Hey all, sorry for making you wait for this chapter, I had a lack of inspiration for writing and still not many ideas. If any of you have questions about how the story is going or need clarification, feel free to ask in a review. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 9

Natsu was sitting on the edge of his bed next to Erza who was sleeping peacefully after the night they had. In his hands was the letter he had gotten from his mother and he was rereading it again. As Natsu read he felt a tear run down his cheek again but it wasn't a tear of sadness, it was one of happiness. He finally had something from his family and it warmed his heart to know that she loved him. As he was about to finish reading it he accidently dropped it and thought, 'Damnit.'

He picked it up face down and right before he turned it over he saw something in the corner of the letter. Curious for what it was he brought it closer to inspect it as it was fairly small. When he looked it over his eyes widened in shock and he thought, 'It's a blood seal. What is that doing there? I've only seen them in books; never actually see it in person.'

More curious now, Natsu bit his thumb and let a drop of blood fall on it. As soon as his blood touched the seal it began to burn brightly which caused him to shield his eyes. When he opened his eyes again he stared in complete shock. He was no longer in his room; now he was in what seemed like a golden sphere that stretched on forever. "What the hell is going on?" Natsu asked himself.

"Natsu…" A voice called out from behind him.

Natsu turned around and his eyes widened even more and he fell down in shock. There standing before him was a woman with long blonde hair and pale green eyes; it was his mother, Mavis Vermillion. "Mom…?" He asked shakily.

Mavis nodded and said, "Hello again son."

The next thing Natsu knew was that he was tackled in a hug by his mother as she started to cry. Natsu did the only thing he could think of and that was to hug her back as he tried not to cry because if he started he didn't think he could stop. After a few moments he asked in a shaky voice, "How is this possible?"

Mavis pulled away from him and helped him back up and said, "I sealed part of my life essence away into the letter so I could see you once again. Although I'm here now, I am still dead. What you see is just my spirit but it is sealed into a magic sphere of my own creation that allows me to manifest and stay like this until my remaining power drains away. I also did this so I could warn you and offer you one last thing."

Natsu looked like he was on the verge of breaking down, not only had he found out who his parents were, but he was now meeting his mother. Natsu took a steadying breath and asked, "How long will your power last?"

Mavis looked down sadly and said, "Not very long, a couple hours at best. I wanted more time to be with you again but sealing just a small part of a life essence takes more power than one would think. When I did this I had used over half of my power just to make this possible. I am thankful it worked though, there was no guarantee that it would succeed in the way I hoped but it did."

She then stepped forward and hugged Natsu around the middle since she could reach very high on him and said, "I am so glad to see you again Natsu, it broke my heart that I had to fight your father and end it the way I did. To the end I still loved him but we had to fight to the death. I used a spell I created that wiped out his army and took a large portion of his power away from him. I could not kill him with the spell since I was weakened from the sealing but I still destroyed his army and weakened him. But enough of that for now, I want to know about you and your life."

Natsu laughed lightly at how fast her mood changed and sat down with her sitting next to him and began to tell her about his life from when Igneel found him and up to him proposing. When he told her he had proposed to Erza, Mavis had squealed in delight and asked, "What did she say?"

Natsu laughed again and said, "She accepted almost immediately. Before I had used the seal on the letter she was actually sleeping in bed next to me." Natsu then looked up and smiled brightly before continuing, "I can honestly say that I have never been happier in my life than when she accepted my proposal. Of course meeting you comes in as a close second so don't worry." He finished the last part in a teasing manner.

Mavis smiled at Natsu and leaned on him before saying, "I'm happy for you Natsu, I really am. Even through all the hardships you faced you had never once faltered and you found happiness in your life. I wish I could meet this Igneel though, I want to thank him for making my boy become a fine young man."

Natsu smile fell a little when she said that and he said, "I wish you could too. I wish I could see him again."

Mavis wrapped her arms around Natsu and said, "I'm sure you'll see him again Natsu. Now tell me everything else."

