A/N: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they are a property of Hiro Mashima and his publishers.

When it Hurts the Most

Natsu Dragneel had managed to sneak away from the rest of his teammates while they were still undergoing the process of unlocking their Second Origin, courtesy of Ultear Milkovich. The entire process had him undergo excruciating pain, and whilst it was aggravating at most, he could not deny the excitement that bubbled in him at the thought of growing stronger than he already was. For Natsu, growing stronger was a code he lived by and adhered to daily, although of late, he realized that he was more determined in his quest to be the best. The reason, well, it was where he was headed to at the moment.

As he skipped merrily through the forest, his mind setting on finding one red haired woman, he found himself unworried of how the Time Mage would react once she had realized he was absent from the rest. He had definitely taken a liking to Ultear, ever since the two fought on Galuna Island, but somehow the thought of making her angry did not seem to perturb him as was the case with Erza Scarlet. While he had been accustomed to usual fits of anger from the red haired woman, Natsu had secretly found a certain form of amusement in teasing the red haired woman. But this was not the reason why he was currently searching for her in the forest where they were called by Crime Sorciere.

He had come quite a long way in his unlocking of the second magic vessel said to be possessed by all wizards, according to Ultear, so he wanted to show Erza just how much he had grown, his intentions being to compare his level of growth with that of the red haired woman. He was aware, to some extent, that the red haired woman had also grown quite a ton with her Second Origin training, possibly more than everyone else that was with him, but even then, he still wanted to show her. Since the time that the pink haired man and the red haired woman were kids, Natsu had set Erza as one of his rivals, and vowed to defeat her one day in a fight. Whenever he found a suitable challenge, the first idea that propped into his mind was to challenge her, looking for somewhere where he would best her and, a small part of him added on, make her proud of the man he had become.

The image of Erza's warm smile at him once he had defeated Jellal in the Tower of Heaven resurfaced vividly in his mind, and he still remembered the joy that smile had brought him. For a reason that eluded him to date, ever since that day, he realized that he had wanted to see that smile adorning the face of the girl for as long as he was beside her. He wanted to see that smile, and protect it, since her crying face devastated him more than he could let on. Of course, impressing her with the results of his training would further serve his purposes, he surmised. A gleeful smile plus a chuckle made their way on to his facial features, and suddenly his arms began swinging cheerfully at his sides as he quickened the pace in his steps, his excitement at the thought of meeting Erza grow more and more.

After a few minutes of nothing but forward movement from the pink haired man, he reached a certain section of the forest that he found littered with leaves all over. Not that he had seen leaves in his time here, of course, but for some odd reason, the current place he was in had the leaves in bundles at his feet. He could practically feel the leaves rustle under his feet as he walked on; giving no sign that there was earth beneath him. He looked around him curiously, wondering what part of the forest he had reached, and contemplated going back for a minute. His eyes darted from corner to corner of the unexplored part he had come across, when they landed upon a mass of glowing lights that was floating in the air before him. This sent his mind into a further state of befuddlement, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he wondered where he was supposed to head to now, his eyes closed in thought. Finding no solution in the path that lay before him, he decided to head back and try looking in a different section of the forest, when he saw a bundle of something on the floor of leaves ahead of him.

A drop of sweat formed itself on his brow, his first thought being that he had interrupted something important, and so he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, muttering a silent apology to the human sized bundle ahead of him. Luckily, he realized, they had not gotten sight of him, so it would be easier for him to get away from that area and act as if nothing had ever happened. As he silently tiptoed backwards, however, there was a sudden rustle of wind, sending a fair number of the leaves on the forest floor swirling into the air, forming into a magnificent sight into the air ahead of Natsu. For a moment, he found himself enthralled by the sight of the leaves, being a mirror of his ever-growing happiness, before his eyes came to rest upon a mass of red hair that lay on the ground before him. It did not take him a while to realize that the red hair belonged to the woman he had been looking for, since he did not know any other woman in his life that sported such a lovely shade of red. Immediately, he raised his hand to call out to the woman, a feeling of satisfaction enveloping him. However, he soon became aware of the presence of a mass of blue hair, which lay on top of the woman at a dangerously close position, and his heart stopped momentarily. As quickly as the leaves had risen into the air above him, they soon returned to the ground where they had originated from, and so did the feeling of excitement that was within him.

