Authors Note: Hello again everyone! I'm really surprised about how well this fic is doing so far, not only in praise from you guys but it's a small ship and I didn't think this many people enjoyed it (I thought I was one man shipping NaYu for the longest time) as much has become apparent. I'm also going to try something new with this chapter, so please bear with me. Being a fight scene, I find that the right music (as many of you will agree) can make it a lot more enjoyable to watch (or imagine in this case), so I am going to link a Fairy Tail OST that you should listen to while you read, because I feel that it sets the mood a lot better with the right music. If you're on mobile, sorry! But desktop users, please do give it a listen, I think it sets the scene nicely.

First OST (my preference) Released Power Extended : watch?v=8de2pwEVVFg

Second OST (another good one for the battle) White Dragon and Shadow Dragon OST Extended : watch?v=a3_bC-c6S_s

Chapter 3: She Gives Me Strength!

No sense in wasting any time getting started then, Sting thought to himself.

White Dragon's Roar!

he shouted, emitting a blindingly white laser from his mouth which shot at Natsu with incredible speed, only for Natsu to crouch down to all fours and used his tail to knock the ray of light off into the distant ocean. He deflected it?! Sting thought in disbelief.

"The scales of a dragon are highly resistant to magic, Sting. You won't be able to even touch me with such petty attacks." Natsu said in his deep voice.

"Tch, you just watch!" he shouted in reply, moving forward quickly with a burst of speed, and began trading blows with Natsu, who responded with equal or greater speed. The people watching the fight couldn't even see each individual punch, just a blur of motion between the two Dragon Slayers. Sting was in much greater pain than Natsu was, however, as with every blow his knuckles were cut and grazed by his sharp scales that now coated his body. Landing a quick jab to his stomach, Natsu kneed him up slightly into the air and spun around, whacking him hard across the face with his tail and sending him flying and skipping along the beach like a stone. True to his word, Natsu had no intention of holding back, and before he could even recover from his previous attack, he delivered a brutal punch to his stomach, clotheslining him and making him cough up blood.

Crushing Talon of the Primal Fire Dragon!

Natsu shouted, appearing above Sting with inhuman speed and bringing his scaly foot down onto Sting's head, making his skull feel like it was about to crack in two. He's on a whole different level than before, Sting thought to himself as Natsu continued to pummel him from every angle, using all of his body and combining jabs, kicks and swipes from his tail to really tear Sting a new one. Using his speed to fall back and put distance between him and Natsu, he brought his palms together and shouted,

Holy Ray!

Firing numerous bolts of white energy from his hands, they all connected with Natsu's scaly body but seemingly had very little effect since he didn't even flinch but continued to move forward. Sting was doing his best to keep distance between him and Natsu, knowing that if he let Natsu get a hold of him again he wouldn't be able to continue fighting. Natsu stopped, clapping his hands together above his head, and his surrounding area became very dark, like it was nighttime. He's not...eating the sunlight!? Sting thought in disbelief as Natsu basked in the blinding ray of light that seemed to seep into his scales and replenish his energy. Is such a thing even possible?! Sucking up the last of the sun's rays in his mouth, he released it all, shouting,

Sun's Judgement!

releasing all of the energy he absorbed from the sun's rays and letting out a blinding orange laser which Sting had the fortune of barely dodging but his leg got nicked in the blast and he noticed it was horribly burned and he was unable to put weight on it. He screamed out in pain, unable to continue fighting from his horrible leg injury as Natsu walked over to Sting, who was laying on the ground.

Giving him a moment to collect himself, Natsu stepped back and seemed to survey his work. Sting was battered, burned and bloodied from head to toe, his nose felt like it was broken and he had a strange suffocating sensation in his chest. Looking down, he noticed a small red magic circle, similar to the one he had put on Natsu's chest in the GMG.

"Wh-what is this?" he choked out, feeling his breathing growing more constricted with each word.

Laughing to himself, he replied,

"It's similar to the one you left on my body some time ago, but I put a little spin on it. I'll give you a little bit of a history lesson since you don't really look like you're in any condition to keep fighting, and I don't intend to kill you today."

