Getting shot down by a clan of elf scouts was not exactly what Natsu had planned for the day.

He'd been wandering across the outskirts of the forest as always, hunting for the next unsuspecting deer or rabbit when he came across that one idiot that Juvia was obsessed with.

Much to Natsu's disappointment, his friend hasn't visited him hardly at all for the last month; Juvia's library fairy friend had gone missing several weeks ago, and Juvia was involved in many search parties for her. Natsu tried to help as well, tracking this "Levy"'s scent from afar over to the mountainous region, but Natsu could not venture into the forest. Juvia hadn't found any leads from there. She'd been so preoccupied with finding Levy that she didn't even talk about the Winter fairy as much. It went from about one hundred to only ninety percent of her conversation topics now.

Honestly, Natsu didn't see the appeal to the Winter fairy. Or anyone, for that matter. That might be due to his lack of ability to fall in love or have sexual attraction, but digressing…

The "winter prince," as she liked to call the fairy boy, was curled up under another leaf for shade, and was shaking, for some reason. His face was pale, even for a Winter fairy.

Juvia had requested that Natsu not speak to her love interest, but the kid wasn't looking so good. So Natsu frowned and approached.

Kneeling down, he closed his eyes and let a Shift flood through him. His body shrank, wings sprouted from his back and ears tapered to a point. His first few Shifts as a hatchling had been excruciating, but after practice, only tingled.

Crouching beside the groaning fairy, Natsu tapped the side of his sweat slicked head. "Hey man, you okay?"

The fairy only winced, slowly blinking his eyes open. Fear flitted through his gaze, and Natsu knew why; the boy probably thought Natsu was a Summer fairy, which meant he could punish a Winter fairy for trespassing.

"I'm not gonna turn you in; I promise," Natsu swore. "You look like a dying troll."

The boy licked dry lips. "H-hot…"

Natsu winced in sympathy. Of course the the Winter fairy's body wasn't equipped to handle the weather here. It was really only a matter of time until the boy got heat sickness. This was why Natsu had always thought the fairy was a moron.

Except Natsu had no idea how to fix that. Natsu was probably the warmest being in existence. The boy would die if he wasn't healed of the fever soon. If only Juvia were here-

Juvia.

Natsu was torn. He had to save this fairy for Juvia, but entering the forest would mean he could never come back if he didn't want the fairies sending the elves after him. He could never return to his comfy cave. That would be annoying.

But Juvia was his only friend-the only one that had ever accepted him for who he was. In the end, it was no choice.

"I'll be back with help," promised Natsu. "She won't tell, either."

He leapt up into the air, letting the exhilarating feeling of his wings carrying him faithfully into the wind. Then he zoomed off into the trees for the first time, trying to remember the map Juvia had shown him once and where she'd said she'd be today. The East River, perhaps? He'd try that first. I mean it should be, like...east, he reasoned frantically.

He dove through the forest like a bolt of lightning, faster than any fairy. Swooping above, he squinted across the forest to look for a gleam of water through the canopies.

It was the waterfall he heard first, a roar that could match a dragon's. Natsu didn't know water could make such a sound. Natsu's eyes widened at the sight of the oasis, water cascading over a slick cliff and into a crystal pool, stepping stones scattering the stream that flowed from the spring beneath the falls. It was so… cool. He'd only ever lived in the fires of hell, mountains, and a desert. This was some foreign universe.

The flutter of wings was the next sound, water fairies flitting across the banks and chattering cheerfully as they held out their hands to the river, cleansing it. Juvia was the only one with blue hair, sitting a little off to the side with her purifying hand swirling mindlessly.

He dove like a falcon, snapping his wings out to catch himself. "Juvia!" he said above her. "Come quick; he needs help-"

Natsu's warning was cut off by screams, the other fairies flying back into the trees, terrified at the sight of him. "The demon!" they cried, crashing into each other in their haste. "It's the demon!"

He felt words die in his throat, swallowing thickly at their fear. All these years trying to avoid being looked at like that, like he was a monster or a disgrace-

"Natsu!" Juvia gasped. "What is Natsu doing here?! He needs to stay hidden! Juvia can't be seen with Natsu. They'll call the elves on-!"

"Your winter idiot needs help!" Natsu interrupted. "He has heat sickness, and I'm a fire demon so I can't help, but you-"

Her protests quelled at once, and she joined him in the sky. "Take Juvia to him!" Juvia demanded, her magic drawing up a sphere of water from the stream.

"This way!" He zipped back the way he came, his friend close behind.

They made it there within a matter of minutes due to their speed, and Natsu waved Juvia down to where the sick fairy rested. Her eyes widened in worry, and she swooped down to his side.

