Chapter 1

Guilt was all he felt after he left the lodge. Others had reminded him to think before he acts but that just wasn't his style. He also went with his gut and his gut at the time told him not to trust her. She was a member of Sabertooth after all. The guild with the two of the most arrogant, holier than thou dragonslayers he had ever met. He never thought that he would want to punch someone more than Gray or Gajeel but those two were very close to be laid in front of their "adoring" fans. The same dragonslayers who got their rocks off telling others about killing their foster dragons like it was an everyday thing and mocked him about how he wasn't a "true dragonslayer" like they were since he didn't kill Acnologia. Just thinking about those two were getting him fired up but he couldn't focus on them now. He had to find her. He had to apologize for his harsh temper towards her before he knew that her true intentions were to help Lucy. Thank Igneel that his magic made his senses very acute as he was able to get her scent. Citrus oranges and the crisp night sky was her scent. 'Do all Celestial Mages smell like night time breeze', the Salamander thought.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Wait!"

Turning around the first thing she noticed was a head of salmon colored hair running towards her and a blur cat with wings flying alongside. Then she saw the rest of him and stopped to gaze upon Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragonsayer of Fairy Tail and his trusted partner Happy. 'Why are they here, did I do something wrong? Did I leave something at their lodge?' she thought with an anxious mind. He changed into a jog after catching up and began to scratch the back of his head with his sleeved covered arm with a bashful smile and light blush across his cheeks.

"Um, sorry about before. You're not a bad person after all I guess," he stated with his goofy smile. 'W-what?" she thought.

"You see, Natsu thought that since you were a member of Sabertooth that you were a bad guy," Happy elaborated for his friend.

"And that's why I'm here apologizing!" Natsu retorted.

"Apologize?" Yukino questioned softly. Natsu looked back at her and was ready to give his apology:

"My bad!"

"That's weak! Sorry, but this is actually mature for Natsu," Happy said.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Natsu questioned angrily. Who was Happy to question his maturity? He was plenty mature. Definitely more mature than the Underwear Prince and Stud face. And here he thought they were friends?

"You ran after me just for that...?" Yukino once again questioned softly. With her bangs hanging over her eyes he couldn't make out what her expression was. 'Oh, crap what if she doesn't accept my apology and goes back to Sabertooth about how I acted towards her. Not only will Master be pissed but so will Erza and Lucy on how I treated a girl! Oh God, Erza will make me sit through her "lessons" again!" Natsu thought with his mind beginning to panic.

Trying to remedy the situation Natsu and keep the sweat from pouring down his face Natsu tried to explain his reasoning: "You looked really down, so I thought that maybe I put you in a bad mood or something…"

"You didn't. I'm sorry," Yukino muttered.

'What is she apologizing for? This thing went south fast!' Natsu thought.

"Whoa, whoa, now hold on. There's no need for you to apologize to me!" he said once again with his arm behind his head and a blush on his cheeks. Then he saw something that scared the crap out of him: she was crying. Shoulder shaking, quick breaths, gritted teeth and salty tears. The works if you will. "Don't cry! That's making me feel worse!" he exclaimed.

So overcome with emotions Yukino fell on her knees with her hands covering her delicate face. The tears were streaming like a waterfall down her slightly tan skin. Natsu couldn't understand what made this girl breakdown. 'Was my apology that bad' he thought. Mustering up what little resolve she had Yukino went on: "I can't hold it back anymore! N-no one's ever been this nice to me. I-I… I had wanted to join Sabertooth since I was little…and I finally got in last year. But since I lost today the master k-kicked m-me out and won't let me back in. One time. One time was all it took for me to get kicked out. Even with my humiliating defeat, I was humiliated further by having to undress in front of the guild and the master and erase my mark with my own power. I was so embarrassed! All my memories were tainted and my pride stripped from me right there and then. And on top of all of that, I have nowhere to go!"

It all came pouring out in a flood of raw emotions. Yukino had bottle up everything since her lost and just let it out in front a man who she had only met no more than a couple hours ago. She didn't know why she was telling him all this but she felt that she could. Racked with sobs Yukino didn't see the expression of pure rage on Natsu's face. He was gritting his teeth so hard that it seemed possible that they would begin to crack under the pressure. Natsu couldn't fathom how a guild could do this to one of their own, especially an innocent girl like Yukino. That was what sent him over the edge. Looking up with a frown on his face, Happy could see that Natsu wasn't taking this as well as he would have hoped but he would stand by Natsu on whatever decision he chose.

"Sorry, but I don't know how other guilds work. Yours isn't like Fairy Tail at all," Natsu said with an audible growl.

