And onto the Story
"What happened to the master!?" Erza shouted as she paced in front of the infirmary door, enraged that something had happened to one of the last few people she considered her family. Porlyusica was currently inside, documenting the extent of his injuries and progressing immediately with treatment.
"Can it you glutton, can't you realize we just gotta wait for em' to wake up?" Mira commented from her spot beside the door, not even able to enjoy how much Erza was getting worked up. She wanted to have a similar reaction, but she had to think about her brother and sister first, so she had to stay strong for them.
"That's not good enough! Some monster almost burnt Master to a crisp. You can't honestly expect me to sit around do you?!" Erza raged as she held Mira up against the wall, her sword pressed tightly against the Majin's neck.
"Hell no, but we ain't doin' them any good raging outside their door. We will get the story when they wake up, and we will punish them accordingly." Mira replied with an eye roll as she pushed the sword away from her neck with her index finger, a disturbing look on her face at the mention of hurting someone.
"Hmph! Never thought I'd see the day you set me straight." Erza mumbled under her breath as her sword disappeared into her pocket dimension, before slinking down into a seat beside the door.
"Yeah, well, don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it to anyone." Mirajane replied with a sigh as she sad beside Erza, unable to even think of taunting the knight in a time like this.
"I gotta wonder though, who's the kid?" Mirajane spoke out loud as the looked at the door across from them, which lead into the boy's recovery room. Makarov was covered head to toe in second degree burns. Luckily Porlyusica was one of the best doctors on the continent, so if anyone could help him, she could.
"I too, am unsure. However, no matter who he is he has some explaining to do." Erza replied, the ice cold tone in her voice bringing a small smirk to Mira's face. 'Yep, she's back'.
Natsu's PoV
Natsu was horrified the second he woke up, his nose instantly assaulted with the scent of antiseptics, alcohol, blood and cloth. He was in a hospital. And suddenly everything hit him. Memories of what he did. Remembering the feeling of his fingers cutting through the old man's chest, the crack of the Giants bones under his fist making him sick.
But it was different, it was like he was watching himself do these things, feeling and smelling everything around him, without any actual control of what he was doing. It was truly a frightening experience.
He quickly rolled over, nausea consuming him as his vomit hit the floor, the sounds of his heaving and coughing causing the door to open.
"Are you alright?" A sweet voice asked as a short white haired girl poked her head through the door, her nose crinkling when she picked up the smell of the boy's vomit.
"It's all my fault," The boy muttered, the sullen tone in his voice pulling on the girls heart as she opened the door fully and closing the door behind her, her hands now behind her back as she watched him.
"I'm sure it'll be alright, Master would never let someone get hurt," The girl offered helpfully, unable to control the blush rushing to her cheeks as the boy sat up, his toned torso covered in scars forever imprinted in the young girls mind.
"You don't get it, I'm the one who did this. It's all my fault," The boy spoke as he looked up for the first time, his eyes locking with the girls as it felt like time stopped moving. They were both in a trance, unable to take their eyes off the other until the door smashed open, the handle of the door burying itself in the adjacent wall as Erza burst through the door.
"Finally! You're awake. You have some explaining to do," Erza commanded as she summoned a sword to her hand and pointing it to the boy's neck, Lisanna's eyes widened in shock when the boy simply accepted his fate as he stood up, before following the knight out the door.
It couldn't actually be his fault, right?
Mirajane's PoV
"Explain Yourself," Erza demanded once she forced the boy to sit down in the middle of the guild hall, the overall atmosphere feeling very sullen as everyone stared at the ragged young boy, who they thought was too scared to look at them.
"Gra- Your Guild Master found me near Onibus train station, mentioning something about the council. He got me some clothes, and we were coming back here until my nose caught a scent, and-" Natsu began, his hands trembling in his lap as he pictured the old man, curled up on the ground, his skin…
"Stop! What do you mean by your "Nose caught a scent"" Erza asked skeptically as she slammed her hand down on the table, in an attempt to intimidate him into giving her answers, her magic beginning to make itself known as a dark red aura began to emanate from her body.
