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Time is the Path to Strength	By : Repiece Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 47111 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Chapter 21: Natsu and The Magic Council

The sun shined through the window of Natsu's new room down toward the couple who slept quietly on the bed. During the night, the couple changed position so that he had his arm around her waist and pressed her back against his chest. Mirajane slept with a smile on her face as the blanket covered up their naked forms. The sunlight soon hit her in the face, making her squint at the abrupt light hitting her eyes. She slowly began to open them and blinked several times to clear her hazy vision. Once her vision became cleared, she furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she didn't recognize the room she was in. She felt something wrapped around her waist and turned her head slightly to see the familiar pink colored hair. She then remembered everything that happened the night before and smiled. She giggled slightly and closed her eyes again to take in the warm sensation of being so close to Natsu.

She wanted to stay so close to him for a little while longer, but she heard him groan, signaling her that he was going to wake up. Her smile widened as she placed her hand on his arm and lifted it slightly so that she could turn her body around to face him. She watched as he started to open his eyes. When his eyes were halfway opened, her smile grew. "Good morning." She greeted him.

"Mira..." At first he was going to start panicking, but held himself back when he remembered what occurred during the night. He settled down and groaned a bit. "Morning...what time is it?" He asked.

"Don't know." She replied, her smile still on her face. Natsu looked at her and couldn't help but grin at her. He then noticed where his hand was and removed it from her waist.

"Ah...sorry..." He apologized. She giggled.

"Why are you apologizing for?" She grabbed his arm and placed it back around her waist.

"Right..." He responded and smiled. The two stayed like this in each others comfort. However, they couldn't stay like that forever. "We should...probably get up before Happy or someone else finds us like this..."

"Yeah...but let's just stay like this for a little while longer..." She said, wrapping her arms around him and pressing closer to his toned chest. He hugged her tightly against him as the blanket covered their naked forms.

"Mira...Happy would be waking up soon..." He told her.

"Hmmm..." She moaned, smile still placed on her face. He smiled down at her as he took in her scent. He wanted to stay like this as well, but he knew it would become problematic if they were caught by Happy. After all, that big mouth best friend if his would rush over to the guild and tell everyone, which would probably cause Mirajane to be harassed by the others. He didn't want that so he smirked at the sudden idea he had.

"Hey Mira..." He heard her moan again at the sound of his voice. His smirk widened. Mirajane's eyes suddenly widened as she went into a full blown laugh.

"S-Stop it...N-Natsu..." She said in between laughs as he devilishly smirked at her. He didn't say anything and continued to tickle her. "Stop it...Natsu..."

"Nope..." He replied as she continued to laugh.

"A-Alright...I'm getting u-up..." Natsu chuckled and stopped his tickle attack as she sat up, covering herself with the blanket. She looked at him and pouted.

"That was mean..."

"Hahaha! Sorry...but that was the only thing I could think of..." He told her, sitting up as well. She continued to pout at him, but soon smiled. She turned around and grabbed her clothing, before standing up off the bed. She removed the blanket from her body and started to put on her clothing. Natsu turned his head away as he blushed slightly. When she became fully dressed, he turned his head back around. "Hey Mira..."

"Hmm? What is it, Natsu?" She turned around.

"Should we...keep this a secret from everybody?" He asked with a serious expression.

"Hmm..." Mirajane hummed as she thought about it. She knew very well what would happen if they told the others. It could cause a lot of problems. "I think we should keep it a secret from everyone for a while." She finally told him after much deliberation. "It probably would for the best."

"I see...alright then!" He grinned. She smiled back at him before crawling on to the bed and planting her lips on his.

"I'll see you back at the guild." She told him and he nodded his head. She got off the bed and exited the room, making sure to be quiet in case Happy was still sleeping. She stopped when she saw something that intrigued her. She then smiled as an idea popped in her head. She started walking again and headed downstairs to stop right in front of Natsu's scarf. She giggled slightly at the reason why she came to Natsu's house in the first place. She picked it up and placed it on a table next to the door. She then left and headed home, but first making a few stops to pick up some things.

Natsu sighed as he got up from the bed and put on his clothes. He never thought he would do something like that with on of his friends from Fairy Tail. He wondered what the others might think if they ever found out about this. He knew for sure Erza might kill him, at least he hoped she didn't. He stretched his arms out and walked out of his room. He made his way towards Happy's room and opened the door. He sweat dropped as the entire room had a fish theme to it. The small bed sheets he had wrapped around him had small fishes on it. The walls were all decorated as if it looked like they were underwater with a bunch of fish swimming around.

"He went a little overboard..." Natsu sighed and walked over to Happy. He saw how Happy was chewing on his blanket. He chuckled at the slight. "Hey Happy! Wake up!" He told his best friend.

"Gwive me...5 mwore minutes..." Happy moaned turning on his side.

"Alright then...I guess we won't be stopping by the fish market to get some fish..."

"I'm up!" Happy exclaimed, tossing his blanket away. "So! Let's go!" Natsu laughed as Happy ran out of his room with Natsu following right behind him. They made it downstairs and that's when he saw his scarf on the table. He grinned and went over to wrap it back around his neck. "Come on, Natsu! Fish! Fish! Fish!" Happy chanted from outside.

"Alright I'm coming!" He yelled and closed the door behind him.

When Elfman woke up, he noticed that Mirajane was nowhere to be found. He naturally started to panic. After everything that happened yesterday he had every right to panic and worry about his older sister. He searched his entire house and he could not find her. He was about to storm right out of the door, but when he opened it, he saw his sister right in front of the house with a couple of bags in her hands. "N-Nee-chan..."

