Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and all that noise. Only thing that's mine is the plot or whatever.
Chapter 1: Just once could everything not go wrong?
Natsu sighed as he walked along the beaten path, his hand stuffed into the pockets of his pants. This right here, this was why he preferred the 'run in fire blazing' approach versus the 'think things out' way that people always claimed was better. It wasn't. Boring is what it was. Boring.
He was bored.
How long had he been waiting for this stupid gateway to open again anyway? Two-hundred years? Three? Four? He'd lost count. It probably would have been easier to remember if he'd spent more time around the humans, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His father had always said he'd had too big of a heart, he knew that if he settled down he'd grow attached, and that could only end one way.
He had no desire to bury friends.
Another sigh.
He kept walking.
The day was warm, which was nice, but it did little to replicate the heat his father would give off. It'd been so long since he'd last seen Igneel, not since before the oversized lizard had gone through with his part of their 'grand plan.' He found little solace in the fact that his father's newest dragon slayer would be safe from the dragonifcation process he was forced to go. He was happy for her, of course, he was, but it did little to change his own reality.
Natsu wouldn't say he regretted becoming a dragon slayer; wouldn't say he wished he'd made a different choice. He cherished the time he spent with Igneel, and he loved those years he'd spent protecting his family. Hell, he couldn't even say he regretted the power it gave him. He liked it. He liked the power.
But damnit if he wished he could taste food.
He missed food.
Food was so food.
Why did dragonifcation have to strip somebody of their ability to eat food? That's just cruel.
He supposed he should be thankful for his human form (whether he could eat or not), it at least gave him the ability to hide from Acnologia.
Just the thought of the so-called 'King of Dragons' was enough to cause long-forgotten aches to swell up in his left arm.
Or, rather, where his left arm should be.
A gift from the arcane dragon and the reason he wasn't able to go through the Eclipse Gate with the rest of the slayers. Anna had planned for him to accompany them, to continue their training while their parents all harbored away in their dragon seeds.
Anna, however, did not account for Acnologia to catch onto their plans and descend upon the gate wreathed in flames.
A pity.
Natsu had fought him, buying the group of five slayers plus celestial mage enough time to get through the portal.
Anna Heartfilia.
Gajeel Redfox.
Wendy Marvel.
Sting Eucliffe.
Rogue Cheney.
And— and Erza. Little Erza. Igneel's second slayer.
This whole mess was really all just the product of a whole slew of favors.
One day, while wandering the mountains, Zeref had stumbled upon the cavern Natsu had holed himself up inside, too afraid to face his father with this blight upon him, afraid of what he might do. He'd seen the horrors Acnogolia had committed, he wasn't confident enough in himself to assume he'd been any better. In a fit of kindness that Natsu still didn't quite understand, Zeref gifted him a human form. It was honestly, really, really weird and not at all something he expected from the 'darkest, most evil mage in history.' But, hey, he was human again.
Kinda.
Not really.
He was a dragon in human skin, which was about as good as he could hope for at this point.
Regardless, he owed Zeref a favor.
A favor that was eventually called in when, apparently (and Natsu could confidently say he did not see this coming), Zeref's little sister needed a protector. And, wow, would you look at that? His little sister was also a terrifying demon. Of course, it couldn't stop there, no, no, no, that would be far too easy. The first step to becoming said sister's 'protector' was to beat her into the dirt.
He did.
With a small amount of help from Igneel.
Then, as if step one wasn't bad enough, step two somehow managed to be worse.
What's the best thing to do when you find the world's most powerful etherious demon? Give them more power!
Naturally.
So, the little, mini demon got to become a dragon slayer on top of that.
Yippee.
Go Erza.
Natsu was thrilled.
Sucking in a deep breath and tasting the winds on his tongue to see if any monsters were nearby, the dragon slayer turned dragon continued on. It wouldn't do to get worked up about it now.
Even if the plan had made little to no sense to him at the time (like seriously, their number one problem was a mass-murdering dragon slayer with delusions of grandeur, and now they want to turn a different, but no less mass-murdering, demon into the same), he trusted his father, and his father decided to help.
Besides, little Erza was cute.
Her red hair draped down to just above her shoulders and her laughing fits when he tickled her? Priceless. It was even adorable how she thought the 'Dragneel' of her name came from Igneel. He couldn't blame her, it was rather ironic for Zeref to bear a surname so similar to the creatures that took everything from him.
In the end, Natsu ended up taking the name too.
(If only to make Erza stop crying when she thought it meant he wasn't her brother.)
His favor to Zeref was what led him to the Eclipse Gate that day, to continue in his duty in protecting his younger sister.
Well, the favor and the fact that she was like seven and there was no way in hell he was sending his little sister into the future alone.
