Train Ride

The walk to the train station was much quieter than the one to the inn last night. Unless you want to count Happy making Lucy mad yet again and causing her to fruitlessly chase him down to try to get revenge. Natsu and I are still mad at our friends for the rude wake up call this morning.

We walk side-by-side while trailing behind the others in sullen silence and I use this time to plot different ways to get even. As our group nears the station, I notice that Natsu's mood changes rather quickly from being frustrated to becoming quite nervous.

Turning my head to face him, I note that he is starting to sweat from nerves before I ask in quiet concern, "What's wrong Natsu?"

He replies just as quietly, "Worried about being on the train. Its makes my motion sickness act up a lot." he then flinches before adding, "That and I'm hoping Erza won't punch me again."

My anger flares up and I snarl quietly in response as I glare at the back of Erza's head, "She won't if she knows what's good for her."

Almost stumbling from my barely veiled threat, he turns toward me with incredulous surprise, "You're serious?"

I glance in his direction before redirecting my glare back at Erza before replying in a tight voice, "Of course I am. I will not let her or anyone else hurt someone I care about undeservedly. As you said, 'family takes care of its own'."

I then let my look soften along with my tone as I turn to face the dragon-slayer beside me, "I'm sorry that we don't have enough time to make you any ginger tea, or at least buy you a root to help out with that motion sickness. I promise to make sure to have lots on hand for the next time. I'll also check out herbal shops for other things that can help."

A look of cautious hope appears as he asks tremulously, "So there really are ways to help my motion sickness go away? You weren't just saying that?"

Feeling surprised, I answer back quickly, "Of course there is! Why would I lie about something like that?" He shrugs while looking embarrassed yet excited at the same time.

"Well its just no one really stood up for me the way you did. And especially against Erza!" He lets out a small laugh and smiles at me widely in admiration. "No one, and I mean no one has ever stood up to her before like that. You're like my hero!" With that, he attacks me with a hug that almost knocks the both of us down.

Yelping at the unexpected display of affection, we stumble a bit before getting our balance back. I chuckle heartily and pat his arm in an awkward manner since his hug is pining down my upper arms.

"I just said what should have been said a long while ago." I say, trying to pass it off as nothing special. He releases me out of the hug and smiles the widest I seen yet.

"Well it means a whole lot to me, so thank you!" he exclaims happily. I laugh louder, enjoying his obvious glee.

"Well don't thank me yet, we still have to see if those remedies even work for you." I chirp in merriment. Without realizing it, we reached the train station and Erza has already gone off to get tickets. We walk up to where Gray and Lucy are waiting and they smirk over at us.

"Hey dragon-freaks, what are you two chattering about?" asks Gray in a tone and a grin that would set off Natsu's temper.

Not wanting to deal with a fight between the two, I step in front of Natsu to face Gray and Lucy.

"Oh nothing much, the weather, how the local sports teams are doing, different herbal remedies to help ease his stomach…" I say casually at first, then I pin the other two with a hard glare before I continue in a deeper voice, "different ways to get unholy revenge for interrupting one of the best night's sleep I ever had." My threat has the desired effect as it causes Lucy and Gray to gulp loudly and huddle together in fear. Still close behind me, I can almost feel Natsu shivering as well. (Hmm, not quite fearful enough yet. Need to add a little bit more to make sure this sticks.)

I add a malicious grin to the mix before continuing in a gruff tone, "Yes, expect retribution. Soon." Then with a twist of my feet that I learned from a jazz dance class I took what seems like a lifetime ago, I turn away from the unlucky duo. I tilt my head at Natsu to see that he is looking at me with wide, fearful eyes. I give him a pleased grin with a wink to clue him in that I wasn't being serious.

Looking ahead I see a wonderful sight, a nearby empty bench to rest my achy feet. Taking large strides, I quickly take a seat to wait for Erza and the tickets.

I hear a soft, wobbly voice say behind me, "Too scary…" which causes me to smirk to myself. (Maybe that will teach them for yanking me out of bed. Unless they do something else, I think the threat of revenge will be enough for now. Although I do have to teach Erza a lesson and intimidation doesn't seem like it will work on her.) I sit down with a sigh of relief as the pressure on my feet subsides.