"Elfman...what's wrong?" She asked slightly surprised.

"W-Where did you go?" He asked, trying to settle his racing heart.

"I went to buy some stuff for breakfast." She lied, but she put on a big smile which made it too hard for Elfman to know if she was telling the truth or not. He decided to trust her and nodded his head before sighing.

"Sorry...I was was just worried after everything that just happened." He told her, rubbing the back of his neck. Mirajane smile softened in understanding.

"I'm sorry...I guess I should have told you I was going out shopping." She walked inside, Elfman stepping to the side to let her in. He watched as she placed the bags in the kitchen. "Hey Elfman..."

"Hmm? What is it, Nee-chan?"

"How long would it take for my room to get repaired?"

"Hmm...I don't know...probably for a couple of months, I mean we would be stuck with fixing the guild first before we can start fixing our home." He replied walking up to her.

"I see..." She felt herself smile. "Then it's settled."

"Huh? What is?" She turned around and smiled at him.

"Oh nothing."

"I gwot fwish! I got fwish!" Happy cheered as he happily walked next to Natsu with a fish in his mouth. Natsu chuckled at his best friend as he had his hands placed behind his head. After stopping by to buy fish for Happy, the two were now walking toward the guild to help out the others in the rebuilding process. When they arrived at the guild, they met the rest of Team Natsu who were hanging out on one of the tables.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted them.

"Hm? Oh...it's just you..." Gray sighed and looked away.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"It means I don't want to see your face."

"Don't make me punch the crap out of you."

"Already fighting..." Lucy sweat dropped and chuckled nervously. "So, how do you like your new home?"

"I didn't really get a good look around...I immediately went to sleep when I found my room." He replied.

"My room is so awesome! Everyone is fish!" Happy told her.

"R-Really now..." Lucy giggled. Happy nodded before chowing down on his fish.

"Who was it that built that place anyway?" Gray asked.

"I thought you didn't want to see me." Natsu narrowed his eyes at him.

"I don't...I was just thinking out loud." Gray responded not looking in his way.

"Are you children?" Lucy muttered.

"I know he is but what am I?" Natsu asked.

"That's it! Bring it on flame brain!" Gray stomped his foot on the table as he was stripped of his clothing.

"Pervert! I'll kick your ass!" Natsu pointed his finger and then two glared at each other. Lucy only sighed.

"Here we go again." She muttered.

"Natsu..." The four of them turned around to see Makarov looking at them with a serious expression on his face.

"Hmm? What is it, Old Man?" Natsu asked.

"Come with me...there is something we need to talk about." He told him and then turned around. He started walking and Natsu stood up to follow him. Happy was about to follow, but then Makarov caught his eyes which told the Exceed to not follow them. He drooped his ears and nodded his head slowly.

"I wonder what the Master wants with Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Don't know...but...whenever he gets that serious...it must be something important." Gray told her.

"I see..." Lucy frowned.

Makarov finally stopped and turned around to face Natsu. He looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "W-What is it, Old Man?" Natsu asked, slightly nervous. 'What could he want?'

"Natsu..." Makarov closed his eyes and sighed. "...the Magic Council has requested you."

"Huh? The Magic Council? Why?" Natsu asked. The Magic Council never once asked to see him. Why would they suddenly request his presence?

"It's not all that surprising..." Makarov told him. "I mean you did defeat one of the Ten Wizard Saints..."

"So?"

"I'm not too sure what this meeting is about...but I can assure you, you are not in any trouble. They just want to talk." Makarov told him.

"When?"

"At one o'clock today."

"Huh? That soon!" Makarov nodded his head. "Fine...I'll go. By the way...where am I going again?"

"The Fiore Branch...I suggest you leave now so that you could make it on time." He suggested. Natsu nodded his head.

"Is that all?"

"They also want you to go alone." Natsu made a slight noise in surprise. He sighed and nodded his head.

"Alright then. I'll see you later Old Man!" Natsu turned around and headed back toward the other guild mates.

Makarov sighed. "You know...it's not polite to eavesdrop...Erza." Erza jumped in surprise at her name being called and slowly came out of her hiding spot behind some of the logs. She was amazed at how good the Master was at sensing her presence, even if she did her best to hide it from him.

"Master...why does the Magic Council want to see Natsu?" She asked.

"I do not know...all the letter said was that they requested Natsu to meet with them today." Makarov answered her.

"May I ask which member of the council sent the letter?"

"Seigrain." Erza gasped and her eyes widened in shock.

"W-What? W-Why...?" Erza muttered in shock.

"I do not know..." Erza gritted her teeth in anger as she was going to chase after Natsu. However, Makarov placed his staff in front of her, stopping her movements.

"M-Master?"

"Do not follow him." He told her.

"But Master...!"

"I'm sorry Erza...but the letter requested just him. It also said that the entire guild would be interviewed about the incident, so we all have to stay."

"Yeah but when they arrested me, he..."

"That time was different..."

"How?"

"When you were arrested, they did it only to show everyone that they were still in control. However, this time...it's different. They didn't just send me any normal letter. It was letter that was sealed with a very powerful magic spell that only a Master of a Guild knows. Those letters mean that the meeting is supposed to be confidential. I'm sorry Erza...but you can not interfere this time." He closed his eyes.

Erza clenched her fists tightly. 'Damn it...Seigrain...'

Natsu returned to the others who immediately jumped him with questions. "So, what did the Master want?" Gray asked.

