The Strength of Heart

Strength does not come from physical capacity.

It comes from an indomitable will

- Mahatma Ghandi

Chapter One

6th July X777

I sank to the ground after something like the millionth time of trying to convince Luminosity. Why on earth wasn't she teaching me any Moon Dragon Slayer magic? I already know for a fact that all the other dragons are passing on their skills to their adopted 'children', so why wasn't Luminosity teaching me? She'd always been hailed as an extremely powerful moon dragon, so things just didn't seem to add up. Conclusion? Execute Plan B.

"Please, please, please?" I whined.

This usually works with other things, like taking me out to see the full moon or letting me have a ride on her back, but this? Well, it was worth a try I guess. I half-squinted my eyes and some tears slid down my cheeks. Hopefully Luminosity would buy the little-ten-year-old-girl-is-crying act. Hopefully.

She snorted and a puff of wispy smoke drifted off into the night sky, illuminated by the moonlight. Tiny specks of light were scattered all over the vast canvas, painted a silent, pitch black. They were shining and it was almost as if each one had their own tales to tell and opinions to share. Mind you, my little cosmic friends were probably supporting me on this argument, no doubt about that.

"You know this isn't going to work." Luminosity said bluntly. Damn it. She was such a mood killer sometimes. I swear she'd always been like this. One minute she's the nicest thing in the world, and next she's a complete psychopath and as Luminosity always says, "The more I love you, the stricter I am." Pshhhh, as if! I should've guessed that she already knew me way too well to be fooled by that kind of thing, but that didn't matter. This was something I wanted way more than anything else in the entire world and I was ready to do just about anything to get it.

I let out a cry of frustration. "Arrrrghh! You're such a party pooper!"

Tears welled up in my eyes, real ones this time, of anger, rage and utter disbelief. So she wasn't going to teach me? Fine. I'll learn myself. Completely abandoning the act, I stood up and stormed off, leaving a trail of fuming miniature storm clouds behind me, completely oblivious to the sparkling tear sliding down Luminosity's cheek.

Daybreak, 7th July X777

"There," I said, placing the last of my neatly folded t-shirts into the cloth-wrapped bundle. My fashion sense was horrible and t-shirts were practically the only thing I knew how to wear. Correction: My fashion sense is non-existent and I will have some when a giraffe learns to walk on stilts. I had had enough of being completely dissed by Luminosity and I was going to take matters into my own hands. My awesome plan? If Luminosity wouldn't teach me, some other dragon would. And that was just what I was about to do: find myself another dragon.

I looked out of the cave where Luminosity and I had slept every night for the past 10 years as the morning sun began to rise over the mountains, painting the sky a pretty pale orange.

"Thanks for everything…" I whispered into the cosy cave that had once been my home. My whisper echoed off the walls and quietly blended in with the sounds of Luminosity's breath, leaving a deafening silence behind. What I was about to do suddenly sunk in.

"…not."

And with that single word, I severed my ties with everything: my home, memories and family. I was going to take on the world, and no one could stop me

By midday, I had surprisingly travelled a lot farther than I had anticipated. No doubt Luminosity would've already realised that I was gone, and the fact that she hadn't come to get me was a bit strange. I had somehow left that out of my calculations the night before, but no matter, nothing I did concerned Luminosity anymore anyway. I trudged on, the heavy rays of the sun weighing me down and making the walk all that much harder. I figured that the best bet I had was to head towards the nearest town where I could be cured of my deprivation of human civilisation, courtesy of Luminosity of course, and have somewhere to stay, a proper place to stay instead of the stupid cave, before I commenced my search. I kicked a stone on the ground and it flew into the air, landing with a soft thud on the dry earth.

"Stupid sun, I wish it was the moon instead."

Wait. Moon...dragon…..

"I take that back. Stupid moon…"

I hadn't had anything to drink since dawn and a few minutes later, the heat and dryness were really starting to get to my head, making it light and slightly dizzy. The trees did provide some shade, but not nearly enough. The forest was literally a desert in disguise. There was a pine tree in front of me. Wait, two pine trees? No I swear there was only one before… but soon enough there were no more pretty pine trees to think about and I was completely engulfed by an endless world of black.

Gildarts Clive was back from yet another merciless and toilsome 100 year quest. Or rather, Gildarts Clive was about to be back from yet another merciless and toilsome 100 year quest. He hadn't quite gotten to the city of Magnolia yet, where the humble Fairy Tail abode awaited him, and hell, was he looking forward to it. It, being all the ruckus and commotion Fairy Tail was famous for, Erza and Mirajane fighting again and Cana working on her card magic. The last time Gildarts had seen her, Cana was still a mere beginner at magic and he was interested to see how much she had progressed over the past three years.

