Age Gap

Chapter 10

So I'm back with my tenth chapter, half a year later. It's been a bit of a journey and I've had some great feedback from my readers about where they think a scene should have gone or which parts hit them hardest.

This has finally been paid off as now I can proudly say that my Favourites (as well as my Followers) for this story has broken 100 (on 19th October 2013). I have a user by the name of "nico2883" to thank for this, but that doesn't mean that everyone that didn't get the milestone shout-out is unneeded. All of those users that have Followed or given this story a Favourite up until this point and from now on will continue to boost the number and boost my desire to keep writing material like this (that you guys seem to like). Not a single thought goes to waste. So thanks for all the support you guys!

I would also like to apologise for taking a stupidly long time to get this chapter to you. I was running low on ideas because my RWBY feels were sky-rocketing. So I smashed out a couple of pieces for that series in the little break I took from this one. Go and check them out if you haven't, I think I put my break to good use.

Shall we continue their date now?

"So where to now?" Natsu asked.

Erza thought for a while as they walked down a quieter street, parallel to the main street, hand in hand once again. She thought of taking him to the weaponry store on the outskirts of the shopping district but the idea of letting Natsu loose in there in a body that he wasn't used to, sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. One that would lead to losing a couple of fingers. The armour dealership was very much in the same boat. She didn't want him finding a suit of armour in his exact size that amplified fire magic by tenfold and then rampaging across Fiore.

Even though both events had stupidly low chances of happening, it didn't eliminate the possibility of something like that happening. Erza wanted to play it safe today as she had no doubts that there would be something close to hell in the coming days. She looked down at him, still pondering a destination when it suddenly dawned on her.

"Natsu." She said and she brought them both to a stop and he raised his eyes to meet hers. "Have your clothes been hanging off your body this entire time?"

He looked down at the black waistcoat sliding down one of his arms and pulled it back up to his shoulder where Erza noticed that he was strangely bald. None of his hair was missing but he seemed to be showing a little more skin than usual. Erza raised a hand to her chin, perplexed, but something got in the way. Gazing awkwardly down herself she saw that she was uncharacteristically wearing a scarf. A white, scaled scarf.

Ah, so that's why.

"I've been like this since I changed in the guild." Natsu answered. "But you have my scarf."

Chuckling, Erza unwound said scarf from around her neck and leant down to Natsu's level. With a tender hand she brushed some of his hair back behind his ear before laying the scarf over his shoulders and tying it in the usual arrangement that Natsu has it in. Erza could have sworn she had heard a pair of feminine gasps at that moment but she paid them no mind, despite them sounding a lot like Juvia and Wendy.

Unfortunately, at his new height the scarf trailed a little too close to the ground. So Erza picked up the ends and wrapped them once more around Natsu's neck, loosely this time. It settled quite nicely in Erza's opinion and it was quite cute to only be able to see Natsu's flushed cheeks or above, when he had his face buried in the scarf. But it was only Natsu that could say that his cheeks were flushed, not because of the warmth flooding his face out of reach of the crisp air, but because Erza had donned that smile again.

With her eyes half lidded and her lips gently curved upwards it was getting harder for him to think of her as anything but a woman at these instances. That little tell-tale shine in her eyes told him that she too was enjoying the newfound intimacy and that made his blush come a little harder, making him bury his face, or at least the smile he was struggling to keep down.

"How about we go and get you some clothes today?" The woman asked as she locked gazes with him in that seductively, sleepy way that he couldn't get enough of. "If you're going to be in that body for a while whilst we get this seal sorted out, I won't let you go around dressed like that the whole time. You'll catch a cold."

Taking a deep breath from inside the scarf, Natsu could smell some lasting wisps of Erza caress his nostrils. He also spied a long, crimson hair stuck between the folds.

Finders, keepers. He thought.

"Yeah, sure thing." He chirped with a bright smile. "Let's go!"

Even though Erza was much more in tune with weapons and armour shops, that didn't mean she didn't go clothes shopping. She needs some clothes to keep the rough metals off her skin or casualwear for when she wasn't on jobs. Regardless she was confident that she could pick something for Natsu that would keep him presentable. She had noticed that Natsu had a strange fashion sense over the years but he had a definite feel for colour coordination. Blacks, whites and golds being his main colour scheme.

