**I don't own Fairy Tail, or any of the characters. I just write about them. And stuff...

So, to answer the question: is Natsu more powerful than Mavis?

Well, that's actually hard to say. Between his dragon slayer magic and his god magic (now), he certainly rivals Mavis in strength. However, I would say Mavis's superior ability to strategize and plan would easily give her the victory in most head-to-head scenarios. That's all I'll say on the subject for now.

Anyway, enjoy the reading. And don't forget to drop a review if you like it. Or if you don't like it. I love constructive criticism when I can get it.

Flames, on the other hand... Well, they really serve no purpose except to make flamers feel like they have some worth in the real world.

Anyway, read. Review. Like. Follow. I love all my readers. And I'm not drunk, I swear.

Well, mostly not drunk, anyway.**

"Mirajane's late today," Makarov commented to Erza, who was sitting at the bar, staring at the door.

"Yeah," Kinana pouted from behind the bar. "I had to open up by myself. And she didn't even say why. Just said something about an urgent shopping trip this morning."

"Shopping?" Makarov raised an eyebrow. "Shopping doesn't sound like a good excuse for being late."

"Maybe it will when she arrives, master." Erza said, trying to placate the old man.

"Hmph." Makarov looked at her and got a knowing gleam in his eye. "I can't wait for her to arrive then."

Crap. He suspected something. Why did she have to get involved in the conversation at all? Wait. Better question, why hadn't the barmaid let her take the kids shopping for new clothes? She knew fashion, even if the silver-haired demon thought she lacked fashion sense.

"That bitch is going to owe me two strawberry cakes when she gets here," Erza muttered as she looked toward the door. Hadn't the whole idea of leaving early been to keep just this situation from happening?

Suddenly the door burst open and Natsu and Mavis came running in. They scanned the guild frantically till their eyes fell on Erza.

"Erza-san! You've got to save us!" Natsu and Mavis yelled together, running up and hiding behind Erza. "She's trying to kill us!"

Every eye in the guild turned to her, and she could practically see the questions hanging on their lips. But suddenly the doors flew open and a demonic aura flooded the guild, making even Erza shudder.

"GET BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT YOU LITTLE SHITS!"

"Watch your language in front of…" Erza trailed off as her eyes found Mirajane, the source of the angry demonic aura. The face and clothes were Mirajane's, but her hair stuck straight out in all directions from her head, frizzled as though she'd just stuck her finger in an electric socket. In addition to that, the normal, silvery-white luster was replaced by a disgusting greenish-yellow hue that reminded Erza of the one time she'd allowed herself to get wasted after eating a lemon meringue pie.

"Umm, is that a new take over Mira?" she asked as politely as she could. Mavis burst into giggles behind her, with Natsu joining her with his high pitched laugh.

"NO IT'S NOT A FUCKING TAKE-OVER DUMBASS!" Mira screamed, still advancing. Natsu and Mavis stopped laughing instantly and shrunk behind Erza. "IT'S THOSE UNGRATEFUL LITTLE WRETCHES BEHIND YOU!"

Erza turned to glare at the pair of tweens briefly before taking a step forward toward Mirajane. If Natsu weren't 12 she would've willingly abandoned him to his fate. "Mira, why don't you start by explaining what exactly happened?"

Mira glared at the two, trying to step past Erza. But Erza just stepped with her to block her. They danced for a few moments, Mira trying to get around with Erza blocking her easily with each attempt. Finally the take over mage growled. "Why don't you ask them what happened?" She said, glaring at the pair cowering behind Erza.

Erza turned to Mavis and Natsu. "Explain. Now."

"Well…" Natsu looked at Mavis before starting. "We got to the shopping center in downtown Magnolia. Mira went into the clothing store with us and picked out two sets of clothing for each of us. Then she told us to go find a few more outfits while she went to get her hair done…"

"Go on," Erza prompted when Natsu didn't speak for a few minutes.

"Well," he continued. "Neither of us are really much for shopping, so we got bored really quickly. When we went next door, she had a towel over her face and her hair and the back of her head soaking in this sink-type thing. The stylist was gone, and I wanted to play a prank, so I was about to heat the water to boiling but Mavis stopped me."

