Author's Note: Okay, for the people who keep asking about why Natsu is useless in the story, without revealing much in future chapters and such I have a few in mind, he's not. I just haven't put him in a situation where he utilizes his fighting capabilities. It's going to be awhile but please do bare with me on that notion.
Other than that, I appreciate the positive reviews so far about the story. I thank all of you for them. Now, it's story time so see you 'til the end of it.
"You may now kiss the bride." The priest known as Ichiya told them.
Gray and Juvia looked at each other with joyful smiles, instantly and finally awaiting those specific words. They embraced and locked lips with each other. May not be the closest thing to paradise, but with their everlasting love for each other, the moment will forever be remembered.
Everybody got up from their chairs and cheered, clapping and yelling out chants at the newly weds. Even Erza joined in, she was indeed a sucker for these kinds of things.
After several minutes, the ballroom went from looking like the inside of the church to that of a regular cruise ship party. Besides the chairs, new things were now accessible such as the bar area of the room and tables were now set around the ballroom, leaving only the center for dancing and such.
The altar was quickly changed to that of a stage where a few bands that Gray had invited for the party.
"This is pretty sweet ain't it?" Natsu took a seat by Erza who was at the bar.
"This isn't the first party I've attended," Erza took a drink from her shot glass that the bar keep gave her. "But you're right this is pretty nice."
Natsu looked at her as she drank down another shot of an unknown substance. "For the same person who said that she wanted to keep an eye on me, she sure is drinking a bunch of.... What exactly are you drinking?"
"Iced Tea," Erza knew Natsu would say something among those lines to her. "You think I'd actually get drunk while on the job?"
"I mean, you can enjoy yourself here and there, just don't over do it, ya know?" He told her.
"You're right, but not right now," she took down another glass of iced tea. "Not when your life is at stake."
"That's true, though I doubt that we're in any kind of danger." Natsu took a deep breath. He was finally feeling relaxed. Getting shot at twice can get you a bit more tense than usual.
"Maybe you should take your own advice." Erza looked at him. While it's true that her being his bodyguard was just a gimmick for her real job, she couldn't help but cut him some slack.
"Maybe I should, but with everything going on at the moment with the election and the whole getting shot at, I shouldn't, for any minute of my life, let my guard down." His energy was now elevated.
She didn't realize how overworked he was feeling yet still had a lot of energy to give out, it surprised her to the very least. I should keep that in mind, she echoed those words through her brain. If he says he's not letting his guard down, then I shouldn't either.
"Hey bar keep, give me a glass of water please." Natsu asked of him.
With a simple nod, the bar keep took his order. He took out a cold water bottle from the small fridge and served it in his cup, now sliding it over to him.
"Thanks." Natsu took a few gulps down. Already half his drink was gone.
Erza looked around the ballroom. People were everywhere around and a fee children were running around as well. She didn't see the newly weds around. "Where did your friends go?" She asked Natsu as she turned back to the her drink.
"Oh, they're getting ready to get the cake out and uhm, something about telling the bands they've hired on the cruise to sing their favorite songs." He told her as he finished the rest of his cold drink.
"I assume their going to do their wedding dance, huh?" She asked.
"Yeah."
After a few more minutes of just drinking regular beverages, the main ballroom doors slammed opened as the wedding brought their enormous white and different blue colored frosted cake into the ballroom.
"Come get your slice of cake now, guys!" Gray announced.
"Do you know what kind of cake it is?" Erza asked of Natsu.
"I believe it's a combination of strawberry and blueberry cheese cakes," He told her. He got up from his chair, making way to the direction of where the cake was. "Would you like me to get you a slice?" He asked her before leaving her with the bar keep.
"A slice of Strawberry Cheesecake, if you can." Erza loved cheesecake. It was practically what she craved here at these kinds of parties.
"Alright."
As he approached the wedding cake, his attention, along with the other guests, were directed where the altar once was. It was now a small stage with a mic, and behind that mic was the bluenette, Juvia. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Juvia and Gray will now be preparing for our wedding chance."
The guests all clapped.
"Our band of our choice for our wedding song is none other than Red." The spotlight went from her, to the band with a few other people with orchestra type of instruments.
Once more, the guests all clapped. A few whistled and cheered as well.
"So please enjoy their music in the meantime as Juvia Gray prepare." She soon walked off the stage and back out of the ballroom she went out.
Natsu got his and Erza's slice of cakes and walked right back to his seat. "Here you go." He placed her slice in front of her whilst he did the same action to himself.
"Thank you." She simply gave him a smile for his generosity.
"No problem, least I could do for saving me twice." He said, already digging in on his slice of cake.
Unlike Natsu, Erza slowly ate and enjoyed the flavors of the Strawberry cheesecake. The combinations of flavors made her feel much more livid then before. She savored the taste as she chewed on the small pieces she would put in her mouth.