But, of course, Acnologia had to crawl out of whatever shithole he'd been sleeping in and screw everything up, because of course he did. How could Natsu even think the oh-so highly lauded dragon slayer would go a single day without being a royal prick? Foolish.
Which is how he ended up here.
Alone.
Walking on a beaten path.
In the middle of nowhere.
Waiting for a day that may come tomorrow or in another hundred years.
Six beams of light lit up the night sky.
Or it could come today. Today was good.
Natsu narrowed his eyes as the arcs of blue light flew out across the sky, scowling as each one diverted in different directions. This, this was why he didn't like planning. If the plan goes to shit, what was the point of even making it in the first place?
Now he had five hyper, super-powered children to track down and protect in a world that was unfamiliar to them.
Great.
Just what he loved.
Babysitting.
He hates babysitting.
"Damnit!"
Fire crested around his knuckles as he clenched his fists and grit his teeth. How was he even meant to know who was who? With his luck, he was going to spend all his time tracking one of those beams just to end up finding Anna and while he wasn't entirely opposed to seeing her again, the kids probably took priority.
Sighing, Natsu shut his eyes.
He was just going to have to perform an old trick he'd learned for times like this. Atlas Flame had taught him it when it came down to difficult decisions that he didn't want to make, and it hadn't failed him yet.
Sucking in a deep breath, Natsu widened his stance, tightening his back, puffing out his chance, and..
.. pointing a finger up at the left-most light.
"Eeny.. "
He moved his finger over to the next slayer.
".. meeny.. "
The next.
".. miny.. "
Yet another.
".. moe.. "
On and on he went, completing the rest of the ancient technique as his finger shifted with each word.
".. catch a dragon by the toe. If he roars, let him go, eeny, meeny, miny, moe."
Option number two it is.
Natsu couldn't help the chuckle that left his throat as he caught sight of his target through the bushes. Naturally, naturally, those two would find each other.
"Oy! You two, come here."
Two heads, one blonde and one raven, turned to look his way, immediately falling into defensive stances. He had to give it to them, for two toddlers, they had good instincts.
"Knock it off, runts, I'm not going to hurt you."
Did they not remember him? That wasn't meant to happen.
Rogue stayed quiet as he approached but didn't relax in his stance. It was Sting who actually spoke up, his eyes narrowed as he watched the imposing figure warily. "Who are you?"
Waving cheerfully, Natsu opted to give them a wide smile. "Name's Natsu." A pause, for dramatic effect. "The fire dragon slayer." Or one of them, at least.
The reaction was immediate, all defensiveness spilling from their bodies as their eyes went wide. The two rushed over, tripping over themselves along the way and sprawling out on the ground. Natsu snorted at the sight, quickly helping Rogue up to his feet before plucking Sting from the dirt and settling him on his shoulders. It was a bit awkward to do, what with the one hand and all, but he managed. With no space left on his back, Rogue politely asked (read: made a grabby motion with his hands, clenching and unclenching his fingers) to be picked up. Natsu settled the shadow dragon slayer on his hip.
So, he was lying earlier. He enjoyed babysitting. Quite a bit, actually.
Kids were fun.
"So, Stick and Rock, we're going for a trip."
In perfect sync, two small hands slammed into him with all of the strength a five-year-old could muster.
Which is to say, not very hard.
"It's Sting!"
"I'm Rogue!"
Huh. He'd actually gotten a lot closer than he'd expected. Hundreds of years later and he still remembered the first letter of their names, those two should feel blessed.
"Yeah, yeah. No need to go screaming in my ear, brats. I got it. Ring and Sogue, very good. Why don't you tell me about your dragons and I'll tell you about mine?"
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
Natsu blinked. Were they dead? What happened? Why weren't they talking?
"We killed them."
Hah. That's hilarious.
"You're what? Five?"
".. and a half."
Great.
"How'd you manage to kill your Weisslogia and Skiadrum? Last I checked, those two were pretty strong."
"Hey! We're strong too!"
Oh, he's sure they were, doesn't change the fact that they're children. Even Acnologia, may the gods curse his name, wouldn't have managed that.
In lieu of a response, Natsu just grunted and waited. They'd crack and tell him eventually.
Ten minutes later and—
"Ah.. shit."
Natsu sighed as he placed Sting on the ground beside where Rogue was seated, both of the two kids sobbing to the high heavens.
Alright, so, their dads had tricked their children into thinking they killed them. How.. benevolent? Yeah, Natsu really couldn't think of a positive way to spin this. Two children, two five-(and-a-half)-year-old children, think they murdered their fathers. And for what? Some façade of strength? Stupid.
And those two useless reptiles were nowhere in sight to deal with the problems they caused, leaving it all in Natsu's lap.
