Time Immemorial

(AthenaSmile)

Disclaimer: Do you see Natsu and Minerva going at it like rabbits in the recent chapter? No? Then I don't own FT. Darn him whoever he is for owning it. Oh, and I'm also saying it now, I took some part of Kurionesha's YURI's doujin storyplot. I wonder if you've read it? Anyway, she owns that too, not me.

A/N: Hello! It's me again, here to annoy you with another story I just happened to write...er..type? ANYWAY! This is NatsuXUltear [BECAUSE WHEN MY SHIPS DON'T GO WELL, I BINGE-READ - Filter: "Sort:Faves"; "Romance"; "Completed" AND THIS OTHER FIC HIT ME WITH THE FORCE OF..uh...w0w, even though I'm just typing this, going "capslock to death" is tiring huh?] but don't worry, I'm still a loyal NatsuXMinerva shipper. NO MATTER WHAT. I just typed this to, like, show that it could've been possible. This branches from after the fight with the 7 dragons arc. Tartarus doesn't/hasn't happen/ed here. So like, for those without imaginations, [GMG] [Future Rogue + 7 Dragons] [This fic] [That tree person sending out a request to FT] [Tartarus].
So anyway, I won't occupy you for long, here it is. Enjoy? :)

The kingdom of Fiore…

It's a stable neutral country with a population of 17 million.

It is a world filled with magic.

Magic is like a- yada yada yada…yeah, we've heard this from the anime. Moving on…

In a certain town, in that certain kingdom, lies a certain guild. And in that guild, is a certain mage.

"Ah. I'm so bored.", a pink-haired man, wearing a black vest sighed while lying on a wooden table with his arms spread wide.

"The GMG just finished days ago and we just battled dragons yet you're already saying that? Can't you take a day off and rest even for just a day?", another pink-haired mage retorted.

"Oh! Meredy.", a woman with rich blue hair acknowledged the newcomer. "What brings you back? I thought you guys just left yesterday?"

"Well…we kind of "split" up…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Actually…"

And so the Maguilty Sense mage told how their independent guild, Crime Sorciere, had currently split up because Jellal told her that he had a mission that he had to do alone. Meredy tried to argue but Jellal was persistent about it so she left it alone. Not knowing where to actually go, she decided to drop by the Fairy Tail guild hall for the time being.

"So Ultear's here too?"

Upon hearing the question, Meredy's expression turned grim. "We don't know…she just…", she answered while clenching a letter she had unconsciously brought out from her pocket.

"So she really…", Gray said in a whisper.

"Then we just need to find her, right?", Natsu suggested, while standing and stretching - seemingly excited about being able to quench his boredom.

"Natsu! You…" / "But she…", Gray and Meredy immediately said as if to bring down the suggestion, Gray more to it than Meredy.

"It's fine. I'll bring her back. Trust me!", Natsu shouted in assurance while running out of the guild hall.

A few hours later, Natsu was walking on a random road, in a random part of a random town.

"She's near. Though her scent sure has changed a bit."

A few lefts, rights, curves, turns, and straights later, Natsu was standing in front of the door of an old house. Thinking for a change, Natsu decided to knock first.

"Besides, the house looks like it will collapse if I just barged in."

Raising his fist, he rapped on the door and waited for a response. Half a minute passed without any form of reply so he decided to increase the force on his knock, the door be damned. A few seconds later, the sound of the doorknob turning, and creaking of the door's hinges alerted Natsu that someone was indeed home.

"Were you taking a bath or something? What took you so-…"

He was cut short when the person he was expecting to see wasn't the one who appeared. An aged woman that had her hair in a bun opened the door.

"Ah…I'm sorry. I thought…Would you happen to be letting a beautiful black hai-"

"Natsu?"

"Huh?"

"Ah. You're that Natsu from the Grand Magic Games right? Quite a handsome young man."

"Oh. Hahaha.", Natsu laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"So how could I help you, young man?"

"Ah, I was wondering if you happened to be letting a young lady stay with you."

