I'm not too sure about this one. If I get a good response from it I will continue it. I've kind of hit a black on RFC and I needed something else to work on in the mean time. I am not abandoning RFC, but it will be a while before it is updated again.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to anything besides the original material in this fanfiction. No money is being made off of this.

Fairy Tail was not only the strongest Wizard's Guild in Fiore, it was also the rowdiest, and most destructive one too. It was most often billed for the destruction it caused, which caused more than a few shed tears from the Guildmaster. Brawls were common place in the guild hall and were usually caused by the rowdiest, most destructive, and least worried about it all, pink haired wizard in the guild. His name in Natsu Dragneel. He is one the only known dragon slayers in the country, likely the world.

Natsu was a part of what was known as Team Natsu, which he named himself. The team also included Erza Scarlet, wielder of magic known as The Knight, which let her requip not only her weapons, like usual, but she could also requip her armour as well. Each set of armour had a different ability or buff that it granted and being able to swap between them in an instant was a definite advantage in battle. Erza was also accepted as the most powerful member of the team.

Gray Fullbuster was another member of Team Natsu, even if he would never call it that. He was an Ice-Make wizard, which used the power of his imagination to make non-living things out of ice, usually weapons and walls to use as shields. His magic was directly opposed to Natsu's, as he was a Fire Dragon Slayer, which caused a lot of conflict between the two. It was actually the two of them that most often started the brawls in the guild hall. It didn't help that his power was said to be equal to his arch rivals.

Lucy was the final person in the foursome that made up Team Natsu, as long as you were only counting human's anyways. She was a Celestial wizard, her magic allowed her to call forth Spirits from the spirit realm to do her bidding by using keys to open their gate. They used contracts to make sure that they spirit was not abused, nor was the wizard. She was the weakest of the group in combat and magical strength, but she was by no means a weak link like most people assumed when they saw her with the other three. She was also the least likely to cause any amount of property damage or cause a brawl.

Three of the four people in the team were rather upset on the walk back to the guild from the train station. They had just gotten back from a job that should have taken a couple of days, but due to some serious destruction, they ended up with a two week stay in jail and the loss of the entire reward for the job they completed. Gray was fairly used to it, having worked with Natsu quite often in the past, but was still pissed off at Natsu. Lucy and Erza were both steaming mad at the pink haired Dragon Slayer, both were stomping along in front of him to avoid hitting him in retaliation and their conversation went completely unnoticed.

Natsu was walking along behind the other members, his friend Happy was floating along above him, he was completely unconcerned with the entire ordeal they just went through. His hands were laced behind his head, eyes closed and leaning back a little to turn his face up to feel the sun. He was happy, very happy, the weather was nice, he was full for once, and he was able to spend time with his friends. It was that last part the put the his huge, signature grin, plastered on his face.

That was until he came to an abrupt stop after running into something immovable and covered in metal. Natsu stood up, rubbing his sore tail bone, and realized the immovable metal object was, in fact, not an object, it was Erza Scarlet. Before he could open his mouth to ask what the hell was going on, she turned on him with a deep, scary scowl set on her face.

Natsu would usually be shaking in his boots, sandals, seeing that expression on her face, but this time he somehow could sense that it was something serious. Another clue was that Lucy had the same look plastered on her face, which was almost as scary because it was something that you didn't see on Lucy's face all that often. Sure she got mad, but it was never like this, this time she was truly enraged.

"Natsu, we need to talk about something." Erza said as sternly as she could manage, holding back her rage quite well, in her mind, Natsu could sense it though.

Natsu let out a deep suffering sigh, "I assume you and Lucy have been talking and you've decided that you no longer want me on your team." He looked up at both of their shocked looks with a smirk, "Ah, so I'm right then. You knew that there was no way Gray would be on my side if I tried to fight it and three against one will usually fall in favour of the three." Natsu had a subdued grimace on his face at the shocked nods he got in response.

"Well yes that is exactly what we wanted and our thought process on the matter." Erza crossed her arms and tried to look menacing, despite her growing unease at the situation. The moment Natsu guessed exactly what they were going to say she started to have second thoughts. "Is there anything you would like to say on the matter?"

