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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Chapter 8: Natsu, Erza, Mirajane, and Ultear

STOP IT!

I'm sorry...Natsu...I gave you a chance, but...you aren't strong enough.

DON'T SCREW WITH ME!

Natsu...I'm sorry...but you blew it...I can't give you another chance...I'm sorry...

NOOOO! DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY FRIENDS!

Natsu...help me...

LUCY!

Natsu...

ERZA!

This is your own fault...Natsu...

NO! DON'T DO THIS! PLEASE!

Natsu...I...I...

LISANNA!

I'm sorry for doing this Natsu...I really am...

STOP IT! LUCY! ERZA! GRAY! LISANNA! HAPPY! MIRA! OLD MAN!

Natsu opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. He felt his entire body covered in sweat. He let out several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Natsu placed his hands on his face and then ran them through his pink hair. He let out one final sigh before looking over at Happy. He was sleeping calmly in his small hammock. Natsu sighed again, this time in relief. It was only a nightmare. It was weird though. He didn't have a nightmare like that for a while. So, why was he having it again? Could it be because he had an interaction with Zeref? He didn't know.

He swung his legs over and got off his hammock. He stretched his arms up and walked over to the door and opened it. He saw the sun was starting to rise. 'It's so early...' Natsu thought. He knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. He turned to look at Happy and saw that he was still sleeping. Natsu decided to let his friend sleep and closed the door silently.

He didn't know where he was going, but he needed to take a walk. He looked around the town and saw that there weren't a lot of people out and about yet. He found it strange only because he never woke up so early before. He wondered what he should do. He could go to the guild, but no one would be there so early in the morning. He let out a yawn. He felt tired, but not so tired that he would want to go back to sleep. In fact, he was afraid. He was afraid of having the nightmare again. He hated it. To see his friends being killed all over again because he was too weak. He didn't want to relive it. He trained for two whole years to prevent such a nightmare from becoming reality.

Looking around, he started to see merchants opening up their shops or carts for the day. He could smell the food that they were preparing and he loved the scent. Maybe he should go buy some. He did feel kind of hungry. He was about to head over to a cart that was filled with fruit, but stopped when he heard a voice behind him.

"Natsu..." Natsu turned around and saw Erza standing behind him, wearing casual clothing.

"Erza...what are you doing so early in the morning?" He asked, surprised to see her.

"I should be the one asking you that." Erza replied narrowing her eyes at him. Natsu chuckled a bit and scratched the back of his head. Erza stared at Natsu with a small frown. What Happy told her about his new technique played in her head and it made her worry. Natsu saw her frown and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it, Erza?" Erza was snapped from her thoughts at his question and looked away. This confused Natsu and made him worry. Did something happen to her? "Erza...what is it?"

"Natsu...come with me for a bit..." She told him and turned around. She started walking and Natsu followed her. He felt confused. What did she want? Where were they going? He wanted to ask her, but he couldn't move his mouth. Before he knew it, they were in a park. He looked around and saw no one in the park, except for some joggers who ran around it. He continued to follow Erza until she stopped in front of a bench and sat down on it. She looked at him and patted the seat next to her. Natsu walked over and sat down. The two of them sat there without speaking a word to each other. Natsu felt uncomfortable at the atmosphere. It felt weird to him. He took a glance at Erza. She was frowning again and kept her eyes down at the ground in front of her.

"E-Erza...what's wrong?" Natsu asked nervously. He didn't want to anger or upset the red head, knowing full well of how scary she could be when she was angry. She didn't move or even flinch when he spoke to her. He was so confused. Did he do something wrong? He hoped he didn't do anything to upset her. "E-Erza..."

"Natsu..." She finally spoke after some time. He looked at her with furrowed eyebrows. "During our job...when you used that new technique of yours...Happy told me something..." Natsu had this voice in his head that told him where Erza was going with this. What should he say? If it really is what he thought it would be about, then how should he explain it to her. Telling about Zeref and everything was out of the question.

"What did he say?" He asked, looking at her.

