Dragon Family Values

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

Summary: The five dragon-slayers encounter a little misfortune.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

Misfortune (Rated T)

"What the hell is this thing?" asked Natsu, staring at the old book precariously.

"Rogue and I found it on our last job," answered Sting. He and Rogue, along with Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy, sat in the Fairy Tail guild staring at an ancient tome. "I think it's about dragons."

"It looks really old," said Levy as she tried to peer between them. "I'd say a few hundred years, at least. I don't even recognize this language."

"Really?" replied Natsu. "I can read it." He opened the book and flipped through some of the pages.

"Same here," replied Gajeel. "Stop there."

Natsu stopped flipping through the book, pausing when the iron dragon-slayer told him to. "What?"

"This says something about truth," mumbled Rogue. "And something about the Dragon Ceremony."

"Dragon Ceremony? You mean the Dragon Ceremony we went through?" inquired Wendy.

Rogue nodded, frowning as he took the book into his hands and began reading. "It's a spell to restore lost memories from the Dragon Ceremony."

"You mean if we do this spell, we'll remember everything from before the ceremony?" asked Sting.

"I believe so," said Rogue.

"Well, then let's do it!" said Natsu. "Maybe I forgot some magic Igneel taught me! It'd be cool if I remembered some things like that!"

"Are we in agreement then?" asked Rogue. When the other four nodded, the shadow dragon-slayer turned his attention back to the book. "Here it goes."

To restore what once was lost,

Reverting back will be the cost.

Once truth fulfilled has been done,

Coming back will be as one.

"Whoever wrote this really sucked at rhyming," commented Sting.

"Wait, what's happening?" started Gajeel. "The book is glowing."

"Uh, oh," said Natsu.

"Everybody down!" yelled Sting when the light began enveloping the entire guild.

Lucy groaned when she felt a heavy weight on her chest. Opening her eyes, she noticed Erza had landed on top of her. "Erza, get off."

"Hm? What happened?" responded the requip mage.

"I have no idea."

"Guys?" said Levy, panic seeping into her voice. "I think we have a problem!"

The members of the guild got up, dusting themselves off before turning their attention to what Levy was pointing at. They reeled back in shock.

There, standing in the center of the guild, were Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue. But they weren't their normal selves. They were…

"Children?!" shouted Master Makarov. "How on earth did they get turned into children?!"

"Th-They read a spell from the book," stammered Levy. "They thought it would help them get their memories back from before the Dragon Ceremony."

"So what do we do?" asked Gray, staring at his now chibi-rival. He looked to be no more than six, same as Gajeel. The other three looked a little younger.

"From what I gathered from the spell, I think we just need to let it run its course," said Levy.

Natsu felt himself becoming overwhelmed by too many senses. Even though it was loud and there were too many new smells, he still had to protect them. But where were the dragons?

The little fire mage took a few steps forward and looked up to stare at Master Makarov. "Where are they?"

"Where are…who?" responded Makarov. He wasn't sure how much Natsu remembered, if he remembered the guild at all.

"The dragons," replied Natsu.

"The dragons? Um, they are…that's to say..."

"They are at a meeting," cut in Mira as she smiled down at Natsu.

"A meeting," he repeated as if mulling over the word. "For how long?"

"I'd say about a month," answered Mira. We have no idea how long you'll be like this, and we can't have you asking for Igneel every minute of the day. She remembered exactly how Natsu had been once he'd arrived at the guild.

"A month?" Worry shone in Natsu's eyes. "They've never been gone a month before." A few days, maybe. But never this long. "And they left us with you?"

Mira smiled again. "Yes. We're a guild called Fairy Tail. Everyone here uses magic."

"Natsu-nii," called Sting hesitantly. He was holding Rogue and Wendy's hands. "What's going on?"

Mira had to prevent herself from squealing at that.

Natsu put an arm out to silence the other dragon-slayers, to which they listened. Surprisingly, there were no protests, even from Gajeel. The little fire mage was still being cautious. "If the dragons really put us in your care, what are their names?"

Makarov was surprised by Natsu's distrust, but commended him for his investigatory stance.

