Hello everybody! leo0074 with another chapter! I gotta say, a lot of things have happened since the last chapter, but I'm more than ready to continue developing this lively story of mine. From now on I'll be trying to write 3k to 4k words per chapter, so they can come out faster and avoid harming the quality in which they are released.
The new season of Fairy Tail is lit and so is my love for the series. To put it simply, my excitement for writing this story is a flame that has yet to be extinguished. But enough of that, let me address a few questions I received from the previous chapter:
TheLaughingStalk Lenny-kun:
I'm following both, so am I reading the Happy's Adventure and the City Hero spin-off. They are all quite great.
surya25addanki:
I sure am glad to hear that! It always bothered me that people often failed to realize how much Natsu had matured after the one-year time skip, so I felt like pointing that out in this story.
Lordlexx:
I see where you are coming from and I can understand the concern of losing a limb affecting Natsu's fighting style, but I assure you it won't be like that at all. Natsu is the type of fighter who uses his fists more than anything else, but he has been learning how to adapt to his new abilities, which I believe I've been making him do until now. Also, are we forgetting that Natsu has such a vast level of control over his flames that he is able to avoid burning his own clothes while burning others?
My goal is not to get Natsu depressed or traumatized. Nothing like that. But I do believe that after going through what he went through, not having any negative reaction would be a very odd thing. Yes, he is willing to sacrifice anything for his friends, that part of the point for what he did. He has already set his mind to the idea of defeating Acnologia, so I'm not doing that to give him motivation to train.
I'm not trying to change Natsu's character, I'm trying to show the more mature side that Natsu had after the Avatar Arc began. He is still the same brash, laughable knucklehead from always. I believe he has been like that even in the recent chapters. But take also in consideration everything that has been happening ever since the first chapter. Dying. Not being able to see his friends again. Joining the Gotei 13. Learning about his painful past. The death of his parents. Encountering Acnologia.
Losing an arm is only a small part of his conflicting emotions. The conversation with Unohana was not to show a most depressed Natsu, but to demonstrate that all the events that have been occurring until now have weight on them and Natsu has to carry them all on his own. I hope this explanation was enough to relieve your concern. Also, losing an arm was just to show that anything can happen in this story.
Were there other ways to do it? Probably, but I know nobody expected something like this to happen to Natsu, so I guess you could say I did a good job when it came to surprises. And call it ironic, but Natsu actually lost his arm the same way Acnologia did.
Yurishimo The Forgiving Dragon:
Yes, Yamamoto could go Bankai and end everything around him. Including his own allies, dummy.
Don't forget to share your opinion on the best pairing, but more importantly, please enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 14: Recovery
"How is Acnologia here?" demanded Natsu, glaring at the Head Captain. "And what happened to him to make him look like that?!" The left sleeve of his white robe hung loosely by his side as his body trembled with restrained anger.
"What makes you believe that I possess any of the answers that you seek?" Yamamoto responded firmly.
"Well, I thought that you..." Natsu trailed off, finding himself frozen in mid-thought, unable to come up with an answer. A moment passed before he finally released a heavy sigh. "I don't know. It's just that I thought you would know something."
The pink-haired Shinigami felt like hitting himself for overreacting. He was acting brash without thinking again. However, before he could say anything else to the old Shinigami, the Head Captain spoke.
"If the man responsible for your arrival in the Soul Society is not only here, but has also turned into a Hollow, then that is all the more reason for us to put him down for good."
Yamamoto still remembered everything that the young wizard had told them about the so-called Dragon King and how much of a danger he was back in his own world. But now that he was able to witness first-hand the vast amount of power that it possessed, he was left without any doubt in his mind.
Acnologia was a threat that needed to be eradicated as soon as possible.
"But how?" Natsu was shaking. His fingers pressed into his palm so tightly that it almost drew out blood. "How did he turn into a Hollow? Just what the hell happened to him?"
He still didn't know much about Hollows. He was told they were monsters that devoured the souls of their victims, and therefore needed to be killed at sight. He thought that was all there was to it. But now? He was not so sure anymore.
"Those aren't the questions that you should be asking yourself." Yamamoto responded. "The how and why are irrelevant. The real question that you should be asking yourself is, what are you going to do about it?"
Natsu blinked. That was not the response the Dragon Slayer was expecting, and it forced him to stop and think for a moment.
What am I going to do about it?
The question burrowed into his mind. He couldn't help but curse at himself as he realized just how stupid he had been for letting his frustration get the better of him. But honestly, who could blame him? A lot of life-changing stuff had been happening to him lately, so that he could barely keep himself together.
