Author's Notes: Good news, everyone! I lied about this being two chapters! It's actually going to be three! Thanks so much to all who reviewed, followed and favorited! You can expect the final chapter before the week is over! With that said, on to the story!

It's Just That Time of Year Again

Chapter 2

By The Wumbologist

The sight of Natsu running around town wasn't anything new; by now the town of Magnolia was used to the infectious grins, loud voices and energetic personalities of the boy and his small blue cat. The sight of Natsu today however, head tilted upwards and sniffing the air intently, was definitely not normal. Bystanders could only watch in confusion as he turned a corner into a side street, a seemingly random path guided by... his nose?

It's getting stronger. He sniffed the air again. The faint scent he had noticed in the guild hall was much stronger now than it was at first... It was calling to him, an alluring scent that tickled his nostrils, hastened his heartbeat and pulled at every fiber of his being. Reaching the end of the alleyway he had entered, he stopped again to smell the air. After a short while he turned again and started down the street, ignoring the bewildered stares to follow his nose to wherever it led him. That dumb Gajeel, he thought, I can't believe he'd go in the opposite direction. This scent is too good!

At another whiff of the mystery smell, any thoughts of the Metal Dragon Slayer had left his mind. Natsu was a man on a mission; he was resolved to find the source of that wonderful smell. The scent had permeated his being and had taken over his senses. With every step he was getting that much closer to the origin.

3:17 PM... Lucy looked up from her watch to the small blue-haired girl walking in front of her. They had arrived at the train station about an hour ago and made a quick stop at a small café for lunch. Normally they would have parted ways following lunch and headed home to relax but something was definitely strange about Wendy.

During lunch she was unusually quiet and distant, focused on what Lucy had assumed to be the smell she had mentioned earlier. Immediately following lunch she had left without saying a word, wandering down the street with her eyes closed and her nose in the air. After exchanging another set of worried glances with Carla, Lucy and the two cats had decided to follow the young girl to wherever her destination lay; though the three had no idea what was going on, there was no way they were going to leave Wendy alone.

Any attempts to talk to Wendy had ended in failure; the girl was so fixated on following the scent that she had ignored the three and so, almost half an hour now they had followed the girl in uncomfortable silence. Secretly, Lucy wished that Wendy would find whatever it was she was looking for... The heels she was currently wearing were not suited for walking.

"If you can't walk in 'em then what's the point?" Natsu's voice echoed in her head as she pouted. Natsu, with his dirty travelling clothes and oversized scarf was an unrefined mess. There was no way he could understand the hardships of being a woman and trying to look presentable... She doubted he even knew what "looking presentable" meant. The teen had absolutely no sense for fashion!

Wendy's sudden stillness broke Lucy from her tangent. Her secret wish had been granted, apparently, as Wendy had seemingly found what she had been looking for. Walking slowly to stand beside the young girl, she followed her intense gaze to an intersection up ahead. Whatever Wendy was waiting for would be coming soon.

Lucy could feel the sweat beginning to trickle down her forehead as she watched the intersection. She felt a sense of apprehension; what could it be that would cause Wendy to act so weird? She heard a small gasp as a pink-haired figure rounded the corner, his demeanor mirroring Wendy's only moments before.

"Natsu?" It was Happy who meekly called out to him. Normally the Exceed would be ecstatic at seeing his best friend but he wasn't sure if Natsu was over his mood yet... It was the reason he broke into Lucy's apartment to take a nap. After all, who could sleep with Natsu constantly tossing and turning and complaining during the night?

The Fire Dragon Slayer didn't say a word as he approached them. He wore an intense look, one that completely unnerved Lucy as he came to stand in front of the group. The two parties exchanged stares, but Lucy could only look at her feet as she felt Natsu's gaze pass over her. He was studying them; he was searching for something... Whatever it was had to have been the same thing that attracted Wendy.

"Natsu, wha- EEEK!" She had just opened her mouth to say something when she was cut off by Natsu, who had taken a step forward to stand directly in front of her. He was in her personal space now but it was clear from the look in his eyes that it didn't matter to him at the moment; heedless of the blush that appeared on her face he began to sniff at the air around her.