"I have a really good sense of smell," Natsu replied hesitantly, only to be cut off by a loud scoff.
"Yeah right, I bet that's the most usele-" A dark hair boy said as he made his way towards the table, his absence of a shirt causing the pink haired boy to tilt his head in confusion. The dark haired boy was cut short when Erza fixed her glare on him.
"Nobody is permitted to speak, but me, or him!" Erza growled, not seeing the pink haired boy roll his eyes, causing Mira to smirk, glad that somebody else found her annoying.
"Continue," Erza permitted after a minute of silence, letting everyone gather the severity of the situation once more, the image of Macao carrying a covered Makarov to the infirmary a couple days ago, the smell...
"I found a group of bandits ransacking a burning carriage, We fought, and the next thing I know I woke up seeing the old man unconscious on the ground… motionless" Natsu explained his voice hitching at the end making Mira squint her eyes.
'I wonder, Clearly he's not telling the whole truth, but why would he feel guilty unle-' Mira thought, unaware that someone else in the room just reached the same conclusion.
"I don't believe you. Do not, lie to me again." Erza growled, swords appearing in the air surrounding the boy, making Mira roll her eyes as she stood up and walked towards the table.
"That's enough Tin Can, clearly something happened that he's not comfortable with so lay off," Mira commented with a shrug as she sat on the table in front of him, his eyes instantly tracing her figure before meeting her eyes.
"So let's try it this way, do you know who hurt our master?" Mira asked as she held her left hand out to Erza, who clenched her fist as she placed her weapons back into her pocket dimension before sitting on the far side of the table, keeping her eyes trained on the boy in case he made any sudden moves.
"It's my fault," Natsu spoke under his breath, knowing he already ruined his chance of joining this guild, and that was upsetting, he really liked the old man, and it was clear that everyone here cared about him just as much.
"I didn't ask who's fault it was, Gramps would literally jump in front of a bullet for anyone. What I asked, is who hurt him," Mira asked, her keen eyes trained on the boy, watching for any social cues that could indicate what happened.
"That's because I'm the one who hurt him," The boy spoke, his voice wavering, but everyone still heard him. Everyone, especially Lisanna was shocked by the boys words. 'How could someone that young hurt Master that much?"
Makarov was capable of man handling every mage in the guild, except for Gildarts, with ease. To think that a boy so young was able to put their master in such a condition was ridiculous. But the guilt in his voice, and the trembling of his hands at least showed that he felt responsible for what happened.
"I don't believe it, A pipsqueak like you being able to take Gramps out? Not a chance you pink shit," Gray spoke up after a couple minutes of silence, having the courage to say what everyone else was thinking as they stared at the boy.
"Believe it or not, it was my flames that burnt him. It's my fault he's hurt right now, and for that I'm sorry" Natsu spoke his voice having a rough edge as he lifted his head for the first time, staring the shirtless boy straight in the eyes.
"You're sorry? You're sorry?! If we are to believe you, it's your fault our Master could have died. It's your fault we had to sedate him because he was in too much pain! It's your fault he could be permanently scarred!" Gray roared in protest, a couple voices in the guild chiming in with affirmation.
Natsu, by this point, couldn't stand the guild much longer, slowly raising to his feet, his hand catching the sword that was swung at his shoulder, clutching the blade in his hands until it shattered, a trail of blood dripping down onto the table as he walked through the guild hall, the mages parting like the red sea as he approached the door.
And everyone was glad to see him leave, feeling a little vindication for protecting their master.
"Wait! Why should we believe you?!" Lisanna cried out, shocking everyone, including Natsu who stopped in front of the door, the muscles in his back clenching as he turned around, looking the girl in the eyes.
"You don't have to believe me, and you don't have to forgive me, just… Tell the old man I'm sorry, and thanks for everything," Natsu said as he put his hand on the door, only to instantly pull it back as it was replaced by a sword, halfway embedded through the door.