The winter fairy was struggling for a steady breath, sweat shining in the baking sun. Juvia immediately ran her cool water over his forehead, muttering soothing words of, "You will be okay. Juvia will make it better; all will be okay…"

She gave him some to drink, and that seemed to help him manage to say, "Wh-who are you?"

"Juvia," she said gently, and Natsu could see her almost shaking in restraint not to freak out about talking to her love for the first time. "Juvia will not reveal you to her kingdom. She is a water fairy here to help."

"Th-thank you," he choked, seeming to relax under the cold water. "Who i-is he?"

"This is Juvia's friend, Natsu," she explained quietly. "He found you and brought Juvia to you."

"'anks," he muttered again, head lolling back with a moan. While the water apparently eased the heat, the fairy wasn't looking much better.

"What is your name, if Juvia may ask?" She pushed his sticky bangs away from his face, water magically swirling across his forehead.

"G-Gray," he answered, wincing as the leaf above him shifted and a glint of sun graced his face.

"It is a delight to meet Gray," Juvia whispered, the stream of water now cupping his cheek. She then turned to Natsu, her whisper now frantic. "Juvia is reducing symptoms, but this will not heal him. We must get him to the healer fairies-!"

"Do you honestly know any that would be willing to help?" Natsu hissed. "Makarov is a nice guy, but your senate would let him die for all they care, with him being a Winter fairy!"

Juvia bit her lip. "W-well… Juvia does not personally know any healer fairies, and their residential wings and infirmary are all guarded, just like all of the buildings since the feud with Winter."

"Then how are we supposed to get in?"

"We?" Her hands were on her hips. "Natsu needs to get out of here! The other water fairies would have reported you to the elves already; surely they'll be after Natsu!"

"And won't your kingdom be after you?" Natsu pointed out. "They saw you leave with me. It doesn't matter if the Wood Elves are coming; elves are our only way to save Gray now. It's against the High Elven mandate to turn down injured or sick, no matter who they are-I'd choose the High over the Wood any day."
"The High Elves?!" Juvia cried, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "They are across the Scorch, Natsu! There is no way Natsu could make it there before Gray…" A sob hitched in her throat.

No. Not the crying, Natsu thought in horror. As a water fairy, Juvia literally could not stop crying for about an hour when she got started. He never had any idea what to do when she was like that.

"I can fly us there," Natsu insisted.

"Natsu's dragon form is very large, and would still take too long, not to mention how Juvia and Gray would fall off and Natsu would be instantly seen as a threat from miles away," Juvia countered.

Natsu swallowed, scratching the back of his neck. He'd been hoping she wouldn't say that, no matter how right she was. But he'd known the day he'd have to do this Shift again would come… at least it would be to help his friend.

"There is… a different transformation I could do," he admitted.

"What could possibly be fast enough? He'll die within the hour!" she wailed. "Griffins, eagles, pegasi-not fast enough! The Scorch is massive!"

Drawing a deep breath, Natsu said it quickly before he could hesitate, "My demon form. I can fly at the speed of sound."

Her crying ceased instantly, morphing into a frown. "D-demon form? Natsu has never shown Juvia his-"

"That's because I didn't want to scare you," he sighed. "Promise you won't freak out?"

Juvia nodded, drying her tears with the back of her hand. Feeling rather sick to his stomach, Natsu held his hands in front of him, one over the other. Index and middle finger extended on top, index and pinkie on the bottom. The dark magic surged up through his feet, washing through his body to form his most powerful transformation. Natsu clenched his jaw, feeling the bolts of pain streaking up his body from not using the Shift for his natural form for so long. He shot up to his human height. Wings burst from his back, fiery red and crafted like a dragon's. Inky black, swirling designs seeped from his wings and across his body, curling like paintings across his cheeks. His slit-pupiled eyes that always exposed him for what he was, no matter what shape he took on, glowed red, and he felt his fangs elongate. Horns spiraled up from his skull.

Juvia's mouth had fallen open, and Gray was trying to back away even in his weak state. Natsu couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, the familiar feeling of shame pricking at his chest. He wished they'd stop looking at him like that; it wasn't as if he'd ever wanted to be this.

"Get into my hands," he instructed, kneeling down and holding his palms out. "We're getting to the elves."

