Author's Notes:
This came as a story idea from a lovely reviewer, Jeffry, Who suggested a story about Natsu getting stuck in a manner similar to Winnie the Pooh. Well I was curious as to what my brain would pop out and after some time (longer than I like actually) this story actually started to take root. So Sorry for the delay Jeffry but here it is! I hope it makes people giggle as much it did me as I wrote it.

Friendship is never having to say: "I told you so" because real friends remember...

Who's great idea was this to come chasing a shrinking man into a mountain side outside of Shirotsume anyway? It was stupid! When he got his hands on them he would...

Wait.

It was his idea to take this job.

Ok so that was his idea but who had the great idea to chase him into a mountain side?!

Hold on...that was him too.

Well, he certainly wasn't the one to order to give chase and walk into a trap on his own. Wait...

WHY DOES HE EVEN LISTEN TO HIMSELF!?

Slumping in defeat he roughly scrubs his coral head in irritation.

"I told you to wait." come the grumpy sound of a all too familiar voice. Of all the people to find him first...it just HAD to be her.

"Now look at you." The fire mage feels something uncomfortably sharp poke one of his suspended nether cheeks.

"HEY! Stop that!" he ground his teeth in annoyance.

"Why? It's just sitting there just asking for it. We weren't the one's stupid enough to get caught in a trap. No...make that run into a trap."

"DAMNIT Gray! Wait until I get out of here! I'm gonna..." Natsu eagerly latched on to the ice mage as the ever convenient vent for his frustrations. He slams a fiery fist into the rock as something cold slides up his spine. OH...when he got out of here...

"Grey...I am going to kill you~!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to get your sorry ass out of there...too bad it's so big I can't wedge anything between you and the rock. Why not just blast your way out?"

"Don't you think I tried that?"

"No, you are not known for brains..." That hit a little too close to home.

"You bastard!"

poke

*Punch *

"That's enough you two." Erza intoned absently. "First we have to figure out how he got in there before we can get him out."

Natsu groans silently as that brought up some unpleasant, but very recent, memories.

Earlier that Day...

"You guys are taking forever! He'll be gone before we catch up with him!"

"Natsu, we don't know what all this guy can do. We can't be too careless. I'm not sure this guy is as silly as he looks. " Lucy eyed the wanted poster. In showed a rather short round man dressed in a mole costume smiling at the viewer showing off all his rather large teeth and twirling a mustache.

"Are you kidding me? With an outfit like that?" Gray asks in disbelief. "And his power is burrowing."

"I'll just smoke him out." Natsu shrugs. Erza shakes her head at the male sex's tendency to just rush head long into everything.

It isn't long before they stop at the base of the mountain and see a figure disappear into one of the caves. "THERE HE IS! AFTER HIM!"

"Aye sir~!" Happy flies eagerly after Natsu. Gray hot on their heels, leaving the two women staring after them in irritation.

"HEY! Wait! Don't just run in there! This is going to end badly isn't it?" Lucy states absently as she starts to run herself. It's best to keep an eye on them at least...

"If it's those two? Probably." The armored woman running at her side grimly admits.

Within the cave the subject of their latest job was giving the boys quite the run around. Shrinking and growing at random and highly inconvenient times. Several time's heads were butted both physically and metaphorically. Gray ended up punched onto the ground by an irritated Natsu, who promptly runs off after the annoyingly giddy convict. Happy had landed to try to wake Gray up as Lucy and Erza come running up.

Some ways ahead Natsu is growling in frustration as the portly mole dressed man is not only surprisingly nimble but freaky fast too.

"Might as well stop now, flame mage. Your no match for me!" he taunted before taking off down a smaller passage.

"Ugh...he reminds me of someone..." An image of he and Lucy's first official mission pops into his head and he frowns. "Now he annoys me even more." He frowns as the man jumps through a large hole.

"OH no you don't!" Natsu doesn't hesitate and attempts to dive through after him, after all the cavern looked huge on the other side. And it was. Unfortunately the suspect had turned around and snapped his fingers causing the hole he had just cleared to shrink catching Natsu around the waist and suspended about 5 feet from the ground. "What the~!? That's not fair! You just burrow and shrink and stuff!"

The man simply giggled at him. "I don't just burrow. I change my size and the burrowing...is geomancy. If you're a example of what I have to go up against...I don't have to worry about anything. See ya!" the man waved happily as he trotted off. Natsu glares and beats a flaming fist into the rocks confining him only for fire to run down from his fist and run along the ground after the man and cause a cave in about 30 feet in front of him to cave in effectively blocking off the escape route mole used. I knew that soil smelt weird. Oily weird...

"Awww dammit..."


Present

Looking up at Natsu's derriere Lucy blinks at all the antics Erza and Gray are performing under the guise of helping. None of which looked terribly comfortable.

Gray had attempted to shove various ice shards around Natsu with the sketchy theory of trying to pop him out. Or at least the melting water would provide some sort of slip so that he could slide out. That only accomplished in a pissed off and wet dragonslayer who was cussing the Ice Mage and all his possible progeny at how cold he was.

