Greetings, everyone.

Today I decided to go with a new series I've liked for a while. Yup, Fairy Tail.

Just to clarify some stuff, my favorite parings happen to be fanon based.

I just love Erza and Mirajane, I think both could make a good couple with Natsu, but alas, that's just fiction now.

I also like Lucy a lot, but I have my preferences. Nothing personal.

This story, however, is going to be NatsuXOC. I want to write a story where Natsu learns about living like a normal person.

This story was heavily inspired by Kowaba's "Being Normal" fic, at least the whole "normal person" concept. That said, I want Erza to slowly notice the small changes in Natsu's nature after passing time with the OC. Like, seeing him maturing bit by bit. At least that's my intent.

As for my other fic (Five True Equal Brides) I'm not sure when I'll update again but I hope I don't take that long again.

Enjoy!

Ever since the war with the Alvarez Empire ended, peace reigned over the Kingdom of Fiore and most of Earthland. Nowadays, the home city of the famous Fairy Tail guild has been bustling with life.
Playing a very important role during the war was a big part of why Fairy Tail is considered the #1 guild in Earthland, which is not an exaggeration at all. Every day, tons of prospects travel from far away just to join the best guild of Fiore.

It can be said without a doubt that the guild has a big surplus of members. The always lovely barmaid, Mirajane, always giggles a bit when she is asked of how busy the guild is mission-wise. She says the flyers just keep on coming back and forth without rest. Not that she complains at all, she is happy that the guild hall is so lively and busy.

Even though that would spell more work for her and the other barmaids. What a kind soul Mirajane Strauss is.

Today was also another one of those days. Drinks and food being carried on food-trays by the guild workers one after the other. People laughing and talking to each other with such cheerful expressions on their faces—

"HUH!? A WHOLE MONTH?"

—well, of course there are exceptions. More specifically a certain pink-haired Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Why are you shouting...? Yes, you heard me right, Natsu." The voice belonged to no other than the fourth's Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar.

In contrast to the serene semblance that the old man wore on his face, the other person, Fairy Tail's very own "Salamander", Natsu Dragneel, was not so amused by something.

"Even after all these years you still have learnt nothing, brat! How come a simple ingredient recollection quest ended up in the destruction of half of the town's city hall!?" Makarov could feel a vein popping on his temple at his own words. Natsu just shrugged with crossed arms.

"Hey! One of the ingredients was a flying bug with a jewel on its back! It was impossible to catch it without using my flames to fly after it!" The pink-haired man argued against the charges he was accused of. The old master just sighed.

"…and did you managed to grab it?" Natsu just twitched his eyebrow in reply.

"Well, no but—"

"Haa~ Let's just forget about this, Natsu. I have to start doing the paperwork before the council starts nagging me about this and that. I'm glad Erza was there with you to finish the quest without further problems." A red-haired knight glanced over her shoulder when she heard someone calling her name. After taking the last bite of her beloved strawberry cake, Titania started making her way towards them.

"I heard someone saying my name. Is there a problem, Master?" Stated Erza Scarlet as soon as she arrived to where Natsu and Makarov were standing. Standing with grace and elegance, she put her hands on her waist and stared at the small man.

"It's okay Erza. I was just saying I'm glad you were able to stop this knucklehead before he could destroy more stuff." The master just pinched the bridge of his nose. Erza just nodded to herself and looked at Natsu.

"Oi!"

"It was nothing, Master. I already suspected something like this would take place. That is why I offered to accompany him on this quest. Still, Natsu—"

Her stoic expression turned a little scary as she stared at his teammate. Natsu shivered under her glare.

"—just how many times do I need to tell you to stop being so rash!? Good Lord, even though Mira went through the trouble of choosing a nice-paying quest for you. Seriously, it's about time you grow out of that destructive streak of yours." The scarlet haired girl went on and on with her scolding while Natsu just stared at the ground with an annoyed expression.

'Jeez, would it kill them to stop being so preachy about every single thing…?'

"Natsu, are you listening to me?" The young man was brought out of his stupor when he heard Erza's venomous voice and the mean-looking squint of her eyes directed at him. He knew better than to make Erza angry.

"Y-YES MA'AM!" He saluted in a military fashion while standing straight up. The knight just nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now, make sure to behave while I'm gone. Otherwise…" Natsu gulped down nervously when he saw her clenching her armored gauntlet. He nodded furiously. Makarov just sweatdropped at the exchange between his children.

"…anyway. Remember, Natsu. No quests allowed for a month. You are dismissed." Makarov stated before he walked towards his office. Natsu just slumped on the spot. Erza sighed at his unsightly behavior and grabbed him by the neck of his vest like a kitten.

