Been very busy recently studying for my exams, so I haven't had much time to write, but after that is over I'll have a good two weeks to write.
I've also been moving recently which has been exhausting and I got a new computer as well, with my old one dying.
In addition to this, I've reworked my pat reon so be sure to check it out, as the next chapter for ATC, WOF and ADR are already up there, so expect a lot of Fairy Tail to come.

Enjoy.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.

Previously:
Erza told Natsu about her life prior to Fairy Tail, with Natsu promising to destroy the Tower of Heaven and Jellal in return. After Tartaros mobilised on the search for E.N.D., Silver found himself in a desert, nowhere near where E.N.D. was thought to be. Erza awoke the next day after telling Natsu her life story, only for him to have not returned to the guild. Deciding to go on a job, Erza, Lucy, Gray and Happy headed out, with Erza telling Makarov to keep Natsu at the guild should he return. Meanwhile, Natsu had been following Erza's scent from a decade ago with some difficulty, before running into Silver. After a brief exchange of words, with both revealing who they were to the other, a small battle ensued, before the two parted on amicable terms with Natsu expressing his desire to destroy the Tower of Heaven, while Silver revealed his intentions to eradicate all demons.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Fairy Tail anime/manga. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

*expression*

Flashback

Techniques

Chapter 5 – Annihilation

Natsu glared at the structure in front of him with pure hate. Clenching his mismatched fists, Natsu started walking towards the hulking tower of stone. Reaching the base of the tower, Natsu saw a large entrance carved into the rock. With no time to waste, Natsu advanced, uncaring of how exposed he was.

'Huh, who are you?' Asked a man carrying a spear.

Natsu didn't respond to the man and continued making his way to the entrance. The man growled at being ignored, before rushing Natsu, intending to get some answers.

'Who the hell do you think you are?' Asked the man, grabbing the collar of Natsu's coat.

The man's snarl quickly shifted, becoming an expression of abject fear.

'Did you just ask me who do I think I am? I don't think I am anyone. I know I am the man who will destroy this tower and everyone in it. Now, you have two options. Run inside and try and rally whoever else is in there, or… you can run away now and live to see tomorrow.' Said Natsu coldly.

The man flinched at Natsu's words, slowly releasing his grip on his collar, after which Natsu promptly started walking off. The man hesitated, not knowing what to do. This man had been abducted from his village when he was four. His name was Lucian. He had worked on this tower under the yoke of the slavers, enduring starvation, severe dehydration and abuse, both physical and verbal. Eventually, one day, a glimmer of hope had arisen and there had been a rebellion. They had overcome their oppressors and thought they would soon be free, only for one of their own to turn on them. Fearing all hope was lost, the slaves had been scattered, before one of their own united them. This particular slave was fierce, but also kind. This slave had ended their oppression and gave those who wanted it their freedom. Many left, but even more stayed. This man had been one of them, pledging his life in service of the one who saved them. Without knowing why, the former slaves had continued to work on the tower, only this time, they were well fed and compensated for their effort, being given as much rest as they wanted. In this way, their loyalty had been earned and many would give their lives to serve the man who had saved them. Lucian always thought that his loyalty was absolutely, that he would look death right in the eye for the man who had saved them.

Today, death had looked Lucian in the eye and given him two options. Succumb to death or flee with his life. Although all his thoughts and memories raced through Lucian's head, only one thing stuck: those two cold eyes. Had Lucian been a braver man, he may have tried to fight this man. Had he been a more cowardly man, he would have fled with his life. Alas, Lucian was neither too brave, nor too cowardly. For this reason, he ran ahead of the man into the tower to warn the others. Lucian had to at least warn their saviour, for if anyone could combat the apparition that had shaken his soul to its core, it would be him.

Natsu saw the man who had touched him freeze in fear, before experiencing an internal struggle, followed by him running into the tower. Natsu watched the man, until the moment his foot crossed the threshold into the tower.

