Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and all that noise. Only thing that's mine is the plot or whatever.
Chapter 4: A lesson in demons and mages: III
Mira said nothing as she followed Natsu away from the guild.
That didn't mean her mind wasn't working at a million miles a minute to try and figure out what he was going to say.
She knew the end of the line was coming up soon. The last of his seemingly endless wells of kindness were going to dry up and her welcome will officially be overstayed. He was going to ask her to leave. She could deal with that. It would hurt. A lot, actually. More than she thought it would. But she could deal with it.
It wouldn't be the first time she was cast aside. Discarded.
She always knew it was just a matter of time before she screwed this chance up too.
But, that was just the thing.
She screwed it up. Not Lisanna. Not Elfman.
Her.
Mirajane Strauss.
Even if Natsu's patience had worn thin with her and he was just taking her out here to tell her she was no longer welcome in the nicest way possible, she knew there was more she needed to ask of him. She needed to know that Lisanna and Elfman could stay with him.
They stopped walking suddenly, Natsu's feet grinding to a halt in the grass as Mira did everything in her power to not crash into him.
Still, he didn't say anything.
So, Mira did.
She filled that void with as many hastened apologies as she could manage, pouring out more 'sorrys' than she'd ever spoken before. More than she'd ever wanted to say. More than she'd ever thought she would. She might have cried, it was hard to say, but she didn't really care either way. That didn't matter. What mattered was that he:
".. please, please.. don't turn Lisanna and Elfman away. If you want me gone, then— then— then I'm gone." Her lip quivered slightly as she spoke and her words came out warbled, but she didn't let that stop her. "I'll leave if you want me to. I know I don't deserve the kindness you gave me and I have no right to ask for anything more, but please—just, please let them stay. They're all the good I have left, so please don't punish them because I ruin everything."
"Jeez. She can really talk for a while, can't she, Wendy?"
"Mhmm. Long time."
Sighing, Natsu turned around and took a step forward so he was standing right in front of Mira.
Yeah. She was definitely crying.
"Wendy?"
"Yes, papa?"
"Pat her on the head for me, please."
"Like this?" Reaching her little hands out, Wendy grabbed Mira's cheeks and smushed them together. Her face was one of pure concentration. Her little blue eyebrows furrowed, and her bottom lip pushed out just that much. She looked back at her father. "Is that good?"
"Err.. it's great."
And not at all what he meant, but seeing her proud smile meant he wasn't going to be telling her that anytime soon.
"You feeling better, Jane?"
She said nothing (not that Natsu noticed), still entirely too confused to form words.
"Good, good. That's good. Now, sit."
She sat.
Natsu, in a feat lacking any and all semblances of grace, collapsed to the ground right in front of her. He made sure to keep Wendy cradled safely against his side, not wanting to hurt her on accident, but other than that he all but dissolved into a puddle.
"So," Natsu rubbed his eyes with his now free hand and nearly lost himself in bliss as he blinked them open again. "Takeover magic." He yawned and sat up, crossing his legs beneath him, a stance Wendy observed and repeated. "The act of," another yawn followed by a whispered 'fuck me' of annoyance. He really was tired. Luckily, despite her straight-backed posture, Wendy didn't seem to be paying even the slightest bit of attention.
Natsu shook his head, freeing it of its cobwebs, and restarted.
"Takeover magic gives its user the ability to 'take over' the power of an entity and use it to fight. It can do lots of things," another yawn, "though I can't be bothered with that right now." He shrugged. He really couldn't. There were too many possibilities to account for them all. Perhaps later, but not now. "The art of takeover magic revolves around understanding. One can only 'take over' the power of beings they truly know. Trying to do so without prior understanding may result in," a yawn, "bodily mutations or the user being 'taken over' by the entity instead."
Scratching the back of his head, Natsu gave Mira a closed-eye smile and tilted his head. "Did that make sense?" He really hoped it made sense, he doubted he would be able to say any of that so fluidly again.
Mira didn't bother answering his question and instead asked one of her own.
".. did you stay up all night just to figure this out for me?"
Whether Natsu heard her question or not, Mira may never know, because he pressed on like nothing happened.
"So, the secret to performing a spell is understanding the other.. thing, I guess, and the key to undoing it is understanding oneself."
Then, faster than Mira could blink, Natsu was down for the count. She wasn't sure if he'd just cast a sleep spell on himself or if he was really just that good at falling asleep, but man did he do it quick.
Wendy didn't even seem all that surprised by her sudden change in position. One minute she was seated next to her foster father and the next she was cradled in his arms like a little, blue-haired teddy bear as he was whisked off into the land of dreams. It was quite nice for the little one.
Closing her eyes, Mira did her best to follow what Natsu said.
'.. the key to undoing it is understanding oneself.'
That was fine.
She understood herself just fine. How could she not? She had it thrown into her face for months back in Impro. Day after day she was told exactly what she was.
That wasn't something she struggled with. Not in the least.
So, why couldn't she transform back before?
Mages usually had some kind of thing they said, didn't they? Was that necessary? Did she need to know what words she was supposed to say to undo this abomination on her hand?
She didn't know.
But, she could try.
"Takeover— "
Uhm.
Shit.
What should she say after that?
"—Mira?"
Nothing happened.
She probably should have seen that one coming.
Sighing, Mira fell backwards on her back and stared up into the trees overhead. Natsu had taken her off into some forest by Magnolia, she hadn't paid all that much attention as to where, just that there were trees.
Thus: forest.
