Hello everyone!

And I'll apologize in advance.

There wasn't enough settings to the fonts that I could do so Natsu was just normal font.

Just know that the first and last section of this story isn't in his point of view.

As always, enjoy!

Pain…

Everyone in Fairy Tail had it, no matter how strong or impenetrable they seemed to be, everyone had their own story they carried around with them. From the strongest and bravest mage, all the way to the newest member; whether it was something as big as a betrayal to a simple lie, everyone had experienced their own sort of pain.

The pain of losing a loved one, the pain of being abandoned and so much more, it was all there. Some knew how to cope with it, others dealt with it and made sure that it would never happen again.

And some…

They were the people that were expected the least pain out of the most. They were the ones that came cheerfully into the guild, greeting everyone with a smile and giving life to it. They were the ones that others respected most, the ones that resided as idols in the hearts of the children that looked up to them. They were the ones who dealt with the pain of their lives every day and at the same time, did all that they could to prevent someone from going through the same thing that they had.

They were the ones with the most pain in their hearts.

Natsu Dragneel had always wanted a father.

When he had been first found by Igneel, he didn't remember much about his parents. He could only vaguely remember a woman with pretty blonde hair and a man with the same salmon-colored hair as him. He had never understood why his birth parents would leave him out in the middle of the woods one day. Hadn't they wanted him? Hadn't they had him because they had wanted a son? So why had they left him to himself, to fend for himself, and to supply for himself?

He remembered how it had exactly happened. Even when it had happened when he was about five, remembered every single detail of the event. He had been sitting alone in the woods, bawling his eyes out when he felt a sudden chill run over his body as something blocked the light of the sun.

"Why are you crying, boy?" He heard the rumbling of a low, deep voice, making his whole body shake with the vibrations. Looking up, his eyes widened as he saw what he had only seen in his imagination: a dragon. Staring in awe, he forgot that the dragon had asked him a question. Sighing, the dragon opened his great mouth and asked again, "Why are you crying, boy?"

Realizing that this dragon had spoken to him, he drew in a shaky breath to answer. "Papa…"

The dragon gave him a confused look and shook his head. "No, I'm not your Papa. I'm sure your real Papa is looking for you now. Good bye then, boy."

Just before the dragon left, however, Natsu grabbed onto one of his enormous claws and held on tightly. "Papa!" He said again and looked determinedly into the dragon's eyes.

Sighing again, the dragon gave the kid a last look of pity and gave in. "Alright, come along… Son."

Son.

Natsu smiled as he recalled the happy memories with Igneel. The one time when Igneel had taken him fishing, only to have all the fish scared away by him. The one time when he had attempted a roar but a burp had come out instead. The one time when Igneel had tried to sit him down and talk about the opposite gender but Natsu seemed to be more interested in hunting down a poor squirrel instead.

And then, the time when…

"Igneel, look what I got!" He had gone running back to the cave the two of them lived in, a rabbit that he had caught with a trap that he had set earlier in hand. Feeling proud of himself for having accomplished something, he imagined Igneel smiling and patting his head, telling him what a good job it was that he had done.

But the sight that greeted him home was far from what he had wanted. "Igneel?"

The cave was empty, a desolate and cold feeling coming to him from it. That had never happened to him before. This cave had been his home for the past five years; it wasn't supposed to be so uninviting. "Igneel, where are you?" Walking inside, he looked into the deep darkness of the cave and stopped where he was. He had never even gone in more than ten feet in because Igneel had always been sitting near the back, taking up the empty void that Natsu stared into now.

Running back out into the open forest, he used everything he had to search for his foster father. No, no. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't have been abandoned twice! He was sure that Igneel loved him, as a son, as a friend, as a companion! There was no way that Igneel would have just left him without a word.

Hunting, yes. Igneel's out hunting. He had told himself, even when night began to close over the cave and make it look even more lonely. Igneel will be back tomorrow with a lot of game and we'll cook ourselves a feast along with that rabbit that I caught. Igneel will be back tomorrow.

