Knowing it from the beginning.

(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.

This chapter was made with the help of NxE-Forever.)

Chapter 5: Blend the future Part 5 – I missed you, I'll kill you.

(Brammingmont's southern border, near the forest.)

'You know what will happen when you meet again with her…'

He ran down the streets, the sound of fighting on the forest in front of him getting louder by each step he took. He exited the city without looking back at the fight his friends were having behind, fully knowing that the odds were against them but also knowing that their enemy was not one to take lives for nothing.

'…The moment your eyes cross, your resolve will weaken…'

He moved low branches out of his path, his hands and legs were moving automatically and his breathing was hard, the sounds of explosions and dust rising everywhere was not a good sign. He quickened his pace.

'…The wall that you built in order to keep it a secret…'

Another explosion was heard, something made a path of destruction in its wake and he realized the fight was running away from him. He clenched his teeth in frustration and stopped where he was. He looked at the ground while the voice still echoed inside his head. He needed to get there faster or he would just waste energy for nothing.

'…Will crumble to pieces, leaving your heart…'

He concentrated his fire to his feet, these rapidly engulfing in flames. He now needed to know his destination; he raised his head to look at where the fight stopped.

'…Wide open to be care and love…'

Another explosion, movement to his right, then stop; there it was, eight hundred meters to the north-east from where he was standing. He lost no time in using his magic to propel himself to the fray that his friend and… his other friend; who-was-not-supposed-to-be-know-as-his-friend, were battling.

'…And stab in the back and abandoned when you least expect it…'

He soured through branches and leafs until he met with the sky and the smoke from where the last explosion came. He used his arms to give direction to his wild propulsion. A look of determination setting over his face, a feeling that was distant coming back to him and giving him chills down his spine with every meter he grew closer.

'…Beware Natsu, because love is a double edge sword. It can make us strong like a god and weak like a fly at the same time…'

"I don't care!" He screamed to the wind, his determination turning to anger when the last part of the speech came to his mind. "All I want is to save her now! I'll bother with the consequences later!"

'…Live the present with your heart; keep both eyes cautiously in the future and your brain in the past as to not repeat the same mistakes from yesterday, my friend…'

He was inside the dust cloud now, he needed to use his strengthened senses to scan the area and find his friend before the battle move to somewhere else again.

'…Natsu, I know your future but the path to it can only be made by you and only you. All you need is to remember what I previously said and have the courage to make the things you haven't dare to do before… That's all I can say, as to not distort the future more than what it already is. Until next time we meet again, good luck… '

He started by smelling; no good, the cloud covered most of the scents.

His eyes couldn't discern much in the dense dust that the clashing between mages cause.

His hearing was the last he could use, so he concentrated in the sounds near him.

There was someone panting to his left and someone walking slowly to the middle of the battlefield to the right. That was good to start, but it didn't help when you are in a situation like this one you could go to the obvious choice and surprise yourself with being wrong.

He sighed.

Why did they need to make it difficult to him?

He landed hard on the ground, making his presence be known to both fighters and made a little magic release to disperse the dust around him. Now it was clearer for him and he could distinguish the scents and discern the figures around him. He felt the urge to punch something, scream and laugh at the same time; since the situation was the contrary to what he imagined, to his left was Asis trying to stand up, bruises and cuts everywhere on her body while Erza stood immobile to his right, her Heaven's Wheel armor on and ready to shot five swords at her enemy; but Natsu remembered the sound of her moving to the center. What made her stop? Was it him? Was she wondering if he was an illusion made by the enemy to make a run for it? Or maybe… the sight before her was too much to bear? After all, the look on her face told him something like that, and it was the fact that they haven't seen each other after five years, two months, one week, three days, ten hours and thirty-seven minutes that made him realize that.

But… hey, who's counting?

He turned in her direction and relaxed his muscles, all of his worries being washed away when his eyes meet with her in the middle of the still clearing dust. He smiled nostalgically before raising one hand to wave it at her; two simple words that he said where enough to make her understand that he was not an illusion or a dream.

"I'm back…" He said it, it sounded cliché but he couldn't think of a better word for the moment. Erza stood her ground, trembling. Her hands clenched as she gritted her teeth after equipping into her normal armor.

