PART ONE. Realization

September 29th, Magnolia Outskirts

Natsu Dragneel had never been more frustrated in his life.

It had been nearly three days since Master Makarov had given him his so-called 'test' and he was nowhere close to having finished it.

The single slip of white paper sat plainly on the coffee table in the middle of his living room. He'd cleared away all of the dirty pots, pans, and dishes that hadn't been cleaned for weeks and placed the sheet by itself on the table to give it more importance.

And now, the evening before he was due to report back to Gramps, he was pacing the circumference of the coffee table, expertly navigating around the various bits and bobs strewn all about the floor of his house. His stone barbells lay carelessly about, as well as the many crates and boxes that were filled untidily with his clothes and other items he'd long forgotten about.

To change my life, I need… what? What do I need?

The question hadn't seriously been on his mind til now. Until today, he was only making it a point to just get back into the flow of things. Start up with his friends again and all that.

But now? He knew he had to get it figured out. And soon. Natsu was partially thankful that Happy had decided to stay over with Lucy for the night. It would give him the space he needed to think.

"What do I need? What do I need?" He asked himself as he continued to pace the mess that was his home. It didn't help that occasionally he'd step on a loose spring that had since detached from the nearby sofa. The sharp bit of steel wire dug into the sole of his foot, not drawing blood, but being sufficiently annoying.

Natsu kicked it away and refocused on the issue at hand. What did he need?

He told Gramps everything about what happened at the Tower, and in turn, the old man had actually… helped him see everything differently. He was thankful for that, truly.

Besides some much-needed relief, however, Natsu decided he'd still find a way to become stronger. After all, the old man had told him to become 'the best possible version of yourself' or whatever that meant. Natsu supposed that meant getting more powerful, too.

But what did the question mean? To change my life?

Change his life how exactly? Financially? It wasn't like he was dying for more money. In truth, he didn't even care about having all the jewel in the world. He already kept several million or so buried underneath a tree in his backyard as a sort of failsafe. He was happy enough with his living situation, and he had his friends, so… what else was there to change?

Well, there was the matter of finding Igneel, of course. That had to happen. Finding a colossal red lizard shouldn't have been so difficult, but Natsu had been searching for over a decade and not a single solid lead had come up in that time. What if Igneel wasn't in Fiore anymore?

Guess I'll have to go looking outside of Fiore then. He shrugged mentally. That was beside the point.

S-Class? The title had long lost its flavor. At least it had for him. Yet after facing down a Wizard Saint, Natsu wondered if it was a pursuit worthy of his time. Perhaps it would be better to raise his standards. Perhaps not.

So if he was completely satisfied with the things and people in his life… then if there was something he needed to change… what would it be?

He gave you the stupid paper because you told him about your fight with Jellal. Start there.

Power. Raw power. Natsu knew that was the answer. Or at least close to it. How in the hell could Gildarts be so damned powerful? Same for Jellal. What did they do that he hadn't done?

After all, he was a fucking Dragon Slayer. The Son of Igneel, the Fire Dragon King himself. And for some reason beyond his comprehension, they could just wipe the floor with him.

Even Gajeel was a tough battle at the time. Looking back on it, Natsu hated the fact that Lucy had to step in and help him with that particular fight. It was humiliating, and it reflected poorly on him. Not that he needed somebody else's help, but that he'd gone out of his way to rescue her, and in the end, it had been Lucy who needed to rescue him.

If another threat came along, was he supposed to just hope that someone would always be there to help him?

Not a chance, Natsu thought to himself. That would be the end of him.

That was the change he needed to make then, right? Become more powerful. More capable. Able to take on whoever came along to attack him or his friends. Punching things never got old, so if he was strong like Gildarts, it would get easier.

Right?

Natsu desperately wished that was the answer. To change my life, I need to be more powerful. He wanted that to be the end of it. He was even itching to go over to the coffee table right now and finish the damn sentence.

But… there was that tiny nugget of doubt in his mind telling him otherwise. You know that's not the answer. Not even close. Try again.

"But what?" He asked nobody in particular, frustration evident in his voice. "What is the answer?"

The empty house simply yawned back at him.

"Gah!" He kicked one of the stray boxes on the floor. It flew to the other side of his living room and crashed against the wall next to his hammock.

