Igneel was pacing back and forth outside his cave. He has been stressed ever since he heard that Natsu was finally coming home today. The father was worried if Natsu would still be upset with him, but he was glad that he would finally get to talk to him about hiding the truth about him being E.N.D.

Igneel had always wondered if he was doing right by Natsu. Igneel wasn't the insecure type but when it came to Natsu and what the right decisions were for him, Igneel couldn't help but wonder if he was failing. To his relief, Natsu grew up to be a fine young man and Igneel couldn't be prouder of him. He had always feared if he would repeat his mistakes and he hadn't…he just made new ones.

Maybe he should have told Natsu that he was E.N.D, maybe things would have been better if he did but he didn't and there's nothing he can do to change that. He just hopes Natsu will understand and hopefully move on.

Suddenly Igneel stopped his pacing when he smelled his son's scent. He turned around and smiled as Natsu came but his smile immediately dropped when he saw the anger in his son's eyes.

Igneel kept calm and he cleared his throat. "Hello, Son. How was your journey? I heard you met a lot of powerful wizards."

Natsu came closer. "I met more than wizards…. I met someone else who was very tough, I tried to beat him, but he was much stronger than me." He said as he went to the pond and cleaned the dirt off his face.

This is a side of Natsu Igneel has never seen before, there is a dark aura coming off him and Igneel wasn't sure if he liked it. "Well, I'm sure you'll get him next time."

Natsu didn't respond, he just glared at his own reflection. Igneel swallowed. "Listen, Natsu, I know your still upset with me and I understand that, but you must understand that I-

"That someone I fought was a dragon." Natsu interrupted in a dark tone and Igneel immediately went quiet. "...A-A dragon? Are you sure?"

Natsu nodded. "I actually met a whole bunch of them." Igneel was shocked by this. "I thought the others and I were the only ones left."

Natsu looked down hesitantly. "I met a water dragon, a wood dragon, and I also met your son."

Igneel immediately froze, unable to move. "N-Natsu, what are you talking about?" Natsu stood up and glared at him. "You know exactly what I'm talking about!! Who is Ignia?!! Why haven't you ever told me about him?!!"

Igneel's eyes widened, and he looked down as memories flashed through his eyes. "H-He's nobody…just a brat from my past." Igneel tried to walk away but Natsu went in front of him. "Don't lie!! Is Ignia your son or not?!!"

Igneel growled. "...Yes!" Natsu gave him a hurt expression, like he just betrayed him. "Just how many secrets have you been hiding from me old man!!! Why didn't you ever tell me that you had another son?!!!"

Igneel moved past him. "I am not talking about this!!" He yelled but Natsu was not having it. "Dammit Igneel!! Be honest with me!!! Tell me why!!"

Igneel glared at him. "I don't have to explain anything to you!!! All you need to know is that I had my reasons, and they were for your own good!!!"

"BULLCRAP!!! TELL MY WHY IGNEEL!!"

Igneel felt his blood boil. "DON'T YOU SPEAK TO ME IN THAT TONE!!! I AM NOT TELLING YOU ABOUT IGNIA AND THAT'S FINAL!!!"

Natsu's blood boiled as well. "First you don't tell me that Zeref was my brother and I'm E.N.D!! Now, you don't tell me that you had a son!!"

Igneel growled. "Natsu..." He warned but Natsu ignored it. "NO!! Why can't you just tell me?!!"

"NATSU DRAGNEEL, ENOUGH!!!" Igneel roared, had finally lost his patience and snapped. Natsu looked at his father. He had never seen Igneel this angry before. It was almost terrifying, his eyes glowed red and smoke was coming out of his mouth as well as his nostrils.

Natsu glared at him with a hurt and angry expression. "Fine! Then I'm leaving!!" He shouted before stomping off. "Fine!! Don't bother coming back!!" Igneel shouted back then went to his cave, grumbling under his breath.

…

At Natsu's house,

Lucy was waiting for Natsu with Happy. They were very worried about him, a lot of things happened during their journey, and it almost broke him. "Do you think Natsu is going to be ok, Lucy?"

Lucy smiled kindly at him. "Yes. I'm sure after he talks to Igneel everything will be-"

SLAME!*

They both jumped when Natsu slammed the door and came in grumbling under his breath. He went to his bed and threw the covers over his face. They went to him. "Natsu?" Happy said with worry.

"Are you ok? What happened?" Lucy asked.

"He wouldn't tell me about Ignia." Natsu answered, his voice a bit muffled from being under the covers. "What? Why not?"

