Hi there guys! Sorry for the long delay in updating… I had my reasons, trust me… But there I am with Chapter 5! Hope you like it! Don't be mad at me because of the previous chapter, I mean the confusion and all that, but I just wanted to make it more visual, to make the reader change the images like slides or scenes in a movie. I have taken into account NXElove's advice about more inner thoughts and tried to fulfill it in this chap, but I think it won't be very satisfactory. I simply don't want to play the 'all-knowing' narrator, I'd rather like the text to be strewn with hints, suggestions, guesses, etc. That makes it more interesting to read, in my opinion =P + mind that this is an ADVETURE/Romance story. In a picture where two people are portrayed, the background is never really sufficient, but it is ALWAYS there and probably in even more detail than the figures themselves.

As always a HUGE thanks to those who read and review those meager thoughts I attempt to put on paper: NxE-Forever, KnightScales15, I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I, Jmnatsu, xchrispx510, zaiin17, Toaneo07 Ver2.0, dxcx, and NXElove.

Chapter 5: Enter Shikari

Natsu was sitting at the bank of a river watching the fishing line of his self-made wooden rod slightly wagging with the calm flow of the river's current. It was a sunny day and Natsu inwardly mused that all days seemed to be sunny since he left Fairy Tail, it was a cruel and ironic realization that made a sad smile creep on the usually cheerful boy's face. He wasn't truly sad though, Natsu reckoned that the feeling he was experiencing now was a sort of disappointment, but moreover BOREDOM. Natsu was disappointed, because he thought that a least one or two guild members would go searching for him, try to convince him or at least persuade him to go back. He wondered what Erza thought about all this… He wondered if she was worried or not, if she was safely back from the mission at all! Natsu's concern for Erza never actually left his thoughts, although he was well aware of the fact that she was capable of standing up for herself more than anyone else, but still there was this constant urge, this stinging craving to protect her, to be sure she is ok. One look would have been enough to set his mind at ease, that's why he had wondered around Magnolia hiding like a sort of criminal from the rest of the people, but sadly the girl he wanted to protect so much never showed up. Natsu was hoping he simply missed her, he tried to convince himself of it even, but somehow he failed. Natsu took another long look at the fishing rod that never seemed to move. 'I miss Happy…' and it was oh so true. Within about two-three hours after his departure Natsu already regretted having given his flying blue friend the cold shoulder. The pink-haired Dragon Slayer inwardly laughed on remembering how fun it was to simply be around him, to tease him and watch him eat fish, fly or simply sleep. A couple of times Natsu considered going back, but two points there made him scratch that idea from his 'To Do List': first of all going back on his own would've been awkward, not that Natsu really cared, for he knew that at least Happy, Lucy and most of the other guild members would be glad. His self-esteem could live though that. But on the other hand, a man had to keep his word no matter what, and that was one of the strongest principles Natsu followed. The second point here was… the bet. Natsu clenched his fists and frowned. 'I can't go back now… I gave it all away to Gray. Ever since we made that stupid childhood bet, I never considered it seriously… My only objective was not to let Gray win, that's all! But then… Hah, it all changed…' the fire mage raised his head as his wonderful green eyes followed a couple of butterflies, one of which was scarlet and the other emerald, 'my feelings have changed…' the boy smiled amused at his own emotions. 'I wanted to win!'

The boy gritted his teeth and in that very moment a huge fish caught the bait and sprung out of the water with the hook in its mouth, splashing water on the shore, its scales glittering in the sun.

"Whoa! That's a good catch!" Natsu exclaimed as he gripped the fishing rod, starting the battle with the animal. It didn't last long though, for Natsu was a skilled fisher, but still it would have been quicker if Happy had been there. The thought made the fire mage a little sad again and he shook his head to make it go away. 'I'm not going home anytime soon, so I better stop thinking of those things… And besides maybe Happy will escape from Lucy and find me on his own! That'd be great!'

