Title: Meeting the End

Pairing: Nalu

Summary: Searching for a new life, Natsu, or E.N.D, joins fairy tail. While returning from a mission, he meets his soulmate, Lucy Heartfilia, a traveling mage looking for a new home and family.

A/N: Hello! Welcome to my story! I hope you enjoy it! Just as a side note, the names do not indicate p.o.v but the character that that passage is focusing on.

Chapter 1: Prologue

END/Natsu

Despite what the master thought, he remembers his past, all of it. He remembers the taste of blood. The taste of flesh. The taste of complete and utter loneliness. He remembered how he woke up from some strange pod with the desire to destroy and annihilate everything in his path. He was considered the END.

However, soon after the wars, after his path of destruction, after his ostracization, he felt loneliness. His desire to destroy, to set everything a light in the darkness of his cursed flames, soon waned, and he felt a sense of lulled blood lust that calmed his mind for the first time since he awoke.

With this new sense of calm, he decided to stray from his fellow demons and seek a path of his own. They may have called him a traitor, but he had his own desire to find his true nature. It was then that he found the old dragon king of fire, Igneel.

He soon grew close to him, and they became good friends whose relationship soon grew to that of a father and son. Though neither were willing enough to voice it. Igneel taught him most of what he knows about humanity and how to interact with them so that he may one day be among them, he even taught him his dragon slayer magic. It was also through Igneel that he found out about soulmates.

Apparently, it was something that all living creatures had, no matter the species. Soulmates were the other half of a being's existence. They balanced each other out, they were there for each other, they loved one another, but most of all, they accepted each other. This deep profound relationship was embodied in the form of a mark on their body. Each mark was unique. It usually represented certain aspects of their personalities and wound it together, symbolizing their union. It would also only show up once both mates were living.

So it was after this discovery that the infamous END decided to live for the day to meet his mate. He no longer battled in the wars of demons, men, and dragons, but only trained to maintain skill and possibly get stronger to protect and appeal to his mate. It was shortly after this decision that he lost Igneel. The dragons had a plan. They knew they were losing to Achnologia in their battle for the humans, so in order for their plan to work, they had to stay within the bodies of their adopted children, or their dragon slayer, for both of their safety. The children were in danger of being poisoned by the properties of dragon magic that were not meant to be for humans, and the dragons from facing death at the hands of Achnologia.

So he agreed, even if it did not affect his demon body. Igneel would reside in his body, however he would not travel to the future like the dragon slayers. He did not want to miss the chance of losing his mate without meeting her. And so he waited. It was after the first hundred years that he stopped feeling hope for finding his other half. After all, he of all people would be the last to deserve such a privilege. So for the next 300 years, he stayed isolated, training for the day that the dragon's plan would finally be carried out.

It was midsummer of X767 that he felt a burning sensation above his heart. He lifted his shirt to look at his chest and was surprised to see the mark of a shooting star with trailing flames resting on it. After so long, he would finally meet his soulmate.

Layla

Layla laid on one of the beds in her husband's mansion, exhausted but filled with joy. She had just brought her newest and greatest love into the world, her daughter, Lucy. She smiled at the hovering form of her husband as he hovered over the midwife who was now cleaning her daughter. Despite the joy she felt at the birth of her child, she felt a sense of dread that was lingering in her mind. She didn't know why or the source of the feeling, but she buried it in the back of her mind as she sees the midwife turn to hand her the now clean baby.

"Congratulations Mrs. Heartfilia, your baby is healthy and ready to be fed." She told her as Layla held her daughter gently.

"Thank you." She replied softly, watching her daughter feed from her breast.

"Your welcome, I will stay till the morning just in case anything happens." Before the midwife was able to walk out of the room, Layla's daughter stopped feeding and started squirming in her arms.

Both ladies looked toward her baby and stared surprised as the area above little Lucy's heart lightly glowed for a few seconds and slowly receded. Layla gently lowered the blanket from her daughter to look at the once glowing area and smiled at the newly marked skin above her daughter's heart.

"Looks like her soulmate was already born." Commented Layla.

"He better not be too old!" exclaimed Jude.