"He wouldn't tell me that either!!" Natsu yelled as he came out of the covers. "After that we got into a fight, and I left!"

Lucy sighed and sat next to him. "Natsu…I don't blame you for being upset. I don't think Igneel was right to hide all of this from you, but you got to understand that he probably had good reasons for it." Natsu frowned. "He lied and hid stuff from me for so long, Luce. I just don't know if I can trust him anymore."

Lucy put a hand over his shoulder. "You don't mean that. Your father loves you Natsu, I'm sure he meant well." Natsu growled. "He was going to kill me, Lucy!!"

"But he didn't because he loved you!!" Lucy argued and looked at him sternly before cupping his face, making him look her in the eye. "I won't pretend that I know what you're going through but know that everyone loves you for who you are. Demon, dragon, or human it doesn't matter! You're still Natsu! The dragon slayer I fell in love with."

Natsu's eyes softened, and he hugged her. "Thank you, Lucy. I love you, too."

…

Few weeks later, at Igneel's cave,

Natsu and Igneel still haven't talked to each other since their fight. Natsu has been training his frustrations out while Igneel was sulking and destroying anything he could find. This was very new to both Igneel and Natsu, they both wondered if they would ever talk to each other again. They both wanted to, but Natsu was still too hurt by this and Igneel was too proud to say he was wrong.

Igneel still couldn't believe what happened that day. They have never got into a fight like that before. Igneel has never snapped at Natsu like that before, ever. He never got so furious with the boy. Mad yes, furious no. And Natsu has never challenged the great Fire Dragon King like that, so disrespectfully and angrily.

Nobody challenges Igneel! Nobody! He didn't let anyone treat him like that and he was not going to start with his son! Even though Igneel did feel guilty about what happened, he refused to apologize. It was Natsu's fault! He's the one who kept pushing him until he snapped! Why couldn't the boy just listen and mind his own damn business!

As he was thinking this his annoying friends came inside his cave. Metalicana and Grandine both looked at the angry dragon with stern faces. "Alright Igneel, this has gone on long enough. You need to go talk to your son. You need to apologize to him."

Igneel growled at her. "What do I have to apologize for?!! He was the one who started it!! I only finished it!" Grandine sighed. "Igneel…I know Ignia is a very sensitive subject for you, but Natsu doesn't know that. He thinks you are hiding things from him, and you don't trust him enough to tell him. I'm not saying the way Natsu acted was right but you got to understand how this hurts him."

"And from what Gajeel told me it sounds like he went through a lot more than just finding his 'foster brother.'" Metalicana said and Igneel scoffed. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Gajeel wouldn't say. He just said that Natsu went through something that almost broke him, emotionally."

"Well, I'm still not apologizing to him! He should apologize to me!!" Igneel yelled, stubbornly and Grandine rolled her eyes. "Don't let your pride get in the way of your relationship with your son, Igneel!!"

"She's right." Metalicana said, sternly. "You're wrong Igneel and you know it!" Igneel stood up and growled in his face. "I'm wrong because I wanted to protect my son?! I know hiding the truth about Zeref, E.N.D, and Ignia hurt Natsu, but I did it for his own good!"

"Don't you get it! It's not the truth that is hurting him! It's the fact that he had to be told by Zeref and Ignia but not you! The person he trusts most!!" Metalicana scolded and Igneel went quiet. Metalicana sighed. "Look, Gajeel told me that Ignia said some things to Natsu that really messed him up. So, dammit Igneel, put your pride aside for once and go talk to Natsu. Before you lose another son."

Igneel took a minute to think. What could Ignia have said to Natsu? When his son first came here, he had a dark aura that really worried Igneel. 'What did that dame brat say to him!' Igneel sighed. "You're right, I'll go talk to him."

Grandine and Melalicana smiled as they watched Igneel take off.

…

At the river,

"Oh, yeah! I'm going to catch a lot of fishes!" Happy said happily, as he pulled out his fishing pull from Natsu's bag. Lucy shook her head at him. "You would do anything for fish, wouldn't you?"

"Aye, sir!"

Lucy chuckled but frowned when she saw Natsu sulking by the river. "Hey, Natsu, you want some fish? I cooked some for you."

Natsu didn't answer, his mind was somewhere else. Lucy was about to say something but then Igneel flew down out of nowhere. Natsu looked up at his father and Igneel hesitated. "...Alright, Natsu, I don't want us to be like this anymore…. I'm sorry…I know I hid a lot of things from you, but I did it because I thought it was what was best for you."