God, he loved those kids. They were going to be spectacular future Fairy Tail, of that he was sure. Whistling a tune as he strolled through the forest on the outskirts of Magnolia, he fantasised about the moment he would once again step onto some good, solid, Fairy Tail ground. As he walked, Gildarts caught sight of something rather peculiar, and after what he'd been through as an honorary member of the infamous Fairy Tail, that was saying something.

"Yo." He said to the unconscious girl that lay in the middle of the path. He squatted down and prodded her arm with his finger. The little girl, who appeared to be hardly ten years old, made a noise and pushed his finger away, her eyes still closed.

"She's still alive…" he thought as he hoisted her up over his shoulder and continued home. The added weight on his shoulder was nothing. Gildarts didn't mind one bit and the constant ringing in his head of, "You've gotta do what you've gotta do…" just kept his complaining-like-a-kid-self at bay.

The city of Magnolia was clearly insight now, after going through the forest, and from the hill he was now standing on, Gildarts could see every edge of the city, along with the sea that stretched behind it toward the horizon, as clear as crystal. It was just like he remembered it: seagulls flying in the sky, the smell of the ocean filling his senses and the quaint little houses along every street all surrounded by the greenery behind him and the blue of the sea and sky. Magnolia was as rainbow as any city could possibly get, literally with the Rainbow Sakura trees every year. Any more rainbow and people could've gotten seriously sick.

Suddenly Gildarts' ears were clogged by the sound of a heavy church bell clanging away and utterly petrified squawking seagulls who had just had the shock of their feathery lives. Poor souls…

"Looks like they've seen me," he said to himself with a tone of mock annoyance, and a smile touched his lips.

Magnolia had literally been completely changed in a matter of seconds and it was like the Crossing of the Red Sea all over again. By the signal of the church bell, the two halves of the city had been elevated some fifty meters high, creating a huge, dead straight path cutting through the heart Magnolia, leading directly to Fairy Tail. Gildarts smirked. He knew all too well why the city had to be re-arranged whenever he was around. They were precautions to his magic: Crash magic which allowed the user to disintegrate everything, even magic itself and let's just say that Gildarts was not the best at holding back, even against a bunch of bricks.

As Gildarts entered the Fairy Tail building, a shout of, "Gildarts!" could be heard from the Master, Makarov, jolly as ever as he hopped onto the bar table, knocking over a few drinks in the process. He eyed the girl on his shoulder.

"Who's that there?" he said. His smile wasn't wavering in the slightest.

"Master," came the simple reply and greeting. It was all he needed to say, really. "I found her in the forest just outside town. She's still alive, but I think she's just exhausted."

Still no change in mood from the master, as he did a half skip along the bar stools as if they were stepping stones. "Come on then, we'll put her in the infirmary," Fairy Tail's third master replied as he hopped along the bar table toward the back room, somehow avoiding everyone's drink except for Mirajane's, which fell onto her lap soaking her in raspberry cordial.

"MASTER!" Came the inevitable, furious shout just as the door to the infirmary clicked shut. A muffled, "I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" got through the wooden door separating the Master and Gildarts from that devil of a teenager with anger management problems.

Yikes. That girl could shout.

Harsh sunlight streamed through the window, piecing through my eyes and stirring me from my sleep. Where was I? What was happening? I could feel softness all around me, and a squishy thing under my head. A pillow and blankets? A bird sang through the open window, the sharpness of the tone ringing in my ears, as another bird called, answering the first. Before I knew it there was a serenade of tweets, chirps, squawks, and all those feathery noises that prevent sleep. Stupid birds. The only reason why I would've gotten up right then and there was to go tell them noisy birds to be quiet so I could get back to my lovely, lovely sleep. I groaned in annoyance and put the pillow over my head. Hell, was I going to get those birds someday. I had somewhat drifted back into a semi-sleep when I heard a click and the footsteps of a person walking into the room. Actually it sounded more like 'it' was bouncing into the room.

"Welcome to FAIRY TAIL!" shouted the voice of an old man and from those four words I could safely say that I had just met the most hyperactively jolly old man in the whole Kingdom of Fiore. What in the world did I need to do to receive some well-earned sleep? I sat up on the bed, letting the pillow fall to the floor, and looked at the door, expecting to see someone occupying the empty space. No one was there, which was weird, so I looked down. All I can say is, I was as baffled as a baboon.