"No, if you are truly responsible then you should be held accountable for you actions." Erza declared sternly, making Natsu look around, noticing that most of the guild members agreed with her.
"And how do you intend to determine that? It seems that no matter what I say you won't deem me responsible simply because you don't find me capable enough." Natsu spoke clearly, her threat clear, but ignored, shocking more than half of the guild.
"We simply wait for the master to wake up, until then, you will be kept here… Working at the bar!" Erza hastily decided causing the older half of the guild to raise a brow in confusion while the younger half looked at her shocked.
"Right, that makes sense," Natsu commented with an eye roll as he turned back round, side stepping the swords and spears that impacted the ground beneath him as he opened the door, shocking all present. Nobody has seen someone evade Erza's attacks so effortlessly, without even looking at her.
"Perhaps! I did not make myself clear. You are not allowed to leave until we determine your sentence." Erza growled,
"Believe me, I would do anything to make it up to your guild, but waking up to the face of someone who almost killed you is much, much worse," Natsu said as he held the right door open, turning to look back at her, the emptiness in his eyes making Mira's eyes widening, the tone in his voice and the look on his face reminding her of when she took over the demon in the church, the amount of self loathing in his voice palpable.
At this point, the guild was beginning to split. Some of the younger members sympathized with the young boy, his guilt evident in his posture and tone. Others, however, didn't care how bad the boy felt. He was responsible for their masters pain, guilt was the least he deserved.
Erza narrowed her eyes before lunging at the young boy, crossing the distance in seconds with her sword in hand, planning to incapacitate the boy. Everyone was shocked to see Natsu take a quick step backwards, easily avoiding her strike.
"You have all rights to be mad at me, but I will not stay here." Natsu commented with narrowed eyes, his arms crossed over his chest as he carefully watched the seething Erza, shocking everyone at his attitude.
The rift in the guild was growing, the ones sympathizing with him agreeing he didn't deserve to be treated like this, while those who blamed him for their master state were appalled at his attitude, feeling he wasn't acknowledging his responsibility at all.
Natsu got no warning for her next strike, barely being able to raise his hand to push the flat of her blade down to the side, her sword passing to his right as he brought his left hand down, striking a nerve in her arm and forcing her to drop her sword, kicking the pommel before it hit the ground, impaling it on the wall beside the door.
Natsu took a couple steps backwards, stepping over a mug as he kept an eye on the red head, having a feeling that this was about to get much more intense.
Nobody moved for at least a minute, their jaws on the floor with how quickly he had disarmed Erza. It took him less than three seconds to remove her sword from arms reach without either of them getting injured.
"I don't want to fight you, I've hurt more than enough people already," Natsu said placatingly with his palms up, showing Erza the blood on his hand from when he broke her sword.
"This will not be a fight, I assure you, that you will not be able to hurt me." Erza said, her voice thicker than steel as she requipped two more blades, this time one in each hand as she jumped at the pink haired man.
The rest of the guild watched for five minutes as they traveled across the hall three times, neither landing a hit on the other as they evaded both members and furniture a like.
'Shit this kid is good, able to evade all her attacks without damaging anything is impressive,' Mira thought, more than mildly impressed with this Pink haired stranger, being able to believe that he was able to hurt Makarov more and more by the second, and they haven't even seen his magic yet.
Mira's sentiment was shared with other members of the guild, but rather than appreciation, all they felt was resentment as this Kid almost killed their master, and treated one of their strongest mages as if they weren't even worth his effort.
Erza pulled back, sweat dripping down her forehead as she glared at the pink haired man, having had gone through seven different swords in this fight with Makarov's attacker.
"Perhaps *huff* you are more *puff* than capable of attacking our master. Unfortunately *huff* this only implicates you further." Erza explained in between breaths as her eyes sought out a certain platinum haired mage, who rolled her eyes before standing up, approaching her rival as requested.
"Fight as you wish, you won't be able to resist us both at once," Mira stated confidently, everyone's eyes widening when they realized this may be the first time the two had ever teamed up.