Sting shot him an angry look and tried to bring himself up to his feet, but he was immobilised by the magic circle on his chest. Natsu continued,

"Thousands of years ago, Sting, the original Dragon Slayers used the very same Primal Dragon Force that I am using right now to actually slay their dragons. With every blow they delivered to a dragon, they absorbed a little bit of their power, draining from the dragon itself and making it easier to kill. Bathing in the dragon's blood did increase their power, but most of their strength came from absorbing the life force of the dragon itself. Such is the reason why Acnologia turned into a dragon himself, he slayed one too many dragons, and the life forces of them all combined together to turn him into the real thing. Such is another drawback to using this form, which is why I restrict myself from using it only when I feel I need to. If I used this in each fight, I would slowly become less and less human until I eventually became a real dragon. A side effect of our magic, but I feel power doesn't come without a price. Now, back to the little magic circle I have on your chest." he said, tapping the insignia on his chest with a finger.

"Should you...how do I put it, threaten me...my girlfriend, my guild, anyone close to me at that, I can do very unpleasant things to you, Sting, as I'm sure you've already felt firsthand. Not only that, but I might torment you a little while I'm at it, you see, we're both Dragon Slayers, no? Well, since we both share attributes of the dragons, I could just..." Sting felt the constriction on his chest getting even tighter, making it very difficult for him to breathe, "take that magic away from you, any time that I wanted. You feel that lack of air, right? It's tough to breath? That's your magic being sucked out of you. Now, I'm not going to do that to you today, Sting. On the contrary, I'd really rather not do that to begin with. I thought that after the GMG, we could be friends, comrades, you know? I even thought about inviting all of you from Saber to join Fairy Tail for a little bit. Now I see, though, that it was a good idea that I didn't. All you would have done was tried to hurt Yukino, and I'm afraid I cannot let that happen. However, unlike you, I'm a sympathetic person. I understand how brutal it can be to lose your magic, it's like losing a part of yourself, you know? So, no, I'm not going to take your magic or hurt you any further, Sting. I had to rough you up for a number of reasons, but I hope that it helps you understand Yukino's decision to join my guild, and maybe you can reflect on your own actions to become a better person yourself." Natsu said, removing the magic circle from Sting's chest and walking away, off towards the rest of his friends.

"No...I won't let her...stay..." Sting choked out inbetween breaths.

Natsu sighed, and walked back over to Sting, who was struggling to maintain his balance on one leg. Natsu seemed to lose all of his patience in one instant, his face contorting into that of an enraged animal, bringing his hand down like a hammer on Sting's head, knocking him down into the earth and shouting,

"WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN, DAMN IT!? CAN'T YOU SEE I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU?!"

That attack seemed to knock Sting out cold, as he lay motionless on the ground. I didn't hit him hard enough to kill him, but hopefully I won't have to deal with this guy for a while. Natsu thought to himself, exiting Primal Dragon Force and taking Sting's body and draping his arm around his shoulder and carrying him off towards Erza, Gray and Yukino, who waited at the edge of the beach to see who the victor was. The other members of Sabertooth had gathered there as well, after witnessing the confrontation and seeing their Master's bloodied and battered body being carried by Natsu, they rushed over to help him.

"Natsu...what have you done!?" Rogue exclaimed, taking Sting from Natsu and laying him down on the ground.

"He's not dead, just a little rough around the edges." Natsu replied.

Yukino, Erza and Gray also running over, they were surprised to see the condition Natsu had left Sting in after their fight. Just as surprising was the complete lack of any visible injuries on Natsu's body either.

"Natsu-sama, is Sting-san going to be OK?" Yukino asked, sounding worried for her ex-guildmate.

"Don't worry, Yu-chan, he'll be fine. I just had to teach him a lesson was all." he replied, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"If you think you can just attack our guild master and get away with it, you've got another thing coming Natsu!" Rogue said, readying himself for a battle.

"Yeah, you mess with one of us, you pick a fight with the whole guild!" Orga agreed, also readying himself to fight.

"So be it," Natsu said quietly, releasing his aura of fire, "I'll take you all on! I'll burn your entire guild to the ground! Come on!"

"Wait!" Erza shouted, getting between the group that was about to brawl, "we don't need any more injuries then we already have! We will take Sting back to our guild infirmary and heal him, and you can all return to Saber."

"Tch, as if we'd let that happen! We're not letting you take him without a fight!" Rogue shouted back, eager to avenge his friend.

Erza knew that if the situation escalated, they may have an all out battle between both guilds, and after witnessing Natsu's new power, she feared more for her enemy's sake than her own. Natsu had held back against Sting to teach him a lesson, but if Yukino got hurt in the crossfire...she didn't want to think what might happen to the members of Sabertooth. Turning back towards her guild, Erza said,

"Natsu, Yukino, take Sting back to the guild and get him treated by Wendy immediately. Gray and I will stay behind and hold off the members of Sabertooth, and prevent them from coming after you, as well as to finish the mission. Go!"