"Their names are Weisslogia, Skiadrum, Grandeeney, Metalicana, and Igneel," answered Makarov.

Natsu narrowed his eyes before nodding. "I'll trust you…for now. But if any harm comes to my siblings, I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."

Was…Natsu threatening him? Makarov had never expected that from the fire mage, especially since he was so young and…serious. He'd never seen Natsu so serious before. "No harm will come to you or your siblings."

"I don't matter," said Natsu calmly. "They do. They're the future."

Makarov frowned. "Everyone matters."

Natsu shook his head. "I don't. Can…Can they get something to eat? They're hungry."

"Sure," said Mira sweetly.

She never thought she'd have to coax Natsu and the other slayers to a table. Once they were seated, Mira busied herself cooking a comforting meal that would soothe the little dragon-slayers. When she was finished, she asked Lisanna to help her serve them.

"There we are. Eat up!" encouraged Mira.

At first, Natsu was confused. Why was he being given a meal? Perhaps the dragons didn't relay the rules set for him. Glancing up, he began to speak when he noticed four pairs of small eyes staring at him.

Natsu quickly sniffed the meals. Not sensing anything out of the ordinary, he nodded his approval. It was safe. Gajeel, Sting, Wendy, and Rogue eagerly began devouring their meals. Natsu, however, did not.

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Lucy. She'd never seen Natsu not eat before.

Natsu shook his head. "I'm not supposed to when the dragons are gone."

Not supposed to eat? "Why?" asked Gray, looking perturbed.

"It's a rule," he replied.

Gajeel set down his fork. "They're gonna be gone a month. You can't wait that long." Natsu still looked hesitant, so Gajeel whispered, "It's not like we've never snuck food to you before. No one's gonna tell."

"But Grandeeney—"

"Natsu-nii," piped up Wendy. "Please eat with us."

Natsu looked afraid. "You won't tell?" The four dragon-slayers shook their heads. "Okay."

Lucy watched painfully as Natsu took tiny, tentative bites of his food. He jumped whenever there was a sound, like he was afraid of being caught. Just what had happened to him in the past?

"You know, I just realized we haven't introduced ourselves," said Mira. "I'm Mira and this is my sister Lisanna. We're transformation mages."

"And I'm Lucy. I'm a celestial spirit mage. I summon celestial spirits."

"Like Anna?" asked Natsu. "You do kind of look like her."

"Excuse me?"

"Anna Heartifilia. You look like her," continued Natsu. "She made me this," he said, indicating the scarf around his neck.

Lucy really didn't know what to say to that. Anna was her ancestor. How could Natsu possibly know her?

"Um, I'm Erza," the scarlet-haired mage cut in when Lucy just stared at Natsu in shock. "I'm a requip mage, and I love strawberry cake." Erza turned to Gray expecting him to speak. When he didn't, she elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ouch! I-I'm Gray. And I'm an ice make mage. Nice to meet you all."

Gajeel looked at them with analytical eyes. "I'm Gajeel Redfox. I'm an iron dragon-slayer."

"I'm Sting Eucliffe! And I'm a white dragon-slayer! I really like eating white stuff!"

"I-I'm Rogue Cheney. I'm a-a shadow d-dragon-slayer."

"My name's Wendy Marvell. I'm a sky dragon-slayer."

"And I'm Natsu Dragneel. I'm a monster."

"Natsu-nii," proclaimed Sting. "That's not true!"

"It is," Natsu countered simply. "Especially if they say so."

"But—"

"I think it's time you went to bed. It feels late," said Natsu, ending the discussion. "Is there a place for them to sleep?"

"Yes," said Makarov, taking note that Natsu kept using the word 'them' and not 'us.' "Follow me."

The dragon-slayers were led to the infirmary, where a large bed looked as if it was waiting for them. All save Natsu crawled into the bed. The fire mage checked on each slayer, wishing them goodnight before settling himself in a chair near the bed, where he just sat and watched them.

"Are you going to sit there all night? There's enough room for you," said Makarov.

"I'm not supposed to sleep when the dragons are away," replied Natsu.

This again? "I'm not sure I understand what you mean," he said, sitting in a chair next to Natsu. "Would care to explain it to me?"

