Chapter 4: Training & Confessions
It's been a month since the events of Logatown, a month since they beat Eternal Reap, and a month since… he kissed her. Erza mind has been on that, ever since they returned back home to Fairy Tail. She didn't know what to say when she seen him, and her face always flushed red when she thought of his lips on hers.
"Gahhhh this is frustrating!" Erza yelled as she clutched her head. This didn't go unnoticed by a certain white haired barmaid.
"What's on your mind Erza? You been yelling and thinking for quite some time now." Mira asked politely. She normally never seen the red head act like this, so now she was curious as to why.
*sigh* "It's nothing big Mira, just been trying to cope with this situation and understand something" she said as her cheeks went red as the kiss came to mind. Mira looked at her suspiciously and then smiled.
"Whatever it is, i'm sure it has something to do with Natsu" she said. Erza face went crimson at the mention of his name. 'bingo' Mira thought to herself.
"H-how do you know what i was thinking?" Erza stuttered out. She knew she wasn't that obvious was she?
"I assume it's about how he kissed your randomly." she said as she hit the nail on the coffin. Erza looked horrified. Mira was basically reading her like a book.
"You scare me how observant you are Mira" Erza said as she let out a small laugh, Mira did the same as well.
"I suppose so, but anyway you should finally confess. It's been a few years if you don't count Tenrou Island" she said trying to nudge her.
Everyone, well mostly everyone knew that Erza had a different side when it came to Natsu. "I know Mira, I know. It's just i don't know what to do now. I was planning to when we got done with Logatown, but he threw me for a loop when he kissed me randomly. Not to mention it, Wendy asked him wasi his mate…" She trailed off.
This seem to make Mira let out a gasp as she didn't know that part. "W-wait so Wendy, s-said that?" she asked in a stutter, she had a little tint of pink on her cheeks as she knew that must've been really embarrassing.
"YEAH SO I WAS LIKE WHAT TO DO,WHAT TO DO...thanks" Erza said as she calmed down when Mira put a slice of cake in front of her. "I just, i don't know how i should ask him out now." she said a little defeated, taking a bite of her cheesecake.
"No worries Erza, it's Natsu here and if he chosen you to be his mate, then all is ok. Just when you feel ready go seal the deal" Mira said with a wink as she left to attend to some members that called her,
Seal the deal" Erza whispered as her face went red at what she meant. After finishing the last of her cheesecake she felt more relieved. She took a deep breath before she yelled out to everyone. "Where is Natsu?!" She yelled out. This silenced the guild as everyone wondered why she needed the salmon haired dragon slayer.
"Umm he's out with Wendy and Gajeel they should be in the woods by the lake." Levy replied back.
"Thank you" Erza said as she prepared to head that way. She was ready to get this over with now. As she left she heard whispers that seem to make her redder and redder by the second.
Questions like, Are they finally going to get together? Are they gonna take it further than that kiss? Maybe she gonna beat him? Mira just laughed as Erza hurried and left, slamming the guild doors behind her. 'Good Luck Erza' she said as the guild went back to normal.
In the woods…
"So, how am i suppose to do this again?" Wendy asked as she seem frustrated. They been here since this morning her and Natsu trying to train her to get better control of her Blaze powers that she recently gotten. So far no good as she couldn't call upon the magic either by itself or to her blazing sky dragon mode.
"Hmmm, i'm trying to think as to why it's not working" Natsu said as he tried to think.
"Salamander, remember you ate that god slayers fire and had it for that one time? Maybe that's why it's not working, it was a one time thing." Gajeel said as he crossed his arms. He sure this was probably why she couldn't call upon this power. Wendy had gotten sad as she really liked that power she had against Hatsuya.
"Wait, if you think about it i ate the powers of a god, and then Laxus gave me his powers; which i remind you he is a dragon slayer. There's gotta be a different reason as to why Wendy can't use both?" Natsu said as his hand got covered in Lightning, then fire, before they mixed.
"Can you use your free willing Gajeel-nii?" Wendy asked as she looked up at the older dragon slayer. He nodded in response as he produced a shadow like aura around him.
"Well i don't know then, i got things to do so i'll catch you guys later, come on Lily!" The iron dragon slayer said as he and PantherLily left to go do their own personal training. Wendy got sad as she was expecting Natsu to leave too, and she would have to figure it out on her own.
She was brought out her thoughts as her hair was ruffled much to her annoyance by Natsu. "Don't worry about that tincan he's just not as cool as us since he can't use fire. I'll be here 100% of the way to make sure you can use those flames of yours anytime you want, ok?" Natsu said as he gave her his toothy grin.