(Damn stone roads. I seriously need shoes.) I twist a bit until I'm sitting on the bench at an angle and I place one of my legs on top of the bench in front of me. Leaning forward with my leg bent, I use both of my hands to start massaging the ache out of my foot and an unexpected small stab of pain causes me to hiss quietly in surprise, more than in pain, to myself.

I continue to rub my foot, taking the stabs of pain in stride now that I'm expecting it when I feel a thump on the bench. An upwards glance from where I'm bent over, shows that it's Natsu looking at me with concern.

"What's wrong? I heard you hiss in pain." he asks with some worry. I let go of my foot as I straighten my back in surprise.

My eyes widen with the shock before I exclaim loudly, "You heard that?!"

His concerned look melts away and is replaced by a sheepish smile before answering, "Yea, I have good ears to go with the nose."

I raise an eyebrow and ask drily, "Is there any other senses that you have that are good I should know about?" He scratches his head as he thinks it over.

"Um, eyes I guess. Not sure though. Never tried to compare my eyesight before.," he answers after a couple of moments. I give him a light grin.

"What, no taste or touch?" I ask in a teasing tone.

He shrugs like it is of no importance as he casually replies, "Dunno, never really compared those either." I shake my head a bit and laugh partly in disbelief at this man sitting next to me. Before I can make a witty retort, a metal clad hand clamps down on both of our shoulders. Natsu stiffens in apprehension, while I calmly look back to see Erza staring down at us.

"I got the tickets, we can board now." she states matter-of-factly before releasing our shoulders from her firm grip.

"Ok." I reply blandly before standing up with a small wince of pain and with that, Erza marches off towards the train. I rub the shoulder that Erza grabbed, silently appreciating the strength in her grasp and understanding more now why the others are fearful of angering her. I turn to see that Happy, Lucy, and Gray are already heading towards one of the cars of the train the others to see where they are going before I move to follow.

Behind me, I hear Natsu say a bit smugly, "So last night was one of the best night's sleep you ever had, huh?" I narrow my eyes and smirk as a golden teasing opportunity presents itself. Turning swiftly to look up into his eyes through my eyelashes, I lean towards him and place my hand lightly on the center of his chest.

"Yes, but it could have been much better." I purr out at him and end with a wink. His eyes widen as his cheeks blaze up a bright tomato red. I smirk and laugh at his embarrassment before grabbing his ever-present scarf and tugging on it. Turning around, I start waking towards the train with him in tow.

"Come on dragon-boy. We got a train to catch." I laugh over my shoulder while dragging him after me. I let go of his scarf as I step onto the train and glance over my shoulder to smile at his still red face.

In the train, Natsu forgets what I said outside as he starts getting very nervous while we are taking our seats. No longer in a teasing mood, I sit next to him prepared to do what I can to ease the motion sickness, since I know what he is in store for. (And to keep Erza's paws off of him. No one is going to hurt one of my patients while I'm around.) I growl in my mind.

We get a seat to ourselves a couple of sections away from the others since Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy already took over one section of seats and adding the two of us would make it too cramped. I glance over to see how Natsu is holding up and I'm distressed at what I find. (Oh dear, the train hasn't even moved yet and he is already looking pale.)

I wrap my arm around his shoulders, and have him lean towards me as I start rubbing circles along his back. He sighs, and relaxes somewhat under my care. Happy, who has been strangely quiet all morning, flies over to sit in front of us.

He gives us that odd intense look again before stating with a grin full of mischief, "You lllllike each other."

Natsu tries to protest Happy's statement while I just shrug and say nonchalantly, "And?" That causes the blue cat to get a weirdly happy look on his face and he starts having a giggling fit. Quick as a flash, he flies over to the others and starts talking with a hushed tone to where I couldn't make out what he is saying.

Natsu slumps in my grasp before whining, "Why did you say that? Now he will tell everyone we like each other and won't stop teasing about it!"

