Requested By: chanceoutof20

Prompt: Post-Tartarus

"Oi, Happy, I can smell the sea. I thought we were supposed to be going to the mountains." Natsu lazily threw his hand behind his head, eyeing his blue cat with a look of confusion.

Happy was flying by his side, mesmerized by the fishing docks. "Sorry Natsu, but I couldn't go for months without fish! We had to make this stop!" The town of Atlantis was small and quaint, not much happening aside from the constant calls and commands on the fishing docks.

The sea breeze was filled with salt, rank seafood, and… a scent he recognized. It was floral and sweet, with a slight edge. He couldn't think of anyone that had such a scent, it was alluring. Erza had the scent of strawberries and iron, too unusual for his tastes. And Lucy smelled like Lucy, nothing special about hers. But this was something different.

"Ya know anyone here Happy?" He asked, starting to stalk away from his cat's goal.

Happy flew after him, trying to pull him back to the docks. "Mermaid Heel is here, but the fish Natsu! I need one! Pwease, Natsu… You can't starve me!" Crocodile tears began to spring from his eyes, tugging on him more frantically. But his best bet was to head to the guild, whoever it was had to be there.

"I don't know why you're complaining to me. You're the one with the cash!" Natsu exclaimed, ushering the cat to the fish. "Go get one and meet me at that guild. Mermaid Shoe, right?"

Happy snickered and flew around Natsu. "No, Mermaid Heel. I'm going to go get me some fish!" He zipped off, leaving Natsu to his own wiles.

The fire mage, sought out the guild with his nose but it seemed he was getting farther and farther from the town. Natsu led himself to what he believed was a training area, filled with dummies and various obstacles. A woman occupied the place, jumping from obstacle to obstacle with the agility of a rabbit. One of those sounded good right now.

She looked familiar, but her name slipped his mind. Only her scent told Natsu that he knew her, now that he remembered Mermaid Heel did participate in the GMGs. The girl pulled a slim katana from her belt, slicing one of the training dummies in half. Now he recognized her as the best mage from Mermaid Heel, someone he could fight!

"Oi!" He yelled, throwing his bag down to the ground.

In one quick motion, the blade was up against his throat, dark eyes boring into his own. "It's against the law to set foot on private property."

He began to laugh, stepping back from the blade. He didn't remember seeing any red signs on his way in, "Where does it say that? No one stopped me from walking in." He childishly explained, still unaware of the woman's name.

Her face void of emotion, she pulled the blade away from him. "I guess I will have to change that then. I think someone needs to set you in your place, Natsu." He couldn't believe that he knew his name! This was a relief to him, but she wasn't very happy to see him. This made him cringe internally, his heart sinking.

"Ya saying we're going to fight?!" He beamed, excited that someone finally had the same agenda as him.

She pursed her lips, her grip tightening on the handle of her blade. "That wasn't my original plan, but I don't see why not."

Natsu was surprised to see a total transformation. The moment she swung her blade, her features shined with happiness. He almost forgot to block, blinded by the beauty of the small smile set on her lips.

The two moved their small battle in the training ring, burn marks and notches forever imprinted on the dummies and wooden obstacles. They danced around one another, making sure the impression of their first battle was stained in the grounds. He loved to see the emotions sparking off her blade with every slash made at him, her true colors flying.

She had soard so high that Natsu couldn't dream of beating her, that silver blade held to his throat once again as he knelt on the ground in defeat. An utter mess in front of the queen of blades, his eyes transfixed on her soft orbs.

"I didn't think I could defeat a dragon slayer." The tip of her katana pressed into his neck, she eyed him with suspicion. "I take it that you were fighting full force, correct?"

"Yeah! I'm always fired up! You're on Erza's level and I can never beat her." He grinned foolishly, even if he was exhausted.

A second smile was given from the dark haired girl, her prim and proper uniform ripped and burned. She pulled the sword from his neck, pushing it back into its sheath. With a small flick of her wrist, she commanded him to stand. "Not once have you used my name, was I not good enough to remember back then?"

He brushed himself off, his smile fading. "No, it's not that. I just don't have a knack for names. Ask Lucy how long it took me to learn her own name, heh. I called her Luigi for the longest time."

A soft laughter was emitted from her lips. "Understandable. It's Kagura."

"Kagura!" Everything clicked for Natsu in that moment. And then another idea sparked in his brain, a rapid firing of thought and he couldn't help himself. "You, you're coming with me!"

He grabbed her hand, beginning to run toward the fishing docks. He would grab Happy and all three of them would train in the mountains. And there was no way he was going to take no as an answer.