After leaving the small village behind them, Natsu and Tree journeyed for several long days to reach the nearest city with a train station. It turned out he was much farther from Fairy Tail than he had expected, but he didn't care. He'd get back to his guild, no matter how long that took.

But that didn't mean the journey was an enjoyable one; As soon as they arrived in the city he wanted to turn around and leave.

The city was large, Natsu could tell that without his sight. It wasn't that hard to figure out thanks to the painful amount of sounds and smells. For once Natsu cursed himself for having dragon-like senses, it made everything even more overwhelming.

He tried to block out the loud noises and disgusting smells by focusing on his magic sight, but all that did was make him anxious. The city was mostly buildings, his sight relied on finding the inner magic of things, but the artificial homes made it difficult to discern where anything was. His senses flowed around them and gave him a vague idea, but that was all he had.

The only thing he could sense were the people wandering around the city, but he quickly began to feel nauseated by just how many people he could sense. In the village it was easy to keep track, there weren't too many people following… This was too much for Natsu to handle.

Natsu felt his heart begin to twist and constrict from anxiety, his own hands gripping the fabric of his new cloak tightly as he tried to control his senses. How am I supposed to get home if I don't know where I'm going?!

His shoulder crashed into something solid, and he heard a snarl of annoyance. "Watch where you're going!" A gruff voice yelled in his ear.

"Ah I didn't mean to-" Natsu quickly tried to back up, only to hit someone else. "Ah! I'm sorry! Sorry!"

He stumbled and crashed into several people as he tried to find a place to rest. Some of them ignored him, others said harsh words and angrily shoved him away. Eventually on one shove his shoulder hit one of the many buildings, and instead of being mad he clung to it desperately.

With his hand as his guide, Natsu followed the edge of the rough texture of the building and allowed it to take him around a corner. His senses were still overwhelming, but he felt a little calmer in the small area he had been led to.

A small chirp reached his ear, and he felt Tree shift around from his spot on Natsu's shoulder. The dragonslayer quickly reached out to pet the lemur's fur, desperate to feel comfort.

"I know we are going to be at Fairy Tail soon… I know that… but this is all too much…" He rubbed a hand through his hair with his free hand. "I practiced using my magic sight as much as I could, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for this!"

Tree made a series of purring noises as his tail wrapped around Natsu's hand. He felt the cold nose hit his cheek as the animal nuzzled it.

The dragonslayer sighed. "I know, I know. I'm being ridiculous. If I can fight some dark guild assholes, then surely I can find some loud, smelly train!"

He gently lifted Tree and held him close to his chest, he knew the reminder of his companion would help him stay strong. Then, with a deep breath, he ventured out of his small hiding spot and back into the city.

Natsu found that remaining calm helped him somewhat. When he wasn't panicking, he could focus more on what he felt around him, but that didn't make it any easier to traverse what felt like a concrete jungle.

He had been walking for several minutes when his attention slipped and he crashed into someone else. He heard them grunt and stumble at the sudden force.

"Hey watch where you're-" The voice began but quickly cut off as the person turned to face him. "Whoa! What's up with your eyes?"

Natsu tensed and felt his cheeks heat up. The memory of what Nimzi said his eyes looked like made him feel extremely self conscious. Damn Acnologia…

He hugged Tree a little tighter and turned his face downward. "It's nothing! Now get out of my way, I have to find the train!"

"The train?" The stranger voiced in surprise. "You're walking the wrong way, the train is back that way."

It sounded like he pointed to where the train was, but it wasn't like Natsu could tell. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned his head upwards. "Can you lead me there?"

"Why?"

Natsu sighed again and swallowed his pride. "I'm blind, I can't tell where you're pointing." He admitted.

"Oh. Oh…" The stranger quickly cleared their throat. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize… It's just your eyes and the marks-"

"It's fine." Natsu quickly interrupts, his voice quivering only slightly. "Can you just please take me there? I want to go home…"

The stranger probably felt awkward or guilty about the things he said, because he led Natsu to the train station without another word. As the smell of steam and burnt metal hit his nose, Natsu realized that the stranger was right, he had been going the wrong way. If it weren't for the stranger, he likely never would have found the damned station.

"Thank you so much!" Natsu tells them eagerly, a wide grin on his face.

The stranger grumbles a little, as if he was unsure what to do in reaction to such praise. "W-well, be safe…" He mutters and quickly leaves.

Natsu's grin remained as he faced towards the sounds of the train. He lifted Tree up and placed him back on his shoulder. "Alright, bud. Let's get a ticket and get back to the guild!"