"A young lady?"

"Yeah. She's about this tall, has silky long black hair, beautiful dark brown eyes, and a deep silvery voice. She's a friend you see, and she just disappeared all of a sudden. Her teammates are worried about her. Don't get me wrong, I'm also worried but I know that she's capable of taking care of herself."

The old woman's features turned into a pink shade for some reason unknown to the man – not that he noticed as he was rattling. Though the color disappeared as the young man before her had finished talking.

"I'm sorry but I'm the only one staying in this worn-down house."

"But I could've sworn that she was inside."

"I'm sorry.", the old woman apologized once more as she moved to close the door shut.

"Please wait!", Natsu shouted, placing his hand in the gap and pushing the door to prevent the old woman from completely shutting him off.

"Please. Just leave. The one you're looking for is not staying with me. Ultear is not here."

Both parties went wide-eyed at the realization of what the old woman had just said.

"But I never mentio-"

"She's not here!", the old woman screamed.

Natsu stopped pushing as he felt the older woman stop struggling. He saw her fall down to what he assumed was a kneeling position from the gap he had made. He heard a soft thump on the door, and heard a few silent sobs.

"Please…just leave."

She was met with silence until the young man said the one word she didn't want him to utter at the moment.

"…Ultear?"

Her world crumbled down. Like glass shattering. Like a slap to the face. The illusion was broken. It was as if the forgiveness she had finally given to herself and the acceptance of her life's journey had been disturbed. She was already over that. She was already done with the tears-filled moment. And yet the one person she didn't want to find out of what became of her did. It's not like he was special or anything of the sort. She argued to herself that it could've been anyone. But then, she was sure that it was Natsu that she truly didn't want to know now – maybe after a few weeks after she truly had been able to accept everything, but not now. He was someone who would blame himself if there could've been something he was able to do for the people he loved, but wasn't able to. And despite denying that she was an important person to him, she was sure that he would blame himself for not being powerful enough – not powerful enough to defeat his enemies so that she didn't have to resort to whatever caused her to be in that state.

"Ultear? What happened?", his voice was laced with concern and something warm she couldn't put her finger on.

He pushed the door a bit more, careful not to hit or push Ultear down as she was leaning on the door, only enough so that he could squeeze his body in to enter the humble abode. Upon entering, he crouched down beside Ultear, and waited for her to stop crying, all the while rubbing her back, and holding the door in place with his other. He wasn't sure of what to do in all honesty but he figured that he could at least do that. After a few minutes, he noticed for the first time that it had gotten darker outside as he saw her shiver from the cold breeze entering the gap from the door.

"Come on, let's get you seated properly inside so we could talk.", he suggested – standing and offering his hand.

She finally looked up at him in the eye for the first time – grabbing his hand before looking away once more.

"You're talking as if it's your house."

He smiled at the remark and directed their way towards the couch. They sat in silence – Natsu was sensitive enough to wait for her to talk on her own, he had already forced his way inside her house after all. After a deep breath, Ultear told the story of what happened – the spell she used, why she used it, the after effects, etc. The whole time, Natsu was listening intently, his eyebrows scrunching near the end of her story. After finishing, she noticed that he seemed to be thinking about something so she sat still, closed her eyes and enjoyed the temporary silence.

"Do you trust me?"

The question caught her off-guard, and she opened her eyes to see Natsu's eyes looking straight at hers with what seemed to be of determination. Trying to shake it off, she answered jokingly.

"To do something rash, yes."

Seeing as Natsu wasn't moving from the answer she had given him, she finally answered him seriously.

"Of course I do."

"Then…"

He grasped both of her shoulders in a firm hold, and then…

A scream had been heard from the old house that night.

At the sidebar of the always noisy, lively, and rambunctious guild hall, a pink haired mage was seated. She seemed out of it and sighed once more before slumping down on the counter.

"You don't have to worry about anything, Meredy.", Mirajane assured while sliding a cup of coffee in front of Maguilty Sense mage.

