The Heart of an Artist Chapter 7, a fairy tail fanfic

Hello everyone, it is I once more with another chapter for you all to either enjoy or despise with all of your hatred. This time, we're going to see how Natsu is doing right now.

Anyway, enjoy, or not, I don't care you all have your opinions.

Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Chapter Seven: Beacon of Hope

"Ugh… that was so boring!" Natsu complained out loud as he made his way through the town he was currently in.

The Fire Dragon Slayer had just finish the job he was on, which involved beating the crap out of some dark guild that was causing problems for the town. Fortunately for him, he handled it no problem. Unfortunately for him, like he just stated, it was completely boring. It wasn't even a challenge for him.

So Natsu was a bit bored at the moment. It looked to be getting dark soon as well, so the pink haired Fairy Tail Mage figured that he might as well find something to eat and stay at a hotel for the night.

"Now, where is a good place to get food at?" Natsu pondered as he looked around the streets he was in. The town wasn't that big, but he did spot a few restaurants that he was interested in trying out. But now, that left the question of which one to go too? That was the million jewel question.

Eventually, Natsu just ended up picking one at random.

It didn't take the Fire Dragon Slayer that long as he finished eating the restaurant he picked out. However the pink haired male was a bit frustrated, he thought he was charged way too much for his meal. He only ordered like six plates of food! How was that expensive?

"Whatever," Natsu grumbled as he made his way through the street of the town, "Might as well go rent out a place for the night." He muttered to himself as he made his way to do just that.

However, he immediately stopped walking as he heard something. Thanks to his enhance dragon hearing, he didn't have problem picking the noise up. From what he could hear, it sounded like… a crying child?

"What the…?" Natsu questioned, before he started to follow the noise. Whatever was going on, there was a chance that someone might be in trouble. Not on his watch!

He went further down the streets before the sound of crying got louder and louder. Making a turn to the right, he found himself in a small alleyway. And that's when he saw it.

Sitting at a wall was a small child who looked no older than four. Getting more concern, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer began to approach the small kid, but made sure to do it slowly, as he didn't want to accidentally scare the kid.

"Hey there," Natsu spoke in a quiet tone to not spook the boy, getting the four year old child to look up to see the pink haired male. At first the small child seemed scared at first by the older male's presence, but then calm downed somewhat seeing that he wasn't trying to hurt him, "What's wrong little buddy?" The Fire Dragon Slayer asked him, making sure to use a smoothing voice, hoping that will help calm the child down.

The small boy let out a few more sniffles before the child managed to speak.

"I-I-I'm lost…" The child managed to get out, his voice sounding a bit weird, but that was probably due to all of his crying.

"Oh…," Natsu managed to reply, before he bend down to see the kid eye to eye, "Don't worry little guy, I will help you out." The pink haired Fairy Tail Mage assured the kid, whose eyes lit up from his words.

"R-Really?" The child asked in a hopeful tone, to which got Natsu to smile softly at the sad kid.

"Of course." Natsu replied back to him, his own smile widening at seeing the child go from completely sad to being somewhat happy.

And before the kid knew it, Natsu lift him up in the air before seeing the kid on his shoulder. The four year old couldn't help but laugh a little from the action, which got Natsu to laugh a little at seeing the kid happy.

"Let's go." Natsu told him with his smile still on his face, getting the child to smile back at him.

And so, for the next little while, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer and the four year old tried to find anyone that the kid recognized. However, it was getting darker as the sun went further down, and still no sigh of anyone that the kid may know. While he didn't show it, Natsu was getting a bit frantic.

'Come on! There has to be someone around here that the kid knows!' Natsu thought to himself in worry. Surely someone was looking for the kid, like his parents, or siblings, or friends, or anybody!

Before Natsu could freak out a bit more, the child, still sitting on his shoulder, managed to spot an older woman who looked like she was about to have a panic attack, almost like she was trying to find someone.