However, what Yamamoto had said made Natsu realize that he shouldn't let his past prevent him from moving forward. He only wished that he would have realized that sooner. And now that he did, he had to ask himself again:
What am I going to do about it?
Relaxing his body, Natsu turned his head back to the Head Captain with newfound determination. Fire was burning brightly in his eyes so that Yamamoto could not fail to notice.
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"The same thing I told to myself long ago," replied Natsu. His voice was firm, carrying the same conviction that he had always had. "I will defeat Acnologia, no matter what."
The young wizard had changed. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy might one day become a very powerful Shinigami and a great asset for the Soul Society.
The Head Captain nodded in approval, satisfied by the boy's answer. "Good. Now that we have finished here, I believe it is time to address your future as a Shinigami of the Gotei."
Seireitei. Barracks of Squad 1. Main Hallway…
A few hours later, Natsu left the office in a much lighter mood. After discussing some matters of importance with the Captain Commander, the Dragon Slayer walked back to the barracks of Squad 4. The shock of his encounter with Acnologia had lessened quite a bit thanks to his talk with the old man. He was feeling much more relaxed now.
Yamamoto had been very specific when instructing him to take a few more days of rest to let his injuries heal. That meant that he wouldn't be seeing much action for the next couple of days. Since he wouldn't be able to continue his training due to his wounds, soon he would have to deal with the boredom of doing absolutely nothing.
Life can be cruel sometimes.
"Yo, dragon boy," Yoruichi said, walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. A snickering smile adorned her face. "Glad to see you're doing better."
"Yoruichi," mumbled Natsu, not having expected to see the female Shinigami. "Hey, uh—not that it bothers me or anything—but what are you doing here?"
The Captain grinned, amused by his cluelessness. "Well, as soon as I heard that a boy with pink hair was causing trouble around the Seireitei, I figure that it had to be you, so I decided to come and see how you were doing."
Natsu chuckled awkwardly, not sure how to respond to her blunt statement.
"I guess that describes me quite well, doesn't it?" the Dragon Slayer laughed. However, his expression then changed into one of realization. "Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that I would have been Hollow-meal if it wasn't for you, so thanks for saving me back there."
"You don't have to thank me for anything. It was my responsibility to watch over you, so I should be the one apologizing for my carelessness." Her eyes drifted to where his left arm used to be, and her smile faded away. "Especially for what it ended up costing you."
Natsu was sincerely taken aback. He didn't blame her for anything that had happened. More than anything, he wanted to tell her that it was his fault for failing to stop Acnologia. But someone else beat him to the punch.
"You don't have to apologize for anything, Yoruichi-sama!" someone said from behind the Captain. "I was the one in charge of the team, so I should be the one getting punished!"
It was then that Natsu realized that Soi Fon was also there. She had been so quiet he hadn't realized she was there.
Yoruichi blinked and her eyes took on a teasing look. Her sudden mischievous smile made the assassin's frown disappear almost instantly, sending a shiver down her spine. She knew what her Captain intended to do, and she didn't like it one a bit.
"Oh, don't worry, Soi Fon. I'm sure Natsu here doesn't blame you for what happened," she reassured the younger girl, resting an arm around her neck before looking at the pinkette in question. "Isn't that right, dragon boy?"
"I honestly don't think either of you did anything wrong," the pink-haired Shinigami admitted with a shrug.
The Head of the Shihōin clan grinned at the young assassin. "Did you hear that, Soi Fon? I told you not to worry."
"I wasn't worried!" she retorted, quickly becoming flustered. It was almost enough to satisfy Yoruichi. Unfortunately, almost was far from enough.
"Come on Soi Fon, you can't lie to me," Yoruichi said tenderly, flashing a teasing smile. "I know you were concerned about whether he was going to wake up or not."
"T-That isn't true…" Soi Fon hesitated to speak. Her voice came out as an embarrassed whisper. The Captain couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't sweat it, Soi Fon; I'm only teasing," Yoruichi reassured the younger girl, but her words did nothing to make her feel better. She placed a friendly hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Anyway, I came here to see the Head Captain to discuss the final details regarding our last mission, so I'll talk to you later."
Natsu nodded in understanding. "Sure. I'll see you around then." With nothing more to say, Yoruichi was soon out of sight, leaving Natsu and Soi Fon all by themselves. What followed was an awkward moment of silence where neither spoke to the other.
The Dragon Slayer found the situation quite odd. He had been expecting the younger assassin to leave with Yoruichi. His analytical stare caused Soi Fon to lower her gaze, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.