Natsu and Yukino nodded, and Natsu grabbed Sting and beckoned for Yukino to follow him as they ran off towards the woods behind the beach.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rogue shouted as he shot a shadow-arrow at Natsu's back, only to have it deflected by Gray's Ice Make: Shield.

Requipping into her Black Wing Armour, Erza said,

"If you still insist on fighting, you'll have to go through us first!"

"Tch, fine by me." Rogue said, as the members of both guilds collided with each other for the ensuing battle.

Natsu and Yukino barrelled down the forest trail, reaching a clearing in the forest that held nothing but grass and an open field.

"Natsu-sama, shouldn't we be heading for the train station? What are we doing all the way out here?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I have a faster way of getting home, that's why. Here, hold on tight Yu-chan." he said, and she took his hand and held on tightly as he instructed.

Natsu began to chant in what sounded like tongues, his body glowing and a magic circle appearing beneath them.

Primordious Metreo!

Natsu shouted, and Yukino felt like she was being sucked into a very small and tight tube, a red light blinding her temporarily and when she was able to regain vision, she saw she was standing outside of their guild hall.

"Wow, Natsu-sama, how did you do that?!" she exclaimed, admiring his unseen ability.

He shrugged, saying,

"Just something I unlocked when I went into Primal Dragon Force for the first time. I don't use it often, though, it takes a lot out of me. I can only use it twice a day." he replied.

"Wait...why didn't you just use that instead of suffering from motion sickness all the time?" she asked, confused.

"Oh...well, I just liked sleeping on your lap, I guess." he said with a nervous laugh.

Giggling at her boyfriend, she said,

"I prefer it that way anyways, silly. Now, let's get Sting-san inside quickly." she replied, taking Sting's other arm and draping it over her shoulder with Natsu as they carried the still-unconscious Sting in through the guild doors. Upon entering the guild, people began eagerly whispering amongst themselves about why the master of Sabertooth was being carried in by Natsu and Yukino, looking all bloodied and battered.

"Hey, Natsu-sama," Yukino began, "why didn't we just leave Sting-san with Saber? I mean, it's not like he was in any mortal danger or anything." she said.

"If I let them take Sting away themselves, I had a feeling they would come back for revenge, probably targeting you, Yu-chan. I doubt they would hurt you, but I can't take any chances. If we resolve this ourselves, maybe they won't retaliate." he replied.

"But, you didn't even start the fight Natsu-sama! It wasn't your fault!" she protested.

"I know, Yu-chan. But sometimes, even when you're in the right, there are still consequences. I probably shouldn't have let my temper get the better of my judgement."

"Natsu-sama, the only reason you got into this situation was because you thought that Sting-san was harassing me. Don't feel bad for doing what you thought was right." she said, trying to cheer him up.

"Thanks, Yu-chan. Let's go find Wendy." he replied.

Scouring the guild and still dragging Sting along with them, they located Wendy talking to Mira at the bar. Rushing over to her, Natsu said,

"Hey Wendy, we need your help. Me and Sting had a...uh, disagreement on something at the beach and he got roughed up quite a bit. Do you mind treating him?" he asked.

"Of course not, Natsu-san," she replied with a smile, "bring him to the infirmary and I'll see what I can do."

Following her lead to the infirmary, the two mages brought Sting into the infirmary and laid him down on the hospital bed. Wendy, now holding her hands above his body with their green glow from her Healing Magic, she spoke up a minute later, saying,

"Well, you're lucky that you brought him here when you did. He's got a few broken bones, internal bleeding and bad magic deficiency with severe burns on his left leg. He'll be all right, but he's going to need to rest up here for the next few days."

"We don't really have a few days, Wendy. We sort of..."kidnapped" him to bring him back to the guild. The rest of Saber was about to get into a huge guild battle with us, but Erza and Gray held them off while we hurried back to the guild. It would be good if you can get him on his feet at the very least by the end of the day, if that's possible, Wendy." Natsu said.

"Well, I'll try...but I can't promise anything, Natsu-san!" she added.

Ruffling her hair affectionately, Natsu replied,

"Thanks, Wendy. It means a lot."

Smiling back up at her friend, she said,

"It's no problem...really."