"Well at least one of you has some sense…" Erza said, and then face-palmed as Mavis stuck her tongue out at Natsu. "But that doesn't explain… that." She pointed to Mira's hair.

"Well, Mavis went to the magic dye section and found some yellow and a lime-green. Then she poured them into the sink with the water, and told me to wait five minutes. We kind of hid behind a curtain in case the stylist came back, but nobody came in during that time… So then, after 5 minutes, she told me to use my lightning flame mode on the water. So I did."

"I take back what I said earlier," Erza said looking at the blonde-haired girl who also happened to be the first master of Fairy Tail. Natsu stuck his tongue out at her.

At this point, the initial shock of events had worn off enough that guild members were beginning to ask other, more pressing questions.

"Wait, first is back?! I thought she wasn't coming around 'cause of that curse thingy."

"Is that Natsu's brother? I didn't even know Natsu had a brother."

"Why do you smell just like the Salamander, shrimp?" Gajeel's voice.

"N-Natsu-nii?" Wendy's voice, a little shrill and disbelieving.

"That's not Natsu." Gray's voice, a little dejected. "One, that kid's no more than 12. Two, we all know Natsu died in the war when he killed Zeref."

"A dragon's nose don't lie." Gajeel again. "That little fucker's the salamander alright."

At this point Wendy was already running forward, tackling the young dragon slayer to the floor. "Natsu!" She cried out, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "You… you were d-d-d-d…"

"Dead?" Natsu grinned cheerfully. "Well, as you can see, I'm not. Anymore."

Suddenly the guild erupted into chaos. Everyone talking, asking questions, yelling at Erza for not letting them know sooner. Erza looked to Mirajane to help her explain, but the barmaid had disappeared from the guild. Hopefully she hadn't died from embarrassment.

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Makarov bellowed, suddenly a giant towering over the guild. Instantly everything was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Now, first," Makarov said turning to Mavis. "Why don't you explain what's going on?"

"Eh?" Mavis looked at him, a mischievous smile on her lips. "Well, if you must know…" She somehow managed to conjure up a blush. "Natsu seduced me in the forest and his amorous advances lifted my curse. He kind of forced his attentions on me, but everything he was doing to me felt so amazing…" She managed to blush deeper.

"MAVIS?!" Natsu roared as the whole guild turned their eyes to the dragon slayer.

"Salamander…" Gajeel growled. "If you weren't somehow a 12 year old, I'd pound you into the ground for doing something so indecent to the first master."

"And you call me the perv, flame brain?!" Gray yelled. "She's still a kid for fuck's sake!"

"Watch your language Gray!" Erza yelled. Then she sighed. "Alright, I don't know exactly how it happened, but First Master Mavis is just having a little fun at Natsu's expense. All I know is that Natsu somehow came back from the dead. Mira and I met him while we were on the way to go visit his grave, and he told us he had to go find Mavis. We followed him, and he sniffed her out really quickly with his dragon slayer nose. Then, when we found her, she was yelling at him to get away, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept getting closer. And when he was close enough he…" She blushed slightly as she remembered the scene. "He kissed her, and there was this really bright light. When it faded, Natsu was 12 again, and Mavis said the curse was gone. After that, I was going to take Mavis to Fairy Hills with me, but Mira insisted on taking Natsu to her house, and Mavis insisted on going with."

There was a long silence. Then suddenly a voice piped up. "Hey. Where's Elfman? Shouldn't he know about this if they were at Mira's house last night?"

Natsu and Mavis both broke out into hysterical laughter again. As soon as they were recovered enough to talk, Natsu said, "As soon as he came down and saw me and Mavis in the kitchen, he screamed something about being a man and passed out. So Mira laid him on the couch. He's probably still there."

"I hope he likes his new mustache," Mavis added, and the two broke out laughing again.

Erza looked around and saw a lot of startled and confused faces around the room.

