3. Lost And Found

"Whoa, this is the place? It's huge," Natsu looked up and stared in awe at the building in front of them. Happy responded and gave his usual happy, "Aye."

He and Happy had arrived at the guild building a few minutes ago and was standing outside, debating whether they should just walk in or knock. Despite his initial urge to just step right into the place it might not be a good idea since he had no clue what would happen if he ventured into the pub like he owned the place. He was pretty certain that he would get his ass kicked or at least they would try and do that, but either way it would be a bad idea and he might be an idiot at times but there was certain boundaries he felt he had to follow.

"It will be fine. Besides this is your home, you should be able to walk in as you pleases," Happy reassured him and patted his leg with his tiny paws. "Come on. Let's go in."

"Ah," Natsu muttered as he pulled the hood of his dark green hood. Suddenly feeling very cautious about doing this, but ignored at he ranted mentally to himself that he wasn't going to run especially when they have gone this far. So without much else to say on the matter he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Whatever he had expected before when he came inside was definitely the exact opposite that met him and Happy since what they were faced with was a typical bar fight.

Lucy and Erza were walking ahead along with Erza's humongous baggage talking quietly between them, meanwhile Gray, Wendy and Carla was behind them. They were on their way back to the guild after another successful job finished, but no one was particularly joyful about since they would just remember who the celebrations was missing two important people. He and Lucy had been hit hardest by Natsu's death, but it wasn't surprising that the younger dragon slayer was sad and in mourning. Wendy had at a later point revealed to them that she had seen Natsu as a brother figure and was more or less devastated that he was gone. If the circumstances had been different they would have smiled and teased her about it, but at the moment it wasn't the right time even though it had only been a year since Natsu's death.

Shortly after the Fire mage's death and funeral the mentioning of him suddenly became a taboo in the guild just like it had been when Lisanna 'died', not because they didn't care or wanted to talk about Natsu, but the wounds were still fresh and hurt extremely close to the heart. Still that didn't mean that the Fairy Tail charm and usual antics were gone, after all they continued to destroy properties and bar fights with one another on a daily basis.

Nonetheless they were tracking back to the guild with a heavy tension lingering in the air that was mainly coming from the Ice mage, who had some point closed-up and shut everyone out. Juvia, who he had promised to tell his feelings towards her after the war had been more than anyone been pushed away something he regretted immensely for, however he was too broken and couldn't bring himself to talk about it when there wasn't anyone or anything that could fix him from his mourning or the heavy guilt that he was carrying in his heart that no one knew about.

His thoughts were interrupted when the familiar voice of Lucy asked, "Hey, how would you feel about going to Natsu and Happy's old place? It's been vacant for a year and even though they aren't around anymore I feel like we need to clean and make it seem more alive than allowing it to continue to dust."

"That's a good idea," Erza said calm and collected, while carrying a hint of gentleness and softness in her voice. Wendy agreed as well, but he on the other hand was very much against the idea of venturing to his dead friend's house without him being there. He was afraid for the feelings it might stir up and what worse if Erza and the others knew the depth of those feelings. They would turn away and look at him differently, no matter what the circumstances had been back then. They would never forgive him. However just as he was about to reject the proposition Erza turned and glared at him to silence. It didn't matter how much time had pasted that woman still scared him.

"Fine," Gray muttered quietly and slightly frustrated. "Let's get it over with."

Then he turned his gaze away, trying to find a stone or something to distract and avoid the looks he was getting from his team. When that didn't seem to work he walked past Erza and Lucy and continued down the path towards Magnolia and Natsu's old place.

For a short moment Natsu just stared at the scene in front of him with shock and confusion, honestly not sure what to think or do about the situation, but quickly turned to Happy asking what they were supposed to do. Happy didn't really give a clear answer, which was fine either way because something inside of him was burning to join in, so he did without thinking too much over it and threw a fist against the first person he could find. Unfortunately the first person he happened to throw his fist on was overly muscular man who continued to talk about being manly enough. Sure, the man was strong and powerful physical strength-wise and what not, but he managed to send the man flying across the room. Then he moved on to his next target, not caring which side he was on and continued to fight with kicks and punches. Happy had oddly enough managed to catch himself in the crossfire, however as much as Happy yelled about it something told him that he didn't need to worry about his furry friend too much.

The fight continued on for a short while until an older voice bellowed through out the room and told everyone to stop fighting. Everyone followed the order and looked up to see a huge shadowy giant standing in the middle of the room. Natsu wasn't sure what was going on or whom it was that made everyone stop and separate from each other, but he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle over the whole thing. This place seemed like a perfect place for him to spend his time in, especially his renowned habit of causing destruction wherever he went, which drove Stayne and everyone else in the village mad even though they quickly forgave him or simply added more to his list of choruses. What he had not expected was that the old guy heard him and turned his attention towards him.

"What are you laughing off, boy?" The voice was frustrated, however didn't carry any ill intentions towards him or anyone else so he took a chance and replied lightly, "Nothing…it's just that I can actually see myself being here, causing madness and mayhem."

