Christmas in Magnolia Chapter 4

Authors Note: Thank you so much to everyone that has read or enjoyed the story so far, I'm still figuring out my writing style but if you liked the last chapter I will probably be sticking to that length and style for the rest of the story. The length of the story will be at least 2 or 3 more chapters (It won't go past Christmas time but I'm considering a sequel if this story does well enough, I really love this pairing as well as writing for it and I'm having a good time writing this story for you guys. Enjoy!

Wendy awoke to the sound of birds chirping and a pink sunrise coming over the horizon. As she rubbed her eyes, she began to recall the events of the previous night with her partner, and she sighed in relief knowing that all of her worries were resolved with the confession between the two Dragon Slayers on the hill that fateful night. She hadn't even noticed that she was still outside, her head still on her mate's chest as he slept peacefully with a grin on his face. I wonder what he's dreaming about, she thought, giggling to herself that she had a good idea of what his dream was about. She got up slowly, as to not wake Natsu up from his slumber, and stood to stretch her stiff muscles. She felt the spot where Natsu had marked her, and was surprised to find that it was quite warm. It was like her little piece of Natsu, and although it was very new to her, she treasured the bond that she and her pink-haired friend shared. At the thought of fire, she recalled the excerpt from the book: something about Dragon Slayers that have mated being able to control each other's respective elements? She held her hand out, trying to summon any of the power she might have received from Natsu, and was shocked when a flame burst from her palm and crackled loudly in her hand. Amazing, I can use Natsu-san's magic now! she squealed internally at all of the crazy events that had conspired since the day before. Getting an idea, she took the fire that still crackled in her one hand and summoned wind in her other hand and brought the two together. The wind began to swirl inside the fire and the fire turned into a roaring blaze, seemingly amplifying the power of the fire tenfold. She was impressed at how well the two elements went together, and wondered what other abilities she inherited from her…boyfriend? She still wasn't sure what to call him. She figured she could ask him that when he woke up. She walked off toward the forest, pausing to look back at Natsu before continuing into the tree line before arriving at a clearing. She thought she should try mixing together some of her attacks with Natsu's fire to see what transpired from the combination. Readying herself, she tried the first thing that came to mind,

Roar of the Flaming Sky Dragon!

Upon uttering the spell, a mixture of fire and air erupted from the young girls mouth and left an enormous section of the forest destroyed by the insanely powerful attack. Wendy's jaw hit the floor at her unpredictable level of destruction. That was even more powerful than Natsu-san's Roar of the Lightning Flame Dragon! Amazed but somewhat afraid at her new power, she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Natsu smiling down at her.

"That's my girlfriend. Even stronger than me." he said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

He called me his girlfriend! she thought, smiling back up at her new boyfriend.

"There's no way I'm stronger than you, Natsu-san. You're easily one of the strongest in the guild. Now that we share our Dragon Slaying magic, you might be the strongest in the guild, maybe even as strong as Gildarts-san." she replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Wendy. I'm not the only one who got stronger after we mated. Who knows, both of us might be the strongest in the guild. Why don't we go prove how strong we are to everyone else?" said Natsu. It was no surprise he was thinking of fighting, but she was glad that he was starting to act like himself again. Depressed/sad Natsu was the worst kind of Natsu, and if fighting made him feel better, she had no other choice but to agree. He hunched over and picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride. She loved the playful, affectionate side of her boyfriend and she was laughing hysterically all the way to the guild. Even when Natsu used his head (literally) to open the doors to the guild, she was still tearing up with laughter and she could feel the eyes of everyone in the guild on them as they ran past all of their guild mates. All of the girls squealed and went "Awwww!" and Wendy swore she could've seen Gray watch them in horror as Juvia jumped onto his back shouting, "Juvia wants Gray-sama to give her a piggyback ride too!" as Gray screamed and tried to throw her off while she held on for her dear life. She laughed at Juvia's show of affection, and secretly wished that Gray returned Juvia's affection. She had a hunch, but she wouldn't pry. Natsu stopped abruptly before reaching the bar where Mira was stationed, flinging her forward off of his shoulders. As she braced for the impact of hitting the floor, she felt a gust of wind underneath her, turning her right side up and into Natsu's arms. Mira and everyone that witnessed the spectacle was speechless, not only at his show of affection but at Natsu's use of Wendy's magic so skilfully.

