"I don't trust her." Lisanna uttered as she stared at the guild door and cleaned the countertop of the bar. It's only been ten minutes since Erza left for Natsu's house, and she had this uncomfortable sensation running all over her body.
"Who don't you trust?" Cana asked, a bit tipsy after finishing her third barrel of alcohol.
"Isn't it obvious, it's Erza! She's probably kissing Natsu as we speak with Asuka, who is being forced to watch." Lisanna theorized, making Levy, Cana, and Carla sigh at her vivid imagination.
"Why are you three acting like that's no big deal? I don't want to admit this, but if there were someone who would be the most likely to steal Natsu's first kiss, it would be her." Mirajane added as she quickly washed the dirty dishes and placed them back in their respective places.
"Because unlike you four, we know that Erza only sees Natsu as a sibling and nothing more." Carla retorted.
"But this is Erza we're talking about! We all know the kinds of books she reads during her spare time. She probably has a book about this very scenario!" Lucy pointed out, with Mirajane and Lisanna agreeing with the blonde's statement.
"Y-you think they already got past the kissing and are currently doing it?" Wendy nervously asked with a deep red blush as an awkward silence loomed over the girls as they pictured Erza mounted on top of Natsu, both in their birthday outfits, moaning each other's name and sweating up a storm.
"Cana, look over the bar… we have some business to attend…" Mirajane coldly said as she and Lisnanna jumped over the counter and rushed out of the guild with Wendy and Lucy not far behind.
"Are we not going to stop them?" Carla asked as Cana lazily climbed over the counter.
"I don't think I want to get involved with anything that might include me getting physical, especially since I'm pregnant." Levy answered as she looked down at the small bump in her stomach and gently rubbed it with an excited smile.
"LISTEN UP EVERYONE! THE DRINKS ARE ON THE HOUSE!" Cana drunkenly shouted as she grabbed the cellar key and opened the door where all of the guild's alcohol was stored. She was the first one to rush inside with a large crowd behind her.
"For someone who claims they are very mature, Cana sure acts like a fool whenever it comes to alcohol." Carla muttered as she noticed Gray and Juvia walking up to them, "Do you two need anything?"
"Well, I saw Mirajane and Lisanna running out of the guild with Wendy and Lucy following behind them. Do you know why they ran out of the guild like that?" Gray asked as Juvia felt a pang of jealousy as her darling Gray was talking about the other ladies of the guild. Even though she was right next to him, she let it go as, unlike any of them, she was dating the Ice-Make mage.
"Trust us, it would be better if you didn't know." Levy sighed, and Gray didn't want to push it any further and walked out of the guild with Juvia as they prepared for an upcoming date.
"...and then Uncle Natsu went and grabbed Mama's guns when the bad guy stole them from her." Asuka finished her story, and she was now off Natsu's shoulders. She held onto Erza's hand with Natsu using his fire to light up the path in front of them.
"Sounds like you had an eventful day, Natsu." Erza said as she requipped out of her Heartz Kreuz armor and into a sleeveless white blouse while keeping the rest of her outfit.
"I guess you can say that. The shopping parts got really boring, but everything else was cool." Natsu answered as they finally reached Natsu and Happy's home and quickly entered. Erza was surprised to see that the inside wasn't a mess with objects thrown all over the floor, walls covered in crack or burn marks, and rodents running all over the place. In fact, Natsu's house was very nice and tidy.
"I'm very surprised at how clean your living room is, Natsu. It looks like I was incorrect in assuming that your house would still be a pigsty. Now, where are the lights?" Erza asked as she turned to look at Natsu, who had a candle in his hands and lit it up.
"Why would I need lights when I can make my own?" Natsu smirked.
"I see. Now show me what room Asuka will be sleeping in." Erza commanded as Asuka went through all the things she found interesting on Natsu's shelves and tried to figure out what they did.
"Careful, Asuka, even I don't know what some of those things do!" Natsu said as he grabbed the green orb Asuka was currently holding and placed it back on top of the shelf, making the girl sad, "How about I show you your room instead?"
"Fine, but if you don't show me anything cool in your house, then Elfman is going to be my favorite Uncle." Asuka pouted as Natsu walked her and Erza to the room where Asuka would be staying. The room was decently large for Asuka, but there wasn't much inside; it was just a small desk with a couple of writing utensils and pieces of paper littered all over it, connected to a drawer with a bed on the opposite side that was large enough to fit herself and either her mom or dad.
"What do you think, Asuka?" Natsu asked as he placed Asuka's bag on the bed. Asuka went through every nook and cranny to try to find anything interesting about Natsu's house.
"I think this room is perfect for someone like Asuka." Erza said as she opened the window to let the cool wind in.
"IT'S SO BORING! Where's the cool dragon stuff, hidden rooms, or even secret treasure?" Asuka whined, making Natsu chuckle at the little girl's outburst.