He could sense a group of people all standing behind one another and figured that was where the line was, so he moved to the edge to join them.

Once he reached the front of the line, he heard an unenthusiastic voice. "Destination?"

"Magnolia," Natsu eagerly replies, the name of the town sending a burst of excitement through him. He couldn't wait to get home.

But the man handing out tickets just sighed. "Our trains don't go that far. Clover Town is the farthest we go, but you can get on a train from there to Magnolia."

Natsu nodded in understanding. "Okay then, I'll go to Clover Town."

"One ticket to Clover Town and the pet fee will be… eight thousand Jewels."

Eight thousand? That's not that bad! I will have thirty two thousand left! The dragonslayer reached into his pocket, pulling out the money given to him by the mayor of the small village. He had told Natsu it would be enough to get him to Magnolia by train.

He moved his hand around until he found the ticket booth desk and set the pile down, unsure if he would be able to give over the right amount. "Eh… Is this enough?"

The ticket man was silent for several seconds as he seemed to flip through the bills. "Hmm… Yes this should do. Here's your change and your ticket, enjoy your ride."

Natsu took the offered items with a sigh of relief, and hurried to climb on the train before it could leave without him. He managed to navigate the small space by keeping his hand on the wall of train compartments.

Eventually Natsu found an open compartment with a few people and sat down. But the tension in the area quickly grew, and the whispers of passengers began to reach his ears.

"Look at his eyes, what do you think is wrong with him?"

"Is it an illness? I don't want to get sick!"

"I think he's blind!"

"Blind? How did he manage to get on the train?"

Their whispers were too much for Natsu to listen to. He grabbed his cloak's hood and quickly pulled it up in an attempt to hide his eyes. Then, he jumped to his feet, hurried from the compartment and walked further into the train.

He moved his hand to cover his eyes, shuddering slightly as he felt his cheeks heat up. These assholes… why do they have to whisper like that? I can't fix my eyes, I don't even know how freaky they look! It… it hurts…

Tree's cold nose pressed up against his cheek, making him jump slightly. When he moved his hand away from his blind eyes, he heard the lemur let out a concerned noise.

Natsu sniffled slightly, and rubbed his eyes furiously. "W-we'll try to track down an empty one if we can," He told his animal companion. "Me and trains don't exactly get along, and I don't want to make anyone else deal with my motion sickness either!"

Tree chirped and purred as he gripped Natsu's shoulder, his tail wrapping around his owner's upper arm in what seemed to be a comforting gesture.

The dragonslayer felt his chest fill with warmth at the creature's concern, and made sure to scratch the animal under his chin. "I'll be okay, Tree. I'm just… I'm still trying to get used to what happened to me, and how people treat me but… I'll be okay."

Finally, near the end of the train Natsu found a compartment that was completely empty. He plopped down in the seat with a sigh, and let his head rest against the plush chair behind him as he braced for the train to start.

The train ride was torture. Not only was his motion sickness difficult to handle, but his magic sense tried to attach and notice every little thing it could even when the train was speeding past it. It made him so nauseous he almost threw up.

In a desperate attempt to save himself from passing out, Natsu pulled his magic back to himself and cut off his magic sight. It wasn't a great solution, as he still was dealing with motion sickness, but it made it more bearable… A little.

The train makes several stops before it finally reaches Clover Town. With Tree held in his arms, Natsu stumbled out of the metal death machine and into the fresh air of the outdoors. "Holy shit that was awful…"

He took a moment to recover from his motion sickness, and then allowed his magic to project outward once more. He sighed in relief as he began to sense the world around him once again, it was comforting especially after such an awful train ride.

"And now we have to do it again. Ugh… You ready, Tree?" He asked the lemur.

Tree made a growling noise, obviously he was not a big fan of the train either.

Natsu couldn't help but release a soft laugh. "Don't worry buddy, we're almost there!"

Back in the line they went, until they reached the ticket booth once more. Natsu requested a ticket to Magnolia, and handed over his money.

After a moment of silence, the man at the booth made an uncomfortable noise. "I'm sorry, sir… I can't give you a ticket. The price is eight thousand, you only have one hundred."

"What?! But…" Natsu dug around in his pockets, but they were empty. "But I had more, I swear I did!"

"I'm sorry sir, but if you don't have the price I can't let you on the train," The man responded, though his voice had little sympathy. "Next customer please."

Natsu backed away in a dazed state, and turned to wander away from the station. He walked down a random sidewalk for a minute before what happened finally registered with him.

