Chapter 7

Fate

When Ryoko returned from the mountains, all she wanted to do was curl into her warm bed and sleep the motion sickness away. There train had been over crowded that she didn't have access to a window, so naturally, she was sick to her stomach. Unfortunately, she wasn't allowed to go home yet as she had to check in with the Master. She was pretty sure that he just wanted to make sure that she didn't push herself or disobey and go looking for a fight like some dragon slayers in the guild did.

When Ryoko pushed open the doors to the guild, she was shocked to see that the team that Master sent to deal the Oracion Seis had returned and with a new member. But she wasn't just any new member. She was a dragon slayer as well. Wendy was the Sky Dragon Slayer and had joined them when it turned out her guild didn't really exist. So, the Master naturally took her in and gave her a home to call her own. With Wendy came a small white cat name Charle also joined and Happy seemed to be very smitten with her.

When Ryoko walked in, she could see that the party was well into full swing. Ryoko just shook her head as she made her way towards the bar. She was greeted by guild members as she passed but to her surprise, she was tackled by Natsu, who was overly excited. "RYO! Where have you been?" Natsu shouted.

"NATSU! YOU IDIOT! GET OFF HER!" Gray shouted as he and several other members pulled Natsu off a flattened Ryoko. Ryoko laid on the ground for a few seconds, having successfully had the wind knocked out of her.

"What's the big deal, man?!" Natsu shouted back at Gray, gearing up for a fight.

"Her heart, flame brain! Remember?! Can't be that rough with her," Gray shouted back before helping Ryoko up.

Natsu looked at Ryoko for a minute and gave her an apologetic look but she just shrugged it off. "Gray, I'm not made of porcelain. I'm perfectly fine. If I can't handle a Natsu tackle, then I clearly can't work but the Master gave me the ok. So, relax. I'm fine. However, if I was carrying Marie and he did that, then I would have to hurt him," she said as she took Marie from Elfman.

"What's up with Marie?" Natsu asked.

"I think her wing is sprained. I was going to take her to Porlyusica to get her fixed up," she said as she held the annoyed cat. Marie gave Natsu a very dark glare as she was transferred to Ryoko.

"Don't let him off that easy, Ryoko. He needs to respect your boundaries and your heart. Honestly, what were you thinking?" Marie chided.

"I was just happy to see Ryoko. It's a party after all," Natsu shrugged as Wendy joined them.

"You said your cat is hurt?" she asked as she looked up at Ryoko. "I can heal her if you like. I have healing magic."

"Yeah, her wing is sprained," Ryoko said as she smiled down at the young girl before handing her Marie. "Thank you, I'd really appreciate it. I'm Ryoko by the way."

"I'm Wendy. I'm a new member here. Over there is my friend Charle. We just joined today," Wendy said as she examined Marie.

"Yeah, Ryoko. You're no longer the newest dragon slayer in town! Wendy here is the Sky Dragon Slayer," Macao said as he walked over to them with a newly refilled mug.

"Really? That's awesome! I'm also a Dragon Slayer," Ryoko said as she watched Wendy work on Marie's wings.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't realize there was another Dragon Slayer here aside from Gajeel and Natsu. What is your power?"

"I'm the Dragon Slayer of Ice and Water. It's really nice to have another slayer around here and one that's not a guy. Seriously, I'm out numbered here," Ryoko joked as she watched Wendy finish up with Marie and held out her arms for Marie to fly back to her. "All better?"

"Much!" she said before hoping down to go meet Charle. Ryoko had a feeling that those two would be the best of friends.

Ryoko joined in on the celebrations of welcoming a new guild member and at the end of the night, she had the misfortune of making sure that almost everyone got home alright, seeing as she was the only one truly sober. Ryoko never drank alcohol. With her nature being water and ice, alcohol would have a great effect on her, so it was just easier to avoid it. Ryoko helped Wendy to make sure most of the girls that lived at Fairy Hills were taken there safely and put to bed. Ryoko would help Lucy home, after all, they were neighbors. Juvia insisted on helping Gray home and Ryoko wasn't brave enough to stop her.

Mira was sober enough to help her brother back to their house. When Ryoko was sure everyone was taken care of, she proceeded to help Lucy and start to make her way out, only to be stopped by the Master. "Ryoko, dear, can you take *hic* Natsu home? He's passed out *hic* and I don't want him here to destroy the *hic* guild hall if he wakes up," the Master asked, clearly heavily intoxicated himself. Ryoko looked around for a hopefully blue flying cat that she could convince to take the Fire Dragon Slayer home, but it seemed that Happy, Charle, and Marie were nowhere to be found. Even a Gajeel would have been a better substitute but then she remembered him sulking as he left because he lacked his own flying cat.

Ryoko looked over at Natsu, who was asleep while half of his body dangled over the edge of the table. Ryoko rolled her eyes and thankfully Lucy was just sober enough to walk herself back to their home. Going over, she helped Natsu up and half carried and half dragged him towards her apartment building. She was going to make sure Lucy got home first. Carefully steering Lucy and dragging Natsu, she eventually made it to their apartment.

Ryoko was tired and her chest was aching a bit. She dumped Natsu on the ground and helped Lucy to her apartment. She got her changed and successfully forced a glass of water into her before getting her to bed, where she dozed off immediately. Leaving Lucy to her dreams, she locked her door and made her way to the street below, where Natsu was still lying on the ground, snoring away. Ryoko sat on the stoop and looked down at Natsu while rubbing her chest. Natsu's house was still a good distance away and she was tired and achy. But she knew what she had to do.