It really took a crack detective to figure that one out.
Shaking her head, the eldest Strauss tried to cast her mind back to the task at hand.
Namely, not screwing everything up and actually figuring this out.
She'd been doing it a lot lately.
Screwing everything up, that is. Not figuring things out on her own.
".. understanding oneself, understanding oneself.. " She whispered the words aloud, hoping that vocalizing them would somehow help her make sense of them.
It didn't.
Barely suppressing a whimper of defeat, Mira threw an arm over her head and tucked her eyes behind the crook of her elbow.
".. understand.. oneself.. "
A sigh.
What a load of nonsense.
Natsu awoke to yelling.
Not his best wake-up call, but considering the state of his (former) apartment, it could've been worse.
Cracking an eyelid open, he first checked on the child sprawled out across his chest. Wendy was safe and secure in his arms. Good. The shouting hadn't even seemed to phase her. Her grip on his scarf was iron clad, a most suitable replacement for her swath of blankets. Even better.
A happy child means a happy father.
But now who was shouting?
Also—
Natsu's eyes naturally went up to the open skies above.
—why was he sleeping outside?
He got his answer in the longest stream of expletives he'd ever had the displeasure of hearing. He wasn't even confident he knew what half of those words meant, and he was over four-hundred years old!
Slowly propping himself up on his elbow, Natsu peered blearily around the clearing. His eyes soon found themselves drawn to the figure kneeling down on the ground, propped up on her hands and knees, with her head bowed. Mira panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath, the cloak she'd been wearing ever since he met her discarded and dangling from a tree branch.
Mira punched the ground with her wooden hand repeatedly. Angrily shouting out at the world and man he'd really thought this whole teaching moment would have gone better than this.
"Uhm.. "
Mira's eyes snapped over to him and immediately all of her anger was replaced with remorse. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
He'd be surprised if she hadn't woken up half of Magnolia with her yelling. Wendy would be the only person to sleep through something like that.
Still, he didn't want her to feel bad.
".. no?"
So, he wasn't the best of liars. Hopefully she took his word for it.
".. I'm sorry."
She didn't.
Darn.
Standing up, Natsu cradled Wendy against his chest like a newborn, careful not to disturb her. She snuggled deeper into his chest with a contented sigh and his heart just about melted at the sight.
"You don't need to feel so bad about waking me. It's probably about time we head back. I take it you didn't have much luck?"
She shook her head.
"You'll get it. Just keep at it."
She didn't look like she believed him, but he had faith in her.
Natsu bumped her with his hip as he walked past and gave her a pointed look when the small nudge was enough to send her stumbling. "You're exhausted. Let's head back and get some food in ya. I'm starving!"
With a sigh, Mira nodded and headed off toward her cloak.
"You know, you've got a cute face, it's a shame to cover it up all the time."
She stilled with her good hand closed around the fabric of its sleeve, her cheeks taking on a rosy hue before she gave the garment a light tug and pulled it down into her arms. She quickly draped the cloak over her shoulders, still to afraid to show her deformity off to the world, but she kept the hood down this time as she did her best to ignore Natsu's amused gaze.
Eventually, she caught Natsu smiling at her from the corner of her eye as they walked and muttered an 'asshole' before picking up the pace. She stayed a few strides ahead of him at all times as they made their back to the guildhall, even when Natsu continued to pick up the speed to test just how committed she was to her grudge.
Evidently, very committed.
They spotted the guildhall.
"I don't know about you, but I could go for a good ass kicking right about now."
Mira stopped walking, her mouth hanging open as she watched Natsu pass her by through squinted eyes.
He has to realize how that sounds, right?
"You do know how that sounds, right?"
Nothing. He didn't even falter in his stride. Just kept on walking like nothing happened.
What a knob head.
"Natsu?" She called out after him again. Maybe the first time was just a fluke, and he didn't mean to ignore her.
Still, no answer.
"Natsu? You know how that sounds, right?"
".. "
Nada.
"Natsu!"
The idiot just kept on walking as if he didn't just say he wanted to have his own ass kicked.
"Natsu! Please rephrase that!"
Zilch. Butkus.
Mira sighed and hung her head in defeat.
That guy was a real air head sometimes.
Almost mournfully, she followed after him, quickly closing the gap between them and falling into stride at his side.
Still, if he was wanting an ass-kicking..
"I could fight you."
Natsu, for the first time since his impromptu (and weird) announcement, reacted to something she said.
He laughed.
"That's cute."
"H- Hey! I could fight you, asshole! I beat the demon in my town!"
If Natsu had a hand free, he would have derisively pat her head, but he was forced to settle for a verbal head pat instead.
It was inarguably worse, in Mira's opinion.
"And you did a very good job. You were very brave, I'm sure. But fighting you would be like.. " Oh, he doesn't know. ".. like fighting the twins!" A pause. "Or like a really prickly bush." He shrugged carelessly, as if he didn't just obliterate the girl's self-esteem. "It wouldn't be very sporting."
Mira gasped in indignation.
That comment would not stand.
She would show him 'sporting'!
She lunged.
In a matter of milliseconds, multiple things happened.
First, Natsu summoned a pillow beneath Wendy's sleeping form (one of the only ones that survived his apartment's purge that morning) and tossed the both of them into the air.
Second, he caught Mira's wooden arm. He couldn't understand why she thought punching him was going to work, it hadn't before and it wouldn't now, but whatever.
