The odds are apparently NOT in my favor, because as I was so excited to write about what happened to Natsu, I had to get off, and I write my stories directly on the site, but long story short, all the tabs closed, and the internet wasn't working, and there was nothing for me to punch. Anyway, I'm finally able to write more, and I hope you enjoy it as much as what I originally wrote
Natsu
His vision was clouded with tears and smoke, unable to take in all the carnage that had produced around him. The forest burning to ashes, the thick black smoke blocking out the sky, tree falling, making soot billow up into the young boys face. Of course he could care less about the flames. Hell, it barely burned him. But one thought stuck on his mind...
It was his fault.
He knew it was his fault.
Igneel had ALWAYS told him to never go past the river, that circled in the forest. just outside their small little clearing. Like the opposite of a dragon cave. But he disobeyed. Why would he do this? Well for one, it was his 10th birthday and he wanted freedom! Also, it had grown unbearably lonely, not having a friend his age to play with in his spare time. He was always alone, and it shook him to the core with sadness.
But when he saw that man...
"Have you seen a dragon around here...?"
He should've never left...
He cried as he slowly approached the giant red beast across from him "I-Igneel.. I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to..." He stopped, letting loose more tears, as he slowly placed his small hand on the dragons muzzle, who was currently worse for the wear after his fight with that other... THING
Tears trailed down his red-tinted cheeks, pulling soot and dirt with them, and he couldn't believe he was crying so much! He was a dragons kid! He was supposed to be STRONG! And yet here he was...
"N-Natsu..." The dragon called out to him "10... years..."
Natsu could tell the dragon that was currently speaking was reaching his end, and all to fix his own mistake. He made sure to listen closely, to hear the last words of the great beast he called his dad.
"F-Fairy Tail... The same thing... Don't... Let it happen..."
'Fairy Tail?' He didn't know what that was
"Go north... In Magnolia... Find it... Protect it..." Igneel coughed lightly before continuing "I know you can save them... You are my son... And you are nothing but stong... Now, go..!"
His eyes widened more at the shocking words, as if the dragon read his mind, he called out what he was so distressed about. And more importantly, he was given a mission from the being he owed EVERYTHING to! And he BELIEVED that HE could do it!
snap!
"I-IGNEEL!"
And the flames consumed them.
"Igneel!" Natsu found himself yelling, as he suddenly awoke from his horrible memory. Nightmare. Whatever.
He ignored Gray's questioning of his random outburst, and proceeding calming his shaky heart, as he slowly peeled the sweat-soaked sheets off himself, and got ready for classes.
He had this dream before, especially when he was younger, but at least every week, the dream would come back, as if his head was reminding him 'You have a job. Don't forget it.' and that's just how his life had become, and he handled it better as he got older.
But he hadn't had it for at least 2 or 3 weeks since he had met a special person... Lucy Heartfilia.
He wasn't sure how, but the girl had stole his heart and refused to give it back. He had become so entranced with her he completely forgot the impending doom he had to prevent in two days. Ever since she had hit him when they both ended up in detention, he kinda got a grasp of what she was like.
Persistent, strong, stubborn, yet somehow sweet and kind, and a total BADASS when she wanted to be (which he was proven right when he overheard her telling Gray off one time, and she ending the only scene with a kick where it hurts most. Like he said. Bad. Ass.)
And like the slightly deluded person he was, he was TOTALLY into that! He could just imagine walking around campus with dark shades on and leather jackets, scaring the shit out of everyone! Oh man if she was possessive too...
Well, as you can see, Lucy is a rather dangerous subject for him to think about, and he quickly tried to change his train of thought as he walked down the path from the dorms to the school.
Oh great, and there was Lucy.
He couldn't help but feel a little more than frustrated and his quickly ran past her, hoping to avoid seeing her for at least three days, until everything was over.
Most people would be overjoyed for their 20th birthday, but when the present you receive might possibly be a huge, flaming, ball of death that'll kill everyone you ever loved? Yeah, he could picture THAT scene.