This cheered Wendy up immediately, this was why she was so much closer to Natsu than Gajeel. He always knew what to do to cheer her up, and was willing to do anything for her. She hugged him and whispered "Thank you Natsu-nii, i'll make you proud" Natsu smiled and hugged her back.
"So what do you say, we have a little spar?" he said as his fist got covered in flames. "I know you're fired up!" he said with his menacing grin. Wendy gave a menacing grin that could rival his own as the wind picked up around them. "You know me well Natsu-nii" she said as she got in a fighting stance.
This caught Happy and Carla's attention. "She really does have something that close to Natsu, he really gave her that love like Grandeeny." Carla said as she smiled at the two sparring dragon slayers. "Aye, they really are something" Happy said as he chewed on one of the few fish he and Lily caught moments ago.
"FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW" Natsu shouted out as his feet set ablaze and sent a kick towards Wendy. She countered by jumping up and bringing a kick down of wind to stop Natsu's attack. "SKY DRAGON'S CLAW".
"ROAR OF THE SKY DRAGON" Wendy shouted as she roared her vortex of winds towards Natsu, Natsu jumped up and brought his flame fist together. "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME" he shouted as he made a giant fireball of fire to stop Wendy's roar. Wendy forgetting it's fire only amplified the attack and was on the receiving end.
"OH CRAP, I'M SORRY" Natsu shouted as he ran to his down sibling. When he reached there he had to dodge a fist of wind aimed at his head. After that, it was Wendy who was sending a barrage of punches and kicks to him. "Shame on you Natsu-nii if you think that would bring me down!" she shouted as they continued to have their fist to fist combat.
"Hehe I'm sorry i doubted you Wendy, but you got so much better at fighting in close quarters" Natsu pointed out as he had to keep blocking and defending against her attacks. Wendy smiled at his praise as she tried to sweep his leg from under him.
They both jumped away from each other as they were breathing heavily. Happy and Carla sat in the distance as they looked in awe at how Wendy held her own against Natsu in that little fist fight. Little did they know, a redhead was watching as well.
Erza smiled, she's been here since after Gajeel left. She watched how Natsu cheered her up and offered to train her until she learned her other mode better. Erza cheeks went red as she remembered that vision of the family she seen in the future. The older Natsu, the older Wendy, and her daughter. 'S-so me and him did the n-nasty' She shook her head as she didn't want to think of the process of creating a child with Natsu.
Erza was brought out her thoughts as she seen a flicker of blue come from the bluenette. Everyone who seen it mouth dropped as Wendy actually smiled. 'So that's the trick huh? I guess i can deal with this' Wendy thought as she tried to use her healing spell to regenerate her stamina, only for it to activate the blue fires that healed her when she fought Hatsuya. It seemed that she needed to be fatigued to use her other dragon slayer magic.
"OHHHH i seen blue fire! It's a start, show me whatcha got" Natsu said as he gathered himself in his lightning flame dragon mode.
Wendy smiled as she set herself ablaze with blue fire and wind started to gather heavily around them "I hope you're ready" she said as she charged at Natsu.
"This is going to get very destructive, very fast" Carla said as she watched the two dragon slayers fight it out again. "Aye…" Happy said as he looked on with amazement.
'I didn't see that coming, i thought that was a one time thing. She's gonna be powerful' Erza thought as she watched the two siblings brawl. "Well, if they get out of hand, I'll stop them" Erza said in a whisper as she leaned back against the tree to see where this spar would lead to.
"LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON'S FIST" Natsu said as his fist crackled with lightning and fire as he sent a punch towards Wendy. Thinking fast Wendy said an enchantment "VERNIER" she shouted as she was able to move faster than Natsu and was behind him.
"Whoa, nice timing" Natsu said as he turned around to get a flaming kick to the face. He was sent into multiple trees. "Awww, guess i gotta go beast mode" he said with a grin. He charged Wendy with speeds as he punched her with a lighting flame fist in the stomach and sent her flying into the nearby river.
After a few seconds, Wendy swam back to the top. "That was mean…*gasp* mean gasp* Natsu-nii" she said as she tried to gasp for air.
"Hey, this is the only way to train you to get stronger. I want you to surpass me one day, so until then get ready to get a beating" he said as he jumped in the air. He gather a lightning hand and a flaming hand and smashed them together to make a flaming lightning ball. "LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME" he shouted as he sent the attack at Wendy.
Wendy went wide eyed as she tried to swim away from the area of impact, until Carla got her and flew to the air. Erza looked at Natsu with a death glare, which sent a random chill down his spine. "OIIII NATSU THAT'S OVERDOING IT" Happy shouted as he was in Natsu's face. The fireball hit where Wendy was at and exploded, destroying the part of the forest they were in, and caused the river to be dried out, with dead fish all over the place.
