Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. I am merely expressing my love for the world he has created.


The rain might as well have been an extension of their emotions. The sun had refused to show itself since the incident, the heavens themselves lamenting the loss.

A small group had gathered together in the rain, tears on many faces.

One of their own had died.


FLASHBACK


It was a normal day.

Happy, Lisanna, and Natsu were fishing together. Mira burst through the underbrush next to where the small group was located, yelling about going on an S class mission.

Natsu quickly jumped up, screaming his excitement and desire to go.

"No Natsu, you'll only get in the way. You're too weak." Mira stated, angry that he would intrude.

To his credit, the teen refused to argue. He sat straight back down and without another word started fishing again. He did not want the girls to see how much anguish he was in for being called weak.

Lisanna looked at the teen as she was leaving, "Bye Natsu! Can we continue fishing when I get back?"

Mira smirked as the pink headed teen blushed slightly and nodded.

Natsu then returned to his fishing, not sparing the others another glance, wanting to be alone with his thoughts, hurt over what Mira had said.


The ground shook with the force of the blow, implanting Elfman into the ground. Mira and Lisanna shrieked their horror, afraid for their brother.

The Beast turned towards them, its eye's promising quick deaths as it slowly lumbered forward.

The battle had been raging for hours, leveling most of the terrain in the area. Mira was running out of magic power, fear ripping through her like a tidal wave.

"Lisanna, run." Mira ordered, she didn't want her younger sister to be hurt.

"No, Elf-"

"Lisanna! I said run! You can't handle that thing!" Mira roared at her sister. Lisanna stumbled back slightly, tears streaming down her face. She yelled an incoherent word and rushed past Mira, straight at the Beast.

Mira cursed, using the last of her magic to use Satan's Soul, hoping the catch the girl before getting too close.

Just as Lisanna leapt, Mira caught her ankle and swung her back, saving her younger sibling from the blow that the beast would have hit her with. Mira was still moving forward, and slammed into the beast's chest. The Beast quickly wrapped its arms around Mira, tightening and crushing the girl, seeming to laugh with glee.

Elfman roared his anguish at Mira screaming, and jumped onto the monster, using Takeover.

The Beast vanished, allowing Mira to fall to the ground unceremoniously, almost losing consciousness.

Lisanna ran to her sister, or tried to, when a deafening roar was heard.

Elfman was grabbing his head, falling to his knees and screaming from the pain. Mira raised herself to her elbows to see what was wrong with him, and realized that he had tried to Takeover the beast.

A large purple magic circle appeared above Elfman as his body started to grow and change.

She cursed again, moving to incapacitate him before he turned fully.

Elfman was screaming for the girls to run, yelling that he would be fine.

Lisanna sprinted after her hesitancy, wanting to get to her brother, but it was too late.

Mira screamed for Lisanna to run yet again, but it fell on deaf ears. The Demon tried to rise from where she had fallen, but found she was unable too, being too burnt from her fight.

Lisanna arrived at her brother's side, rushing in and hugging him as he made the final transformation into the creature they had been battling. His skin had turned dark gray, horns now protruding from his head as his feet became birdlike. He roared in anger, no longer Elfman, But the Beast, furious that a human had tried to take his body.

The Beast looked down, noticing the silver haired girl clinging to him.

Lisanna looked up teary eyed, yelling at Elfman to gain control of himself, but he was gone, utterly defeated by a monster. His act of selflessness had been wasted, he failed in protecting his siblings.

The Beast reached down and clasped the girl in one of its massive fists, content with the screaming it heard emanating from the frail human he was slowly crushing.

Mira once again tried to rise, but found that she couldn't. Tears streamed from her eyes as she wailed for Elfman to put their sister down.

The Beast didn't listen, choosing instead to tighten its grip, breaking bones as he licked his limps. He didn't want any trouble swallowing the girl whole.

His mouth opened as the girl went limp, moving her over his open maw.

Mira finally found the strength to stand and change to her Satan Soul once again, rushing to save her sister before she was eaten. She struck the Beast's hand, knocking his hand away from where it hovered over his mouth.

The beast growled its annoyance, furious over the loss of a meal, momentarily anyway. It struck Mira and threw the limp girl in his hand after her. He could find a more appetizing meal elsewhere, he just wanted to crush these fools.

As the Beast readied itself to leap after the two girls, something seemed to pain it. It dropped to a knee and moved its hands to cover its eyes, roaring in agony.

Elfman was still fighting; he was fighting to save his family.