He never was.

The thought brought tears to Natsu's eyes. He had been abandoned, twice. And not because he had done anything, but because the people who had sworn to love him had broken that promise.

"Natsu-nii? Are you ok?" Snapping out of his daydream, the first thing that Natsu saw were Romeo's face in his. "You look a little pale."

The sight of Romeo in front of him didn't make anything better. He had to protect this kid. He had to make sure that that damn Macao wouldn't leave him early like his mother had. He had to make sure that he didn't go through anything like he had. Twice.

"Y-yeah, I just need time to myself." Standing up, Natsu excused himself early from the guild and took a walk, having no particular destination.

Then his feet decided to move on their own, taking him more and more towards the edge of town and the forest that lined its border. Looking up at the luscious green leaves, he was reminded again of the days that he lived with Igneel in another forest, not too different from this one. He took a deep breath. Even the smell of it was similar.

Reaching the river that ran through the forest, Natsu sat and gazed down at the running water. Everything here brought back memories. And yet, why was he staying?

Letting out a shaky breath, he swallowed and looked up at the sky. "I miss you, Igneel."

Lucy Heartfilia hadn't always had a happy family life.

She had loved her father when her mother was alive, when the whole family would do something fun together.

She remembered a time before her mother's death when Jude Heartfilia would put aside everything – work and all – and take her outside to play in the garden or to take a walk together. A time before her mother's death when he would sit her on his lap and let her help with his work with sorting papers and adding small sums together. A time before her mother's death when he would actually speak to her like she was another human being like him.

But when her mother died…

All that disappeared.

Jude Heartfilia locked himself inside his study that day and ignored everything that Lucy tried to say to him. She had been so afraid. She didn't understand why her mother was gone and why all the servants had been wearing black that day. She didn't understand why her kind and loving father had shut himself in and had left her all to herself. She needed to be with him, she needed to be comforted by him! So why hadn't he let her in when she cried out to him and knocked on his door?

Lucy let out a shaky breath and looked around the guild. Everyone seemed so happy. Well that was good, wasn't it? Just because she was down didn't mean that everyone else had to be.

"Lucy?" Turning back towards the bar she was sitting at, she saw Mira giving her concerned look as she wiped a glass clean. "Are you alright? You don't look ok."

Looking at Mira, she felt a slight twinge of jealousy. "Yeah, I'm fine." Lucy mumbled under her breath and got up to leave. "I'm just leaving early."

Walking back home, she thought of how lucky Mira was. She had lost her sister, someone important to her like Lucy had with her mother. But the only difference between that was the fact that Lisanna had come back and Lucy's mother had not – no, could not. Mira had everyone she loved back, well and healthy, while everyone Lucy had loved were buried six feet beneath the ground.

When she had come back with the Tenrou Group after seven years of being away, it had never occurred to her that some people she knew might've died while she was gone. It surprised her even more when she found that it was her father who had passed away during her absence. Maybe it was because she could never imagine the stern and strict father that she knew to have actually grown old and died.

And at the exact moment that she found out, she didn't know what to feel. Surprise? Grief? Happiness? She had received the news with a calm face and had laid flowers at his grave with such an expression as well. She knew that she had never really liked her father very much. He didn't act like a father at all after her mother had died. But she had expected to at least cry a little at his grave, since he had changed since going bankrupt. What kind of horrible daughter was she, not even shedding one tear at her father's grave?

And all her indifference towards her father changed once she got back home. A torrent of emotions were let loose out of her once she saw the presents that had been waiting for her. Seven years' worth of presents had been waiting for her faithfully, with the strong belief that her father held of her return. Her father really had loved her and she was too late in realizing it.

Digging out her apartment key from her purse, she stepped into her home and plopped down onto the bed. She didn't feel like working on her novel, and she didn't feel like writing another letter either. She just wanted to lie there and… disappear.