Typical.
"H- Hey.. don't— don't cry, okay?" Ugh. This is the worst. How does one calm a child who thinks they murdered their father? (He was going to kill those two idiots when they finally re-emerged, not even Acnologia was going to beat him to the punch. And he could do it, he'd killed dragons before.) "I'll.. uhm.. I'll promise to teach you more magic if you stop crying?" Seriously. He had no idea what he was doing.
Luckily, in the face of inevitable failure, there was one tried-and-true method that always works.
Ignoring your problems till they resolve on their own.
Sting and Rogue cried themselves into exhaustion, slumping tiredly into the other's shoulder. It might've even been called cute if not for their red-rimmed eyes.
Had he mentioned he was going to kill Weisslogia and Skiadrum?
Travel time slows down dramatically with the kids in tow. So much so, that by the time he'd found the next kid on his list, they'd already found a home for themselves. It made sense, he supposed, this was Gajeel. He was the oldest of the lot, behind Erza, so he ought to be self-sufficient.
Didn't mean Natsu liked having his time wasted when he needed to find his little sister.
Which is why Natsu wasn't going to have his time wasted. The iron dragon was coming with him, one way or the other.
Kicking the door of the Phantom Lord's guildhall open, Natsu graced all of the wide-eyed faces with a cheeky grin and an even cheekier 'sup!' of greeting.
He had to say, their reactions were quite amusing.
The weapons bared toward his throat, less so.
Sighing in disappointment, Natsu shook his head. It wasn't even going to be a fun fight if they attacked him, but he supposed he could knock some heads around for a bit.
"Alright, let's get this over with." A pause. "If Gajeel is in here somewhere, would somebody please let him know that he's welcome to try his hand against a fellow slayer, but he's coming with me in the end."
Time passed.
They walked.
"Salamander! Fight me!"
"No, wait for when we've set up camp for the night, and for the last time, pick a better name!"
They kept walking.
"I don't see what the issue is. You just go in there, fight all the old coots, and then you steal her as you did for me. What's the holdup?"
Natsu sighed as he stared out toward the small collection of huts. He'd only just confirmed that the rumors were indeed true and that one Wendy Marvel had found herself in the accompaniment of the Cait Shelter Guild. The trail for most of the slayers had gone cold a while ago (he wasn't even all that sure of how long he'd been searching). It was by a chance alone that'd he heard of an up and coming mage in the Phantom Lord Guild, that was how he'd located Gajeel, but Wendy was a different story.
Unlike the iron dragon slayer, she was still a child, no older than the twin hellions currently climbing over Gajeel's back like it was an obstacle course. The eleven-year-old had his arms crossed in front of his chest and the soles of his shoes pressed together as he sat in a mediation-like pose. Natsu may have even thought he was meditating if not for the scowl etched across his face.
Regardless, this was different. She hadn't gone on any missions yet, nor had she had any big fights to get her name out there. All she had was a tiny rumor about a child who could heal and that was only by virtue of the fact that she could heal, more than how much. Healing magic in and of itself was incredibly rare, so it didn't take much (even a child who could heal a bruise before collapsing) for word to travel.
"It's not that simple."
"And why not?"
"Because, unlike you, her guild isn't a piece of shit."
"Hey! My guild was just fine before you came along!"
Natsu turned, raising an expectant eyebrow toward the pre-teen, a gesture that seemed to scream a derisive 'oh, really?'
Gajeel's scowl deepened and he shot to his feet. Sting and Rogue clung on to his shoulders for dear life as he surged forward, an iron-coated hand swinging out toward Natsu's unprotected left side. Shaking his head, Natsu leaned forward, allowing the swing to go wide and pass cleanly overhead. Not expecting him to dodge (somehow), Gajeel lost his balance, tripping over the foot the older slayer extended and careening headlong toward the ground. He probably would have gotten a face full of dirt if not for the hand that caught him by the collar.
Natsu smirked down at the boy hanging in the air, swaying side to side as he lost momentum. "You're lucky the twins were on your back, otherwise.. " He trailed off, pointedly losing his grip and allowing Gajeel to fall a few inches before catching him again.
"I still don't get why we can't just barge in there and grab her."
And Igneel called him dumb.
"You want to go in there, attack a bunch of innocent people, and then grab a five-year-old girl and run?"
"Yeah."
Amazing.
"No, not happening."
"And why not?"
"Because we're not trying to traumatize Wendy."
Natsu sighed.
All he needed to do was come up with a plan.
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
The fire dragon slayer dry heaved, actually disgusted with the fact that he just suggested—oh gods, he can't even bring himself to think it again.
Nope. Not happening.
A plan!?
Disgusting!