The beast slowly shrunk down until it fully reverted back into the Takeover mage.

Elfman rushed to where his two sisters lay, tears streaming from his eyes.

Mira was holding Lisanna's limp body close, crying, screaming for the mage to wake up.

Lisanna slowly opened her eyes, and looked at her two remaining blood relatives, her voice hoarse as she spoke.

"Elfman… Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault. You were only trying to protect us. You were the best brother I could have asked for. Remember, be manly." She spoke with a smile. Her words caused Elfman to mouth her word as tears continued to wash from his eyes.

"Mira… You devil." The words caused Mirajane to smile slightly. "Try to relax a little, open your heart. I know you can do it." Lisanna smiled as she looked up into her sister's eyes, happy with her life.

Mira nodded dumbly, unable to speak. She just pulled Lisanna closer to her, as if keeping her soul rooted to the earth, not ready for her sister to leave.

Then something shocking happened, Lisanna's body started to glow, raising slightly from its position in Mira's arms and started to disperse.

Mira sputtered at the surprise, not sure what it meant.

Then, she was gone. Not a trace could be found over the youngest of the Strauss'.

Mira crumpled where her sister had been, Elfman laying a hand on her back as he tried to comfort her.

Then it started to rain.


FLASHBACK END


Makarov cleared his throat, readying his speech, "Today, we lament the loss of one of our beloved. Lisanna…" A tear slid down the master's cheek, "She…" The master couldn't continue, one of his children had died. He took a deep breath and steeled himself, but found that he was unable to continue. He just stood there, breathing deeply, looking to the ground.

That's when a certain pink haired Dragon Slayer stalked quickly forward, scowling.

He turned to everyone, glaring. "Why are you crying?"

This gave pause to many, Lisanna had been Natsu's closest friend. What was wrong with him? Why was he not mourning her loss?

"I asked why you were crying!" Natsu roared, fists becoming inflamed.

Makarov finally found his voice, enraged that the boy would act so disrespectfully. "Natsu! What is the meaning of this?"

Natsu glared at the old man, venom dripping from his voice as he spoke. "She may not be here, but she lives on, in our hearts, as a part of Fairy Tail. She'll never truly leave." His voice became brighter, "But, we should give her a Fairy Tail Sendoff. To celebrate her." He raised his fist and fired a burst of his magic into the sky, exploding it as a firework when it got high enough.

The guild roared its approval, many moving to mirror what he was doing, tears replaced by smiles.

That day, the sun returned.


A man entered Magnolia, coming to pay his respects.

He walked to where the cemetery was located, his steps heavy, emotional pain toying with him.

He stopped beside a tree, seeing a kneeling figure with his head bowed. He slowly walked up beside the kneeling figure, reading the tombstone. A tear escaped his eye, the first of many. The kneeling figure looked up at him, then back at the tombstone.

The man finally spoke, placing a reassuring hand on the kneeling figure's shoulder, "Oi, are you alright?"

The kneeling figure mumbled forth a few words, the man almost not catching them, "Not really."

The kneeling figure began to shake. The man at first thought it was from being cold and wet, but quickly threw the thought away. He realized the figure was crying.

The figure spoke again, "I… I was too weak. They wouldn't let me come, because I… I was too weak. I want to get stronger. I want to protect those closest to me. I don't want this to ever happen again. I won't allow it." He turned to look up at the figure, questioning him. "How do I get stronger, Gildarts?"

Gildarts looked at Natsu, not sure what to say.

Natsu yelled his frustration, a magic presence other than his Slayer magic coming to the fore, "I must protect them! All of them! I can't let anyone die and leave me!" He broke down again, crying. "I can't let them leave me like Igneel did…"

Gildarts stared at the boy, shocked at the new magical display. He made a decision on the spot, though he didn't know how it would work out.


Happy flew into the guild crying that morning, asking everyone if they knew where Natsu was. The guild was shocked. They had no idea.

Happy continued to make an uproar until Makarov cleared his throat, asking for everyone to be quiet. "Brats! I have some news concerning Natsu."

The guild was silent, waiting for the proverbial bomb to drop.

"He left with Gildarts to train for a few months." With that, Makarov sat back down and grabbed up his mug, drinking heavily.

Erza stormed up to him, "How long will he be gone? Why did he leave when the guild needs him most?"

"Erza…" Makarov began, "He needs this. Leave it be."

Erza stared at him. This was the second time concerning Natsu that he had told her to drop an issue. Something wasn't right.