"I know and I'm sorry for telling you all of this…," Yukino said after calming down somewhat. Fresh tears were still cascading down her cheeks and pooling under her chin. Natsu hated seeing others cry. Erza, Lucy, Mira, hell he would even go as far as Gray (though he'd rather face Acnologia blind and with magic cancelling handcuffs on before he would admit it) so seeing Yukino in such a state made the avenger in Natsu come to life.

"I may not know what goes on in other guilds, but from one wizard to another, I understand. Having to remove your guild mark with your own power and being stripped. It must've been frustrating as hell. Any guild that goes about kicking out one of their own like that, isn't a guild at all! You find family at a guild, not make a member of that family cry!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Family?" Yukino whispered, tears finally gone.

There was a fire in Natsu's eyes that meant only one thing. Someone was going to get their ass kicked. He would make Sabertooth pay for what they did to Yukino. Even if he had to go through every member of Sabertooth to do it. Just another challenge that awaited him. Yukino looked at Natsu in both fascination and curiosity. They had only met just a few hours ago, she had spilled her soul to him and here he was declaring how a guild should act towards one of its one like they were family. Being in Sabertooth meant you were a soldier, there was no remnants of a family anywhere. But hearing him speak about it so passionately, it made her rethink her choice in joining Sabertooth in the first place. The rumors of Sabertooth when she wanted to join were that it only accepted the strong and nothing else. If they saw you as weak that was what you were. But with Fairy Tail she heard the opposite. Strong or not, you were accepted with open arms. The guild that knew no bounds when it came to property damage and having a good time. She had wanted to join Fairy Tail too, but with hearing of their strongest members going missing his attention turned to Fairy Tail. Maybe if she wasn't so quick to join Sabertooth's bandwagon like everybody had after the main core of Fairy Tail went missing, she might've had a better time as a guild member.

"Hey, Yukino is it…" Natsu said.

"Y-yes, it's…its Yukino," she sniffled.

"Do you, uh, have a place to stay? I see that you have a suitcase and everything so, I was wondering do you have a room set up some place since you were kicked out and all," Nastu said with little to not tact.

"Natsu that's not nice" Happy reprimanded him.

"Hey, I'm just asking. I didn't mean for it to come out that way but it did! So, do you have a room Yukino?" Nastu asked.

"I, uh, was on my way actually to get one. It's called Orchids Suites. It's a little pricey but I should have enough jewels rent a room for today," Yukino said.

"Save em, because you're staying with us," Natsu stated with a serious face. He was still thinking on how to decimate Sabertooth for what they did to Yukino.

"Eh, but I don't want to impose Natsu-sama. I've already troubled you with my problems alrea-"

"Nah, it's cool. You had something on your chest that you wanted to let out. I understand. And you wouldn't be imposing at all. Just look at it as my way of saying sorry for how I acted earlier. I judged you before I knew you. Just because you were part of Sabertooth doesn't make you a bad person. Just a good person in a bad guild," Natsu stated with his infamous grin back on his face, but it didn't seem all that cheerful.

"Sabertooth isn't a bad guild, Natsu-sama. Just…misguided is all," Yukino said.

"Good or bad they were messed up. Any way let's get you set up at our lodge and I'm not taking no for an answer you got that. You're coming with us. So up you go," Natsu said while at the same time he lifted Yukino back up onto her feet. With the contact both mages blushed while looking into each other's eyes. Brown met onyx and they couldn't look away. Their hearts were beating faster than before, Yukino's more than Natsu's but not by much. When they noticed this they looked away. Happy saw their little exchanged and tried to stifle a fit of laughter behind his paws so that he wouldn't ruin the tender moment. Not yet anyway.

"So, uh, yeah let's get going," Natsu hurriedly said so that he can get the moment behind him. 'The hell was that about, huh,' he thought. 'What was that feeling? When he touched me, I felt so warm, and when he looked at me I felt so, so…," Yukino couldn't even find the right words for it. Although the moment was brief she still felt his warmth and was strangely attracted to it. Something about this man had her drawn to him. And him to her. They had been rivals at first but now they were something else. Friend's maybe?

"Ok Natsu-sama. I accept your offer. I'll stay with you and your guild for tonight," Yukino said. And for the first time tonight, she smiled. A genuine smile that lit up her face. A face that Natsu couldn't pry his eyes from without great effort.

'Holy crap she's cute," Natsu thought.

"Hey, now you're getting it. Let's get you to the lodge quick. I got some business handle later tonight," Natsu said with a serious expression.

"Oh, what do you have planned," Yukino questioned. She couldn't shake that noting well would come from what Natsu had planned.

Before he answered her Yukino swore she saw an evil smirk dawn Natsu's face before he looked at her with his big contagious smile.

"Nothing much just going to go blow off some steam, with a little light exercise."