Natsu had awoken a full hour before Cana, his mind racing with what happened the previous night. He could barely speak because of it, and the sharp pain in the back of his head was metaphorically - close to literally - killing him. Lying at his side, Cana slowly roused to conciousness, her soft mewls increasing further increasing his uneasiness.
When Cana fully opened her eyesshe saw that Natsu's back was turned to her as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Good morning." Natsu noticeably tensed at the sound of her voice. "Sleep well?"
"Y-yeah." He stammered in reply. "I-I think so. My head kind of hurts though."
"Sorry about that." She grinned.
"No worries, I just-"Natsu turned to face her but quickly whipped back around, his face now completely red. "You're naked!"
Cana looked down at her own naked form with mild surprise. "I guess I am." she shrugged nonchalantly.
Natsu fought every urge to look again. "Could you put some clothes on? Please?"
"Oh~?" Cana grinned. "What's wrong, Natsu? Not feeling well? I guess your head must really be bothering you." She crawled to him, wrapped her slender arms around his neck, and pressed her exposed chest against his back. "I can help you out if you want."
Natsu felt another jolt as Cana pushed further into him. The warmth of her bare breasts – he could feel her nipples poking his back even through his vest - mixed with her sultry giggling only added to his temptations. In his panic he began sweating.
Cana took notice of this and began to laugh loudly before pulling away from him. She had gotten the reaction she wanted. "You're way too easy, Natsu. Not that it's a bad thing." She reached for her lingerie on the floor next to her side of the bed.
Natsu gulped, his body temperature lowering back to normal levels. Fore a fire dragon slayer at least. "Cana, about last night-"
"Don't worry your spiky-head over it." She fastened her bikini top in the back. 'We didn't go all the way."
"We didn't?!" Natsu exclaimed. He couldn't help his excited outburst.
"You sound so relieved." Cana teased. "Am I not good enough for you or something?"
"What? No, I didn't mean it like that. I just-"
"Calm down, Natsu, I'm just messing with you. We were just about to get started but as soon as I got naked, you backed away, hit your head on the headboard, and passed out. Kinda spoiled the whole mood."
Natsu rubbed the back of his head. So that's why my head hurts. "I'm sorry." He apologized. Though had no idea why he did.
Cana waved him off and pulled up her pants up. "There's no need to be sorry." Now that Natsu was paying attention to her, he noticed the fortuneteller had a really nice pair of legs. He blushed again.
"You were a really nice pillow." Cana said, referring to when she had used Natsu's chest to rest her weary head for the entire night. "Besides I may have gotten a bit carried away myself. It's really my fault."
"It's ok." Natsu reassured. "But you're sure we didn't do anything right?"
Cana walked to the front of Natsu. Luckily for him she was fully clothed this time – if pants and a bikini top counted as "fully clothed". She then placed her hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, Natsu. Nothing happened."
Natsu wanted to believe Cana but the look on her face made him question her words. She was smiling, but it wasn't a normal smile. It was a playful one. She was hiding something.
"Come on, we should get going. We don't wanna miss the train." Cana grabbed her bag from the chair and began walking out of the room.
"Wait up!" Natsu called after, hurriedly putting his scarf on.
The Devil's Arcana. The most mischievous as well, as most unpredictable of all the major arcana. Its possessors are inherently a selfish lot that will do whatever they see fit to satisfy their own needs, but deep down they yearn for something to take them away from their constricting circumstances. Though they can prove to be the most stubborn; when beckoned they can be the most reliable.
"We're back!" Cana shouted into the guild hall. Natsu walked in behind her, he looked exhausted. The ride from Crocus back to Magnolia felt like it had lasted an eternity for the dragon slayer.
His strength was nearly gone. He felt lightheaded. His body felt like stretched rubber. This was more than just the lingering effects of motion sickness taking their toll on him. It was as if his energy had been completely drained away. It took nearly everything he had to even stand. It was quite the odd sight for his guildmates.
"See ya later, Natsu." Cana waved and made her way to the bar. It was clear that she was in much better spirits than her job partner. In fact she seemed like a brand new person.
"See ya." Natsu weakly replied. He trudged to the table where his team currently sat, minus Erza. According to Lucy she had gone on a job earlier in the day. Grumbling something or other about "Clearing her mind of distractions".
"Welcome back." Mirajane obsequiously greeted Cana. The barmaid wore a friendly face, but she was anything but. she was more than a little irritated. In fact sje was downright fuming on the inside. She and Erza had no idea where the fortuneteller had taken Natsu for an entire day and it bothered them more than they wanted to admit.
Cana saw through Mirajane's front almost immediately. "Something on your mind, Mira?"
"How was the job?" Mirajane inquired, her false, tight smile still painted on her face. "When I asked Kinana about it, she didn't give me any details. Was it some sort of secret job that you couldn't tell anyone about?"
"It was nothing like that." Cana replied with a shameless grin. "I asked Kinana not to say anything to you two about the job. I didn't want you guys following us."
