Final Chapter 33 – Family and (Boy-)Friends
Zollzero Mansion Inner Garden, Autumn Time
Year X792
Natsu Dragneel
Sting was desperately using what little magic power remained within himself to prepare a Dragon Roar to bust himself out of the earthen cage in which he was imprisoned. Likewise, I was preparing my own roar attack for just that same purpose. Outside the cage a strong scent of magic pervaded the air, its origin somewhere high above, out of my line of sight thanks to the thick rocky roof that stood above me. What the fuck is Tenchi doing? I thought with mild concern. Whatever the attack is, it's big… I mean, the whole fucking place has gone even darker like it's… some sort of… eclipse… a sudden thought hit my brain like a magic vehicle. But then those flashes of light… A storm…
"Sting we gotta hurry" I warned the blond in his adjacent cage. The White Dragon Slayer shot me a 'I already knew that' look, however I didn't bother to bite back at him for it; the pressure of powerful magic, and the increasing smell of danger, were strong enough motivators to make me shut up and focus.
Just as I was about ready to carefully fire off a Fire Dragon Roar, however, a large rumbling sounded overhead. "Come on, Fire Dragon's R-"
"Too late, now's the time you all turn to dust. Hellfire could never achieve this kind of power; taste the force of my Wicked Maelstrom!" Tenchi's voice boomed loudly, cutting me off.
"Fuck!" I cursed, "Fire Dragon's Roar" I barked rapidly, firing off a blast of heat that struck at the walls of the prison, blasting a hole in the wall just as a bright, ominous, violet light consumed the garden, and all of us in it. "Agh… Sting…" I called out, rather pathetically, as I anticipated a sudden burning sensation, or perhaps at least a painful electrocution, to strike at my body. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, then I waited for a moment.
Then another.
For as long as I waited, no attack came, in fact I felt no pain whatsoever. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by a broadly grinning blond. "Am I dead?" I asked Sting. The White Dragon snorted with laughter, before shaking his head.
"No… or at least, if we both are, we're in a pretty weird heaven" he replied. I furrowed my brow; however, Sting anticipated my next inquiry, and cut me off before I could ask it, taking my hand. "Just come out here, something's up" he stated in a slightly commanding tone. I followed his instructions, thoroughly confused now as to what was going on.
Outside the cage, Arthur was standing with a bright smirk on his face, looking the happiest he had all that night. "What's going on?" I asked the Territory Mage upon meeting his gaze. Arthur laughed loudly. "Where's Tenchi?" I added a minute later, after noticing the lack of Lightning Demon floating about in the sky.
Sting frowned, before sniffing at the air. "I can still smell him" the blond stated. I confirmed this for myself, before nodding in agreement.
Arthur looked between us for a moment, before chuckling. "Thomas did it!" he cheered, "He's ensured our victory!"
"Did someone say my name?" Thomas appeared through one of the holes that lead back into the mansion. He almost stepped on Daichi in the process. "Whoah…" the Archive user stated as he noticed at the last moment the demon's presence. My eyes locked onto the Earth Demon instantly, as I prepared for a fight. Sting seemed to notice my sudden tenseness and squeezed my hand to get me to look at him.
"Look, stupid Fire Dragon" he said in a low voice, as Arthur went to greet Thomas.
I flicked my gaze to the blond. "Look at what?" I asked him. Sting sighed.
"He's not a demon anymore, so you don't need to be so high strung" he stated in an exasperated tone. I took another glance at Daichi in surprise upon hearing this; however, I quickly noticed that both his bladed gauntlets and his spiny tail were gone. His mask lay somewhere in the rubble, cracked, but recognisable. "So… does that mean we win?" I asked Sting. The White Dragon Slayer pouted in thought for a moment, before shrugging.
"We'll have to see what Arthur says, I guess, since he was the client for this job" Sting stated after a brief pause.
As he said this, a loud groan emanated from Daichi. "What the… hell… what the hell did you do… to us?" the blond Devil Slayer shifted his head, so he was looking in the rough direction of both Arthur and Thomas. It seemed to be very painful for him to move even that small amount.
Arthur's smiled grew broader upon seeing the suffering of his cousin. "Thomas beat you, and your twin" he confirmed.
Daichi frowned. "But… how? When?" he was obviously just as confused as Sting and I were about the whole thing. Thomas shrugged, however he was too busy tending to Edric and Medea, both of whom seemed to have lost consciousness, to face his enemy. Wonder when Edric passed out? I thought suddenly.
"I used Archive to forcibly access the Ethernano in your body, then I essentially froze it. Without the ability to project Ethernano, you can't cast any Magic spells, so you now can't fight back. Oh, and I had your bodies freeze up too with a quick paralysis command. It took a while to prepare so Arthur and the others had to stall you" Thomas explained briefly, in his usual flat tone.
Arthur's brow furrowed at hearing this. "It was a pretty close call though" he admitted, "One or two more seconds and Tenchi might've been able to fire off that attack of his before we froze you guys up" the Territory Mage shuddered when he thought about that less favourable possibility.
As a quiet rose up over our group, Sting and I processed this information. "So… have we won?" I asked after a moment. Arthur laughed again, before shooting me a smile.
"Yes, you've done your part splendidly Natsu, and we've defeated our cousins" Arthur confirmed.
"We do need to figure out where Tenchi fell though" Thomas chirped up from his position beside his twin and sister. Archive screens fluttered about in the air rapidly, as he seemed to be processing thousands of pieces of information a second, all about the two unconscious sibling's conditions. "These two will be fine though" Thomas added after a moment.
Arthur gave an audible sigh of relief. "That's good…" he stated. Thomas looked over to the eldest brother, I could smell the joint relief in their scents. But there was still another emotion lurking in there too.
"Should we go and get the others?" Sting asked after a moment, obviously unsure of what to do now that we had finished battling the twin cousins of the Zollzero.
Arthur nodded. "You can, although… Thomas, do you know where Tenchi is?" the Territory user shot his younger brother a look. Thomas nodded.
"It seems like he landed on the third-floor balcony, over there" he made a pointing gesture to another area on the opposite side of the garden, behind where the remains of Daichi's wall stood. Sting looked to me immediately.
"We'll go get him, and make sure he's secured" he stated. I made a move to protest; I wanted to go and see if the others were okay. Sting, however, just dragged me along by the hand.
"Sting…" I complained.
Sting turned to me. "It's not over" he stated. I frowned at the White Dragon Slayer, seeking meaning in his words, however as we both headed away from Arthur, my Dragon Slayer hearing caught a faint whisper of conversation between Thomas and Arthur,
"I'll deal with him" Arthur said, "If it comes down to it, I can take him on" Suddenly I realised why Sting was in such a hurry to leave.
After all, the Patriarch of the Zollzero family, Arthur and the other's father, was still there in the garden.
As we both walked away in search of Tenchi, our Dragon Slayer noses carefully seeking him out by scent in the early morning twilight, I couldn't help one question filling my mind. I knew that Sting was thinking it as well; What, exactly, was Arthur going to do when he 'dealt with' his father?
/
Zollzero Mansion Inner Garden, Autumn Time
Year X792
General Perspective
Everyone was on edge as Natsu and Sting clambered down the steps that lead from the large mansion at the top of the slope, to the smaller building near the gate. The pair wore quite tired expressions, as was to be expected of them, however their smiles easily settled any doubts about what had gone on in the fight with the cousins.
Minerva and Laxus greeted the pair as they entered, the small contingent of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth wizards all crowding around some few steps behind them. "So how did it go, Sting?" Minerva asked.
