Chapter 3: Trouble at the Guild

Natsu was still sitting on the tree branch late into the night. The party had ended a while ago and after watching most of the members leave for their homes, he decided to head back into the guild. He figured he'd take the old man up on his offer to sleep in the guild. In his mind, a bed was better than a branch, even if the bed was in a place like this. As he entered the guild, he noticed several members scattered across the floor, most likely passed out from the party. He started opening doors until he found a room with beds. Natsu realized this was more likely an infirmary than a spare room. With a sigh, he climbed into one of the empty beds and prepared his mind for sleep. Thinking over the events that happened earlier he wondered if this place would truly make him stronger. Deciding to think more on it in the morning, he rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

Natsu awoke early the next morning. He left the infirmary and entered the main room of the guild. He could see it was still dark out. He also noticed there were fewer bodies littering the floor, they must have woken up and gone home at some point. "Good, it just means I'll have some time alone before people start bothering me." Natsu spoke out loud as he made his way to a table. Natsu was making his way past the bar when the small form of Makarov popped out from behind it. "Damn it Old Man, why do you keep doing that?" a startled Natsu asked.

"Well good morning to you too Natsu." Makarov grumbled out. "I'm going to make myself some coffee, want a cup?"

"I'll pass. Listen Old Man, you said I can become stronger here. How do I do that?" questioned Natsu.

"Well, you could start by going on some jobs, though I don't really think any of those would be all to challenging for you. But they will be a good way for you to make some jewels. There is always sparring with other members, but you should probably hold off on that too for now." Makarov started before going off on a tangent under his breath.

"Well if neither of those work, then just what the hell should I do?" Natsu snapped.

"Geez kid, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or are you just always this grouchy? Hmm, there one something I can think of."

"Well spit it out already!" cried Natsu.

"Meditation." Makarov called out while pouring himself another cup of coffee. After briefly explaining the art of meditation to the young boy, Makarov made his way to his office to complete some paperwork, leaving Natsu in the main hall by himself. Natsu began the steps of meditation like the old man described. He got into a seated position, closed his eyes, and focused his breathing. Next came the hardest part for Natsu, clearing his mind and doing nothing. His mind was constantly at work, so shutting it down wouldn't be easy. He had been trying for what felt like forever when a voice broke his concentration.

"Um, excuse me."

"WHAT?" Natsu yelled out in an irritated tone. The person in front of him recoiled upon hearing his words. Natsu opened his eyes and saw one of the children from yesterday. It was the brown-haired girl that wore a yellow dress, only today she was wearing an orange one with some kind of flower in her hair. He couldn't remember her name so she must have not been that important. She just stood there staring at him. "Is there something I can help you with? Or are you just going to stand there and annoy me?"

"Why…why were you so mean to us yesterday? We didn't do anything to you." The girl called out after initially stumbling on her words.

"Didn't you hear me yesterday? I thought that's how you were supposed to greet people. I didn't know they were that weak and would go down that easy." Natsu said in a smug tone.

"That isn't how you greet people, this is." The girl stuck out her hand. "My name is Cana Alberona." Cana said with a soft smile. She continued to hold her hand out while Natsu just stared at it. Cana lowered her hand and took a seat next to Natsu "Your name is Natsu right? That's a weird name!" Cana giggled out.

"I guess so, my mom gave it to me." He grumbled

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you or anything," she exclaimed as she moved her hands around and blush began to litter her face.

"It's okay, I don't care."

Cana brushed off the rude tone in his voice. "I like your necklace!"

Natsu looked down at his necklace. He grabbed it and fumbled it around in his hands. "My mother made this." Natsu said out loud, but more in a manner to remind himself rather than to inform Cana. He tried to think back to his mother, but he could barely even remember her anymore. He continued to look at his necklace, as if he was almost in a trance.

"Where is your mother now?" Cana asked innocently. Breaking Natsu from his thoughts.

"She's dead." Natsu replied with no emotion in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I lost my mom too, I know how it feels." Cana said sadly.

"Everything has to die at some point. No use being sad over it." A brief silence rang out between the two, before Natsu asked the girl a simple question. "Are you strong?"

