Thank you.


Like Yesterday

There were around fifty carriages being pulled by nothing. Only a few students, ones who have seen death, could notice that they were actually being pulled by horselike creatures named Thestrals. These creatures a only slightly larger than a regular horse and only come in a wide variety of colors such as black, grey, and white.

There were also a group of professors waiting to gather a years' worth of students and take a path to the school. The five professors who were going to take the first-years to fith-year students were in the order of Professor Dragneel, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin.

Natsu was the first one to the carriages. He yelled, "First year students, come with me!"

During this, the other Professors were waiting patiently... except for Mr. Salazar Slytherin. He kept muttering sayings like "Filthy Mudbloods, they can't be trusted." and the like. Which Natsu with his super hearing heard, but didn't pay attention to it because he heard him say it over one hundred times last month.

All of the students were getting out of their carriages and the shortest of the students walked up to Natsu. Natsu greeted them with a toothy smile on his face.

"Well then, let's go!" Natsu pumped his fist up and started walking into the forest, taking the longest path to the school.

The professors all did the same thing but each with their own special touch. Specifically, Salazar was nitpicking everything about his fith-year students and he didn't allow any student get near him without telling if they were pure-blood, half-blood, or mudblood. Salazar also took a different path then everyone else.

The seventh-years came in first, were told about the Sorting Hat, were sorted and put into their houses. Then, they awaited for the sixth-years that came in two minutes later. It was getting quite dark during this time.

When Professor Dragneel was in the forest, he was talking to the students and he could already tell he was going to have a strong connection with them. Natsu was ultimately a kid magnet and they all had smiles on their faces once they got to the Great Hall.


Great Hall

"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat called.

While each of the Professors were clapping timidly, Salazar's claps were louder than anyone else's. That was because he was the leader of the Slytherin House, Godric with Gryffindor house, Rowena with Ravenclaw house, and Helga with Hufflepuff house.

When the last kid of the second-years was sorted, Professor Dragneel opened the door with a grin on his face. The children around him also had smiles or smirks on their faces. As they all walked down the center aisle, Natsu told them to stop in front of the owl lectern in front of Rowena, she had been the one calling out the names of the students to get assessed by the Sorting Hat. Natsu broke off with them and made his way to his seat at the Professor's table.

The children had very little time to get stressed out about the "test". As soon as all of the students in the hall were quiet, Rowena began calling the names out.

"Kate Mage?" Rowena questioned while reading off the piece of yellow parchment.

A brown haired eleven year old girl with fair skin walked up to the Sorting Hat with pride and sat down.

The Sorting Hat took little time before speaking. "Great amount of courage and bravery but... you do have some... Faults so to speak. In connection with cake. You're a fairly gregarious person but also a hardworker. Also you aren't very sly and your bravery stands above it all. There's no denying that you're a GRYFFINDOR!" The Sorting Hat exclaimed.

The Gryffindor table cheered and clapped but only died down once Rowena called the next name. "Clayton Took?"

A dirty blonde haired kid with pale skin walked up the two steps to the chair with a confident smirk. He sat down on the stool looking at the other students in front of him.

As soon as Rowena placed the Sorting Hat on Clayton's head, the Sorting Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Clayton ran up to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Kate and then turned back to the Sorting Hat.

"Gerrad Fox?"

A boy with dark brown hair with black tips walked up to the green stool. His skin was translucent and very pale, as if he hadn't seen light in days.

Gerrad's eyes weren't able to be seen underneath the cap. It completely engulfed his figure, much like the black Hogwarts issued cloak all of the students had been wearing.

The Sorting Hat needed no thought before it called out, "SLYTHERIN!" As expected, all of the Slytherin members clapped and the other houses clapped too, but much more quietly.

It took about ten minutes for all of the first-years to be sorted into their houses. After it was done though, Rowena retreated behind the Professor's table to get a drink while Godric moved in front of the golden owl lectern. The blond haired, red cloaked wizard was the one to make the announcements. He talked mainly about punishments, the House Cup, school Prefects, and Quidditch.

Rowena clapped her hands after the announcements and Godric was back behind the Professor's table. Less than a second later, many foodstuffs appeared on the tables. While all of the students all gasped, none of the professors did. They had gotten used to it, being at the school during the summer, preparing for the thousands of kids coming.