It was obvious that there was something she wanted to say, but she was hesitating to do so. "Listen I… I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Me?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, to which she nodded before sighing in resignation.
"Yes, I… I don't normally say this, especially to someone like you..."
"Someone like me?" the pinkette asked, annoyance in his voice. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"...but Yoruichi-sama insisted that I say it, so…" There was a small pause as she took a breath. Swallowing her pride was quite painful. "I wanted to… to thank you for saving my life back there."
She gave the Dragon Slayer a short bow, her cheeks flushing a healthy red. One couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment, but it was probably a bit of both. Natsu was unsure as to how to respond at first, but he quickly dismissed that thought and grinned widely.
"No need to thank me," he responded cheerfully, much to Soi Fon's surprise. "I mean, what kind of person would I be if I allowed a friend to get hurt without doing anything about it?"
The black-haired girl couldn't help but blink at this. "A… friend?"
"Of course! We are friends, aren't we?" he asked with a hint of hopefulness. "I mean sure, you are kind of mean and serious pretty much all the time, but I don't see why we can't leave all that stuff behind and start again. How 'bout it?"
He offered his hand to the dumbfounded assassin and smiled as he waited for her response. It didn't take a genius to know that Soi Fon didn't like him one bit. Natsu had known this since the first time they met and he had no clue as to why, but he had every intention of fixing that.
"A-As if I would ever desire to associate myself with the likes of you!" declared Soi Fon with a harsh tone, slapping his outstretched hand away. "The only reason I'm even talking to you is because Yoruichi-sama asked me to, nothing more! So, don't get any funny ideas, you hear me?" she told him before stomping away, leaving a very confused Dragon Slayer all by himself.
"That went well, if I dare say." Natsu's ears perked at the sudden intrusion of another voice. Turning his head slightly to the side, he was greeted by the sight of a man. A Lieutenant, if the badge on the sleeve of his uniform was anything to go by. "Glad to see you again, Dragneel-san. I've heard quite a lot of things about you."
Natsu looked at the unknown man for a moment before his eyes slowly widened in recognition. It was the guy with the glasses he had encountered after his confrontation with Shinji. "You…" he mumbled in surprise.
"Oh, my apologies; I forgot to introduce myself the last time we met, didn't I?" The man gave him a kind smile, feeling ashamed by his own carelessness. "My name is Sōsuke Aizen; I'm the Lieutenant of Squad 5."
A frown formed on the Dragon Slayer's face. "Yeah, I remember you, alright. You were the one who brought me here, weren't you?"
"I can't say that I didn't. I had my orders after all," Aizen admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But I must say, for someone so young, you are remarkably strong. I never thought I would see the day someone would defeat Captain Hirako. I was actually thankful that you passed out due to exhaustion. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I could have done if I was forced to fight you."
"If you say so," replied Natsu as he pondered for a moment, still not sure what to feel about the man. I passed out? Just like that? His memory was still fuzzy; there was still a lot of missing information. He could barely remember anything that had happened after the fight.
Seeing that the pinkette was hardly in mood for conversation, the Lieutenant gave him a respectful bow.
"Oh, how inconsiderate of me. I shouldn't be bothering you, especially since you are still recovering," said Aizen, reorganizing some of the papers he was holding before offering the Dragon Slayer a friendly smile. "I look forward to meeting you again, Dragneel-san. And if you are interested, perhaps you can tell me a little more about your last mission some other time."
A ray of sunlight reflected on his glasses, hiding a much more sinister meaning behind his apparent kind and harmless words.
CHAPTER END
Well, I guess this is it for now. I know that not a lot of things happened in this chapter, but this is mostly a moment of recovery for Natsu. There will be a couple more chapters like this before we go back to Acnologia.
Before anybody calls me out, I want to make clear that this IS a much younger Soi Fon. She has yet to develop more of her cold personality, up to the point where she dismissed almost any sort of help, even if it was to save her life. So yes, I believe that so long as Yoruichi is there to influence her, it is within her character to thank someone, regardless of who it is.
I hope this chapter also explained more of Natsu's current inner conflict and how I intend to have him overcome it. Now that he knows that Acnologia is there looking for him, he will push himself much harder to reach greater levels of power. With that said, we have just a few more chapters before a time-skip.
While Soul of Fire will follow the same events of Bleach, it will have some major differences created by the arrival of both Natsu and Acnologia. Some very surprising stuff will be coming soon.
Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism and suggestions are more than welcome, so please share your opinion! With that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a wonderful day.