Once he'd scooped up Gray and Juvia clambered into his grasp, he burst into the sky, falling into a forward position before feeling the magic boost him so that with one flap, he was speeding across the desert. One hundred miles per hour, two hundred, three hundred-

He held the fairies to his chest so that the wind wouldn't tear them apart; it was his magic and tough demon skin that kept his own face from peeling off. With a pang of guilt came the rush of enjoyment. It had been so long since he'd flown with his demon power. The power made him simmer with delight and craving, something that scared him to this day. It was why he'd forced himself not to take this form; the power had gotten to his head before until his soul had almost been lost forever. Power could be a good thing, but this dark magic…

Natsu shook away his thoughts, glancing worriedly down at the fairies. They were curled into balls, Gray's shaking and sweating getting worse by the second. Juvia was trying to look at Gray, but Natsu's protective fingers prevented much movement for her own safety.

Just as he almost reached the sound barrier, a whistling noise came to his attention, and he looked up just in time to see the arrow.

It tore through his shoulder and left wing; pain streaked through him and his muscles screamed. A cry was ripped from his throat and he tumbled in air, his one wing cackling with the magic energy that had just blown a hole through it. Natsu gritted his teeth, glowering at the elf scouts he saw approaching in the distance with bows drawn. He hadn't even done anything to them; what the hell was their problem?!

But he couldn't let down his friends.

As he fell, he tried to stay aloft, wing and shoulder in agony, but the hole and the pain threw off his flight pattern too much. Natsu couldn't help but fall and fall, curling his body and wings around the fairies so that if he hit the ground, at least the they would be saved. He closed his eyes, readying himself for an impact that would damage even his strong demon bones-

And the impact never came.

Natsu only felt soft, gentle arms wrap around his fetal-position form, holding him in the most comforting way with his head against a smooth and flower-scented shoulder. Some brilliant light had surrounded him, and he wondered momentarily if he'd died and was being taken to heaven instead of hauled back to hell.

Natsu was being lowered down from the sky, and he heard his savior's feet lightly touch the ground. The arms around him, now streaked with his blood, cradled him still as the being slowly knelt down.

Finally, he cautiously cracked his eyes open. And then they widened, his jaw dropping.

It was an angel.

She could only be; glowing with an ethereal light, radiance emanating from her very skin. The female creature was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen of the three realms he'd been to. Her golden hair flowed down to her back, golden tiara glistened on her head, and he'd never seen such a perfect face. Natsu had been told that angels didn't exist, that there was nothing left in any world that could defeat the great demon king.

But her… the sheer amount of power she gave off was enough to make him feel like he should be bowing to her. Surely she was not just an angel; she had to be the queen of them all.

Her shining, big, brown eyes met his, and she gave a smile that made him choke on air. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Are you real?" he asked back in a daze. "Or did I eat the wrong kind of mushrooms again?"

Her laugh was like Earth's church bells. "Oh, I am quite real. Let me take a look at that shoulder, hmm?"

Still dumbly staring, Natsu slowly nodded, wincing while he unfurled his wings to show her. The woman's eyes seemed to follow the outlines of his wings. "Those are beautiful," she whispered.

"What?" he stammered, sure he'd heard her wrong.

"Your wings," said the lady. "They're beautiful. And those markings too… what are you? What's your name?"

Natsu couldn't find it in himself to speak. This woman, this glowing angel, had just called parts of him beautiful. Parts of his very worst form.

"B-beautiful?" he coughed out, absolutely bewildered. "What kinda hellish mushrooms did you eat?!"

She gave a snort, which seemed rather strange for the most beautiful woman in the worlds. But so did saving a demon. Ignoring his last comment, she examined his wounds. "Oh dear… I didn't realize your wing was hit as well."

"Do you… have healing magic?" Natsu asked tentatively.

"As a matter of fact, I do," she said confidently, straightening her back. Her white dress shimmered in the sun.

"Then please, make my friend better," said Natsu urgently, opening his hands to her. "He has heat sickness and I mostly do fire magic."

Juvia uncurled, blinking up at the woman in surprise. "Tenshi," she said in awe.

Gray was thankfully still breathing, but with shudders and groans. The angel looked to him in concern, scooping the boy fairy up into her cooler fingers. Then, the woman squinted her eyes shut, wrinkled up her nose…

"Whaaaat are you doing?" Natsu questioned tiredly. "Don't you have a spell to say or something?"

"Patience, fire boy," the angel said, her mouth twitching into a frown. "I don't speak my magic. My tears heal."

"You're tryin' to cry?" Raising his eyebrows, Natsu offered, "Uh… dead puppies? Small children stuck in a burning building? Running out of meat?"

"If you're implying that not having any meat is just as tragic as children dying in a burning building, it isn't really helping," she muttered.

"The elves are coming. I'm pretty sure they're so strict and boring that you'll cry."

"I'm working on it, okay?"