Mirajane was caught off-guard by the explanation. "Why would we follow you?"
"You don't have to pretend, Mira. I know you and Erza would have come running if you found out where Natsu and I were. So I asked Kinana not tell you so he and I could...get better acquainted." Cana's roguish grin widened
Mirajane's face twitched. "I see." Her grip on the glass she was cleaning began to tighten. Any more force and it would shatter to pieces in her hands. "Sounds like you two did well then."
"Oh don't make that face." Cana said. "I just wanted to see why you and Erza were so set on him. It's not like we did anything."
Mirajane didn't believe Cana for a second, but before she could follow up on her suspicions, Natsu rose up from his seat. "I'm going to call it a day." He said to his friends. "Let's go, Happy."
Happy - along with the rest of his team - was surprised at first, Natsu had just gotten back to the guild hall, but after seeing just how exhausted Natsu looked to be, he followed behind the dragon slayer. "Aye."
"I hope you feel better." Wendy said.
"What was that about?" Lucy asked Gray with a hint of worry. "It's not like him to just suddenly go home like that."
"He's probably just tired from the job." The ice wizard replied. "Even that guy's energy has to run out at some point."
"Yes, but that was more than just simple fatigue." Carla implied.
The two exited the guild and Mirajane was even more worried. It wasn't like Natsu to be so down. Even Cana was confused.
Natsu flopped onto his hammock as soon as he got home. No matter hard he tried he couldn't shake the overbearing weakness in his body. He stuck out his dry tongue, trying to coat his equally dry lips with saliva that seemed to stop flowing all together. For the briefest moment he could taste Cana's kiss. Her lips carried with them bitter taste because of the alcohol, but it wasn't bad. It was even kind of appealing. Though the brunette said that nothing happened between them, Natsu still had brief flashes of last night that added to his doubts. Her lips on his, the softness of her long legs as they moved under the blanket they shared, and the sweet smell of her golden brown skin.
It all invaded his normally heightened – though currently dulled - senses, and heated his body in a very strange way. If he had to liken his body's feeling right now it would be…tipsy. Thinking of Cana made him feel tipsy. It was an awkward sensation, one the dragon slayer was not fully equipped to deal with. He hadn't felt this way in years.
"Natsu?" Happy called despondently from his own hammock.
Natsu gave no discernible answer, only a grunt in acknowledgment of Happy's voice.
"You ok?"
"I'm fine, Happy." Natsu mumbled. "Just…tired." A knock came from the door, the sudden sound nearly jettisoning Natsu from his hammock.
"Natsu? Are you there?" The dragon slayer recognized Erza's voice through the wooden door.
"What's she doing here?" Natsu asked, more annoyed than surprised.
"I don't know." Happy shrugged.
"Natsu?" Erza called again. She knocked with a bit more force. "Are you in there?"
Natsu grumbled again about being disturbed from his imminent slumber, and yet he lumbered to his door. "Go to sleep, Happy. I'll see what she wants."
"Ok. Good night." The exceed rolled over in his hammock and drifted off to sleep.
Natsu turned the knob and opened the door slowly, as expected there was Erza. Though Natsu was so out of it that he failed to notice the perturbed expression on her face. "Welcome." He reluctantly greeted.
Erza raised a brow. Everyone at the guild was right, Natsu looked terrible. His eyes were bloodshot, his cheeks were bright red, and he was sweating a lot. "Is everything alright, Natsu? You seem to be under the weather."
"I'm fine. You need something?" Natsu's curt tone vexed Erza, but she ignored it. She did show up unannounced before a seemingly sick man after all.
"I came to see to you. I wanted to ask how the job went." Erza replied. She was telling the truth…sort of. She was genuinely curious about Natsu's well being, but she was more interested in the details about his time spent with a certain brunette fortuneteller.
"The job?" One of Natsu's eyebrows raised randomly, only garnering more of Erza's suspicions. "It was fine. I guess. Is that all?"
"Well, yes. I suppose it-"
"See you tomorrow." Natsu tried to close the door, but Erza forced her foot through the opening.
"A-actually, could you tell me more about it?" She smiled as wide as she could. "I heard you were tasked with apprehending a supposed thief."
Natsu sighed in defeat. "Fine. Come in." He returned to his hammock and flopped onto his stomach. "Make yourself at home." He yawned
Erza remained a few paces behind him, her methodical steps echoing throughout the quiet abode. This is the second time I've been in Natsu's home alone. She thought, her cheeks slowly reddening. She looked around at all of the various objects and pictures hanging. It had a certain charm to it now that she took the time to get a feel of the atmosphere. I never noticed how…like him it is. She spotted a chair in the corner and pulled it to the side of Natsu's hammock. He turned and looked at her, his red eyes now half-lidded. "Are you sure you're ok, Natsu?" she asked again.
"I'm fi~ne." he repeated lazily. "I thought you were asking me about some job or something." His tone was once again less than cordial.
"Oh. Yes. Your job. " Erza nodded quickly. "You went with Cana…right?"