"Well, I'm… no, not really. I'm not strong at all." Cana lowered her head in disappointment.

"I see. The it seems we have nothing further to discuss." Natsu closed his eyes again and began the steps of meditation.

"Why are you so obsessed with strength anyways?" Cana asked with a bit of an attitude.

Reopening his eyes, Natsu stared straight into the eyes of the girl across from him. When Cana met his piercing gaze, a shiver ran down her back. His eyes were terrifying, they were probably one of the more intimidating things Cana had seen in her life. But she also saw something behind those eyes, conviction. His eyes were those of someone who was truly determined, and those who are truly determined will stop at nothing until they attain whatever their goal is. If she was being honest, that scared her the most.

"Because. Strength is the only way I can regain what I lost."

"What did you lose?" Cana knew she was prying but she was curious.

Before an annoyed Natsu could tell her to get lost, a voice called out to them. "Hey you pink haired bastard, I didn't get a chance to kick your ass yesterday! I'm gonna wipe the floor with you Pinky!" the gothic girl from yesterday shouted at Natsu from across the guild. Natsu only rolled his eyes in response and went back to staring at his necklace.

The two looked over to her and noticed the guild hall must have filled up during their conversation. Cana looked over to her and her friends usually table and noticed most of them were already seated. A majority of them were pointing at them and whispering to each other. All except Erza and Gray, who looked quite angry. Their eyes were narrowed in on the newest member. Seeing as the final Strauss sibling had arrived, the entire younger generation of Fairy Tail was now at the guild, save for Laxus who was probably somewhere nursing his wounded pride.

Mirajane made her way over to the pair and called out again. "Hey Pinky!" only to be ignored by Natsu. As she got closer to the table, Cana sensed the mounting tension, and rather than trying to deescalate it as she often did with guild fights, she retreated to the table with the others. "What, are you deaf or just stupid? Can't you see I'm talking to you?"

Natsu let out a sigh and faced Mirajane. "If you're referring to me, I told you yesterday my name is Natsu."

"Like I give a rat's ass what your name is, all I know is I'm the one that's gonna kick your ass! I'm way stronger than that tin can and ice pop over there." Mirajane shouted as she slammed her fist down in front of the boy. The only response she got was the deadpanned expression from the boy in front of her.

"You want to fight? Fine" Natsu stood up and began releasing his magical pressure. The force of his magic made Mirajane take a few steps back. Many of the guild members had to raise their arms in front of their faces in an attempt to block some of the escaping magic, and a few of the weaker members even outright passed out from the amount of pressure Natsu was exerting. Natsu continued raising his magic level as he walked towards Mirajane. With each step, the air surrounding Natsu became more suffocating. He allowed his magic to run wild, acting as not only as a warning to the white-haired girl but to the whole guild.

Natsu was now standing in front of Mirajane. She had been forced to the floor and was looking up at him with terror in her eyes. Natsu looked down to the trembling girl and released his hold on his magic and allowed it to evaporate away. Natsu only uttered one word towards the girl. "Pathetic." The venom in his voice alone was enough to send shivers down the spine of everyone in the hall.

Natsu turned to walk away but Mirajane shot her hand out and grabbed him by the shoulder. "You might be able exert a lot of magic but that doesn't mean you know how to use it!" Mirajane transformed into a demonic version of herself using her magic, Satan Soul Take Over.

"If you value that hand, remove it." Natsu said in calm, cold tone.

Mirajane did as she told, and a collective breath was let out from the guild. By some miracle, Mirajane had backed down, or so they had thought. She lunged for Natsu, who effortlessly dodged her, but she did manage to grab Natsu's necklace and ripped it off, hoping to further goad him into a fight.

"Damn it, I missed." Mirajane spat while tossing the broken necklace to the side.

Natsu's eyes tracked the necklace until it hit the ground. He lingered on it for a moment then, in a bout of blazing speed, he was on top of Mirajane. Within seconds Natsu had Mirajane pinned to the ground, letting out an almost animalistic growl. Natsu's fist slammed into the floor, mere centimeters from her head, splintering the floor and sending shards of wood in different directions. Mirajane was shaking as she looked at the hand that had almost crushed her face. "You touch my necklace again and I'll kill you. That isn't a threat. It's a promise." Natsu's voice was laced with malicious intent.