"Are you in trouble?" Lucy asked, frowning.

"Of course not...I was just requested by the Magic Council later today. I don't know what they want, but the Old Man was very serious so it must be important." Natsu sighed.

"Eeeehhh?" Lucy exclaimed. "That's serious, Natsu!"

"Huh? Why?"

"What if you get arrested for what happened and I'm not talking about the same thing that happened with Erza!" She stood up.

"Take it easy Lucy...I doubt I'm in that kind of trouble. I mean if I was, wouldn't they come here to arrest me." He told her.

"But...what if you really are in trouble?" She frowned and lowered her head. "I don't..." She then felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his grinning face.

"Hey! Remember what I told you! I would never blame you if something like that happened and you shouldn't blame yourself either. Everything is going to be okay." Lucy smiled and gave him a nod of her head that told him she understood. "Great! Now then, I better head out!" He turned around to head back to his newly made house.

"Wait for me, Natsu!" Happy called after him.

"Sorry Happy! The Old Man told me I'm only allowed to go to this meeting." Natsu yelled over his shoulder. "I'll see you when I get back!" Happy stopped and frowned as he watched Natsu run back home.

"I wonder if that idiot is really in trouble..." Gray spoke.

"Don't say that!" Lucy yelled at him.

"Yeah!" Happy did so as well.

"R-Right...sorry..." Gray gave them a nervous smile, trying to calm them down.

When Natsu arrived at his newly made mansion like home, he noticed that the door was open. 'Hmm...is this a break in...hehe...dumb asses...they don't know who they are dealing with...' He smirked and punched a fist into his open hand. He slowly tiptoed toward the door and pushed it forward softly and took a peak inside. At first he saw nothing, but he then saw a shadow in one of the rooms on the right. He smirked and clenched his fists as he made his way toward the room. When he got there, he saw the shadow and then charged into the room. "You picked the wrong place to rob you..."

"Hi, Natsu!"

"Mira!?" Natsu screamed in shock as he slipped and slammed his head into one of the kitchen's cabinets. "Ite!"

"Eh? Are you alright, Natsu?" She asked running toward him and kneeling down.

"My head..." He groaned and rubbed his head. He then looked over at Mirajane. "W-What are you doing here, Mira?"

She giggled. "I was thinking and I made a decision."

"About what?"

"Since my room was destroyed, I decided to live here with you." There was a moment of silence before Natsu erupted with a loud,

"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH!?" Mirajane, with a wide smile still on her face, giggled at his reaction. Natsu, on the other hand, was shocked. "W-What do you mean you decided to live here with me?"

"What...you don't want me to live with you?" She frowned and pouted. He blushed at the face she made as if he was looking straight into the eyes of a puppy.

"Ah...well...it's not that I don't mind...but what about Elfman..." He asked.

"Oh...I wouldn't worry too much about him, he thinks I'm staying at Fairy Hills." She told him.

"Huh? But what if he finds out you don't live there?"

"Then we'll explain everything to him then. Like the saying goes, we'll cross the bridge when we get there." She replied without showing any worry on her face.

"R-Right..." Natsu sighed. "Still..." She giggled and then leaned forward to place a soft and quick kiss on his lips.

"It's going to be alright. I will do my best to make sure no one finds and if they do, I will explain everything and hopefully you won't get hurt too badly." She giggled as Natsu sweat dropped.

"So in the end...I'll still get hurt by the others." He sighed. "But you're forgetting someone. Happy isn't the type to keep a secret for long."

"I'm sure I'll find a way to make sure he keeps it a secret." She replied.

"I guess so..." He sighed and stood up.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"It's nothing...I just have to go to a meeting with the magic council."

"What?" Mirajane slightly screamed as she stood up as well. "Why?"

"I don't know...all Master told me is that they sent him a letter requesting a meeting with me and to come alone. To be honest, I'm not worried about the meeting...I'm just worried about riding in a train again..." Just the thought of riding in a train made him nauseous. Mirajane was still worried at the meeting, but smiled softly knowing Natsu would be fine. She heard him groan and walked behind him. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his back. "Mira?"

She giggled. "I know you'll be fine."

"Yeah..." The two stayed like so for a while before Natsu decided that it was time for him to get ready. He placed his hand on the ones that were wrapped around him. "I should get going." He told her and he felt her move her head away from his back.

"Want me to make you a snack?" She asked.

"That would be great." He grinned and she smiled back.

"Okay then!" She turned around and walked toward the refrigerator. Natsu sighed and walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs. He entered his room and starting digging through his stuff.

Once he put on a clean pair of clothing, walked out of his room. He headed down the stairs and saw Mirajane at the bottom step holding what looked like a bento.

"Here you go, I hope you like it." She told him with a big smile.

"Thanks, I'm pretty sure I will." He grinned and took the bento. Mirajane leaned forward and gave Natsu a small kiss on the lips.

"Good luck." She told him and he nodded before leaving.

"Ummm...sir...are you okay?" A fellow passenger asked as Natsu stuck his head out of the window on the train.

"Not...rea-ugh..." He groaned placing his hands over his mouth to prevent any puke to come out. The bento Mirajane made him was behind him on the seat, still wrapped around in the cloth. He opened his eyes slightly to see how much longer it was until he would arrive at the Fiore Branch. He was able to see the building in sight and would let out a sigh of relief, but if he did, then he would have emptied his stomach. When the train finally stopped, Natsu quickly ran out of the train a dropped down to his knees and celebrated that he was finally on land. "Finally!" He was just about to kiss the ground, but was interrupted by a messenger, who had his eyes narrowed at Natsu. "Yo!"

"Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail...follow me." The messenger told him. Natsu stood up and did so, the bento in his hand.

The two entered the Fiore Branch building and walked down the same hallway he remembered running through when he went to pose as Erza. "So...what's this meeting about?" He asked the messenger.

"You will know soon enough." The messenger replied. They arrived at the large door and they just stood there. Natsu wasn't sure why he didn't just open the door, but he heard the gong of a bell ring once, he figured he must have waited until it was one o'clock exactly before entering the large room. When Natsu entered, he immediately saw all the members of the Magic Council all looking at him. The noticed before that the damage he had done before was fixed, so it was a little unrecognizable at first because it was the first time he saw the large room's original look. "Go over to the center." The messenger told him and he did so.

When Natsu stood in the center, a bright light shined down on him. He winced at the sudden light, but his eyes readjusted so that he saw the Magic Council all looking at him. He noticed two of them had small smirks on their faces and eyed both Ultear and Siegrain. "Natsu Dragneel!" The Magic Councilmen in the middle spoke as he raised himself out of his seat. "Do you know why you are here?"

"No."

"You are here today regarding the events that occurred with the illegal Guild War your guild, Fairy Tail, had with Phantom Lord."

"Okay...what did I do?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"You, alone defeated Jose Porla, one of the Ten Wizard Saints and..."

"Nice job picking that whack job." Natsu interrupted, earning a small chuckle from both Ultear and Siegrain.

"Silence!" He roared. "You do realize what you have done. Because of you, we have to find someone new to replace him as a Wizard Saint."

"I don't see the problem, just pick someone." Natsu replied.

"It is not that easy, you fool. Finding someone who is qualified to be named as one of the Ten Wizard Saints is not easy."

"I still don't see why I had to come all this way?"

"That is because...after a long deliberation process...we have chosen you to take his place." There was a long silence as Natsu thought he was hearing things.

"Come again...?" He asked in shock.

"We have decided to give you the title as one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Do you accept?" Natsu clenched his fists, gripping the cloth around the bento Mirajane made tightly.

'Are you fucking kidding me? A Wizard Saint? The same thing as the Old Man is.' He thought about the idea and realized all the responsibilities he would have. He loosened his grip and lowered his head to shield his eyes behind his hair. He then smirked. He lifted his head to look up at the Magic Council.

"Well...what is your answer?"

"Fuck no!" Loud collective gasps were heard throughout the room as some of the members of the council had their mouths dropped to the ground. Ultear and Siegrain were the only ones who found his answer amusing.

"W-What?" The Chairman of the Magic Council yelled.

"Like I said...no thanks."

"Do you realize what you are declining?"

"Yeah and that's exactly why."

"Explain yourself!"

"Well, if I did become a Wizard Saint then I have to follow the rules, report to you guys and do all that kind of stuff that is just plain boring. I don't want to have a title that would make me do boring stuff like that. If there is anything else you have to say to me then hurry up." He told them as the Magic Council couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"You insolent fool...I hope you don't regret your decision." The Chairman growled in anger.

"Yeah...I won't. Now then, if that's all, I'm going to go now." He told them and turned around, ready to leave.

"Hold on a minute...Natsu Dragneel." Natsu made a noise in surprise at the sound of the familiar voice and turned his head to look at Siegrain, who had that disturbing smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Chairman...if I may...may I speak to him in private?" Siegrain asked.

"Exactly what for, Siegrain?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at the blue haired man.

"There is something I need to talk to him about." He answered simply. The Chairman continued to stare at the Siegrain before he sighed.

"Very well." His Thought Projection disappeared. The others soon followed as the only ones left were Siegrain and Ultear.

"Now then, Natsu...please...follow me..." He told him and they both headed down from their seats. Natsu watched them carefully and followed once they reached the floor he was on. The three walked into a room that had several large bookcases, a small table surrounded by two couches and an armchair and two large windows. When Ultear closed the door behind Natsu, Siegrain turned around and smirked at Natsu. "We finally meet, Natsu Dragneel."

"What do you want?" He lightly growled, hoping Siegrain didn't notice.

"That's a very foul mouth you have there, Natsu. However, I'm not one to care about such things. Let's just cut to the chase, there is something I want to ask you." Seigrain began as Natsu stared at him. "What's your relationship with Zeref?" Natsu kept a straight face as silence coursed throughout the room.

"I don't know who Zeref is." He responded.

Seigrain chuckled, keeping his smirk plastered on his face. "Come on now Natsu, there is no need to lie. We have been watching you very closely. We know you know something about Zeref and it is important that we, as members of the Magic Council, know everything that concerns Zeref. So please, don't hide any information on him or otherwise we'll have no choice but to arrest you for hiding information about Zeref." He chuckled as he told him.

'This guy...doing this because you're members of the magic council my ass!' Natsu thought. "I told you I don't know who this Zeref person is. I might have heard about him from Gray or something, but other than that I don't know who the fuck he is." Natsu told him.

"I see...such a shame...I really thought you would cooperate with us...what should we do, Ultear?" Seigrain asked the woman behind Natsu. She giggled behind her sleeve as she walked forward and pressed herself against Natsu's back and put her arm on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should see if he will tell us if something were to happen to one of his nakama back in Fairy Tail?" Ultear whispered next to his ear. Natsu made a sound as he turned his head slightly and growled.

"What?"

"I see...I guess that would make him tell us about Zeref..." Seigrain agreed with Ultear's idea, widening his smirk.

