Preparation

It was a sunny day in Magnolia, sunnier than most actually. As the heat waves flowed like water through the streets, Natsu & Happy were taking the main road to the guild, the former's footsteps getting heavier as he continued to walk. Happy looked to see Natsu tugging and pulling on his clothing.
"Don't worry Natsu, you look fine." Happy said as he walked next to him towards the guild hall.
Everyone they crossed on the street could tell that Natsu looked different compared to his normal self. His black and gold vest was replaced with a black and white plaid shirt with a crosshatch pattern. His white pants changed for blue ones, and his black shoes switched for brown ones given to him by Mirajane. He still had his trademark scarf wrapped around his neck, but even this didn't stop him from grumbling at Happy.
"I don't know Happy, how come I have to wear this? Why can't I just wear my normal clothes?" Natsu whined as he continued pulling on his shirt.
"Because she told you to wear something nice, and you know how she can get." As Happy said this Natsu stopped fidgeting.
"You're right and I really don't wanna make her mad. But the guys at the guild are going to make fun of me." Natsu whined again, sulking.
"They make fun of you anyway." Happy retorted.
They arrived at the guild hall a few minutes later and everyone was as rowdy and raucous as ever. However all of the drinking, talking, laughing and carrying on stopped as soon as Natsu was spotted walking into the guild.
As if on cue, an explosion of laughter erupted from Fairy Tail, all of it directed at the Dragon Slayer.
Macao was the 1st to speak through his laughter, "Nice outfit Natsu."
"Looking like a real man there buddy." Elfman interjected sarcastically.
"Nice shirt Pinky." Gajeel added smirking.
"Aw I think he looks cute." Cana cooed from the bar.
"I think so too." Lisanna added, slightly blushing.
Natsu ignored his friends and walked to the bar exhausted from the heat and sat on a stool. He then looked to his left and saw Gray laughing at him as well.
"Who dressed you this morning? Happy?" Gray asked with a laugh and a smirk.
"At least I got dressed this morning." Natsu retorted, seeing Gray from the corner of his eye.
Gray had a confused look on his face and looked down. Realizing he was only wearing his boxers, he began to panic.
"Dammit, not again. Where are my clothes?" Then as if a trigger went off in her mind, Juvia ran right over to her beloved Gray, holding his clothes.
"Here they are Gray." She said with love in her voice. "I knew you would notice eventually so I gathered them for you." She smiled wide at him.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He asked a bit irritated as he took his clothes back.
Juvia's face turned bright red from embarrassment. "Well...you see I..." She continued to stammer as Natsu turned his attention to Mirajane, who placed a glass of water down.
"Don't worry about them Natsu, I think you look adorable. I'm sure she'll love it." Mira said in her usual warm smile.
Natsu took his water and grumbled under his breath. "Whatever..." He proceeded to pout as he sipped from the glass.
Lucy, Wendy & Carla walked into the guild hall shortly after and immediately spotted Natsu at the bar. They walked up to him and began grilling him on his clothing choice.
"Wow Natsu, you actually look pretty nice today. What's the occasion? Going on a date?" Lucy asked with a mischievous smile.
Natsu looked up from his sulking position at Lucy before turning around again, "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Lucy's right." Wendy added with a smile. "I think you look nice, right Carla?" She looked at the little white cat expectantly.
"Well if you're asking me to be honest, I think he looks absolutely ridiculous." She said coldly. Things then grew silent for the four as Lucy & Wendy stared nervously at Carla, then looked back at Natsu who was sulking lower than before.
"That wasn't very nice, Carla." Wendy scolded.
"You did ask my opinion." The cat replied nonchalantly, turning around and walking towards Happy.
Lucy & Wendy shook off the awkwardness and turned their attention towards Mira.
"So what is Natsu all dressed up for?" Lucy asked the barmaid, who was currently refilling Natsu's glass.
Mira turned around with a smile on her face and answered the blonde-haired wizard as she placed Natsu's new water in front of him.
"Oh Natsu? He's just embarrassed because he's going on a date with Erza today."
Wendy & Lucy couldn't hide their shock as they both exclaimed in unison:
"WHAT?! NATSU IS GOING ON A DATE...WITH ERZA?!"
Just then the whole guild hall grew silent upon hearing the startling announcement.
Scattered chatter could be heard all around.
"What Natsu and Erza...on a date?"
"What could she possibly see in him?"
"Damn, it takes a real man to be able to go out with Erza."
"Poor guy, he doesn't stand a chance."
"It was nice knowing him."
Hearing all the chatter made Natsu even more nervous. He then sulked so low he was touching the floor.
"Wow, I was kidding about the date thing, but it looks like I was right. And with Erza of all people?" Lucy looked at the scared Dragon Slayer.
"Is this your 1st date Natsu?" Lucy asked.
"What?" Natsu rose from the ground and reset himself on the stool, turning around so he could answer Lucy's question. "Yea...I guess, I mean Erza and I have done stuff like this before, we just never told anyone."
"What?!" Lucy screamed shocked, "How? I mean did you ask her on a date before?"
"No, she asked me...I think. It was weird." He replied scratching his head in confusion.
"Weird how?" Lucy inquired, clearly the tale of Natsu and Erza's "dates" had piqued the young woman's curiosity.
She kept fidgeting and looking at the ground when she asked me this time. Usually she would say something like 'Natsu, you and I are going to eat...NOW!' or something like like that.' Wendy and Mirajane couldn't help but giggle at Natsu's Erza impression as he told his tale.
"But this time she acted all scared or something." Natsu finished.
Lucy gave Natsu a sly smirk.
'This idiot, it's obvious that Erza likes him.' She thought to herself.
"Wow Natsu, you must be happy. You get to hang out with a pretty girl like Ms. Erza." Wendy said with a light in her eyes.
Natsu scratched his head and chuckled. "Yeah I guess. Erza and I are just friends."
"You idiot." Lucy scolded. "It's pretty obvious that Erza likes you."
Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. "She...she does?"
"Yes, I think she is fond of you as well." Mira interjected. "She always seems to sneak a little peek at you when you're not paying attention."
"She does?" Natsu asked.
He sat on his stool and pondered at what the two women said to him, furrowing his brow and placing his hand under his chin in a humorous thinking pose. He began to remember all the times Erza scolded and assaulted him over the years, and his face turned white in fear. Then he started to think of the times they protected each other, he thought of the battle against Phantom Lord, the fight against Jellal in the Tower of Heaven and more recently the fight against Laxus; and a smile began to appear on his lips.
"So-" Lucy said, breaking his concentration, "Do you like Erza?" Mirajane's ear perked up and she leaned a bit over the bar, eager to hear Natsu's answer.
Natsu, completely caught off guard by this began stammering nervously. "Like her? I mean...well...uh...I-"
But before he could answer, the guild hall doors flew open and Natsu heard a terrifying yet all too familiar voice calling him from the door way.
"NATSU! Come, it's time to go."