"He said that...your new technique...shortens your life span..." Natsu knew it. He told Happy to keep it a secret from everyone, but he should have known that Happy couldn't keep a secret for long. Now, one of his friends knew the secret of his technique and there was a part of him that was kind of glad Happy told them. He didn't know why he felt happy about it, but he guessed it had to do something about it being easier to tell someone about it now that Erza knew. "Is it true?" Erza asked, turning her head to look at him. She still had the frown on her face. Erza then got a surprise when Natsu chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Hehe, I guess I should have known Happy would spill my secret sooner or later. I didn't think it would be this soon though." Erza couldn't believe that Natsu was joking around like this, especially since it involved his own life. It made her angry.

"Why...?" She whispered. Natsu blinked at her.

"W-Wha...?"

"WHY ARE YOU JOKING AROUND LIKE THIS?" Natsu had expected her to yell at him like this, but still flicnhed in surprise. He looked down to the ground in front of him. "Why are you using a technique that is killing you?" Natsu didn't respond and only stared down at the ground. 'Natsu...why aren't you answering me?' Erza thought. "Natsu..."

"I'm sorry, Erza..." Erza's eyes widened at his apology. "I'm sorry...but I can't tell you..." Natsu hated not telling one of his best friends the truth. He wanted to tell her everything, but Zeref warned him not to. He couldn't lose the chance of meeting with Zeref in the future. "I'm really sorry...Erza..."

"Why can't you tell me, Natsu? Aren't we friends?" Natsu felt pain in his chest at her words. Yes they were friends, but he couldn't tell her. It was to protect her. It was to protect all his friends. He wanted to tell them, but he couldn't.

"Yeah...we are friends...but...this is something I can't tell you, Erza...I'm sorry..." Erza didn't like his answer. However, she could tell from the sound of his voice that he really wanted to tell her, but something was stopping him from doing so. She didn't know what it was, but figured it must have been something extremely important to make Natsu like this. Natsu heard Erza sigh and looked at her.

"Alright then. However, please promise me one thing." Erza told him.

"Sure..." Natsu responded, knowing full well what she was going to make him promise.

"Please...don't use that technique...anymore...please..." Erza looked at him with pleading eyes. Natsu looked back at her.

"I promise..." Erza smiled and stood up.

"Thank you...Natsu. I'll see you later." She told him and started walking away.

"Erza!" Natsu called her and she stopped. She turned her head to look at him. "Don't forget...you promised me that I could fight you once we got back!" He grinned and Erza couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Of course! Just make sure you're prepared because I won't go easy on you." She told him.

"Of course! I'm not as weak as I was the last time we fought." Natsu smirked. Erza smile widened and gave Natsu a nod. She turned back around and walked away. Natsu watched Erza until she disappeared from his view and let out a large breath of air. The day already started out a little stressful for him. He stood up and stretched his arms out. He looked up at the sky and it was still pretty early. 'Happy is probably still asleep. I guess I can go visit that place...' Natsu thought. He contemplated on whether he should visit that place. After a while, he decided that he should and started walking toward the destination.

"How long has it been...since I actually visited you in this place?" Natsu smiled and looked down at a tombstone that had the name Lisanna written on it. "I guess it's because I couldn't accept your death that I never came here." He added. "Although, it's funny. You're alive in that place where Happy's family is located. What was it again?" He started pondering the name of Lisanna's location. "Oh well. I guess it doesn't matter. After all, I'll be able to see you again." He smiled as he remembered the times he spent with Lisanna back when they were children.

It felt weird not seeing Lisanna in the guild when he was sent back in time. It only felt like a week ago that he was hanging out with her in the guild. Then, it just came crashing down after Zeref did what he did. The memory of Lisanna's cold, dead body on the ground, covered in blood returned. He clenched his fists tightly. Twice. Twice Lisanna died. Even though the first time she died he wasn't there. However, he still blamed himself for not being there to save her. Then she died a second time. That time he was there. He had a chance to save her, but he was too weak. He couldn't protect her. He couldn't protect any of them.

He let out a sigh to calm his anger down. She was alive and that's all that mattered. He will see her soon enough. There was no point in feeling sad over her death. He was going to see her again. He really was. He smiled sadly at her grave and just stood there. He could feel a gentle breeze blow by him. It felt kind of nice. "Natsu?"

Natsu made a noise in surprise at his name being called and turned his head to the right to see Mirajane. He saw the flowers in her hands. He smiled. "Ah, Mira-chan!"