Natsu only narrowed his eyes, before looking back over his shoulder, grateful he was near the back exit. Unfortunately, both Erza and Mira noticed his intentions, swords appearing in the air around them as they shot forward, attempting to block his exit.
Natsu's PoV
'Fuck, how many of these things does this girl have?!' Natsu groaned as he raised his hands, shaping them into finger guns as he shot fireballs at the flying blades, shooting them out of the sky with ease as he backed his way towards the exit.
The second his back touched the door he jumped back, unfortunately breaking the handle as he forced it open, falling back into a controlled roll and placing his hands on the ground and vaulting off the ground, landing on his feet ten feet away from the door burst open with Erza leading the charge, now wearing an interesting orange armor.
Her hair was tied into two pigtails, her hair reaching all the way to her waist, the black hair clips resembling horns. There was a golden collar around her neck a black motif mirrored on both sides. There were no pauldrons, revealing her shoulders. The breast plate extends down and covers her form like a sleeveless leotard, the orange and black designs resembling flames and claws. There is a pair of dragon like wings attached to the back of her breast plate, with no known function. The gauntlets were predominantly red, with golden braces and black decals resembling claws on her fingers. There was a dark red short sword in her hand, the blade curving and meeting at the tip. The greaves were the same dark red, with golden horn ornaments on her knees, with black armor plating covering to her mid thigh.
Essentially, no woman had ever captivated Natsu like she did in this very moment, his instincts screaming at him, even at his young age. Her magic now resonated with his, the purity of her flames catching him off guard.
Natsu almost missed the sword swung at his neck, leaning back just in time as she soared over him. He quickly reached back his hands back and pushing off the ground, launching himself over a confused Erza, as she slid to a stop.
Looking over her shoulder, she realized that Mirajane was slowly walking through the smashed doorway, a confident smirk on her face as she looked at them.
Natsu stood there, his eyes widening as he took in her new appearance. Her bangs were tied up in front of her face with a small black elastic. The rest of her platinum hair was blown backwards. There was a dark scar running from her forehead, through her right eye and down to her chin. She was wearing a tight maroon bodysuit, with a huge cut out running from her neck to her abdomen. There was a pink bow tied around her neck, the collar of her body suit reaching the tip of her elongated pointy ears. She had dark green bat wings floating behind her, the same color of her scaled forearms and clawed hands. She was wearing maroon thigh high boots, with scars on both thighs. She had a long, green scaled tail swishing behind her, belaying her amusement and playful attitude.
"Well, let's get this party started huh? If you win, you prove that you were the one who hurt Master. But, that's not really a win is it?" Mirajane asked as she walked forward, an unusual look on her face as she stopped beside the knight.
'She makes a point, if I win, they will hate me for sure, but If I give up… I have no right to join this guild anyways,' Natsu thought as he looked the demon mage in the eyes, finding a surprising amount of kindness looking back at him.
"Look, I don't care what you think of me, but if I don't try that will be like spitting on your master's pride." Natsu replied as he stared back at them, watching a smirk grow on the demon's face.
"Very well, Accept your fate!" Erza cried out as she lunged at him, Mira at her side as they began to begin their onslaught of attacks. The guild, now beginning to crowd outside the back of the guild, watching in shock as this young boy, maybe as old as Gray, was able to keep up with both girls at once.
Erza launched first, sword held parallel to the ground before striking, aiming for his ribs. Natsu simply stepped forward, invading her guard raising his left knee and changing the trajectory of her blade swipe.
Mira had to back off, lest she take the crimson short sword to the head.
"Watch it Tin Can! Do you even know how to use that thing?!" Mira cried in rage as she flapped her large wings, lifting herself into the air in time, allowing Erza to recover and take a step back.
She quickly stepped back into the fight, a longer sword appearing in her hands mid swing, catching Natsu off guard.