'Fire Dragon's Anger.' Said Natsu, clapping his hands together, fingers pointing up in a prayer position.

In the next moment, two waves of fire appeared on either side of the man currently running into the tower, only to converge on him from both sides before meeting. An explosion ensued, shaking the foundations of the tower. Natsu continued walking towards the flames, which slowly died down. Natsu entered the tower and noticed a charred mess of a man. He was groaning in pain, with numerous second and third degree burns on his exposed skin. His clothes were bubbling from the heat, prolonging his pain, his remaining nerves firing in agony. His hat had burned away, along with most of his hair and his lips were cracked and dry.

'That was your only warning.' Said Natsu, before walking past the man, uncaring of his suffering.

Lucian didn't even have the strength to groan in pain. Using his right arm which had survived the flames better than his left, he crawled towards the exit of the tower. The dust and dry rock around Lucian had become heated as well, making movement even more painful than it would have been with his burns alone. Lucian managed to get out of the tower, crawling his way towards a boat, before dragging himself into it and using the last of his strength, pushed off the ground, sending the boat moving with the ocean currents. Just before slipping into unconsciousness, Lucian had one last thought. Today, he had made the worst decision of his life.

-line break-

Erza returned from her mission with Lucy, Gray and Happy, before heading straight towards the guild. Without so much as a parting word to her comrades, she set off. Happy followed after the red-haired knight, but she neither minded, nor acknowledged his presence, too engrossed in reaching her destination. Opening the doors to the guild, Erza glanced over those present currently, before giving a small frown, causing all who had been surveyed to swallow in nervousness.

'Master, has Natsu returned yet?' Asked Erza, walking up to the diminutive mage and causing all others to exhale softly in relief.

'I'm afraid not my child. Did the mission go well?' Asked Makarov.

'Aye sir, we destroyed just as much as though Natsu was with us.' Said Happy cheerfully, causing Makarov's jaw to drop, feeling a little bit of his soul try to escape.

'Master, I would like to go look for Natsu.' Requested Erza, causing Makarov to school his features.

'For what reason? This is not the first time Natsu has gone off on his own, perhaps he has found a new lead on Igneel.' Inquired Makarov.

'Natsu never goes to search for Igneel without me.' Commented Happy, getting a small nod from Erza.

'That is correct. I also have reason to believe that he may be doing something foolish.' Added Erza.

'What makes you think that?' Asked Makarov, causing Erza to stiffen.

'Erza, is there something you are not telling me?' Pressed Makarov.

'I… I may have told Natsu something I shouldn't have and now I fear what he may do.' Admitted Erza.

'Do you mean to say you are fearful of Natsu, Erza?' Asked Makarov curiously.

'Of course not!' Protested Erza, before blushing in embarrassment at how loud she had gotten.

'I am worried about what he might do for me.' Revealed Erza, causing Makarov to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

'For you? Surely if Natsu is doing you a favour of sorts you have nothing to worry about.' Said Makarov in confusion.

'He may go too far though… I am worried about what Natsu may do, not for his own wellbeing or my own, but rather, what he may do to others.' Confessed Erza.

'Erza, Natsu knows the consequences of his actions, as do all. Have faith that he will do what is necessary but never any more or less.' Advised Makarov.

'I see, thank you Master.' Said Erza, before leaving the guild, Happy following behind her.

The two heard the doors of the guild close behind them, before Erza came to a stop, Happy floating just above her in curiosity.

'Happy, let's go find Natsu.' Said Erza, changing into her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

'Aye sir.' Said Happy, before the two blasted off into the sky.

