Now we haven't forgotten about Natsu. The little toddler found on the cathedral steps. The soliders searched everywhere but they found no couple who claimed to have lost a child so they left him at the orphanage. Unfortunately the people who ran the orphanage were cruel and greedy and cared nothing for the children there. Mard Geer was the head of the orphanage and was a tyrant among the children. He saw to it that children wore rags, ate only scraps, and then work them like dogs at the work house. He also had strict rules and if the children didn't obey his rules then they would suffer dreadful punishments such as whippings or beatings or starvation and sometimes even death. He once hung a child for trying to steal extra food from the kitchen.

As soon as Natsu turned five he was immediately sent to the work house where he worked day in and day out in the mines, searching for any form of valuable material. And what was his reward for all his hard work? Sleep on a tattered mattress springs stricken out and dining on cold gruel, moldy bread crust, and chicken bones.

"Work faster you little runt!" Mard snapped at Natsu as he dug through the mines, his hands, feet, and face stained with dirt. He was now twelve years old and his entire body was covered in scars that he had received from the whippings and beatings. "Remember if you don't work then you don't eat!"

"Yes sir." The boy said weakly.

After working in the mines all day Natsu was then assigned to go into town and buy some tobacco and a bottle of rum for Mard Geer. Natsu was so very tempted to use the money given to him to buy a loaf of bread or a few apples or anything better to eat than what he was given everyday. But he knew that Mard Geer planned to count the money to make sure that he got the exact amount change that he normally received when those two were purchased. Natsu was sent to buy them from a crooked alcohol and tobacco sales man who didn't care how old his customers were just so long as they had money.

On his way back to the orphanage he saw that an old woman had fallen over and dropped her groceries. He put down the tobacco and rum he bought and went to help the old woman to her feet while also picking up her groceries.

"Thank you young man." She said. "You'd be surprised how many people have just walked by me whenever this happened."

"Do you need help getting back home?"

"Oh no I'll be alright but here's a little reward for helping me."

She then placed three gold coins in his hand.

"I can't take this." He told her.

"Nonsense an act of kindness deserves a reward. Now go buy yourself something nice."

"Thank you."

Using those three gold coins Natsu bought a loaf of bread from the bakery, sausage from the butcher, a fat salmon from the fish market, three apples from the fresh market, and a bottle of fresh milk from the dairy farm. He then placed them in his bag which he hid outside in the alleyway next to the orphanage so Mard wouldn't find it. After that he gave rum, tobacco, and change to Mard and went back to the alley to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

"Oh boy I wonder which one I'll eat first." He said opening his bag. "Hey where's that salmon I bought? I know I put it in here somewhere."

Meow!

He looked up to see something moving around under that old bed sheet that Mard had thrown out and he smelled fish underneath there.

"Oh no you don't." He said getting mad. "You mangy alley cats aren't going to steal my dinner! If you're hungry then go eat some rats!"

He grabbed the bed sheet and ripped it off of whatever was hiding under it. However there wasn't a mean alley cat under there. Instead it was a little baby kitten with blue fur that was munching on the salmon which luckily was still wrapped up.

"Hey you're just a kitten." He said. "Where's your mama little fella?"

The kitten only looked at him.

"Oh you don't have a mama do ya? That's okay I don't have a mama either."

Natsu leaned over to grab him. The kitten hissed a little and tried to claw at him but he missed and Natsu picked him up. He struggled to get down but Natsu had good hold on him.

"Chill out buddy I'm not going to hurt you. Oh man you're just skin and bones, you're just as starved as I am. I guess I could share some of my bounty with you."

Natsu began to pull pieces of the salmon off and feed it to the kitten. After that he decided to help himself to the bread. He was just to take a great big bite of the loaf when he noticed one of the other orphans staring at him. Her name was Lisanna and she had come here with her older brother and sister after their parents died in a fire. She had stepped outside to throw away some garbage from the kitchen when she spotted him. She looked at the bread in his hands, her eyes filled with starvation. But without saying a word she started to go back inside.

"Lisanna wait!" Natsu called. Natsu couldn't believe how selfish he was being. Here he was about to Chow down on his own personal feast when there were others inside who were just as hungry as he was.