The blonde smiled at her. "We won!" he cheered happily. The Territory Mage smiled upon hearing the news.
"As we should expect" she replied. Beside Minerva, Laxus smirked.
"So, we can rest easy now?" he asked. Natsu shrugged.
"Yeah" he answered, before looking to Sting, "However… Edric and Medea are both unconscious, although Thomas says they're fine, and both Rogue and Juvia got stabbed" he added, a little more solemnly. Minerva looked a little worriedly towards Sting upon hearing this new information, however the White Dragon Slayer held up his hands to silence any comments.
"He's fine, Wendy is tending to him, and Juvia is already up and about. We've just come from where Lucy and Wendy are looking after them. Erza, Gray, and Haruki are patrolling the mansion to deal with any stragglers. It's just Kenji that is looking a bit worse-for-wear, although he keeps insisting on going and seeing Arthur" Sting informed them all, settling any new concerns with one deft moment. Minerva nodded in understanding.
"Alright, I'll see to getting them brought back down here. That way we can get them back to the guilds more easily" she stated. Sting smiled.
"That's fine. I'd leave Arthur and Thomas for a while, though… they've got stuff they need to take care of before they come back with us. Arthur did tell Natsu and me to start getting everyone ready to go, so if anyone wants to head back to their guild they can. They job's pretty much finished now" Sting stated, before looking to Natsu. "Also, I'm pretty tired after all the fighting, so I'm just gonna rest for a while outside" he added.
Natsu smiled. "I'll join ya" he agreed. Laxus raised an eyebrow at the pair, however he said nothing.
Once they were both out of sight, the muscular Lightning user turned to the group of Fairy Tailer's who he had been put in charge of by Makarov. "Alright, you heard 'em. If we're not needed, we might as well start heading back. Gramps and the others at the guild are gonna want to know what happened" the burly male said. Minerva nodded at Laxus' instructions.
"Yes, that goes for us too" she added, looking towards the Sabertooth Mages. "Although a few of you can stay behind to help carry Rogue off to the guild" she added after a moment, as an afterthought.
A murmur of agreement ran through the wizards assembled; the fighting with the Zero Star Guild had been hard, but ultimately uncostly, as such, whilst no one was badly injured, they were all very tired. With slow steps the two groups began to file out, making the arduous journey to the nearest town in order to catch their respective trains back home.
The following day, a big party would be held at each of the guilds to celebrate the ending of the debt, and of their victory.
/
Whilst down on the lower grounds the Mages of the two guilds' left the Zollzero lands, in the Inner Garden, the Zollzero children were about to face a big, final battle of their own. One that dwarfed the fight with the twin cousins; however, this time, they were not going to lose.
"So, you've defeated them?" the Patriarch said, sat in his cage, which had survived the battle mostly intact. Arthur narrowed his eyes at his father.
"Well of course we did" he replied. The older man smiled.
"So, the progenies of my brother have finally found their graves. Of course, now I assume you are going to kill me, and take the Patriarchy for yourself?" he said this in an almost challenging manner. Arthur smiled back at his father.
"Well you can't fight back from in there now, can you?" he responded, with his own venomous tone. The Patriarch laughed.
"I taught you well" he replied, before giving his eldest son a scornful look, "However, you obviously have still not learnt how to lie. I know you do not have the stomach for such a task, you've never had blood on your hands before, and I don't believe you could start with me" he snapped. Arthur shrugged his shoulders.
"Perhaps, although…" Arthur opened up a red portal, through which stepped a wounded Edric, bedraggled Medea, and a cold-eyed Thomas. Behind them were dragged both Tenchi and Daichi, both bound in magic-suppressing ropes. "I think you may have misunderstood what I meant by 'defeated'…" Arthur couldn't help the wry smile that played with his lips as the twin cousins sat glaring at both him, and the Patriarch.
For his part, the older Zollzero leader showed nothing less than complete disgust. "You couldn't even bring yourself to kill them, pathetic!" he spat at Arthur. The Territory Mage shook his head at his father.
"It's not pathetic, it's mercy, dad" Arthur glared angrily at his father.
The Patriarch met the gaze with a passive expression. "Mercy is weakness, I've taught you all that when you were each very young" the man replied, before sweeping his gaze across all of the four siblings. He held his anger for a few moments, before sighing. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything less… although I do question how all of my children could be such failures!" the Patriarch's words took on a solemn undertone.
Arthur smiled at his father. "That is where you have failed, father, not us" he said. This statement earned another scornful expression from the mustachio'd, caged man.
"I do not make mistakes, nor do I fail" he replied, "That is why I am the Patriarch of this great household" Arthur snorted exasperatedly, before gesturing to his siblings.
"So, you claim; however, you still fail to recognise that we are not failures, we are the next generation of Zollzero, and we do not intend to follow you or our ancestors in the dark path they tred" Arthur brought as much passion forth in his words as he could. It left the Patriarch almost dumbstruck, although the older man did manage a small grunt of dissatisfaction. Arthur looked at his father's despairing expression and sighed heavily. "And the biggest irony of all this was that I only began to feel like this after Uncle's death" Arthur added flatly.
The Patriarch went wide-eyed at Arthur's comment. "Your uncle's death?" he muttered.
The two twins also looked to Arthur. "You remember our dad's death?" Tenchi asked in a hushed voice.
Arthur turned to face the two. "Of course, I do" he replied, "Although I admit some of it is a bit of a blur, there is one thing I remember clearly" Arthur paused for a moment, before turning and gesturing to the Patriarch, "The surprise on your face, father, when that lacrima exploded… as well as the expression you wore when I came to your study an hour or so later" Arthur said. The two blond Zollzero men locked eyes with each other for a moment, Arthur's eyes shining with absolute confidence. After a minute or so, the Patriarch snorted and shook his head.
"If that's the case, then you should remember the anger and embarrassment I felt towards that fool brother of mine's attempt at assassination" the Patriarch stated bluntly. Arthur cracked a smile.
"That's not true" he commented, "You never wanted uncle to die… and I clearly remember you saying how much of a shame it was what happened. Although you did take the Patriarchy from him, you still loved our uncle, much as I love Edric, Medea, and Thomas. And just as I would never want any of them to die, you never wanted him to die" Edric, Medea, and Thomas, almost on cue, stepped forward.
"I don't want to see either Thomas, Artie or Medi suffer" Edric stated confidently.
"And I don't want to see any of my dear brothers suffer either. Thomas is so cute, and Edric… well, I've never seen him so happy and cute as when he is with Haruki" Medea chirped up next.
Thomas nodded in agreement. "And I don't want to use my powers to abuse people's memories any more… I just want to be happy with Medea, Edric and Arthur" the Archive user declared.
The Patriarch looked between the three other children with mild disgust, before looking back to Arthur. "Regardless of what you say, I am still the Patriarch and unless you kill me you will not be able to do anything that you want to. Your banishment will still not be lifted" he stated smugly.
"That's where you're wrong" Arthur grinned, before opening up another red shimmering portal. Through the spatial gate another pair came into the scene, Haruki and Kenji. The young Bullet Mage had one of his grandfather's arms over his shoulders as he supported the injured man's weight, whilst Kenji used one of his katanas as a makeshift cane.
"Himura?" the Patriarch looked in confusion. Kenji gave the Patriarch a respectful nod.
