Erza Scarlet, the young warrior, the scarlet knight, Titania, Queen Of The Fairies, was the youngest S-Class mage next to Mira, the demon of Fairy Tail. She took a seat at the bartop, requesting her delicate desert. Many people couldn't understand how anyone ate as much cheesecake as she did, but nobody would dare question out of fear of suffering the girl's wrath. Even young, she was very intimidating to even the oldest members.

As she took a hold of her fork, gently pushing down to scoop a piece. Erza placed it in her mouth, moaning softly at the sweet juices of the strawberries and the creamy texture of the cake. She could hear multiple brawls forming behind her, tables breaking, chairs splintering, but her precious desert was number one priority.

Too her annoyance, she felt a finger point her shoulder.

"H-hey, Erza," Natsu's voice was heard as she turned in her to face the young boy. Just by one glance she could tell he was nervous, biting his lip, shuffling his feet to avoid eye contact with her.

Erza exaled with a gentle sigh, furrowing her brow at being interrupted from her cake. "What do you need Natsu?" Her voice was firm, slightly coated in an annoyed tone. "I would like to enjoy my cake."

"Right! Yeah, I'm sorry for bothering you at this time.. but I got a question to ask you. I-I hope you'll hear me out on it," he replied in a slight stutter, swallowing a lump in his throat, rubbing the back of his head.

This peaked the young knight's interest. Natsu was never one to ask a question, let alone even talk to her without picking a fight. Erza uncrossed her arms from her chest, her expression becoming much softer. She moved out of her seat to face him fully, putting her hands on her hip with a raised brow. "What do you want to ask me?"

"W-well I..." he took a deep breath, clenching his shaky hands into fists as he made eye contact with her. "Will you please teach me how to sword fight like you?"

Out of any question Natsu could've asked, that was the last one she expected entirely. Erza's eyes widened, blinking a couple times in utter bafflement. "You want me to teach you about sword fighting?" She asked as the young boy nodded. "But why?"

Natsu's cheeks took on a tint in pink, his eyes looking else where. "W-well, because I've always admired Erza. Your strength, your will, your skill in swordsmanship. Plus I wouldn't want to learn it from anyone else but you..."

Erza's cheeks grew flushed from his words as she stared at the young dragon slayer. As much as she thought this was a joke, or some prank he was trying to pull on her. There was sincerity in his words, a fire in his eyes. Natsu was dead serious about learning, and who was she to deny him of that. With a deep breath, she smiled softly. "Okay, I'll teach you."

"YES!" Natsu cheered, jumping up in the air in glee. But before he could celebrate too long, he could feel an aura of killer intent radiating off of Erza that made him freeze. He slowly turned back to her, shaking in his boots.

"If I am to teach you, I have two rules you will follow," Erza's voice was gentle, but firm as she raised up one of her fingers. "One, you will meet five o'clock sharp at Fairy Hills for teaching, no excuses!" Her eyes narrowed as another finger went up. "And two, you will follow exactly what I say. No complaints, no wining. If one or two of these rules are broken," a red aura surrounded her body as her hand reached out to grab a handful from his shirt with a glare that spoke many threatening words. "I don't think you want to find out."

Natu's head shot up and down repeatedly, gulping at how close they were to each other. "Y-yeah, yeah! I promise I'll be good!"

Erza's glare stayed for a moment, narrowed her eyes before it softened, letting go of his shirt as she smile, patting him on the head. "Good, glad you understand. I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

The young boy couldn't help but shine his fangs towards her. "I can't wait! This is gonna be so AWESOME!" Natsu took off from his spot, leaving a dust trail as many members raised their brows at why the boy was so excited.

"What's got flamebrain so hyped up?" A young boy with raven black hair asked, looking towards the exit of the guild. "It's weird to see him that pumped up."

Erza could only offer a smile, jumping up back into her seat to finish her cake. "It's of no concern to you Gray. By the way, if you don't find your clothes in ten seconds, I'm going to punish you beyond your nightmares."

"What do you me-" Gray was about to ask, but stopped with wide eyes, noticing his shirt and pants were gone, leaving him only in black boxers. "You gotta be kidding me! Where did they go?!" He took off to find his clothes in a frenzy, many members bursting out laughing.

Erza finished her cake with one last bite, wiping the excess cream from her lips with a napkin. She looked towards the exit with a warm smile. 'This will be surely interesting.'

The next morning came as the sun rose up from the clouds partly. Erza slowly got out of bed, preparing for the day, showering, making breakfast. In a golden glow she was dressed in her armored breast plate, along with a white skirt and dress shirt. Her eyes looked out the window of her apartment with a small frown. "Let's see if this idiot will actually show up."

