DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

Narrator's Perspective

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Fanning the Flames

A Fairy Tail original fanfiction

"Our first stop is Lamia Scale!" Lucy informed Natsu cheerily, looking forward to meeting the former Fairy Tail member that she'd traced down.

"Lamia Scale? The guild Lyon, Jura and the doggy guy are in?! Awesome, just the people I need now, I'm so itching for a fight!" Natsu pumped his fists into the air, blood pumping at an insane rate in his arteries.

"Yep, and guess who's there!" Lucy teased him, pleased with herself for knowing something that Natsu didn't.

"Aw, come on, Luce! You know I don't like playing guessing games, so let's get there already!"

With that, he grabbed her hand and bounded off, yanking her along with nearly enough force to dislocate her shoulders.

Natsu stood in the midst of the huge crowd, watching the performances with mild interest. They didn't hold much appeal to him, but he couldn't deny he was more than a little excited to find out who it was that had joined Lamia Scale.

He didn't disapprove of Lamia Scale, but felt a small twinge in his heart at the thought that one of his precious nakama, someone who had been close to him before, had now moved on and joined another guild. He disliked – no, hated the fact that a part of his heart had grown distant from him over the part year.

Suppressing his nauseating feeling of dread, Natsu turned his attention back to the performances.

"Ice-Make: Bunnies," Lyon chanted, much to the delight of the young children in the crowd.

Natsu spotted an ice bunny lurking near Lucy's feet and snatched it up.

'You've definitely gotten better, Lyon, but my bets are on Gray kicking your ass if the two of you were to fight now…not that I'd ever let him know,' he thought to himself.

With that, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, and he longed to see some of his friends again.

His heart ached. What he wouldn't give to have Fairy Tail intact, and all of them waiting to welcome him back home right now…even Gray; Natsu hated his guts, but he was still a brother to him.

Gray, Erza, Mira, Lisanna, Elfman – even Gajeel, he missed them all.

And Wendy. Wendy, she was the one he missed the most. His heart twinged a little with guilt, and longing.

Natsu made a mental note to ask Lucy if they could go and look for Wendy next, after finding the member they came to Lamia Scale for.

He turned his attention back to the stage, only to sweatdrop at Toby's strange performance. An imitation of himself crying? Heck, he didn't even have to imitate that, all someone had to do was to take his sock away and he'd be on the ground, sobbing like a child. Whoops, getting off track there.

Nevertheless, he was grateful that Lyon and Toby had performed first; it cheered him up a little and took his mind off of things.

But Toby was soon dragged off the stage to everyone's relief, and Natsu's amusement.

"Next up, we have the angels of Lamia Scale, our adorable duo, Wendy Marvell and Chelia Blendy!" Yuuka's voice boomed through the speakers installed around the stage.

Natsu's blood ran cold.

'No…no, please don't let it be...'

Wendy and Chelia made their appearance, to the thunderous applause and cheers of the crowd.

Natsu guessed it made sense, seeing as Wendy had made good friends with Chelia before, the two being the same age and all…even still, he couldn't help the pang in his heart.

Now it wasn't about a part of his heart growing distant.

An entire half of his heart had just been ripped out of his chest.

He disguised his pain as plain shock, to avoid worrying Lucy.

"Wh-what's Wendy doing up there, dancing some stupid dance?" he stepped back in what Lucy guessed was bewilderment.

"Where's Carla?" Happy asked no one in specific, and Lucy decided to help him look for his cat-crush.

Natsu didn't follow them, Lucy would take care of Happy for the time being.

He felt guilty for leaving Wendy behind, but more than that, he felt fear.

Fear that she'd be angry with him, and betrayed.

Fear that she'd already grown too close to Lamia Scale to leave them and go with him.

Fear that she might've grown to love her new guildmates more than those from Fairy Tail.

Fear that she'd have forgotten him.

Fear that when they met, she'd be completely different from the Wendy he knew.

Fear that when he asked her to follow him and Lucy to rebuild Fairy Tail, the answer would be too much for him to take.

Fear that when he looked into his eyes, he wouldn't see the same affection, the same love, the same look he used to see in her eyes before.

Fear that her refusal to return to Fairy Tail would be the first of many more to come.

Steeling the brittle, shattered remains of his heart, he turned around and pulled the straps of his bag tighter over his shoulders, and trudged away, using all his resolve to avoid looking back at the stage.

He'd been all fired up when they set off to look for the rest of their guild, but now…the roaring flames had been reduced to a simmering pile of embers.

Wendy spotted the distinctive blue of Happy's fur as she danced.

Happy? If he was here…then her Natsu must be here too!

Her heart raced and pounded in her ribcage, demanding to be set free. She felt the same way she did whenever Grandine let her fly with her, and soar over the skies.

She hadn't noticed Natsu's scent hanging in the air, perhaps because he now smelled distinctly like chillies and mint although he still smelled faintly of coal like he did in the past.

All last year, she'd been angry with herself, for not being there for him. For not comforting him when he'd just lost Igneel. For letting him go on that foolish training trip of his, despite knowing that he'd thrown himself into danger hoping to get stronger and to a lesser extent…to die and be relieved of his pain.

She had been afraid that he might not return after a year, and that he might not come for her.

That she'd been waiting in vain for her past year. But sensing his scent in the air, she felt the anvil over her heart vanish, as though it was never there in the first place.

She wished for nothing more than to feel him hold her tight in his arms, to feel the warmth of his embrace.

When her performance finally ended, she dashed off the stage with an enthusiasm that left Chelia gaping in surprise.

