No, please not again.' Erza thought to herself as Natsu became surrounded further by black fire. She never wanted to see him loose control again like he had before when the master was killed. 'I hope he truly hasn't lost control.' She thought as Natsu brought his power up higher.
Gajeel was preparing for Natsu to attack, remembering all too clearly what happened last time when he was like this. "Are you ready for this Black Steel?" Natsu said darkly.
Gajeel didn't respond to Natsu and just charged at him bring his fist back and attempted to punch Natsu who had ducked under him and uppercut him in the stomach. Gajeel was thrown back from the punch but was relatively unharmed. 'Thank god for these scales, that would have been bad otherwise.' Gajeel thought to himself as he righted himself.
Natsu came running at Gajeel attempting to kick him but Gajeel rolled out of the way while sending his own kick out hitting Natsu in the side and causing him to be flung off to the side. "That all you got Black Steel Gajeel?" Natsu said in his dark tone.
"Not even close Salamander. I'm just getting started." Gajeel said as he charged towards Natsu and punching him in the face.
Natsu fell backwards from the impact but kicked Gajeel in the chin as he fell backwards launching Gajeel into the air. Natsu jumped after Gajeel who had recovered from the kick and sent a punch towards him but Gajeel managed to block it in time. Gajeel and Natsu started throwing punches and kicks blindly just trying to hurt the other as much as they could.
Back on the ground the members of Fairy Tail were staring in shock above them. All they could see were flashes of light from the impacts of Natsu's and Gajeel's hits. "Damn those two are really going at it aren't they?" Macao said to no one in particular.
"Yeah, I've never seen a fight on this par before." Wakaba said back.
"Remind me to never get on Natsu's bad side." Elfman said. "I may be a real man but even I know what not to fuck with." He continued causing the guild to laugh at his statement.
"What do we do though if Natsu has lost control again?" Gray said as a much larger flash came across the sky.
"I would rather not think about that." Erza said quietly as she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her stomach remembering what Natsu had done when he did loose control.
Gray noticed her reaction and quickly shut up and went back to watching the fight leaving Erza to her thoughts. She didn't bare any ill will towards Natsu for what he had done, but she never wanted to feel the pain of him attacking her again. A loud crash broke her out of her thoughts and she looked over to see Gajeel pulling himself out of a crater as Natsu landed not far from him.
Natsu was laughing darkly as Gajeel got out of the crater a bit shakily. 'Damn that last hit hurt a lot.' Gajeel thought to himself. 'I need to end this now before he kills me.'
Gajeel started gathering his power up and yelled, "IRON DRAGON"S ROAR!" sending a blast of his breath attack at Natsu who jumped out of the way but Gajeel was already charging Natsu before he had even jumped so Natsu didn't have a chance to dodge Gajeel's sword arm, causing him to get slashed across the chest deeply. Natsu fell to the ground with his chest bleeding heavily and barely rolled out of the way in time for Gajeel to stab into the ground where Natsu was just at.
Natsu rose to his feet clutching his chest and breathing heavily while glaring at Gajeel. "You're going to pay for that Black Steel." Natsu said in between gasps.
Natsu tried his best to ignore the pain and charged after Gajeel igniting his fists and throwing punch after punch causing Gajeel to back peddle and dodge as best he could. Gajeel ended up tripping over a rather large rock and fell to the ground as Natsu slammed his fist into Gajeel's chest breaking several ribs and shattering the scales on his chest.
Natsu started repeatedly slamming his fist into Gajeel as his eyes steadily turned blood red again. After a few minutes Natsu started laughing at Gajeel's pathetic attempts to block his attacks. Natsu stood up and picked Gajeel up by the throat and started punching him in the stomach while choking him with his other hand. 'Fuck I can't do anything to stop him.' Gajeel thought as his vision started getting dark.
Before Gajeel passed out Natsu threw him on the ground a couple feet and laughed darkly at his fate. He slowly walked over to Gajeel and took position over him with his hand held out ready to strike Gajeel in the heart. "Any last words Black Steel Gajeel?"
Gajeel coughed out and said, "Burn in hell fucker." as he lost consciousness.
The members of Fairy Tail watched in horror as Natsu stood above Gajeel ready to kill him on the spot and failed to notice Erza running at him as fast as she could. Natsu lashed out towards Gajeel but right before his attack would have landed Erza tackled him to the ground and pinned his arms to his side yelling, "Natsu please stop this you aren't yourself."
Natsu struggled to get free from her but she was holding him down tightly and with his blood loss he couldn't put up a huge fight. Natsu had been ready to drop before he had even had Gajeel on the ground. "Natsu please come back to me." Erza said quietly as she held him down.
Natsu started thrashing more as his power began to spike from anger. He grabbed Erza's arms and started to squeeze her and push her up but Erza was adamant on not letting him go. Natsu was being driven by his anger at this point and no longer possessed rational thought as he tried to get free and not a care in the world for the state his body was in while no longer feeling pain. Black Fire started building up around Natsu and Erza as he got angrier with being denied his kill.
"NATSU PLEASE STOP!" Erza screamed at him as she started to get burned slightly from the fire. "Please Natsu! I love you as your other self!" she screamed at him.
Natsu was roaring in fury with her and threw her off of him sending her to the ground. Erza sat there transfixed on Natsu as he turned back towards Gajeel still bent on killing him. 'How do I stop him?' Erza thought to herself.
Erza saw Natsu getting ready to kill Gajeel again and did the one thing she could think of; she ran at Natsu throwing her arms around his neck and turning him to her and kissed him. She kissed him as fiercely as she could.