That was one of the reasons why Natsu chose to stay for a while in the neighbouring town to Magnolia that lay on its southern boarders. It was a small town with moderate prices for everything, but Natsu never minded to remember its name, although it seemed to be also a sort of flower… Lily? Lavender? Well, something like that. It was unimportant since the boy never planned on staying there for long! He thought that pretty soon Happy would find him and they both would set off to some place… Or… maybe, just maybe the guild will send someone to look for him, and again maybe that someone will be Erza, so that he'll be able to see her one last time. It was strange though… he had spent so many years beside her, and now when he finally wanted to win, when he won! he had to let go of the one other thing apart from finding Igneel that he wanted now so badly. 'Still, I know how Gray feels…' the Fire Dragon Slayer thought, a serious expression on his face, 'I was the one who set that bet only to tease him. I held back all these years, while he really craved for the victory. It wouldn't be fair if I ruined it like that… Ruined both his feelings and our friendship.' Natsu knew he couldn't allow it, and being the unselfish person he was, the lad decided to punish himself for misunderstanding Gray and his feelings. So there he was, Natsu Dragneel in the flash, fishing alone for he had only enough money on him to pay for a small room at the inn. Yep, money was the problem, still the Fire Dragon Slayer refrained from searching for other guilds, as he still was very strongly attached to Fairy Tail and just couldn't bring himself to think of working for any other guilds. Some famous Dragon Slayer, eh?

Still as always Natsu was pretty hungry, so the Fire Dragon Slayer put his hands on the huge fish and roasted it with his flames, when suddenly…

"Wow! You're a fire mage?" a small girl of about eleven exclaimed eyeing the pink-haired boy from behind the tree somewhat shyly.

"Huh? Who are you?" Natsu inquired, chewing on a large piece of fish meat.

x-x-x Meanwhile on the way to Lotus Town x-x-x

"Erza, do you mind telling me why you still hadn't taken that freaking potion?" Gray asked irritated at the fact that his scarlet-haired companion had refused to drink the potion as he asked her for the fourth time that day.

"I have no need for it now," the girl stated simply never slowing her pace.

"Erza," the ice-mage growled, which made the addressed female mage stop to glare at her companion.

"What happened between you and Natsu while I was away?" the scarlet-haired weapon mistress asked, not really out of the blue, eyeing Gray suspiciously.

"You're changing the subject," the boy commented plainly.

"That I am," Erza confessed.

"Will you take the potion if I tell you?" Gray tried a deal.

"If you tell me, I won't sent you back to Fairy Tail," was the brief reply.

"I won't go willingly, you know that. And you mean to say that in that condition," the ice-mage pointed at the girl's abdomen, "you could fight me?" he doubted. "Not a chance, Erza."

He shouldn't have said that though. For within seconds the ice-mage was already pinned to a tree with a sword at his throat. "Gray," Erza whispered almost tenderly, "don't think that my being wounded means I can't stand up for myself or fight well. And now I repeat my question: why did Natsu really leave?" Erza could tell that it couldn't have been just over some petty offence at being scolded for the 'destruction' of the guild, she had a hunch, call it female intuition or whatever, that there was something deeper to it than that. And Gray's appearing at her door in the middle of the night and claiming that it was his fault left her no doubts. "Tell me what you know," she asked taking the sword away, and changing her severe gaze to a milder one.

'Could she possibly know anything about the bet?' Gray thought in terror. 'No… I guess not. Otherwise she would've killed me already. Natsu…' he frowned, "it's always about Natsu!" the brunette gritted his teeth. "That I can't tell you, Erza," and before the Titania could protest or threaten, he added, "I swore… we swore to never tell. It's something between him and me…" 'and you' Gray inwardly added.

"Men," Erza huffed and crossed her arms, but from that jerk a sting of pain pinched her abdomen and she winced.

"Erza, just take the potion, please!" Gray asked stepping forward to his teammate.

"It's not the right time yet. We will need it during the mission," Erza said, but there was more to it than that. She felt she had to overcome her pain to become stronger, strong enough to find Natsu and bring him back.

"The mission?" the ice-mage asked in disbelief at Erza's intention to actually fulfill the S-rank mission she took up as a cover-up for finding Natsu.

"Aa," the girl nodded, resuming their walk.

