"My head hurts…" Meredy whispered as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. She placed a hand on her head to soften the headache she was having as she tried to recollect what happened last night, "Alright, let's see… I asked Natsu out on a date, and we ended up going to a fancy restaurant with Gray and Juvia. Then, Juvia and I drank an entire bottle of wine, or were it two? I just know it was enough to make me act like a giggling idiot…"
Meredy was lost in her thoughts about the previous night when, to her surprise, Natsu walked into the room carrying a tray laden with eggs, toast, ham, tomatoes, and a steaming cup of coffee. "Good morning, Meredy. I've prepared breakfast for you."
"Thank you so much, Natsu. You're the best!" Meredy thanked him as he placed her food on her legs and slowly ate her breakfast. Natsu went out to grab her clothes and put them on the edge of the bed. "Did you wash my clothes?"
"Yeah, I just finished cleaning them because Jellal is waiting for you downstairs. He was rambling about having to clear his mind and wanted to leave with you as fast as possible." Natsu answered as he left Meredy to herself.
"Jellal, you just had to ruin this, didn't you? I was hoping for another day with Natsu, a chance to move beyond just sleeping in a bed…" Meredy's voice was tinged with disappointment as she finished her meal, changed into her usual attire, and descended the stairs to find Jellal staring out the window, his posture tense as if he was being observed. She cleared her throat, breaking his concentration.
"Meredy, thank the stars that you're awake! We need to leave Magnolia now!" Jellal impatiently said as he grabbed her cloak and tossed it at her.
"What for?! It's not like the Magic Council is after us or something like that." Meredy growled as she begrudgingly put on her cloak.
"If a dark guild is after you, then you can count on me!" Natsu declared as he charged up his magic, Meredy clinging onto the Dragon Slayer as she absorbed his heat.
"It's something much worse… I don't have enough time to explain. That's why we need to leave now." Jellal said as he pulled Meredy off Natsu and dragged her out of the house and back to Crime Sorcière. Natsu was confused as to what Jellal was talking about and shrugged as he grabbed his bag and walked to the guild. He took a deep breath, hoping that none of the four girls found out about the date he had with Meredy. When he opened the door, he was tackled to the ground.
'Welp, I'm going to die. ' Natsu accepted his fate as he closed his eyes and waited to be met with a bitter end, which was until he was smacked across the face and pushed the person who held him off.
"OW! What was that for?!" Natsu shouted as he rubbed his cheek and looked over to see who he pushed off and accepted his death once again as he found out he just pushed Erza.
"I was asking if you saw Jellal today. I have a sneaking suspicion that he left when we were sleeping together and probably dragged Meredy away, too. Am I correct in assuming this?" Erza asked as she brushed herself off and helped Natsu off the ground.
'Is this what you meant than something worse than a dark guild chasing after you, Jellal? ' Natsu thought to himself as he was conflicted on whether to tell the truth or not. On the one hand, if he told the truth, he and Meredy would get dragged into this and tortured by Erza for trying to protect Jellal. But, on the other hand, if he lied and got caught, his name would end up in the missing section. He was stuck in a no-win situation and said the first thing that came to his mind was, "Yeah, they definitely left early in the morning! Oh yeah, I also picked out a mission for us!"
"Hmm, all right then. Let me pack and meet you at the train station," Erza said as she entered the guild, and Natsu took a huge sigh of relief as he escaped death twice in a matter of seconds. He entered the guild to see Gray, Wendy, and Lucy sitting at the bar. He walked up to them and said, "You guys want to go on a mission today?"
"What's the job and where to?" Lucy asked.
"Destroy a nest of Ice Wyverns in the mountains of Northern Fiore for around 600 thousand jewels." Natsu answered as he tossed the job request at the trio so that they could all read over it, "Erza is joining us and wants us to meet at the train station in an hour."
"Flame Brain told me about this mission yesterday, and I have already agreed to it. I'm going to go back to my house and tell Juvia so she doesn't think I'm out cheating on her." Gray said as he walked home to Juvia, who was still recovering from a hangover.
"I'm going too! Just so that I can back you guys up." Wendy and Lucy simultaneously said as they ran back home. Just as Natsu was about to go back home and pack for the trip, he felt somebody grab his hand and turn around to see Lisanna.
"O-oh… good morning Lisanna. You two, Mira… what can I do for you?" Natsu nervously asked. The two sisters had a sweet smile plastered on their faces, but Natsu knew better. Underneath their sickly, sweet smile, they were planning something nefarious.
"Nothing much. We just need you to answer a couple of questions we had." Lisanna answered as she pulled Natsu to the counter.
