*August's POV*
This time, the master didn't even question it when I appeared before him at the bar. We had scarcely made it though greeting each other when he invited me into his office, as if he could smell the need for guidance on my clothes.
I tried to force my anxiety always as I failed him back to the office for what felt like the millionth time. I wondered if it was strange to get sent in with him so often. Though I supposed that nothing about Vi and I's membership was normal.
"This is about Takashi, is it not?"
I blinked. By now I thought I would be prepared for his overly casual nature. "Uh...yeah."
"Did you tell Violet that you would be coming to me?"
"Well...kind off."
He gestured for me to continue.
"We wanted to go on a job, so I told her I would be asking for a persimmon for that." I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "A job?" he asked, "as I understand it, Topaz gave you a fair amount of money already."
"Yeah," I said, "but…" I hated to admit how close I thought we were to being discovered by Justice Valkyrie. "We can't really know when we're going to be cut off from our old guild." I amended. "We just want to be prepared."
"An admirable goal." he said, "but I'm afraid that at this moment I cannot allow you to go alone."
My heart fell, and based on the master's reaction I was certain that despite my efforts my face must have reflected it.
"It's not that I don't trust you," the master assured me, "it's simply the circumstances, I wouldn't want you to get caught by your guild without help. Or the magic council for that matter. As I understand it, Violet still bears her old guild mark."
I swallowed hard. He didn't trust us. Didn't think we could stand our own. But then again...if Violet and I met Takashi when we were alone… I was confident in our abilities, but I wasn't a fool. We wouldn't stand a chance. Especially with Violet's true feelings toward him still up in the air.
"I understand."
"As for Takashi…" the master let out a long sigh, one of the only things he had done since I'd known him that reminded me of his true age. "I understand that the situation is precarious, though I'm sure your lack of information might be the root of your anxiety, but it's likely Violet's feelings are not strong enough for there to be an issue."
"And if they are?"
"I have some ideas."
*Violet's POV*
I tore my eyes away from the floor only long enough to find my way back out of the guild hall. While my back was turned I tried to get control of myself. As if Natsu not being able to see my face would act as some kind of shield between us.
As soon as he had approached us I'd felt it, pulsing out of every crevice of his being, as if he were forcing on me. Compassion. This newly named emotion was now his weapon against me. Against my carefully erected defenses. And it was working.
I had been surrounded by his presence. Smothered by it, melting and mixing with it until I didn't know where my anxieties ended and his determination to sooth them began.
I heard the guild hall door close behind me, a flash of pink in peripheral vision.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
He hadn't been expecting me to be the first to speak, but he wasn't surprised either. He relaxed next to me, lending against the uneven bricks of the guild hall behind us. I stood as though at attention, ready to bolt at any moment despite knowing that running would be futile.
Despite his relaxed nature, he was hesitating, something was holding him back.
"I-I may have been eavesdropping on you and August yesterday."
I sucked in breath. So it had been his presence that I had felt through the door. Of all the people I thought it would be...my mind struggled to come up with a response and understand the consequence of his confession at the same time. "Oh," was all I could manage to get out.
"I didn't mean to," he said. In anyone else I might have thought those words to be some kind of back petal, a way of justifying wrong doing. But not for Natsu. For him it was just clarification. A matter of honor. "I was just...passing by, and heard voices."
There was a lie in there somewhere, but not in the part that I had thought there would be. He had not been passing by, there had been a greater purpose. And one he had been planning to tell me until the last moment. Had he been hoping to see the master? Why?
It's none of my business.
"How much did you hear?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer.
He reached over to scratch the back of his neck, putting his elbow uncomfortably close to my face. Did he intend this? Before I had time to check he spoke again.
"Most of it." he said, "that...tokesha…."
"Takashi." I corrected dryly.
"Right, him." Natsu said. He felt no shame. "Seems like a piece of work."
A flash of anger came into my heart that was uncharacteristic of me. I had to remind myself that Natsu didn't know Takashi. Only a few moments before he hadn't even known his name.
"He's a little uptight." I said.
I saw Natsu look at me out of the corner of my eye. It seemed he had realized that bad mouthing my only friend wasn't a good idea. Had that been his plan? He seemed to switch tactics quickly, stepping away from Takashi as though the topic were fire. Well...maybe not fire…
"The master told me that I don't have to worry about being seen now." he said. "Because of...what you said."
"Well we couldn't very well hide you forever."
"Still I...thank you."
A silver ran down my spine. Someone from fairy tail was thanking me? Not only thanking me, but really meaning it. And not just a random fairy either. This was Natsu Dragneel.
I couldn't accept this apology. Surely he would know that. And yet he was asking me, who already owed him my life, to accept more grace. Grace I didn't deserve. "It was my fault you had to hide anyway."
Anger. And then, strangely, compassion. I wasn't aware that the two of them could mix. But the feeling...it was so strong. Was this what they called righteous anger?
If anyone could be described as having such it would be Natsu.
But why? Why now? Was it for me? For what I had said?
"It's not your fault." he said, his words slipped off his tongue like rolling sweet cherries, splattering to the ground at my feet. How could he say such lies so lightly? So beautifully? "You just-"
"I just what?"
He looked at me sharply then, but the words kept pouring out. "I don't know what you want me to say." I said, turning to face him for the first time since the woods. It was as though all the fear and shame that I had harbored in my heart the last couple of days had boiled down. Steaming and simmering away until all what was left was a heated rage.
"I came here to hurt you. To kill you. And you are still flowing me around like a stupid little puppy dog."
He took a step back, his emotions unreadable behind my wall of anger.
"You're the one who was the victim here. I. attacked. you. What you did was just self defense, in the end you weren't even fighting back!" my voice was turning shrill, hysterical. And still he stood there and took it. He said nothing. And words kept coming, tearing out of my mouth and into the air before I had a chance to get them back. "I was the aggressor." I said, "so why am I the one afraid of you?!"
I froze. In my rage, I had realized the one thing that I had sworn I'd never admit. Not even to myself. And now it was out there, my confession lingering in the air between me and the source of my distress. The subject of my melt down. I could feel the walls closing in around me, and I welcomed being crushed as long as I could get his eyes off me.
He smiled.
It was my turn to take a step back. My face was damp with tears that I hadn't realized I was shedding. "What the hell's wrong with you?" I asked.
His grin widened.
"What's there to smile about huh?"
He had the gall to look apologetic. "I guess this means you're talking to me again."
I stopped short.
That was why he was amused? Because he had finally pressed me far enough to burst? Did he even care about what I had said? Did it even phase him at all?
Before I could decide if I even wanted an answer, the door to the guild hall flew open to reveal Lucy and Happy.
I turned away and wiped my face with my sleeve, shrinking back behind Natsu.
"There you guys are!" Lucy said. Her words didn't quite match her aura, and I realized that must have interrupted us on purpose. I silently thanked her.
It took Natsu a moment to respond, but once he did he was back to his usual self. "What's up?"
Lucy looked between us before answering, as thought testing the waters. "August just invited us on a job!"