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room changed. The lights went dark, but not too dark. It was still sew hat visible. The center of the room was lit up with a spotlight and the two newly weds stood right in it.
A slow song called the Forest was by Red, a mixture of both piano and a violin.
Gray and Juvia held each other. He had both of his hands on her waist while she dwindled hers around his neck, and the two started to slow dance.
It was mesmerizing to watch. The two followed the beat of both the piano and the violin which complimented each other.
None could stare away as they danced around the spotlight like two professional ice skaters on an ice rink. Left, right, a small but elegant twirl, the two showed off their beautiful well done moves to the audience.
Not even a minute in yet both the song and the dance ended. The two came close to each other's faces and smiled as they had finished their wedding dance. It was short but enjoyable for all to watch.
Everybody clapped and cheered. "Thank you!" The two said as the spotlight changed from a singular to multiple, spinning around the room. The two went to the nearest table, exhausted at their performance.
"That was amazing."
"Truly beautiful."
"Man, I wish I knew how to dance like that."
From left to right, everybody complimented their performance.
"That was great, wasn't it Erza?" Natsu slowly stopped his clap.
"Indeed, though I'm rather disappointed it wasn't longer," she finally finished her cake as she watched the performance. "Was a great thing."
"Everybody's starting to dance now." Natsu pointed at several couples who started to slow dance to just the tune of a beautiful piano tune.
The tune of the piano suddenly got louder and louder for Erza. She didn't understand what was happening but soon realized it was yet again another memory she didn't seem to remember.
Like with Gray and Juvia, two figures stood in the middle of a spotlight, dancing. These two figures weren't distinct at all and she couldn't put a face on either two.
"Do you want to join us little Erza?" A feminine voice that sounded like her mother from an earlier memory said towards her.
Erza found herself in her child self again and the two figures stretched out their arms towards her, telling her to join.
"You okay Erza?" Natsu's voice soon reached her mind, breaking her from her memory trance.
She placed her hands over her eyes, rubbing them like if she seen a ghost of some kind.
"Erza?" Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I-I'm fine." She stuttered. She found herself again in the ballroom. Back to reality.
"Are you sure? You've acted like this earlier today back at the stadium and yesterday at the political party." Natsu recollected the two other times she's acted like she's had some type of migraine.
"I'm fine." She let out a deep breath, no longer rubbing her eyes and holding two fingers on the side of her head.
"Just making sure." He told her.
"Thanks for caring at least." She know knew he paid attention to her every move. Guess she's going to have to watch her own actions.
"Alright guys, the next song that we're going to play is called Of These Chains," the band leader of Red said through his microphone. "Enjoy."
The song started with a slow melody of a combination of both the piano and the violin.
"Erza, do you want to dance?" Natsu blatantly asked her.
Her face instantly turned red. "W-What?"
"Do you want to dance with me?" He told her once more.
His question immediately let her guard down. Is this man serious? She looked at him once, still surprised at his sudden question. "I, uh, don't really know how to dance..." She had hope that was a good enough excuse.
Suddenly, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out to the dance floor. "Just follow my lead."
Art by CDArtCD in Deviantart.
They made it to the center of the dance floor and both Erza and Natsu stood in front of each other. "What are you doing?" She was flustered by his sudden actions.
"Come on," Natsu grabbed her right hand with his left and placed his right hand on her waist. "Don't be shy, like I said, follow my lead."
Her face got more redder each second he held her in a slow dance position, thank god it was dark enough for him not to see. "T-There's going to b-be a misunderstanding!" She stuttered.
"And?" It didn't bother Natsu to the slightest.
The song finally commenced.
"So here we are, at the end, now..."
As the song commenced, Natsu started to slowly dance. Left foot, right foot, Erza had to follow his lead now so she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of the audience.
"I need to leave but I only want to stay with you,"
Only a few seconds in and she already made a mistake and that was accidentally stepping on Natsu's right foot. "S-Sorry!"
"It's fine, just continue the way you were dancing before you stepped on me." He told her. His smile made her blush a tad bit on her cheeks.
"I never asked to be the one to set me free,"
Their bodies were now much closer to each other, almost like an embrace. Still, they had enough space in between each other to continue on the dance.
Erza still tried to follow his lead as best as she could. For an assassin, you would think she would have a lot more skills than just fighting and killing.
"Another mask you wore that only I could see."
The other couples and pairings left the dance floor and soon the spotlight was on them.
Though the two realized this, Erza was the one that was worried the most. A misunderstanding between the two would only halt her future plans with her contract.
"Let me take you when I go, when I go... I don't want to do this on my own, on my own,"
"You're doing better." Natsu told her as he, brushed against her, continued to move elegantly with his steps on the dance floor.
"I didn't realize you were quite a dancer." Admittedly, she was now enjoying this. Two steps to the right, two steps back, and continued on.
