I'm With You
Robin was always on the run, she didn't have a home, a family or a friend. All she had was the knowledge to read a forbidden language and a huge sum of bounty on her eight year old self. Well all that's going to change with the arrival of a boy who can burn the Ocean itself.
Chapter 1: New to Ohara?
The vast watery fields of blue spread all across the West Blue, allowing the sister Ocean to stand with the same dignity as the North, East and the South. In this water, there was an island known as Ohara, the land where the greatest Archaeological minds gathered and strived to discover the meaning of anything that connects them to the past.
Some say, many Archaeologists who came here to research on the past, sometimes, could never even dig an inch into the history of the world. But then there was one person...
A group of small kids, both boys and girls, hid behind the tree as they peaked at a lone figure who sat in the clearing ahead them, alone with an open book in her hand. "Hey look Soka, it's the freak, I found her." One of them whispered. There were boys and girls in the group as they sneakily picked up the small rocks nearby and crept a little closer.
"Let's do it!" One of them cried out as she threw the stone she held at the person in front of them, starting the attack for the rest who followed suit.
"Start Attacking!" Again they began to throw the stones more harder, hitting and missing the person who fell off from the boot of the cut tree.
"Ow!" The one being attacked was a little girl who seemed to be under the age of ten, she wore a black sleeveless petticoat that only reached till her mid thighs and has definitely seen better days. She was a little tan in colour and had shoulder length shiny straight black hair and big brown eyes; her little body was over all slightly malnourished.
The girl fell forward, but did not let go of the book. The kids, numbering to eight continued to pelt stones at her and continued to shout 'monster'. The black haired girl slowly got up and a stone hit the side of her forehead, wounding it a little, but then a scorn came over her face and what was once a normal grass clearing, started to sprout arms all over the ground here and there and began to pelt at the attackers of the little girl.
Without shame, the ones who came to get rid of the monster turned tail and ran. "WAAAH the monster attacked us!" One of them cried while holding her swell on the head.
The girl stared at the retreating forms of the kids, and the arms retracted back into the ground. She knew them all, she knew every single person in Ohara. Not because she was loved, but because she was frowned. The only solace she found was with the archaeologists of the island who treated her with the respect she deserves of possessing a talented mind.
Her scowling face upon seeing her attackers disappear turned a little sad, although she kept on holding her failing scowl, even though her lips were slightly quivering. This was more of a pride to herself; she cannot show that she was affected so deeply by the discrimination the majority of Ohara showed her. Feeling that she had regained control over her emotions, she let out sigh. Maybe one day she will find a person who likes her?
Turning around to sit back on her seat, she was met with the sight of someone standing a few meters away from her and upon closer inspection, she found the individual to be a boy of her age, maybe a little shorter. And even in this distance, she could tell that the boy was not from Ohara. She knew all the kids in Ohara, well, at least the majority of them who were bullies.
So the only conclusion is that he was from the remaining small portion that either didn't care about her in any way or the ones that pitied her. She saw the boy walk towards her and immediately stiffened. As he came closer and closer, she was able to take notice of his features.
He was most definitely not from this island; that was sure. His features were too sharp unlike the little calmer ones the residents of the West Blue possessed. Pink hair, spiky pink hair. That was not seen around these parts. He wore a thick full sleeved dark red T-shirt with a white scarf with scaly patterns wrapped nicely around his neck. For the legs he had a brownish yellow dull trouser and dull red slightly worn out boots that stretched two inches above his ankles.
His walk and face were calm as the sea on the east side of the island as he came closer with a backpack that had two protrusions on either side behind his neck. The boy was a traveller from what she can tell as this was the first time she has seen a rollup comforter on a person. He stopped a few feet away and stared at her.
The hair on her neck stood as this unknown individual radiated a lot of power and authority even though he was just a child like her. He scanned her with his onyx eyes from head to toe, his expression turning into curiosity as he whipped his head left and right on to the grassy fields that moments ago hosted a lot of arms that defended the girl from the stone pelts.
After confirming that there were no human limbs on the ground, he brought his eyes back on to the girl in front of him who was waiting for his scorning words about her ability that she used to defend herself, but that didn't happen immediately as he kneeled down and brought his ragged up backpack on the ground in front of him and opened a small zip and took out a dull white, otherwise clean kerchief and stood back up before closing the distance between the girl and him.
The raven haired girl, startled, took a step back as he raised his hands towards her face, but was not quick enough to evade them as he held her face with his calloused but warm hands. Too shocked was she to move and couldn't help but watch as he did what he pleased. She saw him bringing the kerchief to the right side of her forehead and wipe something off that she didn't notice before.
It was a small cut and there was a thin line of blood that flowed down over to her brow. "There!" With his work done, he gave wide boyish warm grin, showing his two set of canine pearly white teeth. His voice was loud, childish and honest without a hint of care. Quickly tucking the kerchief into his pants pocket and continued to look at the girl who was beyond confused with his wide grin.
