Here's chapter 14 of this time-traveling series, and I must say; I never thought I was capable of writing a chapter over 3,000 words. TT_TT

LET'S SEE HOW LONG THIS WILL LAST...

And thanks to all who supported me with their views, likes, and comments!

IT MAKES ME DO THE HAPPY DANCE (/*o*)/

Lucy barely had time to yelp before being shoved onto a cold stoned floor. She heard Wendy's terror-filled voice as she fell right next to her. Suddenly, the potato sacks over their heads were yanked off with force, gifting Lucy the ability to see again. It was those mindless servants again, and the four of them simultaneously got up and left the cell that they were thrown into, all without saying a word.

Lucy hated how it was only her second day in this alternate universe yet she has already been held captive for more than enough times.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Wendy asked, the tenderness ever in her voice.

Lucy nodded, although she didn't appreciate how their hands were tied up behind their backs once again. "I'm fine. And you?"

Wendy smiled and nodded in return. "I'm okay. I'm just grateful Natsu was able to get the guild master to spare our lives."

Lucy completely agreed. It was incredible how Natsu had stood up for them like that. If he hadn't tried hiding them and lying to his master, then she was afraid of what could've happened. But now, their goal was finding a way out of their cell. "Don't worry, Wendy. We'll soon get out of this."

Wendy weakly nodded before taking a seat on a metal bed within the cell. Lucy took this opportunity to find what was within the small vicinity given to them. There were two metal bunks on both walls, and a sink and a bucket in the back. There was no way she was going to use that. She walked over to the bars on the cell door and looked out to the room outside. It was a rather empty room, with its only furniture being located in the center. Well, furniture was a polite word for it. There was a chair with loose ropes on the floor, and a table next to it filled with tools and dried up blood. Behind it, a set of stairs was on the wall that led to a higher floor. Lucy shivered. She didn't want to think about what Dark guilds did with their prisoners. At least Natsu was going to be our guard.

"Hey, do you think Natsu will be fine, considering that he had started another war with our guilds?" Lucy asked, sitting on the metal bed in front of Wendy.

"I don't know… It didn't seem like he was taking it all that well." Wendy replied. And suddenly, a look of fear dawned on the young girl's face. "Do you think his guild master is going to use his mind manipulation spell on Natsu again?"

Lucy's eyes widened. She didn't even think about what his cruel master would do to him now that war was back.

A light footstep was heard coming down the stairs, grabbing both of their attention. It was Natsu, and Happy was flying right by his side. Natsu was wearing his same outfit since this morning, with his black jeans and sleeveless muscle tee with golden and white dragons embroidered on his shirt. And of course, Igneel's scarf was loosely wrapped around his neck. He entered the room, his eyebrows pulled together as he looked at their current circumstances. "Girls, I am so sorry about you ending up down here. This is all my fault."

Lucy immediately shook her head. "No, it's not. You were only trying to do what was right for Happy. Don't blame yourself for how we ended up here."

Wendy nodded in agreement with the Celestial mage. "She's right, so please don't be upset about it."

"Okay, but let me at least take these rope ties off of you. There is no reason for you to have them." Natsu softly said as he made his way to them. Wendy and Lucy leaned toward the metal bars as he reached his arm into the cell, as they watched him gingerly burn off their restraints one by one.

The ropes fell to ashes on the floor, allowing Lucy to rub her tender wrists. "Thanks…"

Happy looked from the girls to Natsu. "Natsu… we can't leave them in a cell! We need to help them escape!"

Wendy's eyes widened with hope. "Do you have the keys? Maybe you can let us out!"

This pained Natsu, and Lucy watched as he lowered his head and clenched his fist. "Escaping isn't a good idea." He said, in a low voice. "Master has guards all over the place, and the members here are not what you call friendly. You will have to give me a few days for me to think of a plan and get you both out of here."

Wendy slowly nodded in understanding, before sulking back to the metal bed, disheartened. "Poor Carla… she must be terrified."

Happy's face dropped when he heard Carla's name. But not a second after, he perked right back up when a thought hit him. "Don't worry, Wendy! When you get out of here, you'll see Carla! And maybe I'll be able to meet her too!"

Wendy softened into a smile. "Yeah, Happy. You're right. There's no point of sulking now."