"Lord Patriarch" he replied, before looking to Arthur. "Do I need…" Arthur nodded before the old man could finish his sentence; the Territory wizard was already concerned enough with the loyal swordsman health, without making him expend additional energy in unneeded actions. "Right" Kenji confirmed, before looking towards the Patriarch. "With regards to the issue of ascension, in the time after the previous Patriarch's death, I looked into the matter in the event that any conflict should arise between yourself, the then newly-appointed patriarch, and your brother. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of anyone's direct control, Master Zollzero died" Kenji had to take a momentary pause to catch his breath, "However, with regards to the ascension, you, Lord Patriarch, have been mistaken in one particular thing" Kenji stated.
The Patriarch's brow furrowed in confusion. "What am I mistaken in?" he asked.
Kenji smiled. "It only requires that a Patriarch need be defeated in combat to lose their title. Killing your opponent was never part of the requirements for ascension, that was just assumed" the old sword master gave a slight sweeping gesture to the twin cousins tied up behind Medea, Edric and Thomas. "The moment master's Aaron and Adam-"
"It's Tenchi" Aaron interjected.
"It's Daichi" Adam corrected.
Kenji nodded in understanding. "My apologies" he stated, before correcting himself. "The moment master's Tenchi and Daichi defeated you, Lord Ex-Patriarch, they were technically made the new Patriarchs" Kenji explained.
Tenchi and Daichi looked between each other with surprise upon hearing this news. "We were?" they exclaimed in unison. Arthur turned to them and shot them both a smile.
"Yep, and now… well, with a little help from the guilds, I defeated you, so…" Arthur's smile grew broad. The Patriarch sighed.
"Damn it…" he cursed under his breath. Arthur and his siblings laughed loudly.
"That's right, father, now you've got to obey me, as has the other Zollzero family and Zero Star members. And for my first decree, I will have you locked up for… hmm… how long?" Arthur looked to Edric for this.
The Card Mage grinned. "Let's make it a year, to start with, that way he has plenty of time to think it over" Edric chuckled. Arthur nodded.
"Alright, a year it is" Arthur said, before looking towards his cousins. Tenchi and Daichi both looked at him with anger still clear in their expressions.
"What are ya gonna do with us?" Tenchi spat. Arthur smirked.
"Well, I should have you locked up at least for your defiance of the family, for starters" he replied. Tenchi hung his head.
"I thought as much" he sighed. Arthur smiled brighter.
"However… I think, so long as you swear to obey us, we will allow you to work with us, rather than have you locked up" Arthur stated, in a reasonable tone of voice. Daichi went wide-eyed hearing this.
"Really? You aren't suspicious of us, or worried about us attacking you?" the blond Devil Slayer asked. Arthur smiled.
"Well, if you want to challenge me for the Patriarchy you could, although… I would think you two most of all would understand exactly why I want to change this family as I do. Also, if I want to change things, first and foremost I should lead by my ideals and at least offer you the olive branch, hm?" Arthur's face never faltered in its smile as he said this.
Tenchi looked to Daichi for a moment, the two obviously deciding silently what they were going to do. Although outwardly he appeared confident, inwardly Arthur was holding his breath; everything he had done up until that moment had been for this, now he just needed his cousins to agree.
After the longest few minutes of the Territory Mage's life, the twins both looked up to him, before carefully helping each other stand. Then they bowed. "We will accept your offer, Lord Patriarch" they both said in unison. Arthur laughed, before extending his hands out, and holding the pair's heads up he spoke.
"You don't need to bow, and please… just call me Arthur" he replied. The two nodded in understanding, before they stood proud.
"Alright" Tenchi said, before nodding to his twin. "You can call me Aaron" he added.
"And me Adam" Daichi chimed. Arthur smiled and nodded.
"As you wish" he agreed, "Let's work well together".
In that moment, after all the turbulence of the past, and all the tension of that night, the new Zollzero family was born.
/
Magnolia, Autumn Time
Year X792
Natsu Dragneel
"Jeez, Natsu, could ya sit still for five minutes" Gray groaned, as he sat opposite me in one of the booths back at the guild hall.
I pouted. "I can't help it, I'm just really excited" I replied, bouncing up and down in my spot at the table.
"Well we all know why~" Happy grinned from his place on the table in front of me.
Lucy giggled. "Sting's coming, right?" she asked. I couldn't help the smile that twisted my lips upwards when the White Dragon's name was mentioned.
"Yeah, and Natsu's been so excited he barely slept at all last night" Happy chuckled.
"Happy!" I grumbled, prodding the exceed. Happy laughed, before hopping up and flying over nearer to Lucy.
"He even forgot to have breakfast this morning, so he ended up having to buy something before he got to the guild" the cat added. Lucy looked to me with surprise clear on her face.
"Really?!" she exclaimed "I wouldn't have ever believed anything would make Natsu forget about food" she commented. I blushed faintly at the comment, not that I allowed anyone to see.
"Well… it was just…" I trailed off, unable to come up with anything to defend myself with. "Just… shut up…" I said at last, in a tone even I thought sounded a little pathetic.
Gray sat smirking at me from the other side of the table. "If I knew that just saying Sting's name would be enough to get you to be this quiet, I would've used it plenty before now" the Ice Mage stated wryly.
"Is that right, Gray?" Lucy mused, making the dark-haired male furrow his brow.
"What's up?" he replied, taking not of the Celestial Mage's tone.
Lucy chuckled. "Nothing's up, I just find it surprising that Natsu's so excited to see his boyfriend, but you don't seem to be as happy about yours coming over too" Lucy made a knowing face as she looked over toward the Ice Mage.
Gray went wide eyed. "Wait… you know? How?" Gray shot upright in his seat as he stared down the blond. After a moment, he looked to me. I held up my hands defensively, although I was quite enjoying watching my rival squirm.
"It wasn't me" I stated flatly. Gray pouted, before Lucy finally put him out of his misery.
"When I was watching over Rogue and Juvia, Rogue and I had plenty of time to… talk" Lucy smirked. Gray sighed heavily as he found out exactly how Lucy had learned of his supposedly secret relationship.
"So, he told you…" Gray muttered "So much for keeping it to ourselves…" I laughed upon hearing this.
"Looks like both of those Sabertooth Dragon Slayers can't keep their mouths shut" I stated with vague amusement.
Gray looked to me, before he realised what I was referring to. "Oh yeah, Sting blurted about your relationship, didn't he?" Gray smiled slightly. I nodded.
"Yeah, one minute I was facing down our enemies, with our relationship still secret, however the next minute I get knocked out, and when I waked up suddenly everyone's fighting, and our relationship's out in the open" I stated, somewhat jokingly.
Gray smiled slightly broader. "Guess that's another thing they share in common, right?" the Ice Mage mused.
I nodded, "Yeah, and if they were here now, I bet they'd both be arguing that they don't act similar" I responded. Suddenly Happy started laughing, which drew my attention. "What're you laughing about, Happy?" I asked the cat.
Happy just grinned at me, laughing too much to reply, so Lucy decided to explain. "We just noticed that you two both get quiet, and stop arguing, when you're talking about Sting and Rogue" Lucy stated. "It's kinda cute" she added after a moment.
"I'm not cute! I'm a Dragon Slayer!" I barked in response.
Just as I was about to rant about people always calling me 'cute', Erza marched over, armour glinting brightly, obviously just having been newly repaired.
"Gray, Natsu, I need you to come with me" she stated. Gray and I both looked to the swordswoman as she looked down at both of us.
"What's wrong, what do you need us for?" the Ice Mage asked. Erza smiled.
"It appears we are needed to pick up our guests from the train station" the red-head replied, before giving us both slight winks. Gray and I were both up in an instant, ready to leave right that minute. As we walked out, something struck Gray.
"Wait… how did you know that I wanted to come?" Gray asked Erza. The red-head smirked knowingly.