If Natsu had not been to the school months before and this were to be his first day, he would've acted like a kid and eaten all his heart desired. Things were different now, and eating was actually impossible now. Natsu had been struggling in his soul form, he was unable to sleep or eat and that took time to adjust to. He thanked Mavis that he was able to touch things and that everybody could see him though.

Natsu had an ample amount of unsolved problems and decided to think about them now instead of thinking about the hot and juicy steak to the right of him. He drowned out all of his surroundings and thought of two unsettling things. Salazar was... An unsettling character to be blunt. He just was a little... different than the other professors and Natsu could basically tell that something bad was going to happen in the future connected with him. And Lucy. He loved her and she loved him. The special Dragon art of *cough* made it so that their feelings were connected with the other. Natsu could clearly tell that Lucy was there, inside of his heart. He had been taught that when a mate dies, part of your soul gets ripped away but he didn't feel that. Lucy was there, she was alive, but sad, full of regret and pain.

He hated hurting others, he hated hurting his friends, Natsu began to berate himself and thought deeper. When Natsu thought about it more, it took over his entire being. Hopelessness was what filled him up and it became hard to breathe properly. 'I'm guilty, I'm guilty, I'm guilty,' were the words in his head. He couldn't think of anything more. Natsu hadn't noticed that he was scratching his arms raw and was losing control of his Transformation magic. He had been gaining dark crimson scales on his face and his canines were getting sharper by the second. Until Mr. Hall, the Astronomy Professor, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay Professor Dragneel?" Mr. Hall asked.

Natsu snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his fellow professor before saying, "…Yeah, I was just... Thinking about something." Natsu quickly turned away, took a deep breath, and breathed out. His form changed back to normal but his eyes gained flakes of gold in them. Natsu rocked his body in his chair as he studied all of the students in the Great Hall.

Mr. Hall was a tall middle aged man that had brown hair that went to his shoulders. He had crystal blue eyes and was pale. He wore a green cloak with black pants and a black shirt underneath.

Mr. Hall turned back to his own meal and thought of Professor Dragneel's story which he learned of two and a half months ago. He knew what it was like to lose a daughter but to lose the one you have given yourself to for the rest of your life, definitely not. The other professors did not notice this exchange and neither did the students.

The professors ate in silence and the kids chatted merrily. When the feast was finished, the four founders gathered their houses up and brought them to their Common Rooms because the prefects would not be chosen for a while later.

The other professors left the Great Hall to their own chambers while Natsu went to stalk around the castle for a bit because his instincts were telling him something was going to happen. Natsu found himself in his own classroom.


Draconian Classroom

The classroom of Draconian was one of the larger classrooms of Hogwarts and also one of the nicer. Natsu had lost all of his personal belongings when he got stuck into the lacrima and he was never able to see the graves of his guildmates either. The only thing that Natsu now owned was the clothing that he was actually wearing inside the crystal which is tattered and torn and would not be used in this period of time.

Natsu looked at his classroom before walking up to his black desk in the back of the room and sitting down on his black wooden chair. He looked at the twenty black student desks in front of him, to the bookshelf behind him, and to the windows that showed the stars.

When Natsu went up to the window and looked up at the stars, he gasped. Natsu's eyes reflected a constellation of Lucy's face and the face of Happy. Natsu's legs gave out underneath him, he couldn't take it anymore. He felt the world's weight on his shoulders and had nobody to share the burden with. His heart burned inside his chest and his throat closed up. He was sobbing before he knew he was on the ground. All of his protective barriers around his heart were broken, they had all been breached. He was sobbing so uncontrollably that his Transformation magic failed and he was left in his demon-dragon form that he never asked to be. he had never felt so alone in his entire life, not after Igneel, not after Fairy Fail disbanded, this was the worst moment...

The sobs which escaped through the cracks of the Draconian classroom door were unheard through the castle walls. Nobody heard his cries for help, all except one.

He got a hold of himself after an hour, he let a few stragglers out of his eyes before scoffing at himself.

"I'm so pathetic... Ne, Lucy?" Natsu asked the lonely air around him.

