Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome to my new story, "Full Moon!" I will warn you that this does spoil Chapter 264, so if you haven't read it, read it before reading this any further.

So this is the second of two stories I wrote as a response to Chapter 264. They have no relation to each other, nor are they linked. As for why I chose the moon as the theme, I can't honestly remember. Maybe I was going for a romantic theme? Hell, I wrote this at pretty much 9:00 last night, and I tend to forget everything that goes on after that time. But hey, I'll shut up and let you get to the story.

I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.

Erza liked looking at the moon. That silver orb in the sky held a magic no mage in the world could ever hope to control. Sure, she had heard of magic that used the moon's power, such as Moon Drip, but that wasn't what she was thinking when the subject of the moon came up.

No, the moon had certain powers that could never be replicated. It had the ability to influence the moods of living things. Some were calmed by it, others incensed. But the thing that Erza loved the most about the moon was its unifying properties.

There was only one moon, sure as there was only one Earth. People could be on oppisite ends of the country, and the moon would see them all. From a young age, Erza had entertained the thought that her parents were looking at the same moon as her, wishing on its power that they would one day find each other.

But as the years passed, the moon had lost that sort of significance. Eventually, Fairy Tail had become her family, with Master Makarov as her father, and the guild her brothers and sisters. Still, the moon had remained a sort of deity to her. She just needed to gaze upon its glow, and for a time, the worries of her world, the burden Jellal had placed on her shoulders, had seemed to vanish.

Tonight, she looked at the moon and imagined Jellal doing the same. She imagined the novelty had worn off for him, having been free for six years now. Still, she had learned long ago that such trivialities should never be taken for granted, for they were the things that bound the world together, that joined lives.

She heard the cabin door open, accompanied by grunts of pain. She looked up and saw Natsu, in nothing but shorts and his trademark scarf.

"Natsu!" she exclaimed in concern. "What are you still doing up? You need your sleep!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but it hurts to sleep!" said Natsu in obvious disbelief.

Erza quirked a brow. "How does that even work?" she asked.

"It's torture, Erza! It's freaking torture!" exclaimed Natsu. "I'm lying there, every muscle screaming in pain, and I'm like 'Holy fuck, I can't take this anymore!' At least when I'm moving around, I can take my mind off the pain! He sat down next to Erza. "Anyway, I was gonna make a fire to speed up the healing process, but now that I'm out here, I figure it's been a while since we really talked."

"Not surprising," said Erza. "You've always been a man of action." Natsu gave a brief laugh, but his face turned serious.

"So... what'd Jellal have to say?" he asked.

Erza had been expecting Natsu to ask about Jellal sooner or later. He never really liked the Crime Sorciere mage that much. It was a miracle he would even accept him as an ally. "Oh, not much," she replied. "He regained his memories, but I'm pretty sure he mentioned that to all of us."

Natsu's face was stoic, yet it betrayed a hint of worry. "He remembers everything?" he asked.

"Yes," said Erza.

"Does he remember the Tower of Heaven?" Natsu growled. "Does he remember how he made you cry? How much he made you suffer?"

"Yes," said Erza sadly. "And he truly regrets every bit of it. He even went so far as to call it the one sin he couldn't atone for. He..." Erza hesitated for a second. "He even thought he was better off dead..."

"That's bullshit!" bellowed Natsu. "He deserves to live! He needs to live with the guilt of hurting someone he once called nakama! He wants to atone for his sins? Well that's a damn good place to start!"

Erza sat there in shock. She knew Natsu was the type to voice his thoughts, but she didn't think he would be capable of saying something so cruel. The worst part about it was, she had said something along those lines during the Nirvana incident.

"Natsu..." she whispered. Her only response was an angry snarl.

"I'm sorry," said Natsu. "I had no business saying that..."

"No, Natsu. What you said makes perfect sense, said Erza. "Jellal was talking as if he could erase the things he'd done, but everything that's happened is irreversable, and he needs to accept that."

"That's what I was saying," said Natsu. "God, I must sound like a complete asshole."

"You did," said Erza. "But sometimes, you need to be cruel to be kind."

"I... I just wanted to make sure you're okay," said Natsu. "Because you're... special to me, and I don't want to see you hurt. I... I don't ever want what happened at the Tower of Heaven to happen again. I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you. The Tower made me realize that. Erza... I... I..." He gave a loud yell. "Can we just change the subject?

"Why?" asked Erza, cupping Natsu's chin in her hand. "I like the subject we're already on." Without another word, she pulled him in and kissed him square on the lips.

Natsu pulled back almost as quickly as they had kissed. "Erza, are you... are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Fool," said Erza. "Why would I have done that if I didn't want to do it?"

"But what about Jellal?" asked Natsu.

"Jellal?" asked Erza. "He made it clear that he doesn't feel that way about me." You didn't lie about having a fiance unless you found something wrong with the kiss. "Besides, I told him to live his life headfirst without regrets, and I'm not about to give advice I wouldn't take myself."

"All right, fine," said Natsu. "But I want you to know that, despite my own feelings, I won't let myself be a placeholder for anyone else. If you can't put your all into this relationship, I'm not interested."

"Natsu, please," said Erza. "When have you ever known me to do things halfway? I'm yours and you're mine, and that's all there is to it."

"I'll hold you to that," said Natsu.

"Great, but shouldn't you be holding me to you right now?" asked Erza. Natsu needed no further invitation and initiated the second (from his view) kiss of the night.

For the first time in a long time, Erza made a wish on the moon. She prayed that it would convey to Jellal that she had found happiness, and that she was living with no regrets, just as she had told him.

And there you go!

A minor plothole I feel I should address is how Natsu's not feeling any pain from the Arc of Time, despite complaining about it at the beginning of the story. Well, the only logical answer I can think of is... he's a boss when it comes to Erza. Does it make sense? Not really, but in a roundabout way, it kind of does. Schrodinger's Cat, anyone?

So that's it for now. Later tonight, I have a something I was going to write into ABCs, but I had a better idea, so it would be scrapped otherwise. See you tonight, I guess!

Oh yeah, I wanted to address Jellal not feeling about that way about Erza. Well, I'll admit that he does, but he obviously made up the fiance lie to distance himself from Erza, for the sake of their feelings. I mean, have you ever loved a fugitive? Yeah, me neither. But it's never bound to end well, and Jellal's only doing the responsible thing and encouraging Erza to find love elsewhere. *coughNatsucough*

All right, this time, I really am gone. See you guys tonight.