Chapter Eight Losing Lisanna

The Fairy Tail members went back to their guildhall and celebrated their latest S-class Wizard promotion. The other members began brawling, Natsu was given a buffet of food to eat from, and Happy had the biggest pile of fish he had ever seen in front of him. The blue cat immediately began to gorge himself on the fish, while Wendy and Carla helped themselves as well with smiles on their faces. The only one that was not stuffing his face was Natsu.

Wendy looked at her brother who had a plateful of food in front of himself, but he had barely made a dent in by the time she was almost finished with hers. That was very unlike Natsu.

"Everything okay, big brother?" she asked.

"Its not like you to miss a meal!" Carla noted. "And there is a huge brawl behind you! I'm surprised you aren't partaking in it!"

"What's wrong Natsu?" Happy asked. "I thought you'd be glad to become S-class!"

"I am. Its just… I think… Lisanna's mad at me," Natsu said.

"Now why would she be mad at you? She loves you!" Happy said in his cheeky manner.

"Oh, be quiet you stupid tomcat!" Carla snapped. "Natsu injured Mirajane remember? How would he feel about someone who hurt Wendy! Or how she would if it were to happen to Natsu!"

Wendy remembered the time when they had first joined Fairy Tail years ago and she had been worried about Natsu getting hurt. Of course, she'd never gotten angry with the guild members. Her big brother was her protector, her idol, she knew she could never become as strong as him. She was more likely to become scared to death if he was injured then angry.

"Maybe I should go and talk to her?" Natsu asked.

Sniffing the air, he caught his friend's scent and followed it into the infirmary where Lisanna sat with her brother, they looked at their elder sister who lay on bed. Mira had received some nasty burns from Natsu's dragonforce flames. Macao and Wakaba were there too, though their burns weren't nearly as bad. Wendy would have to heal them once her magic power replenished.

"Oh man! I did that?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, you did!" Lisanna snapped as she saw him.

"Lisanna… I'm sorry," he said.

She frowned at him. Then sighed. "Well I suppose someone was gonna get hurt either way. I know you wouldn't have given up until you were too hurt to fight anymore."

"So you forgive me?" he asked.

She hesitated, putting a hand to her chin.

"Maybe if you kiss her," a voice said.

They looked down, Mirajane had opened her eyes and looked at Natsu with a smirk.

"That was a good fight you put up there, Natsu," she said. "Congratulations on becoming S-class. Now why don't you kiss my sister?"

Natsu and Lisanna both looked at each other with red cheeks. Elfman had a nervous expression on his face while Wendy smiled with a hand over her heart, Happy smiled as well, while Carla made no expression.

"If that's what it takes," Natsu said.

Lisanna turned bright red then gave him a smack on top of the head. It didn't hurt much, but it at least got her frustration out.

"No need for that, I forgive you!" she said. "And I want my first kiss to be a romantic one!"

…

The months rolled by. Natsu sat with Lisanna, Wendy, and the two cats as they watched the sunset. Lisanna had just gotten back from a job and wanted to take a break with her friends. Then Mira and Elfman came up to them.

"Hey Lisanna, get your bags. We're going on another job!" Mira said.

"Aww! But we just got back, I wanted to take it easy for a few days!" the younger sister whined.

"No can-do little sis!" Mira said. "This time we're going big! We're taking an S class mission. There's a big monster terrorizing villages. Several wizards have already tried to take it down but they were all injured! It's up to us take it down!"

This caused Wendy to shiver in fear.

"Good heavens that must be a powerful monster!" Carla exclaimed.

"Maybe I should come with you guys?" Natsu wondered aloud.

Mira frowned at him. "Not a chance Pinkie! This reward is only three million jewel! We're not splitting that kind of money seven ways!"

"Ah come on! I'm S-class too! I want to fight something strong!" Natsu said. "And Wendy could be there to heal our injuries or enhance us in case of emergency!"

"A real man fights his own battles Natsu!" Elfman pointed at the dragon slayer. "If there's too many of us working together it will look like we're too chicken to deal with the monster! I have to protect my sisters without your help!"

Unable to convince the two elder Strauss siblings to let them come, Natsu and Wendy watched as they began to walk away. Lisanna turned around.

"Don't worry, Natsu. I'll be back soon," she said. "Now you be nice to Happy! After all, he is like our son!"

Natsu made his usual weirded out expression for whenever she did that. But he smiled at her and waved. Wendy, Happy, and Carla all the same. Lisanna then turned around, following her siblings as they went off on their S-class quest.

"I hope they'll be alright," Carla said. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Eh, they'll be fine!" Natsu said.

…

But a few days, when he arrived at the guild hall he saw a horrible sight. Mirajane and Elfman were there, and Lisanna was not. The two elder siblings were crying.

"Mira, Elfman? What's wrong?" Natsu asked. "And where is Lisanna?"

They looked at him with their teary eyes. The tough goth wearing girl was not looking so tough anymore. She looked broken, like she'd lost her devil side.

"Lisanna… she's dead!" she sobbed.

"No!" Wendy exclaimed.

Natsu's mouth hung open as he heard Mirajane tearfully tell the story.

"The monster was… too strong for me! Elfman… he… he tried to take it over! But it was too strong for him too! He lost himself inside the beast! Then Lisanna came after… after evacuating the citizens! She tried to get Elfman back to himself but he… he-"

"I killed her!" Elfman screamed in misery. "I killed my own sister!"

"I tried to save her, but she just started glowing and vanished!" Mira sobbed before looking at Wendy. "I… should have brought you with us Wendy! You might have been able to save her. You and Natsu! He could have helped us defeat the monster and this wouldn't have happened!"

It was a dark day at Fairy Tail. Wendy clang to Natsu as they both cried for the loss of their friend. Natsu's heart broke as he remembered her building the little hut they had taken care of Happy's egg in. How they had played husband and wife, and what Lisanna had wanted.

Maybe some day I could walk in here and be your real wife?

Natsu sobbed. He had always been weirded out whenever she said she was his wife. But she had been important to him all the same. After Wendy and Happy, she was the most important person in his life. He'd lost her, just like he'd lost Igneel… and there was no way he would get her back. No chance they would ever become a real family like she dreamed of.

More time went by, the grief lessened but it had left a great mark on Natsu.

…

Natsu! Help me! Lisanna screamed as she reached for him.

Lisanna! He screamed and reached out to grab her hand.

But then a beast came at her and swatted her away into darkness.

Lisanna! He yelled before turning to face the beast.

Only to see it running at another person. Wendy

"Big brother!" Wendy's voice called out.

The beast reached her and took her in its huge hand and opened its jaws as she screamed.

"Wendy! No!"

Too late, the jaws closed around Wendy.

Natsu awoke gasping. He looked around, realizing it had all been a nightmare. He got up and walked through his house to Wendy's room. She was sleeping soundly, Carla in her arms.

Natsu sighed and made a vow. "I'll always protect Wendy! Nothing's going to hurt her! Not while I'm around."

Authors Notes: Well, that's the end of the past arc. Next time I will cover when Natsu and Wendy meet Lucy. Please review if you can!