Closing her eyes, she imagined a last walk in the forest with her father and mother. She had so much she wanted to say to the both of them. That she loved her father. That she missed her mother. That she missed the both of them. That she wanted them back.

All this thinking had made her want to take a walk. To where, she just figured she would just walk to the forest on the outskirts of town and pretend her parents were there.

Finding a small clearing, she laid down stared up at the blue expanse of the sky before her. She sighed, thinking of the note her father had left behind along with the seven birthday presents.

'And Lucy, just know, I love you.'

"I love you too, Dad."

Gray Fullbuster had never had a fondness for people.

Even when Ul had taken him in to train along with Lyon, he had never liked living with them. He thought that Lyon had been too enthusiastic with the training and that Ul was an annoying old woman who liked to nag him a lot.

It wasn't like he had wanted to stay with them. If he wanted to defeat Deliora and avenge his parents and hometown, he had to do everything necessary to gain the power to do so. So he put up with every little annoying thing and tried to learn as much as he could before Deliora managed to reach the place he lived at. He did everything that Ul told him to do and practiced his techniques day and night. He ignored Lyon as much as he could to focus on his studies and went for runs in the snow in only his underwear (to this day, he regretted ever forming the habit of stripping).

When he first heard that Deliora's location was nearby, he didn't even give it a second thought. He packed what little belongings he had and set out, ignoring Ul's threat to expel him. "Yeah, sounds good." Those were the exact words that he had said back to her.

He had never thought that she would come after him.

"Why are you here!?" Gray asked, eyes wide. He couldn't believe it. He was supposed to have been a stranger to her, a complete stranger who had nothing to do with her! So why had she come? "You expelled me!"

She smiled, the same smile that she gave him when he griped about training, or when he complained about her cooking, or when he told Lyon to shut up. The same smile that she gave when he first requested that he teach her and when she died.

He had never realized it.

That even when his biological family was dead, Ul had given him a new one. One with a loving and caring mother and a slightly annoying older brother and friend. He should've been thankful, he should've been giving back and contributing to the family but instead, he could only think about his own selfish desires.

He really was a bastard.

He knew that he had really changed Lyon that day. Poor Lyon had been frozen in a block of ice that Ul had trapped him in to prevent him from using Iced Shell. When he was finally freed, Gray didn't really know what to say to him.

"Ul… She's dead."

He had never excepted to meet Lyon again on Galuna Island. And it was all because of Gray's ignorance and stupidity that had driven Lyon want to melt the ice that Ul had turned herself into to save the both of them so that he could challenge Deliora. He felt like he was the one responsible for what had happened to the villagers and was determined to do anything to stop Lyon and Deliora, even to the extent of using the same spell that his teacher had used that had ultimately resulted in her casting her life away.

His head was hurting like hell. He usually didn't mind all the noise in the guild but now, all of it was making him think back to his days of living with Ul and Lyon, when it was just as noisy as the guild.

Getting to his feet, he made his way through the crowd of people and walked out the guild doors. He just needed some time; alone.

The winters in Magnolia were never enough to compare to those he had lived through during his days of training with Ul. The mountains were always covered in a deep blanket of snow, and the least amount that he could ever remember were two feet. Where he had lived, a thick jacket was a necessity all year-round. It was constantly snowing and when the sun was actually visible, the light would bounce off the ice and cast brightness everywhere. Magnolia's winters could never show off such beauty.

As he walked through the streets, he noticed that there was an unusually large amount of people out. It was never like this. Normally, he would have an easy time walking through the town but right now, he couldn't take two steps without bumping into someone or stepping on their shoes.

Feeling slightly frustrated, he started to head off towards the forest at the edge of the city. The air there was a little more fresh and clear than in Magnolia. A small breeze blew through the trees and underbrush but he didn't care. He was used to the cold, after all.