Too her honest surprise when she left Fairy Hills. There stood Natsu, sitting outside the gate in a cross legged position with a soft smile, watching the sun rise. Erza couldn't help but smile at the boy, walking over to greet him. "You are early."

Natsu looked up with a toothy grin, jumping up off the ground. "Of course! I knew it would make you happy!"

"It is a nice change of pace to see you on time for once. You must be serious about this teaching," Erza said, before she grumbled slightly under her breath. "If only you did that when I tried to teach you English."

Natsu let out a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm sorry I was so stubborn about that. But to answer your question, I am serious about this. I'm excited to learn from you Erza."

Erza's cheeks grew red as she turned a, coughing into her hand. "Well, let us go then. I have perfect spot to teach you," she replied, walking off towards the woods of Magnolia. Natsu eagerly followed right behind her.

Eventually, they made it to a small clearing as Erza turned to Natsu. She raised out her hands as two small blades appeared in her grasp. She turned one of the blade handles for Natsu to take. He slowly reached out to grasp the handle, holding it with both hands.

Erza's fingers gripped around her blade's handle, lowering it down as she faced Natsu. "Okay, Natsu there are many things when it comes to swordsmanship. It isn't just swinging a blade, and cutting down your enemy," she shifted her body slightly, raising her sword up. "It's about elegance, precision of your strikes, and most importantly your movement. Keep your stance wide, but firm. Balance plays another important factor," her eyes glanced over towards Natsu who was trying his best to copy her movments. "If you don't have good balance, your enemy will easily exploit that to their advantage. Are you understanding most of what I'm saying?"

Natsu raised his blade with focused eyes, shifting his body as his foot pivoted to the right. He gave a nod towards the knight with a smile. "Yeah, I understand Erza!"

Needless to say Erza was shocked he was even listening to her. Any other teaching lesson, and he would be either sleeping or trying his damndest to escape her. But she noticed he was completely focused, watching her intently on her movement. Her heart beat was steady, bur rapidly beating as her cheeks grew flushed. 'He's really listening...'

"You okay Erza? You look a little red," Natsu asked out of concern as the knight shook her head, rubbing her cheeks.

"Yes, yes I am fine. Let's move onto the next lesson," Erza held up her sword, swinging it rapidly in the air in different angles or directions. "When it comes to swinging a sword, it takes patience. You cannot just blindly swing it around like a toy. Your enemy will block your every attack if your technique is sloppy. Now, I want you to try to block my attacks the best you can. Predict my movements and act accordingly."

Natsu shakily nodded his head, raising his blade up in both of his hands. Erza peeled up the ground, closing the distance in a matter of seconds. She swung her sword to the left, to which Natsu's met the challenge. Recovering, she slashed horizontally, to which the dragon slayer blocked, although his foot slipped as Erza found her opening, jabbing the handle into his gut, sending him sprawling onto the ground with a groan.

"That wasn't terrible Natsu, you did block a few of my strikes. But your problem is you focused too hard on me, and not on your movement to where you tripped yourself. Again, balance is the number one key to sword fighting," Erza said, raising her hand out to grab Natsu off the ground. "But not bad for someone who's never wielded a blade."

Natsu beamed at the praise, grinning ear to ear as he rubbed his chest. "Thank you, Erza! What's the next lesson?"

"So eager to learn," Erza smiled softly towards the young boy. "Okay, now we are going to switch roles. You attack and I will block."

Natsu gave a nod, raising his blade as Erza narrowed her stance, wielding her sword outward. With a leap in the air, he brought his weapon downwards towards the knight who blocked the attack with ease. He bounded backwards before swinging to her right at an angle as she curved, making his blade bounce. Natsu watched her movement with complete focus, switching hands to swing to her left, but she she went to move he pulled back to swap hands once again before bringing his blade down once more.

'He performed a feint on me?!'

Erza thought with wide eyes, immediately shifting her body to raise her blade to the challenge, but Natsu's made contact, slicing across her chest plate as she went skidding across the ground. She gawked at the dragon slayer in pure shock. "I didn't even teach you that. Well done, Natsu!" She said in absolute praise, slowly adjusting her body with a smile. Her hand caressed the slash mark across her breast plate. "What made you decide to do that?"Natsu merely shrugged with a stupid grin on his, rubbing the back of his head with a small blush. "I watched you do it on one of our missions, so I figured I'd give it a shot. But even I know I still have a lot to learn when it comes to this."

