Hello once again readers, you are now reading chapter 17 to Only Time Can Heal A Dragons Heart. I am now writing this chapter for the second time because on the first go I was almost finished, but then fuck, the next day I had to restart my computer because it wouldn't turn on and there wasn't a save for the chapter. I guess its for the best, I wasn't too happy with the entirety of the chapter, but I was almost fucking done, that is why this chapter will take longer than the few days I promised to a few people. But now, this chapter is way fucking different than what i originally had, not a single thing is the same. Originally I had them going to destroy a group of bandits that had taken residence in the arena and then Natsu goes to the back to Fairy Tail specifically to talk to Wendy and Gajeel, I'd like that to happen in the next chapter of T+D, which I will make extra super long, expanding over several non-canon events that I have planned, so look forward to it.

Also, since people have been asking when the Tenrou Arc is coming, I can happily say that it will come the after the chapter after this one. So it will be chapter 19. Also, soon, I will start working on the final chapter for Fire Dragons Mountain, I have no idea how long it will be, I just want it finished and done with so I can move on and come out with a new story since I set four at a time as my limit. But then again, I never did like limitations.

Last thing, I am pretty sure that I would like Nova to not talk, maybe advance communication. I would rather Nova be a loyal pet that stands by the side of his owner till the end. The part of the talking animalistic friend can be left to Happy. Give me your opinion on the matter, see if you can change my mind

"Speech"

"Thoughts"

I don't own Fairy Tail but I do own my original story/plot and my OC's


Chapter 17: Nova

Natsu opened his eyes and was met with the familiar feeling of sharing his bed with Ultear, she was wrapped in his arms and was still fast asleep. It had been about a week since she revealed the fact that she was pregnant and Natsu couldn't be happier, honestly, it had been his dream to have a family, he had always wanted a child of his own. Natsu had grown up with no-one, except Igneel of course, then he found Fairy Tail, but that only filled the hole for a short time. And when Ultear told him she was pregnant, images of him and her raising that child filled his mind, him passing down his magic or her passing down hers. And then Images of that child growing strong, finding a purpose in life, even images of Natsu fighting side by side with his child. It was too early to know the gender of the child, but Natsu didn't care, no matter what the gender was he wouldn't love it any less.

Natsu deftly slipped out of bed without waking her, he had a mission to do with Keiron today.

Natsu put on his clothes and armor while strapping his dual swords to the back of his waist. Then he motioned for Nova to join him which the little dragon responded to by jumping to his shoulder aided by a flap of his wings and landed there still without a sound. Natsu slipped quietly out of the room and made his way to the guild hall where he found Keiron saying goodbye to Keina, he gave her a hug and then a kiss before walking over to him. Not long after Keiron had rid himself of his curse did he ask Keina to be his girlfriend and she said yes immediately, and when I say immediately, I mean immediately, without hesitation, right after he finished the sentence. And they always looked so happy.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah"

"Alright then, lead the way to the portal Kei"

As they made their way to the portal, Natsu wondered what mission Keiron had picked. Keiron never told Natsu what mission he had accepted, normally Natsu would have asked before accepting, but he trusted Keiron to not have chosen a lame mission.

When they reached the portal, Keiron gave the command followed by a town name that Natsu had never heard of. As they stepped through, Natsu could feel that the air on the other side of the portal was very hot, like volcano hot.

"Keiron?"

"Yeah what is it?"

"What exactly is out mission"

"We're supposed to kill a monster that's taking refuge in a volcano"

"Sounds good, but one thing, will you be alright?"

"Yeah, I had one of our mages cast a heat protection spell on me"

"Oh, well alright then" Natsu said, now satisfied, and stepped through.

When they emerged from the portal, they emerged into a town that looked like any old regular town, except for a few things, it was right next to a rather large volcano, and there was ash fucking everywhere, on the roofs of the buildings, covering the ground, hell, Natsu was pretty sure there was ash even in the building materials. Well, it was just like Feiron.

"So what now?" Natsu asked Keiron.

"The request said to deal with the monster immediately, and then come to the mayor with proof of its death"

"Sounds good" Natsu replied and took the lead up the volcano.

As they walked through the town, Natsu noticed a distinct lack of villagers, hell there wasn't a soul here, he couldn't even hear them, he couldn't even try to smell through the scent of ash that filled the air. But Natsu just attributed it to them fleeing the monster.

"Natsu" Keiron called to him.

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed how there aren't any villagers in this town?"

