebrows, already assuming that he changed sides quickly and totally; not bad for her, but bad enough for his previous guild. Fairy Tail was in troubles if this man left them so easily with sensitive information from them, especially, about the former wizard-saint and current fugitive, Jellal Fernandez.

He pushed the door and entered inside the big hall, allowing her eyes to see the accommodations given by Genma to his most trusted wizard; a great living room with good furniture made of the best wood and leather, a bar next to a window that led to a personal balcony, a kitchen with full equipment and a table for six people max close it. She stood next to the entrance, thinking about how his personal chambers bested all of the guilds' room before seeing him walk to the table that served for dining purposes; a hand from him inviting her to take a seat as he asked out if she wanted to drink or something, thing that she denied, she was flattered by his well-mannerism but they had important businesses to attend to.

"You agreed to tell me something." She remembered him the reason for their meeting, taking a seat at one side of the table, opposite to him; where her eyes could see his reactions perfectly. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, crossing his arms as his back leaned against the support of his chair.

"As you wish, Mermaid-san," He said with dry amusement, his onyx orbs staring intently at the black-haired woman seating across from him. "But I didn't agree to tell you about him, I only said that we needed a more private place to talk."

"Then this was a waste of time." She answered sharply, a hand lying on the table to help her stand and leave the place; if not because his right hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her from doing so, she looked at the owner of said hand and saw him glaring at her with a deep frown.

"Wait and hear everything, Mermaid-san, I didn't refuse to talk either." A small twitch of his lips told her he didn't like fast assumptions like that one, so she nodded and sat on her chair again, feeling his hand leave the grip on her wrist to return to its original position. He groaned tiredly and let out a long sigh, watching her with half-lidded eyes, he voiced out his main question. "Why do you want to know if that guy is hiding in Fairy Tail?"

"We have unresolved debts." She said quietly, the small glint in his eyes not escaping her.

"I see," He closed his eyes and looked down, thinking about what he heard and coming with a reason for that. "Your case is the same as mine then."

She quirked an eyebrow at his words, nodding slowly to hear more about it, the pink-haired boy sighing and opening his eyes to gaze at the table with a sad expression.

"I have things to settle with him too, personal things." He gripped his arms tightly, clenching his teeth at the memory. "He took what I cherished the most, and not satisfied with that, he joined the guild… my previous guild, it was easier to cope with the first thing when he was away… but now…"

She thought hard, she used all of her mind, but she couldn't understand what he was saying; she didn't investigate the guy to know what caused or why he had such hatred towards the same guy that took everything from her, but then, he let her know when she asked him. "What did he take from you?"

"He took my mate from me." He growled out, surprising her.

'Mate?' She repeated inwardly. 'Is he talking about 'mate' as in animal breeding…?' She wondered with some new light on the whole dragon-slayer magic thing, it seems their pupils weren't only taught to fight or use magic like dragons, they live like them too.

"Erza would have been all mine if not for him…!" He growled again, the grip on his arms tightening, some flames surrounding his shoulders, and his head going down with each memory that replayed inside his head; such a demonstration of feelings, raw feelings and magic, made Kagura's hand move cautiously to grip her sword just in case. "He is but an obstacle… an obstacle I cannot surpass…!"

She understood then, he left the guild because of the pain that caused him to see his mate with someone else, she couldn't say she sympathized with him but she could see from where his pain was coming.

"I want to crush him… obliterate his existence from this world and have her alone and unhappy than with him!" He let out a final growl, clashing his closed fists on the table and breaking it apart, the Mermaid Heel's team leader just changing her sitting position to a side to avoid getting her knees hurt by the breaking furniture; frowning after hearing the punishment he wanted to exact on the knight for not choosing him, though, she wasn't going to tell him that. He eased his breathing, subdued his flames and sat back on his chair tiredly, gasping for breath before nodding slowly. "We might not have the same reason but we have the same goal, right…? Mermaid-san?"

She looked at his now calmed form, softening her features if only by a little, giving only a small nod in response.

"I believe we do." She extended a hand to him, seeing him stare at her hand with a questioning gaze. "My name is Kagura Mikazuchi."

His eyes lingered on her hand for a good ten seconds, narrowing a bit in thinking before he shook it with his, grinning at her with an almost indiscernible wink of eye.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel."

In Fairy Tail's lodgings…

Everyone was quiet, something unusual for them; they couldn't believe what happened that day, what they have witnessed with their own eyes in the arena.

