Chapter 4: First Job

For the next few weeks, the guild was relatively quiet. Natsu was still sort of in his probational period, though at this point it was just more of a glorified time out. Technically Natsu had already been released from his punishment but remain in the room of his own volition. Towards the beginning of his punishment, Natsu's magic ran rampant in his isolated room. It ran wild, unchecked, and unrefined. Everyone just assumed he was throwing a tantrum, but Makarov knew it was something different. Over those few weeks, Natsu magic went from flowing freely to a more directed, more focused, more controlled state. And while he still had a long way to go, he was making extreme progress. Makarov was glad to see the boy's journey into meditation was going well.

Makarov visited the boy daily to check on him. After all, he was still one of Makarov's children and he still cared for him. Little by little, Makarov noticed improvements. Natsu's attitude was still his main problem, but it was getting better, if only by a little. Given the upbringing he imagined the boy had, he did give him a certain amount of leeway. Makarov had been instructing Natsu on how to properly act in social situations as well as giving the boy lessons on manners. Natsu mainly went along with this for two reasons. The first was because he knew the sooner he complied, the sooner he'd be left alone by the old man. The other was because he saw Makarov in sort of the same way he saw his father. Natsu wasn't stupid. He knew Makarov was stronger than him, thus to him Makarov was his superior. While this wasn't how Makarov viewed their relationship, Natsu did. Whereas Makarov viewed Natsu as family, Natsu simply viewed it as trading one master out for another, even if it was only temporary. Plus, whether he wanted to admit it or not, the old man's meditation methods were beginning to show results.

Makarov wasn't the only on visiting Natsu. Almost every day Cana would find a reason to excuse herself from her friends and walk past the room housing Natsu. After her initial interaction with Natsu, she could never come up with another excuse to talk to the boy. She desperately wanted to find an excuse to talk to him, but every time she attempted to strike up a conversation, her nerves would get the better of her. She knew he was extremely standoffish and rude and more than a little selfish. But, she knew what it was like to be alone. For a while, she was the only child in Fairy Tail. Sure, some of the older members brought her into their circle but it was still tough not having any friends your own age. Gradually, as more kids joined Fairy Tail, these feeling subsided in Cana. And, in her opinion, that is what Natsu needed the most. A friend. Plus she wanted to figure out what drove the boy in his quest for strength because she too had a goal she was striving for, and for this goal she needed strength.

Today, she was lingering a bit longer by the door than usual. The view was the same as always, Natsu in the middle of the floor facing away from the door. Cana turned to return to her friends in the main hall but slipped on fell into the doorway of the open room. "Oww!" Cana was sitting on the floor rubbing her leg when the figure in front of her began approaching.

"You." Natsu called out as he came closer to Cana. His eyes held an unreadable expression that unsettled Cana, who was now backing up on the floor until she felt her back hit the opposing wall. She stared at Natsu who had just past the barrier of the room and was now right in front of her. "You." Natsu repeated. Cana looked up in terror at the boy. By now, the rest of the guild had noticed the little situation going on and were already getting their magic ready to attack if Natsu decided to take the situation in that direction. Natsu ignored them and continued to focus on Cana. "My necklace. Thank you." Natsu stretched his hand out towards the girl.

Cana stared at the hand for a moment before grabbing it. His hand was… warmer than she expected. Natsu pulled Cana off the ground with ease, and the entire guild released their magic and let out a sigh of relief. "It's not a big deal! Really! Ha Ha!" Cana said as a bit of red spread across her face. "I know it's special to you, so…" She trailed off.

"It is." Natsu looked down at her hand, which was still holding on to his. "You can let go now."

"Huh?" Cana looked down and saw that her hand was indeed still holding his. "Oh right, sorry!" She screamed as she yanked her hand away. "So… I was thinking… I mean now that you don't have to stay in that room… and only if you wanted to…" Cana was stumbling over her words. Frustrated, Cana took a deep breath and blurted, "Do you w-" Cana looked up and saw that Natsu had already gone back to the room and resumed his sitting position. 'Damn it.' Cana cursed to herself. 'If I hadn't been so nervous, maybe I could have asked him.' Feeling dejected, Cana made her way back to the main hall. She opted to sit alone rather than having her friends question her. She found an empty table towards the back of the guild and took a seat. She placed her hands on the table and buried her head in embarrassment.