Turning his head to the side painfully, Natsu could see the griffins approaching through the heat waves. The elves looked to have their bows lowered, but that didn't make them any less intimidating.

When he looked back, tears were streaming down the angel's face. The sight was almost more tragic than the things he'd mentioned to create it. Holding Gray up to her face, she let a glistening tear drip from her chin and right onto his forehead.

Healthy color rushed back into Gray's face, and he sighed in his previously-fevered sleep. She next leaned over Natsu's wing, her tears spreading a soothing feeling tingling across the membrane, and the tissue grew back together until it looked as if nothing had ever happened to it. Next his shoulder, where the tears seemed to knit the muscle back together and skin closing up the hole. All that was left was a splatter of blood on his tunic and scarf.

Before he could thank her, the elves caught up. There were five of them, the one at the head of the group was quite large, a man with a scar across one of his narrowed eyes, with yellow hair slicked up and… was that a tail? Three others were male as well, one with a helmet and creepy grin, the other green hair and a scowl. In the back was a massive, beast of a man with tan skin and shocking white hair. The woman's scowl was even deeper, her light brown hair pushed back behind her pointy ears.

The blonde one aimed an arrow straight at Natsu's head. Natsu grit his teeth, handing Juvia off to the angel for her safety. "Point that thing somewhere else, buddy."

Not seeming to have heard him, the blond man said in contempt, "We knew it was only a matter of time before you left that cave and decided to return to your dark ways, devil."

Natsu growled, struggling to rise, but the angel shot up before him. "How dare you speak to him that way!"

It was as if their attention had been so focused on capturing him that they hadn't seen her, but now that they did-

"Your highness!" they shouted in unison, clambering off of their griffins to kneel on the dusty ground.

Natsu grinned smugly. So he'd been right; she was royalty. And on his side.

The woman held herself up, and his blood streaked across her somehow only made her more stunning. "Explain yourselves. What reasoning have you for this disgusting treatment of this man?"

"H-he is using his deception on you, your highness," cautioned the green haired one. "He is a demon; an Etherious demon spat out of hell. You and the fairies must be brought safely to our city and him to our dungeons-"

"A demon?" she said, blinking several times before returning her gaze to him. Natsu suddenly felt very small, and avoided her eyes. His heart spiraled downward; he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up that she'd stay on his side. He should have known that someone as pure and lovely as her could never give a demon the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't as if the elf was wrong; well, while he wasn't trying to deceive her in any way, he was a demon. One spat out of hell and never allowed to return.

"Yes, your highness," urged the blonde one. "He is far too dangerous to come in further contact with you; they charm their victims and-"

"He's about as charming as a brick," said the angel flatly. Natsu wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or offended. "And not to sound conceited, but by my basic description as a species, it is impossible for a demon to deceive me. When I looked upon him from the Celestial Realm, he was carrying this sick fairy to you for healing, looking at his friend in genuine concern when he didn't know I was watching. That hardly seems like a tactic of deception."

"We are under orders to arrest him should he stray further than the border of the Summer Kingdom," the one in the helmet told her, almost apologetically. "I'm sure they'll give him a fair trial in Zaltana."

Natsu scoffed, "Fair. Oh, sure. Trial for what exactly? Tell me what I'm being charged for!"

"Existing," the blonde one said shortly. "Now come quietly and you won't get a hole in the other wing. Men?"

"And woman," grumbled the female, and they all stood. The one with green hair took out a pen and began to write runes that formed into glowing ropes, likely for preventing magic use.

Rage lacing through his blood, Natsu glanced between the advancing elves. As soon as he took a single step back, the blonde one whipped out his bow again and another arrow tore through his wing.

Natsu gasped sharply, tripping with the force of the projectile and sprawling on the dusty ground. The hole was much bigger this time, only minimal amounts of blood because of the thinness of the tissue, but the pain still shuddered through him as if it were his arm.

"Why did you do that?!" cried the angel, kneeling at his side. Her beautiful face was contorted in horror and anger. She moved in front of him, shielding him. "He didn't do anything!"

"He moved," the man hissed. "He was going to fly away, and now he can't. For your own safety from him, your highness, I suggest you step away."

"Leave Natsu alone!" It was Juvia this time, voice quivering as she flew up to the elf's eye level. But Natsu could see that she was afraid of the elf's size. "He is Juvia's friend! H-he has done nothing wrong; he strayed from his cave for Juvia, to save Gray! He is not evil-"

"Move aside."

"-and he would never hurt anyone, really! He has never asked Juvia for a thing or tried to deceive her-"

"Move ASIDE!" commanded the man again, and ducked his head around the fairy. "Enough of this nonsense! You will have your chance to speak for this vile creature upon arrival, though once our anti-deception magic has been cast upon him, you will realize what fools you have been!"

