AN: From this chapter onwards there's likely to be some out off character moments as I want to explore Natsu's upbringing and his early life in Fairy Tail. This chapter is quite short as I left writing a bit late today. Sorry :)

"Get a grip flame-brain. There's no such thing as dragons!"

"There is too! I was raised by one. You droopy eyed jerk!"

Two small boys were getting into another fight. This was a typical occurrence ever since the pink haired boy joined the guild. He had been at odds with most of the most of the members ever since he claimed to have been raised by a dragon, whom he called Igneel.

"Oi, Natsu. You gotta grow up sometime kid. Dragon's don't exist." A scantly dressed Mirajane interceded in the fight. Natsu was getting fed up with the constant teasing, he couldn't understand why nobody believed he was raised by a dragon. "You wanna piece of me too, Mira!". A grim smile spread across her lips, "Bring it on!" her blue eyes were menacing. But not enough to deter Natsu.

"Sheesh, when will you give up this dragon nonsense?", Gray asked abruptly. Suddenly Natsu felt the urge to fight diminish. "It's not nonsense... Igneel is real...". Mira looked at him and seeing his vulnerability couldn't help but tease him further, "You're kinda cute when you cry, Natsu." She mocked.

"I'm not crying!", the small boy yelled as he ran out off the guild hall. A small white haired girl in a pink dress approached her big sister, "That wasn't very nice, Mira!" Lisanna scolded. "The boy's gotta grow up sometime, he can't cling on to the fantasy of dragons forever."

"Have you been teasing Natsu again, Mira?"
"Erza! So you're back, come at me!"
"I'm just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or do you usually skank out in that outfit?"
"Boney bitch!"
"Hag!"

Erza and Mira pressed their heads against each other as they squared off... again. In the distance Natsu could hear the commotion coming from the guild. He ignored it and continued running, not noticing the sound of tiny footsteps following him.

Natsu woke up suddenly. He hadn't thought about those days for awhile, he still felt guilty about he's feelings towards the other members but also angry about how much they teased him over his upbringing. Of course things had changed, they'd all been through so much together but he still couldn't bring himself to tell them how much he missed Igneel. How much he hated the guild when he was a child and how sometimes, those old feelings kept coming back.

Natsu would often distract himself. Invading Lucy's place was a favourite, but for some reason she always got really mad about it. Solo job requests also helped. In fact before Lucy joined he always worked alone, apart from Happy who was always with him. But now he was part of a team and in some ways it helped him to remain focused, until Gray and Erza joined the team.

He hadn't stayed in his own house for so long. He normally crashed at Lucy's but now Lisanna was back he was spending more of his time with her and sleeping in the hut they had made. There was a strict "no boys" policy at Fairy Hills so there was no way he was going to be staying in her room. His house was located outside of Magnolia in the forest, it was quiet and secluded. It reminded him of home. Natsu quickly got himself ready, Makarov was making his announcement today and Natsu had to put on a brave face. He knew that he was going to be selected this year, but it was being held earlier than normal which clashed with a date that was so important to Natsu. Had Gramps forgotten?

With Makarov's announcement made and the candidates for the S-Class Trials revealed the guild hall was buzzing with excitement. This year there was going to be eight participants but only one would claim the rank of S-Class. Natsu put on a show of bravado, he didn't want anyone to know what he was planning to do. Becoming an S-Class had been his goal for awhile but he just couldn't go through with it.

Mira seemed to sense something was off with Natsu and took him to one side. "Natsu, is something wrong? You don't seem yourself. I thought you would have been more excited." How did she always know?. She looked seriously concerned, ever since Natsu entered the guild hall that morning she knew something was off about him. A big smile spread across his face, "I just really need to talk to Gramps about something, that's all."

Mira didn't buy it but she knew the Master wanted to talk to Natsu too. "He's just upstairs in his office. I think he's been wanting to see you for awhile now." Natsu took off to see Makarov, "Thanks, Mira!". She watched him as he left. He hasn't been the same since Largo she thought to herself.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE WITHDRAWING FROM THE TRIALS!". Makarov was shocked to hear what Natsu was telling him. "I just have something I have to take care off, Gramps. It's too important." Makarov eyed the boy, suspiciously. "Care to tell me what it is?" He inquired. Natsu looked down at the floor, "I don't want to talk about it...". Makarov was stunned, he hadn't seen this behaviour in Natsu for years.

There was only one thing he could do. Makarov liked to use this trick on Natsu as the bot was hot headed and easy to manipulate. "I see what it is. You're worried about facing Erza since she's one of the judges this year. That's understandable, after all it's not like you're in the same league as Gray." That's bound to get Natsu's fire going. Makarov thought mischievously.

Natsu gritted his teeth, baring his fangs at the Master, "THAT ISN'T GOING TO WORK ON ME!". He roared, there was a burning intensity in his eyes. For the first time Makarov could see it. The reason why so many feared "The Salamander" from Fairy Tail. Why tales of Natsu were becoming almost as legendary as those of Titania Scarlet. He could see Natsu's inner rage and for a moment it had Makarov on edge. "I don't expect you or anyone else to understand! I'm not taking part in the trials!". Natsu turned and stormed out.

Lisanna happened to be waiting outside and had heard everything. She glared at the Master furiously, "How could you be so heartless?!" She yelled before running after Natsu. Makarov sat at his desk completely bewildered. What the hell just happened?

Lisanna knew exactly why Natsu was behaving this way. She hated this time of year as she could never help Natsu as much as she wanted too. Next week would be July 7th, the day Igneel disappeared. Natsu always went home at this time in the off chance that Igneel would return. How could he do that to Natsu? It breaks my heart to see him like this.

She raised her to her face to wipe away the tears. In doing so she didn't see that someone was in front of her and she collided with them head on. She fell back and landed on her rear, looking up she saw it was Gildarts, "Hey, Lisanna what's the matter? I saw Natsu not long ago, looked like he was about to give someone a really bad day."

Lisanna stood up, her big blue eyes were welling up. She ran into and hugged Gildarts as the tears came flooding out again. After calming down she went on to tell Gildarts everything she knew about Natsu and what had happened with Makarov. He wasn't at all happy with what had occurred. He placed a reassuring hand on her head, "Go find Natsu. No one can calm him down better than you. I'm going to go have a word with the old man."