Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here with another Natza prompt! This time, it's Rebirth!

Again, I struggled with this one, but I think I managed it just fine. The idea is... nah, just read it yourself!

I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does. I own the characters Naga and Elric.

"Elric! Fight me!" demanded a pink-haired girl in her late teens. She wore a white belly shirt with orange trim and baggy black pants.

Elric, the scarlet-haired young man the girl was addressing, sighed. "Not today, Naga," he said. "I'm still burnt out from the last mission."

"No excuses!" yelled Naga as her fist ignited with fire. "Fire Dragon's Flare Burst!"

A burst of fire flew forth from Naga's fist toward Elric. Requipping a sword, he calmly deflected the blast back at the long-haired girl, knocking her down in one hit. "If you can't even withstand your own magic, how do you plan to beat me?" he asked.

"Bastard!" yelled Naga.

"Oh, suddenly I'm a bastard for asking a serious question?" asked Elric. "This is why you're not S-Class, Naga. You're overly combative with no sense of restraint."

"Shut up!" shouted Naga. "I'll defeat you one day! Then Master will have to make me S-Class like you!"

"Elric's right, you know," said a new voice. "Part of being strong is knowing when to accept defeat."

Naga and Elric looked behind them to see a middle-aged blond man. "Master!" Naga exclaimed.

"Oh, hey, Makarov," said Elric. "Sorry I forgot to check in after the last mission."

"Hey Elric!" Naga exclaimed. "Don't call the Master by his name!"

"It's all right, Naga," said Makarov. "Even after a year, it still feels strange to think of myself as a guild master. I can forgive Elric for forgetting. But more to the point, you still have yet to understand what being an S-Class mage of our guild entails."

"What? It means being strong, right? I'm strong enough to be S-Class! Even Elric said so!"

Elric did a double-take. "When did I say that?" he asked.

"I heard you talking to Luis," said Naga. "Dragon Slayer hearing, remember?"

Suddenly, Elric looked angry. "You little shit! You were eavesdropping?!" he yelled.

"I was! And guess what? I heard you say you liked me!"

"I said you were pretty! That doesn't mean anything!"

"You don't ever call the other girls pretty!"

"What I call other girls is none of your business!"

"Enough!" yelled Makarov, slapping both his mages with a Titan-powered hand.

"Elric is right about one crucial detail," said Makarov. "You're far too impulsive. To be an S-Class mage, you need to not only be strong, but able to make decisions in a responsible manner, as well as follow through with plans and orders. S-Class missions are especially dangerous. One rash decision, and you could end up like Daemon."

Naga gulped. She remembered Daemon. He was an S-Class mage who was killed in action in the last year's of Precht's leadership, and the reason the S-Class standards were raised. And here she was charging at Elric just for the sake of a fight. She felt so stupid!

"You're right, Master," said Naga seriously. "I'm not ready yet."

Elric flinched. He knew Naga and Daemon were close. It was a low blow on Makarov's part to play that card on her, but he didn't dare question it.

"But for now... I'll work towards defeating Elric. If I do all that stuff you said, I should be able to get an edge! I need to be smarter than him as well as stronger, right? Then once I get to that level, I'll be S-Class for sure!"

Elric smirked. He knew then he made the right decision accepting Naga as his rival. "Anytime, anywhere, I'll be waiting for you, Naga," he said.

"I'm all fired up!" said Naga. "I gotta go train! Bye, Master!" With that, she ran out of the guild.

"I should go too," said Elric. "Can't let myself lose to Naga, of all people." He then took his leave as well.

Makarov watched the two mages depart with a smile. "Brats like them come along once in a lifetime," he said.

Years later, Makarov had that same smile on his face watching Erza defeat Natsu for the first time.

"You're really strong, Erza!" said Natsu. "I'm glad I joined this guild!"

Erza blushed. "I'm glad you joined too, Natsu," she said

"I was wrong back then," he said. "Elric... Naga... could your spirits have been reborn in those two kids?"

"Hm? You say something, Gramps?" asked Natsu.

"Nothing, m'boy," said Makarov. "Just reminiscing about old times."

"Huh," said Natsu. Given Makarov's age, old times could mean anything, so he paid it no mind. All he cared about was figuring out how to beat Erza.

And there you go!

For those of you who made it this far (and I hoe you didn't just skip to the end), I intended Naga and Elric to be the past lives of Natsu and Erza respectively, hence the whole Rebirth theme. Though I hope I made it at least a little obvious.

I was gonna depict Erza and Natsu as their current ages for the last scene, but it just didn't feel right. So instead, I went with their childhood days. I dunno, I think it works better.

Off to decide my next prompt! Until next time, peace and love from Nightlingbolt!