Natsu sighed miserably as his fishing lure bobbed in the water. Winter had arrived once again, with its dead trees and all the snow piled on the ground, but the cold temperatures never bothered the Fire Dragon Slayer. Anytime of the year was good enough for fishin'. That wasn't what was bothering him.

The S-Class Trials would be coming up in a week's time, and Natsu Dragneel wouldn't be a proctor in them. They would be held at Tenrou Island in spite of what happened over a decade ago… But then again, what could possibly go wrong this time? Zeref was finally resting in peace, and Acnologia was cinders. Things would probably go off without a hitch.

Didn't make Natsu feel any better. Yeah, he was happy for everyone who would be going, but that was just it. He wouldn't be going. Erza overlooked him again. Mira, Laxus, and Gray would be testing the candidates. Apparently, there was something else that Erza wanted him to do, and they had a meeting scheduled later today to discuss it. Natsu loathed these official meetings. Even though Erza was actually talking to him, she wasn't talking to him, y'know? He'd tried so often in the past to get her to lighten up during these things, but being Guild Master musta been super stressful, 'cause she was flexible as an ironing board with her no-nonsense attitude.

They were Master and honored S-Class Wizard. And Kami help him, Natsu was starting to come to terms with that. The only thing that made it bearable was that she was happy… Well, that, and he supposed Mira helped, too. Her playful attitude, while it got him into trouble sometimes (Elfman…), was slowly making him feel normal again. He wasn't just some guy moping around the Guild when he wasn't on a mission with Happy.

"There you are! I thought I might find you out here."

… And then he supposed there was her. Lisanna. Unlike Elfman, she was cool with him 'n Mira dating. But then… Natsu could do anything within reason, and Lisanna would still be his friend. She was just sweet like that.

"Hiya!" Natsu tried to sound upbeat, but his attempt kinda… flopped. He grinned lopsidedly at the sight of the youngest Strauss sibling in a winter coat, skirt, boots, mittens, and scarf. "Happy tell ya I was out here?"

Lisanna shook her head.

"No, he's still back at the Guild. This place is just close to where we made that hut, remember? For hatching Happy's egg?"

"Oh… yeah…" Natsu trailed off as he briefly looked around. It'd been a long time since those days, but he reckoned that was the reason this was subconsciously one of his favorite fishing spots. Go figure. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before returning to stare at his lure in the water. Then, abruptly, he grinned at his childhood friend. "So what's up? Need anything, or did ya just wanna hang out?"

Lisanna smiled softly at his forced façade. Similar to Mira, she was adept at reading the Dragon Slayer in general – wasn't limited to body language. His voice, his eyes… Try as he might, the pink-head couldn't hide anything from her if he tried. And Natsu knew that.

"Is it because Erza didn't pick you to help with the Trials?" Lisanna guessed effortlessly, to which the Dragon Slayer winced and gave a minute nod as confirmation. The silver-haired woman smiled apologetically even when he didn't look up at her again. "You don't need to put up a strong front for me, Natsu. Erza's trying her best, but she's distant with everybody these days."

… Well, except with Jellal, but Natsu knew what she meant. And he knew that it was true enough; he just took the redhead's change the hardest. That was another thing that made this whole ordeal bearable – Erza really was just doing her job. The Old Man just had years, decades to adjust to the workload and make it look easy. Not even Erza could make that transition seamlessly.

"Thanks." Natsu told Lisanna wholeheartedly, a small, tentative smile on his face. He looked back down at the water as he reflected on how it was Mira and Lisanna who tried the hardest to cheer him up (well, aside from Happy, obviously). Weird how he was dating Mira when it was Lisanna he was seemingly closest to all these years. Was he secretly masochistic?

… No. Don't answer that. Natsu Dragneel did not take joy in getting his ass kicked. No. As Elfman would say, he was a man! … But… isn't it a little weird that he would only listen if somebody put him in his place (Erza) or terrified him into behaving (Mira)…?

No, no, no. He was not gonna think about that. He was a free spirit, 'n it just took a little backbone to cool him down. That was the story, and he was stickin' to it, damn it!

… Mira would sooo never let him live it down if he let that untrue perspective on things slip in front of her.

"You were thinking something dirty just now, weren't you?!" Lisanna giggled at the face Natsu was making. His face had gone beet red and he was shaking his head rapidly. "Wait 'til I tell Mira!"