"Natsu! How did you do that?!" shouted Mira, who couldn't believe what she had just seen with her own eyes. Natsu grinned, and removed his scarf and pointed to a large mark on his neck that resembled a gust of wind, similar to the one Wendy now had on her neck.

"Natsu!...When did you get a tattoo?" asked Mira.

Chucking, he replied, "It's not a tattoo. This is the mark I received from Wendy when we mated."

Silence. Wendy face palmed, embarrassed at Natsu's complete lack of a filter for such sensitive and important information. Mira didn't say anything, and instead, calmly walked around from the bar and up to Natsu who watched her with a confused look on his face. He wasn't expecting her to slug him right in the stomach, sending him flying across the room and he hit the pillar with such a force the pillar was destroyed.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER NATSU?! She's only 14 years old for God's sake! She's too young to be doing…that!" shrieked Mira, her face contorting with rage at the young man. When Natsu emerged from the dust cloud created by the impact, everyone was shocked to see he barely had a scratch on him. Mira looked equally as surprised but chose not to say anything.

"Ouch, that almost hurt Mira," he replied with a confident smirk on his face, "but it's not what it seems to be. When I say that we mated, like dragons, the male marks the neck of the female. We didn't do…that. She's too young for that, and I would never take advantage of her like that. She is my girlfriend after all." He smiled over at Wendy, who was grateful for him taking initiative to explain the situation, as well as his concern for her innocence as well, something she figured a lot of men didn't take into account.

"Oh…I'm sorry Natsu. I didn't understand you, I know that you must care deeply about your…girlfriend," Mira said, still in disbelief at the couple that appeared overnight at the guild, "but how did you not get hurt by my punch just now? I hit you as hard as I could."

"When dragons or Dragon Slayers mate, they share their powers with each other. It lets me use Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer magic and she can use my Fire Dragon Slaying magic. It's probably a combination of the passive healing from Wendy's magic as well as the combination of the strength of our two life forces. It also explains the mark on our necks." Natsu replied.

Wendy nodded and removed the scarf she had been wearing to cover the mark to reveal a larger pattern than the previous night of a large flame. Everyone ooh'ed and aah'ed at the intricate markings on the two Dragon Slayers. Now that the initial shock had begun to wear off, everyone gathered around the new couple to wish them well. Wendy was whisked away to a table with all of her female friends to congratulate her on winning Natsu's heart as well to hear the recollection of the previous night, to which she kindly refused, stating that was between Natsu and her. Natsu was also pulled off to the side where his male friends slapped him on the back and congratulated him on such a catch.

"I didn't know you had it in you Natsu. But no matter how many power-ups you get flame brain, I'll still kick your-" Gray's sentence was cut short as Natsu uppercutted Gray with such a force he went through the roof and off into the distance with a twinkle.

"Jeez, not in front of my girlfriend, exhibitionist." He said, laughing to himself and everyone else around him sweat-dropping at his antics and shivering at the sight of Natsu's insane power.

As soon as the excitement began to die down, Natsu took his girlfriend's hand and led her on top of a table as he announced,

"LISTEN UP! Me and Wendy have become stronger than ever before, and we're ready to kick anyone's ass here. Come on!" He raised Wendy's arm like she has just won a boxing match, "MY GIRLFRIEND IS STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU! JUST TRY AND BEAT US!"

