Gina doesn't want to respond to Hibiki's strange, far-away voice. She's been yanked back from death's door so many times now, she just wants to sob. But… she squeezes her eyes shut against the strange sensation of an intense love pouring itself over her tissues. The sensation is so palpable, it's like being drowned in electricity and honey. A hand is suddenly on her shoulder and the intensity at the contact doubles, making her eyes fly open with a gasp of shock.

"Shhh…, baby it's me," Natsu's voice hums to her, as his other hand rests against her face. The feeling is terrifying and she starts to pull away from it. "Hey, hey. Calm down, Gina. I know it's a little scary."

A LITTLE?! She's only ever heard of a sensation like this being described by ancient Nymph pairs, and even that comparison fell short of this. "I don't understand…" she sobs.

"Look at me, baby," Natsu says again gently, "Nah, come on. Focus on my face."

Gina brings his face into focus, and screams.

"Whoa, whoa," he says, gripping her arms firmly to prevent her from fleeing.

"You…" Gina can't hold back a sob. "Who…? I don't…"

This isn't her Natsu. It can't be! She shuts her eyes against the image and shakes her head feverishly in denial. This Natsu is a Nymph Sire. Am I dreaming again?

"Yes, you do," Natsu argues with steel in his tone. "You know exactly who I am, and what I am, Gina, and I'm gonna be honest. I am trying really damn hard, not to just scream at you right now for being this stupid!"

"It's not stupid!" Gina sobs.

"Look at my mark, baby," he growls, but Gina shuts her eyes and shakes her head with gritted teeth. "Look at it!"

With a sob, Gina opens her eyes and glances from his face down his body as he leans back for her to see. His Sire mark runs from his left cheek to his left calf; one of the larger marks she's ever seen on a Sire. Gina can feel her body getting stronger in his grip and she's beginning to feel more awake and focused. She can't stop herself from touching the mark and confirming that it's real. One little fire lily after another, with occasional visible thorns that indicate a loss, run up the length of his arm. She traces the mark all the way to his face before her fingertips encounter angry tears from his eyes.

"I know why you're doing this, baby," he growls again, squeezing his eyes tightly shut for a brief moment. "But you're not saving me. You're killing everything I've ever loved!"

"You said you didn't want to be a Sire," she objects with a wail.

"That's because I wanted YOU!" he shouts back in frustration. "I know I said it would be a lot of pressure. It is. Losing you is worse! And I wouldn't change my choice for anything!"

"I'm sorry," Gina tries to choke out through a wave of hysterical sobs. "I… I can't fix this. I can't… Natsu you'll die!"

"He will," Natsu says, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand before giving her a cocky grin. "But I won't. You were right that you waited too long. I didn't have what I needed to give you all those years ago, but I have loved you for centuries now."

"How are you here?" she asks, searching eyes that show an age hidden by his skin. "When… do you come from?"

"I'm a little more than 400 years in your future," he says, making Gina's heart stutter. "In my time, you didn't die like this. I have spent that time, loving my life, and waiting to come back and stop you from doing this."

He gives her a little shake in his grip.

"But you can't," Gina cries. "Even if you are my Sire in the future... I am not your Queen!"

"You can be, if you choose to be," he says, holding up a hand before she can even begin to ask questions, "and I don't mean making love."

"A Queen's mark doesn't form unless..." she starts.

"I know what you've been taught," he cuts her off, rolling his eyes, "but in my time it's already happened. You had your Queen's mark long before I had my Sire mark, and I didn't knock you up for it."

"Long before?" Gina asks, even more confused.

"I wish I could tell you more, baby," Natsu says with a sigh, "but this time manipulation crap is crazy complicated, and if I tell you too much I'll mess the whole thing up. I will tell you that a lot is still going to happen that's real hard… but I chose this. That's what you wanted, right? You can choose for yourself. Right here. Right now. And I'll still have the chance to choose what I want in your future. I have wanted you from the moment I met you, baby, and that's not gonna change. I need you to trust me."

"You're asking me to give up everything I believe about my own race," Gina says with disbelief. "How do I know this isn't some trick? That I am really your Queen in the future?"

"Ask me anything," he challenges, sitting back on his haunches and folding his arms over his chest. "Well… anything that won't give away future crap."