"Erza, I..." Natsu was interrupted when her fist kissed Natsu's cheeks, a movement that he hadn't thought about when he imagined how their reunion would occur. Needless to say, he was sent flying backwards 20 yards away, surprising Asis; who took the chance to move away from the place, and leaving him almost unconsious if it weren't be because of his high resistance. Natsu was about to shout at Erza when she jumped on top of him, tears falling down her cheeks from both of her eyes. He kept his mouth shut, he knew what she was about to say.

"5 years, Natsu! 5, bloody, years and not a single letter?" Erza shouted. Natsu blinked, confused by Erza's reaction and words. Wasn't she about to question him about the incident in the guild? Wasn't she going to question him about his possible implication with the foreigner's attacks on Fiore? Did she really care about it or was just letting it slide to question him later? Natsu didn't understand a thing so he did the only thing that came to his mind. Stay quiet and listen.

"I was worried, Natsu…What if something had happened to you?" Erza asked, softly. Natsu smiled and relaxed, stretching his hands out and pulling Erza's head to his chest while he got his torso up from the ground. "What if you suffered the same as Gildartz with that black dragon?"

"I'm… sorry… I really am…" Natsu muttered, embracing her. Erza closed her eyes; forgetting her worries for a moment and allowing herself to relax in Natsu's embrace. It felt good to have him back with her, after so long, after that day when they spent an afternoon together under a tree just the two of them with the silence of the forest.

Asis took the chance to leave the place completely, even if her curiosity wanted to see more of the soft side of her leader, the need to heal her wounds called stronger. She could annoy the hell out of him later. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

She couldn't leave just like that, so she prepared a little surprise for the both of them. She kneeled down and put her hands on the grass, her magic seal appearing momentarily before disappearing. This got her tired so she inhaled some air, used a close tree to help her stand up and started to get away from the place.

Meanwhile, the other two, were still hugging each other calmly in the middle of the boulder that Erza did earlier while fighting against Asis. Natsu opened his eyes after a few minutes passed, his body feeling warmer than usual with his scarlet haired friend close to him. He blushed slightly at the position they held together and took a peek at her face, it seemed like she had calmed down her crying. Something that made him feel guilty but happy at the same time, he supposed they were tears of joy for seeing him again and not of sadness for his stupidity at not writing a single letter.

"Do you like me, Erza?" Natsu asked while grabbing her from the shoulders and moving her away so he could see her reaction at the question, and she could see that he was seriously asking her that. And she wasn't expecting that question… so soon.

"Huh! ? Why do you say that?" Erza raised an eyebrow, with a small blush that passed through the wall that kept her emotions in check creeping over her cheeks. Natsu swapped their positions effortlessly, allowing him to straddle her waist much to her surprise. Hands at both sides of her head, letting her know that he wasn't going to let her go unless she answered the question.

"Because you cried… Lucy did not even cry when I first saw her after this five years." Natsu said as if that answered all the questions and doubts. She suddenly felt like a spotlight was pointed solely at her, waiting for her lines in a theater play. Natsu was about to scream victory when she suddenly came up with an answer.

"Of course not and when did you become smart?" Erza countered, clearly confuse by the pink haired's new insight of things. She should have kept her emotions in check next time, if she was going to keep her feelings secret from him.

"Ever since I saw the world for myself, Erza, I have matured. I am not the same Natsu anymore." Natsu smirked; clearly proud of the achievement he did during the five years he was out. But… that maturity of which he talked about wasn't really complete to say the least.

"You've become matured then, so much that you dare to straddle my waist?" Erza asked with a small smile and a raise eyebrow. Natsu; who was oblivious to that, realized their position and blushed, hastily getting up and moving away from her a few feet with his back turned to her. She felt like laughing for his still innocent mind and how she managed to avoid the previous question, but shrugged the thought off when she heard what she wanted to hear from him.

"I-I'm sorry." Natsu turned around again and held down a hand to help her get up, his head looking away from her with a small blush still in place. Erza's smile widened as she pulled herself up using the help of his hand, dusting off her skirt after he release her hand. "I'm sorry for the letter thing too, sorry for everything…"

She was about to dismiss his apologies and ask him about his travels when she felt two strong arms embracing her, a familiar warm heating her body while a soft voice whispered words that almost made her cry again.