Erza's eyes shone for the slayer's words. Did he really pay attention that much to her on missions? Hell, was he really as dense as people pegged him to be? She didn't really know, but one thing the knight did was know that this young boy was striking directly into her heart, a task thought to never be achieved thanks to a certain Azure mage. But here was this idiot in right in front of her, prying the armor she desperately needed to guard herself from the pain of the past.

"I gotta say Natsu, you have me impressed," her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her breast plate with a questioning look. "Are you sure you don't just pretend to be an idiot?"

Natsu chuckled softly at the comment, scratching under his chin. "I just pay attention more to you, is all. I've always looked up to you, Erza. Always striving to push myself to your level," his eyes gazed elsewhere into the shaded woods with a faraway look, clenching his fist. "That's why I always challenge you to fights. I know Igneel is out there somewhere, but in order to achieve that task, I must be strong for whatever threat comes my way. B-but also..." his cheeks burned as he bit his lip. "I just really like spending time with you, Erza."

If her cheeks could grow anymore red, she'd be a tomato in human form. Erza could feel her heart skip a beat, butterflies in her stomach that made her all giddy inside. A feeling she thought would never return after the tower. As much as Natsu was an idiot, a moron that picks fights with her and Gray causes much trouble anywhere he goes without trying. Behind that idiotic facade is a boy who is confident, passionate of his goal of finding his father, and most certainly determined in doing anything to achieve it.

"Natsu..." Was her only reply.

The young dragon slayer turned to the knight, grinning ear to ear. "Still plenty of daylight left. Can we keep going?"

Erza couldn't help but welcome the grin in kind. Arming herself with her blade. "Of course we can. It's time to put what I taught you to the test. We're going to duel. The first person to be struck is the winner. If you win, I will consider taking you on an S-Class quest with me."

Natsu's eyes lit up in stars, "really?! Awesome!"

"But," the knight stopped him in his tracks with a tiny smirk. "If I win, you are gonna be my servant for a whole month. And you will do anything I ask."

Natsu gave her feral grin, pointing his sword towards her. "You're on, Erza!"

Erza's smirk never left, drawing her blade outwards. "Prepare yourself, Natsu. I'm not going to hold back."

"I would be upset if you did."

Without another second to spare, both mages rushed each other, blades in hand. Erza swung her sword to the left of Natsu, who blocked the strike, spinning around to slash at her chest. Erza jumped back, but Natsu was already on top of her. Steel clashes against steel in a never-ending battle struggle. The young knight gritted her teeth, pushing against Natsu, who shoved her back.

Erza stumbled at the move, holding up her weapon to the slayer's assault. Shifting her feet to the right, she flipped off to the side as soon as Natsu went to strike. His eyes widened. Before he knew it, Erza's foot slid under his, making the boy fall on his back. Before he could even attempt to get back up, he felt sharp steel against his throat, which made him gulp. Erza stood triumphantly with a tiny smirk on her lips. "I win."

"Dang it..." The young boy groaned as the knight giggled, helping him up with her hand.

"Don't feel too bad, Natsu," Erza reached out to ruffle his pink locks with a bright smile. "You did exemptionally well for your first time. I think with enough time, you'll become as strong, if not more than me."

That seemed to boost his mood as he punched his fists together with flames sparking out. "I'm all fired up now!"

"For now though," Erza sheathed her blade, stretching her limbs with a gentle sigh. "It's time we take a break."

"Sounds good to me," Natsu said, walking over to one of the many shady trees to lay down against the grass that tickled the back of his neck.

Erza followed him to lay down next to him, blushing as she moved next to him, resting her head on his shoulder as they both gazed into the blue sky. "Did you really mean what you said about liking spending time with me?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him.

Natsu looked into her chocolate orbs with a warm smile. He gently nodded his head with a small blush. "Yeah, I did mean it. You're an amazing person Erza. I know you act mean, bossy, scary even," he chuckled slightly. "But under all of that is a kindhearted person who just wants to belong somewhere after everything you've been through."

Erza could only stare at him, those onyx eyes that spoke nothing but truthfulness and sincerity. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Without a second thought, she leaned down press her lips against his cheek.

Natsu's cheeks immediately burned, staring wide eyed at the knight. "W-what was that for?"

Erza rested her head on top of his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat with a deep blush. A warm smile gently made it's way across her lips as she closed her eyes.

"Nothing too important."

I'm not gonna lie, I struggled to write this more than I'd like to admit. My confidence in writing is not there right now. So it might may be a bit before another story, or one-shot comes. For now if you haven't already, take a look at my story that was completed not too long ago. Mending A Dragon's Broken Heart. As always, I hope you enjoyed this and I'll see you all in the next one. Later :)