I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!

Really embarrassed about this, I thought I had uploaded this a few days ago! Turns out I put it in the document manager but didn't post it, sorry! If you all want this to continue just say so, I've been debating whether or not to continue this FanFic or not.

Chapter 10:

Darkness had settled upon Magnolia by the time Mirajane and Natsu had returned on the train. After Natsu's confession to her, she hadn't wanted to spend another night without heading out towards the last place he had been with Igneel. It hadn't taken much to convince him to abandon their stay at the inn in favor of staying in their own bed for the last night they were going to be able to stay indoors for a few weeks. The only thing he wanted in return was to return to the guild before they left to tell everyone where they were going before they disappeared for a couple of weeks.

Now that they stood in front of the guild's main doors, Mirajane wondered if they should even tell everyone yet. "Are you sure you're sure?" She asked for the fifth time since they had left the train station.

Natsu chuckled next to her, prodding her side with a finger. "Mira, I told you before and I will tell you again as many times as you need to hear it. Yes, I know the feeling of my own power. I know what it feels like, and you have that within you. You have my magic within you, and it isn't going away. There is only one way that is possible." He said teasing her before pulling her up against his side.

Mirajane's mouth opened to question him, fear and excitement flooding through her. "But it-"

Natsu cut her off by dragging her forward, kicking the door open before she could muster up a protest. "We're back!" He called out excitedly. The guild spun away from what they were doing and cheered the arrival of the newlyweds. Natsu continued to pull her with him up to a table.

"You both left so fast that we didn't have time to throw a party!" Lucy accused, sending Natsu a deadly glare. "I'm sure this is your fault." Natsu laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, but didn't deny her accusations.

Mirajane felt hands pull her arm, drawing her away from Natsu's side. "You'll have to excuse us for a few; we need to borrow your wife." Lucy said with a sly smile over at Natsu. "It feels really weird to say that. I never thought Natsu would be the first one of all of us to settle down." She said to the other girls as they drew the woman away.

"Thank you all for doing this, but you didn't have to throw a party. We really only came back to let everyone know that we would be gone for a couple of weeks." The girls around Mirajane didn't seem to hear her, drinks being passed around between them as they all settled around a table together.

"We have to throw a party; we weren't all around for when Bisca and Azlack got together so we need to make the most of the rest of them. But that isn't the point!" Lucy cried out, dropping a glass of wine in front of Mirajane. "So tell us, did you like your dress?"

Mirajane smiled brightly, letting her hesitation leave her to be replaced by the excitement of the party. "I don't even know how to thank you all for what you did. I love my dress! Who made it anyways?"

"Well you actually have Levy to thank for most of it. Levy and I raided your closet a few times to get your sizes before going to a seamstress to make the dresses. Levy found a spell that would let Natsu reveal your actual dress." Lucy said happily, her eyes sparkling. "It was so hard to stay quiet and keep it from you."

Mirajane looked back over her shoulder when a loud cry of anger filled the air and saw that a large group of the men had thrown themselves into battle, showing their feelings through fighting. Shaking her head with a sigh, Mirajane turned back to the girls and moved the drink between her hands. "It still doesn't feel real. I can look at my hand and see the ring and remember the words, but…"

"Juvia wishes Gray-sama would look at her the way Natsu looks at you Mira." Juvia said sadly, looking over Mirajane's shoulder at the ice mage.

"You do realize Mira that Natsu hasn't taken his eyes off you since you came in, don't you?" Levy asked sensing Mirajane's hesitation. "Maybe it brought our eyes open with the whole situation a couple of weeks ago between you, Natsu, and Lisanna… But I can see exactly what he feels for you."

Mirajane nodded to herself. "You're right, I know how he feels for me and all, but I thought things would change when we got married. Maybe it's just because we have only been married for a day so far, but I thought everything would just fall together, that whenever I had a thought, he would know what to do to fix it. Maybe I'm not saying it right, because he does all that…"

Levy nodded. "I think I understand what you are saying. Every girl looks at marriage as coming together with the person you love, becoming one person with them. But you feel as if you already had that with him before you got married."

Mirajane looked down into the drink at her reflection and smiled. "That's almost exactly what it feels like. Maybe I see where Natsu was coming from when he said he didn't care about being husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend."

"He said WHAT! Wait, maybe I'm not understanding this correctly. What exactly did he say?" Lucy asked leaning towards Mirajane.

Mirajane laughed awkwardly, "Well, to be honest, he said that husbands and wives are meaningless titles, that he didn't want to marry me."

"How did you convince him otherwise?"

"I didn't." Mirajane said smiling. "When I went missing for that week… After Natsu found me, he told me he was marrying me."

"Well that doesn't sound very romantic… I knew he was dense, but that doesn't mean he can just do whatever he wants. There are rules to how this happens!" Levy cried out.