"Well… let's just say a certain bird told me" she replied. Gray thought for a moment, before looking back over his shoulder towards the guild, his eyes locking with Lucy's. The Celestial wizard looked away.
"I'm gonna kill her!" he exclaimed after a moment.
I just laughed. "It's fine, I wouldn't worry as long as Laxus and Gajeel don't find out" I commented.
Gray frowned. "Still…" the Ice Mage couldn't keep his unhappy face for long as we neared the train station hastily. Inside, Sting and Rogue awaited us, sitting with sickly-green faces beside Yukino and Minerva.
"Honestly, you two are useless" the Territory Mage sighed.
Sting didn't seem to have the stomach to respond to his fellow guildmate's comments, at least not until I arrived. The pair of Dragon Slayer's both brightened up rather quickly open seeing us approach, jumping up from their seats.
"Natsu!" Sting rushed up to greet me. I smiled as he hugged me tight.
"Hiya Sting, how are ya?" I replied, meeting my boyfriend for the first time, three days after the battle at the Zollzero Mansion.
/
"Mmph… you sure… we shouldn't g-go to the guild first?" I asked in between hot kisses with my blond boyfriend. Sting smiled, as he reached for the front door of my little out-of-the-way house.
"I'm sure they won't mind us being a little late… besides, Minerva will cover for me, for a little while anyways" Sting replied, in rather heated breaths. "You were just taking me for a little stroll to help me feel better after the train ride, right?" he added with a wry grin.
I chuckled, before kissing a trail along the White Dragon Slayer's jawline, moving further down his neck. Sting let out a little purring noise, as his hands slid up along my exposed muscles. I returned the gesture, my fingertips ghosting over his exposed abs with a hard, yet carefully slow, touch. "Ah… you were so disappointed when Minerva made me go back to Sabertooth right away too, so I guess it's only fair that I get to spend time with you now" Sting added in a breathless tone. I mumbled into the crook of his neck, before placing a few more slow kisses there.
"True" I agreed, before looking up at Sting, letting all my pent-up energy and want show in my eyes. I could feel the blond shiver underneath my touch when I showed him that expression. Then I opened the door to my house fully and grabbed Sting by the hand. "Come on then" I stated in an upbeat tone, "I want to see just what you're gonna do to make up for ditching me for three whole days" Sting laughed wickedly at the statement.
"Just don't expect to be making any long journeys on foot for the next couple of days" he replied. I smirked back at the blond, with a daring gaze.
"We'll see who's gonna be the one who's not able to walk" I commented temptingly.
Sting looked at me with mild surprise, before his face settled into a challenging grin. "Heh… I kinda like this version of you; I leave ya alone for a couple of days and suddenly you're all heated and sexy" he said. I laughed, as I led Sting upstairs, stopping on the landing to turn around and wrap my hands around the blond.
"Well, of course I'd be heated. I am the Fire Dragon Slayer after all" I chuckled. Sting chuckled, back before leaning in to capture my lips. Stopping only a few millimetres from my mouth he decided to make one final comment.
"You're my Fire Dragon Slayer" he corrected me.
/
After our brief kiss at the top of the stairs, Sting wasted no time in getting me to the bed. With one sweeping gesture, the strong male swept my feet out from under me, before proceeding to carry me, princess style, all the way into the bedroom. With a little grin at my surprised expression, Sting then leaned in and I wrapped my arms around him, our lips connecting once more as he then began to walk towards the bedroom door. I'll let him carry me like this… just this once… I thought to myself. Opening the wooden door to the bedroom with his foot, and then kicking it closed behind him, the blond stomped over to the bed, before depositing me unceremoniously on top of the messy covers.
We stopped kissing for just a moment, each of us drinking in the heated, lust-filled expression that shone through the others face. "Sting…" I breathed, in awe of how hot and flustered the White Dragon looked. His chest was rapidly moving up and down, as the exertion of carrying me whilst also kissing me unceasingly, took its toll.
Despite his slightly reddened face, the White Dragon Slayer still shot me one of his usual, cocky smirks. "Hah, looks like I finally managed to sweep you off your feet, Natsu" he said, with a little chuckle. I pouted in mock defiance; even if I had allowed it, my pride as a Dragon Slayer meant I had to rise to any challenge, especially ones from him.
"Only because I felt tired, so I let you" I challenged the blond. Sting laughed, before running a hand through his hair, the beautiful blond locks sticking up at all odd angles.
"Is that right?" he replied, "Well does that mean you're gonna be too tired to resist me, and let me do other stuff I want to, too?" he added cockily, with a voice so dark that it almost sounded like it shouldn't be coming from the oh-so-holy White Dragon Slayer.
Yet it was, and it made me shiver deeply in want.
After hearing the blond's little statement, I found I couldn't resist him anymore, and so I just lay there as he climbed up onto the bed on top of me. Sting kept up his 'hungry dragon' look as he came eye-to-eye with me, his blue orbs meeting my dark ones. "Is that a yes, Natsu?" he asked, maintaining the darkened tone. I smiled up at him.
"Y… es…" I breathed, too intoxicated with need to make any kind of other reply.
Sting smirked victoriously, before leaning in and capturing my lips in a deep, hungry kiss. Our tongues battled heatedly as I raised my hands up, feeling for the now familiar body, a slight jolt of passion shooting through me as I felt the hard muscles beneath Sting's perfect skin once more. "Mmn…" I sighed into the kiss.
Sting pulled away, before grinning brightly at me, his face lit up almost as bright as the magic he wielded in the fight against the twin Demon Slayers. "Natsu" the White Dragon looked me up and down as he carefully regained his breath in little pants. "I really wanna strip you" he added after a moment, his voice brimming with excitement and lust.
I was slightly surprised by the sudden honesty that came from the blond, a sharp contrast to the darkly lewd tone he was using only a moment ago. I couldn't help the smirk that broke out across my face, the spell that had seemingly been put over me breaking the moment Sting stopped using his 'hungry dragon' voice. "So, what's stopping you?" I asked, my own confidence returning rapidly. He looked at me for a moment, before grinning.
"Nothing" he said. I laughed, as Sting leaned in once more. "But just so that we're clear, you're alright with me doing this, right?" he added.
I laughed, before knocking him gently on the side of the head. "Idiot, I've been alright with you doing pretty much anything to me since our first date at the beach, remember?" I gave Sting a slightly inquisitive face.
Sting smirked fondly at the memory of our time at the beach house. "Yeah, I remember" he said, before looking me back up and down once more, his lips hovering so close to mine. "I remember how cute you were the first time we had sex, and how hot and sexy you were every time after that. I also remember… well, I remember everything about you, and of course I remember all the bad stuff too… however…" Sting gave a deep, satisfied sigh. "I remember the only thing that's important" he said quickly, cutting himself off from rambling. I chuckled slightly, already guessing at where he was going with this train of thought.
"That I always love you" I said, finishing his sentence for him, before leaning in, anticipating that a kiss was soon coming. Sting's lips flickered into a smile.
"Yes, and that I, no matter what stupid thing tries to stop me, will always completely and utterly love you too" he added, before closing the little distance that was left between us, and capturing my lips in another, short kiss. Once Sting pulled away he added one last thing. "So, let's fuck now, because to be honest I'm hard, horny, and if I have to wait much longer I'm not gonna be able to control myself any more" he stated honestly. I grinned upon hearing this information, before moving one of my hands from Sting's abdomen, and instead placing it on the hem of his jacket, slowly tugging it back.
"Now that's more like it" I beamed, before smirking lewdly. "And for starters how about we strip each other" Sting didn't even have to process my request before he was agreeing.