"Yeah, I'm sure Natsu will find Ultear.", Lucy, who was seated to her right, supported.

"I just hope so."

"If he can't find her, the-..", Gray, who was seated to her left, was not able to finish when the guild's doors were busted in.

"I'm back!", the pink-haired young man who had just kicked the doors off the hinges announced before collapsing on the floor.

Lucy and Gray rushed to help him when they heard him mutter, "So sleepy…tired…" as he snored. Gray moved him to a table as Lucy checked if her teammate was truly just sleepy and tired. Because of this, both FT mages failed to notice the person with Natsu enter the guild hall. She, if her figure was any indication, was clad in a familiar cloak. Meredy went wide-eyed upon seeing the newcomer.

"Ul..tear?", Meredy said in an almost inaudible whisper.

The pink-haired young woman wasn't able to control herself as she quickly ran to hug the figure. The hug was received and returned. After seconds of crying and mumbling incoherence, the smaller of the two looked up, with her arms still around the cloak-clad person. The taller of the two understood, raised her arms to the hood of her cloak, and pulled it back to reveal her identity – which wasn't really needed because the young woman hugging her was so sure about it. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, and a beautiful smile greeted Meredy.

From the side, Gray was surprised to see his master's daughter, young and unchanged. He was sure that she was the old woman they passed by when they were returning from Crocus. Gray wasn't dumb, so he was able to deduce that that weird thing that happened when they were fighting the dragons was her doing, and going with that, it lead to him thinking that she had paid the price and aged. So he couldn't help it if the first thing that would come from his mouth would be.

"Is that really you? How sure are we that-!"

"Gray, don't be rude. Of course it's Ultear. Meredy herself said so right?", Lucy said, coming to his side after confirming that there wasn't anything else wrong with Natsu.

"But!"

"Besides, if Natsu's the one who brought her in, then she couldn't be anyone else but her, right?"

That seemed to have calmed his frantic mind if only a little bit. Even when they acted like they hated each other, he trusted the fire dragon slayer enough to know that he wouldn't be mistaking people up. He did say that a dragon slayers sense of smell is heightened that it could put most animals to shame.

"Then where were you? What happened that you had to leave your guild?", Gray asked. The matter about her identity may have been settled for now, but he could question about other things, of only to find out anything if she happens to slip out information.

Meredy gave Gray a stern glare, but even she wanted to know the answers to his questions.

"Don't worry. I'll answer them all. Why don't we sit down first?"

And so Ultear told them – Meredy, Gray, and Lucy what had happened. Mirajane who was manning the bar had heard too. She had used a spell that was able to return time and the price for that was her life, but something she wasn't sure about happened and it only aged her. She decided that that was enough. That she could finally forgive herself. She was sure that there could've been a little bit of selfishness in her decision, but she wanted to go by it regardless. She found an old house by the outskirts of a simple town and managed to live peacefully until a few days after which Natsu found her and saved her.

Ultear looked at the sleeping dragon slayer, to which everyone else followed. For a moment, the look of gratitude became something else entirely, before it returned and she remembered the night before.

Natsu held her by her shoulders and asked if she trusted him, to which she jokingly answered, but after seeing the determination in his eyes, she answered positively. Before she knew it, she was enveloped in fire. She panicked for a bit before she felt that the fire wasn't harmfully hot. It was warm, surprisingly, like she was in a hot spring. She then felt Natsu's hands grip tighter, and saw his face scrunch. At the same moment, she felt hot, and then excruciating pain. She hastily thought it to be Natsu hurting her, but she discarded the idea when she saw his face still scrunched, as if concentrating. She also felt that the pain she's feeling wasn't coming from the outside – if he truly was burning her, but from the inside – like something from her. After a couple more seconds, the heat and pain increased, and she finally passed out.

She woke up the next morning groggily – her head ached and her body felt weak. She reached up to massage her temples when she noticed that her hand weren't wrinkled. She immediately rushed to open the drawer beside her bed and took out a mirror. What she saw surprised her. She was young again, or rather, she back to her real age. Just as she was wondering of her current state, she heard the door creak open, and saw Natsu coming in with a bowl of what smelled like chocolate.