"I AM NOT A PERVERT!" Natsu yelled with a tick mark on his forehead and bared teeth as he pumped his fist in the air agitatedly. "The Old Man and Gildarts did not corrupt me like that! I WAS STRONG AND RESISTED!"

"I'm sure you did!" Lisanna agreed with him innocently. A little too innocently. "So because you're so strong to resist our feminine wiles, does that mean you bat for the other team…? Mira might need to know that, too."

Natsu felt his brain break a little at the mere suggestion. Scratch that. He swore the thing shattered into a million pieces. All he could do was stare at Lisanna in gaping-mouth horror. Kinda like a fish stuck on dry land, gasping for water. There was a weird sound emanating from him, too… kinda like a choking gasp or something of that sort. Lisanna didn't seem worried about how he was one step away from being in the fetal position; Natsu was so silly.

"Is that why you're always fighting with Gray?! What about Gildarts?! Or…" Soon the silver-haired Takeover mage was sprinting for it as Natsu bolted after her with arms extended toward her, intent on getting Lisanna back a hundredfold for her incessant teasing. "Ewww! Get away from me!"

Well, Natsu wasn't sad anymore. … But he was kinda numb with rage.

"Tincan, we need to talk."

Erza looked up tiredly from the letter she was writing to see Mirajane leaning on the doorframe of the office, arms crossed over her chest. The redhead had a myriad of things to do that afternoon, and she wasn't exactly ready to get into an argument with her old rival.

"Mira… can't it wait until tomorrow? I have…"

"No, it cannot." Mira crisply cut her off, causing the scarlet knight to huff. Well, her afternoon was going to get thrown off… Some things would have to be rescheduled, since meeting with the Council took precedence.

"Well, what is it?" The scarlet knight asked dryly, not in the mood for any lip Mira might give her.

"Why didn't you pick Natsu to help out with the Trials?" Mira certainly didn't waste any time.

Erza massaged her temple.

"If Natsu asked you to try and change my mind, you can just stop here, Mira. I already told him, there's a job I need him to do, and I'm sorry it's the day of the Trials. But there's nothing I can do!"

"And I peeked at the job you wanted him to take…" Mira scowled, which was an unusual face for her to make nowadays. "Erza, there's nothing about it that's 'tailor-made' for him. No one personally requested him. You're picking him out of convenience because the monster breathes fire and is only rumored to be tougher to take down than most monsters these days. It's SS-Class nominally, and that's all; Gildarts could probably finish it in a couple days and be back for another assignment."

Erza swore she could feel a migraine coming on. Why was Mirajane making such a big deal out of this?

"Gildarts is away on another SSS-Class, Mira, you know that. I chose Natsu because we don't know how strong this creature is; the only pieces of concrete information we have are what you described, in addition to a pattern when it attacks villages in the area. That's all we have to go on!"

"And what? That makes it too tough for me, Laxus, or Gray?" Mira asked with narrowed, incredulous eyes.

"That's not what I…! Don't put words in my mouth! I have faith that Natsu can pinpoint the creature's location. He has a nose like no other."

Mira tapped her cheek with her index finger in frank disbelief.

"I suppose he could, but that only proves my point, y'know. We're all S-Class, Erza; if we didn't have some knack for tracking down giant beasts, we wouldn't have made it this far. Hell, Laxus might not be a 'First Generation' Dragon Slayer like Natsu, but he has heightened senses as well."

Erza felt her fist curl around the pen in her hand, tightening her grip ever so gradually.

"There's a specific Trial that I need Laxus's help with…"

"And Trials can't be reworked?" Mira continued to argue. "I know it's a pain because they need to be different every year, Erza, but c'mon! Can't you see that Natsu just wants to help out? You say you can count on Natsu to slay a monster, but is that all he's good for?"

Snap. The pen in Erza's hand snapped like a twig as she glared back at the barmaid.

"I won't be guilt-tripped, Mira! You know that's not true! If you have something to say, then just come out and say it!"

"Fine!" Came Mira's icy reply. "You're overconfident in Natsu, Erza! He's not a damn doormat for you to walk on because 'he can take it' or you 'believe' in him! Have you even shared a conversation with him lately? Not as Master and Guild mage, but as actual friends. 'Cause I can answer for you if you're unsure. You haven't. Not for over a year."