"W-What are you doing here?" She asked, surprised that he was here. He looked back down to Lisanna's grave as Mirajane walked over to him. It was surprising for Mirajane to see him here. She only remember seeing him visit her sister's grave once and that was the day after her funeral.

"I thought I should at least pay my respects once in a while." He told her, smiling sadly. Mirajane smiled as well and placed the bouquet of flowers in front of Lisanna's grave.

"I see. Thank you, Natsu." She told him, pulling her hair back behind her ears. She stared at Lisanna's grave and frowned slightly.

"I'm sorry...Mira-chan..." Mirajane gasped at his apology and looked up at him. She couldn't see his face as he hid them behind his hair.

"Why are you apologizing for...Natsu?" She asked.

"It's for not being able to save her. To be honest with you...I always blamed myself for Lisanna's death. I know I shouldn't, but that's how I feel." He told her as he frowned. "I know I wasn't there, but...I feel like I should have been. I should have been there to save her. I...I just can't help but blame myself...Lisanna was my friend and I..." His eyes widened when he felt Mirajane wrap her arms around him. She pulled Natsu closer to her in the hug. "M-Mira...chan..."

"Please don't blame yourself...Natsu..." Mirajane told him. Natsu could hear her voice being a little shaky. "Natsu...I didn't know that you blamed yourself for her death. But please don't...if anyone should blame for her death it should be me..." Natsu's eyes widened. "You and Elfman...both of you shouldn't blame yourselves. So, please...don't..." Natsu placed his hands on her shoulder and pushed her back, surprising her.

"Then don't blame yourself either!" He yelled softly. Mirajane gasped at his words. "Mira-chan...stop telling me and Elfman to not blame ourselves for Lisanna's death! It wasn't your fault!"

"But..." Mirajane tried to argue.

"No buts! I'll stop blaming myself for Lisanna's death and so should you...so please...don't blame yourself..." He told her. Mirajane eye's widened. Tears started to fall down her eyes and when Natsu saw this, he pulled her back into the hug. Mirajane couldn't help but let her tears fall from her eyes as they soaked Natsu's vest. He didn't mind though. He knew Mirajane never showed it, but he had this feeling that she blamed herself for Lisanna's death. However, it wasn't her fault. It wasn't Elfman's fault. It wasn't his. Lisanna did what she did because she loved her brother and sister. Natsu wondered if he should tell her that she was alive, but kicked himself mentally for such a thought. She was alive and she will reunite with Mirajane and Elfman soon. That's what mattered.

The two of them stayed like this for a couple of minutes. Mirajane's crying slowly came to a stop. She pulled away from him and wiped any remaining tears from her eyes. Natsu noticed a tear escape from her right eye that she missed and lifted his hand to her face to wipe it away for her. Mirajane blushed at the feeling of his fingers across her face and looked at him. He was grinning at her. "A-Arigatou..." Mirajane answered, her face flushed.

"No problem!" Natsu responded. He took one last glance at Lisanna's grave. "Well, I should head back home to see if Happy is awake. I'll see you later, Mira-chan!" Natsu told her as he walked past her. Mirajane looked at Natsu until he was gone before turning toward Lisanna's grave.

"Natsu has changed, hasn't he..." Mirajane giggled, a small blush on her cheeks.

Natsu opened the door to his home to see Happy still sleeping in his hammock. The Dragon Slayer scowled. "Oi Happy! Wake up!" Natsu yelled. Happy turned away from Natsu and mumbled something that Natsu couldn't hear. "Oi! I said wake up!" He tried again.

"No! Don't steal my fish..." Happy mumbled loudly. Natsu sweat dropped.

"Wake up!" Natsu shouted and this time shook him.

"I swear it wasn't me who stole fish when Mira wasn't looking!" Happy suddenly shouted as he became wide awake. He blinked before finding Natsu next to him. "Oh? It's Natsu!"

"Of course it's me! By the way, I'm telling Mira-chan that you stole fish from the guild's kitchen." Happy's jaw dropped in horror.

"No! Please don't do that Natsu!" Happy pleaded, grabbing his leg.

"Nope! That would be your punishment for telling Erza about the consequences of my new technique." Natsu told him as Happy started crying.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it! I promise I won't tell anyone else!" Happy cried. Natsu sighed at his friend and then smiled.

"Alright. I'll forgive you." Natsu told him, rubbing the top of his head. He chuckled as Happy looked up at him with thankful eyes.