"Now, now. You cannot stay there Natsu. You will disturb other people."

"Yes, yes…" He replied lazily.

"Just one 'yes' is enough." Erza then dropped him on a stool at the bar counter. Mirajane saw them both and made her way towards them.

"Welcome back, Natsu. Are you okay?" She asked with a gentle voice while wiping a mug clean. Erza just sighed and glanced towards the white-haired barmaid.

"He is just throwing a tantrum because Master banned him from taking missions for a month. Good grief… I hope you learned something from this ordeal, Natsu." Erza shook her head in annoyance.

"Oh my, that sounds tough. Give me a sec." Mirajane replied and started preparing something in the bar's kitchen. Natsu just tilted his head in confusion.

A couple of seconds later, Mirajane arrived with a plate full of flaming meat.

"Here. I know it won't change the situation but at least you won't be hungry." She giggled before she returned to take orders from the patrons.

"T-Thank you, Mira~!" With almost teary eyes at the girl's benevolence, Natsu engulfed the flaming dish in a matter of seconds.

"Hey, flame brain." An annoying voice brought Natsu back from his little moment. He just glanced to the source of the voice with a bored look on his face.

"Oh? Gray, you are back." Erza acknowledged his presence with a small smile.

"What do you want, stripper?" Natsu just lazily replied while slowly munching on a piece of meat.

"I heard gramps banned you from taking missions. Heh, no wonder your stupid ass is looking like crap more than usual." Gray Fullbuster, Ice-Make magic user and member of Team Natsu snorted while smirking at his rival.

"What did you say, ice princess!?"

"What you heard, you bastard!"

Soon enough, both mages were butting heads as usual. But before it could escalate into a guild fight, they were struck by a metal gauntlet.

"Don't fight!" Erza Scarlet once more intervened between the two rivals.

"Those two never change, huh?"

"But that's what it makes it fun here, right Carla?"

"Hmph. Not in the slightest."

Three new voices made themselves present. Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvel and her Exceed companion, Carla being the owners of said voices. The scarlet beauty smiled at them.

"Hello, Lucy, Wendy, Carla." All of them exchanged pleasantries and talked to each other for a while. Everything was just the usual at Fairy Tail.

Cana was drinking directly from a beer barrel. Mirajane and Lisanna were in charge of the bar. Elfman was spouting stuff about "being a man". Juvia was busy searching for Gray's scattered clothes. Gajeel was munching on a bunch of nails beside Levy who was reading a book.

Everything as usual when Team Natsu heard the guild doors being opened. Their surprise was even bigger when they saw who the visitors were.

"Hello. Is Erza here?" A blue-haired young man with a tattoo on his face asked as he made his way towards the guild hall. Right behind him, a pink haired girl followed.

"Hi there!" The girl waved with a small smirk.

"J-Jellal!" Erza could not help making a surprised sound while standing from her stool. The man, now identified as Jellal Fernandes alongside her teammate Meredy, smiled when gently when he noticed the scarlet haired woman he was looking for.

"I'm glad to see you here, Erza. I was looking for you." He walked towards the table where Team Natsu was sitting. All of them greeted him warmly. Except for Natsu, who was sulking for a different reason now.

Just for a little context, after the war with Alvarez ended, the Crime Sorciere members were officially pardoned by the Kingdom of Fiore and no longer needed to hide themselves. Erza of course was very happy about this, seeing that her childhood friend and the person who gave her her last name no longer needed to hide from everyone.

"W-Were you looking for me?" Erza replied with a small tinge of red on her cheeks. Jellal nodded in response.

"That is correct. I need your help, Erza. You see…" Right after exchanging greetings, Jellal went into detail about how Meredy found a Dark Guild at the outskirts of the country of Bosco, and now he was asking for her cooperation to take them down between the three of them.

"I see… we are dealing with slavers here." At the mention of the word "slavers", Erza's eyes squinted in silent fury. She suffered a lot during her childhood because of it, now it was time to help those who can't defend themselves.

"Understood. When are we leaving?" With renewed vigor, the scarlet knight asked with a serious expression over her face. Jellal nodded in acknowledgement.

"Right now, if possible." At his reply, Erza nodded and asked for a few minutes to prepare her stuff before departing. Just as she was about to exit the guild, Natsu stood up.

"W-Wait, Erza!" Hearing his voice after him being quiet for a while made her turn around.

"What is it, Natsu?"

"I'll go with you! I can help too!" The Dragon Slayer made his way towards Erza who was now standing next to Jellal and Meredy at the guild's entrance.