Needless to say, Mira's accusations caught Erza completely off-guard. She hadn't been expecting their conversation to take this route, not in a million years. Of course Erza was peripherally aware that it'd been some time since she and the Dragon Slayer made small talk, but… really? Gray once accused her of placing too much faith in Natsu, but there was something fundamentally different about Mira's accusation…

"N-Natsu can… that is… I…"

Mira shook her head firmly at the redhead's weak attempt at a defense. Erza was only just realizing how right she really was.

"I told you, Erza. It's fine to believe that Natsu can be the champion over any adversary; hell, I believe in him, too. But even I can see that he's not infallible. He doesn't have the willpower of a hundred; Natsu's just one man. A powerful Wizard, Dragon Slayer, whatever you wanna call him, but still a man. Erza, he's put up with your aloofness in the past year because you're dear to his heart – a friend he can't begrudge. If you were anyone else, he would've moved on already and denounced you as a friend. But because he's Natsu, he's capable of enduring your attitude; it won't hold forever – I've been dreading the inevitable breaking point – but he's held it together for this long."

"…" Erza couldn't form words at this point, or even any coherent thought. She just sort of… stared listlessly into space as Mira kept on talking.

"I'll go with whatever you need for the Trials, but know that there might come a time when I won't be able to follow your orders. Not if they hurt Natsu in any way." Mira told the scarlet knight sternly. "I'm only going along with it for now because it's what he would want. But you'd better find some way to make it up to him soon, or we'll be having another 'talk'…"

With this final cryptic threat, Mira stormed out of the Guild Master's office, leaving Erza alone to her thoughts and the gnawing guilt now eating away at her. After a while, the redhead simply cursed under her breath.

"Damn it…"

Mira twitched the tiniest amount as she came down the flight of stairs to the main floor of Fairy Tail. Apparently while she was away, little Lisanna had gone off and comforted her Dragon Slayer yet again without her permission… That was supposed to be her job, Mira thought as she puffed out her cheeks.

"What is going on here?"

Natsu had a devilish toothy grin on his face as he rapidly moved around Lisanna's prone form and tickled her mercilessly as she laid on the floor while laughing hysterically. Natsu hadn't quite registered his girlfriend's arrival.

"N-Natsu, stop! STOP!" Lisanna wheezed out as he just kept at it.

"Not so smart, now are ya?!" Natsu cackled as he continued the tickling for a few more moments before he abruptly stopped due to feeling a dark aura from somewhere close behind him. Natsu didn't even need to look behind him to tell… that another Punishment was nigh. "It wasn't my fault! Lisanna was teasing me, 'n…"

Natsu mechanically turned his head to face Mira, rambling excuses off his tongue fluently, but they were all for naught. Natsu knew she didn't like it when he got all intimate with Lisanna like that. Mira dearly loved them both, but Natsu. was. hers. Did Mira need to brand him on the ass or something to stake her claim?!

In the end, the Dragon Slayer hung his head and accepted his fate as Mira dragged him away.

Author's Note: And the angst/drama is back… Ahhh, felt good to let Mira vent. Do keep in mind Erza will not instantly change for the better. I said it will happen gradually, and it will. I kinda wanted to ease into it, but in the end, it just didn't feel right for both Natsu and Mira to keep quiet. Sooo… Mira opened a can of worms. And the ball is now in Erza's court. XD

I am still in the midst of finals, but I wanted to give you guys something because the impossible happened and Tempest35 actually read my work. I know! Cray-zee! lol In all seriousness, though, Tempest has updated Cold Tears, and it's now got extra Natza feels (and not just those of angst). Feel free to check it out and shower him with gratuity. Or, you know, just leave a fav, alert, review, whatev. That works, too. ^^

Also as Tempest said, gird your loins for the coming manga chapters. No telling what may be revealed with Erza and her mother's past, but let it not dispirit you, regardless of what does come. Mayhap Nalu and Jerza will be forced down our throats in the canon, but we shan't swallow their drivel (y'know, if you don't ship those…). Fanfiction will keep Natza and so many other pairings alive for years to come! Hah-hahaha! … Okay, that's enough out of sleep-deprived me. Stop reading.

Stahp! XD