A/N: Alright guys, I made another chapter for their childhood and I'm including a special guest. Sorry for the late update but I forgot I had a fic going on...hehe, I swear, I'm worse than Natsu! Now on to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail... it's so sad I'm bawling!

Chapter 4: Realizations

The next day, we find everyone at the guild just laughing and some even brawling. Erza was at the bar eating her usual Strawberry Cheesecake. Natsu was fighting until he got tired and headed over to Erza.

"Hey Erza! Wanna go on a mission? I'm still in thr need of money." Natsu said happily. Recently, he has started to grow closer to Erza. He realized he wanted to spend more time with her, but being the dense idiot he is, he didn't know what it meant until deciding that it was because they were like best friends.

"Hmm... sure what kind of job Natsu?" She said softly to him.

Natsu just stood silently, staring at her beautiful brown eyes. (They were brown right? ... I think they were). Quickly realizing that she agreed to his request, he smiled and nodded.

"Awesome, we have to stop a gang that was seen robbing people on the side of a road near the town Varia." Natsu said holding a flyer in the air in Erza's direction.

"Sounds good, if you're ready let's head out, the town is close by so I have no need for luggage." She said with a warm smile.

Again, Natsu was lost within that warm essence that was radiating off of Erza. He didn't know why he kept feeling this way, traumatized by her looks and character. Snapping out of it, he wanted to respond until someone's sudden outburst interrupted him.

The guild's doors were kicked open. "Fairytail's hottest mage is back!" Yelled a certain majestically silver haired girl.

"Uh oh it's Mirajane." Said a member of the guild.

"Why couldn't she have taken longer on her mission? Things were going so well." Said Wakaba.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU INSOLENT FILTHY PIG!?" Roared Mira causing him to shrink back in fear.

"N-nothing my l-lady." He said in fear of her wrath.

"Hmph! That's what I thought. Hmm? A new member I see." Mira said looking over at Natsu with a devilish smile. "And a cute one at that. Maybe I'll take him as mine."

Natsu stood in fear of her as memories of how Mira treated him came rushing back. He was too lost in his horrible memories to notice Erza walking over to Mira.

"Oh be quiet Mira! You can't even get a boyfriend since your silver haired balloon of a head makes you look all old and used up." Erza said with an annoyed expression. 'No one's going to take what belongs to me. I-I mean... no one's going to corrupt a close friend of mine! Yeah, that's right.' She thought.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TINCAN!"

"YOU HEARD ME YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A SLUT!"

"At least I can get boys to fall for me, unlike your ugly ass! And I plan on having that boy there satisfying my every need like a servant." Mira declared.

"I'm not going to let you corrupt him with your dirty, slutty little hands!" Erza said with a fist clenched.

Mira smirked. "Oh, now I see. Are you worried that I'll steal your boyfriend from you?"

A noticeable furious blush was all over Erza's face. "H-he's not my b-boyfriend!" She said stuttering horribly. Mira just smirked even wider knowing that she just found another reason to mock Erza about.

"Oh you seem to like him, don't worry, I'll just take him for myself."

Erza, still blushing madly, decided to take Natsu on that mission. Natsu, during the whole scene, had been staring at them wondering why they were fighting over him.

Erza, turning her still blushing face away from Mira, faced Natsu. "Come on Natsu let's head out, there's no point in wasting any time."

"Aye!" Natsu said cheerfully. Just when they were about to leave, Mira called out to them.

"Hold it there Pinky! What's your name?" Mirajane asked Natsu.

"It's Natsu, Natsu Dragneel!" He said with pride.

"Natsu, huh? I'm Mirajane, or just Mira, and I have an offer to give you." She said with a smirk. "I challenge you to a fight after you come back from your date with tincan over there! I wanna test your strength against me."

Her last comment made Erza grit her teeth along with a scarlet blush reappearing on her face as soon as the word 'date' was mentioned.

"Sure! I'd love a good fight with you Mira!" Natsu said grinning, earning a slight pink hue to cross Mira's face.

"Good, I look forward to it." And with that she walked off, along with Erza and Natsu heading to the train station.

-Later on the train-

Natsu had his head on Erza's lap while Erza was staring out the window. Natsu was now wondering what Mira meant by a date.