One of their own, the one they thought the most faithful to their cause betraying them? That was something that might have sent anyone to a troubled mind and thinking; they couldn't understand the pink-hair's reasons for leaving.

Gajeel, though, had an idea of why his fellow dragon-slayer did what he did, his eyes staring at the form of the armored mage on the other side of the room sitting along her teammates with enraged eyes; they were all looking down at their table, glaring at the wooden surface, almost demanding the poor furniture for answers.

"That shithead!" Gray yelled startling everyone, his fist pounding the table several times. "I would have expected him to drop off the tournament…! But this…!"

"G-gray… calm down… please…" Lucy pleaded broken, her eyes not leaving the table even after the outburst of the ice mage; some of her wounds paining her when the shook on the table hit her still injured arms. "We are all feeling like you…"

"B-but…! H-he…!" The brunette struggled to hold back his tears, even if he always showed an obvious dislike for the dragon-slayer, he still considered him a good friend… a close friend. He sat abruptly on his chair, crossing his arms over the table and inhaling deeply to keep his emotions in check; not wanting to be seen moping for his traitorous friend's actions. "Damn that flame-brain!"

"I will make sure to let him know our feelings on this matter," Erza said dangerously low, her eyes hidden from view, with her gauntleted hands gripping her elbows strongly. "The tournament's not over, he'll have to face us again."

"Strong words from the one that caused all of this." Gajeel spoke angrily and loud enough for everyone to hear, all eyes darting to see his figure leaving his position on the windowsill and walk towards the Titania, who was looking at him quizzically; a frown letting him know that she did not understand what his words were telling her. "Glare me all you like, it still is your fault…" He sniffed the air around her, his glare strengthening, his brows closing together in dislike. "You stink of Salamander…"

"What are you saying?" She asked clearly puzzled, hearing another set of footsteps in her direction, looking over her shoulder, Wendy was getting closer to her and she sniffed the air as well; her small orbs widening in shock and disbelief.

"I-I can't believe it…!" She squeaked in surprise, looking at the floor with trembling lips, her eyes threatening to drop a cascade of tears; Grandine, her foster-mother, told her of this kind of situations… but to face it by oneself, it was... shocking. "N-natsu-san never told me of this…!"

"Told you about what! ?" Erza demanded for an answer, her point made clear when she stood up from her chair and glared at the two dragon-slayers, her fierce gaze being slightly softened on the blue-haired girl; Gajeel scoffed at her attempt to force an answer from him while Wendy just continued to stare at the floor, some tears finally escaping her.

"It's pretty obvious, woman, don't tell me you didn't notice…" Gajeel growled in anger, not believing the strong woman to be so clueless.

As for Erza, she was fuming, Natsu told her the same when she encountered him in Sabertooth's medical room, his face and enraged words telling her that she should be aware of his obvious answer but she wasn't, and she didn't have a clue to begin her thinking process and get to the bottom of the matter.

"You stink of him, Erza." Laxus revealed to her and everyone, his nose twitching at the scent he was able to perceive thanks to the dragon-slayer lacrima inserted in him and his strengthened senses. She looked at him in question, still not understanding what he and the other dragon-slayers were saying. He sighed and shook his head in regret, feeling pity for the guy that set him straight back on the path of light. "He chose you…"

"C-chose me…?" She tried to understand his words, really, she tried; she just couldn't understand what he meant with him choosing her.

"As his mate… for life." Laxus finished while looking down, narrowing his eyes in remembrance of the things he studied about dragons after the lacrima had been implanted on him; the Titania and everyone else gaped in shock as they finally learned of what was happening. The blond man clenched his teeth in anger. 'Idiot… She's not the only woman in the world…'

"M-mate…?" Erza repeated to herself, giving a step back in realization, her mind getting the final piece to connect the dots and solve the trouble she couldn't understand.

"He was in love with you, if you want it in human terms." Gajeel grunted in a rejective tone, stressing the word 'was' so she could understand that the matter was lost now; walking away and leaving the hotel, Gajeel couldn't stand the thought of the same thing happening to him, he threw a glance by the corner of his red eyes to a certain blue-haired girl watching him leave, growling angrily at his rival's bad luck.