/
"Mpnm… Mph… Natsu" Sting groaned, as he heatedly ground his hips against my leg, his hardened cock still clothed. Not for long… I thought deviously to myself.
"St… ing…" I panted, in between kisses. The White Dragon Slayer lifted his lips from mine for a moment. He looked like he was going to ask me something, so I just smiled, raising both of my hands to his vest, before pulling it back. The blond took the hint immediately and shrugged the clothing item down his shoulders, before discarding it. "That better?" he asked with a sly tone. I chuckled, before brushing a hand down his front.
"Well, the view's a bit better now" I commented wryly. Sting smiled smugly, before running his fingers along my abdomen. I was expecting him to remove my shirt as he had done, however, to my surprise, instead the White Dragon Slayer stood up off of the bed. With a puzzled look, I opened my mouth to speak, however this time it was Sting turn to take a little charge.
Standing before the bed, the blond quickly kicked off his boots, before discarding his trousers as well. He then stood there for a minute clad in nothing but his underwear. "How's the view now, Natsu?" Sting chuckled. I laughed alongside him, before eyeing up his member, as it formed quite the tent in his pants.
"That's much better" I responded, as Sting clambered back on top and began kissing me again. With his almost naked body underneath my fingers I felt myself grow even more heated. "Now it's my turn" I whispered into Sting's ear. The blond seemed to shiver a little in pleasure at my words, before his hands roughly grabbed at my waistcoat, pulling it off of me. I allowed Sting to remove the first piece of clothing, however I had a plan in mind for the rest. As the White Dragon grew distracted, kissing along my neck, I shifted my weight. Once I was ready, I then, in one swift movement, flipped the pair of us over in a manoeuvre that would probably have been better suited to fighting rather than fucking. "Woah… Natsu!" Sting shrieked in surprise. "At least gimme some warning if you're gonna do that" he added after a moment. I laughed, before placing a kiss on the tip of his nose.
"Come on, it's not like that's the first time I've done that" I stated jovially, before narrowing my eyes at the blond in a more focused, want-filled expression. Sting met my gaze with one dripping with lust, the Dragon Slayer's desperation barely contained behind his bright blue orbs. It probably didn't help that in the new position I had put us in, Sting's member was right under my butt. When I moved, I rubbed against the hardened length, building up more delicious friction. Damn the faces he makes when I make even a little movement are hot… I added mentally, as I kept my eyes on Sting's face. Sting managed to lie there for about a minute before he moved upwards and began kissing me heatedly, his hands stroking my body.
I let him kiss a trail over my chest, before I pushed him back down, my upper body bending over, as I moved down with him so that I could kiss all along the blond's neck, chest and abdomen. As my lips reached Sting's belly button, I changed direction and began moving back up the restless, horny Dragon Slayer. Moving upwards again, Sting began running his hands over my back, before his fingers slipped into the small space between my belted trousers and my underwear. "Mmm…" Sting hummed in pleasure as I kissed up along his neck, jaw, and then finally, his lips. As we kissed, I felt Sting's hands move from my back, to my front, the blond's fingers clumsily playing with my belt in a poor attempt to undo it. I chuckled slightly at his efforts, before I guided his fingers and helped him loosen it. Once my trousers were slack, I kicked them off, grinning at the blond. Sting smirked back.
"What is it?" he asked, his face only a couple inches from my own.
"Nothing" I replied coyly, "I was just thinking what your face'll look like when I do this". At that I ground down on Sting's member with my butt. Sting almost reared up, a loud moan, a noise that was a pleasant mix of both surprise and pleasure, exploding from his throat. "Whoa-ah.. ah… Natsu!" he breathed suddenly. I smirked wickedly, as our eyes met.
"So that's what it looks like" I beamed. Sting smirked.
"It's not like you've not seen me like that before" he said, with a faint redness on his cheeks; it was only barely visible since the White Dragon Slayer was already flushed pink all over.
"Yeah but… just…" I didn't finish my sentence as Sting sat up and kissed me.
"I know" he said. "Now, I think it's my turn" he added with his own wicked grin. I didn't have to see the blond's face, or the glint in his eyes, to know what his intention was. With a lot more care than I had, Sting pushed at my shoulder, before sliding out on top of me, with my legs straddled between his pelvis. I smiled up contently at the blond. "No more stops" I said. Sting nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, no more stopping" he confirmed, before giving a little, playful grind to my clothed member. "And no more clothes" he added after a moment. I shot Sting a smirk, before sliding my fingers into each side of the other Dragon Slayer's underwear. Sting took the hint, and took hold of mine, then we each began sliding the other's off.
Almost as soon as we were both naked, Sting began eyeing me up, with his most predatory look. I knew what he was thinking, I was thinking the same; He's mine…
"It's been too long since I saw you naked, Natsu" Sting stated. I laughed.
"It's only been about a week" I replied, however Sting pouted. Before he could make any kind of complaint, I continued speaking. "However, you're right, it's been too damn long since we did this. So, now that I am naked…" I trailed off as I suggestively smiled up at the White Dragon Slayer. Sting chuckled, before looking about the room.
"Is it still-"
"Top drawer" I answered, before he could even ask. Sting smiled, getting off my bed for only the briefest moment to go over to the aforementioned drawer in my dresser, and recovering the lube I kept stashed there. Returning to his position on the bed, the White Dragon held the bottle in his hand. "Now…" Sting began kissing me as he flipped off the lid and got some of the slick substance into his hand.
Before he could continue with anything, though, I interrupted once more. "Just put it on, then put it in. I can't wait much longer, as good as that feels, I just really want to get to the best bit" I said needily. Sting smiled, before giving a little mock bow of his head in acceptance.
"Whatever my princess wants" he chuckled to himself, before silencing my pouted retort with a kiss. The White Dragon then smeared the substance over his cock, before adding some to my hole.
"Ah..." I breathed as I felt it touch my skin. Maybe I should've at least got him to heat it up in his hand first… I thought to myself, as Sting lined himself up with my hole.
"You okay?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, now… come on and fuck me already!" I responded in a single breath. The White Dragon Slayer nodded one last time, before he began to slowly slide his length inside me.
It didn't take him long to get it all in, and as he stopped, he looked to me. I smiled back at him. "It's fine, it's nothing new" I stated, before holding my hand so that it was outstretched. Sting took the hand and clasped it, fingers intertwined.
"You sure?" he asked me. I chuckled, before nodding.
"Yeah, once you get moving it gets much better anyways. Besides… it's not the first time I've done it like this" I stated lowly, before sending the White Dragon a wry grin, "Remember our little bit of fun at the guild?" I added humorously. Sting smiled before moving my legs into a more comfortable position around him. He then outstretched his free hand, which I clasped also.
"Alright then" the blond grinned, before slowly pulling out. With one last longing look, Sting thrust in, giving out a small moan as he did so. I moaned back, as the delicious feeling of pain and pleasure shot up my spine.
Ah… it really has been… too long… I thought to myself, as the pain from the initial entry slowly gave way to pleasure. With each passing second, Sting gave more and more attention to his thrusts, moving in and out with such delicious speed I couldn't help but make lewd noises. The White Dragon Slayer grinned as I looked up at him, before angling his movements with a bit more accuracy, until I felt the best, most intense feeling, shooting up my spine.
"Hah… yeah!" I breathed, "F-fuck… more… there St-ing" I panted hungrily, as I pulled the blond in for a heated kiss. As our tongues battled it out, I felt the other Dragon Slayer's hand reached down for my hard cock. At first, Sting made only slow movements, out of sync with his thrusts. "Mpmn… Mnph… Sting" I sighed, before reaching down and began directing his hand movements. The White Dragon Slayer chuckled for a moment, before speeding up.
