There were no sounds. No children outside playing, no vendors yelling from their stands, no one so much as loitering in the streets. It was oddly…deathly quiet, and it made the two wizards a bit uneasy.

"What do you think is going on Erza?" Natsu asked as they continued to look around the deserted town.

"I have no idea. I'm pretty sure that the townspeople didn't just up and leave." Erza looked up to her right into a window of a house. She saw a small girl looking at them, but just as suddenly as she saw the girl; her mother pulled her away from the window and hurriedly closed the curtains.

Whatever is going here, it's obvious that the townspeople are afraid of it.

She continued to ponder as she walked forward, not watching where she was going.

THUD!

"Ugh!" Erza fell to the ground, she rubbed her bottom and looked up to see Natsu standing perfectly still. Needless to say she wasn't happy. An irritated look graced her face as she rose to her feet. She pulled her fist back ready to drill into the back of the Dragon Slayer's head.

"Natsu!" she said as she grinded her teeth in anger she began to move her fist forward.

"Shhh!" Natsu exclaimed as he raised his hand behind, stopping Erza's attack.

Sniff. Sniff. He raised his nose in the air, using his heightened sense of smell to investigate the air around them.

Erza cooled down, a look of slight worry replacing her anger. "What's wrong? What do you smell?" she asked sternly.

Without warning, Natsu grabbed Erza's hand and ran into a nearby alley.

"Whoa! Natsu what's going on?!" Erza asked as she found herself being pulled into the alley like a rag doll.

Natsu moved her behind him as he peeked around the corner of the buildings they were between.

"Someone's coming." He said quietly as he continued to look.

"Who?" Erza asked him confused.

Natsu placed his index finger over his closed lips as he looked at Erza, signaling her to be silent. He then pointed to the corner he was looking out from. Erza moved passed him to get a view of what he saw.

It was a group of about 15 men, each of them easily the size of a tank. They strolled through the town with looks of cocky satisfaction on their faces. Continuing to cut a path through the deserted town, they stopped when they spotted a man on the side of the path they walked. He was holding a paper bag filled with fruit and vegetables and as he looked at the burly group next to him fear washed over his face.

A man, who was clearly the leader of the group, stepped out from the group, grabbing the man by the collar and holding him the air. The man struggled to free himself, legs flailing in the air as he dropped his bag into the street, its contents spilling out. The assaulter was wearing a tan long sleeved shirt with a red X emblazoned on the front and one arm missing; showing his massive bicep. His hair was as black as the night and a cut, most likely made by a sword was in the middle of his face crossing over the bridge of his nose. He wore a pair of black shorts which stopped just above his knees and laughed maliciously with the rest of his gang as he continued to hoist the weak man above the ground.

Natsu, gritting his teeth in anger at what he saw began to move from the alley, but Erza extended her arm in front of him; stopping his advance.

"But Erza." He said in a low angry tone.

"Calm down Natsu, let's see how this goes 1st. We might learn what is happening around here." She said in a calm yet commanding tone. Natsu knew he was in no position to argue, so he reluctantly relented to her request. Erza turned her attention back towards the event happening near them.

"Now come on man you know the rules." The large man said as he smirked evilly. "No one is allowed out of their homes after noon without paying fees." He then scanned the man up and down. "And by the looks of ya, you can't afford to be out on the streets this time of day." He once again let out a loud laugh as he looked around at the rest of his group, who once again joined in.

"Please, let me go. I was just getting food for my family." The man pleaded as the group continued to laugh mockingly.

"Don't worry about it pal." The dark haired man said with a fake smile, "I'm nothing if not a fair guy. If you just pay the fee we'll let ya be on your way." He could see the obvious desperation on the man's face, he knew he didn't have the money, but he continued to mock him.

"What's wrong? A little short on cash?" He smirked menacingly at his victim.

The man continued to struggle, a small tear rolling down his face. "Please, I have a family. I have a wife and 2 kids."

The black haired thug continued to smirk and drew his fist back, eager to end the man's life. "Sorry man, if I let you go then everyone will think I've gone soft, and we can't have that."

The man braced himself for the inevitable impact, grimacing and closing his eyes as he thought of his family.

The black haired once again laughed maliciously with the rest of his crew as his fist drew ever closer to the doomed father of two.

BAM!

