AN: still don't own. If I did, this is what would happen.
Natsu cringed as he heard the familiar sound of knuckles cracking over the din caused by the still ongoing fight. It was a sound that promised pain and always delivered. Quickly and without mercy before explanations and excuses could be said.
"Just what it going on here? You will all stop this nonsense this moment and explain yourselves or there will be severe consequences." Erza demanded. And the pinkette had no doubts that she would follow through on her obvious threats. She never failed to carry through when she threatened. When the red head demanded something, she got it. Denying her was dangerous to one's health.
And it was obvious by her tone that she was displeased. Well, displeased was probably an understatement. That last time he heard her speak so dangerously, he had accidentally knocked her strawberry shortcake to the floor in a fight with Gray.
There was a reason the two of them feared her. She had annihilated them for ruining her precious cake before she could eat it and forced them to clean all the floors in the guild while she supervised, cheerily munching on a new slice of cake. It was the scariest he had ever seen her. And it didn't help that she went from downright pissed to happy like someone had thrown a switch.
She accentuated her point by equipping a sword and pointing it at them.
The whole guild shuddered under her look and parted in the middle, revealing Gray and Natsu, who had frozen while still grappling. Natsu had one arm pressed into Gray's throat and Gray was shoving Natsu's head to the side at an unnatural angle.
Both males stood and hastily threw an arm over the other's shoulder, pretending to be best friends.
It lasted for about five seconds before Gray broke. Self-preservation instincts screamed at him to protect himself from Erza's wrath. "It was Natsu's fault. The flame head attacked me for no reason."
CLANG! Metal clattered to the floor.
Everyone stared at Erza, who had dropped her sword.
The girl had clasped both hands over her mouth, shaking and crying.
"N-n-natsu?"
xxxNatsuErzaxxx
The rest of Fairy Tail was confused. Why on earth would seeing Natsu send Erza to tears? They were on the same team for goodness sake. The poor boy was forever incurring her wrath and by extension her fist.
It was then that realization hit them like one of the master's gigantic fists. Natsu was standing alive in their guild, laughing and starting fights. They had been so wrapped up in the usual excitement that surrounded Natsu that they had forgotten that Natsu clearly wasn't supposed to be there.
Every wizard froze, wondering just what had happened to Natsu. How had he survived a giant explosion of pure magic? And if he wasn't dead, why did it take him seven weeks to return?
Gray was shocked. Natsu was alive. He was alive. And that bastard had the nerve to just waltz in and punch him as if he had never been gone. As if he had never caused him pain because he had believed Natsu dead. He had actually cried for him. The first chance he got he was going to kick the flame brain's ass. Maybe a week in the infirmary would make him smarten up.
Lucy cried. She was so glad Natsu was alive. She thought of him as one of her best friends, definitely the one she was closest to. She had been torn by his death. He had brought her to Fairy Tail, making her dream come true. If it wasn't for the fact that Erza was sporting a scary look, she would have hugged him, after slapping him upside the head first. One didn't make a girl cry and not expect double the pain in return.
Eyes flickered between the dragon slayer and the ex-quip mage. How would this confrontation end?
The guild quietly started placing bets. Most bet on Erza murdering Natsu, because she was quite enraged.
xxxNatsuErzaxxx
Makarov laughed.
He was nearly falling out of his chair as tears streamed down his face. He hadn't laughed this hard in so long.
Judging by the lack of sound and the tangible fear in the air, Erza had finally joined the party.
'Poor Natsu,' he chuckled. Erza showing up certainly hadn't been part of his plan. He winced in sympathy for the boy he favored. She was definitely going to be upset with him.
And an upset Erza was never a good thing. It would take a lot of groveling for Natsu to get back into the Queen of Fairies good book. And a lot of strawberry shortcake.
xxxNatsuErzaxxx
Natsu stood silently shaking under Erza's suddenly malevolent gaze.
Nothing good ever happened when she gave him that look. The dragon slayer was slightly worried. Erza showing up during the brawl wasn't something he had planned. He has wanted to speak with her privately, because she was the one most hurt by his death.
