Phoenix

Natsu Returns

A loud knock was heard on the front door. Laxus and Emi looked at each other before Laxus volunteered to answer the door. No one ever visits their house, as it is behind a rather dense section of the woods surrounding Hargeon, so they were both weary of who was knocking.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Emi looked up and slowly stepped towards the door. In the doorway was a smiling Natsu.

"I came for a meal!"

Emi shook her head, laughing at Natsu's energy, and went fully to the door where she greeted him. Laxus showed a look of pure irritation.

"Who the hell said you could come back? You were asked once, brought the entire guild, and stole all our food when you left."

"But I brought some food this time! I was hoping I could eat something with hot sauce!"

Laxus rolled his eyes, stepped back into the house, and started to close the door on Natsu. Emi stuck her foot in the door, successfully stopping the door from closing. She looked up at the taller wizard and gave him a stern look before pushing him out of the way and opening the door fully for Natsu to come in.

"Come on in, Natsu. You're always welcomed here. What exactly did you bring?"

Natsu rushed into the house so that Laxus couldn't close the door on him again and sprinted over to Emi, who had made her way into the kitchen. He crashed into her because of the momentum, knocking them both to the floor. Natsu rubbed his head and Emi winced at the impact.

"Uh, Natsu?"

Natsu let out a quiet "ow" before looking down to the woman with white hair. Once he realized what happened, he got up and held out his hand for Emi to take. A small blush was seen on his face, embarrassed that he knocked her down. Laxus came into the room to see Natsu helping Emi up.

"What did you do this time, dumbass?"

"What did you say?!"

Natsu once again crashed to the ground as he was hit by Laxus as he said, "I called you a dumbass, dumbass."

"Laxus! Don't hurt him anymore than he already is. Don't you see that he's bleeding?"

Emi rushed over to Natsu, sitting him up and looking him over. She saw that his side was bleeding, but she knew it wasn't because of his fall.

"Natsu, how did you get hurt?"

"I was taking a job to help these people get through the forest and I was ambushed by a group of wizards from a dark guild. One came at me with some sort of sword."

"A dark guild? In the forest? Laxus, did you know about this?" Emi asked.

Laxus looked towards the pair and shrugged his shoulders before saying that he hadn't heard anything about it, and that he would've taken care of them if he had known.

"Plus, I figured that I could just stop by and eat! That always makes me feel better!"

"Natsu, you're seriously hurt!"

"Yeah, idiot. You should be thinking about your side instead of your stomach."

Emi looked at Natsu's side, concern evident in her eyes. Suddenly, Emi grabbed Natsu's overcoat and flung it aside with one swift move.

"Hey!"

Emi went closer to the fire mage, sitting down next to him and looking at his side more closely. She noticed a deep gash in his side and saw that the wound did not look like the bleeding was stopping.