"Oh! I figured you'd be awake right about now.", Natsu said with a grin.

He walked to the side of her bed and sat at the chair that she noticed had been there since she woke up. She saw him mix what was inside the bowl. It was chocolate brown in color with a white swirl on top, which she figured out to be milk. When the color of the porridge turned lighter, she saw him scoop a spoon, blew on it a bit, then moved to feed her. Her eyes went wide, leaned back, and blushed a bit at the gesture.

"I-I can feed myself.", she stuttered.

"Sure you can. Your hands can't even hold that mirror for so long.", he said as he looked at the mirror that she seemed to have dropped on her lap.

Seeing as he was right, she quickly said something else to prolong which was inevitable.

"What's that?"

"I don't know, really. I forgot the name, but Igneel said that it was from some other kingdom. Anyway, here, it tastes good.", he said with a smile while moving the spoon before her mouth, placing the bowl below it just in case it spills.

Ultear looked at the food then at Natsu and back before she resigned to her fate as she opened her mouth and leaned forward to eat.

"This is good!", she said immediately after swallowing.

"That's good to hear. Here, eat some more."

After finishing the bowl, Natsu placed the bowl on top of the drawer, and looked at Ultear intently. He figured that she'd ask what happened to her, and she did. He explained how he got the idea when she "burned" Erza back to un-petrification, though it didn't work with Lucy when she became invisible, but after that, he practiced it on other effects. And it worked on her last night, though she did collapse and he had to take care of her as she was burning hot the whole night. Ultear panicked upon hearing that, but was soon relieved when she saw that she was wearing what she was in last night. He continued to tell that he was there because Meredy came to their guild yesterday and said that she (Ultear) was missing.

"Anyway, let's go back!"

Natsu woke up, headed to the bar counter, and asked for something to drink. He noticed that Ultear and Meredy weren't around so he asked if they already left.

"They went out shopping. Meredy truly did miss her "mother" even if it were only for a few days. Also, she said that Ultear's clothes were gone so she needed to buy some anyway.", Gray, who he finally noticed was seated beside him, answered.

"Oh…wait, aren't they wanted on the council?"

"They were apparently "pardoned" for helping fight the dragons. It seems like someone erased the council's memories about their crimes."

Natsu drank the beverage that was served to him and asked for another one. There was silence between the two of them, which was bugging Natsu out, so he tried to speak before Gray cut him.

"Thanks for saving her."

"Huh?"

"Ultear. Thanks for saving her. I already blamed myself for my master's death, so I'm thankful that you saved her."

Natsu just shrugged it off. He was just bored yesterday that was why he took off to find her. It just so happened that he could help her, so he did. He didn't help her to be thanked. Though it questions why he did.

"So, what are you gonna be doing now?", Gray asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We've known each other since we were kids, and you li-"

"Then what about Juvia?"

"Oh, shut up."

Natsu grinned widely.

Meredy and Ultear were inside a clothing store at the central part of Magnolia. Ultear was inside the fitting room, trying out every article of clothing that Meredy kept on getting for her. Ultear had insisted that they should just get whatever was comfortable, Meredy had said otherwise. Putting on the last set which Meredy handed to her, she opened the curtains to show it to her daughter.

"Oh! Natsu would love it.", Meredy cheered, moving closer to inspect her properly.

"Ha?!"

"Oh please, Ultear. I know.~"

"What do you mean, "I know"?"

"Ever since the Lullaby incident, right? When he broke in the council's courtroom just to save Erza."

"I said that I just found him a bit interesting."

"Oh?~ But it grew from there, didn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about.", Ultear said with finality, her arms crossed.

"I guess I'll just get this for myself then.", Meredy said, pushing Ultear back in the dressing room so she could change out of the outfit.

