You know… I try really hard to not make any more stories or other things until I either finish or work more on my other things, but I have to get this out of my head.

Anyway, this is more like a prologue to a future story of sorts. This explains about a decision that the girls and Natsu make all while the girls remember when they learn about the pain Natsu hid from them, and when they showed him how much he truly means to them. This is mostly showing flashbacks basically. This is more on a dark and sad side, but don't worry, it has happiness in it as well. This takes place before Tenrou Island by the way. This is mostly from the girls' perspective than Natsu's.

In case anyone wondering, the girls that Natsu loves and that love Natsu are: Erza, Mirajane, Lucy, Cana, Lisanna, Juvia, and Kinana.

Warning, may contain dark themes, such as mentions and possibly showing self harm, just to let you know.

Sorry if some people are OOC, since I'm not good at getting characters right, and that it involves in order for this story to work.

Enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions. Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Chapter One: Looking Back

The guild was as rowdy as ever. People were fighting, people were drinking, and people were having a good time. It was around night time currently, but no one felt like going home just yet. The only ones that weren't here were Natsu, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Romeo, and Gildarts. Natsu went to get something he left at his house. Wendy and Carla went on a mission, and Happy went with them as he wanted to take this chance to get closer to Carla. Gildarts simply decided to take a short mission, not like his usually long ones that take along time, he simply just went on a normal mission like anyone else would. Romeo was simply at his house asleep, since Macao didn't want his son to stay up this late.

We currently see Erza eating her strawberry cheesecake at the bar. Mirajane and Kinana were simply cleaning dishes with a smile as Lisanna was talking to them. Lucy was currently talking to Levy about books and stuff. Cana was drinking down barrels of alcohol from her table. Juvia was surprisingly, at least to the rest of the guild, not behind anything stalking a certain ice mage, but was at the bar simply enjoying herself with some food she ordered.

"What did you call me metal face?!" Gray shouted at the iron dragon slayer during their brawl.

"You heard me ice freak!" Gajeel replied as he continued to fight with the ice mage.

"Dodging like a coward isn't manly!" Elfman shouted at them as he fought them in their brawl.

"Man, they all are being loud aren't they?" Macao asked Wakaba, the man next to him.

"True, but at least they aren't as loud and obnoxious like Natsu" Wakaba replied with a grin.

"Haha, yeah true that." Macao agreed with his friend. The two didn't notice the glare they were getting from Cana who overheard them as she drank another barrel.

A little bit of time had pass and the brawl had stop, due to Erza threatening- I mean, asking them to stop. So currently, people were now simply drinking and relaxing.

"It's very peaceful right now isn't it?" Laxus pointed out from the second floor with the rest of his Thunder god tribe.

"Possibly because that flaming idiot isn't here." Gray pointed out, as he was referring to Natsu.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Gajeel responded with a grin, agreeing with the ice mage. "I can finally relax in peace without that idiot screwing it up."

The smiles that were on the seven girls mentioned earlier fell as Gray and Gajeel just insulted their lover, yes lover. Though Natsu wanted to keep it a secret, as he thought that if they knew, it would cause problems for the girls, and he didn't wanted that to happen to them. They didn't want him to believe that, but they respected his wishes for now.

"Yeah, I can finally drink in peace with that moron not here." Wakaba pointed out as Macao agreed with him.

"Being loud and annoying is not manly!" Elfman shouted out.

"I feel a bit sorry for you and the rest of your team Gray," Jet told the ice mage, "I don't know how you all could handle Natsu's constant stupidity and destructiveness." Jet finished with a laugh.

"I know right?" Gray agreed with the speedster. "I can only hope that flamebrain's stupidity doesn't spread to anyone else." The ice mage told the guild with a laugh, as the guild laugh with him.

Erza, Mira, Lucy, Cana, Kinana, Lisanna, and Juvia couldn't believe that they would talk about Natsu like that. They lost their smiles, and their hair was casting a shadow over their eyes, so no one could see their expressions. Was this how the guild actually thought about him? The guild then went on with their insults and hurtful things about the fire dragon slayer.

"I wish Natsu would behave himself once in his life. I mean, imagine how much money we would save if he didn't keep being an idiot and destroying everything." Macao pointed out.

"That's true! And imagine the less headache I can get from the council!" Even Makarov joined in the attack on Natsu, as dollar signs appeared in the small guild masters eyes as everyone simply laughed.

"They all have a good point don't they Lucy." Levy asked her blonde friend as she giggled, but didn't get a response. "Lucy?" Levy turned to see Lucy, but was unable to see her expression.

