It was already dark as the cold winter in Magnolia seemed to stay calm. Snow was slowly and gently falling out of the clouds as the moon illuminated a certain high school.

Natsu was feeling as if this were all a dream in which he was holding the person he held most dear. The feeling itself couldn't be described as a simple crush, no, this was deeper, but it wasn't love, not yet. He let his feelings get the better of him as he hugged the girl in front of him tighter, his hands warming her waist, her hands warming his neck, their bodies warming each other. Her lips felt better than anything he had ever tasted or felt before, with a slight taste of strawberry, which didn't surprise him that much. He broke the kiss as the need to breathe was beginning to overwhelm him. Natsu then looked at her beautiful face which had a slight blush on it. He noticed that a tear was rolling down her left cheek. He gently placed his palm on the left side of her face cleaning the tear off.

'What's wrong, Erza?" he quietly asked with concern in his voice.

"Huh..?" she replied as she opened her eyes and saw the look on Natsu's face. Then she noticed that she subconsciously started crying, "Oh.. sorry." she muttered with a smile, giving Natsu the sign that it wasn't his fault, "Just happy, I guess."

The last four words made the man smile and he gently placed his head on her shoulder, enjoying the warmth coming from Erza's body. They stood like that for a few minutes, when the cold finally got to them.

"Natsu, It's cold.. Let's go inside." she said as she slowly pushed him away.

"Okay." he smiled. Natsu took the present he gave her and opened the door with his free hand letting her go in first. She went in and he followed, closing the door behind him. To Natsu's surprise, Gray was nowhere to be found. 'The idiot probably got the message'he thought.

Both Erza and Natsu were just standing near the door to the roof in silence. The pink-haired teen was confused. It had been some time since he last felt something like this for someone and since the last time he was in this kind of situation. He didn't know what to do and that annoyed him to no end, when finally Erza's hand gripped his, placing her fingers in between his fingers.

"Let's go?" she asked with a smile.

"Y-yeah.." he replied shyly. Natsu couldn't believe how beautiful she looked and how she understood that he was having a hard time handling a situation like this.

And they made their way downstairs. To Natsu it seemed like seconds had turned to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days. It was as if his body had left this world and went to heaven. The warmth of her hand was bliss. Simply bliss. They were going down the stairs, not saying anything to each other, trying to let their feelings convey themselves without them trying to.

Finally, they were near the student council room. Erza had let go of his hand which made Natsu frown, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell everyone what had happened up there, or that they had become a couple. 'Wait.. have we become a couple?'he thought to himself. He wanted to ask her, but she opened the door to the council room so he thought he should save the question for another time.

When they came inside, they were met with interested looks, though nothing was asked. It was as if they understood it, much to Natsu's dismay. The rest of the evening went on smoothly, they played some board game which was similar to Truth or Dare. Neither Erza nor Natsu participated. They wouldn't get caught in the same trap for the second time.

About an hour later, they were getting ready to leave. Natsu asked if Erza needed him to take her home, but she declined saying that she still had some council work to do and made Loki, Mirajane and Cana stay with her to help. Natsu didn't ask anything further when he saw how she made the three stay which almost gave him a heart attack. He, Gray, Juvia and Lucy left for home and the whole journey they were interrogating Natsu, asking what happened on the roof. Gray got a straight punch to the face from Natsu when he remembered what he did during the Truth or Dare game. The dark-blue haired teen knew he deserved it and much to Natsu's surprise, he even apologized.

"You're getting boring, droopy eyes" was Natsu's reply, which resulted in another fight between the two which quickly died down when Lucy and Juvia stepped in and kicked both their asses and after that they continued to walk home. Gray's house was the first they came across. Juvia decided to stay at his place and Natsu wanted to say something to try and annoy Gray but quickly shut up when he noticed the deadly glare Gray's girlfriend sent his way. After saying their goodbyes, Lucy and Natsu were heading home. Lucy had noticed that the whole time they were walking Natsu was spacing out. His eyes were closed and he had a faint smile on his face, a slight blush covering his cheeks. She thought she should break the ice and ask him what had happened that made him so happy even though she had a hunch:

"What made you so happy?" she asked, startling Natsu.

"Wha..? Happy? Me? I'm the same as always." he replied while scratching the back of his head. Obviously, Lucy wasn't convinced.