Natsu smirked, lifting up a pair of large keys. "And for some more good news; I am your cell keeper. So you won't have to worry about any of my lesser guild-mates using any other methods of cell keeping."

Natsu nodded back to the pile of weapons resting on the table in the center of the room he was in, earning a chill from Wendy and Lucy.

"Anyways, one of the keys is for your cell door, and the other is for the door up the stairs. As long as I have these keys, you won't have to worry about any unwanted visitors." Natsu hooked the keys back on his belt, before hooking off another set of keys and tossing them into their cell.

Lucy caught them, looking with awe at the silver and gold keys that Natsu took from her the day before.

"Oh, and that's your prize for being there for Happy." Natsu chuckled, before lowering his voice to a teasing whisper. "Just… don't tell anyone you have them… Master would kill me if he found out."

Lucy couldn't hold her thoughts back any longer. Why was Natsu risking his reputation, his life even, to help out the enemy? "Natsu… why are you being so kind to us? Doesn't this put you in danger with your guild?"

Natsu sighed, taking a seat in the chair that was usually used to tie up and interrogate prisoners of war. He looked across the table of bloody utensils to meet Lucy's and Wendy's eyes in the cell.

"Well, I guess you can say that I'm done with all this nonsense Dark Sparrows is feeding me. It's always orders to 'kill this' and 'destroy that', and now… I'm getting tired of it, to be honest. When I was younger, I would follow Diesel's orders without hesitation, because that was what I was raised to do. But now, I'm starting to realize that I want to follow my own identity. It was something two girls told me not too long ago." Natsu smirked.

Lucy smiled. It seems like their talk with Natsu that morning stuck with him throughout the day.

"So, what is that identity?" Wendy asked, genuinely curious.

Natsu let out a soft laugh. "Well, that, I'm trying to figure out."

Happy pumped his first into the air. "Well, whatever you do, Natsu, I'll be right by your side! You'll have my support any day!"

Natsu grinned, ruffling the fur on Happy's head. "Aw, thanks pal."

Natsu turned back to the girls and cocked his head, smirking. "Now, forget dark guilds. What are the morals of two girls from a legal guild?"

Lucy laughed. "What do you except? We go around saving people, and helping out those in need. It's basically the complete opposite of what you're used to."

"So… does that mean you guys don't kill people?"

Wendy shot up, a fierce look in her eyes. "Of course not! Killing is a cruel thing to do, and it only brings pain and suffering."

Natsu seemed taken aback for a second, but Wendy lowered her eyes, and she spoke in a softer voice. "You must see everyone as human, because no matter if they are a bad person or not, they all have lives that they call their own, and a loved one that they live for. I've lost a loved one before, and I would hate to bring that pain upon someone else."

Natsu slowly nodded in understanding. "Huh. I guess I know that feeling too. I know this may sound crazy, but I had a dragon who took care of me before I met Diesel and the others. But he disappeared, and I haven't heard of him since."

Wendy looked up with surprise. "The same thing happened to me! I had a dragon who raised me, and she disappeared when I was younger! That's the loved one I was talking about."

Natsu's eyebrows scrunched together as he put two and two together. "Wow, so that means you're a dragon slayer too?"

"Yep! And that also is the reason I have a flying cat!"

"Wow, that's insane. I didn't know there was more out there, other than your guild master Laxus being an artificial dragon slayer."

"Oh yes, and there's another dragon slayer in my guild too. He's an iron dragon slayer."

Lucy was glad to see that Wendy and Natsu had found something in common, and she can tell that Wendy was already calming down from her worries about how Carla and Fairytail was doing.

"Oh, now that I'm thinking about it, I think I fought him back during our previous war. He's a tough guy, that's for sure—"

"Hey Natsu; you in there?" A bang was heard from the door upstairs, averting everyone's attention to it. Some fear had risen back up in Wendy's eyes, and Lucy put a reassuring hand on her.

"Shoot… I'll have to get back to you guys. It looks like someone wants me." Natsu pushed off the wooden chair and took off.

"Wait!" Wendy yelped. "W-When are you coming back?"

Natsu smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll be the one in charge of bringing in your food, so expect me to be dropping by every few hours. Come on, Happy." And with that said, Natsu ran up the stairs with Happy and left the room.