"That's who I went with." Natsu yawned. "I think. It was forever ago."
"It was a few hours ago." Erza countered deadpan.
"Like I said; forever."
"Moving on. Did you two…" Erza lightly blushed. "Work well together?"
"Guess so. It wasn't really that *hic* bad. Cana knows a lot of stuff."
Now Erza's curiosity was rivaling Mirajane's. "What kind of 'stuff'?"
"She's a really good dancer."
"I see. And? What else?"
"She's fast."
"Fast?"
Natsu nodded. "Yeah. She caught that thief guy like zoom!" he whipped his arm through the air, startling Erza. "She put him in a card. Then the fat guy gave us our reward." He smiled wide. "So~ much money. So much food."
Erza was having more than a little difficulty following Natsu's erratic speech patterns. His rapid changes in pitch and volume, his somewhat spastic arm movements, and his creepy smiles weren't helping matters. He was getting harder to read by the second. The redhead was seriously starting to worry about him.
"She knew a lot about the Arcana too…"
"Arcana?" Erza pondered the strange phrase. Arcana? What is that? Is that some sort of code? A spell maybe? She gasped internally. What if that is some sort of code for-
"She's also really good at something else." The suggestive smile on the dragon slayer's lips, put an even bigger seed of anxiety in the base of Erza's spine.
"What do you mean, Natsu?" Erza inquired. She pushed the Arcana mystery to the back of her mind and was now literally on the edge of her seat. "What else is Cana good at?"
Natsu placed his index on Erza's lips, causing her to blush. He hiccupped and smiled wide once more. "Let me take the lead." His finger dropped from the Erza's lips and his arm lazily hung over the side of his hammock. He looked down at his hanging limb. "Oops." He laughed. He then looked back to the blushing knight. "Your lips are soft…"
Erza blinked rapidly. "What?"
Suddenly the door swung open, alarming the embarrassed redhead. She looked to the intruder, her sword drawn. "Mirajane?!"
"Erza?" The barmaid replied. "I didn't know you were here."
Erza relaxed her blade. "How do you know the location of Natsu's house?"
"Lisanna told me. She used to spend a lot of time here when they were younger. Did you come to check on him too?"
Erza looked back to the dragon slayer, he was sleeping now, but his wide smile was still present on his face. "I did."
Mirajane pulled up a chair next to Erza. "Did you figure out what was wrong with him?"
"Sadly no. When I came to check on him he looked just as exhausted as everyone said. Then as we talked he steadily got worse."
Mirajane leaned in closer to Natsu as he slept. He looked peaceful enough, but she could smell a familiar scent on his breath. "He's drunk." The barmaid diagnosed.
"Drunk? Since when does Natsu drink alcohol?"
"He doesn't…" Mirajane began. "At least I didn't think he did."
"Well that is certainly and odd habit for him to start."
"Did he say anything to you, you know, about the job?"
Erza looked to Mirajane quizzically for a moment, but she soon realized that the barmaid had come to Natsu's place for the same reason she had. Mirajane was also much more nervous than she was. Erza looked back to Natsu. "Not really. Apparently Cana is quite the dancer."
"Is that all he said?"
"Far as I can tell. His speech patterns were all over the place. No doubt due to his intoxication." Erza started to mention the Arcana word that Natsu used, but she deemed it unimportant and kept it to herself.
Natsu briefly opened his eyes and the two S-Class wizards instantly tended to him.
"Natsu?" Erza called.
"Are you ok?" Mirajane worried. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she showed him the index and middle fingers of her right hand.
Natsu's eyes trailed from Mirajane's hands to her face. He then looked to Erza's face before smiling wide again. "Erza…Mira…" he weakly called.
"Yes?" they answered at once.
"So...pretty…" Natsu mumbled.
Both the demon and the knight blushed at the compliment.
"T-thank you." Erza replied. That was the only thing she could think to say at the moment. Many men - and women - had called her pretty, even beautiful, over the years; but hearing it from Natsu somehow had more meaning.
Seeing this as an opportunity to glean some crucial information from the dragon slayer, Mirajane leaned in closer to him. "Natsu?" she cooed.
"Hm?"
"Who do you like more: Me or Erza?"
"Mirajane!" Erza hissed, her cheeks even redder than before. "This is no time to be asking such a ludicrous question."
"Come on, Erza, don't tell me you're not curious." Mirajane grinned playfully. "That blush on your cheeks is revealing your true self."
Erza glared at Mirajane for a few moments. She didn't want to admit it, but the barmaid was right. Erza was very curious as to Natsu's romantic preference. She didn't want to take advantage of him in his current state, but she reasoned that a simple question wouldn't do any harm. It's not like they were doing anything scandalous to him while he was intoxicated. She turned her glare to the dragon slayer. "Answer the question, Natsu." She ordered in her trademark authoritative tone.
Natsu began muttering. "I…"
"Yes?" the girls leaned forward.
"I…like…"
"Yes? Yes?!" they inched even closer.
"Gray!" Natsu shouted. The answer knocked both Erza and Mirajane out of their seats in surprise.
