A Befallen Fate

As Natsu squirmed, Gildarts' grip tightened whenever he felt that the dragon slayer would break free. The orange-haired man had several things going on in his mind, primarily of how he'd deal with Natsu's recent escapades and behavior. Tabloids were manageable enough to get him up to speed, but it's those bits of information those journalists weren't privy to that he was concerned with. He'd figure those out at a later time, now though, he needed to know what was going through Natsu's head currently. Gildarts understood that the dragon slayer would mostly act without a second thought, but from what he has read it would seem that he was driven this time. There was nothing wrong with being motivated, but when it's solely focused on war then some people lose sight of the bigger picture and he was afraid that Natsu was one such person.

On the other hand, Natsu was someone who hardly cared about it in the first place which the Crush mage had a solid feeling of that being the case here. The boy he found wandering the forest in search of his father has grown up to be a powerful mage, but the ideals of having that amount of power had never been instilled within him since having that power meant that he could use it to protect his friends. It never really occurred to anyone to help him understand that raw strength he possessed since his carefree and friendly attitude showed that it wouldn't come to consume him, but at this point, Gildarts knew the slayer couldn't afford to be so aloof anymore.

"I left you guys a few months back on a job that didn't seem so hard for an S-Class request, I know I may have made a detour along the way but I never expected you brats to go to war while I was gone." Gildarts began as he let go of the dragon slayer now that they were off to the side of the guild.

"Things can change a lot in the time that you're gone, Old Man," Natsu replied as he adjusted his scarf, unsure why Gildarts bothered to say anything about missing out when it's common knowledge that he always does.

"A couple of you kids get married, families started and departures from the guild are all the things I've come to expect to hardly be around for but to go to war again after Alvarez is pretty far out there." It's happened before over the years and no one faulted Gildarts about it, but everyone knew that if Cana were to ever take the next step with someone then he'd make an exception to the rule by any means.

"Would you being there make any difference in the end? People died, suffered and we'd still go straight to war." Natsu said as Gildarts' power would've demolished the majority of Imperial forces in a few attacks, but it wouldn't do much against the idea of having to cross the Gate.

"Probably not for the battle, but I'd have some input about sending Fairy Tail mages to war," Gildarts replied as he's come to learn that it was because of the dragon slayer that Fairy Tail has a part in this in the first place.

"No doubt saying that you don't want any of us to fight, just like Gramps did. Well, that didn't matter since we volunteered to join the army and it wouldn't have mattered if you said anything either," Natsu said confidently as he wouldn't be denied the chance of returning the favor to those who wronged Fiore.

"And yet, you don't realize what you've done by willingly joining the military." Gildarts could tell that Natsu had no idea what he was talking about, but the dragon slayer kept up his poker face.

"I showed Fiore that we must protect this country we call home, that we won't be held back by guild rules if it meant that we could make a difference." Being restricted wasn't the Fairy Tail way and even though Natsu knew Makarov was only looking out for them, this was the moment that Fairy Tail was needed most.

"That much is obvious when you look around, but you haven't come to understand what position you are in now." Gildarts knew where the dragon slayer stood in the public eye, it was the same place that even he was at if he'd care enough to acknowledge it that is. "Your words alone hold more weight than most officials these days."

"I don't get it; how does that work when most people listen to those kinds of guys?" The dragon slayer wasn't one for authority figures that weren't some of the old-timers of Fairy Tail like Makarov, so it was weird to know that he was more important in comparison to those in the public eye.

"Basically, the reputation you've built alongside Fairy Tail has shown people that there's hope so long as someone like you stands up for them." It was a balancing act to be both reliable and unreliable, a way of life that Gildarts spent years honing as that degree of responsibility was too much for even him to handle.

"Isn't that what we're supposed to do? We stand up for those that can't, protect those who can't defend themselves, and help those in need." It had crossed Natsu's mind that he was the one lecturing Gildarts now, but it was dashed away when he noticed the proud smirk the older mage had.