Makarov sighed. "One thing I should warn you about. Before the first's… lacrima condition happened, she was known to have an affinity for mischief…"

"Mischief?" Everyone's eyes shot wide open. "OH NO!"

"First Master and Natsu?!" Groaned all members of the guild who remembered Natsu's young teens.

What have we gotten ourselves into, Erza thought as she sweat-dropped. Natsu's pranks had always been childish and often obvious. But with Mavis's mind to back him up, there would be no safety for the guild for the next several months. Why couldn't the kiss have worked the opposite way and made Mavis more mature? We're so fucked.

Suddenly the doors burst open. "HEY EVERYONE! YOU'RE NEVER GONNA' BELIEVE THIS! NATSU'S ALIVE AND HE WAS AT MY HOUSE WITH MAVIS!"

All eyes turned toward Elfman, who'd just rushed through the doors to the guild. Gajeel was the first to respond with a snicker. "You're a little late there, buddy."

Elfman looked at Natsu and Mavis, and Erza followed his gaze to see the former still pinned to the floor by Wendy. Mavis apparently noticed this too. She took a couple steps over and offered a hand to Wendy. "Do you need some help Wendy?" she asked.

"Umm…" Wendy blinked as the first master leaned further down, removing her arm from around Natsu's waist and 'helping' her to her feet quickly. Still smiling, Mavis then took her place, straddling Natsu's stomach.

"What's this Natsu?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his face up toward hers. "You steal my first kiss at 12 and then try to leave me for Wendy?"

"It's not like that," protested the 12 year old. "Wendy's like a sister to me!"

"Oh. Well in that case it's alright," Mavis said cheerfully, getting off his stomach and offering a hand to help him up.

"Besides," Natsu added, suddenly rubbing the back of his head. "It's not like we're together or anything. I mean… we're only 12."

"What was that?" Mavis asked, a sickeningly dark aura surrounding her. "Did I just hear you say you went and captured my innocent heart just to string me along and dump me by the wayside? That you stole my first kiss planning to abandon me the minute something better comes along?"

Natsu gulped audibly. "No… Of course that's not what I said Mavis…"

"That's good, Na-kun. Because if you did decide to leave me for someone else, I'd have to kill her and then deal out punishment like you've never seen before. And I don't think either of us wants that to happen. Do we, Na-kun?"

"N-no Mavis-chan." Natsu gulped.

"Excellent!" Mavis's cheerful demeanor returned as she wrapped her arms around the pink-haired dragon slayer. Erza watched as several girls quickly averted their gazes from Natsu, fearful of incurring Mavis's wrath.

Just then Mira came back in, her hair back to its normal silvery-white luster. She stared around the room as she approached Erza at the bar. "What'd I miss?" She asked, her eyes settling on Mavis who was still wrapped around Natsu.

"Well," Erza said, looking around at the still silent guild. "Mavis just basically threatened to kill any girl Natsu shows an interest in."

"Oh." Mira's eyes widened as she looked at the first master.

"More important," Erza said, surprised to see Mira so quickly back to her normal self. "Your hair is back to its usual color."

"Oh yeah," Mirajane sighed. "Turns out the fuckers didn't use permanent dye. So after a quick shower and a double wash, all of that disgusting color came out."

"Ah," Erza replied quietly. "Well, I guess you can be thankful that Mavis is at least a little thoughtful." She smirked, secretly wishing the first master were a little lese thoughtful so she could enjoy her rival's discomfort longer.

"Hey Salamander," Gajeel called out boisterously. "You sure know how to get the scary ones huh?"

"I'm… scary?..." Tears began to pool in Mavis's large green eyes. "Am I really scary, Na-kun?"

"Of course not Mavis-chan!" Natsu exclaimed. "Take that back Gajeel!"

"Or what, shrimp, you're a fucking 12 year old," Gajeel retorted.

Mavis whispered something that Erza couldn't hear to Natsu, and Natsu's fists ignited.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Erza's eyes widened at the blow Natsu delivered. Apparently he wasn't kidding about his magic power being as strong as ever. Gajeel went flying through a wall on the opposite side of the guild.