"Arigatou! Natsu!" Natsu grinned and walked back to the door.

"Let's go!" He told his feline friend.

"Where are we going?" Happy asked.

"To prepare for my fight with Erza." He answered.

"Even with Eisenwald having gone under, the main problem hasn't been solved yet." A member of the Magic council spoke to the others as they had a meeting to discuss the incidents with Eisenwald. "There are still tons of illegal guilds out there."

"Then we should just root them altogether."

"How?"

"It's intolerable if anyone would embezzle Zeref's Magic again." One of the council members with a white beard and what looked like a bat on top of his head told the others.

"First of all, how could they have snuck out such magic that easily?" Another council member asked.

"That's still a mystery but we might have to call the management to take responsibility." Another responded.

"But Fairy Tail, the one guild that all of you have been so annoyed with, showed up and saved the day." A man with light blue hair and a tattoo around his right eye spoke. "They were able to take down this one guild with only four or five people." The other council members made a noise in annoyance at the fact. "I can understand why you don't want to admit the truth, but that's how it is." He told them. "In fact, you should thank them and give them an award or something."

"Like hell we would!" The council member with the bat on his head yelled and slammed his fist down on the round table. "Even though what you say is true, they also destroyed an entire town! Do you know how much it would cost to rebuild Oshibana?" Siegrain chuckled in amusement. "Don't laugh!"

"Well, if you have a problem with them, why don't you send one of us over to that annoying guild and confront the man responsible." Siegrain suggested.

"Man? I thought it was more than one person?"

"Yes it was. However, there was one man who actually did the most damage." He told them.

"Who?"

"Natsu Dragneel." Siegrain answered.

"Natsu Dragneel?"

"Yep...I heard that he left Fairy Tail two years ago and only returned a week ago. However, no one knows why or what he did during the two years he was gone." Siegrain crossed his arms.

"How do you know all this?"

"I have my ways. Now then, if I may make a suggestion...I think it would be best if Ultear should be our representative to visit this guild that annoys us so much." Siegrain suggested.

"Why her?" One of the council members asked.

"It's because I offered myself to do so." The young, black haired female member of the council answered. "From the time I joined the council, all I heard was how annoying this guild is. I thought this would be a perfect time to actually see what this guild is really like." Ultear told them.

The other council members looked at each other before making their decision. "Fine! How long would it be until you arrive at their guild?"

"With my magic, about a couple of hours."

"Alright then, but we expect a full report about the guild and how they act. Make sure you also get information on this Natsu Dragneel as well." The council member told them.

"Very well." Ultear said and turned around to leave. Siegrain smirked as she left. As Ultear left the room and walked a few steps forward, Siegrain appeared in front of her. "My, your hologram form looks so life like." Ultear chuckled.

"Ultear..."

"Don't worry, Siegrain-sama...I know..."

Siegrain smirked. "Very well then. Make sure you get every single detail about the incident from him. After all, if what I found out was really true, then he might be the only person who knows about Zeref." Ultear smirked and walked through his hologram.

"Hai, Siegrain-sama."

'Eisenwald's Terrorism attempt at the Guild Masters' Regular Meeting Site immediately became big news, and it wasn't long before the entire nation found out about it. I still can't believe that I was in the midst of such a big incident, but here I am, just living another day in my regular little life. Though, I have to admit I get excited when I remember that incident from time to time. Rumors say Kage and most of the Eisenwald members were arrested. No surprises there. But what scares me is the fact that Eligor hasn't been arrested yet. What would happen if he came to Fairy Tail to retaliate? Though I think we'll be all right. Fairy Tail has the strongest team with Natsu, Gray, and Erza plus Happy the cat and me. This guild is the best. Please mom, don't worry about me. I'm doing fine over here. After all, I know many amazing people. Although, Natsu is amazing. He was able to defeat this large monster by himself. It was kind of incredible. Even though he is kind of an idiot, it's really fun being around him. Well, that's all I have to say for now, mom. P.S. Please don't tell dad.' Lucy sighed and placed the letter in a white envelope and sealed it. She stretched her arms and legs. "A great, suspense-filled adventure is fun and everything, but nothing beats relaxing at my own home."