*10 years later*

Layla laid on her death bed, thinking back to her past. She didn't regret anything. She was finally able to complete her family's duty that had been passed down through the generations. She also was able to start a family with a wonderful husband. The only thing that she wishes that she could have done was watch her daughter grow up and find her soulmate. But when she felt the shift in time through her magic, she knew it was time to fulfill her family duty. She would still be healthy if she was able to track the 12th key, but there was not enough time and she had to use her own magic. She was glad her daughter would at least be able to be guided by her spirits that she left for her to inherit, and the book of their family's celestial magic that she left behind.

*one year later (now X778)

Makarov

Makarov was enjoying a normal day at his guild. The children that he has taken in to his guild were all playing around in the guild hall while the older members were drinking or going out on missions. He himself was sitting at the bar, thinking about his grandson. He was proud that Laxus was able to become an S-class mage at such a young age, but he still was deeply hurt and angered due to the issue with his father.

Makarov sighed when he felt an immense source of magic enter the city. The older members who were more accustomed to the sensory of magic looked up from their conversations and looked towards the master, they would only act with his consent. Right now, their strongest, Guildarts, was on a mission and wasn't due to return for another week. Makarov shook his head, telling the elder members to not act on it, and left the guild hall to investigate. The magic did not feel like who was ever, or whatever, was emitting it was in a volatile mood.

He arrived at a small restaurant near the outskirts of town, and walked in. There he saw an interesting scene. The normal matrons of the restaurant and their customers were looking at the figure dressed in a black cloak, who was indulging in many plates of food. He approached the figure who looked up from his food as he felt someone approach him. As Makarov got closer, he started to notice more prominent features of the man in black. The most noticeable, his pink hair that was left unkempt. The other was his height. Granted, Makarov was farthest from the tallest person in the guild, but this man was probably taller than guild arts. Lastly, he seemed to be in his early twenties.

Makarov sat down across from the figure and smiled at the "young" man in front of him. The unknown figure still ate, but at a much slower pace and was looking at the short master. Makarov knew that the young man was not fooled by his height and age. "Can I help you?" the man asked the guild master. The voice sounded deep and scratchy, as if he hasn't spoken for some time.

"Yes I was wondering what were intentions for being in this town. I mean no harm, but I do have responsibility as the main guild for this town." Makarov said bluntly.

"I see that my magic attracted some attention, I apologize. I have no intention on harming anyone in this town. I was just passing by and decided to get something to eat."

Makarov could tell that the man spoke of the truth and slightly relaxed. "Oh, well then welcome to Mangolia. I am the guild master to the guild Fairy Tail, Makarov."

The man looked at the smaller, older man, studying him and seemed to decide that he was fine to talk to. "I am Natsu Dragneel." He replied.

"Are you apart of any guild? Or are you a member of the Magic Council?" Makarov asked.

"Neither, I woke up in the mountains and have been wondering around for the past few years."

"You don't remember anything?"

It took a few moments for Natsu to reply. "No."

Makarov felt pity for him. He studied the young man in front of him. He seemed fine enough, he wasn't getting any evil vibes from him. Call it a hunch or fate, but something was telling him that the person in front of him should be in his guild. "Say, would you like to join my guild?"

Natsu looked at the man and swallowed the spicy noodles that he was chewing and looked to be thinking about it. He agreed.

Natsu

Natsu didn't expect to join a guild. He was traveling around, trying to get used to the newer society and dialect that was not too unlike the pasts. The writing, however, was one of the things that changed the most. Well that and the magic. You would think that after hundreds of years studying magic, humans would get better and stronger at it. But he assumed that after years of peace, there was no real use to have such strong magic unless going on tough "missions."

That was another thing that changed. The magic system. Apparently there were now "guilds" and a sort of "council" to watch over magic users. There were no such things in the past. Mages were either in armies fighting in wars or using defense magic protecting others who did not have magic. There were few wanderers, but mages did not have this form of organization in the past.

He came across a small town, and decided that he should check it out. He traveled about ten minutes into town when he smelt some food and decided that it about time to eat. He usually only ate flames, and rarely food for nutrition for his body; flames only provided as a way to replenish his magic, not for sustaining his body. Somehow his small stop for food turned into a long stay and a guild membership.

He didn't regret or not want to do it, his instinct told him that this would actually be beneficial to him. He has somewhere to stay, a way to make money, better food, and more access for information. Before, he would just gather information by listing to conversations on his travels and occasionally visiting some of the bigger city libraries for information about history. If he was going to stick with his main plan of memory loss when approached by others, he might as well play the part, it wouldn't help that he knew absolutely nothing about the world around him.

