Heya! How are you guys doing? Sorry for not doing this sooner. I've FINALLY managed to get time to do this, and I hope you like this chapter!

Grey finished his story, with his hands hanging at his sides. "It's not Natsu's fault, really. I was stupid enough to stay caught in her trap. But that shouldn't be a problem now." Everyone's face, minus a few, darkened drastically. Lucy was the first to speak, in an uncharacteristically dark voice. "It doesn't matter about your mistakes..." Her began to get louder. "He made the fire that burned you and he should pay for that!" Cheers erupted from the crowd, as Happy, Gajeel, Levy, and Grey observed these actions with horrified looks. Gajeel began to doubt this new guild he thought bore the name of Fairy Tail. 'What the hell? Something is wrong here... At first I thought they were just angry, but this... This is more like raw bloodlust. Gajeel looked around, noting that he apparently wasn't the only person to believe the same. Happy had already fleww up to the second floor, tears streaming from his face. Looking at the crowd still chanting for Natsu's head, he turned around and left, but not before promising himself he'd find out what happened to everyone.

Meanwhile, Happy had been sobbing to himself in a room down the hall He never felt so torn. If he hated these people so much, why did he stay here? Noticing his absence, Mirajane tracked him down, with a warm bowl of salmon soup. Once she found him, she handed the bowl to him, making a quick comment consisting of a "This must be hard for you" sympathy. Once she left, he began picking the bowl up and drinking it's contents. He had finished a quarter of the bowl, when he put it down. He began to think to himself. 'Why is everyone like this? I don't know what to think about this... I just feel like I want to ...' Happy sat there, trying to piece together everything. 'Everyone is out for Natsu's head... this is scaring me.. But Natsu did burn Grey to a crisp.'

The look on Happy's face began to darken. 'That's right! How could I forget? Natsu burned Grey alive. Natsu was the one who did that. This HAS to be Natsu's fault! There's no oth-' He slapped himself, bringing him back to his senses. "No!" He yelled out loud. "Why am I thinking things like that! Of course it's not his fault!" Happy curled up into a ball, bringing his knees close to his face, which was full of shame. 'How could I even think such things? Natsu... This... You bastard! Why are you making me so sad? I hate-' Happy violently shook his head, getting those thoughts out. "Something's wrong..." He knew it. Something was off. He needed to find out what. This didn't make any sense. When did he start feeling so antagonistic to Natsu? Wasn't he supposed to be his friend?

Happy's mind raced for answers. Yes. Of course! There's no other reason! Fairy Tail would NEVER act like this on it's own! Makarov would have never disowned Natsu without that influence! Happy paced the floor, thinking his way through everything. The burning, the disownment, the savage group downstairs still yelling for Natsu's head (He'd rather ignore that fact for now), and then... His eyes focused on the soup bowl. He came up close to it, and smelled it. Nothing out of the ordinary. 'Better safe then sorry...' He picked up the bowl, and flew out the window with it in tow. He needed to see someone to get his answers.

The banquet the other three had prepared for Natsu's return was extravagant, to say the least. Rows of food lined the table, and it seemed that looking at the group's eating habits, it soon became obvious where Natsu learned his manners from. All of them practically inhaled whatever food they find, and even Lillim, who presented herself like the most sophisticated of ladies quickly dissolved that appearance the moment she sat down at the table. But judging from the looks of the other three, you'd probably expect that from them. Maziko looked like a lizard (he had a charm so that his body would augment to give that appearance), with scales lining his body, and a small, bony tail jutting out from the bottom of his shirt.

Natsu paused from his ravenous feasting, prompting the others to do so. They had a lot to ask him, what the outside world was like, what places did he see, the latest technology, strange phenomenons, all of which he answered to his best. He didn't hide back anything either. "So, Natsu, Did you find Igneel yet?" Lillim asked. She always had a sort of soft voice, even if she was angry. "No..." He answered. "I did my best, but it seems he just doesn't want to be found. But I did find others like me. There was one guy, Gajeel Redfox, he was an Iron Dragon Slayer-"

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall and very muscular. Black hair, red eyes, but he had so many piercings along his face, he kinda looked like one big pin-cushion."

"So did he eat Iron?" Maziko asked.

"Yeah, he ate a lot of it, too. I don't even think I had even SEEN him eat actual food before."

'Igneel...' Natsu thought. He always thought back to that time in the forest. He'd been searching for Igneel an entire week, roaming the forest he was raised in. That's when he met Ajax, his new Father. He snapped back to attention, looking back to the group of other older teens, wanting to ask more questions.