Blow out your candles, Natsu~
What candles?
Up there! In the sky~
Wha-? BOOM.
And that's the death of everyone at Fairy Tail in 5 seconds. Whoop, new record!
Natsu just had to steel his mind for a few days and do some EXTRA hardcore training! No rest for the weak, as they say, even though he refused to consider himself that, he just LITERALLY had to be stronger than a dragon. No biggie.
Yeah, right.
Lucy
For the past few days since the whole "you're fake-dating my best friend to get me jealous?!" incident, Lucy had hardly seen Natsu. She figured he might've been a little upset, but it's not like she totally turned him down! She was just keeping her promise to Loke! and Honestly, she still wanted Natsu, she just had to wait a bit to break it off.
Whenever she DID see him though, he had sort of a blank expression. He never engaged in any of the conversations in class, and she swore he purposefully avoided her!
Lucy was staring outside her window, trying to figure out what was up with him. She found the stars calming, she always has, because when her parents died, she swore she felt the stars trying to comfort her. She knew why she felt that now, she supposed, because of the celestial spirits.
The stellar mage pulled out the keys she had, which had stacked up quite a lot, as she currently had 10. Apparently a lot of people thought the items were antiques, others, the spirits personally came to her, and some, her ex-maid Spetto-san, brought to her, saying they were her late-mothers.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw column of flame shoot up in the air for a split second, around where the mage school was, and instantly she thought; "Natsu!"
She didn't know anyone else with fire magic that strong, because the only other person with fire magic was Romeo, and he was ages away from being as strong as Natsu. So Lucy did the only thing she could think to do, and grabbed her jacket, slipping her plush night slippers on, and ran out, her knee-length pink nightgown fluttering out behind her, but she could care less, she had to see Natsu!
She knew she was close when the brisk, night air suddenly heated up to a massive degree, making the blonde only speed up 'He's here..!' she told herself, before tripping over a stone protruding from the ground, only to fall flat on her face, in front of the salmon haired boy, who had both hands lit up in fire, staring down at her curiously.
"Lucy..?" His smooth voice came, which only made her more flustered, as she quickly sat up
"N-Natsu! What on earth are you doing at this hour?!" she called out, the wind making her shiver, and leaves blow around them in the breeze. It felt like time had stopped and they had been magically transported into one of those drama movies, where the two characters would stand and stare for like, forever.
Lucy didn't realize it, but they HAD been staring at each other for 30 minutes or so.
"I... I think I should be asking that..." Natsu finally spoke slowly, as if trying to decide if he actually wanted to say it as he said it. "At least I'm appropriately dressed.." He added uneasily.
Lucy blinked, before she fully noticed the pink that tinted his cheek, and the ensemble she was currently wearing. She squeaked lightly, quickly buttoning up her jacket, trying to eliminate his distraction.
Of course she didn't realize her very PRESENCE was a distraction, but she would find this out later.
"I-I saw the fire... And I came to see you..." She said nervously, "I... I missed you... And I want to know what's wrong, you've been avoiding me for a few days now..."
Natsu shifted from foot to foot, and averted his eyes nervously, the fire in his hands dying out.
"I-I haven't been avoiding you, per se..." He said, getting increasingly shifty, as he coughed lightly.
Lucy raised a brow in suspicion "I've never seen you like this before..."
"Well, you weren't here when I was, so..." The pink haired boy standing before her said suddenly, making Lucy think a little deeper into this.
Now that she thought about it, when she had seen him BEFORE they became friends, he wasn't as loud, and out there as he's been with here. Then it dawned on her. Something changed in him since they had met, but now suddenly, he was back to that...
"I don't suggest coming into school, Friday." He added
'Friday? What's happening then?' she thought, growing ever more suspicious "Wait... Isn't Friday your birth-"
"Don't remind me." he said with a slight snarl in his voice.
Lucy jumped back a bit at the tone "W-Why? Natsu, what's happening Friday?"