Erza took his hand once again and lead him to a large store that she knew of and had a preference for. The women's range on the ground floor had quite a range of clothes from shirts, jackets and sweaters to trousers, jeans, shorts and skirts. They had some formal attire in a separate section on the same floor that had dresses, blouses, some more skirts and trousers and accessories such as purses and bracelets.

Unfortunately, Erza had never been upstairs in to the men's or the children's departments, but if they had the same size range as the women's there shouldn't be a problem. Erza had to slow down when she ascended the stairs to let Natsu's little legs catch up. They reached the top of the stairs and moved through a pair of double door to what was revealed to be both the men's floor and the children's floor. Checking a little more closely, Erza could see that the floor was equal in size to the ground floor but the floor had been cut in half to accommodate both age groups. The stairs had opened out in to the men's section and looking around only brought a frown to Erza's face.

The range was abysmal to say the least. Each section for trousers or shirts had to be at least a quarter of the women's. Inspecting the closest rack to her showed that it was a t-shirt display that didn't lighten her mood. There seemed to be only one simple design for the t-shirts and that was a V-neck collar, the only way to distinguish between them was by colour that range from a blistering white to a swampy green. The other displays were almost identical and over in the children's section it seemed to be that the only kind of child that fit in any of those clothes was an 8 week old foetus. She didn't even need to take Natsu over there.

"No." Erza said simply and lightly pulled Natsu back towards the door. "I've seen a better range of clothes at a butcher's."

"Are we going somewhere else?" Natsu asked as he tried to pull on Erza's sleeve to slow her down while she went down the stairs, nearly pulling him off his feet.

"We'll try to find a specialist children's store instead." Erza told him as she pulled her arm upwards and held Natsu in the air until they reached level ground again. "There should be more of a selection in those kinds of stores. I never realised how biased this store was towards women, that display was a disgrace."

"Elfman has said before that finding clothes for himself has been really tough." Natsu remembered as the two left the store. "Even the triple XL sizes are too small for him."

Erza laughed at the thought of Elfman bursting a shirt and claiming he was 'too manly'.

"I could imagine." Erza said. "We might have to ask someone for directions to the kind of store we're looking for."

Without skipping a beat Natsu was dragged quickly to the right where Erza had spotted a woman with a little girl that looked to be around Natsu's age.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Erza called as she approached.

The woman looked around at Erza and instantly lit up in a smile.

"Ah, Titiania." She said and Erza's step faltered slightly. "Is there something you needed?"

"Umm, yes, actually." Erza had suddenly turned awkward. Was it different now that this woman seemed to know who she was? "My friend has recently been hit with a spell that has turned him into a child."

"Oh my, that's quite the predicament." The woman said as she held her hand to her mouth. "Is he going to be OK?"

"I'm just young is all, lady." Natsu pitched in with a toothy grin. "We know how to reverse the effects, it'll just take a while."

"That's good to know." The woman said in relief and she quickly turned back to Erza. "Oh, I'm sorry, you wanted to ask me something?"

"Due to our situation and how quickly it came about, as you can see we aren't prepared with some... necessities." Erza seemed to have loosened up a bit. "We're looking for a children's clothes store; one that isn't that department store just over there."

"Oh, I know what you mean!" The woman said animatedly. "I've tried to take Emily here to browse, but there just isn't anything. It's really disappointing actually, their ranges for women are some of the best around for quality and prices, but the other departments just aren't up to scratch."

"We've found that out for ourselves just now." Erza said with an exhausted smile. "In the men's area, you could really have anything as long as it was in a camouflage colour and had a V-neck."

The woman and Erza laughed together like they had been friends for years. But the faces on Natsu and woman's child, Emily, didn't look so jolly. They were unconsciously beating around the bush and Natsu could tell that even Emily was getting impatient. They shared a glance and Natsu rolled his eyes in reference to her mother and Erza and Emily had trouble keeping down a sudden burst of giggles.