"Yeah, but they probably just fled the town trying to escape the monster"

"That's what I would think, but look around, there isn't a single footprint in the ash or any other signs that this place is inhabited by people"

"Maybe they didn't flee recently, the ash would have covered their tracks anyway"

Keiron continued walking but his face changed implying that he was in thought.

Natsu just continued his way up the side of the volcano, luckily it wasn't too steep, but it was getting steeper.

Soon Natsu had to use his hands as the hike turned into a climb, as he looked behind/below him, Keiron was still in thought but was more aware of his surroundings.

As they were getting near the top, Natsu could feel the heat diminishing, he had no clue why. But the heat was definitely getting less intense, once again, looking back at Keiron, he hadn't seemed to notice.


Once they reached the summit of the volcano, and Natsu could see into the volcano, what he saw surprised him, a large bright yellow flaming yellow creature was resting inside, but it seemed to be commpletly made out of fire. (A/N Think Atlas Flame) But what Natsu noticed, is that it seemed to be drawing all of the heat into it's body, as if to maintain its temperature.

As Keiron caught up and could see the creature as well, he was finally brought out of his thoughts.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Keiron asked.

"I think it's a drake"

"Drake, you mean like Nova?"

"Yeah, I can tell its not a dragon, for one, its too small, dragons are very large, and It's not giving of Dragon Vibes"

"Dragon Vibes?" Keiron asked, almost laughing at the stupidity of that.

"Yeah, you heard me, it's like, whenever your in the presence of a dragon, It gives off an aura of intimidation, and it feels like its very nature demands respect, this creature, doesn't."

Then before Keiron could respond, Natsu jumped down onto the small platform of solidified volcanic rock that the creature was resting on.

Now that Natsu was close, he could see that the creature looked weak, as if desperately hanging on to life.

"Excuse me?" Natsu said aloud, causing the creature to sluggishly turn its head towards him.

"Are you here to slay me human?" the creature asked.

"I don't think so"

"If that is so, then leave, I wish to die without the intervention of any humans"

"You're dying?"

"Yes, I have reached the end of my life"

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, foolish human, I am not dying of any illness, I am dying of old age"

"I was unaware that drakes could die of old age"

"I am impressed that you know that I am a drake"

"Well, I'm not exactly human"

"Well you sure look like it"

"I'm half Drakogan, a species of Dragon People, and I am the Grandson of King Igneel"

As Natsu said this, the things that Natsu could only guess were his eyes widened in surprise.

"King Igneel? Well then, It is an honor to meet you, Grandson Of Igneel"

"The honor is mine"

"Now then, why exactly are you here?"

"Well, you see, someone hired my guild to come and slay the creature that has taken refuge inside this volcano"

"But your not here to do that are you?"

"No, I don't really know why I'm here anymore, I feel like that request was fake"

"Perhaps then, It is fate that we meet here"

"What do you mean?"

"That youngling on your shoulder, is it perhaps a Solar Drake?" the old drake asked, referring to Nova.

"Yeah, I believe so" Natsu answered, looking over at Nova, Natsu remembered when he had summoned Nova, and how Durak had told him how Nova was a Solar Drake.

"Then it is indeed fate that brought us together, It would seem that fate is not quite yet done with me for I am also a Solar Drake, even though my body is different from that of your friend there"

"What does fate have to do with this?" Natsu questioned

"There is a process, that the oldest drakes know, to pass their power and knowledge on to a youngling, to make an even greater Drake than the elder had been or the youngling could have ever been." The old drake explained.

"But I'm not sure that what you say will work, Nova isn't exactly a normal Drake. You see, I summoned him as a familiar, so he's connected to my soul."

"Just because he is a familiar doesn't mean he isn't a real Drake, and the connection between you two will only strengthen your power"

Once again Natsu looked over at Nova and said Drake looked away from the old Drake that seemed to captivate his attention and looked at Natsu.

"So what do you think Nova, wanna give it a try?" Natsu asked his little friend.

Nova just purred a little and nodded.

"Well then, how do we do it?"

"Place him in front of me, I only hope that I have enough strength for this"

As Natsu placed Nova in front of the man, he looked above him and saw Keiron in a ready position, in case this went bad.

"Damn!" the old Drake grunted.

"What is it?"

"I am too weak, If only you had gotten here sooner"

"How long have you been here?"

"In human time, 3 months"

"Speaking of that, when was the last time you saw any humans in the village down there?"

"There weren't any when I first came here, It is tradition for a Solar Drake to find the biggest source of heat possible and stay there until death"

"Hold on, If I give you some of the hottest fire I can, do you think it will give you enough strength?"