"Oh come on. You've been spacing out this whole time." the girl persisted. Natsu sighed and then shrugged, he wasn't about to tell her anything, but she didn't give up, "Something to do with Erza?" she asked, and by his reaction she could definitely tell that she hit the right spot. Natsu's eyes widened and a huge blush covered his face as he muttered something incoherent.

"What?" she asked, unable to hear what her friend said.

"We kissed!" he shouted and then covered his mouth when he realized that probably the whole neighborhood had heard him. A blush formed on Lucy's face, she couldn't believe that Natsu could be this bold. An awkward silence filled the air but Natsu continued, "Yeah, so we kissed, what's the big deal? It's not like we're a couple or anything." he said.

"What do you mean you're not a couple?" Lucy asked, confused.

"It's not like I asked her to be my girlfriend and besides, it didn't seemed like she enjoyed it." he muttered with a frown, but then earned a smack on the head, "Ow! What the hell's wrong with you?" Natsu exclaimed.

"Of course she liked it you idiot." Lucy semi-shouted, "And why didn't you ask her to be your girlfriend in the first place?" then added.

"I didn't get the chance!" Natsu tried defending himself.

Lucy sighed, they were already at her house.. or castle? "You better ask her." she ordered her friend as she opened the door to her home and entered while waving goodbye to him. Natsu was left alone with his thoughts. He wondered what he should do, ask her out or just plain ask her if they were a couple. After a few minutes of thinking he figured he'd wait until after the Christmas break was over to tell her how he truly felt and with that thought he made his way back to his home.

Erza was sitting at her desk trying to process what had happened with Natsu a few hours ago. Everyone had already left because there was no more work to be done, though Erza stayed behind. She wondered if she and Natsu were a couple, but brushed the thought off when she checked the clock to see how late it already was. 'I should go home, I bet grandma's already worrying about me..' she thought as she packed her bag, put her jacket on and left the room.

While walking down the school's halls, the memory of Natsu and her kissing crossed her mind again. It made her happy. Without her knowing she blushed and a smile crept on her face. Even though she didn't know if they could be considered a couple, she was happy. Erza thought she should wait for him to ask her first, but if by any chance he didn't, she would after Christmas break was over. And smack him around a bit for making her wait so long. The thought of it made her chuckle.

Ever since they first laid eyes on each other something in Erza clicked. It's as if this was fate or something, she couldn't fully understand it herself, but ever since that time she had hoped she could meet him and when she did, the girl was overjoyed, even though the first few days of them being together consisted mainly of using him instead of a punching bag. Erza reminisced their time spent together and couldn't help but feel happy. Then she remembered how Natsu fought Gerard and how she remembered the said person when she and Natsu were kissing. The redhead didn't know why she thought of him at that moment. Sure, the Gerard from two years ago really was similar to Natsu, but they were different. Totally different. Both in their personality and character. Erza hated herself for thinking of Gerard while being with Natsu and thought that he'd probably hate her too, but there would be time to find that out later. It was already late, so Erza fastened her pace, the pendant that Natsu gave her still on her, shining beautifully as the moon's light reflected off of it, making it shine in the darkness as if it was some sort of guiding light.

And soon four days had passed. It was the 24th of December, Christmas eve. Natsu was at home, alone. It was like this every year. He'd never get anything for Christmas or give anything and he'd always be alone. His friends were spending time with their families and no matter how lonely the guy felt he'd never disturb them for himself. Natsu had a small Christmas tree branch near his window which had a few decorations on it. Every year he decorates a branch just for tradition's sake and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't hope his father would unexpectedly return baring loads of gifts for his son. Though Natsu never did expect too much from the man. It's been ten years since he left. Ten Christmases he was waiting for him to return without warning, but he never did so why should this year be any different?

Natsu was sitting on his couch watching TV. He was checking through every channel to try to find something that didn't involve anything with a family, 'cause that would depress him even more. Finally he found it. Some sort of channel that, even in Christmas, was airing a horror movie. Weird, right? He put the remote on the table and simply watched. Horror movies were one of his favorites, he especially liked zombie movies, like the classic Dawn of the Dead or the rather new show called The Walking Dead. Though the movie he was watching right now, in his opinion, was boring. He stood up and went to the kitchen. Natsu was barefooted, wearing his gray sweatpants and a plain white tee. Even though it was cold outside, it was warm in his house. Too warm for his liking. He opened the fridge and found a can of beer which he opened and drank almost as fast as he found it. Hey, It's Christmas and his eighteenth birthday's soon, so why the hell shouldn't he drink?