"Where are you going, Wendy?"

Wendy turned around to see Lyon casually strolling towards her.

"I…I'm going to-"

"To see Natsu?" he smirked.

She blushed and nodded, averting her gaze to the ground.

"P-please don't stop me, Lyon-san! I'm sorry, the time I spent with your guild and Chelia-san was fun, but-"

"I know. I saw the look in his eyes when Yuuka announced your name. He feels the same way, if I'm not mistaken. Go to him. It's why you didn't want to get our guild stamp even though you were with us the past year, right?"

Wendy nodded again.

"You always did love to talk about him, Wendy. Well, anyways, I hope you guys have a safe journey. Oh, and when you see Juvia-chan, tell her I said hi, will you?" he grinned sheepishly.

Wendy giggled and nodded.

"Now go to him, before he gets too far. Stupid pyro without balls, he probably ran off afraid that you wouldn't want to go with him."

Wendy playfully shot him a glare, before setting off in pursuit of Natsu.

Along the way, she smelt Lucy and Happy approaching, but ignored their presences in favour of Natsu. Carla would entertain them for the time being, anyways.

As she got closer to him, she saw how downtrodden he looked. Was Lyon right about how Natsu felt? Did he seriously think that she'd have gotten more attached to Lamia Scale than she was to him and Fairy Tail?

"Natsu!" she called out to him.

The pink-haired teen froze at the sound of her voice. He hadn't smelled her approaching, having been too embroiled in his emotions.

He turned around, and was met with the sight of Wendy – his Wendy, sporting his own signature grin on her face.

"W-wendy?"

From the joyful grin on her face, and the fact that she'd chased him here before he left, he knew at once that she hadn't changed one bit. The simmering flames in his chest roared back to life.

Wendy ran towards him, giggling happily as tears of joy ran down her blood-suffused cheeks, when she tripped over a jagged rock on the ground and the ground rose up to meet her.

But before she could impact with the ground, a nostalgically familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her into the warmth of their owner.

Yep, she hadn't changed one bit. Not to him, at least. She was still the same clumsy, adorable, endearing, loyal, loving Wendy.

"Were you really going to leave without taking me with you?" she asked him, large doe eyes searching his own.

"I…I thought you wouldn't want to come with me…," he trailed off uncertainly.

"B-b-baka!" she swatted his nose angrily. How could he even think that?! She then buried her face into his chest in slight embarrassment at her own actions.

Natsu stared at her in shock, then broke out into a grin. She'd gotten a little more assertive and aggressive. Maybe she had changed a little…but he could live with that. Besides, he liked her more like this. Not too timid and shy, but not too scary either. Unlike Lucy and Erza. He mentally shuddered.

He grinned again, and spun Wendy around in his arms, making her squeal in surprise and delight. When he finally put her down, they both stumbled out of dizziness and laughed unrestrainedly.

The passers-by gave them endearing and winsome looks. It isn't everyday that you see such a heart-warming reunion, after all.

"I'm glad you're the same Wendy I used to know, and still do," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Wendy pressed herself more into him, loving how their bodies fit together almost perfectly, and wanting nothing more than to stay this way for as long as they could.

Natsu inhaled deeply, drinking in her familiar scent of pine and morning dew. He held her closer, smiling when she snuggled into his embrace.

"Wendy…I was afraid that you might hate me…that you might not want to leave Lamia Scale or worse – that you might have forgotten me. But my fears were silly, I see it now. I admit, I'm afraid of what you'll think of me after what I'm going to do now, but I'm going to do it anyways. And whatever you think of me after this, know that I have no regrets."

With that, he gently cupped her chin in his right hand, treating her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

Wendy was slightly surprised at first, but didn't pull back. She shyly snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, responding to the kiss.

They both closed their eyes and pain no attention to the world around them, immersing themselves in each other.

Wendy had been unsure at first if he'd felt the same way that she did about him. But now, she knew that her fears were all for naught.

Neither of them knew what they were doing, but continued kissing each other anyways, enjoying the feeling of each other's soft – and in Natsu's case, slightly chapped – lips, against their own.

They pulled away, breathing a little heavier than usual, and gazed lovingly into the other's eyes.

Wendy, feeling slightly bolder now that she knew how Natsu felt about her, leaned up and nuzzled her nose against his affectionately.

At this point, no words were spoken. No affectionate whispers of undying love, no flattering compliments.

With that one kiss, they'd each conveyed to the other every pressing emotion that they'd wanted to convey for so long.

Words are needed where communication cannot otherwise take place; but what are words when there is nothing more to communicate?

After a long, comfortable silence, Natsu finally spoke up.

"So…will you come with me? If you do, I promise I'll never leave without you like I did this time…and be warned, if you say yes, I'm never letting you go after this."

Wendy's only response was to tug on his scarf and initiate a kiss, this time passionate enough that Natsu stumbled a few steps backwards, dragging his significant other with him.

'Well then, get used to me, because from now on, wherever you go, I go,' she thought.

When they broke apart for air, Natsu grinned widely at her, making her blush.

"Well, guess you're stuck with me then!"

End

Pride: Actually, NaZa is my OTP, but I also fell in love with this pairing quite a while ago. And it didn't help that somehow, Chapter 420 tugged at my heartstrings quite a bit. I just had to write this, but with my own twist of course. I blame disgurluvs8fiction for sparking my interest in this couple.

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May good fortune rule over you
Peace live in your heart, and
May the stars watch over you

- Yours truly, Pride