"We're going in. Gajeel, no fighting anyone."
"You're not the boss of me."
"I am. And you're going to listen if you want to learn any more secret arts."
There were two 'oooohs' from the twins that went ignored as Natsu grabbed Sting's hand and Gajeel grabbed Rogue's.
"Come along now. We're just going to talk with their master."
And talk to the master they did.
"Hello, who might you be?"
Furrowing his brow, Natsu stared down at the old man sitting before him. They were in some kind of round hut, with the shirtless old man in a headdress staring him down from a chair in the center. The issue wasn't the strange apparel though, it was something else entirely.
Sniffing the air around them, Natsu couldn't help but frown.
Stale.
There was only one scent that filled the air, and he doubted it was this old man's.
"You're not real."
It wasn't a question, even if the elder dragon slayer was cocking his head to the side in confusion, more of a statement instead, but the sentiment stood.
"I beg your pardon?"
Natsu shook his head. It didn't really matter to him what was going on, as long as Wendy was safe in the end. This man could keep up whatever farse he was playing at, he wasn't here to play detective.
"I'm a dragon slayer, one charged with the protection of the next generation. Wendy is one of them."
Leaving the statement there, Natsu waited for the master's response. The message was clear: the sky dragon slayer is coming with me.
Luckily, the elder had no issues with that.
Nodding quickly, the old man hopped down from his seat and walked out of the hut, beckoning over his shoulder as he went. "I'll show you to where she's staying. I do hope you know something about her mother or a blue-haired boy, she misses them both dearly."
Well, he knew something about one of them, but that was something he'd agreed not to share. He had no clue on who the blue-haired boy was though, certainly not anybody from his time.
The house they were led to was small, little more than a wooden cottage with a thatch roof. There was an old woman on the porch, rocking back and forth as she knit. Just like the master, she bore no smell.
The old man bypassed the woman without a word, raising a hand up to knock on the door. Oddly enough, he managed it. Natsu wasn't sure how, but he did. Whatever weirdness was going on here, he at least knew these people had physical bodies.
"Child? You have visitors?"
As Natsu's eyes adjusted to the indoors, he took in the room. Couch. Coffee table. Rug. Two doorways opposite the entrance. Pretty standard stuff. He didn't pay most of it any more than a passing glance, finding himself for more intrigued by the small child blinking up at him from the floor. A few rudimentary toys were scattered around the space, littering the floor like mine lacrimas.
Stepping fully through the doorway, Natsu couldn't help but sigh as her eyes widened with fear as she took in the sight of his missing arm. It was a common enough sight among children, something he'd become intimately familiar with during his recent travels. Sting and Rogue hadn't seemed bothered by it, but that didn't stand true for the children who inhabited the villages he'd searched for hints as to the whereabouts of the other slayers. Apparently, missing arms were not that common anymore, something or other about 'medicine' (he doesn't really remember).
Yet, despite her fear and the shaking of her arms, Wendy stood up and hesitantly made her way across the room. The entire way, her eyes did not leave Natsu's stump, never once straying to the three kids that accompanied him nor taking in his confused face.
"Does it hurt?"
He blinked.
"Err.. no?"
Not unless the weather was going wonky.
The young girl nodded, her teeth digging down into her lower lip. "Can I heal it?"
Natsu laughed. "That's quite alright, I think this," he waved the stump around, "would be beyond even Grandeeney's abilities."
Almost instantaneously, Wendy's eyes snapped up to his. "You know my mom? Do you know where she is? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Where is she?"
She rattled off question after question after question to the point where Natsu wasn't sure if endless lungs were a benefit of her magic or just a natural thing for her. Never once did she give him enough time to answer any of them, each one following too quickly after the previous to get a word in edge-wise.
Eventually, though, she did utter one last question.
And what a question it was.
"Why did she leave me? Was I not good enough?"
Sighing to himself, Natsu gave Sting's hand one last squeeze before releasing it and stepping closer to Wendy.
"You are amazing, Wendy. I may not know what your mother is doing right now," not technically a lie, "but I know for certain that she loved you and she would be here if she could."
Nodding quickly, Wendy swiped her wrists across her eyes, rubbing away the tears that had beaded there. "Do— do you know— do you know where she is?"
Again, Natsu sighed. He was really starting to hate this stupid promise. The next time any dragon tried to take on a slayer, he was going to make sure they got a tutorial on parenting first.
Poking a finger into the small girl's chest, Natsu smiled. "She's in here." Again, not technically a lie, but also not the entire truth. Grandeeney was in there, somewhere. "Our dragons live on in all of our hearts and I'm confident that someday, if we keep their memories alive, they'll come back to us."
Wendy sniffled and nodded, offering the pinkette a tentative smile of gratitude. His words really did mean a lot to her.