To be fair, it wasn't that the ice itself was physically cold to him, but rather that the nature of the magic itself grated on Natsu's nerves and sent a constant uncomfortable chill up and down his magical senses. Which only served to keep him pissed. As a rule he didn't get cold, generally.

Happy grabbed his father's ankles and proceeded to pull.

Violently.

Twisting this way and that in trying to dislodge his parental figure.

Not only did Natsu not budge but he also felt rather light-headed at the end of it.

Erza took her turn and after three re-equips and several dangerous lightning, flame, and nasty looking sword strikes around, what Natsu would argue is his most vulnerable area, she had only succeeded in making several chips off the 2 ft wide stone bondage and singeing, his clothes.

Much screaming had ensued when Natsu heard Erza at work behind him. They where surprisingly high-pitched too.

Not all too surprising to the solitary, outside, observer but fighting ensued. Though it was strange to see a raven haired man in no clothes, a red-haired woman in armor, a blue cat with wings and a clinching, twitching butt have a argument, it wasn't surprising.

Probably would make for a interesting joke intro too.

One that Natsu probably wouldn't appreciate now.

Besides the punch line would probably be terrible.

Lucy frowns. "Uh...guys?" the three working on the predicament continue to fuss and squabble often punctuated with a random slap to the wall or the rump of the imprisoned Dragonslayer. The latter often earned either a cuss or kick tossed in the random direction of the offending action.

Which in turn started yet another fight between Gray and Natsu's derriere.

"Hey, ummm guys? Why don't you just have me call Virgo? She could just dig him out." Everyone got quiet for a long moment looking back at Lucy as if she'd just suggested simply cutting him in half.

"That would be the quickest way..." Erza admits.

"Because this is way more fun." Gray chuckles.

"I knew we kept you around for a reason." Happy pats her on the shoulder.

"Gee, thanks." Lucy mutters in irritation at the Exceed as she pulls out Virgo's key.

"You summoned me, Hime?" The young maid bows carefully.

"Can you dig Natsu out of there?"

"Yes, Hime!" Virgo pirouetted and disappeared into the ground to the jangle of her chains. Soon there is the sound of drilling around Natsu right before.

POP! He falls back out on to his bum rather roughly too. Probably due to the excess rock still surrounding his abdomen, a bit like a ballerina's tutu. "Ack! Ugh, Thanks Luce! Virgo you're the best! Think you can get through that cave in up ahead too?" Virgo bows. "Easily." She once again burrows down and starts the handle the cave in up ahead. No sooner had she cleared the way is Natsu rushing off, once again, hefting his new accessory along the way.

"YOU STUPID MOLE ASSHOLE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Natsu! Wait! He's probably long gone by...now..." Lucy sighs softly.

"Hime? If you are wishing to punish Natsu-san? Might I take his punishment instead?" Lucy face palms groaning. Gray has already run ahead a well.

"HEY PRINCESS PYRO! YOU GONNA TAKE THAT OFF!?"

"NO TIME FROST FREAK! I GOTTA CATCH UP!"

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!?"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!?" Titania roars in irritation. Their yelling was echoing back in the confined area was really grating of her nerves. Natsu spasms stiffly, his instinctual response towards the 'beast' of his elder's roar...and topples over. His new addition acting as a wheel his body the axle he promptly goes rolling rapidly down into the ever-deepening cave. While he's moving faster, which is a perk, he'll out strip them all in no time, it has unfortunately now become a vehicle. Natsu's face rapidly turns a sickly green that clashes horribly with his hair and in a fit of desperation attempts to punch the wheel with a flaming fist. With no way to get his bearings and the constant movement, the very heavy lunch Natsu had before entering this cave decides to make an encore appearance turning him into a spinning, wheel of flaming vomit.

Gray shrieks and dodges back, but it still managed to splash him causing him to stop and gag in horrified disgust as well as attempt a awkward jig to prevent his pants from catching. Happy too puts on the air breaks to prevent getting sprayed. They are quickly left behind.

The Natsu wheel falls into a large cavern and shatters upon impact leaving it's victim in a pile of stone.

"Damn, I thought that would take you a little longer to get out of." groggily Natsu looks towards the voice as he sees the cause of all of this smirking from the other side of a sluggish lava flow. He has a magic circle drawn on the ground from what Natsu can see and various candles all about the entire cavern. Wiping his mouth with the back of an arm Natsu sits up. "The hell is all of this?"

"Isn't it obvious? If not I suppose I shouldn't expect much from such a mediocre mage. You couldn't even tell I was leading you on. Surely you know your magic."

"Nah, only the basics. My partner is better at that intellectual stuff."

"Shame, because if you knew you might have been able to stop me."

"You could just shut up and I stop you anyway."

The Mole just chuckles. "Oh that's highly unlikely...after all. You can't get out of that spot. Out of one tight spot and into another." Looking down Natsu realizes that he's sitting in a circle of his own. Only this one he's pretty familiar with. "Dammit, containment."