"Master-"

"Erza! Lisanna was his one friend in this guild. He felt that it was his fault for being too weak to protect her. To him, it was Igneel all over again."

Erza was taken aback, she hadn't expected this. She bowed her head, accepting the reasoning.


Natsu was panting, this damn creature was hard.

Gildarts lay panting a few feet away, having used all his magic power. He tried to rise, but found he couldn't. He looked up at Natsu, trying to impart some mentoring wisdom, "Natsu!"

"Eh?" Came back a reply.

"Kick its ass." Gildarts commanded with a smirk.

"Of course." Natsu said, matching his mentor's smirk.

Natsu glared up at the creature that caused all this trouble, a dragon.

The dragon had black scaling, with white streaks resembling branched lightening intermingled.

"Ha!" The dragon laughed, "You two pathetic excuses for mages wish to bring me, Acnologia's favored pupil, to the grave? Ha! As if you ever could."

Natsu stared up at the dragon, smirking. "You really expect that I would have fought you full force yet? It would be a waste, but I'll let you see, real special considering you're some type o' general. I wanted to have a challenge, but no, you had to push my buttons, attacking someone who can't handle Dragon Magic"

The dragon was enraged. This petty human was mocking him! MOCKING HIM! He would show this boy that NOTHING was greater than a dragon! He paused momentarily, realizing something the boy said that caught his interest. "You said that it was pushing your buttons that I attacked someone without the ability to handle Dragon Magic. Does that mean YOU can handle it?"

Natsu scoffed, was this dragon stupid? He thought all dragons were supposed to be highly intellectual. "Well, it is a known fact that Dragon Slayers are able to handle a dragon's magic better than any other type of mage."

The dragon took pause in this, this boy just claimed to be a Dragon Slayer. As of yet the human hadn't even used magic, just attacking the dragon with his bare fists. The dragon had allowed him to land a blow, thinking it would be futile, but was shocked at the sheer power. The blow to his jaw at whipped his head around.

"Are you… Are you really a Dragon Slayer? You weren't even using magic earlier." The dragon finally felt fear for the first time, not including whenever he was around Acnologia.

"I am. I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel." Natsu spoke proudly.

The dragon was taken aback, the Fire Dragon King had trained this boy himself. No, it was much more. Igneel had made this human his child, making him the royalty. The dragon shivered inwardly at what that entailed. He needed to dispose of this human before he advanced any further.

"Roar of the-" Was as far as the dragon got. Natsu had appeared in midair in front of him, fists blazing. The dragon watched as the human descended, looking as the Reaper searching for souls.

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fist!" Natsu roared as he slammed his fist down, dead between the dragon's eyes. The explosion of magic ripped through the great beast's body, being charred to a crisp. Natsu had studied Gildarts' magic, and though he couldn't learn it directly, he could implement the basics and substitute it with is fire.

Natsu came rushing back to the earth after his attack, landing without a sound.

Gildarts, now rejuvenated, walked up to the young Slayer, congratulating him on his victory. "That makes three. If what the other's say is true, we have one more before Acnologia has no more generals."

"Indeed." All traces of the goofy kid vanished in the midst of battle, especially when it was against a dragon. Natsu continued, "But right now I need to complete the ritual. Please leave the area, I don't wish to have you see me bathe in its blood."

Even though Gildarts had faced the true monsters in the world, the ones best killed before any true fight began, he never was comfortable watching the boy who saw him as a father figure, bathe in blood. It was just, too grisly.

"Yeah, I'll get going. And Natsu? I think you have gotten strong. Might even be more powerful than me!" Gildarts proclaimed.

Natsu gave him a funny look before turning it to a smirk, "Was there truly any doubt?"

Gildarts laughed as he walked away, happy with all that had happened in the two years they had been traveling. He thought back on all they had done.


FLASHBACK


Natsu and Gildarts were sprinting towards the roaring, intent on finding out what was causing all the destruction.

That's when they saw it, Acnologia, the Dragon of the Apocalypse.

They came to a skidding halt as the dragon ascended, looking at the carnage it had wrought, pleased with itself. It looked towards their direction, and spotted them.

It flew overhead, roaring, causing Natsu and Gildarts to cover their ears from the mere sound of a roar. How could they beat something that brought them to their knees with a simple vocal pronunciation?

Of course, Natsu took it as if the dragon was challenging him, roaring right back, not near as loud, but loud enough that it caused Gildarts to cover his ears again.

The dragon was just going to pass them by, not paying any mind, until it heard that roar. It was furious. Another dragon dare challenged he? The most powerful of them all? He roared once more, wheeling around and spotting the pair once again and descended, intent upon wiping them from existence.