Although, one word stuck out in particular.
".. our?"
"Hm?" Natsu cocked his head to the side. "Oh, right." He smiled and stuck his hand out toward her. "Name's Natsu, I'm a dragon slayer just like you! Those three behind me? They are too."
Wendy leaned to the side, peering around his shoulder at the group collected behind him. Natsu didn't even have to look to know what their reactions were going to be. Sting was no doubt beaming a giant smile, waving with obnoxiously exaggerated motions. Rogue was gripping Gajeel's hand like it was a lifeline, but still being brave enough to nod her way. And Gajeel, sweet Gajeel, he was most likely putting up a strong front. If Natsu had to guess, his eyes were shut and he was looking away. He'd taken Metallicana's lessons on putting up a strong front to ward off enemies to the extreme.
Deciding to help her out, seeing as none of them were going to introduce them. Natsu handled it.
"The blonde is Stick— "
"It's Sting!"
" —he's the son of Weisslogia, the white dragon. Then, there's Rock— "
A pout. "Rogue."
" —son of Skaidrum, shadow dragon." Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he gestured toward the last kid. "And he's Gary, son of Metallicana, the iron dragon. He looks scary, but he's actually a big softie."
Wendy nodded with wide eyes as Gajeel turned to scowl at the pink-haired dragon. When he caught the sky dragon slayer's eyes on him, his expression softened just a degree, and he dipped his head in greeting.
"Well, if that's all," he paused to make sure he wasn't forgetting anyone (he wasn't), "then how would you like to come along with us?"
"Come.. along with you?"
A nod. "Yep! Your parents entrusted your safety to me, but we all got separated!" For the purpose of showmanship, Natsu let out a scandalized gasp and slapped his right hand against his cheek in mock shock. "I've been searching for you all for months! Some of you are just so sneaky that it took me a while, so I'm sorry about that." Natsu paused to frown. He really was sorry that it'd taken so long to track them all down. They'd all been doing relatively well when he found them that he was confident that they could have survived without him, but it didn't change the fact that he failed in his duty. So many things could have gone wrong without him there. They were kids in a foreign world, he didn't even want to imagine the possibilities. "But I'm here now, which means I can keep my word to all of your parents and finish your training! We've got just one more slayer to find and then we can find someplace to settle down for a while, how does that sound?"
Behind him, Sting cheered and clapped his hands, obviously pumped. Natsu appreciated the support, even if the blonde had already heard all of this before.
Wendy, on the other hand, looked nervous. Her eyes were flickering between his face and the elder's, her hands wringing as she shrunk back timidly.
Thankfully, the elder stepped forward and smiled down at the child.
"Wendy, child, I think you should go."
Tears sprung up in her eyes as she stared at the old man and honestly Natsu was one more upset kid away from giving out mandatory parenthood lessons.
"You— you don't want me here?"
A shake of the head. "It's not that, child, it's just—" He cut himself with a sigh. "Perhaps it would be easier to simply show you." Then, at the metaphorical snap of the fingers, he disappeared; vanishing from the room in an explosion of pixie-like lights. "I am little more than an illusion, my dear, we all are."
The curtains opened on their own, sending sunlight spilling into the room. Through the window, they could see all of the other villagers and mages turn and face their way, offering them bright smiles before they too disappeared.
Reappearing in front of them all, the elder continued on solemnly. "I am sorry for misleading you, but we were never here. We just put on this show to make you happy and to keep you safe. This man, he can help you, more than I can here. He'll keep you safe and happy just like us, but he can teach you things you could never learn here." A pause. "He can be your family."
Wendy looked back toward the pinkette imploringly and he couldn't help but smile and nod. "I already have one sister." A shrug. "Besides, I already kind of considered you all family."
"Are we there yet?"
Natsu's eye twitched as he walked.
Who knew he'd one day miss the days of wandering alone. As it would turn out, babysitting was one thing, parenting was another. Babysitting was nice because it ended, back home in Dragnof, he'd done it quite often. Parenting didn't end. Ever.
When they wanted to play? He was there.
When they scraped their knee and Wendy had already collapsed from magic strain? He was there.
When they cried because they missed their parents? He was there.
When Gajeel lost a fight and needed a morale boost in the form of the pinkette throwing a spare? He was there.
He was always there.
No breaks. No reprieves.
Just children.
Constantly.
And he loved them, he did, but gods he could only handle so much. If he heard one more 'are we there yet' he very well might just go into hibernation. That sounded nice right about now.
"No. We're not there yet."
"Okay."
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
"What about now?"
Natsu sighed.
How did he end up the responsible one? Where the hell was Anna? No, seriously. Where was she?
"Oy, Salamander."