"Thought you didn't know your magic circles."

"Yeah well I've been in a few of these in my day." Natsu smirks as he lights a fist and punches the ground around the circle.

"Then you should know that it's useless to do such things."

"Normally you'd be right...if you manifested it with your own power and not wrote it in chalk. Sloppy. All I have to do is get this rune here to..." His constant abuse of one area has caused it to fracture rupturing the rune and dislodging the entire flow of the spell. "I may not be real smart but I do listen when my friends talk. Even if it's about boring stuff. Never know when it comes in handy." Not giving the sputtering man a chance to talk the fire dragonslayer launches himself across the lava moat and punches the ground that had once occupied the burrowing nuisance. His target resurfaced a ways away and brushes his artfully coiffed hair as he pulls back his hood. It was something about the way he messed with his hair. Gas lamps started to go off in Natsu's head.

"Any chance your related to a Lord Everlu?" Natsu pauses, landing in a crouch listening more than looking at the man.

"Why yes, he's my brother." comes the voice off to his left. "Got done in by some damn guild kids too."

"Oh, yeah, that was us. Sorry." Natsu shrugs carelessly and without a hint of remorse. Standing he pops his neck and stretches.

"All the more reason you are not leaving here alive." The ground underneath Natsu opens up to swallow him again, Luckily all the rock in this area is still young and with one mighty punch he avoids being trapped again. "That ain't going to work on me twice. Karyu no Akugeki!" Moving faster than the eye could follow, the Fire dragon slayer bull rushes the man and slams him over the head with crushing strike that instantly engulfs Everlue's body and taking what hair he had left effectively taking out the threat. Well the human one at least...that circle...well he's not to sure what to do about that one. Especially since it's glowing now. Maybe if he broke it?

"Natsu!?"

Always there when I need her. That's why she's my partner.

"DOWN HERE! THERE IS A MAGIC CIRCLE DOWN HERE AND IT'S GLOWING! SOMETHING ABOUT TRYING TO MAKE THIS MOUNTAIN BLOW." He watches in fascination as Lucy Floats down on a pink cloud created by Aries, Grey riding beside her at little close for Natsu's taste but a glare was all he could afford at the moment ,and Lucy looks like she might not be in the mood for another squabble...nor Erza... he looks over at the red-haired demon and shudders.

Lucy blinks in surprise as she stares at him before running over to the circle. Staring down at it for a long tense moment. Grey looks back. "UH...Lucy? If you have an idea you should probably do it now...this lava is rising!"

Brown eyes read quickly and after brightening in understanding. "OH! This is easy, I just erase this here... there!" The circle continues to glow but the lava recedes and the ominous rumbling that had started tapers off. The circle continues to glow but this time with a nice warm sunny sky blue. The irritating rattle of the spell giving away to a soft protective hum as the very purpose of the spell is changed.

"Lucy...what did you do?" Erza walks over curiously. The buxom blonde just shrugs and looks down proudly at her work. "Nothing, big. I just changed a few of the words to make the spell something else. Instead of attempting to get the mountain to blow it will now help keep the mountain's volcanic activity stable. He was using the geomanic magic found naturally in this area to power the spell, so it should keep going so long as the natural resources of ambient magic remain." Grey smirks. "That's our Lucy." Erza smiles like a proud big sister at Lucy's easy explanation. Happy stares up at her. "Wow. You are useful...sometimes."

"Yep! HEY! DAMN CAT!" she starts chasing a blue streak around. Natsu, is largely lost but gets the gist of it and simply grins. She was smart, Fiery and had a pretty strong will for a girl who was raised a pampered princess.

He could choose a partner couldn't he?

Knowing he wasn't necessarily the smartest he went after someone who was stronger than him in someplace he wasn't that great at. Brains. Being easy on the eyes was a perk too. She grew by leaps after joining their guild and still had a ways to go. But the potential was certainly there and only with experience and his, admittedly, hair brained stunts had she grown and learned to think and act faster on her feet. Soon she would be a force to be reckoned with. That was already clear in the Grand Magic Games. She was the clear winner before underhanded schemes were used. But that in itself was a learning experience for her only serving to make her stronger. Frowning down at the still twitching suspect. Besides, as much as he likes a fair fight and honor, enemies never fight fair. But then she knew this as well now, too. Kicking the man over he looks at Gray. "You wanna make sure this guy doesn't move until we get back to town?"

"Only because I don't want to deal with him if he wakes up...not trying to help you. It's really your fault we're in this situation..."

"HOW...?" Titania look over and nods.

"We did tell you BOTH of you to slow down."

"Tch. Well it worked out, whatever." He glances over to see if Lucy has anything to say. All he gets is a shrug and a apologetic smile in response. No "I told you so's" or similar. She'd started doing that lately...

but what should he expect from her? She understood him and knew when to scold and when it was moot. And given the results she knew it was moot. She kept her peace.

After all she was his partner.

And clearly one of his best friends.