"I guess you've grown up after all," It was odd to hear such words from Natsu's mouth after knowing him for so many years, but Gildarts couldn't help a sudden sense to puff his chest out in pride to see such change.

"Or maybe you're still stuck in the past," Natsu said as the things that the orange-haired man has dealt with over the years have most likely jaded him in his opinion.

"Sometimes I wish for that, to go back to simpler times when you brats were getting in trouble with the Rune Knights for wrecking another village while on a job," Things were much easier back then with Fairy Tail not needing to worry about the problems that it would come to face, but it would also mean that he wouldn't have his Cana at his side and Gildarts didn't want that. "But that's beside the point, let's get back to the matter at hand."

"You say that, but it feels like we haven't said anything important." As of late the dragon slayer has started to keep track of conversations and has realized how pointless some become the longer they drag on, more so with the ones that revolve around the war.

"Fair point, the gist of it all is that you need to be careful with how you behave from now on." Unlike his lack of threats, warnings were easier for him to give out even though their guests won't receive one from him since the older mage didn't want a chance of a repeat.

"I've been on my best behavior, if I wasn't then Laxus and Erza would pull me from the front line." It was the only reason why he kept in line, else those two would have no choice to rein him in and Laxus had already warned him of the possibility of that happening.

"It's much deeper than how you are in the Special Region; it's how you act in general." For as much as he's grown, Natsu still hadn't grasped the role he plays amongst the people. "You've become the poster boy of the war."

"What's wrong about putting my face on a poster? The magazines already have dozens of pictures of me and the rest of the guild anyways."

"The difference being is that this helps push the efforts of the FEF because they have someone the people trust." Gildarts clarified but was met with the look of a half-understanding Natsu.

"I kind of get what you're saying, but I still don't see what's wrong with having the trust of the people. They even have Laxus' face showing a lot so he could be a poster boy too." It was something that the slayer had noticed around the capital but didn't pay much mind to the reason as to why they were around.

"Let's try a different approach, think back to the day Queen Hisui asked Fairy Tail to join the war, what happened?" Gildarts didn't rightfully know what happened in that meeting, but after the defense of Crocus, he got the feeling that no one was fully wishing to strike back very soon.

"Gramps turned her down and I decided to volunteer, then everyone else joined in too." He needed to go and prove to the Empire that their attack was a fatal mistake, something the others were too reserved to show. "Pretty soon the other guilds started sending volunteers when word got out that Fairy Tail had joined."

"Think of that situation without you deciding to go, what would've been the outcome?"

"I guess... we wouldn't have been part of the FEF and maybe some of the other guilds would need more convincing to help." Natsu learned about the others being hesitant sometime after they took the valley, which confused him as to why they weren't prepared to fight like he was.

"Luckily for Hisui, the linchpin to convince the other guilds volunteered himself which gave them the confidence to follow suit." He heard how it was a massacre of innocents in Crocus and Gildarts understood that the idea of a guild master possibly sending their mages into another fight like that would leave them weary.

"You're saying that I'm the reason why the FEF has guild mages in the first place? Now I know for sure that you've grown old, you're not making any sense." It was hard to believe that he alone was why over three dozen high-ranking guild mages signed on as volunteer soldiers for the FEF. "How could I even be the cause if they all chose to join on their own?"

"It's because you joined in the first place that the others followed, it's like I said earlier that you hold more weight as a person than you realize." Gildarts could tell that instead of denying responsibility, Natsu was unconvinced that he had any part in their decision-making.

"Why is that, it doesn't make any sense?" Natsu was at a loss since even he knew that he wasn't someone whose words should be followed because of his reputation and yet, people followed his lead into war.

"Because you're the Hero of Fiore," Gildarts answered him evenly, the dragon slayer's eyes widening before he burst into laughter.