…

The man opened his eyes, and found himself sitting on the ground surprised to be alive. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, and slowly began to look up. The shining sun obstructing his view some…

But what his eyes could make out was a woman with long hair as red and vibrant as a ripened apple, wearing steel gray armor was standing in front of him. Having stopped the thug's mighty fist with only the palm of her hand.

Erza stood defiant and she held the brute's fist in her palm. She could no longer stand idly by as these thugs were going to rob a family of a husband and father. Natsu was standing next to her, his eyes focused on the rest of the group.

"Natsu, take him home." Erza said in a cold tone.

Natsu wanted to argue, but he knew Erza was in no mood. He silently nodded and helped the man to his feet as they moved away from the group.

"Hey," the man said with a tinge of fear and concern in his voice as he looked back at Erza. "Are you sure we should leave that girl on her own?"

Natsu simply smiled as he continued to help the man walk back to his home. "Don't worry about her, she's one of the strongest wizards in Fairy Tail." The man's eyes widened in disbelief. These two are wizards? They're so young. He thought to himself as Natsu continued to carry him with his arm around the pink haired wizard's neck.

Erza let go of the brute's hand and stood her ground determined.

"Are you the reason the people of this town are afraid to leave their homes?" She said with a quiet rage in her voice.

The large man grabbed his wrist and smirked at her. "Yeah, I guess you can call me the town's tax collector." He then looked her up and down, an obvious look of lust on his face. "I wouldn't mind taking you as a payment girl. HAHAHAHA!" He and the rest of his group laughed maniacally at his statement.

"Good one Crock." One of his men added as they continued to laugh.

Crock then turned his attention back to Erza, with a look of lust still on his face. He slowly began to move his hand towards her. "Now pretty lady, why don't you come with me and…" Suddenly he found himself feeling a sense of vertigo as the environment around him began spinning. In an instant he was on his back looking up at the sky with no idea how he got there.

Crock could however feel a fair amount of pressure on his wrist. He looked around to assess the situation, his group of followers stunned and as he looked to his right he could see why. His arm was raised in the air, with Erza having a firm grip on his wrist.

"The hell? How did you do that?" He asked in a rage as he stood up. Erza released her grip and watched as he walked back to his group.

"You alright Crock?" One of his group asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Shut up, I'm fine!" He said in a rage as he rubbed his wrist, trying to soothe the pain.

"Who the hell do you think you…" He began to yell but Erza cut him off.

"I will only say this once. Leave this town and never bother these people again or there will be consequences for you and your friends." Her eyes were stone cold as she spoke her threat. Crock's group looked at her with fear, but their leader stood unamused.

His cocky smirk returned to his lips, "And just what are you going to do if I don't leave girlie? You're pink haired boyfriend isn't around to help you." He cracked his knuckles, "Don't get cocky just because you caught me off guard." his smirk soon faded as a look of pure rage took hold of his face, "It won't happen again."

He pulled his fist in anger as he and his group rushed Erza.

"Raagggghhh!"

…

Natsu made it to the man's house without much trouble. Even though Natsu told him not to worry, in the back of his mind he couldn't help but be concerned for Erza. He placed the man down at the steps of his home and stared off in the direction he had left Erza.

The man was still afraid despite the fact they were a long way from the battle ground.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Natsu asked the man with concern on his face.

The man placed his hands on his head, his face having a look of all consuming horror, "You don't understand what you've just done." He shook his head vigorously to and fro as if something was stuck in his mind.

"What? Are you still worried about Erza?" Natsu smirked at the frightened man, "Don't worry she won't lose to guys like that."

"No you don't understand." He said not looking at Natsu. "Crock is just his messenger…"

"What?" Natsu's face grew serious, "Whose messenger?"

The man continued to talk as if he didn't hear Natsu. "You don't know what you've done. Why did you interfere?" The man broke out in a cold sweat.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled grabbing the man's attention "Whose messenger? What are you talking about?"

The man laughed weakly with an unnerving smile on his face as he looked at Natsu, "Cardinal…he's going to come, and he'll kill us all. Why didn't you just leave?"

Natsu grabbed the man's collar, "Who is Cardinal? Tell me!"

"Heh heh, he's the man who took over this town. He's extremely powerful, and extremely terrifying. As long as we paid him the tax once a month he'd leave us alone. But you and your girlfriend had to interfere, now he's gonna kill us all." Natsu let go of the man as he could see the terror had completely overcome him.

