Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 10: I Promise

"Ow, ff.." Natsu bit his lower lip as he groaned quietly in pain. He sat down at his spot of his home's square shaped dining table, lightly pressing a bag of ice against his groin. Wendy sitting across from him, a expression of guilt on her face as she looked down. A slight frown on her lips as she could not face her big brother currently after what she had done to his family jewels due to the rage that consumed her when she saw the bruises and bandages on his face. It broke her heart to see him looking in such a weakened state.

Natsu had explained the injuries right away after he had recovered enough to stand from the bluenette's surprisingly strong punch. She must have really been angry if she managed to summon such immense strength. It was highly uncharacteristic of Wendy to get violent as she was usually a kind, gentle, and caring soul that looked like she would cry her eyes out if she ever brought pain to a fly. He actually knows, he had seen it happen before when she was eight when they were at a park one day.

"S-Sorry again about that, Natsu.. I had no idea what came over me. Just seeing you l.. look so hurt.. I-I-I c-couldn't.." Wendy was suddenly on the verge of tears as her fists were clenching on her skirt and her body lightly shivered.

Natsu was quick to activate his big brother mode as he made his way around the wooden table to his sister's side while his left hand still held the ice bag in place. "Hey, hey. It's okay." He knelt beside her when he approached her and his right arm wrapped around her shoulders before pulling her into a warm, soft embrace. Her head coming to his chest as his hand rubbed at her shoulder lightly.

"My life was never in any danger, sis.. I promise.. It was just a sparring match that went a little further than I intended to take it." Natsu whispered as he planted a kiss on top of the young girl's head. "Your big brother ain't going anywhere. Don't you worry." He reminded her tenderly as he consoled the bluenette little sister.

Wendy was quick to latch onto the pinkette older brother, her arms wrapping around him as she trembled. Her hands clenching on his shirt as she lightly sobbed. No one could blame the girl that she worried a lot about her brother, especially with how much love he had towards fighting, he always could never help himself to push it one step further after another whenever he was in a brawl. No one could convince him to stop though, no matter how hard they tried, she knew that all to well. "S-Sometimes I wish.. y.. you'd stop fighting, Natsu.." Wendy uttered in sorrow as she nuzzled into his chest.

Natsu frowned at those words, there were times where he knows he lets her down just because he can't break his obsession for martial arts.. He's been doing it all his life. He cherished the art and lifestyle with every fibre of his being. To him, it's like he was born to become a fighter. To try and be the best at it, no matter how long it took or how hard he had to push himself. It was his dream to be known as one of the best, if not THE best.

Natsu sighed as his head lowered to rest his forehead on top of her head. His eyes closed as his hand came to her mid back. "You know I can't do that, Wendy.. I trained too hard.. and came too far to let it all go to waste by doing nothing to succeed in life with these skills. I know it hurts you that I still do it.. but it's who I am.. It's my dream. I just.." He let out another sigh as he held her slightly tighter. "I just need you to accept it sis, accept me.. because you know me better than anyone.. So you know, I don't intended to stop. Not now, not ever." Natsu hated to put it bluntly to the crying girl, but he needed her to understand that this is what he wanted. What was destined of him. His heart is that of a fighter, and he could never attempt to let anyone or even himself change that. "I can't promise you that you will never see me hurt like this again.. because I know I will get hurt again.. maybe even worst than the last time.. and there's no saying just how much more it'll happen.. but I will promise you this.. No matter how beaten and battered I'll be.. I'll always get back on my feet until I win."

Wendy silently sniffled with tears rolling down her cheeks after he spoke, she lost her parents that she loved dearly, Natsu was all she had in this world after their deaths.. and could not bear the thought of him leaving her alone too due to the lifestyle he currently lived. she had not pulled away from her brother as he continued to embrace her. She remained silent for nearly a minute before composing herself enough to respond. "C-Can you also promise that you'll st-stay standing, Natsu?.." She asked shakily as her faced remained nuzzled into his chest.

Natsu smiled gently to himself as his head nodded against her own. "I can especially promise you that, little sis.." He answered with a confident whisper.

Wendy let out a trembled sigh as she calmed down enough to stop her sobbing, one of her wrists coming to her eyes to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I-I may not be able to fully accept what you do.. Not yet anyway.. There is no persuading you about it, so I won't attempt again to stop you.. but please Natsu.." She then pulled away enough for her to look up into her brother's onyx eyes with a pleading expression, her big brown eyes red from her crying. Her lip quivered as she was about to breakdown again. "Pl-Please still try to be c-careful."