Both Lucy and Gray looked fairly interested what his response would be. Gray was looking at him as if he had never seen him before. This perceptive Natsu was a new thing for him. Lucy also noticed this new side of Natsu. She always thought he was a goofball with no real depth, besides how much he cared for everyone in Fairy Tail and his fighting ability. He was showing how smart and perceptive he really was and it was rather attractive to her, but she had likely ruined any chance that she had with him by effectively kicking him out of the team he started.

"Not really about you kicking me out of the team. I do have requests of you though, as my friends." Natsu carefully looked all three of them in the eyes as Happy looked on, somewhere between horrified and amused, he was well aware of what Natsu was really capable of.

"We are still your friends Natsu, we just don't want to do go on jobs with you anymore. We are tired of losing most of our money and getting arrested or chased out of town by Rune Knights. We will still see each other at the guild and other events in Magnolia." Lucy expressed emphatically, trying to make sure that he knew she wasn't trying to distance herself from him.

"Actually we won't. I have been putting off doing some things that I need to do because I was enjoying our time as a team. My requests are that you let Old Man Makarov know that I'm going to be leaving like we talked about and that someone take Happy in with them while I'm gone since there is no way he will be able to follow me where I'm headed."

Everyone else's jaw dropped in shock when Natsu said that. Everyone else knew that Happy was the closest thing you could get to Natsu's son. Happy went everywhere with Natsu, it was almost like he asked them to look after his right hand while he was away. It was at least as surprising that Happy didn't freak out at him when Natsu mentioned that he would be leaving him behind.

"Are you leaving Fairy Tail?!" Erza screeched at Natsu, looking like she was about ready to beat some sense into him.

"Don't be silly Erza. I'm not leaving Fairy Tail. I'm just going to be leaving for a little while, doing some training and exploring a few leads on where Igneel is." Natsu laughed at the open look of relief on both Lucy and Erza's faces, he even noticed a little bit of sadness and disappointment on their faces. Gray did his best to hide his relief behind a smirk.

There were a few beats of silence while Natsu looked at each of his ex-teammates in turn. They were obviously waiting for him to shout out that it was just a joke and he was messing with them. It wasn't going to happen though, they were about to realize that this was happening, whether they liked it or not.

"Alright, when will you be back?" Erza asked quietly, suddenly realizing how much she'll miss the pink haired idiot and how much of an important part of her life he had become since they first became a team.

"I have absolutely no idea when I'll be back. There is no timeline for the training I'm doing. Each individual part needs to be completely mastered before I move on to the next step, so it could be anywhere from three months to several years." Natsu answered, trying not to give them any false hope.

Lucy was uncharacteristically quiet during this whole thing while Gray was doing his best to be unfailingly attentive without seeming like it. Erza's face was showing more and more sadness as the conversation went on, almost like the situation was truly settling in her mind.

As Natsu watched the old, strong, unbending Erza returned and her face set in a determined grimace. "Fine, I hope you return to us soon, but I understand why you need to do this. Please don't stay away any longer than you need to." Erza let her vulnerable side show to the only person that she had since Jellal, not begging him, but making sure that she wanted to see him as soon as possible.

Erza then looked at Lucy, getting a nod to her unasked question, she looked at Happy and asked, "Well Happy, would you like to stay with me or Lucy? Or maybe someone else?" She looked like she would rather not have Happy to look after, but she was willing to do it, for Natsu.

"Aye! I'll stay with Lucy. She always has fish for me at her house." Happy quickly lost his serious demeanor at his own mention of fish.

Erza didn't quite let out a breath of relief, but it was a near thing. She really didn't want to be responsible for another person on top of all her current duties in Fairy Tail as an S-Class Wizard. Besides that, if she wanted to continue to be stronger than Natsu, if she even was, she would have to train just as hard as she knew that he would be training.

With his piece said Natsu pulled out three black bracers similar to the one he wore on his arm and handed them off to both girls. They looked down at the dragon that was etched into the black metal, thinking it looked faintly familiar, but they weren't inclined to ask, just in case that would set him off. Gray got one too, but his looked significantly more manly in it's design.