The guild was staring in shock at what they were seeing. Erza was kissing Natsu. It just didn't register to them. Even Gray was surprised by it even though he saw how they acted together on the train that one time; he could easily see that they loved each other back then but it still just didn't seem natural for it to be shown like that.
As Erza kissed Natsu the black fire started to die down and his eyes turned back to their normal onyx color. As Natsu's head cleared of the unnatural bloodlust he felt something on his lips only to see Erza kissing him fiercely. Natsu wrapped his arms around Erza's waist and kissed her back with equal passion.
After a few minutes they broke away each blushing madly and Natsu whispered, "Thank you for bringing me back Erza."
"Just don't leave me like that again." She whispered back leaning up to kiss him again.
The kiss lasted a few minutes again and as they broke away Natsu said, "I love you Erza."
Erza blushed madly again and replied, "I love you too Natsu. Nothing will keep me from you anymore."
Natsu smiled at her comment and started falling backwards finally passing out from exhaustion and blood loss. Erza caught him before he fell down and smiled at him. They had finally declared there love for each other and she'd be damned if she let something like her past would keep her from loving him. She'd deal with Jellal and the Tower with Natsu's help.
One Week Later:
Natsu and Erza were walking through a field holding each others hands not far from the guild. Natsu couldn't have been happier he had Erza with his as his mate now. 'She is so perfect.' Natsu thought as he looked at her smiling face.
They walked over to a tree and sat next to each other still holding hands. Natsu turned to Erza and kissed her lightly which she responded to whole heartedly. As they broke away Natsu said, "I love you Erza."
"I love you too Natsu." She replied as she kissed him once more.
After a few moments the sky started to darken and Erza looked around and asked, "What's going on Natsu?" but didn't get a response.
"Natsu?" She asked again and looked over to see him standing with blood red eyes and black fire swirling around him as he laughed.
Before Erza could form a thought Natsu lunged forward and stabbed his hand threw her chest laughing insanely.
'Why Natsu?' she thought as her heart gave out.
Natsu was laughing insanely as she fell and then started to demolish her corpse.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Natsu screamed as he woke up from his dream and looked around frantically. He was currently on a bed inside an infirmary that he didn't recognize. He looked around and saw a lot of blood stained bandages in a trash can. He looked down at his chest to see a long scar going from his right shoulder down towards the bottom of his left ribs. 'Someone must have healed my wounds while I was asleep.' He thought to himself.
Natsu swung his legs off the bed and headed for the door. As he opened the door he was momentarily blinded by the light. As his vision cleared he looked to see that the guild had been reconstructed while he was asleep. Natsu looked down below and saw everyone from the guild minus Mystogan, Laxus and his team, and Gildarts all celebrating the guilds reconstruction.
He headed downstairs and was looking around in annoyance. He didn't like how different the guild looked. "OI NATSU!" Gray shouted over to him as he noticed him up and about.
Natsu looked over and saw Gray sitting at a table with Lucy and Erza. He started walking over to them as Lucy and Erza looked over to him after Gray shouted. Erza was looking at Natsu with a light blush on her cheeks trying to think of what to say to him and looked away as he got closer. Erza let out a soft squeak as she felt arms wrap around her waist and felt Natsu put his head down on her shoulder causing her to blush further. "About damn time you woke up torch." Gray said as Natsu got comfy on Erza's shoulder.
"What's that supposed to mean popsicle?" Natsu asked slightly confused.
"You've been asleep for a week flame brain." Gray retorted.
"A week?" Natsu asked surprised. "That means I haven't eaten in 8 days." Natsu said and then slumped down onto the table yelling out weakly, "MIRA I NEED SOME FOOD!"
Mirajane who was behind the bar as usual laughed at how Natsu reacted and went over to bring him some food. As soon as the food hit the table Natsu started devouring it in seconds. After he finished he leaned back patting his belly and said, "Thanks for the grub Mira, it was as good as always."
"Hehe you're welcome Natsu." She replied. "So how do you like the guild now Natsu?"
"It's different." He said grumpily.
Natsu then thought about something and asked, "Hey Erza, what else have I missed besides the guild being rebuilt?"
"Well shortly after you passed out Jose came down with the rest of the element four and started attacking us. Gray fought and defeated Juvia, Elfman used his beast take over and managed to remain in control this time and defeated Sol. I took down Aria before he harmed anyone again." Erza gave a brief summary.
"What about Jose? What happened with him?" Natsu asked cautiously.
"Well before he did any real harm the master showed up and challenged him. Jose was a fool though; Master Makarov gave him a chance to surrender which he threw back in his face." She replied.
"What did gramps do to him?" Natsu asked.
"Fairy Law." Erza said simply. "Jose was utterly demolished by it."
"Well that figures. Though where is gramps at now?" Natsu asked casually.
"At the bar drunk of his ass." Gray said while laughing but stopped as he felt a death glare coming from Erza.
Natsu turned to Erza and pulled her off the bench and lead her away to a quiet corner. When they got far enough away, Erza asked, "What do you need Natsu?"
"I am so sorry if I hurt you Erza." Natsu said with a dejected tone.
"It's alright Natsu, you didn't hurt me, I'm just glad you came to after I…." she trailed off looking down and blushing like mad.
Natsu just smiled and cupped her chin bringing her to look at him and said, "I love you my beautiful knight." He then leaned in and kissed her softly yet passionately.
Erza responded to the kiss immediately, kissing him back with equal passion and wrapped her arms around his neck holding him as close as she could. After what seemed like forever to them they broke away and Erza said, "I love you too my dragon."
They both started to kiss again completely unaware that the entire guild was watching them.Natsu and Erza just got back to Natsu's house after realizing the entire guild had been watching them and they were both very, very red in the face. They did not expect that the entire guild to watch them convey their feelings and kiss each other. 'I could die of embarrassment at this point.' Erza thought to herself as she and Natsu slumped onto the couch.