"AHH DAMN IT!" He yelled loudly, startling many people around him. "That asshole in the city, he took my jewels!"

The dragonslayer's anger suddenly turned into embarrassment as he pulled the hood of his cloak lower. "He knew I was blind, he took it because he knew I couldn't tell… Bastard!" He snarled weakly. "How am I supposed to get home now?"

He squeezed the single bill in his hand as he tried to calm down. "A hundred jewels isn't even enough for a hotel… M-maybe we could just walk the rest of the way? But that could take weeks… Or maybe…"

A tapping on his shoulder drew Natsu's attention. He turned towards the person he sensed behind him, only just noticing them as he came out of his angered bubble. "Uh… Yes?"

"Oh! Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear what happened… You said that your money was stolen… And you need the train, right?"

Natsu grows hopeful. Even if it's from pity, perhaps this person could help him get home? "Yes! I do! I need to get to Magnolia!"

The stranger makes a happy noise. "I see! Well, I can give you the money to get there, but I might need your help first, if you don't mind?"

"Uh… Sure?" Natsu is unsure of what help he could be, but he wouldn't turn away a chance to get back home.

He follows after the stranger, off the sidewalks and further into the town. But as they start to go through buildings and towards alleyways, Natsu starts to feel suspicious.

He pushes his magic sense outward, and tenses up at what he feels. Somewhere ahead of them is a large group of people. Why does he recognize their magic? Either way, Natsu has already caught on.

Coming to a stop, Natsu allowed a frown to grace his face. "You're leading me to a trap."

The stranger in front of him stopped, and then threw himself towards Natsu with a loud and violent battle cry.

The dragonslayer frantically stumbled backwards while Tree leapt off his shoulder, barely avoiding the man who skidded to a stop after missing his target.

"You thought you would stop us, Salamander! But now we have our whole guild with us, and this time we'll defeat you!" The man dramatically yelled.

Natsu sensed the other guild members approaching and finally realized where he recognized the magic. These are the assholes who held Nimzi'a village hostage.

The dragonslayer groaned and reached upwards to pinch his nose. "For the love of… Do we really have to do this now? I've already kicked your ass once, I'm not in the mood."

"You don't have a choice, Dragneel! With the power of our whole guild, we'll kill you and take back what's ours! Men? CHARGE!"

Two of the men charge forward and a burst of magic, Natsu easily jumps out of the way. But before he can attack, two calloused hands grab his shoulders. With a jolt of surprise, Natsu quickly recovers.

He reaches backwards and clasps his hands around the wrists. With a grunt of effort, Natsu throws the man over his head and towards the crowd of dark guild members he senses nearby. He hears a pained yelp and the sound of several crashes.

Natsu spun towards the large group, his fists covered in flames. "Seriously, go away!" As one charged forward him, he slammed his fist against what felt like their chest.

"We'll stop when you're dead, you little bastard!" The man who tried to trick him in the first place yelled.

The whole group charged at him this time. Natsu quickly used his flames as propulsion and jumped above them. But a string of magic followed him, wrapping around his ankle and then with a yank sent him face first onto the ground.

Natsu's head rang from the sudden impact, and he felt the anger he had tried to temper finally rising up. "Grrr… THAT'S IT!"

The mage jumped to his feet and spun to face the crowd of dark guild cronies. He inhaled as his fire swirled around him. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The flames flew in a gigantic wave and slammed into the guild members before they could flee. With a loud explosion, several of the men flew backwards or into the air. Only a few managed to dodge unscathcathed. Some of them didn't get up, others managed to quickly right themselves and get back in a fighting stance.

Natsu regarded them all silently, and then held out his arms. Gathering his flames around him once more, he clenched his fists and allowed a determined glare to grace his face. "You wanna fight? Fine! Let's FIGHT!"

"Well, that could have gone better…" Wakaba declared as he walked out of the large, fancy building. Instantly he pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it. "I mean, it could have gone way better, but it definitely could have gone worse, right?"

He glanced to his right and looked at his dear friend, Macao Conbolt. The other man's shoulders were slumped, and he was hunched forward in a defeated pose.

The blue haired man shook his hung head slightly and let out a sigh. "I just don't know what to do, Wakaba…" His shoulders shook as his body tensed. "I don't know how to help us!"

Wakaba frowned around his cigar, and reached out his hand. "Macao…"

Macao dodged his hand and paced the stairs. "How are we supposed to keep Fairy Tail afloat if none of the other guilds are willing to help? That's the whole reason we came to this meeting in the first place and none of them will help!"