But something was missing. Bringing his fist to his palm, he began to make snow through his magic and spreading it onto the trees and ground around him. More and more, he began to make things he remembered from his childhood out of ice. The rock that Ul had designated for him to break open and it's every little scratches and chips. The books he used to read with Lyon. The shield of ice he had practiced so much to make perfectly. It was all there.

Sitting down in the middle of his recreated past, he looked up at the sky, disappointed to see the bright blue sky with the snow-covered tree branches.

'I'll do anything to protect my kids.'

"Ul… You shouldn't have come."

Erza Scarlet had never told anyone of her story.

At least, not until her team had been involved in it.

She didn't want to ever think of her past ever again. When she first joined Fairy Tail, she tried her best to forget. After all, it wasn't like anyone there knew about it. She could start a whole new life in Fairy Tail and not have to go through the painful experience ever again.

But for some reason, she couldn't.

Everyday she would sit at the ocean's shore and cry her one good eye out. She made sure that no one would catch her in the deed but Gray had once approached her to address the issue. "Why are you always crying alone?"

When he had asked her this, she felt slightly relieved, like she finally had someone to confide in. She didn't care if it was the asshole Gray that had always called her a little brat for taking his "Gray-sama" title or that had told her that a guild was a place for wizards, not knights. So when she opened her mouth to tell him, something froze her voice. She couldn't bring herself to tell him the fact that she had been too weak to save Jellal or that she had to pretend to betray her friends to protect them.

Because of this, she curtly replied, "I don't cry by myself." And turned away.

She always sat alone in the guild, at the small round table that she had unintentionally claimed to be hers. She was never bothered by others, and she was used to the loneliness.

"Do you want to sit with us?"

Lisanna Strauss was the youngest of the three Strauss siblings and perhaps the kindest. She was the first to come up to her after Gray and had invited her to eat lunch with them. Erza didn't know what to say. It had been such a long time since someone had spoken to her with kindness.

Not since Jellal…

She learned to make friends. She even had a rival, Mirajane, Lisanna's older sister who had become an S-class mage the year after she herself had become one. Life in the guild wasn't so bad anymore. She loved her guild family, and she was willing to do anything to protect them.

That promise was put to the test when she had been kidnapped by Sho in the casino that one night. She had always known that someday, her old friends would come back to get her and so she accepted the fate.

But she hadn't known that it would be so terrifying.

She was beyond afraid when she was chained up in the boat they travelled on, keeping her in her evening dress and look. Her armor was what helped her feel safe. But without the ability to requip, she felt hopeless and frail, just a small ant waiting to be crushed.

She thought that she could take it. She thought that she could be able to face her former friends and be brave. But at even the slight mention of Jellal, she began to give things second thoughts. She couldn't face them, and she could never face Jellal.

"We came to save you."

At first, she had been surprised. She never understood why her team had come after her, to rescue her at all. She hadn't known them for long, especially Lucy and Juvia, but they came, nonetheless. These were the people she loved, she realized. And she had to protect them.

She had hoped that they would believe the lie she told them about following after them if they left the tower but, of course, who could convince Natsu? While the others were safely off the cursed island of her past, he had stayed behind just to beat Jellal and rescue her. She had never liked that. It was supposed to have been the other way around when she sacrificed herself to the Tower of Heaven, her beating Jellal's ambition and rescuing Natsu. Besides, it had been because of her that the whole incidents had happened.

And again, her plans had failed. She was relieved, but guilty at the same time. Her whole life had been wanting to do something right but getting rescued instead.

She was infuriated when Jellal had admitted he couldn't remember a single thing at the site of Nirvana. 'How dare he?' was all that she could think. He had killed Simon, hurt her friends, and infiltrated the Magic Council to trick them into firing the Etherion.

'But he could start over,' was what she was also thinking. He could help the three alliances of Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Cait Shelter and then make up for what he had done in the past by joining Fairy Tail. But he had been dragged away by the Magic Council and she could never see him again. For some reason, that had been the biggest pain in her heart.