"If you could create a flame hot enough sure, but it would be quite difficult" the old Drake responded, but Natsu only cracked a smile.

"Well then, let's give it a try shall we" Natsu said before he extend his hand in the direction of the Old Drake.

Natsu focused on drawing directly upon the power inside the soul Igneel gave him, pulling out the heat it gave out and focusing it into his palm.

When Natsu looked, a bright orange flame hovered a few inches away from his hands.

"Not hot enough"

"FIRE DRAGON'S FORM: DRAKOGAN TRANSFORMATION!" Natsu shouted, taking on his Drakogan persona, and instantly, the heat of the flame in his hand intensified 10 fold, turning blue, and then a bright gleaming yellow, matching the color of the solar drake in front of him.

"I can't believe it, even for someone who is related to King Igneel, creating a flame as hot as the body of a Solar Drake is amazing. You are truly amazing Grandson of Igneel"

"Please, call me Natsu" he told him while flashing a grin.

"Place the flame into my body, Natsu"

Natsu did as he said and pressed the flame into the body of the drake, even adding a bit more energy just in-case.

Instantly the body of the Drake heated up exponentially, but Natsu could tell it was fading, however slowly.

"Before you go, tell me your name"

"Well, soon I will be known as Nova, he will remain in control over our body, but right now, my name is Nethrok, servant of Atlas Flame, who is indeed a great Dragon, almost as great as Igneel, now then, It was truly an honor to meet you Natsu"

"The honor was mine, I'm glad to have met you Nethrok, I wish we could have been friends" Natsu replied, putting on a friendly smile

Nethrok put on a flaming smile matching Natsu's.

"SOLAR FUSION!" Nethrok shouted, covering both him, and Nova in a extremely intense flame, Natsu couldn't even make out their forms any longer, then the flame expanded to several times its original size, Natsu had to jump back to avoid it, he was at the edge of the platform they were on when the flames started to recede, then in a flash of light, the flames were gone, leaving a several times larger Nova who was now standing at, from ground to head, standing at about 4 feet. His eyes had changed from red to a bright yellow. The tips of the spike like appendages running down his back and tail turned to a glowing yellow.

Natsu walked up to him and raised a hand towards him slowing his approach.

"Nova?" Natsu asked, the now larger Drake gave a happy growl and leaned into his hand, causing Natsu to smile.

"You look good Nova, now c'mon, lets get out of here"


Natsu managed to climb out of the volcano while Nova simply flew to the top.

As Natsu finished his climb and arrived at the top, he could see Keiron inspecting Nova thoroughly.

"Having fun there?" Natsu asked.

"I'm just inspecting him, he seems to be not just increased in size, but he's matured, its as if in those seconds that he was transforming, he was aging."

"Interesting, you seem to know a lot about animals"

"Well like most people, I know next to nothing about Dragons or Drakes, but I do know about most species, my parents were Zoologists. Who did you think handles and trains the guilds animals?"

"Really?"

"Yep, all me!" Keiron said proudly.

"Well then, what do you think about helping me train him?"

"Well if you hadn't asked me then I would have asked you, It would be a valuable experience"

"I guess so. Hey, do you think the Master Hades will give me a bigger room?"

"What for?"

"Well I'll need a bigger one for Nova, If he stayed with us in the one we currently have, no only would it be boiling hot, but It would be cramped as well"

"Well, you'll have to ask him about it"

"Whatever"

"So who do you think it was that sent that request?"

"No idea, the reason that there was a portal there is the question that i want answered"

'Both would be me' said Durak inside Natsu's head.

'What for?'

'For the reasons of what happened today, I'll tell you why exactly during our next training session'

'If you say so'

"Well, whoever it was, we can thank them for what happened today" Natsu said whimsically, even though he knew that it was just Durak.

"Yeah" Keiron said.

"Hey, how long did Keina think we were going to be gone?"

"A few days, at the longest?"

"Well, we've been here for about a day, what do you say to doing a little something else?"

"Like what?"

"Let's just say that I know a few powerful beast Id like for you to encounter" Natsu said, his voice laced with hidden meanings, Keiron had no Idea what he was talking about.

"Well, I hope it's worth it"

"Oh trust me, it will be"


There you have it, another great chapter of T+D, I even gave you a little foreshadowing to the next chapter. If you have any questions/suggestions/advice/tips, just leave them in a review or in a PM, Id be happy to read your reviews and read and respond to your PM's. That's all for now, until next time, Windbear.