Age Gap
Chapter 6
It took a little tracking down but I finally found the story that influenced my own; Baby sitter by havel01a. I'd like to thank havel for having such a fun fic to read and hope that she keeps up the good work!
As Erza pushed the doors to Fairy Hills open and walked out in to the crisp, morning, October air she took in a big lungful of it and let it all out again with a brighter smile than usual. She could already see Natsu at the bottom of the hill waving and beckoning for her to catch up. She noted with a smile that there was a spring in her step.
As she approached the main gates Natsu ran off again, but Erza heard a shriek almost as soon as he was out of sight.
"Oh, sorry about that." Erza heard Natsu say with a laugh.
"Oh no, it's no probl-" The young woman's voice stopped mid-sentence. "Natsu-kun? You're back to normal! That's great news!"
"Yeah, I don't know how it happened." Natsu said a little sheepishly. "But it's good to be back."
Erza heard a few fast steps until they were too far away to hear, Natsu must've run off again. She rounded the corner and saw the young woman he was talking too waving him off. Her short, bobbed, brown hair almost reached her navy, blue uniform and when she brought her arm back down, she placed the matching hat she was waving back on to her head. She spun on her heel and Erza winced as the sun bounced off the badge on her chest, straight in to Erza's eyes.
"Ah, Erza-san." She said as she spotted Erza. "I hope you're keeping Natsu-kun from getting in to a lot of trouble. You mages always seem to be breaking something important."
Erza shared a laugh with the young police officer whose name she knew as being Charlotte. She was only a few years older than Erza but nonetheless a perfectly qualified member of the non-magical police force. Natsu and Erza had coincidentally helped her out a couple of years back by apprehending a petty thief after he thought he could shoulder barge Erza out of his way as he made his getaway. Charlotte had arrived a couple of minutes later to the scene of the now lightly, charred thief, bleeding lightly from nicks all over his body, begging for his life at the knees of two uniquely, dressed mages. One with sword in hand, the other with fire. Charlotte had also seen them when Erza had arrived back in Magnolia with an unconscious child Natsu.
"I'm keeping him in line." Erza confirmed with a nod. "At least, attempting to. Are you on duty today, Charlotte-san?"
"Yeah, I have to get some hours in before I go on holiday with my family. But more importantly…" She looked over her shoulder and Erza followed the motion, there were a few people but none of them within earshot. "What was Natsu doing at Fairy Hills so early in the morning?"
"He stayed with me overnight." Erza said, slightly confused as to what she was getting at.
A knowing grin spread its way across Charlotte's face as she eyed the scarf around Erza's neck.
"Oh, I bet he did." She purred and Erza's face almost melted from the ferocity of her blush. "He seems to be in a really good mood this morning. Any reason why?"
"W-w-well, he got his b-b-body back." She stammered as she hid as much of her face as she could in the scaled scarf. "W-w-what's not to b-b-be happy about?"
Charlotte seemed to contemplate something before she asked one last question.
"Does it smell of him?" She grinned and Erza had to hold herself back from running away at that point.
"N-no it doesn't." Erza said quickly. "Well I best not be keeping you."
Erza wasted no time in walking away from the woman as she could hear her demonic cackling in the background. As the cold air cooled her face down she tucked her face back in to the scarf and as she sighed she realised that it did actually smell of him. A heated, smoky, cinnamony scent wafted in to her face and she felt it tingle her cheeks a little as her shoulders dropped a little despite the cold that she felt through her trousers.
As she settled back in to a nice, casual stride she heard a pair of footsteps jogging towards her. Raising her eyes from the path at her feet, she saw that it was Natsu.
Without a word, he ran right up to her, unwound the scarf a little and then redid it around his own neck. He then pulled Erza's hands out of the sleeves that she had hidden them in, cupped them within his own hands, brought them to his lips… and blew.
Instantly, her white hands were filled with an intense heat as they began to glow. She saw the flames lick at their palms and fingers but she felt no pain at all. It was like sitting close to an open fire with a blanket around your shoulders, letting the heat almost roast your eyebrows off, on a cold winter day with a fresh mug of hot chocolate by your side.
Erza had seen Natsu use his Karyuu no Houkou for the most trivial tasks before and had always questioned whether or not it was a valid way to use such a powerful Lost Magic, but feeling her hands almost melt inside his own, she had to say that this was by far the best use for his dragon breath she'd ever seen.
The flames stopped momentarily and in that brief moment the cold came rushing back to her fingertips and her right shoulder started aching quite badly. But as soon as Natsu placed his lips on her knuckles again and blew a little tornado of flames against her palms, it went away just as quickly.
Erza wondered how the normally incredibly, destructive flames were being used in such a gentle, domesticated way with not even a speck of soot forming on her toasty hands. Natsu's breath hitched for a second and he coughed a few times, the first one spewing cinders over their hands but like the flames, it didn't hurt, he then was then polite enough to cough in to his elbow.