"Well what do you want to do now Erza?" Natsu asked, still very red in the face as he thought about the way Mira was squealing towards them and how everyone watched them as if they were a movie.
"Well we probably should make something for dinner, and then I want to talk to you about something." Erza said.
"Alright that sounds fine, but what do you want to talk about?" Natsu asked curiously.
"Wait till after dinner and then we can talk, okay?" Erza said.
The two mages then proceeded to the kitchen to start making dinner for them. As Natsu worked on the meat; Erza thought about how to explain herself to Natsu. She wanted to tell him about how she grew up, but couldn't think of a good way to do it. Erza was so deep in thought on how to break the news to Natsu that she didn't notice him creep up behind her wanting to scare her as a joke, that when Natsu yelled and grabbed her she grabbed him by the arm and threw him over her shoulder into the ground very hard.
Natsu was on the ground staring in shock so much that he couldn't even groan in pain. Erza quickly realized it had just been Natsu and rushed to his side saying, "Oh my god, I'm sorry Natsu, I thought it was someone trying to attack me."
"Ow." Was all Natsu could say.
Erza sighed and pulled him off the ground planting a kiss on his lips and after a few moments she pulled away asking, "Do you feel better now?"
"Much better" Natsu said with a grin and a blush.
Erza then realized she still had the vegetables cooking and ran over to the stove and quickly turned them off before they got burned and sighed out. "Everything looks ready now, let's eat." She said as she started serving their portions and headed to the table to eat.
After they finished eating Erza looked up at Natsu who was patting his belly with contentment at being so full and decided it was time to tell him. "Natsu, it's time I told you about my past and why I originally felt that I couldn't return your feelings."
At hearing this Natsu sat up straight and gave her his full attention. "Alright, explain away." He said.
Erza proceeded to explain to him all about how she grew up as a slave, how they were forced to build the tower, how they rebelled against them all, and lastly how Jellal betrayed them saying he could hear Zeref speaking to him and that he stayed to finish the tower. She also told him how she fell in love with Jellal before all that happened. She then said, "After that I got away from the tower I had found my way to Fairy Tail and joined them. Because of everything that happened there is the reason why I wear armor all the time; it's because I felt as if my heart had been shattered and my armor held me together."
Erza reached out and lightly grasped Natsu's hand and said, "The reason why I felt like I couldn't return your feelings is that I didn't know if I loved still or not, but I came to realize that I loved you more then I could ever have loved him and that you fixed my shattered heart. For all that I thank you Natsu, for everything you had done for me and always being there even before you said you loved me." She gave him a light squeeze as she looked up to him with tears in her eyes and said, "I love you Natsu, with all my heart."
Natsu was having an emotion overload as he listened to everything Erza told him. First he felt sorry, then anger, then rage, then sadness, and then above all: absolute happiness. Natsu stood up and walked over to Erza and pulled her out the chair into a hug holding her close as he could saying, "I love you too Erza, more then words could ever describe and would take multiple lifetimes to fully express my love for you. I will always be here for you."
Erza hugged Natsu back finally letting her tears fall after listening to him and never wanted to let go. Natsu then had an idea, "Hey Erza, why don't we all go on a vacation? We all could use it. We can ask Gray and Lucy about it tomorrow if you want to go."
"That sounds like fun Natsu." Erza said while still hugging him.
"Though Erza, no matter how much I like you hugging me, could you loosen up a bit? I can't breathe too well." Natsu said as he slowly took on a bluish hue.
Erza quickly loosened her embrace on him and said, "Sorry about that. I was just so happy from what you said."
"Well I'm glad to of made you happy but let's head to bed, I'm beat." Natsu said with a yawn.
"Alright, bed sounds good." Erza said as Natsu took her hand and began leading her to the room.
As they got into bed, Natsu pulled Erza to him and kissed her passionately too which Erza responded instantly. As they kissed Natsu pulled Erza closer deepening the kiss and wrapped his legs around hers. Erza shyly poked at Natsu's lips with her tongue causing him to open his mouth and she slid it in exploring his mouth. Natsu felt like he was on cloud nine with they way Erza moved her tongue inside his mouth and thought what else she could do with it.
Natsu then felt like it was his turn and slowly pushed his tongue into her mouth giving her the same treatment causing Erza to slightly moan in pleasure. After a few minutes they broke away gasping for air. Once Natsu had his breath back he said, "That felt amazing."
Erza nodded in silent agreement as she thought about how good he kissed. Erza then laid her head down on Natsu's chest and snuggled up to his side and said, "Good night Natsu."
"Good night Erza, I love you." Natsu said as he got comfy.
"I love you too." Erza said as she closed her eyes and they both fell asleep into blissful dreams.
The next day:
Natsu and Erza were walking hand in hand through Magnolia towards the guild and enjoying each others company. As they were walking, Natsu saw a store he needed to go into and said, "Hey Erza I need to go get something from a store, do you mind heading onto the guild without me?"
"Alright, but don't make me wait too long." Erza replied and started heading off to the guild as Natsu ran to the store he wanted to go to.
A few minutes later Erza walked into the guild to see most everyone there already and walked over to where Gray and Lucy sat and greeted them. "Good morning Gray, Lucy."
"Oh good morning Erza." Lucy said.
"Morning Erza. Where's Natsu at though? I thought the two of you went home together." Gray said as he looked around for Natsu.
"We did, but he wanted to go by a store, not sure what for but he should be back soon enough."
"Oh, alright then." Gray said. "Well anyways, Lucy and I were talking about our next job and we were wondering what you guys wanted to do." He continued.