Natsu quickly side stepped the large sword before stepping forward and catching Mira's fist with his left hand, grabbing her shoulder with his right and throwing her towards Erza, catching them both off guard.
"Watch it!" Erza yelled as she jumped back four feet, taking a second to re-evaluate their opponent.
"Demon Blast,"Mira said as a magic circle appeared in front of her hand, a ball of dark purple energy forming in her hands before shooting at the pink haired boy in front of her.
Natsu simply responded by throwing a fireball at her attack, the two magics battling before burning out. Erza narrowed her eyes before her body was enveloped in a flash of light before settling.
"Heaven's Wheel Armor!" Erza spoke, as swords began to appear in the air around her. Erza's outfit changed into a revealing silver armor. The Heaven's Wheel Armor is very bird influenced, with most of the metal plates looking like feathers. She has a plated breastplate, that leavers her midsection wide open, with large plated gauntlets and boots. She has metal plates on her long skirt and a tiara on her head, with wings stylized on it. She truly looks like a Valkyrie, here to take a warrior's soul to heaven.
This time Mirajane took the lead, trusting Erza to strike when the boy left an opening. She shot down, pulling her right hand before sending it at his face. Natsu met her attack head on, cratering the ground beneath his feet.
A glint of metal appeared at the corner of his eye, cursing himself for forgetting about Erza, as he looked back at Mira. He leaned back, pulling her with him and pulling her to the side, forcing her onto her back as the swords flew over them safely.
Mira looked up at Natsu in shock, realizing that if he hadn't protected her he could have easily put her in harm's way. Natsu quickly jumped off of her, missing the blood rushing to her cheeks, and breaking her out of her trance.
"Watch where you're throwing those things!" Mira growled as she looked over at the Scarlet haired knight, unsurprised to see an unwavering glare or the knights face, directed at the pink haired boy.
"I cannot let him leave." Erza growled as more swords appeared in the air, flying towards Natsu, who narrowed his eyes, before stepping forward, grabbing a sword mid air, before beginning to sway the swords mid air, directing them into the ground around him as he walked forward. He threw the sword in the ground after he blocked the last one.
"Nothing I do, nothing I can do, will make this better. But, if you master wishes, I'll come back so he can decide my sentence himself," The boy began, before turning around and walking away, Erza's glare never leaving his back until he disappeared into the city.
She turned to Mira, who shook her head in disappointment before walking towards their guild mates, all of whom were shocked at how the battle played out.
Porlyusica's PoV
'Damn ol' coot, I wonder how he managed this one' Porlyusica thought with a sigh as she finished changing the bandages on his arms, grateful that the burns were healing well, it seems Makarov would luck out again with minimal to no scarring.
After she finished, she turned back around to her table, grabbing various herbs, herbs and placing them into her mortar. She grabbed some red berries from her bag before taking her knife, carefully peeling the skin off before adding it to her mortar, before grabbing her pistil, beginning to grind the materials into a paste.
"How long was I out this time?" Makarov's raspy voice asked, making the old pink haired healer sigh as she set her pistil down before turning around on her stool, leveling a glare at the old man.
"You're more trouble than your entire guild combined, you know that?!" Porlyusica snapped as she continued grinding the medicine, a smirk appearing on the old man's face as he laid there, not really able to do much else unless he wanted to get a broom to the face.
And then he sighed, the ramifications of his actions hitting him, instantly worried about the state of his guild, and the young boy he wanted to help.
"Ugh, speaking of those brats, how much trouble have they caused so far?" Makarov asked, sitting up in bed, too worried about the brats to care about Porlyusica's reaction.
"Well, other than chasing away that pink haired brat, they've held together pretty well. Heck, even Gildarts came back yesterday." Porlyusica explained wish a sigh as she poured the paste into a wooden bowl full of sap.
"What?! How long was I actually out?!" Makarov panicked as he quickly threw off the sheets, before slipping out of bed, tripping and falling in the process.
"Only a three days, one of the brats was able to- WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BED?!" Porlyusica growled as she saw Makarov attempt to untie himself from the blankets as he wiggled on the floor.
