As the window slept open, the pinkie boy felt the sweet and gentle morning breeze on his face. A gentle and calm breeze, in fact very relaxing ... and it was also the reason why Natsu woke up quietly.
The sun was already shining in the boys' entire dorm, and few boys were still in bed. Most of the awaken ones were playing a dorm board game, and the ones who weren't playing ... just weren't on the scene. Probably at some other place of the huge orphanage.
Natsu yawned and got up little by little, and would say good morning to Gajeel and Laxus. However... it didn't take long for him to realize that they both were not in the dorm. They probably went to the orphanage's cafeteria. Breakfast was one of the few things that the orphanage was not so horrible and despicable about. It was ... tasty, yes.
Natsu then opened a light and honest smile! He ... had slept soundly. Without the dream about abandonment once again, and consequently, without the terrible pain in his brand.
Natsu got out of bed for good and left the boys' dorm. He was also hungry...! At least a little! But the rosy boy ran into someone as soon as he left the dorm.
And it was Michelle-... Michelle Lobster.
Michelle was Flare's assistant, and helped her with everything the Madame needed for the despicable and evil Raven Tail Orphanage. Her duties included (but were not limited to): breakfast, cleaning, fix some broken things... and yes, assistant to beatings and physical assaults. Basically, whatever Flare wanted to. Michelle was AS MONSTRUOUS as Flare!
"Natsu, dear! You're alright?!" - And she was extremely false too, pretending she cares.
Natsu did not respond and just continued on his way. Michelle kept saying a few things, but the pinkie didn't care about the sadistic and two-faced Michelle.
The boy was only thinking about finding his friends.
And when Natsu finally arrived in the cafeteria, he soon saw Gajeel eating everything he was entitled to: a bread. Yes, one bread.
"Gajeel! Good morning!" - Natsu smiled slightly at the boy, who just glanced at the pinkie without taking his attention off his food.
"Hm...! So, rosy! Are you going to eat too?!" - Gajeel then snapped a piece of his bread.
"You bet! But first... where's Laxus? And... where's Wendy?!" - Natsu was curious.
"The spiky blonde is in the middle of today's bread line! And Wendy... dunno, is probably still in the girls' dorm. Now leave me alone, man! We are only entitled to a single bread and I want to taste this in peace!" - Natsu got the message and went to look for Laxus!
But since he couldn't skip nor jump the line, he just whistled until Laxus looked, and then waved to the blond!
Laxus waved back! Haha...! Okay, now Natsu ... just needed to find and say hi to Wendy!
"Especially her, huh?" - Natsu blushed as he remembered Gajeel's provocation...!
The brunette insisted that the pinkie kid was feeling something special for Wendy, but Natsu... honestly didn't know how to answer this.
The ten-year-old boy didn't know what love was. He had never fallen in love before! And ... if it happened now, he wouldn't know how to recognize it. But the dreamy boy already had some weird dreams where Wendy and he, a few years older and distant from the abominable orphanage, got married! And the boy really liked those dreams! So... maybe what Gajeel said was sort of true?
Natsu then left his thoughts when he realized he was already in front of the girls' bedroom door! Boys cannot get in, so... he knocked on the door and was quickly seen by Kagura, a girl about a year older than him! And… also a little bigger.
"Look, if it's not Natsu! So, what do you want?" - Kagura had a personality similar to a boy's one, several times. But she always took care of herself as a vain girl!
"Hi, Kagura! I want to know if Wendy is there! If it is not uncomfortable, of course ...!" - Natsu asked shyly.
Kagura gave a brief smile. She was Wendy's best friend in the girl's dorm.
"'Is she there', you ask. She is, but... Wendy is still asleep. Only a few girls woke up. Lot of them are sleeping soundly. Especially Wendy, who... barely slept last night."
'W-WHAT?!' was Natsu's instant thinking!
"W-What happened ?!" - Natsu hadn't realized yet...!
"She... couldn't sleep, since she was so worried about you, Natsu! Wendy knows better than anyone else about your suffering from the brand. Yesterday was the third time this week alone, wasn't it...?! She told me everything! Wendy also didn't sleep very well the other two nights where you dreamed of it, and in the last one she didn't even sleep...! She just managed to sleep a little about an hour and a half ago, and I still very worried..." - Natsu heard this and was in shock. Wendy… didn't look that tired when she talked to him.
Wendy... tried to look strong, everything to give Natsu as much support as possible in his horrible situation of constant pain caused by his persistent dream.
"Wendy loves you so much, and... because of that, all your constant suffering is also hurting Wendy. More and more, each time...! She is probably suffering as much as you are." - Natsu was flushed and very, very worried. He wanted to come in and hug Wendy right now, though... he knew that the best thing for her was to get some sleep. The girl's sleep was already impaired enough. She needed to sleep well, like a real princess...
Natsu thanked Kagura and asked the purple-haired girl to let him know when Wendy woke up, and Kagura accepted with a sweet smile on her face.