As the two of them walked through the forest to Lotus Town Erza told Gray about the mission and her overall plan of combining the two activities most fruitfully. It appeared that the mission itself was about to be fulfilled in a far away town of Alred, where a gang of three dark mages were reported to be operating at the moment the order was posted. But the client wanted to meet up with whoever took the mission in order to explain everything in more detail, and he lived in Lotus Town, just outside Magnolia. Erza considered this most fortunate, for Natsu could have passed through that town and someone might have seen him and tell where he went. So the plan was like this: Erza was to meet the client and talk about the details of the mission, and Gray meanwhile was to ask locals about Natsu.

"Lotus Town lies on the southern border of Magnolia, and the way to Alred goes across the northern border, so we will be able to cover a large territory, and if we are lucky we'll find trace of Natsu in no time!" Erza gave her companion a reassuring smile, but he just averted his gaze and smiled sadly. The girl was confused by the boy's reaction, but let it go for now.

The rest of the way both were relatively silent, each absorbed in his own thoughts. Erza for example thought that the probability of Natsu passing through the same town as she was assigned by the mission, was quite low, but the girl was ready to take any straw if it meant finding out at least something about her dear friend. She would be at least a little at ease knowing that he was safe and sound… That wasn't much to ask now, was it? 'Sheesh, who am I worriyng about? The guy's strong! Really strong!' but still Erza, the Titania couldn't help herself wondering to where he is now. 'I hope you're not alone…'

x-x-x Back at the river bank x-x-x

"Um… I-I… well…" the girl stuttered blushing a little in an awkward attempt to say something.

"What was that? Speak up, I can't hear you," Natsu said approaching the spot where the girl stood. And there he heard it alright… a sound you can never mistake with anything else. Natsu laughed, "Well, I can tell you're hungry!" the girl gasped and blushed even more in response. "Don't be shy, come sit with me. I've caught a huge fish, I can't possibly eat it on my own," he grinned to the unexpected visitor, lying quite shamelessly about his eating habits. But the girl responded with a grateful smile and timidly strolled towards the pink-haired mage.

On her entering to the shore from the shadowy forest Natsu noted that the girl really was about eleven years old. She had short green curly hair and rather big brown eyes that made her resemble Erza a little. The girl was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and purple shorts, and on her feet she wore black sandals.

"So what's your name?" Natsu asked in a friendly tone as the two of them sat beside each other gulping down the food, surprisingly the girl also didn't chew much, but dug into the offered meal with quite a lot of zeal.

"Mphu nemph is Shikari!" the girl said cheerfully gulping down a mouthful and wiping her moth with the back of her hand, a rather 'ungirly' gesture.

"Shikari?"

"Um!" the girl nodded with a smile. "I'm sorry I was so rude and didn't even introduce myself, but I was so fascinated by your beautiful magic, that all words simply escaped my mind!" Shikari said looking at Natsu with glowing eyes, while the boy just laughed sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "You shouldn't be so shy… Oh my God! I'm so-so sorry, I didn't even ask your name!"

"Natsu's my name," the Fire Dragon Slayer said in a friendly tone.

Shilari's eyes grew wide. "Don't tell me you're THE Natus Dragneel of Fairy Tail…" the girl gaped at the pink-haired boy beside her.

"Huh? Why shouldn't I?" Natsu scratched his chin. "It is me after all," he winked.

"This is so cool…" Shikari whispered in total amazement.

As the two talked Natsu found out that Shikari was also a mage. Although she was just starting to master the water magic, a recently found guild called Purple Lotus agreed to take her in. It was situated just outside Lotus Town. 'Lotus! I knew it!' Natsu thought, proud at his lucky guess. As Shikari described it the guild was one as friendly as Fairy Tail, although most of the mages were relatively weak, but they took up missions with small rewards and low risks and on the money earned tried to develop their guild and their own magical abilities.

"I always dreamt of joining Fairy Tail," the little girl confessed staring at the water, "but I knew I was too weak for that… But it's ok now! The people at Purple Lotus are really nice! And I did meet the legendary Salamander of Fairy Tail!" Shilari giggled as she saw Natsu blush a bit. He didn't really know how to accept compliments. "I only wish I could also meet Erza, the Titania," the green-haired girl said in thought.

