Hello everyone!

Thank you for waiting! I really love that you love this story. Really, it always put me in cloud 9 whenever I see that you are loving my stories! Ah! So happy.

I'm surprised though, I thought this story would lead the priority poll I put in my profile, given that this is the most followed story among the three. I thought for sure this will be the one in the lead. Oh well, that's how it goes.

Enjoy!

Sixteenth Wish:
An Advice

"What do you mean?"

Romeo's face darkened as he listened to the people who came rushing to their village.

"What we are saying is that you should throw away the fishes you caught! They're poisonous!" the woman warned him frantically.

"But, I'm sure they are the same-"

"Would you doubt the merchant who gave the fish to you?"

At that, Romeo frowned. "Merchant? What are you talking about?" He didn't know any merchant, much less someone who could give him such miracle fishes. Besides, he hadn't exactly received it from someone, so it was no surprise that he was confused.

"Yo, Romeo!"

Natsu called out to him with his cheeky grin. He came before Romeo blew away his lie and have things to get out of hand.

"N-Natsu bro!" Romeo looked at him in surprise. He thought that he left already. He went running back to his house earlier to tell him the good news that the fish worked. But Natsu was nowhere to be seen, nor was his cat. So he thought that he already left the village without saying good bye.

Natsu was smiling at him, but somehow, he felt that it wasn't a genuine smile. It was a smile with intent. Romeo instinctively back away.

"Yo, buddy! Where are you going?" Natsu immediately caught him in his arms and gave him a noogie. He tried to get out of his grip to no avail.

"Mr. Merchant, what should we do? We've warned the others off but some are just stubborn and still wanted to eat it!" one of the villagers yelled out.

Romeo was too confused at the situation. He looked at Natsu with a raised eyebrow. "Merchant? Since when . . ."

He stopped midway with the look Natsu was giving him. It was a menacing smile. Sweat formed behind his back.

"Umm. . . mister merchant? Is it true that it was you who gave Romeo-san the miracle fish?" a child asked innocently.

"Ah yes" Natsu smiled pleasantly at her. He glanced back at Romeo and gave him a look. "Right?"

Romeo didn't need to be a mind reader to know what the look meant. "Ah. . . y-yes . . . I got the fish from him. . ." he confirmed, smiling awkwardly.

The girl gasped. "So what the merchant said is true? Papa doesn't want to believe him!"

Romeo was taken aback and looked unsurely at the so-called merchant holding him. Natsu couldn't help but feel a bit awful (even though he didn't do anything wrong this time) at the helpless expression he was being given. It's like taking a candy from a puppy. . . wait, that couldn't be the right saying. Oh well, whatever.

He gave him a nod. "Romeo, there's a much better way than eating this obviously fishy-looking fishes. . ." he told him.

"Ah. . ." Romeo paled as the news came from Natsu himself. What do I do? If even Natsu says it. . . then . . . I put everyone's lives in danger!

And just at that moment of realization, they all heard a horrible scream.

"What!?"

"Could it be. . .?" a woman gasped, worried.

"So the fishes are really poisonous!?"

Wendy moved right away running to the direction of the sound. No . . .

Because they came on time, they were able to warn them off just before they cook it. Even fools, after receiving such a warning, would hesitate at eating something that was said to be poisonous, right? If that was the case. . .

She stopped at her tracks, seeing a man sprawled on the ground. Some came to help him and check him up while others back away. "This. . ." Wendy paled.

The man's shoulder and arms looked horrible. His skin was the sick shade of green and purple. Black spots covered the man's whole arm, as if his flesh was beginning to rot.

Fimorian poison. . . Wendy knew just from looking at the symptoms.

A woman recognized her as the girl who claimed to be a doctor at the port earlier. "Ah, little miss! Help him, he suddenly screamed and fainted . . . I swear he didn't eat the fish!" she cried out to her hysterically.

"Don't worry, ma'am. It's a good thing we had prevent you from eating the fimorians, but you should know that the poison ran on their bloods. He must be one of those people who carried the fish and got its blood drip on him. . ." she explained calmly as she checked over the man's body. "Help me carry him to a bed. We need to treat him immediately. Call the others, the ones who came with him, they need treatment too. Make sure they washed off the blood from their bodies."

The people around her nodded and listened to her every instruction. She began to prepare the herbs to make an antidote and counter the poisoning. With the recipes from the book her master gave her, she managed to pull it off.

"How are they?"

Natsu came to check on them, Romeo was right behind his back.

She looked at Natsu happily, "Ah! Natsu-san! They're doing much better" she told him beaming at how she managed to make her antidote effective. But then her face fell. "But. . ."