"NOOOOO!" Makarov wailed as his spirit started escaping out of his mouth. Erza and Mira, being the closest, hurriedly pushed it back in. "So much potential…" he gasped out. There was a long pause before he finished, "for destruction…"

Erza gulped. Now that she thought about it, Mavis and Natsu were two of the strongest mages in Fairy Tail now – at the ages of 12. She remembered how destructive 12 year old Natsu had been with the level of magic power he'd possessed at the time.

"The council will be furious…" She muttered.

"They'll probably take his position as Wizard Saint back too," Mira giggled.

Erza forgot about the honorary title, but the thought made her giggle. A 12 year old wizard saint running around destroying everything in his wake, with an equally powerful partner who loved mischief. The thought was as terrifying as it was amusing.

"So Maki," Mavis said with a sudden smile. "Na-kun and I are S-class mages, right?"

"Ummm…" Makarov sweat-dropped. "Technically, Natsu never passed the trials…"

"Are you saying my Na-kun isn't powerful enough to be an S-class?" Mavis said, her sweet tone turning a little sickly. "Because I'm pretty sure the council thought he was powerful enough to rank as a wizard saint."

"But… the two of you on S-class quests…." Makarov's soul started escaping again at the very thought.

"I agree, master." Erza said. "However old these two may have been before, they're 12 again. They shouldn't be allowed to go on quests by themselves under any circumstances."

Mavis glared at her. "For your information, I founded Fairy Tail when I was 12."

Erza sweat-dropped. "But you weren't with Natsu then. He's a bad influence on you."

"My Na-kun is not a bad influence!" Mavis said with a smirk. "No more than you or miss demon over there."

"Mira I might agree with, but how am I a bad influence?" Erza growled. She couldn't believe the nerve of the first master.

"Do I really have to tell everyone about the smutty novels you keep your room stocked with? Or how you stopped thinking about Jellal two years ago, and you've been fantasizing about Na-kun when you pleasure yourself ever since?" Mavis asked quietly.

"N-no!" Erza squeaked, feeling her face turning red, especially when she saw Natsu looking at her with his eyes wide. Suddenly a thought struck her. "W-wait. How did you know about that?"

"Being a spirit has its perks you know," Mavis said with a grin. "I have dirt on everybody in this guild."

"Everybody?" Erza said. This could be useful, especially if she had info on… "What about Mirajane?" she asked, her voice low.

"Oh, I've got lot's of stuff on Mira-chan," Mavis replied with a conspiratory wink.

"Great," Erza said, waiting eagerly for some juicy gossip about her rival.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you," Mavis said with a smirk. "That would defeat the whole purpose of having dirt on her in the first place."

Erza held back the growl forming in her throat and glared at the first master. She then looked at Makarov, a plan forming in her mind. "Master," she said smiling. "While I don't doubt the abilities of Mavis or Natsu, I think it's still best that they not be allowed to go on quests alone. Having two twelve year olds taking job requests by themselves could reflect poorly on our guild's image, and have other unintended consequences for the two."

"Such as?" Makarov asked, blinking.

"Well, two mages, a boy and a girl, both at the age where they're going through puberty…" Erza said, hinting at the kind of rumors they didn't want going around. "Alone for days… weeks even, on missions…"

"Oh…" Makarov nodded sagely. "Laxus, I have to trust you with a very important job."

Laxus? Why Laxus? Erza frowned. This wasn't going the way she wanted it to at all.

"Laxus, in a few years these two will have finished going through puberty. Her hips will get wider. Her chest will get bigger. He'll get bigger too, and more manly. And when that happens they'll most likely be tempted to engage in certain less than decent activities."

"And?" Laxus said boredly. "What's that got to do with me?"

"When that time comes, you're the only one I can trust to be present… with this." Makarov handed a video recording lacrima to Laxus. "During the next few years, I want you to accompany them everywhere so you know the best way to hide this when that time comes…"

Laxus's bored expression vanished, and he nodded sagely. "It is a very difficult task, master, but I won't fail you."