"Leave my friends alone...I told you I don't know anything about Zeref!" He yelled in anger.

"Come on Natsu. You know you can't do anything to us, especially with guards and other important people here that could easily get you sent to prison. So, I wouldn't do anything rash now." Ultear told him.

"You..." He growled in anger, clenching his fists tightly.

"As you can see, Natsu...we have the leverage here. I think it's about time you tell us everything you know about Zeref...or else..." Seigrain told him as both he and Ultear kept their smirks.

'Damn...I just don't get it...I made sure to keep everything a secret...did my actions really tell them that I knew Zeref...that can't be...then why...' He glared at Seigrain before his eyes widened in shock. 'W-What the hell?' He couldn't believe his eyes at who he was seeing behind Seigrain.

"Oh...is something the matter...Natsu?" Seigrain spoke, his smirk widening.

'Why...why are you there...Zeref?'

'Hello...Natsu...' He heard Zeref speak as a faint image of himself appeared behind Seigrain.

'What the hell are you doing there?'

'Natsu...you have gotten strong since the last time we spoke...however, if you think for one second that you have become stronger than me you are mistaken...you are still too weak, Natsu...'

'You bastard...how about you fight me and we'll see...'

'Don't be ridiculous...our time to fight is not any time soon...as I told you...you are still not strong enough to face me...to prove it to you...I will be using this man as my puppet...as my puppet, he knows everything that I know about you...'

'So...that explains why he's asking me about you...'

'Yes...I implanted all the information I have gathered about you so far in his mind...he knows that you know about me...however, I did not give him any information about me sending you back in time...I wouldn't do that after everything you had been through so far...'

'Gee...thanks...'

'Natsu...have you not noticed yet...'

'Noticed what?' Natsu asked.

'Take a look at this man...' He looked at Seigrain. Natsu followed and didn't see anything wrong with him at first. However, as time passed by, he finally noticed.

'You stopped time.' Zeref nodded his head. Natsu turned his head to look at Ultear and saw that she too didn't move an inch. 'Why did you stop time?'

'I did it so that you can get out of here and return to your guild...Natsu...I suggest you prepare yourself for the next time you meet this man...if you don't...then I'm afraid what happened in the future will happen once again...'

'You bastard...'

'I'm doing this for your benefit Natsu...I need you to kill me...but you can not do such a thing as weak as you are now...if you think you can kill me as you are now, then you are arrogant...I will make sure you see how weak you are...I just hope for your sake that your arrogance doesn't kill the people you promised to protect...until you meet this man again...Natsu...' He said before disappearing. Natsu noticed that time was still stopped and he clenched his fists in anger.

"Damn him..." He growled before he walked out of Ultear's grasp. He looked at Seigrain's motionless body and glared at him. He clicked his tongue and then headed toward the window, opening it. He slipped outside, closing the window behind him and jumping down to the courtyard. He looked around and saw that time was still frozen. Everyone was stuck in the same spot that they were in before Zeref froze time. He quickly ran toward the exit.

When Natsu exited the building, time unfroze and when it did, Ultear lost her balance and fell down to the floor. Seigrain watched as she fell with a small smile as he then turned toward the window. His smile turned into a smirk as his thought projection disappeared. "Oww...what the hell happened?" Ultear asked as she saw that she was the only one left in the room. "Huh? Where...?" She looked around for either Seigrain or Natsu and saw none of them. She was left confused before she decided to remove her thought projection magic.

After another grueling train ride, Natsu finally arrived back at Magnolia. He groaned after another painful train ride, but his thoughts never wandered off to what Zeref told him. Could he be right? Could Natsu really not be strong enough to kill him? Then came the last thing he said. There was no way he was going to let his nakama die. He would prove to Zeref that he was strong enough to protect them, that he was strong enough to kill him. He wasn't going to let the same thing happen to them.

He looked down at the bento and figured he should eat it so that he didn't upset Mirajane. Just the thought of seeing her disappointed and worse crying was something he couldn't handle. He made his way toward the park and sat down on one of the benches. He grinned and opened up his bento. His eyes widened in amazement at the box filled with food. He then saw something that he wasn't really sure how to react, but he could feel his cheeks get warm a bit as Mirajane decorated the rice so that it looked like a large heart. 'S-She really went overboard...' He chuckled to himself and was about to dig in, but a voice froze him in his place.

"Natsu!" He turned his head to see Happy, Gray and Erza run over to him.

'Crap!' He panicked and quickly grabbed the bento, stuffed all the food in his mouth and swallowed all of it in one gulp before tossing the box away, ignoring the fact that the box eventually hit a walking pedestrian in the head. He then turned around to greet the others. "Yo."

"It's Lucy!" Happy suddenly yelled.

"Huh?" Natsu blinked in confusion. "What about her?"

"S-She's leaving Fairy Tail!" Happy cried as he went to hug his friend.

"W-What?" Natsu asked.

"When we went to go visit her at her apartment, she was not there and we found a note...it said that she was going back home." He explained through his sobs.

'Oh...that's right...' He smiled down at Happy and rubbed the top of his head. "I'm sure you just misunderstood, Happy. Lucy wouldn't leave Fairy Tail." He tried reassuring his best friend.

"I don't know about that." Gray told him. "That letter looked like she really was leaving us."

"Come on...there is no way..." Natsu replied.

"I know! Let's go after her and convince her to stay with Fairy Tail!" Happy suggested to the group.

"Great idea! Let's go!" Natsu told the others.