Natsu slid out of the door from the basement, which led out to a dark hallway that opened up to the guildhall. No one else usually came down these halls, since there are only doors that led to other prison cells with long-forgotten prisoners.

And that's why it made Natsu all the more surprised to see Seph and Diesel standing in the hallway in front of the door.

"Hey, it's Happy! I'm glad to see you're looking better!" Seph cheered, pulling the cat in to mess with his fur.

Happy rushed in to give Seph a teary hug. "Thanks, Uncle Seph! Natsu said that you were the one who suggested getting a healing mage from FT!"

"No problem. She sure did fix you up fast, though. She must be pretty powerful to bring you back looking brand new."

"Yeah! Right Natsu?"

Natsu smiled and nodded, locking the door to the basement. "Definitely. We should get our own healer for Dark Sparrows one of these days. Our current one is rotten old."

Diesel smirked, hooking his arm over Natsu's shoulders as they turned and walked towards the guildhall. "What are you talking about, Natsu? You picked us up a very nice healer on your own." He leaned in close to Natsu and teasingly whispered into his ear. "Is she cute? I say we keep her."

Natsu immediately became disinterested in this conversation. Disgusted, even. "She's like twelve, Diesel. And what are you, forty?"

"I'm 35, you pipsqueak!"

Natsu continued speaking, barely noticing how Diesel had changed his arm position to a vise-like headlock around his neck. "And also, she is a prisoner of war. She's going right back where she came from once all of this is over."

"But that's the thing!" Seph chimed in, excited. "We're winning this thing, again. And you know what that means? We get to take what we want."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Can you guys not sound any more perverted?"

Diesel chuckled. "That's not what we mean, Natsu. Look. Sorry I lost my cool on you earlier today. But hey; let me make it up to you. Wanna head to a casino tonight? Ruby dear and Siren are gonna be there."

The sound of relaxing with his friends sounded like a vacation well needed. However, it didn't sound right for him to leave Lucy and Wendy alone in the cell while he was out partying. "Hmm… I don't know. I'm on guard duty."

"Oh come onnnnn~ It's time for a celebration! You gotta just relax a little, m'kay? We're living in great times right now. And plus, we can always get another guard for those ladies." Seph pleaded, swaying to

Diesel for support. Natsu could smell the booze from Seph already.

Natsu rolled his eyes and laughed, watching Diesel shove Seph off of him. "Alright, alright! I'll go, you crazy drunkard." He decided that a night out wouldn't hurt anyone.

But there was no way he was going to let those girls see the face of another guard.

"And don't worry about finding someone else to take my job. Happy, mind keeping watch with the prisoners?"

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu tossed the cell keys to Happy, and the blue cat saluted in return.

It was the late afternoon, and Natsu didn't feel much of the need to change his clothes for the occasion. He always found comfort in wearing Igneel's scarf over a black outfit. Also, since this was a casino for dark mages, he didn't have to worry about hiding his identity. When he arrived at the casino, he was thankful to see that Siren sported her usual attire as well: her favorite crop top and a pair of ripped leggings. Ruby, of course, decided to go all out with her attire, wearing a long red dress and flashy makeup. She was sitting at a poker table, her red lips pursed as she fumbled with the edge of her playing cards. Diesel and Seph were behind her wearing black tuxedoes, equally engrossed in the game as well.

Natsu rolled his eyes at the sight of them, before joining Siren at the bar. They both were in their early 20's, yet they lacked interest in the adult life at the casino. Ruby loves to go every so often to win some cash, and she always makes it a big trip out of it and drags everyone along. Once they're there, however, Siren and Natsu are left to hang around the bar or people watch.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it." Siren said, one eyebrow cocked playfully.

Natsu gave her a smug face. "I had a hard time deciding on what to wear." He sat next to her and tapped on the counter, grabbing the attention of the bartender. "I'll take a Dragon fire's drink."

The bartender whipped up his beverage, igniting a flame on top of it before setting the drink before him. "Make sure to take the fire out before you drink it." He winked, before walking away.

Siren turned to face Natsu, her elbow propped on the counter. "Hey, I never got to check up on you after you took off earlier today. Are you doing okay?"

