The Pursuit of Family

Chapter 4

The Last Dragon Slayer

Gray finally got out of bed and walked into the living room where everyone was there working hard. They managed to stop what they were doing to greet him and tell how much they missed him. Gray wasn't much of the sentimental type so all he could do was smile and say that he was glad to be back. After all of the boring stuff was over, they headed over to Levy who was still figuring out their next target.

"Hey Levy, how are things going? Any sign of anyone?"

"It's hard to tell. We only have a couple of people left to find, but they're so spread out that it makes it even harder to track them down."

"I understand. You still know the game plan, right?"

"Right. We only need one more until we move on to the S-Class mages."

"Alright, I'll leave you to your work." Since he was a little out of the loop, he couldn't help but ask who was next. It was Gajeel. He was another key person to motivate the rest of the members to join up with them.

Everyone stayed quiet about it, but they were all too busy thinking about what might happen when they find him. Gajeel's always been a 50/50 character so things could go pretty easily, but then there's that chance that it'll turn into a grudge match. However, after watching Natsu do his thing with Gray, their hopes were automatically increased. They were going to believe in Natsu until the very end, and more importantly, they were going to bring the guild back together no matter what they have to go through.

As the search continued, Natsu went to do his normal thing. He walked out of the house and trudged through the snow. With more people to help, Lucy wasn't asked to do too much. She noticed Natsu walk out on his own and decided to follow him. Right as she made it outside, she noticed that things were warm. Just across the way, she saw Natsu standing there motionless, irradiating heat like what he did against Gray. She still couldn't believe how much stronger he's gotten since Tartarus.

"Hey Natsu, are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything's good. We got Gray with us so that makes things a lot easier."

"But what about Gajeel?"

"What about him?"

"Are you worried that he's changed for the worst?"

"No, of course not. I had my doubts when he first joined, but he's proven time and time after that he's a member of this guild. I just hope that things don't turn out like the way they did with Gray. I know I said I'd make them join by force, but it's not what I truly want."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's only one person I truly want to fight now." Lucy couldn't believe her ears. He has changed. Before, he longed to fight anyone who stood in his way, but now, he had his eye on only one person. Was this really the Natsu that everyone knew form before?

"Who?"

"Zeref." She widened her eyes. "He's been torturing our guild for too long. All of this needs to end." She placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You don't need to place so much responsibility on yourself. You have a whole guild full of people who are willing to back you up on whatever you choose." He quickly turned and looked her in the eye.

"That's the thing. I don't that to happen. Don't you remember what happened with Tartarus? We nearly failed, putting everyone's lives in danger. That's why I've trained so hard. I want to protect everyone here so that things never turn out the way they did."

"Natsu, why are you saying these things?" He dropped his head.

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that I need to do this." She gently pressed her head against his.

"Even if you do, I want you to know that we're here for you." She paused for a second. "Reminds you of back then, huh? You did this for me when we were trying to stop the Eclipse Project. You said you were going to change the future. I still think you will." He looked up at her again.

"Thanks Lucy." She smiled when a voice came from the house.

"Hey Natsu, we found him!" They ended their moment and ran back to the house. Everyone was crowded together, waiting for Natsu to walk in. As he walked in, a paper was on the table. He walked over to it, but noticed a weird look on everyone's faces. He was tempted to ask why everyone seemed on edge, but he decided that it was best not to know. He took the paper off the table and read the location.

"Alright, are we all ready?"

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"You do what that location means right?" He looked at it again, but didn't know anything about it.

"What? What's wrong?"

"That's where Raven Tail is located." It took him a second before realizing what that meant. When he finally knew what that meant, he slammed his fist against the table top in silence. No else spoke. They just watched Natsu's reaction to see what would happen.

"Everyone grab your things." They looked at each other with weird looks.

"Wait, what are you talking about? We're not actually going there. If this information is true, it's not worth going to."

"We can't be so sure. Just because that's where he is doesn't mean he's turned." Natsu finally stood up straight.

"Levy's right. We'll go to confirm the truth." He suddenly looked down at her. "If it is true, I'll have no choice, but to end him. Let's go." He turned around, grabbed his things, and made his way out.

At the same time, a tear fell from Levy's eye. She was troubled at this point in time. She was afraid of the truth and couldn't think about the other way around. If he didn't turn, things would be perfectly fine. However, if he did, she wasn't sure if she could let him die. Did she have the courage to stand up to Natsu and tell him that Gajeel doesn't need to die? Once everyone left the house, she slowly grabbed her things and made her way out. When she walked out of the house, she looked out towards the group and saw Natsu looking back at her. She couldn't look at him so she reverted her eyes away from his. After a couple of seconds, she looked back up and saw that he made his way towards the front of the group. Things were definitely working against her in this situation and all she could do was go along with whatever Natsu did. She was a member of Fairy Tail. Family comes first and family never betrays each other.

The trip was very long and very quiet. For some reason, no one was able to talk about anything. The last thing that was discussed at Gray's place left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, especially Natsu's. Even Lucy was unable to say anything to him. She was wondering about the situation as a whole. If it was true, was Natsu really going to kill Gajeel? Was it really necessary for him to do so? Silence was bliss as they made their way to Gajeel's location. The only people who had the courage to talk were Gray and Juvia. They whispered to each other about what was going and how they felt about everything.

"Gray-sama, are you comfortable with Natsu's decision?"

"I know it may sound weird, but the guy's smart. It's best that we believe that he's going the best thing for the guild."

"But do you really think Gajeel-kun has turned?"

"I don't know. Somewhere inside of me is hoping that he hasn't, but then somewhere, I'm completely unsure."

"If it comes down to it, do you think Natsu can do?"

"I'm sure. He's changed and he's ready to do anything for this guild." Juvia looked at Gray who was eyeing Natsu. It was definitely obvious that Natsu changed, but this change was definitely going to be the change that Fairy Tail needed if they were going to get back into this world.

Time went by and they finally arrived at Raven Tail. Everything around them seemed so ominous. The guild was in the middle of a deserted area which kind of made sense for a guild like them. They looked around and noticed that no one was around. Also, it seemed to quiet for a dark guild like them. Natsu stepped out from the group and yelled out Gajeel's name. There was no response. He yelled it again and from the top o the building, they heard a quiet voice.

"Gehe."

End of Chapter 4