To say that Natsu was livid would be an understatement.
Natsu had been sat at the bar in the guild hall for most the evening, taking shots of fire whisky while talking to Mira and Wendy, when his team were getting drunk and partying like there was no tomorrow. This party was intended for him, as he had just woken up from being unconscious for a week after the incident Edolas crisis, with Daphne and the Dragonoid following just afterward thanks to Gray.
Gray.
Natsu shuddered. He didn't want to think about that waste of space, especially after what he had done. He knew what draining the magical container of the body did to a person, and yet he went and sold the fire dragonslayer to what could have been an early grave if he had gotten out a minute later. He had heard all the comments made by his guildmates and had decided that this was the last straw. He would stop trying to be friends with all of them.
It wasn't the first time they had heard them all say that anyway. Most of the guild had forgotten about the dragonslayer's capabilities and their extraordinary senses. He knew what they all thought of the slayers' magic, they thought it was an abomination, but a necessary evil. There were a few that knew otherwise, Gildarts, Levy, the Strauss Siblings and most surprisingly, the Thunder Legion. Although, when Natsu thought about it, he realised that they only knew the truth because of Laxus.
Something caught his ear after he downed his fourth shot of fire whisky. Gray was whining to Erza and Lucy that Juvia would make a better companion than Natsu would. Juvia, being so close by as to not have her 'Gray-sama' stolen by her love rival, squealed at this and jumped into Gray's arms. Normally, the ice mage would have thrown the water mage out of his arms and onto the floor, but he just held her. Lucy almost instantly agreed, based on Lucy could get all her rent together if this was the case, but Erza was more apprehensive. She didn't want to kick the fire dragonslayer off the team, but there wasn't much she could do. Natsu laughed dryly.
"Of course, they would all say that." Natsu sighed. He finished his drink, said his goodbyes to Mira, asked Wendy to meet him outside for a chat in a few minutes before getting up and walking over to Gajeel.
Gajeel almost instantly acknowledged his Alpha's presence. It had been like this ever since he had joined the guild, Gajeel knew the limits of his powers, but Natsu didn't, and that made him the strongest dragonslayer in the guild. He was keeping an eye on Levy from his new table at the back of the guild, where he knew nobody would be looking.
"What'cha want Salamander, I thought you'd be in the brawl by now." Huffed Gajeel in as gruff a tone as he could muster, although he was secretly worried for his alpha, as his trust had been decimated by what Gajeel had assumed was his brother, and he didn't want to destroy it further. Fairy tail was a family after all.
"I don't intend to join the brawl. Not today at least. I came to tell you that you, me, Wendy and our partners are going to make a team" He put his hand up before Gajeel could say anything "Don't fight me on this Black Steel, today is not the day for it." Natsu commanded, turned on his heel, and walked out of the guild. Gajeel hated taking orders, but Natsu was his alpha, and would follow this instruction to the letter.
"I better go speak to sparky if this is how it's going to go down... I doubt salamander would mind the half-baked sparkplug joined our little crew" Gajeel grumbled to himself while getting up and walking towards Laxus.
-Outside the Guild-
"Ah, there you are Natsu-kun. I was waiting for you, like you said I should. I told Carla to go on without me, and Happy followed her with a fish, claiming his love for her, so I guess we're all alone on our walk home tonight huh?" Wendy said quietly, knowing Natsu could hear her. His mood flipped from sour to ecstatic the second he heard her voice. Wendy had moved in with Natsu, much to the chagrin of most of the guild, thinking that he would corrupt her. They had used the pretence that Natsu was going to continue her Sky Dragon Slayer training in place of Grandine, but the two exceed knew differently. Not that Natsu didn't train her of course, it's just that it was for a different reason entirely.
Wendy was Natsu's mate, and the two had realised this when they first locked eyes. For Wendy, it was love at first sight. It took little under a day for Natsu to realise what he felt for Wendy, and this was the day that she found out her old guild was created just for her, and would disappear once she left. Natsu was heartbroken seeing Wendy cry for the first time, and had decided it was his life's mission to never see her cry out of sadness ever again. He had Lucy what this had meant at the time, and Lucy just replied with a simple "You love her Natsu." With no emotion in her voice.
Natsu knew that Lucy saw him as a romantic interest, it's just that he was not interested. She was more like a sister to him. By the time, they had all got back to the guild, Natsu had decided to tell Wendy everything, and came up with an excuse for them to use as well. They both knew the guild wouldn't understand, save for the few that understood their kind of magic, so they decided to hide it.
The first night that Wendy spent at Natsu's house in the middle of the forest, Natsu had marked her, and she marked him. They both had a mark above their collarbone of two dragons encircling each other, one looking like pure fire and the other looking more like a bird than a dragon from the feathers it had. This was their mark, however to make sure that the guild didn't realise, Natsu had covered it up with his scarf, and wouldn't let it show.
Their mating ritual would not be complete until Wendy's 18th birthday, was the compromise they gave Carla before starting, as to finish the dragon slayer mating ritual Natsu would have to take Wendy's virginity, and the female exceed hated the thought of Wendy growing up.
He kissed her cheek. "Yeah, I'm here now Wendy, shall we get going? I think if we stand here any longer I'm going to go insane from not moving" Natsu exclaimed with his signature grin. They started to move towards the forest of magnolia, where Natsu's shack was located.
