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Chapter Text

Natsu’s heart was pounding, his mind a jumbled mass of panic and fear. Why were they running? Why were they leaving Gramps to die? Why was everyone okay with it?! 

The dragonslayer looked behind himself, he could see the two giants still fighting… When he saw it, Makarov’s arms were shaking, he was struggling to keep the dragon at bay. Acnologia’s going to kill him…

No! Natsu wouldn’t let it happen! Even if the others were going to just run away like cowards, he wasn’t going to follow! He was going to fight until his final breath!

With an angry yell, Natsu wrenched himself free of Laxus’s strong hold, shoved his way through the group. “Natsu!” He heard several people frantically exclaim, but he ignored them, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him back towards the monstrous dragon and his master.

When he saw Gramps fall, the fire burning inside him only grew stronger. He stormed past the fallen man, and leapt onto the dragon’s leg. He dug his fingers in, and yelled,”Give Gramps back!”

He tried so hard to hang on, even as Acnologia roared and thrashed, struggling to keep his grip. I have to do this! I have to save Gramps! He told himself, but as Acnologia slammed his leg into some nearby rocks, Natsu felt his old wounds explode with burning pain.

The dragonslayer cried out in pain, his hands giving way and dropping himself all the way to the ground. His head cracked against the ground, making white spots appear all over his vision. He blinked rapidly, his vision fading in and out.

When everything cleared, Natsu realized that Acnologia was now standing over him, his claws raised and a strange glint in his eyes. The claws flew down, swiping at the dragonslayer, and sending him tumbling down several yards.

It hurt, everything hurt so bad. He wanted to let go, let the monster win… But he couldn’t give up now, he had to keep going! The dragonslayer forced himself up, standing proudly on his feet despite the blood dripping down his face. He saw the other members of Fairy Tail hurrying towards him, but they were too far away, they’d never make it to him in time.

There was a sinking feeling in his heart…

Something that told him… This is the end. 

The giant dragon opened his mouth, Natsu saw the bright light rising up inside. He took a big breath of his own, and proudly declared,”No matter what you do, you will not be able to defeat Fairy Tail.”

The last thing Natsu would ever see was that bright blue light heading towards him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The gentle sounds of the ocean....

The water lapped against his bare legs, sending shivers up his spine.

There was a heavy, painful ache burned through his whole body.

Natsu groaned, taking several deep breaths to try and fight through the pain. Violent coughs escaped from his body, which only served to make the pain in his ribs worse. It took several long, torturous seconds but eventually, he was able to breathe normally once more.

He groaned and opened his eyes, but all he saw was darkness. It’s so dark… Where am I? He thought. Why is it so dark? Is it night? Why am I on the beach? The last thing that I remember is...

That’s when his mind finally caught up with the rest of his body. Acnologia! He tried to kill me! Natsu frantically recalled, before confusion washed over him. But… But I’m alive. How? I thought for sure his blast would have killed me…

He gasped, jerking upwards into a sitting position despite the pain . “Tenrou!” He exclaimed,”Acnologia! Did he- Are they- I have to find them!”

The dragonslayer forced himself onto his feet and ran away from the sound of splashing waves. But, he didn’t get far. His whole body slammed into something solid so hard that he fell backwards onto the ground. 

“What the- What was that?!” Natsu yelled out, scrambling back to his feet as fast as he could. He reached out in the darkness until his hand came into contact with the solid thing he had hit. It felt like a tree, with a very large trunk. 

His confusion seemed to expand even further. Why is it so dark? Even if it is night, I should have the moon’s light, right? He looked up towards the sky, but he still couldn’t see anything, not even a single star. 

“Wait… What am I doing?” He asked aloud, with a chuckle. “It doesn’t matter if it's dark! I have my fire!”

The dragonslayer held out his palm, letting the flames pool up in his hand. He looked down to where the fire would be… But he still couldn’t see. Even when he moved his hands so close to his face that he could feel the flames and their overwhelming heat, the whole world was still black. 

“Wha… What?! What’s happening?!” He frantically yelled, panic ripping through his chest. “I don’t understand! Why can’t I see it?! Why can’t I see anything?!”

He brought his other hand out too, flames instantly swelling into existence on that hand as well. Even with both hands covered in hot, burning flames, he still saw nothing. He started to breathe frantically, his heart pounding in terror. “No… No no no!” He exclaimed.

Turning in a random direction, he desperately yelled,”Fire Dragon’s Roar!” The flames flew from his mouth, he could feel the heat of the flames, and he could feel the ground quake as his powerful attack slammed against the Earth. But still, there was nothing… No light, not even a faint glow. 

He reached up his hands and placed them over his eyes, he felt himself growing nauseous, his head was spinning, and he fell to his knees. It finally hit him...No matter what he did, there was nothing… He couldn’t see anything. 

Natsu Dragneel was blind.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Fairy Tail Guild Hall

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

For the first time in a long time, the guild hall was eerily silent. The whole guild was staring with wide, desolate eyes towards the stone-faced Doranbolt. He had just told them all the horrifying news, that Tenrou Island was destroyed, and Team Tenrou was dead.

“D-dead?” Laki squeaked, her hands covering her mouth. When Doranbolt nodded towards her, she frantically shook her head. “No… No it can’t be…”

Doranbolt turned to look towards all of them. “It’s true, I saw it with my own eyes. Acnologia destroyed the island, there was nothing left.” He cringed, lowering his head. “We searched the water, none of them made it…”

Romeo sniffed, clutching to his father’s robes tighter as his sadness became mixed with rage. “You should have looked harder!” He snapped at the man. 

Doranbolt flinched at the child’s angry tone, guilt building up inside of him. “We did our best to search but we had to retreat-”

“We? We?! ” Wakaba sputtered, pointing at Doranbolt accusingly. “The only ‘we’ you are talking about is you and your council cronies you dirty traitor!”

Behind Doranbolt, Lahar took a threatening step forward. “Watch your tongue! We didn’t have to come here and tell you!” He snapped.

"You shouldn't have come at all!" Macao yelled back. "We would have found out anyways, we didn't need to hear it from you ." He stared straight at Doranbolt as he spoke. 

Doranbolt flinched again, and felt a desperate need to defend his actions. "I tried to help them escape! I offered to teleport them off during the three way battle but they wanted to stay and fight!" 

"You should have helped them!" Bisca sobbed out, tears tumbling down her cheeks. "Fairy Tail is a family, you were supposed to be one of us! Why didn't you stay and help?!" 

The mage opened his mouth to argue against her angry questions, but then Wendy's face flashed through his mind, and the words died in his throat. 

Unfortunately, Lahar didn't feel the same guilt. He stepped forward, placing a hand on Doranbolt's shoulder. "He was never one of you," The man declared,"Doranbolt is a magic council member, through and through."

The faces of the Fairy Tail members twisted with so many emotions it almost made Doranbolt dizzy. Anger, hatred, disgust, sadness, all directed at him. 

Macao was the first to find his voice. He looked away, as if he couldn't bear to look at the mage anymore. "Get out." He hissed in a weak voice. "Get out of this guild hall, you aren't welcome anymore." 

They were the world's that Doranbolt had been expecting, but had been hoping not to hear. He wanted to explain everything to them, but he knew it was too late. They would never listen to them now. 

He bit his tongue, closed his eyes, and nodded. Then he turned around with Lahar and left the guild. Only when his back was turned did he let the tears fall. 

When the doors shut behind Doranbolt, Fairy Tail did the same. Macao fell to his knees, his teeth digging into his bottom lips as he tried to hold it back. 

Romeo was already on the ground, sobbing furiously next to his father. Wakaba joined next, then Alzack and Bisca hugged each other and cried too. 

Soon, the entire guild was in tears. Letting out the pain they had barely been able to hold in. Team Tenrou, their guildmates, their family was dead… And they were never coming back.

Chapter Text

Natsu didn’t know how much time had passed, and he had no way to tell. He had no idea where he was, and the constant panic that gripped at his heart kept him from trying to figure it out. All he could focus on was finding home.

“I’ll get back to Fairy Tail, everyone’s probably waiting for me! Then, Porlyusica can heal my eyes and everything will go back to normal!” He would constantly tell himself, clinging to his own words for any semblance of hope.

For what felt like an eternity he walked around in the darkness of his unknown surroundings. He could feel the rugged ground underneath his blistered feet and hands, the beating sun on him, and hear the noises of creatures around him.

But he never heard people, not even a simple traveler. He was completely alone, and that only made him feel worse. He wanted to stop and wait for his guildmates to find him (surely he had to have landed close to Tenrou Island, right?) but there was a constant niggling in the back of his mind that he would be waiting in vain.

So he kept going, even when his mouth grew dry and his stomach started to growl. Even though his body screamed at him to stop, he refused to listen to its pleas. I have to get home, I have to! Everyone is probably worried sick, I can’t keep them waiting any longer than I already have!

And how do you expect to get back if you die before then? A voice asked him… A voice that sounded suspiciously like Lucy. Which is the only reason he froze, and listened. You need to rest, just for a little while, and then you can keep going.

Natsu sighed, but he knew he couldn’t argue with those points. He flopped down on the ground, cringing at the hard rocks that pressed uncomfortably against his back. He sat back up and patted around him, shoving the painful chunks away from his sleeping spot. 

He lied back down, using his aching arms as a pillow for his throbbing head. He closed his unseeing eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly. But his slumber didn’t last long, his mind was quickly overwhelmed with nightmares.

He heard the screams of screams of his guildmates, telling him to stop and come back. He would hear the final words he said to Acnologia, as the roar of a blast heading towards him reached his ears. The only color in his nightmare was the approaching bright blue light.

With a horrified cry, Natsu jerked awake and lurched into a sitting position. He heaved in labored breaths, while his shaking hand went to cover his teary eyes. His heart hurt, as if drowning in sadness and remorse.

“No, no, no… Stop it!” He snapped aloud. “There’s no reason to be sad! Everything is going to be fine! Everyone is waiting for me, they have to be, they HAVE to be!”

He tried to stand up, but his head spun and his feet stumbled, sending him back onto the ground. The mage sighed in frustration, tilting his head backwards and digging his toes into his sandals. His stomach then growled audibly, which made him cringe and grab his middle.

Natsu sighed sadly, wishing that he was already back at the Fairy Tail guild hall and eating Mirajane’s delicious food as fast and as viciously as a hungry dragon.

But you’re not there. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Erza’s snapped in his mind. So get up, and find some food and water. You can’t get back to the guild if you starve or die of dehydration.

The dragonslayer knew that his mind had a point, and he forced himself to not immediately continue wandering aimlessly. He needed food… But where was he supposed to find that?

As if the world wanted to answer the question, his ears picked up the sound of a nearby creature chattering. It sounded small, but his mouth was already watering at the prospect of catching it.

He listened intently, trying to figure out exactly where the animal was. When he thought he knew, he started to crawl forward. His hands reaching out in front of him before he moved closer.

After several long seconds of crawling, the chattering noise sounded like it was right next to him. He stayed completely still, waiting until the sound moved in front of him. Then, he threw himself toward the noise. “You’re dinner!”

But Natsu’s hands hit sharp rocks instead of a delicious meal. He cried out, shaking his hands and letting out a frustrated growl. “Damn it!” 