"Well, a few of them said they would send leftover missions our way?" Wakaba hesitantly replied in a weak attempt to lighten the mood.

His partner shook his head and looked away. "That's not going to help. They're always busy with work and requests. Nobody has given us missions since…" He winced, and took a gulp of air. "Since we lost everyone. They don't have faith in us anymore, we're falling apart, Wakaba, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Wakaba bit the inside of his cheek, and sighed. He knew the guild leader was right, but it hurt to hear all his own worries said out loud. No matter how hard they tried, Fairy Tail just couldn't seem to get back on its feet.

He moved forward, clasping his hand on his shoulder. "Well, my friend… Try to look on the bright side! At least things can't get much worse than this-"

BOOM!

The two Fairy Tail mages stumbled on the steps, looking up just in time to witness a cloud of flames, smoke, and people fly upwards from somewhere in the village.

"What the hell was that?!" Macao exclaimed in shock.

"I don't know, but I'm sure as shit not waiting for it to cause more damage!" Wakaba quickly began to run down the stairs two at a time, with Macao following after him without a moment of hesitation.

The two guild members sprinted through the town until they reached where the plumes of flames were emerging from. Just as they came to the opening of the dark alleyway, there was a burst of fire, a yelp of pain, and a scrawny man tumbled to a halt in front of them.

The guild master and his advisor looked at each other and nodded. Wakaba quickly summoned smoke magic and created fists, while Macao prepared to use his purple flares. With both of them prepared, they changed into the heat.

But as the smoke began to clear, the two found themselves skidding to stop before they could go any further, their eyes wide in utter disbelief.

In the middle of the alleyway, they saw a shock of pink hair as a cloak clad figure slammed an ash covered man against the wall. "This is the last time I will warn you! You leave me alone, you leave these villages alone, or I will find you and burn you into a crisp! Do you understand me?!"

The pinned man let out a terrified squeak.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"

"YES!" The greasy man yelled,"I understand! I'm sorry! Please let me go!"

The hands released the fabric and the man crashed to the ground. With pathetic whimpers, he crawled away as fast as his singed body could carry him.

The pink haired mage turned to face the direction the man was crawling forwards. "That's right! And don't you forget it!"

Wakaba felt his heart leap into his throat as he realized what he was seeing. The pink hair, the scaly scarf, the fire. No way… It's impossible… Could it really be…?

"...Natsu?" Macao's shaking voice echoed in the alleyway.

The mage in question froze, and turned his head towards the sound of their voices. As Wakaba saw those strange eyes, and those strange face markings, it sent a shudder of uncertainty through his body. But something told him this wasn't a trick.

The pink haired man turned all the way around, his right hand still burning with bright flames. "Who's there?" He demanded in a firm tone.

Can't you tell? Wakaba wondered, but he was too focused on the flames to ask. Any doubt he had on if it was a fake vanished in an instant. Nobody could make flames like Natsu, it had to be him.

"Natsu… It's M-Macao… and Wakaba…" The guild leader managed to say, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

The bright orange flames were suddenly extinguished as the dragonslayer let out a gasp. He stood there silent for a moment, and then burst forward in a sprint. He crashed into both Wakaba and Macao, sending them both crashing to the ground in a tackling hug.

"YOU GUYS!" Natsu yelled as tears tumbled down his cheeks. "It's really you! I missed you guys so much!"

The two men, who were quite older than Natsu, suddenly found themselves unable to stay composed. They burst into loud sobs and hugged their long lost friend right back. "NATSU!"

The three of them cried against each other for a long time, all of them afraid to let go in case the others vanished. It was only when they were too exhausted to cry further that the trio was able to calm down.

"I can't believe it!" The long lost friend exclaimed as he got to his feet and brushed off his black colored cloak. "I was making my way to Magnolia and I found you guys before I got there!"

Wakaba couldn't help but glance at those strange eyes again. He noticed that Natsu wasn't exactly looking at them, his eyes would move but didn't seem to focus on anything.

Macao, now on his feet, was quick to hug Natsu once more. "I can't believe it's really you! We thought…" He hesitated and frowned. "Well we thought that you were…"

"Dead?" Natsu finished for him.

The guild master nodded his head, unable to form words, but Natsu didn't react to the subtle movement.

Wakaba frowned as the puzzle pieces started to fall into place, and he decided to test his theory. Instead of nodding, he spoke aloud. "You're right, we thought you died too."

