One-Shot 4: The Pain He Never Showed
Disclaimer~ Hiro Mashima the almighty creator of Fairy Tail is sadly not me, he owns all characters.
OKAY serious WARNING! HERE THIS IS A SPOILER FOR THE MANGA DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN READING THE MANGA UP TO 419. YOU'LL BE LIKE HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
I couldn't pinpoint it, but there was a weight on my chest, even through the fake smiles, all that lies is more pain.
But of course there was agony inside my soul, the one entity I had been searching for my entire life was defeated and murdered before my eyes. By Acnologia.
My father, the only thing that had mattered to me before joining Fairy Tail, everyone the Guild Master, Erza, Max (Yes, even his broom), Jet, Droy, Levy…heck even Icepop Gray, they all matter me because they are my family. And before I was brought into Fairy Tail I had Igneel, he raised me to be the person I am, he taught me growth, prosperity, and respect for the people around me.
I just can't believe he's gone.
Happy went to the river to try his luck at fishing while I stayed back at our campsite for the night.
With my hands buried in my hair furiously clenching the pink strands as I wallowed away in failure I had been holding back from I soon lifted my tear ridden eyes to gaze up at the blue sky, he told me to stand up, to continue, he didn't want me to latch onto the despair that would ultimately join the mourning of his death.
So yes, I won't cry, but I will face an internal suffering…because that Dragon is the only family that raised me to be the man I am in Fairy Tail, without him I could be anywhere.
I launched onto my feet my arm stretched out as I shot ball after ball of fire, trying to line the bark as narrowly as possible.
Fighting is my distraction from grief, in fact the goal of needing to impress and fight back against the Dragon who killed my own father is the exact same reason why I cannot cry.
As my body weighed heavily I sank back onto the forest floor breathing heavily, tired from the exhaustion of training I simply lay and waited for the blue sky to turn pitch.
The sun had just started to dissapear behind the horizon when I finally heard Happy.
"Natsu," he called out.
I faced him with a tired moan muscles in my body already aching.
"What is it Happy?"
"I-I caught a fish," he grinned in triumph producing me with his catch.
I grinned petting his furry head, "Nice one,"
We halved the share as he ate his raw and I grilled mine using my magic.
"So-how do you think Lucy is?" Happy mumbled.
My spine straightened and my jaw locked, "She'd be good…" I muttered.
In all honesty I didn't know how she would react, I haven't seen her at all in the past eight…nine or three months, I just know its been a really long time since I last saw her. At times I do regret not bringing her with me and Happy but as it is we need a break, hopefully the guys at the guild help her out, you know with jobs and stuff, trouble is sometimes attracted to her most days.
When I get back we'll go on heaps of jobs, I'll show her what I trained so hard to achieve, she might even be surprised, I've been amping up the heat in magic.
But without negation I'll play pranks on her, so she'll see it was like I was never gone, I'll get her dumplings and we'll have some good ol' arguments.
Just the thought of it made me shiver-can't wait!
As I ate the fish swallowing thickly, "Hey Happy-yah think Luce will be happy to see us? Yah' know when we go back to Fairy Tail?"
He nodded his head thoughtfully, "Of course she will-we're family, how can she not,"
I twitched, "Well we did leave without a proper goodbye,"
"Doesn't matter Lucy's, Lucy, she'd be weird and probably flash us next time we see her,"
I grinned mischievously imagining such a scene, don't get me wrong, I'm not as perverted as Wakaba or Makarov but I do admire a good looking body such as Lucy's once and a while.
But is it because I spend the most time with her, or the fact we are in controversial situations most of the time, the fact is that Lucy is my Nakama, not just an item to my mind's many fantasies.
No, Lucy is something else, not just family, a friend or a partner…there is something more about her when she is with me, we trust each other, we protect one another…
"Natsu what's up with that look?" Happy said over the bite of his fish.
"I'm just thinking, what should I say when we see Luce next time?"
"Well it will be a year…so you gotta greet her first," and then we fell into silence as I pondered over our next meeting.
But all I knew was that when I see her next things will be different, Lucy will be different taller maybe even thinner or perhaps even stronger.
I couldn't wait, she might be a worthy opponent and then we can face off, then I let out a loud bellow of laughter, as that will happen.
That's why she's got me, I protect her.
I'm used to rescuing her not the other way around, Lucy is always just shy of being my level, she's tough, heck yeah strong, but she needs to push boundaries. She needs that confidence, but otherwise, I don't mind rescuing her. Then when I thought about when we were in a face off between us and Zeref's demons I realize how bad our situation nearly became, thank god she got that moustache man or we'd be in the dirty earth pale and lifeless.
So hey she changed the scales for a bit and I don't mind, but her protection will always be my priority but right now in order to maintain my priorities I need to be strong, defeat the root cause.
Next time…I will get stronger, to avenge my father, and to protect her.