"I'm not too sure myself..." And with that, her turned to go back to the dorms, leaving Lucy there, a little miffed.
"Natsu!" She called after him, but he didn't pause.
'Natsu... What on earth is going on...?'
Natsu
"Jiichan! I said you can't have classes tomorrow!" Natsu yelled, silently fuming
The old man sighed "Look, I know it's your birthday, but-"
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT!" The pinkette yelled, anger and frustration evident in his tone, as he slammed his fists down on the oak desk, causing it the split right down the center
Makarov was in shock, but quickly snapped out of it "I can't just cancel it for no reason!" he shouted back
"CANCEL CLASSES TOMORROW OR I'LL GIVE YOU A REASON, DAMNIT." The seriousness had never been more clear in Natsu's voice, making Makarov waver a bit.
Natsu glared and the old man stared back.
"... Fine, I'll cancel all classes tomorrow. But this better not be for a silly reason.
Natsu growled lowly. This was far from silly. This was about protecting the people he cared about. And he wasn't gonna let his family die. Not again.
Natsu left the building early the next day, making sure not to wake anyone in the building. He had faith that the dorms would be ok, seeing as they were quite a distance away from the school itself, and if anything DID happen, most people would hopefully be out in town.
He felt like someone walking to their execution, as he approached the tall building in the distance, his shoes scuffing up dirt as he dragged his feet slightly, not looking forward to what fate would await him. Only praying he wouldn't end up like-
He sighed, and shook his head, not daring to finish that thought. As he cleared his head, his eyes widened upon the sight of the busty, blonde, and VERY stubborn, Heartfilia. Who stood at the front, arms crossed, and that pissed off look on her face.
Queue the freaking out.
'WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?!'
Natsu mentally yelled, as he gaped at her, before running up to meet her "Lucy! Wha-"
"I knew you'd come, even though school was canceled." She cut him off sharply, making him flinch, and he could feel sweat rolling down his body from that killer look she had "You made Master cancel it, correct?"
"U-Uhm, ye-"
"Natsu Dragneel, I don't know what you're up to, but you better damn well tell me this instant!" She suddenly snapped, making the pink-head squeak in surprise
"I-I swear I don't-"
"DON'T WHAT?!"
"S-Stop yelling!"
"NO! I thought we were cool after I said I was keeping my promise to Loke, but apparently I was just a momentary crush, huh?!"
"... WHAT?!" Natsu couldn't believe what he was hearing
"I actually really liked you! I still do! But one rejection and you're moping around, causing mayhem everywhere?!" She swiftly added
This girl was insane. "Th-That has nothing-!"
"So I was right?! Here I thought you were a decent guy, who REALLY wanted to be with-" Her words were cut off as Natsu picked the only thing he had that could POSSIBLY shut her up from her crazy rant, and he slammed his mouth against hers, making sure to kiss her hard enough to leave her breathless so she would just... stop damn talking!
He finally pulled back, the blonde in a daze from the sudden smooch "BAKA!" He snapped, now it was HER turn to flinch "This has nothing to do with you turning me down! Of COURSE I still like you! I'm just trying to keep everyone I care about from being killed! ESPECIALLY you! But that's REALLY hard when I can't even THINK STRAIGHT with you around!" There. He said it.
He was panting hard from the lack of air due to kissing her and yelling right afterwords, but that was the least of his concerns.
As if on time, though, right as Lucy opened her mouth to speak, a loud buzz could be heard in the sky, and the two looked up to see a huge beam of bright light tearing through the sky, aiming straight at the school.
"What's-?!" He didn't let her finish as he yanked her hard into her chest, diving out of the way, as the whole area lit up with destructive force.
Natsu slowly sat up, shaking, feeling like he was 10 all over again, as he saw the horrible beast what killed his dad.
"Natsu... What's happening..?" Lucy's voice rang out from behind him, sounding as shaky as he felt.
"A-Acnologia..."