"Good one, Gildarts! The Hero of Fiore, humph." He's seen how some people treat a hero and that was something Natsu had no interest in, so it really was funny to him that he was considered like that. "There's plenty of other people that stood up to defend Fiore in the Alvarez War so why am I the Hero? It's obvious that it has something to do with that war, so why?"

"Tell me who landed the finishing blow to both the Dragon of Destruction and the Black Mage?" A rhetorical question that shut Natsu up in a second as he steeled his gaze at the older mage.

"I had the power of all the dragon slayers for Acnologia and was given the power to put down Zeref for good, others helped me then so why aren't they heroes too?" He couldn't deny that the power of others gave him the strength to break past the barrier that would help him stop the evils of the world, but what made him special?

"They were given a hero's welcome in the end, but everyone else witnessed the final battles as your power that saved this country. You're the Hero that Fiore looks towards to rescue them and is essentially helping lead them to recovery during this new tragedy."

"And no one's bothered by volunteering or the war in general because the Hero's on the job," Natsu figured out why he was considered the poster boy that Gildarts spoke about, it was easier to sell the war if the hero was at the forefront.

"Those in charge hadn't thought of it at first, at least not Hisui, but they quickly took advantage of having you around to ease the peoples' worries." Gildarts was in such a position many years ago in a different country and Makarov experienced something similar in the final stages of the Guild Wars. "You weren't played, but were convenient and in the right place at the right time."

"But I know how people treat Heroes, the Special Region hasn't had its fill of doing its best to show for Gray!" Natsu argued as from the common folk to Pina, they tried their best to find a way to get on the ice mage's good side. "He was only playing the hero, but it's gotten to his head recently."

"How exactly did that happen?" This was the first that Gildarts heard of this, but it was hard to imagine the ice mage as someone searching for the limelight.

"He told some stupid bedtime story that spread like wildfire after he saved a village of people from a dragon attack with our help." The team all received equal thanks, but he had noticed that there was this air of admiration towards the ice mage for some reason he wasn't aware of at the time. "He ran with it until recently, but it helped to keep him acting all high and mighty."

"Sounds like a misunderstanding, why didn't he just explain things to everyone?" If there was something that he learned about Gray over the years, Gildarts could confidently say it was the ice mage's integrity when it counted.

"That's because... because we needed an in with the redhead inside the guild and I thought it would be easier if she kept thinking that Gray was the royal from his bedtime story." In retrospect, Natsu had just come to terms that his recent annoyance with Pina's behavior of trying to please Gray was all his doing from the start. "Doesn't matter anymore though, she knows the truth and at this point, it won't change anything."

"Gray's not one to be center stage, but I can assume that he's done enough good while trying to keep up that façade of his while it lasted?" Gildarts wondered how the ice mage handled being seen the same way everyone here looks at Natsu, but that wasn't why they were there for. "Leaving that aside, we're talking about you here."

"I get it okay; I've got to think before I act since I'm the damn Hero everyone wants to look up to." Natsu huffed as a surge of irritation grew in his core, annoyed to being reprimanded no matter where he went. "You're like everyone else, always telling me that I'm in the wrong and that who I am is causing troubles."

Gildarts rose a curious brow at the dragon slayer because he sounded angry, annoyed even, and yet there was a look of defeat in the young man's eyes. The old mage could assume that the military higher-ups and even his own guildmates have put him through the wringer for his actions, but he didn't imagine that they'd lead him to this point. It was strange to see the rambunctious boy he brought look so worn out and defeated that for all the lectures he wanted to give the dragon slayer, they became pointless. Natsu needed something more meaningful than a lecture at the current moment so with one tap to get his attention, Gildarts led them to an available bench to sit down.

"I may not be around much, but even I can tell that there's something no one's catching on about you." Gildarts began as Natsu refused to meet his gaze and favoring to look out onto the empty street ahead. "War isn't pretty and it takes a part of you every time you dive into it."

