Don't Ever Say That To Me Again

The three eventually made it back to the inn. Natsu & Gajeel burst through the door in a hurry as Natsu laid Erza down on a nearby bed. The rest of the group looked at them in disbelief as the made their way over to their friends.

"Natsu, what happened?!" Lucy exclaimed, "What's wrong with Erza?"

"We were attacked by Night Shade, they're the ones who are controlling the town." He said in a stern voice

"Night Shade? You mean that guild that Erza, Me, Juvia, & Laxus destroyed?" Gray asked with a hint of disbelief

Gajeel nodded, "Yeah those guys, turns out the guys you fought were just grunts; the boss is here in Lumina."

"Gajeel are you ok?" Levy asked worriedly as she looked at his injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get beat too bad, its Titania you guys should be worryin about."

The group stood near Natsu who was sitting Erza's bedside, a look of undeniable regret on his face.

"Wendy…" he said sorrowfully, "Can you heal her?"

Wendy nodded to her friend, "Yes, I should be able to heal her if her wounds aren't too severe."

Natsu got up from his seat so Wendy could sit and he walked to the other side of the room, his friends following him. After about an hour or so, Wendy walked over to her friends; they all looked at her, anxiously waiting on news about Erza's condition.

"She's out of danger for now. She just needs to rest so she can regain her strength."

Everyone sighed happily, all of them relieved that Erza was ok. Except for Natsu, he was still upset that he had allowed Erza to get hurt so badly.

Gray snapped him back into reality. "So what do we do now? How are they controlling the city?"

Natsu refocused himself and pulled the map he got from the secretary out of his shorts pocket. He then began to explain how the town was taken over and the effects of the spell being used on it.

Gray sat and thought about the matter aloud. "So what you're saying is that we have to destroy the sites in order to break the spell."

"Yeah." Natsu answered him sullenly

"Well," Gajeel began as he reclined in his chair. "What are we going to do Salamander?"

The room grew silent as everyone turned their attention to Natsu. He was still distressed about what happened earlier, and he looked at Erza who was still lying in bed. He clenched his fist in anger as he thought of Romero and turned his attention back to the group; a look of fury in his eyes.

"We're going to take down those sites." Everyone smiled and gave each other a determined look. They knew what they had to do.

"Well since there are 5 sites and 10…" Levy stopped as she looked at the fallen Erza, "9 of us, one of us will have to go to a site alone."

"I'll go. I'll take the one in the casino, that's where Romero is." Natsu said adamantly, the tone in his voice left no room for an open debate.

Gajeel smirked, "Fine you can warm him up, but after I finish my site I'm going to the casino too." He looked at his right hand as he clenched it into a tight fist, "I still gotta pay that bastard back for what he did to me."

"Well if Natsu is going by himself, where do the rest of us go?" Lucy asked the group.

"Well we have to divide the remaining sites among us, everyone else goes in teams of two." Gray explained as he pointed at the remaining sites on the map. "So who is going with who?" Gray looked around at the group.

Juvia grabbed his arm instantly and looked up at him, "I'll go with you Gray." She said with an alluring look in her eyes. Gray blushed slightly as he tried to get her off. "Ok fine, just give me some space." He said as he struggled to pull her off.

"I'll go with Wendy." Lucy said as she smiled at the young girl. Wendy smiled back and nodded at her.

"I'll take the shrimp." Gajeel announced as he placed his hand on top of Levy's head. An annoyed look appeared on her face as she moved his hand, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was also blushing.

"Alright then, we move out at dawn; for now we should get some rest." Gray announced as every else nodded in agreement. They all moved about the huge room to find a place to sleep. The girls took the beds, with the exception of Juvia who insisted on sleeping near Gray.

Lucy was fixing her bed and noticed Natsu sitting at Erza's bedside, she walked over to him. "Are you going to get some rest Natsu?" She asked him with a hint of concern.

"Yeah, I just want to watch over Erza for a little longer." He said with a hint of guilt as he watched Erza sleep.

Lucy placed her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Natsu." She said with a smile, "Erza will be fine, I know it."

Natsu smiled weakly, "I know, thanks Lucy."

"Anytime." She went back to her bed and proceeded to go to sleep as Natsu stayed by Erza's bedside. The night dragged on as everyone was sleeping save Natsu. As he sat in his chair and watched Erza, he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

*Is this how it was for her when I was hurt? I can kinda feel what she felt.* "What was that called again?" he began to talk aloud. "Empty? Empire? Empery? Arrgghh! I can't think of it."

He began to rapidly scratched his head in frustration as he thought of it. When he heard a voice weakly speaking to him. "Empathy."

"That's it." He said satisfied, but quickly realized that he wasn't the one who said the word. He frantically looked around him to see where that sound came from, but all his friends were still sleeping. When he turned his attention back to Erza, she was sitting up in her bed.

"Ah!" Natsu quickly covered his mouth so as to not awaken the rest of his friends. He then began whispering to Erza. "What are you doing? You should be resting."

She smiled weakly at him, "I'm fine, really." She then blushed as she felt Natsu's hands on her shoulders. He slowly forced her back to a lying down position and pulled her covers back over her. She began to protest.

"Really Natsu I'm…"

"No you're not." He said in a commanding tone that surprised Erza, her argument ceasing before it even started.

"You have to get you're rest."

She could hear the uneasiness in his voice, as he spoke to her.

"I'm sorry Erza." He said a look of guilt washing over his face.

"For what?"

"For not keeping my promise. You got hurt because I rushed into things like always." He clenched his hands together, "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be like this."

Erza softly smiled at him, "It's not your fault Natsu."

"But I…"

"I knew what I was doing. I thought I could beat him but he caught me off guard. At least you were out of harm's way." Natsu's eyes opened in surprise as Erza continued to talk. "If I died keeping you safe then I..." She tried to reassure him.

"Shut Up!" He yelled angrily as he rose from his chair. Interrupting Erza who laid in bed in surprise, she was speechless.

"What is so great about dying? It's just like at the Tower of Heaven, do you really think sacrificing yourself is such a good thing? What happens after you're gone? You leave us behind…and I don't want you to leave Erza none of us do." He pointed to his sleeping friends. "So I don't ever wanna hear that crap again." He said, his eyes misting over as he sat back down in his chair.

She smiled at him again as she thought of his words. "You're right, I was being selfish again. I promise I won't make such rash decisions again."

A smile slowly appeared on Natsu's face. "Good. Now get some rest."

Erza blushed and nodded as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep, Natsu following soon after.

…

As the day began to break, Natsu opened his eyes to see his friends were all ready to head out. "You ready?" Gray asked him smirking.

He nodded at him and rose from his chair. "Yeah, let's go take these guys down." He looked at Erza one last time before moving towards the door with the others. "Be safe you guys." Erza called weakly from her bed as her friends walked out of the door. All of them holding up their arms as a testament to the strength of their Guild.

Natsu was the last to walk to the door, but before he could walk out Erza called to him again. "Don't do anything too reckless alright?"

He smirked as he answered. "No promises. Don't worry we'll take these guys out." He walked out of the door closing it behind him.

Erza smiled and looked out of the window at the rising sun as she thought of her friends.

*Please Natsu, just come back to me safely.*