The chattering creature started to hurry away, the sound becoming fainter. Growing more frustrated, Natsu forced himself to his feet, lit his hands on fire, and chased after it. He was too stubborn and angry to care that he couldn’t see where he was going.

“Come back here you stupid animal!” He yelled, waving his flaming hands. “You’re going to be my dinner and you cannot esc- AH!” 

The ground underneath his feet suddenly became a steep incline, and Natsu was too slow to react. He crashed to the ground and tumbled down the hill in a flurry of flames and limbs, sharp rocks stabbing at various parts of his body until he finally came to a painful stop when the ground flattened out again.

Natsu felt dizzy all over again, and was too shocked to move for several seconds. Eventually, he managed to push himself back onto his feet and started walking back towards the direction he fell.

He dug his hands into the hill, cringing at the feeling of loose mud. But he forced himself to climb, digging his feet in as well and clinging the best he could to not slide back down. He needed to get back up and catch that stupid soon-to-be-dinner animal.

After a painful eternity of climbing, the world decided to mess with him even more. His wet sandal slid against a sharp rock, catching on it and making him slip. With a cry of pain, Natsu tumbled down the hill and crashed into the ditch again.

When he recovered a second time, he let out a frustrated yell and grabbed his sandals, ripping them off and tossing them aside. He stormed back towards the muddy incline and tried again, but failed a third time and ended up with deep scratches on his body for trying.

“No, no, no!” He yelled at nothing in particular. “I didn’t come all this way to get stuck in a fucking ditch!”

He reached out, waiting until he felt the muddy incline again. Then he started to walk, trying to find a place that wasn’t as steep so he could climb out there. But as he circled the entire area, he found that he was trapped.

When his fingers made contact with where his trail had started, he realized that there was no way he could climb out of the ditch. Not when he was starving and dehydrated, but he couldn’t get food when he was stuck in a hole he couldn’t climb out of.

His legs gave out underneath him, hitting the rough ground as his hands dropped to his sides. Then, with a frustrated scream, he slammed his flaming fists into the ground and cracked the rough terrain.

His energy spent, Natsu flopped over on his stomach, his cheek pressed into the dirt. He didn’t have enough strength to even yell anymore. “What’s the point in trying?” He asked himself. “I’m going to die out here… Why couldn’t Acnologia have just killed me?”

He cringed, tears building up in his blind eyes. “I-I’m such an idiot!” He slammed his fist weakly against the dirt. “Why did I have to try and fight him all alone?! I should have listened to Gramps and ran. I’m blind, and my guild might be dead, and IT’S ALL MY FAULT! ”

Natsu burst into loud, pained sobs and curled into himself. He lied on the ground as tears tumbled down his blind cheeks, and wondered how long it would take him to finally die.

Then, after what felt like hours, he heard the sound of movement next to him. He froze, fearful of what or who may have found him. But before he could get too terrified, he heard the familiar chattering noise that he had tried to chase earlier.

“Oh… It’s you…” A sardonic grin climbed up the dragonslayer’s face. “Why are you here? Have you come to mock me?”

The creature’s chattering voice moved closer to him, but Natsu didn’t have the energy to start a surprise attack on it. It continued to chatter at him, moving closer and closer until it was right by Natsu’s ear. 

Then, something was placed against Natsu’s cheek roughly. He jerked back in surprise, but the chattering creature followed him and did it again. “Eh?” Natsu slowly moved to bring his hand to his cheek, grabbing at the item at the same time the creature let go.

Spherical, squishy… He took a whiff of the object and then gasped. “Fruit!” He exclaimed, and then frantically began to chomp on the plant. The first taste of the juice on his tongue was heavenly, it was the best meal that Natsu had ever had in his whole life.

He nearly devoured the whole fruit before he managed to calm himself down. He could feel his stomach churning, shocked by the sudden influx of nutrients. Maybe it’s better to slow down…

The chattering sound was still there, so he ripped a piece of the fruit off and held it out. “Here, you can have some too.” He offered the piece to the animal.

The creature's noises stopped, and Natsu could hear the shuffling of movement. A few seconds later the chunk was ripped out of his hand and he heard the sound of tiny chomping noises.

Natsu chuckled as he moved to sit with his legs crossed, it seemed like the animal had the same appetite as him. He took another bite of the fruit, and then offered another piece to the animal.

Once the fruit was finished, he sighed in relief. “Thank you,” He said to the animal. “And… I’m sorry for trying to eat you too. I was desperate, and I had no idea there was any fruit out here. Thank you for bringing me some.”

The creature let out a few chirps, and then Natsu jumped at the feeling of a cold nose nudging his hand. He hesitated, and then reached out. His hand made contact with soft, fluffy fur and the animal let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like purring.

“Even if I’m still lost and afraid, at least I’m not alone anymore…” Natsu whispered, letting a tiny grin climb up onto his face.

The animal moved forward, draping over Natsu’s lap and letting out happy chattering noises. Natsu chuckled and let his hand run down the creature’s back, he didn’t mind petting it. After all, it did feed him, and it helped him feel less lonely.

Eventually the purring noise stopped, and the creature seemed to fall asleep. Natsu let out a small snort of amusement. “That’s a good idea, I might try that too.”

But the memories of his nightmare came back to his mind and he hesitated. He didn’t want to go back to sleep just yet, he was afraid of seeing that horrifying blue light again. SO instead, he closed his eyes, sat up straight, and took deep breaths.

Slowly but surely he started to relax into the position, letting the world around him fade away. Then, without knowing, Natsu fell into a meditative state.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

When Natsu finally opened his eyes again, things seemed strange. He didn’t feel the painful ground below him, the creature in his lap, the mud on his skin, or the heat of the sun. It felt like he was in an empty void.

He wanted to stand up and walk around, curious about the strange place he seemed to find himself in, but he felt like he was cemented in place. Then, a feeling started to surround him, like a thick and heavy blanket. It felt suffocating, and he couldn’t get away.

A twinge of panic returned to him, but being unable to move stopped him from thrashing or fighting against the feeling. The only thing he could really do was breathe, so that was exactly what he did.

Natsu took long, deep breaths in, and then exhaled out. With every exhale, he could feel the strange presence around him starting to spread itself out. Encouraged, Natsu continued his breathing, and focused on making the strange feeling move further and further away.

As he did, the dragonslayer found that he was suddenly aware of things around him. He still didn’t feel the creature in his lap, and yet he knew exactly where it was, he could feel the plants surrounding him, and even the bugs scurrying across the ground.

His head throbbed in pain, the sudden influx of awareness making him feel sick and his mind whirling with questions. It came out of nowhere… I don’t understand… The pain in his head grew worse, and he felt like his brain might explode. Why is this happening?! What’s going on?!

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The second that Natsu woke up, he could feel that something had changed. 

He tilted his head and rose to his feet, planting them firmly on the rough terrain. Keeping his eyes closed, he looked around at his surroundings. 

He still couldn't see, not in the slightest… And yet, at the same time, he swore that he could feel the things around him. He gasped as realization hit him. 

It wasn't a dream, whatever that place was… It was real… He exhaled, and felt that strange blanket expand further again, but he now recognized that it was a blanket of magic, his magic. 

Natsu scrunched his face together, and concentrated hard. A burst of excitement filled him at the feeling of something large and tall nearby. He wasn't sure exactly what it was… Maybe a tree?  

Eager to find out, the mage ran on sore feet over to the feeling with a hand outstretched. He could feel himself getting closer and closer to the object.

Finally, his hand made contact. He could feel the strong bark under his fingertips, and his magic could sense the life flowing through it. 

His excitement mingled with an emotion he hadn't felt in many long days: happiness. "I was right!" He exclaimed,"It's a tree! I can feel it! I can feel it!" 

The sound of curious chatter nearby had Natsu turn, noticing that he felt something several feet away on the ground. It started coming towards him, but he quickly held up his hands. 

"Wait! Don't move! I'll come to you!" He ordered, even though he didn't even know it the creature could understand him. 

It seemed like it could, because the movement stopped. He slowly walked toward until he was in front of the animal and then knelt down, his hand resting above the animal's head. 

The creature purred happily, and then shoved his fuzzy head into Natsu's waiting palm. Natsu giggled both from the feeling, and the realization that he had gotten it right again. 

He grinned wider and lifted up the creature, petting him gently. "I don't know exactly what I did," He admitted,"But maybe with this, I can find my way back to Fairy Tail!"

The animal in his arms chattered again, and then something was pressed against Natsu's cheek. He shifted the creature in one arm, and grabbed the item. More fruit, much to his growling stomach's relief. 

He bit into the fruit eagerly. "Mm! This is good! Where are you finding these?" He asked the animal. 

With a happy noise, the creature hopped out of the dragonslayer's arms. Natsu closed his eyes and followed the feeling of the creature as he moved towards the tree, and climbed up it. 

Instantly, Natsu felt embarrassment crawl up his spine. "There were fruit trees around here this whole time?" He whined, walking towards the feeling of the tree and placing his hand on the bark again.

He scrunched his eyes shut tighter and concentrated as hard as he could, focusing on the feeling of the tree. With his new ability, he found that he could feel the shape of the tree, and sense some hanging fruits. 

With a well placed kick, Natsu heard the thumps of fruit hitting the ground. Then, with a surprised squeak, the animal crashed on top of his head and made Natsu cry out in surprise. 

He scrambled to catch the creature before it fell onto the ground, and then held the animal again. "I'm sorry! I'll warn you before I do something like that again!" He promised, and slid down to sit against the tree and eat the fruits, putting two aside for the little animal.

They ate in silence for a while, before an idea popped into his head. "I know! I'll name you Tree!" He declared to the world. 

The newly named Tree let out a curious chirp from his left side, which made it sound like he wasn't sure what to think of the name. 

"Hey," Natsu firmly replied,"I can't see what you look like, and you found me fruit in a tree. I was either going to call you Fruit or Tree, okay? I think Tree is better." 

Tree let out another unimpressed chirp, and Natsu sighed and crossed his arms. "Okay, I'll admit it. I'm bad with names. Hell, I named my best friend Happy." He rubbed his chin with one hand. "I guess Happy is still better than Tree…" 

But Natsu wasn't able to come up with a better name, so he shrugged. "Eh, we'll workshop the name. Lucy can probably help me when I get back to the guild."

Mentioning his close friends and guild members made Natsu feel awful all over again. He sighed, pulling his legs up to his chest. "Lucy… Happy… Erza… Gray… Gramps… Everyone…" He whispered, pressing his forehead against his knees. "Did you guys get away from Acnologia? Or… Or did he…"

He threw his head up and yelled, shaking his head back and forth quickly. "No! No! They couldn't have died! They're strong, they would have fought him off… Right?" He bit his lip. "But he was so strong. He almost killed me without trying, and he took on Gramps easily…" 

Determination filled the mage, and he jumped to his feet again. "I have to get back to Fairy Tail! They need me! If Acnologia is giving them trouble still, if that guy who turned my muffler black is hurting any of them… I'll kick their asses!" 

He turned and ran forward, fully prepared to use his newfound senses to run all the way to Fairy Tail, whether it be on Tenrou or in Magnolia, and join the fight. But after a few strides, he skidded to a stop. 