"Then why is it that this one took everything from me?" Natsu replied as he gazed up into the peaceful blue sky, the sound of waves crashing against the beach droning away from behind the guild being their only ambiance. "It took my best friend, took away the trust my friends had in me and what feels like my sanity."

"I think it's a terrible way to follow in another's footsteps," Gildarts said as he sadly had to go through a similar conversation years ago, but Natsu seemed a little more together in comparison. "Aside from that, all I can say is there are people you can talk to if this is really pushing you against a wall."

"Hopefully I'm talking to one of them," Natsu said as a troubled smile crossed his face and Gildarts couldn't really believe that the dragon slayer had grown enough to show such a face.

"I've been looking after you in my own way ever since you were still looking for Igneel, I'm not stopping anytime soon," Gildarts replied as he gave him a reassuring smile, reclining into the bench a bit more to ease the tension.

"Then maybe you can tell me why I'm so damn conflicted." Natsu began as he propped his chin on his hands, supported by his elbows on his knees. "I had a clear goal in mind ever since I got out of that Gate and the longer I spent in the Special Region the further I changed my goal."

"So, what started your goal in the first place? Look back on it to get yourself back on track." Usually, backtracking to the reason you set a goal for yourself can help lead you back on its path, that's what Gildarts believed anyways.

"It's not easy to do that, I can't go back to it," Natsu admitted and it was the sole reason why this war felt like it took his sanity. "No that's not it; I refuse to go back to it. I don't want to remember what really caused my goal."

"Better to talk about it than to keep it bottled in, especially if it's that bad." Gildarts offered, but Natsu shook his head in response as he looked at his hands.

"What I saw blended the boundary of man and monster, I couldn't tell them apart until Lucy brought me back," Natsu said as he felt a sudden chill cover his left hand and checked his other hand since it felt like a droplet rolled down its side. "All I know was that I felt..."

"Powerless." Gildarts finished for him and wasn't surprised by the curious look the dragon slayer turned to look at him with. "I know that feeling Natsu and I'm far too familiar with being unable to tell man and monster apart."

"You?" That was something the dragon slayer couldn't believe, especially in the face of absolute power that was the Crush mage. It just didn't register as something plausible.

"Many years ago, when I was off on an S-Class request to stop a heavy drug ring out in Sin, I took months coming back not because the mission took long, but because I wasn't sure how to face anyone back home." This was new to Natsu, most likely a story from the older mage's youth before the dragon slayer's time. "The mission was a success on paper, but I ultimately failed in my opinion. To this day, I still hate that bastard ring leader who managed to get the last laugh."

"What happened?"

"I thought of it as standard routine since I've dealt with smaller ones here in Fiore, but I was dumb enough to think it would be the same. Finding them was the easy part when looking for the right people, it was dealing with the HQ that was too much." Gildarts wondered if those ruins still stood after all these years or have finally vanished into the wind. "Dozens of fools looking to make riches off the weakness of others, more so for the one in charge who believed the new thing would always be better."

"A drug leader needing new drugs never sounds good." If he made new drugs then Natsu was sure he'd need either materials or manpower to a high degree by any means he deemed necessary.

"It wasn't, his goons were easy pickings for me but I never expected what was waiting for me in his "testing" rooms. Asshole laughed the whole time I made my way through them." The orange-haired man could almost hear the deranged laughter in his head, all the while he was letting out calming breaths. "Room after room, I found groups of his "subjects" that had undergone dosages upon dosages of his new drugs that left them nothing more than husks of their former selves.

I found a kid in one of those rooms, she'd been pricked by so many needles that her arm looked like it was more holes than an arm, and was doing her best to stay awake. She was so young but cried so hard to get more of the drug to stop the pain and I don't know how long I had her in my arms but when I thought she cried herself to sleep, it was permanent."

"Damn..."