"Will these questions hurt?" Natsu squeaked out as he could feel Lisanna's grip on his hand tighten.
"Only if you answer them incorrectly." Mirajane ominously answered as Natsu prayed that he wouldn't end up in a body bag.
(One hour later)
"Where is Natsu? He was the one who proposed this mission." Erza angrily shouted as Natsu was now a minute late while the rest of his team was already there.
"He's probably pissing his pants, knowing that he needs to get on a train." Gray laughed before he noticed a fireball flying his way and barely avoided it.
"Fuck you, Popsicle!" Natsu growled as he was about to punch Gray for making fun of him but stopped when Erza glared at him, "I'm late because Mirajane and Lisanna had something they wanted to talk about."
This answer seemed to please Erza, but it alerted Lucy and Wendy, who were now turning to angrily glare at Natsu: "What did those two ask you?!"
"They just asked me about what I did yesterday!" Natsu answered as he noticed the train had finally arrived, and while he knew he would faint the moment he entered, it was better than staying out here and dealing with an angry Lucy and Wendy.
"S-somebody kill me…" Natsu groaned as he had his head out of the window as the train barreled to its next destination.
"Same here…" Wendy gagged as she also had her head out the same window as Natsu, trying her best not to barf up her breakfast.
"It's your fault for taking a mission that was so far away." Gray said as they had another hour or so until they finally arrived at their destination.
"You just have to endure this for another hour unless you want me to knock you both out." Erza suggested, and they both fervently rejected her suggestion.
Lucy was planning on doing nothing before she looked down at her keys and thought of something that would probably help both Wendy and Natsu with their little problem and possibly even make Natsu like her than the rest of the girls, "Open, Gate of the Ram, Aries!"
"I promise to help, Lucy." Aries meekly said as Lucy pointed at the two Dragon Slayers.
"Do you think you can cover them in wool?" Lucy asked as she wrapped an arm around Aries' neck and pulled her in to whisper one last thing, "Also, make sure your wool is extra fluffy for Natsu."
"I-I'll try my best!" Aries answered as she covered Natsu and Wendy's bodies from head to toe in their wool.
"What… I don't feel sick anymore." Natsu groaned as he pulled his head out the window and looked around to see Aries. He ran up to the Celestial Spirit and comically sobbed all over her, shaking her. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU'RE THE BEST!"
"Y-you're welcome, but p-please let m-me gooo~" Aries cried out as Lucy returned Aries to the Celestial Realm and walked up to Natsu with a smug grin. "So, where's my thank you, Natsu? You know, since I summoned Aries and suggested covering you in wool."
"Huh, oh yeah, thanks for that Luce." Natsu said as he gave the Celestial Mage a toothy grin as he was able to freely walk around the train without feeling the need to vomit.
"H-how come Natsu doesn't feel sick anymore?" Wendy asked, her head resting on Erza's lap. She glared at Lucy, who had a sly grin on her face and shrugged. The group spent the remainder of their time doing their own things when they suddenly arrived at their stop and exited the train as they were blasted by the harsh Northern Fiore, the temperatures hovering just over ten degrees.
"W-why didn't a-anyone tell me it was going to be this c-cold!?" Lucy shrieked as she was wearing a blue and white crop top with a blue jacket that exposed both her smooth stomach and a good amount of her cleavage, a black miniskirt that was held up by a brown belt, and thigh-high black stockings paired with brown boots. While everyone looked at Lucy in bewilderment, Lucy had a reason to wear these clothes. She wanted to spend the entire trip cuddling up against Natsu and feel his heat run all over her body.
"It was cold back at Magnolia. Of course, it will be colder if we go further north!" Gray shouted as he subconsciously took off his shirt, even in such unbearable conditions.
"You're the one to talk!" Lucy shouted back as she felt Natsu's hand on her shoulder and mentally squealed as she imagined him suggesting that they should stick close together in such terrible conditions and when the temperature got even colder, so cold that not even Natsu's natural warmth would be enough to help them, would look towards Lucy and ask her for a kiss as a last resort to survive from the cold, harsh climate.
"Luce, are you good?" Natsu asked as he kept on shaking Lucy, who was stuck daydreaming. When Wendy noticed a bit of drool running down Lucy's mouth, she huffed and kicked the Celestial Mage in the shin to snap her out.
"What was that for?" Lucy growled as she glared at Wendy, who stuck her tongue out in response before she turned to Natsu, "I'm sorry, Natsu, I was just… distracted~"
"I was telling you you can use Aries' wool to protect you from the cold. Here, I'll even warm it up for you." Natsu said as he jumped out from his wool confines and warmed them up a bit before handing them off to Lucy.