"I feel sorry for that idiot," Laxus said with a slight shook of his head, his grandfather hearing everything with his eyes close and his mouth taking a swig from his mug. "Still, to do such thing for a womanlike you… I never thought he could stand so low…" And he left the place too, going upstairs to his bedroom, leaving his guild mates watching him with trouble eyes shared in between. His words were harsh as always, they could also understand why he said them, but there was no need to make the scarlet-haired knight feel worse than what she was already feeling.

Wendy though, noticed this and tried to comfort the frozen woman before her, she was also troubled by the crossed-feelings but she couldn't side with the pink-haired boy when Erza clearly didn't know anything of what happened; she stepped closer and grabbed her arm, motioning her to take a seat and think over the matter without standing, fearing that she might collapse. Not that it could happen with the Titania, but it was better to be safe than sorry in the sky sorcerer's mind. "E-erza-san…"

"Wendy… is that true?" Erza asked with a voice so devoid of emotion that the poor girl couldn't help the small wobbling of her legs, joining her fingers together while she wondered if she should tell the truth or lie to help one of the women she admires.

"A-ah… I… Erza-san," She thought hard about something convincing to say that could be half true and half lies, and that could be helpful, but she just couldn't find something to say… so she started to ramble with everything she knew. "I-it is true but he never told you anything…! He…! We dragon-slayers choose mates by letting out some… things I don't remember and the one chosen doesn't know a thing…! We do it to let everyone know that the chosen is ours but…!"

'M-mate…' She thought about everything she heard, gazing at the floor with the little Wendy rambling and rambling about why she shouldn't feel like she was at the moment; still, she couldn't shake the thoughts, she was partially –and maybe completely- at fault for the pink-hair's betrayal and only because of her obliviousness to his feelings.

"I-it's something made to keep other dragon-slayers away but it doesn't work on humans…!"

Erza felt realization struck her again, memories flowing before her eyes as she remembered the happenings of a few days prior to the tournament's opening, their encounter with Crime Sorciere and… Jellal.

They talked, she learned of his wish to be better death than alive after all the suffering he caused and they kissed before parting because Jellal supposedly had a fiancée and couldn't be with Erza.

Flashback…

"Look, Erza!" Happy called for the Titania's attention, the woman tilting her head to a side to see the blue-winged cat drew something in the dirt; not discerning it, she walked closer, grimacing when she laid eyes on the drawing of a heart broken in two. Happy barely containing his laugh while she just gave a step forward and another and then kick him to the infinite and beyond, not standing the cat mocking her with her feelings.

"H-happy…?" She turned to a familiar voice and rustling in between some bushes, seeing a mop of pink stand out before Natsu appeared in all his painful glory, his body still having some markings over him; the second origin power up was not over. "E-erza…?"

"Natsu! What are you doing here! ?" She scolded him, rushing to his side to help him get back to the shack where everyone else was; he raised a shaky hand to stop her, using both to get up from the ground and take a seat with his panting echoing around the now deserted clearing.

"I… wanted to check on you." He said in between breaths, his head throbbing and his body aching all over. "How did… things go with Jellal and you?"

"W-what?" She let out unconsciously, shaking her head and snapping out of his surprising question to answer. "We… come to terms with each other, don't worry, we're okay."

"I…" Natsu seemed to flinch at her words, thing she noticed it wasn't provoked by his painful situation. "I… am glad…"

"If that was all you wanted to know, here, let me help you." She moved to assist him and take him back to the shack, but he shook his head furiously, standing up on his two shaky legs with his fists clenched, raising one to stop her. She noticed he sniffed the air around them before lowering his head in defeat, something she witnessed with a quirked eyebrow. "Natsu?"

"D-don't worry… I… I can go back on my own." He whispered hoarsely, taking the red-head by surprise at his sudden change of mood. He turned to go back from where he came, giving two shaky steps to stop abruptly, tilting his head to look over his shoulder with a shadowed face. "Y-you know I'll be… there for you… if you need me… right?"

She stared at him wide eyed, not understanding what he was trying to say, her mind mistaking his words by a supposed fear that Jellal might hurt her again; she smiled softly for his concern, shaking her head with bits of amusement, her brown orbs seeing the corner of his lips going up. "I know, Natsu, and I'm there if you need me."

"Ah… t-that's… good." He muttered quietly, his lips twitching upwards awkwardly because he was trying to fake it to not concern her with his true feelings on the matter, he was glad it was dark otherwise she might noticed it. He faced the front again and walked back to where his friends were, a hand going up to wave her good bye. "S-see you in the morning... Erza…"

"See you." She nodded at his retreating form.

