Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while since I've last updated this story. Sorry about that, life as we speak is killing me. Anyways, if you still follow this story and have been waiting patiently, I appreciate it. Now, for story time…

"Are you still with us, Mr. Dragneel?" Dr. Joseph R. Goulding, the man leading the expedition to find the so called red dragon he's been looking for some time, called out to the dragon slayer who seemed to be far behind the rest of the group. He wore a sage colored hiking outfit along with a matching small hat.

Natsu came back from his trance once he heard the doctor's voice. "Y-Yeah." He responded.

"Gee," a large muscled tanned man with gray hair slashed the branches and foliage that sticked out with his machete, making the path for the team. He seemed to wear the same attire as the old man except he had a bandanna around his neck. "What good is getting one more person to this damn expedition… if he's not going to be able to keep up!?" He continue to slash like a slow villain in a movie.

"Now, now Theo," the good ol' doctor said as he looked at the sheet of paper that he mapped out. "He's a dragon slayer. He probably knows more this dragon than I ever could in the last 20 years."

"Oi," the young girl, curvy and had curly black hair, turned around, walking backwards and facing Natsu who was right behind her. As oppose to wearing hiking gear, she wore colored blouse and blue jeans and black shoes. "Are you really a dragon slayer like my dad says?" She questioned.

"Of course," he answered her. "Why else wouldn't I be here with you all if I wasn't?"

"I don't know," she put her index finger on her bottom lip. "Maybe you just said that so you could take whatever my father finds on this expedition?"

"Trust me sweetheart," the doctor overheard their conversation and joined in. "He's the real deal unlike the others before him."

"I still don't buy it," she turned back around, finally walking normally again. "Dragon Slayers are supposed to look and act tough. Him? He's like a damn flower and he doesn't even have an intimidating name at all, I mean, who names their kid, Natsu?"

"I can hear you, you know?" Natsu had an eyebrow raised, mentally laughing at her comments about what a dragon slayer is supposed to look and act like. "Plus, you do not want to take shots at me little girl."

"Little girl?" She felt rather insulted that comment of his.

"Yeah." He let out a small inaudible laugh.

"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL!" She quickly retorted.

"Anna, let it go sweetie." The doctor said, now looking at the map at a different angle.

"Oi, pink head." Theo continued to make the path for them.

"Yeah?" He answered the muscled man.

"What type of Dragon Slayer did you say you were?" He asked, cutting down another large branch.

"Fire Dragon Slayer." He answered again.

"And what guild did you say you were from?" Theo asked another question.

"Fairy Tail." He answered once more.

"Fairy Tail?" Anna raised an eyebrow. "Why does that guild sound familiar…?"

"Strongest guild in Fiore." Theo recited the so-called slogan while slashing more and more foliage.

"Oh that's right!" She remembered once those words came across her mind again.

"Yup." Natsu clarified.

"Hey, old man, which way now?" Theo had made it to what seemed to be a huge boulder blocking their way.

"Ah, we're already next to the boulder marker?" The doctor quickly pulled the map to his face. Right behind him stood all three of them, his daughter, the mercenary hired to protect them, and the Dragon Slayer. "We… turn right!"

All of them but Natsu turned to look at their right while he looked to his left. "That's the wrong way, dumbass." Theo remarked him.

"R-Right." He then turned to his right where Theo started to hack and slash again.

"Are you sure you're from Fairy Tail?" Anna now questioned where he came from.

"You see this?" He pointed with his left hand at his right shoulder, where his red guild mark was located. "This is my guild mark. You only get this fancy tattoo if you join Fairy Tail."

She looked at it for a bit. "Hmm… alright. I'll cave into this one." She surrendered.

"Hey, what are you two doing back there?" Her father called out to both. He was already pretty far into the new path where as both Natsu and Anna stood where they stopped earlier; near the boulder marker. "Come on now, you children."

"Coming, father." She called out to him and speed walked it, leaving the dragon slayer right behind her dust.

Before moving, Natsu looked at the sky once more, in hopes of finding the so-called dragon that roamed through this set of forest wildlife. Igneel? Is that you? Where are you hiding? He thought to himself, he then looked back at the road in front of him and continued on with the expedition.

It took several minutes before getting to their next marker. "Ok, we finally made it to the cave you mentioned in your fancy map. Where to now?" Theo asked. He put away his machete considering there was nothing to hack and slash about anymore.

"Let's see here…" The doctor adjusted his glasses before he brought the map to his face for a closer inspection. "We passed this… and this… and this… Ah!"

"Well?" He waited for an answer from the geezer.

"The next marker is the waterfall after that we make it to the last place me and my daughter last saw the huge dragon." He summarized.

"Can we… rest here… for a few seconds…?" Anna, along with Natsu, panted, trying to take in deep breaths.

"No, we're almost there." Natsu disagreed with resting. The longer he waited, the farther his father was.

"I agree with the mage," Theo said. "We're almost there, we can't just stop."

"Dad…" She tried to convince her father to take a break. He thought about it for a bit.

"You said you were exhausted correct?" Natsu asked the curly haired girl.

"Yeah. Why?" She now answered with her question.

