Kapitel 6: Alone and Teasings

We break away from our huddle with smiling faces of various degrees. Light-hearted chatter starts up and before we get into any real subject, my stomach growls again. I blush with a sheepish grin, and they laugh at me.

Natsu jumps up while punching the air over his head and shouts, "PARTY!" We cheer at the idea, and quick as a flash, Natsu runs off to who knows where.

"Oi! Flame-brain! Slow down!" yells out Gray in irritation as he and everyone else runs quickly to catch up, leaving me behind in the proverbial dust. I sigh and shake my head in slight disbelief as Gray's shirt falls to the ground forgotten in their rush. (So this is going to be my family while I'm here? Guess that means I need to train just to keep up if they run like that all the time.)

Chuckling at the antics of my newfound "family", I take off after them at a fast paced walk. I stop to pick up the discarded shirt, and of course that's when my feet decide they want attention by telling me in a form of stabbing pain.

"Crap. If I don't get some shoes soon, I might have to crawl to get around. These cobblestones hurt." Reaching the end of the street, I look to the left.

Nothing.

I look to the right.

Nothing as well.

"Well shit. Now I lost them. So much for family." I scoff and shake my in exasperation before chuckling slightly. "Heh. Guess I better wait for them to notice than wander around and get lost." I mutter to myself. A cooling, yet strong breeze starts up which makes the shirt in my hand and my gown to lift up and flap around.

(Hmm, better take care of this before I accidentally flash someone.) A quick look around shows no one in sight, so as fast as I can I tuck the gown into my pants. I feel instantly better and more confident than I was a few seconds ago. (Alright, time to sit and rest these feet.) Since the street intersection I am at is a T-intersection, I sit myself along the wall to face the street that the shop was in.

I let out a sigh of relief as I sit, happy to get my weight off of my feet for now. I rub at them, hoping to take away some of the ache. Feeling better after the rubdown, I take Gray's shirt and fold up it neatly and set it on my lap to help keep it from getting even more dirty. Minutes tick by as I wait patiently for the others to come back with my stomach growling loudly. So in a fit of boredom and in attempt to pass the time, I start working on detangling my hair after I finish massaging my feet again.

Reaching up to take off my hair band that is holding my low ponytail in place, I encounter things that shouldn't be there. I start pulling out twigs and leaves and other plant life. (Damn, I must've looked like some sort of wild woman.) When I feel satisfied with the effort, I start to put up my hair in its usual low ponytail.

I pause my movements as a thought occurs. (Wait. I'm here in a new land, probably going to start a new life. At the least, I should have a new hairstyle to go with it.) I consider my options on what I can do with what I have available, and decide on doing a mid pony tail using half of my hair and leave the rest of it down. I nod in approval of the idea to myself and quickly work on it. I fiddle around with my hair, making adjustments here and there and, wincing now and then as I encounter some rather large knots.

I also pull out more plant parts and other things that I missed from my initial grooming. (Damn, how much random stuff can one person get stuck in hair that isn't on purpose anyways?) When I'm finished, I feel good about the change. (Not much of a change, but then again I don't have much to work with.)

Looking down at the pile of stuff that was in my hair, I'm partly horrified at how much there actually is.

(Its not like I care about my looks, but my hair must of looked an absolute terror!) I sigh at this. (At least it should look partway presentable now.) I start humming tunelessly to myself to try to stave off boredom while continuing to wait for one of my new friends to find me. The streets start to slowly get darker as time passes and I look up to see that the sky is slowly changing from afternoon to dusk.

(Well this is a rather uneventful end to an exciting and emotional day, I wonder though… will I be able to get home?) I look back down to my hands feeling guilty about how much my family must be freaking out by now since I disappeared. I shake my head to clear it from those thoughts. (Now is not the time to get depressed now. Not until I can get some answers.) Shifting around a bit to get more comfortable, I lean my head back against the wall. I close my eyes and let myself daydream about magic while time ticks by.

__________________________

I wake up to the sound of voices nearby. I don't think anything of it at first until whatever I'm laying on gets jostled. I realize 3 things instantly. First, I went to sleep in a strange town. Second, that I'm now laying down instead of sitting upright. Third, whatever I'm laying on is moving. Snapping my eyes open, I find another pair of eyes really close to my face. I cry out in surprise and try to jump back, only to succeed in falling off and landing on my face.

I hear laughter and concerned voices, but I'm not able to understand what is being said. My momentary panic subsides as I recognize that its my friends talking. Groaning in embarrassment more than from pain, I roll onto my side and put my hand over my face. My head is ringing from the contact of the road below and my nose hurts.