So when she came back after seven years of being thought of as dead, she saw Jellal again. She didn't know what to think. Had he changed? Even if he had, she still had the horrible memories left over from her past. And when seven years had passed in the outside world, to her, the Tower of Heaven incident was still something that happened just a few months ago.

She didn't know what Jellal was doing now, but she had been hoping that he would stay with her instead of wandering around in his Crime Sociere guild so much. She really was selfish.

For some reason, she began to feel greatly annoyed and didn't want to deal with the craziness of the guild. Walking out the doors, she made her way through the streets until she found herself looking up at the fresh green leaves of the forest at the edge of town. This forest was just like the forest that she and the others had met Jellal and his gang in after wasting three full months the in the Celestial world.

But… She could almost feel his lips on hers…

Leaning backwards, she ended up falling on her back and looking up at the sky.

'It was your hair.'

"I was hoping that you'd remember…"

'You called me son…'

'You said you loved me…'

'I didn't mean to put you all in danger…'

'I've always loved you…'

"So why…"

"Why leave me here…"

"All alone…"

"I miss you!"

Natsu's eyes widened. What was that just then?

Something… He stood up, looking in the other way of the river. Something was calling him that way.

Lucy didn't know what was going on.

She had just been talking to herself, all alone but something inside of her compelled her to walk. To where, she didn't know. Just something that her mind questioned but her body did anyway.

Gray didn't want to leave his little trove of winter.

It brought him back in time before the pain in his heart had set in. But now, he couldn't control his own body from walking away from his piece of paradise.

Erza let out a deep breath. Well, it was time to get going.

She stood up, her intention being to return to the guild when she began to walk in the opposite direction. What was going on? What was this… feeling? It seemed as if her body was moving on its own. She didn't want to go; that meant more time wasted. But she couldn't regain function of her legs as they walked her away from her original destination.

Natsu ran until he could no more, the force in his legs giving out when he finally reached a small clearing. Catching his breath, he glanced up for a moment and saw his teammates standing in the same space as him. His eyes widened in realization.

'That's right…'

Lucy didn't quite understand what was going on. She had ran all this way, only to bump into her own team members? She looked at the three of them, hoping for an explanation of some sort when she realized. They looked familiar. They had the same expression of sorrow on their faces, the same puffy red eyes, and the same look of longing and guilt in their eyes. They were all the same.

'They too…'

Gray stumbled into the clearing as soon as he felt feeling return to his legs. Looking around, he was surprised to see the other members of Team Natsu in the same clearing as him. Was this all a scheme? Had somebody put a spell on all of them just to make them run to each other? But they didn't look… happy. The usual people that he knew as his teammates were not there. Instead, it was the feelings and pain he had felt, manifested as people before him.

'It was all the same…'

Erza was just as confused as the other three members of the strongest team of Fairy Tail. Why had that unknown force brought her here? She felt slightly annoyed; she didn't want to see people at the moment, not even her friends. She was about to turn back around when she noticed something.

'We're all facing the same thing.'

Blinded by tears, Natsu stumbled forward and embraced his teammates.

"Guys…"

Lucy was overwhelmed with emotions as she let loose the storm inside of her in the arms of her team members.

"I didn't know…"

Gray had never been the man to cry but it didn't matter now; all he needed was his team at the moment and there they were.

"You were the same as me…"

Feeling tears cascade out of her artificial eye for the third time in her life, Erza drew her friends close, never wanting to let go.

"You and I aren't alone anymore."

"We"

"Have"

"Each"

"Other."

Yes, everyone had pain somewhere in their hearts. Some were so little that the person possessing it had no idea it was there while for others, it felt as if they were drowning everyday.

But they weren't alone.

They just had to find the right people.

Thanks for reading!

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And the making of SPN's chapter 5 is underway so sit tight!

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