Last Week Wednesday - 3RD PERSON POV

Natsu stood on the balcony, taking in a long puff from his cigarette. It was a peaceful night where the moon was brilliant and illumed the area around him, he had driven to Gildarts home which was far different than the one they were used to as kids so Lisanna wanted to see it. Natsu was casually waiting for Gildarts to come back to him since he said he had something for the pinkette.

"I thought you quit smoking?" Lisanna asked as she opened the door that leads to the balcony.

"Meh, for a while but lately I've needed a smoke break here and there,"

"Mmm," Lisanna let out a yawn as she rubbed her stomach, "I haven't eaten like that in a while. I might have to make you my personal chef, Natsu,"

"I don't have the time for that," Natsu said sternly as he brought the cigarette to his lips once more.

"Come onnnnn, I'll pay you," She whined but Natsu continued to refuse.

Lisanna moped as she sat down on one of the wooden chairs that were on the balcony.

The two stayed in silence as the calm wind brushed past us, it was a cool night and Natsu enjoyed nights like these, especially in a neighbourhood that had a low crime rate. According to Gildarts, he just couldn't handle living with the ruffians back at his old place, but Natsu and Lisanna both know that the reason he moved here was to sleep with the lonely mothers in this area.

"Natsu," Lisanna said the pinkette's name out of the blue.

Natsu turned towards her, "What?"

"Something is going on between you and Lucy, isn't it?" She asked with a cheeky grin.

Natsu raised a brow, "Are you still on this?"

"Please, Natsu, you two were doing something before Gildarts and I came with the table and chairs," Lisanna asked again, "Lucy's face was super red, it looked like you two were in the middle of making out,"

Natsu looked ahead, "What does it matter?"

"I mean, I just want to make sure you aren't pulling a Loke card right now. Sleeping around here and there especially if you're colleagues, I don't think it's a good idea," Lisanna leaned back into the chair, "Women don't like their hearts being played with,"

"You don't have to worry about anything because Lucy and I only share a friendship. Like come on, it's only been two days since we became friends, there has to be a process-."

"This isn't a romance book or a fairy tale, Natsu. I thought you learned this from your experience with Cana," Lisanna sighed.

Natsu tutted, "My time with Cana wasn't that bad,"

"Yeah, getting you in debt, spending all your savings on booze and drugs was a spectacular time right," Lisanna replied with a sarcastic laugh.

"Not seeing your point here..." Natsu raised a brow.

"All I'm saying is if something is going on between you and Lucy, then let it happen." She said, crossing her legs as she stretched her arms behind her head, "Why wait?"

Natsu let out a sigh.

He's been juggling work and life that he hasn't addressed the advancements that Lucy was making, it would be a lie if he said he didn't notice it, but it was something that brought about no concern since they had just started being friends.

Natsu turned to Lisanna whilst holding his cigarette up, "Say Lucy and I were to embark on such an adventure, shouldn't I take her on dates? Like to a park lunch, restaurant lunch, or-."

"BOOOOOORRRRRRRINNNNGGGGGG!" Lisanna groaned

"How is that boring?" Natsu grimaced.

"She's right, Natsu, it seems you're still green. You are making the same mistake you did with Cana, and that's because you STILL don't understand women," Gildarts said with his arms folded as he leaned on the sliding door, "In your day and age, women aren't looking for a man with chivalry who comes knocking everything down with a fiery will or a guy who brings flowers to her door,"

"We just want a guy who isn't... you know... boring," Lisanna added before continuing," I know you're the most depressed guy I've ever met with a never-ending passion for work and you always avoid breaks because you think it makes you look weak, so to avoid stress, you could..." Lisanna trailed off.

"I could, what?" Natsu asked with curiosity.

"Let loose with Lushee~." Gildarts ended.

Natsu brought a hand to his face, "For goodness sake-!"