"I agree...70,000 Jewels rent for this is nothing." Lucy turned her head at the new voice. "You found a nice place, Lucy." Gray raised a hand as he was sitting on Lucy's bean bag chair in his underwear.

"TRESSPASSER!" She yelled and then kicked him in the face. "AND DON'T TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF IN MY APARTMENT!"

"Ugh..." Gray groaned a she rubbed the spot where Lucy kicked him. "Hold on Lucy...you got it all wrong. I already took off my clothes before coming here."

"JUST GO HOME!" She yelled.

"Geez...I only came here to tell you that 'that' is happening today. I though you would have forgotten." Gray told her. Lucy looked at him confused.

"Huh?" Gray knew it. He sighed.

"See, I knew you would forget. Didn't you hear from Natsu before we left for the mission? Natsu and Erza are fighting." Lucy's eyes popped out of her head.

"W-WHAT?" Lucy and Gray ran as fast as they could toward the large group of people near the guild. Once they arrived, Lucy pushed through the members of Fairy Tail to get to the front. "Hold up, a minute! Are you sure about this?"

"Oh, hi Lucy." Mirajane greeted the blond.

"Of course they're dead serious!" Elfman told her. "If they weren't, they wouldn't be real men!"

"But Erza is a girl." Mirajane corrected him.

"More like a monster woman..." Max Alors made a side comment.

"Huh? But wait, where's Natsu?" Lucy asked after only seeing Erza in the fight area.

"He's late...that idiot..." Gray grumbled, answering her.

"You think he chickened out?" Nab slightly chuckled.

"I'll take that bet." Gray smirked.

"I doubt Natsu would run away." Mirajane defended him.

"That's right! He wouldn't be a man if he did." Elfman agreed slightly.

Erza disregard all the comments the other members were making. She knew Natsu wouldn't run away from a fight. He even told her that he was really excited about this fight. In fact, she was too. After what she witnessed on their last job, she wanted to test her full strength against him. She wanted to know just how strong he got after two years. This fight would be the perfect opportunity to find out for herself.

"What about you, Master? Who do you think will win this fight?" Droy asked.

"Are you stupid? Of course the Master would pick Erza." Jet argued with his fellow teammate.

"Actually, I think Natsu will win this fight." Makarov corrected them and the whole guild made a noise in surprise. Even Erza was surprised. She knew Makarov would never favor one single person because he loved everyone in the guild like they were his children. However, it was still surprising that he would pick Natsu over her. Did he know something about Natsu that she didn't already see? She knew he wouldn't use Dragon Metamorphosis. He promised he wouldn't. Did he have some other techniques she didn't know about? Erza was now really looking forward to their fight.

"Master...a-are you serious?" Gray asked. Makarov only nodded.

"Ah! Natsu is here!" The guild all turned their heads to see Natsu and Happy walking toward them. Natsu walked past them toward the fighting area and stared at Erza with a smirk. Happy joined the others to watch the fight.

"You're late." Erza told him.

"Sorry about that." Natsu answered. "I just had to do something before coming here." He told her. Erza furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"Oh?" Erza responded.

"Well, I'm here now, right. So, let's get this fight going!" He smirked.

Erza returned his smirk. "Fine then. I'll take this fight serious so..." She began as she started using her Ex-quip magic to transform her armor into the Flame Emporer's Armor. "...fight me with all you got."

"Flame Emperor's Armor! That's fire-resistant armor!"

"The effect of Natsu's flame will be decreased by half!"

"Erza! You're taking this too seriously!"

"Glad to see you're really going all out, Erza!" Natsu smirked. 'Although, I have to finish this fight before that lizard guy interrupts this fight.' Natsu thought. "Now, let's just see how well this armor can do against the new me!" He ignited his fists and took his fighting stance. The two of them stared at each other as they awaited Makarov to give the signal.

"Ready..." Makarov raised his hand. "...GO!" The crowd all shouted in excitement as Erza and Natsu charged at each other. Erza eyed Natsu carefully as he threw a punch at her, that she easily dodged by moving her body backwards. Her eyes widened when Natsu was no longer in front of her, but appeared behind her.

'Fast...' Erza saw him try to kick her and she barely dodged it by ducking. She quickly spun around and tried to slash Natsu. Natsu smirked and grabbed her sword with his bare hands. Erza's eyes widened in shock. The others also had shocked expressions, with some having their jaws dropped to the floor. 'N-No way...'