-line break-

Natsu's gaze hadn't changed at all in the past ten minutes as he systematically dismantled the tower. As he made his way upwards, he dealt with any resistance, with most choosing to flee immediately after seeing what he had done to some of their own, leaving the wounded to crawl away from the monster that was singlehandedly annihilating them. Every level Natsu ascended, inevitably followed the same pattern, with only slight variation. Natsu would make his way to a new level, before punching through several support pillars. The commotion from such an action would send guards running towards his position, where a portion of them were swiftly dealt with, suffering painful burns. Seeing the power Natsu possessed, the remaining, unharmed guards would flee. The only variation from this routine, was that sometimes, the guards would help their wounded comrades leave the tower as well, but this was quite rare. Having ascended twenty levels now, Natsu had only seen it happen twice. There was something to be said about those who helped their comrades, even in the face of pure terror. Those few were strong but also kind. However, this all mattered little to Natsu.

'Hey, don't you know it isn't dandy to just walk into someone's home and started wrecking the place.' Spoke a man.

Natsu paid him no mind, the man taking no steps to attack Natsu and Natsu being utterly uninterested in him. The feeling of magic being used, however, did cause Natsu to pause momentarily, as a gun attached to a disembodied arm appeared in front of him.

'Any last words, boy?' Asked the man.

'Are you Jellal?' Asked Natsu, having detected the faintest trace of Erza's scent on the man.

'It doesn't matter, since I'm about to put you down.' Said the man, only to feel a massive amount of pain in his shoulder.

Natsu had pulled the disembodied hand towards him, somehow affecting the man's body and dislocating his shoulder.

'Are you Jellal?' Asked Natsu again more forcefully, causing the man to sweat.

'What do you want with Jellal?' Asked the man nervously, unknowingly giving Natsu his answer.

'Leave now or be buried along with this tower.' Said Natsu, releasing his grip on the disembodied hand.

The man chose not to leave, but not to fight Natsu either, heading off somewhere into the tower. Natsu, uncaring as he was, did nothing to stop his secret observer, who soon headed off as well. Ascending to the next level, Natsu saw no guards and walked towards a foundation pillar. One swift punch and it shattered, before Natsu moved on, doing the same to another pillar.

'You've got some nerve.' Said a new voice, causing Natsu to pause once again.

Natsu saw this man was standing in front of the staircase to the next level, putting him directly in Natsu's line of sight.

The man was tanned and well-dressed, coupled with a smug, slightly annoyed expression. Natsu walked towards the man, causing his grin to lessen.

'Eh, do you think you can get past me?' Asked the man, poking the dragon.

Natsu's eyes weren't even focused on the man, his gaze passed through him, focusing on what was to come. On some level, the man knew he wasn't being taken seriously, which caused him to growl and pull out a few cards, which he threw at Natsu. Natsu didn't even miss a step, with the cards turned to ash within a few metres of him. It was only now that the man started to feel uncomfortably hot, which worsened the closer the pink haired man got to him.

When Natsu was only a meter away from the man, his eyes focused on him momentarily.

'You're in my way.' Said Natsu simply, his cold gaze causing the man to whimper and back off, before, quite foolishly, he braced himself and prepared to stand up against the intimidating man.

'I'll show you!' Roared the man in anger, pulling out a card, before trying to suck Natsu into it.

Natsu's glare sharpened at this, before the card caught fire, burning the man's hand in the process and causing him to wince in pain, looking away from Natsu momentarily to examine his burnt appendage. One moment later, a clawed hand was over most of his face, before his entire body was slammed into the ground, head first. The man was understandably quite dazed, bleeding from his mouth and nose, along with a persistent ringing in his ears. Natsu showed absolute disregard for the man and physically walked over him, causing the man to groan in pain.

'Leave now or be buried along with this tower.' Said Natsu once more, as he had said to the other person who had tried to stop him, before continuing on.

-line break-

Silver walked back into the lair of demons, making his way towards Mard Geer's throne where the rest of the demons had already gathered. It had been twelve hours since the Nine Demon Gates had been dispatched and Mard Geer expected results.

'You mean to tell me no one was able to locate Master E.N.D. or even a trace of him?' Questioned Mard Geer, currently preparing to admonish eight of the Nine Demon Gates.