Gray wasn't as reserved as the girls and asked, "What's with the dragon face on this thing? And why are you giving them to us?"

"That is the crest of my magic, the face is Igneel's. These are basically monitors. If something happens to you they will notify me. I should be able to make it where ever you are before anything else happens. In times of extreme need you can send a message to me through it, but unless it's something really serious I will not come. I know that Fairy Tail can handle itself, you are all strong in your own way." Natsu answered, seeing understanding and happiness bloom on the girls face while Gray just smiled instead of smirking at him.

With his part said Natsu turned from the trio of friends and left Magnolia, heading towards his and Happy's cottage in the woods. He needed to pick up the items he needed for training before he left. He wasn't very good with saying goodbye, so he didn't answer the rather watery sounding goodbye's that were offered by the girls. He chose to ignore the smell of their tears in the air and waved over his shoulder without looking back, he wouldn't be able to deny the tears in his eyes if he turned around.

Natsu didn't take the chances of running across anyone else before he left town and went directly to the forest, avoiding going through the town to the head of the trail that led to his cottage. He was glad when he came to the back side of his cottage. He could smell that there were others waiting in front of the building. From the scents he detected it was Mirajane, the beautiful bartender of Fairy Tail, and Cana, the drunken card mage. Natsu spared a thought to wonder why they came to try and convince him to stay, but no more than a thought.

Natsu was never happier that he had installed in the back door without telling anyone. He carefully swung the well oiled door open and wandered through his home quietly picking up all of the things he would need for his journey, including all the fish that Happy had stored away, mostly to spite the flying blue cat for all the pranks he's pulled in the past.

Natsu managed to get everything that he needed out of the house without alerting the two out front. He left with a smile, it was nice to know that his friends cared so much for him. The only thing was that he didn't want to make Mira cry, nor did he want to hear the drunken rambling from Cana, even if she was funny and interesting when she did it.

He didn't look back even once at the life he was leaving, or taking a hiatus from at least. He was looking forward to mastering the things left to him by Igneel. He would finish his Dragon Slayer training and make sure that he would be ready in the event of a dragon attack. Igneel left without saying so much as a peep about it, but he did explain the next step of his training to him a couple months before that. Looking back, Natsu realized that he probably knew about having to leave and made sure that Natsu was prepared for it.

It was time to head home. Back to the place where it all started for Natsu, the mountains north of a place that was once called Rosemary Village.

Several Years Later

Fairy Tail Guild Hall

"I thought this is where the Salamander was supposed to be." Gajeel roared across the guild. He had joined after their defeat at the stupid knight's hand, but only because he needed to prove that he was the stronger Dragon Slayer. Salamander had disappeared with the title and until a body showed up, it would stay that way.

"Shut up metal head! We've told you almost every day that we don't know where Natsu is or when he'll be back. You will just have to wait like the rest of us." Gray called out to the Iron Dragon Slayer, hoping to shut him up about Natsu for the day.

Gray would never admit it, but he was anxious for Natsu to return as well. He had spent every spare second that he had training, only taking just enough jobs to have enough money to get by without dipping into his savings. He had pretty much gotten rid of his stripping problem as well, he only did it when he was really stressed. Well, he actually just never wore a shirt anymore, but he could keep his pants on a large majority of the time now.

Gray hadn't changed a whole lot in the absence of Natsu, at least not physically. Sure, he had a few more scars, but they only tell a story, they don't change a person. He wore his hair a little longer now than he used to. His pants were a little more durable now, but they are still black and he still wore his black combat boots. Most importantly he still wore the bracer that was given to him and his necklace that he had worn for as long as anyone could remember.

Erza sighed from beside him, she was much better at ignoring Gajeel's rants about Natsu than Gray was. She didn't, however, like being reminded about Natsu's absence and it seemed like Gajeel needed to be reminded of that. She turned her most menacing glare on the black haired man that was sitting at a table a little way away.