"Sorry Erza..." Natsu muttered as he pulled her sword toward him and then clenched his fist tightly. He then punched Erza in the gut. Erza spat out some saliva at the blow and skidded to a stop a few feet from him. Erza dropped to a knee and put a hand to her stomach. The guild members were speechless. Natsu continued to smirk and cracked his knuckles to tell her that he was just warming up. "What's the matter Erza? Giving up already?"

Erza raised her head to glare at Natsu. She stood up and pointed her sword at him. He was fast. Not only that, but even though she was wearing armor that decreased the power of fire magic, he was still able to land a powerful blow on her. Just how strong had he become over the two years. "Like I would give up..." Erza told him. She then flew toward him and Natsu ignited his fists into flames again.

Erza started swinging her sword at him, going into the offensive. She slashed and slashed, but no matter how quick she slashed or how much power she put into it, she couldn't land one single hit. It frustrated her. How could Natsu be this strong? Was he the same loud, rambunctious idiot that she easily defeated the last time they fought? It was like he was on a whole new different level. Sure he was loud and still an idiot, but when it came to strength, he was totally different. She didn't know exactly what he did during the two years, but whatever it was, Natsu became so much stronger than she had over the same two years.

Natsu was running out of time before that lizard guy from the magic council would arrive. He had to finish this quickly. He then stopped dodging and allowed Erza to slash him. The guild members all made noises in surprise that Erza was able to connect with at least one of her swings. Some even cringed at the possibility that Erza might have seriously hurt Natsu. Erza feared that as well, but the feeling of fear was gone when Natsu's body turned into a large flame before dispersing in the air.

"What?" Gray shouted in shock.

"What the...?" Erza muttered in surprise as well. She looked around to search for Natsu, but she couldn't find him anywhere. She then heard Natsu roar above her and she looked up. Erza felt Natsu grab her head with his hands and then slammed her down to the ground. Erza groaned in pain. The guild members all had their jaws dropped to the ground in total shock. Natsu defeated Erza? It would have sounded like a fantasy if they hadn't witnessed it for themselves.

"Does this make it my win?" Natsu chuckled. He removed his hands off her head and moved to the side.

"Ugh...it's not over...yet..." Erza muttered, as she started to get up. Natsu sighed. He forgot how relentless Erza was. Which surprised him since that was one of the qualities he remembered he feared most about her. He was glad to continue the fight, but it was about the time for that lizard guy to stop their fight. Erza struggled to get up, but did so and pointed her sword at Natsu again. "Let's continue!" She told him.

Natsu watched as she charged at him again. He didn't move knowing that this fight was going to stop. However, it wasn't and Erza slashed him, cutting his vest. Natsu was in so much shock that he stumbled and fell to the ground. 'What the...? What's going on? This isn't right...wasn't that guy supposed to...' He pushed himself up. Something was wrong and he knew it. He was sure he didn't do anything different. It was then he realized that there was something he did differently. Oshibana. He destroyed Oshibana. That didn't happen before. Could this be the consequence of changing his past. He stood up and looked at Erza. He didn't know if it was true or not, but he didn't have the time to think about that right now. He clenched his fists and glared at Erza.

Erza noticed that he didn't move when she landed her attack on him. Why? Did he let her attack him? No, that wouldn't happen. Natsu wouldn't do that, especially when he fought one of his nakama. So then why did he? She watched as Natsu stood up and ignited his fists. She didn't know what happened, but whatever it was, it looked like it wasn't going to happen again. She smirked. "Let's go, Natsu."

"Ah!" He responded and charged at Erza. Erza grabbed her sword with both hands and gripped it tightly. She raised it to her shoulder and held her ground and waited for Natsu to get closer. Once he got closer, Erza swung her sword upward with all her strength. Natsu was able to stop in time and flipped backwards, landing on all fours. He then blew fire at her. Erza swung her sword to blow the flame away. However, Natsu used that as a decoy to suddenly show up in front of Erza. Erza's eyes widened in shock at how fast Natsu was. Natsu ignited his fists and punched her again in the stomach. Erza groaned in pain as she was blown away by Natsu's punch and crashed to the floor in front of the feet of the spectators.