'Not what I envisioned, but at least I get to have Natsu's warmth. ' Lucy said as she covered herself in the warm wool. Wendy watched on in jealousy as she looked up at Natsu, "Can you heat my wool, too? Lucy didn't make it as fluffy as yours, ON PURPOSE!"
"Sure thing, just stay still for a second." Natsu said as he warmed up Wendy's wool before looking at Gray and Erza, "Do you guys want me to warm you up?"
"Yes, please." Erza said as Natsu added some heat to Erza's armor while Gray just shook his head.
"Alright, now let's go destroy these Wyverns!" Natsu shouted as they made their way up the mountains. Natsu and Wendy sniffed out anything that smelled dragon-like until they found a large nest near the peak and saw around 20 Ice Wyverns looking around.
"They probably smelt us coming up here. We need to come up with an idea to take them down." Erza said as she transformed into a new armor she had recently brought, calling it the Blizzard Empress Armor to protect herself in case anything bad happened.
"Luce, can you summon Gemini? We could use another Dragon Slayer for this." Natsu suggested as Lucy pulled out the Gemini and summoned them.
"Hello, Lucy. Is it already time for you to ogle your boyfriend?" Gemini said as they transformed into Natsu, much to Lucy's embarrassment, Wendy's frustration, and Natsu's confusion.
"You have a boyfriend? Why have you never told me?" Natsu asked, and before Gemini could clarify that they were referring to Natsu as Lucy's boyfriend, they were struck in the back of the head by Lucy.
"That's enough out of you two! Just listen to Natsu's plan." Lucy shouted, her entire face red.
"And how do we know that Pyro's plan won't just end up being run up to those Wyverns and fight them head-on?" Gray asked as their Natsu tried to hit him with another fireball, "And stop doing that!"
"First, I won't. Second, this plan will be much more complex. And third, fuck you." Natsu said as it was his turn to avoid a shard of ice being thrown at his head, "Work on your aim, Snowman. Anyways, Wendy, you use your speed enhancement magic on me and Gemini. We'll use that to catch the Wyvern's attention, and you guys will use this opportunity to destroy the nest and defeat any Wyverns that are left behind."
"Hm, unless any of you have another plan, we go with Natsu's." Erza said, while the others thought of other ideas but came up with nothing. "Alright, Natsu, Gemini, you're up."
"Ile Vernier!" Wendy chanted as she focused her magic on Natsu and Gemini.
"Follow my lead!" Natsu shouted as he rushed towards the nest, Gemini not far behind. As they ran towards the nest, one of the Wyverns noticed them rapidly approaching and roared to alert the rest of the nest.
"I'll beat the one coming down! Use your roar to distract everyone else!" Gemini shouted as the Wyvern, who alerted everyone, jumped down and tried to take a bite out of the Celestial Spirit, only to be met with a fiery fist that sent it crashing into the mountain.
"Hey, you wannabe dragons! Take this, Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted as he fired a stream of flames down at the Wyverns, killing two of them. In the process, a majority chased after Natsu while a couple stood behind and focused on Gemini.
"Now it's our turn!" Erza declared as she charged in with Wendy while Lucy and Gray stood farther back, using their magic to support the team.
"Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" Lucy opened the gate to Virgo, who gave her Princess a curt bow. "I need you to destroy that Wyvern nest!"
"Of course, Princess." Virgo said as she sunk into the ground beneath her and destroyed the nest from underneath with Wendy, Erza, and Gemini, forcing the remaining Wyverns away from the nest. As the group focused on taking down the dwindling number of Wyverns, Natsu was still being chased by the larger group, managing to take a couple of them down with some quick maneuvers.
"You guys are starting to annoy me!" Natsu angrily shouted as he kept on firing multiple fireballs at the Wyverns, some of them getting struck but still hot on Natsu's tail. He found himself at the base of the mountain, noticed a frozen lake that was not far away and thought of something reckless. He rushed towards that frozen lake and punched a hole in it before diving down as the Wyverns crashed into the solid ice and fell into the massive lake.
"Where the hell is Natsu?" Gray said as they heard a loud crash and rushed over to see Natsu jumping out of the lake. The Wyverns that were all chasing him were still in the lake.
"Gray, freeze the lake!" Lucy commanded as Gray rushed towards the lake and froze the entire lake, trapping the Wyverns in place.
"Thanks, Gemini, let's finish this." Natsu shouted as he and his copy took a deep breath before firing a roar toward the Wyverns and burning them to a crisp. Once they were done defeating all the Wyverns, Gemini returned to the Celestial Realm, and the entire team took a minute to catch their breath.