After this altercation, Makarov decided to pay Natsu a visit. The old man leaped off his seat and made his way to Natsu. He had an idea in mind.

"Can I help you Old Man?"

Deciding to ignore his tone, Makarov smiled and replied. "Yes. Actually, you can." The old man gave off a small chuckle. "Follow me Natsu." Makarov motioned for the boy to follow him. Rolling his eyes, Natsu followed. The two made their way up to the second floor and Makarov cleared his voice for an announcement. "LISTEN UP BRATS! I'VE DECIDED THAT IT'S TIME NATSU WENT ON A JOB, BUT I'LL NEED SOMEONE TO VOLUNTEER TO ACCOMPANY HIM ON HIS MISSION! ANY TAKERS?"

"WHAT?!" came a collective scream from Natsu and the rest of the guild.

"I don't need a damn babysitter Old Man!" Natsu growled out.

"Quiet boy." Makarov brushed his comment off. "You are technically still on your probation period and they only thing I still need to see is that you can function as part of a team and get along with others." Makarov lectured, mainly to the boy, but loud enough so that the rest of the guild could hear his reasoning. Makarov turned back to the guild and repeated his question. There was an outburst of murmurs from the guild, but no one stepped up to volunteer. That is, until a voice from the back of the room called out.

"I… I will Master!"

Everyone's attention shot to the direction the voice was coming from. Natsu's eyes narrowed in on the person that offered to accompany him on a mission he was apparently going on. With everyone focusing on her, Cana stood up and repeated her statement. "I will go on a mission with him!"

"Excellent!" Makarov called out. "Go pick out a mission and I'll approve it and you two can get going."

Natsu and Cana each made their way to the quest board and after an awkward exchange of glances began to look over the jobs. "What about this one?" Cana pulled a paper down and handed it to Natsu.

Natsu took the paper and looked it over. "No." Natsu crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

"The how about this one?" Cana handed another slip of paper to Natsu.

Natsu spend a bit more time looking over this one, but his answer remained the same. "Sounds boring."

"Then why don't you just pick one out yourself." Cana's eye twitched in annoyance.

Natsu looked at Cana before sighing. "Fine." Natsu stepped in front of her and began analyzing the board. There was one request that caught his attention. He snatched the paper and handed it to Cana. "This one." Cana looked down and examined the paper. It was an extermination job a few towns over.

"Are you sure you wanna do this one? It could be dangerous, and you've never been on a job before." Cana explained.

"That's the one I want to do. If you're scared don't come. It's not like I even need help anyways. Besides," Natsu leaned over and grabbed the paper from Cana's hands, "You'd probably just get in my way." Natsu flashed the girl an evil grin.

With a determined look in her eyes, Cana snapped back, "I was just making sure you'd be able to handle it." She snatched the paper back. "I'll go get it signed off." Cana walked off with the paper in hand, surprised at how she had handled the situation. She didn't know where this bout of confidence had come from, but she noticed that Natsu seemed to look impressed before she left.

She approached Makarov and handed him the paper. "My, my, this seems like quite the difficult job. You sure you two will be able to handle it?" Makarov asked Cana with a curious look.

"It's the only one Natsu wanted to do, and he's really strong so I don't think we have to worry, but…" Cana trailed off as she looked in Natsu's direction.

"But what about you Cana? Do you think you're up for this?" Cana's brows furrowed at the Makarov's words. "Now, it's not that I don't think you can do it, it's just these aren't usually the kind of jobs you take kiddo!" Makarov raised his hands in a defensive manner.

"I can do this Master!" Cana said with determination in her voice.

"Very well." Makarov stamped the paper, marking it as claimed and handed it to the girl. Cana turned to head back to Natsu who was now being annoyed by Gray, Erza, and Mirajane all demanding a rematch. "Oh, and Cana," Makarov called out, recapturing the girl's attention. She faced Makarov. "Have fun!" Makarov said with a wink.

'Wait. Does he know?' Cana wondered to herself before reaching Natsu. "Hey, there are a few things I need to do before we head out. Meet me outside in like an hour or so?"