Sweating a little, the girl averted her eyes to her bare feet. "Umm...thanks?" She never had the opportunity to thank anyone as no one has ever done anything for her. So when she finally met a person who helped or, or at the most treated her a little kindly, she was at a loss of words. But she didn't have to.
"Don't mention it! You were pretty awesome back then! It was like, you were pinned down and out numbered and suddenly out of nowhere a lot of guns shows up and start firing at them!" He spoke excitedly as he fired an imaginary machine gun while making the series sounds of the fire.
The girl sweat dropped a little at the boys antics. "Thanks...again I guess?" She did not know why she felt her little heart start beating faster at the boy who acted like they were friends, it's not like he wants to friends with her right?
The pink head stopped his funny actions and looked at the girl with the same smile. "Forgotta mention, but the names Natsu, Dragneel Natsu! Wanna be friends?" The girl felt a little dizzy in the head. Now she was sure, this was definitely one of those kids trying to pull a prank on her. This was too fast, no one would want to be friends with a stranger, especially after seeing what she is capable of, if he is new that is. And she was about to word it out...
"Leave me-" She began, but an angry screeching voice interrupted her.
"Hey you brat!" It was a middle aged woman with blonde hair and she held on to a boy with a lot of bumps on his head that he received earlier from the little girl. "My kids told me they were beaten up for no reason!" The woman continued as she walked closer with the boy who had a dirty smirk on his face as he stuck out his tongue at the girl. "Don't go anywhere near my kids, you are such a creepy girl!" The woman was a few feet away now as she glared and snarled at the raven haired girl who looked down with her shoulders slumped. "Well? Say something!" The woman demanded harshly, but the girl kept quite.
Natsu stood between the girl, protecting her from the gaze of the angry woman. "You are one ugly banshee out of a trash can with her little whiny tiny trashholes hanging on her arms." The girls eyes widened to the size of saucers as she heard Natsu sticking up for her. "If your little brats can come in groups and attack her, make sure they are not just depending on their fat to think they are stronger." He cheekily spoke with a smirk.
The woman who gasped at the boy for his vulgar words regained her breath and glared at him with anger and raised her free hand and stretched to the side of her head as she decided to discipline the small skinny boy. "You insolent brat!" She shouted as she was about to bring her open palm on to his face.
Natsu stared into the woman's brown eyes as she brought down her palm on his cheek in a hard slap, the sound of the slap rang through the clearing, but the pink head didn't budge in the slightest as he stood there with the woman's hand on his cheek. The girl gasped at the sight. "Are you done?" Natsu's voice was low and it certainly rattled the woman who quickly retracted her hand and held it tightly in pain.
And upon further inspection, there was not even a small mark of the slap on his face, instead all the redness was on the woman's hand as she cried out in pain and dragged her son and ran away back into the town. The girl continued to watch the from behind while gapping like a fish.
Seeing the banshee and her son was gone, Natsu whipped around with a broad grin of accomplishment and his hands on his hip. "There! That takes care of her!" She still continued to gap for a few more seconds until she snapped out and stumbled back.
"W-who are you?" She knew she was being rude at acting all startled and all when she herself possess weird powers more than what he just did. But the pink head didn't seem too touched by it.
In fact, he was grinning away at being asked about it. "I am the Fire Dragon Slayer from the number one Wizard Guild in Fiore! Fairy Tail!" He exclaimed proudly as he drove his fist into his palm.
The girl wasn't enlightened in the least bit, and her face showed it obviously. "Uh what?" She asked, not at all understanding where 'Fiore' was and what a 'dragon slayer' was.
Natsu pouted and folded his hands. "Hey! I told'ya my name, my place and what I am! You didn't even tell me your name!" He accused her like a four year old.
A little embarrassed, the girl gave a small smile. "Sorry, it's just that no one really talks to me, my name is Nico Robin." Then she saw from the corner of her eyes that it was almost sunset. "Oh no, I am going to be late! Sorry, but I have to go back." She gave a small bow and ran off, leaving the young Dragon Slayer to stand in the grassy fields without knowing what to do.
Well, it was only for ten seconds though as he quickly grabbed his backpack and swung it over his shoulders and ran after the scent of the girl. "Hey wait up!" He yelled but she was already out of ear sight. But he caught up to her in the town, but before he could call out her name, he saw the scene that was slowly unfolding there.
Robin has stopped running and started to make a small walk through the town while breathing hard and took a seat on some empty crates in the side as she watched the people on the street taking an evening stroll with their families. Her eyes showed loneliness and she looked down once again.
"Look mommy, it's the monster girl!" Her eyes lightly glistened when she heard a child yelling out from her spot in between her parents.
"Shush! Don't point at her!" The parents silenced their child and quickly hurried away from her without a glance. Robin sat there till she regained her breath, but all that time, she was gifted with the sharp stingy comments.