Truth be told, Ultear liked the dress. But it wasn't because she thought that a certain pink-haired dragon slayer would think that it looked good on her. No, she just thought that the dress was cute and she liked it. But since she denied liking Natsu awhile ago, she couldn't tell Meredy that she liked the dress – though she knew that the two things were totally unrelated.

After going to two more stores, they decided that what they had should be enough for the mean time. They returned back to FT's guild hall. Mirajane was seated with Lucy and were chatting happily – Mirajane anyway, Lucy seemed to be in distress. They headed to where they were when Mirajane saw and waved to them.

"How was shopping?", Mira asked after seeing the bags they were carrying.

"I was fun. I bought this dress that I hope Natsu likes."

"Hoh? Natsu?", Mira asked with stars in her eyes.

"I want to treat him as thanks for saving Ultear. I hope you don't mind, Ms. Girlfriend.", Meredy said, facing Lucy.

"We're not like that. Natsu's like a little brother to me. Really."

"It's because she's after Gray-sama!", Juvia said out of nowhere.

"Really, I don't think of Gray that way too! I already have someone else!"

The girls talk continued from there, with Mira supervising the whole thing. When everyone was focused on Lucy, Meredy shifted towards Ultear and whispered.

"You heard that? Natsu is free."

"Like I said…!", Ultear stopped when Meredy stood. She turned to see who Meredy was looking at.

"Natsu!", Meredy called and approached him.

Ultear saw Meredy and Natsu talk for a bit before they both laughed. They continued talking a little more before Natsu looked at Ultear with a smile, which she returned. Natsu faced Meredy once more and gave her a nod to which she smiled at happily.

"Looks like Meredy is doing her best. I should too.", Juvia said in a whisper from beside Ultear before she left to approach Gray.

Ultear tore her stare from Natsu and looked Gray and gave a soft smile.

"That Gray…he should just be honest with himself.", Ultear murmured.

"Just like you."

"Huh?", Ultear turned to see who just spoke and saw Mira.

"It's nothing.", Mira said with a smile as Meredy came back from her conversation with Natsu. "So how did it go?"

"It's a date.", Meredy answered cheerfully.

Ultear had arrived at the Strauss residence. She just had suddenly felt tired after her shopping trip with Meredy. Hearing this, Mirajane had told her that she could stay at the room where Meredy had stayed last night. Her siblings were home so she could just ask them where the room was, though she did mention that Elfman would surely still be asleep and that she wasn't sure if Lisanna would be awake so she could just go in normally. After arriving at a lot that had Strauss posted on the mailbox, she headed towards the door, and rapped her fingers on it. After waiting for a few seconds without any response, she decided to try again. She'd rather that she woke someone up and let her enter with them knowing than barging in. Still without any response, she twisted the doorknob and entered. She saw a blond-haired woman that was only wearing a white shirt that was obviously too large to be hers, enter a room. She approached the door to see the board hanged to it read "Elfman".

"Last night's activities…", she remembered what had slipped from Mirajane's mouth, and her face flushed a shade of red.

She proceeded further in a rush, as if trying to get away from the door as much as possible. She finally found the room she had been looking for, she tried to knock but stopped before her fist hit the door when she thought of something.

"What if Lisanna too…"

Her thoughts were stopped short when the door opened to reveal the youngest Strauss sibling.

"Oh..uh.."

Lisanna had just stared at Ultear for a few seconds, seemingly still half-asleep. Ultear cleared her throat while trying to straighten herself.

"Hello. I'm Ultear. Your sister told me that I could rest at the room where Meredy stayed last night."

The fact finally registered to the half-awake sister after a few seconds.

"Oh! Right. This way."

Lisanna lead Ultear to their guest room upstairs. While walking, Lisanna had started to break the silence.

"So you're the one Natsu was searching for yesterday?"

"Oh, uhm, yes. He saved me last night.", Ultear fidgeted at the sudden question.

"Saved? What happened? Meredy only said that you were missing. Were you taken away?", Lisanna asked, turning to her with a bit of worry.