He owed her a proper apology and explanation. It would have been easier to give if it was just the two of them.
And, honestly, he had no contingency plans. From what old man Makarov had said, she had never left his house in the last seven weeks, so why would he plan for her appearance now?
Now that he was sweating profusely under her glare, he wished he had. It was just like her to do the unexpected and completely destroy his plans. She always got in the way of them before he died, so why wouldn't she continue to do so now.
The look on her face was easy to read and quite clear. It practically screamed at him. There was no way he was coming out of this alive.
And he was right. The red head launched herself across the guild, tackling Natsu and pinning him to the floor by sitting on his chest, her knees firmly planted on his wrist.
Natsu could have dodged, but he knew that Erza needed this. Not to mention he deserved anything she did to him. He really should have gone to her first. He owed her that much since she was to one to see him die.
Her hands wound into the fabric of his vest. She shook him violently.
"How dare you?" she hissed.
"Erza?" Natsu questioned uncertainly.
"You idiot!" she slapped him, leaving behind a pink hand shaped mark on the left side of his face. It was stinging already and would only be sore later.
She pounded her fists into his chest to vent her frustration. All the pain, the hurt, the guilt, the numbness, and the anger she felt at his death. Erza continued to hit every inch of him that she could, trying to express without words just how much pain the pink haired idiot had put her through, trying to make him understand how lost she had felt without him.
"How dare you push me out? Do you know how terrified I was when I realized that you were in that damn crystal? Do you know how worried I was when that tower blew sky high? Or when all the others found me but not you? Do you know how much it killed me to know that you were dead because of me?"
She was growing increasingly red in the face as she screamed at the prone form on the ground beneath her. She paid no attention to the tears falling down her face.
"I blamed myself since you died. It was my fault you were dead. Jellal was after me. And you stupidly rushed in and saved me." Erza stopped yelling, forcibly breathing deep breaths to calm herself.
She was suddenly uncomfortable as she remembered that they were still in front of the entire guild, which stood frozen in place, taking in every word she said to him. She did not want them to witness her talk with Natsu.
Erza stood up quickly, jerking Natsu to his feet with her and dragged him out of the guild by his scarf. He flashed a grin back at the rest of the guild and a thumbs up. They could only hope that Erza didn't kill him again.
Neither said a word until they were safely away from prying ears in his house. They were both seated on opposite ends of his couch. The atmosphere was tense.
"I'm sorry, Erza. I really am." Natsu apologized, breaking the silence first. He stared at the floor, unable to look his friend in the eye.
"Do you know how much I've suffered this last two months?" The raw pain in her voice made him cringe guiltily.
Natsu's neck cracked when he whipped his head up to stare at her.
She continued, her tone dejected. "I had never felt that much pain before. It hurt even worse than when Jellal betrayed me. I blamed myself for your death. You would have never been there if it wasn't for me. You had died in my place."
The dragon slayer reached one arm out hesitantly, and when she didn't flinch from him he rested it on her knee. "It wasn't your fault, Erza. You couldn't have known that the bastard would come after you."
"But you died for me."
"Yes, I did," Natsu said, his voice unnaturally soft spoken. "But you're my friend, Erza. I care for you. Of course I would die for you. I would have done it for Gray or Lucy or anybody else in Fairy Tail."
"But I didn't want you to. It's been tearing me apart that you died for me. I've been so horrible to you, always beating you up, forcing you to get along with Gray, and always ordering you around and demanded you do things. I terrorized you. You should hate me. Why would you save me when I behaved like that?"
"It never bothered me that you were bossy and demanding, Erza. Nor that you could be scary at times. You weren't like that all the time. You always helped me when you could. And you taught me to read. It was who you are. I could never hate you, Erza."
"But why?" Erza was so confused. She couldn't find any redeeming feature in herself that would cause Natsu to save her.
"I could never hate you, Erza," Natsu said softly, "because I love you."