Next to him, the dragonslayer could feel Tree come to a stop as well, and chirp in confusion. For a long time he didn't respond, afraid to admit the truth.

Eventually he found his voice, and softly whispered,"The reason I'm like this now, is because I was reckless… I didn't listen, I didn't think. I rushed into a fight I couldn't win." 

Natsu's hand moved up and covered his eyes. "I have this new ability, but I don't even know how to use it…" He shuddered in fear. "If I go back now, and rush into things again… I could get people hurt…" 

"A-and who knows… Maybe I already have! Maybe everyone is dead and it's all my fault!" He frantically whispered, and then shook his head again. "No! I can't be like that anymore! I won't let anyone get hurt because I was reckless and stupid!" 

The mage could feel his heart pounding against his chest, so he forced himself to take a few deep breaths. Once Natsu was calm, he clenched his fists and stood tall. 

"I can't go back. Not until I know how to control myself and this… Whatever this is." He decided despite the pain that staying away would leave him with. "And when I get home, I'll be able to protect my guild with all my heart!" 

Tree let out an excited chirp and jumped, crawling up Natsu's arm and perching on the mage's shoulder to chatter in his ear. A large grin climbed into his face, and he scratched the animal behind it's fluffy ear. 

He walked towards what he believed was the center of the ditch that he was in, and sat down with his legs crossed. "There's no better time to start than now, right? The sooner I get this stuff under control, the sooner I can go home." 

Natsu closed his eyes and started to take deep breaths, focusing on the new magical awareness he had somehow acquired. He wouldn't go back to his guild until he knew for sure that he could use his abilities properly.

Don't worry you guys, I'll come back with the power to protect you. No matter how long it takes, I will find my way home. So please… 

Wait for me.

Chapter Text

After he made his decision to stay in the forest, Natsu didn’t waste any more time thinking about the past. He used his time in the best way he could think of, training as hard as he possibly could.

In the mornings and evenings, Natsu would meditate and try to learn more about the strange ability that allowed him to ‘see’ his surroundings. After a while, he realized that it wasn’t some strange force allowing him to see, it was his own magic.

By taking the power that flowed through his body and pushing it outward, Natsu was able to sense the world around him. The further he pushed his magic out, the more he could see. 

There was a trade off for his ability. The further he tried to see, the more magic he used. If he didn’t carefully monitor how much magic he used, it was possible for him to run out and be left completely blind once again.

After learning that lesson the hard way, Natsu realized that he would have to be careful with how much magic he used and how far he tried to see. He realized how scary it would be to lose his sight in the middle of a fight. So, Natsu started working extra hard to make sure he would always have his magic sight available to him.

It took a while, but eventually his magic sight became as instinctive as breathing. He didn’t have to force his magic outward to see, it naturally did it for him. It was still up to Natsu to make his field of vision bigger or smaller, but he could naturally see to a certain distance.

The way his magic sight worked was very interesting to Natsu as well. When it came to living things, like plants or his animal companion Tree, he was able to feel the magic within them and figure out exactly what they were.

Things that weren’t alive or imbued with magic were harder to sense. Instead of feeling them, his magic flowed around them. He had a rough idea of where they were, but not what they were. It led to a lot of tripping or miscalculations during his training, but he didn’t let that slow him down.

Natsu kept pushing himself further, testing the limits of his new sight and learning how to use it with his dragonslayer abilities. Day after day, he pushed himself further and tried new combinations or techniques. 

He didn’t try to keep track of time, because he knew that if he found out how much time had actually passed he would be tempted to go back too soon. When the time actually came to go home, he would know. But until then, he had a job to do. 

He had to become powerful enough that he would be able to protect his guild from any threats, with or without his normal eyesight. So he would keep training and learning, until he was ready to return home.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Natsu sighed in relief as he let his legs slide into the river, feeling very sore after his more recent training. He didn’t mind the pain too much, because sore muscles were a sign of a good workout.

He reached and threaded his fingers into his shaggy hair. It had grown a lot since he first woke up in the forest, and was now shoulder length. It was still spiky and messy, with some longer strands framing his face and tickling his cheeks. 

Even though he had only had one real hairstyle his whole life, Natsu found that he didn’t mind the new, longer hair. It just felt right, he still didn’t understand exactly why.

Unfortunately it's longer length meant it was harder to take care of. So he spent at least five minutes every day fixing it up and making sure it didn’t get matted. He felt his fingers abruptly stop as he hit another one of the annoying tangles. 

Once he was believed he had freed himself of the tangles, he ran his hand through the long hair and sighed in relief at the feeling of no resistance. "Perfect!" He declared,"Hah! And it didn’t take that long today!"

A loud chirping behind him alerted Natsu to the arrival of his animal companion, Tree. The little creature jumped up and landed elegantly on the dragonslayer’s shoulders. He perched on his back legs, and used his front paws to ruffle Natsu’s hair around.

The dragonslayer didn't try to stop the animal, he was very used to all of Tree’s quirks and welcomed them. The little animal was his only companion in an unfamiliar place. Even when the animal wasn’t perched on his shoulder or cuddling with him, Natsu usually felt him close by. Knowing he wasn’t completely alone helped the mage stay sane. He appreciated Tree’s constant presence more than the creature probably knew. 

Natsu was pulled out of his thoughts when Tree’s attentive hairs stopped tugging at his hair, and the animal let out a firm chirp, satisfied with the state of Natsu’s hair now that he had examined it himself. 

The dragonslayer let a crooked grin appear on his face, amused by the animal’s attentive care. “Thank you very much, Tree! I bet it looks even better now!” He complimented as he gave him a friendly scratch under his chin, one of Tree’s favorite spots to be pet.

“Your turn now, let me fix up your fur!” Natsu said, holding his arm out in front of him and feeling Tree leap onto it. He lowered the arm to set the creature in his lap. Tree, knowing it was his turn, settled down with a relaxed sigh. 

Natsu took his time, checking for anything that could be causing Tree discomfort. Usually he would find some thorns or dried grass, but today he was surprised to find that the animal had somehow gotten covered in prickly burs. .

He took special care removing them and flicking them away, and it felt like it took forever. As soon as he finished getting the burs off Tree’s back, he realized that there were at least a dozen more in his tail.

"Eh?! Were you trying to climb up that orange tree again? There are pokey bushes all around those trees, you know that!" He lectured the creature.

Tree trilled back at him in what could only be described as an indignant tone, like a misbehaving student caught causing trouble.

Natsu sighed and shook his head good naturedly. "I know, I know, those are your favorite, but you still should be careful before trying to get one." He picked out the final bur from the fluffy tail, burning it to ash in his hand.

He brushed his hands against his torn up pants. "There we go, no more prickly fur!” He dramatically declared.

Tree let out a series of happy chirps and jumped forward, bowling Natsu over and onto the soft grass below. The dragonslayer laughed in surprise, reaching out to ruffle his companion’s fur. 

The creature chirped again and circled around before settling on Natsu’s stomach, letting out one more tiny noise before his breathing evened out. It seemed that Tree decided it was time for a nap.

“Hmm… That’s a good idea, it’s the perfect weather for a nap.” Natsu whispered to himself. He rested the back of his head against his arms, letting the sound of the river and gentle breeze help him settle down for a few hours of relaxation.

Natsu lay in the grass, enjoying the peace that the forest offered. After a few minutes, he found his awareness wandering towards the land around him. The sleepy Tree on his stomach, the fish flowing through the river, and even the caterpillar resting on a branch above them.

 As he admired the world that surrounded him, a strange feeling erupted in the Fairy Tail mage's chest. This forest… It's full of life, full of magic… I can see it all, I can see around me without trying… His magic sight, once so hard to control, felt like second nature to him now.

It’s time to go home…

Natsu let out a quiet gasp. The thought had popped up in his mind unprompted, he hadn’t even thought about his guild in days, it came out of nowhere. He was instantly hit with a wave of homesickness, but it was mixed with confidence.

He frowned, was it really the right time? He tried to come up with a reason to stay, but there was none. His training had progressed as far as it could in his current environment, he was stronger than when Acnologia had blinded him. 

This time, he would be able to protect the guild he loved. He wouldn’t leave them behind. This time, he wouldn’t fail them.

Filled with determination, Natsu declared,“It’s time to go back to Fairy Tail!”

The mage started to sit up, but hesitated as the sound of Tree’s quiet snoring reached his ears. He froze, and then slowly lowered himself back down onto the grass, trying not to bother his dozing companion. “In a little bit…” 

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

It was several hours later that Natsu was sitting in his makeshift camp, using what was left of his torn up shirt as a bag for some fruits he had picked. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would be enough to get him back to civilization.

“Okay, that’s it. It’s time for me to leave,” He said.

Hanging off his shoulder, Tree let out a chirp that sounded confused.

“I’m going back to my guild, Fairy Tail. Remember them? Lucy, Gray, Erza, Happy, and all the others.” Natsu held his arm out to let the creature perch on it. “I stayed here so I could learn how to control my magic sight, and get stronger. Well, that’s done now.”

He knelt down, letting Tree move onto the ground and slinging his makeshift bag over his shoulder. “So now it’s time for me to go home.” He scratched the animal under his chin one last time, and smiled. “Thanks for keeping me company, Tree. Goodbye.”

Natsu turned and started to walk away, only to hesitate as Tree let out a panicked cry. The animal’s form galloped over to him, scurrying up his side, clinging tightly to his arm, and whimpering loudly.

“E-eh? What are you doing?” Natsu questioned, trying to pry the animal off of his arm. “Tree, I’m sorry, but I have to go! The forest is your home, you should stay here.”

But the creature refused to let go, his whimpers growing more frantic and his grip tightening. Guilt swelled through Natsu at those noises, and he cursed himself for freaking out his companion.

Of course he doesn’t want you to leave him, idiot! His mind insulted him. You spend all this time taking care of each other and you’re just going to leave? You’re going to abandon him?

The thought of abandoning Tree brought up one of Natsu’s most painful memories. Waking up alone to discover that Igneel was gone, he had left Natsu behind. The dragonslayer felt a stab of sadness through his heart and quickly shook his head.

“No, no, no… I won’t do that. I won’t abandon you, Tree!” He declared, letting the animal hang onto his arm. “I won’t leave you. If you really want to, you can come with me.”

Natsu started walking again, using his actions to show his companion that everything was okay. Slowly but surely, Tree started to realize that Natsu wasn’t going to leave him behind. His grip loosened, and he climbed up to his favorite spot on Natsu’s right shoulder.

Even though he hadn’t planned on Tree coming with him, the weight on his shoulder was familiar, and felt just right.

A grin climbed up Natsu’s face, ruffling his companion’s hair as he headed forward with a determined stride. “All right, Tree! Let’s go home together! To Fairy Tail!” 

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Natsu and Tree traveled for four days, following the river downstream, and only stopping to rest or eat. The forest seemed endless, Natsu's senses never picking up anything during their whole journey.

He was thankful that he had spent so much time learning to use his newfound ability. If he hadn't, he doubted he would have had the patience for the rather boring journey. 

Then, on the dawn of the fifth day, the duo finally got lucky. During his morning meditation, he spread his field of vision outward and felt something. It wasn't alive, but the shape seemed to be a building. 