"Oh, no. Some magic had a side-effect on me. He saved me from it."

"I see. As expected of Natsu."

The two ladies smiled at the prospect. Lisanna noticed something different in Ultear's features.

"Hoh~"

Ultear, surprised and confused by the sudden reaction, asked. "What is it?"

Lisanna leaned closer to Ultear and asked. "You like Natsu, don't you?"

"Huh? W-what are yo-"

"I know that look~ Lucy and Erza used to have "it". Even Mira did at some point. I don't anymore. But that's beside the point. You have it! No use in hiding it from me~", Lisanna explained, her mild smile turning into a full-blown grin.

Ultear wasn't able to deny it this time. She just blushed hard, and nodded.

"Since when?, Lisanna asked while dragging the older, black-haired, love-struck girl with her into the room.

A few questions later, Lisanna excused herself to get some tea and snacks for their "girl talk". They continued with Lisanna asking questions, and Ultear answering – nodding, and blushing all the while.

"I see…Yup. That grin of his is danger.", Lisanna agreed while nodding her head.

"I know right? And it's not helping that he keeps on saving us!"

They both laughed and talked about him some more – what he did before Ultear met Natsu, and after Lisanna "died".

"So?"

"Huh?"

"Have you told him yet?"

"W-wha?!"

"You said it yourself, he is kind of dense when it comes to these kinds of things."

"B-but…"

"No buts! You said that Meredy seemed to have taken a liking to him right?"

"Yes…"

"Then all the more so!"

The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

"A-ah. Sorry. You should do what you want to do. I shouldn't ha-"

"It's fine."

"I'll leave you so you could rest."

"Thank you."

Midway from leaving the room, Lisanna added. "Don't waste your chances. Even I…"

Ultear was staring at Lisanna, waiting for her to continue what she was saying.

"Never mind. It's nothing.", Lisanna ended with a smile before closing the door.

Ultear lied at the bed and thought about that last line. From what Lisanna had told her, Lisanna's "death" caused Natsu to move on from his feelings for his childhood friend. She supposed that that was what she meant by wasting her chance.

The day had come when Meredy was taking Natsu out to thank him for saving Ultear. Or rather, they had actually come back from it already. They arrived back to the guild hall – walking side by side, with their arms linked, happily laughing – remembering something from their date perhaps. They came to where Ultear was seated – mostly Meredy dragging them to her, though Natsu didn't seem to be resisting. After having "returned" his date to her mother, Natsu left the pair with something the likes of "preparing for tomorrow". Ultear, curious about this, asked her daughter about it.

"Oh, he's taking me to date tomorrow. He said that it was to thank me for thanking him. He's so funny.", Meredy answered with glee in her voice.

Ultear didn't take it any better than their date today. She was already moody about their date today, so what's she hearing about another date? Should she put a stop to it? She reasoned that she already admitted it out loud…well, to another person anyway, not literally shouting it…point being, what's stopping her from voicing out that she doesn't like Natsu dating some other girl than her, even if it were her own daughter. Well, so what if she did voice it out – what then? She wasn't sure of how Natsu felt for her daughter, but they were getting close the past few...actually, wasn't it just yesterday? But they're already clinging to each other while laughing! She should really just go for it and tell him. She's known him longer than her daughter did! He should be hers. But then again, she also doesn't know if Natsu likes her…well, she supposed that Natsu wasn't really the type to describe a woman's hair to be silky, and eyes "beautiful". So she has a chance…right?

"Ahh! This monologue thingy isn't good for me. They're only on their second date anyway, so I should still have a…chance.", Ultear thought before leaving back to the Strauss's.

Unbeknownst to the time mage, two white-haired sisters were watching her rampage internally if her expression changes from serious to angry to killer-angry were what to go by.

"Just a little more, I think?"

"Yup. She should give in tomorrow."

Ultear woke up from her sleep with murder in her eyes. Though she told herself that she wouldn't think about Natsu, she did so anyway and it cost her hours of possible sleep. So now that she was woken up – she woke up from some rustling and muttering – after having just been able to sleep for three hours, getting the person to a half-dead state should be justified. She was surprised to see who had woken her up at 6 in the morning.