*CRACK*

The guild turn to see Erza smashed the glass she had in her hand, as she suddenly stood up and made her way out of the guild.

"What's up with her?" Laki questioned as she and the others saw the red haired woman leave the guild.

"…I'm going home." Lucy suddenly spoke in a quiet tone, as she too made her way out of the guild.

"…Juvia will be going now too." Juvia left the guildhall as well.

"..I think we'll head home as well." Mirajane and Lisanna told the guild and their brother as they left the building.

"I feel tired myself, so I'll head that way as well." Kinana told them as she also left.

"I'm going home, I feel tired as well." Cana informed the guild as she took off from the guildhall as well.

The guild was simply confused by their sudden leave. Eventually, they got over it as they went on with their life.

'WITH ERZA'

'How could they talk about him like that?!' Erza was thinking furiously as she made her way through the empty streets of Magnolia. The red haired woman couldn't believe that their own guild would actually talk about one of their own like that. 'I'm glad that Natsu wasn't there to hear all of that. Who knows how he would have reacted.' She thought as she was on their way to Fairy Hills.

However, on her way there, she heard something that sounded like crying. Confused, she listens again closely, only for her eyes to widen as she realized who was crying. Without thinking a second thought, she took off to a nearby alleyway where she heard the crying. As she got there, she was right as she saw a familiar blob of spiky pink haired behind one of the trashcans.

"Natsu?" Erza spoke in a quiet tone as she slowly approaches the sobbing fire dragon slayer. Hearing his name being called, he turned to see Erza approaching him.

"E-Erza? *Sniff* W-What are you doing here?" Natsu asked her while tears went down his cheeks.

He looked awful, Erza manage to see. His eyes were all red and puffy from crying, and he was sitting down with his kneels pulled up to his chests, but what happened to make him like this? Erza didn't answer him as she got on her kneels and pulled him into a hug, catching him off guard.

"Natsu… what's wrong?" Erza gently asked him as Natsu accepted the hug as more tears went down his face.

"T-They *Sniff* h-hate me…" Natsu managed to squeeze out from his sobbing as he continued to cry in Erza's shoulders.

Erza's eye widen as she realized that he must have heard the guild talk about him like that. Rage filled her as she saw how broken Natsu looked now because of them. She wanted nothing more than to go back and show then pain, but Natsu needed her right now. He needed all of them right now.

After comforting him for a few minutes, Natsu eventually passed out from all the crying he was doing. Making sure not to disturbed him too much, she managed to get on her feet and made sure that she had Natsu. She then headed to her room in Fairy Hills, knowing that the others would meet with them there.

'A FEW MINUTES LATER'

Eventually, she managed to get back to her room in Fairy Hills as she carefully laid Natsu in her bed. She then reequip out of her armor into normal clothing as she sat next to the bed, wanting to make sure Natsu was okay. As she watched over him, she began to wonder again why the guild would say all of those awful things about him. There's no way that they really felt that way about him. She remembered the times where Natsu would tell her and the others that he believed that the guild didn't care about him, and she and the others would then tell him that's not true. They believed that the guild actually cared about him like any other member of the guild. However, after witnessing what she saw, she wasn't so sure about that anymore.

And she wasn't sure if she could stay in a place like that anymore.

She couldn't finish her thinking as the red haired woman heard knocking on her door. Knowing who it was, she responded with a "Come in." as the other girls entered the room, only to see Natsu sound asleep in her bed.

"What happened?" Mira asked Erza.

"He heard what they said about him." Erza told them, with some venom in her voice when she said 'they'.

"How could they say something like that about him?" Juvia didn't understand, she was so sure that they actually cared about Natsu, but after witnessing what she saw, the rain woman didn't know anymore.

"Why?" Lucy questioned as she sat down, "Why would they treat Natsu so horrible?" A few tears started to form in the blonde eyes as she couldn't believe that they would do that to Natsu.

"I want to know what we are going to do." Erza began to speak, getting their attention.

"What do you mean?" Kinana questioned.

"I mean what are we going to do about the guild? Because honestly, I don't know if I can handle it anymore." Erza admitted. It took the others a moment to realize what she meant.

"A-Are you saying…?" Lisanna wanted to make sure she figured out what Erza meant right.

Erza simply nodded, confirming what she meant. Realizing that they need to talk about it more, they began to discuss a plan, all while making sure Natsu was okay in Erza's bed. As they discuss, the girls remembered when they realized what Natsu had really been feeling behind his happy façade, and they remembered when they showed him that he is loved.

Alright, I don't know how I'm going to work the angst and sadness thing, since I'm not good at this kind of thing. But I'll find a way. Anyway, see you all next time, whenever that will be.