Then, just to add insult to injury, he let go of her hand. Essentially giving her a freebie to sock him in the face, as if she wasn't even a threat to him. (She wasn't.)
Mira took the chance.
She was rewarded with a wooden fist whistling through the open air and the infuriating sensation of a hand patting her head. (With Wendy soaring through the air, it was free now, it would be a shame to knock take the chance.)
And then she was being spun around, she only had a moment to recognize the sight of the guildhall before a sandal was slamming into her backside and sending her hurtling through the air.
She screamed out one last 'fuck you!' and crashed through the front doors of the guild.
Catching Wendy in his arm, Natsu muttered a quiet 'Requip' and sent the pillow back from whence it came.
Then, he strolled into the guild like nothing happened.
"Yo?" He began to shout his typical greeting only to frown and turn it into a question when he noticed the place was empty. "Where is everyone?"
Natsu looked around the guild with a frown. The entire place was deserted, the only people in the room with him were a scowling Mirajane, a bored bar staff, and a frowning Laxus reclining on the second-floor.
"Oy! Sparkie! Where'd everybody go?"
Natsu decided to pester Laxus first. Why? Because it's fun.
"The fuck do you want, old timer?"
Okay, rude. He literally just said what he wanted. Immediately forgetting that the entire guild had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Natsu focused on the most offensive of Laxus's greeting.
"I'm not old!"
"You've got kids. That makes you old. Pretty soon you're going to be washed up like the rest of this lot, too distracted placing house with useless strays." The lightning-mage shot a look at the she-demon. "I'll surpass you in no time, then it won't matter if I got this promotion because you think I'm one of your charity cases. I'll prove to everyone I'm the strongest here."
"That's dumb."
Natsu placed Wendy down in Mira's arms and frowned up at the kid on the second floor. It didn't take a genius to recognize that what Laxus was saying was stupid.
"First of all, you got that promotion because you deserved it. Not because I wanted you to have it." Laxus grinned a little wider at that. Good. People were starting to see how great he was. If even the great (and he used that term lightly) Natsu Dragneel could see it, then the rest of the guild would soon follow. "Also, Jane isn't useless, nor is she a stray. Isn't Fairy Tail supposed to be about family?"
Laxus snorted. "You see, that's why I like you. You've never prescribed to that whole 'the guild is family' bullshit. You think I don't see you when you're in the guild? The only people here who you consider family is your family. You don't speak to the other members unless you have to, you barely pay them any mind. It's because you recognize they're lesser, isn't it? You see exactly what I do!"
Natsu grimaced at the reminder. What Laxus was saying wasn't wrong, per se, he does avoid most of the other members. He knows Makarov said this guild could be his family, but that was exactly what he was afraid of. What was he meant to do if one of them died? Just move on? Act like it never happened? Chances were high that he'd end up outliving every last one of them. Was he supposed to just deal with that? All of that grief and loss? Just simply move on and find a new family only to bury them too?
It was bad enough that he loved each of the slayers like they were his own. Things only got worse as time went on. Levy. Cana. Hell, even Grey. Each of the kids were finding ways to worm themselves into his heart bit by bit, how long until the adults followed suit?
He was quickly coming to realize that he was fighting a losing battle. Soon enough he was going to break, he was going to learn to love everybody in the guild like family.
And eventually he was going to lose them all. Every last one of them.
So, yes, Laxus was right. He does distance himself from the rest of the guild. He keeps everybody at an arm's length just to ensure they couldn't hurt him more than he already will be hurt.
He could count the number of things the guild knows about him on one hand – which was good considering that was all he had. They knew his name, what he looked like, his love for his children, and his magic.
.. that last one was actually a strong maybe.
He was pretty sure he'd used his fire around them at some point, but they also might have seen him putting his kids to sleep with a spell, or any of the times he Requipped something, or just.. yeah. They'd seen him use a lot of magic.
Some of them might even think he was a dragon slayer like the rest of the kids, but he'd never once used that magic around them, so they couldn't know for sure.
So, at best, the guild knew three (maybe, four) things about him.
Yeah, he wasn't very good at being their family. He downright sucked at it.
But he never, not even for a moment, distanced himself because he thought himself better than them.
"You're wrong, Laxus." Natsu shook his head disbelievingly, trying to figure out where the lightning brat learned to think like that. It certainly wasn't from Makarov. "What this guild has is special. I keep my distance because I'm weak. It's that simple. Now, I just have one question to ask you."
In an instant, a serious air surrounded the pinkette as he stared up at Fairy Tail's newest S-Class wizard.
Then, just as quick as it came, it vanished. Replaced by a look of sheer confusion as Natsu spun around and took in the entire guild hall.
"Did the twins do this? Did they somehow kidnap everybody and not leave any signs behind?" He paused before his eyes went wide and a gasp left his throat. "Did they kill them?" Oh gods, he knew leaving Sting and Rogue alone was a bad idea. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened!
In the end, Laxus just laughed derisively and turned away.
Not cool, Laxus, not cool.
That only served to make him worry more! Just what had those two imps gotten up to now?
"Oh! Natsu! You're here!"
The fire dragon slayer's breath cut in his throat as he turned to find the entirety of the Fairy Tail guild (give or take a few members) standing behind him. The rock he was holding fell to the dirt below with a muffled thud! as it kicked up a cloud of dust. The eyes of the guild naturally followed the billowing puff of brown as the wind swept it away and revealed a.. stack of rocks?
"Whatcha got there?"