"I'm breaking free, but of these chains, oh, let this one remain, let me take you when I goooo..."
Suddenly, Natsu spun Erza around, slowly with his right hand and her left hand. And came back, connecting their rhythmic moves with the perfect sound of the violin and piano part of the song.
Though it was just your basic Waltz, the audience awed them.
"I can still feel you here now in this cage. Every link, another piece of you I saved,"
Erza's heartbeat now matched Natsu's, beating in unison.
She gulped down a bit of saliva. This was the first time she's ever dance and make her worries a bit worse, in front of a crowd.
Though she didn't mind it, she felt as is she was giving them mixed signals in where she and Natsu stood. She was just his bodyguard and nothing more.
"Afraid to open up the door to, who I was before, and if I let go of these chains now, will I float away? Can I just hold ooooon?"
Their feet continued on to the beat and Erza no longer would accidentally step on Natsu's foot.
The change of tune made it seem like they've reached the climax part of the song, nearing it's end.
"Oh, let me take you when I go, when I go. I don't want to do this on my own, on my own."
She saw his smile as they did another box with their feet, almost coming to an end.
Her heart beat faster than before. She remembered this feeling, a feeling of warmth that wrapped around her very heart, like an almost died out flame in her body was reignited.
She felt this way with Mirajane before but those days have long since past. That feeling was happy but at the same time, it filled a hole somewhere in her heart. And that was the feeling of love.
Crap. She thought to herself.
"I'm breaking free, but of these chains, oh, let this one remain. Let me take you when I goooooo..."
The lyrics finally ended but the sound of both the violin and the piano still lingered, changing it's rhythm to be more elegant in vibes.
As the song neared the end, Natsu spun Era once more and when he brought her back to his arms, their bodies touched.
Faces only mere inches away from each other, and the two could perfectly see each other's blush.
Erza felt nervous. Please don't. She's seen enough movies with these clichés and it always ended with some kind of kiss at the end. She had hoped that wasn't his intention.
But her worries were soon washed down when Natsu dipped her, ending their mesmerizing dance that way with the song.
The crowd cheered them, even louder than they cheered the newly weds, which was surprising to both of them.
Natsu brought her back up and released his grip on her as she did with him. "I didn't mean to put us in an awkward situation like that." Natsu scratched his head.
"I-I need some fresh air." Erza quickly left the dance floor and dashed through the ballroom's main doors.
Several minutes passed and Erza now found herself outside the ship's interior and staring into the sea. Get yourself together Erza! She tried making sense of what had happened back at the dancefloor.
Erza slowly breathed in and out. He caught me off guard again! She thought to herself, frustrated with her mixed feelings.
I need to be more cautious, She mentally told herself. Stuff like this leave to such misunderstandings, and I really don't need that, especially with this target.
She tried to calm herself. First with these weird flashbacks and now with my emotions... the sooner I get this done, the sooner my life gets back to normal... One last slow intake of air before going back in.
"ERZA!" Her attention was diverted to her right where she saw the pinkette run towards her.
He stopped right in front of her, on his knees and panting. "Phew, I found you."
"I was just about to head inside." She told him.
He stood right back up, facing her. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." She told him.
"But I do," he was more lax now. His breathing was back to normal. "I put you and I in an awkward position and I'm deeply sorry."
"It's fine, really," she reassured him. "I just don't want a misunderstanding between the two of us."
"Oh thank goodness," those words must've released some tension in his bones. "I feel the same way."
"I'm just a bodyguard, and that's it." Erza said.
"Misunderstanding my ass, you totally enjoyed yourself back there, Erz." Suddenly, third person joined in into their conversation.
That voice... Erza slowly turned herself to face the person.
"Isn't that your friend from back at the party?" Natsu looked back as well, facing the third party in the conversation. "Mirajane, right?"
"Oh, you still remember my name, I'm flattered." Mirajane said. Her appearance was different from the last time Natsu saw her. Instead of a dress, she wore some type of light armor, similar to that of Erza when on duty.
Her presence sent goosebumps down Erza's spine. How!? How did she find us!? She gulped down more saliva, nervous of what's to come.
"What's wrong Erza? Are you at a loss of words?" Mirajane mocked with a small devilish laugh at the end of it.
"Tch!" Erza's tone quickly changed. "How did you find us?"
"I bugged your purse," the blonde told her. "Quite simple, ever since you started this... whatever you are, you've been slacking Erza."
"Why would she bug your purse Erza?" Natsu asked the scarlet haired woman. "She wouldn't do that unless..." He stopped midsentence, finally putting the pieces together.
"Ding, ding!" Mirajane acted like a buzzard at a trivial game. "I'm the one trying to kill you."
"Natsu stand right behind me." She ordered him. She knew this would become a bloodbath if she let Natsu run back to the party. She had to keep the casualties to a minimum at best.