'Forgive us.' Bowed the green haired demon, only for Silver to give a small laugh of amusement as he entered the room.

'Well, seems today's my lucky day.' Said Silver, getting the demons gathered to look at him.

'Oh, what makes you say that, Silver?' Asked Mard Geer.

'I seem to be the only one who found E.N.D. which is pretty funny, since I know all of you went in the opposite direction of me.' Said Silver, causing the gathered demons to look at him in surprise.

'So, you claim you found E.N.D., Silver. Where is E.N.D. now then?' Asked Mard Geer.

'No idea.' Said Silver, with a smile.

'Yet you come here and expect us to believe you found E.N.D.?' Retorted Mard Geer.

'Of course, I have nothing to gain by lying, especially when E.N.D. himself told me he doesn't want to lead any of you.' Revealed Silver, causing most of the demons to narrow their eyes in suspicion, while Mard Geer seemed almost amused by this answer.

'I see, so Master E.N.D. is indeed confused as Mard Geer had feared.' Commented Mard Geer, causing all to look at him.

'He didn't seem confused to me.' Commented Silver, but Mard Geer ignored him.

'It seems that we will in fact need to modify our goal. As of now, you are all being ordered to capture Master E.N.D. and bring him back to Tartaros, so we can help him regain himself. Alive of course, but with force if necessary.' Said Mard Geer, before getting a round of nods from all but Silver, before they left, leaving the two alone.

'Mard Geer knows you are hopeful, but once Master E.N.D. returns to us, your goal will be impossible and your role will be obsolete.' Said Mard Geer.

'Then I better go find myself some things, since I'm going to be here for a while it seems.' Chortled Silver, leaving Mard Geer smiling at his retreating back.

-line break-

'How surprising, I didn't expect anyone here for some time. You are ahead of my predictions it seems.' Said a man, seated in front of a chess board.

Natsu had just reached the top of the tower, as the man had spoken, even before Natsu had properly walked into the room.

'Are you Jellal?' Asked Natsu, fairly certain this in fact was the man he was looking for.

'And if I am?' Asked the man, whose head was covered with a hood.

'Simple, I will kill you.' Said Natsu.

'Bold words, but do you really think you can back them up? Killing someone is not an easy task, especially one such as I. Add to the fact that I hear killing is quite frowned upon these days, I don't think a light mage should throw around such serious threats.' Commented the man, taking off his hood and revealing blue hair to Natsu.

'I will only ask you one more time, just to be sure, are you Jellal?' Asked Natsu, stopping a few metres away from the man.

'I am.' Said the man, before a wave of heat washed over him.

'In that case, go down with this tower Fire Dragon's Wrath.' Said Natsu, before punching his left fist into the ground.

The man known as Jellal looked on in amusement, before the entire tower started to shake.

'What did you do?' Asked Jellal.

'Exactly what I said I would do, bring this tower down, singlehandedly.' Said Natsu, before the ground started breaking up beneath their feet.

The tower seemed to sway slightly, before collapsing in on itself. The edges and remaining pillars collapsed inwards, with the central aspect of the tower simply plummeting. Level after level crashed to the ground, one layer on top of another, slowly bringing both Jellal and Natsu down to sea level. The two stared off, seemingly unaware of the destruction occurring under their feet, if not for the slight smirk on Natsu's visage and the slight scowl on Jellal's. The ground at the base of the tower trembled, causing the few who remained on the island to watch on in fear. Two of the men Natsu had gotten past as well as another man and a woman, watched the tower crumble.

'Impossible… did that guy really bring down that tower just like that.' Gasped the man who almost had his shoulder dislocated by Natsu.

'I can't believe it… we spent years working on it… now it goes down in a moment… how can this be?' Asked the tanned boy.

'Simon, why don't you look as shocked as Shou and Wally?' Asked the girl, who seemed to possess many feline features, including cat ears and a tail.

