Chapter 23: Lost Strength
Igneel feels the warmth from Natsu's fire on his injured wing. He smiles as he watched Natsu continues on, 'He has gotten stronger.' He thoughs proudly. No doubt about it, Natsu has come a long way to get stronger so that one day that he can be as strong as the Fire Dragon. "How am I doing?" Natsu asks the dragon. Igneel keeps his smile, "You're doing great." He encourages Natsu. Natsu smiles back and continues on healing Igneel's injuries.
About a few minutes later, the injury that was once cold and black becomes warm and deep red. It's a small spot so far, but Natsu keeps on going. Wendy smile points towards another injury. "Good job. The blood in Igneel has opened up to allow his own fire to get to the spot you managed to heat up." She compliments his work. Natsu looks at the pointed area of Igneel's body that is injuried. It's his wing. "This is going to be a tricky because the veins in the wings are very thin and they have closed up. If you were to get the heat throughout the wing, you have to start from the base to the tips." Wendy gives her instructions.
Natsu climbs onto Igneel's back where the base of the wing is connected. "Ready, dad?" Natsu asks Igneel. Igneel opens his eyes and turns his head weakly. "Ready as I ever be." He replies. Natsu nods and because to warm up the base gently. He closes his eyes as he focuses on the veins deep within the dragon. His concentration helps him looks inside the body via his mind. Like what Wendy told him, the veins that go to the wing are indeed closed off, reducing blood flow. He takes his time to get the closed-up veins slowly, little by little. Natsu couldn't believe that a massive dragon's veins were so narrow. If he overdoes it, the veins would burst, letting the blood to spread all over the other organs in his body, or worse out of the wing. Natsu traces the vein gently as he opens the rest of them around the top of the injured wing. He then gets to the end of the tip of the upper of the wing. "Did I do it?" He asks himself, unnoticingly asks Igneel. Igneel nods, "You did just fine, my son." The dragon replies as he tries to spread out the wing.
Wendy puts her hands onto the wings. "Don't spread the wing just yet. The veins may be opened, but it's going to take awhile for the blood to flow freely throughout it." She tells him in a gentle serious in her voice. Natsu didn't see that coming. "What do you mean 'it's going to take awhile'?" Wendy looks up to him. "From Grandeeney told me earlier when she was trying to heal Igneel on her own, the blood in the dragon is cool-blooded, thus making it almost impossible for blood to flow as fast as us humans who are warm blooded." She explains the details between humans and dragons. "But Igneel's a fire dragon, wouldn't he be able to warm up his blood with his fire?" Natsu asks Wendy as he turns his sight on Igneel. "That's true. But since he's severely injured, it's stopped his energy to generate heat to his injuries." Grandeeney tells him kindly. Natsu sighs sadly, taking the information. He was hoping that it wasn't true. But it's true.
"Rest assured, Natsu." Grandeeney gets his attention. "Thanks to your fire, it should tolerate my healing to recover Igneel at a faster rate." She smiles as she places her own paw on the heated wing base and focuses on her energy take over. Natsu widens his eyes to see such a sight. He never expected that his own power would actually help the Sky dragon's magic. "Try to expand your wing, Igneel." Grandeeney said to the fire dragon. Igneel nods as he slowly opens his wing. From the base to the tips, the white part because of no blood flow, is now yellow with the heated blood. "Does it hurt?" Grandeeney asks worringly. Igneel nods. "Not so much anymore, but it's best to leave the wing open." He replies back to her. Grandeeney nods back. "Good idea. With the wing opened, it should be easy for the heated blood to get to the rest of it." She agrees as she removes her paw from Igneel's wing base.
Natsu hops off the dragon's back and walks up to Igneel. "That's good to hear that. You can be back on your feet in no time." He smiles. Igneel growls softly, as he nuzzles Natsu's head. "It's all thanks to you. You helped out heat up my blood to get to the rest of my injuries. And for that, I thank you so much." Igneel gives his gratitude. Natsu couldn't stop the flow of his own tears and hugs his tiny body around Igneel's horn.
Wendy couldn't stop her tears from falling either. Carla and Happy couldn't either. "It's just so nice to see Natsu doing something to heal Igneel." Happy weeped as he flies up to Natsu's shoulder. Natsu chuckles as he pet's Happy on his head. Grandeeeney removes her paw, "Igneel, I managed to expand your blood a bit more to get to your other injuries. For now, you need to rest." She suggested kindly. "Wendy, Carla." She turns to her foster daughter and the white exceed to get their attention. "It's time we head home." Grandeeney gives her orders as she lowers herself so that Wendy can get onto her back with Carla in Wendy's arms. "We'll be back tomorrow to check up on you." Grandeeney adds before she flies away.
Wendy looks down in worry. "What's the matter, child?" Grandeeney asks at they continue on flying towards Grandeeney's dormain. "I was wondering how it must've been to see Natsu being reunited with Igneel?" She gives her voice out. Grandeeney lands near a cave that is big enough for her to get into. "My child, I assure you that even though that me and the rest of the dragon disappeared 15 years ago, we weren't really gone. We were in your heart, encouraging you to keep on going." Grandeeney gives her answer. "I can see you have improved yourself ever since. But then again, something doesn't look right." She keeps on talking as she guides the two females deeper into the cave. "What would that be?" Carla asks the sky dragon. They sit down in a circle. "If it's been 15 years, why is it that that you haven't aged?" Grandeeney gets to the point of her question. Wendy and Carla looked at each other, trying to come up with a good answer. "It's a long story." Wendy starts off. Grandeeney smiles down fondly, "I've got time." She tells Wendy. Wendy smiles back and begins her story.