Finally, it hit twelve o'clock, indicating that it was the 25th, Christmas. Natsu threw the can to the trash and looked through the window. He still had some hope that his father would magically appear and scold him for drinking at the age of seventeen, but that didn't happen. He then gave a loud "Meh" and took off his tee as it was getting even hotter and went to lay down on his couch. The movie didn't interest him that much so he slowly fell asleep. Even in his dreams, Natsu dreamt of how Igneel, his father, would just appear out of the blue and stay with him. Natsu would, of course, beat the crap out of the old man for leaving like he did, but he would be happy and love him nonetheless.

Erza went to her fridge and took out the strawberry cake that Natsu had given her. She couldn't believe that she actually restrained herself from eating it and saved it for so long. She put the cake on her table where an elderly woman sat. She had long gray hair, wrinkles all over her face. You could easily distinguish that she was in her eighties. She had a simple blue robe on with white slippers. The woman looked at the cake and raised an eyebrow.

"Strawberry cake?" she asked with a kind smile.

"Yeah.. I got it at school. Remember the Secret Santa thing I told you about?" Erza replied, a smile covering her face.

"From your boyfriend?" the older woman asked, the smile turning to a mischievous smirk.

Erza blushed at the question, she denied it by shaking her head furiously, but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't like the guy who she got the cake from. "Grandma..!" she exclaimed. The woman couldn't help but laugh.

"Sensitive topic, huh?" she asked, still laughing, "So.. Is he your boyfriend?" her grandma persisted.

"I don't know.." Erza replied after a few seconds of thinking.

"What do you mean?" the older woman asked curiously. Erza explained the whole situation. She knew that she could open up to her grandma and that she would always give her granddaughter valuable advice.

"Well.. You two kissed, so doesn't that make you a couple?" the woman inquired, a kind smile on her expression once again.

"I guess." Erza shrugged as she sliced a piece of the cake and dug in.

"The boy.. What was his name? Natsu? How is he spending his Christmas?"

"At home, probably." she said, and then something hit her. Natsu was at home, but he was alone. From what she could remember, Natsu had been living alone for over ten years now and every single Christmas he would be alone. That thought alone made her frown and feel sorry for her friend. "Alone." she blurted out .

"Alone?" the woman asked.

"He's been living alone since he was seven.. His father left him." she added, making her grandmother frown.

"Poor boy.." was all she said.

And the clock hit twelve. It was Christmas. Erza's grandmother went to her room and then quickly returned while holding something in her arms. "Merry Christmas!" she said while giving her a red sweater she had made for her granddaughter.

"Thank you, grandma." she said as she received the sweater. A smile occupying her face at how well made the sweater was. Every year she'd receive a sweater from her and every year she would be delighted at the gift.

"Now, go to bed, honey. It's already late." The woman said with a smile as she went upstairs to bed herself.

"I will. Goodnight." Erza replied while looking at her grandmother. Erza went to shower and straight to bed. It was already two in the morning, and she couldn't sleep. She tried for several hours, but the thought of Natsu being alone just kept gnawing at her. She looked at her alarm clock, it was five in the morning. She got up from her bed and was lost in thought for a few minutes. Then she nodded to herself and quickly got dressed. She took out the same blue pants she wore on their first date, put on the red sweater she got from her grandmother and went downstairs. She noticed her parent going out of the bathroom. Erza stopped to explain where she was going this early in the morning, but her grandmother didn't give her the chance, she nodded, "Go to him." she said with a smile. Erza's face lit up at how understanding her grandmother was. She nodded back, put on her black heels, the same ones she wore to the date. Took her jacket and left.

She ran through the street, it was snowing really hard and the street was almost all snowed in. 'Okay.. maybe wearing heels wasn't such a great idea after all..' she thought with a sweatdrop.

"Merry Christmas, Natsu!" a man with red hair said as he held a toy plane in his hands.

"Thank you, father!" the young image of Natsu exclaimed as he hugged his father and grabbed the plane and started playing with it.