"Oh Natsu came up with something last night actually." Erza replied.
"What was it?" Lucy asked.
"Well Natsu thought that it would be fun to go on a vacation considering we all could use it." Erza explained to them.
"Wow the flame brain actually had a good idea, a vacation sounds awesome." Gray said.
As he finished speaking Natsu walked into the guild and headed over to them. When he got to them he asked, "Did Erza already tell you guys what we wanted to do?"
"Yeah she did, I'm surprised you had a good idea with that fried brain of yours." Gray said teasingly.
"You know I'm going to let that one go because right now I'm happy because of what I bought."
Gray raised an eyebrow in mild surprise and asked, "What did you buy?"
"That is for me to know and you will all find out later." Natsu said ending the subject right there."
"Whatever." Gray replied
The group then spent the next few hours on planning what to do and seeing how much money they all had between them for the vacation. They decided on a resort by the ocean a few towns away and split up who was paying for what. Natsu would pay for the transportation there and back, Gray was covering the hotel costs, Lucy was covering meals and entertainment, while Erza covered what they all had to spend on things for themselves since she could split her money evenly four ways.
After they made all their plans Natsu noticed something, "Hey guys, what happened to Loke? I haven't seen him since before the fight with Phantom."
Lucy jumped and said, "Oh we didn't tell you about that did we? Well Loke isn't who we thought he was I guess you could say."
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked curiously.
"You see Loke is actually the celestial spirit Leo." Lucy said wondering how Natsu would react.
"Oh…okay." Natsu said and then yelled, "WAIT WHAT?"
"Yeah turns out he had been banned from the spirit world but I managed to convince the celestial king to let him return before he died from not having any energy left." Lucy said. "The condition on him returning though is he now has to protect me for the remainder of his life."
"Wow…that's a lot to take in." Natsu said as he tried to comprehend all of that.
"I know what you mean." Lucy replied.
"Alright enough chitchatting, let's all head out and pack our stuff for the vacation and meet at the train station in two hours. I'll also go tell the Master Makarov about our little trip so he doesn't think something bad happened too us." Erza said after Lucy finished talking to Natsu.
Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all headed off to their respective homes to pack while Erza went to tell the master about the vacation before she too headed home to pack.
Two hours later the group was waiting at the train station for their train to arrive so they could be on their way to the resort. While they were waiting Natsu sat down by Erza and said, "I have a surprise for you when we get back from this vacation, just so you have something else to look forward to for when we get back."
With her curiosity perked she asked, "What did you do or get?"
Natsu just grinned and replied, "You'll see."
A few minutes later the train pulled up and they all boarded and found a compartment for themselves. Before the train started moving Natsu had put his head on Erza's lap saying he doesn't want to deal with the headache from traveling. Erza giggled lightly at how Natsu just immediately went for her lap. A few moments later the train started departing towards their destination.
Five hours later:
The group had settled into the rooms at the hotel and all got ready for a night at the casino/resort. Natsu went off to try gambling, Gray headed to a bar for a quick drink, while Lucy and Erza went off to have fun together. They all had planned on enjoying their night to the fullest.
They just didn't plan on Natsu being shot in the mouth by some blocky guy, Gray being knocked out by some big guy, while Lucy gets tied up and Erza trapped in a card being taken away to the Tower of Heaven.Lucy, Gray, Happy, Juvia, Wally, Millianna, and Sho were staring at the tower in shock; it had just taken a blast from Etherion and had turned into a lacrima. "What is going on?" Gray asked eyes wide open in surprise.
"I have no idea." Lucy said, "But I do hope they are alright."
"They'll be fine; they are fairy tail wizards and all." Happy said confidentially even though he was worried for Natsu's safety.
"All we can do is have faith in them." Gray said.
Wally, Sho, and Millianna were all just dead silent in shock at what happened.
With Natsu, Erza, and Jellal:
Natsu was holding Erza up after just pulling her away from the lacrima and interrupting the ritual while glaring at Jellal with hatred unmatched. Erza was covered in multiple bruises and cuts from fighting with Jellal, she truly thought he had changed before the Etherion had struck the tower, but she was proven wrong rather fast. "Natsu you have to run, you can't beat Jellal, he was too much for me." Erza pleaded to Natsu.
Natsu looked at Erza solemnly and said, "Forgive me Erza but I am not running away. I will stop him!" Natsu then proceeded to do something he would feel bad for along time about; he punched Erza in the stomach hard, effectively knocking her out.
Natsu then turned to Jellal and said, "I will make you pay dearly for what you have done to Erza." Natsu clenched his fists in anger before saying, "You made Erza cry." He paused briefly then yelled. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
As Natsu finished yelling his power flew around him in torrents of fire and he charged at Jellal who prepared himself. When Natsu got into range of Jellal he kicked out catching Jellal in the knee causing him to stumble and as he fell forward Natsu upper cutted his jaw sending him flying backwards. When Jellal righted himself he said, "Not to bad Natsu, but not nearly good enough. Now face the might of my heavenly body magic!" he then yelled out "METEOR!"
Jellal disappeared from Natsu's sight and Natsu felt himself get punched in the back and thrown forwards from the hit but when he turned around Jellal was already gone again. 'Shit he's moving fast.' Natsu thought as he was struck from behind again.
Natsu saw Jellal coming from the side and threw a punch towards him but before it could connect, Jellal had change trajectory and was gone again. Natsu swore loudly as he got kicked from the other side and thought, 'I can't keep up with him with my speed right now. I need to find another way to hit him.'