Erza groaned in pain as the punch was more powerful than the previous one he dealt to her. She raised her head slightly to look at Natsu, but her eyes turned toward the large crack in her armor. Her eyes widened in shock. She sat up and placed a hand on her now cracked armor. 'He...damaged my armor...'

"A-Amazing...Natsu is amazing..." Lucy said in awe.

"What the hell? How is this even possible?" Gray muttered in shock. Makarov figured this fight would turn out like this. He knew Erza would want to continue this fight, but he had to stop it because it was clear who the winner was. He watched as Erza struggled to get up and took this as his cue to intervene and stop the fight.

"That's enough!" Makarov told them. Erza stared at him in shock, while Natsu understood why he decided to stop the match. Natsu wanted to defeat Erza, but he knew that if they continued this fight, he could seriously injure Erza and that was not what he wanted.

"But Master..." Erza tried to argue.

"I'm sorry Erza...but it's clear to me and everyone else who the winner of this fight is." Makarov sadly told her. Erza looked at Natsu and he looked back at her. Erza furrowed her eyebrows at him and sighed. Makarov was right. This really was her loss. Natsu was strong. Stronger than her. She figured that out when he used Dragon Metamorphosis back on their last job. The thought that Natsu was stronger than her gave her this weird feeling. She didn't know what this feeling was, but it made her feel empty inside. She saw a hand in front of her and looked up to see that it belonged to Natsu. He grinned down at her.

"I had fun, Erza. Let's do it again sometime." Erza wasn't sure why, but her cheeks felt warmer than usual. She grinned back at Natsu and took his hand. Natsu helped her up.

"Mm." Erza nodded in agreement. The others looked at the moment with their own smiles, though some still had shocked expressions on their face over the fact that Natsu beat Erza. Then someone started clapping. Everyone turned their heads up to the top of building to see Ultear clapping her hands while sitting on the edge of the roof.

"That was a quite impressive fight, Natsu-kun..." She teased. Natsu's eyes widened at the familiar face.

"You..." He growled angrily. Erza heard Natsu growl and raised a confused eyebrow at him. Did he know her?

"U-Ur..." Gray whispered in shocked. He couldn't believe it. Was that really his teacher? He took a closer look at her and noticed that she looked similar to Ur, but it wasn't her. Just who was she?

"Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but I'm a member of the Magic Council." She told them. "I came here to see personally just how loud and fun this guild was rumored to be." She told them and jumped down to the ground.

"Eh? A Member of the Magic Council?" Makarov narrowed his eyes at Ultear. He knew the council would do something after the incident at Oshibana, but he would have never expected them to personally come to the guild. Ultear walked toward them and stopped in front of Natsu. She noticed the angry look he gave her and was confused by his anger, but did find it amusing.

"My, why are you getting so angry for, Natsu-kun..." She said with some teasing at the end.

"Why...?" Natsu whispered low enough so that Ultear could hear. "Why are you here?" He asked her.

"I told you already, didn't I?" She replied. Natsu got annoyed by her answer and grabbed her arm. Ultear was surprised by this. She was then suddenly dragged by Natsu away from the others.

"Ah! Natsu!" Erza called after him, but he didn't stop.

"Who was she?" Lucy asked confused.

"I don't know..." Gray answered unsure. 'Why does she look just like Ur and how does Natsu know her? Just what the hell is going on?' He watched Natsu drag her away with furrowed eyebrows.

Once Natsu saw that he was far away from the others, he dragged Ultear into an alleyway and pushed her against the wall. "What the hell are you doing here?" He angrily asked her.

"My, Natsu-kun...I didn't take you for the aggressive type..." She teased him again.

"Shut up! Why are you here?" Natsu asked again.

"I think the real question is...why are you acting like you know me when we never met before?" Natsu's eyes widened. What was he doing? She was right. He never met her before and yet he was acting like he knew her. He let go of her arm and backed away from her. "Oh? Why are you backing away like that, Natsu-kun?"

"I...I..." Natsu was speechless. He was caught in a corner. What should he do now? He knew he couldn't tell her the truth because she was one of the people who was searching for Zeref. If he told her, then who knows what could happen. But what can he say to get out of this predicament?

"Speechless, huh, Natsu-kun? Then let me ask you this, why did you let Erza Scarlet attack you when you could have easily dodged that attack of hers? It was almost like, you were expecting the fight to be stopped." Natsu's eyes widened in horror.