This whole 'test' was stupid to begin with. Downright idiotic. Natsu considered burning up the scrap of paper right then and there but decided against it. He crashed down onto the sofa, feeling a wave of tiredness wash over him.

Answer it in the morning, he told himself. Ignoring his guilty conscience this time around, he stood up and walked over to the opposite side of the room. He slung into the hammock and let out a sharp sigh as he glanced up at the wooden beams on the ceiling.

What the hell was the point of the test anyway? To annoy him? Gramps certainly had a sense of humor in that case. What in the hell was the point of anything he'd told him then? Even that story about Gildarts and Irina? What sort of lesson was the old man hoping he'd glean from-

Wait… the story… the lesson…

Natsu sat upright and stared a hole into the far wall. What did Gramps say at the end of it?

The nugget of doubt that plagued him earlier came back in full force, but this time as a blaring flash of inspiration.

With the last of his energy, Natsu jumped out of the hammock and strode back over to the coffee table containing the single sheet of folded paper. He blinked several times as he put himself back into the memory of his meeting with Master Makarov, trying to recall the entirety of the story he told him about Gildarts' first S-Class Mission.

Gildarts had met up with the girl from Lamia Scale, Irina. They took on a dark guild and a Sea Serpent. Gildarts wanted to fight the serpent like a hero instead of working with Irina and taking out the dark wizards in control of the beast. Irina was killed, and Gildarts slew the beast and finished the job.

So? What was the point then? Natsu knew it was meant to be a sort of comparison between what happened with him and his friends at the Tower. But what was the old man trying to tell him?

What did Gildarts do after he finished the job? Natsu paced his living room now. He was onto something, he could feel it in his bones. Pieces of the puzzle snapped cleanly together in his mind. In his very soul. What was it that Gramps said at the end of the story?

"...that he decided to change who he was at his core, so he could grow into the man he is today."

He decided to change who he was at his core.

Change who he was at his core.

Change who HE was.

Natsu smoothed his hand back through his hair and let out a slow, careful sigh in realization.

Of course! That simply had to be it! It wasn't about changing anything external… It was about changing himself!

Gildarts changed himself, and now he's… well, he's Gildarts. That's how he became so damned powerful! He looked inward and decided to change who he was so he could ultimately change his own life for the better. So he could make a much more positive impact on the lives of other people.

Pride swelled into his being. He'd figured it out! Or at least, he thought he had. There was a possibility of him being wrong… but Natsu was willing to bet everything he had on this being the correct answer.

He strode over to the coffee table and took up the pen next to the paper. Very slowly, very carefully, he finished the sentence. To change my life, I need… to first change myself.

There. He set down the pen and gazed at the four words he'd added with a certain reverence. He'd done it. And now, he can finally claim his reward. Sleep.

Deciding that he wouldn't think anymore about the test itself, he plucked up the sheet, folded it twice, and slipped it into his pocket. Then he went back over to his hammock and fell right in.

A few minutes later, Natsu was out like a light.

September 30th, Early Morning

The next morning, Natsu awoke feeling unusually well-rested.

As he got up and out of his hammock, he stretched his arms out wide and yawned. Then he looked out the window, which had begun to show the sun in all its glory.

Early morning by the looks of it, Natsu thought to himself. It would be hours before the guild opened. What would he do until then?

Train, most like. It was the obvious answer. And he had nothing better to do. Nothing except…

A very strange, very foreign feeling came over him then. Natsu had no idea what it was exactly, nor where it had sprung from within his mind. But it was there, front and center, almost making him see everything clearly for what felt like, the first time in his life.

He took a good long glance at his living room, spying over the mess of dirty dishes stained with old bits of food, the lop-sided shelf that hung over one of his sofas, and the large stone barbells that lay next to the coffee table. Even the loose springs, gears, pillows, and odd blankets that were untidily all over the main floor.

Despite the complete dump that he lived in… Natsu merely wore a calm smile.

Guess this place could do with a thorough cleaning… he thought to himself.

He had a few hours to kill, right? He could just tidy all of this up for now, go train, wash, then head off to the guild. Yeah, that sounded about right. Solid plan.

Natsu didn't waste much time. He got right to work.