"She was just a kid, but the asshole wanted it to work for anybody and everybody without leaving anyone out. Losing the kid had already messed me up and I can only pray that my mind was projecting at that point as the next one really did me in." It had been years since this all happened to Gildarts, years since he's gotten help for himself to continue as a mage, and years since he last told anyone this tale of misery but he had a feeling that this could help Natsu.

"You don't have to keep going Gildarts, I understand." Natsu had never seen Gildarts in such a state; not broken or distraught but hollow, which felt so much more terrifying than anything else.

"You're starting to, but I need you to fully get it. Back to where I left off, the last room had one person in it and it was actually the girl I had rescued from a smaller one of his operations a few days before. The last I heard about her, the doctors were helping her overcome her addiction and there she was tied to a chair being pumped a cocktail that would drop a Vulcan, the asshole laughed even harder when I found the room and wondered if I liked his "parting gift". I struggled to look at her because she reminded me so much of my then-girlfriend that I truly felt the inability to do anything.

She was long gone already; her eyes were listless that I was barely any stimulation for her to move her attention towards me. Asshole told me that the only real option I had was to leave her strapped to the machine that was not only pumping her full of a drug cocktail but also keeping her alive or destroy the machine and end her life all the same. I watched her for a short while as everything in me couldn't stop thinking about the person I loved in that situation, it felt like hours before I walked up to the girl, placed my hand on her cheek, and blew up the machine. I will never forget how the light came back into her eyes for a brief moment as she let out tears before even that was gone and I was left in a building with still bodies and monsters."

"What did you do?"

"I remember hearing laughter for a moment before I was rushing through walls like a juggernaut, a meat shield in my grip while breaking down walls as I ran through them. I threw it on the ground after seven walls and I saw my hand go up before the meat shield was torn to shreds by magic and was just another splatter on the wall. I loaded the bodies of the "subjects" onto a cart and tied the survivors to be dragged along as I headed back into town after obliterating their HQ, once things were left in cleaner hands I went back for my pack and wandered into the distance. Months had passed before I wound up in Isvan and met up with someone with a different outlook on life, inadvertently helping me find a semblance of peace, and headed back to Fiore. I truly found peace when I spoke about my experience with Gramps and listened to his guidance."

"Maybe you can understand," Natsu muttered to himself as he never knew the pain that Gildarts was carrying with him and had shown the dragon slayer that evil is universal.

"I wanted you to hear my story so that you know that those feelings you had are shared by someone else, so why don't you tell me what really is bothering you."

Natsu gave the older mage a good long look before he went on to recount his entire ordeal when he arrived in Crocus, from the point of leaving the castle to scouring the streets for survivors. Doing his best to explain what had occurred on that dreaded street that had been haunting his dreams for several nights already and how Gray had been against him since the defense of Crocus. He laid bare to the older mage all that he had witnessed and everything that had begun to trouble him before crossing the Gate, adding in how some of his friends were taking the ice mage's side a little too fast over his without hearing him out fully.

Gildarts heard him out attentively, watching as his hands twitched and his breathing becoming ragged as he came upon the part of the girl that passed in his arms. He witnessed the dragon slayer's distress turn to pure rage as he thought back to those Imperial soldiers, but it simmered down when he briefly spoke about his time in the Special Region and around the redhead inside the guild. The older mage didn't find it hard to understand why he fought so earnestly and ferociously when his mind conjured a fearful parallel of his guildmates in a similar situation at the nonexistent mercy of those soldiers. The slayer's fears were attached to the idea that though they won the battle, a part of him was forced into a crushing defeat.

"The damn thing's gotten bad to the point that every time it pops back into my mind, all I'm seeing is Lucy or Erza or even Wendy suffering." His anger was what's kept him going after those kinds of nights, but he was unsure who could help him or how long he could keep that up.

"Have you told any of them about this?" Natsu shook his head and Gildarts knew the pink head was trying to hold it all in but it seemed that he was close to bursting.