I can't get my hopes up just yet. He lectured himself as he started walking again. I haven't felt a building using these senses before, it could be just an oddly shaped rock. 

After an hour he got close enough to feel that it wasn't an oddly shaped rock, it was a town! He felt a few people walking around, and many more huddled inside the houses. Not surprising, it was pretty early. 

"We did it, Tree! Civilization!" He told his companion, scratching Tree's cheek victoriously. "Maybe we can find directions to Fairy Tail!" 

He hurried to the town, jolting in surprise as his bare feet landed on rough cobblestone instead of grass. He froze, getting used to the foreign feeling before continuing forward. 

The town, as far as Natsu could tell, was small. He could feel less than twenty small structures, and less than forty people walking around. 

"Ah, that doesn't matter. We found a town, we'll get directions, and keep going," He said aloud, gaining an agreeing chirp from Tree. 

Natsu felt only a few people around, and went to the nearest one. He walked over to them, and softly said,"Excuse me…" 

The person let out a high pitched gasp, and they stumbled backwards. They must have turned around, because they relaxed for a moment before seeming to panic all over again. 

"You can't be here!" They hissed at Natsu, backing away from him further. 

Natsu frowned, taking a single step forward. "What do you mean? I just wanted directions…" 

The person backed up even further, and in a tiny voice replied,"You have to leave, they don't like outsiders!" 

Natsu scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion, and was about to ask who she was talking about when he felt four people approaching them. 

He could tell they were tall and muscular, and moving at a cocky pace towards them. There was something else… Their magic was violent, dark… Everything about them screamed danger. 

Before Natsu or the stranger he approached could get away from the four people, they were boxes in. Shit... this isn't good… Natsu thought. 

"Well, well, well!" A deep, gruff voice from the one on his left said. "Who do we have here? A stranger?" 

The one on his right made an obnoxious gagging sound. "A disgusting stranger! Can you see over all that dirt, creep?" He sneered. 

The one directly in front of him spoke in a voice that grated Natsu's eardrums. "Ha! Do you see his eyes? He can't see anything!" 

A hand flew out and grabbed Natsu's shaggy bangs, yanking his head forward. The rough grip, after so long without human interaction, was what sent him over the edge. Okay, that's enough! He angrily slapped the arm away, shoving the man backwards several feet. 

"Don't touch me!" Natsu growled, planting his feet firmly on the ground and prepared for a fight. 

The gruff voice spoke again. "Why you little punk!" 

He charged forward, but before either man could throw the first punch, the person behind Natsu suddenly ran in front of him and held out her hands. 

"No! Wait! Cadir, I'm sorry! M-my nephew came to visit us without warning, I didn't have a chance to tell him how things work here!" She said in a fast voice. "Please forgive us!" 

The gruff man, to his surprise, stopped. He was silent for a while, seemingly trying to decide whether or not to believe the woman's claims. "Your blind nephew came to visit you… alone?" He sneered in disbelief.

Sensing the hostility returning, Natsu quickly pointed at Tree. "Not alone! I have my seeing-eye animal with me, see?" 

The men were silent again for an annoyingly long time before the gruff man, Cadir, grabbed Natsu and the woman by their upper arms and dragged them towards one of the small houses. 

"Thank you for explaining the misunderstanding, my dear. Unfortunately for you and your nephew, I don't like his attitude," He said in a mocking tone. "So you, your nephew, and his pet rat are under house arrest until further notice." 

Cadir leaned forward, his disgusting breath burning Natsu's nose as he whispered,"And if your nephew behaves, maybe I'll let him leave this place alive ." 

They were shoved into the house, landing on the hard wooden floor. Then shut , Natsu heard the door slam shut, and the sound of something heavy hitting the other side of it. If the dragonslayer had to guess, they were locked in.

Neither him nor the stranger spoke for several awkward seconds, catching their breath after the strange encounter. Once his heart finally calmed down, Natsu quietly asked,”Hey, lady… Are you okay?”

“I- I’m fine…” She whispered in a soft tone. Then, out of nowhere, a sharp fist hit his arm, and her attitude changed. “What were you thinking trying to fight them like that?! They would have killed you!”

Natsu frowned and rubbed where she had hit. “I could have taken ‘em!” He growled.

“You’re blind! ”

“I can still fight!” Natsu bristled, feeling his temper rise up all over again. “And that’s apparently more than you’ve been doing!” 

At the feeling of the woman flinching backwards, Natsu realized that he was scaring her. He stopped, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “Sorry, I shouldn’t yell at you, this isn’t your fault.” He felt her relax, and decided to broach the topic. “Why are four random assholes able to put you on house arrest? Is it the army or something?”

“Worse…” The woman whispered. “It’s a Dark Guild. They have their base somewhere in the forest. I guess they decided our town was an easy target, they’ve taken the place over. We’re like trapped rats. Nothing goes on here without their say.”

Her warning now made more sense to Natsu. Of course a dark guild that had acquired so much power would be suspicious of outsiders. If they knew who Natsu really was, they probably would have tried to take him down right where he stood.

Of course, he could take them. He was a Fairy Tail wizard! If he wanted to, he could kick the door down, kick some ass, and then leave the town without looking back. But he knew he couldn’t just leave this village to be torn apart by the dark guild.

He focused his senses, and didn’t feel any of the dark guild members nearby. They probably think that we’re not a threat… He snorted at that. They can keep thinking that, we’ll use that to our advantage. 

Natsu knelt back down, and scooted closer to the woman. “Hey, don’t worry, I’m going to help your village get rid of these Dark Mage guys.” He turned his right shoulder to her, brushing Tree’s tail away so she could see his guild mark. “My name is Natsu, and I’m a Fairy Tail wizard.”

The woman let out a shocked gasp, her calloused hand trailing over where his mark was with shaking fingers. “Natsu Dragneel?” She whispered so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her. Then, she quickly pulled her hand away. “No, no it can’t be! You’re dead!”

“I almost died,” Natsu corrected. “But I’m back now, and here to stay!”

“No way…” The stranger whispered in awe. “B-but how is that possible? Everyone said that Team Tenrou died when the island was destroyed!”

His heart skipped several beats, and Natsu’s blood ran cold. “W-what…” His body started to shudder in fear. “ D-destroyed ?”

“Yes, destroyed. Everyone knows about it. A year ago, Acnologia attacked the strongest Fairy Tail members on Tenrou island. He destroyed the island and killed them all… It was a tragedy…” She took a shaky breath. “Did you… Did you really not know?”

“No…” Natsu forced out, his voice strained as his nails dug into his palms hard enough to draw blood. 

The woman made an audible wincing sound. “Well… That’s what happened…”

“Oh…”

Then, without warning, Natsu fell backwards onto the wooden floor in a dead faint.

Chapter Text

Natsu could hear the blood rushing in his ears, his hands gripping the scratchy fabric of the couch as tight as he could. He felt dizzy and nauseous, like at any moment he may keel over and faint again.

No… No, no… How could this happen? He brought his shaking hands up, hugging himself in a desperate attempt to feel even the tiniest bit of comfort. Gramps, Erza, Happy, Gray, Lucy… Everyone… Acnologia… He really…?

He heard the sound of quiet footsteps, and the clattering of glass. The stranger who he was trapped with stopped in front of him, and set something down with a gentle thump. “I had to put your tea in a bowl. I don’t have any other cups, sorry if it looks weird…”

The dragonslayer shrugged his shoulders, and let his arms drop. "Appearance doesn't particularly matter to me."

“Oh r-right! Because you’re… You’re, um…” She trailed off, as if uttering the word ‘blind’ was some kind of taboo that she couldn’t break.

Natsu’s nose twitched as the sweet smell made his mouth water, but he didn’t move to find his cup-bowl, he had more important things he needed to focus on. He kept his head facing downwards as he built up the courage to voice his questions. 

“Tenrou… Tenrou Island was… D-destroyed…?”

The dragonslayer heard the woman give a sharp intake of air at his question. She was silent for several seconds, and then sighed deeply. “Yes… The Magic Council saw it happen. They searched for survivors, but they didn’t find anyone. It was a tragedy, everyone knows about it…”

Natsu felt a burning in his throat, and a wet feeling in his eyes. He tried to do his breathing exercises from his training in the forest, but it didn’t help. An image flashed through his mind of the horrible dragon that had blinded him, it sent an involuntary shudder up his spine. “What about…” He swallowed a lump in his throat. “What about the dragon that destroyed the island? Acnologia?”

“Nobody knows. He disappeared after the island was destroyed…”

He suddenly felt overcome with anger, but the emotion wasn’t focused on just one person. He was angry at the Magic Council for not searching harder, at Acnologia for killing his family, and himself most of all.

"I should have been there…" Natsu whispered, his voice breaking halfway through. "I should have died, not them…"

He heard the sound of glass clattering again. "What?!" She hissed, careful to keep her voice down. "What are you talking about?!"

Natsu shook his head. "The only reason I survived was because I was an idiot. I rushed at that damn dragon and he attacked me. I should have died, I deserved to after putting them all in danger…" He leaned forward, pressing his tearful eyes into his hands. "But now… Now I've lost them all!"

She gave a soft sigh. "How do you know things would have been different if you were there? It could have ended the same way."

"I know! I know that but…" He sniffed and furiously wiped his eyes, but the tears kept coming. "But I should have been there for them… They were my guildmates, my family … And I didn't even get to say goodbye…"

Natsu heard a nervous chirp, and a few moments later the familiar weight of Tree climbed onto his lap. The creature cuddled against him in an attempt to comfort his forlorn owner. It didn't stop his tears, but his pounding heart slowed the slightest bit.

The woman in the room was quiet for a long time as Natsu struggled to stop his crying. Once he had calmed a little, she seemed to grow the courage to speak. “If you had died, and one of your guildmates survived, would you want them to be beating themselves up over what happened?”

“N-no…”

She made an affirmative noise. “If that’s the case, then don’t you think they’d feel the same way? I- I don’t know much about guilds, but I know that Fairy Tail mages are close. They wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, right?”

Natsu sniffed and wiped his nose, an image of an angry looking Erza appearing in his mind. At the image, he sighed and shook his head. “If they saw me like this, they’d probably be pissed..” He let out a chuckle. “They wouldn’t want me to be upset… They would want me to live for them…”

The woman seemed relieved that he agreed with her. “A-and the guild isn’t completely gone. I think the other members are still running it…”

Natsu raised his eyebrows in hope. “Really? They are?” He smiled a little at the memory of the guild he left behind. “I wonder who the new guild master is…”

He pet Tree’s soft fur a few more times and then leaned forward. He patted at the metal tea tray in front of him until he found the still warm cup-bowl. He carefully pulled it up to his mouth, taking a thankful sip. It wasn’t the best-made tea, but after spending a year in the wilderness, it was the best thing he had ever tasted.

The warmth of the tea seemed to fill him with even more determination. His free hand curled into a fist, and he held it in front of him. “I’m gonna go back to Fairy Tail! And when I get there, I’ll live on for my guildmates, the living and the dead!”

Natsu chugged the rest of his tea, and then looked towards where he sensed the woman. “But first, I’m going to free your village from these dark guild assholes!”