Gildarts readied his magic whilst Natsu's fist burst into flames, ready for the challenge. They didn't know how powerful this dragon truly was.

Their job had been to find an enormous black creature that was causing towns to die out, they weren't expecting to find a dragon.

Acnologia landed, staring down at the insects before him. He lifted one of his mighty paws and crashed down on top of the duo, expecting to be rid of them immediately. What he wasn't expecting, and was rather unprepared for, was the feeling of his scales being melted on the bottom of said paw. He slowly retracted it, seeing that an insect had flames dancing around its body. Acnologia squinted its eyes.

It was a Dragon Slayer.

Acnologia was surprised, they still existed? And this one was so strong! The dragon decided to leave him alive, but would first teach them both a lesson.

Acnologia blasted them with a small amount of his breath, then attacked with his claws, cutting the duo as they tried to dodge this way and that, but the dragon was too fast.

In the end, the pair was left to bleed out, Acnologia no longer caring if they lived, as he flew off, roaring his challenge once again.


FLASHBACK END


Gildarts felt himself tracing the scars he had gained from that accursed dragon.

Natsu and he had agreed that they needed to spend the next year and a half chasing down Acnologia, only to come across these lesser dragons.

Natsu had steadily been increasing his strength, but had yet to use his secondary magic that Gildarts knew was hiding. He remembered seeing it right before asking Natsu to be his apprentice that night in front of the tombstone.

Gildarts was truly impressed with the youth. At first, Natsu's strength increased faster than normal mages, but that wasn't surprising, he had a good reason. He wanted to protect those closest to him, and needed to become stronger to do so. The surprise came when they defeated their first dragon.

Natsu had stated that he needed to bathe in the dragon's blood, causing Gildarts' veins to run cold. It was like something from a horror story. Natsu didn't ask for permission, he just cut a side into the dragon, and entered, increasing his heat to boil the blood.

Hours later Natsu had emerged, completely clean. Gildarts asked after it, asking why Natsu looked clean when he had bathed in blood. Natsu stared at him as if it were the simplest question, "I took a bath, why wouldn't I be clean?" ending the discussion.

A couple days after they had trained some, both finally having recovered. Natsu's power was at a new level, forcing Gildarts to use half his magic power to win. He was bewildered, how could that have come to be?

He questioned Natsu and the youth had replied that it was "A dragon thing" irking the older man to no end.

The next dragon, Natsu did the same thing, improving himself again. Gildarts once again sparred him, and found that he had to use ninety percent of his total magical pressure to subdue the Slayer. Gildarts had noticed that Natsu did not cringe when Gildarts had unleashed his presence, shocking the man. The boy was growing up.

Gildarts busied himself with setting up camp, making sure to cook a large meal. Both of them could eat quite a bit.

Gildarts was just finishing up dishing the food onto separate plates as Natsu strode into camp.

"Oi, Natsu, good fight."

The Dragon Slayer flashed him a smile, "Was it really a fight, that one wasn't nearly as powerful as the others."

Gildarts had to agree with that, though the boy was getting stronger, he had a good memory of his enemies strengths. He was still ashamed that the weakest dragon had knocked him for a loop, how was he to know the dragon could create illusions? And beautiful ones at that…

Natsu sniffed the air, noting that someone was approaching, or rather, multiple persons. Their conversation soon wafted over to the pair.

"Yeah, I heard too!"

"I can't believe that he could fit into the town!"

"Yeah, that Salamander sure has a big ego."

"Ha! I just hope Hargeon is the same after he leaves."

Gildarts noticed Natsu's face, the desire to find out if it was Igneel was evident. He sighed. Even though they had agreed to return to the guild after killing this dragon, and even though he knew they had been speaking of the man's ego fitting in the town, he couldn't shoot Natsu down when the boy turned to him.

"Okay Natsu, we can check it out."

Gildarts hoped he wouldn't regret those words.


A/N: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm pretty happy with it, though at a few times I was unsure of what the tone should be and how I should word it to best convey the tone I felt was needed.

Please review! I used to think I was fine without the whole "Have people say if your work was alright, or get some helpful pointers." but, I realized I actually crave that.

As always, notify me of any mistakes, so that I may rectify them.

If any of you have a particular desire in which way this story goes, feel free to share! I would be happy to discuss/implement some of your ideas, though I am sticking with the ending I have written out. It's freaking awesome. Be jelly.

Hope you enjoyed it! More to come!