"Lucy's already worried about being at war as it is and Wendy's still a kid so I won't let that fear nag at her from the back of her mind." They are special to him and the last thing he wants is to make them worry for not only him but for themselves too. "I told Erza about it, but it was around the time that all I wanted to do was kill the bastards that attacked. Guess she thought I was just acting out on my feelings and I wasn't being level-headed."

"She's worried you'd follow a path of revenge, the one where going to the absolute limit means there's no turning back." Gildarts had been very close to that state, he'd taken the monster's life without a second thought and still felt empty when it was all over. "Erza's still figuring out how to show enough emotion so you know she's sincere, but she meant well and the last thing she wanted was for you to lose who you are."

"The least she could've done is point out that what we were dealing with was a ruthless enemy who'd destroy their villages if it meant stopping us. At least then I could tell that my way of acting had concerned her about the damages to the innocent over what I could do if I got my hands on Imperials." It was difficult, to say the least in Natsu's opinion as he was always being watched as a possible danger instead of someone dealing with pain in their way.

"Do you still feel anger towards the Empire, even now?" Gildarts was curious to know where the slayer's emotions rested as he could tell that there has been changes since his first battle in the Special Region.

"Of course I do, the scum who sent his soldiers through the Gate is still out there and hasn't bothered trying to speak with us." Natsu waited for the day that he came face to face with the Emperor, to see the look on his face when he has to deal with the people he's wronged.

"You hold it against him, but what of the princess who's here with us? Do you still have a searing hatred for her?"

Natsu was about to reply just as adamant as he did when thinking about the Emperor but stopped himself. He was fuming in their first meeting, but everything that has happened back in Crocus has left him at a crossroads. Pina was risking a lot by traversing both Gates and putting aside all that meant to her to prove her sincerity to Hisui. She understood what it meant to be in the wrong and trying to appease powers well beyond her jurisdiction, but a part of him admired how she wasn't giving up no matter who stood before her. That anger of his had passed and with all the thinking he has done, Natsu could see the fact that Pina was simply someone caught in the crossfire and trying to solve everything on her own. The slayer wasn't angry with her, just annoyed that only her closest allies were the only ones thinking like her.

"I did, but after all the things I've seen her do for the sake of her Empire and the way Laxus has explained it to me, I guess I tolerate her now." There was still much to go before Natsu could ever really think of her as an ally, but it was a step up from being nothing more than another target.

"Then there's hope for the Empire yet. I'm not going to tell you that your anger is wrong, but I will tell you that if you ever need a reason to care about anyone in the Special Region, look no further than the Princess." He didn't know the girl at all since it was his first meeting with her, but Gildarts could only assume through Natsu's answer that she was making strides no one else was doing for the sake of her people.

"By that you mean...?"

"If this Princess is willing to go to crazy lengths to save her people from a terrible mistake because of her father, then do your best to help protect that desire." Gildarts clarified and was glad that Natsu seemed to be giving it some thought. "It's the noblest goal coming from her camp that I've heard about."

"I get the feeling you have a little respect for it, but it doesn't match up with the fact that you threatened them when you could speak their language." Natsu wasn't sure if it was ironic or something else since Lucy would point it out first, but odd to see the older man change his tune about Pina.

"As I said, not a threat but a promise and I intend to keep it that way. It's simply that I learned a little more about our guests and can also appreciate the fact that someone's actively doing something about a mess they were inadvertently a part of." Gildarts wanted to stay in the right just a little longer, so he thought he could confuse Natsu with a couple of words so he doesn't figure out that he gained a modicum of respect for the Princess' actions.

"You're so full of shit," Natsu replied with a short laugh as he was aware of the orange-haired man's tactic, but it was short-lived as he fell back into silence.

"Something else bothering you?" Gildarts asked as the dragon slayer's silence wasn't what he was expecting after his reply.

"Is it normal not to care when taking a life?" Natsu said after a brief moment of silence, going back to looking out into the distance.