Natsu followed their gaze to the pile of stones behind him before carefully sliding his way in front of it, blocking their view.
"Nothing."
Well, that wasn't suspicious at all.
(Hint: It was. It was suspicious.)
"You sure about that, buddy?"
"Yep." He was absolutely certain. There was nothing to see here. There definitely wasn't a stone memorial for the lost members of the Fairy Tail guild behind him. He definitely didn't think the twins killed them all and start making a place for people to come and remember them at. Nope. Not at all.
Could he have just used his nose to track them? Probably. Why didn't he? Well, he didn't really have a reason, he just didn't do it.
"Are you positive? Because it kinda looks like— "
Whatever they were about to say was cut off as a wave of heat washed over them, a veritable torrent of flames pouring out of Natsu's fist as he melted the rocks. Perhaps the most frightening thing wasn't how easily he turned stone to liquid (roiling, toiling, boiling liquid), but the impassive expression on his face as he did.
"I'm sorry. What does it look like?"
"N- Nothing!"
Natsu nodded. Good.
"So, where the hell were you all? I came in looking for a fight today and nobody even bothered to show up! Don't tell me you were all too scared to fight me!"
There was a murmur in the crowd because absolutely were they too scared to fight him! Is he kidding them? He just made a volcano on a whim! No way were they getting anywhere near him during a fight.
"Now, come on! You all had plenty of time to prepare while you were cowering and hiding! Now fight me!"
He had a lot of frustration to work off.
"W- Wait!"
Natsu scowled. "What now?"
All of these distractions were only serving to make him want to fight something more! First Laxus, then the memorial he spent hours on that wasn't even needed, and now this? Why can't he ever just get the fight he wants! He'd been raring to go ever since the start of that stupid elimination request and he hasn't gotten a single fight yet! Hell, even Mira and Erza got to fight each other! Was it too much to ask that he gets to go too?
All of the members looked petrified, either by the original thought of fighting Natsu or by his quickly mounting anger.
"Come on! I just want a good ass kicking, is that too much to ask!?"
".. "
".. "
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".. huh?" Did he just say what they think he said?
"The hell do you mean 'huh?' I said what I said! Now come on and give me the ass kicking I want! Fight me!"
From behind Natsu, Mira held her face in her hands. She tried to tell him. She really did.
Out of nowhere, a colossal fist exploded into the air, surging down in a crash course to slam the elder slayer into the ground. Natsu caught it and grinned ferally.
"Alright! Now we're talking! Bring it, gra— "
The hand shifted from a fist into another gesture. One Natsu was vaguely familiar with.
A finger, primed to flick.
The titan's finger tip slammed into Natsu's stomach, sending the pinkette hurtling over the field of molten rock and skidding across the ground. The excited 'wooooooo!' he let out in response faded as he flew further and further from view.
Makarov huffed. "Cheeky brat. We come here to tell him good news and he tries to fight me!?" The old man scoffed at the notion. "Serves him right. Sorry, everybody, but he'll probably be out for a b— "
The guild master cut himself off as he caught the flame-clad fist hurtling toward his face. Just behind the hand was the grinning face of one Natsu Dragneel. "That's more like it! Fight me, gramps!"
"No."
In an instant, all of Natsu's momentum was swept out from under him and he faceplanted into the ground, the childlike glee on his face quickly giving way to despair.
"Please, gramps! I just wanna fight!"
"I'm not fighting you."
"Why not!?"
"You reminded me about my paperwork yesterday."
"That's it!? You already punished me for that!"
Makarov shrugged. "Yeah, but that punishment hasn't come yet. There wasn't as much satisfaction as I thought there'd be." Then, he grinned at the downed fire mage. "But this, this is great."
Natsu couldn't help the little gasp that left his throat. So heartless! So cold blooded! Was this a man or a demon who stood above him!?
"You're a monster!"
He merely offered the sullen boy a cheshire grin. "Maybe next time you'll remember to respect your elders!"
Natsu's brow twitched. I'm older than you, twerp!
"So where did you all go?"
That was the part Natsu still didn't get. Why did the entire guild just up and leave for most the day?
They had all gathered in the guild hall once again. What had followed Natsu's failed crusade for a good fight was a mad dash for food and a quickly overwhelmed cooking staff. Evidently, wherever they'd been didn't have food service.
Some random person who Natsu didn't remember the name of (he really was a dreadful person, wasn't he?) spoke up.
"You'll see, Natsu!"
Thanks, guy. That wasn't terrifying at all.
"Come on, come on!" Natsu sighed as Lisanna attempted to drag him to wherever it was she wanted to drag him to. She was obviously excited about it, but that didn't mean he was excited. With the way everybody kept staring at him and smiling mischievously when he turned around, could he really be blamed for being a little skeptical?
Besides, he needed to go apartment shopping. He didn't have time for whatever surprise the little white-haired girl wanted to show him.
So, Natsu planted his feet in the ground and watched as she tried (and failed in spectacular fashion) to move him even an inch.
She tried pushing, she tried pulling, she even tried carrying.
Nothing worked.
"Mu~ !"
And now she was going to try her hand at pouting.
This might actually be the closest she's gotten to success.
"Why won't you just cooooooome."
Oh. That's simple.
"Because I don't want to."
And he didn't really need any other reason.
"And what if Wendy asked you to come?"
Natsu scoffed. "If. If." Wendy would never.
In response, Lisanna just grinned before skipping away to where the small child was strong-arming Sting and Rogue to have tea time with her.
"Wends! Wends! I need your help!"