Lucy could only stand in stunned silence at the strange behavior. Natsu certainly wasn't a normal guy; really, nobody at Fairy Tail was anything you could consider "normal". But this. Getting right in her face! Smelling her like she was a bottle of shampoo! This was bizarre behavior, even for Natsu. Just what the hell did the first week of August do to him...?

A dissatisfied grunt caused her to turn her head to follow him as he continued his inspection. Whatever he was looking for, he didn't find it in her... She couldn't help but sigh in relief as Natsu turned his scrutinizing gaze on the two cats; first glossing over Happy then fixing on an obviously unnerved Carla. It was only a short while before he grunted again, obviously not happy with the results.

It was then that he turned to face Wendy; the younger Dragon Slayer showed no signs of being intimidated, however. To Lucy's surprise Wendy was staring straight back at the older boy, their intense gazes mirroring each other as they stared intently. When he leaned in to inhale her scent she did the same; wordlessly they proceeded to explore the other, ignoring the three standing right beside them.

Lucy could only stare. This was weird. Too weird. Here she was standing in the middle of the street, watching as her two friends sniffed each other. She looked over at the two cats; Carla held a dumbfound expression, clearly she was as confused as Lucy. Happy, on the other hand, was hiding a chuckle underneath his paw. She didn't even have to ask what was so funny as the blue cat suddenly spoke up.

"They llllllllllllliiiiiiiike each other!"

Lucy sighed. Happy would make an observation like that. Didn't that damned cat have anything better to do than make people feel awkward? When she turned her head to watch the two Dragon Slayers, however, Happy's statement suddenly didn't seem so farfetched...

Two Dragon Slayers... The gears were turning in Lucy's head.

Strong smells...

Weird behavior...

Agitated Natsu...

"Whenever early August rolls around he suddenly starts PMSing..." Gray's warning played in her head.

Oh no... It couldn't be...

"I never knew you smelled so good Wendy!" Natsu drew back from the young girl, a satisfied smile gracing his face.

"You too, Natsu-san... Did you do anything different today?" She smiled timidly at him.

He shook his head. "Not that I remember... Oh, I did take a bath yesterday. Maybe it's the soap!"

Lucy was mortified. It's definitely NOT the soap you idiot!

Natsu broke into a wide grin as an idea suddenly hit him. "Say, Wendy, wanna hang out with me today?"

Say no! Come on Wendy! Deny him! "I'd love to, Natsu-san!" Damn it, Wendy!

He held out his arm and she took it as the two happily began walking down the street, leaving a panicked Lucy and the two cats behind.

"Hey! You two! Where are you going? You can't just leave us here!" Lucy was protesting but her words fell on deaf ears; the two Dragon Slayers ignored her as they made their way down the street.

"Lucy is jealous!" A laugh sounded from beside her. Looking down, she found Happy giggling while nudging Carla with his elbow.

The nerve! Did Happy really not see what was going on here? This was no time for his stupid jokes! A young girl's innocence was on the line! Lucy was fuming now... One more word out of him and she would punt kick him into the horizon!

Fortunately for Happy, he was saved from Lucy's wrath by a timely intervention from Carla. "You idiot! This is no time for jokes! We have to stop them before things get out of hand!" He scratched his head sheepishly at the rebuke. Happy clearly didn't understand the situation; in fact, he was frustratingly carefree about it. There was no time to explain, however. With a quick glance at Lucy, the two sped off in the direction of the Dragon Slayers.

It only took a few seconds for Lucy and Carla to catch up to the two who walked arm-in-arm. Wasting no time Lucy had made her move, reaching her hand out to them.

"Natsu! Wendy! You two can't-"

The moment she had touched Wendy's small shoulder she had regretted it. An oppressive and nasty aura had suddenly surrounded the two Dragon Slayers; it was too much for the poor blonde, whose face paled as she felt the strength draining from her legs and sunk to the ground. From her kneeling position on she looked up to see the menacing glares of the two, fierce growls emanating from both of them.