"Whatever." Natsu had already began making his way to his room to gather up a few things.

"Natsu…" Cana called out.

"Be here in an hour, right? I got it." Natsu waved his hand, dismissing the girl. Cana pouted and mumbled something incoherent under her breath. As the pair made their separate ways, two men approached Makarov.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to send Cana alone with him Master?" Macao, a man with dark blue spiky hair said.

"Yeah, it's not that we don't trust your judgement we just don't want her to get hurt." Wakaba, a man with a pompadour and a pipe, explained further.

"Rest assured you two. I have the upmost faith in them. Besides this job should a breeze for Natsu. If I had to guess, I'd say that he's probably the third strongest in the guild." The two men's mouth's shot open upon hearing this.

But Master, he's only a boy!" cried Macao.

"A boy yes, but a very, very powerful boy." The three men stared at Natsu, who had come back downstairs and seated himself at a table waiting for Cana.

An hour later, Natsu was waiting outside the guild for Cana. "She's late." He said to himself. Natsu would've left without here, but there was only one issue. He didn't know how to get to the town where the job was. Come to think of it, he really didn't know much of this world.

"Hey Natsu!" Cana called out as she came running up to Natsu. "Sorry I took so long. I hope you weren't waiting to long!"

"I wasn't. Now how do we get to the job?"

Cana stared at before remembering he'd never been on a job before. "Well, first we would need to take a train to the town the job was posted from. Then we'll find the town hall and get more information on the job. From there we can develop a strategy to handle the job. Finally, we report back to the town hall and get our reward." Cana told Natsu. "Sounds fun doesn't it?" Cana let out a smile after her last comment.

"What is a train?"

"You've never heard of a train before?" Natsu shook his head side to side. "Well, a train is a really fast mode of transportation. And it allows us to get to other town way faster than walking." Cana explained. Cana looked at the time and grabbed Natsu's hand. "C'mon, we are going to be late!" Cana raced towards the train station with Natsu following behind her, their hands still interlocked.

The pair arrived at the train station and Cana bought their tickets and they passed through the gate to find a seat. They found an empty cabin and they each took a seat across from on another. They still had a few minutes before the train was scheduled to depart. Cana decided to strike up a conversation. "Natsu, what kind of magic do you use?"

Natsu's face rose to meet Cana's gaze. "I am a Dragon Slayer. I use Chaos Dragon Slaying Magic. My magic gives me the attributes of a dragon. I have an enhanced physical endurance was well as enhanced senses."

"Woah." Cana said. "That's so cool!"

"So, what kind of magic do you use? It was Natsu's turn to ask Cana.

"I use Tarot Card Magic, it's a holder type magic that lets me control cards." She said with a smile.

"So does that mea-" Natsu's face when pale and he clutched his stomach. 'Why do I feel like I'm going to die.' During their conversation, the train had started, and Natsu knew one thing. He needed to get off of this machine. Natsu weakly looked up and tapped Cana on her knee. Cana looked down and saw Natsu was pointing towards the window. Figuring he must need to throw up, Cana unlocked the window and opened it. Natsu weakly made his way to the window and was preparing to jump out.

"Hey!" Cana cried as Natsu lifted himself out the window. "Don't jump out! You'll hurt yourself!"

"C..an..t…st..an..d…mo…vi..ng…to…o…fa..st…gon..na…di..e." Natsu weakly groaned out.

Cana tried to talk Natsu out of jumping, going as far as to try and hold him back, but he was adamant about leaving. And, even in his weakened state, he was still too strong for her to hold back. Inch by inch, Natsu crawled out of the window and instantly his strength returned to him. Natsu twisted his body in a way that would allow him to roll onto the ground. He landed with a thud. Cana looked out the window as Natsu's body became smaller and smaller indicating the increased distance between the two. "Great." Cana spoke out loud, "The job hasn't even started yet, and I've already lost him."

Natsu picked himself up and dusted his clothes off. By the time he regained his footing, the train had completely passed him. "Damnit." Natsu cursed to himself. 'I've gotta catch up to her." Natsu strained and focused all his magic on his back and two black wings with silver markings sprouted. Natsu grinned and took flight, racing to catch up to Cana.