"Hey, Erza… I'm back… I really am." Natsu tighten his grip on Erza's body with a sad yet happy smile and closed eyes. She imagine the look on his face and how hers was doing the same, the feeling being too strong again, she let her eyes cry for the second time that day, meanwhile, her arms move to return the hug with the same feeling.

"Welcome back, Idiot." She muttered softly through his scarf, today was a good day.

(Brammingmont, somewhere in the city.)

This wasn't a good day at all in Gray's opinion. Natsu was hiding something from the guild, he went to meet Erza; whom he was sure was about to kill the poor bastard, and a dragon slayer of the same element as Laxus was fighting against him and Lucy. Certainly, how could that be a good day? The Rune Knights could appear now and help them fight the foreigners, and he would still think that the day was a complete and total shit. Another explosion was heard close by, it seemed like the man was searching for them while destroying everything in his path. How Natsu. He looked in the direction where Lucy was lying and saw her still unconscious with Loki taking care of her, the celestial being raising only his eyes to look in Gray's direction when the man called for his attention.

'I'll go and make him follow me away from you two…' He hand-signaled the lion. Loki only nodded with mild approval, a look that Gray understood as 'Take care, don't die.' settling on his face before returning to the care of his beloved Lucy, with Virgo appearing to give him a hand in the ice-maker's place.

'Here goes nothing.' Gray thought while standing up and running in the opposite direction of his friends, his hands doing the usual Ice make movement and turning the whole street in ice for him to move faster by skiing. It seemed that the use of magic alerted the man, if the explosions coming through the roofs were something to take into account. The form of his enemy soon came into view; a grin so big that Gray could sworn that it was going to crack his face in half, showing how happy he was for finding his prey.

"There you are!" Literio screamed as his body moved fast while jumping through the roofs and breaking everything that his feet touched. Gray frowned but said nothing, preferring to stay quiet and continue to divert his attention from his unconscious friend. "Hey! Stop! Let's talk!"

"…"

"If that's how you want it! Fine!" Literio wasted no time and speed up, easily beating Gray's speed and jumping down from the roof to interrupt the other's movement. Gray stopped skiing and waited for the other to make a movement, fully knowing that his enemy was not one to take on lightly. "You know, I bet that your partner isn't going to come out of my attack with just some scratches…"

"No, I didn't know, why don't you tell me more of what you know, since we're at it…" Gray asked persuasively, trying to gain some info of his enemy, the urge of beating the crap out of him for what he did to the blonde kept in check. He just heard a laugh, the man started to walk in his direction with a raise fist which didn't take long to be engulf in lightings. Gray crossed his arms in front of him, expecting a frontal attack but instead he was met with another laugh. He looked at the man with a raise eyebrow, to what the other let an amused smile slip on his face.

"Come on, man, why don't we forget about this and you join us?" He asked amused but sincerely, showing that he didn't want to fight against him if possible. Gray snorted, a confident smile creeping on his face while his hands prepare to do his magic.

"Sorry, can't do, I'm loyal to my friends…" Gray was about to freeze the man's feet when the reply to his answer came.

"But are your friends loyal to you, Gray Fullbuster?" Literio had such a serious look on his face, that Gray understood the man knew something that he didn't, making him stop completely to think about it… and lower his guard. Which the blonde haired man didn't lose the opportunity left to him to be taken, he ran to Gray quickly and when he was close he prepared to kick him fully on the chin with one of his dragon-slayer techniques. "Lightning Dragon's Reversed Thunder!"

Gray was sent flying to one of the closer rooftops, falling hardly on the top with his back without chance to turn in midair and fall on his feet and hands because of the numbing sensation that the man's attacks left on him, and left Lucy and Taurus out of combat in record time. "Y-you bastard…"

"Yeah, yeah… Blame the honest one for your own faults…" Literio said while jumping to the rooftop where Gray was, walking calmly to the man's side and sitting beside him while looking how the other struggled to raise up. "You know, you remind me of a close friend of mine… He never surrendered a fight, even if the odds were against him and always tried to give his best in combat… Even if that got him closer to dead…"

"Y-yeah? Sounds like someone from my guild, we're all like that…" Gray said while giving his everything to stand up and stay firmly on his feet, the man not bothering to rise from his sitting position, instead just turning to look in the direction of the lake.