Wendy blinked at her.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Then: ".. okay?"
"Great!" Lisanna beamed. "Can you convince Natsu to come along with us and not ask any questions?"
Wendy looked at the white-haired girl and then over at her father who was shaking his head.
She made her decision.
"Who's Natsu?" With an adorable little tilt of the head and a finger pressed into her chin, Wendy betrayed her budding friendship with Lisanna in a heartbeat.
She was a papa's girl.
Lisanna wept.
"Oy! Salamander!"
What now?
Natsu turned to Gajeel. "Yo?"
"You're coming along with us."
Oh, for the love of—
"Fine!"
What did they even want to show him so badly? He didn't get it!
For the second time of the day, the entire guild mobilized and left their home in the guild hall to travel to who knows where.
They walked through the city.
They walked out of the city.
They walked into the woods.
The path they moved down was vaguely familiar to Natsu, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why that could be. He supposed he could have hunted here before, but he wouldn't have stuck so close to a specific path, certainly not enough to wear down some of the grass periodically.
So, where were they going?
He got his answer via a house that came into view.
A completed house.
His house.
Why was his house completed?
He was fairly sure it wasn't like that before.
.. did he finish building it without knowing?
Oh, my gods—
Did he do it in his sleep!?
He was amazing!
Natsu leaped into air and yipped with glee. "I did it! I finished building the house! Kids! Come on, let's go check it out!" He rushed inside, barely paying the rest of the guild any mind.
This was the best day ever!
Mister Cecht, the filthy little landlord he was, could keep his stupid, obliterated apartment building; Natsu had a house! A house! His first ever! Sure, he'd lived in a house before, but this was his first time owning one. It was so exciting!
Natsu gasped as he flew through the front door, his eyes taking in anything and everything with child-like glee.
It was even better than he imagined!
The tree in the center that he'd built the house around was the home of several potted and hanging plants that reminded him of the hanging gardens back in Dragnof. Even the stone masonry around the edges gave off a castle vibe that reminded him of the last place he'd actually called home.
It was amazing!
"So.. "
Natsu turned around and smiled at the people standing in the door way. Gajeel was there beside Erza and the triplets and the Strauss's (minus Mira), Levy was next to him smiling bright enough for both her and the boorish slayer she called a friend.
Just a step behind them stood Macao and Wakaba who were similarly smiling. It was weird. Natsu wasn't quite sure he liked it when they smiled.
"What's wrong with your faces?"
"We're happy, you brat!"
Huh. "Why?"
"Because you like the house! Geez! Can you believe this guy, Wakaba?"
Natsu blinked. "Of course, I like the house! I'm the one who built it!"
Seriously! Did these two knuckleheads think he wouldn't like his own house after he spent months slaving away at it?
"Wha— " Macao let out a choked noise as his jaw hung low, but he quickly recollected himself. "You didn't build it, you daft idiot! We did!" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and pointed to rest of the guild.
Natsu crossed his arms with a huff. "It's not nice to take credit for somebody else's work, y'know."
The father-to-be threw his arms up in the air. "I can't with this guy, I just can't. Wakaba, take it away." Shaking his head, Macao turned around and faced in the opposite direction, letting his partner in crime take over the explanations.
"Natsu," the smoke mage was quick to fill in, "we heard about what happened at your apartment this morning, so everybody at the guild decided to pitch in and help you get a home."
"But.. I have a home. We're in it right now."
He spoke slowly, as one would do when talking to a child..
.. or Grey.
"Why would you guys need to pitch in when I already have one?"
He didn't get it. It was clear they knew he had a new home, they were the ones who wanted to drag him here, so why were they acting like they did something?
"Well," Wakaba showed an impressive amount of patience in the face of Natsu's overwhelming obliviousness, "the reason your home is done and ready for you to move into is because we all banded together to finish it up."
Again with the waving to the guild at their backs.
"You can ask Gajeel, he was the one who coordinated the whole thing."
"Gajeel?"
The iron dragon slayer clicked his tongue and looked away. "These idiots wouldn't understand a blueprint if it smacked them in the head."
A voice shouted out from the back. "I'm pretty sure you tried that!"
"Yeah! And you idiots still didn't get it!"
Seriously, it wasn't that hard! You just look at the picture and make it.
"Wait," Natsu blinked, "so I didn't build this place?"
Wakaba shifted his hand in an 'iffy' gesture. "Most of the frame work was done. It was mostly just finishing touches. Our magic helped."
Somewhere in the group of mages, a small purple-haired wood-make mage muttered an annoyed 'our?' with a huff. She and Gajeel had been the ones doing all the work.
Natsu looked out over the gathered guild.
They all did this.. for him?
Even after he'd been an ass to them for months, barely interacting with most of them, they still came out and did all this for him?
His gaze fell upon the short figure standing a distance away from the rest of the group, a proud smile on his lips. He caught Natsu's eyes and gave him a knowing look, one that seemed to suggest that Laxus wasn't the only one who noticed the pinkette distancing himself.
Natsu smiled softly at the old man before turning his attention back to the rest of the guild. "You guys.. " He trailed off, not really knowing how to thank them all properly, how to show just how much this meant to him. He didn't deserve all this. Unlike him, they were living up to the guild's promise.
This was the love of a family.
Natsu bowed his head and forced a small amount of his magic power to trickle out through his face, evaporating the tears forming in his eyes before they ever had the chance to fall. They were born of both happiness and of shame. Happiness that people would go this far for him, but shame in knowing he wouldn't have done the same.