Cana was still staring out the opened window, wondering what will happen to Natsu, when she noticed a figure flying along the side of the train. As the figure got closer, she recognized it as Natsu. Natsu caught up to the train and was now maintaining pace so they he could have a conversation with Cana. "You… you can fly?"

"Sure can. I told you my magic, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. But you didn't mention anything about flying." Cana deadpanned.

"Oh, well I can take on traits of a dragon, though I can't take on the full form of a dragon… yet." Natsu added the last part under his breath.

"So are you just going to fly to the job? You don't even know where it's at?" Complained Cana.

Natsu leaned towards the window and took a long, drawn-out sniff towards Cana. "There. Now I have your scent, so I'll know where to find you."

"M..My scent?" Cana stammered as a blush spread across her face. "Do I smell?"

"Enhanced senses remember?" Natsu pointed towards his nose. "I'll meet you once you get there." Natsu flew up higher and disappeared into the sky.

"Wait, okay bye I guess…" Cana sunk into her seat. 'This is going terrible.'

About an hour later, Cana arrived at a place called Oak Town. She got out of the train station and waited for Natsu. True to his word, he was able to find Cana no problem. Natsu landed and retracted his wings. "Okay, now to the town hall right?"

"Uh, right!" Cana said heading in the direction of the town hall. Luckily, she'd been on a mission not to long ago with Erza here so she already knew where the building was. They arrived at the town hall and Cana decided to go get the details, seeing as Natsu was a little to standoffish and would probably get upset or something. Plus, she was already familiar with the mayor so it would just be easier. Cana entered the town hall and came back out twenty minutes later. Cana explained to Natsu that there was a group of forest Vulcans terrorizing the town. "The mayor doesn't know the exact number of Vulcans, but he said there shouldn't be more than fourteen. But with your nose, tracking them should be easy!"

"I see." Natsu was processing this information. "Vulcans are those giant ape looking monsters right?" Natsu turned to Cana for conformation. Cana nodded up and down in response. "This is going to be a piece of cake" Natsu slammed his left fist into his right palm and ran into the forest, with Cana following closely.

It didn't take long for Natsu to find the Vulcans' nest. A few of the Vulcans were resting in a nearby clearing. The others probably weren't too far off. "How do you wanna handle this Natsu?" Canna asked in a whisper. "Natsu?" She looked around but couldn't fine the boy. Then she saw him climbing up a rock to get an angle on the sleeping Vulcans.

"CHAOS DRAGON'S ROAR!" Natsu called out as a black beam with silver swirling around it erupted from his mouth. To Cana's surprise, Natsu managed to knock out five sleeping Vulcans with that attack. Due to the sudden noise, more Vulcans emerged from the forest. Natsu wasted no time and rushed towards them. "CHAOS DRAGON'S BRUTAL FIST!" Natsu delivered a black coated fist into the gut of another Vulcan. A Vulcan took a swing at Natsu, only for him to dodge it. "CHAOS DRAGON'S MAIMING STRIKE!" He yelled as he kneed the Vulcan in the face. "CHAOS DRAGON'S PIERCING FANGS!" Natsu yelled, slamming both of his elbows to the side, downing two more Vulcans. After witnessing the beatdown, the remaining Vulcans in Natsu's group took off running. "I don't think so." Natsu calmly said. "CHAOS DRAGON'S ANNIHILATING ROAR!" A huge black beam shot out of Natsu's mouth with crackling bolts of silver running alongside the beam. His roar caught up to and incinerated the remaining Vulcans.

"Well I'm not gonna let you have all the fun." Cana called out. "SHURIKEN CARD VOLLY!" Cana yelled out as she launched her cards, pelting the nearest Vulcan to her. She used the same technique on another Vulcan and managed to bring it down. By now, she was tired, really tired. Cana collapsed as another Vulcan charged at her. Unable to move, she thought this was end for her and closed her eyes. But nothing happened. She opens her eyes to see Natsu standing over her with a Vulcan's fist pressed against his back. He flashed a wicked smile before turning to face the Vulcan. Natsu began brutally beating it, not even bothering to use his magic.

Cana ran up to Natsu who was still beating the Vulcan senselessly and wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay. I'm okay." While hugging his back. This was apparently enough to calm him down and he turned to look at the girl. "Thank you" Cana said before pulling Natsu into a hug.

