Age Gap

Chapter 4

"Well, well" A new voiced cooed. "What have we here?"

Erza froze as a shiver ran up her back, it was so strong that she somehow passed it on to Natsu and he also stiffened at the unexpected greeting. Erza turned to see an overweight, middle-aged woman stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the solid, wooden flooring. Erza felt Natsu hide himself a little behind her; she didn't blame him. The Dormitory Manager wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

With her chubby hand clamped to her padded hip and the piercing glare of those dull, beady eyes from over her glasses perched on the end of her nose, Erza knew that she wasn't going to receive a warm welcome. The woman tucked her greasy, greying, brown hair behind her ear before she sighed.

"And what do you think you're doing, Scarlet?" The Dorm Manager said with little enthusiasm.

Erza's dry throat made swallowing her discomfort hard, but she somehow managed to speak up.

"Ah, Dorm Manager." Erza said with a smile with as much strain as the stick that the Dorm Manager was leaning on. "I was hoping to run in to you."

"Were you now?" She asked with a voice laced with sarcasm. "And what might you need today?"

Erza wasted no time in asking for what she wanted. She knew from experience that she needed to be firm with this woman.

"I want you to let me take care of my cousin for a few days." Erza stated. "His parents sent him on ahead of them as a problem arose in the last minute."

"Hmm?"

The Dorm Manager didn't seem very convinced at all as she hobbled up to Erza and glared at Natsu who clung tighter to her back. There wasn't much that could get past the Dorm Manager's eyes, but that didn't mean they were fool proof.

"What your name, boy?" She asked as she glowered up at Erza's shoulder.

"It's Natsumi." Natsu said. Erza was impressed that he had caught on to the situation and adapted so quickly to it, even coming up with another name in the short amount of time that he had. He was sharper than she thought. "I came from the next town over. Me and my parents came to visit Erza-onee-chan."

Even if Natsu knew the situation, that didn't stop him from rising to the challenge that the Dorm Manager's eyes seemed to perpetually throw about.

"Hmph." She still didn't look happy about a male's presence in the female dorms but she sighed, defeated. "Fine, fine. I'll allow it, but keep him out of trouble Scarlet. I don't want to have to explain why a civilian got tangled up in a load of you Fairy Tail brat's problems. You always seem to find someone that hates your guts."

Erza couldn't help but be a little joyous about their small victory as she agreed to the conditions and half, speed-walked away from her. They headed up the first flight of stairs that they came across and Natsu counted Erza stride up two floors. He watched in fascination as the muscles in Erza's thighs move in tandem with the motions she made. Natsu always seemed to forget that despite Erza's incredible good looks, her body wasn't just for display, she was a fully functioning model alright.

She reached the top of the stairs and paused before addressing Natsu.

"Do you mind hopping down for this last little stretch?" Erza asked. Natsu noted that she didn't look or sound fatigued at all, but he understood the burden that carrying another person caused, even if they were just a child.

Natsu let himself slide down Erza's frame, careful not to let his cheek rub against her rear cheek. Once on the ground he moved to Erza's left and his right hand reached up for her left just as naturally as he had stuck to her back like a limpet. Her motherly instincts took over once again as she almost instantaneously accepted his small hand. It'd been a long time since they'd held hands like this; Erza remembered that Master always made the kids of the guild hold hands like this when they went out in to the city to shop with the adults. Erza and Mira holding one of the Master's hands each and Natsu held her hand while Gray held Mira's.

Erza smiled softly at the memories and Natsu saw it at a glance but he decided not to press it. He could get a rough gist of the things running through Erza's head at most times because of her expressions and little changes in her scent but it was just plain weird when she went in to this "girly mode". This hardened warrior, this unshakable Titania just seemed to… melt.

Natsu had taken notice that it usually happened when she took her armour off for extended amounts of time. A couple of years ago, after as much studying as Natsu's mind could handle (which was about half an hour) he came to the conclusion that her armour wasn't just for guarding her body, she used it as a type of emotional barrier too. She, in herself, couldn't really deal with extremely strong emotions such as love, hate and depression. She used the armour as an excuse to make herself cold to almost everyone around her.