'She noticed that...' Natsu thought in panic. '...w-what do I do?' Natsu was running out of time. He had to come up with an excuse, but what could he say. He looked at her and she still had that same teasing smile on her face. He clenched his fists tightly. "W-What are you doing here?" He asked and Ultear noticed that he was trying to change the subject. Her smile grew.

"I see. Oh well, I'll tell you. You see, the council wants to know something about the incident at Oshibana and we heard that you might know something." Ultear told him. Natsu looked at her confused.

"W-What?"

"I'm talking about how you were able to defeat the monster that transformed from Lullaby." She clarified.

"Why do you want to know? That flute turned into that monster and I beat the crap out of it." Natsu told her.

"I know that, Natsu-kun...but what we want to know is why did it transform?" Ultear clarified even further. Natsu's eyes widened. Now he was really in trouble. Was it possible that she knew about Zeref transforming that flute into that monster? No...it couldn't be...there was no way she knew. He then remembered something. She was a member of the council, which meant that...that man was there as well.

'I see...' Natsu put the pieces together. 'It's Jellal. So...this is Zeref's doing as well. He's controlling that man to test me. Damn you...Zeref!' Ultear suddenly came closer to him and moved her face closer to his ear.

"What is it...Zeref's doing?" Natsu didn't react to her words. He knew that if he did, then she would have suspected something. Once she pulled back, he looked at her with a fake confused face.

"Zeref? Who's that?" He didn't know if his fake confused expression worked or not, but Ultear seemed to have bought the lie that he knew Zeref.

"I see..." She sighed. "Oh well...sorry for bothering you and your guild." She told him and started walking away. Natsu looked at her until she turned a corner and then clenched his fists tightly before punching the wall in front of him.

'Damn you...Zeref...I thought you wanted me to kill you...' Natsu felt angry. 'So, why are you doing this...?' Unknowing to Natsu, Ultear leaned against the wall next to the alleyway and saw what Natsu did and smirked. She then started walking away. She raised her arm and opened her hand. Siegrain suddenly appeared on the palm of her hand in holograph form and he looked up at her.

"So?" He asked.

"You were right...Siegrain-sama...Natsu Dragneel knows something..." Siegrain smirked.

"Nice job, Ultear. Return to Era." Ultear nodded her head and Siegrain disappeared.

"Hai, Siegrain-sama..."

Natsu took a deep breath to calm himself down and walked out of the alleyway. "Natsu!" He turned his head to see Happy flying toward him.

"Oh? Happy!" He exclaimed and put a hand in the air to greet his friend.

"Natsu! Erza has been arrested!" Natsu's eyes widened.

'What the hell?' Natsu thought. He didn't know why he was surprised at the news since he knew it was going to happen. However, it was supposed to happen during his fight with Erza and not now. 'Just what was going on?'

To Be Continued...

Author Notes: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried my best to make it somewhat canon and original and I hope I did a good job with it. Some are asking about what the official harem will be and there are some things that I want to say.

First off, it surprises me that many of you want me to add Juvia into the harem. Then there are those who don't want Levy in the harem and it's not as surprising as the Juvia one, but I made a decision on it all. There will be two different groups of harem in this story. There will be the main harem and then the minor harem characters. What this means is that the main harem are going to the characters that will be well the main harem. The minor harem are going to the the characters that will have some moments with Natsu, but not as much as the characters from the main harem. However, that doesn't mean any of the minor harem characters can't get into the main harem group. For example, let's say as the story progresses, a character in the minor harem gets more moments with Natsu then they will join the main harem. I'm sorry if this confuses you and I hope it doesn't, but I think this will be a good thing for the story. Let me know what you guys think of this idea. Now, I'll list the characters in the two groups.

Main Harem: Lucy, Erza, Mirajane, Lisanna, Wendy (Remember the authors notes from chapter 2), Cana, Ultear

Minor Harem: Juvia (Because many of you want her to be involved), Levy (Because I like Levy and I think she should join in the action even though it wont be much), Virgo (Why not have a celestial spirit involved)

Some of you want other characters but I won't add them yet until this story progresses into the arc that they come in.

Alright then that's all I have to say for now! Enjoy and see you all later!
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Time is the Path to Strength