Upon hear his words, the rest of the guild stood up and readied themselves for battle. They knew the boy was strong, but if they all worked together, they were sure they could take him down. Noticing their feeble attempts at a threat, Natsu spoke a single word. "Dragonforce."

An incredible amount of magical power was radiating from Natsu's body. His eyes narrowed until the resembled more of a reptile than a human. Black and silver scales began forming on his face. His hands began morphing into talons. Black streaks of energy were emanating from his body and his magical output only continued to rise. The thought running through the mind of many guild members was that they were not about to fight a boy, but a monster.

As Natsu slowly walked towards the center of the guild, a loud voice rang out. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" A giant hand wrapped around Natsu who was struggling to break free. "Let's have a little chat boy." Makarov said as he pulled the boy into his office and slammed the door. The muffled screams from each of them could be heard downstairs.

Everyone began powering down and most were just glad it didn't come down to a fight. All the kids ran over to Mirajane to make sure she was alright. They all began asking her questions, but she was too stunned to even speak.

Cana looked over and noticed Natsu's necklace was still on the ground. She went over to it and picked it up. The damage to it didn't look too bad, the leather strap just needed to be repaired. She pocketed it and decided to repair it once she got back to her home at Fairy Hills.

An hour later and things seemed to calm down. Everyone was still a bit on edge but nowhere near like it was before. Quiet chatter filled the guild hall until the sound of the door to the master's office opening could be heard. Everyone's attention immediately shot to the to the second floor, awaiting the verdict of Makarov.

Makarov waddled over to the railing and jumped onto it so everyone go get a clear view of him. "Listen up brats. I have decided to put Natsu on a probation. From now on, he will be in a room and will remain there until I deem him fit to return. Any questions?" He said in a manner that was merely a formality and not really a matter of discussion. With a series of head nods, the master turn to go back to his office. "This child is going to be the death of me." he mumbled under his breath.

Over the next few days, things were relatively quiet around the guild. Many of the members were on jobs that were longer than average just so they had an excuse to not be at the guild, and there were those that just simply didn't come to the guild and opted to stay home. Many of them were just not comfortable being in the same building as Natsu. Even though the master told them he cast a barrier spell on the room Natsu was staying in, they were still weary. Of those people who hadn't been to the guild was Cana. Though her reason for not visiting was different.

She had tried to repair Natsu's necklace, but it turns out that repairing leather was beyond her skill set. And after visiting a few shops in Magnolia, she had just decided to buy a new strip rather than pay to get it repaired, as it was past her budget. She entered the guild with the necklace in her hand and saw that it was almost empty. She set out to find the room Natsu was being held in. After checking several of the rooms, she finally found Natsu. It seemed the barrier only prevented Natsu from leaving. To everyone else, it just appeared as a normal room.

Cana knocked on the frame of the open door in an attempt to get Natsu's attention, but to no avail. The boy was sitting in the middle of the room with his back turned. Summoning all of her courage, Cana entered the room.

"Um… Natsu." The boy made no sign of acknowledgement towards her call. "I know you are still probably upset about everything that happened, but I have your necklace. I tried to fix the strap, but I ended up having to replace it. I hope that isn't too big of an issue. Anyways, I'm just going to leave it here for you." Cana was about place the necklace down and leave the room when she heard Natsu speak.

"Why?"

Why did she fix the necklace? It was simple, it was important to him. And if there was something that important to her, she would want someone to fix it to. "Because it's special to you." After saying this, Cana laid the necklace down and left the room.

Natsu waiting for a minute then got up to go retrieve his necklace. The strap was a bit different, but the pendant was still intact. And that's all that mattered to Natsu. Natsu held the necklace in his left hand and looked out the door and the girl's retreating form.

"Cana." The words escaped his lips in a soft tone he didn't know he could produce. His words weren't meant to grab her attention. They were merely just an acknowledgement.

"Thank you."