"You want to see treasure? Just follow me. Erza, do you want to see my treasure?" Natsu asked, making Asuka instantly excited to see what Natsu had in store while Erza mulled over it for a moment. She was just here to inspect Natsu's house and nothing else, but spending more time with Natsu wouldn't hurt anyone, and she also agreed to continue Natsu's tour.
"Awesome, just follow me," Natsu said as they left through the back of Natsu's house and went up a trail that led to a large cave, "Here we are."
"Natsu, this is just a cave. What would be in here that couldn't be found in any other ordinary cave?" Erza asked while Asuka was feeling afraid to enter such a dark place.
"Just trust me. If you do, then I'll buy you strawberry cheesecake." Natsu said as he ignited his hand and walked inside the cave, knowing that his promise of cheesecake was enough to tempt Erza to follow him, with Asuka tightly holding onto her just in case. They traversed down the winding pathways of this cave until they were met with an iron door with a strange lock. Erza and Asuka stayed quiet as Natsu placed his hand on the lock and exerted his magic, opening the iron door before they were faced with a blinding light. It took them a couple of minutes to get used to the light, and when they entered, they were shocked to see so much stuff covering the walls and on pedestals and how pristine everything was.
"Natsu… what is all of this?" Erza asked as she let go of Asuka's hand, who went from exhibit to exhibit, curious to see what each thing was.
"This is a trophy room or something like that. It's where I keep everything I find important or cool whenever I am out doing a job." Natsu said as he pointed at the maid dress that was hung up on the wall.
"W-why is that maid outfit so important to you?" Erza dared ask as she looked at Natsu confusingly and with a small blush, thinking that Natsu had a secret perverted side to him.
"That was the outfit Lucy wore during our very first official mission together. We went to some mansion to destroy a book but found out that it had some hidden secret." Natsu answered, making Erza sigh in relief.
"Ooh, what's this, Natsu? It looks so weird." Asuka asked as she held up a maroon mask with strange markings and horns covering it.
"That's the mask an old friend used to transform into a creepy man. They dropped it on Galuna Island, and I never had the opportunity to give it back to them." Natsu answered with a somber smile as he polished the mask and placed it back on its pedestal.
"Natsu… I never knew you cared that much about Ultear." Erza spoke up while Asuka let the adults talk to themselves. She continued to go from pedestal to pedestal, marveling at everything Natsu collected during his journeys.
"I mean, she sacrificed herself to save everyone when the dragons attacked. I feel like she should be remembered for everything she did, good and bad. Remember the orb back at my home? It was actually Ultear's." Natsu said as the pair stood there in silence.
"Natsu! Why do you have a broken sword here? This is more like junk than treasure." Asuka shouted, bringing Natsu and Erza out of their thought as they turned to Asuka, who was holding the sword that was cut up to its fuller.
"Asuka's right. Out of everything you have here, this sword doesn't look important at all," Erza said as she grabbed the sword and analyzed it. From its looks, there was nothing special about it—just a basic sword for a beginning swordsman.
"That was your old sword, Erza. The one I accidentally broke when we went on our first together after you taught me how to read and write." Natsu answered as a small part of his brain shuddered at the painful memories of Erza's teachings.
"You kept it for this long!" Erza said in shock, with a small mix of pride, that Natsu had kept something of hers for so long.
"Can you tell me about your first mission together?" Asuka eagerly shouted as the adults nodded at her request. They sat down and told Asuka about their first mission together.
(Flashback)
"Thank you so much for taking me on this mission, Erza!" Natsu shouted as he walked through the forest alongside Erza, who was more diligent and kept an eye out for the monster that was said to be lurking in the woods.
"Think of it as a reward for completing your lessons now, quietly. I don't want the monster to catch us by surprise." Erza sternly answered as she tried to focus her senses to see if the monster was nearby.
"How would the monster catch us by surprise? I can smell and hear better than you, and the only thing I can smell is you." Natsu blatantly answered before he was hit over the head by Erza's fist, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Don't you ever smell a girl without their permission!" Erza answered with a fierce blush on her face, "I don't smell bad, do I?"
"I can't just turn off my smell, and for your information, you smell like strawberries!" Natsu pouted as he rubbed the top of his head and got back to his feet, but the blush on Erza's face only got darker. They were interrupted from their little moment when the bushes behind them ruffled, and a large beast popped out as their sight was set on the two kids in front of them.
"ERZA! It's the monster!" Natsu shouted as he lit his hands on fire, and Erza pulled out her sword in a defensive stance. The monster was on all fours and had its fur tattered, burned, and mangled. It was clear that many adventures before them had tried to take this beast down but failed, and it was now up to them to take it down.
"I can see that. Now, stay back and watch as I take care of this." Erza said as the monster rushed towards them and tried to strike them with its claws, only to get pushed back by Erza and engaged in a fierce fight.