"Meredy?", Ultear asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Oh, sorry 'Tear, did I wake you up?", Meredy asked from in front of the closet's mirror.

"N-no, it's ok…what are you doing?"

"Hm? I'm preparing for my date with Natsu."

"But, it's only 6 am."

"Natsu said that it's better to be early to where he's taking me today."

"Oh."

Meredy continued on dressing herself, meticulously brushing her hair. Ultear was about to return to sleep when she spotted a paper bag placed beside her shoulder bag; the same paper bag from the store where they bought that dress.

"You're bringing the dress?"

"Hm? Oh, well if it goes well again today, I might change to it before confessing~", Meredy said while almost squealing in excitement.

Ultear lost all the sleepiness she had when she heard Meredy say that she was going to confess. She panicked. And when Ultear panicked, she tended to do what was on her mind at the moment.

"No. Don't."

"What?"

"T-the dress. Don't bring it."

"But why?"

"I…"

Ultear's mind went into acceleration, as if she sped up her own mind, which she might have actually done. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I don't have any more clean clothes because I changed twice last night because it was so hot, and I don't think I can wait for them to dry so I thought I could wear that dress since I fitted that when we were shopping, remember? So, yup, don't bring it."

Meredy was thinking on what her mom just told her. Ultear bit her lip a bit as she stared at her daughter's face scrunch in thought.

"Please buy it…buy it…"

"Well, Ok. I guess I could hold off confessing. And I still have a different dress anyway.", Meredy said as she took another dress that seemed just like what she left back in the closet, only it was different in color and seemed to reveal more skin.

"Ok done. Wish me luck, mom.", Meredy said after putting the dress into the paper bag, before leaving, and closing the door with a wink.

"Oh no."

Ultear entered in the guild hall that morning in a dress, different from her usual Crime Sorciere attire. There was another guild brawl so she wasn't noticed that much when she entered. She scanned the hall and saw Meredy chatting with Mirajane and Lisanna at the side bar.

"So far, so good.", she thought after seeing that Meredy hasn't changed to the dress she brought with her. Well, either she didn't have to change because it didn't go well or she hadn't yet, it didn't matter to her.

She neared the center of the guild hall, where the brawl is focused on, when the loud noise from it ceased. She lifted her face and saw why. A cake had been smashed. Erza's cake had been smashed. Erza's precious strawberry cheesecake had been smashed by Natsu.

"NA-TSU."

The brawl had dispersed, and left Natsu standing near Erza alone. Ultear didn't really mind but then who knew when he'd wake up after Erza's done with him so she figured she'd go save her dragon slayer. Ultear walked towards the wasted cake, passing by between Erza and Natsu, before restoring it to how it was before it got smashed. Erza's eyes sparkled, forgetting ever getting mad at Natsu, and about-faced back to her cake. Sighs of relief were released by everyone who was in the brawl. It was sort of awkward to begin another brawl when they had just abruptly ended it, so they all dispersed. Natsu was about to go to side bar when he was pulled by Ultear outside. When Ultear was satisfied to where they were, Ultear pulled Natsu by the head and kissed him.

Just a little bit…

While Ultear was kissing Natsu, three people were giving each other high fives from where they were "peeping" at.

"Mission accomplished."

"I thought she'd never budge."

"I was afraid that I'd have to confess to Natsu if Ultear didn't!"

"You told Natsu about it though, right?"

"Yup."

Meredy had called Natsu and approached him. She thanked him for saving her mom before she talked about what she was really there for.

"You like Ultear. Don't deny it because I've already known.", Meredy cut off whatever denial Natsu was to throw when she signalled for him to look at their wrists to show her magic working already.