Nobody in their right mind stepped up to challenge either one of them, seeing what he did to Gray only minutes ago. Just as it was looking like nobody was going to challenge either one of them, Erza set down her fork that she was using to eat her strawberry cheesecake and spoke up, saying,

"I challenge you, Natsu! Show me how strong you've become!"

Natsu grinned ear to ear at his long standing rival and said,

"Yeah! I get to beat up Erza first! Come on everyone!"

Natsu motioned to the door as he and Erza stepped outside. Not wanting to miss such a good fight, the guild members poured out of the front doors and into a field where the fight would take place.

Natsu tossed his vest to the side, revealing his tanned, muscular body which Wendy couldn't help but stare at for longer than should have been necessary. Natsu's mark reached all the way around his neck and down to the top of his chest. Erza seemed to forget why she had come outside as she too stared at her boyfriend's toned body. Wendy coughed loudly to remind Erza why she was there (also letting her know to stay in her lane). There was no need for a countdown of any sort as she requipped into her Black Wing Armour and flew at Natsu, as he effortlessly dodged her slashes with inhuman speed. Using Wendy's magic to propel himself off of the ground, he brought his leg down in a kick shouting,

Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!

Sensing danger, she dodged his attack, and upon impact with the ground, sent a ripple of force through the ground that felt like a small earthquake to the bystanders. Erza requipped into her Flight Armour and delivered a kick to the back of Natsu's head that made a sickening crack as he skipped along the ground like a pebble on a body of water. Wasting no time, Natsu flew at Erza with a passion burning in his eyes unlike that the other guild members had seen before. Natsu and Erza traded blows back and forth at an incredible speed, they could barely keep up with the two mage's hand to hand combat. In between the chaos Natsu managed to knock Erza into the air and he jumped up, bringing his hands into a fist and shouting,

Firing Lightning Sky Dragon's Hammer!

She had the sense to change to her Adamantine Armour predicting a very powerful attack, and upon blocking his strike, her shield shattered and she was knocked back across the field, skidding along the grass. The guild members were in disbelief at the sheer power of his attacks. The only thing that had penetrated Erza's Adamantine Armour before was the magic cannon Jupiter, and that took 15 minutes to recharge and had to be mounted inside of Phantom Lord's guild hall. Once the smoke cleared, they saw Erza struggling to maintain her footing, clearly wounded from her battle with Natsu. Erza wasn't one to give up without a fight, however, and shouted,

Second Origin: Release!

Requipping into her Nakagami Armour meant that she was really on the ropes, but Natsu had a trick up his sleeve too. Smirking, he said,

Second Origin: Release! Primal Dragon Force!

"Primal Dragon Force?" Erza asked in disbelief. Is he going to go all out too? And when did he learn such a technique? Wendy thought to herself. After Natsu said that, his body began to glow with a red aura. In contrast to his normal Dragon Force that covered part of his face with scales, Natsu's entire body was coated in a beautiful arrangement of shiny red scales. His hair has grown to a length that reached down his back similar to Gajeel's, and his fingers sported claws and his legs sported talons. He barely resembled his old form, and looked like a small scale version of a dragon with human shape. She took her eyes off of her boyfriend for a moment to look at Erza and saw her…shaking? For Erza to be afraid of Natsu…just how strong was he? As if on cue, Natsu replied in a much deeper and throatier tone,

"Took you by surprise, huh? This is the true depth of what it means to be a Dragon Slayer, Erza." He clenched his fist, and continued, "This power isn't something you can obtain without meeting certain conditions. I'm only one of two people who ever used Dragon Slayer magic this powerful. The other being Acnologia, but he's not around to tell you the story. He became a true dragon from his lust for power, I became a dragon to protect those I care about. If I can see my friends smiling, and happy…" he looked around at Wendy, Lucy and Lisanna and smiled, "I don't have to be human. Now let's finish this."

Moved by his speech, Erza nodded and said,

"Come!"