"It's a shame." The woman said. "That's the only store in town that does children's clothes, me and all of my friends with children around Emily's age go to Fuchsiadale to do clothes shopping for them. They've been a big clothing town for the last two hundred years or so. It's quite the train journey though."

At the mention of that single word, Natsu's stomach flipped. Was Erza even thinking? She knew damn well that he couldn't stomach trains, and that unintentional pun didn't help bring a smile to his face.

"That's a big help!" Erza told the woman, while Natsu wished she had never mentioned it. "We'll be sure to look in to it."

"I'm glad I could be of some help to you, Titania." The woman said. "I'll let you be on your way. We have shopping to do as well, don't we Emily?"

Emily beamed up at her mother and nodded her head eagerly. It was strange to Natsu, were kids really this excited when they were around their mothers? Natsu had only ever known Igneel and with him being a dragon, he wasn't the most delicate person out there, never mind nurturing.

The closest thing Natsu had ever had to a parent figure was Gildarts, but he was hardly ever around. Apart from him, the next closest thing was Erza in these past couple of days. He had definitely experienced a different side of her because of his situation and he was glad that she had shown him it and not been cold and called him weak or something. Natsu wondered if he looked at Erza now in the same light that Emily looked at her mother, but he quickly destroyed the thought. Natsu wouldn't be like this forever and before he knew it he'd be back to his normal self, standing at the same height as Erza. It'd be far too weird for him to still think of Erza as a mother figure once he was back to normal.

"Well, if you'll excuse us." The woman bowed and left hand in hand with Emily, who waved back at Natsu. He was a little surprised at the show of kinship but he returned it happily nonetheless. Erza watched them go with a satisfied smile on her face until they turned a corner and Natsu heard her let out a breath that she must've been holding.

"Did you know that lady?" Natsu asked but Erza shook her head. "It looked like you were having trouble dealing with her."

"That's the first time I've met her." She told him. "I can talk to strangers just fine, but it's when they recognise me as the Titania, it feels like I have some kind of expectation to meet. So I always think that I have to watch my words or provide some kind of service. Pretty silly, right?"

"I don't think so." Natsu said bluntly making Erza raise an eyebrow. "I can see that you might think that way but I think you've got it backwards. You're thinking that you have to live up to the name of Titania, and while that isn't a horrible thing to do, it's wrong this time. The name wouldn't exist at all without you. The name was made because of who you are, not the other way around. You don't have to go out of your way to be something you're not because then you stop being you and you stop being the Titania."

By this point Erza was gaping, she had heard Natsu give speeches in the middle of fights before, but never like this. They were usually along the lines of 'I don't care if you're right, you're hurting people, so I'm going to beat you bloody.' But this was something else, this was so personal, she never knew that Natsu could be so one-on-one in anything but a fight, never mind that he could be the kind of guy that you could actually sit down and talk about something with.

"You don't have to try so hard." He continued. "The Titania is you and you are the Titania."

There was a few seconds of silence while Erza let all that sink in, the speed at which Natsu had come straight back with a response and the extensiveness of said response. The more she thought about it, the more she could feel the heat from her face make her eyes water.

"Thank you, Natsu." She said as she squeezed his hand once more. "You always know what to say when I need it most. I really love you for that."

In return, Natsu too let her words sink in before his face went so red, you'd swear it burst in to flames. For the second time that day he buried his face in his scarf. He didn't really think that his explanation would get through. His vocabulary was nowhere near as extensive as the other's, Natsu liked things simple. Plus whenever he did try to give an explanation for something, he got quite a few looks of pity as they most likely weren't up to their own set standards of par. The only ones that had ever been on his own wavelength and understood what he meant had been Lucy, Gray and of course, Erza.

Despite how uppity Erza might seem to an outsider, Natsu knew that with no real effort she could talk to him on the same level and she felt no burden by it at all. Although, if he said something wrong or ended up coming off rude, Erza wasn't too far away with a clip around the ear and a correction. She didn't mean it as a punishment, she just wanted him to learn the correct way to express himself better.

"You say that like I don't love you too." He said as sank his face further in to his scarf almost so that he couldn't see. "Idiot."

Erza let out a sigh as a small smile and warmly, welcomed flush graced her cheeks. She squeezed his hand once more but this time he returned it just as heartily.