Without getting an answer, Natsu blinked a few times before slowly standing up. He wiped his tears using his right hand along with the snot which had come out of his nose. His eyes were visibly red when he finished his meltdown.

"It'll work out okay, right?" Natsu questioned.

Less than a second after Natsu asked that question, a bright, golden light appeared in front of him, near the window. Natsu's eyes gleamed when he put up a hand to shield his eyes but was still able to make out one human figure and an animal figure. When the light disappeared, the only thing left was a purple sphere lacrima which was floating in the air. As Natsu skeptically got closer, his eyes were able to make out small figures inside of the snow globe like object. And once Natsu was an arms length of the lacrima, he noticed that the lacrima was filled with all of the members of Fairy Tail. Natsu smelled the air and he smelled the girl he loved, Lucy. Natsu's frown curved upwards into a smile as he grabbed the purple lacrima and placed it onto his black teacher's desk. The pink haired Dragon Slayer hopped onto his spinny chair and brought his knees up to his face.

Natsu laid his chin onto his knees before he tapped the lacrima in front of him and smiled. A few moments later, Natsu could hear a voice coming from the purple crystal.

Natsu attentively stared at the lacrima in front of him and check out the surroundings. The message had been recorded in front of the Rainbow Sakura trees and Zeref's grave. Natsu could easily tell that the message had been recorded a few months after his "getting sealed" stage, many of the guild members who had gone missing later on were there, such as Erza and Gray. Lucy was nowhere to be seen in the video.

"Natsu…" It was Laxus saying this "… If you are hearing this, it means that you are alive and that I'm happy for you. I wish you happiness for your journey to come, but it will not come early. I am sure you know how long you were stuck in that lacrima and already know that we are dead."

Natsu's heart dropped for the third time that day, and felt tears threaten to fall again as he looked at the lacrima in front of him. Cana, Levy, Gajeel, Elfman, Lisanna, Mira, Wendy, Romeo, Jellal, Erza, Juvia, Gray, Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, even Guildarts was there. Natsu noticed that Wendy was finishing up a spell and that in front of the Zeref's grave, Natsu's black haired brother appeared.

"Natsu, I know myself that you are an idiot and that experience is firsthand…" The guildmembers lightly laughed at that "… but even you are able to understand what happened. We wish to tell you our regrets and to tell you that we are always watching over you. I am sure you have noticed that two of your Guild members are missing but rest assured, if you are truly watching this now, it means that they are alive and well, even if you were to wake up five thousand years after X795. After you got sealed, Lucy ran to the Celestial Spirit King to see if they could help get you unsealed. It's impossible even for them. But even if they couldn't get you out, they could help you not be lonely. The Celestial Spirit King offered to make Lucy and Happy celestial spirits but, in order for that to happen, the magic requires that they cannot return to Earthland for the next one thousand years. The Fairy Tail Guild decided that this was for the best so they agreed to the plan. Fairy Tail as a whole were the ones to think of this Goodbye lacrima though." Zeref smiled.

"Natsu, I am truly sorry for what fate has fallen upon you. It may even be worse than my four hundred years of immorality. I believe... No... This is all my fault because I had wished to revive you four hundred years ago. This journey may be very hard for you but unlike me, you have your friends with you, walking along the same path, side by side, all the way to the destination. If Igneel was here, he would say that he is proud of you. I myself cannot think of a brother that I could love more than you, Natsu. Good luck," Zeref said before disappearing into the air.

Mavis in her ghost form also appeared. "I thank you Natsu, for I do not care how much property damage you have caused or how stubborn you may be, I even wish to thank you for dying because you brought me Zeref. Yet, I became cursed and so did he, but we will always forgive you. I had a lot of fun with the guild and you and with everyone else. I hope you and Lucy will have fun," Mavis said.

"Natsu nii-san, I really love you and I hope that you will have a fun time with Lucy and Happy in the future. You shouldn't worry about me because I already lived out my life to the fullest with Romeo and Carla," Wendy said with her long blue hair flowing behind her.