"It's one of the rules. When the dragons are away, I'm not supposed to eat or sleep."

"But why?"

"It keeps me weak. They're afraid I'll kill my siblings otherwise. Well, Igneel is…different. But the other four go against his words."

Makarov frowned. "Why do they think you would kill your siblings?"

"Because I'm a monster."

"You've said that once before. Why do you say you are a monster?"

"That's what the dragons call me. Not Igneel, but the others. Especially Grandeeney. They call me a monster, an abomination. But I would never do anything to hurt my siblings. I love them."

Makarov still didn't understand why Natsu had been called those things, and he didn't want to push him, so he changed the subject. "Well, what kind of magic do you use then? I use a little bit of everything."

"My magic?" questioned Natsu. "Which one?"

That came as a surprise to Makarov. "Which are you currently using?"

"Fire dragon-slaying magic," said Natsu, turning his attention back to his sleeping siblings. "But I don't like fire."

"You don't like fire?" Makarov echoed. "How come?"

"It destroys everything."

Natsu weighed heavily on Makarov's mind. He hadn't been able to get another word out of the young mage after that. And he hadn't been able to get Natsu to sleep, either; he was vigilant on the matter.

Now it was the next morning, and Natsu was refusing to eat breakfast.

"You need to eat," scolded Mira. "You can't possibly think you'll last a whole month without food."

"I broke a rule yesterday," said Natsu. "I can't break another rule."

"Is it just me or is it freaky that he's so obsessed with rules?" asked Gray quietly.

"Aye. It's freaky. Kinda like Freed," replied Happy. He wasn't used to seeing his best friend act so…weird. What was wrong with him? He hadn't even seen him laugh. Or smile!

Suddenly, an idea struck Happy. "Hey! How about we go outside and play together?"

"That's a great idea!" said Lucy. "We can show them our magic and have some good old-fashioned fun!"

"A great plan," announced Erza.

One minute Natsu was staring down at a bowl of oatmeal he'd left untouched, and the next he was outside. A blue cat with wings hovered in front of his face.

"I'm Happy!" he said with a grin.

"I can see that," said Natsu.

"No, silly! That's my name!"

"It's kind of a weird name."

You're the one who gave it to me, Happy thought. He grabbed one of Natsu's hands. "Let's play!"

"Play?"

"Yeah! We can play tag, or hide-and-seek, or kick a ball around."

Natsu let Happy list all of the things they could…play. It was a funny word. What did it mean? Maybe he should ask. "Happy?"

"Yes, Natsu? Did you decide on a game?"

"What does play mean?"

Happy's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. "H-How can you not know what it means? What do you do all day?"

"Igneel makes me train my magic, and then I do my studies, like reading and writing."

"You do your…studies?! AAH! Lucy! Help!"

"What are you crying about now, cat?" responded Lucy as she walked over to the two of them.

"Natsu says he doesn't know what playing is. He says all he does is train and do his studies!"

Lucy threw a confused look at Natsu. That didn't sound like him at all. How come the Natsu she knew and the one standing before her were so different? She suddenly held out her hand to him.

Natsu cautiously took it. He soon found himself being led to what Lucy called a swing. Lucy then picked him up and set him down on the seat of this so-called swing.

"Hold the ropes with your hands," Lucy instructed as she prayed that Natsu didn't have motion sickness yet. "I'm going to push you."

"What? Whoa!" yelled Natsu when he felt himself moving forward. He felt himself swing back only for Lucy to push him forward again.

This was…fun. Especially when he went higher and higher. It was like flying with Igneel. A smile erupted on his face.

But a scream soon interrupted his fun. Wendy.

Natsu jumped off the swing and landed neatly on the ground, racing over to the now sobbing Wendy.

"What is it?" Natsu asked, inspecting her for injuries.

"There's a dead bird," said Gajeel.

"It flew into the tree and just…died," added Sting.

A dead bird. "It's okay, Wendy," said Natsu as he walked over to the still creature. "Poor thing."

"Don't pick it up!" shouted Lucy. "Gray, do something!"