"Well he more than made up for it. I could not have asked for more from our wedding. Thanks again everyone." Mirajane said.

"I'll drink to that!" Cana called out raising her barrel high into the air. A collective cheer went up around the table as everyone drank, everyone except Mirajane. "Mira, why aren't you drinking?" She questioned, leaning over to look the woman in the eye.

"She can't." Natsu said, startling the women. "I'll take that." He commented snatching up her mug of wine for himself, drinking it down. The women looked at the couple expectantly, but Mirajane just looked down at the table and Natsu simply smiled at them. Suddenly Natsu's smile faltered and he looked down at his wife. "You didn't tell them?"

"I never got the chance, we were talking about the wedding and how you failed to propose in a romantic way." Mirajane said swatting his hand from her shoulder. "I doubt you told the guys."

"Of course I told them." He said furrowing his brows. "Why do you think Elfman's pretending not to cry in the corner?" Looking over his shoulder, he smiled at the large man mumbling curses. Natsu cried out in surprise as Erza grabbed his scarf from across the table and pulled him down, slamming his head to the wood. "Don't hurt me!" He cried out, flailing the mug of wine around in an attempt to get away.

"You know that you shouldn't keep secrets Natsu. Now why would Mirajane not be able to have a drink of wine with her friends?" Erza questioned coolly. Her fist tightened on his scarf and pulled him closer, her eyes narrowing. Natsu shivered and shrunk against the table at her gaze.

"Are you pregnant!?" Lucy cried out, finally catching onto what the two were hinting at. Mirajane's smile returned brighter than ever, her whole face glowing as she nodded. "How far along and when did you find out?"

Erza hit Natsu as hard as she could, breaking the table out from under him, sending all of the drinks placed on top of it flying. "What were you thinking getting her pregnant? She still has the rest of her life ahead of her!" Erza shook the Dragon Slayer by his collar, slamming him into the ground repeatedly.

"Erza that's enough, Natsu didn't force this on me. We wanted this." Mirajane confessed, snatching Erza's wrist before she could hit the Dragon Slayer again. "Besides, we are married; naturally it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Erza dropped the Dragon Slayer, who groaned in relief when he landed on the ground with a resounding thud. "How are we going to manage this guild when we have little fire breathing demons running around."

Mirajane sighed and knelt down next to Natsu, pushing his hair from his eyes with a smile. "To answer your question Lucy, we suspect it happened over the past couple of days and we found out this afternoon before we came here."

"Mira…" Levy said cautiously. "You know it is next to impossible to know you are pregnant this early. You should at least wait a couple of weeks to make sure it's true."

Natsu coughed a laugh. "Levy, I know what I'm talking about here. Mira's pregnant with my child and that child has my magic." Levy sighed and shook her head. "How do you know what you're talking about Natsu, enlighten us." The Dragon Slayer pushed his way to his knees, taking Mirajane's face between his hands and looking into her eyes. "I can feel my magic in her. It's almost the same feeling when I was with Igneel; after all he gave me my magic that I have now. She has that power within her. I can't give my power to another except through my own child."

Mirajane blushed at how close they were to one another with everyone around them. "So long as he says it's true, I'll believe him." She whispered. Natsu sighed and took her hand to pick them up off the ground, letting her return to her seat. "We are going to leave tomorrow morning though."

Natsu smiled and sat down on the ground by the bottom of Mirajane's chair as more of the men started to come around from the fight to join the girls. "We'll just have to make the most of it until then." Another cheer went up, cups and mugs clinking together.

Light peaked through the treetops to flash briefly over the couple lying on the ground, the branches blowing in the wind to flash the light back and forth over their eyes. The early rising sun brought along the breeze off the lake, icy wind biting across the woman's face. Stifling a groan, Mirajane pulled the bedroll cover up over her eyes and leaned back against her husband's warmth, his arm tightening around her protectively in his sleep. The unconscious gesture brought warmth to her heart. Still, despite the blanket and the unnatural heat of her Dragon Slayer of a husband couldn't stop the wind from finding the small openings in the blanket, rippling over skin.

Mirajane rolled over and tried to bury her face into Natsu's chest to prevent the wind from eating away at her sleepiness too much. Finally, after much frustration, Mirajane opened her eyes with an irritated sigh. It had only been a week and she was already tired of sleeping outdoors. She didn't know how he did it, always being gone on jobs that required him to spend most of his time traveling from town to town, living out of a pack. Pushing herself on an elbow, she carefully withdrew from Natsu's arms and looked down at him.

