Hey so probably should've mentioned earlier but this takes place after the grand magic games. This chapter is gonna focus on Natsus rendezvous with the mystery girl and shed light on her intentions. Hope you enjoy!

Don't own Fairy Tail.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 3

Natsu waited patiently outside the tent, keeping himself entertained by listening to the sounds coming from within. Hearing the roar of the crowd, he knew the show had come to a close. Natsu waited a few more minutes before he picked up the sweet scent of lavender. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see a girl smiling at him. She was a good 4 inches shorter than him and wore a mid length black ruffle skirt. The girl had a white v neck tee shirt that hugged her curves perfectly and contrasted with her tan skin. Her hair was light brown with blonde highlights and she had it tied into a high pony tail with a green bow. Natsu's attention was focused mainly on her face. She could easily hold her own against the beautiful woman of Fairytail. But what got Natsu were her stunning emerald eyes. Beautiful emerald eyes that looked up at him full of excitement.

"Heya Natsu, I'm happy you kept your promise!" She said with a big smile.

"I never break a promise. Wait how do you know my name?" He asked.

"After the games I doubt there's a person in Fiore that doesn't know it." She said with a giggle.

"Guess you're right." He said putting his hands behind his head.

"I should properly introduce myself." She did an exaggerated curtsey before continuing.

"My name is Gabrielle Katsumi. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said with elegance and grace.

"Nice to meet you too." Natsu said, finding the formality rather uncomfortable. Gabrielle giggled again before grabbing him by the hand, taking off towards the center of town. Natsu realized this was probably how Lucy felt whenever he dragged her along behind him. Gabrielle slowed as they approached the busy street. She interlocked her fingers Natsu's and held his hand tight. This made Natsu blush a deep red, but seemed to go unnoticed by her.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He stuttered.

"It's really busy, I don't want to get lost in the crowd." She said looking at him with a slight blush. Although close and rather "intimate" situations had never really bothered Natsu he couldn't help by find himself a little embarrassed by the current scenario.

"I guess you're right." He said with a nervous smile. They continued towards a restaurant Lucy had recommended to him. As they walked down the street Natsu noticed people pointing and whispering. Natsu tried using his advanced hearing but with so many people it made it hard to make out exactly what they were saying. He caught bits and pieces like either of their names or 'famous' but the one that increased his discomfort was when he started picking up on 'couple'. Gabrielle was completely oblivious to the crowd around them with a carefree smile plastered on her face. Natsu felt a wave of relief as they reached the restaurant and got out of all the prying eyes. A bell chimed when they opened the door and a lacrima lit up with an automated message, letting them know a hostess would help them shortly. They took a seat on one of the benches, Gabrielle still holding onto Natsu's hand.

"Hey Gabrielle I think it's safe to let go now." Natsu said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh y-ya. Sorry." She stuttered and scooted away. He found her shyness rather cute.

'Wait, cute?' This thought made the dragon slayer blush for the second time in less than 10 minutes. Just then a waitress came through a set of double doors that lead to the restaurant.

"Sorry but we're all filled up for the-." The waitress stopped mid sentence, as Gabrielle peered past Natsu looking directly at her. The waitress' jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Natsu raised an eyebrow at the server's strange reaction.

"Is there a problem?" Gabrielle asked sweetly. The server immediately snapped out of her daze.

"N-no not at all, right this way." she said ushering them through the doors. She lead them through the restaurant towards a small staircase leading to the second floor.

"Just head up and take a seat, we'll be with you shortly." The waitress said with a huge smile. Once upstairs, Natsu realized that something was definitely off. It was a dimly lit room that only contained one table. Gabrielle took a seat and looked up at him expectantly.

"What're you waiting for, grab a seat." She insisted. Natsu hesitated, gaining a frown from the brunette.

"What's wrong?" She asked trying to conceal her rising panic.

"This all just seems kinda strange." Natsu responded. She gave him a bewildered look before looking down at the table. Natsu heard a strange noise come from her before she bursted out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Nastu asked, having his guard immediately broken. She took a deep breathe and looked at Natsu only to continue her laughing fit. After a couple of minutes she calmed down enough to speak.

"Sit down you goof." The brunette said while wiping a tear from her eye. Natsu did as she asked while she composed herself. She looked at Natsu with a small smile.

"This a just a VIP booth, most restaurants have them. As for the waitress, she was probably just surprised to see the great salamander." She said exaggerating the last part.

"Maybe.." Natsu muttered. A different waitress then came up the stairs. She looked shocked at first but quickly recovered. They ordered their drinks and the waitress gave them their menus.

"By the way, whatever you order is on the house. I'll be back in a bit." She said with a smile before heading back downstairs. Natsu was again bewildered by what was happening. Gabrielle seemed to notice and spoke up.

"Well I guess this is how they would treat two famous people if they were to come in together." She said with a sweet smile.

"What do mean?" Nastu was now more confused.

"I was a little surprised you didn't recognize my name, but then again you haven't been around for seven years. And then with the whole dragon incident, it's easy to see why you aren't fully caught up on everything." She said shifting in her seat. She looked at Natsu with a soft tinted in her cheeks and spoke.

"As you know my name is Gabrielle Katsumi, but most know me as the Great Gabrielle, master of all." She said looking embarrassed. It was Natsu's turn to laugh as he leaned over holding his gut. She turned bright red and stared down at the table. It took a moment for Natsu to catch his breathe and then he spoke.

"That's names pretty funny." He said with a huge smile.