'You're not the only one,' Natsu mused staring at the surface of the river.

"Still people say she's scary…" Shilari shuddered a little.

"Yep, that she is," Natsu admitted. "But she's not like that all the time. For the most part she's quite… kind and, well… friendly. You'd like her," the boy assured.

"Really?" Shikari blinked. "You seem to know Erza-sama quite well, Natsu-san," the water mage mused. "Is she your friend?"

"Aa," the Fire Dragon Slayer nodded.

"So why isn't she here with you? Are you on a solo mission?"

Natsu frowned. "Yeah, something like that…"

"It must be very sad to be all alone, ne, Natsu-san?" Shilari asked rhetorically, staring at the already settling sun. He didn't respond. Well, you don't actually respond to rhetorical questions now, do you? "Hey, I know!" the girl exclaimed jumping to her feet, some idea glowing in her eyes. "Natsu-san, if you ever get lonely on a mission and pass by our guild, do come in and ask for me! I'll keep you company!" the girl cried joyfully, while Natsu smiled. But the moment was soon ruined, when a familiar sound cut through the silence. "Natsu-san," Shikari laughed, "I guess that fish was not enough for you. Here, I'll help you to some more! Water-Make: Net!" and with that spell half of the fish in the net range jumped by itself onto the shore.

"Whoa! Now that's what I call useful magic!" Natsu exclaimed energetically. "Alright! Let's cook some supper! I'm all fired-up!" Shikari only giggled to that.

In a few hours as they ate, well mostly Natsu ate, fish and talked some nonsense, it already turned quite dark and stars were starting to appear in the night sky.

"Thank you for the meal, Natsu-san, but I'd better get going," Shikari said standing up.

"I'll walk you to the guild," the Fire Dragon Slayer suggested standing up as well.

"That would be very nice, but I have to refuse," the girl gave her new friend a sweet smile, "I still have to stop by at some place… mission concerning…" she almost whispered the last part into Natsu's ear.

"Oh, but are you sure you're gonna be ok?" the boy asked concerned.

"Um," the girl nodded cheerfully starting to walk off, "And if you'd like to find out for sure, just stop by my guild sometime!" she winked at the legendary Salamander, waving off.

Natsu also smiled waving back with a grin. "Take care, Shikari!" It was only when the girl was completely out of sight that the pink-haired mage started off for his little cheap inn room. The walk was not long, and took up about fifteen minutes. Natsu was in a cheerful mood and all his daily sorrows seemed to have disappeared somewhere in the depth of his soul. For now Natsu Dragneel was smiling as he walked along the dimly-lit streets of Lotus Town with his hands behind his back. When the boy almost reached his inn, he caught a glimpse of familiar red hair disappearing round the corner and immediately his heart was beating somewhere in his throat. 'It can't be…' the boy thought rushing after the familiar vision. Turning round the corner he saw… her. There she was, Erza the Titania, standing in about a hundred meters before him, looking from left to right, and stomping her right foot impatiently. 'She really came… Erza came after me…' Natsu smiled to himself and was already about to rush to his fearsome teammate shouting her name, but halted immediately as he saw Gray casually approach her. The two started exchanging some words none of which was in Natsu's earshot, not that he wanted to hear them anyway. 'Well, at least now I know you're alright,' the Salamander thought looking at Erza, trying to remember everything about her, 'Guess I can really set off now…' the boy then looked at Gray and frowned, but then sighed. 'I'm happy for ya, pal. Good bye, Gray. Good bye, Erza.'

"Huh?" Erza's head snapped up and turned in the direction where just a second ago Natsu was standing, her eyes searched for something there, bearing a concerned expression in them.

"Erza, what's wrong?" Gray asked looking where his companion was.

"Didn't you just… I thought I heard…" she whispered barely audible, never taking her eyes off the previous spot.

"Hear what?" the boy asked confused.

But Erza just stood there, hair being blown straight into her face. 'Natsu… was that… you?' but said only: "I guess I was just imagining things… Let's go inside," she suggested, taking a final glance at the place she thought she heard Natsu's voice come from, before entering the inn.