Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Pairing(s): Natsu Dragneal x Zeref

WARNINGS: Slight AU, reincarnation, shounan ai (boy/boy pairing); you have been warned so don't like, don't read

Dreaming of Dragons

By V. Shalyr

21.

Zeref tried very hard not to stare at the man and woman walking on what looked like empty air as they moved about trimming the higher branches of the trees in the town's public park. He realized how unsuccessful he was being at this when Natsu grabbed the back of his coat and he turned to find a lamppost mere centimeters in front of his face. He looked back up at Natsu, embarrassed.

"Sorry."

The Dragon Slayer shook his head in exasperation, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes too.

"I suppose I was asking the impossible to begin with." Natsu dropped his hand to the small of Zeref's back. "Come on, they're leaving us behind."

The two started walking again, but Zeref couldn't resist one last look back at the wizards in the park.

"Would it not be incredible to be able to walk on air? Perhaps a special pair of shoes."

Natsu gave this question serious consideration. Mostly, he thought about how a person might go about testing if he were able to walk on air. It would probably be a lot like someone deciding to test whether or not he could fly.

"Yeah, it would be cool, but don't go walking off any cliffs or tall buildings without telling me in advance."

"I'll be careful."

Natsu thought about pointing out that walking into a lamppost wasn't really his idea of being careful, but decided against it. At this moment, it would be a pointless reminder.

Their client turned out to be an old lady, who lived in a townhouse not far from the park. Although the house itself was small, it was richly furnished, and the lady herself was bedecked with so much jewelry that she practically glittered. Then again, none of them knew anything about jewelry, so all of it could have been fake. Still, they couldn't deny that she made a remarkable picture.

"It was a few years after the war," she said, gesturing vaguely with one wrinkled hand. "Before all the magic really settled down. I purchase a great many things from this village in the mountains, and there's this trader who does my bargaining and ships the things for me. Anyway, that time, he'd gotten hold of something very special—a map I've wanted for quite a long time, which is supposed to show the location of an unusual mirror set in a jade frame."

She sighed. "Unfortunately, on his way back, he was caught up in a small landslide. The good news was that he wasn't hurt badly, but the bad news was that he wasn't able to seek out the mirror for me like he'd promised. He did, however, give me the map—eventually."

"And that's why you decided to put in a request to a wizard guild," Erza concluded.

"That's right. After what happened, I thought it would be safer and more practical to hire wizards for the job. That wasn't the first landslide we've had in these mountains. After all the fighting and the magic that got thrown around—well, let's just say that I've waited as long as I've had in the hopes that the mountains would have enough time to settle back down."

Erza nodded. "Understandable. May we see the map?"

.

They had one week. If Lady Ruka hadn't heard back from them by then, she would send word to their guild for help. The wizards doubted it would come to that, but these days, one could never be too careful. It was entirely possible that there was some pocket of magic left in the mountains swallowing up unwary passersby.

Before they set out, however, they had to purchase supplies.

"This store's become very popular since it opened two years ago," Lucy told the newest member of their team.

"Why is that?"

The Celestial Wizard had to consider this for a minute before she could answer, "I guess because camping out has become a lot more interesting. And possibly a lot more dangerous."

The store in question was one of a chain of stores that carried camping equipment and supplies, much of which was enchanted by wizards in the business's partner guild.

While Lucy explained to Zeref about the different items on sale—which included tents be-spelled for temperature regulation and water bottles capable of purifying any water poured inside—Erza pulled Natsu aside.

"I got a letter from Jellal before we left," she said, her expression serious. "He's managed to get you excused from cross-guild missions for a while now, but the other council members are starting to complain. The Dragon Slayers did a lot during the war, so they were willing to be lenient, but it was never meant to be an indefinite waiver."

"I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later," Natsu muttered. "How long have I got?"

"They haven't seriously gotten down to pursuing the subject yet," Erza admitted. "But my guess is not much. They're especially strict about enforcing the rule with powerful wizards, since it's powerful wizards that generally cause the big problems. I suggest that you take some time this summer to go on at least one."

Natsu frowned.

Erza spoke again before he could voice his objection. "Bring him with you. It's not like all that many people knew him. I doubt you'd run into trouble over it. There are also still a lot of repair work and construction jobs that shouldn't involve any fighting or run-ins with Dark Guilds."

The Dragon Slayer hesitated for a second longer then shrugged. "Fine. I'll think about it."

"Natsu," Zeref said, interrupting them as he approached.

He had that look in his eyes caught up somewhere between wonder and fascination that Natsu had begun to associate with potentially hazardous ideas.

"If I enchant my backpack, do you think I'll still be able to bring it home without causing problems?"

"Well, it is still your backpack and your magic. I don't see why not. What exactly were you thinking about enchanting it to do?"

"Nothing extreme," Zeref assured him. "Just to give it more space—and to make it lighter. They sell backpacks like that here, but they're not organized as well as they could be. It wouldn't be very useful if it was too hard to find all the things you put in."

"What did you have in mind instead?"

Natsu listened carefully to Zeref sketch out his plan for creating a backpack that was much bigger on the inside than on the outside that would respond to the user's voice, making sure none of it could lead to anyone, say, sticking an arm in and then losing that arm when something went wrong.

Ugh, the Dragon Slayer wasn't great at all this theoretical stuff, but he was damned well going to learn enough of it to keep track of his partner's thinking. Natsu had never stopped to consider before just how risky fiddling around with new spells and new magic could be—especially if the wizard in question was a powerful one. After all, just because a person decided that it would be cool to design his own shoes for walking on air didn't mean he could make it happen. Zeref just happened to be the kind of wizard who could make it happen.

Erza excused herself and left them to their discussion. She had passed along the information she'd been asked to, and now, it was up to Natsu what he wanted to do about it. Listening to the two wizards made the corners of her mouth twitch. Natsu certainly had his hands full with this one, which might just be a good thing since it got his mind off past ifs and maybes. Erza had always thought of Zeref as a clever inventor and researcher of magic, and he was certainly turning out to be just that.

"Maybe a person could even hide inside," she heard Zeref say.

To which Natsu replied quite emphatically, "No. You know moving things by manipulating space isn't always safe. You threw up that other time, remember? And all you did was warp yourself from the bedroom into the kitchen twenty steps away. We're not trying that sort of thing again until we're sure it works fine on objects. Fragile objects."

"Ah, I suppose that would be best."

"So did you want to buy one of these backpacks? I can get one for you if you want to study it or something."

Briefly, Erza wondered if they should worry about Zeref attracting unwanted attention—not because of his namesake, but because of his natural affinity for magic. Ambitious and unpleasant people were often drawn to talent like that, and Zeref wasn't exactly doing a great job at keeping a low profile. Unlike the Zeref of the past, this one did not have the need for discretion so deeply engrained in him that it made him uncomfortable when strangers so much as looked at him a second longer than usual.

Then again, Erza pitied anyone foolish enough to lay a finger on the boy. All the healing salve in the world wouldn't be enough to fix the burns.

.

The four of them left the store an hour later with an extra backpack, several water bottles, more than a week's supply of food, bug-repelling sleeping bags, and two new tents that they probably weren't going to use unless it began to rain.

Natsu and Erza carried almost all of their supplies between them, and Zeref busied himself examining the enchanted backpack to see just how and why it worked.

Their client had mapped out several routes for them that they could take up into the mountains, but they figured it was best to start with the most straightforward path, which saw a fair amount of use from hikers and traders. So it was a well-stocked and cheerful group of wizards who began up the road into the mountains that afternoon, eager to see how far they could get before nightfall.

TBC...

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