"How do you make it so that your flames don't hurt?" Erza asked as she ran out of theories.
When Natsu had recovered, he looked at her with a perplexed expression. Natsu had always made sure to keep his flames away from people after Igneel told him how fire burns non-Fire Dragonslayers and some people were just scared of fire. Natsu figured that he had just forgotten that because his flames were his own, he could tell them to only burn enemies. Everyone who he considered an ally would only feel the warming effect, which is why he could freely blow fire on to Erza's sensitive fingers and not make her blood boil, literally.
"It burns who I tell it to." Natsu said simply. "If I don't want to burn you, then I won't."
"It's that simple?" Erza asked and he smiled.
"I have full control over my fire." Natsu assured her. "My fire will never hurt you. Not your skin, your hair or your clothes."
To prove his point Natsu took another big breath and Erza saw it coming quickly. She tried to put her hands away from Natsu's, but his grip was like iron. He let out a jet of fire that that would've completely torched her head and torso and Erza yelped cutely as she slammed her eyes shut and flinched away. But as she felt the same warmth in her hands spread over her body, she snuck a peek and found much to her amazement that the whole area was engulfed in flames.
Golds, reds and oranges flickered and flowed from all the things that Erza could see in the background. Shops and houses wobbled just like mirages in a desert from the lava-like heat that was all around her, but just not touching her. Natsu's lungs emptied, and so did the street from his flames. Erza looked back to Natsu in wonder and she saw the immediate space in front of his mouth waver as the excess heat came out with his next regular breath. Just like a dragon.
"I guess I'll have to rethink who has the prettiest magic in the guild." She said, still in a little bit of a daze.
"Why, who's was it?" He asked, not particularly surprised that it wasn't his own. Even he thought of his magic as 'cool' rather than 'pretty'. He waited for an answer that she didn't seem to be too willing to let slip to him. Her brow was furrowed in that way that told him that she wasn't sure if telling him would be for the best.
Natsu found it strange that he could tell Erza's frowns from one another. Her frown when the sun was in her eyes. Her frown when she thought about the past. Her frown when she thought about the consequences of something. Natsu had also taken notice (whether it was for better or worse was yet to be discovered) that Erza also frowned when she was aroused. It wasn't just the frown that had tipped him off to that one, it was the smell.
Normal humans wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a person's ordinary smell and when they were in the mood, but thanks to his enhanced senses he could distinguish between them. One was a nice subtle air about them that was just a form of identification and the other was a beacon that said "come satisfy me, big boy". Ever since Natsu had come to the guild he had noticed this new smell within his first week, but he knew that he couldn't ask anyone about it; no one else had his sense of smell. As he grew older he discovered what this smell was and ended up being quite reserved around anyone that he smelt like that. This habit had dissipated over the years and he just ignores it nowadays.
Unsurprisingly, the one he smelt in that mood the most was Cana. He knew that the alcohol had to have some kind of effect on her. She just turned the drunkenness in to horniness. But when Erza got in the mood, it usually happened when she was reading one of her adult novels at the bar and the frown on her face deepened the more she got in to it.
One time Natsu had decided to play a prank on her while she was reading. He had crept up silently behind her and jabbed his finger in to the crack of her butt. Lucy had freaked last time he did it to her and he couldn't wait to see what kind of reaction Erza had. Unfortunately, Erza's shriek had been quite different from Lucy's, like she almost enjoyed it. She had turned to him with a fierce glare and an even fiercer blush and had promptly knocked him out.
Back in the cold street, Erza's head dipped and her bangs covered her eyes as she said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear;
"Gray's."
Natsu stood motionless, his expression unchanging and just when Erza was about to look up he let out a sigh. Letting go of Erza's hands he started to walk away to the guild that was just around the corner. She felt the cold bite back at her skin once again as the scarf let go of his neck and stayed around her own. Understanding that Natsu was most likely hurt, she took off after him.
"Natsu, wait a second!" She called but he didn't stop and when he looked over his shoulder on the corner of the street to see her gaining ground, he panicked and sped up to a run, making a beeline for the guild's big double doors. "Running away, huh?"
Natsu hadn't expected her to run after him at all, she usually just lets him get to the enclosed space of the guild before she beats him up for doing something she didn't like. He was now less than 100 metres away from the temporary safety of the guild and was fast closing in.
Yes, I'm home free!
YANK
Or not.
Even in Erza's iron grip, Natsu still tried to run away but it was no use. Looking back at Erza over his shoulder, he could see why she had caught him so fast. She had Requipped in to the same Flight Armour that she had used when he got the spell put on him. The yellow ears on her head twitched in annoyance at his antics.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a harsh tone. "You didn't let me explain."