"Ask anyone else and they'll say no, ask people who've had to face uncertain death and they'd say it's a waste of time," Gildarts replied as he thought back to the old-timers who fought during the Guild Wars, especially those who quit guild work altogether at the end of it.

"And what would you say?"

"Be careful of how many you take before it becomes second nature or else any feeling for another life is out the window." It's a dangerous way of thinking that has now made Gildarts slightly wary of Natsu's mental state, but his worries were concerned at the idea of something else influencing him. "No one's hands are clean in war, no matter how hard they strive to keep them that way, so do what you think is best for the situation."

"What's best isn't always the most accepted thing, you know." What Natsu believed to be the best solution was always being looked down upon by others.

"True, but that's only because they think there's another solution that can be used," Gildarts replied as he was confident that Erza and Gray were two people who thought the use of extreme force was a last resort at all costs. "Give ideas a chance once in a while to see how things play out, if things go bad then there are no worries about going what you thought should be done from the get-go."

"Wouldn't that just be dangerous in the first place if things got worse before I could act?" It felt like a lot of mixed messages he was being given, but Natsu could only imagine that it was all making sense in the older mage's head.

"It's a risk you and everyone else is going to have to take, something that war is nothing but." War was just as messy as it was perilous, every step forward was a calculated risk that could mean several outcomes.

"War's too damn complicated" Natsu muttered as it was easier when the First Master just pointed him in the direction he needed to got to and dealt with their strategy on her own.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Gildarts said as it was a messy business that is profitable to the right people, something he was worried about with the current one. "At least I can help ease some of your worries."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the grievances this war has dealt you and see that out of those three, there's a flip side to two of them," Gildarts said as he raised to fingers while Natsu tilted his head in confusion at the idea that there is a flip side to this war.

"Alright, I'm listening." Natsu watched as he lowered one finger and pointed it at the guild as Happy flew by a window.

"You said this war took your best friend and it did, but he was luckily able to find a way back to you safe and sound," Gildarts said as since he understood how much Happy meant to Natsu and what the dragon slayer wouldn't do for his blue-furred partner in crime. "Second point; your friends still trust you, it's just they're worried that your actions are leading you down a path that is not like you. Do your best to remember that their worry isn't their distrust."

"Looks like there's no flip side about losing my sanity, huh?" Natsu sarcastically remarked as the orange-haired man pointed out the things a part of him has known all along.

"To the best of my knowledge, the only way I can describe what you're experiencing is trauma." In all his years knowing the pink-haired slayer, this was the first time such a thought crossed his mind to describe him. "You've gone on so many adventures before but none of them have ever left something as impactful as this, huh?"

"Honestly, I've only wanted to go to further heights after some of those intense fights I had," Natsu enjoyed seeing that there was always another peak for him to climb and match, sometimes to even surpass. "But this isn't like that, this is different and I don't want to think that it's trauma."

"Why not? It's only human to experience trauma, even if it's extremely unfortunate to have to do so in the first place." He cannot heal trauma completely, but Gildarts knew when to spot it and what could be done to help.

"Because if it is trauma then Erza and Laxus would think that I can't function without acting up, I'll become more of a liability to everyone besides my "dangerous" behavior and I'll be showing a weakness I can't afford to have now that you said I'm the Hero of Fiore." Natsu listed off all the things that would affect him if it was outed that he was dealing with trauma, his fists shaking at the idea that he'd be forced out of the FEF for his own "well-being" by either higher-ups or Erza.

"It'll be alright, Natsu," Gildarts said as he placed a comforting hand on the slayer's shoulder. "You're braver than most and no one can say different, but this is something you shouldn't face alone."

"So I should just do you what you did and head out to Isvan and find someone to give me a new perspective?" Natsu didn't mean to sound like a smart ass, rather he was hoping to make a joke to help lighten the tense mood he made.