His first instinct of course, told him to hide behind one of the nearby trees. Once he had his back etched against the rough surface of the tree, however, he found himself wondering what had possessed him to act in such a sneaky manner around two people who were not strangers to him. Erza was his friend, right? Plus the blue haired man, Jellal, had made a change for better the last time Natsu had met him within the Nirvana, right? With these two questions in mind, however, he wondered just what had caused him to feel bad about seeing the two people sprawled on the leaves, with Jellal on top of Erza, at a distance that one could hardly call 'just friends'. Now that he could think about it clearly, Natsu came to the conclusion that he had probably jumped into conclusions earlier, so he decided to look for him to see what was really happening. His face edged closer to the tree, making sure to be as silent as possible lest the two catch wind of him, but the sight that he saw would be something he wished he had not bothered to look at.

Jellal had Erza's face cupped in his hands, and he was inching ever so closer to her face, to which Erza did the same. As the sight etched itself before his eyes, Natsu came to the realization of a growing pain on his chest area, so he raised his hand to the chest, hoping that it would ease the pain. It did him none the better, and with each degree of closeness that the two people before him moved toward, he found the pain in his chest cutting deeper and deeper. What was that he was feeling?

Turning his head away from the scene, and subsequently his focus plus the plethora of emotions that had flooded him then, Natsu found the pain in his chest dulling none the less. He tried to force himself to smile, carrying the thought in mind that the red haired girl seemed happy with the way she was then. So then, why was he finding it really hard to brave a smile at the moment? A laugh escaped his lips nervously, and the thought of running away from that area occurred to him. He tried to move his legs, but to no avail, since all the energy seemed to have seeped away from his limbs. Realizing this, he rested his back softly against the tree he was on, his eyes shut as he tried to block out the ever growing stinging feeling in his chest.

He did not realize when he found himself seated on the ground below him, his legs crossed in front of him. Silently, he leaned his head forward, and placed it silently between his outstretched arms, using them to support himself. He did not know why he had chosen to linger in that area, but then again, he did not know what would happen to him if he decided to move away from there, so he decided it better to stay a while longer. Once he had regained the energy and the will to move away, he would rejoin the rest of the guild members, and act as if nothing had happened. Yes, he came to a realization. Everything was going to be okay, and he would find himself laughing about this and teasing Erza the next time he came across her. A small laugh escaped his lips, as he contemplated the ridiculous way he was feeling at the moment and thinking about he had possibly overreacted in the situation he was in. But then again, a small part of him wondered, why did it hurt ever so?

Away from him, and unknown to him, as the red haired woman edged her face closer and closer to that of the blue haired man, for the inevitable kiss she would get from him, which was going to be her first ever, she suddenly stopped herself. She could feel the warm breath emanating from Jellal's slightly open palate, so then why did she stop? This was what she had always wanted, right? As she contemplated on her thoughts, the blue haired man before her talked to her, for the first time since the two had accidentally ended up in this area of the forest.

"What's wrong, Erza?" Jellal asked, concerned for the woman who was still beneath him.

No, this doesn't feel right, Erza thought, finding it increasingly hard to look into the eyes of the man above her. Her thoughts were now thrown into disarray, and she realized she could not stay in that place any longer. She gently squeezed herself out of the hold of the blue haired man, then replied to him, a bit hurriedly," Oh, I just remembered I have to check up on the others and see how their training is coming along!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a slight pang of guilt in her heart, and for a moment remained unsure of herself. Without giving the matter anymore thought lest she finds herself in a dilemma, she quickly got off the floor of the forest, and turned away from the blue haired man. Jellal weakly raised a hand to stop her, but alas, she had her back turned to him and was steadily increasing the distance between them. Erza Scarlet increased the pace in her steps momentarily, choosing not to hesitate since she did not want to have second thoughts about what she was doing. Her arms were folded across her chest, and her face was cast downwards. There was no trace of a smile across her visage at that point.

As she passed a certain tree, however, she immediately realized that there was a human crouched at the base of the tree, his face unseen and hidden under his hands. She would never mistake that pink hair anywhere, but she could not deny the sense of guilt that invaded her body just then. What was he doing there? Had he seen everything? These questions ran through her mind, as she opened her mouth to call out to him.

"Natsu?"

A/N: Here we are, with the first chapter of my latest Natsu-Erza story. Not to worry though, none of the other stories are being abandoned; I just wanted to add a new story into my collection. All my Naza stories are equally loved and they will be updated regularly. Hope you enjoyed and as always comment with your thoughts and thanks for reading ;)