Gina tries to bring her sniffles under control while still feeling the weight of his love pouring over her. That should probably be enough, but perhaps he has loved her long beyond death. She blinks against the pain in that possibility and then narrows her eyes at him. Something that would prove he's my Sire? … "What is my father's name?" she asks.

"Axis Asterope," he says, rolling his eyes, "but ANY fire Sire would know that. Try again."

"How long have I been without a relationship?"

"Not since Laxus," Natsu says, grinding his teeth, "Don't remind me. But that still doesn't prove anything. I would have found that out from him and Gramps either way."

"They really would have told you…" Gina whispers, feeling her face crumple.

"They're my family, babe," he says with a sigh, "and I don't think you really want to know what happens in that reality."

"You've seen it?"

"No," he says, "Thank the Dragons. But I've… heard things. Let's just leave it at that. What else?"

"I don't know," Gina hisses in frustration. If he's my Sire, he's my lover… "Other than the… obvious. Uhm… Where do I like to be touched?"

There's a couple of options she can think of that would be considered good answers. Natsu suddenly gets a wolfish grin and leans in towards her. She can feel lust pour off of him in a potent wave.

"Good one," he growls, "but I don't think the answer is what you expect it to be."

"Oh?" she scoffs. "And why not?"

Gina holds very still as Natsu leans all the way in to whisper against the shell of her ear. "It's your wings."

Her spine stiffens.

"Remember when you crawled up in my lap in the woods?" he asks, nipping her ear with his teeth and soothing the sting with his lips, "And you wondered if I could make love to you in your real skin?" Gina shivers at the memory of his skin adapting itself under her hands and feels desire stir in her belly. Her eyes begin to narrow again, as she realizes that he could do that for any fire Nymph. "Don't give me that look," he growls.

Natsu moves like lightning, dropping onto his knees and pulling her into a straddle over his lap. The movement surprises her, but not as much as when he whispers the Etherian spell to force her body to transform into its solid flame state. Her flames and her wings burst free from the prison of her human form and she can feel the excitement in his body as she rests her hands against his chest with a startled gasp.

"Kiss me, Gina," he dares her, "You've done it before."

True… She wraps her arms around his neck and he playfully nips her arm with his teeth, which sends a potent jolt of his love and lust screaming through her as she trembles.

"You belong here, baby," he groans, leaning in to kiss her.

This isn't the passionate but uncertain kiss of the Natsu in her own time. It's an overwhelming, dominating kiss from a Natsu who claims to know her better than she knows herself. Rejuvenating energy begins pouring through her and she breaks away with a gasp, feeling like she may actually drown beneath it. Natsu trails his mouth down her throat and grips the base of her smallest set of wings with both hands. His fingers find a spot on their underside which Gina didn't even know existed and she arches backward with a surprised cry of pleasure.

"That's my girl," he says with a rough chuckle against her throat.

He starts to toy with her wings again, but she shouts, "I believe you! I… Oh Dragons, I believe you."

Natsu pulls back looking very self-satisfied and Gina is startled all over again by the Sire mark on his skin, and what it means for both of them. Then, something shiny catches Gina's eye behind him. When she glances up, he turns around to look too. It's a small floating orb, hovering in the air just inside the wall of fire he's encircled them with.

"Finally," Natsu mumbles, looking back at her. "Looks like Hibiki's gotten his little camera in where he can see."

"He can see me!" Gina shrieks, trying to hide her body behind his.

"It's okay," Natsu chuckles. "You look terrifying to him, when you should look delicious. I'll deal with him when we've sorted out our mess, but you're actually gonna need proof of how we fixed this. So…?"

His eyes search her own and Gina swallows hard. She knows what he's asking her and she trembles with the magnitude of it. He's asking her to be his Queen. He's asking her to choose him, and choose life. She never thought she'd be asked about her own choice. She traces one of the fire lilies on his shoulder with her thumb and feels a stillness settle in her gut. Every one of these little flowers is one of their children, her daughters. He wants them.

"What do I do?" she asks.

"I'm gonna use the Amorous Merth a little different than normal," Natsu says with a wicked grin, as Gina feels her eyes widen in surprise, "but it will work. You… you told me it's a little overwhelming, and I won't be able to talk to you much afterwards because your system will do some rapid repair. Your magic system might not recognize mine yet, but mine knows yours. That's all we need."

"Okay," Gina says, swallowing down her nervousness.