Although, things started to change once Erza had requested for his and Gray's help in tracking down Eisenwald. Ever since then lots of things had happened. Natsu idly counted them on his free hand. There was Lullaby, Galuna Island, Phantom Lord and of course the Tower of Heaven. He had a feeling that if he were to bring up the last one to Erza, as she was right now, it would be something he'd regret doing. That subject would always be sore for her, he didn't blame her, the mere name of that place left a bad taste in his own mouth.

Natsu looked back up at Erza just as she mirrored the action. She smiled widely down at him and all of a sudden he forgot what he was thinking about. But as the smile caught on his features too, he realised he didn't even care. A strand of her hair fell over her face and she went cross eyed when she looked at it. She chuckled in that sensual way that he loved and she pushed it back behind her ear.

Holy dragon turds, he so loved this girl.

Natsu was suddenly almost pulled off his feet when Erza stopped abruptly.

"We're here." She announced as she let go of his hand to unlock the door. "Welcome to my humble abode, Natsu."

She pushed the door open and placed her hands on Natsu's shoulders as she guided him in ahead of her. Once Erza's hands left his shoulders he didn't take a single step on his own. His feelings at that moment were surprisingly mixed. One half of him wanted to run through every one of the five rooms that Erza owned and rummage through every drawer that he laid his eyes on until he found something that he could blackmail her with in future reference.

But the other side of his wasn't so positive. Natsu was aware of Erza. Her grace, her beauty, her intelligence and even her vocabulary; and it all seemed so much better than he could ever be. Looking around the first of Erza's huge rooms at the alphabetically, arranged bookshelves and tidy desks, Natsu couldn't help but feel inferior. He felt like he would be a nuisance here, a tomato stain on a white shirt. He didn't dare take another step inside.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come." He murmured, barely loud enough for himself to hear.

"Why not?" Erza asked. Her warrior's senses had picked up on the whisper like he'd spoken it straight in to her ear. "What's wrong?"

Natsu instantly backed off and went in to a frenzy of blurred words, trying to find a valid excuse but no coherent one came to him. Erza's brow had furrowed and she was now leant over with her hands on her knees. The motion caused her hair to tumble over her shoulders but it wasn't enough to block Natsu's view that went straight down her blouse and couldn't help but notice the porcelain skin of her chest, held in place by only the light blue lacy bra that he caught a glimpse of. He felt even worse.

"You told me before that Gajeel was bothering you." Erza continued. "What's so different this time?"

He took a step away from her and she took a step forward in her hunched position and even Erza noticed that her breasts bounced because she shamelessly readjusted her bra right then in front of him.

"Everything's different." He said as he turned away. "You've always been more important to me than he is. Which is why I feel bad about imposing on you."

Erza chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Natsu, I want you to think back." She said softly. "Back to all those times that we've fought, all the times that we've argued, all the times we've travelled together, all the time we've spent together overall."

Natsu thought back and smiled at all the precious memories that he was so fond of. Even if Erza's crying face cropped up before him in his mind, he still felt warm because she would never do that unless she cared tremendously about something.

"Now think about how many times you'll have imposed on me over the years." His face fell slightly, he remembered Erza wasn't very good at pep talks. "And how many of those times do you think I was annoyed at you for it? Hmm?"

Natsu knew that she was looking for an answer, but his flushed face prevented him from turning back to her.

"I dunno, a lot?" He guessed sullenly.

It was then that he felt her warm hand on his shoulder as she turned him around and before his eyes could even focus she had touched his forehead tenderly with her own. An image of a coastline and tattered clothing flashed in his mind.

"Never." She finalised as she stared in to his charcoal eyes with her own sly, coffee coloured eyes. "Never have I once thought that you were a burden. The bonds I have with my friends and my Fairy Tail family are what make me strong. Without even a single one of you, my world would come crashing down."