"Good work, team. Now, let's go back to the train station and collect our reward." Erza said as she noticed the sun was beginning to set. Once they reached the train station, they collected their reward and entered the train, where Lucy handed back Aries' wool to Natsu so that he wouldn't feel sick. The ride back to Magnolia would be around three hours, allowing everyone to catch some sleep, everyone but Natsu. He was still awake and looked at his resting team.
"Better now than later." He whispered as he grabbed his bag and quietly entered another section of the train so that he wouldn't be disturbed. He pulled out a pen alongside some pieces of paper and began writing, "Gramps told me that it would be better if I wrote them something before I left, but I don't know what to write. I could start by writing everyone's name and saying what I like about them. Yeah, that's it."
Natsu would spend the better part of two hours writing every single member of the guild and what he liked about them most when he heard the door slide open and quickly hid the papers back in his bag. He looked to see who opened the door and saw Wendy standing there, rubbing her tired eyes as she sat next to Natsu, "Wendy, are you good?"
"The train was starting to feel cold. Can I sleep next to you?" Wendy mumbled as she rested against Natsu's arm and allowed his warmth to soothe her body.
"Of course you can." Natsu smiled as he patted the top of Wendy's head, who smiled in her sleep as if she didn't want their brief moment together to end.
"Today sure has been a quiet day, don't you think so, Master?" Mirajane asked Makarov as she and Lisanna finished cleaning the guild when the doors were slowly pushed open, and a tired mailman was dragging a large crate through the guild.
"M-mail delivery… Please sign here…" The postman gasped as he pulled out a notepad and had Makarov sign it while Lisanna walked up to the crate and inspected it, "C-careful lady… that crate is heavy-"
Lisanna looked at the man confusingly as she lifted the crate with ease and looked at the man confusingly, "It doesn't feel that heavy. Mira-nee, is this heavy?"
"Hm, not really. But I think that's because we're mages." Mira giggled as she held the crate with one hand. The postman watched in shock as the two petite ladies were able to carry it like nothing easily, "Can you tell us what's in the crate, sir?"
' THESE GUYS ARE MONSTERS! ' The postman cried out as he stared at the few members left in the guild, "I'm sorry, but I can't reveal what's inside… company policy." With that, the postman trudged back to the post office while everyone looked at the crate.
"What are you waiting for? Open the damn crate!" Cana shouted as Mirajane transformed her arm and punched a hole straight through it. As she pulled her arm out of the hole she had created, a steady stream of envelopes flowed out. Mirajane picked one up and felt the need to tear it up the moment she saw that it was sent toward Natsu.
"Why are all of these for Natsu?" Lisanna shouted as she opened each envelope and saw that they were all love letters of some kind.
"That's what happens when the number one bachelor in the entire world is a part of our guild." Cana said as she grabbed two random envelopes and smirked as she saw that they came from Sherria and Sorano, respectively, "Ooh~ it seems like even some of the girls we know are eyeing up your man~"
"What did those two say?" Mirajane and Lisanna shouted as they were going to burn all these envelopes before Natsu would come back and read any single one of them.
"Calm down, girls, let me see…" Cana said as she opened Sherria's envelope first and let out a loud cough as she started reading, "Dear Natsu, I hope this letter finds you well. You might not remember me, but I am Wendy's best friend (PS Please don't let Wendy see this; I would LITERALLY die if she caught me), And I was wondering if you would like to give me a tour of Margaret Town alongside the inside of the guild. You seem pretty cool, and Jura wants to have another fight with you soon. Please don't bring Wendy or anyone else along. It can just be me and you. Sincerely, Sherria Blendy."
"Oh, we're definitely holding on to that envelope." Mirajane evilly grinned, knowing she could use it as blackmail material for the young mage and Wendy, "Now, onto Millianna's."
"Sure. How has it been, my darling dragon~ I sure hope you haven't forgotten about my beautiful face. If you need a reminder, think about the barmaid that's in your girl, but much sexier~ Ever since the Queen granted me amnesty, I have done some soul searching and realized what was missing, and that was you. So, how about you use that nose of yours and find the most divine woman you ever laid your eyes upon so that we can get to know each other? Also, if some pink-haired brat tries talking to you, ignore her. Signed, your favorite Angel." Cana finished as she felt something else inside the envelope and pulled out a picture of Sorano seductively posing while wearing only her bikini.
"Burn. It." Mirajane growled, her demonic energy reaching a boiling point as Lisanna tried to comfort her older sister.
"What, the message or the picture?" Cana teased as she held both up in front of Mira's face.
"BOTH!" Mirajane shouted as she snatched the items out of Cana's hand and tore them to pieces. Then, looking over at the rest of the envelopes scattered all over the ground, she ripped them to satiate her anger.