Natsu then told her about how Lucy had been kidnapped and he fought Shikage as a test from him. When he said that last part, Mavis looked surprised and said, "Shikage was still alive? I thought he had died years before your father and I fought. He was always so kind to me, he was a great man but inside of battle he was merciless. You couldn't even compare him to himself when he was outside of battle to inside of battle. He was a whole other person. I thought he died about a year after you were born. We had even named him your godfather."

Natsu looked surprised at that and asked, "What did he do about that?"

Mavis laughed and said, "Oh he was ecstatic about being your godfather. He probably saw you as a younger brother since he told your father and I that we were the closest thing to a family he ever had since his family abandoned him as a child."

Natsu then remember something Shikage had told him and asked, "When I was fighting Shikage he had said to me that he lived through the centuries thanks to his magic and the training he went through, how old were they?"

Mavis thought for a moment before saying, "Your father was over 400 years old and Shikage was about 300 years old. Their brand of magic had halted aging so they could not die of old age. While most people would be freaked out about their age, I didn't care for that. Your father may have been old but he was still young in body and spirit, I couldn't help but fall for him and he fell for me."

Natsu was completely shocked at the age and what the magic did to them and he asked, "When did he turn evil?"

Mavis looked down in sadness and said, "I guess it's time I told you. He always had an evil side to him but not long after you were born he completely turned on everyone and tried to bring forth the apocalypse. His army nearly did it as well; you see his army wasn't an army of humans or demons like the ones he created. It was an army of death dragons with Acnologia being at the head of the army."

Natsu stiffened at the mention of Acnologia and he asked, "What happened to the army?"

"I killed all the lesser dragons and drive Acnologia into hiding before my spell weakened your father. Using such a spell has a hefty cost and that cost was my life. Had I not sealed some of my life essence I could have killed your father and then the world would be free of his madness but I still doubt I would have succeeded. It was hard enough for me to fight him and use the spell at the power level I had. I don't think I would have it in me to kill him. After all he had done, I still loved him." Mavis had tears in her eyes at this point and hugged Natsu hard before continuing, "Promise me that you'll stop him and that you'll protect those you care about."

Natsu hugged her back and said, "I promise."

Mavis held onto him for a bit longer before saying, "I have one more thing to give you. Hold still while I do this."

Natsu nodded and Mavis held her hands on either side of Natsu's head just above his temples. She started channeling her magic and then grasped the sides of Natsu's head causing him to go rigid as a wealth of knowledge entered his mind. A few minutes later Mavis pulled back and said, "I just gave you all my knowledge on magic and the remaining power I had. I love you Natsu, I always have and always will. My time is up now Natsu, remember your promises and never forget that I love you."

Natsu had tears in his eyes when she finished speaking and pulled her in a tight hug and said, "I love you too mom, thank you for everything."

Mavis smiled lightly and hugged Natsu back and faded away causing Natsu to fall to his knees. Natsu stared at the ground in sadness as the sphere started to dissolve since Mavis was no longer supporting it. There was a small flash and Natsu found himself on his hands and knees in his bedroom. He looked outside his window and was shocked, it was already night time. He then heard footsteps in his house and saw Erza walking into his room. When Erza saw Natsu there she ran to him and pulled him into a hug and asked desperately, "Where have you been? No one has seen you in days."

'Days!?' Natsu thought in surprise. He then asked, "How long has it been?"

"It's been five days, now where the hell have you been." Erza demanded.

'How the hell was that five days? It seemed like five hours, unless time moved slower in the sphere.' Natsu thought to himself.

Natsu then looked at Erza and said, "There's something I need to tell you."

So for the next few hours Natsu explained everything that happened to him and how he met his mom. By the time he was done speaking, saying Erza was surprised was like saying she only liked her cake every now and then. After regaining herself, Erza said, "That's a lot to take in."

"It is, I still can't believe it even happened." Natsu said while leaning back on his bed.

Erza lied down next to Natsu and cuddled up to him with Natsu wrapping an arm around her. A few minutes later Natsu asked, "Hey Erza, when do you want to have the wedding?"

Erza looked surprised but then said, "How about next week?"

And there's the end of chapter 9, hope you all liked it. Until next time.