"No. You will stay here, Natsu."

"But—!"

"This is not up to debate, Natsu. Master forbade you from taking quests, remember?" Erza tried to reason with him, but Natsu would have none of that.

"This is not a mission anyways! It doesn't count right?"

"Even so, this is a very delicate and silent operation, and I am sorry to say but you are not apt for this kind of missions. You act on impulse and head on without thinking of a plan first."

"…" By this point Natsu knew nothing he said would make Erza change her mind on the matter. She is just like that.

"If only you were a little more like Jellal here." When he heard Jellal's name being brought to the conversation, and also comparing them, Natsu just sighed and gave up.

"…Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll just stay here until my punishment is finished, happy?" The pink-haired man just sat down once more and crossed his arms, showing how unhappy he was with the situation. This earnt a sigh from the mighty Titania.

"You are such a child. All right, everyone. I'll be taking my leave. I will see you all once we are finished." Without further ado, Erza Scarlet went out of the guild and made ways towards her room in Fairy Hills.

"It was a pleasure seeing you all, hopefully we'll be back within the next week." Jellal bowed his head a little bit before gesturing towards Meredy, who was happily chatting with Wendy and Lucy.

"See ya guys!" Leaving those words behind, both Crime Sorciere mages left the building.

As if nothing happened, Team Natsu moved on from the topic and made small talk between them, except for Natsu, who was leaning his head against the table.

'Jeez, I'm sorry I'm not Jellal…'

One would think Natsu was sulking because he was denied the opportunity to kick some serious ass. However, the fact that Erza of all people said all of that stuff rubbed him the wrong way. Why? You may ask?

Quite simple, actually.

Natsu Dragneel is in love with Erza Scarlet.

Love that was born from admiration and an indomitable desire to surpass her and show her his strength and dependability. He didn't even knew how it felt to fall in love with someone, it just happened. He wanted to be there to help the scarlet haired girl whenever she was in trouble or when she needed someone to hold onto. Natsu wanted to be that someone for her.

This was the reason Natsu started to ask Erza to go with him on missions, sometimes just the two of them. For someone who was raised by a dragon, he had 0 knowledge in the matters of the heart, so he just did what he thought was best. He spent tons of time with her, to show her he would always be by her side. He always tried to fight with all of his strength, to show her he could protect her from anything. Although this last one caused him to go overboard every single time.

Still, he didn't know better than that. No one has ever talked to him about love. He went with his instinct.

Of course, he wasn't stupid. He saw the way Erza reacted every time Jellal was there. He wasn't certain about what exactly his red-haired teammate thought about the Crime Sorciere mage, but he was sure she favored him a lot. To the point that she would compare him with Jellal himself.

'Tch.'

Natsu just sulked even further. He knew the blue haired man was not at fault. It seemed that Jellal was what Erza searched for in a man. Someone mature and level-headed. Ironic since it was the complete opposite of him.

'I guess I'm just running in circles.'

Deciding that pondering over such depressing thoughts was not worth his time, he decided to call it a day. He said goodbye to his friends and made his way towards his house.

Mirajane looked at him from the corner of her eyes. A soft sigh left her lips.

'Oh, Natsu...'

While walking home, Natsu stopped to look at his surroundings. The city of Magnolia grew a lot ever since peace reached the Kingdom of Fiore. Lots of new businesses opened and the streets were as busy as usual. Before he could resume his walk, he could hear a woman's voice approaching.

"P-Please move out of the way!"

"Eh?"

*THUD*

It all happened in a matter of seconds. With a grunt of pain, Natsu held his head while opening one of his eyes to see who collided with him.

"U-Ugh… I'm so sorry, Mr." A young brown-haired woman, who looked like she was on her 20's was lying on top of him. She had one hand over her chest, hugging a grocery bag while the other one was touching his abdomen. When she opened her eyes to look at him, Natsu saw a pair of dark brown eyes looking at him widely.

After a couple of seconds looking at each other, the woman just stood up while bowing her head in embarrassment.

"I'm very sorry! It wasn't my intention to bump into you!" Natsu shook his head lightly and dusted himself off.

"Nah, it's okay, don't worry 'bout it." When he looked downwards, he saw her groceries were spread all over the floor. Natsu bent down and started picking her stuff.

"A-Ah! I just bought them!" The woman copied Natsu and started picking up her groceries while putting them in her bag once more.

After a couple of seconds and all of her things secured, the woman scratched her cheek nervously.

"Oh my… I'm sorry you had to see such an embarrassing side of me." Natsu just lightly chuckled at her statement and smirked at her.

"It's okay, really! Are you okay…?" Natsu gestured for the woman to introduce herself.

