Hot and Cold

The Battle Begins

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Burning. That's all I felt in my body. The usual chill in my body had disappeared, giving way to the unforgivable burning raging throughout my body. "Wake up!" Natsu barks angrily, and I feel my world start to shake. I let out a shout, my body locking up from the horrible burning sensation. "What the hell were you thinking?! A little heat magic isn't too bad!" I can't move my lips to tell him to bite me. Not figuratively, literally. Good thing about that stupid mating bond is we can heal one another for a short period of time, saving the other from a life-threatening injury using the ancient magic created with the bite. But the more it's used, the more the bond deepens, causing a horrible strife of jealousy and possessiveness, which is so not what we need right now.

"Aria, we could've handled it," Lucy stammered, swiping at my face as I try to open my eyes.

Ballad starts sobbing. "No, you couldn't have-" Ballad sniffles. "I could feel something awful coming. If she hadn't- one or more of us would've been- would've-" Ballad began to wail and if I weren't injured, I would've tried to calm her down because the wails were hurting my ears.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asks.

"I saw it- Lucy, Mest, Happy- all burned to a crisp..." Ballad sobbed. "It was awful!"

"I don't care about that crap right now; how do we fix this?!" Natsu cries, his hands burning against my shoulders again.

Ballad continued to sob. "I don't have enough magic power to heal her! She needs- needs ice magic!" Ballad's wails get louder.

Then, out of nowhere, I feel teeth puncture my neck again. "Natsu! What the hell are you doing?!" Lucy shouted and I feel her grabbing at my shoulders to try and pry him off. A loud hissing noise erupted from my skin and I can't help the sigh of relief as the intense burning stops. "Wh-What's going on?"

My eyes finally crack open, and it's a bit hazy, but my vision returns to normal. "Took you long enough-" I groan. I sit up, waiting for Natsu to release his grip on my neck. I can vaguely feel his jaw working, and I wonder if he's lost himself in the moment. I snag at his hair and tug back, grimacing at the feel of his teeth pulling out of my skin. Blood dribbles from the wound for a moment before it coagulates. "Thanks."

"What the heck just happened?" Lucy asked, face flushed as I rub at my neck.

"It's just a form of old dragon magic," I retort. "Don't bite me so casually, now you've gotta use your head a bit more from now on, otherwise you're gonna be squaring up with every man in a mile radius."

"It's not like I had a choice!" Natsu retorted irritably. "Why? Is there a guy near?"

I sigh irritably as Lucy peers at him. "What, possessive much?" Lucy asked irritably.

"No!" Natsu retorted, nose turned up. "Just don't like 'em lookin' at Aria, is all!"

I shake my head. "I'll explain later, but for now, would you help me walk? I'm afraid my body is still trying to heal itself."

Lucy nods. "Anything."

Ballad leaps into my arms and rubs her face into my chest, sobbing still. "Can you stop crying? I already feel horrible." Ballad sniffles loudly and her sobs die down to little hiccups. All of a sudden, Natsu lifts me up and cradles me like a child. I grimace and sigh out in irritation. This possessive shift better die down soon.

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