"There's one more important thing you have to know Gina," Natsu says, grimacing for a moment and leaning in to kiss her collarbone. "Not for right now… but for later." Gina nods, unsettled by the pain etched briefly on his face, as he runs his fingers through her feathers in a soothing way. "There IS a way back from the Vitae Sang. Just remember that, okay?"

Vitae...Sang? Gina's heard the term before, spoken in Etherius, but she can't even remember what it means. Natsu said he can't tell her everything, but if she's choosing to live… she's choosing to trust him. "Alright. There's a… a way back."

"Good," Natsu nods, shaking off whatever memory plagued him and getting that greedy, wicked smile again. "You ready?"

"Yes," Gina nods, not really believing it.

Natsu closes his eyes and begins to concentrate and the fire around them begins to swirl.

What is he doing? Gina wonders. The Amorous Merth doesn't use fire magic.

It's a Sire's most powerful healing spell, which involves channeling his love and affection in a pure stream, of sorts, into the nymph's body to trigger regrowth. It's not something that's normally visible except for the occasional glow on the nymph's skin. Even then, it would take her father weeks to heal this much damage.

The fire around them grows hotter and begins spinning faster. It arcs over them into a dome before the center pulls straight down to rush over both of their bodies. Gina jumps in surprise, momentarily frightened for him. His tight grip on her hips keeps her steady until she realizes her concern is ridiculous. If she doesn't burn him, he's not going to burn himself.

He pulls her in for another kiss and she's hit by a tidal wave of his passion. There's so much weight to it, she doesn't know how to breathe. She pulls away, gasping for air. He's focusing the full force of the Amorous Merth on her, but her body is resisting it. He doesn't have the right.

"I can't!" she shrieks, gripping his shoulders which have shifted into scaled skin.

"You can, baby," he insists. "I promise. Gina..." he places one of his hands over the Queen's mark on her belly, "Why are you doing this?"

Why? The fire around them is swirling like mad and her body feels torn in two, but she locks her gaze with his. His expression is pleading, desperate for her to help him. To do whatever it is that he needs. She wants to live. She wants to meet her children. To help him. She wants…

"I want you, Natsu," she says, feeling all the chaos in her settle to a strange stillness as a tear escapes down her cheek. "I want you to want me too. I… I love you."

Magical energy slams into her body where his hand lies against her stomach and lightning arcs through her entire magical system from the mark. Her back arcs with shock and she screams as his fingers bite into her hip again. Her wings react instinctively, trying to flee from the intensity, but he holds her still until the sensation morphs a moment later into an incredible warmth. Every nerve ending in her body begins to bloom with heat.

He lies her back with incredible gentleness as her eyelids begin to grow heavy, and he whispers the words to transform her body back into its human form. She is amazed when she sees a brilliant glow coming from her skin.

I look like a fallen star...

"You did it, baby," he whispers with a kiss against her mouth; lying his body against hers, and pulling his cloak over her. "You saved us both. I need you to be patient with me when you wake back up. Okay?"

"Wake up?" she mumbles, feeling herself being pulled beneath utter exhaustion as heat and current continues running through her body.

"Yeah," he smiles. "I'll be there. I promise."

Hibiki stands in stunned silence, watching this strange Other Natsu lie Gina back against the floor of the cave. When he'd finally managed to fight the Archive camera through the firestorm from hell, he'd been horrified by what he'd seen. He thought Natsu was burning Gina alive until he realized Gina herself seemed unharmed by the flames. Now… he's not sure what the hell just happened.

Natsu disconnects his cloak and wraps it fully around Gina's body as he lifts her off the floor. She seems to be unconscious, and… glowing?!

"I uh…" Hibiki croaks, at a complete loss for words. "You… uh…"

"Hey, man," Natsu says with a smile, walking up with the now stunningly beautiful woman in his arms, "This is Aegina Asterope, my some-day wife. So you have to think of her as Gina Dragneel."

"W-wife?" Hibiki asks in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah, but walk and talk man," he says, beginning to walk past Hibiki in the direction he'd come from, "We've gotta get you guys back to your own time. You're like… 400 years in the future at the moment."

400 YEARS?! Hibiki stumbles, glancing wildly around. How is HE here?

"I'll explain everything on the way," Natsu just steamrolls on. "I'm gonna need your help, and don't worry. You'll have my complete permission to lie to me."