"Do you two even know where she is?" Gray asked.

"Of course...I could smell her going in that direction!" He pointed toward the west.

"That's just creepy..." Gray responded.

"Says the guy who strips all the time." Natsu retorted as both of them glared at each other. Erza didn't even notice the two arguing with each other as she kept her eyes on Natsu. Her thoughts were on the meeting he supposedly had with the Magic Council. From what she could see, there was nothing wrong with him physically and seeing as he was just in front of her, he wasn't criminal. It just didn't make any sense to her. She had to talk to him about it. She didn't care if he didn't want to or he couldn't. She was going to make him talk.

"Natsu...Gray...stop fighting!" Erza yelled at them and they froze in fear.

"W-Who said we're fighting..." Natsu chuckled nervously, wrapping an arm around Gray.

"Y-Yea Erza...we were just discussing what we should say to make sure Lucy stays..." Gray chuckled nervously as well.

"Then move it!" She kicked them as they jumped and hurried off toward the train station. Erza sighed before sighing and running after them, Happy flying above her.

"Ugggh..." Natsu groaned as he held his stomach in pain. Erza sat next to him as Gray and Happy sat opposite of them.

"You know every time I see you like this...I can't help but laugh..." Gray smirked. Natsu groaned something, but Gray couldn't understand him, which only made it even more funny.

Erza looked over at the pink haired Dragon Slayer and sighed. "Natsu..."

"Hmm...?" He looked over at her and then got punched in the stomach. He grunted in pain as fell on top of her lap and she placed a hand on his head. For some reason, Erza felt differently than the other times she did this back when they were kids. She felt her cheeks get warmer than usual as well as her lap, but it wasn't due to the heat that Natsu's body emitted. It felt nice. She smiled down at Natsu and then closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath tickle the skin on her legs.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Gray asked.

"Never doubt Natsu's nose!" Happy told him.

"Yeah...yeah..." Gray sighed and looked out the window, watching as scenery passed by.

The train eventually stopped at their destination and soon as it did, Natsu got on his feet and celebrated. Erza frowned at the loss of warmth. She also stood up and followed the others off the train. "Where is Lucy now?" Happy asked Natsu as he started to sniff the air. He then picked up her scent and pointed in the direction of a large field.

"That way!" He told them and they started heading in that direction. They ran until they finally were able to see Lucy in front of a grave of her mother.

"Lucy!" Happy cried out and when Lucy saw them, her eyes widened in shock as Happy flew straight to her chest and cried.

"H-Happy! Minna!" Lucy exclaimed. "W-What are you doing here?"

"W-We came to tell you not to leave us!" Happy cried.

"H-Huh?"

"We saw your letter, Lucy." Gray told her. "We thought you were returning home and not coming back to Fairy Tail."

"Oh...sorry...the truth is I did return home, but only to tell me father that Fairy Tail is my new home and I'm planning to stay with every one." Lucy told them as they all sighed.

"That's a relief..." Gray said.

"See...told ya!" Natsu laughed at him.

"Shut the hell up, fire breath!" He roared back as the two were now glaring at each other.

"Well, it's good to know you won't be leaving us, Lucy. Otherwise I'll have to do that ceremony." Erza told her, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Huh? Ceremony? What kind of ceremony?" Lucy asked her.

"Oh that wouldn't be good Lucy." Happy told her with a small look of horror on his face.

"Huh!? What is this ceremony?" Lucy panicked at the sight of Happy's face and started to think of diabolic things Erza might have done to her.

"Doesn't matter since I don't need to do it." Erza told her and then glared at the guys. "Alright you two stop fighting! We're heading back!" Gray and Natsu put their arms around each other and gave Erza a thumb up.

"Okay!"

"She has them in the palm of her hand..." Lucy chuckled.

"Aye!" Happy agreed and started following them.

Team Natsu got back on the train headed toward Magnolia. Natsu groaned in pain as he clenched his stomach. Lucy sweat dropped, Gray smirked, Happy smiled and Erza had her eyes closed, trying her best to ignore the groan from the pink haired Dragon Slayer. Normally she would knock him out and let him rest on her lap, but this time he was sitting next to Lucy. She felt a bit disappointed, but didn't dare show it on her face. She opened one eye to take a look at Natsu who had his head leaning against the window. She frowned as she wanted some time to talk to him about what happened between him and the Magic Council, but she knew with Lucy and the others around she wouldn't have a chance. That and the fact that he was never in fully healthy on anything that moved didn't help either.

Lucy looked over at Natsu and gave him a warm smile before glancing over at Erza. She remembered that Erza always comforted Natsu by punching him and then letting him rest on her lap, but she didn't have the heart to do that. The punching of course. She felt her cheeks get warm when she thought about letting him rest his head on her lap and hesitated performing such action. Looking back at him, she gulped and then shakingly asked him, "Hey Natsu...w-wanna lay down on my lap...y-you know to help feel better...?" Erza flinched, Gray's jaw slightly dropped and Happy gave Lucy a confused look. "W-What?" She asked them.

"N-Nothing..." Gray muttered and looked back out the window. Happy kept his confused look on Lucy before turning his attention to Natsu. Erza still had her eyes closed, but her thoughts were going insane.

'W-What? W-Why would she ask him that? S-Since when did she care about doing something like that for Natsu? I'm usually the one to do it. Wait...why do I care? I don't care...right? So then...why does it bother me?' She wondered. 'Oh well...it's not like he'll do it...' She put on a knowing smile and opened her eyes slightly. Her eyes widened in shock as Natsu softly landed on her lap, groaning in pain. She clenched her gauntlets tightly at the sight and then closed her eyes. 'That idiot! How could he...? No1 I don't care! That's right! I don't care...but why then...?'