"There!" The kid shouted, getting the pink haired male's attention as he saw what the four year old was pointing at.

"Thank goodness!" Natsu exclaimed as he put the kid down on the ground, who didn't waist a second as he ran over to the old woman.

"Eliza!" The child cried out.

Hearing her name being called, the old woman turned only to nearly faint as she saw who she was looking for.

"Jacob!" She also cried out as the small kid ran right into the woman, nearly tackling her with a hug, to which the woman bent down to return, "Thank goodness you're alright! I was worried sick about you! You shouldn't have run off like that!" She couldn't help but scold the kid, though there was a smile on her face, showing that she was simply joyful that he was alright.

"I'm sorry, but the nice pink haired man helped me!" The kid, who was now known as Jacob, told her. This merely got the woman confused before she saw Natsu approaching the two of them.

"Hello there." Natsu greeted her with a smile on his face. The woman merely smiled back at him.

"Thank you kind sir for bringing Jacob back, everyone back at the orphanage was getting worried sick about him." Eliza replied back to the pink haired male as she picked Jacob from the ground.

Her words though got Natsu to widen his eyes in surprise a little.

"Orphanage?" Natsu questioned, as a bit of sadness could be heard in his voice. The old woman picked up on this, as small yet sad smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, I'm a Caretaker at the orphanage here in the town. I was out with Jacob when he took off on his own." Eliza informed the Fire Dragon Slayer, as Jacob looked down at the ground with a frown.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, though both Natsu and Eliza managed to hear it.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Natsu started to say to him, getting the kid to look at him once again, "At least now you know not to do it again." He finished, trying to brighten the kid's mood, which seemed to work a little as the small boy merely smiled back at the Dragon Slayer.

"Once again, thank you for your help kind sir." Eliza thanked Natsu once more, as the old woman begun to take her leave with the kid in her arms.

"Wait!" Natsu exclaimed out with a hand raised, getting the old woman and the child to look back at the pink haired male in confusion. Natsu figured he would make it quick, "Would… would you mind if I come with you to help out?" He asked the woman, who was caught off guard by the offer by him.

"You've done enough already, it would be rude of me to take advantage of your kindess like that." Eliza replied back to the pink haired male, who merely shook his head at her words.

"No, it's fine really. I wouldn't mind helping out." Natsu told her with his smile still present. The old woman was still surprised by him wanting to help out at the orphanage, even if it was only for a little while. She couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"You are a kind person." Eliza merely stated to him.

To Natsu though, that meant he was given the okay to follow and help out. And with that, he followed the older woman and the kid back to the orphanage.

'A LITTLE WHILE LATER'

Some time went by once they arrived at their location. Though to Natsu, his time there didn't seem to last that long. Though, time does fly when you're having fun after all. All the children at the orphanage easily bonded with the pink haired male, who also bonded with them as well. He helped out in anyway he could, either helping do some chores, keeping the children entertain, or help make them dinner. Granted he wasn't a very good cook, but he still helped out with getting the things needed for dinner for the children.

All in all, Natsu had a wonderful time, way more than even he thought he would. But now, it was late, the night sky was out and the children were put to bed. Thus, it was time for him to leave.

"Thank you Natsu, you have no idea how much of a help you were today." Eliza thanked the Fire Dragon Slayer, who merely smiled back at her.

"It was nothing, I'm just glad that I could help out." Natsu responded to her with his smile still present on his face.

"You have a heart of gold Natsu, you truly do." The old woman told him, getting him to feel a bit embarrassed from her words.

"I don't know about that, I just like to help out." Natsu replied back to her with small laugh, which got the woman to laugh a little as well.

"Well then, I guess this is farewell, take care Natsu." Eliza told him as she started to head back inside the building.

"Hold on a moment," Natsu called out, getting the woman to look back at the man in confusion, before the Dragon Slayer started to speak up once again, "Is… is it okay if I come back to visit sometime?" He asked her.