The two clashed, Erza attacking with all of her force, while Natsu stood still and seemed to take her attack, but then her spear was caught in Natsu's hand as he chuckled and said,

"You lose."

Upon saying that, Natsu unleashed an attack so strong even Erza knew that this was the end of their fight,

Dazzling Blaze of the Lightning Sky Dragon!

The power collided with Erza's armour created an explosion that knocked back all of the guild members and caused the citizens of Magnolia to stick their heads out of their windows wondering what the noise was all about.

Erza lay unmoving on the ground, at Natsu's feet who was looking down on her with a blank expression.

Fearing the worst, Wendy started to run forward towards Erza to use her magic to heal hear when Natsu stopped her.

"You don't need to do anything Wendy, I'll heal her." he said.

Taking his hands together, he placed them over Erza's body as they began to glow green much like her own magic. In his Primal Dragon Force, his magic was amplified immensely, and after seconds she began to open her eyes and looked up at Natsu.

His scales began to fall off and his hair receded back to it's normal length as he reverted to his normal form, looking slightly banged up himself after the battle.

He picked up Erza in a princess carry and began the walk back towards the guild to bring her to the infirmary. Wendy couldn't believe the battle that had just gone down in front of her. She followed her boyfriend back inside of the guild and into the infirmary and helped him continue to heal Erza for a few more minutes until she was able to stand on her own. Erza congratulated Natsu on his first victory against her, and she told him she was pleased to have such a strong mage in the guild. Wendy pouted at all the attention her boyfriend was giving Erza and not her, when he took her and raised her up onto his shoulders, running around the guild screaming, "I beat Erza!". She giggled at his excited ranting and she ran her fingers through his pink hair, which she knew that he loved. Hearing his stomach grumble, Natsu stated, "Man, I'm starving. What about you Wendy?"

"I'm pretty hungry too Natsu-san, why don't we get something to eat?" she replied. He agreed and set her down as they walked off towards Natsu's house, as he had promised he would make dinner for the two.

*At Natsu's House*

"You gotta try this fire Wendy, it's delicious!" he exclaimed, bringing over two plates of fire and setting one down in front of her.

"Is it OK for me to eat that, Natsu-san? I've never had fire before."

"Don't knock it 'till you try it. Here, open up." he said, taking a spoonful of the fire and bringing it to his girlfriend's mouth. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth and sucked up the fire, which to her surprise, was delicious.

"Wow Natsu-san, your fire is delicious!" she said, digging into her plate. He beamed back at her, as she was the first one to compliment his cooking. They chatted happily over their plate of fire (Wendy had seconds) and she was glad she had allowed her boyfriend to treat her to such a delicious home cooked meal. She yawned, as it was getting late, and Natsu said,

"Are you staying at Fairy Hills tonight, Wendy?"

"Hmmm. Well, it is quite cold outside. Maybe I'll stay here with you tonight?" she replied with a sly smile on her face.

"Sounds good to me!" yelled Natsu, sweeping her off her feet and bringing her over to his bed and setting her down. She crawled under his covers and waited for him to join her. He removed his vest and baggy pants (No, he's not naked) and crawled into his bed and snuggled up beside Wendy.

"Hey, Natsu-san, doesn't Happy sleep at your house too? Where is he?" she asked, not turning her body around to stop Natsu from spooning her.

"Ah, I told him to stay with Lucy for a while. It's for the best, I like being alone with you sometimes." he replied.

"Have you gotten over your feelings for…" Wendy couldn't finish her sentence, afraid she would make him sad, but he finished it for her.

"Lucy and Lisanna? Yes. Now that I have my own love I don't have to worry about other girls or their affection. You're the only one for me, don't forget that." Natsu said, nuzzling his head in her now-messy blue hair.

"That's…good to hear…" Wendy began, but she succumbed to her exhaustion and the heat surrounding her body and drifted off into a deep sleep. Natsu smiled at her, and closed his eyes too.

She's a keeper, Dad.