Even if Natsu was just being friendly with the young Dragon Slayer, Yukino couldn't help but get mad when he ruffled her hair affectionately like he always did with her. She was never the jealous type, but now that they were dating, she felt a lot more protective of her pink-haired Dragon Slayer than before, and was a lot more averse to sharing him with other girls than before.

"Natsu-sama, if we're done here..." Yukino began with a slightly uncharacteristic irritated tone.

"Yeah, yeah...come on then, Yu-chan. Thanks, Wendy." he replied, taking his girlfriend's hand and leading her out of the infirmary where Wendy waved back and went back to treating Sting.

Walking through the guild hall hand in hand, Yukino asked,

"Hey, Natsu-sama, now that Sting-san is taken care of, shouldn't we go back to Erza-san and Gray-san to see if they're doing alright? It was two vs. three after all."

"Yeah, good thinking Yu-chan, I almost forgot about them." he replied.

They exited the guild and returned to the spot Natsu had teleported them to when they still had Sting in their possession, and she held on to Natsu's hand as she had done before as he cast the spell again and she felt herself under the sensation of being sucked into a very small and tight tube before being temporarily blinded, and reappearing in the forest that they exited from. As they ran back to the beach, they were surprised to see that aside from the large scorch mark that trailed down the entire beach from Natsu's Sun's Judgement, the beach was still very intact and crowded with all of the civilians from before.

"Is the battle already over, then?" she asked Natsu.

"I guess so, let's try to find Erza and Gray." he replied.

They walked around the beach looking for their two friends and the other members of Sabertooth, but had no luck finding either group. Looking high and low for their friends or "enemies", they looked for a good ten minutes and didn't see a trace of them.

"Hey, what's that over there, Natsu-sama?" Yukino asked, tugging at his hand and pointing at a gigantic sand castle at the end of the beach.

"I don't know, let's go ask the Sand King if he's seen our friends." he replied.

Yukino sweat-dropped at his comment, and said,

"Natsu-sama, I don't think there's such a thing as the 'Sand King.'"

"Well, we won't know that until we go ask, Yu-chan. Come on!" he shouted, running on ahead leaving his girlfriend in the dust.

"Wait for me!" she shouted as she ran after Natsu who was running towards the sand castle. After reaching the "gate" of the sand castle, they looked up and saw Rufus poking his head over the ramparts as he shouted down to the two,

"Oh, hello Natsu, Yukino! Here, climb up the sand ladder and I'll take you to your friends." he said, tossing down a ladder made of sand. Eyeing the "sand ladder", Natsu pointed at it and said,

"Is this even safe to climb on?"

"Of course! It's made of sand, after all!" Rufus said.

"That's what I'm concerned about..." he said with a worried expression as he began to ascend the sand ladder. "It seems safe, come on Yu-chan." Nodding, she too climbed the sand ladder up to the ramparts as Rufus led them off deeper into the sand castle. Descending the sand stairs, they reached the sand throne room, where Gray and Erza sat on sand thrones, chatting amongst themselves.

"I knew it, Erza IS the Sand King!" Natsu shouted.

"Uh, by that logic, I would be the Sand QUEEN, Natsu. Gray is technically the Sand King." she replied.

"That's right, and I declare that you will be my Sand Jester! Dance for me!" Gray shouted with a maniacal laugh.

"Um, why are you all in a sand castle in the first place?" Yukino asked, very confused at what was going on.

"Oh, that's right, we haven't told you that part!" Erza shouted, getting off her sand throne and walking over to the two. "Well, shortly after our fight with Saber began, while we were trading blows, they mentioned something about Natsu attacking their master unprovoked, and we told them the real story of how the fight went down during the fight. After they realised that Natsu wasn't at fault, completely at least, they apoligised for jumping to conclusions and Rufus offered to build this sand castle for us as an apology."

"Where's Rogue and Orga?" Natsu asked.

"Oh, we threw them in the sand dungeon." Erza said with a twinkle in her eye.

"NO WAY, THIS PLACE HAS A SAND DUNGEON TOO?!" Natsu shouted in disbelief. "Wait, how did Rufus build this all by himself anyways? I didn't know he was an architect." he asked, looking over at Rufus.

"I have memory of a Sand-Make mage from long ago, so I just used his magic. It was no problem." he replied.

"Thanks Rufus! I've always wanted my own Sand Kingdom, you know." Natsu said, nudging him with his elbow.

"I'm sure..." Rufus said, sweat-dropping.