"Laxus, you're talkin' to Princess Lucy," the helmet-wearing one reminded him in a worried whisper.

"I'm protecting a princess," the blonde one corrected, sidestepping the angel and roughly shoving Natsu onto his stomach with a boot. Natsu gritted his teeth with the jolt of pain up his wing as Laxus kept a foot planted firmly on his back and bent down to grab his wrists-

On pure instinct, Natsu reared up with a growl, baring his fangs and rolling out of the way. Fire burst from his palms, and he yelled in the ancient dragon tongue, "Fire dragon iron fist!"

Laxus went flying at the flaming punch-the other elves shouted in alarm and lept into action, drawing bows. The angel, Lucy, backed away in surprise, a barrier of light thrust out by her hands to protect her and the fairies.

Arrows flew at him and were batted aside by a great wing. Tucking his wings to himself, he jumped and spun, kicking the green-haired one in the face and slashing fire at the girl. For the last two, he roared, fire blazing up his throat and spewing out hundreds of feet of a fiery cyclone.

Natsu breathed out heavily, fists clenched. Now he could run; his wings were faster, but his feet still could beat any elf. Tearing what was left of his shirt off hastily, he ripped pieces that he hastily bound around his wing. He glanced at the two fairies and the angel to make sure they were unharmed-

Lucy was staring at him in a way that made his heart rate slow to a pained halt. It was fright, uncertainty. Her barrier was still up, even though the fight was over. Did she think he was going to… hurt her?

He'd just met the angel; he didn't know why her fear bothered him as much as perhaps Juvia's would, but that didn't stop him from lowering his wings, feeling his shoulders hunch in some kind of defeat. While trying to run from people who accused him of being a monster… he'd just proved them right.

Realizing his hands were still aflame, Natsu muttered the spell to extinguish. Then, he raised his hands up, bending lower. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise. I just gotta get out of here-" He stopped when she noticed she wasn't looking really at him with any fear; she was more scandalized by the sight of lower than his face-

Of course. The scars.

They were scattered all across his chest, torso, arms. X marks, demon runes, and the stray whiplash. Demon scars of disgrace, the marks of banishment.

Natsu felt blood rise to his cheeks, something he'd never felt happen before. He had hidden them under long sleeves and tunics all these years. Someone seeing them, feeling pity for him, disgust for him… needless to say, this was all rather humiliating.

"Uhh," he muttered, raising a scarred hand to try to rub away the redness that was surely coating his face. And in his shame, he completely forgot that the elves certainly wouldn't be out of commission for long.

The one called Laxus gave a shout, tackling Natsu in a headlock that nearly crushed his windpipe. Natsu let out a guttural growl, but the one with green hair quickly struggled up to wrap the cords tightly about his wrists. At the feel of the restraints, Natsu's mind flashed to unbidden memories; burning, metal cuffs that cut out his flames closed around his hands, fear making sweat wet his bare body as he was tied with his arms over his head. All the weapons and torture tools being selected by a grinning Lucif demon, the feeling of a hot blade slowly sinking through his chest to carve the runes-

Natsu screamed, terror raking over him. He struggled, curling his wings around himself protectively while the elves held him down to the ground. He tried to bite, kick, breathe fire that wouldn't come. The chants of the demons echoed in his mind, "Sell, submit, face your destiny…"

"I won't sell it!" Natsu gasped, wings flapping frantically. "I won't! Let me go! Brother please, please, make it stop, Brother-!"

A sharp pain flashed through his head, and all went black.

Greetings nerds,

Got some Natsu insight here, and the beginning flames of Nalu! More questions to be answered later! Only one POV this week, but a long one! I knoooow I have other stories to update, but I was already finishing up with this one so. :3

Big thanks to my beloved beta and friend, Akela-Nakamura! She's such a sweetie and makes sure my typos and dumb sentences don't get shoved in your face.

I can't believe how amazing all of you are, supporting this story that is still a baby. :D I'm so excited to write this so every review means so much to me! Thank you to Akela-Nakamura again, KaUiA, SpeedyMomentum, 2 Guests, stormyunicorn, Batfan3, beatdrop, Yuyui Hime, Fairytaillover2404, Amelia Loves Anime, CuteKitty264, glittering-couch-potato, FireShifter, JeslynBoo, Kinsutenekochan, WeightlessWriter, Emojimojo, Laura, Jellal Frenandes, Pancakes1708, KatInBloom, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, Vardarianna, and Angelshalo03!

See ya later (Procrastination and senioritis destroying me)

Mizpah,

~LoneStorm