"I don't deserve your kindness, but I'm going to make sure I repay you in kind."
He wasn't willing to open himself up, not yet.
But he was willing to admit that it probably wouldn't matter if he did or not. In the end, these loveable little idiots were going to worm their way into his heart.
It was only a matter of time now.
He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that.
"Thank you all, truly."
The week that followed was fairly calm, all things considered. No home-destroying fights broke out, no emergency job requests.
It was just: calm.
And exceedingly boring.
With every day that passed Natsu could feel himself growing antsier and antsier. There was a thirst for battle growing just beneath his skin and nothing he did would quench it. Makarov had made it especially hard on him by refusing to fight him all out, the only other person in the guild that could measure up even slightly was Laxus and that still wasn't enough.
Not that the lightning brat would have agreed to a spar knowing he would lose.
So, Natsu was bored.
It certainly didn't help that Mira had made no progress on connecting with her magic. Her frustrations were mounting and Natsu could feel himself getting frustrated both at and for her.
He knew exactly what was holding her back from making that last leap, but he didn't know how to get through to her.
How was he supposed to convince a child she wasn't the demon everybody thought her to be, that she didn't ruin everything she touched, and to just let people into her heart?
How was he supposed to do that when he couldn't do the same? He wasn't a demon, he didn't think he ruined everything, but he refused to open himself up.
So, how was he any different? Instead of a hurting child who trusted in the wrong people and was still paying the price for it, instead you have an adult who refuses to allow himself to love and let lie.
Which is why Natsu decided to take his mind off things.
By learning to cook with Elfman.
"So.. I do what next?"
"You dip the chicken cutlets first into the flour mixture."
".. okay.. "
Natsu did as he was told and placed the raw chicken in the shallow bowl of flour. "Now what?"
Elfman didn't seem to mind Natsu's cluelessness in the kitchen, which was good because Natsu was very clueless.. He didn't even insult the older man when he asked stupid questions.
Elfman was very nice.
"Well, we want to make sure the chicken is evenly coated across all sides, so you need to flip it over."
"The whole bowl? Won't that get messy?" Seriously, talk about getting flour everywhere.
"The chicken."
"Oh."
Natsu did as he was told and nodded. Yeah. It made more sense that way.
"Okay, next you'll take that same piece of chicken and dip it into the eggs." He pointed to where another shallow bowl sat, this one filled with three eggs they'd cracked and whisked earlier. "It's the same as last time, you want to make sure there is an even coating across the entire piece of chicken."
Natsu did as he was told.
"Great! Now, just another layer of flour, this time with our spices mixed in, and then we fry it."
"Uhm.. okay.. " Natsu's eyes flickered back and forth between the two bowls of flour, trying to figure out which one he meant.
Smiling slightly, Elfman tapped the rim of the second bowl, uttering a quiet 'this one, Natsu' as he did.
Elfman was a very good teacher.
"So, how does frying work?"
He'd never really heard of eating food this way. Most of what he ate before he turned into a dragon was just stuff he'd hunted and cooked using his own fire. And after he lost his sense of taste (along with some other physical sensations) there wasn't much point to learning new ways to cook.
But, he didn't want the kids to hate his food, thus: cooking lessons.
"Well, you see that pan on the stove?"
He did.
As much as he disliked the idea of a stove in his home (he had perfectly good fire, thank you very much) he had to admit it was helpful. Very manageable. He couldn't control the temperature of his fire to that degree.
"Well, there's a thin layer of oil at the bottom that we've heated up. When we place the chicken into it that's called 'frying' and it'll taste really good after."
Neat.
"So, we just toss it in now?"
He really wanted to just toss it in now. He wondered what would happen if he did. Would it explode? Burn? Erupt like a volcano?
Unfortunately, Elfman shook his head. "Not yet, we need to coat the rest of the chicken and then let them rest for a few minutes after. That way the coating sticks to it a little better when frying, it'll make it tastier."
Drat.
Natsu was hoping he'd get to see the volcanic eruption now.
He supposed he could wait.
".. "
".. "
".. "
".. "
Waiting sucked.
Natsu was bored.
Popping his lips out a few times, Natsu twiddled his thumb.
Twiddling thumbs was considerably less enjoyable when there was only one thumb to twiddle.
"Hey, Elf?"
"Y- Yeah?" The boy looked up from where he was cutting up some kind of green.. thing. (Natsu didn't know what it was.)
"You wanna learn magic?"
The child blinked. "You think I can?"
"You never know until you try," Natsu shrugged, "I don't see any reason why you couldn't."
"But.. I'm," he made a strange undecipherable noise and gestured vaguely toward himself.
"I have no idea what that means." Seriously, what did that mean? "Do bowties prevent magic or something?"
Elfman's eyes widened as he turned to stare down at the ribbon tied round his neck in betrayal. "Do they!?"
"How am I supposed to know? You were the one who said you couldn't learn because of it!"
"What? No! I can't learn magic cause I'm weak!"
Huh?
That made even less sense than the anti-magic bowtie!
"That's dumb."
"H- Hey!" Elfman sulked. "That's not very nice."
"What? It's true!" Natsu flicked his forehead. "Quit thinking you'll fail before you ever even try. Got that?"
"Y- Yes!"
A nod. "Good. Now, let's fry."
"Mirajane."
The girl stiffened, her back straightening up as she waited for the voice to continue. She didn't know what she did this time, but Natsu never, never calls her Mirajane. Not unless it was important.