"What the heck do you want me to do?"

Natsu cradled the bird in his hands. "Life is precious, isn't it?" He turned his head at the gentle voice.

"Who're you?"

"My name is Mavis," she said with a smile as she crouched down next to him. She turned her attention to the bird. "Life, as well as death, must be appreciated in all forms. So how about we give this little one a proper send off, hm?" She'd been watching the whole event take place in the guild, but she was a bit surprised Natsu could see her. He didn't even have his guild mark.

"A proper send off?" he questioned. Mavis nodded. "Okay."

What Mavis had expected, however, was giving the bird a funeral. She had not expected the bird to suddenly come back to life and fly away from Natsu's hands.

"Was that a good enough proper send off?"

"I…uh…how did you do that?" asked Mavis. She'd never seen such magic before.

"Do what?"

"Bring the bird back to life!"

He looked at her strangely. "I just used my magic. My resurrection magic."

"But…to give life so carelessly—"

"It comes at a cost, so it's not careless," said Natsu as he stood.

It was then Mavis noticed the ground beneath them; the plant life around them was dead and black. Almost like…

"Zeref," she whispered.

Natsu turned when he heard the name. "You know Zeref?"

Mavis, in her shock, just nodded mutely. "You do, too?"

A look of concern crossed his features. "Is he around?"

"I…I have no idea," she answered honestly.

A million thoughts whirred in Natsu's mind. The dragons were away at a meeting, this Mavis person knew Zeref. Did that mean Zeref was here? Was it…time? But he wasn't ready. He wanted to spend more time with his siblings!

Mavis gasped when Natsu suddenly fell over in a dead faint.

"Maybe you scared him to death. You are a ghost," said Gray.

"I did not scare him to death," said Mavis for what had to be the thousandth time. "He brought a bird back to life and we got onto the subject of Zeref. Natsu knows him at this age."

"When's Natsu-nii going to wake up?" asked Sting.

"This always happens when he does that," said Gajeel.

"Does what?" asked Makarov.

"When he brings something back to life," answered Rogue.

"Yeah. Except he did it willingly this time," said Gajeel.

"Are you saying he's done this before?"

Gajeel nodded. "Sometimes the dragons bring people to Natsu so that he can use that magic. But it's usually between people. Natsu doesn't like it."

"You mean, Natsu takes the life of one person and gives it to another?" asked Mavis. She was surprised when the young girl started answering her. She could see her, too?

"Yes," said Wendy sadly. "It causes Natsu so much pain. He hates both of his magics. But I think his fire one is pretty."

"Why do the dragons make him do that?" Mavis inquired.

"They say it's training for something more," said Sting. "Don't know what that means, though."

"Mmn. I-Igneel?" Natsu called out from the infirmary bed.

Makarov rushed to his side. "It's not Igneel. I'm Master Makarov of Fairy Tail. Remember me?"

Natsu blearily opened his eyes. Where was he again? That's right. Fairy Tail. But why was he in bed? "What happened?"

"I think you fainted after using your magic," answered Makarov.

"My magic? What did I do?"

"You brought a bird back to life," said Mavis. "And you mentioned Zeref. How do you know him?"

"First Master, should you really be asking that now?" questioned Makarov.

Natsu closed his eyes and sighed. "I know him. He's the one who gave me to Igneel."

That was news to everybody in the guild.

"Why would Zeref give you to Igneel?" asked Mavis.

"Zeref said the resurrection magic wasn't enough. He needed me stronger, so he gave me to Igneel to learn dragon-slaying magic."

"Who'd have thought a fainting spell would loosen his tongue," murmured Gray.

Mavis ignored him and pressed on. "Needed you stronger for what?"

"To kill him. To kill Zeref. That was the plan. I was supposed to use my magic to take all the life out of Zeref and release it into the world. Using that much power would kill me, too, but they're not sure. So the dragons want to turn on him. Maybe that's why the dragons are meeting. They're deciding on whether or not to kill me themselves."

"Why would they kill you?" Mavis wondered aloud. Natsu was just a child. Who would want to kill a child?