Erza was wearing the same armour that she had always worn. She wasn't as closed off to everyone as she used to be, not since the Tower of Heaven incident. Her long red hair still hung down to her lower back and looked as soft and luscious as always. Her skin was still milky pale and completely beautiful. Her curves were still just as generous and mind numbingly gorgeous. Her chest and backside attracted many surreptitious stares since no one wanted to be caught by Erza Scarlet, Titania of Fairy Tail. Erza had long ago decided that the only people she would let look at her like that were Natsu and maybe the Red Knight that saved them from both Phantom Lord and the Tower of Heaven.

Gajeel quickly got his little tantrum under control in the face of that glare. He was starting to sweat a little since Erza still hadn't broken the glare, making sure that her message completely sank in. Gajeel definitely didn't want to tangle with her, she was said to be even stronger than Salamander and that was before she was doing the intense training that she did since he left. He wasn't willing to try fighting her until he was sure that he could beat Salamander.

Gajeel hadn't changed much since the Red Knight beat him and the rest of the Element Four into the ground. He still had long black hair and piercings in his nose, ears, and eyebrows. His shirt had some metal accessories and his pants were a steel grey, his favourite color behind black. Now he was one of the little Fairies he tried to hurt when he was part of Phantom Lord, but that wasn't a big deal since he noticed the Guild Mark on that knight's armour. He knew that this was a guild that he wanted to be part of if they had members that were as strong as that guy.

The whole guild was rather lively today. There were no brawls, as there was no one that started now that Natsu was gone, but most everyone was at the guild drinking. No one wanted to be away from the guild for the S-Class selection trial announcement. It was too late for the last minute mission rush and so everyone just stayed at the guild in hopes that what they had already done would be enough. Mira was almost run off of her feet trying to keep everyone in their preferred drinks, but being this busy took her mind of their missing Dragon Slayer and that was alright with her.

The entire guild went quiet when Master Makarov Dreyar showed up on the stage at the end of the hall. "Hey, are you brats ready for the S-Class Trial contestants?!" He yelled across the guild, making sure everyone was able to hear.

"YEAH!" The entire guild roared back, completely drowning out whatever Makarov had started to say.

"Alright, shut up, brats!" Makarov used his Titan magic to yell back over top of his guild. "So we have five people up for the selection, as always. They will be Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona, Levy McGarden, Lucy Heartfellia, and-"

Master Makarov was interrupted by the doors being blown open with enough force to crack the walls that held the doors up, which was impressive since they were designed to withstand the destruction that Gildarts always caused when he was around.

"Who the hell are you? It's not manly to burst into a Guild Hall that's not yours." Elfman yelled while striking a pose, one hand on the flexing bicep of his other arm.

The shadowed figure in the doorway let out a deep belly laugh that sounded really familiar to everyone that wasn't new to the guild and even a couple of the new people recognized it as someone they had met before.

"Last I checked I still had the guild mark on my shoulder. That means this is my guild Elfman, so why don't you shut up!"

This time everyone definitely recognized the voice and various calls of "Natsu!?" rang out through the guild hall with one "Salamander?!" and a "Matchstick?!" thrown in from two people that were both happy and pissed that Natsu showed up when he did.

"Yeah, it's good to be home." Natsu released a relaxed sigh as he threw his bag onto the chair closest to him.

It was then that a scarlet haired woman, a blue haired girl, and a white haired bartender all flung themselves from the crowd and ran at him full tilt. Natsu wasn't really expecting anything like this to happen for his welcome and was afraid that he was about to be tackled and pummeled. He shouldn't have worried to much about it though because all three of the ladies did tackle him, but in a hug filled with crying and whispered words.

If you had asked anyone if Natsu knew what to do with crying girls before he left, they all would have started laughing in your face at the sheer insanity of what you had just asked them, but this new Natsu seemed to know exactly what to do. He wrapped his arms around all three and squeezed gently, but still firm enough for them to know that he cared greatly for them. While that was probably good enough, he also whispered comforting words back to them in response to their whispers.

The entire guild stood their in either shocked silence, or in most female cases, complete awe at how absolutely romantic and adorable the entire thing was. Nobody wanted to interrupt the moment the three were obviously having because Mira and Levy both suddenly disengaged and backed away from what was now an enraged Erza.