"Gray?!" Erza exclaimed.
"Oh my." Mirajane gasped with a blush. "I had no idea that Natsu-"
"Come back here, you jerk!" Natsu yelled angrily. "That was a cheap shot!" He swung his fists in the air violently as he cursed and rambled. It looked as if he was hitting an imaginary image of his rival for some slight that neither Erza nor Mirajane were privy to. "There." Natsu said with a cocky smile, apparently he had triumphed in his dream fight. "That'll teach you…to mess…with me…" his voice trailed off and he returned to sleep. "Strongest…alive…" he burped and grumbled intelligibly to himself for a bit longer before scratching his stomach and rolling over to his side. He ended this process by snoring.
Erza and Mirajane looked at one another with total confusion, before sharing a laugh. Though they had not gotten the answers they wanted, they at least managed to realize that Natsu would be ok after a good night's rest. He may wake up with a bit of a hangover, but he would live to see tomorrow.
"He's adorable when he's drunk." Mirajane said as she and Erza rose to their feet.
Erza nodded, but other than that gave no input.
They both looked to the sleeping dragon slayer with soft smiles.
"We should let him rest." Erza suggested. "We've already caused him enough grief for one night."
"You're right." Mirajane agreed. "We can talk to him tomorrow after he sleeps this off."
They both walked to the door, but not before giving the dragon slayer one last glance.
"Good night, Natsu."
Cana laid awake in her bed, watching her ceiling fan spin around as the moonlight shined through her window. She had been awake for hours and she didn't know why. Not long after leaving the guild, she began to feel lightheaded, and her vision began to blur. She barely made it back to her room. What is going on with me? She felt a knocking in her skull and clutched her forehead. "My head feels like its being pounded by a hammer."
She got up and walked to her bathroom, nearly falling over in the process. "Ok, there's definitely something wrong with me." She turned on the light and looked into the mirror, noticing the lazy look in her eyes as well as the red tint on her cheeks. It was then she realized what was going on. "I'm *hic* drunk? How? I didn't even *hic" even *hic* e*hic* drink alcohol today." She trotted back to her bed. "How…can I be…drunk?" The more Cana thought of how she got this way, the more her head throbbed. Her memory was hazy, all she could see were flashes of pink.
What is that?
A faint smell flourished inside her nostrils. She recognized the fragrance almost instantly. It was Natsu's cologne from the gala. What…is going on? Why am I smelling this? She felt herself being taken back to the job site in Crocus. It was like her spirit was being pulled from the present and into the past, but there was one major difference this time around: no one was in the dining hall. No one except herself and Natsu.
She looked to the dragon slayer. "Natsu, what's going on? Where are all the people? Why are we here?"
The dragon slayer said nothing. Instead he simply smiled and held out his hand to the confused lush.
Cana was going to question his silence, but she suddenly felt a force overtake her body. Having lost nearly all control, she could only watch as her right arm slowly rose, placing her hand in Natsu's. The dragon slayer gripped firmly, and bowed like a gentleman would before pulling the surprised Cana closer to him. The brunette blushed at the sudden contact.
"I like aggressive guys, but this is a bit much, isn't it?" she said with a nervous laugh. Her heart beat faster and her muscles anxiously tensed the longer she looked at him. "Ok, Natsu. This whole silence act is starting to freak me out. What are you-"Before she could finish her thought Natsu began stepping around the dancefloor, deftly pulling Cana along. They were dancing just as they had that night.
"Natsu?!" Cana yelped with a hint of fright at the sudden action. Once again he gave no reply. He simply continued smiling at her. Slowly but surely Cana's fear turned into awe. She found herself amazed at the speed and grace at which they were both moving. There was no wasted motion. No missteps or foot faults. They were in perfect sync. How did he get this good so fast? I just taught him this dance yesterday!
Natsu's arm tighten around Cana's waist as they spun around. The smell of his cologne invaded her nose once again. It was sweet, but also a tad musky. Sort of like cinnamon ashes. Cana had never felt this lightheaded before. She was drunk, but it was not from alcohol. She was drunk off of emotion, something that she thought was impossible for her. Choosing to ride the wave, she rested her head on Natsu's chest. She felt that firmness from last night again. She didn't even know how much she actually missed it.
Back in reality she snuggled under her blanket, completely immersed in the dream as she clutched her long pillow to her body. "This is *hic* nice." She smiled.
Natsu was roused to consciousness by the alluring smell of freshly cooked meat. Quickly sitting up in his hammock he turned to see a full spread on his dining table. "Food?!" Natsu sprang forth and bounded to the table with wide eyes and an even emptier stomach. Meat. Eggs. Noodles. Rice. Fish. Fruit. It was all arranged perfectly across the wooden table. Each morsel of food was more appealing than the last. "Where did this all come from?" He wondered. His eyes fell on Happy, who was sitting on the table with a mouth full of one of the trout that was previously on the fish plate. "You cook this, Happy?"
"Nope." The exceed took another bite of fish. "Mira made it."