'That man is Salamander, a fearsome fire mage. If there was ever a match for Jellal, it would be him.' Said Simon, a fairly muscular looking man.

'Shouldn't we help Jellal then?' Asked Wally.

'You saw what he did to you when he wasn't taking you seriously, none of us are a match for him. It is best that we leave as soon as we can.' Said Simon.

'We can't just leave Jellal behind!' Protest Shou, before a large chunk of stone dropped a few metres away from them.

'Then we had better take cover.' Advised Simon, before the group moved away from the crumbling tower.

-line break-

'Erza, what exactly are we looking for?' Asked Happy, as he flew alongside the knight.

'I'm trying to retrace my steps.' Said Erza.

'Eh, so you don't know where we are going?' Asked Happy in surprise.

'I have a general idea, but not an exact location.' Admitted Erza.

'Do you think we should stop for a rest then, otherwise you'll burn up all of your magic?' Asked Happy.

'It will be fine, just as long as we find Natsu before he does something that he can't undo.' Said Erza.

The blue haired feline observed the redhead, noting her determined gaze, but also the worry in her eyes.

'Don't worry, Erza. Natsu will be okay, he's Natsu after all.' Said Happy.

Erza smiled softly at this.

'Yes, you're right, he is Natsu after all.' Agreed Erza, before spotting something down below.

Erza nosedived, followed quickly by Happy, who had yet to spot what Erza had. A tiny speck of brown in a sea of blue had stuck out to Erza. As the speck enlarged, Happy was able to make out that it was a boat with a man inside.

'Natsu!' Cried Happy, thinking the man was his friend, only for this to be proven false once they got closer.

Inside the boat was an unconscious man who appeared to have suffered severe burns. Examining the burns, Erza felt the faintest traces of a familiar magic from them. Taking a moment to survey the boat as well as the current, Erza quickly deduced the rough direction it must have come from, given the passenger surely was in no state to alter the course of the sea vessel.

'Let's go, Happy.' Said Erza, rising into the air, sparing a bit of her magic to telekinetically give the boat a push to get it to land quicker, before flying off.

-line break-

'Do you have any idea how hard I worked to build this tower?' Asked Jellal in barely contained rage.

'I'm going to guess a lot harder than it was for me to destroy it.' Replied Natsu, enjoying the distress of the man in front of him.

'You've ruined so much here today… but it is okay, as I will defeat you and simply build another tower. Your actions are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, a momentary annoyance if you will.' Said Jellal, visibly calming himself down.

'I've got bad news for you pal. If you think you are leaving here today alive, you've got another thing coming.' Said Natsu.

'Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you.' Quipped Jellal.

'Meteor.' Said Jellal, before shooting off.

Natsu watched with a bored gaze as the man zipped around him, before breaking out into a vicious grin when he appeared behind him. Natsu whirled around and launched a fist of fire at Jellal at point blank range, blowing the mage back and burning away his cloak.

'That was just a little hello, now we can start the real fight.' Said Natsu, fire beginning to seemingly ooze out of him and spread out, heating the place up significantly.

'Be judged by the seven stars, Grand Chariot!' Exclaimed Jellal, revealing that all the moving around he had been doing before was not merely to unnerve Natsu, but rather to set up a more devastating attack.

Natsu closed his wings over his body as the attack reached him. Jellal smirked, assured in his victory, which made the sight of Natsu standing where he had been when Jellal launched his attack, very unnerving.

'That actually stung a little.' Growled Natsu, flexing his wings and revealing the right side of his body appeared burned somehow.

'Fire Dragon's Anger.' Said Natsu, clapping his hands together, as two large waves of fire closed around Jellal.

'Meteor.' Exclaimed Jellal, escaping the attack and rushing Natsu.

Jellal threw a punch at Natsu's face, only for the fist to be caught.

'Fire Dragon's Grip Strike.' Said Natsu, blasting Jellal back.