"Natsu, you said you would come if we needed you!" She yelled as she hailed her fists down on Natsu's upper body, not wanting to damage the sexy face that she had missed so much. "You never came though! We had no one to rely on. Even when I almost died, you still never showed up!" Now Erza was barely able to support herself with her arms on Natsu's chest, that's how hard she was sobbing.

Natsu, completely unharmed from the assault somehow, wrapped his arms tightly around her body and held her to his chest while she cried out her sorrow. She resisted at first, but all of the strength she had gained over years of brutal training had suddenly fled in the face of her emotions, so she balled up the shirt that Natsu was wearing and let her tears flow into the fabric.

Erza's sobs started to become less frequent and were separated by some sniffles when Natsu finally replied to her, "Erza, I showed up every single time you were even remotely close to in danger, but I only had to save you three times in the entire time that I was gone. Your so strong that I didn't need to step in any of the other times. That's not counting the time that you tried to end it yourself by taking on an enemy that was far too strong for even the great Titania."

Erza's breath caught in her throat at that. No one else knew about that time, not even her sometimes lovers Levy and Mirajane. She had told no one and the only other person there was the Red Knight that had saved her… Wait did that mean that Natsu knew who the knight was? She looked up sharply to question him about the Red Knight when she saw it. It was the helm that the knight wore. It was fashioned out of some strange dull red material that both refused to reflect light, but shone with the dull glow of a fire. Its shape was that of a dragon with glowing red eyes and teeth bared in a vicious snarl.

Before she could get any other words out to confront Natsu on just what the hell was going on, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fainted. Natsu caught her gently before she smashed her nose into his tightly muscled chest. At first he was worried, but then he caught the quiet sound of her cute little snores and figured that she was going to be okay. He let a gentle smile grace his face that was somehow filled with more genuine feeling than his old signature grin could ever hope to hold.

Natsu moved Erza to be cradled in his arms, one supporting her head and neck, the other in the crook of her knees, all without jostling her any more than necessary. Then he stood up and let the smile fall from his face, but not before Levy and Mira saw it, causing answering smiles to grace their own faces.

Natsu was going to leave with just Erza when he caught the look on the other two's faces. He looked carefully at them before he caught both of their scents on Erza and his eyes widened at the implications. After a quick bout of deep eye contact he nodded to them, then turned on his heel and left, only to be followed rapidly by the bartender and the bookworm, who was kind enough to grab the bag that he completely forgot about.

Natsu led them all to his cottage that he had stopped by and cleaned out before he headed to the Guild. Erza was starting to wriggle a little bit by the time they had gotten inside the cottage. Natsu knew that she would wake up soon, but he didn't want to risk her waking and freaking out being in his arms. So with that in mind he took her to his room and deposited her in his bed, pulling his blankets up to her chin and letting her rest.

He walked back into his living room shortly after with a tray of tea and cookies for his other two guests. They let him pour their tea and sit down before they started in on the questions. He laughed quietly to himself as he saw Levy getting ready to write down any answers that she thought needed further study. Mira was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement, whether it was from his return or the promise of answers to her questions, he would never know.

"Natsu are you really the Red Knight?" Mira asked before Levy could ask some unnecessarily complicated question

"Is that what they call me here?" Natsu laughed at the simple name they gave him, "But yeah, I suppose I am. It's something that all Dragon Slayers are capable of after their training is complete. It's something that we gain once we have completed the Dragon Force transformation."

Natsu raised both hands to show them that nothing was on either one. Then there was a flash of dull red light and he had gauntlets covering his hands. They were made of the same material as the helmet that he showed them earlier. The fingers were made of small, articulated plates, that allowed him to move his them with no restrictions, but they ended in sharp claws, perfect for hand to hand combat.

"So you can use Requip magic then?" Levy asked excitedly, it wasn't often that someone as young as Natsu was capable of using more than one type of magic to that extent.

"Well not exactly, but it is kind of similar." Natsu avoided completely answering the question, just giving enough to placate her for a little bit, he smelled something that made him smile.