"So Natsu-kun, what should we have for dinner tonight? I was thinking of making some flaming steak with a side of noodles and fresh peas, but for that we'd have to stop at the market."
"That would be nice, it's been a while since we've had to shop for food anyway, we're getting low on all of our supplies. Happy was crying all week as I told him he now can't just buy fish all the time without second thought." Natsu said with a grin, as he knew Wendy was one of the best cooks he would ever know, rivalling Mira's skill at cooking, not that anyone else would find out. She took the time to learn everything after Grandine had disappeared, as she didn't know if she would be abandoned again and wanted to become self-sustainable if the unthinkable happened, not that it would with Natsu around now anyway.
"Hai, Natsu-kun. I'll do my best to cook you the best food you've ever had in your life!" Wendy proclaimed with a grin, and then giggled. The two then walked into the market in comfortable silence, bought what they needed, and went home.
-At Natsu's House -
Once we got back to their shack in the woods, Wendy went to start cooking as Natsu had been complaining about hunger ever since they had gotten out of the market district. They didn't talk much on the way home, the odd comment on how Natsu lived in the woods and how Wendy wouldn't be able to stand living in the town due to her dragon senses, especially if she had to share an entire building with people from the guild, even if she could get great blackmail material out of it. There was a lot about the youngest Dragonslayer the guild didn't know, she had a knack for mischief that Natsu just HAD to nurture.
"Natsu-kun, Dinner is almost ready, get Happy and Carla off each other and set the table or I'm eating your portion~" Wendy almost sang as she heard the crash of two exceed from their hammock in the bedroom and the scuffle of feet down the hall. She knew this was the only way to get him to do anything and she loved it, bribe Natsu with food then threaten to take it away from him, at least until they could start doing more… mature activities when they were old enough anyway.
Wendy took the food to the table and frowned. "Ne, Natsu-kun. You've looked like upset since we left the guild, is everything okay?" She had noticed that the Natsu that was talked about fondly in the guild wasn't the same as the one she saw, and wondered if he had hidden stuff from the guild that he felt he could trust her with
"How would you feel about making a team with just the Dragon Slayers on it?" Natsu asked in an exited voice, almost guaranteeing her answer before he could even look up and take in Happy's shocked expression.
"But Natsu, what will happen to Team Natsu! You guys have been through loads since Lushy came to the guild, and you guys always had lots of fish for me when we went on missions, if you leave team Natsu then I won't be able to get my fish!" Happy pouted.
Natsu sighed dramatically, knowing it would get the exceeds attention. "Happy, do you really think I'd leave you on that team? Of course, you can join, you as well Carla. The bond between Slayer and Exceed is close to the bond between both mates, you cannot break it. It would be like me burning my mark off if I was to leave you behind, and all four of us know I would rather die before severing my mate mark. It means more to me than my guild stamp. Besides, I'm sure that Pantherlily would join as well. And I'm sure if I asked nice enough then Laxus would also bring his Thunder Legion along for the ride"
Wendy was the next to speak, voicing Carla's doubts before even saying them. "Of course, I would Natsu-kun! But how will the rest of Team Natsu react when they realise that the person the team is named after is no longer there? We both know that you aren't on good terms with the walking icicle, but Lucy-san would be upset, and Erza-san would just try and knock you out and force you to re-join the team."
At this point, Natsu frowned, gritted his teeth and growled. "They don't want me on that team anyway. Gray said today that he would replace me with Juvia the first chance he got. He forgot about our dragon slayer hearing and probably thought that I wouldn't be able to hear him. I'm more surprised at how you didn't hear him Wendy" he paused, noticing Wendy's blush.
"Natsu-kunn~ Don't tease me like that, it's mean you know". Hearing this made him grin. "Sorry Wendy, He was talking very loud though, I'm sure that the entirety of magnolia could hear him. So why don't we take the chance for him and make sure they can't hurt us more than they can already."
"Okay Natsu-kun, if that is what you want. You are the alpha after all, you should know what's best. If you think that the four of us should team up with Gajeel-san and even Laxus-san, then I'll agree with it." She said slyly, in mock submission. "Besides, I trust my mate can keep me safe" She winked and blew a kiss at Natsu, making him blush.
"Ne, if you want to go for a shower Wendy, go, and I'll clean up and get the Movie lacrima started, you said on the way back you wanted to watch that new film about the princess and the dragon?" Natsu smirked and winked at her, knowing she'd blush.
Wendy giggled and walked into my arms, which curled around her into a hug. "Natsu-kun, we watch that one almost every week! How about we watch something a little more adventurous?" She smirked as she kissed the tip of his nose. "How about you pick something different out tonight, while I'm gone for a shower hmm?"
Natsu smirked. "Alright Wendy, I'll pick something out that I'm sure you'll like. Also, did Happy and Carla leave to the bedroom again? I swear, they must think we're denser than a block of iron if they think we've not noticed by now." He heard Happy's scream from across the house while Carla just shouted back "I am not doing anything of the sort with the Tom-cat! I just don't want to be in a room where you two keep snuggling all evening and are too handsy! Hmph!"
And so, another night went by in the Dragneel-Marvell household where the two slayers were curled on the couch sleeping soundly, while the two exceed were curled up in the hammock, hoping tomorrow would be better for all of them.