The first object to go was the old training dummy that he'd stopped using for a month now. He'd set up the thing years ago, back when he still considered Erza a rival of his. Since the tower, though, he couldn't bring himself to think of her as competition. Just the thought of her name aroused a sort of protective… almost primal instinct within him that he couldn't quite place.

Nevertheless, it had to go. It was clear that he'd outgrown it. Natsu tossed the old body of straw and wood into the firepit in his backyard before heading back inside.

Everything else was fairly simple to move around. The barbells he placed next to his hammock in neat rows. The shelf he'd placed upright against the wall, shutting all of the drawers.

For the sofas, he placed one on each side of the coffee table, which he also cleaned of various dirty pots and pans. Natsu took the dishes outside and washed them in the nearby creek. Once he was finished, he took them back inside and stacked them neatly on the shelf from largest to smallest.

Two hours later, Natsu stood in the center of a very different-looking house. He placed all of Happy's toys in a chest underneath his hammock, and had swept up any remaining debris from the floor with the dusty old broom he'd kept next to the stove.

Natsu felt himself swell with pride as he looked over his handiwork. The floors were spotless. His things sorted. That hole in his hammock would need sewing, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Should be heading off to the guild soon.

He nodded in agreement with his thoughts. A quick training session ought to do the trick. Burpees and Push Ups? Followed by some cardio? Yeah. That would do it.

With the rest of his day already decided, Natsu Dragneel marched over to the front door, opened it, and gently shut it behind him.

Tick, tick, tick, tick…

Natsu was starting to grow fond of the grandfather clock that clicked away like a beating heart in the small square office.

On the opposite side of the room, Makarov had shuffled a few papers aside on his desk. He hadn't initially looked up when Natsu first entered the room a few minutes prior, though he'd greeted him politely. The old man seemed to be engrossed in whatever documents were in front of him. As he scribbled away, Natsu took his seat on the couch.

"Property damage?" Natsu opted to take the first stab at conversation.

"Worse," The old man shook his head and finally looked at him, closing the folder and tossing it into his OUT tray. "Taxes."

There was a slight tiredness in those black dots, some of the strain in the blood vessels around the iris. Makarov had woken up recently, of course, but he probably hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days. "So!" he clapped his hands together and grinned with renewed vigor. "You finished the assignment, eh?"

"Yeah, I did." The Dragon Slayer withdrew the folded sheet from his pocket and placed it on Makarov's desk before he took his seat on the couch.

The old man tugged the slip closer to him, but he didn't open it. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

Mira was called up rather quickly. In a few minutes, Natsu held a warm mug of fresh black coffee, with Makarov having gotten a refill.

"Alright then, let's see what you've got." Gramps unfolded the letter. Not even a few seconds into reading it he grinned, looking practically ten years younger. He read it out loud. "To change my life, I need to first change myself."

Natsu scratched the back of his head. His uncertainty was waging a war against his resolve. "Remembered the story you told about Gildarts… how he decided to change who he was at the end so he wouldn't let someone else die on his watch. It just kind of… clicked."

"Hmph!" The old man chuckled. "That was precisely the answer I was looking for, Natsu."

"Yeah well, I-" Wait, what? "It was?"

Makarov had smiled kindly at him. "Natsu… The point of this exercise was only meant to determine whether or not you were ready to accept personal change. Your answer shows that you've begun to understand that one's success and power come from within, not from external factors or things. And it helps me decide if I should invest my time in you. I certainly hope you were sincere with your answer. This," He said tapping the slip of paper. "...is wisdom beyond your years."

The fact that he'd gotten it right was still jarring to him. Natsu only wore a shit-eating smile as he felt himself swell with pride.

Damn right, Dragneel! Sounds like you've earned a solid victory breakfast! Especially after you spent the whole night trying to piece this one together. Natsu decided he'd sort something out after this meeting. Mira would probably jump at the chance to put together a meal for him.

Besides his self-congratulatory mood… Natsu supposed that Makarov was making some sense. He'd personally come to the conclusion that he'd needed to change himself in some way. He just didn't know what his next few steps would be.

But there was still a question on his mind. Something the old man had said in passing. "...and it helps me decide if I should invest my time into you."

What was that about? What did Makarov mean exactly?

"Thanks, Gramps. But what did you mean when you said 'investing your time'?" The Dragon Slayer scratched his cheek. "I don't understand."