Natsu was expecting her to say various things, a large percentage of them being curses and for her to fold and unfold her arms in a few seconds more than he would in his life but no… she wanted to explain?
"Explain?" Natsu repeated as she let go of his collar and he faced her once again.
"Yes." She said firmly and as he suspected, with her arms crossed but she looked at her feet like she did before. "I was going to explain that even though Gray's magic is pretty, that's on the change."
She shifted her weight from foot to foot and sneaked a couple of glances up at him with a red tint to her cheeks.
"So you've finally realised that I'm better than him?" Natsu asked bigheadedly. "Well, good. I don't know why you'd ever question that in the first place, I was always stronger than Gray no matter what he says, I don't see why I can't be prettier than him too. I was raised by one of the most majestic creatures on the planet, dammit."
Erza looked more shocked than anything at that point. Was she expecting a different response from him? She sighed after a few moments and smiled warmly at him.
"Your magic is different." She said. "There's no doubt that it is beautiful too. You should never put yourself down. You're superior in your own rights. Gray's magic is like a necklace or an icicle, it's more of an instant appeal, something that would tickle anyone's curiosity for sparkly things."
"So… what, he's the king of magpies or something?"
There was a pause before Erza laughed heartily. It was rare for Erza to lose it while laughing, but this was some intense, side splitting, knee slapping chortling. She really did have a strange sense of humour. It was a good couple of minutes before she regained some kind of composure and even then she had to stay quiet for a few seconds with her face in her hands to get the giggles out of system. When she looked back at him, it was with one of the biggest grins he'd ever seen grace her features and he had to smile too.
"As I was saying." She emphasised. "Your magic is different. It's something a person needs to experience for themselves, no matter if they are an enemy or an ally. In fact that might be better that they were an enemy and then ally, that way they would get a feel for both sides of your magic."
She paused once again to look for inspiration in his face. Something that would make him feel that he's something, no, someone that wasn't misunderstood, that was beautiful for his own reasons.
"To be able to feel the sheer power and earth shattering strength from your Exploding Flame Blade is only something that an enemy would be able to feel, I could only imagine that there isn't a lot that warrants the use of such a powerful technique. But then again, only people you consider your friends and teammates would be able to experience how gentle and soothing it can be as well.
Your magic really is beautiful."
Natsu had to admit that by the end of it, he was blushing furiously. Erza never ceased to amaze him, especially when she decided to use the vast vocabulary that she had picked up from all of the books she read. Natsu had to force back a scene of Erza using that same 'vast vocabulary' to talk dirty to him as her sultry body loomed above him, from arising in his mind but it was a little too late. His face was boiling now.
"You have nothing to be insecure about." Erza said comfortingly and as quick as lightning Erza had brought his face to her chest in a form of affection. Natsu hit with a thud as his temple struck her sternum but there was an extra spring that he had not anticipated as her restricted breasts bounced back to hit his cheek. He was going to start liking this.
But all too soon, an interruption was made.
"Ah, Natsu-san! Erza-san! Good morning."
Erza quickly let go of Natsu, Requipped back in to her normal clothes and turned to face the newcomer. Natsu regained his balance and stood up straight but there was still remnants of the sweaty smell of Erza's bare cleavage stuck to his nose, which he subtly but deeply drank up. Coming back to reality, Natsu saw that the intruder was Wendy. She and Erza were now sharing their morning greetings happily and soon enough they had turned back to him.
"Good morning, Natsu-san." Wendy chirped happily.
"Morning, Wendy." Natsu replied enthusiastically. "You ready for another full day?"
"Mm, I'm ready to take a mission today." She said. "I want to save up for-"
She stopped midsentence as she seemed to notice something was off and Natsu was a little worried that there was a bad guy nearby and readied himself for a fight. But Wendy's expression brightened and she clapped her hands merrily.
"Natsu-san, you got your body back to normal!" She cheered. "That's wonderful."
"My body?" Natsu asked cluelessly and then remembered the whole being turned in to an eight year old thing. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
Wendy joined in then with his laughter and Erza ushered them inside the guild after they settled down.
Natsu was ready for a new day himself but a couple of steps in to the guild hall Natsu realised that he might have to postpone that as he collapsed to his knees and screamed from a searing, burning pain in his chest. He hurriedly removed his vest but wasn't expecting what was there.
On his stomach, was a magic seal that he unfortunately recognised as the same one that had hit him before.
"Aw, dragon turds."
So, how did you like it? I've decided to use this space to address a little problem that I could see arising in the future; when Natsu or whoever uses magic with an incantation, I'm going to use the English versions from now on. It'd get tedious having to translate the Japanese incantations down here and do you have any idea how long the incantation for his Phoenix Blade is?!