Prompt One: After trying and failing to prevent Jellal's arrest, Natsu internally struggles with how he can help Erza. On the surface, he knows there's nothing that he himself can do… But it hurts him to see Erza cry. He has to try to help her feel better.

Characters: Natsu, Erza

Point-in-Time: End of Oracion Seis Arc

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Friendship

He had tried. He might not have spoken up first in Jellal's defense, but Natsu had thrown the first punch against a Rune Knight. Natsu got the others all fired up to defend Jellal, but in the end, it wasn't enough. Erza's childhood friend was still taken away despite all their determined efforts.

Understandably, Natsu had calmed down when Erza ordered him to stand down… But that didn't take away his frustrations. It didn't change the fact that the Council took away one of their own and locked up him up. On self-reflection, Natsu had to admit that his attitude about Jellal had changed throughout the duration of this incident. At first, Natsu was dead set on preventing the blue-haired mage from meeting Erza again; and why wouldn't he have been defensive about his friend? Jellal hurt Erza both physically and emotionally.

He made Erza cry. Natsu swore he would never forgive Jellal for that.

Yet despite his initial misgivings, Natsu could not deny it in his heart that something had changed in the final battle to destroy Nirvana. Jellal had given him the power to unlock the Dragon Force, to overcome Zero, and had been the one to save him from falling when Nirvana began collapsing. This in no way absolved Jellal in Natsu's eyes; even if the man hadn't reclaimed all of his memories yet, Natsu could still remember the pain he caused Erza. And yet… Jellal had offered a helping hand.

Perhaps Erza's childhood friend was still in there somewhere. And for that reason, Natsu fought for Jellal. Regardless of his personal feelings on the matter, Natsu knew the man was special to Erza. Just like she was a dear friend to him. Natsu wasn't afraid of going to prison if it kept Erza from getting hurt. Jellal was in Erza's debt, so the most logical thing to do was take him with them.

Jellal needed to stay by Erza's side. Natsu didn't know how or why that sprung to his mind in that heated moment, but it did, and he voiced that belief. And Jellal was still taken away. It aggravated Natsu to no end. It wasn't right.

Border

That happened about an hour ago. Erza had gone off to be by herself, and the group of the Allied Forces unanimously decided to give her some space. Natsu was unhappy about it, but he ultimately acquiesced and mulled over the events of the previous day on his own. Personally, Natsu wanted nothing more than to stubbornly go to Erza, yell at her a little for being so quick to give up on Jellal, and promptly get his ass kicked for speaking out against Erza's decision. He wasn't a masochist, but if it took her mind off of Jellal, even for just a few seconds…

Natsu couldn't bring himself to do it this time, though. He wasn't a coward. He just wasn't the person Erza needed most right then. That person was on his way to prison, and Natsu couldn't do anything about that. So begrudgingly, Natsu eventually settled for watching Erza from a distance. Once he found out where Erza went off to, he was careful to situate himself behind a crumbled wall and out of Erza's line of sight. Natsu didn't want to be intrusive, but it didn't sit right with him to just leave Erza totally by herself.

If it was any indication, Wendy seemed to be thinking along similar lines, as she hid nearby as well. Natsu focused on Erza, though, as the redhead was hugging her knees to her chest and had her head dipped sorrowfully. As he watched, he caught a glimpse of some tears glistening in the early morning sunlight and dripping to the ground. Instinctually, Natsu clenched his fists in frustration, yet he managed to restrain himself from doing anything else.

Natsu hated to see Erza cry. She should be eating strawberry cake, bashing his and Gray's heads in for fighting, and being her destructive self on missions… Not… crying her heart out…

Somehow, Natsu managed to keep out of sight for the entirety of the time Erza was out there. Or at least, that's what he thought, since Erza didn't call him out. That assumption was shattered when Erza got up to leave and purposefully walked by his location. Natsu waited a few moments before standing back up. Erza's scent was strangely lingering in the air, which could only mean…

Yep. When he turned around to head back to camp, she was standing on his side of the crumbled wall looking straight at him. Naturally Natsu panicked at being discovered.

"I'M SORRY!" Natsu wailed while backing up a few steps to get out of immediate striking distance. This put his back against an adjacent wall, as his misfortune would have it. The pink-haired mage waved his hands in front of himself apologetically as he started rambling profusely. "I just wanted to be close by 'cause I was worried about you! The others wanted to give you space, but that didn't sit right with me, so… so… And it's not like I doubt your emotional strength or anything!"

"Natsu…" Erza's quiet voice and her hand gently resting on his shoulder was enough for Natsu to shut his mouth and look her in the eye. From what he could tell, she wasn't angry or annoyed. She looked… tired. He couldn't look away from her swollen, puffy eyes that had cried far more than they should have, for Natsu's tastes. While he was transfixed on them, Erza went on, "Thank you."

Those two words made Natsu blink owlishly. As far as he knew, he'd done nothing that warranted thanks. If anything, he'd expected punishment for eavesdropping.