"Crap crap crap crap…" Makarov muttered as he untied himself from the blanket, revealing himself to be in his orange jester hat, orange coat and white fairy tail shirt as he hobbled to the door.
"I need to get back before the council notices I'm gone! This is really bad!" Makarov complainer childishly, falling to the ground after being hit in the head with a broom.
"The brats took care of it. How about you explain what the hell happened?" Porlyusica demanded, her eyes glowing an ominous red, her link hair floating as she held the broom, prepared to strike again.
Makarov sighed as he remembered the pain, the look on the child's face as he was consumed by fire.
"I think… I think that child is possessed by a demon of Zeref." Makarov explained as he looked Porlyusica in the eye, completely changing the tone of the conversation as her expression dropped faster than the broom as she looked behind him, seeing Gildarts and Laxus poking their head through the door, their eyes wide in shock.
"Ah fuck."
Lisanna's PoV
"Mira, why isn't Erza happy? The master woke up," the young girl asked as she looked at the scarlet Knight, sweat dropping at the dark aura that surrounded the girl as she devoured her fifth plate of strawberry cheesecake.
"Red's just mad cuz he woke up two hours ago and only Laxus and Gildarts were allowed to…" Mira trailed off as they watched the two S-Class mages leave the infirmary, both having a troubled expression on their face.
Gildarts headed straight to the bear, taking both Macao's and Wakaba's glasses our of their hands and downing them, before slamming the mugs on the bar, the servers rushing to fill more glasses as he sat on a stool.
Laxus, however, headed straight outside, not a word being said as the door slammed behind him.
The young girl watched in confusion as her sister narrowed her eyes before standing up and making her way out of the guild, a pit of worry growing in her chest at the thought of Mira trying to force information out of the stony blond.
Erza quickly looked at Gildarts, her aura disappearing as she stood up, only for it to double as Gildarts shook his head, slamming back into her seat and cracking one of the legs.
A small, almost unheard laugh escaped from Gray's throat, before her terrifying gaze landed on him, the guild hiding as she requipped a sword.
Natsu's PoV
'I wonder when the old man will wake up…' the salmon haired dragon thought with a sigh as he crouched on a rock in the middle of a stream, his keen eyes watching the fish in the water, patiently waiting for his chance.
'It's already been three days, and that healer definitely knew what she was doing,' Natsu thought with a sweat drop as she remembered running into the old lady in the forest outside of Magnolia, barely catching her broom before it woke him up in a painful way, before being dragged back to her hurt for a check-up. Only to be beaten out of the hut with the same broom.
Natsu sat there for five minutes, before his fist shot into the water, and pulling out a flopping salmon before quickly smashing its head on the rock beneath him, before throwing it behind his back, the fish landing perfectly on a pile of leaves a couple meters in land.
He completed this process for about an hour as he patiently waited, before jumping lightly back to shore, landing softly on the gravel before throwing a ball of fire into his prepared campfire, watching as it lit up and finding comfort in his father's flames.
He sighed before impaling a fish beside him onto a stick, before turning around to sit in front of the flame.
He began to relax before his nose twitched, whirling around and dropping his fish into the fire as he blew a torrent of waves into the forest.
"Hey! Watch it hot stuff!" A familiar voice bit out from the trees, making the boy tilt his head in confusion as he waited for the girl to exit the trees. 'Why does she smell like flowers?'
"I thought I'd find you out here, how've ya been?" The white haired demon asked as she casually dragged a log behind her, before dropping it down in front of the flame, sitting casually on the bark.
"... Not bad. How's the old man?" The pink haired man asked as he carefully stepped towards the fire, keeping a cautious eye on the demon as he grabbed the slightly charred fish and took it out of the flame.
"Great, actually, he just woke up a- c'mon! I'm not gonna bite. Come have a seat." Mira demanded as she patted the log beside her, tired of watching the boy cautiously eat the fish while keeping a close eye on her.