He glanced over to where Gajeel was walking hand in hand with Rogue and Wendy and pretending like he wasn't a big brother. "Yeah?"
"Where are we going anyway?"
"A city, I don't have any information on where Erza could be." And of course (of course), the last dragon slayer he would find would be his sister. "So, we're going to check out the wizard's guild nearby,"
"Which?"
Seeing no harm in telling them, Natsu shrugged.
"Fairy Tail."
".. sounds lame."
Yet another sigh.
Magnolia was.. big. It was big. There was no other way to describe it. There were probably bigger cities out there in the world, but Natsu sure as hell hadn't seen them.
Back in the days when he ventured into large settlements more often, constant dragon attacks ensured they were always kept rather small. Then, during his travels to find his little nest of slayers, he hadn't passed through anything much larger than a village.
But, Magnolia was a city.
And it was more than a little overwhelming.
The four children traveling with him had scowls on their faces (or a disgruntled frown in Wendy's case) as they cupped their hands over their ears. Each and every clamor and shout caused them to wince and every restaurant had them wanting to rush inside and taste everything. In fear for his coin purse, Natsu had been forced to drag along half the time. (No easy task for the one-armed slayer.)
Fairy Tail, as luck would have it, was a straight shot down the main road from the city entrance they came in through. Natsu counted his blessings. He had no desire to navigate all these people for hours just searching for the damn place.
The guildhall was rather fantastical, whimsical even, in appearance, living up to the intrigue its name gives. Natsu found himself appreciating their choice in roof shingle colors. Salmon. Nice.
"Well, this is it, I guess."
He'd stopped in front of the double doors just to take it all in but quickly found himself approaching the building, antsy to get some information on Erza's whereabouts. Wendy's hand was in his, her smaller fingers completely hidden from view inside his much larger palms. Sting was, once again, atop his shoulders, his hands holding Natsu's ears like the horns of a dragon.
He didn't appreciate it.
Natsu made to open the door but was intercepted by a certain excitable pre-teen.
The guild's door slammed open as a black, metal-clad boot kicked into them.
The pinkette sighed and shook his head, his gaze shifting up to the heavens in exasperation. "Gajeel, why would you do that?"
"What do you mean? That's exactly how you did it when you came to get me!"
Okay, that might've been his fault.
"I was planning on a fight then! We're not here to attack these guys, just look at them!"
Gajeel did.
The entire guildhall was up out of their seats, most of them having already formed magic circles and were preparing to lash out against the intruders. It was almost like the magic was being cast before they'd even arrived. Natsu prepared himself to jump in front of the kids and shield them with his own magic, only to find it was unnecessary.
All of the spells were released at once..
.. only to head in the direction of their guildmates.
".. what the— ?"
What was happening?
With a thunderous yell, the guildmates descended upon one another in an all-out brawl. Wendy hid behind Natsu's leg on instinct, her face burying into his tight as she released his hand and covered her ears once more. In hopes of giving the child some form of comfort, Natsu idly stroked her hair. Still, his gaze never left the strange happenings before him.
Why were they all attacking each other?
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Gajeel sneaking peaks back at the older slayer and he couldn't help but huff out a laugh.
Ah, what the hell.
"Rogue, come over here. Gajeel, fists only."
With a road of his own, one to match the cacophony that rose up in the bar, the iron dragon slayer threw himself headlong into the brawl.
Shaking his head in amusement, Natsu jerked his head to the side, silently telling the young shadow dragon to follow him along the outskirts of the melee. Rather quickly they found themselves situated at an empty bar; all of the previous patrons having abandoned their drinks to join in on the festivities.
Such a strange place.
Perfect for some rambunctious dragon slayers. Maybe Natsu would finally get a break from sparring.
"Who are you?"
Natsu turned, cocking his head to the side at the violet-haired girl who approached them. "Natsu, you?"
"Enno. You here for the master?"
A nod. "Yeah, is he— " He cut himself off, feeling the presence before he saw them. A colossal fist slammed down into the center of the bar brawl, sending countless patrons into the realms of unconsciousness. With any luck, Gajeel would be among them.
"You idiots! Stop destroying my guild hall!"
Huh. That's loud.
Natsu winced and, similar to his little ones, found himself protecting his ears. His right arm wrapped around over the top of his head, his shoulder pressing over one ear while his hand covered the other. Honestly. Did none of these people know the virtue of blessed silence? He swears the dragonification process only made his hearing more sensitive. He could ignore it most of the time, but damn could that giant shout.
He had a pair of lungs on him.
So, imagine his surprise when said giant turned out to be the same size as the five-year-olds clinging to his leg and shoulders.
"And who just might you be?"
