A.N: WARNING! Sickly sweet moment between NatsuxEsther!


Chapter 9: Enveloped


"Esther, c'mon! Come to the beach with us!" Lucy cheered, dressed in a white and pink bikini.

They had arrived at Akane an hour before and the group decided to head down to the luxurious golden sand and oceanic crystal waves downstairs.

"I will be with you in a moment. Go ahead, I will be down shortly."

"Are you sure? I can wait!"

"It is fine! Go! Have fun!"

Lucy shrugged and waved goodbye, heading to the beach. Esther sighed and closed the door.

She then looked in the mirror.

Letting the towel drop from her previous shower, she saw her whole naked body in all of its tainted glory. From the swell of her breast, down to the jagged scar across her abdomen she recieved when Jellal raped her. Her eyes kept lowering to other imperfections that were caused by physical harm.

There were cuts all across her upper thighs that no one but her sister and Laxus Dreyar knew about. Even then, Erza thought that they were just a few. No these were a momentum of scars that she had caused with the blade Simon gave her before she escaped the place. It was more than a few moments of weakness where she indulged herself into her feelings and proved just how weak she was. When the pressure was to much, it was a slice. When she blamed herself it was two more. Countless other reasons why she afflicted more harm to herself added themselves in on the slashes on her legs." It was the way she dealt with things before he had caught her.


Flashback

The newly turned S-Class sat in one of the back rooms on the upstairs floor.

The blade danced in her hands and her eyes glinted with contentment. It was moments like these where fighting Mystogan with two broken fingers during S-class trials were worth it.

Pulling up the dress she wore, twelve year old Esther traced the two scars on her thighs with the tip of the knife. One for each. Getting ready to feel that surge of pain— that surge of emotion again, made her blood boil with anticipation.

She dipped the pocket knife in alcohal and cleaned it with a paper towel so she wouldn't get infected. Making sure she had a clean towel to wipe up the blood, she sat back against the wall, shifted her legs so her knees were toward her chest and—

The knife was snatched out of her hand quicker than she could blink.

Cautiously looking up from behind her bangs was a seventeen year old Laxus Dreyar. His orange eyes had hardened into lava and his lanky form shook with anger. "The hell do you think your doing?!" He yelled and she flinched.

"I didn't know you would be here. Someone had told me that you would be out on a mission today."

Laxus growled low and dangerously, wrapping his hand around the little girl's arm. "I. Came. Back. Early. Your meaning to tell me you planned this ahead of time?!"

Esther flinched, and she was forced to stand up. Laxus began dragging her out of the dark room and towards the roof's door so no one would see them. Saying nothing, he transformed into a bolt of lightning and carried her to his house.

End Flashback


Esther chuckled ruefully to herself.

"I remember that day. Laxus-sama made Fried-San tell me the dangers of self harming because Fried-San once did it as well. Laxus-sama wouldn't leave me alone after that."

Giggling to herself, she found some random jean shorts that were tight enough to ensure they wouldn't rise up and a aqua-green bikini top. Trying to be a little girly, she seperated her long waist length hair into two parts and made pigtails. Her square like bangs framed her red eyes but now they seemed more... playful.

Even putting on lipgloss, the girl nervously walked down to the beach and immediately saw her Fairy Tail comrades. Natsu and Lucy were play arguing about giving Gray's swim trunks back, Neeya and Happy were chasing each other around in the air. Erza was just laughing at the entire group. Taking her dear precious time, she wondered if Natsu would like this new look of hers. And then she kicked her subconcious's ass because she did not care.

"...Hi."

They turned towards her and everyone beamed at Natsu's star strucked face. He had a creeping blush and Esther crossed her arms over her chest.

"K-kawaii..." Natsu murmured and Lucy giggled. Happy yelled his famous 'you lllllloooovvveeee her!' while rolling the L. Erza smirked and high fived Gray. Like they hadnt noticed Esther's rising blush at Natsu's staring.

"So what do we particularly do at the…beach?" Esther asked akwardly and the grouped sighed. This girl had no idea how to have fun!

"Well…we were all about to split up and explore! Whoever brings the prettiest seashell back gets to make both groups do whatever they want!" Lucy made up on a whim, thanking the maker she had a creative mind.

"That's right!" Erza exclaimed. "Erza had won the rock paper scissors match so she picks the groups." Gray informed and Esther shrugged, fidgeting at some guys who were checking her out a few feet away from them. Natsu and Gray noticed too because they both inched closer to her. Erza had a hand open in case she had to ex-quip a sword. Lucy patted her keys and smiled. "So? Who are on teams, Erza?"

Erza looked around their group, pretending to think hard. She knew exactly who she was pairing, but she didn't want to jump straight into it. Though she was excited! "Hmm... Lucy, Gray. You two seem like you could work together well enough. I'll take Happy and Neeya. Natsu, your with Esther. Everyone meet back at my suite at twilight." Everyone nodded and split apart, their quest for the prettiest shell beginning right then.

Natsu smiled when Esther let out a squeal at the cold of the water.

She jumped back in surprise and let out a shaky laugh. Something told the fire dragon that she still wasn't use to smiling so he chuckled at her progress.

"Natsu-San! L-look!"

He came over to the shore and saw her point at a beautiful seashell that looked almost rainbow in color. Her eyes dazzled when she saw it and his smile broadened.

"C'mon! Lets go get it!"

Esther froze at the water, staring out into the far depths of the ocean. Natsu noticed her discomfort and softly smiled, grabbing her hand. Slowly leading her into the waves, his grip tightened when she began to shake.

"Relax! I won't let anything happen to you. As long as your with me your fine. Just breathe with me."

And so she did. With each breath that they took, they took a step inside the water. Before long they were at the seashell and calf deep in water. Natsu let go of one of her hands and she unconciously squeezed tight to the other one, thinking he was letting her go. He stood back up and pulled her closer to him.

"Open your eyes." He whispered, breath fanning her face. She felt dizzy but did as she was told and saw the seashell in his large hand. He placed her hand back over his as they both held the seashell in place.

"C'mon! Lets play a quick game of tag. We've got a couple minutes to chill!" Natsu suggested, delicately pulling Esther back to the shore. The flustered girl just mutely nodded, saying she was it. For the next twenty minutes, the two ran and chased each other, Esther actually laughing and having fun.

"Gotcha!"

Esther squealed when Natsu tackled her, the two rolling around and play fighting. In the end, the Salamander ended on top of her, the two laughing the night away. Surprising herself, Esther wrapped her arms around Natsu, his scaly scarf tickling her cheek.

"Thank you, Natsu."

Natsu rolled so that he was on his back, Esther lying against his bare chest. "You know I live for days like this."

Esther looked at the rainbow shell and then back to her temporary partner. "What do you mean by 'days like this'? Vacationing days, perhaps?" She questioned and the salmon haired boy laughed while squeezing her tighter to him. Esther blushed, wondering what was wrong with her. Why she was letting all of this happen. But it felt so nice, she mused. To be held. To feel safe and warm.

"No. To make you happy."