"Leave it to me! Whenever you come here looking for her and she is not available, when I tell Wendy later… you need to see her happiness! It's very cute." – Kagura's comment made Natsu to blush a little...!
The rosé boy said goodbye to Kagura and returned to the cafeteria region, but... Natsu was not THAT hungry, despite having an empty stomach. The only thing currently fulfilled was the rosy's head, with obvious thoughts.
And that was not only about... his brand pain. The WORST part was... Natsu was worrying his friends like Gajeel and Laxus... and especially Wendy! The rosé was worrying them all even MORE than usual! Wendy was a proof of that...! This past week, the bluenette girl has been super worried. He already knew that, however... the boy had no idea that his best friend... basically did not sleep on the nights where he dreamed of his nemesis dream.
It made Natsu feel even worse! It made him feel... ah, man… he had not even a word for it.
And when Natsu's head is overflowing, the boy only has one place to go.
Natsu has a little secret, a secret place! A place whose Natsu discovered a few months ago, but whose he never told anyone but Wendy. And that was where the boy would go, yes.
Natsu walked to the janitor's room, whose the rosé ironically never saw a janitor working in the orphanage.
The door was always open because no one bothered to lock it. Also was not useful as a hiding place for anyone who wanted to escape Madame Flare's torture, since it was too small! Which would certainly ensure that Flare took the person who tried to escape and did something much worse.
It was an... empty room. An unused room. But there lived the great secret discovered by him.
Only a few months ago, Natsu entered the place with curiosity. And after touching the wall of the tiny small room, the boy realized that a certain part of the wall was ... a false bottom, and that it was possible to unblock and fit again. Natsu opened, closed and followed some mysterious path, discovering that the room was facing a public playground on the side of the orphanage, less than 50 meters from the site.
He told Wendy about his discovery the same day he discovered, but... Wendy and he only went together twice to avoid suspicion. It was still an extremely risky place. If Madame Flare found out ... the rosin is afraid of what might happen to him. Fear ... for your LIFE if tyrant Flare finds out.
Natsu then, whenever he was sad or with a very fulfilled head, started to visit this place to take a breath. It was a strange playground, because he was not part of the orphanage, and... the little boy had never met another child there, but Natsu certainly had fun while quietly played on the swing or in the seesaw there.
He did the whole process of fitting and unraveling the false bottom of the room, walked to the playground... and the kid soon arrived at the place quickly.
The playground remained the same: extremely empty. But strangely ... with toys always clean. Someone else frequented the place and cleaned it constantly. Natsu knew that a ruthless, evil and monstrous tyrant like Flare would NEVER clean something, so... the boy's biggest bet was on Michelle. Or maybe some kind of resident in the region?
The boy then went on the swing, and still lost in thoughts he rocked strongly... as a way to distract himself while thinking about... ah, everything.
Natsu was dragging his friends into his suffering more and more, even without intention! The boy was dragging his only family into his own problems! The pinky... felt dirty, morally speaking.
As he swayed, tears fell from the face of the young rosy...
Natsu still didn't believed he was harming Wendy's health by increasing his frequency of dreams and pain. That hurt the boy deeply...! He... loved Wendy! He... in fact, truly loved Wendy! The only question the rosy still had was whether... he loved her as just his best friend, or... if Gajeel was right. After all, something had never hurt Natsu as much as hearing that Wendy... was even getting sick for him.
But before Natsu could put his feelings in order and analyze them, from one second to the next... the boy was taken out from his thoughts.
That's because the pinkie saw, in the distance and on the other side of the street... the silhouette of two people walking.
Natsu managed, with a lot of effort, to see that they were a mother and her daughter! Both walking happily around, close together. And the boy then stopped the swing, curious! He had never seen other people... walking down the street while he was playing at something in the playground.
But the girl (around the pinkie's age) across the street... also saw Natsu! And she asked her mother if she could play a little with that boy in the playground, and the little blonde's mother had no objections to her daughter's request.
Natsu was a little scared, and... he came to think up theories in his head. Theories like: "what if both were employees of the orphanage acting nice, to... then hand me over to Madame Flare to do her usual abominations?!". The rosy didn't have much knowledge of the outside world, and... everything was a strong motive for suspicion.
The girl and her mother crossed the street, and... then they finally arrived where Natsu was!
And only with the approach of both blondies, the little pink boy was sure: no, they were not known to Madame Flare. Natsu has never seen either of them at the Raven Tail Orphanage...! And Madame Flare had NO WAY to make new "friends" (if a person AS despicable and cruel as Flare was capable of it). Flare couldn't make any kind of new friends because… the damned executioner never left the orphanage ever since Natsu lived there.
"Hey! My name is Lucy! And that's my mom! Layla Heartfilia!" - Lucy, the girl, she said as she held Natsu's hand happily.