Natsu saluted, still trying to clear the ringing in his ears. "Yo. I'm Natsu. I was hoping to see if you had any information on somebody I'm trying to find."
The tiny, tiny old man regarded him for a second before hopping up on the bar and plopping down atop the wooden surface. "How about a trade?"
A pink eyebrow raised. "What kind of trade?"
"Of information, of course! You want to know something; I want to know something. We both win!" He laughed merrily before taking a large sip of ale. "What do you say?"
"Depends on the information you're seeking." If it had anything to do with the kids clinging to him, there was a fat chance of that.
"You'll have to forgive me, I'm an old man. With these brats," he gestured vaguely toward the shattered guild hall, "causing so much chaos I can only get out so much. You seem well traveled, I'm certain you have some stories that'll be good enough to tell, no?"
Well, that was definitely true. Didn't mean he really felt like explaining how he was several hundred years old though. He doubted stories about the Dragon King Festival would go over well now.
Still, it was a fair trade.
"Fine, but you're going first, I'm looking for somebody. My sister. Have you heard of anybody by the name of Erza?"
The guild master, for his part, gave nothing away in his expression. Only Natsu's dragon senses picked up on the slight stutter in the man's drinking. His onyx eyes narrowed.
"You do know something. Where is she? Is she safe?"
"Hold on just a minute," the man held up a hand, "I haven't said anything about anything."
"You didn't need to. Where is Erza?"
A sigh. "You must understand, she's never mentioned a brother of any kind to me. You don't seriously expect me to just assume you're telling the truth, do you?" That just wasn't something he could do, not after Erza's past. He was fairly sure her slavers wouldn't come seeking a single child, but he could never be too safe.
Natsu bit back a scowl and paused to such in a deep breath. Mentally, he snorted. If only Igneel could see him now. It was miraculous what hundreds of years in isolation could do for somebody's patience.
"Erza Dragneel. A fire dragon slayer. The adopted daughter of Igneel, the king of the fire dragons. She was his second slayer; I was his first. The kids with me, they're slayers too. They were all entrusted into my care, Erza especially."
"And yet you weren't there for her."
The pinkette couldn't help the indignant anger that flared him, the room heating up as his temper rose. People were quick to locate the source of the sudden sweltering heat, their gazes flickering nervously between the angry dragon all but baring his fangs and their impassive and unamused master.
"We got separated."
"Oh? Separated, you say? You don't seem all that handy of a guardian." He cocked his head to the side, the silly hat on his head swaying with the motion. "How can you come here and demand I release her into your care when you've already failed her once?"
"Old man! Don't you dare talk about Salamander like that!"
Natsu's anger left him in an instant as a scowling boy jumped in front of him. All he could manage to do was stare down at the back of Gajeel's head in mild confusion.
"He searched for months to find all of us! He promised our parents he'd protect us and he did! The only reason this Erza girl is here is because we couldn't find her!"
The hands gripping his hair tightened for a moment before relaxing, a pressure settling over his scalp as Sting leaned forward on his hand. "Yeah! He's great!" There were other agreements from Rogue and Wendy, far quieter than their more boisterous counterparts, but there nonetheless. Natsu couldn't help but feel touched by their vote of confidence. Even though he knew the master's words were true, that he had failed them all to some degree, they still believed in him.
He'd work hard to make sure their trust was never misplaced.
In the end, Natsu simply closed his eyes and sighed. "You said a trade, right? I'll tell you my story, that'll fulfill my end, and hopefully this," he waved a finger through the air, "will.. make more sense to you." Honestly, he doubted it would make more sense at all. Believing somebody to be a dragon slayer was one thing, believing somebody to be the sister of Zeref and from four hundred years in the past was another.
Still, the master nodded.
And then he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Oh." Natsu blinked. "Not here, sorry, this isn't for everybody to hear. Gajeel, could you watch after these three for me while I speak to the geezer?"
There was a snort from beside him on the counter, but he paid it no mind, too busy looking down at the young man at his feet.
"Yeah, yeah." Gajeel waved him off. "Just make sure you find her, I need somebody to be my rival. These three are too young and you're too old. Nobody's a challenge anymore!"
Yeah. Fat chance of that one, buddy. Natsu could still kick his ass seven ways to Tuesday.
Turning back to the guild master, Natsu waved dramatically through the air, beckoning the man to lead the way. "Shall we?"
"That's.. quite the tale."
Natsu merely grunted in response. It wasn't like Makarov was wrong.
A sigh echoed through the room, locked inside the office by the silence runes decorating the walls and preventing any eavesdroppers from eavesdropping.
Drumming the fingers of one hand along the surface of his desk, the master of Fairy Tail rubbed his other across his eyes tiredly and reclined in his chair.