"Come on, let's catch the train to Fuchsiadale and continue shopping there." Erza set off towards the train station and although Natsu's face went a bit pale at the mention of a train, he didn't fight her on it.

"Won't it take quite a while to travel there, get the stuff and come back?" Natsu asked. "Will we even make it by sundown?"

Erza's pace faltered at the new information as her head tilted as she looked up at the sky to check where the sun was. It was still quite low in the sky, but that was mostly because of the time of year.

"Maybe you're right. It's late morning now and by the time we come back, it'll be pitch black." Erza pondered her next move but all the while never stopped moving her feet. "How about we go to the bank in Fuchsiadale, take a little money out and spend the night at a hotel or an inn or some place?"

Once again, Natsu's mind went in to overdrive at what Erza proposed. A scene of Erza suggesting to a fully grown Natsu that they take a shower to rid themselves of the sweat they'll have gathered through the day, sprang forth in to Natsu mind. As daydream-Natsu stepped in to shower, he quickly noticed he wasn't alone and as Erza's hands stroked down his bare, wet abs he felt her clean more than just his back with more than just a sponge.

Natsu actually had to bite the inside of his cheek to get rid of that delusion.

"S-sure." He agreed shakily. "It saves us having to cart everything back here in the dark."

"Good." Erza said and dragged him off to the train station without slowing to look in any other direction but forwards. The only time she turned her head was either when she felt him trip up when his little legs couldn't keep up or when she turned a corner.

Erza checked that Natsu was with her again as she asked for their tickets. One adult fare and one, half-priced, child fare. Natsu discovered that that was another benefit of him being stuck like that; half the travel costs.

Erza didn't let go of his hand when she handed over the money. She didn't let go of his hand while they waited for the train. She didn't let go of his hand when he sat down on the bench from fatigue, she just stood by his side and guarded him while he rested his weary feet and when the train arrived and Natsu fell asleep on the cushioned surface before they had even set off, Erza Requipped her trousers away and swapped them out for a much more comfortable pair of shorts.

She then gently took his shoulders and slowly guided him down to her lap before he woke up and threw a fuss about a moving train. Unexpectedly, Natsu was conscious enough to realise he was being moved on an instinctual level so when his head came in to contact with her bare leg, he unconsciously wrapped his arms around her powerful thigh and he gave it a little squeeze before settling down.

Erza had lifted her leg in order for Natsu to move a bit more freely but now that his arm was latched on to her underneath her, she was reluctant to put her leg back down, in case she hurt his arm with the weight of her leg. Though, as her leg started to shake from the strain she realised she couldn't maintain it and very carefully let her leg relax on his arm. Natsu, in his sleep, welcomed the comfortable weight and shifted his head around to playfully sink his teeth in to her thigh and as she felt a trickle of magic seep through her skin, the skin on her shoulder started to heat up too.

Erza clamped her hand down over the burning Mark but luckily it only lasted for a couple of seconds before it died away and her leg was treated to a brilliant warmth, like that of a bath a touch on the 'hot' side. Natsu removed his teeth and let out a cute, little growl as he sighed and set his chin back down on her leg. Erza let her laboured breathing return to normal as the train got up to a nice speed. She pulled at her collar again to inspect the Mark and her eyes widened at what she saw.

One half was missing.

The only part that was left was unfilled part, it remained as a pinky, purple colour but the black part was nowhere to be found. She touched at her bare skin but there was no trace of a scar or mark or bumps or anything. It was completely smooth.

This couldn't have been a coincidence that half the Mark disappeared when Natsu bit her leg. Lacing her hand in to his hair and carefully pushing his head to a side revealed her intuition to be right. Standing out against her porcelain skin was the very same black half of the Mark that her shoulder was missing. Natsu's Dragonslayer magic had somehow moved it and as she poked at it with her finger, it didn't look like it could move from anyone else's powers but Natsu's.

She slowly began to relax as Natsu, unintentionally covered the new half-Mark as he repositioned his hand. Erza occupied herself with running her slender fingers through Natsu's soft hair and was rewarded with a few content sighs he let out.

All the while, never letting go of his hand.