"No need to go that far, you already have someone from there to talk to right here at home." Quite the interesting twist of fate in Gildarts' eyes that the person who could ease Natsu's trauma was trained by the woman who helped ease his own.

"Gray!? No way, not happening!" The ice mage wasn't in the right standing with him and the last thing Natsu wanted to do after being at a crossroads for so long with him was to ask for his help.

"I get that you two like to punch each other's lights out when given the chance, but this is the time to put down your fists and talk it out." He could understand that Natsu's pride would get in the way, but the orange-haired man needed the dragon slayer to understand that there was help for him amongst the people he's known for years. "I know that you two don't use your words often, but make an exception this time."

"If only it was that easy, we're fighting for the same team but we're in different camps. Worse, he's found a way to fit his style into the way operations are carried out in the Special Region which is too slow for what needs to be done," His no killing rule for the moral high ground was infuriating to the last and added to that, a part of Natsu felt that if he said anything to Gray then he'd use it to restrict his actions.

"By the sounds of it, it goes beyond your usual rivalry." Natsu was adamant about not working with the ice mage, something that was too easy to tell in Gildarts' opinion and wasn't the usual annoyance he was accustomed to. "Sad to say that whatever is going on between the two of you is more than a battle of personal strategy."

Gildarts started to think through the slayer's words and figure out what position the two frenemies were in, especially since they're fighting side by side in a war. He's gathered that Natsu's trauma is making him act out brutally against the enemy and Gray's actions are nowhere close to his, but it doesn't seem that neither has realized that they're acting up because of a similar reason. The Crush mage was assuming at this point, but he believed that after all that the ice mage had been through, he's playing it extremely safe to avoid a burden of sorts to add itself to his heart. A part of Gildarts was missing the cocky brat that decided to tag along with him after the little escapade at the super-max prison.

"Did you hear me, Gildarts?"

"Hmm? Sorry Natsu, my mind wander for a second there." Whether the dragon slayer cared that he accidentally ignored him for a moment wasn't evident on his face since he only seemed annoyed at this point.

"I just asked if that's the best I can do for now," Natsu repeated himself and he truly didn't want to interact with the ice mage if he could help it.

"You're both in a similar boat, but I won't force you to do anything." Gildarts wanted Natsu to break through this phase of his and seek the help he wants. "It's up to you to decide when you'll be ready to open up."

"You really won't make this easy, huh?"

"Life lessons are hard, but if you can't bring yourself to talk to a peer then you can always talk to Gramps. The old man's got enough wisdom to help you out, but be prepared for the things he'll suggest for you." Gildarts knew the aging master would prefer for Natsu to avoid further involvement in this war after hearing out the slayer, but perhaps it wouldn't happen if Gray still being out on the battlefield was of any indication.

"One way or another, I've got to figure this out," Natsu said as his current options were to go to Gramps or Gray, and while Natsu had an obvious choice that he'd prefer, Gildarts was trying to make a case for the ice mage.

"Be aware that trauma isn't a one-and-done deal that can be easily solved, so trust me about Gray on this." There was another that had pain they carry, but Gildarts felt that that person wouldn't be a suitable choice for Natsu to see. "If need be, find inspiration to push you past that barrier called pride you both tout so well."

For a moment, Natsu thought about Pina at Gildarts' words and shook his head vigorously to rid the idea that she was in some form an inspiration. The dragon slayer was already prepared for Fiore to put the Special Region behind it, hoping that they could get a lot accomplished once they get back to business.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to check up on my little girl and make sure she doesn't get any funny ideas of following after you numbskulls into this war," Gildarts said as he patted Natsu's shoulder one last time, the dragon slayer choosing to remain seated on the bench. "And if you ever need to talk, come find me."

The Crush mage gave Natsu a short wave before making his way back into the guild, leaving Natsu to think about what he wanted to do and what was he willing to accept.

"Hero of Fiore... give me a break, Old Man"