"That's good! It means that I'll have something to entertain myself… After I finish you and your friend, that its!" Gray gathered strength and tried to give the man a piece of his mind with a punch but he met only air. He looked at his sides to see where he could have gone to, but a voice from behind make him froze still. "You know that it's not good to attack someone who is talking, right?"

"Sorry, I always had a problem in staying still while the enemy talked…" Gray now tried to give the man a backward kick but it was stopped with just one hand, the man making a disappointed sound while saying 'no' with the finger of his other hand.

"You're in no condition of continuing my friend, why don't you take the chance to talk and recover? I'll give you all the time you need!" Gray felt insulted at the man's strangely happy proposal; he was toying with him and that didn't settled well with him so he took the chance to release his leg, take a step back and prepare to use his magic on him.

"Ice make! Lance!" Gray extended his arms forward; creating long, curved ice lances that he shoot toward the man, with the intention of impale him. Literio frown at the move, hoping for the other to take on his offer, but he should have expected this to happen. He raise an arm to stop the attack but then, his eyes widened, it was too much strong for him to stop it like the others. A cloud of debris and dust rose from the attack's effect on the area and Gray took the opportunity to jump to another roof, making some distance from his enemy.

"Hahaha!" He heard the laugh coming from within the cloud that was clearing, he saw the man with his sleeves shattered and some cut on his arms. It seemed like he was able to stop the attack but not without getting some wounds in the process, Gray smirked, not for anything he was an S-class mage. Literio laugh a little more before turning completely serious and shooting a death glare at the ice mage. "You were saving your strength to fight my partner, right?"

"You could say that, yes, you never know…" Literio growled at the answer, his body engulfing with lightings again, a look of hatred settling on his face while he clenched his teeth and curl his hands into fists.

"Don't take me lightly, Ice-boy!" He screamed before jumping at Gray with both fists raised, the black haired only took a defensive position and waited for the attack. Literio started to spin in the air, extending his legs down and his arms to the sides, lightings growing in quantity and power. "Lightning Dragon's Thunderstorm!"

"Ice make! Shield!" Gray created a large shield made of ice in front of him, whose shape vaguely resembled that of a flower, and tried to use it to cover himself from the coming attack. When both magics collide, another explosion occurred and both fighters shoot out from the cloud of debris with heavy damages. The shield shattered at the contact with the attack but it also reflected half of the attack back on the enemy before being completely destroyed. In other words, both took damage, both shoot out from the clash zone flying. Gray spin in the air and fall in a kneeling position, seeing that he only got some cuts in his upper torso and some bruises in his arms, he concentrated on checking the condition of his opponent. Another laugh was heard. 'That is getting annoying…'

"Wow! I cannot believe you repel it!" Literio said while walking through the cloud of dust with his clothes tattered, a look that said that he wanted more, showed Gray that the fight wasn't going to end soon. "If you could do that, then you must be what in this country call an 'S-class mage'! Am I right?"

"Yeah…" Said Gray dryly, not lowering his guard for a second in an attempt to prevent something like before to happen again, Literio just grinned and got into a fighting position. Gray stood up from his kneeling position and copied him, his hand ready to make more ice if needed.

"Good… Then you are worthy, my name is Literio Éclair and you know my magic…" He said seriously, his fist engulfing with lightings again while the roof in which he was standing cracked down for the magical pressure he was releasing.

"Gray Fullbuster, you know that already, as well as my magic…" Gray smirked while gathering his magic, the floor freezing under him while he got ready to cast another set of ice lances. Literio nodded at the statement and started to walk in Gray's direction before switching to run at full speed, his opponent doing the exact same; only that this time, Gray took the initiative. "Ice Make! Lance!"

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" Literio countered with the Dragon-Slayer's signature attack, generating lightning in his mouth and releasing it in a concentrated, destructive blast, which in contact with Gray's attack provoked a massive explosion.

To be continued.

Here it is. No comments this time around. I'll just wait for your opinions. ^^

Thanks for your help NxE-Forever.! I hope to return the favor to you when you need some help.! =D

Now I'm leaving to get some deserve sleep, so I hope you guys liked it. Because I certainly did.

Saludos.