"Wh-What for?" Natsu's voice came out shakier than he intended. Despite feeling nervous, Natsu managed to maintain eye contact.

"For… For trying to help earlier. And…being here now…" Erza averted her eyes from Natsu's focused gaze ever so slightly. Her face was adorned with a small smile. "You always charge in without thinking about the consequences, or rather, I should say you don't care about the consequences…"

"Don't act like you weren't gonna punch that bastard in the glasses if I hadn't stepped up." Natsu smirked smugly as Erza's cheeks flushed and she averted her eyes more. He laughed a little before the redhead turned a stern eye on him; then he sighed. "Erza, I didn't even have to look your way to know that you were devastated. I acted 'cause I didn't want you hurting again – those bastards had no right taking away the guy that made you happy. I'd have beaten all of 'em up if it meant Jellal would come with us."

Erza's eyes softened and she locked eyes with Natsu again.

"And what would we have done if you had succeeded? We would have been branded as criminals, Natsu. We would have been lucky if the Council didn't disband our guilds – not just Fairy Tail, but Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cait Shelter as well. Would you really have been okay with that?" When Natsu's response was only to look down dejectedly, Erza pulled him into a tight hug. Natsu tensed at first, but tentatively returned the embrace when nothing else happened. They stayed like that for several moments, both of their eyes closed and both of them enjoying the early morning breeze. Finally, Erza murmured into his shoulder, "I'll be fine, Natsu. I do miss Jellal. I do. But I won't let Fairy Tail be disbanded because of my selfishness. I said I can't live without Fairy Tail… and I meant it."

They hugged for a few more moments before pulling apart. Natsu rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

"I just don't want you to cry, Erza, that's all. You say that Fairy Tail filled the void that Jellal left behind, but I… I just see the way you look at Jellal, and I can't help but feel useless to ya in this situation. I don't wanna be useless, though."

"You're not useless." Erza firmly denied with a shake of the head. She then smiled softly. "Natsu, you go above and beyond what any friend would do. You've helped teach me indispensable life lessons… You're so determined. So headstrong and stubborn. Yet you're also caring and considerate… I wouldn't replace you with Jellal for the world."

Natsu scratched his cheek embarrassingly as a small blush crept up his face. He wasn't sure why, though. Erza really thought that way about him?

"Heh. I think I'm more of a nuisance to you than anything else, but if that's how you feel…" He trailed off, unsure of what else to say. Really, that's what he felt like earlier when she told him to stand down.

Erza smiled and shook her head again before turning and walking away.

"C'mon, we should get back to the others."

Natsu didn't follow right away, as his mind was whirling with thoughts. But when Erza turned around partway, he snapped out of it and jogged to catch up. Erza was one of his best friends – if she said she would be alright, he would trust and support her in any way he could. If nothing else, he felt a surge of relief after their heart-to-heart. He wasn't as useless in this situation as he first thought.

"Thanks, Erza…" Natsu murmured under his breath, offering a grin when the redhead craned her head toward him.

Natsu was already looking forward to his next adventure with her.

Author's Note: A little shippy if you squint. Mostly I tried to keep this first prompt as 'close friends' more than anything else. We'll get to 'proper' Natza later, promise.

Kinda similar to the format I've done for a BB x Raven fanfic, I want this one to be a collection of short pieces across a wide variety of genres. Some will be introspective, while others will be alternative actions taken in key moments. In essence, it's me stepping out of my comfort zone, just trying different stuff. If a scene seems stiff or awkward, that's probably why; I'm just trying to gain experience here.

As a forewarning, I'm kinda new to Fairy Tail. I've stuck to the anime, but have caught wind of upcoming twists in the manga. To keep it simple, I'll stick to the anime – what I know and have seen. Most of these snippets will likely be unconnected, but if there is ever continuations or prequels, I'll make a note of them and what chapter(s) they correspond to. For now I'll just write out what comes to mind and go from there.

Other characters will be involved, I just started off this collection with solely the two of them to wet my feet, so to speak. This is my first Fairy Tail fanfic, so feel free to tear into me if I mucked up too badly. I don't mind giving glimpses of other pairings such as Gray x Juvia and Levy x Gajeel, but the main focus will be on Erza and Natsu moments (friendship, romance, or anywhere in-between) because that's where I'm most comfortable right now. That may change in a few chapters, I can't really say yet.

Hope you enjoyed it a little!

Edit 1/27/2017: Alright, despite wanting to wait until I connected the main AU better, I went and separated all of the non-related chapters from that fic to save me some legwork. From now on, this fic will truly be 'glimpses' - maybe two- or three-parters at absolute most. The other one that I left standing underwent a name change to reflect this separation.

... On a slightly related note, I did not include the Natsu-in-Oracion-Seis AU in this collection. Two reasons - one, that is a bigger project that goes against the 'glimpses' theme; two, that is being revamped with Tempest35 as a co-writer. Planning is coming along swimmingly for that. ^_^