"Um it's okay. I mean anyone would've done the same thing." Natsu said as adopted a flustered look.

Cana pulled away and laughed at his awkwardness. "Yeah, anyone could have but you are the one that did." She smiled that Natsu. Natsu tried to return the smile, but it was clear he was uncomfortable in this situation. The two began to walk back to town. Cana walked much closer to Natsu on the way back.

"You two can come out now." Natsu called out.

"What are you talking about?" Cana asked him.

As Natsu was about to open his mouth to explain the two older mages stepped out from behind some trees. "How did you know we were there?" Wakaba asked.

"Simple. I can smell you. I'm a Dragon Slayer." Natsu replied.

"How long did you know we were following you guys?" Macao asked.

"Since we left the guild."

"Well we just wanted to make sure that Cana would be alright. You aren't exactly a team player kid." Macao stated.

"Yeah we wanted to make sure you didn't hurt Cana like you did to Laxus, Erza, Gray, and Mirajane!" added Wakaba.

"You thought I was gonna hurt her?" Natsu looked over to Cana. He then stepped towards the two men, flaring his magic up a bit to intimidate them. Macao and Wakaba instinctively took a few steps back. "Maybe I'm waiting to hurt her. Or maybe I should just hurt you two instead." Natsu threated as he walked closer to the two men. Natsu released his magic as he walked past them. "Or maybe I won't. Who even knows at this point?"

Cana had to admit that while she didn't like seeing Natsu threaten two of her oldest friends, it was funny to see them as scared as they were. "Right, we'll meet you back at the guild then!" Wakaba called out as he and Macao ran as fast as they could. Cana ran to catch up to Natsu.

"So I'm assuming you don't want to take the train back?" Cana was met with a cold gaze from Natsu. His message was a loud and clear no. "Are you gonna fly back then?"

"No. I'll probably just walk." Natsu looked up at the sky. It had just started darkening. Natsu always felt better under the night's sky. It was calming to him in a way that he just couldn't explain. Like putting on your favorite shirt or enjoying your favorite meal, it just felt right.

"Then can I walk back with you?"

"Are you asking me if you can or telling me that you are? Because that's not really a decision for me to make." Cana stopped for a moment. She knew it would take all night to walk back to Magnolia, and she was already so tired. But, on the other hand, walking back meant she'd get to spend more time with Natsu. In the end, she decided that she could rest once she got home and ran to catch up to Natsu.

As the two made their way back to Magnolia, they talked. Well, mostly Cana talked. Natsu only interjected when it was necessary. The pair had just reached the forest surrounding Magnolia. Natsu wanted to cross it, stating that it would be faster while Cana wanted to go around it. The last thing she wanted was something popping out at her in the forest in the middle of the night. They made a compromise. Cana said she would go through the forest if Natsu agreed to go on another job with her. Natsu, not knowing why this was such a big deal said yes just so they could get home faster.

Natsu heard a rustling in the leaves and motioned for Cana to stay still. Cana did as Natsu instructed. She knew she was at a disadvantage out here. "Get down!" Natsu yelled as he dove on Cana. As Natsu laid on top of Cana she saw why Natsu said that. A giant egg was falling from the sky, crashing through the tree branches above. The egg plummeted towards them and bounced off Natsu's body onto the ground. Natsu picked himself up and went over to examen the egg.

It was a large white egg with blue fire-like markings on it. Natsu picked it up, surprised by how light it was. "This…" He trailed off. "This is a dragon's egg." He looked to Cana and then back to the egg. "I'm going to keep it."

Cana let out a small giggle. This was the first time she had seen Natsu act like an actual kid. "C'mon, the Guild is just over this hill." The two took off in the direction of the Guild. As the approached, the noticed all the lights were off, meaning the guild was closed for the night. "It's locked." Cana called out 'Wait, doesn't Natsu sleep in the Guild? That means he won't have anywhere to sleep tonight.' Suddenly and idea popped into her head. "Hey Natsu, do you wan-" She turned to face Natsu, but he was nowhere in sight. She shook her head at the stupid idea before making her way to her dorm at Fairy Hills.