Eliza was taken back by that, before a soft smile took hold of her face.

"Of course you can Natsu. I'm sure the children would love that." She replied back to him, getting him to be happy from her words.

With that, the woman went back into the building, as Natsu simply waved at her as the door closed.

The Fire Dragon Slayer simply stayed in that spot for a moment before he figured he should go find a hotel to stay for the night. He started to walk away; with one more glance at the building, before he continued onward.

However, after a few minutes of walking, he stopped as he saw himself at the small park of the town. There was no one around, most likely all at their homes and sleeping. Seeing a bench near him, he went down to sit at it.

The pink haired male went over his time at the orphanage, seeing all of those children and spending time with them already left a mark on him. However, he couldn't stop the small frown from appearing on his face. Those kids were forced to be abandoned or loosing their family from whatever horror that took their loves on away from them. To make things worse, some of the kids at the orphanage had some illnesses or conditions that didn't seem to be curing, not matter what they did. Natsu couldn't stop himself from placing both hands on his hands as he thought about that. If only he could take their suffering away. If only he could make them all happy. It wasn't fair! Those children were so innocent, why did life have to give them such a horrible fate?

This was always the case for Natsu. Even as he sits here, someone out there is in pain, suffering in some way, hurt, or worse. Yet, there was nothing he could do about it. Why can't he just be able to take everyone's pain away? He would gladly bear the burden on his own if it was to make everyone safe and happy.

Natsu simply remained there quietly for a few more moments… until…

There's a gift inside our hearts.
Will we give it to the lost?
As they lay their heads and deprive their fates
From the curses they held within.

Natsu didn't know what prompted him to start singing, but he simply went on as the thoughts he had continued to fill his head.

With the gift of Joy it starts.
By mending the Hearts of frost.
May the spirit fly as the children climb.
For the Peace to begin.
So I will try.
To believe like a winner, Soul I will deliver.
And I..
Will join the arms together again.

So if we hold out the hand that preaches higher
We can stand together
And if we care for another,
Treat them like a brother
Then you'll know we'll live forever
As we sway the arms in the air like a flame,
Running though the scary
I'm free
And together...
We're a Beacon of Hope

A small yet sad smile appeared on his face as he went on.

We can see the choice we take
We will take it to our grave
There's a child in there who's waiting...
To be saved by our grace

Natsu turned his head to look at the direction where the orphanage was located when he sang that part of his song. The small smile he had still remained there as he continued onward.

Believe and we'll succeed today
The more we can give to pave their way
Not everyone has a promise of tomorrow

He couldn't help but feel depressed from that lyric. There was someone, either be full grown or a mere child suffering out there in the world, yet there was nothing he could do about it. But yet…

So I will try
To believe like a winner, a soul I will deliver
And I
Will join the arms together again.

A soft smile once appeared on his face, as he continued to sing.

Maybe one day, he would be able to take everyone's pain away. Maybe one day people can live without fear, or pain. Maybe one day children could be free from the horrors of life, from illness, from anything that dared to harm them.

There's a gift inside us all
Will we show the the light?
Can we make their lives live stronger
Together...?

As Natsu finished his singing, his soft smile remained on his face. Maybe one day, he will take everyone's pain away. Maybe one day, he will take the suffering from every single person on this world.

He may suffer alone, he may be the only one in the world in pain, but if it meant taking the burden and ache from everyone else so they can live happily, then that was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

See you all next time, whenever that will be.

Songs that have been played so far:

Skillet: Fire and Fury

Beast in Black: The Fifth Angel

The Script: Hall of Fame

Def Leppard: Pour some sugar on me

Smash into Pieces: Burn, Color of your eyes, Stay

Disturbed: My child

Byron Mr. Talkbox Chambers: Ground Zero

Coldplay: Viva la Vida

Hollywood Undead: Whatever it takes

Sick Puppies: You're going down

Civil War: I will rule the universe

Dagames: Beacon of Hope