Lucy and Happy smiled at Igneel but to their surprise Natsu only scowled. "So…does that mean we can talk about the E.N.D thing and Ignia?"

Igneel sighed. "We can talk about E.N.D but Natsu…I-I'm not sure if I can talk to you about Ignia. I don't know what he told you but I-"

Igneel was cut off when Natsu stood up with a glare. "If you can't be honest with me Igneel then I don't think I can trust you anymore!" He shouted before running off.

"Natsu, wait!"

Lucy looked at Igneel sadly as Happy went after Natsu. "I'm sorry, I'll try talking to him."

Igneel watched her go before leaving. He went back to see Metlicana and Grandine waiting for him. They smiled but immediately frowned when he stomped in his cave with anger in his eyes.

Grandine cleared her throat. "So…how did it go?"

"How do you think it went!!" Igneel snapped before laying down, grumbling under his breath.

Metalicana and Grandine looked at each other before leaving, wanting to give their friend space to calm down.

…

Later that night, at Natsu's house,

Natsu tossed and turned, his head sweating as he was trapped in his dream.

…

"No matter how much you try…you can't ever run from it! It's your destiny as it is mine and as it was our father's. WE MUST BURN EVERYTHING!! Igneel may have stopped you from turning into Acnologia but that doesn't mean you can't still turn into a dragon. I can teach you how…little brother. I can make you into the most powerful being on Earth, I can make you even more powerful than the great Igneel himself. Together we would be unstoppable. What do you say?"

Natsu was laying on the ground, all beat up and covered in blood. "I-I'll never turn into you! And the only big brother I had was Zeref! We may have the same Dad but that doesn't make us brothers! Brothers don't do this to each other!"

Ignia scoffed. "Didn't Zeref turn you into a demon and kill a lot of innocent people? Didn't he hurt your friends? Why would you accept him as a brother but not me?"

Natsu slowly stood on his feet. "That…may be true but Zeref lived a lot of suffering, his whole life was nothing but pain and…I'm grateful to him. Without him I wouldn't be here right now, I wouldn't have met Igneel or my friends…because of that I forgave him and accepted him as my brother but…you…you have done way worse, and it was all for bad reasons! I don't know what your deal is, and I don't care but Dad…would be pretty disappointed in you!"

Ignia chuckled. "He has been disappointed in me from the day I was born. He is weak but you can be stronger if you let me."

"NO! I will never hurt my friends!"

Ignia grinned. "You already did when you ate my fire, remember? You badly hurt the water god dragon and almost killed him! If it wasn't for Lucy, you probably would have done it. Poor girl, you burned her really bad when she tried to stop you, didn't you?"

Natsu growled. "...That was your stupid fire's fault! It made me act crazy!"

"I was only giving you the power you needed to defeat Mercphobia, it isn't my fault that you lost control. That was just the Fire King's fire reacting to mine. You know, you are probably the first who has almost completed the 100-year quest, I bet Fairy tail will get a good name after this."

Natsu looked at him seriously. "How do you even know so much about me anyway? You said that you haven't spoken to Igneel for almost over 1000 years. So how?"

Ignia smiled. "...I have been watching you, Natsu." Natsu's eyes widened. "For 400 years I have been watching you, I was always with you, and you never even knew it. I wanted to see you grow, to see how powerful Igneel would make you. I have been waiting for the day when you would finally be strong enough to fight me but sadly…that day hasn't come yet."

"What do you mean?! I took down all four dragons!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yes, but you did not do that on your own. You did with your friends' help, so you haven't grown that much to fight me. Therefore, I will be leaving now. Shame that you couldn't finish the 100-year quest but I'm sure Elefseria will still give you some kind of reward. You are the first who has sealed all four dragons in over 100 years."

Ignia began to turn into a dragon and fly away. "We'll meet again, little brother. When you're stronger." He said before leaving.

"I'm not your brother!!!" Natsu shouted, angrily.

"N-N-Natsu?"

Natsu quickly turned around to see Lucy slowly opening her eyes. She was covered in bruises and was leaking blood. Natsu's eyes widened as tears dripped from his eyes.

"L-Lucy!" He quickly ran to her and took her in his arms. "Thank God! You're still alive! Hang on a little while longer, Wendy should be on her way!"

Lucy coughed up a little blood. "N-Natsu…"

"Just hang on, Lucy…. I'm sorry, I should have been stronger! I-I thought I could take him!"

Lucy grabbed his cheek. "I-It's not your fault…" Natsu looked down at her sadly and she weakly looked back at him. "Natsu…I…I…."