A light suddenly blooms to life nearby to reveal the faces of my new family standing in a circle over me. (Well that wasn't humiliating at all. Not a single bit.) The ringing fades away, but I'm still not able to understand what they are saying. It takes me a moment of thinking before it clicks. (My translator!) I struggle to get up while clutching my nose as it throbs.

With the help of Erza, I'm able to get up on shaky legs. I smile in thanks as I start moving my nose to make sure it isn't broken or anything. Without finding anything wrong, I let my hand leave my face and just ignore the pain. Turning back to the others, I tap my ear trying to get the message across to them. The girls catch on first and immediately start searching for the fallen translator.

The guys don't catch on quite as quick.

I sigh at their blank looks while I'm still tapping my ear and say, "I can't understand you." and then tap my ear harder for emphasize. I see understanding flash across their faces. (Now they get it.)I roll my eyes with a good-natured smirk. The light that has been beside Natsu suddenly burns a lot brighter and I squint my eyes to get adjusted to the unexpected brightness.

Natsu is holding onto something that's on fire. (A torch.) I first think, then I pause. (Wait a minute…) I look again at his hand and almost gasp as I realize that his whole hand is on fire! (Whoa… so this is magic? I thought I saw his hands on fire when he was fighting Gray on the island. I just wasn't sure if I was seeing things. Now I know for certain.) I stare at the fire and another one of my questions is answered.

(This is probably why he feels so warm all the time. Makes sense for a fire user to be hot.) A triumphant shout brings me back to the situation at hand. Gray is holding the translator in the air in victory, grinning like a fool and still shirtless.

I give a small laugh at the sight. He brings it over to me and places it in my hand. I smile at him in thanks. I start to put it in when the memory of the jolt stops me. Pulling it back, I make sure to correctly position it before slipping it in. No jolt. (Thank the gods.) I wedge it in further to make sure it doesn't fall out again even if I fall.

I sigh in relief as I close my eyes, "That's better."

"What happened? How come you didn't follow us?! I haven't been able to eat yet because we were looking for you!" Natsu explodes at first then ends it with a childish whine. He is even stomping the ground in a temper fit. I am taken aback at first, but quickly recover my composure.

(That's pretty childish of him. Well if he is going to act like a kid, might as well treat him like he is one.) I just raise an eyebrow in response and look him squarely in the eyes, waiting for him to calm down. He grows angrier when I don't answer him.

"Natsu…" begins Lucy in an exasperated tone when I wave my hand in her direction, effectively cutting her off. I can see Happy floating in the air looking at the two of us worriedly. I keep my eyes locked on his, and take a step forward. I cross my arms over my chest while making sure to not let any emotion cross my face as we stare. His body starts to become engulfed in flames as his anger continues to rise.

After a few moments, he finally blinks and looks away while the fire on his body dies away. We are plunged into sudden darkness with the bright moonlight being the only thing that illuminates the street now.

"Natsu." I call out quietly to the pink-haired man. Catching his attention, he looks back up at me angrily and I lock my gaze with his again before continuing calmly, "Today when you kept catching me every time I ran away, that was my max speed. How fast is that compared to everyone else here?" He just gives me a sullen glare.

"Well? Answer me please." I ask politely, not changing my tone or volume. His eyebrows scrunch up in thought as he figures out the answer.

After a few seconds he mutters, "Maybe as fast as Happy when he isn't using his wings."

"Good. Now with that bit of information, would I be able to keep up when everyone is running much faster than me?" I ask, still keeping the calm tone. A few seconds later, he glances away and mumbles something. "I'm sorry? I didn't hear that." I ask, still being calm.

He bursts out with, "You can't!", before crossing his arms and turns away, sulking.

"Thank you, Natsu." I start out, still as calm as before. Then in a sharp, reprimanding tone I continue, "I would appreciate it if you would think about things first before putting the blame on someone." He flinches at the tone, but nods his head in agreement. I sigh and turn back to the others. Erza looks at me with approval with how I handled the situation. The others look on with a mixture of awe and fear.

(Fear? Am I that scary?) I take a deep breath, shoving aside the twinge of sadness I felt.

"So who else besides that hot-head and this fat one is hungry?" I ask cheerfully while pointing towards Natsu then me. Everyone else lets out a chorus of agreement.

Happy flies off saying, "Let's get to the food before Lucy! She'll eat all the fish!" He snickers afterwards while flying higher up into the air.

"You crappy stray!" yells out the offended blonde. She starts chasing the laughing cat around the group while he stays just out of reach. Laughing, we all started down the street at a walk, not a run thankfully. I glance back after a few yards and notice a certain pink-haired person not following. I stop and turn around while shaking my head in slight exasperation. The others noticing, also turn to look.