Natsu then let his senses take over completely, reliving on his hearing and scent the most to what Jellal was doing and tried to predict where he was coming from. After a few moments he finally caught a pattern and as Jellal moved in to attack from behind; Natsu kicked his left leg back hitting Jellal in the face and causing him to be thrown back this time.
"You little bastard." Jellal muttered as he rubbed his jaw.
"It's not nice to call people bastards you bastard." Natsu said with a grin.
Jellal just sweat dropped. 'He's cracking jokes in the middle of a fight? Well I can't say I don't like his style for that but he is rather cocky and getting me mad.'
Jellal started charging at Natsu again who couldn't keep track anymore from how much faster he started to move and was being pounded around. Natsu gritted his teeth in pain and quickly sent fire blasting all around him catching Jellal off guard causing him to crash on to the ground. Natsu charged at Jellal igniting his fists and threw a punch at Jellal who leapt away. As Jellal landed he rushed at Natsu again and punched him in the face before Natsu could react. Jellal was no longer using his Meteor spell and was bent on hitting Natsu as hard as he could.
Natsu was blocking all the hits he could but he was hard pressed. 'Damn he hits a lot harder then Gajeel.' He thought as a hit connected with his jaw.
Natsu was thrown back by the hit sending him to the ground, but before he hit Natsu stuck his hand out and somersaulted back up while yelling, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" sending a blast of fire out towards Jellal who jumped away but still getting slightly burnt from the attack. Natsu then ran in at Jellal with his fists ignited and started punching back fiercely making it Jellal's turn to block as best as he could. After a series of punches; Natsu yelled, "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" smashing his fist into Jellal's chest knocking him down.
Jellal had a hard time breathing from that attack and was panting heavily as he got up. He glared with hate at Natsu who was glaring back. Jellal then ran at Natsu yelling, "Heavenly Palm!" smashing his palm into Natsu throwing him back and then yelled, "Heavenly Blast!" hitting Natsu with a second spell which sent him flying back further smashing into a wall.
Natsu slowly got back up groaning in pain, he was having a little trouble standing now from all the powerful hits he took from Jellal. Bottling down the pain he roared out, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" sending his breath attack at Jellal who didn't dodge it in time taking the full blast being thrown back himself. Jellal stood back up and was panting heavily, Natsu was no different.
Jellal then sent out a bunch of energy beams flying towards Natsu who started jumping out of the way of each one which caused small explosions each time they hit the ground. Jellal noticed he was damaging the tower and quickly stopped his attack, but Natsu noticed what was up. "Afraid of damaging your pretty little tower Jellal?" Natsu said tauntingly and then roared, "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" sending the giant fire ball into the ground right below him.
Jellal thinking the attack was meant for him put his hands up to guard him but he felt the ground shake beneath him. Looking up he stared in shock at Natsu who was blasting a hole in the tower floor below him. Shaking with rage he said, "Eight years… I've spent eight years building this tower and now you've gone and blown a hole in it!"
Natsu just laughed and said, "Tough luck. Destroying stuff is a specialty of Fairy Tail wizards."
Erza had woken up just moments before the explosion to see Natsu and Jellal fighting and Natsu blowing the hole in the tower. 'He's attacking the tower?' She thought to herself.
"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" Jellal roared at Natsu as he crossed his arms over his head causing a magic circle to appear.
The wind started to pick up as ball of shadows started forming above Jellal and Erza realized what was happening as soon as she saw the shadows on the ground start to bend towards him. Erza ran in front of Natsu and yelled, "JELLAL IF YOU WANT TO KILL NATSU YOU HAVE TO KILL ME TO!" She had her arms spread in front of Natsu defensively while Natsu only stared in shock.
"You need me to resurrect Zeref don't you?" Erza cried out before saying, "Are you able to kill me too?"
The magic started dissipating as Jellal said, "Yes… the ritual needs a body equivalent to one of the ten wizard's saints." He then paused as he looked up and continued, "However… THAT NO LONGER NEEDS TO BE YOU!" he roared out as he started up his attack again.
Natsu was horrified while looking at Erza and shouted, "Erza get out of the way!"
"Natsu, you don't have to be afraid, I'll protect you. Besides you're hurt now, I can't have you getting hurt anymore."
Jellal grinned evilly as he said, "Heavenly body spell… ALTAIRIS!" and threw the attack at Erza and Natsu.
As the spell sped towards them Erza thought, 'I love you Natsu.' But neither noticed that someone had jumped in front of both of them. When the attack met there was a deafening explosion causing them to get knocked down.
With everyone else:
The group saw an explosion near the top of the tower and all gasped in shock. "What just happened? What caused that explosion?" Gray half shouted.
"They're okay right?" Lucy asked shakily.
Sho groaned and clutched at his heart gasping for air and Millianna asked, "What's wrong Sho?"
"I don't know but I have a bad feeling."
Back at the tower:
As the smoke cleared Erza gasped in shock, standing in front of her with his arms out stretched and gasping in pain was Simon. "Simon…you took the blast for us?"
Simon fell to the ground muttering, "Just in time."
"Oh so you were still crawling around the tower like a little pest eh Simon?" Jellal said without any care.
"Why didn't you escape Simon? WHY DID YOU STOP THE BLAST?" Erza shouted at him.
"I'm glad now; I always wanted to be helpful to you some day…" Simon said between gasps. "Live a long and happy life with Natsu Erza… I can see how much you mean to each other and there is no one else in the world suited for either of you." He clutched her hand before saying, "Life free Erza." Simon's eye's then closed and his hand fell from Erza's hand as he breathed his last breath of life but he was still smiling.