"Oi, don't get too excited, you need to go to bed." The man kindly said as he grabbed his son and let him sit on his shoulders.

"But dad.." the boy frowned.

"No butts, you'll get to play with it tomorrow morning." the man smiled again. He went to Natsu's room and made him lay down on his bed, putting the cover on him and tucking him in.

"Dad.. could you tell me a bed-time story?" The boy asked with a slight blush.

"Aren't you too old for bed-time stories, Natsu?" the man asked with a slight chuckle, "Okay.. Let's see. Ah! I know!" the man smiled, "Once there was a wizard guild called Fairy Tail and in that guild there was a fire mage called Natsu Dragneel.. -

*BANG*

-The mage was taught his magic by his foster parent, the great fire dragon Igneel.. -

*BANG*

-The boy loved his guild, he considered everyone in it as family and soon he became the strongest mage in the continent.."-

*BANG*

"What the hell..?" Natsu mumbled as he was woken up, his TV still airing some horror flick. He heard someone banging on his door. He slowly stood up, not noticing that he wasn't wearing anything on his upper body and slowly wobbled to his front door. He didn't even bother looking who was it that would wake him up so early, he'd just open the door and kick the person's ass right there and then. Natsu, who's vision was still blurry because he just woke up, opened the door and barely noticed a flash of red as someone embraced him.

'Igneel?' he exclaimed in his mind as his eyes widened, but then he heard it, the female voice that was calling his name.

"Natsu.." she said. Natsu looked down, and noticed long scarlet hair.

"Erza..?" he asked, surprised. She tilted her head so she could see his face, a blush and a smile on her panting face, "What are you doing here..?" he asked, still shocked by her sudden appearance.

"It's Christmas, and I remembered that you were alone and.." and then Erza noticed that she was hugging an almost naked Natsu. In light speed she punched him straight on the face and sent him flying through his house.

"W-What the hell?" he exclaimed while scratching the back of his head which hit his table.

"P-p-p-p-p-p-put something on!" she yelled, a blush on her face that could rival the color of her hair, steam coming out of the top of her head while she covered her eyes with her fingers.

"Okay! I will! Please don't kill me!" Natsu exclaimed while covering his face as he stood up. He took the same white tee he wore before and quickly put it on and turned to Erza, hoping she wasn't holding a knife or something getting ready to kill him.

"That's better." she said with a sigh as she crossed her arms, the blush still on her face.

"So, uhh.. what are you doing here so early?" he asked, still shocked, "It's like Five A.M.!" he added as he noticed the clock.

"I remembered that you were alone at Christmas.. so I thought I should keep you company." she muttered.

What was Natsu's reaction? He was overjoyed. His expression changed to a huge grin, a slight blush on his face. Finally, he would have someone by his side during this holiday, moreover the person who he had true feelings for.

"W-what is it..?" the redhead asked, surprised by the reaction.

"Nooooothing.." he teased as he slipped his tongue out, but then he noticed how pale she was, her lips turned blue from the cold, her whole body shivering, "Don't tell me, you've been running here in this cold..?" he asked.

"Well how else do you think I got here?" she replied with annoyance in her voice.

Natsu sighed, then came up to her, and much to her surprise, hugged her. "Idiot." he said plainly, but with a smile. Erza couldn't help but blush again as their bodies connected. She could feel the temperature of his body warming her up, soon it was as if she was never outside in the raging blizzard.

"You want some tea?" The pink-haired teen asked as he gently let go of her. Erza nodded and Natsu made his way to the kitchen while holding her hand and taking her with him. "Is black alright?" he asked again.

"Yeah.. thanks." she replied. Erza felt that their relationship had gotten better after what happened on the roof. They were talking normally now, not stuttering while talking. That was a start, atleast.

"What were you doing before I got here?" she asked while she sat down on a chair near a table.

"Sleeping." was the simple reply, "Until you woke me up that is." he turned to glare at her.

"I can leave, you know." she retorted as a slight tick formed on her forehead.

"If you do, you'll miss out on this awesome tea I'm making." Natsu replied with a chuckle. Erza let out a loud "hmpfh" as she turned her glance away to look at the decorated tree branch. It was neatly decorated, with lights going around it, fake candy on its smaller branches.

Natsu noticed the silence and thought he should get a dialogue going, "You know.. I dreamt about my father."