"HEAR ME OUT! Not only that, if you two start letting loose with one another, you'll get to know each other way better than you did before," Gildarts leaned off the door, "Let's be honest, not many women are looking for a guy with a good personality... especially when he's a boring man, Natsu. You could have all the good looks in the world but if you are as boring as watching a pretzel-looking dude put up wallpaper, then you are in for a loss,"

Natsu squinted his eyes at him, "That was low,"

"And also accurate, haha! If little Lushee wants to suck your soul out through your dick, then let it happen, Natsu," Gildarts laughed, "You are young, let loose in awhile,"

Natsu crushed the cigarette and flicked it to the ground below him, "It's so uncomfortable when you talk about my colleague like that-,"

"You hear that, Lisanna?" Gildarts turned to the silver-haired woman with stars in his eyes.

"My colleague. His colleague. He's claiming her!" Lisanna squealed alongside Gildarts.

Natsu kissed his teeth as he thought to himself, "Well, there's no point trying to do anything since she already confessed to me. I just need to think before I tell her my answer which would probably be a fat NO,"

"Pondering hard there, kid. You can think about that later though," Gildarts said as he held up a sort of rag in the air, "I finally found what I was looking for,"

"What the hell?" Natsu groaned.

"Eww, what is that?" Lisanna made a disgusted face as Gildarts held up a long piece of cloth with beer and food stains on them.

"What do you mean, it's the scarf," Gildarts tried handing Natsu what seemed to be his 'most prized possession',

His Scarf.

It was a comfortable, plushie-like, white scarf that Mrs Dragneel made for Natsu on his 6th birthday. It was also the last thing his mother had made him and the only thing that was materialistic for him to remember her by, it's so precious to the salmon-haired young man that he used it as a way of showing love to others so mistakenly, he gave it to Cana when they were dating to show his love for her but after their breakup, she kept it and refused to give it back.

And well, look at it now.

A piece of cloth that is used to iron clothes hold beers and snacks or even used as a cum rag. It was in such a disgusting state that Natsu could barely even recognise it anymore, much less want to touch it.

Natsu shook his head, "You know what, you can keep it,"

"I second that, that thing is disgusting," Lisanna added.

"Aww come on, you can still use it," Gildarts pressed on as he threw it towards Lisanna. She squealed as it went over her head, and fell on the armrest of the chair she was sitting on.

She stood up from the chair and shivered, "That is so gross!"

Natsu looked back at the scarf on the chair and squinted his eyes at it, and noticed that it had initials on it, which his scarf has never had.

"That isn't my scarf, old man,"

"It isn't?" He said as he walked over to the other side of his couch and picked up the scarf.

Natsu shook his head.

His phone began vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out to see who it was.

Natsu let out a low sigh that caught the attention of the two, he tapped on the green call button and raised the device to his ear, "Hello,"

"Is this Natsu Dragneel speaking?" A calm female voice said on the other side of the phone.

Natsu was surprised that a woman was answering the phone and stood up straight to hear what she had to say, "Yes, this is Natsu Dragneel,"

"Good evening Natsu, I'm assuming you got our email earlier today," She said.

"Yes, yes, I received it,"

She hesitated to speak, and Natsu almost believed that the line had gone dead, but then she spoke up again, "I'm sorry to inform you but the situation has changed and... I suggest you come in to see him,"

Natsu tightened his grip around his phone, "I see, thank you for notifying me, I'll be there tomorrow afternoon,"

"Okay, safe travels Mr Dragneel," She politely said to him.

"Thank you," Natsu ended the call, returned the phone to his pocket and let out a sigh as he brought my hand to my face.

Lisanna gently rubbed the pinkette on the back, "Was that from the hospital?"

"No... it was from work," Natsu lied, he straightened up and smiled, "I gotta get home now, I'll see you guys soon,"

Lisanna and Gildarts watched his retreating back and frowned as the pinkette went downstairs and the sound of the door shutting was heard.

"He sure is a busy young man, isn't he," Gildarts sighed as he glanced over at Lisanna, "Almost reminds me of his father,"

"Yeah," Lisanna said as she turned to Gildarts, "Uncle Gildarts can I sleep here for tonight?"