I let go of his shoulders and turn in my seat so I can face him better with less strain on my neck. "Well, don't we?" I ask him very seriously. He turns to face me in surprise at my question. "I mean despite the fact that we met yesterday and hardly know each other, we already accepted each other as more than friends, we're family. Doesn't that mean that we at least like each other to do so?" His mouths gapes open and closed like a fish before he can speak.

"That's not what I meant, of course I like you like that. Wouldn't think of you as family otherwise." he says almost indignant that I would imply otherwise. I interrupt what he is going to say next.

"Then what's the problem with Happy telling other people we like each other? Its not like he is spreading rumors that we are in a romantic relationship or other such things. Let other people think what they will. As long as we know how we stand with each other, that's what is important, isn't it?" A thoughtful expression appears on his face as he ponders over my words. He nods slowly to himself and I continue speaking.

"Its usually better to just go with the flow when people try to tease you like that. They do it mainly for the reactions. If you don't react, they will stop usually after a while. I should know, I'm one of the teasers." I wink and grin at the end, causing him to scoff and grin back. The train jerks into motion and his face turns almost ghost white. I make Natsu lay down on his side in the seat, with him facing the other seat of our section.

I lean over to start rubbing his back, but stop as he starts to squirm. He moves around until his arms and head are in my lap as he lays flat on his stomach. No longer squirming, I start rubbing small circles into his back again.

I hear him groan out happily, "That feels better already. I don't feel like I'm going to puke right away."

I chuckle before saying, "That's good to hear. Heh, that's all I need now on my clothes is puke stains to go with the rest." He just groans again as a reply.

"Hush now, I'll help you get through this. If you can, try to go to sleep again. I'll be here for you. We can keep talking after we get off the train." I say to him softly before starting to hum. Natsu nods his head and sighs softly, relaxing his body. Soon enough, I feel his breathing even out like he is falling asleep. I stop rubbing his back after a few more minutes to give him time to fully go to sleep.

Looking down at Natsu, I give a gentle smile. (I'm glad he is feeling well enough to sleep. I don't like watching him suffer like this. Hopefully, the ginger tea will work for him.)

I look out the window to watch the scenery go by in peaceful silence. Or so it was for what seems to be about an hour. A nearby thump pulls me out of my daydreams.

Startled, I turn to look to see Erza sitting in front of me studying Natsu. I raise an eyebrow in question. She smiles slightly at him before looking up at me.

"I don't think I ever seen him look so peaceful on any sort of transportation before." she states with a warm tone of sisterly affection. I look down and notice that my hand is gently going through his hair. (Huh? How long have I been doing that? Oh well, not like its bothering him.)

"You seem to be doing a lot of good for him." she continues in the same warm, sisterly tone.

"Well, I don't like to see anyone suffer if I can help it. And now that we are family, even more so." I tell her just as quietly. She shakes her head in disagreement.

"No, I mean more than that. He seems different around you." she firmly states.

I shrug before answering, "Well, I have been doing what I can to ease his motion sickness that no one else has tried to help him with besides giving him a punch in the gut. I'm pretty sure that would cause anyone to act differently." Erza flinches and looks down in guilt when I mention her previous method of taking care of the motion-sick dragon slayer. As I look back down at him I smile softly.

"That and there is just something about him that makes me want to take care of him, ya know? Its weird, I mean we just met yesterday and already I feel fiercely loyal to all five of ya'll. Like I'm willing to do everything I can to keep ya'll from harm. You guys are already like the annoying little brothers and sisters I never had." Until the words left my mouth, I didn't realize the extent of my affections for the group.

(Huh, I guess I didn't know it until I said it, but yea. I do want to care and protect them all.)

"You don't have siblings?" she asks me curiously.

"Nope, single kid all the way. So in a way, even though I miss my mom and dad to bits, it's… not as lonely with you guys around." I confess to Erza before looking back out the window.

Still using that soft voice, I hear her say, "Well I'm happy that you consider us family despite the short amount of time we spent together. I know that I consider you a part of the family as well. I also know the rest of the guild will quickly accept you as one of us."