Erza just stared at Simon with tears falling down her face as she watched him die. She then screamed out her sorrow and collapsed over him not wanting him to be dead. "How amusing… how ridiculous!" Jellal said as he laughed as if that was the funniest thing in the world. "That's the very definition of dyeing for nothing Simon!" He laughed louder and colder. "THIS DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING! NONE OF YOU WILL LEAVE HEAR ALIVE!"
Before he could do anything else Natsu yelled, "SHUT UP!" as he punched Jellal hard in the face sending him flying backwards slamming into the tower and coughing out some blood from the impact. Erza was staring in shock at Natsu, there was some blue energy flowing around him as he stood there. When Jellal looked up he was just as surprised. Natsu was eating the Etherion.
'No way… he's eating the Etherion?' Jellal thought as he stared in shock.
Natsu finished eating the Etherion and swallowed. As soon as he swallowed his eyes opened wide glowing bright blue and he roared with power flowing all around him and more coming from the Etherion covering the tower and smashed his fists into the ground sending a blast of energy flying towards Jellal who jumped out of the way barely in time. Natsu then coughed out and started clutching his throat as he rolled around yelling in pain. "YOU IDIOT!" Erza screamed. "ETHERION HAS MORE THEN JUST FIRE MAGIC IN IT, IT COULD KILL YOU!"
'Did he think he would power up by eating something else other then fire? The idiot.' Jellal thought to himself.
Natsu stopped rolling around and was on his knees clutching his throat still yelling in pain as power started flowing through him faster and faster. Natsu was soon covered in flames as his eyes started glowing red from power as his screams of pain turned to a full blown roar and the flames surrounding him took on the shape of a dragon. Natsu's face started to look slightly draconic as his bones slightly moved around and scales started appearing over his face, chest, legs, and arms.
Jellal and Erza were staring in complete and utter shock at this new development and both thought simultaneously, 'What is happening? He actually absorbed the Etherion?'
Natsu looked to Jellal and grinned fiercely, and before Jellal couldn't even react, Natsu was kneeing him in the face sending him flying back. Natsu grabbed Jellal by the face and flung him into the ground jumping up and rebounding off of the ceiling yelling, "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT ERZA CRIED!" as he slammed into Jellal knocking him through the floor and grabbing his neck while they continued going through the tower's floors.
"I VOWED TO MYSELF THAT I WOULD NEVER LET ERZA CRY AGAIN. I PROMISED SIMON I WOULD HELP HER AND YOU JUST FUCK IT ALL UP!" Natsu yelled as he slammed them through the tower.
"FUCKING BASTARD! METEOR!" Jellal shouted and sped away from Natsu going back up to the top of the tower.
Natsu stuck out his arms and slid to a stop between to parts of the tower before jumping back up after Jellal; jumping on falling pieces of the tower to give him a boost. "YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME AT THIS SPEED!" Jellal shouted at Natsu.
When Natsu jumped and had a clear shot at Jellal he blasted himself upwards faster then even Jellal had gone up and slammed his fist into Jellal, shattering several ribs. Jellal's eyes widen in shock before he yelled, "NO! I will not loose!" and kicked Natsu away. Jumping high into the air he yelled, "I will create a land of freedom! Amidst all the pain and terror growing up in this tower Zeref whispered to me! He asked if I wanted true freedom! I am the only one who can feel Zeref! I am a chosen one!" He yelled out as he sent multiple energy blasts down towards Natsu who jumped out of the way and clung to the tower.
"Together Zeref and I will create and land of true freedom!" Jellal yelled in fury.
"YOU TOOK PEOPLES' FREEDOM AWAY TO MAKE IT THOUGH, SO HOW IS IT TRUE FREEDOM?" Natsu yelled back.
Jellal just yelled in rage and started moving his hand back and forth through the air in a star shape and building up a large amount of magic power and created a huge magic circle. Natsu stared in shock at the size of the circle while Erza stared in recognition of the spell and shouted out, "Abyss Break? You're going to destroy the tower and everything inside it?"
Jellal just laughed and said, "I'll just spend another eight years building a new one. No the new one will only take me five years and be even better then this one! Zeref your time shall come!"
Just as Jellal was about to release the spell and destroy them all he faltered from pain in his chest and started falling from the sky remembering that Erza had slashed him across the chest and then Natsu's wound on top of that.
Natsu then charged up at Jellal seeing the spell fail yelling, "YOU WILL NEVER KNOW TRUE FREEDOM! AS LONG AS YOU LET ZEREF RULE YOUR LIKE YOU WILL NEVER BE FREE!"
As Natsu flew up towards Jellal he became surrounded by fire in the shape of a dragon again and yelled out as he punched Jellal in the side of the face as hard as he could sending him crashing down into the tower. The impact caused multiple parts of the tower to explode.
With everyone else:
"What the hell was that?" Sho asked in shock at seeing parts of the tower explode.
"It's got to be Natsu; he's going on one major rampage." Gray said as they all looked out at the tower.
"Are they going to be okay?" Millianna asked.
"I'd like to think so but with Natsu going that crazy I don't know what to think.
Back at the tower:
Natsu crashed down on to the ground shortly after knocking Jellal out of the sky and looked down at Jellal in disgust before saying, "You're done." He didn't know if Jellal was alive or dead and didn't care too much because at the moment he slowly started to collapse. Before he fell to the ground Erza had ran and caught him and held him close. 'You're an amazing person Natsu.' She thought as she held him close.
'My eight year long fight is finally over… thank you so much Natsu. You truly are amazing.' She thought as the scales started fading away from Natsu.
After a few moments the tower started to shake madly and Erza looked around realizing that the Etherion was unstable. She quickly picked up Natsu and made a run for it as the magic energy started exploding all around her and Natsu.
With everyone else:
"What's happening? What's all the magic power coming from?" Lucy asked in a very scared tone.