Natsu's Bedroom

Erza's eyes fluttered open slowly. At first she thought about the strange dream that she just had. In her dream Natsu had returned and revealed himself as the Red Knight that had saved both her and Fairy Tail. It was a completely ridiculous thought, but it made her happy to think that it was in fact Natsu that had saved her, just like he said he would when he left.

It was then that she noticed she wasn't in her room at Fairy Hills. The ceiling here didn't have the Fairy Tail emblem like hers did, nor did she see the tower stacks of trashy novels that she always had near her bed. She was starting to get worried about what was going on. She took a couple of deep breaths to center herself and quell the rising panic. She couldn't quite place the scent that she smelled, but it worked to calm her down far faster than she expected.

With the question of where she was and what that scent was in mind she decided to get up and look around. She realized that she was still dressed as she was when she woke up that morning and let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. Being dressed meant that she wasn't taken by slavers or any other scoundrels. The room reminded her of Natsu's cottage, she had only been there a couple times to get Natsu for a mission, but the room looked like it was made of the same wood. It wasn't until she looked in the closet and saw several sets of the clothes that Natsu used to wear that she realized she was in fact in Natsu's room.

Erza went through a whole gauntlet of emotions at that, including glee, anger, sadness, more anger, confusion, and finally ending on a mix of happiness and confusion. Happy that Natsu was obviously back, but confused about if he was really the Red Knight. Erza wasn't really one to hum and haw about a decision that needed to be made, she made the decision and dealt with the consequences as they arose. So she marched out of Natsu's room and headed to where she could faintly hear voices coming from.

She requiped into a set of stealth armour that would make her steps quiet and help her blend into the shadows. After all, just because she made a decision didn't mean that she had to run headlong into possible trouble. She edged up close to the entrance to the room that she heard the voices coming from.

She heard Levy's voice asking someone if they could use Requip magic. That was definitely a good sign on top of recognizing the room as Natsu's living room. She still didn't know if it was really Natsu that she was talking to and she didn't really want to reveal that she was awake until she knew exactly what was going on.

She froze when she heard the voice she had been waiting for years to hear, it was definitely Natsu's voice that answered Levy.

"Well not exactly, but it is kind of similar." Natsu avoided going into detail with his denial.

Then Natsu called out, "Erza, come in here and have some tea. I'm sure you want to hear this as much as Levy and Mira do."

Erza stood there, mouth dropped open into an 'o' of surprise. How in the hell did he know that she was there? She knew that she hadn't made a sound and she was almost completely shrouded in shadows, so he couldn't have seen her. 'What did I miss?!' She thought frantically, trying to figure it out so she could fix it for last time and completely forgetting about the others inside the room.

She was standing there worrying her bottom lip with her teeth when Natsu found her. He had to stop and admire her form when he came upon her. Her stealth armour was a form fitting black catsuit, like a ninja would wear in the movies. It was a wonderful form too. Her breasts sat high on her chest and showed a distinct lack of bra, if the twin points were anything to judge by, but Natsu didn't know what the two little bumps were on either side of each larger bump.

Natsu focused on that conundrum for a small bit of time before moving on down her lithe form to her long, sexy legs and then back up to her curvaceous hips. Her backside was absolutely entrancing to Natsu, especially the way she was standing, hips cocked to the side with one hand resting on one hip. Her other hand was pressed against the opposite shoulder blade, splitting her breasts and making them look even larger.

Natsu shook himself from his silent contemplation of Erza's ridiculously hot body. He couldn't get caught starting at her while she wasn't paying attention, well not if he wanted to have a civil conversation with her today. With that in mind, Natsu looked into her deep chocolate brown eyes that were so expressive despite her closed off heart.

It made him smile that Erza was still so dedicated to bettering herself, but he knew he had to interrupt her thoughts or she would be stuck like that until she figured it out.

"It was your scent Erza." She answered him with a distracted hum and he continued, "You managed to completely hide the sound of your movement and we can't see through walls. It was your scent that gave you away."

Erza snapped out of her trance and snapped her head up at Natsu, only to blush at how close he was to her. She would only have to lean forward a little and she could capture his lips in the kiss that she had been waiting so long for. Before she could act Natsu backed away a little and she had to work to hide the disappointment at the missed opportunity.