"Anyways, Erza, you can let those two out of the sand dungeon, we just came back to make sure everyone was OK. Yu-chan and I are going to go lay down and continue our mission, you guys can play Sand Kingdom if you want." Natsu said, scooping up Yukino and running out of the sand throne room. Reaching the sand ramparts, he jumped off with Yukino still in his arms, and then set her down and dusted himself off.

"Sorry about all the commotion today, Yu-chan. I know our date was probably the worst you've ever been on." he said, his ears drooping and looking sad. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, saying,

"Silly, I had a great time today. It's my first and best date I've ever been on, and I wouldn't have it any other way." she said with a smile. Smiling back down at his girlfriend, he took her by the hand and found the beach towel they had set up earlier that day and laid down, Natsu resting with his eyes closed and Yukino resting her head on his chest. What did I do to deserve such an amazing girlfriend? he thought to himself, stroking her beautiful silver hair and basking in the warm sunlight. His feelings would get stronger each day, making it harder for him to be out of her presence, he was attached to her like a lovesick puppy. He loved everything about her, from her soft silver hair to her curvaceous figure which often captured his gaze when they were together. I think I love this girl, Dad. he thought to himself. Natsu was as much a stranger to love as she was, but they both knew what it felt like to be in love after all they had been through together. I hope that one day, she can be mine, my mate... my wife...forever.

She loved when he stroked her hair, just as he loved it when she did it to him on the train or anywhere for that matter. Being close to him and resting on his strong, muscular body, she had never felt so safe in her life. Every time he called her name or took her hand, those butterflies in her stomach would start up again and she would get nervous, until she remembered that he had feelings for her too, and it was normal to do such things. She imagined a future with him, living in a small house off of the beach, married with children. Strangely, where she would feel very embarrassed at these thoughts, she felt content, like the idea of a future with Natsu was the one thing her heart desired. Smiling to herself, she just allowed him to pet her head and snuggled into his chest, feeling her mind go blank as she drifted off to sleep...

"I love you, Yu-chan." Natsu whispered into her ear, just as she was on the edge of conciousness. Did I imagine that, just now? she thought to herself. No, that was real. She smiled and relaxed again on his chest, whispering under her breath so he only heard it with his enhanced hearing,

"I love you too, Natsu-sama, I always...will..." she said, drifting off to a deep sleep. Sighing with relief, Natsu too began to fall asleep, eased into his subconscious by the warm sun and the light pressure on his chest from his sleeping girlfriend. I could stay like this forever, he thought as he nodded off.

Gray and Erza walked down the beach, looking for their two friends who had left an hour earlier.

"Did you have a good time playing Sand King, Gray?" she asked with a chuckle.

"It's not as fun without a Sand Army or sand subjects to boss around." he said with a pout.

"Hey, Gray, look at that." Erza said, nudging him with her elbow and pointing at the sleeping couple, Yukino resting her head on Natsu's chest as they both slept peacefully with small smiles on their faces as they always had.

"It's...TOO DAMN CUTE, ERZA!" he shouted, running off into the ocean to hide his reaction.

Smiling to herself, she admired the sleeping pair that looked so content being close to each other. Natsu...I'm glad you've finally find the one that's right for you. It's funny, really... she thought, remembering when Natsu had saved her from Jellal and convinced her to keep living for others. He had saved her life, in more ways than one, also giving her a new purpose to live. I thought for a while...no, it's supposed to be like this. You and her... she thought, getting all lost in her thoughts like she usually did. Right now, I need to be focused on Jellal, not...damn it, there I go again.She had tried her hardest to be happy for the two, really, she had. As hard as she tried, she still couldn't shake those feelings of hers. What about Jellal? part of her thought. You know who you have feelings for, don't lie to yourself, Erza. the other part of her thought. Snap out of it, feelings! she yelled at herself. This isn't right, I've known Natsu since we were kids! He's like a brother to me, I couldn't possibly... she thought, losing her train of thoughts. Oh, but you can, Erza. You know that you want him more than ever, now that he belongs to Yukino. Always trying to convince yourself otherwise, to say to yourself "I only have feelings for Jellal,", even you knew that was fruitless. Jellal is a shell of the man he used to be, he blames himself for what happened to you and Simon and now he only goes on about redemption-this, repent-for-that, and you know that's not who you want. He's not your Jellal from back then, he's changed. The only thing that hasn't changed... she began to think, but tried to argue with herself, It's not true! she thought.