"Natsu-nii, I will always thank you and Lucy all those years ago when you went to save my father at Mt. Hakobe. I am also very sorry that while the seven year timeskip will only hurt a little, being not able to see everyone else ever again will hurt much more. I am also sure that my father and Wakaba are looking down at you from heaven. I promise to treat your sister well also. Make sure you live your life to the fullest also, Natsu-nii, and have fun!" Romeo finished.

Lisanna then said, "Natsu, I always thought of you as a brother to look up to, much like Elfman, one that would protect me and you always did, well... almost always... but you still saved me later. I am truly happy that you have Lucy to stay by your side and I believe that you are the best together. Make sure to take care of our child Happy when I'm gone also. Bye, Natsu."

Natsu then heard yelps in the streets and looked to the corner of the lacrima and was astounded when he saw the Magic Council. The Chairman of the council who wore a black shirt and black cloak walked up to the Fairy Tailers and asked, "Is this Natsu Dragneel's to the future lacrima?"

"Yes," Levy, the blunette, said.

The chairman of the council cleared his throat as he took out a piece of paper and walked up to the lacrima before saying.

"The 'MIA' Natsu Dragneel shall be recognized as the #3 Wizard Saint forever. He has done many great deeds to the country of Fiore but has caused much damage to it as well. On the reasons for this is 1) Lullaby being stopped 2) Tower of Heaven destroyed 3) Oracion Seis stopped 4) Galuna Island 5) Grimoire Heart stopped 6) The Infinity Clock stopped 7) Stopping the dragons at Crocus 8) Safety of the celestial spirits 9) Tartarus stopped 10) The Dark Wizard Zeref's death 11) Acnologia's death. The Magic Council would offer a higher status but because Natsu is 'MIA' and because of the massive amount of property damage caused by him, that cannot be done," The council man then took out a Wizards Saint coat. It was a very dark red, almost black in appearance coat with a brighter red number "3" in the middle back. On the bottom was the words "Wizard Saint" and it was a little lighter red at the bottom. It also had a high collar and had one sleeve. He then gave it to Laxus.

The guild was completely aghast but understood how much good he had done. After the Magic Council moved to the side a bit, leaving room for the Fairy Tailers, a few moments of silence occurred and people on the street started to gather around the park.

Levy broke the silence by saying, "Natsu, I may have never talked to you much but I have talked to Lucy. Let's just say she talked about you A LOT. "Natsu this Natsu that" was what I heard all day from her. I truly believe that you are the best together, though. And I hope that if you get into trouble in the future that you will protect Lucy and Happy. If you've done it in the past, you should be able to do it in the future, right? Promise to protect them?" Levy said.

"Promise," Natsu said, smiling.

"Flame-brain," Gajeel said, "I regret not having a last fight with you, my rival. But I am thankful that you brought me to the guild, to Levy. I wish I could punch you in the face right now for being so stupid and getting yourself stuck in that lacrima. Best wishes, idiot," Gajeel said while Pantherlily stood in his battle form, nodding his head.

"Natsu, I never saw you very much but when you saw me, those were my worst moments. I hope you realize that I am now a changed man. I will even be thanking you even if I am to be sent to Hell after this for knocking the sense into me after the Tower of Heaven. Crime Sorciere and I have taken out many Dark Guilds and the Council has found us out. But they believe that we are to help. They said they'd release us of our crimes if we continued defeating Dark Guilds and we continued. I now have no crimes tied to my name and I will take on your promise not to make Erza cry. I hope you will have a happy future Natsu," Jellal said.

"Natsu, I will punish you if you were to get stuck into another lacrima!" Erza said sternly. "Remember all of the punishments. But I also wish for you to hit me. I believe that I have failed you, and failed to stop your darkness like mine with Jellal. But I will not look at this day and weep because you are a Fairy Tail wizard and must look to the future like all of us. So good luck, Natsu," Erza said. "Oh wait! If I look down from Heaven and see you wasting a strawberry cheesecake, I WILL KILL YOU!" Erza said as she turned fierce and had a glare that could kill.

Natsu lightly laughed hearing that.

"Squinty eyes. The same with Gajeel. I believe you worthy to be my rival," Gray said while sneering. "But even if I don't want to admit it, I think of you as my brother and I would do anything for you. I wish we had a last rival fight but you can only run away from fate a few times and it looks like it has finally caught up to you. I am sure that all of us know that the guild will fall without you there but we already realized it and we know there is no way to fix it. Words of advice, Natsu, Don't be an idiot. Bye," Gray softly said.