"Sure, Lisanna!" Gildarts replied happily.

It only took only 15 minutes by bus for Natsu to return to his apartment building, he stuck his key sluggishly in the keyhole and turned it. Natsu stepped into his home and immediately slammed the door behind him, he didn't bother turning on the lights and leaned back on his door.

He slid down to the ground and brought his hand to his face, "Keep it together, just this over and done with,"

Thursday - 2 PM

Natsu stepped out of the car with his usual scowl and appeared in a different attire this time around. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a white tee, slim blue jeans, and white sneakers. His hair was neatly combed but still scruffy here and there, he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and made his way into the Culver City Hospital that was located in South California.

"Thanks for the ride guys, tell Romeo I'll drop by sometime to say Hi," Natsu looked back at Macao and Wakaba, two old-timers who used to hang about their local tavern in the old neighbourhood Natsu lived in with his family.

"Any time, Natsu!" Wakaba grinned as he wound down the window, letting out a cloud of smoke from his pipe.

"Make sure you come to drink with us when you stop by," Macao rested his left wrist on the steering wheel and he grinned at the pinkette who just looked back at them with a nod.

Then, they took off, joining in with the traffic further down the road. Natsu looked back up at the hospital building and made his way to the entrance, upon entering, he made his way to the receptionist at the desk and confirmed the information they requested and made his way to the fourth floor where he stood before a doctor who was just coming out of the room.

"Ah, Mr Dragneel! So glad you made it," The Doctor said as he held his checkboard under his arm.

"How is he?" Natsu asked, not beating around the bush with pointless conversation.

"Hmmm, not so good. It reached a point where we could no longer save him and his last wish was to speak with you. Hence why we called you in on such short notice," The Doctor told the pinkette who just look down at his feet.

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder, "I won't take up any more of your time,"

Then the doctor left, leaving the pinkette facing the door.

Natsu let out a long sigh.

He pushed it gently and made his way in, closing the door silently behind him. And there he saw the weakened state of his Father, the man that brought him up in the world.

"Dad-," Natsu whispered. He felt as if his soul stopped him from saying it any louder and pulled back at the words that left his mouth.

Natsu had not seen his father in years after admitting him to the hospital and with somebody that was like his dad, he didn't expect him to look extremely weak. Even though the two had hardships in their relationship, Natsu had always seen his father as a pillar, a mountain that no one could move or get around, but it seemed like the strength of cancer had gotten to him.

The weakened man took a deep breath in and opened his frail eyes, even though weak, he still managed to curve his brows in a strong yet intimidating frown, "... Even in my... final moments, you look at me... like that...?"

Natsu felt uncomfortable where he stood, "Sorry, Da-."

"Have some... FUCKING... respect, kid," His father sat up slowly and weakly pulled the duvet back to sit up

"Sorry Sir," Natsu corrected himself, he could feel every ounce of pride fill him up at this moment. But this wasn't a normal day at the office where Natsu was having battling stares with Erza, this was his father.

Igneel Dragneel.

A fierce man who has been having conflicts with mentality issues, cancer, and his own flesh and blood, Natsu. Igneel was just like Natsu, except he was far more brutal in his ways of things, even when taking on a hauling job, he would go to the oil rig sites on weekends and work throughout the days then get back on the road to haul again.

The two were the same:

Prideful.

Straightforward.

Ferocious.

Strong.

Goal-oriented.

This was the human male that taught Natsu how a man should be, how a man should think, and how to ignore the outside world.

Much of that didn't have to be taught because Natsu had already inherited it from his father. The two were much alike but they shared terrifying events that created a wedge between the two and even at this moment...

This one moment...

The two couldn't stand each other's presence.