The woman in front of him made a frantic noise. “What?! B-but how?! They’ve been here for a year, they’re so strong… Even if you are able to fight them, there’s no way they’ll go down easy. How in the world could you beat them?”

There were many things that stayed the same about Natsu over the past year. He was still a loyal, stubborn, and courageous Fairy Tail member. But, a year of near isolation had given him time to reflect and grow up. He was more wise, more thoughtful… And more cunning.

“Don’t worry…” Natsu told her with a sly smirk. “I have an idea.”

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The next two weeks passed by agonizingly slow for Natsu and the woman, whom he learned was named Nimzi. Locked inside under ‘house arrest’ by the dark guild, all they could do was bide their time until they had a chance to enact Natsu’s plan.

If it hadn’t been for his year long isolation, Natsu knew he would have gone insane. Even with his increased amount of patience, he was feeling rather out of his element. He was so used to being outside and in nature that being trapped in a house made him feel extremely claustrophobic. 

Tree seemed to feel the same way, as he was either whining near exits or clinging pitifully to Natsu. The dragonslayer felt guilty for getting his companion trapped in the situation, and tried to convince Nimzi to let him sneak Tree out through a window, but she vehemently refused.

“What if they see?” She whispered frantically when he asked. “Even if they don’t, they might recognize him and hurt him or- or we’ll get in trouble!”

Natsu could see the logic in her words. As much as he hated confining Tree, it was too dangerous for the dark guild members to see him. They were already lucky that they hadn’t seemed to recognize him as a Fairy Tail member.

When he brought it up with the woman, she got oddly quiet. He frowned at the strange reaction, his hand stilling where it had been petting Tree. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” He carefully asked.

“W-well… It’s just. I… I didn’t know how to tell you, because it’s… I mean you can’t see and I thought…” She cut herself off as Natsu frowned. “Y-you said it was Acnologia who blinded you, right?”

“Yes…”

Nimzi shuffled her feet and made a nervous sound. “I… I don’t think that is all he did. Your eyes… They’re strange… They’re black, and they have these blue streaks in them… And you have these dark blue marks on your body and face…”

Natsu frown grew deeper as his hand moved up, hovering over his blind eyes. He felt self conscious for the first time in over a year. Acnologia hadn’t just blinded him, he had left permanent markings on his body? He let out a snarl. 

“That bastard… He took everything from me…” He clenched his fist. “Blind or not, if he ever shows his face again, I’m gonna kill that damned dragon.”

After he discovered the changes caused by Acnologia, he did his best to ignore them. Although they bothered him greatly, he knew he needed to focus on actually escaping instead of brooding. He took the time to meditate, doing his best to focus his ability and prepare his plan.

He learned that his magical sense did have its limits. Unlike nature, where almost everything had some sort of magic flowing through it, man made objects did not. He could tell they were there, but it was more like his sense flowed around them. It made it very irritating to try and discern its size or what it was.

Natsu longed dearly to escape, he missed his guild, he missed the forest he had grown so used to. But he couldn’t leave, not when the Dark Guild still had their dirty claws buried in the terrified town.

At the end of the suffocating two weeks, their imprisonment was finally over. Nimzi had been reading a book aloud while Natsu fed Tree a fruit when there was a loud knocking on the door. His companion let out a frantic whimper and quickly dropped the book. She went to the door and opened it. “Yes, sir?”

Natsu could practically hear the smirk in the man’s voice. “Nimzi! Guess what! We have decided to let you and your nephew out of house arrest! Isn’t that generous of us?”

“V-very, sir…”

There were the sounds of heavy footsteps, as one of the dark guild members approached where Natsu was sitting. “But, you two and your pet rat have to do one thing for us first. We want you to show the whole town what happens to people who misbehave.”

A rough hand gripped Natsu’s upper arm and yanked him to his feet. The dragonslayer barely had time to drop Tree before they were dragged away from where he had been sitting.

“You two are gonna get on your knees and apologize to us in front of the entire village! If you do a good job, maybe we’ll even forgive ya too!” The gruff man declared with a cruel chuckle. 

Natsu heard Nimzi cry out as she was grabbed in a similar fashion, and the two of them were dragged out of the house. The fresh air hit Natsu like a slap in the face, and he welcomed it happily despite their tense situation.

He pushed his senses outward, and felt several people all gathered in one area. The dark guild members dragged them to that area and threw them to the ground in the middle of what he assumed was the center of town. 

The gruff man, who Natsu assumed was the leader, stomped up to stand in front of them. “Alright, now bow down and apologize. Make it nice and remorseful, so I actually feel compelled to forgive ya! You first, Nimzi!”

Natsu forced down the flames in his veins, it wasn’t time yet. He listened to the rustle of movement as Nimzi bowed down. “I-I’m sorry, sir! I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your graciousness. Please forgive me!” 

The dark guild leader let out a satisfied noise, but didn’t express if he accepted her apology or not. Instead, he turned his attention to Natsu, who had yet to bow. “Now you, blind boy. Make sure you bow the right way!” 

The other guild members laughed, as if the joke was funny in any way. Natsu growled as he stayed sitting up, his head looking down at the ground as he let his rage emerge. “I’m sorry… That you disgusting bastards have nothing better to do in your life other than torture innocent people.”

A flurry of panicked whispers emerged from the crowd, while the dark guild members let out outraged sounds. The gruff man in the front seemed to take a step forward, grabbing Natsu by the collar of his borrowed shirt. “What the fuck did you just say?!”

Natsu let a wide smirk appear on his face. “You heard me, asshole! You’re not even a strong dark guild! Picking on people who can’t fight back? Hah! You’re just a bunch of cowards!”

The dragonslayer barely had time to tense up before the fist hit his cheek. He hit the ground again, wincing slightly. It had been a year since he’d been in a fight, the punch hurt more than he expected.

“Would a coward do that?!” The gruff man snapped.

With a bark of a laugh, Natsu climbed onto his feet. “Oh, yes, you’re very brave, punching a blind guy!” He mocked the guild leader. “If you really want to show me you’re a coward, fight me one on one!!”

The Dark Guild leader’s growling came to a sudden stop. “W-what?” He snorted with amusement. “Are you serious?!”

Natsu smirked and made a fighting stance, purposefully facing the wrong way. “Fight me! If I win, you’ll leave the town alone!!” 

He heard the gruff man laugh, his guildmates quickly joining him. “Alright, kid, I agree to your terms. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to beat the shit out of someone.” There was the sound of cracking knuckles as the other guildmates backed away, and Nimzi hurriedly moved into the crowd. “Get ready to lose, brat!”

His overconfidence was obvious, and it was just what Natsu had been hoping for. The guild leader let his magic rise to the surface of his palms in an attempt to intimidate Natsu, but all it did was help him pinpoint the man’s location easier. 

With a whoop, the guild leader charged forward to attack. Natsu waited until the last second, then spun around with a whirl of flames surrounding his hands, sending it flying towards his opponent.

He heard the man let out a high pitched yelp and stumble backwards as the burning fire hit him. He froze, and seemed to be unsure if he should attack or not.

Natsu couldn’t help himself, he wanted to mess with the guild leader more, so he put on a fake, surprised face. “I hit him?” He innocently asked, and then perked up. “I hit him! I can’t believe it!”

His innocent facade made the gruff man growl again, his magic spiking along with his anger. “You little bastard! That was a lucky shot!”

“C’mon boss! You can beat him!” One of the guild members called.

Another let out a loud sneer. “Don’t let this brat win!”

The yells of his fellow dark guild members seemed to encourage the man further. With a yell, he charged forward again and sent a wave of magic haphazardly towards Natsu’s unmoving form.

Natsu quickly dodged the attack and spun around, with a burst of speed he ran toward the man and sent a flaming fist forward. It crashed into the man’s chest and sent him tumbling backwards, crashing into the many guild members that were standing nearby.

It seemed the guild leader finally had enough. “That’s it!! You two, get this little shit! Take him down!” 

On his left and right, Natsu felt two magic signatures spike. He stood still as he began to approach and then whipped around to the left one. His leg flew out in a rough kick to knock the man down, just as the other member sent a blast of flames into his back.

The familiar heat of fire sent a chill down Natsu’s spine, and he smiled in excitement. Oh, yes! He kicked the knocked over man one more time as the man on the right began to build up his attack.

“Take this, you bastard!” The man announced as the flames flew forward. “Fire Bullet!!”

Natsu turned to fully face the oncoming heat and opened his mouth wide, the flames didn’t have a chance as he swallowed them down. It wasn’t the most delicious fire he’d ever had, but it felt amazing to taste it after so long without it.

When he finished eating the magic, he let out a happy sigh and let the steam float out of his mouth. “That wasn’t that bad, thanks for the meal!”

“W-w-what?! What the hell?!” The fire magic user exclaimed, his magic retreating into his body as he backed away in fear.

The gruff leader spoke again. “What’s going on here?! How did you… Who are you?!”

Natsu let his grin appear again. “Isn’t it obvious?” He stood proudly, and raised his voice. “My name is Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!!”

Several guild members let out horrified noises at the name and stumbled backwards. But the guild leader let out a loud noise of disbelief. “You’re lying! Natsu Dragneel is dead! It’s- It’s impossible!”

“You need more proof? FINE!” He slammed his fists together as the new energy from the flames flew through him. “FIRE DRAGON’S ROAR!”

Natsu shot his mouthful of flames at the guild leader, the blast of fire exploding as it hit the man’s chest. Natsu felt debris and heat from the fire on his face as he stood stoically, his fists clenched at his sides. 

The guild leader let out a groan from where he was on the ground. When Natsu took a few steps forward, he let out a terrified squeaking noise. 

Natsu stopped a few feet from his magical signature and crossed his arms. “Believe me now?”

The man let out another squeak. “P-please don’t hurt me! I-I’m sorry! Please! I’ll- I’ll do anything!”

Natsu narrowed his eyes and pointed in a random direction. “Stop whining and get out of here! You and your cronies! You’ll leave this town alone! If I come back here and find you within fifty miles of this place, I’ll kick your ass again!!”

The guild leader quickly yelped and scurried away, his guildmates following after him before Natsu could send any more blasts of flames their way.

The town was silent for several moments, and then burst out in happy cheers. Someone ran into Natsu’s arms, hugging him tightly. It took him a moment to hear their voice, and he realized it was Nimzi.

“You did it, Natsu! I knew you could do it!” She cheered. “Our town is free! Thank you, thank you!”

Natsu smiled and hugged her back. “Thank you , Nimzi! If it weren’t for you, I don’t think I would have been strong enough to fight back.” He knew it had been a little thing, but her gentle encouragement after he had learned of Tenrou’s demise had meant a lot to him.

The young woman pulled away from him and chuckled. “Well, it’s good to know we both helped each other! Some more than others!”

Before Natsu could reply, someone else approached them. “Natsu Dragneel! Thank you, you saved my town!” His voice was haughty and official, likely some kind of leader. “How can I ever repay you?”

The dragonslayer waved his hand. “I don’t need repayment, just try to make sure those assholes can’t come back and take over again! You gotta stand up for yourselves too!”

“O-oh of course!” The mayor quickly agreed. “Do not worry, I will make sure they know there will be consequences if they try to intimidate us!”

