A/N: here's a new chapter for you all! Your feedback has been amazing guys, thank you so much! Not to many chapters left now, I'm thinking about 5-6 left, maybe a little more. On that note, please go to my profile and kindly vote on what project you may like to see next.
As always, please enjoy!
Minutes passed, then hours, and before Natsu knew it, morning had come. The sun warming up their camp from the chilly night. A light fog that had been covering the forest floor began to dissipate. The various early morning creatures calling out to one another like a chorus of greeting. For once, it was actually peaceful and Natsu took the opportunity to take a moment to stretch and rub the exhaustion out of his eyes. A yawn escaping him as he did so. Staying up all night like this was something he hasn't really planned on doing but it shouldn't affect him to much. Or so he'd hope.
Natsu glanced around the camp, noting that it may still be awhile before the others wake. All the more time to himself he noted. On a normal day, he and Happy would take an early morning stroll just a little ways away from camp but seeing as Happy had gone on a mission with Carla and Wendy the day before, he figured there would be no point to just sit around. Even if his little buddy wasn't here with him this time, it didn't mean he couldn't go for a walk.
Natsu could almost see it now, Happy flying to them and bawling his eyes out that he missed a mission with the team once they walked in the guild doors. A chuckle escaped his lips as he took one last glance around the camp before standing. As he stretched; his bones popped, releasing themselves from the position he'd sat in for several hours straight. A sound almost like a moan slipped past his lips as they did so. What a feeling it was to move after his previous position, it was almost euphoric.
Natsu spent a moment just standing there, enjoying the chill of morning against his burning skin. He could hear the different scattered calls of the various early morning birds. Their chatter blaring loudly in his ears although they may very well be a good while away. A smile graced his lips as he glanced over his work from the night, his little notebook then being tucked away in a pocket inside his vest as he began to walk away from camp.
About ten minutes of walking later and still within earshot of camp (as Erza was not one for quiet wake up calls), Natsu found himself standing at the edge of a fairly large lake. Of course, he had seen plenty that were larger but this one struck a cord in him. The waters were clearer than any he'd seen, well, at least since he still lived with Igneel. Just the way the lake was shaped alone hit him with nostalgia. He couldn't help but smile as he could almost picture his young self jumping about the water, laughing and carefree. Completely oblivious that he would find himself alone one warm summer day with only a scarf and his magic to prove that the time he'd spent with Igneel had been real.
If Natsu actually thought about it, that may have been the true start to his life. The time he spent training with Igneel was just like a transition. It prepared him for the life he was leading now as one of the strongest mages in Fairytail. In fact, after he'd woken up that morning he would never have thought he would be as he was now. He'd been so hell-bent on finding Igneel that he didn't have time to think about his future. Even his first year of Fairytail had been that way.
"I was such an idiot." Natsu chucked aloud. It was only natural though. He had been idiot since Igneel had never really left him. In a realistic sense, such a large dragon as Igneel was wouldn't have been able to up and leave without waking him. But as a child that believed that his father had abandoned him, he had never thought about that. So when Igneel appeared at the grand magic games during the fight with the dragons, it came as a definite shock. It almost made him want to lash out at him for making him believe that he'd been abandoned and for all the years he'd spent searching on vain.
Images of the battle passed behind his eyes as if they we reflected upon the very waters of the lake he stood beside. The various bright roars of the clashing magic between his father and Achnologia, the feeling of his heart dropping when the dust settled after the battle, the blurry vision from the tears he couldn't stop once he laid eyes on his father that he had both found and lost in the same day. He blinked back the memories. It was all over and done now, but every once and a while, the images flooded back to him. They always liked to show up out of nowhere as well.
Thankfully, a shout had brought him away from those thoughts. "Everybody up!" Natsu smiled, giving the lake one last glance before heading back to camp.
When Natsu finally returned to camp, he watched in amusement as Gray and Lucy nearly jumped out of their skins in result of Erza yelling in each of their ears about the job we had to do. He let a chuckle slip as he packed up his bag back up and double checked that he had secured his notebook into his vest's inside pocket so it wouldn't fall out. When he finished, he glanced up to a curious look from Erza. "What?"
She just shook her head. "Nothing, it's just nice to see you up already. Especially with Happy not here this time."
"What do you mean by that? " Natsu frowned lightly. "I'm the one who gets Happy up every morning, especially on jobs."
"Ah." She hummed, "Then what about those times that you just lay there sleeping."
"I was awake, I just didn't want to move." He grinned.
"So those times I end up caring you around..." Gray said, quieting as he lifted a glare towards Natsu.
"Hey, a free ride is a free ride." Natsu said, holding his hands up in defense, "I'm not one to pass up a chance to be a little lazy."
"Ne~ Natsu, why didn't Happy come along again?" Lucy yawned.
"He went with Wendy and Carla on a overnight job. They should have gotten back this morning." Erza answered just as Natsu opened his mouth.