Lucy, on her part, was terrified. Her two good friends, both beloved in the guild for their amicable personalities and the joy their mere presences brought, were standing there growling at her. At any other time the prospect of Wendy growling would have made her coo at how cute it was, but this was nothing like what Lucy would have imagined. The glare Wendy shot at Lucy was a murderous one that she had no idea the small girl was even capable of making; it was a glare with a clear message: Don't interfere.

She could feel herself tear up at the fear that had suddenly consumed her. When they faced her, eyes narrowed and fangs bared, she could literally see the presence of two dragons behind them; one, a pure red that exhaled a plume of fire with every breath, and the other, a brilliant white that could blow away an entire town with the flap of its wings.

By Mavis, was this what Natsu's enemies saw when they pissed him off?

Her eyes were scrunched closed, the overwhelming pressure she felt tempting her to curl up into a ball and cry. But as suddenly as it had come on, the menacing aura she had felt from being in close proximity had ceased and she looked up shakily to see the two Dragon Slayers happily headed on their way. Their bright smiles were an eerie and unnerving contrast to the dark sneers from only seconds ago. She began taking deep breaths, willing herself to calm down.

"Lucy... Are you okay?" Happy, who had made his way over to her after the horrifying display, was obviously worried for her well-being. At her silence, he glanced over at an equally shocked Carla before trying again.

"Lucy! Hey! They're gone..." He tugged at her arm in an attempt to shake her out of her stupor.

They're gone... That was true in more than one sense of the word. Lucy knew she couldn't reach them now. None of them could. Who in their right mind would have enough fortitude to stare those monsters in the face, much less separate them...

It was then that the answer became clear. Lucy wasn't strong enough to stand up to Natsu. Even with the combined might of her Celestial Spirits she would never be able to reign in the rampaging dragon, and she was damned happy that she didn't have to. There was one person in the guild that made it her duty to keep Natsu in check; the only one who could possibly put a stop to this madness...

Suddenly jumping to her feet, Lucy began to sprint in the direction of the guild hall. Heels be damned, she had to make it in time.

Only one word escaped her lips as she ran.

"E-E-E-E-ERZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

More Notes: Originally I had planned to have this chapter end the story but halfway through I realized it would be too long. The end result is the "To Be Continued..." ending you see here. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I revised my other story, Boy's-Friends and Girl's-Friends; I split it into two chapters for easier reading. If you haven't seen it yet (or you just love it so much you want to read it again), then please check it out! It's another NatWen story, and since you're here I know you love that pairing!

And now, to reply to some of the reviews I received:

Sable1212: I'm glad you like this pairing; the more support, the better! Nice observation about Laxus, I'll definitely include it in the next chapter!

Andore-kun: Thanks so much for your support, it means a lot to me for you to have read both of my stories and have praise for them. I do love reviews and I'd always appreciate having more but I'm not too worried about getting a hundred reviews every time I post a new chapter. The whole reason I started writing was because I wanted to explore alternate pairings and situations; I'm a guy who, for some reason, doesn't really like the "canon" or "popular" pairings for any given medium, whether it be anime, game, etc. So, I'm more than happy that I can make something to cater to the people like me, and for the people who are hungering for something different from the mundane (I'm looking at you, Lucy leaves the guild for x years and comes back as a vampire/dragon slayer/badass/lesbian!)

Not to bash anyone though, obviously. Everyone has their preferences and it's fantastic that people want to write things for their favorite pairings. I'm just in it to try something different, and maybe inspire a few people along the way.

FaiRy-TaiL-MaGe202: Indeed, I didn't think I had it in me; I'm really liking how things are turning out though, as well as the support I'm getting. About Romeo, it certainly seems that way, doesn't it? Pairing them together just because they're close in age... It doesn't make sense to me. It seems like the more we talk about this though, the more we're going to end up character bashing Romeo (which wasn't my intention in the first place, even though I was a little mean to him :P). I was just curious; I wanted to know if there was some plot point I was missing or something. Guess not...

I am Awesome: You are awesome and I love you too. I'd love you more though if you made an account and followed/favorited me :P