Natsu took notice that many of the mages who had already said their speeches were softly crying, barely making a sound so that Natsu would be able to hear the other member's speeches.

"Juvia is sad that Non-love Rival and you will not be at the guild anymore. But Juvia is happy that because this lacrima got to you means that Lucy is alive and that you will be with her once more. Gray-sama expressed to me his sadness about losing you and it pains Juvia as well. Juvia wishes for you to look to the future as Juvia will as well," Juvia, the Rain Woman, said.

"Natsu, thanks for everything, you taught me how to handle a mass amount of property damage bills, how to never give up, and to know when to stop in a path and think 'Is this where I want to go.' I, We all know that you have a golden heart and nothing will ever change that. I am sure that this day will be the unannounced ending of Fairy Tail, an adventure that will never end, but even if the guild were to disband, your Fairy Tail marking will stay on your shoulder and your heart will stay the same. I wish that things could have turned out better, but fate did not choose it to do so," Laxus said.

"Since you will still have your mark, you will not be banished from Fairy Tail and will not need to do the ending ceremony, so I will also say my last words to you. Natsu, I admit that I was a selfish idiot back then before the seven year gap when I made the Battle of Fairy Tail during Fantasia. I wish to thank you and Gajeel for beating me to my senses when old man was dying. I will never regret coming to Tenrou Island and giving you my lightning. And I will never regret helping you out against Acnologia on Tenrou and after. Also I will never regret consuming the anti-magic particles during the fight against Tempester. I am sorry but we all must look to the future."

Laxus then put up his right hand and stuck out his pointer finger and thumb, making the symbol of Fairy Tail. The citizens on the streets around the Rainbow Sakura trees also put up their hand making the same symbol. Mavis, as well as the Magic Council did it too. While on the outside, Natsu was just barely holding onto his tears while sticking up his own Fairy Tail symbol.

"Congrats Natsu, now I will have to give this to Lucy so she can also give it to you also," Laxus said before walking up to the lacrima giving a large smile and shutting it off.

Natsu smiled and felt refreshed. He looked at the crystal for a few moments and saw another bright light. Following the bright light, he felt felt something on his shoulders akin to a lingering hand and a soft tail rubbing against his legs with a scent he hadn't smelled in years, Happy.

Another flash occurred which got rid of the touches, and Natsu stood up straight from his chair and took the Wizard Saint's coat off of his shoulders before tugging it on. He then grabbed the lacrima from his desk and put it on the center of his bookshelf for everyone to see. Natsu then calmly walked out of his classroom and strode the halls again, completely at peace.


Once again I despise OCs myself they will be gone in a few more chapters. Also sorry of OOCness the trio will still be lovable idiots.

YOU MAY BE THINKING THAT GRAY, GAJEEL AND A FEW OTHERS IN HERE ARE OOC IN THIS CHAPTER BUT THINK OF THIS... IF YOU WERE TO LIVE WITH THESE PEOPLE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND EVEN IF THEY DESPISED YOU, THEY WOULD STILL MISS YOU. THINK OF AQUARIUS DURING THE FIGHT AGAINST JACKAL. SHE SAID SHE HATED HER BUT WOULD STILL MISS HER. I am not screaming at you above. I put it in capitals for emphasis that it is important.

Or you may be thinking 'Wouldn't the other professors see the body in the Great Hall during meals?' Let me first say, Great question. but second, to explain why they didn't see the body is because all of the professors were on vacation. After the professors got back they asked about Natsu and the founders said that he was a new teacher. And that he is a ghost that died.

You may be wondering what about the magical signature and aura well even though Natsu hasn't used this magic much and the first time he did transfiguration magic or whatever (in the anime/ manga) he used up a lot of magical power but keep in mind that Natsu had 4 years after that training and regaining powers so Natsu literally has SOOO much magical power Natsu can keep his transformation up for about a day without resting. Let's just say in the months before the school opened Natsu practiced his transformation magic and now he is better at it.

Criticize me. Bye.