"I didn't pick it, some guy wrote an article and the name stuck." She said still red from embarrassment. At that moment the waitress appeared, saving Gabrielle from further humiliation. The waitress took their orders and departed quickly, leaving Natsu and Gabrielle to chat. They went back and forth with some small talk, and when the food arrived Natsu decide to actually use the utensils. For some reason he didn't want to do anything that might make this girl dislike him. They ate in relative silence only exchanging a sentence occasionally. One they had finished Natsu realized they were yet to talk about the reason they were here.

"Gabrielle why did you want to talk to me in the first place?" He asked politely.

"To do just that. I just wanted to talk to you, hopefully get to know you better." She said giving him a lovely smile.

"Really? That's it?" He asked, still somewhat suspicious. Gabby propped her elbow up on the table, resting her chin in her hand. She gave him a smirk before responding.

"Well ever since I heard you were back, I've been meaning to get ahold of you." Gabby then pulled out a picture and handed it to him. He took the picture and looked at it carefully. There was a girl no more than 10 years old in the middle of stage. Her brown hair was put up in a bun atop her head, and she wore a pink one piece from wrist to ankle. She had a bright smile and was mid bow as if just finishing a big performance. He could recognize the girl, but couldn't really place where from.

"You were there at my first performance. From what I remember they hired you as a guard for the whole event. I was back stage having a huge panic attack, when you came and helped me. You told me that I'd be great, and that someday everyone in Fiore would know my name." She reached out and put her hand on top of his.

"Everything that I've accomplished was because you helped me at that performance. I was really sad when I heard that you were gone, but then you came back out of nowhere. And to find out you didn't even age. It made me think that maybe I had a chance..." she trailed off with a blush.

"A chance?" Natsu wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"T-to meet you again, a-and stuff." Gabby pulled her hand back resting in on her lap.

"Anyway thank you for everything" she gave him a beautiful smile that made his heart pound.

"Y-ya no problem." Natsu wasn't really expecting any of this.

"It's getting kinda late how about head out." He said getting up from his chair. Gabrielle frowned slightly but got up and followed him down the stairs. As they exited the restaurant Nastu noticed most of the waitresses were staring at them. Gabrielle didn't seem to mind but it was making him uncomfortable. The exited the restaurant to find that there was practically no one on the previously busy street. As they walked down the now quiet street a brisk breeze blew making Gabrielle shiver. She regretted not bringing a jacket with her. As they continued she attempted to control her shivering, to no avail. Suddenly she had an idea that made her cheeks redden. Natsu had noticed her shaking and now red face.

"Is everything okay?" He asked. She glanced up at him, only to look away. She bit her bottom lip and contemplated what she was about to do. She summoned her courage and gently grabbed his arm, hugging it to her chest. A wave of warmth flooded her body. Natsu was stunned by her behavior, yet for some reason it didn't bother him.

"Sorry I'm just really cold." Gabrielle said looking away. A smile crept onto Natsu's face.

"No worries Gabby." He said still smiling. She looked up at him in surprise. Everyone had always used her full name. But when he called her Gabby she felt as if her heart were jumping for joy.

"So-sorry. Is it okay if I call you that? I mean I won't do it if you don't want." Natsu was embarrassed he'd just called her that. They had just met, she was probably going to think he was some kind of creep.

"I don't mind. Actually I'd prefer if you called me that." She smiled and pulled his arm even closer.

"Alright Gabby, how about we get you home." Natsu gave her a toothy grin. As they continued, Natsu found himself following a familiar route towards Lucy's place.

"Hey are we going the right way?" He wasn't sure if he had just been walking there on instinct or not.

"Ya it's just up ahead." They continued for another block before stopping in front of an apartment building. Natsu raised and eyebrow. It's was less then a block away from Lucy's apartment, so if he had to guess it was probably just as expensive.

"Why do you have an apartment if you're only here for a couple weeks?" Gabby released his arm and stood right in front of him. She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked slightly on her heels.

"Well actually I plan on staying in Magnolia for a while. So hopefully we can hangout more." She smiled at him with big expectant eyes. The moonlight danced with the green making her eyes almost glow.

"Really? Sounds like fun." The dragon slayer said.

"I'll be stopping by Fairy Tail tomorrow so hopefully I see you there." She gave him a sweet smile.

"Can't wait!" Natsu gave her a thumbs up and signature grin. She giggled before rising up on her tip toes to give him a peck on the cheek. His face when red as she giggled and turned away.

"Goodnight Natsu." She gave him a wink and disappeared into the building.

"N-night." He muttered holding his cheek. A goofy smiled made it's way onto Natsu's face as he headed back towards the forest.

Gabby leaned against the door holding her chest. She had given him a kiss, even if it was just on the cheek. Gabby could feel her heart beating a mile a minute. She took a deep breath and made her way to the bathroom. She discarded her clothes and stepped into the shower, relaxing as the warm water washed over her.

'I hope he had a good time. Wait he must have. There's no way someone could fake a smile like that. And he also wants to hangout again.' Gabby smiled to herself. She had gotten his attention, and now she just had to win over the slayers heart.

'But first I need to get his friends to like me. If they don't want me around, I doubt he'll even consider me in any way.' She stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She walked out of the bathroom and took a seat at her vanity singing to herself as she brushed her hair. Gabby put on her pajamas and flopped onto her bed letting out a happy sigh. She wrapped herself tight in the covers, trying to warm herself up. If all went well she wouldn't have to worry about being cold at night. Not if he was around.

Once again thanks for reading. You know the drill rate and review, I love the feedback. Till next time, Drac out!