The blue haired man rolled along the ground, before slowly getting back to his feet.

'It seems I've underestimated you.' Said Jellal, wiping a bit of blood off his lip.

'Likewise, but unlike you, I'm not even close to using my full power here. You won't actually get to see it, worms don't deserve to see my true power, but I'll be sure to utterly defeat you before ending your miserable existence all the same.' Said Natsu.

'Oh, is that so? Seems you are quite the talker, so let me show you my power.' Said Jellal, crossing his arms over his head.

Natsu felt the influx of power and was mildly impressed. It seemed this Jellal actually had some bite to his insane bark. Sadly though, a dog was no match for a dragon. Jellal continued to gather power for his attack, even with Natsu steadily approaching him. The wicked winds whipped up from the attack didn't even faze Natsu, as he continued advancing towards the frightening attack.

'This is your end!' Said Jellal, preparing to unleash his attack, only for Natsu to suddenly appear in front of him, clawed dragon hand around his throat, before he was pummelled into the ground, his attack dissipating.

A strangled cry escaped Jellal's mouth, as Natsu had yet to let his grip go.

'That was it? Your strongest attack wasn't even a blip on my radar. Here, let me show you ten percent of my power.' Said Natsu, before flaring his magic.

Jellal's very soul trembled at being in such close proximity to such power. It was maddening. Jellal felt as though a miasma of fire and darkness was swirling around him, suffocating him, seeping into his very being and crushing his soul, before it abruptly ceased.

'Well, still think you're going to live to build another tower?' Asked Natsu.

For the first time in a long time, Jellal felt something. Fear. Pure fear gripped Jellal's heart as he saw his life flash before his eyes. The thing in front of him was no mage, it was a monster and Jellal finally realised that the threats of his demise could be easily backed up. It was terrifying to think his life was dwindling to an end. With every haggard breath he took, he realised the next could be his last. Surprisingly, Jellal was saved, by a few cards. These cards had been thrown by the tanned man Natsu had defeated earlier.

'Shou, what are you doing?' Shouted Simon.

'He's going to kill Jellal!' Exclaimed Shou.

This momentary distraction proved to be the break Jellal needed, quickly breaking Natsu's slightly slackened grip and using Meteor to get away, closer to the group of four who had remained on the island.

'There is no escape, Jellal. Your friends may distract me momentarily, but I will kill you here today.' Said Natsu, standing up and turning to face the blue haired man.

'Grand Chariot!' Exclaimed Jellal, as even in his state of panic, he had managed to set up another attack during his retreat.

Natsu growled and blasted off the ground with a flap of his wings, before dive bombing the group, avoiding the attack. In a move that surprised everyone, Shou tried to intercept Natsu with another set of cards, before trying to suck him into one. Natsu roared, feeling the magic grip his form again, before engulfing himself in fire and slamming into the tanned boy. Jellal managed to use meteor to escape the blast radius, but the other three were blown away by the attack. A strong gust of wind emerged from the impact site, before a downed Shou was revealed, with Natsu standing in front of him.

'Keep running Jellal! I'll tear through everyone that gets in the way of me ending your life!' Shouted Natsu, before taking a deep breath in.

Jellal used meteor again and appeared behind Natsu, levelling a kick at his head, only for the fire mage to duck and light his leg on fire, before spinning around and kicking Jellal. Jellal used the momentum of the kick to set up another attack, only for Natsu to appear above him and open his mouth, spewing flames at him. Jellal crashed to the ground, rolling over a few times as the flames around him extinguished, before getting back to his feet. Jellal activated meteor once more, only for Natsu to suddenly appear on top of him, driving his knee into his back and smashing him face first into the ground. Lighting his fist on fire, Natsu prepared to end Jellal's life, only for a pair of voices to stop him.

'Natsu!' Cried both Erza and Happy, as they arrived upon the scene.

Natsu blinked in surprise.

'How did you find me?' Asked Natsu.