"Hehe, at least there's fish all over Happy" he said with a cheesy grin as he looked away. The exceeds mouth watered as he ran to his new paradise.
Carla scoffed as she had Wendy in the air by her collar. "Are you ok child?" she asked as she heard Wendy start giggling."When.." she was cut off as Wendy caused her to release her grip on her.
Wendy landed and looked at Natsu with her signature smile. "Ok Natsu-nii my turn to be flashy!" she shouted as if an excited kid that accomplished something. "Huh?" he said as he seen his fire going into her mouth. She was preparing for a roar!
"ROAR OF THE BLAZING SKY DRAGON" Wendy roared as a vortex of blue flames and wind engulfed Natsu. Everyone had their jaw dropped as they weren't expecting to see this. The vortex reminded them of the time at Tenrou island. After a few seconds the vortex died down and all was left was a crater and a area where trees use to be..
After the dust settled down, Natsu was left on his hands and knees, narrowly avoiding darkness that called for unconsciousness. 'Whoa that was powerful and hurt like shit' he thought as he breathed heavily. Wendy sat across from him breathing hard too as she felt all her magic was nearly gone.
"Imagine if that had hit that one dragon slayer head on..." Carla stuttered out as she looked at her blue haired friend in shock.
"A-aye Wendy, that w-was dangerous" Happy stuttered out as well.
'T-that was a fierce breath' Erza thought stunned. She wasn't expecting that at all. Then she smiled, 'Just as destructive as a Fairytail wizard should be' she thought proudly. She decided it was time to show herself. "Marvelous! Just simply marvelous Wendy" Erza said as she approached them with clapping.
Wendy blushed as she looked away to hide her embarrassment. She was tired, that move drained most of her magic, but she was lucky it didn't drain her completely. "T-thanks" she said as she kept blushing. She was happy she got praise from someone like Erza.
"Erza whatcha doin here?" Happy asked after overcoming his shock. He flew till he landed on her shoulder.
"Well i wanted to speak to Natsu… alone" she said as her cheeks tinted a bit. Happy seeing that she blushed decided to troll her. "Oh i get it, you liiiiiiiike him" he said tongue rolling.
"GET LOST!" she shouted as she kicked Happy away. "Damn cat…" she said as her cheeks were flushed red. "Anyway i wanted to speak to Natsu, but i seen you and him were sparring so i decided to watch." she said with a small smile.
"Carla, take me to our house. I need a longgggg bath, and i don't have the strength to walk hehe" Wendy smiled as Carla picked her up. "Honestly child, this what you get for being all macho like him." she said as she got ready to fly away.
"Erza-san i got a question?" Wendy asked innocently.
What is it Wendy?" she asked as she looked at her.
"Are you here to confess to Natsu-nii?" she asked as she looked at her with a sweet smile.
Erza face went red as her hair when that question went off. This was the second time Wendy has asked an embarrassing question and it was just too much. "Y-Yes i am" She said as she couldn't really avoid the little dragon slayer's gaze.
"Cool! Good luck, and don't worry he's been waiting for this too Erza-nee" she said as she signaled to have Carla fly them to her house. Erza was looking stupid as she heard what Wendy called her.
"D-did she? Dammit, today they just fucking with me mentally" she said as she looked over at Natsu who was asleep. His clothes were torn and he had bruises, but after taking that attack and using all that high powered magic who wouldn't be tired.
Erza sat down next to the sleeping dragon slayer as she watched him snore away. She smiled for a few minutes and played with his hair. Then she sighed and smacked Natsu… hard.
Natsu woke up on the defense, only to get smacked in the head again. "HEY would you stop?!" he said with a annoyed voice. Erza had a tick mark on her head and grabbed him by his collar.
"Listen here, you would've hurt your little sister with that attack you little shit." she said with a glare that look like she was ready to beat his ass. Natsu smiled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry hehe, anyway she's getting better by the day, normally i be the one who wants action, but since we been back she's been making me train with her everyday. I was thinking to take a training trip with her." he said before he was slapped again. "WHAT?!" he did not finish as he was met with a teary eyed Erza.
"Idiot… i understand how important she is too you… but there's another person who wants that attention too…" she said as she started to shake. Natsu looked at her as he didn't know what to say. Here go The Mighty Titania crying… again. Last time she cried was in the tower of heaven. That was because of Jellal, but that was long ago. Now it was because of him.