"Ah." She said past another yawn. "I remember now."
Natsu chuckled, swinging his bag over his shoulders, "Come on. The client is waiting." There was a unified hum of approval and many packing sounds as they secured the rest of their things into their bags.
Natsu sat on a couch in the residence of their client, not paying very much attention to what was being said. From what he gathered before all the technical stuff; their job was literally just to take it some Vulcans that were terrorizing the town. Being the small town that it was with only your basic market and households, they didn't have much on the way of keeping them at bay.
"Where do they usually show up?" Natsu asked suddenly, startling the group. "The Vulcans."
The client, a pudgy old man, sputtered a bit before replying, "To the east, about an hour after we light the lanterns for the night."
Natsu glanced out the window and stood. Might as well get rid of his boredom as him sitting there wouldn't get the job done. "I'm going."
"Where to? We have to do the job." Lucy said, confused.
"I'm going to do the job now, it's almost nightfall and I want to catch them before they get in town." Natsu replied, "Besides, don't we have a couple other jobs after this?"
"When did you start acting so mature?" Gray teased.
"I promised Happy I'd go fishing with him this weekend and Fantasia is next week." Natsu shrugged.
"So what? Do you have to be in any hurry?" Gray asked with a frown. "Unless you're going to try to ask out that girl you're so interested in to the festival or something."
Natsu didn't speak, just huffing in response. He didn't know whether or not to just say straight out that he was trying to ask her or just keep quiet. They already knew he was interested in someone but he didn't want them spoiling it for him and tell her about it. Natsu wanted to surprise her. But then again it may be okay as long as they didn't know who it was.
He decided that, fuck it, he'd just throw it out the window and just tell them. After all, he did kind of owe them some explanation on his distance and behavior recently.
"What if I am?"
Gray blinked. "What?"
"I said, what if I am?" Natsu repeated, blushing lightly. This was probably the most embarrassing thing he had ever admitted to the group.
"Are you serious man?" Gray asked, "I was just joking ya know."
"I know. I'm serious about this." More so than he'd been about anything like this than he'd been in his whole life. "I want to ask her before we start preparing for the festival so that I actually get the chance to talk to her."
"Is this a last minute decision?" Erza asked.
Natsu froze for a moment, looking up, "What?"
"Have you put some thought into this or are you acting recklessly?" She rephrased.
"I've been wanting to for the last couple years." Natsu said, scratching the back of his neck. "I just didn't think I'd have a chance."
He was rewarded to a sharp punch to the shoulder, "And that's why we call you an idiot." Gray sighed. "Do you have any idea how lucky that chick would feel if you told her you'd been thinking of her for several years?"
"No since I've never asked her that sort of thing." Natsu said, "I don't actually talk about romance when I talk to her."
"So is it someone you see regularly?" Lucy asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.
It couldn't hurt to indulge her a little. "Yeah." If he answered only the most basic of questions he should be fine.
"Is she cute?"
"She's gorgeous."
"Is it someone we might know?"
"...yeah."
"Oh really?" Erza grinned, "Tell us more."
There goes basic flying right out the window. Natsu glanced behind him seeing that the client was so waiting patiently. "No, later maybe, but right now we have a job to do." Natsu then left, breaking into a run almost as soon as he was outside. He had just set himself up for a hounding later by the two worst possible gossipers.
If Natsu had a mirror then he would probably see just how red his cheeks are right at that moment. He mentally cursed himself for saying anything at all. So here he was, blushing as he took out a Vulcan that had just waddled out of the forest. Natsu lit a fist on fire, launching the Vulcan back through the forest from where it came.
Judging by the group, it was a fairly new one. A few smaller Vulcans around one alpha. Natsu grinned, "Come at me you overgrown ape." He called at the biggest one, satisfied when it gave out a roar of rage, swinging a large arm to try and hit the pinkette.
"Too slow!" Natsu said, jumping up. He twisted his body midair, sending a flaming kick into the Vulcan's chest, knocking it back several feet. "Get your hairy asses out of here and don't come back!" He shouted as he punched another one, satisfied when they started to retreat. When it comes to packs, once the alpha is beaten, they tend to retreat and regroup. Usually they move to another location.
Natsu grinned, he missed the action. After Fantasia was over, maybe he and Team Natsu could go on a harder job than the ones they accepted today. Of course he'd have to record his songs ahead of time so he could go. Natsu sighed, he wondered what Jeb would say. Probably something along the lines of him complaining that he'd go home later that usual. That man was really a doting husband and father. But Natsu knew he'd do it.
Natsu laughed as he heard Gray, Erza, and Lucy run over. "What took you so long? I'm already done."
"We know, that's why we already have the payment." Lucy smiled. "So now-"
"Well what are we waiting for?" Natsu said, purposely cutting her off. "We have two other jobs to do." He stepped towards the town's entrance, they'd get their answers once they returned home. Well, most of them.