"And mine is... Natsu Dragneel. My pleasure." - Natsu replied still shyly. This was the first time the pinkie had interacted with people outside the orphanage.
"Hello, Natsu! Sorry to disturb you! Lucy insisted on coming here!" — Layla, the girl's mother, gave little Natsu a beautiful smile!
The smile was perceived by the pinkie boy, who managed to respond to it with his own (forced) small smile. After all… Wendy, Gajeel, Laxus, his dream, his mark, his pain… all these subjects didn't let Natsu to truly smile in his current situation.
Lucy then sat down on the swing next to the boy and started playing on it, and this while she was trying to talk to Natsu!
Lucy's voice didn't come out THAT perfectly, and... quickly, the pinkie boy perceived that it would be difficult to talk with her like that...!
"Naaat-... suuuu...! Where are-... yoooourrr… paaareents?" - Said the girl as she swinged in the playground, back and forth! And she let out every part of her speech the moment her swing passed by Natsu!
Even thinking about his problems, Natsu gave a small laugh! What kind of person talked while she swayed?! This girl was unique...!
"I… have no parents. I live at the orphanage. Raven Tail Orphanage." - Natsu replied, but this time without his slight smile. Talking about the orphanage wasn't cool. The place was... completely sick.
Lucy said "that's cool", probably because she didn't understand what it was about! But Layla... was a little shocked.
— Orphanage?! Could it be... this big wooden house?" - Layla asked as she looked at the huge wooden structure next to the playground.
Natsu lowered his gaze sadly.
"Yes..." - Natsu didn't want to talk too much about the orphanage.
Layla could tell something was wrong just by the boy's sad and scared tone, but she held back and didn't ask anything.
Lucy stopped her swing, after all...she wanted to go on the seesaw for a bit.
"Natsu, let's go on the seesaw!" Will be cool!" - Lucy then pulled Natsu by the hand, and the pink one went along without complaining.
Lucy sat on the bottom seesaw, and... Natsu didn't know what to do.
The boy was always on the bottom seesaw...! He couldn't get on the top!
"Natsu! Go up! What you're waiting for?! Hahahaha...!" - Lucy provoked with a sweet and pure laughter!
Natsu was... in a way, impressed!
He had never seen anyone so… full of life.
So... happy.
The little pinkie boy tried to go up, but... he couldn't! Layla realized the situation and helped Natsu, putting the boy on the top seesaw!
Natsu blushed...! He couldn't remember ever being carried by someone else before! Aside from the servants, tyrants, and inhuman women who orchestrated the Raven Tail Orphanage, of course.
Lucy then started to play on the seesaw happily, and that scared Natsu...! The kid didn't play like that on the seesaw because he never had anyone else do... well, the other function. Suddenly, the pinkie is the one on the bottom seesaw and Lucy on the top seesaw?!
"B-But how is that poss-...?!" - Natsu was genuinely surprised, and that made both Lucy and Layla laugh sweetly!
"Now it's your turn!" - Lucy said excitedly, and Natsu didn't know what to do!
Layla noticed, and came to the boy's rescue!
"Natsu, to play on the seesaw... pretend you're going to jump, holding the seesaw!" - Natsu followed what Layla said, and suddenly the boy's seesaw was going up! And Lucy's one was going down!
In less than two seconds, Natsu was back on the top side of the seesaw, and Lucy was on the bottom again!
"NICE! Hahaha! Hey Natsu, after this… let's go to the playground swing! I want to play for a long, long time! It's all right, mom?!" – Lucy smiled.
All the happiness of Lucy was just beautiful. The blonde...was definitely the happiest kid Natsu had ever seen. And the pinkie hadn't known the girl for more than THREE minutes! How was that possible?!
Natsu was impressed. Amazed. So… THIS is what a kid with parents looked like?
Natsu was… truly happy for her. Glad there are kids who grew up far from hells like the Raven Tail Orphanage. Glad that other kids are living and being as radiant as this Lucy girl.
And then, think about this… he managed a real smile! Followed by another good laugh! Natsu even wondered if his life would have been at least... somewhat similar to Lucy's if he'd never been abandoned by his parents.
Natsu's laughter affected Lucy and Layla, and they both laughed too! The pinkie boy then raised his right hand! Pretending to fly while he was on top of the seesaw again! Ah, standing on top of the seesaw was truly amazing! Natsu felt something different...! Something… pure. Even with all of his worries still lingered in his mind. Sadly, this... not even the wind could take it off.
And at that moment, when looking at Natsu happily imagining he could fly... Layla noticed something strange on Natsu's right shoulder.
Something-... burnt?! And it wasn't a mere burn, it looked like something... burned by some kind of marker?! Some kind of... iron?!
Layla now had a terrified expression! Something crossed Layla's mind, and every part of the blonde's beautiful smile was now… pure worry.
"Natsu…?! W-What's that on your shoulder?! W-Who did this to you...?!" - Layla asked seriously. And this… absolutely made Natsu's spine freeze.