"Master, you perv!" Erza yelled. "Neither you nor Laxus needs to be anywhere near these two. Especially once they're old enough to do… that. I'll chaperon them on the missions."

"I'll go with her," Mirajane added.

Erza glared at her rival. Who did she think she was, butting in on her turf like that? "That won't be necessary," she growled.

"I think it will," Mira said with a bright smile. "After all, we wouldn't want Mavis to have to kill you."

Erza felt her cheeks getting red despite her best efforts. "I – Natsu's 12 you pervert!" She yelled.

"Yeah, but he won't be forever." Mirajane's smile twisted into a smirk. Erza continued to glare even though her cheeks were as red as her hair.

She looked around to see many guild members watching the conversation with interest. She needed to turn this around on the she-devil, and fast, or people would start picking on her over the now 12-year-old dragon slayer. "So what, you just want to come along so you can steal Natsu for yourself?" She retorted loudly.

Now it was Mira's turn to blush, and Erza smirked triumphantly as she pushed her advantage. "I bet you're all ready to play 'mother' to 12 year old Natsu so you can cozy up to him when he's back to his gorgeous 18 year old body, ne?"

Mira blushed deeper, but Erza noticed that the entire guild seemed to be staring at her now. That wasn't supposed to happen. They should all be staring at, or heckling, Mira. Mira was the one who was supposed to be embarrassed right now. Not her. So why was everyone still staring at her like she'd just confessed…

All at once she realized what she'd just said. Her face turned a bright crimson, her mind working furiously to figure out how to salvage what was left of her pride in this situation. With a wave of dismissal, she grabbed Natsu and Mavis. "Have it your way, succubus. We'll both chaperon them on missions."

"I think that's a good idea," Mavis chimed in, and Erza turned to see a smirk on the first master's delicate features. "That way I can keep an eye on both of you."

Erza sweat-dropped as she remembered the first master's earlier promise to kill any girl that Natsu seemed to be "leaving her" for. Perhaps chaperoning Natsu wasn't such a good idea after all…

"On second thought Erza, you can chaperon them by yourself," Mira said with a sweet smile.

Crap. She must've been thinking the same thing. "No, actually I think you're better fit to chaperon them." Erza replied, thinking quickly. "You've always been more of a motherly figure, probably because you had to watch out for your younger siblings."

Mira glared at her. "Exactly why you need the experience." She said. "What better way to figure out the whole mothering thing than spending time chaperoning two children who are more than capable of taking care of themselves?"

"That's just the issue though," Erza retorted. "Your experience is more suited to reining in two kids who also happen to be powerful mages. I tend to rely more on brute force, while you rely more on manipulation."

"But Mavis sees through manipulation," Mirajane replied. "Whereas at least Natsu is probably still scared shitless of your brute force."

"Enough!" Mavis said, a slightly dark aura coming off of her. "Either you both come along, or neither one does. I'm invoking my authority as First Master on this."

Erza sweat-dropped. She'd almost forgotten the 12 year old kid that was now Natsu's partner in crime was also the first guild master of Fairy Tail. Shit. What was the world coming to?

Destruction. Complete and utter destruction. A voice muttered in her mind. She stilled it instantly. Sure, the two were mischievous, and maybe a tad bit careless sometimes. But they weren't that destructive…

At least, she hoped they weren't. But then, why was Makarov clutching his wallet as though it were the most precious possession on earth to him?

More importantly, though, how was she going to get through the next several weeks… maybe even years… of quests without doing anything that might suggest to the first master that she had designs on Natsu? And what would be considered a sign? Physical contact? Hugging? Snuggling? Kissing? On the forehead of course, you pervs. He is only twelve for fuck's sake.

Well, if she was lucky Mira would cross the line first and show her where it was. Until then, she'd just have to accept her fate. "I guess we have no choice but to agree then." She said, and Mira nodded her affirmation with a sigh.

"Great!" Mavis grinned. "Come on Na-kun, let's find a job!"

And they were off to the S-class board. Erza shook her head as she watched them go. There was only one thing to do at a time like this.

"Mira, I need a strawberry cake. Now."