Upon reaching her aunt's house, with her unknown stalker still behind her, Robin slowly opened the door with the spare key. "Hello..." She called out softly. "I am sorry I am late..." She apologized for her lateness and stepped in to the dark living room before finding the switch and turning it on to find that the house was in fact empty.
On the desk, there was a letter for her. Unfolding it, she found out the reason why the house was empty. It was her cousin's birthday and her aunt and uncle took her out for a private dinner. The letter said that she had some bread and jam kept there and to clean the house after her dinner and go upstairs and sleep. Robin did that, with her scrawny hands, she pulled the chair, and it's creaking being the only sound in the isolated room and sat on it before having her light dinner.
All the while, she thought back to all the happy families that she saw on her way back and wishfully thought of being cared. Getting up, she began with the dishes and started with wiping the floor. After an hour or so later, she stood back up and turned the lights off and went upstairs to the small cramped up room in the attic which had a small candle lamb that her uncle bought her. He was the only one in the family of three that treated her like human being rather than a servant. And he wasn't even blood related like her mother's sister who made her into a free servant.
With the candle light on, she looked at her small space of existence. It just had one bed, a small broken table and a small window by which she had a box full of books borrowed from the library.
TAP TAP TAP
Looking over to her window, she jumped up in shock, bumping her head onto the wooden roof. "OW!" She cried as she held her head before looking back at the window, where the boy she met earlier crouched. And upon being noticed, he gave big smile.
She went over to the window and opened it, and without wasting a second, the Dragon Slayer took that as an invitation and intruded. "Hey there Robin!" He cheerful asked at the flailing girl.
"What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed in a whisper. And was even more shocked when Natsu began to go through her books which had pictures. Did this boy know how to make anyone's home into his own or not? "Hey stop that!" She flailed her hands but the dragon slayer continued to check.
Finally managing to get the book that was titled 'Relic of Mt. Zonia' she glared weakly at the pouting pink head. "Hey! I was reading that!" He protested.
"No you weren't! You were simply looking at the pictures! But more than that, what are you doing in my house in the first place?" She questioned weakly, not having the will to impose anything. Actually, this was the first time the timid girl ever raised her voice.
Natsu let out a defeated sigh and looked away as he folded his arms. "So cold..." He muttered.
"What!" Robin had her jaws drop.
Natsu once again pouted. "I thought you would be happy to see your friend!" His words shocked her and Natsu noticed this.
"I-I am your f-friend?" She stuttered.
At her words, Natsu got confused and a little wave of sadness hit his face. "Oh...I thought you might wanna be my friend..." Robin stayed silent for a moment, the tension in the really small room fluctuated hard.
"Why?" Natsu slightly jumped at the abrupt question.
"Huh? What day a mean why?" He asked confusedly.
Robin took a deep breath and looked into his onyx eyes that revealed his feelings without any obstructions. "Why do you want to be friends with me?" She didn't want anyone's pity, four years back when she was four, she would have gladly took it, but she has come too far to accept pity.
"Eh? There need to be a reason for us to become friends? According to me, all that matters is that you accept it, the rest of the detail can go to hell." This was going to be the beginning of a long and loving friendship that was going to threaten the balance of the world if ever threatened.
Tears formed in Robin's eyes as her lips trembled and without warning, her dam broke and tears that were held back for years fell like a waterfall. She sobbed into her hands as she sat on the bed and cried her heart out.
Natsu really didn't know what to make of this and slowly got up. "H-hey...what's wrong? I am sorry if I hurt ya or anything..." He reached for his bag and began to move towards the window but a soft but firm grip stopped him by the hand.
"No..." Robin had her arm clasped around the boy's hand. "I-I wanna be f-f-friends-ss with y-you." She still had tears coming down her face but there was also a smile that the girl couldn't hold back.
Natsu blinked a few moments before he let out his thousand watt grin that made the girl's heart skip a beat and made her face flush. "Then what's up with the water works?" He asked curiously, his searching face made the crying girl to giggle a little.
"Those are tears of joy Natsu..." The name gave an odd taste to her. Her first friend's name. And she can call it out a thousand times! That night Robin slept like the baby she was seven years ago in the warm and protective embrace of her one and only friend.
Feeling the girl fall into blissful unconsciousness, the Dragon slayer smiled softly into her hair. "Tears of joy or sadness, your smile is something that can't be compared to. I'll protect you no matter what." He whispered before he too succumbed to sleep, but his wasn't as perfects as hers. 'Dad, you always told me a dragon never regrets right? But I have one...and I have to correct it please watch over my friends while I am gone...Farewell Fairy Tail...'
XxxxX
Yep another alternate reality where Natsu is a child rather than an adult.
So...how was the story? And if you liked it, please drop a review. Also check out my other stories.
Appearances
Natsu is like how he was when he first met Gildarts
Robin is very much the same as shown in Ohara
Also, this story follows the same timelines and the Straw hats will be born in a few years.