Natsu had a feeling that his idea of consequences was threatening the dark guild with the wrath of The Salamander, but he decided not to bring that up. He had something more important he needed to ask about.

He rubbed a hand through his shaggy hair and gave an awkward laugh. “Actually now that I think of it, there is something I could use some help with!”

“Anything, Salamander! Anything!” The old man eagerly replied.

Natsu’s hand moved to his right shoulder, where his guild mark still showed proudly, and thought about his living guild mates. After everything that just happened, he wanted more than ever to be reunited with them, as soon as he possibly could.

“How do I get back to Fairy Tail?”

Chapter Text

After leaving the small village behind them, Natsu and Tree journeyed for several long days to reach the nearest city with a train station. It turned out he was much farther from Fairy Tail than he had expected, but he didn't care. He'd get back to his guild, no matter how long that took. 

But that didn't mean the journey was an enjoyable one; As soon as they arrived in the city he wanted to turn around and leave. 

The city was large, Natsu could tell that without his sight. It wasn't that hard to figure out thanks to the painful amount of sounds and smells. For once Natsu cursed himself for having dragon-like senses, it made everything even more overwhelming.

He tried to block out the loud noises and disgusting smells by focusing on his magic sight, but all that did was make him anxious. The city was mostly buildings, his sight relied on finding the inner magic of things, but the artificial homes made it difficult to discern where anything was. His senses flowed around them and gave him a vague idea, but that was all he had.

The only thing he could sense were the people wandering around the city, but he quickly began to feel nauseated by just how many people he could sense. In the village it was easy to keep track, there weren't too many people following… This was too much for Natsu to handle. 

Natsu felt his heart begin to twist and constrict from anxiety, his own hands gripping the fabric of his new cloak tightly as he tried to control his senses. How am I supposed to get home if I don't know where I'm going?! 

His shoulder crashed into something solid, and he heard a snarl of annoyance. "Watch where you're going!!" A gruff voice yelled in his ear.

"Ah I didn’t mean to-" Natsu quickly tried to back up, only to hit someone else. "Ah! I'm sorry! Sorry!" 

He stumbled and crashed into several people as he tried to find a place to rest. Some of them ignored him, others said harsh words and angrily shoved him away. Eventually on one shove his shoulder hit one of the many buildings, and instead of being mad he clung to it desperately.

With his hand as his guide, Natsu followed the edge of the rough texture of the building and allowed it to take him around a corner. His senses were still overwhelming, but he felt a little calmer in the small area he had been led to.

A small chirp reached his ear, and he felt Tree shift around from his spot on Natsu's shoulder. The dragonslayer quickly reached out to pet the lemur's fur, desperate to feel comfort. 

"I know we are going to be at Fairy Tail soon… I know that… but this is all too much…" He rubbed a hand through his hair with his free hand. "I practiced using my magic sight as much as I could, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for this!"

Tree made a series of purring noises as his tail wrapped around Natsu's hand. He felt the cold nose hit his cheek as the animal nuzzled it. 

The dragonslayer sighed. "I know, I know. I'm being ridiculous. If I can fight some dark guild assholes, then surely I can find some loud, smelly train!" 

He gently lifted Tree and held him close to his chest, he knew the reminder of his companion would help him stay strong. Then, with a deep breath, he ventured out of his small hiding spot and back into the city. 

Natsu found that remaining calm helped him somewhat. When he wasn't panicking, he could focus more on what he felt around him, but that didn't make it any easier to traverse what felt like a concrete jungle. 

He had been walking for several minutes when his attention slipped and he crashed into someone else. He heard them grunt and stumble at the sudden force. 

"Hey watch where you're-" The voice began but quickly cut off as the person turned to face him. "Whoa! What's up with your eyes?" 

Natsu tensed and felt his cheeks heat up. The memory of what Nimzi said his eyes looked like made him feel extremely self conscious. Damn Acnologia…

He hugged Tree a little tighter and turned his face downward. "It's nothing! Now get out of my way, I have to find the train!" 

"The train?" The stranger voiced in surprise. "You're walking the wrong way, the train is back that way." 

It sounded like he pointed to where the train was, but it wasn't like Natsu could tell. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned his head upwards. "Can you lead me there?"

"Why?" 

Natsu sighed again and swallowed his pride. "I'm blind, I can't tell where you're pointing." He admitted. 

"Oh. Oh… " The stranger quickly cleared their throat. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize… It's just your eyes and the marks-"

"It's fine." Natsu quickly interrupts, his voice quivering only slightly. "Can you just please take me there? I want to go home…" 

The stranger probably felt awkward or guilty about the things he said, because he led Natsu to the train station without another word. As the smell of steam and burnt metal hit his nose, Natsu realized that the stranger was right, he had been going the wrong way. If it weren't for the stranger, he likely never would have found the damned station. 

 "Thank you so much!" Natsu tells them eagerly, a wide grin on his face. 

The stranger grumbles a little, as if he was unsure what to do in reaction to such praise. "W-well, be safe…" He mutters and quickly leaves.

Natsu's grin remained as he faced towards the sounds of the train. He lifted Tree up and placed him back on his shoulder. "Alright, bud. Let's get a ticket and get back to the guild!" 

He could sense a group of people all standing behind one another and figured that was where the line was, so he moved to the edge to join them. 

Once he reached the front of the line, he heard an unenthusiastic voice. "Destination?" 

"Magnolia," Natsu eagerly replies, the name of the town sending a burst of excitement through him. He couldn't wait to get home. 

But the man handing out tickets just sighed. "Our trains don't go that far. Clover Town is the farthest we go, but you can get on a train from there to Magnolia." 

Natsu nodded in understanding. "Okay then, I'll go to Clover Town." 

"One ticket to Clover Town and the pet fee will be… eight thousand Jewels." 

Eight thousand? That's not that bad! I will have thirty two thousand left! The dragonslayer reached into his pocket, pulling out the money given to him by the mayor of the small village. He had told Natsu it would be enough to get him to Magnolia by train. 

He moved his hand around until he found the ticket booth desk and set the pile down, unsure if he would be able to give over the right amount. "Eh… Is this enough?" 

The ticket man was silent for several seconds as he seemed to flip through the bills. "Hmm… Yes this should do. Here's your change and your ticket, enjoy your ride." 

Natsu took the offered items with a sigh of relief, and hurried to climb on the train before it could leave without him. He managed to navigate the small space by keeping his hand on the wall of train compartments. 

Eventually Natsu found an open compartment with a few people and sat down. But the tension in the area quickly grew, and the whispers of passengers began to reach his ears.

"Look at his eyes, what do you think is wrong with him?" 

"Is it an illness? I don't want to get sick!"

"I think he's blind!"

"Blind? How did he manage to get on the train?" 

Their whispers were too much for Natsu to listen to. He grabbed his cloak's hood and quickly pulled it up in an attempt to hide his eyes. Then, he jumped to his feet, hurried from the compartment and walked further into the train. 

He moved his hand to cover his eyes, shuddering slightly as he felt his cheeks heat up. These assholes… why do they have to whisper like that? I can't fix my eyes, I don't even know how freaky they look! It… it hurts…

Tree's cold nose pressed up against his cheek, making him jump slightly. When he moved his hand away from his blind eyes, he heard the lemur let out a concerned noise. 

Natsu sniffled slightly, and rubbed his eyes furiously. "W-we'll try to track down an empty one if we can," He told his animal companion. "Me and trains don't exactly get along, and I don't want to make anyone else deal with my motion sickness either!" 

Tree chirped and purred as he gripped Natsu's shoulder, his tail wrapping around his owner's upper arm in what seemed to be a comforting gesture. 

The dragonslayer felt his chest fill with warmth at the creature's concern, and made sure to scratch the animal under his chin. "I'll be okay, Tree. I'm just… I'm still trying to get used to what happened to me, and how people treat me but… I'll be okay." 

Finally, near the end of the train Natsu found a compartment that was completely empty. He plopped down in the seat with a sigh, and let his head rest against the plush chair behind him as he braced for the train to start.

-- -- -- -- -- --

The train ride was torture . Not only was his motion sickness difficult to handle, but his magic sense tried to attach and notice every little thing it could even when the train was speeding past it. It made him so nauseous he almost threw up. 

In a desperate attempt to save himself from passing out, Natsu pulled his magic back to himself and cut off his magic sight. It wasn't a great solution, as he still was dealing with motion sickness, but it made it more bearable… A little.

The train makes several stops before it finally reaches Clover Town. With Tree held in his arms, Natsu stumbled out of the metal death machine and into the fresh air of the outdoors. "Holy shit that was awful…" 

He took a moment to recover from his motion sickness, and then allowed his magic to project outward once more. He sighed in relief as he began to sense the world around him once again, it was comforting especially after such an awful train ride. 

"And now we have to do it again. Ugh… You ready, Tree?" He asked the lemur. 

Tree made a growling noise, obviously he was not a big fan of the train either. 

Natsu couldn't help but release a soft laugh. "Don't worry buddy, we're almost there!"

Back in the line they went, until they reached the ticket booth once more. Natsu requested a ticket to Magnolia, and handed over his money. 

After a moment of silence, the man at the booth made an uncomfortable noise. "I'm sorry, sir… I can't give you a ticket. The price is eight thousand, you only have one hundred." 

"What?! But…" Natsu dug around in his pockets, but they were empty. "But I had more, I swear I did!" 

"I'm sorry sir, but if you don't have the price I can't let you on the train," The man responded, though his voice had little sympathy. "Next customer please." 

Natsu backed away in a dazed state, and turned to wander away from the station. He walked down a random sidewalk for a minute before what happened finally registered with him.

"AHH DAMN IT!" He yelled loudly, startling many people around him. "That asshole in the city, he took my jewels!" 

The dragonslayer's anger suddenly turned into embarrassment as he pulled the hood of his cloak lower. "He knew I was blind, he took it because he knew I couldn't tell… Bastard!!" He snarled weakly. "How am I supposed to get home now?"

 He squeezed the single bill in his hand as he tried to calm down. "A hundred jewels isn't even enough for a hotel… M-maybe we could just walk the rest of the way? But that could take weeks… Or maybe…"

A tapping on his shoulder drew Natsu's attention. He turned towards the person he sensed behind him, only just noticing them as he came out of his angered bubble. "Uh… Yes?" 

"Oh! Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear what happened… You said that your money was stolen… And you need the train, right?" 

Natsu grows hopeful. Even if it's from pity, perhaps this person could help him get home? "Yes! I do! I need to get to Magnolia!" 

The stranger makes a happy noise. "I see! Well, I can give you the money to get there, but I might need your help first, if you don't mind?"  

"Uh… Sure?" Natsu is unsure of what help he could be, but he wouldn't turn away a chance to get back home. 

He follows after the stranger, off the sidewalks and further into the town. But as they start to go through buildings and towards alleyways, Natsu starts to feel suspicious. 

He pushes his magic sense outward, and tenses up at what he feels. Somewhere ahead of them is a large group of people. Why does he recognize their magic? Either way, Natsu has already caught on. 

Coming to a stop, Natsu allowed a frown to grace his face. "You're leading me to a trap." 