Natsu's eyes widened at the revelation. "Mira did?"
"Uh huh." Happy nodded. He reached over to a piece of paper and handed it to Natsu. "She left a note, too."
"Lemme see that." Natsu grabbed the note and read it aloud:
I thought you might be hungry in the morning after what happened yesterday. Be sure to eat it all. I worked really hard on it. See you at the guild hall.
,Mirajane
Natsu blushed at the note. "Did she really have to put a heart at the end?" he grumbled in embarrassment. He barely remembered Erza coming over to see him yesterday, let alone Mirajane. He vaguely recalled her coming by not long after Erza did, but the dragon slayer assumed her presence was due to a crazy dream he was having.
"She li~kes you." Happy teased.
"You be quiet."
After eating and getting dressed, Natsu and Happy made their way to the guild hall.
"Are you feeling better, Natsu?" Happy asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You were acting really weird when you came back from your job yesterday. You were mumbling a lot, you were sweating, and your cheeks were red."
"They were? Well I feel much better now. Actually I feel better than better. I feel like I could take down a whole dark guild by myself." He boasted with a wide smile.
"Aye. You look much better now." Happy agreed with a smile of his own.
The pair burst the guild hall with their usual gusto. "What's up, guys!" Natsu shouted.
"You seem to be feeling much better." Lucy giggled.
"We were worried." Wendy smiled in relief.
"I wasn't." Gray sniped. "It was actually pretty quiet with Natsu not around."
"Care to say that to my face, you spiky-haired jerk?!" Natsu challenged.
"I already did. Besides your hair is just as spiky as mine, pinky!"
"Well the quiet was nice while it lasted." Carla sighed.
"Good morning, Natsu!" Mirajane greeted happily.
The dragon slayer looked to the bar and saw both Mirajane and Erza. He ignored Gray - only agitating the ice wizard further - and walked towards them.
"Morning, Mira." Natsu waved. He rubbed his stomach and smiled as he approached the bar. "Thanks for the food. It was delicious."
"Food?" Erza raised an eyebrow to Mirajane. The barmaid playfully stuck out her tongue and winked at the knight. Mirajane, you-
"You're welcome." Mirajane said to Natsu, ignoring Erza's glare. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"How are you feeling?" Erza inquired.
"Like a million bucks." Natsu bragged, flexing his bicep. "I don't know what was going on with me yesterday, but I'm all better now."
"I see." Erza grinned. "Good."
"Natsu." A voice called.
The dragon slayer looked further down the bar and saw Cana. Surprisingly she wasn't drinking anything, even more surprising was that she was looking at him with the most serious eyes he had even seen her display. It made him a bit nervous. "Can I talk to you?" she requested, though it sounded more like an order.
"Uh…yeah sure." Natsu nodded. He didn't know what was up with her shift in attitude, but even Natsu was smart enough to know that he shouldn't do anything to exacerbate Cana's mood
"Thanks." Cana hopped from her stool and grabbed Natsu by the wrist, eliciting surprised – and irritated - looks from both Mirajane and Erza. The fortuneteller turned to the pair and pulled out a card from her bag. "Sorry, guys, but this is going to be a private chat."
SLEEP CARD
The card in her hand began glowing green.
"Cana, what are you…" Erza began to trail off, her eye lids getting heavier and heavier with each passing second.
"Ca…na…" Mirajane felt the same odd sensation as Erza. In a near instant they were both slumped over the bar top. Fast asleep.
"What did you do to them?!" Natsu shouted in fear.
"No need to yell I just put them to sleep for a little bit." She reassured and pulled Natsu along as she ran to the guild doors. "We need to hurry, they won't be out for long."
"Cana! Wait! Where are we going?!"
When they were gone the other members of Fairy Tail ran to Mirajane and Erza's sides.
"Are they ok?" Wendy fretted.
"Cana said she only put them to sleep." Gray reminded.
"Yeah, but why? Just so she could talk to Natsu? Seems a bit extreme if you ask me." Lucy voiced her displeasure.
"How long do you think they'll be out?" Jet inquired.
"The spell Cana used wasn't that strong, otherwise we would all be sleeping." Levy deduced. "I'm guessing they'll be out for at most ten to fifteen minutes."
"What do you think they're dreaming about?" Juvia asked. She as more curious about that than anything else. Her dreams were usually about Gray.
"With Mira it could be anything really." Elfman shrugged.
"Yeah, and I bet Erza's dreaming about a fight or something." Gray said.
"Aye. Or bossing somebody around." Happy added.
"Or cake." Lisanna suggested.
"Those do all sound like things Erza would dream about." Lucy giggled.
"Natsu…" Mirajane mewed, catching everyone's attention. A sultry smile pulled across her face and she bit her lower lip. "You're really affectionate today…" her soft giggles put everyone on edge.
"No, Natsu…" Erza breathlessly protested, making the others even more nervous. She was blushing and her knees were slowly rubbing together like she had to use the bathroom. She bit her quivering lip, but she was much more nervous than Mirajane. "Not here…someone might see us…please...control yourself."