'I'll explain later. Natsu, you don't need to do this.' Said Erza, approaching Natsu and Jellal.

'I know I don't need to.' Said Natsu, causing Erza to pause.

'I want to.' Continued Natsu.

'Why Natsu, you are not a murderer?' Asked Erza, hoping to calm the dragon down.

'This thing caused you pain. I'm simply making sure it can't do so ever again.' Sneered Natsu, referring to Jellal.

'He won't Natsu, you've shown what will happen to him if he tries, so just stop. You don't need to lower yourself to his level.' Pleaded Erza.

Natsu hesitated, torn between doing what he felt Erza needed, with what Erza was saying.

'Just how do you know he won't try something?' Asked Natsu.

'We will hand him over to the authorities and he will be locked up, that's why.' Said Erza, gaining some confidence as Natsu seemed to be listening to her.

'Fine.' Said Natsu, exhaling deeply, before stepping off Jellal.

Almost as if to mock them, the moment Jellal was released, he rushed the unconscious Shou, placing a small blade to his neck.

'Haha, oh Erza, still as naïve as ever. You think this is it? The authorities? I'm not going down here and if you don't want Shou's blood on your hands, you will let me leave here unhindered.' Said Jellal, madness and fear reflecting in his face.

'Do you think that will stop me?' Asked Natsu, unnerving Jellal.

'Erza, do you really want me to kill Shou? If you don't stop him, I will rip Shou's neck open!' Yelled Jellal, spittle flying from his mouth.

'Natsu, stop please.' Said Erza, causing the pink haired mage to pause momentarily.

'I can kill him before he even tries.' Said Natsu, only for Erza to shake her head.

'No Natsu, let him go. I don't want to see you become a murder, not for my sake.' Said Erza.

Natsu's magic flared in response, reflecting his inner turmoil, before dropping to very little. Jellal smirked before being engulfed in the magic of meteor and disappearing, leaving Shou to fall back to the ground. The instant Natsu felt Jellal's presence disappear, his gave a roar of anger so loud it was heard among all the nearby towns across the body of water surrounding them. Fire shot out of Natsu's form, rising high into the air and lashing the ground around him.

'Natsu stop, it's okay!' Yelled Erza over the cacophony of noise Natsu was making, before requipping into her Flame Empress Armour.

Erza braved the flames, walking closer to Natsu, despite the uncomfortable heat she felt. Even with her armour negating half of the fire's power and her own innate resistance thanks to Natsu's marking of her, she could still feel a significant amount of heat, making her realise just how angry Natsu must be to produce flames of this magnitude. Erza eventually reached the Dragon Slayer, who was glowering at the spot where Jellal was before. Walking directly into his line of sight, Erza reached out to Natsu's face, cradling it between her hands.

'Natsu, it's okay. I'm not afraid anymore.' Said Erza, causing the fire around Natsu to lessen.

'I'm not afraid, because I know I have you at my side.' Continued Erza, as Natsu's flames started to come under control.

'You destroyed the tower and defeated Jellal, it is more than I could ever ask for, but you did it for me anyway, even without me saying a thing. I understand now, Natsu, my problems are your problems and your problems are my problems. As long as we have each other, we have nothing to fear, isn't that right?' Finished Erza.

Natsu let his magic calm down, leaving only a few cinders burning around his feet, before they too were extinguished.

'Well Natsu, I'm waiting?' Said Erza, adopting a stern expression.

'That's right, nothing will ever hurt you while I'm around.' Said Natsu, causing Erza's expression to soften again.

'Of course and I won't let anyone hurt you either Natsu. I'm here for you, just like you're here for me.' Said Erza, wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck and hugging him.

Eventually, Natsu relaxed into the hug, before wrapping up Erza even tighter.

'He likes you.' Teased Happy, only for Erza to smile softly.

"I know, and I like him too." Thought Erza, enjoying the warmth of Natsu's hug.