"That's probably the best thing to do." Mirajane then pointed her handgun at them. The handgun had a silencer on it, probably so it wouldn't alert anyone of the current conflict at hand.
The distance between Erza and Mirajane was pretty wide. We're in a bad spot... Erza mentally noted her surroundings. If I try to sprint at her, she could very much shoot me at point blank range. Anywhere we tried to run at, she would easily be able to shot us... dammit, this woman is much more unpredictable than ever....
"Hey, follow my lead, okay?" Natsu whispered at her.
"What?" Erza didn't know what the pinkette had in mind. Other than knowing all the directions around here, there was no way they'd escape Mirajane's grasp from shooting at them.
"Just trust me on that."
"What are you guys blabbering about?" Mirajane couldn't hear them. No matter, she knew there time was coming to an end. "Never mind, I think we've stalled this moment long enough."
"Now!" Natsu grabbed her by the hand, and the two jumped over the railing. "Jump!"
"Are you i-" No time to say a structured sentence and Erza found herself jumping as well.
"Shit!" Mirajane didn't plan on them on jumping and in a split second, they were out of her sight. She ran over to where they were by the railing and to find them at the floor below.
"Come on." Natsu helped Erza up.
"That was insane, you're lucky we got to this floor instead of falling into the water!" Erza exclaimed at him.
"We should get going instead squabbling around here!" He didn't even try to retort back at her statement. Any minute now, Mirajane would try to do the same action as they did to minimize the distance.
"Alright, alright!" The two quickly started to run from their current position.
Mirajane repeated their action and jumped down to the floor below. Nowhere insight now. "A game of cat and mouse now?" She looked around the corridors of the ship, hoping to find some clue in which direction they went. "Oh, Erza, this is a game I will win..."
And without a second thought, she ran to her right, following a sign where the upper deck part of the ship was pointed at.
The two were far from where they once were. They stopped, resting by the wall they stood by.
"So your, uh, ex, is the assassin?" Natsu panted in between his sentence.
"I don't think now is the right time..." Erza tried to regulate her breathing before they continued.
"Y-Yeah, I'm sorry." He let out a ball of air.
"We should split up, maybe one of us can get her from behind." She suggested.
"You think that's a good idea?" He looked at her. Though not the idea he expected from her.
"She's obviously after you," she explained. "You'd be the bait and I'll come from behind her."
"I think after what had happened back there, I don't think I'm the only target now." He told her. His words were true however, Erza saw in Mirajane's eyes that this was very much a vendetta against her as well.
"Then you keep on going," she started to walk back. "I'll stop her here."
"That's insane!" Natsu tried to back her out of her current plan. "She's in body armor while you're in a dress! She's much more prepared than we are!"
"I'm always prepared." Erza took out her hidden Sais that were strapped to her upper thigh.
"She has a gun." He wasn't much relieved at the sight of her pointy looking knifes.
"She's in body armor, she's going to be slower than I am in this dress," she ripped the bottom part of her dress with her Sai. "I'll be just fine."
"I really hope you're right about that."
"Just go now." She told him.
Just as he was about to leave, he stopped in his tracks. "G-Good luck!" He told her before leaving her be.
I could very much let him die here... Erza thought to herself. Could save me a lot of trouble of doing it myself... She gripped her Sai, almost angry to herself. What is wrong with me? Why is my body compelled to protecting him now!? I've never had to protect a target much less take on another assassin! Why must this person be so different than the rest of the stubborn loathes I deal with!?
Her thoughts continued to spiral around until she stopped herself. She deeply sighed. "Guess there's no going back on this..."
"No going back on what?" Mirajane finally appeared.
"In fighting you." Erza turned to look at the blonde, face to face again.
"Seriously, what is with you with protecting that pink haired fellow?" Mirajane had her gun in hand but didn't point the gun at her.
"Nothing, I'm just trying to plan things out before doing the actual deed." She answered her question.
"I saw the way you looked at him back at the dance floor," Mirajane told her what she saw, the insight Erza didn't really want to hear from her. "That look was the same one you gave me when we first started dating." Mirajane continued. "The same look you used when you told me you loved me."
"There's nothing between me and him!" She retorted. "Like there isn't anything between us anymore!"
"I'm just giving a piece of advice," Mirajane readied her gun. "The way it's going between the two of you, it's going to end, badly."
"Tch." Without one more word, Erza dashed towards her and finally the battle between the two finally commenced.
Author's Note: AAAANNNNNDDDD Cliffhanger.
What? You didn't see that coming? Anyways, sorry about that, ending this chapter right here.
So what'd you guys think about this chapter? Hope you enjoyed it. I'll be updating as soon as possible since I can't leave you with this.
And no, this story is no where finished in case you're wondering. So I'll see you next time, probably in a few days. Bye now.