"Hey! Flame-brain! Come on, we're getting food!" Gray calls out. Natsu just hunches his shoulders in response.

"Still acting like a child." says Erza in disapproval. She starts to move forward to get him when I get an idea. I let a smirk cross my face and I put my hand on her arm to stop her.

"Let me, I got an idea." I snicker to myself as I waltz on over to Natsu. I have this devilish side of me that absolutely loves to tease and embarrass people. Natsu's reactions are just ideal for teasing, making him an ideal target for what I have planned. He moves his head to the side as I move around to his front to face him.

"Hey Natsu, I thought you were hungry?" I ask him playfully. His cheeks puff out in response. I slightly pout at this. "Aw, now don't be like that. It's not my fault that you need learn to think sometimes before just rushing in and blaming people. It can hurt their feelings doing something like that. Along with wasting time and energy that can be used for more important stuff." He huffs a bit at that.

I smile and using my index finger, I bop him on the nose. Surprised by that, he straightens up and meets my gaze.

"Now, would you rather of preferred Erza to try to teach that to you?" I ask him sweetly. A look of fear sweeps across his face. He shakes his head no vehemently.

"I like your way much better." he says rapidly. Tilting my head to the side, I close my eyes while giving him a large smile. (This is just too easy. Seems like messing with Natsu is going to be easier and a hell of a lot more fun than I first thought.)

"Glad to hear that." I state cheerfully. Opening my eyes, I then smirk to him. "Now let's go get some food or am I going to have to throw you over my shoulder to get you moving?" His eyes widen before narrowing with an answering smirk appears on his face.

"You wouldn't dare." he states confidently.

"Oh? I wouldn't, would I?" I say playfully.

His smirk increases and he gets a haughty look as he answers, "No, you wouldn't." I raise an eyebrow at him before I bend down quickly and ram my shoulder into his stomach.

He lets out an "Oomph!" and using this time, I grab his legs around the back of his knees. I take a step forward to use the momentum to scoop him up. I lock my arms together around his legs, bringing them together and turn to start walking towards the group. (Being a farm girl has its perks.) I smirk to myself. Everyone else is just stunned for a moment and I just smile like nothing is happening.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I'm hungry!" I ask everyone. A loud yell of protest comes from the fire-user as he recovers from my sneak attack and at that, the others just crack up laughing. Even Erza is laughing at Natsu's predicament.

"What the hell, Crispy! Let me down dammit!" He yells out in anger. I can tell that his arms are flailing around as he struggles to get off.

"Nope!" I chirp. "And if I'm crispy, what does that make you? Flame-broiled? Maybe Barbeque? Ooo, I know! You're Grilled!" I say excitedly. I pat the back of his leg, just above the knee.

"Hello Grilled, I'm Crispy! Nice to meet'cha!" I reach the rest of my new found friends and we walk together, all of us laughing except Natsu. He tries to kick with his legs, but it doesn't work very well with my arms locked around his legs in a tight grip.

"Put me down or else!" he howls.

"Or else what, Grilled?" I cheerfully ask with a snicker. At the question, I feel a large whoosh of heat coming from behind me. I narrow my eyes knowing what that implies.

"If you set my butt on fire, I will sit on you. And it won't be in a way you will enjoy. I will enjoy it very much, but you won't." I purr out that last sentence of my threat. The heat dissipates just as fast as it came.

"That's what I thought." I say smugly before glancing over to see Lucy and Gray looking away like they are embarrassed by my words. I see the dark patches on their cheeks indicating their blushes. Erza is too far ahead to see her face in the moonlight. And Happy, well, is covered in fur so who knows if he is blushing, but his wide-eyed look is enough to clue me in in how he feels about my last statement.

I snicker at the shock and discomfort of the people around me. I decide I made my point by now and take a bit of pity on the guy on my shoulder. I take a few more steps before swinging him quickly back over my shoulder so he lands in front of me. He lets out a squawk of surprise at the sudden movement. In the bright moonlight, I can see dark patches covering his cheeks.

(Aww, is he blushing? Oh dear, I believe I embarrassed the hot-head.) I narrow my eyes and grin widely in devilish delight.

"Hey Natsu, think you can walk now, or will I have to carry you all the way?" I ask still grinning and enjoying his discomfit.

"I can walk!" he grumbles in frustration. Reaching up, I ruffle his hair and lean in close to his ear so I can whisper.

"There we go then, Lesson #2: be careful on what you dare me to do. I might just take it a step further." He turns away really quickly and starts walking away, but not before I see his blush deepening. (Oh, I am going to enjoy teasing the hell outta him.)