"You really want this to be over that fast?" he asked, rhetorically, "Because I… haaa… wish I could feel like this… f-forever" he added a little heatedly. I smirked back at the breathless Dragon Slayer.
"Your j-just… as close… as m-me!" I exclaimed, before another, much stronger wave of pleasure over took my body, silencing any other comments I could've hoped to make. Sting breathed deeply, as he thrust hard a few more times, each time landing in that same, delicious place.
"D-damn r… right I'm close… you're so fuck-fucking hot… ah… so tight…" As Sting continued to speak, his voice became more and more incoherent, until he was basically just babbling random, sexy-sounding words at me. I didn't mind, of course, since by that point I was already lost in the sea of sensations myself.
After one last, particularly rough thrust, I moaned loudly. "Hah! S-Sting! Coming…" I cried out, in between raspy gasps of pleasure. The White Dragon didn't even stop moving for a second, as his eyes locked with mine. The cerulean orbs were completely overtaken with want, desire, and (perhaps most of all) lust. "I'm… hah… ah… fuck… Coming t-too" he replied in between two breaths. I smiled up at the blond for a second, just before I climaxed, my voice raising to a new volume that definitely made me happy I lived so far away from other people.
"Sting!" I panted, as my vision went white, pure ecstasy shooting all around my body, as my own cum covered both mine and Sting's chests.
Sting wasn't far behind, moaning with wild abandon, the blond leaned down and captured my lips in a hungry, pre-climax kiss, before the feelings of my climax, and his movements, pushed him well and truly over the edge. As his semen filled my ass, the White Dragon called out my name in the truly hottest way possible, then he collapsed on top of me.
Neither of us said anything for a couple of minutes, as we each were lost in our own minds and bodies. "Well… I don't think…" Sting tried to form a coherent sentence, however this attempt only lead to failure.
I beamed up at the blond, stroking a hand through his hair, before I kissed him gently. "That was the best fuck we've had" I said, happily.
Sting nodded in agreement. "Yeah" he agreed, as he flopped down beside me, his eyes casting a glance over my naked, now cum-covered, body. "It's been a while since we both got that heated… and loud" he grinned. I chuckled, before wrapping an arm around his body and pulling him close.
"I think being loud is sexy" I said cheerily, before brushing my fingers up the White Dragon's back. Sting shivered slightly at the action, before pulling me in even closer, close enough that our chests were pressed against each other.
We kissed for a moment, before Sting pulled away, his eyes intently fixated on my face. Looking close into that sea of blue, I felt that I could see every thought the blond was having, see every twinkle and spark of light behind those eyes. Likewise, I guess Sting felt the same, as he started smiling brightly, although there was something else in his expression too. "What's up?" I asked him enthusiastically, hoping he was thinking about something funny. Sting shrugged.
"I was just thinking how lucky I am to be dating such a hot Dragon Slayer. I mean, you make an excellent blanket, all warm like you are" he commented wryly, before looking over my shoulder. "However, and I'm not saying I don't like you hugging me like this, but… can we shift over that way a bit?" he added after a moment. I nudged the blonde's side.
"Is that your way of saying you're cold and you wanna be under the covers?" I asked him. He smiled a little more sheepishly.
"Just a little bit… you kinda forget the temperature when you're getting… well… heated" he laughed. I sighed, before shuffling along and grabbing the covers so that we could shift underneath.
"Better?" I asked after we settled back down.
Sting nodded, with a cute little smile. "Yeah" he replied, "It's better".
/
After repositioning, I went back to hugging Sting close, with my head resting on his shoulder. We lay there in a contented silence for what felt like a long time, but, in reality, was probably only five minutes. Looking back over to Sting during this time, I noticed something cloud the Dragon Slayer's happy, satisfied gaze. Sting seemed to notice my glances, as he turned his head towards me.
"Something up Natsu?" he asked. I shook my head softly, before putting on my own inquisitive expression.
"Not with me… just… what are you thinking about?" I responded to the blonde's question with my own enquiry. Sting seemed to think about his response for a minute or two, before he put on a straight face.
"I was just thinking that… well… we're gonna have to go to the guild soon, and as good as that fuck was, I want to do so much more with you than just have sex" Sting said, his voice brimming with honesty. I furrowed my brow at this revelation.
"But we do more than sex anyways, like… you and me always go on dates and stuff" I stated, with a rather confused tone. Where is he going with this? Does he want us to go on more dates? I mean… I don't mind, but he's the one who always goes on about how much work he's got, or how much money it costs…
Sting seemed to consider what he was saying for another moment, before finally replying. "I think… I want to tell everyone" he said at last. I went wide eyed.
"You do?" I responded. Sting furrowed his brow.
"It's just… ever since I told Yukino and Minerva they've been really helpful around the guild, they've even been discretely trying to get info about our relationship outta me…" Sting paused for a moment to observe my reaction. I smiled at him.
"Lucy, Happy, and Erza, have all been like that with me. I don't mind answering some of their questions, however… some I refuse to tell 'em" I stated in what I hoped was a helpful manner. Sting nodded in understanding.
"So, it's not just me then" he commented, before looking away from me, and instead sending his gaze over the room. "After seeing their responses… it kinda makes me want to tell everyone. At least that way I can be with you out in the open, and then I can get to spend more time with you. We might need to keep this info from the public for the moment. No telling how people'll react if they hear about a Guildmaster being in a relationship with another guy" Sting elaborated on this thoughts for a moment. I let this information settle, before I gave my response.
"Let's tell everyone later, whilst they're at the guild" I said at last. Sting looked to me.
"Today?" he asked me, with a little unsureness to his voice. I nodded.
"Yeah... if you're okay to do that. I mean, will there be any other time that both of our guilds'll be together like this, plus… that way we can be there to support each other" I stated. Sting was a moment in replying to this, however when he did, it made my heart flutter with excitement.
"Okay, you're right. Let's do it!" he beamed confidently. I smiled back, rubbing supportive circles into Sting's back.
A little while later, we showered together, avoiding touching anywhere too intimate in the process (after all, we didn't want to be overly late to the guild) and then we left, hand in hand, to head towards the guild for the most important meeting that day.
/
Magnolia, Autumn Time
Year X792
Sting Eucliffe
We walked up to the guild at a rather slow pace. After our little bit of fun, Natsu and I decided that we didn't want to appear too late at the guild, mostly because we each feared what Minerva (in my case) and Erza (in his) would do to us if we did.
"Geez, where have you two been? It's been hours since the others arrived" Lucy commented almost immediately upon our arrival. Apparently, she, and a few others from the guild, had been tasked by Erza in locating us. Happy, who was flying next to the blond, chuckled to himself, sending us both knowing looks.
"I can guess…" he smirked. Natsu swatted at the flying feline, a pout on his face.
"Don't you dare, Happy" he growled.
"Hey Sting!" Lector's voice rang out, as my own exceed partner flew over to us. "I thought you said you weren't gonna take long?" Lector joined Happy in the air.
I smiled sheepishly at my little buddy. "Sorry pal, we… got distracted" I tried to avoid saying exactly what we were doing as much as possible around anyone, especially Lector and Frosch. The exceed grinned, as Happy nudged him. The two then exchanged a quick whispered note, before Lector began laughing. He and Happy then both turned away from us. "We're gonna go and tell Erza you're back" the blue cat stated. Lector nodded.
"Yep, and you need to go and find Master Makarov" the red cat added. Natsu and I both looked at the exceeds as they left, before looking to each other.