Flashback ends…

In Natsu's previous room…

"Goddamit!" The blond man yelled in rage, punching a wall in frustration and leaving his fist engraved in the stone, the room around him a mess after he went from top to bottom in searching of something that might tell him he was right in his assumptions; not finding more than a picture of Team Natsu under the pink-hair's previous bed. He scanned the bedroom again, seeing the spot where Happy was supposed to sleep, he narrowed his eyes at the sight, the blue cat stormed off after his foster-father changed sides; not forgiving himself for what happened, thinking that there might have been something in him to cause the boy's change of sides.

He felt like an asshole after saying those things to Erza, but he couldn't contain the anger in him, that woman was so unnervingly oblivious sometimes when she always thought of herself as someone with a good intelligence in her team… previous team now. She didn't notice Natsu's feelings and now everyone was paying the consequences even the boy itself, he knew the pink-haired well enough to assume that his final solution was difficult for him.

"Yo, Laxus," A voice acknowledged him from the door, turning to look, he found his grandfather walking inside the room with a serious expression; he half-lidded his eyes in tiredness, knowing what the man wanted to talk with him. "Don't you think you went a little overboard with Erza?"

"Like hell, gramps, she deserves each and every word I have in store for her." He spat angrily, moving to sit hardly on the disheveled bed, supporting his body with his elbows on his knees, glaring at the form of his fist on the wall; his eyes following the small man's way next to him, where the picture from Team Natsu was, the glass covering it broken in Laxus' outburst.

Makarov sighed sadly at the picture, shaking his head with regret. "You see, I always knew that brat hided more things from us than the entire guild combined." He broke the frame surrounding the picture, dropping it aside to have only the photo in his hands, turning it around to let him and Laxus see a picture of Erza smiling to the camera; from the same picture of Team Natsu but enlarged and only showing her. "He pretended to be an idiot, all the time, making us see just what he wanted us to see… to hide his real thoughts from us."

"I still can't believe it, old man," Laxus muttered hoarsely, fitting back the urges to drop and cry, not wanting to be seen in such a weak state; he joined his hands together and pressed them tightly, looking to the window and hiding his face from his grandfather. "He was the most loyal, the best fighter," Like hell he would admitted it in front of the man, but the circumstances called for honesty. "He was the spirit of Fairy Tail in body and flesh."

"Oh? You've been reading a lot it seems." Makarov commented in surprised, taken aback by the words his grandchild said, one way or another, Laxus always managed to move him. But he shook his head in the end, his mind processing everything and adding it up to his old wisdom. "You're right though, he is Fairy Tail in body and flesh… with all the good and bad things in him, our guild might be the first place in allegiance to friends and family, and strength… but it also has its secrets." He sighed sadly, handing the picture in his hands to Laxus. "Take it; give it to him when you have the chance."

The blond stared at the extended hand for a moment, nodding slowly before grabbing the photo and saving it inside his coat, his green eyes flashing with determination, he was going to kick Natsu back to the guild where he belonged. Erza be damned, Natsu's reasons be damned, he was needed in the guild.

"Gramps!" A voice and the sudden entrance of someone inside the room called their attention; they looked at the door and found Gray sweating bullets and panting heavily, his body seemed to have taken a beating, a bad one.

"I-I tried to stop her but…! Erza's gone! She went in search of Natsu!"

To be continued.

Short, I know, I just wanted to explain a little about the situation before starting with the actual plot of the story.

Call it a continuation of the prologue if you wish, there were some things left unanswered and I couldn't leave them alone just like that. The first chapter looked like some sort of one-shot, that's what I thought too, so in a spirit of regret for my mistake, I explained things in this one. I hope it was of your liking.

Now, let's see, I need to say something else. I'm glad and flattered to read that some authors from this archive -great authors in their own right- think of me as someone to be "look up to" but in reality: I'm looking up to you guys -and gals-, I would have stopped writing a long time ago if not because of your encouraging comments and messages. Ever heard of "from the people to the people"? Well, that's what I think. I'm just another writer, one like any of you, with ideas and words to transmit to everyone and let them read and enjoy -hate in some cases- them what I have to offer. It doesn't matter the pairing, the story, the theme, the words, we are all writers in our own right and we do our best to let the readers enjoy of what they cannot get from the original works. Let's keep on like that, my peers, someday we'll get to see a work of our creation in the libraries... until then, let's keep improving together and giving our best.

Saludos.