He then looked back to the direction he and the man had come from.

Erza!

Natsu raced back in the direction he came from. He ran as fast as he could until he reached the place where they split apart. When he reached his destination, he could see a mountain of unconscious bodies, no doubt the men that Erza had defeated, but that's not what caught his attention.

Just beyond the pile he saw a man, hair as white as snow with a scar going down his left eye. He wore a black fur coat and black fingerless gloves on each hand. Underneath his jacket he wore a plaid shirt with a green pattern and blue pants, but even with all these distinguishing factors something else, something more shocking caught the Dragon Slayer's attention.

Clutched tightly in his right hand was a woman, hair as red as the ripest cherry that flowed down her back, clad in silver armor, sword clutched tightly in her right hand. She was struggling to breathe and he knew she wouldn't last much longer.

Without thinking he yelled her name at the top of his lungs.

"ERZAAAA!"

The white haired man moved Erza from his view and looked at the angered Natsu, he retorted with a sadistic grin.

"Well what do we have here? Another dog to be put down."

Natsu raced towards him. "Let her go now!"

BOOM!

Natsu suddenly found himself on the ground, but had no earthly idea how he ended up there. He could feel a strong pressure on the side of his face, it was a boot. This maniac, the one who had instilled fear in the people of Auron, this man who had so carelessly held Erza by the neck now had the nerve to step on Natsu as if he were akin to the ground.

Natsu tried to move, but something was holding his body down, pinning him to the ground.

"T…The hell is this? I can't…move." He said as he struggled to move any part of his body.

"Aw, I see you've noticed my magic…Salamander."

Natsu could summon enough strength to turn his head so he was able to look up.

"You…know who I am?"

"Of course I do, everyone knows of the mighty Salamander and Titania Erza of Fairy Tail. I'm honored that you would come to my humble little town."

"You bastard…" Natsu said struggling, "You're Cardinal aren't you?"

"Ah," Cardinal smiled, "I see my infamous reputation precedes me." He pressed his foot harder on Natsu's face.

"Agh!" Natsu yelled in pain, "What did you do to me?"

"It's gravity magic. I can manipulate the weight of anything within a 10 meter radius, it's a small domain I know." He then clenched his fist, "But I think I make the most of it, HAHAHA!"

Natsu then turned his attention to Erza, she was still tight in Cardinal's grip…but she wasn't moving. Erza! Is she…no, don't think about that just find a way to get this guy off of you. Save her.

"Urk, what did you do to the people of this town?" Natsu thought if he could get Cardinal to keep talking that the grip on his magic would weaken, allowing him to move and save Erza.

"I just came through town one day and proposed a deal to these wonderful people on behalf of my boss."

"What deal? And who's your boss?"

"Now now Salamander you know I can't reveal all of my secrets." His sadistic smile made Natsu more than a bit uneasy. "But I can tell you the deal. It was simple, they pay a tax once a month and they would be able to keep living peacefully."

"And…agh," Natsu struggled to breathe, "What if they didn't want to?"

Cardinal smirked sadistically, "Then I would kill everyone in this town and level it to the ground…starting with the children."

Natsu's eyes opened wide, he then gritted his teeth angrily. "Why you…"

"YOU BASTARD!" a voice yelled angrily.

Was that? Natsu thought to himself.

"What?" Cardinal looked over to his left annoyed and saw Erza had a tight grip on his wrist, squeezing it so hard that a normal man would have had his wrist crushed. She then thrust her left leg into Cardinal's ribs.

"OOF!" He winced in pain but still had a grip on Erza, she then raise her sword struck downward at her attacker's arm.

SLASH.

"Agh!" He let go of Erza and grabbed his forearm as it bled. Erza then fell to her feet and grabbed Natsu, swiftly moving backwards until they were a safe enough distance away.

"Are you alright?" She asked Natsu while she kept her focus on Cardinal.

*kaff* *cough* *kaff* Natsu managed to make it to one knee as he regained his bearings. "Yeah, I'm ok."

Erza smiled warmly, "That's good. Sorry I didn't intervene earlier, his magical power was stifling. It took me a moment to regain my composure."

Natsu rubbed his throat, "Yeah I know what you mean. I'm just glad you're ok. I though he…"

"Killed me?" Erza finished Natsu's sentence for him. She smirked at him "Come now Natsu you know it will take more than that to put me down." She began to blush slightly, "But that thank you for worrying about me."