That was when what he said really connected in her head, "Wait, how do you know what my scent is after all these years?"

"How could I forget your scent?" Natsu grinned back and she couldn't keep the light blush of her face, "I mean sure, Levy and Mira both left their mark on you, but your base scent is still the same. Still a perfect blend of strawberries and vanilla and just a little hint of steel polish. It's intoxicating." Natsu quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. He didn't mean to let that last tidbit out.

Erza's light blush erupted into a fierce red that matched her hair. Her natural reaction to pummel him into the ground was stopped halfway by the realization that Natsu was as attracted to her scent. Did that mean that he was attracted to the rest of her too? She started to move into her contemplation stance as she followed that rabbit hole down.

She was startled out of her reverie by Natsu again, but this time he didn't bother with trying to talk to her. He just moved behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her into the living room, right to the couch that held the other two ladies. When she sat down between them and they moved close enough that their sides were touching Natsu went back to his chair and flopped into it with a grin.

With everyone present, Natsu elaborated on his earlier answer, "So what I do with my armour is similar to requiping it, but I don't use a pocket dimension like you do Erza. My armour resides in my soul when I'm not using it." Natsu reveled in the confusion on the three girls faces, for once he knew something that they didn't.

Levy's confusion quickly fled and her thirst for knowledge replaced it, "How does that work?" She held her pen poised over her note paper.

"It's part of my magic. To be a true Dragon Slayer you must have part of a dragon's soul within you. The armour is the embodiment of that soul and it only become available after you've managed to bring out the power of that soul. Dragon Force. That's why pieces of the armour take on the features of the dragon that gave up the piece of soul within you." Natsu answered with as succinctly as possible.

"Alright that makes sense, but what about people like Laxus that have the dragon lacrima implanted in them?" Mira asked, barely beating Levy to the question.

"Unfortunately Laxus will never be able to progress to the Knight stage. His magic is provided by a lacrima that a Dragon Slayer has poured their magic into, with a small portion of their soul. He can probably enter the first two stages of Dragon Force, but it's unlikely that he will ever get passed that stage without finding a lightning dragon willing to give up piece of it's soul and time for training. Since all the dragon's aside from Acnologia disappeared July 7th, X777."

"So does that mean that I can't try your armour?" Erza pouted on the couch, it looked so awesome too.

Levy and Mira both sighed at the red head's words. Neither one could believe that was all she took away from the whole conversation. Natsu let out a deep rumbling laugh that was different from the laughter he used to unleash at every possible opportunity.

The sound sent shivers down all the girls spine's. It wasn't scary though, it was unbelievably sexy. Erza was still waiting for her answer though and Natsu noticed her intent stare.

"No you can't try my armour. Even if I could take it off without it disappearing back to my soul, it wouldn't even come close to fitting you." Natsu watched as Erza's face fell even further, "I did happen to make you a set of armour though that will be similar in material. I don't know what kind of magical properties it will have, but it's likely completely immune to fire, aside from my own."

Erza looked up with a look of undisguised glee, "Really? Completely immune to fire?" Natsu answered with a small smile and a nod, "How is that possible? My Flame Empress armour is the best that money could buy and it only cuts the power of the attacks down by half." Erza had quickly gotten over her remaining shyness.

"Well it is made from the scales of the Fire Dragon King. Not a whole lot of fire or anything people consider hot will affect something made out of Igneel's scales." Natsu laughed at the dumfounded look on both Levy and Erza's face.

Mira just looked at Natsu with a content smile. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until he came back. They were never that close, it was Lisanna that was really close to Natsu. Natsu had a much larger impact on the guild than anyone else thought. Mira had noticed that there were a lot of ladies at the hall that were much quieter and far less involved with everything without Natsu being there.

Natsu watched as Levy and Erza started to debate the pros and cons that came with a full suit of fire proof armour. Natsu wasn't sure that their really was a con to being fire proof, it had never been a bad thing for him after all. He let them continue their conversation until it became obvious to him that they weren't going to be stopping anytime soon.

