IX

The days became weeks and then months before Igneel had felt as if he'd even blinked. Just as he'd hoped, Natsu was able to repair his heart from Lisanna's death, just as he had when his father had disappeared. Igneel was deeply relieved, and as things began to calm down again, he was able to once again focus his energy on suppressing the slaying magic, instead of worrying night and day about Natsu's well-being.

One unfortunate outcome of Lisanna's death however, was the fact that Natsu had regained a newfound sense of determination in finding Igneel. Of course, he would never find him, and Igneel found himself huffing in frustration as Natsu set off yet again after a small tidbit of information from some other town that said they'd seen Igneel somewhere. And with little surprise, all of those leads were dead ends.

But there were far worse things that Natsu could be doing, Igneel supposed. And the boy didn't become discouraged in the least even when he didn't find any trace of his father.

And so the day that Natsu wholeheartedly ran off after another lead, saying Igneel was in some port town, the dragon didn't think anything of it. He shook his head as Natsu missed his stop and the train kept going, his son's motion sickness flaring up again as Happy stood on the boarding platform wide-eyed and shocked. No, he didn't think anything of that day.

He didn't think anything of it when Natsu eventually found his way back, and joined with Happy again to go searching for "Salamander". He didn't think anything at all of when Natsu went rampaging into a crowd of crazed girls all claiming to want Salamander's signature.

Of course, the Salamander was a fake. Some mage trying to grab some short-lived fame and attention. Igneel looked forward to the day when Natsu actually began embracing the nickname Salamander for himself; perhaps then less people would give his son false hope in finding his long-lost dragon.

No, Igneel didn't think anything of that day, even letting a yawn escape from his mouth as the crowd dispersed and a hand from a quite beautiful blonde woman reached out to him. That was, until Natsu's eyes made it to hers, and Igneel felt something he was absolutely positive he'd never feel in Natsu. The entire world shook for a moment, Natsu feeling as if he'd hit a brick wall and reverberations from the sudden pounding of his heart startling Igneel at first. That was, until realization dawned upon the dragon.

Yes, Igneel had touched briefly on mates with Natsu as a child. However, the hot-headed and battle-crazed son of his wanted nothing to do with it. He'd said, "gross", and that he wasn't interested in learning about girls. Instead, he should teach him a new spell. Oh yes, Natsu had scoffed at the prospect of mates, and yet here he was, not even fully done growing and he'd found his.

Natsu's heart beat one last pounding time before seemingly stopping, and Igneel felt the chemicals associated only with a dragon's mate working in his son's brain.

When a dragon found their mate, it wasn't something anyone could see. Nothing happened on the outside, but it was unmistakable from the inside. That was, unmistakable for any dragon, or any dragon slayer who'd actually listened to his father about such things.

Of course, Natsu didn't fall into any of those categories. And so, as Natsu introduced himself to the girl who said her name was Lucy, a profound sense of confusion took ahold of his son. Natsu had felt it. He'd felt that initial hold in his brain when he looked at her, and he'd felt the wave of fire that signaled he'd found the one. However, he had no idea what in the world it meant.

Even as the girl offered him lunch, he had no idea what on Earthland he was feeling, and Igneel couldn't help his initial wanting to bang his head against the wall of his son's consciousness. Because this sort of relationship was one Igneel doubted Natsu could learn. Although, he hoped, truly hoped, he would be proved wrong.

No, Igneel thought nothing of the day when Natsu went to find his father yet again. But in the end, it had been a turning point. Not only had Natsu found his mate –even if he didn't realize it yet- but it was the beginning of a new chapter. A new story for his son which would take him on all sorts of adventures the boy was definitely not prepared for.

And we've officially made it to the beginning of the manga/anime! This one is definitely the longest so far, and they'll probably be more around this length from now on. I'm excited to start with the actual happenings in canon! And yes, Lucy is Natsu's mate. Shipping won't really take much part in this story, however I figured that it was important enough to at least be mentioned. And of course Lucy'll stick around and Natsu's confusion will change. XD

Sorry for the long absence from this story! Weekly updates from now on hopefully! I'd also love to hear what you thought! I'm absolutely adoring the reviews; it's always lovely to see how other people see moments in canon! :D

~Foxtail-chan