The stranger in front of him stopped, and then threw himself towards Natsu with a loud and violent battle cry. 

The dragonslayer frantically stumbled backwards while Tree leapt off his shoulder, barely avoiding the man who skidded to a stop after missing his target. 

"You thought you would stop us, Salamander! But now we have our whole guild with us, and this time we'll defeat you!!" The man dramatically yelled.

Natsu sensed the other guild members approaching and finally realized where he recognized the magic. These are the assholes who held Nimzi'a village hostage. 

The dragonslayer groaned and reached upwards to pinch his nose. "For the love of… Do we really have to do this now? I've already kicked your ass once, I'm not in the mood."

"You don't have a choice, Dragneel! With the power of our whole guild, we'll kill you and take back what's ours!! Men? CHARGE!" 

Two of the men charge forward and a burst of magic, Natsu easily jumps out of the way. But before he can attack, two calloused hands grab his shoulders. With a jolt of surprise, Natsu quickly recovers.

He reaches backwards and clasps his hands around the wrists. With a grunt of effort, Natsu throws the man over his head and towards the crowd of dark guild members he senses nearby. He hears a pained yelp and the sound of several crashes.

Natsu spun towards the large group, his fists covered in flames. "Seriously, go away!!" As one charged forward him, he slammed his fist against what felt like their chest. 

"We'll stop when you're dead, you little bastard!" The man who tried to trick him in the first place yelled. 

The whole group charged at him this time. Natsu quickly used his flames as propulsion and jumped above them. But a string of magic followed him, wrapping around his ankle and then with a yank sent him face first onto the ground.

Natsu's head rang from the sudden impact, and he felt the anger he had tried to temper finally rising up. "Grrr… THAT'S IT!" 

The mage jumped to his feet and spun to face the crowd of dark guild cronies. He inhaled as his fire swirled around him. "Fire Dragon's Roar!!!" 

The flames flew in a gigantic wave and slammed into the guild members before they could flee. With a loud explosion, several of the men flew backwards or into the air. Only a few managed to dodge unscathcathed. Some of them didn't get up, others managed to quickly right themselves and get back in a fighting stance.

Natsu regarded them all silently, and then held out his arms. Gathering his flames around him once more, he clenched his fists and allowed a determined glare to grace his face. "You wanna fight? Fine! Let's FIGHT!" 

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

"Well, that could have gone better…" Wakaba declared as he walked out of the large, fancy building. Instantly he pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it. "I mean, it could have gone way better, but it definitely could have gone worse, right?" 

He glanced to his right and looked at his dear friend, Macao Conbolt. The other man's shoulders were slumped, and he was hunched forward in a defeated pose. 

The blue haired man shook his hung head slightly and let out a sigh. "I just don't know what to do, Wakaba…" His shoulders shook as his body tensed. "I don't know how to help us!" 

Wakaba frowned around his cigar, and reached out his hand. "Macao…" 

Macao dodged his hand and paced the stairs. "How are we supposed to keep Fairy Tail afloat if none of the other guilds are willing to help? That's the whole reason we came to this meeting in the first place and none of them will help!" 

"Well, a few of them said they would send leftover missions our way?" Wakaba hesitantly replied in a weak attempt to lighten the mood. 

His partner shook his head and looked away. "That's not going to help. They're always busy with work and requests. Nobody has given us missions since…" He winced, and took a gulp of air. "Since we lost everyone. They don't have faith in us anymore, we're falling apart, Wakaba, and there's nothing I can do to stop it." 

Wakaba bit the inside of his cheek, and sighed. He knew the guild leader was right, but it hurt to hear all his own worries said out loud. No matter how hard they tried, Fairy Tail just couldn't seem to get back on its feet. 

He moved forward, clasping his hand on his shoulder. "Well, my friend… Try to look on the bright side! At least things can't get much worse than this-" 

BOOM!! 

The two Fairy Tail mages stumbled on the steps, looking up just in time to witness a cloud of flames, smoke, and people fly upwards from somewhere in the village. 

"What the hell was that?!" Macao exclaimed in shock. 

"I don't know, but I'm sure as shit not waiting for it to cause more damage!" Wakaba quickly began to run down the stairs two at a time, with Macao following after him without a moment of hesitation. 

The two guild members sprinted through the town until they reached where the plumes of flames were emerging from. Just as they came to the opening of the dark alleyway, there was a burst of fire, a yelp of pain, and a scrawny man tumbled to a halt in front of them. 

The guild master and his advisor looked at each other and nodded. Wakaba quickly summoned smoke magic and created fists, while Macao prepared to use his purple flares. With both of them prepared, they changed into the heat. 

But as the smoke began to clear, the two found themselves skidding to stop before they could go any further, their eyes wide in utter disbelief. 

In the middle of the alleyway, they saw a shock of pink hair as a cloak clad figure slammed an ash covered man against the wall. "This is the last time I will warn you! You leave me alone, you leave these villages alone, or I will find you and burn you into a crisp!! Do you understand me?!" 

The pinned man let out a terrified squeak. 

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" 

"YES!" The greasy man yelled,"I understand!! I'm sorry!! Please let me go!!" 

The hands released the fabric and the man crashed to the ground. With pathetic whimpers, he crawled away as fast as his singed body could carry him. 

The pink haired mage turned to face the direction the man was crawling forwards. "That's right! And don't you forget it!!" 

Wakaba felt his heart leap into his throat as he realized what he was seeing. The pink hair, the scaly scarf, the fire. No way… It's impossible… Could it really be…? 

"...Natsu?" Macao's shaking voice echoed in the alleyway. 

The mage in question froze, and turned his head towards the sound of their voices. As Wakaba saw those strange eyes, and those strange face markings, it sent a shudder of uncertainty through his body. But something told him this wasn't a trick. 

The pink haired man turned all the way around, his right hand still burning with bright flames. "Who's there?" He demanded in a firm tone. 

Can't you tell? Wakaba wondered, but he was too focused on the flames to ask. Any doubt he had on if it was a fake vanished in an instant. Nobody could make flames like Natsu, it had to be him. 

"Natsu… It's M-Macao… and Wakaba…" The guild leader managed to say, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. 

The bright orange flames were suddenly extinguished as the dragonslayer let out a gasp. He stood there silent for a moment, and then burst forward in a sprint. He crashed into both Wakaba and Macao, sending them both crashing to the ground in a tackling hug. 

"YOU GUYS!" Natsu yelled as tears tumbled down his cheeks. "It's really you! I missed you guys so much!!" 

The two men, who were quite older than Natsu, suddenly found themselves unable to stay composed. They burst into loud sobs and hugged their long lost friend right back. "NATSU!" 

The three of them cried against each other for a long time, all of them afraid to let go in case the others vanished. It was only when they were too exhausted to cry further that the trio was able to calm down. 

"I can't believe it!" The long lost friend exclaimed as he got to his feet and brushed off his black colored cloak. "I was making my way to Magnolia and I found you guys before I got there!" 

Wakaba couldn't help but glance at those strange eyes again. He noticed that Natsu wasn't exactly looking at them, his eyes would move but didn't seem to focus on anything. 

Macao, now on his feet, was quick to hug Natsu once more. "I can't believe it's really you! We thought…" He hesitated and frowned. "Well we thought that you were…" 

"Dead?" Natsu finished for him. 

The guild master nodded his head, unable to form words, but Natsu didn't react to the subtle movement. 

Wakaba frowned as the puzzle pieces started to fall into place, and he decided to test his theory. Instead of nodding, he spoke aloud. "You're right, we thought you died too." 

Natsu reacted to that with a sad sigh and a nod. "I know… I heard about what happened recently. I'm…" He twisted the fabric of his cloak. "I'm sorry I didn't come home sooner…" 

The Fairy Tail advisor was quick to place a hand on his shoulder and give a tight squeeze. "You don't need to apologize for anything, Natsu. We're just happy to see you now. You have no idea how much we've all missed you." 

There was a sudden halt of conversation, as both Wakaba and Macao struggled to bring up what they wanted to say. The guild master managed to be the more forward one this time.

"Natsu… Excuse me for saying this but… Y-your eyes?" 

They both noticed how the pink haired mage cringed slightly and then lowered his head.  "I'm… I'm blind." His voice was so quiet they almost didn't hear it. "Acnologia… H-He… He…" 

Wakaba winced at the mention of the dragon. It makes sense now… He thought. His black and blue eyes, it's because of that goddamn dragon!

In front of them, Natsu shuddered slightly and looked back up at them with a grin. "But it's fine! I can still kick ass just like before!" 

The mood lifted slightly, and Macao let out a bark of a laugh. "Oh I don't doubt that! We came here just in time to see you scare off those guys!" 

 Natsu's grin grew wider, and pink dusted his cheeks. "Good! Don't want you guys going soft on me!" 

An excited chirp interrupted the men, and a brown colored creature jumped from above them and landed on Natsu's shaggy hair. 

"And who is this?" Wakaba asked in surprise. 

The animal chirped again and settled on Natsu's shoulder, it's tail wrapped around his arm while the dragonslayer pointed towards him. "This is Tree! He's my travel buddy, and he helped me a lot when I was learning my magic sight!" 

Wakaba blinked several times. "Magic what?" 

"Sounds like you have quite the story to tell!" Macao exclaimed with another happy laugh. 

"I do!" The dragonslayer hesitated, and then clenched his fists in determination. "But now is not the time to tell it! I miss everyone so much, I want to get back to the guild, I want to go home!" 

 The guild advisor felt a sudden excitement at the thought of returning to the guild with Natsu in tow. "Yes! They'll all be so happy to see you!" 

"We can't waste any time! We'll take the first train we can catch!" Macao agreed. 

The three guildmates grinned again, and hurried out of the alleyway. They ignored any curious stares or annoyed glances, nothing could quench the happiness that radiated through all of them as they began their journey.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- 

In Magnolia, the shabby guild hall was filled with the few guild members left. Usually, most of them would have gone home by now, but none of them wanted to miss news from the guild leader meeting. 

"It could be good news… Maybe one of them agreed to give us a loan?" Laki tried. 

Jet scoffed. "With the year we've had? It's gonna be awful news. Even after all the help we've given everyone, they won't even help us stay on our feet."

Bisca made a noise and narrowed her eyes at the man. "Please don't talk like that!" She hissed, motioning towards Romeo. "We need to hope for something!" 

Romeo, who had been staring out the window, glanced towards the adults with a somber expression. "Mister Jet is right… It's been the same every time." The seven year old slid down to the ground, and pulled his knees to his chest. "Nobody will help us…"  

The adult guild members all glanced at one another, but none of them tried to comfort Romeo. How could they? He had voiced exactly what they were thinking. Instead, they all settled back into the depressing silence once more.  

Eventually the silence was broken by the sound of the large door being pushed open. Their heads all turned in unison to the door, and found Macao and Wakaba standing there with wide smiles on their face. 

Droy was quick to get to his feet. "What happened? Did they agree to help us?"

"Do we need to take that loan?" Laki asked. 

Macao's grin faltered for a moment. "W-well, no they didn't really agree to help us. We're still on our own…" 

"BUT! We're not as alone as we were yesterday!" Wakaba vaguely declared. "You'll never guess what we found in Clover Town!" 