"Erza?" Natsu asked looking up at her causing her to look down at him.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is this a date?" He asked bluntly, making her blush deeply to the color of her hair. At this moment, Erza seemed more angelic and beautiful.

"D-d-date?! N-no this isnt a d-date!" Erza stuttered. "W-why do you think this is a date?"

"Because before we left, Mira said we were on a date." He said.

Erza sighed, a little more calmed down. "Don't listen to her Natsu, she only said that so she could have something to laugh at us about."

"Oh okay, but what's a date?" He asked with innocence.

At this Erza had to facepalm, how could anyone not know what a date was.

"A date is where usually only two people who like each other, spend time together." She told him while suddenly imagining herself and a certain pink haired boy on a date with a romantic scenery.

"So this is a date then! We both like each other and we're together right now." He said with a smile.

Erza just blushed even deeper. "No! That's not what I meant Natsu! By like I mean love. And not friendly love either! I mean Love like when the couple becomes inseparable and probably gets married and have kids."

"Oh okay, I get it. Wait can I ask one more question?" He said with pleading eyes.

"Sure." Erza sighed.

"Would you like to have kids too?"

"W-what?! K-k-kids!? I d-d-don't know." Erza stuttered. "I-I guess I planned to in the future."

"Really? Do you have someone in mind who you'll be with?"

Natsu didn't know why he had the sudden urge to ask with who, he just thought he had to look out for her when the time would come.

'You' She blushed. "Uh yea, I have someone in mind. But I don't think I have any chances with him." She said nervously.

"Don't worry Erza! I'm sure you'll be able to have the life you desire. You're beautiful, so don't worry about it!"

She blushed with wide eyes as her heart jumped; she felt love for him. Now she was certain that something must have been wrong with her, was it a spell or some kind of love potion? Erza didn't understand why she felt this way towards him. She guessed it was because of his cheerful personality, his smile, and because of how cute he was...

'C-cute?!' Erza was baffled as she quickly checked him out as he seemed to not notice. 'Well he is cute, I'll admit that. But, I don't think I want another ''relationship'' with anyone after what happened with "him".' She thought as she clutched her chest over the area where her heart was as her scarlet hair shadowed her eyes.

Natsu noticed the pained look on her face. He sat up completely ignoring the effects of his motion sickness as concern for his closest friend was more important.

"Erza what's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing Natsu don't worry about me." She said trying to look normal. This however only caused Natsu's worry for her to grow.

'It must be because of Jellal. We're in the past so it must be because of him. Damn that Jellal, even though I came to terms with him in the future, I still can't forgive him for making her feel this way. Especially after making her cry. Even still, I can at least try to help her at this time to help her get through it a lot earlier. I'm gonna be changing time, but Erza comes first! Because...because I like her! Yes I admit it! I LIKE HER! I've liked her ever since we were kids, yes. But I don't know if she likes me back, it doesn't matter though, I just want to help her. I'm her friend till the end.'

"Was it a memory of something?" He said guiding the conversation.

"I already told you it's nothing. Please don't fret over me." She said trying to hide her misty eyes as the thought of Jellal kept reappearing inside her head.

"Erza, you know you can trust me. I'll always be there for you, no matter what. I promise!" Natsu declared. "You're important to me, so I'll be watching over you always."

She blushed. "Why am I so important to you Natsu? We've only known each other for awhile."

"Because you're my Nakama! I would rather die than not do anything to help any of my friends! Especially you Erza, you're my first Nakama, I'd do, anything for you." He said with determination.

Erza just smiled and felt a very warm sensation in her heart.

"Thank you Natsu. I'm glad you're one I can rely on for anything." She then hugged him releasing her emotions from her constricting armor. After recovering from his shock when Erza hugged him, he immediately returned her hug embracing her lovingly.

"Of course, just remember: if you need anything just let me know. I'll come running to you as soon as I can." He said getting tired.

"Okay, I promise." She said as she was fighting sleep. They had only an hour and a half left of their train ride, so they decided it was a good idea to sleep. After agreeing, Natsu and Erza fell asleep on top of each other, still hugging each other.

As Erza fell asleep, one thought lingered on her mind. 'Perhaps I am ready to open my heart again. But only to Natsu as I trust him the most. I trust him with my life.'