Natsu nodded, his eyes adverting onto his flaming drink. "Yeah, don't worry about that. I was just feeling sick."

"Huh. Alright." She slumped back into her seat, resignedly taking a sip of her own glass.

Natsu knew Siren wasn't happy about his kidnapping scheme, and he wasn't able to talk to her about it since it all started 2 nights ago. He decided that there was no better time than now to get it out of the way. "Are you… mad at me?"

That caught Siren off guard. She paused from drinking as her eyes fell onto Natsu. "Why would you say that?"

Natsu distractedly swirled a finger over the flames in his beverage. It took him a lot more effort than he'd like to admit to take his eyes off of his drink and to look at her. Does she not know what I'm talking about? "I had two girls at my house, of course. Why wouldn't my girlfriend be mad?"

"You said it yourself that just used them for Happy. So why would I be?"

Natsu sighed in relief. It seemed like there was nothing to worry about. "Okay, just making sure."

Silence fell between the two, and Natsu could hear the uproar of a distant game table with a man yelling jackpot. He was thankful for his ability to tune in and out of background noises, because his dragon hearing made it difficult for him to be in public places. He slowly took a sip from his flaming cup, completely forgetting about the advice from the bartender. A few strangers looked his way, bewildered.

Siren broke the silence with a soft laughter, earning a raised eyebrow from Natsu. "And what do you think is so funny?"

She shook her head with a smile as she looked at Natsu. "Nothing. It's just that you've changed so much from the day we first met."

"I'd really hope so. We were like what? Ten?"

"Yes, and you were the most dense, hotheaded, immature brat I've ever encounter. But now, you're so calm and collected. And a crybaby, if you haven't noticed."

"Woah, hold it right there. A crybaby? Where'd you get that from?" Natsu laughed, not knowing if he should be offended or amused.

"You're always worried about other people's feelings, and it makes you such a softy. I guess that part about you hasn't changed from when we were kids, though."

"And you've always been the blunt one." Natsu murmured before finishing his drink. He could vividly recall that day he first ran into her. He was doing a mission with Ruby, Diesel, and Seph when they raided her town. And they probably would've left her too, if it wasn't for her blunt personality…

"Hey! You have the same hair as me."

Natsu turned around, catching sight of the girl behind him. She had big pink curls that sat on her head like an afro, and she didn't seem to be any older than the age Natsu was.

But Natsu had shoes on. And she didn't.

The girl's clothes were tattered, and she had dirt and soot smudged on her face. Well, Natsu knew where the soot came from. It was probably from the smoke from his fire that burned throughout the village.

"You live here?" Natsu asked, a bit embarrassed to be talking to one of the residents of the town he was burning.

The girl nodded, before putting on a big smile. "Yes, and I believe you are burning it."

Natsu swallowed, feeling slightly intimidated. "Well, i-it's too bad! I'm apart of a dark guild, and this is something that I have to do!"

He has only been apart of the Dark Sparrows for a few months, and he had accustomed himself to seeing the young mages that took him as his parents, and with Seph like his uncle of course. But, they never told him what to do if he encountered a girl his age! What does he do? Burn her? Run away?

"Let me join you! It sounds like fun."

Natsu blinked owlishly at the girl. Did he hear her correctly?

But there was no denying to what she said once he saw the fierceness in her eyes.

"And why should I do that?" He asked, clutching tighter to the bags of money and precious goods in his hands. She must have something to contribute if she wanted to hang with them.

"I don't know. We should be friends because… we both have pink hair!"

Natsu twitched at her insult. "HEY! MY HAIR IS SALMON, NOT PINK—"

"And also…" She held up her hand, and a purple magic circle floated above her palm. She moved her eyes to a running villager, and suddenly, the man started slowing down into sluggish steps, before slumping onto the floor. "I'll be able to help." She said, an evil smirk settling on her face.

Natsu's eyes widened in awe. Never before has he seen something more cool. Well, besides his dragon of course. He handed her one of the money bags. "Okay, okay. Follow me."

Natsu grabbed the girl's hand before chasing off to the ones he called family. Ruby and Diesel were bagging valuable goods from the mayor's hall, as Seph held the mayor and some other important people captive.