"Dammit... Let's not beat around the bush here," Igneel hissed as he sat up, clutching his side, "I'm dying, as you can tell, the surgery wasn't enough and has pretty much led me to spend my last moments in this bed,"

Natsu remained quiet with his arms at his side. Igneel pointed at the chair beside him and ordered him to sit down which the pinkette obeyed and sat down. The two shared an awkward, silent, glaring moment.

Then Igneel began to speak, "The month of July, the best month of my entire life, it was the month I met your mother after my service in the Marines. She was working in a bar that I would visit now and then during the long haul I took after service, I would walk into that rundown place with rundown weaklings around me, groaning from their easy labour, and then I would sit at a table and there she was, her long rough yet kept-in-order salmon hair, falling to the middle of her back, she was tired but I could see it in her eyes that she wouldn't let that bother her. She served me all sorts of meals, and no matter what it was, she made it great, all her love was put into every dish she made. And I asked her, 'Why don't you become a chef?' and she responded with a smile, and that she wasn't in the right place of support to do so. I saw promise in her and helped support her, she had ambition, drive, and a golden heart. A heart that deserved much more than to feed the mouths of these stressed males in a rundown bar, she deserved the world."

"Why are you telling me this?" Natsu asked bluntly, keeping eye contact with his father who glared back at Natsu.

Igneel spoke, "I've worked hard... Worked hard to put food on the table for myself, to demonstrate power and a recognisable image. I was known as the King of Fire due to my vicious stand to all challenges that had faced, and I was able to do that by surrounding myself... With just myself. No one is your friend in this world, boy, you are born into this world alone and you will die alone, I would've left with your mother but that's not an option anymore. All you can trust is yourself, never surround yourself with moronic weaklings who have to thrive off of your energy,"

Natsu held his head low, "I'm not sure about that one, Sir..."

Igneel hummed, "I know. I raised you wrong by having your mother watch you, I should have been home more to observe you and guide you. I just assumed that my blood would have caught up without myself around, Zeref managed to but why couldn't you, Natsu?"

"Because I was weak," Natsu responded.

"Was? YOU STILL ARE- Ugh!" Igneel held his side, as he returned to his calm tone once more, "Are you still involved with those animals?"

"Who are you referring to, Sir-."

"Don't play stupid with me, boy. That scruffy drunk boxing bastard, and that little girl with that witch of a sister, are you still involved with those morons?" Igneel questioned him.

Natsu knew he was talking about Gildarts and Lisanna who were idiots in their own ways but were pretty much family to him. He continued to remain silent but wanted to speak, he was fine with his Dad breaking his character down but not the people who were there when he suffered from his mom and brother's passing.

Natsu clenched his fists as he stood up at gritted his teeth at his father.

"You better sit down and rearrange that expression of yours before I get my hands on you," Igneel furrowed his brows and stared into Natsu's soul. The pinkette held up for a bit but unclenched his fists and returned to a more frightened expression.

Even when in his weakened state, Igneel still put fear into Natsu and the pinkette went down to his knees and bowed before his father.

"Forgive me, Sir,"

Just outside, a car pulled up to the hospital and the backdoor opened up for a leg to step out from it and the person sat up from the car. In her full white tracksuit, Lisanna looked up at the hospital building and let a long sigh.

"The Hospital. The place where that demon resides, the same demon that raised Natsu and the only person Natsu fears in this world. Of course, this is the place you had to hurry to, nothing but Uncle Igneel fazes you," Lisanna shook her head and made her way inside, she went to the front deal and gave information on the patient she wanted to see and started making her way up through the elevator.

"I was gone before, but this time I'm going to be beside you, Natsu. You won't face this alone," Lisanna said to herself as she stepped out and made her way to the door that the receptionist told her to go to.

Without any sign of respect, she pushed open the door and glared over at Igneel who sat on the side of the bed with his foot on Natsu's head.

Igneel looked up at Lisanna with a small smile, "Little Miss Strauss,"

Natsu's eyes widened as he looked up at Lisanna with guilt, embarrassment, hurt pride, and fear, he couldn't believe she was here. He wasn't surprised but he was hoping that she wouldn't see him like this, it made him so sick to his stomach but he just couldn't do anything at this point.