"Don't mention it." Natsu said as he stood up and wiped the dust off of his clothes. The two then looked at Cardinal who was fuming as he continued to hold his bleeding forearm.

"This guy is not gonna be easy to take down." Natsu commented as he wiped the blood from his bottom lip.

"Are they ever?" Erza asked jokingly as she stood next to him.

Natsu smiled big, "No, not for us they're not."

Cardinal regained a hold himself and stood back up his arm still bleeding. He once again smiled creepily.

FWOOT.

He whistled as he looked at his arm once more. "That was pretty devious of you Titania, but I shouldn't expect anything less from the Queen of the Fairies."

"What do you have to gain by extorting these people?" Erza asked curtly.

"Nothing really, it's all just to test the limits of my power. My boss told me to cut lose."

"The limits of your power? What are you talking about? And who is this boss you keep speaking of?"

Cardinal laughed, "Don't worry about it. And I guess you two wouldn't have known seeing as how hard these people have tried to cover it up."

"Cover what up?!" Natsu asked slightly confused.

"Well you see this small town used to be bigger than this, in fact it used to be sort of a hidden hotspot in Fiore. Do you remember the incident that happened here 1 year ago?"

Erza thought to herself briefly. Incident? "Do you mean that earthquake that leveled half the town?"

Cardinal smirked, "So that's what the papers called it? Sounds about right." He then started to laugh maniacally.

Erza's eyes widened in astonishment that soon turned to bitter hatred. "You scoundrel, are you saying that that was caused by you?"

"What?" Natsu looked at Erza, still not fully understanding the two's conversation.

"I guess you could say I had a hand in it. It was my interview for my new boss." Cardinal remarked while holding up his shaking left hand.

"You monster…hundreds of people died because of what you did, people lost their homes and businesses because of you." She clenched her fist in anger as it shook with rage.

Cardinal just kept smirking, "Well that's what happens when people don't choose to take advantage of my generous offer. Heh Heh HAHAHA!"

Erza clutched her sword tightly ready to strike. "Why you…."

"Raagghhh!" Natsu fiercely took off, closing the gap between them and Cardinal.

Erza's eyes widened as she saw him take off, "Natsu, wait!" she yelled as she reached her hand out trying to stop him, but it was too late as he was already out of ear shot.

Natsu's right fist became enveloped in his trademark flames as he pulled back to strike. "Fire Dragon, Iron Fi…" His flaming punched moved but much slower, allowing Cardinal to dodge and counterattack.

Natsu gritted his teeth angrily, "What the? Why is my hand slowing down?" He then turned and his eyes widened as he saw a leg moving swiftly towards him.

POW!

"Ack!" Natsu yelled in pain as a hard kick connected to his back, sending him flying into a nearby building.

From the window of the building the same small girl from earlier looked outside to see Natsu & Erza battling, however her mother tried quickly to pull her away again.

"Millie, what are you doing? Your father and I said not to look outside when the bad men are in town." She grabbed the little girl's arm but she resisted and pointed outside.

"But look mommy, that lady is fighting the bad man." She said as she pointed at Erza, who was furiously attacking Cardinal with two swords.

SLASH. DODGE. SWISH. PARRY. SLASH. PARRY.

The woman's eyes opened wide as she called her husband, "Rune come here."

The man moved from the back and began to scold them before his wife pointed outside, not Natsu had joined in Erza's assault.

SLASH. POW. SWING. DODGE. POW. PARRY. SWISH.

A flurry of fire and sounds of clanging swords rang in the air as the more people began to slightly open their doors and look out their windows at the furious battle waging in their small town.

"Hey isn't that that couple that live in the cabin near the lake?" One woman asked her husband.

"Isn't that Cardinal, what's he doing here?!" A man asked frightened. Soon scattered chatter could be heard throughout the small town.

"Why are the fighting Cardinal?"

SLASH. DODGE. PUNCH. BLOCK.

"Wow those two are amazing."

PARRY. KICK. DODGE. SLASH. SWISH. DODGE.

"Do you think they can win?"

SLASH. DODGE. PARRY. PUNCH. KICK. DODGE.

"They can't win he's too strong."

SLASH. SLASH. PARRY.

"It looks like their pushing him back."

PUNCH. FWOOM. DODGE.

"They can do it, they can beat him."