Lucy blushed when he landed on her lap and couldn't say anything. She could feel his soft warm breath against her skin. She then remembered what else Erza did and slowly lifted her hand to brush her hand against Natsu's pink hair. Natsu slightly groaned, but found the pain to be bearable than earlier. "There, there..." Lucy softly whispered.

At the sound of her voice, Erza opened her eyes slightly and saw what Lucy was doing and felt her anger build up even more. 'Damn it...why do I feel so irritated? Why do I even care?'

Happy and Gray looked from Lucy to Erza and then back to Lucy and continued this until they looked at each other. They just shrugged and went back to looking at the passing scenery.

Suddenly, the train they took came to an screeching halt, causing Natsu's head to push into Lucy's stomach, making it difficult for her to breathe. When the train stopped, Natsu rolled off of Lucy and hit the floor. "O-Oww..." Natsu groaned. Lucy clenched her stomach at the sudden attack. When Natsu saw her, he was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry Luce! It wasn't my fault!"

"I-It's okay Natsu...I know it wasn't..." She chuckled a bit.

"What in the world happened?" Gray asked.

The sound of a ring was heard throughout the train as the train conductor started to speak through the voice box. "We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to sudden damage on one of the tracks, we will be stopping at Balsam for the time being. Construction should be finished by morning so please be patient and enjoy the wonderful sights at Balsam while you have the time. Thank you for you cooperation." The train then began moving again and Natsu slumped back down on the floor, holding his stomach.

"Well that's strange." Gray said as he sighed.

"Yeah...but I guess it's not all that bad. After all, we get to stay in Balsam." Erza replied with a small smile on her face.

As soon as the team arrived at Balsam, they quickly went to reserve rooms for them at a hotel that had it's own outdoor hot spring. Lucy and Erza quickly jumped into the hot spring, while Gray, Natsu and Happy were in the room.

"Hahaha! That's what you get!" Gray laughed as Natsu still felt a little sick from the train ride.

"Shut up!" He managed to yell out through the pillow as he laid on his futon.

"Come on Natsu! Let's go to the hot spring!" Happy cried, shaking his arm lightly.

"Not now buddy...why don't you go with Gray?" He told his best friend who looked at Gray.

"Why not...?" Gray smiled at Happy as he stood up.

"Yay!" Happy cheered and followed Gray out of the room. Natsu groaned as he heard the door shut.

'Damn...three train rides in one day...that's just too much!' He lifted his head up slightly and stared at the wall in front of him. He still couldn't keep the words that Zeref told him out of his head. It bothered him too much. He knew at that point, when Zeref showed up behind Seigrain or Jellal if you would call him also, that he was going to take on another one of Zeref's challenges. However, this time felt a little different. He never warned him before so why did he do so now? Was it to tell him that he was still too weak? Even after training for two years, he was still not powerful enough to defeat, or rather kill Zeref? Natsu just didn't want to believe that. No...he is strong...he is strong enough to kill Zeref! He will prove it to him! The sound of the door sliding open took him away from his thoughts. "What? You guys back alr-" He stopped mid sentence when he saw Erza at the door. She was wearing the Yukata that the hotel gave her and the others. He could see that her hair was still damp from the hot springs, but what really got him confused was the frown she had on her face. It wasn't a sad one, but more like one where she was worrying about something. "Oh...it's you Erza...what's up?"

"Natsu...there is something we need to talk about." She told him.

"Huh? What is it?" He asked not moving.

"It's about what happened between you and the Magic Council." Natsu's eyes narrowed a bit.

'I see...I shouldn't tell her about Seigrain or Jellal or whatever...especially since it involves Zeref...' He decided. "What about it?"

"What did they want?" She asked as she walked forward and sat down in next to him.

"Oh...well since I defeated that Jose guy they wanted me to become one of the Ten Wizard Saints...you know to replace him..." He heard her gasp and looked at her.

"A-Are you serious?" I gave her a nod. "S-So...did you accept or...?"

"No way!" He exclaimed, which made the scarlet haired woman slightly falter.

"W-Why?"

"Because it felt too much of a hassle." He replied. "I mean I have to report to the magic council about everything, do paperwork and all that crap...that's too boring..." Erza stared at him for a few second before she laughed. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing...it's just that I thought you might have changed...you know get a bit more mature after the two years, but you're still the same..." He narrowed his eyes at her and pouted.

"Hey! I changed..." She smiled at his response. The room suddenly became quiet, but Erza still had something else on her mind.

"Natsu...one of the members of the Magic Council...his name is Seigrain...did he...do anything to you or said anything?" Natsu's eyes widened at her question and clenched his hands under his pillow.

"Well...he did ask to speak to me alone..." He knew he should say anything, but he could just tell her that he wanted to talk to him and just leave everything about their conversation silent.

"What?!" W-What did he want?" She asked as he heard panic in her voice.

"Nothing...he just wanted to warn me about all the damage I've caused recently..." He lied and hoped he was convincing enough to not make her suspicious.

"I see..." Erza frowned. 'Natsu...why...why are you lying to me? What did Seigrain want?' Natsu saw her expression and hoped she didn't think he was lying. He then remembered about Mirajane.