Everyone took a big step back from the pair, their faces all red from embarrassment.
"On second thought, who cares about what they're dreaming about?" Gray nervously asked. "We should just let them rest."
"Aye." The others nodded. They were just as uncomfortable as the ice wizard.
"Cana, where are you taking me?" Natsu asked.
"We're almost there." She replied.
Natsu continued to be dragged by the normally easygoing fortuneteller and noticed what looked to be the roof of a familiar building peaking over the top of the hill of they were ascending. When they reached the peak, Natsu realized that Cana had brought him to Fairy Hills. This was the second time Natsu had come here in about a month, though this time it was basically against his will.
They entered the empty dorm and walked to a door at the edge of the first hall. Cana opened it and pushed Natsu inside. "Sit down." She commanded.
Natsu obediently complied and sat in the wicker chair across from Cana's bed. He had no idea why she brought him all the way here, but he could feel that things were only going to get more awkward from here on out. He looked around at all of the things strewn about in Cana's room. Despite mostly being seen as drunk off her ass, she was surprisingly fairly tidy, minus a few random pieces of underwear here and there. Natsu took a deep breath to calm him nerves, but in the process he caught a whiff of a scent, Cana's scent. This was much different than when they were at the party, it was also much different than what he normally smelled of her from the guild hall – which was usually laced with alcohol. This was – in a word – Cana Alberona's "natural" scent. It was a bitter smell, but not overpowering. It was akin to sugar, or perhaps a distant cousin of cocoa. Either way Natsu was feeling that numbing feeling in his head again.
Cana walked past Natsu and sat on the bed across from the chair. She crossed her legs and arms as she looked down her nose at him. She sat there, staring at him in silence.
"Are you going to explain why you dragged me all the way here?" Natsu asked.
Cana remained silent while she placed her hand on her chin to think. The more she looked Natsu over, the more unimpressive she found him. His body was toned sure, but Laxus, Elfman, and even Gray had better builds than he did. He held his own in battle, but that was only because his opponents had no way to deal with his more boneheaded strategies. He only survived through pure luck. He was nowhere near the smartest person in the guild, probably not even the town. So why? There's really nothing all that special about him. So why did I have that dream about him? It makes no sense. Why do I feel so lightheaded right now? Just as she was about to give up, she thought of the perfect test. "Natsu, sit with me." she said finally. She patted the spot next to her and Natsu once again complied. The bed lightly bounced when he sat on it. "Wait here for a minute, ok?"
"Um. Ok." Natsu watched as Cana walked to her dresser and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a black wooden box, then grabbed two glasses wrapped in paper from her closet. "What are those for?" the dragon slayer asked.
"You'll see in a minute." Cana smiled. She slid off the front board of the wooden box and took out the bottle inside. It wasn't a particularly large bottle, but it was very well made. It was in the shape of a diamond and was black in color. Natsu could tell from the fineness of the bottle of it that it wasn't made from normal glass. Cana twisted the cap open and the smell quickly filled the room.
It was sharp scent, so sharp that it almost made Natsu's nose bleed. There was also the faintest whiff of coconut and strawberries. Cana filled the glasses about halfway with the clear liquid and walked back to Natsu. She placed the bottle on the table in front of them and sat on the bed. "Here." She handed one of the glasses to Natsu.
"Thanks, but I don't really drink." Natsu declined.
"Natsu, I brought you all the way here out of the kindness of my heart as a guest. The least you can do is take the drink I offer you. Besides we've already slept together. Usually most people have a drink before getting to that part." she grinned.
Natsu begrudgingly took the glass. He held it under his nose and retched at the smell of the drink. "This stuff stinks."
"Yeah it is kinda strong." Cana laughed.
"Where did you get this stuff anyway?"
"I got it a couple of months ago from a town in the south. A place called Jasmine."
"Jasmine?"
"Yep." Cana swirled the drink a bit around in her glass. "It's pretty secluded in the mountains, but they have some of the best alcohol in all of Fiore. I had some brewed for me. Cost me a lot of money. I barely made rent because of it. That's the reason I took that job in Crocus, so I could finish paying this off."
"What's it called?"
Cana pondered this question for a moment. "You know what? I haven't actually given it a name yet. This is actually the first time I've drank the stuff since buying it. Maybe something like 'Devil's Brew'."
"Devil's Brew?"
"Yeah." Cana nodded. "I mean it smells like hell so I think it fits."
"Why would you pay so much for alcohol? The stuff isn't all that tasty."
Cana laughed again. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to taste something different than all of the stuff that was around town. It's no secret I'm a lush. Pretty much all I do is drink." Her smiled took a rueful turn. "Not really much else to it."
"I don't think that." Natsu said.
Cana turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean sure you drink a lot, but that's not really a bad thing. I mean yeah it's kind of bad, but it doesn't make you a bad person. It's just a part of who you are, but it's not all you are. You're also a nice person, even though you like to tease people a lot, and…" Natsu blushed. "You're a really good dancer."