"Don't worry; I'm on your side. I'll help you with Ultear. She's already blamed herself enough and repented for what she's done. I hope for her to find happiness and I think it's with you. Just meet me tomorrow at…"

Natsu smiled at this before he looked at the young woman in question. There she was, the cute angel, smiling back at him. He returned to face the person he was talking to, before nodding.

xoxox

Natsu had met up with Meredy on what was supposedly Meredy-thanking-Natsu date. She supposed that it wasn't really far off; only, it was Ultear he was getting. They went to a restaurant to not look suspicious. Helping with Ultear or not, they'd still have to eat lunch somewhere.

"So anyway, Ultear won't probably answer to you if you're the one who'd move."

"Huh?"

"I mean, Ultear already blames herself for everything, so she would probably also just tell you that she doesn't deserve happiness; in other words, she'd probably turn you down."

"Oh. Then what should I do?"

"…Hah…actually, nothing."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it. Just follow my lead. If ever that she asks you anything, just agree to what I told her."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you want to be with her or not?"

"Okay, fine."

"Then let's eat."

One more…

Natsu woke up from not feeling his angel from her side of the bed when he moved to hug her, supposedly. Ultear had moved in to Natsu's humble home – only after they remodelled it; she refused to move in with him with the state of what he called his house was in.

It had only been a week since Ultear and Natsu had been going out, but she'd loved him so much that she was sure that her future was with him, and so was his. They made love for the first time tonight, and they couldn't be any happier – at least, he was, and he hoped she did too. Natsu saw Ultear sitting at the edge of the bed, all covered with her Crime Sorciere cloak.

"What's wrong, 'Tear?"

Natsu waited but Ultear didn't answer.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, then that's fine with me.", Natsu had grudgingly said, while turning on the bed, his back to Ultear's side.

Ultear saw Natsu sulking, and immediately hugged him from behind, "Sorry, I was spacing out. It's really nothing."

"Well, I guess that's ok then.", Natsu said with a grin, turning to hug Ultear back. Ultear felt her feelings for Natsu rising and getting stronger.

"Natsu…", she muttered before kissing him. "I should tell him…"

They made love once more, but before the actual fact, Ultear had refused to let go of her coat.

"I don't want to take it off this time…"

"Are you sure that you don't want to stop for today?"

"It's j-just getting a little cold, that's all. If I take it off, you have to hold me close right away, ok?", Ultear said in a strained voice.

Natsu stared at Ultear.

"You're really acting strange. There's something you're hiding, isn't there? Let me see!", Natsu ordered while pulling on the coat.

After some tugging, Natsu was able to take Ultear's coat off of her.

"Hm? What the? There's nothing after all."

"Of course there is! This scar on my back…", she said with tears beginning to appear.

"W-well, you said that some sort of atonement, so…"

"I hate it! I hate it even more than I ever have! I hate that I did things to ever put in my body; that you have to see it! F-for me to be worthy of loving you, I…", she explained with her emotions flowing out in a surge.

"Ultear…"

"Well, even if I managed to erase the mark, it's not like I could change my pas-", she said in a self-depreciating tone. "Huh?! Natsu?"

Natsu had taken her from behind, hugging her form.

"You're so stupid!"

"Eh?"

"Going on about that scar and not being worthy…Are you still thinking about the past? Now's more important!"

They were covered in silence for a while before Natsu spoke up once more.

"Ultear…When I look at you, I see this silky black hair," Natsu said while grabbing a handful of her hair and hand-brushing it from below.

"or your marble white skin", he continued, now running his finger on her back – passing through the scar.

"and not the scar on it.", he added, hugging her once more, resting his head on her shoulder.

"My feelings for you would never change just because of that.", he whispered to her ear, just beside him.

They made love once more, before falling asleep – Ultear cuddled in Natsu's arms, with a smile in her face.

A/N: And it's done! Thanks again for reading it (if you truly did. hehe)

On another note, have you guys seen the latest chapter? Didn't Minerva just look so homey-cute, like she's ready to be the wife of a certain Fire Dragon Slayer?! Darn, seeing that should've been enough of a trigger for me to write something but I still have not gotten ANY. OTL