'Crap...she must be worried...I should call her...wait...I don't even know my own phone number yet...wait...do I even have a phone?' Natsu tried to remember, but was drawing a blank. 'Crap...she's probably worrying about me...it feels...kind of nice...damn...what the hell is happening to me? I never felt like this before...it's not that I don't like it, but it also feels so weird...'

"Natsu..." When he heard Erza call him, he turned his head. "I was wondering...about the man who trained you for the two years you were gone...what was he like?"

"Huh? Why do you want to know?" He asked.

"Well, you became so much stronger...stronger than me...so I wanted to know about what you did and stuff...you know...small talk..." Natsu made an 'o' shape with his mouth and then looked up at the ceiling.

"Hmm...well...there really isn't much to say...we just traveled all around the country, visiting places and just learning new stuff..."

"Does he have a name?"

"Nope." He stated quickly.

"H-Huh?" She blinked at him in confusion. "What do you mean he didn't have a name?"

"Well...whenever I asked, he would hit me and tell me to call him master. When I asked him while he was drunk, he told me, 'My name~ hahaha...who cares what my name is...I'm just an old fool who loves to travel!~'

"Must have been a good time..." Erza sweat dropped.

"Yeah...but...he was still a great teacher...he was so strong that he kind of felt like an older brother...hehehe...Igneel is my dad and he was like my older brother...it sure felt nice..." Natsu grinned and blushed slightly at the memories he had with him. Erza couldn't help but put a warm smile on her face. "Then again...there were times when he acted like the devil and beat me up a lot..."

"R-Right...well I guess that's something brothers do also..." Erza told him, giggling.

"Yeah...I guess you right about that!" He chuckled and gave her a grin that made her face get a little warm. The room became silent again as the only sounds were the chirping of crickets outside. Natsu then let out a yawn and got up on his knees to stretch. "Man...I'm tired from running all over the place today..." Erza giggled and then, out of nowhere, a pillow flew by her and hit Natsu in the face. She watched as he grabbed it, gripped it tightly and then glared at the person behind her. "You ice head!"

Erza knew who it was at the lame name Natsu called the person and reached down to grab the pillow next to her. She looked at Natsu and he looked back as the smirked mischievously. "Take this!" They both shouted and threw their pillows at Gray. One hit Gray in the face, while the other hit poor Lucy in her own as well.

"Hahahahaha!" Natsu laughed a she pointed a finger at the two.

"Damn you!" Gray grabbed several pillows and started flinging them at Natsu. Lucy could only sweat dropped as the three started a pillow fight. She had the idea of throwing one herself, but when she saw Erza throw a pillow at Natsu that caused him to fly outside the room, she stopped and dropped the pillow.

"I-I-I guess I'll go take a walk..." She chuckled nervously as she walked out.

"Aye! I'll go with you!" Happy exclaimed following right behind her as the other three continued their pillow fight.

After one hellacious pillow fight, the three fell asleep as Lucy and Happy were out. Natsu suddenly sat up abruptly and let out a yawn. 'Damn...that dream startled me...who knew Erza could be such a demon...' At the thought of her name, he looked down to see Erza very close to him. He flinched slightly at how close she was and felt his cheeks get warm. 'Maybe that's why she popped up in my dream...' He sweat dropped. He smiled down at her and noticed at how pretty she looked. 'Wait...what the hell am I saying?' He ruffled his hair in frustration. 'Damn it...what the hell is going on with me...' He sighed and looked around the room and saw that neither Lucy or Happy were around. 'Hmmm...I wonder they went? Oh right...she told me about how she met Loke here...she sure came back angry...' At that thought, she saw the door slide open and saw Lucy walking into the room with a sad frown on her face and what looked like tears in her eyes. When she made contact with Natsu, her eyes widened.

"Natsu...I'm sorry...d-did I wake you...?" She asked as she held a sleeping Happy in her arms.

"Nah...I've been up for a while..." He whispered and she gave him a sad smile.

"Oh okay then..." She walked forward and placed Happy on top of one of the futons. Natsu watched her quietly as she placed a blanket over Happy's small body. When she stood up, he saw the sadness in her eyes and suddenly had the urge to do something he never though of doing. He stood up, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Lucy's eyes widened at this and felt her cheeks get red. "N-N-Natsu...w-what are you...?"

"Shhh..." He whispered into her ear. "...I don't know why you look so sad...but I just want to let you know that I'm here if you want to talk...I told you that...remember?" He felt her nod as she looked down at the floor with narrowed eyes and a sad frown.

"Thank you...Natsu...but...I'm okay..." She placed a hand on his arm.

"Are you sure?" He asked again. She nodded. "Alright then..." He started to remove his arms from her.

"Wait..." She whispered quietly as she placed her hands on his arms. "...can we...just stay like this...for a little while longer...?"

He looked at her and leaned his chest against her back. "Alright..." The two stayed like this for a few minutes longer before Lucy's eyes felt heavy. He noticed her body was loosening up and slowly started to lower her to the floor and then leaned her head back to a pillow. He looked down at her and smiled at her sleeping form. He suddenly felt the same sensation as he did with Erza and blushed. He quickly shook his head to get rid of such thoughts as memories of the night he had with Mirajane began plaguing his mind. 'Damn it...what the hell is happening to me...I'm acting like some sort of pervert...oh no...don't tell me I'm turning into a pervert like Gray or Loke or worse...like Cana!' His stomach churned at the thought and quickly scurried off to the corner of the room away from both Lucy and Erza. He let out sigh and brush a hand through his pink locks. 'Oh man...my head hurts...' That night...Natsu had trouble sleeping.

To Be Continued...
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- 22
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Time is the Path to Strength