Erza looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Your father?" she asked.

"Yeah, how we were celebrating Christmas when I was.. Five, I think." he said, his voice slightly shaking from the nice memory and the thought that it couldn't be the same now.

Erza slowly stood up, "What happened?" she asked as she quietly walked towards him.

"He got me a toy plane, you know? I think I still have it somewhere. Then he told me this bed-time story. It was a crazy one, like all of his stories.." he started talking as he didn't notice that his voice was getting even more shakier, when suddenly two arms wrapped around his stomach. It was Erza. She pressed her body against his and leaned her head on his back.

"Natsu.. You're not alone." she said with kindness and compassion in her voice and much to her surprise, she heard sobbing. Natsu was crying. For the first time since she met him, he was crying. Even after he got shot three times he didn't shed a single tear. Natsu hid his eyes with his hand as tears flowed down his cheeks.

"What's this? Why am I crying? Damn it.." he said in between sobs. Erza tightened her grip on him, letting him take his time to regain his composure. She was glad that she came here. Somewhere in her heart she knew that today he needed her. And her guess was correct. After a few minutes, Natsu put his hand on Erza's, indicating that he was fine. She loosened her grip and Natsu turned around to face her, leaning on the kitchen sink. He then wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks.. Erza. For being here." he whispered, making Erza smile. And again, a few moments later, they both loosened their grips so Erza could back away a bit to look at Natsu.

"Hey.." she said with a smile.

"Yo." Natsu replied, "Don't worry, I'm fine now." he added as a smile made its way to his face.

"You sure?" Erza asked. She didn't seem too convinced.

"Yeah, I'm sure. But hey, let's change the topic.. this is depressing." he said with a quiet laugh as they were both still holding each other.

"Well.. what do you want to talk about?" the girl asked.

"How was your Christmas?" Natsu inquired.

"With my grandmother. She liked you cake" Erza said with a chuckle.

"Oh so you actually managed to save it? I'm proud." he laughed again, this time slightly louder.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked playfully.

"Nothing." he teased her as he pushed her head on his chest. Then he was lost in his thoughts. He was with the girl he liked. Alone. In his home. This was the perfect time to ask her. But he was hesitating. Why? He didn't want to be rejected. The great Salamander, Natsu Dragneel, feared rejection. The thought itself made him want to mock himself to death.

"What are we to each other, Natsu..?" Erza suddenly asked, startling him.

"Uhhh... What do you mean?" the boy asked as a blush formed on his face. He understood what the redhead meant, but he couldn't believe that she'd ask such a question. 'So un-Erza-like..'he thought.

"That's exactly what I mean. We went on a date, we held hands, we even kissed. Every single one of our friends thinks we should be together and they're sparing no expense trying to make it happen." Erza sighed, "Even my grandmother thinks we should be together!" She added.

"Even your grandmother?" Natsu asked, he was genuinely surprised, "I'm flattered." he added with a smirk.

"Hey! I'm not joking!" Erza pouted as she let him go and turned her glance away. She wanted to say how much of a coward he is for not doing what he should do. It was obvious what he should do, right? So why doesn't he do it? Those kinds of thoughts were running through her head. She wanted to say something, but before she could she felt Natsu's hands on her shoulders and him looking her straight in the eyes.

"Erza." he said, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked. The question startled her. Sure, she wanted to hear it, but not right after wanting to rant about it. The question caught her off-guard.

"Wha- What do yo-.." her voice was stuttering as her eyes were going all over the place. And finally, her eyes met with Natsu's. She noticed that he wasn't joking, his expression dead serious. She sighed, regaining her composure, then gave him a smile as she replied: "Yeah.."

And that was all that Natsu needed. His hands shifter from her shoulders to her waist, pulling her to him and kissing her on the lips. Erza's hands wrapped around his neck as she accepted the kiss and returned it in full. Finally, they were together. Finally, they could call each other more than friends. The rising sun shone on their faces, making them cover their eyes as they broke the kiss. Natsu couldn't help but smile as he saw Erza's beautiful blushing face. It was the second time he'd seen it. Only the second time. And he was glad that now he was with her, because he could see it again.

"Merry Christmas." Erza said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah.. Merry Christmas.." Natsu replied he tilted his head so their lips could meet again.