A tiny old man was standing next to my bed, literally two centimetres away from me. He was so short that the height of the mattress I was sitting was completely obscuring him from view, which was why I could only really see him if I looked down. He had an average build, for a man about a metre or so high anyway, and wore an orange coat with blue lined sleeves and a matching, almost comical orange and blue cap with two ends sticking off it like a rabbit's ears.

"Fairy-what? Did you mean that I'm in some sort of fairy tale? Because this headache is certainly not my idea of what a fairy tale should be. And where am I, by the way, and don't say I'm in another fairy tale, because this is, by my standards, not a fairy tale and-"

But the old man cut me off.

"You misunderstand, child! Do fairies have tails? We might never know the answer! That's why it is an endless journey, a never ending adventure! That is the meaning behind our guild's name! Fairy Tail: the greatest magic guild in all of Fiore!"

Throughout the process that little outburst, the little old man, who stood no taller than my, a little ten year old's, shoulder made a symphony of extravagant hand gestures and majestic moves, over dramatizing the peculiar name of his guild. It was as if he had practised his mini speech over and over in the shower or something. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did practise that in the shower.

"Umm….ok?" was all anybody could really say in that kind of absurd situation, so that's what I said.

"Umm….ok?"

The little man looked up at me, literally, with wide eyes and we just stared at each other for ten awkward, awkward seconds. He stroked his short white beard and closed his eyes, appearing to be deep in thought, if that was even achievable for someone like him. Then, he spoke.

"Well, well it seems like you, child, do not understand the awesome-ness that is Fairy Tail!"

Did he just call me child? Yes, he called me child. And might I add, twice. This old geezer had no idea who he was dealing with.

"No, I know perfectly well what Fairy Tail is. You guys are the most troublesome guild in the Kingdom and cause trouble for the Magic Council every second day, thank you very much! I appreciate your help, but if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

I stood up and headed towards the door, basking in the brilliance of my speech, which far outclassed the little old man's. I rather liked my choice of words there: very proper, professional even. I smiled to myself, reaching for the door handle.

"You just got owned." I thought.

Oh, how I thought too soon. Before I could grab the handle leading to my freedom, a wrinkly hand caught my wrist.

"No, child," he began, earning a groan of annoyance from me, "this is the real Fairy Tail."

He opened the door with the hand free of my wrist.

It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Like, more people than I have ever seen in my whole life: which was like, one, including the old dude. Ok, after being in the forest living in a dingy cave for ten years, I'm blaming Luminosity for my lack of proper civilisation.

People were crowded in the hall, some drinking at the bar and others sitting at the tables causing about 99% of the racket permanently damaging my ear drums. They were shouting, yelling and in general acting like a bunch of monkeys with bad mental disorders. A man with amber hair wearing a long dark cloak looked over at the two of us standing in the doorway.

"So you finally decided to come out Master?"

What?

Did I hear him right? Master? Me? Since when did I become the master of this hall of hooligans? I had never heard of an idea this absurd!

"What do you me-?" I began. But the little man cut me off. Again.

"Hohoho, Gildarts," he laughed and he let go of my wrist. "This child you brought back has spunk! Reminds me of myself back in the day, when I was younger."

Ok. They expected me to believe that this old man was the master? He then proceeded to let out a big sigh and silently reminisce his youth, staring into thin air. It was no sooner that I caught sight of a young boy, appearing to be about my age, standing on one of the tables in the centre of the room, hands on hips. He was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt and yellow pants, complete with a black and white plaid scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. But the surprising thing for me, was his pink, rose coloured hair which spiked up in all directions. Pink hair...really?

"Oi kid, what's your name again? Anyway just get off the table, you're about to stick your foot into my drink," said a guy in his mid-teens with electrifyingly yellow hair. His was leaning with his elbow propped on the table, and indeed, his drink was dangerously close to the little boy's foot.

'What's your name again…..' So that means the pink kid on the table is new…

Pink dude just looked down at yellow dude and shrugged, causing yellow to scowl and move to a more foot-free table. Pink then made announcement to the peoples.

"Hey! Listen to me! I'm looking for my father! His name is Igneel and he's fire dragon!"

Everyone quietened down and it took a while for the words to sink into my head.

'Fire dragon...DRAGON. So this kid knows about dragons…?"

I gasped, my hands snapping up to cover half my face as an instant reflex, causing the sound to resonate within the hall. And little louder than necessary too, judging from the stares I got from around the room.

Author Note

Ahhhhhhh! I'm so happy! This is my first ever fanfiction! Constructive criticism is always welcome :)

I've really enjoyed writing this so please review! It would mean the world to me!

Thanks for reading! LOVE YOU!

Bunny~