He believed that about an hour passed answering their questions, none of them letting up. HE told the stories of Fairy Tail, from the attack by Phantom Lord, Jellal's Return and Enslavement, and Even the contest between the mage guilds all across Fiore. He didn't hold any details out. Maziko began to chuckle, and told Natsu jokingly, "It really does sound like you walked straight from a Fairy Tale Book." Chuckling once again when he realized he made a pun inadvertently. Although Natsu didn't look it on the outside, he was drowning in his own fear. While he didn't fake the joy of being back with his old brothers and sister, he was dreading the moment when they would ask him why he came back. No sooner than he had thought of this, Lillim had asked that question.

'What do I say? Will they shun me? Will they hate me like the others did? What will they do?' His mind raced with questions, and the rest of the group noticed Natsu's hesitation, the room falling into an awkward silence. "Well..-"

"He got reckless with his powers, and nearly killed his own friend." Ajax walked into the room. "Isn't that right, Natsu? Why else would I tell you to only use magic as a last resort for guarding this place when you were a kid? To prevent stupid mistakes like that, that's why." Keeping his stone face on, he sat himself at an unoccupied seat on the rather large table. If the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop before, then after Ajax sat down, the merest thought of dust settling to the ground seemed sufficient enough to cause thundering echos. "I've told you time and time again not to ever do something like that. Fire is malleable in your hands, yes, but you never used your powers with any strategy, and that led to your downfall. Do you hear that, kids? He isn't here to be reunited with old family; He's here because he's trying to hide from everyone else."

Gorin stood up. "Ajax, that's enough. He's been in enough pain already. Just let him be."

"But why would I ever do that? And why are you defending him? He abandoned you, and forgot you somewhere along the way. Natsu stopped caring for you long ago."

"Shut up! Even if he wasn't here for us, it doesn't matter!"

Ajax raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really? Do tell me."

"Just because he's doing this for-"

Natsu had gotten sick of this stood straight up from his seat. "ENOUGH!" He held his head down, using his hair to hide his face. He faced Ajax, and bowed his head. "I'm sorry for inconveniencing you. I'll resume my guard duties as soon as you say so." Gorin cast a glare in Natsu's direction. He had just stood up for Natsu, and for what? This? Talk about ungrateful.

Ajax had ignored this. "Just turn into your room for now, it's left exactly how it was when you left." Natsu bowed, and hurriedly ran to his old room. Down the stone corridors, and finally running across the door he was looking for. Opening the door, he loooked at his door, overwhelmed by the memories that came flooding back. He began to walk around the room. Not much was in it, he never had any personal possessions. All there really was, was a large fireplace, a dresser, and a large bed. Not much else was there. But this placed looked like he hadn't left it for more than five minutes, everything was in pristine condition.

His legs felt like they were going to give out from under him. He felt like he was going to throw up. Everything in his body was in pain right now, but what hurt most of all was the fact that Ajax was right. The only reason he came back was to hide from the authorities. There was no other reason. How could he do that to his family? They're probably crushed, knowing that he never once did this for them. It was all for himself.

He couldn't take it anymore. Tears welling at his eyes, he fell onto the bed's pillow and started to cry. Even as the tears started to stream from his face, he focused his thoughts on stopping.'You idiot! What are you crying for? You're the one that hurt them!' Yet, it never worked. He sobbed into the pillow, not stopping until he fell asleep.

Happy finally reached his destination in the forest, the hollowed out tree that served as Porlyusica's home. Landing with the bowl in tow, he made sure not to spill any of its contents. Placing the bowl on the ground, he ran to the door. Knocking on the bottom of the door as furiously (his wings had just given out on him), he was greeted with a "Stop it! Go away, you know how much I hate humans!" Happy responded, "I'm not a human!" The door opened, to reveal the elderly healer inside. "What?" She asked him. He pointed to the bowl. "I think there's something wrong with it."

She gave an incredulous look. "Well, it is cold." He looked desperate. "NO! I mean there's something WRONG with it! I don't know what, though!" She noticed Happy's state of being. He looked much for the worst, probably because he used all of his energy flying his way here. His legs were trembling, and he had large bags under his eyes. "Cat, did you just not get enough sleep last night? It's just a bowl of soup." Happy bit his upper lip in frustration. "No! Just look at it, or something! I think there's something seriously wrong with the food at Fairy Tail!"

She sighed and closed her eyes. Walking over, she picked up the bowl. "Fine. For your sake. But go home."

Happy yelled. "No! I will not go home until you finish examining it."

"...Fine. Suit yourself."

It was bright and sunny the next day.

Natsu hated that.

'Why does today of all days have to feel like this?' He was assigned to guard duty. Even though it wasn't as often as a couple years ago, people seemed to always have a death threat for Ajax. He was a very successful businessman, but Natsu felt like he screwed his clients and investors over just a little too often. But then again, Ajax then wouldn't have had a reason to adopt him, and Natsu might have still been stuck in the forest, even today.