"It's the Etherion… its going crazy."
"All that magic power can't stay stable for too long in one place…it will cause a massive explosion." Happy said in fright.
"Woah, Woah, at this range the explosion will take us out too!" Wally cried.
"It doesn't matter anymore at this point. No one will make it out alive if it explodes." Gray said solemnly.
With Erza and Natsu:
Erza was running as fast as she could trying to avoid all the beams of magic energy exploding from the tower as it crumbled around them. As she got further down a blast of energy exploded right in front of her and knocked her and Natsu to the ground. 'Is this the end?' she thought as she slowly stood back up. 'Even if we do get outside, we'll be caught in the explosion. What can we do?'
She looked over at Natsu and desperately wished there was a way she could save her loved one. 'It's my turn to save you Natsu, but how do I do it?' She asked herself. Looking around the tower she suddenly remembered what Jellal said he was going to do to her with the Etherion. 'I wonder if I merged with it like he wanted me to do if it would stabilize the Etherion before it explodes.
She walked over to the lacrima and put her hand on it and thought, 'This is our only chance.' And with that thought she pushed on the lacrima and her hand slid in and she yelled out in pain. 'Good the lacrima is still willing to accept me.'
At this moment Natsu woke up and saw Erza standing with half her arm inside the lacrima. He slowly rose to his feet and said, "Erza…?"
Erza's eyes widen in surprise and she said, "Natsu."
"What are you doing Erza?" Natsu asked cautiously.
"The Etherion is going out of control. Look around us and see for yourself. Any minute now there will be an explosion of immense devastation." She said sadly.
"But why is you're body going into the lacrima?" Natsu asked afraid to find out.
"If I merge with the Etherion, I'll be able to restrain it and cause it to stabilize so it doesn't explode on us." Erza said with a few tears in her eyes.
"Wait if you merge with the lacrima you're going to…" Natsu couldn't finish the last sentence and he ran up grabbing her arm trying to pull her out.
"I'm sorry Natsu. It's my turn to save you; I will gladly give my life so you may live on. I love you Natsu." She leaned down and kissed him as passionately as she could.
"No Erza don't do this we'll find a way through." Natsu cried with tears freely falling.
Before Erza could say anything the lacrima pulled her inside it as Natsu screamed. 'I die so you can live on Natsu. I love you.' She thought as she blacked out.
A few moments later Erza opened her eyes and saw she was outside the lacrima and was on the tower floor. 'But how am I out here?' she thought before it dawned on her. She turned around screaming, "NATSU!" Who was being pulled inside the lacrima.
"Sorry Erza… I couldn't let you do this. Live long and well my beautiful knight." Natsu said as the lacrima pulled him inside.
Erza screamed as she blacked out again from lack of energy.
Two hours later:
Erza woke up on the beach side lying partially in the water and partially out. She heard her name being called from the side and looked over to see Lucy, Gray, Wally, Sho, Millianna, and Happy running to her. When they got to her Happy looked around and asked, "Erza…where's Natsu?"
Erza quickly sat up wide eyed looking around everywhere but to see no sign of him. "No…Natsu." Erza said quietly before breaking down.
Gray and Lucy jumped and Gray quickly said, "Erza what's wrong? Where's Natsu?"
"He…sacrificed himself so the Etherion didn't kill us all…" Erza said as she cried harder.
Everyone stared open mouthed at her while Gray and Happy both slumped to the ground. "Natsu's dead…" Happy said quietly with tears in his eyes.
One week later:
It was a cold rainy day and everyone from Fairy Tail was gathered outside standing before a monument. All the members were looking up to the monument of Natsu Dragneel, many in tears while others were struggling to not cry. No member was absent from his funeral. After a few moments Master Makarov stood before everyone and said, "We are here on this day to honor the memory of Natsu Dragneel… He was a proud member of Fairy Tail. Natsu was one of the most caring people I had ever known with his heart matching the size of the world and was always loyal to his guild, his friends, and his family. Natsu was like another son to me and I truly loved him as if he were my own son. He was the heart and soul of Fairy Tail, and we shall never be the same with him gone though he will never be forgotten."
As Master Makarov finished speaking he stood back with tears falling down his face as he turned and said, "Natsu was a great man and will always be in our hearts."
One by one the members of Fairy Tail walked up to his monument which was a statue of him holding one arm crossed over his chest in salute and each paid their respects to him, even Laxus said something for him who everyone thought hated Natsu. The last person up was Erza, who was beyond devastated. She had been crying constantly over the loss of Natsu, her eyes were red and puffy showing that she had not stopped crying much.
As she got up to the grave she knelt down and said, "Natsu you were the love of my life and I will never forget you. You will always be my one and only true love, and I wish for nothing more but for you to come back to me. I love you Natsu and I pray for the day we meet again."
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looking over she saw Gildarts standing there with eyes just like her. "He was a son to me… I want him back so much and it hurts to even be here with out him." Gildarts said with a sad expression. He then squeezed Erza's shoulder saying, "Be proud he loved you, he was a very good man."
Erza only nodded and just sat there numbly. Everyone was slowly getting ready to leave when they heard it; a long mournful howl of anguish. Startled everyone looked around and on top of the mountains was a beautiful red dragon roaring all its sorrow into the skies. Everyone stood transfixed at what they were seeing on top of the mountain. Only one thought went through Erza's mind, 'Its Igneel…'
Igneel lamented to the skies and everyone thought it was the most beautiful sound and yet the saddest sound they had ever heard. 'He's dead and gone!' Igneel raged in his mind. With a great deal of rustling his wings unfolded and he took to the skies. Everyone saw him coming towards them and scattered just as the great dragon landed on the ground in front of Natsu's grave.