You love Natsu. That won't ever change, will it Erza? She couldn't argue with her own thoughts, it really was fruitless. Even though she knew it was wrong, she couldn't help herself, and broke down on the beach, sobbing into her hands. Am I just like Lucy? she thought to herself inbetween tears. She cursed herself for her feelings of affection, but she couldn't help it. She was hopelessly in love with the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, even if she hadn't wanted to admit it until now. It was her fault for letting this happen, had she confessed to Natsu sooner, before the GMG, she wouldn't be in the same boat as Lucy was now. Why does he do this to me? she thought. When he held me in his arms, after the Tower of Heaven, I felt like...a princess. she thought, recalling her memories of Natsu saving her from Jellal when he was being controlled by Ultear. I was always rooting for him, cheering him on and admiring him... I feel bad for all that he's had to go through. Losing his father, losing Lisanna, he's been burdened by so much in his life, but he always got back up, no matter how many times he got kicked when he was down. He should have become an S-class mage, he deserves so much more than he has, he's such a kind-hearted person. Seeing him so close to Yukino, it drives me crazy. I would never interfere, I mean, what kind of friend would that make me? It's just...I don't know if I can watch him leave my life like that.

She hated crying, it made her feel weak and vulnerable, especially with nobody to comfort her, to hold her and tell her it was going to be OK. She wanted to shake Natsu awake, to show him her puffy eyes and the tears falling down her face, and to have him wrap his strong arms around her and just let her cry into his chest while he cooed into her ear. She wanted the young man to whisper sweet nothings into her ear, while he laid her down on his chest like Yukino was and just let her lie against him and feel safe. With Jellal in his current state of mind and Natsu's relationship with Yukino, she felt more alone than she ever had before. It was unfair to want to deprive Yukino of her happiness just so she could have him, but she still wanted to be the one that Natsu woke up next to and kissed goodnight, not her. Feeling a familiar hand on her shoulder, she turned around and saw that Gray was standing behind her, looking over at the sleeping couple with a stoic expression.

"Don't cry, Erza. I understand how you feel, and I know how you feel about Natsu. You want him to be happy right?" he asked her.

Through tears, she nodded at him.

"Well, as nice as it might sound being with Natsu, his happiness is just as important as your own. We don't know Natsu's true feelings for Yukino or her feelings for Natsu, but you can still have hope that their relationship isn't permanent. In the meantime, try to talk to Jellal. Although he does drone on about redemption, I think he really feels bad for what he did to you, and that isn't something you should be annoyed at him for. Maybe an "I forgive you, Jellal" is all that he's looking for, Erza. Let him know that he does deserve you, and you deserve him too."

Wiping away the last of her tears, she realised that Gray was very correct, and that she had been wrongfully blaming Jellal for his feelings. The fact that he felt so bad about his actions meant that he really did care for her, and she was just now beginning to realise this. Standing up, she replied,

"Thank you, Gray. I don't know if I can get over these feelings, but your words have helped me move on. I'll go talk to Jellal when we get back."

"Don't mention it, Erza, what are friends for? It's strange though, we haven't seen a crab or monster all day long, have we?" he asked.

"Hmm, you're right Gray. Well, no sweat off my back, free Jewels for all of us." she said with a smirk.

A few Hours Later

After Natsu and Yukino had woken up from their joint nap and the group had went to collect their reward from the mission, they all headed back to the train station. Yukino, who was still sleepy, had opted to ride on Natsu's back as they walked back to the train station. Natsu thought it was extremely cute of her, he felt like he was babysitting a young child, tired out after a day of activities.

"We're almost there, Yu-chan." he said to his half-asleep girlfriend.

"Mmm...five more minutes, Natsu-sama." she mumbled.

"Jeez...you're quite the handful." he replied, laughing to himself.

"What are you gonna do with your reward, Natsu?" Gray asked him.

"Hmm...I'm not sure yet, Gray. Hey, Yu-chan, when is your birthday?" he asked.

"Mmm...August 19th, Natsu-sama." she mumbled.

A little over a month then, huh... he thought to himself. Still plenty of time. I gotta remember to take more missions to make enough money. It's gonna cost a lot.

Finally reaching the train platform, they entered the train and sat down in their compartment. Setting Yukino down first, Natsu then settled down onto her lap as they both began to drift off before the train had even started moving.

I can't wait...to show you...Yu-chan. he thought as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness as the train chugged along the tracks back on it's way to Magnolia.