Understanding

"My, my. What do we have here? I think Natsu just got himself an admirer." says a slyly smiling Lucy in a fake whisper while she watches Krystina and Natsu exchange names.

"They llllllllike each other!" cheerfully cries out the flying blue cat before snickering loudly.

"I do not, Happy!" shouts out Natsu angrily while he waves both of his arms wildly in the air. Gray returns with all his clothes on and has a smirk on his face.

He gives Natsu a look of confidence before raising his arms in the air in a shrug as he replies, "An admirer? Highly unlikely. Even she is too smart to like you, flame-brain." At this, the angry pink-haired guy jumps forward and raises up both fists.

"You wanna go, Popsicle?" growls out Natsu.

"Anytime, anywhere you overheated gecko." retorts Gray. At this, both of them butt foreheads together in an attempt to out stare the other to get them to back down. Which doesn't work, as usual. Within seconds they begin fighting with fists and magic, embroiled in their long-time rivalry.

Ezra stands up and is about to forcibly separate the two, when a rather loud gasp catches the attention of the females. There on the ground, Krystina is still sitting and is now staring wide eyed and open-jawed at the two guys. Her mouth starts to move like she wants to say something, but no sounds are forthcoming. With a shaky hand, she points at the boys and stammers out some word that is too soft to hear due to the noise of the fight.

Erza turns with a frown on her face and yells, "Both of you stop fighting and shut up!"

Snapping to attention, the males shout in unison, "Yes ma'am!" while getting on their knees and bowing their heads low to the ground. Satisfied. Erza turns back to the woman on the ground and tries to calm her down again.

Giving a light laugh, Lucy says, "She is an excitable one, isn't she?"

"Yes she is. Seems like everything is shocking to her." Erza replies before shifting her attention back to Krystina and crouching in front of the woman on the ground again.

"Its ok, they stopped fighting now. No need to be scared. You're fine, Krystina. They aren't going to hurt you." At the sound of her name, the brunette takes her eyes off of the boys and focuses on the two girls. She then starts making movements with her hands trying to say something to them. Neither girl is able to figure out what she is trying to say in her language and movements.

The females shake their heads and shrug their shoulders signaling that they don't understand, which causes the unknown woman to slump down in a huff. Silence befalls the group for a few moments and Erza breaks it by standing up quickly and coughing.

With everyone's attention on her, Erza states, "Alright, we've been wasting enough time here. Let's get back to the Guild." She walks over to her wagon and everyone else picks up whatever they dropped on the ground. A moment later, the group is ready and they start walking off in the direction of the beach. All except the woman on the ground. She just watches them walk off with large eyes.

"Hey guys, what about her?" asks Happy the cat as he flies around their heads. At this, the group turn as one to look back towards the woman who was watching them leave. At their stares, she ducks her head and looks away.

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Watching them walk away, I feel a pang of sadness in my heart. (Why do I feel sad? I barely know them, much less can even talk to them.) At the sound of the blue cat talking, I think his name was Happy, I see the group turn and look at me. I quickly look away in shame.

(I guess it's rude to watch people leave. What am I going to do when they're gone? This is a new place, most likely a new world and I don't know anything about it. Well, correction, I know one thing. Magic. This world has magic.) A strange feeling starts to grow inside me at that thought.

Before I can dwell on it further, I'm broken out of my thoughts by a hand appearing in front of my face. I jerk upright to look into the smiling face of Lucy as she is crouched in front of me with the others behind her. I look at her hand, then at each of their faces in confusion. Lucy beckons me to get up, while Gray and Ezra nod in approval.

I look at Natsu and he motions with his hand to get up as well. Suddenly feeling really happy, I smile at them before grabbing Lucy's hand and she helps me up. They give a cheer as I stand, which makes me even happier.

Smiling at them I notice that the guys are taller then me, Gray by half a head, and Natsu a little less. Erza and Lucy are about my height, Erza a little more, Lucy a little less.

Lining up on either side of me, Lucy and Natsu each wrap an arm over my shoulders and give me a slight push. Linked together like this, we start walking down a path I haven't noticed before. (Even though I have no idea where I am or why I am here, and there are demons, and magic, and flying, talking cats, this may not be such a bad place after all.)

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The group of 6 make quick time and soon arrive at a beautiful beach. The two older women just watch the boisterous antics of the younger members of the group with smiling faces. Happy insults Lucy causing her to chase him around for an attempt at revenge. He flies around just out of reach, to the irritation of the blonde girl.

The boys kept getting into heated arguments which led to more fistfights. Erza would quickly step in and bark out an order which would cause the boys to sling their arms over the other's shoulder to act like they were the best of friends. This would cause Lucy and Krystina to giggle. They traveled down the beach for a half hour like this before a large ship appears in the distance.

Looking extremely startled, Gray shouts out, "A pirate ship!"

"Don't tell me you hijacked it! Whoa…" says Happy in awe as the stares at the ship.

Shaking in fear, Lucy screams out, "NO!! I don't want to ride that!!!" She then shivers in fright.

Giving Lucy an easygoing smile, Natsu replies, "If you're going to swim, I'll accompany you."

"Not going to happen!" snaps Lucy, immediately shooting down the idea.