When he spoke up again, she could practically feel the amusement in his tone. "Relax, you're not in trouble."
So, she turned.
And right there, beside the pink-haired man, stood her two younger siblings, both wearing wide, proud smiles. "Lisanna? Elfman? What are you two doing here?"
Well, okay, she knew what they were doing here. That much was obvious. They were in the guild hall, they were here pretty much every day, it wasn't surprising that they were here, but she could tell they were up to something.
"Oh, nothing~ !"
So, definitely something. That was Lisanna's innocent voice, which means she'd anything but.
"Lisanna." Mira crossed her arms beneath her cloak, staring her little sister down. It wouldn't take long for the smallest Strauss to break; she loved her older siblings too dearly to risk them being upset with her for even a second.
Mira expected her to break, to frown and relent before telling her what it was they were planning.
She wasn't expecting her to smile.
"You think nows a good time, big brother?"
He nodded and in unison the two chanted a spell of their own.
"Takeover: Animal Soul: Cat!"
"Takeover: Beast Soul: Bear Arm!"
Light flooded the space around them. Mira was forced to raise her arm to shield her eyes from the flash and by the time she reopened them she was awestruck.
In the place of Lisanna's arms were the forepaws of a cat. Blue fur covered her forearms, decorating her skin all the way up to where her hands grew claws. There was a tail behind her as well as cat-like ears on her head.
Elfman, on the other hand, kept his transformation simple. In the place of his right arm, the same as Mira's deformity, was the forepaw of a great bear. It was almost comical, seeing the weapon of such a mighty woodland creature in the hands of a tiny, smiling boy.
"You—you— " Mira couldn't manage to form words, staring at her siblings' transformed bodies in shock.
Lisanna didn't mind though, she had plenty of things to say to fill the void.
"You're always doing things to make big brother and me happy, so we wanted to do something to make you happy too. We noticed you seemed lonely here, because you think your arm is scary, but this way we'll all be equally scary! So, if anybody tries to mess with you, then Elfman and I will be there to help!"
She smiled then, wide and bright and tinged with hope.
Mira took a step back, tears of frustration forming in her eyes. Even her siblings were able to move forward without her. She'd been able to use magic once, once, and all she had to show for it was this blemish on her otherwise perfect skin.
All she received was the physical manifestation of her ugly soul. A deformity meant to show just how monstrous she truly was.
And she couldn't even undo it!
Her siblings, in a fraction of the time, managed to do what she could not.
Letting out a watery, bitter laugh, Mira shook her head and smiled. "That's amazing, you guys. You two are really something else."
Lisanna positively beamed. "This way you'll never be alone! We'll always be with you, Mira!"
Nodding along, Mira agreed. (Even if she felt like the opposite was true.)
Wiping her tears away with her wooden hand, Mira did her best to show her appreciation in her smile. She really did appreciate what they were trying to do.
But it was only making her feel worse.
They couldn't know that though. They were trying to help, so she'd make sure they believed they did.
"I really don't deserve you guys. You're too kind." Reaching out with her good, not cursed, hand, Mira stroked both of their faces lovingly. "Mom and dad would be so proud of the both of you. I just know it. You two are miracles, you got that?"
Two miracles and a curse. The three Strauss's.
She knew what they were trying to prove by learning the same magic as her. They were trying to show that they were no different than she was.
But that was just the thing. They were different.
They all used the same magic, but they didn't derive their strength from anything bad.
Not like her.
She was the demon.
Lisanna used the powers of cute animals, Elfman the strength of fierce animals.
But those were animals. Not— not monsters.
"Thank you both. This means so much to me. More than you could ever know." She brought the two into a hug, letting the bitter tears travel over the bridge of her nose as she laid her head flat against their shoulders. She didn't want them to see her crying, she needed to be strong for the two of them.
It wouldn't be right for their last memories of their big, strong sister to be of her crying. That just wouldn't do at all.
Of course, she'd forgotten about the last person in the area around them. There was a third flash of light that went unseen by the trio as Natsu stepped closer.
Gently, so as to not startle her, the dragon slayer curled a finger beneath her chin and tilted Mira's head up to face him. "You're not a monster, Mira."
"Na— Natsu?" She stared up at him through tearful eyes. She tried to meet his eyes, but she couldn't. It wasn't because of cowardice or an inability to do it, but because they were drawn lower.
To his arm.
An arm covered in scales and ending with fierce talons, looking even more deadly than those lining Lisanna's paws.
"What are.. " She trailed off, unable to form words. Lisanna and Elfman both backed out of the hug, turning to stare at Natsu's arm as well.
"Do you like it?" He huffed and flexed the arm. "It's been a while since I've seen scales quite like these, not really sure how I feel about it." Especially considering they were his own scales that he was looking at. The last time he'd seen these particular scales and claws was when he was still in a bloodlust-fueled craze. The number of dragons he'd slain after undergoing dragonification, Natsu shuddered at the thought. He wasn't proud of the things he'd done back then, but the pain of the transformation was enough to drive anybody mad.
Mira simply stared at his arm silently before raiding her own arm into the air.
Natsu regarded her for a moment longer before taking his draconic arm and reaching for Mira's hand. The wooden limb retreated at first, an uncertain look crossing her face.
He rolled his eyes.
In an instant, his arm darted forward, holding her hand before she could even think of fleeing again.
"Do you know the stories of dragons, Mira?"
She shook her head.