Ryoko groaned as she lifted Natsu up again and carried him up to her apartment. Somewhere in her head she knew this was a potentially bad idea, but she also knew that Natsu took care of her when she was laid up in the infirmary. She had to repay him back for his kindness. It took a little time, but she was able to get the heavy Dragon slayer into her apartment and slumped him into a chair.

Ryoko sat on her bed and stared at Natsu. She wasn't sure what to do here. Ryoko scrunched her nose as he reeked of sweat and alcohol. Shaking her head and building her confidence, she dragged him to the bath and started to run the tub. She managed to strip Natsu down to his boxers and thought it best to leave those on. She wasn't THAT comfortable with him. She managed to slip him into the bath and cleaned him up. To her surprise, he slept the whole time. When she pulled out the squeaky clean Natsu and dried him off with a towel, she dressed him in a pair of stretching sweat pants she had lying around. Content with her house guest's hygiene, she dragged him back to her bed and tucked him in against the window. Now it was her turn to get cleaned up and ready for bed. She made quick work of herself, making sure to drink her normal 4 glasses of water before bed.

When she turned off the lights around her apartment, she approached her bed and looked down at Natsu. The moonlight cast a warm light over his softly snoring face. He seemed at peace, laying there in the moonlight, comforted by the soft bed surrounding him. She sat down next to him and brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. As she made contact with him, she felt that same electricity that made her heart skip a beat. What was that? She thought. Still she sat there and admired the strong wizard. He was extremely goofy and had the shortest fuse she'd ever seen but his heart was always in the right place. He loved his guild and everyone who was part of it. He was a pure soul in her mind.

As exhaustion tightened its grip, she pulled back the covers and crawled into the bed, making sure to avoid any contact with him. As she rested her head on her pillow, she listened to the soft sounds coming from him. He was known for his loud and obnoxious snore but for the time being, they were soft and peaceful. Almost hypnotic and it was with those soft sounds that Ryoko found herself drifting off to sleep.

Dragons flew above Natsu. Growling and hissing. All of them were primed to attack those below. Natsu looked around and realized that he was surrounded by raging water walls. Every time he tried to push threw them, he was kicked back to the center of the circle. As he looked at his surroundings he saw multiple circles of different elements and each one had a person imprisoned in them. At one point, he saw a circle of flames not far from him. Whoever was in it, was struggling just to stand. He could see the flames raging, getting stronger and hotter. To him it would have been a delicious meal, to the person it surrounded, it was a death sentence. Natsu pounded against the water, trying to break through to help them, all the while hearing a soft and rhythmic thumping.

"What the hell is going on here?" Natsu shouted to the circling dragons above. Before Natsu could say another word, a large white dragon landed in the circle with Natsu, his eyes a piercing blue. "Who are you?"

"Who am I, is of no consequence. Are you ready?" the deep dragon voice asked.

"Ready for what? Where am I?" Natsu shouted.

A second Dragon landed next to the first one. Their scales were the of the most beautiful blue he'd had ever seen, with eyes as soft white as the snow. The dragon approached him and brought their head down to Natsu's level as to look him in the eyes. "This is the fated boy?" she asked with a gentle voice.

"Yes, but I'm not convinced the boy is strong enough," the white dragon said as he shook his head at Natsu.

"No, I don't think you'd ever believe that anyone would be," she said as she turned to the white dragon then back to Natsu. "You are Natsu Dragneel and the fates have chosen you, but you must be strong, and you must be ready."

"Ready for what?" he asked confused.

The blue dragon nodded towards the ring of fire. "They need you for their survival. Without you, they will die. Are you ready? Can you be strong enough?" she asked.

Natsu looked at the dragon then the ring of fire, the person who was in there had collapsed further to the ground, they were on borrowed time. Natsu growled as he slammed himself against the wall of rushing water pushing himself slowly through. "I AM STRONG! I CAN SAVE THEM!" he growled as he finally pushed his way through the wall of water and looked back to the dragons.

"Hn, I guess you can have my blessing then, son of fire," the white dragon said before taking off into the ever-growing vortex of swirling dragons.

Natsu looked back at the blue dragon and he could have swore she was smiling at him. "Be what we can no longer be for her," she said before joining the white dragon.

Natsu took off towards the ring of fire, confused.

Natsu woke up, panting. What the hell was that dream? He thought before looking around his surroundings. He wasn't at home or the guild and this wasn't Lucy's apartment but similar. It was when he looked down, he knew where he was. He was laying in Ryoko's bed, his arm wrapped tightly around her, her body curled into his. Natsu wanted to move away, in case she woke up and pushed him away, thinking he was being inappropriate but when he tried, she simple curled closer to him.

He didn't know what to do. It was still night out and his head was still foggy from the alcohol and the strange dream he had had. He wasn't sure what he should do. He looked down at Ryoko, her breathing was light and steady. Her face soft and gentle. She looked like she had when she was in the infirmary. Instinctively, he pulled her close to his body. Wanting to protect her from anything that would cause her pain. He rested himself back against the pillows as he held on to his fellow Dragon Slayer.

Though no one else in the guild knew, he was slowly developing feelings for Ryoko. There was something about her that felt like home to him. He never wanted to miss a second of being around her. Things were confusing for him at the moment. He normally enjoyed a simple life but when Ryoko walked in, everything turned upside down and that dream he had was just the start of it. That dream. He had no idea what it meant and it was weighing heavily on him. He had to figure it out but he didn't know how.

"Mmm, Natsu," Ryoko murmured as she moved closer to place her head under his chin. Before he could stop himself, Natsu tilted his head down and kissed her forehead.

What am I doing? He thought before curling closer to her and drifting back to sleep.