Cana giggled at Natsu's blush. "You're an interesting guy, Natsu. I think I'm starting to see why Mirajane and Erza are so crazy about you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Enough about that, this stuff is going to go waste if we don't drink it." Cana raised her glass. "Cheers?"
Natsu returned her smile. "Cheers." They clinked glasses and took a sip of the liquor, and Natsu almost immediately threw it back up. He swallowed as quickly as he could, but the burning taste was still on his tongue. It was a ripe taste, but at the same time very astringent. I was like eating a whole orange, skin and all. "This stuff is horrible!"
Cana laughed. "It's an acquired taste." She finished the drink with little to no difficulty. It was obvious that she handled its flavor way better than her drinking partner. "Want another?"
"No way." Natsu declined forcefully. "That was awful."
"Natsu." Cana teased. "You're not gonna let a measly drink beat you, are you?"
Natsu looked to Cana's smirking face, he knew that she was goading him, but he couldn't deny his inner nature. "Give me another."
"That's the Salamander we all know and love." She poured more of the "Devil's Brew" into both their glasses. She handed Natsu's refill back to him and they clinked glasses again. "Bottoms up."
Erza woke up with a start. "Natsu!" she shouted into the guild.
Mirajane was more relaxed when she awakened, stretching her arms overhead. "What happened?" she yawned.
"You guys are finally awake." Lucy smiled.
"That was way longer than ten minutes." Gray said to Levy.
"How long were we sleeping?" Mirajane asked.
"Close to an hour." Elfman told his sister.
"We were starting to worry that you two would never wake up." Lisanna said.
Erza slammed her fist into the bar, startling everyone around her except for Mirajane. "Curse that Cana. What was she thinking by attacking us like that? She'll pay dearly."
"Where did she go?" Mirajane asked the group.
"I believe she took Natsu and went to Fairy Hills." Carla answered.
"Fairy Hills?!" Erza and Mirajane exclaimed.
"We have to hurry, Mirajane!" Erza declared. "Who knows what she may have done to Natsu."
"Right." Mirajane nodded. "Kinana, you're in charge of the bar until we get back."
"Ok." The interim barmaid smiled. She didn't seem worried about the situation at all.
Mirajane hopped over the bar top and ran off behind Erza.
"Cana's in for it now." Elfman said.
"I'm actually more worried about Natsu." Lucy admitted.
"So I hit the jerk in the face as hard as I could and he went flying through the street!" Natsu shouted, punching the air in front of him. The bottle was reaching the bottom and the pink-haired wizard was completely drunk. He had been rambling for the past thirty minutes or so about random topics ranging from food to fighting to how it was hard to find flame proof clothing.
"Sounds like it was quite the battle." Cana commented. She was only buzzed from the alcohol, rendering her much more competent than her drinking partner.
"Cana."
"Yes?"
"Cana."
"Yeah?"
"Cana~."
The brunette was beginning to become agitated at the repetition of her name. "What is it, Natsu?"
"…Arcana. Did you know your name *hic* sounds like Arcana?"
"Hmm. I never thought about before, but I guess you're right." She chuckled. "Speaking of which, why did you want to know about the Arcana the other day anyway? Seemed like a pretty weird thing for you of all people to be interested in."
"This *hic* old lady said I would get stronger if I collected them." Natsu handed his empty glass to Cana, who proceeded to pour the last of the liquor into it.
She returned Natsu's glass to him. "Old lady?"
Natsu took a sip. "Yeah *hic*. I got two already." Despite his words he held up three fingers. "Strength and Empe…Empe…"
"Empress." Cana finished.
"Yeah! That one!" Natsu laughed. "Erza and Mira had them."
Cana raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'had them'?"
"They had cards floating in front of their faces. They moved like this." He twirled his finger in front of his face to illustrate his point. "It was freaky weird."
Cana became increasingly confused - and even unnerved - by Natsu's drunk ramblings. Normally she would dismiss it as such, but his words made an odd sort of sense to her. She knew of the Arcana - she was the one who explained them to Natsu only a couple days prior - but the dragon slayer's words stumped even her.
"They floated like that one." Natsu pointed at Cana's nose.
"What?" Unbeknownst to the brunette, there was indeed a card floating in front of her face. Only Natsu could see it. "What's floating?"
"A *hic* card. Duh. Hold still. I'll get it." He slurred as he reached his hand out. He touched the card and it shattered.
A horrid throbbing opened Natsu's eyes to the world around him. "Damn, my head." He was sober now, but the headache was a lingering reminder of his adventure. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. "Where am I this time?" He stood up, seeing a light in the distance in front of him. He ran to it, eventually coming onto a bench under a light post. As he suspected, there was Betty.
"You're such a lightweight." The old woman said.
Natsu sat down next to her. "Give me a break. I'm not a drinker."
"That much is obvious."
Natsu pulled out the card in his pocket. He briefly looked it over before handing it to the old woman. "That's the Devil's Arcana right?"