Natsu was shocked in to silence, partly from learning something new about Erza and partly from realising her close her face was. His straight nose ran parallel to her ever so slightly Celestial nose where it pressed even more firmly in to his face. She giggled a little at Natsu's stunned silence and shook her head against his own. Her nose fell out of alignment with his and slid down the side until it pressed against his cheek. Her expression relaxed and her taut, bow shaped lips filled out again, she almost got away with it too but as if she had smashed their teeth together he felt her upper lip brush his.

Natsu could feel a primal desire almost taking him over. He could take a single step forwards and satisfy himself. He dragon's ego within him knew that if he got his way he could satisfy her. He pushed that thought aside before it developed into something more but that didn't stop him feeling weak kneed at her touch.

"Sorry… Erza" He said finally. "I don't know what came over me. Maybe this Aging Spell affected me a little more than I thought."

"Apology accepted." She grinned. "Why don't we move to the bedroom? Things will be more comfortable there."

Natsu let the innuendo slide as she took his hand, lead the way to her bedroom and Natsu raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw what lay behind the door. Clothes were scattered across the floor, a couple of swords lay here and there and it looked like a pile of books that was sat on the floor had fallen over too creating a little hurdle in the middle of the floor. In other words, Erza's room was messy.

"Burgular?" Natsu asked and Erza didn't miss a beat smacking him upside the head.

"No, of course not!" She defended quickly and a grin crept across Natsu's face. "I just never got round to cleaning up when we got back from our mission. I always pull so much equipment out that we might need that I never bother siding it all again until I come back."

Natsu's grin didn't subside as he took a few careful steps around the room, making sure not to stand on anything breakable or even worse, to tread on a sword. There were various pictures on the wall, some of them he recognised like the picture of Team Natsu and some of their temporary members that Reedus had them all gather for. He picked it up carefully and smiled warmly.

Natsu, Gray and Lucy stood at the front, all smiling happily but Lucy's eyes weren't on Reedus, they were on the Fairy Tail insignia that was flickering in Natsu's palm. Happy, Erza and Wendy stood just above the front trio, respectively and Natsu found himself looking at Erza's face just a little longer than the others. The others didn't know, and nobody could tell from the picture but Natsu knew that Erza's hand was on his back. As he remembered, Goosebumps spread across his skin, starting in the same place that Erza's fingers had brushed him that day. Lastly, at the very top of the picture was Carla and Gajeel, but Natsu's focused eyes barely even noticed them. His thumb unconsciously traced Erza's jaw and it was only when he realised that he couldn't see all of her while doing that, did he move his thumb.

"Oh, I remember that day." Erza spoke from behind him and Natsu nearly dropped the picture in surprise. "That brings back memories."

Natsu looked over his shoulder to see Erza with her hand on her chin and a nostalgic grin over her features. He chuckled a little forcefully.

"But Erza." He said with pity. "This was only painted a couple of months ago, just before the Grand Magic Games."

"Oh?" Erza said as her smile changed for the worse. "Does that stop it being a nice memory?"

Her hand had removed itself from her face and she began to wriggle her fingers in midair, like little claws. Natsu knew what this motion meant from his childhood days with Lisanna. Natsu carefully put the picture back where it was.

"No, ma'am." He said quickly. "Not at all, it's a nice memory indeed."

He bowed deeply in hopes of throwing Erza off but she wasn't having it as she crept forwards a couple of paces. Natsu backed up towards the bed, no longer caring about what he was stepping on, as long as he could escape.

"Then why does it matter when the painting was made?" Erza asked with a mad glint in her eye. "I won't forgive you."

Natsu tried to dash away but he slipped on one of Erza's tank tops, which she took advantage of. Her precise steps came forwards way too quickly for him to defend and before he knew it she had already pushed him down on to the bed.

"I hope you're ready for your punishment, Natsu." Erza purred as her hair spilled down to stroke his face.

