The Dragon slayer Natsu Dragneel had left with Lucy, Gray, and Erza on a mission. They had to defeat a shapeshifter monster that was causing trouble in a village on the edge of Magnolia and the reward would be very generous.
"The monster should be here, right?" asked Erza, the sorceress with long scarlet hair and a knight armor. "Yes, I'm sure. I can smell a different scent than the animals and villagers coming from this cave." Natsu stated, pointing to the entrance in front of them. Unexpectedly for him, Erza placed a hand on his head, affectionately ruffling his unruly pink hair. "Thanks to you we saved ourselves hours of searching, you are truly formidable." She praised him. "You've turned all red!" Gray mocked him teasingly, laughing out loud and pointing to his embarrassed friend. "S-shut up! And I'll get the monster before you anyway, popsicle!"
"Oh yes? We'll see!" And they both ran like lightning into the cave, making the scarlet-haired sorceress sigh at the scene.
"You reckless...Lucy, we have to face a monster that has the ability to transform into anyone, it will shake all our certainties, we should be very careful-oh no." She had turned and the blond-haired sorceress was no longer there, running after the two.
The trio arrived in the monster's lair, full of fruit and vegetables that it had scavenged from the nearby village. "You!" Natsu shouted, pointing to a slimy purple being that was gorging on an entire case of apples. "Oooh, did they even call the wizards from the Fairy Tail Guild? Then I'm really dangerous!" the slime muttered satisfied, sending a shiver down Lucy's spine. "Do you know us?" Gray asked, looking at the being with no less disgust than his friend. "Everyone knows your guild!" The monster spat out the backs of the chewed apples and bowed briefly. "My name is Sir Ditto."
"Well, Sir Ditto, give in and perhaps we will be merciful to you." Lucy said, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "NO WAY!" He replied, shaking his shapeless mass and making himself bigger. Natsu smiled, lighting a fiery flame in her fist. "I'm all fired up!"
"Help, that bad Lucy wants to beat me!" Sir Ditto said, transforming into the blonde, winking and doing ridiculous jumps to make his chest bounce.
"That doesn't look like me at all!" The real Lucy said, pointing at the fake one in annoyance. "I'm not falling for it, that's what the fake one would say to confuse me!" Natsu shouted, throwing a flame towards the real Lucy and sending her flying across the room.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Gray shouted, pale as a sheet, seeing his friend to fall like dead. He concentrated the ice magic in the palms of his hands, aiming towards the enemy. "Idiot, we need to work together to defeat that monster. Are you with me?" "I understand now...The real Gray wouldn't call me an idiot during a battle!"
It was the real one.
"Noooo!" Natsu shouted in tears seeing Gray passed out on the ground in a very undignified pose.
"As you can see, I am a formidable enemy!" Sir Ditto continued to gloat in triumphant. Natsu decided not to make any more mistakes and ran resolutely towards the enemy, raising his fiery fist. "You would never hit...the Guild's mascot, would you?" The monster said turning into a flying blue cat. Natsu smiled and punched the cat very hard, making it fly away. "Ah! You couldn't have been Happy! He didn't come with us today because his stomach hurt!" The dragon slayer said, recalling with amusement the fish-eating competition that they had yesterday. He ran towards the monster again and suddenly found himself in front of a short man with long orange hair, a very pronounced chin and dressed in an elegant white tuxedo.
"Men...don't you remember my perfume?" He said in a soft voice, before being hit in the face again. "ICHIYA IS NOT EVEN A MEMBER OF OUR GUILD!" The wizard shouted annoyed.
"Now you're in big trouble mo-" Natsu suddenly stopped. It was Erza, she was looking at him with a pleading look. "N-Natsu..." he was paralyzed at the sight, unable to move even a muscle. "Bingo." The false Erza smiled evilly, kicking him. "Well well well, who would have thought that Salamander's weakness was the beautiful Titania?"
"Damn you, you shouldn't have-AAAAH!." Natsu covered his face in panic, seeing the fake Erza strip off her upper armor. At that moment he was once again struck cruelly by the enemy.
"And you think that a woman like me could fall in love with a pathetic being like you? You really are hopeless." Fake Erza mocked, running a hand through her hair. "The real Erza wouldn't have exploited people's emotions during a fight..." Natsu coughed, staggering and struggling to his feet. "The real Erza is not as vile as you!" He shouted angrily. "You are definitely right." A female voice said from behind. It was the real Erza, arriving at the lair just in time. "It's over for you mo... monster?" Natsu didn't even have time to finish the sentence before instead of his false friend, there was himself. It was as if he was in front of a mirror. "Erza quickly, this monster is trying to trick you!" The fake Natsu said, pointing at the real one in fear. "Y-you don't believe him, do you?" Erza didn't respond, just raised the hilt of her blade and pointed it at him.
"Tell me something only the real Natsu knows about me." The sorceress ordered him imperatively. "You are called Titania and you like strawberry cakes." He said smoothly.
"BUT COME ON, THESE ARE THINGS EVERYONE KNOWS!" The real one protested but backed away when he saw Erza pointing the sword at him.
"Now it's your turn." She said imperatively, glaring with a hateful gaze.
"Erza..." she didn't move the sword an inch. He sighed, realizing he had no choice.
"When you cry your lip always trembles because you can barely hold back the emotion, when you laugh you tend to hide your mouth with your hand." The sorceress unconsciously moved her free hand towards her mouth. "T-that's not true." She replied embarassed. "You always tell Lucy that you love adventure novels but you lie, your favorites are romantic ones and you always hope in the end the princess will meet her prince." "You're making this up…" he approached her slowly. "At night you always sleep with a light on because you're afraid of waking up still a prisoner in that tower." The silent fell in the lair. "And every time you sleep on a mission and wake up screaming, I regret that I wasn't there in that moment with you...to protect you." He moved closer to the sharp tip of the blade. "If you want to hurt me, go ahead. I deserve it." He closed his eyes as he saw the woman raise her sword above him.
A thud and a cry of pain.
When he opened his eyes again he saw a tangle of red hair the shoulder and arms wrapped around his sides.
"I was so afraid of hurting you, I-I'm sorry..." Erza sobbed brokenly, biting her trembling lip and shedding all her tears from her left eye. "I-I tried to warn you but you immediately went in there and then I saw Gray and Lucy on the ground and then those two you and..." Natsu gently took her hands and rested his forehead against hers. "It's all over. We're fine." "D-don't leave me..." "I won't leave you." He reassured her. They closed their eyes without removing their joined hands and foreheads, hearing their irregular breaths and enjoying the confort of their mutual presence.
"How adorable!" Lucy said, waking up and seeing the scene from afar. "This will be an excellent inspiration for one of my novels." "Tsk, that's corny..." the ice wizard commented sourly, rubbing his sore neck. "Hey you, where are you running?" He said, seeing Sir Ditto with a sword stuck in his head trying to sneak away. Both Lucy and Gray towered over the monster, cracking the knuckles of their fists menacingly. "Wouldn't you want a nice perfume-NO MY FACE NO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."