"Because I'm a monster, an abomination. I don't matter. My siblings do because they need to defeat Acnologia in the future. My only purpose is being a tool to kill Zeref, but the dragons want to kill me instead. They say it should be done all the time, but Igneel always denies them."

Natsu closed his eyes as he gradually drifted back to sleep. "I don't want to go yet, though," he mumbled. "I want to stay with my…family."

Wendy whined and crawled onto the bed. The remaining three dragon-slayers followed suit.

The guild members watched as Gajeel lifted Natsu gently in his arms and pulled him against his chest as he leaned back in the bed. Sting and Rogue cuddled on either side of Natsu, while Wendy snuggled against the fire mage's chest. They looked as if they were trying to comfort him, protect him, with what little they could offer.

It tore at everyone's heart.

A loud crash thundered throughout the guild. It had come from the infirmary. Lucy, Erza, and Gray were the first ones on the scene.

There, in the middle of the destroyed bed, were the five dragon-slayers back to normal. The bed couldn't support all their weight and had collapsed.

"You lot get off me!" shouted Gajeel. "You're freakin' heavy!"

"Like you're one to talk, metal head!" snapped Sting. "You're the one holding onto everybody!"

"Ow!"

"I'm so sorry, Rogue!" Wendy apologized. Her attempt at getting up from Natsu's chest had caused her to elbow Rogue in the eye.

"What the hell happened?" Natsu groaned as he sat up…on Gajeel's chest. "And why are we all sleeping together? We haven't done that since we…were…kids…" His voice trailed off when his mind started to clear. He remembered. He remembered the past.

All of them did.

Gajeel sat up and ruffled Natsu's hair fondly. "Don't worry about it. We're livin' in the here and now, yeah?"

Natsu offered him a small smile. "Yeah."

"Good. Now get the hell off me!"

The five dragon-slayers crawled out of the destroyed bed, surveying the damage done to the piece of furniture.

"Gramps is gonna be so pissed," grumbled the fire mage.

"Natsu," announced Makarov, making said person flinch. "Don't worry about the bed. How are you feeling? You gave us quite the scare yesterday."

Natsu turned to see the concerned faces of his friends. "I'm fine," he answered quietly as he remembered the events of the past two days. "You don't need to look at me like that."

Gray scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, well. We were worried about you. Are you sure you're fine? You know, since you guys remember and stuff?"

"You don't have to treat me like I'm going to break," ground out Natsu. "The past is what it is. The past."

"Yes," started Lucy, "but doesn't remembering it change things?"

"It doesn't," said Natsu, "because I remember the truth now."

"And what is that truth?" asked Makarov.

Flashback

Igneel stared down at Natsu, the boy he had come to raise, the boy he had come to love. And now he was being asked to kill him? For what?

He couldn't do this.

"You must kill him, Igneel," said Grandeeney. "This abomination will be the end of everything."

Igneel clenched his jaw. There had to be another way.

"Stop!" screamed four young voices.

Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and Wendy threw themselves in front of Natsu.

"What is the meaning of this?! Get out of the way!" growled Metalicana.

"We won't let you kill Natsu-nii!" said Sting.

"Oh?" responded Weisslogia. "What is your reasoning?"

"H-He's our b-big brother," stammered Rogue.

"He is not your sibling," spat Skiadrum.

"He is nothing more than a foul abomination to this world. A monster," said Grandeeney. "You dare go against us?"

"If you want to kill Natsu, you'll have to kill us, too!" shouted Wendy. "We will not let anything happen to Natsu-nii!"

Grandeeney stamped her foot. "Fine. We will leave it up to the humans now. If that is your wish. I do hope that you do not regret this decision you have made. We will commence with the Dragon Ceremony as planned. All five of us."

End Flashback

"His name is Natsu Dragneel," started Gajeel, ruffling Natsu's hair again.

"He is not a monster," said Sting, putting an arm around Natsu's waist.

"He is not an abomination," added Rogue, putting his arm around Natsu's other side.

"He's our brother, our family, and we would never let anything happen to him," said Wendy, hugging him from the front.

Author's Note – That was a lot longer than a drabble. I'm wondering if I should turn it into a longer fic. Please review!

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