It was then that the old man had sat forward. He took a long draw at his coffee and let out a deep sigh.

"Natsu," Makarov said. "I don't know if you knew this, but my father was one of the founding members of Fairy Tail. His name was Yuri. He was a very accomplished wizard in his own right, very proficient with Lightning Magic in particular. He passed away when I was a boy. Sickness of the heart, you see."

Natsu frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Things like that can happen, unfortunately. Our time together was short but precious. Before he died, he named one of his closest friends, Precht, as my godfather. Precht, as it so happens, was also my predecessor. He was Fairy Tail's second guildmaster."

"What happened to him?"

Makarov waved his hand aside. "He left the guild of his own accord years ago after making me his successor. I suspect he may have continued his studies, but I haven't heard from him since. He likely settled down, perhaps he even started a family."

The old man continued. "From a young age, I was mentored personally by Precht in the arts of magic. Thanks to his teachings, I can say wholeheartedly that I've had a very interesting career as a wizard. And since becoming Fairy Tail's third guildmaster, I have continued this tradition. I have mentored three others: Gildarts first, Laxus, and then Erza to a somewhat lesser degree. Their skills and talents speak for themselves. As it stands, I also wish to extend this offer to you, Natsu."

Natsu was astounded. He didn't quite know what to say. This wasn't exactly what he'd expected to hear when he walked into the guild this morning.

Why me? And why now? Those were the only two questions to pop into his head.

"But-"

The old man had seen his questions a mile off. He raised his hand, stopping Natsu in his tracks. "Please, Natsu. I am offering to help you. I am quite probably one of the only people who can-and because I genuinely want to see you succeed." He paused. "I have been in your situation. It's difficult being a young man who only wishes to protect those he cares about. At times it's tempting to distance yourself from them, cut them off even, if only so you can protect yourself."

It was as if the old man had… read his mind. Like he'd cracked open Natsu's skull and inspected his brain… somehow. Makarov wasn't telepathic, was he?

If he was, then Natsu shouldn't have been so surprised.

He had been tempted, in those early days after he'd woken up in his room at Akane Resort. He did cut himself off from his friends. Now, of course, he was on much better terms with them. But the fact that Master Makarov had called it out as if he were talking about the symptoms of a disease… simply spoke volumes about how knowledgable the old man truly was.

"...Your encounter with the former Councilman Fernandez was enough for me to pull the trigger and make this offer to you. It's clear that you took the matter far differently than your friends had."

"Yeah…" Natsu nodded.

He was feeling numb all of a sudden, recalling how his team had just… gone back to normal as if nothing had happened.

Like they hadn't been nearly killed in the casino alone.

Was there something wrong with him? Was he crazy?

"That's good," Makarov said, instantly cutting away his doubts. "Natsu, as capable as your friends may be, there will come a day when they will all look to you. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. They won't know what to do. On that day, your instincts will be proven right. And that's precisely when you'll need to be that rock for them. Be the light in the dark and guide them through the storm. Do you understand?"

He did. The old man was talking about a day that hadn't come yet. But somehow, Natsu knew that it would.

This was real.

"I do."

"Good." Makarov smiled kindly at him once more. He smacked the top of the table and sat forward. "But… onto the topic at hand."

The Wizard Saint took his smoking pipe out from his coat pocket and filled it. "I am perfectly willing to offer you a twelve-month mentorship. Just the same offer I made to Gildarts all those years ago. I cannot help you find Igneel. I know very little about dragons. However, I can help you grow into your own power. I can teach you how to earn the universal respect and admiration of your peers and many others. And I can show you how to become the best possible version of yourself, how to become the man who always pulls through, who can think quickly on his feet and make tactical, strategical decisions to boot. However, I must warn you…"

Natsu leaned forward.

"...the path will not be easy. In fact, it will be extremely uncomfortable for you. You will want to give up at times. It is inevitable but necessary. Pain is a part of the process of change. However, I am fully confident that you can pull it off."

"So," Makarov sat back in his seat, having lit his smoking pipe by snapping a small flame to life with his fingers. A fresh plume of smoke exited the old man's nostrils as he leveled his gaze with the Dragon Slayer.

"Care to take it on, Natsu?"