"Sylvia. My name is Sylvia Veldi. You must be the famous Salamander." The woman, now identified as Sylvia smiled gently at Natsu, who nodded with a grin.

"Yup, Natsu Dragneel. Nice to meet ya!" He replied before he noticed how big the bag was compared to Sylvia's smaller frame.

"Here, let me carry those for you."

"Oh, no! I couldn't possibly bother you. You must have tons of missions you have to go." Natsu twitched when he heard the word mission.

"Ugh… Yeah, about that…"

In exchange for explaining the situation for her, Sylvia accepted Natsu's help. Both walked together while the Dragon Slayer was re-telling the events from earlier.

"…I see. So, you're banned from taking quests? That must be rough for a mage."

"You bet! Gramps sure exaggerated, it wasn't much of a deal." The woman just giggled a little at Natsu's mannerisms while talking.

"Would you like helping me with my store then? It would be a good way of raising some money while you wait for your punishment to end."

"Huh?" Natsu just stared at her with a confused expression on his face. 'Working at a store? That sounds way too boring!'

"A-Ahaha, never mind then. Sorry… I know it must sound boring for an active mage. Haa~" Sylvia ended up with a deep sigh.

"…Sorry, it's just that it's been so tiring ever since I opened my business. You see, I'm the only employee. You can say I'm the owner and my own employee at the same time."

"That actually sounds tough." Natsu replied while thinking of how hard Mira's work is back at the guild. He can't start imagining how hard it must be for a single person.

"…Well, huh. I don't know if I can be much of help since I'm used to beating up things but since I won't have anything to do for the next month." He could see the woman's eyes shining a little bit with every word that left his mouth.

"I-It's okay! You're a real lifesaver, Natsu-san!" Sylvia held up both of his hands on hers.

"A-Aye."

"Ah, we're here! Welcome to my pride and joy, Veldi's Bakery!" Natsu stared wide eyed at how neat the place was. Everything was clean and nicely ordered. But what caught his attention was:

"Bread?"

Bread. Tons and tons of bread. It is a bakery after all. Sylvia just nodded excitedly with a big smile on her face.

"Yes! I always dreamed of opening my own bakery since I was a child. I've been saving a lot of jewels to buy this place. Now, Sylvia Veldi at the age of 25, opened her very own bakery!" Sylvia looked a lot happier when talking about her business than she was minutes ago. Natsu couldn't help but smile when seeing her so happy.

"I'm glad for you, Sylvia. So… what should I do?" He asked with his hands behind his head.

"I think we should start with the basics; I'll teach you how to bake first. I'll make a great baker out of you, Natsu-san!" Natsu just sweatdropped at her enthusiasm.

"Please don't go overboard…" Sylvia just giggled and dropped her shopping over the counter.

"Don't worry, Natsu-san. We will begin tomorrow at 8 am. Please do not be late for your first day." Natsu dreaded his decision already, not being a morning person at all.

"Aight… I'll see you tomorrow then, Sylvia." Before Natsu could go out, his hand was caught between a pair of smaller and softer ones. He glanced back at the young woman.

"Wait… I just wanted to thank you once more."

"What for?"

"For accepting my dumb suggestion. I am aware that this isn't the type of job mages do. And if your reputation presides you, this is not your element." The woman replied while scratching her cheek meekly.

"Ah…"

"But even so, you accepted my request. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks for helping this silly dreamer. My parents told me to stop this nonsense and get married already. But I decided to follow my dreams."

"Please don't call yourself silly. If you have something to strive for then go for it! Heck, I know you will make it happen, Sylvia. If you work with such fire in you, I'm sure you will make it!" Natsu replied with a toothy grin, making the young woman blush slightly. No one has ever rooted for her before.

"M-My, my. Are you trying to hit on an old woman?" Sylvia fanned herself with her hand while looking away from him.

"How is 25 considered old? I doubt Mira or Erza would agree with that. You're plenty young yourself, Sylvia. If anyone says otherwise you kick their butts!"

"I-I can't possibly do that! I'm not a mage like you…" She stated with a deeper blush.

"Then I'll do it! I'll beat the crap out of them, don't worry!" Without further ado, Natsu left the small store.

"See ya tomorrow! I need to check up on my buddy!" Leaving those words behind, Natsu's figure disappeared between Magnolia's bustling crowd.

"…" Sylvia waved her hand towards the disappearing back of the young man before returning to her store with a small smile.

'I can't wait for tomorrow!'

That's it for this first chapter.

Just an idea I had for a while, and I decided to go for it.

See ya soon (hopefully)!

~Neru-san