"What if I carry you on my back?" He asked her, hoping she agreed with his proposal.

"Carry me… on your back?" She looked at him. Although, she saw that Natsu was rather buff for his size, she didn't really want to be a burden to the pinkette.

"Did I stutter?" He gave her a rather bland look. His eyes were rather widen with his mouth close.

"For God sakes, just let him carry you on his back!" Theo exclaimed, urging them to make a rather easy choice.

"Huh," she let out a small sigh. "Fine."

"Here, carry my bag and then I'll carry you." He handed her his bag to look over.

She took it and strapped it on to her back. She then got behind the man and he carried her piggyback styled. "Ok, let's continue with this old man." Theo insisted.

"Alright, we now head right over here." He pointed North West, where the raging waterfall should be located.

"Good."

Several minutes passed, although still not near where the waterfall was supposed to be located.

Anna, like a teenager she is, was rather uncomfortable with the way she was. "You can put me down now." She urged Natsu to put her down already.

"So you can start complaining again? I don't think so." He refused her proposal, despite her constant nagging about it.

"Oh come on, I won't say a word I promise!" She tried again.

"No, is no." And again, he refused.

"Ugh!" She grunted. She then placed her arms around his neck. She then felt what seemed to be his locket. Huh?

She then grabbed the locket and turned it around his neck so she can see it better. "Hey! Leave that alone. Haven't you heard what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours?" Natsu said.

"Wrong expression dude," She corrected him. She then saw his gold locket and opened it. "Who is this gorgeous woman?"

"That's my wife." He told her as he walked.

"And this baby right here is your kid?" With her finger, she gently felt both pictures, feeling their textures.

"Yeah." He answered her.

"How come you're not with them?" She asked, closing and putting the locket back in its place.

"…" Natsu seemed rather uncomfortable to talk about his family dilemma at the moment.

"Oh, I see now." Anna seemingly understood his response.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked her the questions now as they walked. They were only a few feet away from her father and the mercenary.

"That's how my dad acted… when he told that my mother died…" She opened a bit, hoping to get a bit from his story.

"Oh, I didn't know…" Natsu felt a bit calm now. He didn't think he and the girl had nothing in common.

"Did…" She mustered up her words. "Did… both of them died in some type of accident?"

"Only my wife, Lucy," he said, opening up a bit as well in return. "She died giving birth to our little girl, Nashi."

"Is that your wife's name? Lucy?" She asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed it. "Smart, beautiful. So many things. But the one thing she was to me the most was my heart."

"Please don't make me cry." Her eyes were dripping with a few tears, holding them back.

"I-I'm sorry." He apologized to her about the ordeal.

"I-It's ok," she sniffed. "And what about your baby girl? Where is she?"

"… I gave her up…" He said lowly.

"You gave… her up?" She was rather astonished to hear his last comment.

"She doesn't… need this life…" He said. "She doesn't need me… She's better off without me."

"How would you know that?" She questioned him about the way he felt.

"Excuse me?" He asked her.

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT!?" She yelled it loud enough to his ear but not loud enough for the rest to hear her. "How would you know what kind of father you would've become to her?"

"Ugh." He stopped in his tracks. Her questioned rather hit him harder than expected.

She got off his back and faced the pinkette. "Well?" She expected his answer.

"I don't know…" He said, barely audible.

"What?" She didn't hear him correctly, placing her hand next to her ear in hopes of him getting where she's getting at.

"I said I don't know!" He repeated once more to the teenager, this time a bit louder than before. "I'm a single father for crying out loud! What the hell did you expect me to do?!" He said. "I'm currently a mess!"

She could hear his aching pain in his tone, crying on the inside but still trying to hold up on the outside. "That didn't stop my father from raising me!" She retorted. "How would you know if you didn't even try?!"

"I just don't know alright…" A tear rather slipped out of his eye. "She's better off with her new family anyways!"

"How would you know that?" She asked him again. "How would you know that? How would you know that you were going to be a bad father? Or rather anything to her? Did you even put an ounce in taking care of her before you gave her away?"

"…" No answer from the mage.

"Did you or did you not!?" She asked once more. The way she acted made Natsu feel like he was talking to his wife Lucy again.

"NO!" He admitted. "And it kills me every time I think about it… all the, what ifs… all the, what would my wife do in this situation… it pains me, right in the heart." He said, placing his right hand over his heart. "It's bad enough that I feel guilty about letting her go… I don't also want to regret the decision…"

She could see that he was already punishing himself more than she thought. "I didn't know you put yourself that much guilt." She said.

"Well I do," he said looking down on his feet. "Something that I'll make myself live through for the rest of my life…"

"Don't put the blame of not being a father to her on yourself as well." She said which startled Natsu.

"Why not?" He asked. "You even said that-"

"I was wrong OK," she admitted. "You did what any father could and that is give your daughter a better life." She explained. "At first I thought it was because you thought of yourself, but upon hearing you say what you just said actually made think that you put your daughter's life before yourself."

"But it's hanging on my conscious," he said. "It's still me to blame."

"No, it's not," she said. "This is one of those thing that should tell you that you did the right thing for her."

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review! Your support is very welcomed.