Natsu frowned. "Why? What's wrong?"

She looked at him worriedly. "I only countered the poison to stop it from spreading and harming the body any further. But the damaged done will be hard to treat, and their immune system is low. They still need time to recover. They're very fragile to the diseases around them. They need lots of other medicines. . ." she told him sadly.

Everyone knew that it would be hard to get medicine since a lot of doctors ran away already with all their materials and equipments. She could make some, but her alone would not be enough for this many people. She's just one person, and a child at that.

Romeo looked around the sick people who became victims of Fimorian's poison. I did this . . . he couldn't help but think that. I'm the one who told them they're miracles . . . "I . . . I almost feed them t-that . . . even Wakaba san and the others were poisoned because of me. . ." he said regretfully. His head hang low, ashamed to show his face. He clenched his fist, shaking.

"I-I'm sorry. . . I've put everyone in danger . . . I-I'm really sorry . . ." he knew no amount of apology would make up for what he had done. Slowly, tears filled his eyes. "I don't know what to do . . . Natsu-san. . ."

Natsu looked at him. He was just a young boy, yet he was already being responsible of his self and the other people around him.

"A-Ah, don't worry. No one's at fault . . . you shouldn't blame yourself. . ." Wendy tried to console him.

Romeo still remained standing there. She couldn't see because of his hair that was in the way but there were already tears in his eyes, guilt and pressure over taking his heart.

Natsu sighed.

"Idiot!"

He smacked Romeo's head. Wendy stared in shock.

He held his aching head. "N-Natsu-san. . ."

Natsu crossed his arms. "It's really stupid to think that a miracle food can just heal a person's illness. . . Geez, I can't believe you really thought that fishy looking fish is really gonna help you. . ." he reprimanded.

Romeo looked down in shame.

"But if you think you're to blame, then that is even stupider. Really, if you ask me, I think it's those guys with you who should be responsible."

"What!?"

"N-Natsu-san! It's wrong to blame people!" Wendy told him.

Romeo flinched at hearing that. "But I'm the one who told them –"

"So what?" Natsu huffed. "This girl over there also told them that they're not edible but they didn't believe her. Geez, they're adults. They should know what they're doing. Just because you thought that those fish could heal them doesn't mean that they should follow blindly. People are capable of their own decisions. . ."

"But still-"

"The fact they didn't believe Wendy means that they have reason to believe so."

"Yeah! And I made it worse when I said they're Noden's fish!"

He smacked him in the head again. "Yeah, and here's your punishment for your own stupidity. Look, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, those people chose to believe on a miracle fish because they think that's their only hope. If you're blaming yourself for believing on a hope, then these people are also as much to blame for believing in it too."

Wendy and Romeo looked at him.

"If you want to blame yourself, then blame these people too. Sheesh, you're only a kid but you are already trying to take responsibility on your actions. Adults should look up to you." He told him.

Then one of the helpers called out to Wendy. "Little miss! We need your help!"

"Ah! Coming!" Wendy said goodbye to them and went back to her patients.

Natsu put his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Romeo. You know why I hit you?"

Romeo touched his aching head again, ". . . To punish me for being stupid."

"Good. Though there's another reason. You seemed to be the type who'll beat yourself up for making a mistake so here's my advice. 'Don't beat yourself up over it.'" He knew that simply saying empty words such as 'don't blame yourself' and 'it's not your fault' had no effect on this kind of people. They would continue to blame their selves for the rest of their life.

"Huh?"

"You're still young. Of course you'll make mistakes. It's good that you're taking responsibility for it but if you dwell on regret too much, you'll miss half of life. When you make a mistake, just pat your back and say you can do better next time. . ."

Romeo stared at him. "Natsu-san . . . you talk like an old man . . ."

"You little-! I'm giving you advice and that's what you're going to say!?"

He knuckled his head, Romeo still laughed.

"Well, if you want to do something, then come with me" he told him after letting the boy go.

"Why? Where are we going?" Romeo raised an eyebrow.

Natsu smirked as he turned to the door, a glint of determination in his eyes.

"It's time to put an end on this."

. . . * . . .

"You know, Natsu. If you blame yourself too much, you'll miss half of your life."

"But . . . if I didn't . . ."

"It's okay. Everything is meant to be. After rain comes sunshine and rainbows. . . So, lift your head and look up. No matter how many storms come, don't let the fire in you die. . . That's the only thing I'll ask."

~A memory long forgotten~

. . . * . . .

End of Chapter

Maybe you'll see Lucy's side next chapter? (^-^;)