"Erza. Erza! I'm going to need your measurements to adjust the armour. You've, uh, grown since the last time I saw you." Natsu rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"It shouldn't make that big of a deal. I'm only an inch taller." Erza was completely oblivious to Natsu's embarrassment and Mira's tittering because of it.

Natsu shot a pleading look at Mira. Silently begging her to help him out. He watched as Mira debated how much she fun she would get out of watching Natsu try to subtly hint at Erza's expanded womanly assets and Erza's complete lack of understanding. It was incredible in and of itself that Natsu was being subtle. Eventually Mira decided that it would be better to help Natsu out.

Erza was still looking at Natsu in confusion when Mira spoke up, "Erza, honey, he's talking about your chest and hips. He's been gone long enough that it's a huge difference for him."

Erza's mouth dropped open in surprise, as did Levy's, neither one would have thought that Natsu would even notice something like that.

Levy really wanted to say something about that, but she couldn't get her mind to cooperate. It was entirely stuck on what Natsu thought about her growth. She had almost no curves when he had left. She didn't have a huge chest, or an hourglass figure, now either, but she definitely had come curves now. Her constant research and lugging huge books around had toned her muscles quite nicely, causing a flat stomach and nicely defined legs. While squatting and climbing ladders in the library had turned her butt into a firm, perfectly curved heart-shaped ass to die for. Levy's chest had grown to at least a C cup as well, but she wore loose-chested clothes to kind of hid it from everyone else, besides Mira and Erza of course. In short, Levy didn't have large curves, but what she did have definitely fit her body perfectly, her chest even looked large on her petit frame.

"Well I thought I estimated her growth well enough, but I still think it will be a little too small. If it makes you feel better, Levy can take the measurements and give them to me. I can have it adjusted by tomorrow." Natsu offered up to Erza.

Levy noticed the blush start to grow on Erza's face and got a wicked idea that brought a smirk to her face. "Actually Natsu, I don't think I would be the best one to do it. I think you should since you're the one that will actually be using them." Her smirk grew when she heard Erza gasp and Mira snicker.

Natsu's face grew warm and he could feel the blush creeping up his neck. He forced it down, not wanting to let Levy and Mira see his discomfort at the thought. "If Erza is comfortable with that, then we can do it." Natsu shot back at Levy, betting on Erza still being shy and backing out of that idea.

Erza mastered herself as quickly as she could, forcing her mouth to move despite her embarrassment and arousal that the thought of Natsu measuring her.

"I think I can handle that. I trust you Natsu." Erza sent an unsure smile at Natsu, hoping that he was actually okay with it. "I would really like to talk to you alone anyways." Natsu nodded lightly, knowing it was going to be about him being the Red Knight.

Erza accepted the nod gratefully before getting up and looking at the other two girls, "As much as I trust and care for you guys, there are somethings that I need to deal with on my own."

Levy and Mira grabbed a hand each and held it comfortingly, sending moral support to the third of their trio. They knew this was going to be hard on Erza and they were extremely proud of her for putting herself out there. It helped that Natsu was the only man she trusted now that they knew he was the Red Knight. Jellal had once ranked among her trusted, but he had ruined that with killing Simon in the Tower of Heaven, whether he was being controlled or not.

"I'll see you guys later, right?" Erza asked uncertainly. They had talked about her confessing to Natsu before and how it would affect their relationship. Both girls had said that she had to do it and they wouldn't hold her back from the man she had realized she loved. Erza knew that she loved her girls too, though and was going to talk to Natsu about them as well. Neither Levy, nor Mira would admit that they had realized their love for Natsu, but Erza knew that they did, just based on how they all talked about him together.

With the thought of trying to get the other girls to either admit that they love Natsu, or at least admire him, on her mind, Erza followed Natsu out the back door that she didn't know he had. She was starting to get nervous about where they were going when he entered the woods behind his house, but then she saw the smoke rising from just a little way past the first trees. It turned out to be a full smithy that Natsu had somehow set up in secret. It seems Natsu had a lot of secrets that he had never even hinted at before.

Erza was drawn out of her thoughts of Natsu and secrets when he pushed open the door and waved her in, saying, "After you."