"Well… that was… weird" Natsu mumbled. I nodded.
"Yeah, kinda worrying how well they're getting on. Plus, I want to know what they were whispering about" I commented. Lucy sighed, before moving behind us, her hands firmly placing themselves on our shoulders.
"Never mind that now, Lector's right. Sting, you need to go find the Master, and Natsu… you can come with me" she stated sharply. Natsu and I both gave muttered complaints; however, we couldn't argue with the blond Celestial Spirit Mage, since she was right. Annoyingly.
"Alright. Natsu… I'll see you later" I said. Natsu nodded to me, giving a slight smile.
"For the thing?" he asked. I nodded.
"Yes, for the thing" I replied, cryptically. Lucy gave me one final push before I began walking off towards, where I knew Makarov's office was, and to where I needed to confirm one thing, before the guild-wide discussion could begin.
/
After meeting with Makarov, Minerva, Edric, and Arthur, who were all in the office, a few things were mutually discussed between our parties, before the main event began. In the very centre of the Fairy Tail guild building, the normally bar-like, table-filled room was converted into a make-shift stage, with many seats all lined facing towards an empty space right in front of where the bar was situated. This all seemed rather formal and official for my tastes, however as it was for the final official discussion between the Zollzero Family and our two guilds, it seemed appropriate.
Makarov and myself stood to one side, down a corridor, ready for our stupid 'entrance', whilst Edric, Arthur, Medea and Thomas all stood at another corridor entrance on the opposite side. As everyone in the guild settled down, and a rather tense quiet settled over those assembled, both of our groups entered at the same time, meeting in the middle of the area so that we were face-to-face. Arthur had already explained how this all 'had to be done' earlier, so I knew that all I really needed to do was stand there, however it still made me more than a little uncomfortable. For more than one reason.
"Right" Arthur mumbled under his breath, before taking a step forward and extending his hand in a hand-shake gesture. "Fairy Tail, Sabertooth. By my right as the new Zollzero Patriarch, I wish to convey three gestures upon your guilds, do you accept this?" Makarov and I both nodded, as we had been instructed to.
"We do" we both said, somewhat mechanically.
Arthur smiled, "Good" he stated. "Firstly, we the Zollzero wish to formally and completely apologise for getting you both involved in our petty internal squabble. This has caused great pain to fall upon your guilds, more so by our actions than by any action you have taken" Arthur paused for a moment to allow his words to pass over the crowd. After a minute or so he continued. "Secondly, we intend to fully compensate you for your efforts and assistance in these matters. To that end we offer you the full sum of your incorrectly attributed debt to our family" this comment earned a number of murmurs from within the crowd; a mixed response of positive mumbles, and more sceptical grumbles from people who believed we shouldn't have been forced to pay in the first place. "Finally," Arthur brought the crowd back to silence with one word, an expertly done manoeuvre considering the characters of those he was speaking to. "For your services, we also wish to extend to each of your guilds friendship, such that a favour may be incurred from us, either personally, or through our allies and associates. May you use this however, and whenever, you wish" Arthur smiled at us both as he said this. "Both me and my siblings have much to thank you for, all of you. In order to repay the kindness that you showed us, we hope that we may be able to change our family's ways and help to bring both peace and happiness to Fiore" he added this bit at the end. Makarov smirked approvingly at the young leader.
"I'll just be happy that things can finally return to normal" the old man chuckled. I smiled too.
"Yeah" I agreed verbally. Arthur chuckled, before gesturing towards his siblings. The other three Zollzero's stepped forward, each extending their hands.
"Then by the shaking of our hands may we seal these terms, and by the eyes upon us now, may we live up to them. For the honour of the name Zollzero" Arthur declared.
"By the honour of our family's name" his siblings echoed. Makarov and I then each proceeded to shake everyone's hands. At the end of the affair, Makarov and I both nodded at the four.
"By the honour of our guild's do we accept your offer" we each said, once again as instructed. With that final act, the debt was wiped, and at long last could our guilds go about their normal, albeit rather weird, lives.
At the end, Arthur and Makarov turned to the crowd. "Now, as thanks for everything, let's party!" Arthur laughed aloud, however before this could be echoed by those present Makarov held up his hand.
"Yes, everyone certainly deserves to enjoy themselves after everything that has happened, however… first, Sting, do you wish to make an announcement?" Makarov looked over to me as he said this, the planned moment coming. Even though I had asked for this, I still felt rather nervous. I noticed Arthur looked to me questioningly, whilst Edric stood grinning, with his eyebrows furrowed in question.
This is it… I thought.
"Well um… Natsu… do you want to… come up here?" I asked, with a little uncertainty in my voice. Natsu, who I couldn't really see properly until he stood up, quickly jumped up, and dashed the distance from the back of the seated area, all the way to the front, where he stood next to me.
"Yeah Sting?" he asked; he already knew what was coming, however he still decided to act like he didn't.
"Well… Natsu…" I looked out over the two guilds assembled before me, my eyes scanning over all the familiar faces in amongst the crowd. There's no group of people I'd trust more I thought, willing myself to say what I wanted. "To all of you here I just wanted to say, that Natsu and I are… well… um…" no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the words out. That was when I felt a hand brush up against my own. I almost leapt at the sudden sensation, before I realised it was the pink-haired male beside me, who stood quietly chuckling at my reaction, before leaning in. Then he kissed me.
/
Natsu's kiss was only fleeting, but it had the effect it needed, both on me, and on those assembled; The room couldn't have gotten more silent if it tried. "Sting and me are dating!" Natsu called out openly, before shooting me a reassuring smile. I smiled back.
"Yeah, we are" I confirmed, before looking around once more. "I thought I should just announce this now, with all of you here, since this may affect our guilds a little, what with me being a master and everything" as I spoke more and more, I felt my confidence grow. If I can't tell those here, then who can I tell… I reasoned internally.
Despite my continued speech, no one dared make a voiced comment; at least not a for a few moments anyways.
The first person to speak up was, quite surprisingly, Laxus Dreyar. "So that's all you wanted to say?" the Lightning Dragon Slayer said aloud, earning a few looks from those in the crowd. I looked over to him with a completely dumbstruck expression. The tall, muscular blond stood up from his seat at the side of the room and smirked. "It's not like we're complete idiots, most of us here began to notice how you two acted a while ago, at least those of us at Fairy Tail did. I can't speak for Sabertooth" Laxus glanced over to the Sabertooth wizards as if to see if anyone had also noticed.
Rufus and a few of the others all sat smiling. "Yeah we did too" Olga agreed. The Lightning God Slayer laughed loudly. "You two weren't exactly that discrete at our guild either" he added amusedly.
At the two Lightning-user's comments more and more wizards began saying about how they 'noticed things' between Natsu and I. Makarov smiled at us both as the increasing number of comments grew louder in the hall.
"I wouldn't have expected anything less" he stated, "Even after you told me what you intended, I knew it would go well. Also, whilst I admit this may be a little problematic in the future, I will try to support you two as much as I can" he added with a happy smirk. I smiled back at the little man.
"Thank you, Master… er… Thank you, Makarov" I replied, before looking out over the group assembled. "However, for those here, I would like to say," I increased the volume of my voice so that I could be heard over the raucous bunch, a trick I had learned quite early on in my time as Guildmaster, "That whilst this doesn't seem to have come as much of a surprise to you all as I thought it might, this may affect our guild's still, like I said. Some clients may not be as supportive as you all are, so it may be better if this is kept quiet for now" I spoke with a level tone of voice, although inside all I wanted to do was scream and thank everyone for how they just acted.