"So how much do you remember about your past?" asked Makarov. He had finished eating, so they were now walking back the guild.

"Not a lot, I have picked up some knowledge going about different towns and libraries, but nothing about my personal life." Natsu commented, not that he would like to tell him anyway. If they ever found out about his true past, then they would more than likely kick him out and try to kill him. "I have noticed however that in the past years that I have not aged." He would rather not go through the trouble of having to de-age his body and go through puberty all over again.

Demon bodies were peculiar thing. Their abilities and power ranged from class to class. Lower classes were the typical view that humans had for demons. Grotesque bodies with haunting abilities. Middle class demons were more humanoid but still had most of their lower counter parts characteristics. These two classes would still use the power of magic to wreak havoc to those who were not of their kind or share the same master. High and Elite class demons use the power of curses in order to their biding. They had higher intelligence than other demons, and were the most human out of them. High class demons would have almost complete human bodies but had small external demon characteristics, such as different color skin, claws for nails, or even wings. While they were mostly human, they still had the other demon characteristics such as enhanced speed, endurance, and strength.

Elite demons, however, are on a whole other level. They can control how their bodies look and adjust it to how they like using curses. Their high aptitude for curses is what made them so powerful. But because they use their curses, which can be explained as a higher form of magic that is more powerful and lasts longer, whenever they need to use more power in battle, their looks regress to that of a high class demon. Natsu was an elite demon. However unlike other elite demons, or other demons in general, he was able to use both magic and curses. How, he was unsure, he suspected it due to his time learning dragon slayer magic from Igneel.

While on his travels around the land, he tried sensing other demons that might still be around. He found very little. Most of the demons now were those of the lower class, the strongest being a middle class. Other demons, as he had discovered in the library of the country's capital, were either killed or sealed with in books or objects. He might have sensed a few high class demons off in the distance, but they were either masking their aura or too far away for him to sense.

One common feature amongst all demons was that after they reach maturity, they stop aging unless they chose to by curse or was affected by magic. He decided to bring his situation with age up because he would rather not go through the hassle of constantly changing his appearance to match the fast aging rate of humans. While thinking about aging, he figured that he would have to stop his soulmates aging in the future if they wish so.

"Hmm… that's weird, I guess we can do some research about it if you want. It could get quite daunting in the future, out living those around you." Commented Makarov.

"Thank you, but I would rather deal with it when it becomes a problem. I don't think it will be that much of a problem until the future." He would rather stay this age then be physically over ten years older than his mate, after all, he is physically 21 and they would be around ten to eleven years of age right now.

"Alright if you say so." They arrived at the guild. "Welcome to Fairy Tail! We'll head up to my office to get your stamp and talk about your position. You're a little too powerful to be just a regular mage, and I can tell you would want to take the harder missions."

As they walk through the guild, he could see how they got the name as the most chaotic guild. The younger members, which were merely children, were fighting each other, knocking down tables. The older members were already drinking and loudly talking about their last mission. They were all unaware of their surroundings and were now oblivious to the new member since he masked his presence to others. They walked up to the office and sat down.

"So what color and where would you like your new guild mark?" Makarov smiled at Natsu.

He thought about it for a little. "On my shoulder and a dark red"

He removed his cloak and removed his shirt to allow the master to stamp his new guild mark. The master stamped the mark and as he moved back saw his soulmate mark. He lightly smiled and sat back down at his desk. "Now that you're a member, we need to discuss your ranking. I normally don't do this with new members, but since you have such powerful magic, I'll list you as an S-class mage, which is the highest ranking below master in a guild. Just as a heads up, due to the mass destruction that this guild causes, any damage that you make will be deducted out of your pay. I hope you enjoy your time here in this guild. Now, let's go introduce you to the guild."

The master and Natsu walked back down to the guild and introduced him as a new member. This only made the guild more rambunctious and hover around him in attempts to get to know him better. Due to not being social in many years, Natsu wasn't as complying and left the guild to look for a place to live for the time being.

As he left, a white haired girl walked up to her guild master.

"Master…"

"Yes Mirajane?"

"His magic feels weird."

A/N: And that wraps up the opening chapter for this story. This chapter was primarily used to show some of the differences between my story and cannon. I hope you enjoyed it. Till next chapter!