-Later-

As the two walked down Magnolia heading to the guild, Erza was explaining her magic to Natsu. Natsu thought that he should ask about it, to keep any suspiciousness out of the question.

Their mission in Varia turned out a lot easier than they hoped for. The gang of bandits consisted of very weak mages which to them were merely pushovers. Although they didn't admit it to the other, they enjoyed the time they spent together. Once they had arrived at the guild Natsu was suddenly bombarded by Mira.

"Natsu! Don't think I have forgotten about our little deal! I hope your ready for our match, cause I plan to go all out!" Mira said.

"Sure, don't worry I haven't forgotten. And I plan to win!" He said as he smirked.

Everyone went outside into a large clearing and surrounded Mirajane and Natsu. Most of the guild thought that poor Natsu would lose big time against Mira. While everyone betted on Mira, Erza was the only one who betted on Natsu.

"Oi Erza! How come you're betting on that idiot?" Said Gray.

"Because I think he's no pushover; he might be just as strong as me or Mira if not stronger. And also because I believe in him." Erza said as glimmer of light in her eyes and a light blush was on her face.

Gray just rose an eyebrow at her but decided to ignore it and pay attention to the fight that was about to start.

"I hope you're set because I'm going all out!" Said Mira with a wide smirk.

"That's good because against me you'll need to go full power." Natsu said with a smile getting into his fighting stance.

"Don't get cocky boy! I'll wipe that smile off your face and mess up your face!" Mira roared.

"TAKE OVER: SATAN SOUL"

Natsu grinned as he watched her transform into one of her demons. Makarov came from the crowd and rose his hand down and said "Begin!"

"Darkness Stream!" Mira said as she shot a beam of black energy at Natsu. He just jumped to the side and started to inhale a large amount of air.

"Roar of the fire Dragon!"

The attack almost hit Mirajane as she barely dodged it but managed to receive a few burns on her right side.

'What kind of magic is this?' She thought as she held her side.

"Hey you alright Mira? We can stop if you want to." Natsu asked with concern in eyes.

"Don't think some small burns is enough to put ME down! Soul Extinction!"

Natsu simply put himself on fire; burning away her magic as it made contact with him. He then heard many gasps from the guild members, including Mira, except for Erza whom knew about his magic.

"Sorry Mira but I seriously want to take a nap right now. I've walked for a long time today to the point where it's unbearable. Don't get me wrong I loved our fight, lets have one again some other time. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

With a roar he hit Mirajane in the stomach and sent her flying and crashing down unconscious. Collective gasps were heard as the guild witnessed the easy defeat of Mirajane Strauss.

"He beat M-Mira?!"

"Unbelievable!"

"He made it look easy too!"

"Natsu!" Said the Master. "I don't normally do this but you are obviously deserving of this reward. As of now I promote you to S class!"

Eyes widened as they heard Makarov's decision. Natsu, while feeling happy that his dream of becoming an S class mage finally came true, felt saddened because it did not happen the way he wanted it to.

"Sorry old man..." He said while hiding his face. "...I can't accept that, not like this. I'm no different than the other mages in this guild. I'll become S class when I pass your trials or whatever, is that alright?"

Makarov smiled seeing how the young boy sounded so maturely. For a little kid, he didn't sound so young. "That's just fine Natsu."

"Great now I'll take Mira to the Guild so she can recover." He said picking up the unconscious form of Mirajane. At this moment Erza felt jealous, she was jealous of Mira for being carried by Natsu in such a way.

'Why do I have to have these urges to be close to him.' She thought as a realization came to her mind. 'I guess I don't see Natsu as just a friend. I must like him, or even love him, despite the fact that I recently met him. But I doubt that he likes me back, as he said, I'm only his nakama. For the sake of our friendship, we'll stay as friends, no matter how much it hurts...' Her eyes misted. ' But I can't help but hope that someday... we'll be more than just friends...'

A/N: And thats that chapter. Say, if any of you readers out there know of any app or site where I can translate English to Romaji please let me know. I'd like to write the characters moves in those ways like "karyu no hoko".

P.s.: I might be disconnected for a while, I hope not. But if I am, rest assured that by the time I return I'll have at least 2 or 3 chapters done. Thanks and keep reading!