"Yes Natsu what is it?" She asked him.

"You wanna help me divide all this food up so everybody can have some?"

"I'd love too."

Natsu made absolutely sure that every one of the orphans got something to eat. Evergreen, Laxus, Lisanna, her sister Mirajane, and her brother Elfman. Laxus and Mirajane were the oldest of the orphans, in fact they were teenagers but due to malnourishment their physical bodies couldn't mature properly.

"Where did you get this food?" Laxus asked Natsu.

"You didn't steal them did you?" Mirajane asked him.

"No I bought them."

"Where did you get the money?" Laxus asked.

"An old woman gave me some."

"Well thank you for sharing your food with us." Lisanna said. "You're so kind Natsu."

"How can we ever repay you?" Mirajane said.

"Just don't tell Mard where the food came from."

"We won't, we promise." Elfman said.

"Hey Elfman is hogging all the sausage!" Evergreen complained.

"I am not!"

"Yes you are you pig!"

"I'm the pig? Who's the girl with the fat belly?!"

"You take that back!"

"Why don't you make me?!"

"Oh boy here we go again." Laxus said rolling his eyes.

Natsu laughed to himself as he watched the boy and girl bicker over which one of them was the bigger pig. That night as Natsu was getting ready for bed he noticed that something was moving around underneath the blanket. Pulling it back he saw that it was the kitten he had met earlier.

"Where did you come from?" He asked him and the kitten responded by jumping down and nuzzling Natsu's leg. "Well I can see that you like me better now but I can't keep you here. If Mard finds you here I'll be in a lot of trouble."

He picked up the kitten and went back out to the alleyway where he put the kitten down but then he looked up at the boy with cute, sad eyes. Cute sad eyes that Natsu just couldn't resist.

"Okay you can stay with me."

As if he could understand his words, the kitten jumped into Natsu's arms and started nuzzling and licking his cheek.

"Wow that made you real happy huh? Hmm..Happy...I think that's what I'll call you. Happy and you're going to be my best friend."

He brought him inside and back to his room where they crawled into his old mattress and fell asleep. Hours later Natsu awoke to hear Mard shouting in anger.

"Where did you get this?!"

"I-I-I-" He heard a meek voice stutter and realized that it was Lisanna. He immediately jumped from his bed and went to the source of where their voices were coming from. He saw Mard holding Lisanna roughly by the arm with his free hand prepared to strike her.

"I'll ask you again!" He shouted. "Where did you get that milk?!"

"I...I found it." She said trembling.

"Liar! You stole it!"

He brought his hand down to hit her only to hit Natsu who ran in front of her. His striking him across the face felt like fire burning his skin and he was knocked to floor. But then he quickly picked himself back up.

"I gave Lisanna the milk! Which I bought with money!"

Mard released Lisanna then grabbed Natsu.

"I bet you stole that money you brat!"

"No that money was given to me. I haven't stolen anything!"

"You expect me to believe that?! Who would give money to a dirty piece of nothing like you! You stole that money and you know what I do with thieves here!"

He dragged Natsu down into the cellar that was under the building and threw him down there. Happy jumped on Mard's soldier and bit his neck. He cried out in pain then threw the kitten down there with Natsu.

"Say your prayers tonight boy because you hang at dawn tomorrow!"

"You can't hang me! I did nothing wrong!"

"You stole!"

"I did not!"

"Lie all you want! It won't save you!"

With that said Mard slammed the cellar doors and locked them.

"You monster! You better hope that I hang tomorrow! Because if I get out of this alive you'll be sorry! I swear you'll be sorry!"

Natsu quickly tried to break down the doors, he kicked and punched and threw things at them but it was no use. They just refused to open meaning that there was no escape and that tomorrow he would die. He was so afraid. He didn't want to die now. He had to get out of here, he just had to because if he didn't then he was done for.

"Come on open. Please open!" He begged as he tried hitting the door with a rock he found. But it didn't open and he ended up smashing his thumb with the rock. "Ow!"

He sucked his thumb to soothe the pain but when he finished doing it he started to cry. Happy nuzzled up next to him and tried to comfort him the best he could even though it would probably do nothing to save him from his fate.