No one dared move as Igneel lowered his head and rested it on the ground in front of Natsu's statue staring longing at his face. "I had to leave him when he was young and now he's gone." Igneel said aloud causing everyone to jump.
Erza cautiously walked up to the side of the dragon and looked into his eye and said, "Your Igneel aren't you?"
Igneel turned towards her slightly and said, "Yes I am, and I can see you are the one he marked as his mate."
Erza and the guild jumped slightly as they all thought, 'Marked?'
"What do you mean marked?" Erza asked curious.
"When a dragon or a dragon slayer find their one true love they mark them with the first kiss they give the one who holds their heart and I can see it around your heart right now." Igneel said sadly.
"What does it look like?" Erza asked with tears in her eyes again.
"It's a fire dragon with a knight on its back wrapped around your heart." Igneel replied. "All dragons and dragon slayer's can see it. You're marked as his forever."
"Wait if it's still there doesn't that mean Natsu could be alive still?" Erza said with hope.
"No, even if we die our mark remains forever." Igneel said sadly.
Erza looked down and fought back more tears and asked, "Why did you leave only to come back now?"
"I had to leave as did all other dragons, I'm breaking a major law by coming here but I don't care for that now I just wanted to see his funeral since I had to abandon him." Igneel said solemnly.
"I'm sorry." Erza said quietly.
Igneel leaned towards her and nudged her lightly saying, "I thank you for being there for him when I could not be, but it is time for me to go again. Bear his mark well." And with that said Igneel took off into the air again flying away over the mountains.
Everyone from Fairy Tail was staring in shock still at the fact a dragon had been there and that it had been Igneel. After a few moments the master called out, "Alright everyone lets head back to the guild."
Unknown to all of them is that this played out like a dream for Natsu who saw and heard everything.
Natsu woke up with a gasp and started panting. He was on a beach somewhere in Fiore and he promptly rolled over throwing up. 'That was crazy.' Natsu thought to himself. 'I know I died in the tower but I'm still alive, I even witnessed my own funeral, and Igneel had been there.' Natsu fought back tears as he thought about how Igneel had shown up to his funeral.
"Well since I'm not dead I probably should head back to the guild.' Natsu thought with a small laugh.
Three and a half weeks later:
Natsu stood on a hillside over looking Magnolia during its early hours before people had started even waking up. "I'm finally back." Natsu said aloud to himself. 'I just hope no one tries to kill me for this.'
One hour later Natsu was standing outside Fairy Tail dreading what was going to happen to him once he got in. 'Well better late then never.' He thought grimly and pushed open the doors.
Natsu looked around to see it completely empty and was very surprised by that. He looked up to the second floor and saw light coming from Master Makarov's office and grinned. 'Might as well surprise gramps first.'
He headed over to the office and knocked. "Come in." came a gruff reply.
Natsu opened the door and said, "Yo gramps, how you doing?"
Makarov's response was to slam a fist into him.
Makarov slowly blinked realizing that he was hallucination and that Natsu was really there standing in front of him. "Natsu?" He asked softly.
"Yeah it's me gramps and I don't know how I'm alive before you even ask." Natsu said seriously before saying, "I know I died or at least I felt like I died."
Natsu then proceeded to explain how he saw everything that happened in his dream of the funeral and asked Makarov to confirm if that's what happened. When he did Natsu slumped down and thought, 'Igneel really came.'
"Hey gramps, how do we break it to the guild that I'm alive?" Natsu asked.
"I don't want to do anything big even if though it's something fantastic." Master Makarov said.
Natsu nodded and said, "Alright then I'll wait in here until everyone get's here and just yell for me to come out."
Makarov nodded and headed out to the guild thinking, 'This is going to be painful for Natsu.'
One hour and thirty minutes later everyone had arrived at the guild and called out, "Everyone can I have your attention, I have something very important to show you."
Once he had all eyes on him he turned around and said, "Alright boy come out, but be prepared for a world of pain."
The guild was confused as to who he was talking to and when Natsu stepped out no one moved, no one even breathed. Natsu looked around and said, "I'm back."
The first thing that happened was Gray ran up and punched Natsu straight in the face as hard as he could. "Okay, I deserved that." Natsu said as he rubbed his jaw.
"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT YOU DID! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DEPRESSED WE ALL WERE WHEN WE HEARD YOU DIED?" Gray shouted at Natsu as he picked him up and pulled him into a bear hug.
Natsu hugged him back saying, "I know exactly how worried you all were, I saw everything in a dream."
The entire guild once again froze in shock as he said that and someone moved up from the side saying, "Natsu?"
Natsu looked over and saw Erza standing there with her hands over her mouth and it looked like she was going to break down. "Hey Erza, I missed you." Natsu said softly.
The next thing Natsu knew is that he was being tackled as Erza jumped at him hugging him tightly crying her eyes out saying over and over, "You're alive."
Natsu just held her close and said, "Yeah I'm alive, and I have no idea how but I'm glad I'm back."
Erza looked up at him and then lunged at him; kissing him as hard as she could in which Natsu responded with his own fierce kiss. As they broke apart he looked at Erza and said, "Erza I have something to ask you." He said as he reached into his pocket pulling something out.
"What is it Natsu?" She asked but she felt her heart stop as she looked at him fully.
Natsu was down on one knee holding a box with a ring in it. The ring had a single beautiful diamond on it which wasn't too big and not too small either. Engraved into the ring was a dragon and a knight flying together in clear and vivid detail even though it was small. As Erza looked at the ring she realized, based on Igneel's description that the ring matched her mark on her heart perfectly.
"Will you marry me Erza Scarlet?"