The old guy blinked confused before he suddenly out of nowhere started shrunk down to the size of a dwarf or something and walked up to him. Natsu just stared back at the man, trying to draw or hopefully remember something. Unfortunately the old man's appearance didn't ring any bells to him and he was almost certain that it would have been hard to forget about this man in particular, both appearance-wise and from what he had seen personality-wise.

"Who are you?" The man was watching him intently, almost like he was trying to burn a whole to his forehead. Nevertheless it was clear that the man didn't recognize him, although that could be blamed for him wearing the cloak and hood that mostly covered his face, still he had hoped that the man might have recognized him since he must have been around when he supposedly joined the guild, right?

"I was hoping you could tell me that," Natsu answered quietly before he pulled the hood down and revealed his face. Everyone in the room fell quiet and gasped at the scene before they all shouted out in confusion and joy his name and took him down in one big swoop. Natsu wasn't sure how to think or feel about their reaction, especially since it was familiar to the one Happy gave a year ago when he woke up in the outskirts of the village. These people threated him and Happy like they were long lost friends and it sparked something warm and familiar on the inside, but it wasn't enough to bring back any recollection to him. Which made what were to happen next even harder than he expected and wanted it to be.

He forced up on his feet again, remaining oddly serious and collected as he looked down to the old man again and asked, "Are you the Master of the guild?"

Clearly confused by his question, the old man nodded and tilted his head in a questioning manner before he came to the important question why he would ask such a thing if he was supposed to know the truth.

"Is there somewhere we could talk in private, Master?"

Apparently he had never used the formal title towards the man since everyone including Happy was completely shocked and began murmuring between them, but Natsu paid them no mind and waited for the Master to respond. The man remained calm and closed his eyes before he turned and told him and Happy to follow him to his office so they could talk in private, obviously figured out that there was something more behind his actions and words. Wordlessly, Natsu and Happy followed the Master up the stairs to the office, leaving behind the still shocked and confused guild members behind.

Once they entered the room and closed the door behind them, the Master took extra precaution and made sure that no one dared to listen in on their conversation. Natsu didn't care either way if the other members listen in or not, his situation wasn't something he necessary tried to hide or felt incredibly ashamed about it. He had a long time ago come to term with his memory loss and besides the type of person he was right now didn't have many earthly secrets at all, so why bother starting now?

"I noticed that you weren't completely yourself back there and you only seemed to prove my suspicion when you didn't call me Gramps," The Master replied dejected. He sat down on the chair across from Natsu, whom had his gaze turned to the ground. "So what happened, Natsu?"

Natsu sighed, "I don't know. I woke up heavily injured in the outskirts of a village outside Fiore, without recollection of who I was or where I came from. Happy seemed to have a minor case of amnesia though, since he can't remember how we ended up injured and stranded in a strange location in the first place. However he was refrained from telling me about whom I was and my past by the people that found us and healed us back to health. Which is why I'm here after receiving the truth that I had belonged to this guild, so I was sort of hoping that coming here would give me the answers that I seek."

The Master or should he call him Gramps now, looked sadden by hearing the story. Natsu could even smell the tears that were building up from the old guy's eyes. It hurt immensely to see how he was causing so much pain and sadness towards these people, but before he could bring himself to apologize or give some sort of comforting words, Gramps held up his hand and interrupted, "I see. So that's the case, and as much as it hurts me and everyone else here to know that you don't remember anything I'm glad that you are still alive, Natsu. You too, Happy."

Alive? Natsu was confused by that last part. Why would he say it like that? It didn't make any sense for anyone to believe that he wasn't alive. Sure, he had been missing for over a year, but to think that these people who obviously cared about him thought that he and Happy was dead it was unbelievable.

They continued to talk and give explanations the best they could until they reached a certain point that most definitely had Natsu's interest peaked. Ignoring the hurt and pain he was most certain he was going to bring by asking that question, Natsu asked to know the story of what Gramps knew about his 'death', everything else would just have to wait since he hoped that learning the truth about that part of his life then he might start remember the rest as well. Unfortunately the old man didn't seem to know much about it either, only his teammates knew the full story and he recommended him to seek them out once they returned from their recent job. Natsu agreed, though slightly annoyed that he had to wait until then, but nevertheless it was no point arguing about it. However this brought on to the next part of the conversation that he was most certain was a secret he didn't trust with just anyone, but he had a feeling that Gramps needed to know and might be able to help or at the very least explain to him what was going on.

"Before Happy and I take our leave, there is something else you need to know…"

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Thank you guys so much for the response I have been receiving. I hope you guys like the chapter.

I hope that you guys are having a good Christmas, because as of now I'm having a nice one. That is why I releasing the next chapter. I'm currently working on the next chapter, so I'm not sure whether I will be releasing it as soon as I'm done or until I began working on the next one. Please don't be afraid to tell me your opinion, I would love to hear what you guys think.

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