He still remembered the rules of guard duty by heart.

'1. Never attack to kill. Always give the option of turning around for the intruder.
2. If intruder refuses to retreat, subdue for capture.
3. If subdued, feel free to interrogate. Using physical attacks are permitted during this event, but don't go overboard.
4. Only if the intruder uses deadly force on your or another guard with intent to kill, is attacking to kill permitted.
5. If intruder requests an audience with Ajax, you are to disarm him of any potential weapons, and escort him to the Lobby.
6. Never use magic unless it is a last resort. All magic is disabled in this area unless a such condition is met.'

He never really forgot those rules,and Ajax was a master rune-writer (perhaps that's why he was a master businessman, he was always able to write the rules), and because of that, Ajax made sure that these rules were set in stone. He walked out into the forest. After walking out for about a mile, he jumped into one of the trees. I served as a double-advantage to do so. Not only could he see the enemy better (and him being hidden better), but he also could travel faster than on the ground. He hopped around the branches, and began his path in a circular motion around the fort.

Gorin grumbled to himself, still mad over the events of last night. He still had to guard the courtyard today, but this time, he had Lillim to keep him company, now that Natsu was back, they were allowed to have an extra person back at the home. Lillim had noticed his anger, and jumped down from the roof, white hair flowing, and landing on the ground in front of Gorin with a ballerina's pose. She looked at him with her deep purple eyes and asked him, "Are you angry at Natsu?"

He sighed. "Yes... I mean, I defended him and all, and he just ignored it all." Lillim looked down, and replied in her soft voice, "You can't really blame him..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's been through quite a lot, and you and Ajax pretty much threw him in the spotlight with your argument, and couldn't stand that. Despite how you went on to say that it didn't matter why he came here-"

"Which is true." Gorin added. "As log as he's here, I'm fine."

"...But you made him feel shameful when you said that. He's always been one to put other's feelings before his, and after Ajax had oh-so-wonderfully pointed that out to Natsu, he was ashamed that he did this for his own personal gain. He was considering our feelings the whole time, and he couldn't stand that."

Gorin looked down at the ground. "...I never thought of that..."

"... I heard him crying last night." Lillim said quietly. She couldn't stand that, but going in his to console him might have caused more damage than good. It's almost never a good thing to console someone else for a problem that only involved that one person. "Really, the only good thing we can do now is to just treat him like normally. He's a brother to all of us, and that's exactly the way we should treat him." Lillim always knew how to help solve these problems, and Gorin agreed.

Even though they were all adopted, they all had something to be grateful for Natsu. After all, Ajax had adopted the other three as children after Natsu was found. They were all taken to this house for their magical abilities, and their physical abilities, and even if they had to guard this place, it was still worlds better than the orphanage they were found in. It really wasn't Natsu's direct actions, but he was the first domino in this chain of events, and even though it rarely ever said, all four teens living in this estate had been grateful for Ajax's offering of shelter and food, (even though they had to constantly guard it from the many political powers that wanted his head) despite his extreme cold-heartedness.

Porlyusica lit a fire underneath the soup. Holding a piece of cloth against her mouth and nose (for safety reasons, of course), she added chemicals to the fire itself, as the flame grew hotter. The soup began to boil furiously, and she opened the window to let the evaporated water out. Eventually, all of the water had came out of the soup, leaving some bits of salmon and some of the fish oils left behind. Being careful not to burn herself from the flame still burning, she lifted the bowl, and scraped the contents into a glass container, making sure to scrape it with a spoon, not getting any on her skin.

She poured water into the container. She took out a small vial of clear liquid as she watched all the ingredients float to the top of the water. She poured some of the vial's contents into the container, and watched in shock as she saw particles fall to the bottom, looking very shiny, but still too small to say what they were. "Well, you'd never guess that cat was right..." Using the spoon once again to scoop the fish ingredients from the top of the container, she picked the container up once again, and placed it over the fire. As the fire boiled the water, the particles grouped together as they formed a small crystal, once the fire had evaporated the water once again.

"Cat!" She yelled, "Get in here immediately!" Happy rushed into the door, and ran to the healer. He was very anxious to see what she had to say. She showed him the crystal. "You were right. They had put a lacrima in the food-" She was cut off by her own scream as the lacrima she was holding in her hand burst into flames and exploded. She dropped the crystal. She looked at Happy, who was curled into a ball, and was leaking smoke from every hole on his face. He released a cry of agony, and passed out, as smoke was still being released from his body.

Well, there you have it! And before you all try to maul me for putting such a horrible to the end of the chapter, I would like to say that I should be quicker in releasing the next chapter, now that I have most of my school work out of the way (I'm in IB). Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment telling me what you thought! Also, I'm planning on writing a fic for Skyrim, tell me if you'd like to see that!