"No fair, I want to fight too! I'm the son of Igneel. No way would I be scared of a dumb monster!" Natsu shouted as he charged in with no plan but was somehow successful as he punched the monster in the face and sent it skidding a couple of feet. The beast went berserk as it set its sight on Natsu and tried to charge toward and before Natsu could even dodge, Erza pushed him out of the way and tried to finish the beast off by throwing her sword at his chest, trying to hit its heart. But, due to the thick fur, the sword barely avoided its heart, and in a fit of rage and desperation, the beast lunged on top of Erza and opened its mouth, ready to bite off Erza's head in one fell swoop.
All Erza could see was the darkness of the monster's mouth, and she braced for death when she heard Natsu shout, "Nobody lays a finger on my friends! Take this, Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
Natsu rushed towards the beast, who tried to swipe at him, but he quickly avoided the attack and punched Erza's sword deeper into its chest, lodging the sword deeper into his chest and puncturing the heart. The beast let out one final cry before it fell for the final time and perished.
"Erza, are you okay?" Natsu asked as he helped Erza up.
"Yes, thank you for saving me, Natsu. Let's take it back to the village for our reward." Erza said as she and Natsu walked up to the monster and dragged it back to the village as proof of their exploits. As they reached the outskirts of the town, Natsu realized that Erza's sword was still stuck in the beast's chest and tried to pull it out.
"What are you doing?" Erza asked as she looked back at Natsu, who pulled the sword out of the beast's chest and revealed that a portion of the blade was still stuck in its chest.
"Giving back your sword, aren't you going to fix it?" Natsu asked as he tried to hand off the sword to Erza.
"Not with how damaged it is. I can buy a new one with the reward money, maybe even a new armor set if any are at a discount." Erza said as she waved off her broken sword. Natsu shrugged and placed it in his bag in case Erza had second thoughts before carrying the monster into the village.
(End of Flashback)
"What do you think of the story, Asuka?" Natsu asked as he looked down at Asuka to see her reaction. He saw her curled up against Erza's side, peacefully sleeping, "And here I thought I was a good storyteller."
"You are. She just must have been tired. We have spent a good amount of time inside here." Erza remarked as she handed Natsu her old sword and went to pick up the sleeping Asuka.
"Probably, let's get out of here." Natsu said as he placed the sword back where it originally was and guided Erza back out of the cave. As they traveled out of the cave, Natsu smelt two familiar scents waiting in front of his house.
"Erza, follow me to the front of the house." Natsu said with Erza, a bit confused, but followed Natsu and saw two hooded figures standing there, "Why are guys still bothering to wear those hoods? I thought that you guys were no longer wanted?"
"Who are you talking to, Natsu?" Erza asked before her eyes widened as the figures pulled down their hoods and revealed themselves as Jellal and Meredy. "J-Jellal! What are you doing here?"
"Actually, Meredy wanted to meet yo-!" Jellal explained before Meredy struck him in the side with her elbow, stopping him from talking.
"Jellal, I didn't know you liked joking. What he meant to say was that he really wanted to be with you, Erza. How about this? You take Jellal back to your place for the night so you can talk about everything that happened when you guys were separated." Meredy asked with a wide smile as she kept giving looks towards Natsu.
"And what about you? Where are you going to sleep?" Erza asked as she felt slightly worried for Jellal, who was on the floor clutching his gut, gasping for air, and silently cursing out Meredy for such a cheap shot.
"With Natsu, now, if you excuse me~" Meredy unabashedly answered, and before anyone could react, she entered Natsu's home.
"Are you going to allow this, Natsu?" Erza asked as she was curious about Meredy's actions.
"I guess so. She can take my room while I can sleep on the couch." Natsu said as he grabbed Asuka off Erza's hand so that she could help Jellal up.
"Thank you, Erza… and Natsu… take care of Meredy, even if she acts like a brat sometimes." Jellal wheezed out, causing them to chuckle as they spent the next couple of minutes talking with each other.
"Alright, girls. Are you ready to expose Erza's immoral actions to my beloved Natsu?" Mirajane loudly whispered as they were jumping from tree to tree. All of them were wearing black, ninja-like outfits, with only their eyes exposed, and also had a special kind of perfume that would mask their scent so that Natsu couldn't be alerted of their presence.
"What do you mean by your beloved Natsu? Why would he choose you over me?" Lucy angrily whispered before Wendy covered her mouth and pointed at the scene below them. They all watched as Natsu waved Erza off as she helped carry Jellal back to Fairy Hills, even though he kept on insisting that he was fine and could walk on his own.
"We did all of this just to see Erza and Jellal leave together…" Lisanna said as Natsu entered his home and closed the door behind them. None of them knew that Meredy was also inside Natsu's house.
"A-at least we know that Natsu and Erza aren't a thing…" Mirajane nervously chuckled before getting pulled by Lisanna as she, Lucy, and Wendy took off their disguise and climbed down the tree.
"What a waste of time…" The three all muttered as they walked back to their homes, each sporting a storm cloud over their heads.