Betty looked down at the card and was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of Natsu's guess. "Right. I'm surprised you figured that out on your own. That sultry fortuneteller helped you, didn't she?"
"Well I figured I had to learn about them if I had to collect them, ya know?"
"Smart boy." Betty smiled. "Well since you already know what this Arcana is then I don't have to waste time tellin ya about it."
"I guess not." He turned to Betty and noticed something different about her. "You're not smoking today."
"Surprised?" she grinned. "I told ya I was gonna quit. You didn't believe me?" she frowned. "How rude, calling an elderly woman a liar. I don't have long left you know."
"I didn't say anything!" Natsu defended. "Besides you're not a real person anyway!"
"What are you talking about? I'm as real as the sky is blue, pup. And don't you forget it."
"Sorry." Natsu apologized. They sat in silence for a bit before Natsu spoke again. "What happened with you last time?"
"Last time?"
"Yeah. You looked really gloomy when I asked about losing Arcana."
"I didn't know you cared so much." Betty grinned.
"I'm serious."
"So am I. It's nothing you need to worry about, just a woman getting sentimental in her old age."
Natsu knew Betty was lying, but once again he chose to remain silent. "If you say so."
"I do." She stood in front of him. "Ready to go back?"
Natsu rose to his feet. "I guess so."
"Fantastic then." Betty pressed her hand against his chest. "One last piece of advice before you go. Be careful with this one, but be patient as well. She may be coy now, but she'll come around eventually. Just give her some time."
"Right." Natsu nodded. As usual he had no idea what Betty was talking about, but he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer out of her if he asked her out right. "See ya later."
"Till next time, lover boy." Betty's hand began to glow and she pushed on Natsu's chest with a small bit for force. In a flash the dragon slayer returned to reality and Betty was left alone once more. She sat back down on the bench and looked out to the ever expanding darkness before her. "Maybe you'll be different than the last one."
"That's it, Happy." Natsu groaned, his hand on his pounding head. "I'm never drinking again."
"You look really rough." Happy said. "You didn't even get home until late last night."
"I don't even remember how I got there."
"You're quite the player, Natsu." Happy snickered. "I wonder what Erza and Mira would say."
"What do they have to do with anything?" The pair walked into the guild hall and the loud greetings only increased the severity of Natsu's headache. He walked straight to the bar, hoping that Mirajane had some kind of medicine for his hangover.
"Head still hurting?" Mirajane asked. Natsu nodded in confirmation. She placed a cup of coffee and a plate of toast in front of the ailing dragon slayer. "Here, try this."
"Thanks." Natsu sipped the coffee before taking a bite of toast.
"How did you sleep?"
"Like a baby, actually. I don't even remember getting home yesterday."
"Really?" Mirajane laughed nervously. "I'm sure you manage to find a way back on your own somehow." In reality it was Erza who carried Natsu home from Fairy Hill's, not that Mirajane would tell him that. She was still upset about losing the rock-paper-scissors match that night.
Natsu raised an eyebrow at Mirajane's explanation, but his returning migraine forced him to refocus on his meal.
"Morning, Natsu!" Cana yelled purposefully. The dragon slayer instantly covered his ears at the sound, his pain visible on his face. "Aw, I'm sorry." Cana cooed. "You're still hungover I see. I have just the cure." She grabbed Natsu's head and held him to her chest. "There? Better?"
Natsu's protests were muffled by the brunette's cleavage as he flailed around. He fought to break free from the soft, warm, valley, but it was for naught. Cana was too strong, or rather his hangover - or libido - had made him too weak to resist.
"Ok, Cana." Mirajane said warned through her smiling teeth. "That's enough isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Erza said. She had just entered the guild hall, and made a beeline the bar after seeing Cana's smothering. "Release him."
"Fine. You win." Cana grinned and let go of Natsu, whose face was now completely red. "I'll see you later, Natsu." She winked at him and walked to her usual stool. She looked to Mirajane and Erza as they tended to Natsu. Erza tried to do the same "comforting technique" that Cana did, but she forgot to release her armor. This resulted in her knocking Natsu unconscious.
A coquettish grin pulled at Cana's lips as she looked at the passed out dragon slayer. "This is going to be fun."
Well Cana's chapter is all done! This is the hardest one I've written so far. The most difficult part was trying keep the two in character while building the basis for a relationship between. Cana is an interesting character in her own right, so I wanted to be sure I did her justice. I imagine her as very playful when she finds a guy she's interested in. She's sexually liberated but doesn't give it to just anybody. I had to make sure I wrote her to match this perception and for the most part I think I accomplished that, but feel free to debate me on that subject if you think I missed something.
As for the poll, I'll post the new one after this chapter is live. It will be up for a week, so be sure to get voting!
For the next chapter, I'm going to slow things down a bit before getting into the next girl. I don't want to overload things. So it will be sort of a transition chapter. Don't worry it will still be plot essential...for the most part ;).
As always leave a comment/review to let me know what you think, vote in the poll, and thanks for reading!