Erza… look at me" Natsu said in a whisper as he looked down. 'I guess it's time huh dad? I wasn't really ready to show my feelings, but the time is now to reveal that secret' he thought as he tried to process what he was about to do.
"Erza… please look at me" he said once more as he seen she was still sobbing. Natsu being impatient as always, lifted her chin up and gave her his toothy grin. "I know why you were here, and i know what you wanna talk about. I been waiting." he said. Erza went wide eyed as she thought about what Wendy said not to long ago.
"W-well, here me out please…." she said as her cheeks went red. 'God he makes me blush like a teenage girl' she thought. She shook her head and wiped the tears she had in her eyes. "Things been bugging me Natsu, and one of them is that kiss that happened a month ago. Then it was when Wendy asked you, was i your mate?" she said. She took a breath as she wanted to finish. "So I'm here to confirm three things. One, what did she mean by that? Two, what do you mean by waiting? Three, where do we stand?" she said as she looked him in the eye.
Natsu looked away from her after their eye gaze and stared at the sunset. Since the forest was halfway destroyed, at least they could benefit from the sunset. Natsu sat there for a bit as he tried to think how he wanted to put this.
Erza luckily had patience on her side today as she waited for a few minutes so he can think. As she turned her head towards the sunset as well, they watched it for a second before Natsu decided to finally speak.
"Ok, so where to begin…" he trailed off as he thought of ways to answer her questions. After a few more minutes of thinking he gave her his toothy grin. "Well for one, What Wendy mean was what she meant." he said as he looked at Erza with a serious tone before sighing. "Well the reason i kissed you is because, i chose you as my mate. My forever lover. Dragon slayers are like dragons. We have one mate and we won't know who it is until after we get a weird sensation." he said as he told her how it goes.
She didn't get to reply as he held up his hand so he can finish. "Igneel told me this long ago that i would have a lover and that i would find her when that feeling came. I didn't really get that feeling into after a year after i joined Fairytail. I noticed it right away, but i didn't know who it was from." he said as looked back towards the sunset. "I thought it was Lisanna at first, but then i was wrong as it went way when we raised Happy. Then i thought it was Lucy, but again it went away." He then smiled as he looked at Erza. "Then when that day me and Gray was fighting and you punished us, i got that feeling at full force, and i knew then it was you. I just never said anything because i knew you had a crush on Jellal and that you didn't have nothing to do with a idiot like me" he said sadly as he looked away.
Erza was at a lost of words as she looked at him. 'So it's been that long huh? I never would've thought' she thought as she looked down. Had she known that, she would have probably denied him when they were younger, because she did have her eyes on Jellal. She did for a long time until after the grand magic games. "I see..." was all she could muster up to say.
"Yeah, anyway question 2." Natsu said as he smiled again as he still looked at the sunset. "Like i said again, i been waiting for this. It comes back to us dragon slayers. When we find our mate, we'll feel the things they feel. So i felt your pain for the longest time from the hurt from Jellal, which is why i wanted to kill him" he said honestly. Erza eyes were wide as they could go. She never knew he felt what pain or things she did. She then realized something.
"So that's how you knew that I liked you then? and you waited until i felt ready to come talk to you about these feelings?" she asked as she looked at him. He nodded and her eyes started to tear up a bit. This idiot should have told her this a long time ago. "Anyway, also each dragon slayer mate has the dragon slayer's scent. So that's why Wendy asked that question because she smelled my mark on you." he said. This caused Erza to blush before she slapped him.
:"I don't know what you mean by that, but ill make you pay for marking me without my consent" she said with a glare that made Natsu sweatdrop. "Aye.." he said weakly as he looked away.
"So i get what you are saying, so about my third question…" she trailed off as this was the moment of truth, She believed everything he said as she known Natsu to never lie. It was, how would she confess her love for him.
"The third one is easy!" he yelled as he smiled fully. Erza looked at him "What do…" she didn't even finish as she was cut off by his lips pressed against hers. It sent a shock through her and her eyes widened before she closed them and let his warm lips mesmerize her. This is what she wanted, and it was much better than the one she received a month ago.
After a few seconds Natsu broke the kiss much to Erza's disappointment as she tried to follow his lips for another. "I needed to breath" he said as he smiled when he seen Erza still wanted more. "I really do truly love you Erza and i want to spend my life with you as my one and only. We can go on adventures and even just KICK ASS!" he shouted as Erza giggled at his version of a confession.
"I love you too Natsu, i been waiting to say this for awhile now and I'm glad i am now. " she said as she looked him in the eye. Seeing he had his full attention she finished. "When i fought that Meteryu guy at Eternal Reap, i kept having visions of you for reasons that I couldn't even explain. "I seen a future that i wasn't expecting and it had a ending I want to see one day." she said with a small smile.