Natsu skid into the grand room with Siren after him, carrying his share of the loot. Seph paused up from his torrent of threats to the mayor and smirked at the sight of him and the newcomer. "Hey, squirt. Who's the girl?"

Diesel disappointedly shook his head as he slipped a large painting into his sack. "How many times do you tell you that these missions are not playgrounds, Natsu? You can't go around making friends."

"HEY, LET'S KEEP HER! SHE'S REALLY POWERFUL!"

Ruby dropped her sack to tend to the needy fire-breathing child. "Natsu… we keep pets, not people. Only unless they are prisoners or hostages."

"But you took me in! Why can't we do the same for her? We're the same age! And we have the same hair color!"

"So because of that, we need to 'keep' her?" Diesel asked with a chuckle. "Natsu, we're not just some adoption system, we don't just go around collecting kids."

"Oh Diesel, let's at least give her a chance." Ruby kneeled in front of the curly head girl. "My, you're gorgeous. And according to Natsu, you must be a powerful one too. What is it that you can do, sweetheart?

The girl puffed her chest and grinned. "My magic can make people fall asleep!"

Diesel rubbed his chin, intrigued. "I guess that is pretty good… It can be pretty helpful too. But why do you want to join a dark guild?"

The girl averted her eyes to the floor, twisting her toe nervously. "I don't have any parents, and the folks here are all scared of me…" And not a moment later, she shot her head back up, determination in her eyes.

"So that's why you gotta take me with you! I can be really useful!"

Seph laughed. "The kids' right. Sleeping magic is no joke, and that can be great to get around with. Got a name?"

"It's Siren!"

Natsu laughed as he tucked those memories away. Has it really already been over 10 years? "We were such a pair."

"And we still are…" Siren added, hooking her arm within Natsu's. She pulled closed to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you forget that we are inseparable?"

Natsu leaned into her embrace, their small beverages long forgotten.

"What did we call ourselves? The pink twins?" Siren snickered.

A vein popped out of Natsu's forehead. "Never… speak of that name out loud…"

"Hey!" Siren was chuckling so hard that she had to gasp for air. "It was Happy's idea…"

Something stroked down Natsu's arm, and he looked back to see Ruby holding a wad of money. "Another win, baby." Natsu golf clapped as Ruby took a seat on the bar next to them, with Diesel and Seph

following right after.

"It's as expected, coming from our gambling queen." Seph simply stated, as if her victory was forecasted by the weatherman.

"Congratulations. Now are you going to split the cash or what?"

"It's none of your concern…" Ruby said, slipping the cash into her purse.

As the older adults ordered their hardcore drinks, Siren remained holding onto Natsu. "Just one thing." She whispered, her eyes looking off to nowhere in particular. "Just be careful when you're guarding those

FT girls. It's just… we're getting into war, and we all need to be focused. Do you really have to babysit them?"

Natsu didn't really know what to say. "Keeping them captive is essential to having an upper hand to this war, Ren." Natsu assured her. "And that's why I want to be to watch over them."

Of course it was going to be him watching over them. He wasn't going to give anyone else that job.

"Sure, okay…" Siren placed her hand on his cheek, and her voice became muffled as she pressed her lips against his. Natsu smiled before kissing her back, and his fingers tucking her long, curly pink hair behind her ear. "We're the pink twins, huh? We'll might have to change that since we're dating…"

Siren breathed a soft laugh, both hands resting on his shoulders. "Okay Mister My-hair's-salmon-not-pink. It's your turn to find a name."

Natsu chuckled and shook his head, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "I'll have to think about it…"

And with his Dragon hearing, Natsu could hear Seph mumbling under his breath. "Ugh… get a room you two…"

Please, PLEASE review on how you feel about this story! I thought it was interesting to have a time travel twist to Fairy Tail, but now I will have no way of telling if I don't get any feedback! I want to hear your comments! Questions! Anything to motivate me on writing this story! I hope my new characters had tied well in the story, and I wanted them each to get their own personality.

These is Natsu's new family, after all. I wanted to make sure it was obvious that Natsu has his own girlfriend Siren, and it can prove to be a challenge to Lucy now that she has taken a liking to the pink head guy…

And I hope Siren's backstory clears things up a bit!

HEY, I KNOW YOUR READING THIS. NOW GO ON, REVIEW.