My statement, whilst true, did earn a few looks and grunts of disapproval. "Don't worry, if anyone shows up to complain, we won't let 'em" Orga stated, earning a few nods of concurrence from those around him.
"Same here" Maccao shout from within the Fairy Tail group, also earning nods of sympathy from those in Natsu's guild.
"We won't let them do anything to stop you two" Erza stated.
"And neither will we. Besides, having a lovey-dovey couple of Dragon Slayers might be a good selling point for the guild, somewhere in the future" Minerva commented, from her front row seat. A few of the wizards snickered at the Territory wizard's words. Even from my position on the podium I could hear the giggled 'is it love birds, or love dragons?' comment circulate around the room. Suddenly, as I was slightly starting to regret telling everyone, I felt a tap at my shoulder, as Edric and Arthur stood nearby.
"So, you two decided to go all out when you… well… came out?" Edric chuckled amusedly.
Arthur rolled his eyes at his brother, before grinning at us. "Ignoring my brother's comments, you don't have to worry about us telling anyone. We Zollzero are rather good at keeping things… quiet" Arthur winked. I nodded.
"Thanks guys" I replied, before looking to Natsu.
The pinkette was brimming with happiness and excitement; he could barely keep still.
Looking at Natsu's shining face I knew I had done right by him telling everyone today, however one thing still remained. So, without further ado, I turned to the crowd with a bright smile. "Now, my little personal matter aside… Let's Party!" I roared.
Everyone cheered at that.
After that the evening really got underway, with food, drink, and cheer, in overflowing amounts. Arthur gave quite the spectacle, using his portals to shoot brightly coloured beams of light around in some make-shift, indoors firework show. Edric and Medea both had fun tricking people, by using their Transformation Magic. Even Thomas had at least a little, fun, although after a while I noticed him slink off to somewhere quieter.
Natsu and I enjoyed everything as much as we could, then after a few hours, we snuck off into the night, to enjoy our own party once again.
/
Natsu and I strolled away from the guild, back towards the pinkette's house on the outskirts of town. "Hey Sting…" he said, a little tipsy from drinking too much, "I love you".
I smiled at the pinkette and patted his arm, before wrapping my own arm around his waist. I placed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Yeah, I know, dumb Dragon. I love you too" I replied.
Natsu chuckled. "If you did that to me earlier when everyone was in front of you, you coulda saved a whole lot of time, y'know" the pinkette smiled. I laughed.
"Yeah, I know" I parroted myself. Natsu rested his head on my shoulder as we walked on, heading down one of the darker paths out of town, completely unafraid of anything (not that anything could really pose us much of a threat anyways). The Fire Dragon Slayer sighed contently.
"I hope this means I get to spend more time with you" he said quietly, in a voice only I could hear. I smiled and kissed the pinkette on the cheek again.
"Me too… although, I think it might be easier for you to come to me and not the other way around" I stated. Natsu nodded.
"That's true… hey, how about I try to make a deal with gramps so that he'll let me take all of the jobs that are near Sabertooth, that way I can work and see you at the same time" Natsu's eyes practically glowed as he came up with this idea. I chuckled.
"Makarov said that he'd support us, however I think that might be taking a bit too much of an advantage of that offer" I reasoned. Natsu sighed.
"Nah, he'll let me. I am the guild's main Dragon Slayer after all" he mused. I raised an eyebrow.
"Somehow, I think Wendy and Gajeel, not to mention Laxus, might have something to say about that" I replied amusedly. Natsu pouted, before raising a hand up in front of himself, flames engulfing it.
"I'll take 'em all on" he stated with complete confidence. With a smile I held up my own hand, white light shining forth.
"I know you will… and if it comes to it, I'll help you" I laughed. Natsu smiled up at me, before unravelling my arm from around his waist, and taking an extra step forward so that he was in front of me. I was a little surprised he'd do that, however once I saw the bright smile on his face, as well as the mischievous glint in his eye, I knew exactly what the Fire Dragon Slayer was thinking. "Of course, you will, because you're my boyfriend" Natsu said. I nodded, however before I could speak, the pinkette turned his back to me and continued. "You'll always help me… you'll always be there for me, and of course I know you'll always love me; however, the question is, do you think you can beat me Sting?" he asked. I furrowed my brow, a little confused by the pinkette's ramblings. Maybe I should've checked how much he was drinking…
"Beat you in wha-" I was cut off as Natsu began jogging forward.
"In a race. First one to get to my house gets call the shots tonight!" Natsu finished what he was saying, then immediately turned and began sprinting off at high speed. My brain barely had time to register what the pinkette said, before I began following him at full speed.
"Natsu's wait… this isn't fair!" I called out, hopelessly. Natsu just ran on ahead, laughter filling out the night air beneath me as he expertly moved over the familiar terrain towards his house. I tried to keep up as best I could, my competitive spirit driving me to at least attempt to win. "Damn… stupid…" I muttered under my breath. Even with the drink, Natsu was still able to progress up the path with ease.
"Ha, I win" he cheered, as I caught up to him, right outside his house.
"That… wasn't…" I couldn't even be bothered to argue as I ran right up to Natsu and kissed him. "Alright, I'll let you 'win' just this once. You did kinda save me earlier" I stated. Natsu beamed, before taking my hand.
"Well then… let's go upstairs" he said, in a subtly lewd tone. "Then I get to do what I want… with my boyfriend" Natsu said the word in such a sweet way that I couldn't resist.
"Boyfriend…" I muttered in tandem.
The word sounded so perfect, however nothing was, or could ever be, as perfect as the one person I loved more than anyone else.
"Nastu…" I breathed.
Today couldn't have gone any better… I cheered inside my own head, as Natsu and I kissed on the pinkette's bed.
"Hey… Natsu…" I stopped in between kisses. Natsu pouted.
"What?" he asked, a little annoyed that I had stopped.
"I just remembered something that Edric said before, at the party" I answered. Natsu smirked.
"So, you're thinking about Edric when we're making out?" the Fire Dragon Slayer sounded so cocky when he said that, his mock-offended tone barely even sounded believable.
I smirked back. "Just shut up and let me tell you what he said" I stated in an unamused voice, earning a little laugh from the pinkette, "He said that he heard a phrase recently and thought that it was perfect to sum up our relationship; A true lover always feels in debt to the one he loves. Kind of ironic, right, especially since, without that stupid debt, we probably wouldn't have gotten to be able to… you know… get to know each other" I winked slyly as I emphasised this last bit. Natsu pouted in thought for a moment, before grinning.
"I guess so" he reasoned, before leaning in. "However, if you wanna talk about debts, I'm still feeling like you owe me for my help back at the guild, so how about you… pay up" now it was Natsu's turn to wink slyly.
I smiled, before leaning in and kissing Natsu. "Now there's one debt I'm happy to pay for" I replied.
As Natsu and I got physical, that phrase stuck with me;
The debt I owe Natsu isn't ever gonna be repaid. For every day he loves me, I've got to pay him back with double. And for every day I love him, he's also gotta pay me back too…
Love's an eternal debt, however both sides should always be happy to pay…
"I love you, Natsu" I whispered quietly.
"I love you too, Sting" he replied.
Fin
Author's last note; I got a couple of requests for stuff to put into this last chapter, both fluff and smut wise, so I hope those who PM'd me (you know who you are) are happy with what I added. I wasn't able to add everything; however, I do try to make it so that as many people are happy with my work as possible.
I also would like to thank everyone who made it this far, following the amateurish fic and I hope to see you at some point in the future with another fic. For now though, thanks and good bye (^.^)/