That look on her face caused Natsu's heart to clenched and ache, his chest tightening as he looked down at her. He gulped before taking a unstable breath as he nodded, shushing her gently as he brought her head back to his chest and his hand began to lightly stroke her hair as he nodded. "I will, Wendy.. I will.." The two siblings stayed in each other's embrace for a little while longer before they realized they still had their dinner to eat.

Wendy had eventually recovered from her negative emotions and the two began to enjoy their dinner while trying to move on from their emotional scene. The two talking about how their day was.

Wendy told her day as she had befriended a boy who was just about her age at her new middle school, named Romeo who was the first to approach the shy and timid young girl. She spoke with heavy excitement in her voice as the boy defended her from a group of kids that is well known for picking on newcomers until they cried, whether they were boy or girl. She had told her brother that the young boy happened to be an aspiring martial artist as well. This, of course, immediately got Natsu bombarding her with questions about his style, his strength, and personal details such as his last name and address so he can challenge him to a spar to see how skilled he is up to this point. Wendy said she didn't know to the first two questions and informed her brother that he was acting creepy for wanting a young boy's information. Natsu was quick to recover and apologize upon realizing his questionable behaviour towards a boy who got him a little too excited.

Natsu explained everything that happened today from meeting Kagura, them having their spar and he had won, which he explained in great detail and complimented the purple haired fighter's impressive skill, finishing it off with how he joined the Martial Arts Club and how he happened to be the only boy out of seven members as of today.

When Natsu finished, Wendy was conflicted on how she felt about Natsu joining the club as she was happy it had him so excited to be apart of it, despite him being the only male in it.. but it also worried her that it would also bring him more harm quite often if they were to train too hard. Knowing her brother, it was possible she wouldn't see a day without him in bandages or bruises, but all she could do was hope he'd be alright and knew what he was doing.

Eventually the two got done with their dinner and did the dishes with Natsu washing and Wendy drying them as he handed them to her.

When it was near eleven o'clock, the two had gotten themselves washed up and ready for bed. Wendy wearing a blue pajama set with tiny white, feathery dragons on them. They secured their home and began to head to bed for the night. Both having their rooms right across from each other. Wendy fell asleep with her blanket completely over her body except for her head as she laid on her side, facing her cat, Carla, that was currently balled on her pillow in front of her face, sleeping soundly as well along with her loving owner.

Natsu's choice of sleep attire was a simple pair of black and red striped boxer shorts. He was currently gazing at his cieling with his head resting on his hands and his blue cat, Happy, sleeping soundly on his abs in its own ball. His lamp on his nightstand beside his bed lighting up his room. What had happened between him and sister were currently replaying in his head, unable to get that sad.. painful look on her face when she pleaded for him to be careful out of his head. He let out a low, depressed sigh as he took his turn to head to sleep, reaching to shut his lamp before laying back again to not disturb his fuzzy blue friend on his stomach from his slumber.

"I know it hurts now, Wendy.. but I promise I won't let you down in the end.. Just you wait and see.." Were the last thoughts on Natsu's mind before he shut his eyes and his consciousness began to slip away.

There we have it, I hope this was an enjoyable chapter for you all and was at least alright with the emotional scene. Just wanted to show the emotional impact Natsu's love and passion for fighting currently does to Wendy this chapter. So hope I did alright. Oh, and by the way. If you were expecting the last chapter's fight to be the big one I had planned, well, you'd be wrong! - That was just a quick, simple fight I made to introduce Cana into this story, and I guess to show what she does on her free time. XD The big one I plan to do in more detail will be in the chapter after the next one, which is to be expected to take awhile to complete. I already have the purpose, music and environment I think should go well together decided. And I'm sure you'll enjoy who our favourite pinkette will be throwing punches with. c:

Natsu's Fighting Styles:

- Karate

- Taekwondo

- Muay Thai

- Pencak Silat

- Shaolin Kung Fu

- Jeet Kune Do

- Wing Chun

Natsu's Harem:

- Kagura ( Karate )

- Erza ( Muay Thai )

- Juvia ( Taichi )

- Cana ( Drunken Monkey Kung Fu )

- Millianna ( Leopard Kung Fu )

- Mirajane ( Wing Chun )

- Ultear ( None )

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Until next chapter, deuces!