"Well, a very long time ago, dragons used to roam the skies. There was a divide in the dragons, some of them loved humans while some despised them. A war broke out."
'.. There was no more war with the dragons, we fought that to keep stuff like this from happening, so why? Why does it keep happening?'
"Dragons picked sides, they fought and killed their fellow kin. For years, dragon fire rained down upon the villages of man without mercy." Natsu looked away, a distant look in his eyes that Mira couldn't quite place, almost like he was reliving a bad memory, but that couldn't be right.
Right?
Shaking his head, Natsu pulled himself back to reality and only just realized he'd gathered quite a large audience. It was a bit nerve-racking, having the entire guild watching him talk, but perhaps the worst part was having his own scales in clear sight of them all.
It was almost funny. The scales that could weather any blade and brush off any normal magic strike had never made him feel this weak and exposed before.
Still, he pressed on. He ignored the guildmates of his that stopped their conversations to listen in and he especially ignored the five dragon slayers who'd all sat down in a loose circle around him.
"For a while, dragons were called monsters too. Most people didn't know much about them, only of the destruction they wrought. Most didn't even know dragons were intelligent or that they could speak. Some did. But they were few and far between."
He shrugged.
"One day, an enchantress figured out a way to imbue human mages with the strength of the dragons. It was then that the first dragon slayers were born and the real war started." A pause then as Natsu considered his next words. "Do you know what they called the first dragon slayers?" He caught himself before nearly slipping in an 'us' that would have been very difficult to explain.
Mira shook her head.
"Well, what do you call a person who wields the powers of the creatures you've feared all you're lives?"
".. oh."
"Are any of these kids monsters, Mira?"
".. no."
A nod. "What about me?"
".. what about you?" She didn't get the question.
"Am I a monster?" He flexed the draconic arm again, tensing and untensing the talons that tipped each of his fingers.
"Of course not!" Just the idea was laughable. Natsu? A monster? It was stupid! So stupid! He couldn't be a monster! Not now, not ever. He was the only one who cared for her when nobody else would, and he didn't have any reason to do.
No, Natsu was no monster.
"Then why are you?"
".. "
"All I see is a girl with the powers of a demon. I'm just a boy with the powers of a dragon. What's the difference?"
"It's not that simple! Nothing is ever that simple!"
"Why not?"
"You all were taken in by dragons, they cared for you! I just fought some creepy wood thing that was already on death's door! Maybe not all dragons are monsters, but you can't say the same for demons!" She ripped her hand from his grip, clutching it close to her chest as tears beaded in her eyes. "It's not the same. It's not."
"Who says? You?"
"Everybody!"
"Bah." Natsu scoffed. "And what do they know?"
Mira sniffled and shook her head, turning her gaze to the ceiling as tears slipped down her cheeks. "I think they know enough, Natsu. Demons are evil, everybody says so."
He rolled his eyes. "Evil is evil. Demons are demons. The two are not the same. I've known more demons than anybody in that shitty ol' village of yours. Nothing about them is inherently bad or inherently good, same as us."
Almost like a sixth sense, something told Natsu that Grey was about to say something stupid. Immediately, the pinkette turned and waved a hand through the air.
"Sleep."
Grey crashed down to the floor.
"What?" Natsu looked at the people staring him down. "I only have time for one tragic back story today. He needs to wait his turn."
Turning back to his number one problem at hand, he continued. "So, not all demons are bad. You'll just have to trust me on that one. So, why are you?"
Mira shrugged pitifully.
Natsu bonked her on the head. "You're not, stupid! Are you even listening to me?"
".. I am." She just doesn't believe him.
A sigh. "Oh-kay. New approach! Everybody, time to shower this one in compliments!"
"W- What!? No way!" Absolutely not! That sounded like hell!
"Well, you won't just believe me, so this is what it's come to. Either you finally accept that you're just a cool girl with cooler magic and finally get rid of that hand or every single person in this room is going to sing.. your.. praises." He punctuated each word with a draconic poke in the chest and smirked viciously at Mira's pout.
"I'm not a monster?"
"No, you are not."
Mira nodded. "I'm not a monster."
She closed her eyes.
She's not a monster.
She's not.
Natsu said so.
Lisanna said so.
Elfman said so.
Did she really need anybody else to say the same?
No.
She didn't.
Focus inwardly, Mira let the weird tingling feeling in her body run wild.
'.. the key to undoing it is understanding oneself.'
She sucked in a deep breath and tried again. If it didn't work this time, then she truly was cursed.
But if it did—
Well, she supposed she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
Exhaling slowly, Mira steeled herself.
She just needed to understand herself, how hard could that be?
She was Mirajane Strauss, sister of Lisanna and Elfman, and she was not a monster.
She opened her eyes to see Natsu's beaming smile. "I knew you had it in you, kiddo." His eyes flicked away from hers to her hand.
Her hand.
Mira's eyes widened. "I did it?"
If possible, Natsu's smile got even wider. "You sure did."
Disbelievingly, the she-demon repeated herself. "I did it?" She did it? She really, really did it? This wasn't just some amazingly horrible dream? It was real?
Natsu stroked her hair tenderly. "I'm proud of you, Jane. That wasn't easy, I'm sure, but you did it."
She did it.
She did it!
Mira lunged forward and captured the dragon slayer in a fierce hug that sent him onto his ass in surprise. Then, in something she would later force the guild to forget under threat of grievous bodily harm, she squealed.
"I did it!"
Ugh. Character development takes so loooooong.