"I am.. sorry, Natsu. Before I tell you anything, you shouldn't beat yourself up too much."
His stomach sank. She isn't—
"I see your face, and no, she isn't dead." Another sigh, this time far more.. just sad. "From the little she's spoken of her life, she woke up in a cave one day to find her father missing. She went out in search of him and eventually stumbled upon a village that harbored her for a while." He paused and Natsu despised him for it. Just get to the point! What happened to his sister!? Again, Makarov sighed. "The village was raided by slavers."
No.
"She was taken, along with the rest of the people who lived there, to a place called the Tower of Heaven."
No!
"I assume you understand what happens next."
"What— " He swallowed thickly, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden. "How did she escape?"
A shrug. "She speaks little of what happened. All I know is that she was the only one to escape, nobody else came back with her."
Nodding quickly, Natsu rose from his seat, doing his best to force the tears down. Funny. He'd thought his tear ducts had run dry the same time food has stopped having flavor. He guessed he was wrong.
"Where is— where is she?"
"In the infirmary."
Not waiting for anything else, Natsu bolted for the door, throwing it open without a care for being gentle. He didn't bother taking the stairs on the way down, simply vaulting over the railing and plunging feet-first down to the ground level. Landing with a muffled thump! Natsu turned to the nearest barmaid and asked her for directions to the infirmary.
By the time he found it, he already had a tail of four dragon slayers following closely behind him. In any other circumstance, he might have found that amusing. Like a mother duck with her little family of ducklings.
He froze in front of the door, his hand resting against the wood but unable to muster the strength necessary to push it open.
None of the children spoke, which he was grateful for, but he did feel a few hands tugging gently at his pant legs. A quick look through glistening eyes saw identical, mirrored frowns on the faces of Sting, Rogue, and Wendy. Natsu sucked in a deep breath, forcing his gaze away and using a small amount of heat to evaporate the tears on his cheeks, leaving behind no evidence.
Dragons were strong. They couldn't show weakness. Not when impressionable young were nearby.
Nodding quickly, Natsu reassured the kiddos with a quiet 'I'm okay, I'm okay.'
They didn't buy it.
Neither did he.
Still, Gajeel was kind enough to pull their attention away from him by making silly faces at them.
Exhaling slowly, Natsu nodded again.
I'm okay.
He's okay.
I can do this.
He can do this.
He pushed the door open.
An oh-so-familiar head of scarlet hair laid in a bed situated against the far wall. He could tell, from the quiet and slow breaths, that she was asleep.
That was fine.
He'd waited four hundred years.
He could wait a little longer.
Silently, Natsu crossed the room, falling into the open seat by the girl's bed and doing his best to not cry when he noticed the bandage covering one of her eyes.
He didn't do a very good job.
The hours passed.
The three younglings played quietly, pausing only to eat the food that Makarov had brought in for them. Gajeel had gotten antsy after a while and left silently, slinking off to no doubt pick a fight with one of the poor brats out by the bar.
And they waited.
Eventually, it got late enough into the night that the kids' eyes started dropping and their heads tilting to the side. Deciding enough was enough, Natsu stood up for the first time and plucked them up, one by one, before tucking them into a vacant bed. They were small enough that they all fit in one.
He paused for a moment, simply watching their tiny hands fist the blankets and wrestle them away from their siblings if only to just reassure himself that they were all unharmed.
They were.
That didn't mean he didn't see false bandages every time he looked at them.
He should have been better. He should have been quicker. He should have been prepared for this day.
There was no helping the anger that boiled just beneath the surface of his skin, an uncomfortable heat that threatened to burst loose. Anger at himself for failing his job, for not even being able to protect his little sister. Anger at the dragons for not preparing their kids well enough before they sent them off on their own.
Anger at Anna for being nowhere when he needed her the most.
"She can recover here."
Natsu said nothing, already knowing the guild master had been there the entire time, watching him. He couldn't blame the man. He would be all that trusting either if a child showed up on his doorstep with a missing eye, haggard, only for her 'guardian' to appear days later looking for her.
No, he couldn't blame him.
He wouldn't trust himself either.
"She'll have a home. A family."
That, that could be good for her. That could be just what she needed.
He doubted Makarov would fail as badly as he had.
"You can have that too, you know."
The old man's voice was warm, inviting, soft, but it didn't have any expectations to it. This was a choice for Natsu, and Natsu alone.
In the end, the pinkette simply nodded twice, his fingers clenching in his palms and turning his knuckles white.
Hm. What if I just cut it off there? Just boom wide-open ending.
I could do it.
Thoughts? Wrote it all in one sitting, so not much planning was done. I quite like it as a one-shot, but might be convinced to make it longer. I don't know, maybe I'm just a slut for open-endings.