So kind of forgot I still hadn't posted this... Sorry! It's been sitting on my computer for about a year now, and I actually really like it. I hope you do too!

Handkerchief

"Eh? But why?" Natsu whined.

"Because. I. Said. So." Erza was making random people empty their pockets to find her stolen strawberry cake. Telling the crazy woman (scratch that; the demonic fury, complete with ominous dark eyes and bloody red hair whipping around her face) that that would be last place she would find her precious was pretty futile, so everyone went along with it.

Naturally, Natsu turned white as a sheet at the sight of her and did as he was told. And Fairy Tail, being a rather nosy bunch, examined his personal effects carefully.

"Dude! The pink hair wasn't enough, so you added a nice flowery handkerchief? You are such a girl!" Gray taunted.

"Shut it droopy eyes! It isn't even mine!"

"Then why do you have it?" Gray retorted, before gasping dramatically. "Don't tell me you stole it?!"

And explosion of reactions was the result:

"You stole some girl's handkerchief?" Erza had instantly drawn one of her swords (a new record in the category quick draw) and started interrogating.

"I never pegged you as the perverted kind." Cana said with a grin.

"I'm disappointed in you, Natsu." Mirajane frowned.

"Stealing is not MAN!" Elfman shouted.

"Natsu, you…" Levy, who had occupied a seat near him, inched away slowly, as if dealing with a dangerous animal.

"Nice!" The real perverts in the back shouted.

And Gray was laughing his ass off.

"I didn't steal it!" Natsu exclaimed. When everyone looked at him distrustfully, he added, "Really!"

"Come one guys," Gray said, still snickering, as he slung his arm over Natsu's shoulder. "I was joking. I mean, you all know Natsu and he is seriously not the type to do something like that."

"Yeah!" The pink haired man said. Then he looked rather puzzled. "I don't get how having a handkerchief makes me perverted, though."

"Well, it's not that having one makes you a pervert." Cana answered. "It's more the fact that stealing a girl's personal stuff is really creepy and stalker-ish. Get it?"

"Besides," Mirajane added before Natsu had a chance to reply, "a handkerchief from a girl is typically a token given to the man she admires. It is not something to treat lightly!"

"Hehe, we all know that Natsu hardly even knows the difference between boys and girls, so I doubt that's it. He probably found it." Gray was never one to let an opportunity for a humiliating joke slip. "Like he would accept anything from a girl that's not food."

Natsu, in a rare moment of maturity most likely brought on by the fact that Erza's sword was still worryingly close to his throat, chose to ignore him. "Well, I don't know anything about a token, but I didn't find it either! She gave it to me. It's like… a promise. So we'll definitely meet again!" When everyone was stunned silent at his words, he continued. "So, if it's alright with you, I'mma go do this request now. You've inspected my shit, so, uhm, bye!"

He gathered his stuff and left before anyone recovered. Mirajane took out her own handkerchief to wipe away an escaping tear. "They grow up so fast." She sniffed.

"Indeed." Erza nodded. "I feel ashamed to have misjudged him." Then she faced Gray, her fury-mode turning on. "However, that doesn't solve to mystery of my missing cake. Gray, you seemed pretty happy to start a distraction. You. Are. Next."

The fact that he was wearing only his boxer at this point didn't hinder her in any way. (Plenty of hiding space, right?)

AN: This is the last I had prewritten. I like this universe quite a lot, but I don't really feel like writing for it (also, if I'm going to be writing anything, it should probably be my thesis... As in, I should really be working on my thesis!). I'll probably write one more short story for it, to give it a something that at least looks like an ending. Someday. But yeah, unless someone else wants to write something for this AU (feel free to PM me), that'll be the last of it. I hope you enjoyed it!