Natsu narrowed his eyes, before sighing and walking over, stabbing another fish on his stick before handing it to the goth, surprising her.
"Well aren't you sweet," Mira said with a small smile as she held the fish over the orange flame, the crackling of tinder filling the air as they fell into a companionable silence.
"Why don't you hate me? Your master could have died," Natsu asked after a couple minutes, the fish bones forgotten on the ground beneath him as he looked the girl in the eyes.
"Did you want to hurt him?" Mira asked in response, giggling lightly as his jaw dropped before sighing as she stared into the flame.
"Look, the world isn't as black and white as some may think. Responsibility and intention don't always line up ya know? Just because it was your spell that burnt him, doesn't mean you should be persecuted anyway… I know that better than anyone," Mira explained with a sigh, dragging into a whisper, not realizing he could still hear her.
"My name's Natsu, Natsu Dragneel," He said after a short pause, turning to look at Mira with a small grin on his face as he held out his hand, surprising the demon who smiled before shaking his hand.
"Mirajane Strauss, but you can just call me Mira. Whatcha doin all the way out here anyway?" The goth asked as she leaned back, planting her hands on a broken branch behind her, keeping an eye on the boy.
"Honestly? Cities make me uncomfortable, they smell and there are way too many people." Natsu replied with a sigh as he stared into the fire, a smile growing on his face as the fire stilled, before shaping into a dragon's head.
The Dragon had a long neck, with large plated scales running down the back of his neck. There were fins on each side of his neck, almost in the position of ears. There were two large straight horns on each side of his head, and a stubby horn on his nose. There was a scar on his eye and an "x" shaped scar on the right side of his nose.
Mira was surprised by the detail in the sculpture, especially since it was formed by fire. The eyes were a luminescent yellow, with dark red scales and a tan underbelly.
"Hey, that's pretty cool," Mira said before the fire began to change shape, before forming Mira in her satan soul, every detail down to the location and size of the scars on her legs was perfect, a blush forming on Mira's face as the fire returned to normal.
"It's almost hard to look at these flames… Igneel always said that the flames he commanded were the strongest on Earthland… But I guess I never really considered what they could do to a person." Natsu said with a sigh as he looked at his hands, the flames in front of them beginning to waver and dissipate.
Mira looked at the flames, realizing that he wasn't influencing the flames by a spell, the sculptures definitely required effort, but this? He was subconsciously influencing the flames, an affinity to magic that even the top one percent could never achieve.
"Look… Natsu, magic is a responsibility we all carry. Sometimes we falter, and sometimes we fall. But it's how we get back up, how we use our magic that makes a difference." Mira explained softly, scooting over and placing her left hand on his knee. Natsu looked up at her, finally realizing that the sun had set, the flickering of the fire making her hair practically glow in the moonlight.
Natsu's eyes widened before he turned away, a gentle blush making its way up his cheeks as he looked to the left, his face exploding when he heard MIra's attempt to hide her giggling.
"Ya know, you're pretty cool for a fire mage, what type of fire magic is that anyway?" Mira asked, attempting to change the subject and protect whatever dignity Natsu had left, his lack of clothing doing him no better.
"These, are the flames of a Fire Dragon…" Natsu said as he stood up, looking back over his shoulder at Mira, the flames reflecting in his eyes before his head shot over to the other side of the stream, his shoulders tensing, muscles flaring as he carefully combed through the trees with his eyes.
"Hey, what gives? What's wrong with you?" Mira asked as she stood up, annoyed that whatever moment they had was over.
"Someone's out there, they're watching us," Natsu growled as the flames behind them spiked, reacting to his frustration, ruining the moment with the first person he could truly call a friend.
"I didn't think you would be able to notice me, I rubbed myself with a special paste and even hid down wind…" An arrogant tone spoke as a young man walked out of the trees, wearing a black long sleeve tight shirt with a light brown t-shirt, the hem spanning across his pecs, and dark green pants. His hands were in his pockets, with spiked headphones resting on his ears.
"Laxus!"