As the people of Auron watched the battle unfold, they slowly began to put their hopes in the two wizards and the town's spirit gradually began to return.

"Natsu watch for his left!" Erza yelled, "I got it!" he replied as he tried to dodge.

"Too slow!" Cardinal yelled.

TWEET. He whistled activating his magic making Natsu weightless, but Erza managed to jump into the air and out of the way. Cardinal smirked as he punched Natsu hard.

CRASH! He flew into another building.

"Natsu! Kyaaaa!" Erza descended from above, clad in her flight armor, due to her armor's enhancements her speed increased dramatically, but it was of little use. She too was slowed down due to Cardinal's power.

"You really thought increasing your speed would be enough to stop me Titania? You're a cocky one.

PARRY.

"Huh?" Erza blurted out as Cardinal deflected her sword with the steel band mounted on his wrist. He then connected with a hard punch to the wizards gut.

POW!

"Bwagh!" Erza coughed up a bit of blood as she flew into the same building that Natsu had collided with earlier.

The people of the town grew silent, just as their hopes were raised they fell just as fast. They thought that it was all over now, they would forever be under the rule of Cardinal and no one could change that…but a voice rang out and broke the silence.

"GET UP! YOU CAN DO IT, YOU CAN BEAT THE BAD MAN!"

"Millie! What are you doing?! Come back here." The young girl's mother pulled her from the doorway, but the message had got across. People began to shout out their support for Natsu & Erza.

"YEAH! YOU CAN DO IT!"

"KICK HIS ASS!"

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"WIN!"

"SHUT UP YOU FOOLS!" Cardinal yelled angrily as he looked at all the people of Auron shouting for his downfall.

When the dust settled from building where Erza & Natsu impacted, Cardinal could see that she was smiling.

"What's so funny Titania? Don't let these people get your hopes up, after I finish off you and Salamander you're next."

"I doubt that Cardinal, Natsu and I will defeat you, and we will free this town." She said with the smirk still gracing her face.

"Oh?" Cardinal said mockingly, "And how do you propose you're going to do that?"

Erza simply raised her right arm in answer to his question, she then moved it down in a signaling motion.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cardinal looked up and his eyes widened, he saw a spear descending incredibly fast, too fast for him to see. "Dammit!"

SLASH!

Cardinal managed to side step, but the spear still hit its mark as a long gash moved diagonally across his chest.

"Yeah she got him!" a man yelled from his home.

"AHHHHH!" he yelled in a rage, "I'll kill you!" He raced towards the still down Erza, but stopped suddenly, something was wrong. Where's Salamander?!

Erza looked at Cardinal and drew in all the air she could.

"NATSU…NOW!"

Cardinal soon felt the ground beneath him heating up, he knew it was Natsu, but he didn't know what he was doing. The ground started to melt, he looked to his left to see Natsu, using his flame breath to heat the ground.

Cardinal struggled to gain footing as he felt himself sinking. When he looked to the left again, Natsu was gone, but when he looked up into the sky, he saw Natsu descending upon him from above, his fist once again on fire.

"Now…" the Dragon Slayer said with a smirk, "let's try this again. Fire Dragon, IRON FIST." He thrust his fist in front of him as he fell to the ground like a missile, but Cardinal still had the where with all to shift the gravity and slow down Natsu's assault.

However, Natsu simply smirked. He was anticipating that he would make that crucial mistake.

"What? The hell are you smirking at?" He then looked in front him and saw Erza, now clad in her regular gray armor she clenched her fist tightly and drew back, smirking at her opponent.

Cardinal was out of options, he knew either way this next attack would be the end. Either from Natsu's fire or Erza's fist he would be felled.

"HAH!"

BAM!

Erza's fist connected, and the impact sounded like a thunderclap.

"O…PWAH!" Cardinal felt the full impact forcing him to lose concentration and double over, causing him to let go of Natsu who finished him off with his flaming fist, pounding him into the ground below.

Natsu stood up triumphant as he and Erza looked at their fallen opponent. Cardinal was, for lack of a better phrase "eating asphalt", as his face was near buried in the ground, his eyes glazed over. He was done, the battle had been won. As the dust settled and Cardinal's body twitched on the ground, Erza couldn't help but notice his shirt was ripped. As she looked over their fallen enemy she couldn't help but notice as mark on his right shoulder blade.

Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the mark. "Natsu, look." She called to him pointing at it as the Dragon Slayer squinted to see what had Erza so flustered. Once his eyes fixated on the target his widened just as Erza's had. Natsu turned and looked at her,

"But that's-"

"THEY DID IT! WE'RE FREE!"

Natsu & Erza snapped out of their shared anxiety as their concentration was broken by the people of Auron, rejoicing about their newfound freedom.

"YAY! THE TOWN CAN GROW AGAIN!"

"I almost forgot what freedom felt like."

Natsu & Erza's worried looks slowly turned to ones of satisfaction and happiness as they watched the townspeople. Erza then felt a light tug at her skirt, when she looked down she saw the little girl from the window. Her brown hair tied in pigtails as she wore a blue & white dress, hand behind her back as she was being accompanied by her parents.

She smiled at Erza & Natsu warmly. "Thank you for saving us." She said moving her hand from behind her back "Here you can have this." Inside her hands was a red rose, its petals were as bright and vibrant as Erza's hair as she took it from the young girl. Erza couldn't help but smile as she placed it to her nose. It smelled divine.

Erza smiled, placing her hand on the girl's head as she kneeled down to her level, "I should be thanking you. You really helped us out, right Natsu?" she asked looking behind her.

Natsu smiled at the young girl, "Yeah, we couldn't have done it without ya."

The little girl smiled back at them, her parents then began to walk away. "Come on Millie, let's go back home."

"Ok, mommy."

Her mother and father bowed, "Thank you so much for everything you did for us. We can't thank you enough."

"Please don't worry about it. It was our pleasure." Erza responded. The family then walked away, with Millie turning around and waving at the pair one last time.

Soon enough the town was back to how it was before Cardinal's gang had come storming in as the townspeople began to open their shops up and renew business. Natsu & Erza walked back to where they had left Cardinal and his men.

"What are they going to do with them?" Natsu asked looking at Erza.

"I heard from one of the townspeople that the military will be here to pick them up, so I think it's safe to leave them here for now." Erza replied. Her face then grew tense as she once again looked at Cardinal's back. "But we have to report this to the Master and the rest of the guild right away."

Natsu nodded, returning her concerns, "Yeah, we don't want these guys starting trouble up again."

…

A couple of hours later, Natsu & Erza found themselves walking out of town side by side with bags of food for almost a month's worth of dinner.

"Wow you got a lot Erza." Natsu said amazed as he carried the bags.

"Well I thought it best to store so we wouldn't have to come out as much, besides since we took care of Cardinal we got it for free, I couldn't pass that up." She smiled at him.

"…Hey, Natsu." Erza said nervously

"Yea?"

Suddenly he felt Erza's lips on his cheek, as his faced turned red. Natsu placed his hand on his cheek as Erza backed away from him.

"W…What was that for?" He asked flustered.

She was blushing just as much as he was, "You did good work today, I thought you deserved a reward." She smiled warmly and began to walk a little farther ahead.

"Erza I…Aaggh!" Natsu screamed in pain as he dropped the grocery bags, clutching his left forearm as he fell to his knees.

Erza turned around sharply as she heard the dragon's anguish in her ears and ran to his side. "Natsu what's wrong?!" she asked worriedly. As she draped her arm over him she couldn't help but notice a bright orange light emanating from his forearm.

"Agh!"

"Natsu tell me what's happening!"

"I…I don't know. Something is…burning my arm."

Burning? Erza thought confused, Natsu's a Dragon Slayer he shouldn't be able to get burned. As she pondered the dilemma Erza suddenly felt a sharp sting on her right forearm. "Nnngh!" she tensed her body trying to ignore the pain.

"Nngh…Erza…" Natsu tried to ask as the pain in his arm increased. "You ok?"

"Don't…worry about me." She said to him trying to reassure him she was ok when in fact the pain she was feeling was unlike any she had felt before.

Natsu soon fell to his back, writhing in pain as his forearm glowed brighter. "Natsu!" Erza called to him as she once again rushed to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder. Then a bright flash of light erupted from both of their bodies, blinding them.

…

3 Days Later

Erza placed the last few pieces of clothes in her bag, she then took one last look at the bedroom; she and Natsu had shared this space together for over a month, and if she were being honest with herself she wasn't ready for it to end. Nonetheless she was satisfied with the memories and walked out of the room.

"Natsu, are you ready to go?" She called as she headed towards the front door.