Natsu reacted to that with a sad sigh and a nod. "I know… I heard about what happened recently. I'm…" He twisted the fabric of his cloak. "I'm sorry I didn't come home sooner…"

The Fairy Tail advisor was quick to place a hand on his shoulder and give a tight squeeze. "You don't need to apologize for anything, Natsu. We're just happy to see you now. You have no idea how much we've all missed you."

There was a sudden halt of conversation, as both Wakaba and Macao struggled to bring up what they wanted to say. The guild master managed to be the more forward one this time.

"Natsu… Excuse me for saying this but… Y-your eyes?"

They both noticed how the pink haired mage cringed slightly and then lowered his head. "I'm… I'm blind." His voice was so quiet they almost didn't hear it. "Acnologia… H-He… He…"

Wakaba winced at the mention of the dragon. It makes sense now… He thought. His black and blue eyes, it's because of that goddamn dragon!

In front of them, Natsu shuddered slightly and looked back up at them with a grin. "But it's fine! I can still kick ass just like before!"

The mood lifted slightly, and Macao let out a bark of a laugh. "Oh I don't doubt that! We came here just in time to see you scare off those guys!"

Natsu's grin grew wider, and pink dusted his cheeks. "Good! Don't want you guys going soft on me!"

An excited chirp interrupted the men, and a brown colored creature jumped from above them and landed on Natsu's shaggy hair.

"And who is this?" Wakaba asked in surprise.

The animal chirped again and settled on Natsu's shoulder, it's tail wrapped around his arm while the dragonslayer pointed towards him. "This is Tree! He's my travel buddy, and he helped me a lot when I was learning my magic sight!"

Wakaba blinked several times. "Magic what?"

"Sounds like you have quite the story to tell!" Macao exclaimed with another happy laugh.

"I do!" The dragonslayer hesitated, and then clenched his fists in determination. "But now is not the time to tell it! I miss everyone so much, I want to get back to the guild, I want to go home!"

The guild advisor felt a sudden excitement at the thought of returning to the guild with Natsu in tow. "Yes! They'll all be so happy to see you!"

"We can't waste any time! We'll take the first train we can catch!" Macao agreed.

The three guildmates grinned again, and hurried out of the alleyway. They ignored any curious stares or annoyed glances, nothing could quench the happiness that radiated through all of them as they began their journey.

In Magnolia, the shabby guild hall was filled with the few guild members left. Usually, most of them would have gone home by now, but none of them wanted to miss news from the guild leader meeting.

"It could be good news… Maybe one of them agreed to give us a loan?" Laki tried.

Jet scoffed. "With the year we've had? It's gonna be awful news. Even after all the help we've given everyone, they won't even help us stay on our feet."

Bisca made a noise and narrowed her eyes at the man. "Please don't talk like that!" She hissed, motioning towards Romeo. "We need to hope for something!"

Romeo, who had been staring out the window, glanced towards the adults with a somber expression. "Mister Jet is right… It's been the same every time." The seven year old slid down to the ground, and pulled his knees to his chest. "Nobody will help us…"

The adult guild members all glanced at one another, but none of them tried to comfort Romeo. How could they? He had voiced exactly what they were thinking. Instead, they all settled back into the depressing silence once more.

Eventually the silence was broken by the sound of the large door being pushed open. Their heads all turned in unison to the door, and found Macao and Wakaba standing there with wide smiles on their face.

Droy was quick to get to his feet. "What happened? Did they agree to help us?"

"Do we need to take that loan?" Laki asked.

Macao's grin faltered for a moment. "W-well, no they didn't really agree to help us. We're still on our own…"

"BUT! We're not as alone as we were yesterday!" Wakaba vaguely declared. "You'll never guess what we found in Clover Town!"

The two men moved aside, revealing that a pink haired mage with a familiar white scarf was standing behind them. Instantly, the guild members let out gasps of disbelief.

The dragonslayer allowed a wide smile to emerge on his face as well, and raised his hand in a greeting. "I'm home!"

At first, none of the Fairy Tail members moved. They were frozen in shock, their jaws dropped and eyes wide as they stared at the man they had believed to be dead.

It was little Romeo who moved first. His perpetual frown disappeared as he smiled for the first time in a year, and then burst into tears. He sprinted forward and threw himself against the mage with a loud sob.

"NATSU!" A chorus of voices exclaimed. As if that opened the floodgates, the other guild members scrambled forward to join the hug, soon ending up in a giant pile on the floor. It was a tear and snot filled hug, but it was the best embrace any of them had ever felt in a long time.

Wakaba and Macao watched the hug from afar, deciding to let the others enjoy the reunion they already had. The two exchanged a glance and smiled, knowing they were both thinking the same thing.

It's good to be home!