Lisanna's eyes were wide and her expression was neutral, she furrowed her brows and went over to kick Igneel's leg off of Natsu's head. The redhead man glared at the silver-haired woman who just glared back at him.

"I've come to see you take your last breath, so hurry up, we haven't got all day," Lisanna said as she embraced Natsu and continued glaring at Igneel.

Igneel let out a sputtering laugh, gagging here and there and correcting his throat. He lifted his feet back into bed and adjusted his pillow, he continued chuckling to himself, "27 wasted years of raising an ungrateful, useless child. He ignores my commands, and my advice, gets half his family killed and continues to do the bare minimum to make up for his sins. How could something so WEAK… be the combination of me and my wife, such an unfair life, what did I do to deserve this…"

Lisanna and Natsu remained silent. The room was filled with Igneel's sudden deep breaths, the hiss from the lights above them, and the rushing wind from outside. The wind blew the curtains back and made every person's hair dance around with the wind that had entered the room, the bright evening sun shining brighter than ever and making Igneel appear holy among the three.

"Natsu…" Igneel breathed in deeply then out again.

Natsu wanted to keep his head down but rose to face his father who stared down at him with the greatest and only smile Natsu has ever seen from him.

Natsu smiled back, "Y-Yes Sir,"

"I wish nothing but pain, suffering, and constant deconstruction of your entire being. I want you to go through hell constantly and overcome that challenge, just to be beaten down by the next challenge, and that cycle will continue till death reaches you," Igneel stopped then glared down at Natsu, looking down on him like a piece of filth, "You will never be like me, you will never achieve much, and everything you touch will be turned to sand. I want you to struggle as I did, but far worse, prove me wrong if you really are…"

"My son." And with his last words that came truthfully from his heart, Igneel Dragneel passed away, leaving the pinkette blankly looking up at his lifeless father with content in his eyes.

Lisanna held her eyes closed as she heard his last breath escape his mouth. She gently rubbed Natsu's back as she hugged a still and cold Natsu Dragneel who looked completely lost and shocked by the final words but the only way he could convey it was through an empty smile - his eyes as slits and his mouth curling slightly into a smirk.

"I know you're just holding it in, Natsu," Lisanna said as she held the pinkette's face, looking into his eyes with a sympathetic expression, "Let it out,"

And he did.

His smile was replaced with a crooked smile, twitching eyebrows, and eyes filled with tears that fell from his eyes in four separate streams, his teeth gritting as he held and ruffled his head.

Natsu just couldn't take it anymore, besides his father's passing, he's been holding it all in; taking the blame for his mother and brother's death, studying hard to keep up with his peers, chasing the wrong woman, the work search, the enslavement he had to endure to get into Fairy Tail Corp, the loneliness, the hate he received, all of it had to be bottled up just so he could keep going to live another day.

Working late nights is what kept him sane especially when money became tight considering all of his earnings went towards his father's medical bill.

His father's words lived rent-free in his mind,

"Can't be weak."

"Can't be weak!"

"CAN'T BE WEAK!"

Those words were what kept his emotions under control.

He never cried, not ever since his mother and brother died. So now, was a show to see, a show to see the great Natsu Dragneel show his tears.

Lisanna let him cry on her lap, his tears flowing endlessly which made Lisanna also want to cry as well, "I've saved this moment in my memories, Natshuuu~,"

"Mutter this to anyone… and I'll kill ya," Natsu muttered.

"Noted." Lisanna smiled down at him, stroking his fluffy pink hair gently, "I truly am sorry, Natsu. I'm sorry for leaving you to deal with all that pain, to be in the same home as that monster. I promise I'll be here till Lucy can carry you away,"

"Stop being dumb," Natsu said in between his sobs.

Lisanna laughed.

"I wish I was, but something tells me that our gorgeous colleague has a thing for you, Natsu," Lisanna thought to herself.

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To Be Continued