Natsu's calm features made her smile, his lips slightly parted as he mumbled something in his sleep. A shudder ran down her spine the longer she held herself out of the blanket on her elbow, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from him, wondering just what was on his mind to make him appear so calm out here. With a sigh, she remembered that he didn't feel the difference in temperature like she did. She wondered if he ever felt any extreme heat or cold. Kissing his forehead gently, Mirajane pushed away from him again, determined to get up this time. The woman rubbed her arms and grabbed another sweatshirt before pulling her jacket on to stave off the cold morning air before setting her mind at making breakfast for them, knowing Natsu would be starving whenever he woke up.

Warming her hands by the fire that Natsu had started just before they went to bed, Mirajane drug her pack over and pulled out a skillet and a couple of eggs and sausages before setting the pan directly on the coals of the fire, settling some more firewood against the coals to ensure it would keep going. As if the smell of the food brought him out of his sleep, Natsu raised his head, his nose leading him out of their makeshift bed. "Morning." He grumbled squeezing his eyes shut before raising his arms high above his head in a stretch. With a groan, Natsu pushed himself to his feet and rolled up the bedding to put it back on top of his pack.

Mirajane smiled over at him for a moment before focusing back on breakfast. "You looked like you were sleeping good, dream of anything special?" Finishing up the food, Mirajane tentatively tested the heat of the handle on the skillet before taking it off the flames, scooping more than half of the food into a bowl before offering the skillet towards Natsu. Natsu frowned as he peaked at the amount in her bowl, but couldn't hold it long. He broke into a grin and took the skillet from her, kissing her gently on the forehead with a whisper of thanks.

"Actually, it was a good dream if you really want to know. I dreamt about our daughter and how many people she will grow up to defeat." Natsu commented plopping to the ground next to her, stuffing his mouth with a large metal spoon. He let out a low moan of appreciation, casting Mirajane a bright smile. "Have you thought about… what kind of child we will have?" He asked between bites.

Mirajane finished off her food faster than Natsu had as her appetite much larger than it had been before. She couldn't help but think it had something to do with the already famous Dragon Slayer child within her. She wasn't far enough along to need this much food, but seeing how much Natsu ate on a regular basis, she couldn't help but wonder if it was his magic that had caused her sudden change in appetite. "Of course I think about it. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't think of our child?" Mirajane looked down at her empty bowl and felt her stomach churn at the thought. "It's still hard to believe we are going to be parents. I'm excited." She confessed pressing a hand over her stomach.

Natsu reached over and placed his warm hand over hers, looking into her eyes for a moment, smiling brightly. "You are going to make a fine mother, I hope you know that. Now come on, we only have a few hours to walk to get there. We should get started as soon as possible." Natsu's smile faltered for a moment so brief that Mirajane wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. She shook her head at the idea; there was no reason for him to feel any sort of regret or sense of nervousness that she knew of. Taking his hand in hers, Mirajane brought it up to her cheek for a moment and sighed at the warm feeling over her cool skin. The two locked eyes for a few more moments before standing and dawning their packs.

The two made slow progress through the morning with stiff muscles from lying on the ground for the past week. Mirajane was happy to have Natsu hold her hand, his warmth traveling through her thin gloves to ensure her body wouldn't catch cold. The closer they got to their destination, Mirajane couldn't help but notice that Natsu had become more excited, but she could detect the slight worry in his eyes until finally she couldn't hold it back any longer. "Is everything okay Natsu? You really seem out of it this morning." She asked concerned, still keeping up their steady pace.

Natsu reached back with his free hand and scratched the back of his head, knowing he had been caught. "It's nothing really, don't worry about it. I am just a little anxious to be back there after so long. I used to visit this place once a year until we got stuck on Tenroujima for those seven years… I don't know what to expect when we get there, I just hope it hasn't been destroyed. Igneel had a few enemies in the forest, but they wouldn't come around whenever they knew I would show up, so maybe they haven't been around. I'm still worried though." He added that last part under his breath, hoping she didn't hear it.

Mirajane smiled sadly and squeezed his hand in response, opting to take the silent route. How long had it been since she had been to her own parent's grave? More than ten years, she couldn't bring herself to relive that pain, but she didn't forget about them. "Are you worried we might leave our child the same way our parents left us?" She asked after a couple of hours of comfortable silence.

Natsu stopped and tugged on her hand, bringing her to a stop as well. Taking her other hand in his he shook his head with a small smile. "I don't see that ever happening, because we know how much it hurts to lose someone that close to you. If one of us does… pass on… the other will have to stay with our daughter, or son, to make sure they knew how much the other one loved them." His smile brightened and he looked over her shoulder, seeing a small clearing up ahead. "Now, no more talk about passing on, neither of us is going to die anytime soon if I have anything to say about it."

Mirajane nodded and returned his smile with one of her own and allowed herself to be pulled forward. As soon as they broke through the tree line, Mirajane stood still and simply took everything in. The clearing appeared to be several hundred feet across to a mountain wall where a large cavern entrance appeared. In the distance she could see the mist coming off of a waterfall, the sound of rushing water filling her ears. She smiled and let go of his hand to walk through the tall, unkempt grass towards the cavern only to stop just out front of it. There were piles of animal bones there, but they appeared to be several weeks, if not months, old.