"Yeah…hold on, I'm almost ready." Natsu answered from down the hall, it sounded as if he was struggling. Curious Erza walked into the kitchen where she had heard Natsu's voice, when she reached him; she saw him struggling to put food into his luggage.

She crossed her arms as she stood in the doorway, a smirk on her face as she watched him. "What are you doing Natsu?" she asked calmly.

"I'm…rrgh…trying to…agh…bring the food with me. It wouldn't be good to let it go to waste." He said as he continued to cram food into his bag.

Erza wanted to say something, but in the end she just smiled softly and walked out of the kitchen, "Fine, just hurry up, or I'm going back to Magnolia without you."

"Alright, I'll be out soon." Natsu called after her as she walked out of the front door. Erza emerged from the cottage, the gentle breeze caressing her face as she took in all of nature. She walked over to the tree at the top of the hill and looked out towards the lake.

She once again began to think of the memories she had made with Natsu in this place. While she was happy to see her friends at the guild again after being gone for so long, part of her wished she could have stayed with Natsu for a bit longer.

"This breeze is so peaceful." She said to herself as she moved her hair away from her eyes view of the lake. Erza continued to stare at the sunset as Natsu walked out of the cottage. "Hey Erza, I'm ready; let's head back." He called as he walked towards her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Ok, let's go."

…

As they made their trip back to Magnolia, Erza could see the apprehensive look Natsu was wearing on his face. She shared the same one, the fight against Cardinal wasn't an easy one, but that wasn't what bothered the two; it was what they saw in the aftermath.

"You're worried about it too?" she asked her tone serious.

"Yeah, why was a member of Oracion Seis in a small town like that?" He pondered as they continued to walk. "You think everyone at the guild is ok?"

Erza looked out towards the rising sun, "I'm sure they're fine." She said reassuring him. "But we have to tell them what's going on. We want to be prepared in case their planning something."

"Right." Natsu replied nodding. He then looked at Erza quizzically, "Hey Erza?"

"Yes?"

"That new girl who joined the guild…" he placed his hand under his chin as he tried to think, "Alice!"

"Arana." Erza corrected him as she chuckled.

"Yeah her, don't you think something is…I don't know, familiar about her?"

Erza looked at Natsu confused as she thought about his question, "I don't know what you mean. I never met or even heard about her until we finished the Lumina job."

"Yeah I didn't either, but something about her scent is familiar."

Erza stopped in her tracks, her eyebrow twitching in irritation. Natsu felt a shiver come up his spine as he stopped walking. He turned around and noticed that not only was Erza a few feet behind him, but that she also had a dark aura surrounding her body.

"You…smelled her?" Erza's tone was grim.

Natsu broke out in a cold sweat at the sound of Erza's voice. "N…n…no I didn't smell her." He stammered, "You know I have a powerful nose and something about her smelled like someone I know. I just don't know who. Heh heh." He laughed uncomfortably as he saw the aura around her subsiding.

Natsu sighed in relief as Erza caught up with him and they continued to walk. "Well that's all you had to say." She said to him irritated.

"Sorry." He apologized, but he didn't know what for; it just seem like the most natural thing to do even though he did nothing wrong.

"While I don't know if she is familiar to me, she does have a considerable amount of power inside of her." Erza said as they reached the outskirts of Magnolia. "We're here." She said with a smile as they reach the Fairy Tail guild doors.

Natsu stretched his arms over his head, "FINALLY! Home sweet home. Let's go in." he said excitedly, barely able to control himself. He was like a little kid all over again.

"Ok, ok calm down. I'm sure everyone is still inside." Erza replied as she smiled warmly at him. As they both reached the doors to open them, Erza saw the mark or rather the brand that was now emblazoned on her right forearm. She then looked over to see a smiling Natsu who had the exact same mark on his left forearm.

After we tell everyone about the Oracion Seis, we have to ask the Master what these marks mean.

Nodding and smiling at one another, they opened the doors to Fairy Tail. The Dragon & the Knight had returned home.

…

Long chapter I know lol, but I wanted to conclude Natsu & Erza's story right before they returned. Now the newest chapter is up, and everything is caught with where it needs to be. Natsu & Erza have returned to the guild, how will everyone react to their return? More importantly how will Aura react since others know her secret? Last but not least, how will they prepare for Draven? Next chapter will be out soon. Let me know what you guys think :)