Hot and Cold

Kain and Mr. Cursy

~*****~

My legs struggled to keep myself upright. My nose kept twitching as I followed after Zeref's scent. Whoever they are, they cannot bring him to the dark side. Not the Black Wizard. I don't care if he was the baddest guy in his time, he wants to be good. He wants to live in peace, and I'll be damned if someone takes that from him. Although, tumbling down a hill doesn't exactly help my position.

My body protests as I manage to get to my feet. I stumble and slam my fist against the tree I'm fall into. "Come on, stupid legs--" I growl. "Work damn you--"

"Aria--" I hear a familiar voice gasp. My gaze flinches up and I feel my stomach quiver for a moment.

"Natsu..." I murmur delicately as I try to move to him. My body stumbles and I collapse.

"Whoa, hey-- man, you were beat up good..." Natsu commented with a strangely shaky tone. "What happened?"

I groan as I pull myself upwards with the use of his help. "The-- The crying guy--"

"He did this to you?!" Natsu growled.

I shake my head, grasping his face with one hand. "No... Natsu, you have to save him... Our enemies-- they're after him! They want his power! Natsu please, he just wants to live in peace!"

"Listen, I can't just leave you hear while you're hurt like this!" Natsu complained. "So just lean on me and we'll--"

I grasp his face and smash my mouth to his. Natsu flinches in surprise and stares in absolute confusion. "Got your attention, Natsu? Good. Do this for me. I can't fight until I've regained a little bit of strength. You're the only one who can do this! If he turns out to be a bad guy, then I'll take the blame, but I want him to have his chance to do better!"

Natsu nods after a moment before hoisting me upwards and starts running. I complain loudly, but he just snaps. "I ain't leavin' you. And that's final. I'll do everything in my power to save that crybaby. Don't you worry about that!" I stare at him thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Natsu..." I murmur as I lean against his chest. Just as I manage to relax, Natsu's body slips from under me, and we're both going over another cliff. "CAN'T YOU GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING DUMB?!" I bark at Natsu.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--" Natsu cried as I started smacking at his face feebly before we're both taken out by motion sickness from sliding down on a leaf. We hit the bottom and I can't get the energy to move. "That didn't hurt one bit--" I hear Natsu whine. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry--" Natsu pleads again and helps me sit up. "Man, you sure are unlucky today." Natsu mentions as I stare at the tree in front of us.

"Crybaby--" I gasp as I stumble forward.

"NATSU! ARIA! WATCH OUT! BELOW YOU!" Happy cries as he swoops down towards us.

Natsu yelps in surprise before tugging me close and leaping out of the way. "It's her--" I grimace as I lean against Natsu.

"There was a sprouting seed hidden deep within the soil beneath you." The woman from earlier coos. "The Arc of Time guided it into the future to become this tree. Where do you think your future will guide you? I wonder. Well, Natsu Dragneel?"

"So, you're the creep from before." Natsu comments. "No doubt about it, I never forget a smell."

"The guy who used Lyon's group on Galuna Island?" Happy asked.

"SINCE WHEN DID YOU START DRESSING LIKE A GIRL?" Natsu asked angrily.

"Whoa, you're a cross dresser?" Happy chirped.