Erza pays the younger members no mind, while Krystina just gawks at the ship. The high-strung antics of the younger group members settle into easy-going silence. Lucy would give the ship a nervous look and shiver now and again. As they continue to move along the beach, a large group of people appear out of the jungle close to the ship.

"Hey! It looks like the villagers are here to send us off!" squeals a now excited Lucy. She waves to them and shouts are heard coming from the larger group. The large brunette starts to slow down as she stares intently at the group. Erza notices this action, but doesn't say anything. She just keeps a closer eye on their new traveling companion.

When the group gets close enough to start making out the villagers clearly, Krystina stops with a large gasp. Turning almost as one, the friends see her eyes widen in fear.

"Not this again." mutters Gray, starting to get annoyed. The large woman takes a step backwards, still staring at the villagers. She quickly spins towards the woods to make a break for it. Before Erza can say anything, Natsu, who was closest to the frightened woman, quickly grabs her by the wrist.

Digging in his heels, he effectively stops her escape. Lucy and Happy both share a worried look at how afraid the brunette is. Erza just nods in approval at Natsu's quick actions.

"Hey Lucy, she looks really scared of the villagers." comments Happy quietly.

"Yea, she does." replies Lucy just as quietly while she goes to hold the blue cat in her arms.

"Tch." Gray says irritably as he looks away from the scene. Krystina tugs against Natsu's grip trying to get him to follow her if he won't let go. She says something in a begging tone as she looks over to the rest of the group.

"They aren't going to hurt you. It's ok." calmly says Natsu. She shakes her head before pointing back at the villagers and tugging harder. When she lets up enough to change her stance, Natsu quickly pulls her to him and immediately gets her in a one-armed embrace. Everybody looks at him, stunned at his sudden move.

Recovering quickly, she starts struggling against his hold. He just tightens his grip, causing her face to be smothered in his scarf.

Gray, Erza, and Lucy all share looks of silent agreement to stay back and see how this plays out. Krystina struggles and pushes against Natsu for a few moments before she gives up. A few more seconds later and Natsu's grip visibly loosens.

Without warning, the large woman seems to collapse, startling everyone. She seems to of fainted until in a practiced motion, she twists her body and arm to break the wrist grip Natsu still had on her. Not stopping her fall, she uses the momentum to keep turning until she is facing away from the others and takes off towards the woods again.

"Stop!" Erza orders. Unheeding the command, the mystery woman keeps running.

"Catch her, flame-brain!" shouts Gray.

His voice seems to jumpstart the slightly dazed pink-haired man. Dropping his pack, Natsu dashes over and quickly catches up to the woman before she makes it to the woods. This time he catches her in a full on embrace, trapping her arms to her sides. She shouts something in frustration and tries to shake off Natsu's hold.

She puts up a good fight, even flipping Natsu completely over her shoulder to try to make him let go of her. Unfortunately for her, his hold doesn't break and she gets pulled down as well. Krystina is slightly stunned by the impact before shaking her head to clear it and renewing her struggles.

She tries a new tactic by repeatedly kicking him wherever she can while still trying to squirm out of his hold. Natsu quickly has had enough of her kicks after a few blows to his legs. With a loud roar, he quickly pins down both of her legs with his, effectively ending her struggles. She wiggles against the hold for a bit before slumping again in defeat.

Not wanting to be tricked again, he keeps a tight hold on her. The others stand where they are, watching in silence. Happy floats around with a concerned look. Unseen by the others, the woman is shaking in Natsu's hold. He leans his head close to her ear and makes shushing noises, like how one would try to calm a frightened animal.

As her shaking continues, he uses his hands to gently rub up and down her arms without relaxing his hold. Her shaking stops after a few minutes, and he continues his ministrations to calm her down more. When she releases a sigh and relaxes in his arms, he tentatively relaxes his hold. He stops rubbing her arms and releases her legs.

The rest of the group takes this a signal that they can get closer and they silently approach the two on the ground. Natsu helps Krystina off of the ground, but doesn't completely let go of her. She dusts herself off a bit and reluctantly turns to face the others. The trails left by tears on her cheeks can be clearly seen through the dirt and sand on her face. Gray jumps back like he is burned while Lucy rushes to help comfort the crying woman.

Natsu still keeps his hands on her upper arms to prevent any more escape attempts, but he does back up a bit to give her some more personal space. Gray stands back with Happy to observe the others while Erza also approaches the huddled trio. She hands the large woman a handkerchief to use for her nose. The brunette ducks her head in thanks before using it. Erza stands there watching them before nodding to herself like as if she came to a decision.

"Natsu!" she calls out sternly while clamping a hand on his shoulder. Catching everyone's attention she continues speaking without pausing. Fear shows on Natsu's face, causing Krystina to cringe away from Erza as well.

"Since it seems you're the best one to catch and calm her when she runs, I'm putting you in charge of her. She will be your responsibility until we decide matters later."

Stiff as a board, he replies without hesitation, "Aye, sir!" Too scared of Erza's wrath to argue.

"I also want to add that if you do anything untoward or let anything happen to her, you will regret it. Understand? Good. Now let's get her moving again, I would at least like to get back to Harujion before night." She ends matter-of-factly.