Natsu laughed as he agreed. He never knew Erza would be like this, and wasn't expecting a confession like this to happen so soon. "So, i guess that answers your questions right?" he said as he looked at her.
Erza looked down as she seem like something was bothering her. "What's wrong?" Natsu said with a worried voice as he looked at her. Erza face had a tint of pink on them then she just boldly grabbed Natsu's scarf and brought him in for another passionate kiss. Natsu licked her lips, asking for entrance and she opened it and their tongues battled for dominance.
After a few seconds they broke apart as they needed air. "Wow..." they both said in unison from that kamazing kiss. "Welp i know i need to get home and cook for Wendy" he said as he got up and stretched all his aching bones. He offered Erza a hand as she stood up as well.
"So she lives with you now? I wonder what happened to her after i heard she left Fairy Hills" Erza said. Natsu smiled as he started walking with Erza in tow, their hands interlocked.
"Yeah she does, and we make it work with our little space." he said as they got onto the path that led to his home. "So why are you taking me with you…?" Erza said as her face went red from starting to think of dirty thoughts. 'It's too early for that, and it's a child in the house!' she mentally screamed.
"Well it's dark now, and i don't want you walking home by yourself. So eat some dinner and bunk with us tonight' he said with his toothy grin. Erza just smiled, she could get use to this.
"I one more question Natsu, since i'm your mate; you said i was marked where is it?" she said as she inspected her skin to see any marks. Natsu laughed as he seen her look for the mark. "Oh, I will have to show you another time." he said with a little mischievous grin as chill went down her spine.
At Natsu and Wendy's house…
Natsu kicked open the door as he had Erza behind him still holding her hand. Wendy ran from her room to only grow a bigger smile than she had. She could tell that it all went well as they both had smiles.
"Soooo how'd it go?" Wendy said as she hugged Natsu. Natsu smiled as his reply was a kiss to Erza's cheek, which caused the redhead to blush and smack him on the head.
"Don't do that so boldly" she said as she tried to hide her embarrassment. Wendy in return squealed as she was happy for them. "This is so awesome, now i have a sister in law!" she said as she grabbed Natsu's hand and dragged him from Erza much to her annoyance. "Anyway, we're hungry Natsu-nii!" Wendy called as Carla and Happy came in.
Natsu smiled as he started to get dinner started. Erza smiled as she watched him. 'Guess i won't have to cook always then' she thought as she closed the door behind her.
1 hour later…
After having dinner and everyone seem to be full, they sat and talked. Natsu and Erza told the three of their relationship and Carla was Happy, and Happy well he was trolling them. Natsu had to blackmail him with tons of fish if he didn't spill it to the guild and let them do it.
"Anyway, Wendy today was a great day. You have a lot to work on with your blazing sky mode as you need to work on to trigger it. I'll teach you tomorrow or try to teach you to only call on just the blaze fire." he said which got a happy nod from the bluenette.
"Oh and Natsu-nii can you take me to the clothing store, i wanna have a change of a new outfit. I feel it's time for a new set of clothes to train in." she said as she looked at him. Erza smiled as she seen how excited Wendy was.
"I can take you tomorrow Wendy, i can take you to Heart Kreuz and have your own armor made; how does that sound?" The redhead said as she looked at Wendy. When the smaller dragon slayer squealed with excitement she took it as a yes.
'So i'm stuck with a family of dragons? I can deal with that' she said with a smile. After about an hour of more speaking and plans everyone got ready for bed. Erza decided she would stay the night as, it would take to long to get back to Fairy Hills. She and Natsu would discuss on how they would live and when she could move in.
"Good Night Erza-nee" Wendy called out as she got in her bed. She was sharing with Erza until they figured out how they would get everything settled. Tomorrow was a big day and she knew it was.
"Good night Wendy" Erza replied as she got in the bed next to the younger dragon slayer. Wendy cuddled next to her as fell fast asleep. Erza smiled at how adorable Wendy was. She really was a sweetheart, and her love for Natsu as her brother was enough for Erza to love her as a younger sister. Natsu peeked his head in to see how everything was.
"You still up?" Erza asked as she looked towards the door. Natsu quietly walked over and kissed Wendy on the forehead. Then kissed Erza on the lips as he headed back towards the door. "Just checking in on my ladies" he said with his toothy grin as he went to go get back in his hammock.
Erza smiled as she let sleep start to overtake her. She could get use to this life, and with this new family. She was glad today turned out the way it did, and she knew this was the beginning of their adventure.