A lone, quiet, howl split through the wind from deep inside the cavern, halting Mirajane from proceeding deeper inside. She wasn't afraid of a lone wolf, but it was rare that there would be just one wolf, it always got difficult whenever they ran around in packs. A small squeak of surprise leapt from her throat. She looked down to see Natsu's hand gently resting on her hip and eased her tense muscles. "As long as we stay near this entrance they shouldn't bother us, they will use the exit near the waterfall if they have to leave." Natsu said in an effort to calm Mirajane further.

Mirajane nodded to herself, running a hand through her long white hair. "So, do you plan on telling me why you insisted I come here or do I have to force it out of you?" She asked watching him out of the corner of her eye.

Natsu sighed to himself and withdrew his hand from her side, turning completely towards her. "I wasn't being completely honest with you before. I know exactly what being husband and wife mean to me, and it isn't that they don't mean anything; they actually mean a lot to me because it makes you happy that we are married. But for me, it isn't enough. Lovers or spouses, they aren't enough for me because there is a deeper meaning to what I feel for you. I don't just love you Mirajane, I need you. You are my mate. You can never be anything less than that, no matter what your feelings towards me turn to. Whether you stay with me until we grow old and die or you laugh me off and leave me, you will be the only one for me. That is why I really left after that first night. Looking down at you like that… I couldn't help but see what I was doing to you, what I was going to put you through."

Mirajane tilted her head to the side, not quite understanding what it was he was saying. "What do you mean I'm your mate Natsu? The only mate's I know is between animals where they can't choose another lover because the pack dictates that they are to be together for procreation. Don't tell me you are only with to procreate… I don't want to be just a baby maker for you." Her eyes tearing up and she shook her head. "I can't just be that for you, I never thought…" Her words trailed off, not believing what she was hearing.

Natsu reached out and laid a hand over her arm gently, smiling and shaking his head. "Mira, that isn't what I'm saying, you are more to me than someone to have a child with. I love you Mirajane, you and only you. In a way you are right, you are my one and only lover. You are the one person that I can look for in a mate. I chose you before we decided to make love for the first time. I brought you here because this is where we finish the… well it's a ritual of sorts. That's the best way to say it anyways." He confessed while scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"You mean to say that you can love no other, no matter what I choose?" Mirajane questioned. She stood there while looking down into the cave before turning to Natsu, meeting his eyes and holding them with her own serious gaze. Seeing the determination in his eyes she grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, moving to stand over him before lying down on top of him, pressing their chests together. "What do I need to do to complete the ritual?" She asked slyly, pressing her lips to his neck.

Natsu smiled and wrapped his arms around her back. "It's quite simply really. All we have to do is… Okay it isn't as easy as I thought it might be. Even though you already have my child in you, you have to accept my power into you, which in turn will complete the ritual."

"I accept everything you have Natsu, you should already know that." Mirajane said sitting up on his lap to look down at him.

Natsu shook his head in response. "Not like that. You have to accept my power into you. Hold out your hand." He said raising his own, bringing a flame to his palm." Mirajane complied with his wishes, looking down at him while she held her hand out in front of her, palm up. Natsu held her eyes and let out a long, deep breath before placing the flame in her hand. As soon as it touched her skin it flared brightly before losing it's brilliance to turn into a small red stone. "You have to accept this into your body." He said shaking his head slightly. "If you don't want to you don't have to, I will not fault you for it. Everyone has the point that they are willing to go up to, if this is it…" He trailed off, closing his eyes. He couldn't say it, didn't want to say it, this was why he was afraid to tell her, why he had to bring her all the way out here before he could tell her about this part of their relationship.

"I accept everything about you Natsu, whether it is your child or your undying love… or your power. If you have to question it, maybe you need to take a look at what we have gone through together. I only want you; I only want to be the one person you can look to for help. I would do anything for you Natsu." Holding his eyes she brought the crystal of power to her chest and closed her eyes while holding it to her skin. She didn't know exactly what she was doing or how she was supposed to do with the crystal. She simply followed what he heart told her. Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Mirajane arched her back and felt the crystal melt in her hand to flood into her body, sending fire racing through her veins.

With a cry of passion, Mirajane fell against Natsu once again, her lips falling to claim his. Natsu kissed her back heatedly, thoroughly turned on at the display she had put on for him. Breaking the kiss he looked into her eyes. "One last step… From here you can't stop it; I won't be able to control it…" His body shook briefly before flipping her over with his body covering hers. He smiled down and kissed her again, pressing his erection against her. Mirajane smiled and dug her fingers into his hair, knowing where the night was going.

As always, R & R please!