Natsu tried to protest but it was too late, her hands had already shot for his armpits. Her fingers proceeded to rampage. The next ten minutes were an absolute blur and shrieking laughter, protests on deaf ears and squirming like an electrocuted earthworm. Natsu was fairly sure that there were places that weren't ticklish but when Erza was touching them, they became some of his most sensitive places. When Natsu managed to push her off the bed he had but a moment to switch himself in to offensive mode before Erza leapt at him again.

He used her momentum to flip her over so that he was on top this time and her expression changed almost instantly to one of fear.

"Now, Erza." Natsu growled cockily. "I hope you've had your fun. Because now it's my turn."

He dived in the same way she did and the effects were immediate. She bucked underneath him and he had to lower himself down to keep his balance. There was no way she was going to win this. She squealed in an completely un-Erza like way and she tried in vain to push him away. Natsu was surprised with how strong a child's body actually was and how long they could last for, especially when being half beaten up.

But eventually his energy ran out just as Erza reached the stage where her body broke out in to an exhausted sweat and laughing tears escaped from her eyes. He let his tight grip on her blouse go as he stood up and moved a step back. He wiped the thin layer of sweat from his brow with his arm and watched Erza's chest push her shirt out as she tried to calm her laboured breathing. Erza was also sweating, he saw one particular bead roll down her collarbone and disappear in to her cleavage which was displayed even more than before as one of the buttons on her blouse must've come undone during their loving brawl.

She brought her hand up and pushed her thick hair from her forehead, revealing her right eye that she has got in to the habit of covering lately. Her long lashed eyelids closed and her lips met each other as she sighed through her nose.

This new Erza baffled Natsu.

Erza was an entity that did not waver. She was an ironclad knight, the finest one this world will ever see. She was a steely gazed demon that looked even dragons straight in the eye. She was the strongest woman he knew, mentally, physically and magically. To him, that Erza was awesome.

But this Erza that he had seen today wasn't any of these things. He knew that Erza was capable of emotions that were different from her stereotype but this was different from even the deviation. This Erza was a mother with no child to love. She was a playmate that he could spend hours on end with. She was just another teenage girl that smiled, laughed, cried and got angry. To him, this Erza was charming.

Natsu flopped down on his belly next to Erza and studied the face of this new person. It was uncanny how much she looked like the Erza he used to know, but instead of a frown, this Erza donned a smile. Natsu noticed then that with her slender arm over her forehead and a hand on her stomach, she had fallen asleep. Her breathing was now slow and smooth and just as he shuffled a little closer to her, he heard a light rumbling from the back of her throat. She was snoring.

He chuckled breathily and Erza twitched from the heat of it. Her face scrunched up for a second before she rolled over and sub-consciously grabbed Natsu. Her arms slid around his ribs and before he could prepare himself she had pulled his to herself. He would've been fine with her just snuggling in her sleep, but it was the fact that she had done it with so much force that his head met hers.

His nose met hers.

His lips met hers.

It was only for a moment. Yet that moment was all that was needed for Natsu to take note of how Erza's lips felt. They were soft but the definite womanly shape to them kept her lips firm. They were also warm. Natsu could feel that better than anyone else with his magic being so closely associated with heat. But it wasn't a warmth that was used to keep to herself. This type of warmth was infectious and it flooded in to him, in those couple of seconds that their lips were in contact.

Natsu smiled and pulled away gently. Who knew that of all the people he knew, that Erza would've been the one to take his first kiss? Certainly not him. He was disappointed that he couldn't have taken hers, as he had witnessed first-hand Erza's kiss with Jellal, but he was happy enough that she would keep his safe, even if she wasn't aware of what was going on.

Natsu saw the clock on the wall and it told him that it was late. He yawned as if on cue and settled his head down underneath Erza's chin. Her sleeping frame instantly accepted his warm body as she held him a little tighter. Natsu slowed his breathing and closed his eyes and he took in Erza's sweet smell. Light strawberries and thick caramel.

That night, Natsu dreamt of cheesecake.