Lucy closed her eyes, and her body went limp. Natsu panicked. "Lucy? No, Lucy! Come on, wake up! Stay with me please! No, no, no! Lucy, please!"

Natsu sat straight up from a gasp finally being free from his dream. He looked around frantically while panting but he calmed down a bit when his eyes caught Lucy who was sleeping peacefully next to him with a small smile on her lips. Natsu sighed in relief and frowned at the burn scar that was on her shoulder.

He sighed and got up to grab his scarf but when he opened the drawer his scarf was gone. "What the-" Natsu then started throwing stuff out of the drawer in search for his scarf which woke up Lucy.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Natsu…it's 4 in the morning." Happy yawned awak from his bed. "What's going on?" He asked, tiredly.

"I can't find my scarf!!" He yelled. Lucy raised a brow at him. "You haven't had it on for weeks, haven't you noticed?"

Natsu looked at her confused. "What? But I always have it on?!"

"You have been so angry that you must have not notice. You didn't have it on after your fight with Igneel." Happy said and Lucy nodded. "We just assumed you didn't want to wear it anymore because you were mad at him."

Natsu couldn't believe this but when he thought back, he remembered that he hasn't had his scarf for weeks. "Oh man! If I haven't been wearing it, then where did it go?! I don't remember where I left it!"

Happy sighed. "Like I told ya, you didn't have it on when you came back from Igneel's." Natsu looked at him confused. "So?"

Happy facepalmed and Lucy looked at Natsu. "Think Natsu, if you had your scarf on when you went to Igneel's but didn't have it on when you came back…where do you think it could be?"

Natsu took a while to think, when he finally realized it, he frowned. "Dammit! I left it at Igneel's?!" Lucy nodded. "Yep, so if you want it, you'll just have to go get it."

Natsu pouted. "I don't wanna." Lucy only shrugged. "Then I guess you won't have your scarf tonight." She then stretched and yawned. "Anyway, I'm going back to bed."

"Aye.." Happy agreed while rubbing his tired eyes and going back to sleep. Natsu just stood there pouting for a while longer until he finally decided to go to Igneel's while mumbling under his breath.

…

At Igneel's cave,

Igneel was laying down, mumbling under his breath, unable to sleep. He glanced at Natsu's scarf that he kept safely in the corner and mumbled even more. It had fallen off of Natsu's neck during his 'temper tantrum' and though Igneel was in rage at that time, he was able to put his anger aside for a moment to grab the scarf and put it in his cave, so nothing happened to it.

Igneel thought that Natsu would come back for it eventually, but he never did. Probably because he is still very mad at Igneel and the scarf is made of his scales. Still, it surprised Igneel, the boy hasn't taken off that scarf in 7 years, he never goes anywhere without it. Is he really that angry with him?

As Igneel thought this…he was starting to worry if he was starting to lose another son. No, he will not lose Natsu! He can't! He has no choice, maybe it is time. If telling Natsu about Ignia is what it takes to get his son back, so be it!

Igneel's ears lift up when he heard footsteps and was surprised to see Natsu walk in. "...Natsu?" Natsu sighed. "Igneel, do you have my scarf? I lost it."

Igneel scowled. He had just realized that Natsu has been calling him Igneel instead of dad ever since he came back. Why? "...It's in the corner…"

Natsu nodded and went to get his scarf. Once he had it, he was about to leave when- "Natsu wait!" Natsu looked at the dragon to see sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Natsu. It's hard for me to talk about Ignia but…I'm willing to do it if it means that I won't lose you and I still get to be your father."

At this Natsu's eyes soften. "D-Dad…" Igneel sighed. "Natsu, I didn't tell you about Zeref and E.N.D because I wanted to protect you. And the reason I didn't tell you about Ignia is because…I didn't want you to see me any differently, but I see now that my feelings don't matter, yours do. So, ask any questions you want, I'm ready."

Natsu stared at his father for a while before hugging his snout. Natsu looked at him and smiled. "You will always be my father. Nothing changes that. I'm sorry too, you don't have to tell me about Ignia, I don't care anymore."

Igneel shook his head and gazed down at his son. "No…I want to, for you. I know that Ignia said something to you and if it helps put your mind at ease, then please ask." Natsu looked unsure. "But are you sure you can?"

Igneel nodded. "...It has been over 1000 years…I think I'm ready." Natsu nodded and sat crossed legged on the ground. He paused for a few minutes then looked at Igneel. "...What happened between you and Ignia? And why didn't you ever tell me about him?"

Igneel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Because Ignia…. was my greatest failure…"

To be continued.