To Kill A Dragon

Protect

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Tiamat is loosely based on Tiamat from Forgotten Realms which Belongs to Wizards of the Coast, LLC. The traits of the chromatic dragons have been altered to match the dragon slayers in the Fairy Tail Universe. Drakan belongs to Surreal Software.

Chapter 21: Protect

The soul binding ceremony had been very intense and when Sting started a "Dealing with the Tiamat problem" team meeting Natsu excused himself and headed outside for some fresh air. He didn't have anything to add and he had no desire to relive his captivity. He went for a short walk and found himself in the park. He sat down on the grass for a few minutes to rest. There hadn't been any pain to speak of but he still felt a faint tingling from the electricity that had run through their bodies fusing their souls together. He definitely felt more connected to Gray but he wasn't sure what other changes to expect. He was thinking about how Levy had mentioned they would be able to feel each other's pain. Did she mean literally or emotionally? He was worried that it was literal. That could certainly be a problem, they both fought all the time as part of their jobs. Pain was something they were used to but to feel the other's pain on top of their own could prove incapacitating at the worst of times. He probably should have brought that up before he agreed but then again he didn't think that would have changed Gray's mind in the slightest.

He was touched by how determined Gray was to protect them. He knew it was his way of showing Natsu how much he cared. Just a month ago that would have pissed him off to no end but now he could accept it. Gray had already seen him at his weakest and he still wanted to be with him. He no longer felt the need to prove anything to him. Maybe that was all their fighting had been, a part of Natsu's mating instinct needing to show Gray that he was strong and could protect him. There was still a lot he didn't understand about dragon slayer mating. Natsu wished that it could have happened a different way for them. That they'd had time to go on dates and work their way up to telling each other how they felt but the end result was the same and he was happy. He supposed all of that could come later.

He smelled Gray's scent in the air and looked around for his mate. He saw him enter the park and with a smile head straight towards where Natsu was sitting.

"What are you so happy about?", Natsu asked.

"All these years you've always been able to find me and now I can find you too!", Gray looked quite pleased with himself. "Mind some company?"

Natsu gestured to the grass. Gray sat behind him and leaned him back towards his chest. He wrapped his arms around Natsu's middle.

"How'd the meeting go?", Natsu asked.

"It went well, I guess. Sting did a good job, I guess I can sort of see him as a guild master now. He's mostly getting the God Slayers up to speed. They're trying to come up with some plans for when she returns but at least now I don't have to worry about her taking you away from me.", he smiled, "I know you don't think the Soul Binding was a good idea but you did it anyway. Thank you, Natsu"

"I just hope you know what you're doing.", Natsu said in a quiet voice, "How's Lyon doing with all this? He didn't seem very happy earlier."