The two men moved aside, revealing that a pink haired mage with a familiar white scarf was standing behind them. Instantly, the guild members let out gasps of disbelief. 

The dragonslayer allowed a wide smile to emerge on his face as well, and raised his hand in a greeting. "I'm home!" 

At first, none of the Fairy Tail members moved. They were frozen in shock, their jaws dropped and eyes wide as they stared at the man they had believed to be dead. 

It was little Romeo who moved first. His perpetual frown disappeared as he smiled for the first time in a year, and then burst into tears. He sprinted forward and threw himself against the mage with a loud sob. 

"NATSU!" A chorus of voices exclaimed. As if that opened the floodgates, the other guild members scrambled forward to join the hug, soon ending up in a giant pile on the floor. It was a tear and snot filled hug, but it was the best embrace any of them had ever felt in a long time.

Wakaba and Macao watched the hug from afar, deciding to let the others enjoy the reunion they already had. The two exchanged a glance and smiled, knowing they were both thinking the same thing. 

It's good to be home!

Chapter Text

The group hug lasted an extremely long time, so long that it began to feel awkward. But nobody was ready to let go of Natsu, afraid that if they did their beloved guildmate might disappear again. Instead, they held on even tighter to make sure the feeling of him in their arms was real.

Eventually, it was an excited Romeo that broke through the content silence. He wriggled slightly and looked up at Natsu, his arms still wrapped tightly around the dragon slayer. “Natsu! You’ve been gone for so long, I missed you so much and I tried to train every day but it just wasn’t the same without you! Why didn’t you come back? What took you so long?”

The other members of the guild also looked at the dragon slayer, as they were wondering the exact same thing. Macao and Wakaba said nothing, they knew only the little bit that Natsu had told him, and the promise that he would explain everything when they had gotten back to Fairy Tail. They were just as eager as everyone else.

Natsu managed to wrench free one of his arms from the group hug so he could nervously scratch at his cheek. “Ah… Well, it's kind of a long story…" 

"We've got time." Macao quickly interjected as he cringed the slightest bit.. "It's not like we have any missions to do…" 

A few of the other guild members' faces scrunched up unhappily at the mention of their empty mission board, the only sign that there had ever been jobs were the few pieces of ripped papers still held there by push pins. 

Natsu either didn't notice the sudden tension in the room or decided not to mention it. Instead he merely smiled and moved to sit in a comfortable position. 

"Well… It was on Tenrou. Acnologia was there, and Gramps turned himself huge to fight and told us to run! He knew Acnologia would beat him, and so did we." Natsu growled and shook his head. "But I wasn't going to let that happen! I didn't want to lose him!" 

"I pulled myself out of Laxus's grip and I ran over, I grabbed Acnologia's leg and told him to give Gramps back!"

The guildmates couldn't help but smile at the passion in Natsu's voice. They knew how much he loved the guild, so it didn't surprise them that he would stand up to the Apocalypse Dragon.

Then, like a sudden overcast, Natsu's face turned sad. "I tried to hold on, but that bastard threw me off. He sliced me with his claws and then…" His eyes squeezed shut and he cringed in pain. "I remember telling him that he would never be able to defeat Fairy Tail… And then he sent a blast straight at my face." 

Shocked gasps erupted from the group of guild members, and they all found their eyes trained on Natsu's face. There were several stripes of blue scales that also appeared in random places on his body, and his eyes were black with blue swirls in random places; he didn't even have pupils anymore. It was unnerving to see their guildmate marked by Acnologia, but they were just relieved he was alive. 

When Natsu didn't continue right away, they noticed that he was shaking and his expression was overcome with pain. It was Laki who was brave enough to reach out, placing her hand on his shoulder and giving him a comforting squeeze. 

The dragon slayer smiled and placed his hand on top of hers, squeezing back to show that he appreciated the comfort. "After that… Well, I'm not sure what happened. I just know that the next thing that happened was that I woke up on the mainland… And…" 

He shuddered again, and had to take another deep breath. "I realized that… The blast from Acnologia… He didn't just injure me, he blinded me." 

Macao and Wakaba were the only ones who didn't react, having already known this. The rest of the guild, however, reacted with complete shock. Several of them dogpiled forward, staring towards the bizarre eyes in disbelief. 

"What?!"

"No!"

"That bastard dragon!!" 

"Natsu, why didn't you say that sooner?" 

Natsu seemed to retreat into himself slightly, his cheeks turning a slight pink. "I didn't know how to bring it up right away!" He turned his gaze downward. "But… That's why I didn't come back right away." 

Romeo wrapped his arms around his big brother's figure, his eyes overflowing with tears. "Does this mean you can't do magic anymore, Natsu?" 

Wakaba couldn't help it. He let out a bark of laughter. Instantly, almost the entire guild sent him a scathing look. He quickly held his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's just, when we found Natsu, he was in the middle of beating the shit out of some dark guild members." 

"Ha! You bet I was!" Natsu exclaimed with a grin. "They had taken over a village I ran into when I was on my way back. I kicked their ass then, and when they tried to fight me in Clover Town I kicked their ass again!!" 

Bisca frowned. "I don't understand. How did you manage to get all the way to Clover Town if you were blind? Did you have someone helping you?" 

An eager chirping erupted as a brown blur landed on Natsu's chest. The guild found themselves introduced to Tree. He was a little brown lemur with large ears, green eyes, fur tufts on his cheeks and chest, and a long tail. He had dark black stripes all the way down his back and tail, and dark brown paws that looked like he had socks and gloves on. He settled on Natsu's shoulder and looked at them all curiously. 

"I wasn't completely alone, I had this little guy with me! His name is Tree!" He scratched under the lemur's chin. "He and I became friends while I was in the forest, and he followed me when I left!" 

Jet tilted his head and examined the lemur suspiciously. "Is he like… A seeing-eye lemur?" 

Natsu laughed. "Not really! Sometimes he helped me notice something I hadn't, but the way I got home was using something else. I call it my 'magic sight'!" 

"Magic what? " Droy echoed in confusion. 

Alzack stared into the unseeing eyes. "How does that work? Does it make it so you can see again?"

The dragon slayer shook his head. "Not exactly… It's more like I can sense things around me, things with magic or a life force. Like… I know Wakaba and Macao are over there." He pointed directly at the two men. "But if it were something that is non-magic, it's harder to pinpoint. I still can most of the time, but my senses don't really focus on it, more like around it." 

The guild stared at him dumbly for a moment, most of them not entirely sure how to picture what Natsu described. Then, out of nowhere, Romeo let out a gasp. 

"Oh! So it's like a sponge! Your magic can soak into stuff like water! But if it's something like metal or something without magic, does the water or magic flow around it?" The young mage suggested. 

Natsu grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Ha! Exactly, Romeo!" He proudly exclaimed. "Look at you, already smarter than everyone here!"

"Hey!" Jet snapped without any real malice. "Say that again, Natsu! Blind or not, I'll kick your ass!" 

The dragon slayer laughed. "I'd like to see you try!" 

Never one to deny a challenge, Jet suddenly lunged forward and tackled the pink haired mage as the other guild members scrambled out of the way, Tree scrambling to hide behind the bar.

Jet and Natsu tumbled on the ground, knocking into a surprised Max who crashed into Laki. The purple haired woman quickly spun around and roundhouse kicked the man. He flew into Droy, who landed on Alzack and Bisca. The couple quickly retaliated with blasts of their own magic. 

It didn't take long for the brawl to include all the members of the guild, with tables and chairs thrown and dozens of types of magics crashing into the walls, ceilings, and floors. Even Macao and Wakaba got involved; The father playfully wrestling his son while Wakaba ducked behind the bar in a desperate attempt to avoid the plates thrown at him.

Perhaps as the Guild Master Macao should have stopped the chaos sooner, or told them all to be more careful, but he couldn't find the heart to. He would let them have this, because it was the happiest he had seen his guild (the happiest he had felt) in a long time. 

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Eventually the brawl came to an end once everyone had worn themselves out, which didn't take as long as usual. No one would admit it, but the depression that many guild members had been feeling because of the loss of their guildmates made it hard to find the energy to train, so many of them were out of shape.

Once they all stopped panting from over-exertion they got to their feet and put the tables and chairs back, made sure everyone could sit close together, and helped Kinana drag up some wine barrels from the cellar. It was one of the few things they hadn’t sold to make ends meet, but rarely indulged in.

“We can have some tonight, though.” Macao had firmly declared. “We have to celebrate Natsu coming back somehow.”

Eventually everyone sat down with some freshly poured wine (Except Romeo and Bisca, who both had fruit juice). Kinana made sure to inform Natsu where his cup was so he could easily find it, and he eagerly indulged in the liquid. For a while, it was silent, as if nobody knew exactly what to say.

Once his cup was empty, it was Natsu who broke through the tension. His hands ran across Tree’s back, the lemur curled up on the table, with a noticeable shudder. “Is… Is the guild really doing that bad?” He asked.

Macao felt the heat of embarrassment as his cheeks turned a red color. He felt a little guilty for being glad that Natsu was blind, as then he couldn’t see how pathetic the guild hall really looked. “I… Yes, it has been…” 

“It’s been really hard.” Alzack ran a finger along the edge of his mug, while Bisca gently comforted him with a hand on his shoulder. “It felt like we didn’t even have a chance to mourn you guys. We were trying so hard to keep the guild alive, but with all of you gone, nobody really thought we were worth the hassle.”

Reedus stared down at his sketchbook and sighed. “The missions disappeared and so did the money. None of the other guilds would help, nobody wanted to hire us. Without the strong members of our guild, we were worthless.”

Suddenly, Natsu bristled and narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean? What do you mean by ‘strong members?’”

The guild suddenly felt like they were all children, being asked by their overworked parents about a drawing on the wall. Somehow, despite just returning after a year, Natsu was giving off the same scary aura that Erza often did.

“W-w-well… It’s just, all of you who went to Tenrou, you all were the top members of the guild…” Warren squeaked out nervously. “A-and so when you all were gone, nobody wanted to deal with the weaker members and-”

Natsu jumped to his feet, standing above all of them on his chair. “Listen, I don’t know who said that stupid stuff to you guys, but you should never have listened to them! They had no right to call you weak, you are all crazy strong in your own ways!”

“Not as strong as you…” Vijeeter muttered quietly, but Natsu heard them anyway.

He turned towards the source of the sound. “You wanna know how I became strong? Because I worked for it! I didn’t just give up, I always kept trying! When I woke up blind, I almost gave up, but I kept going for myself, for you guys! And you’re stronger than you think!” He motioned around them. “You guys are still here, even after most of the guild vanished. You could have given up, called it quits and joined some other guild. But you didn’t! You’re fighting and surviving against all odds, that’s what makes you strong, that’s what makes us Fairy Tail! ”

“Yeah!” Romeo stood up on his chair as well, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “I don’t care what those other stupid guilds think! I’m going to train hard, and show them how strong I am! They’ll regret ever underestimating Fairy Tail!”

A ripple of enthusiasm rushed through the guild mates. It had been a difficult year, but the sight of such genuine optimism from their long-lost guild mate made them wonder if it was possible to rise up from their rock bottom.

“I’m sure that Natsu’s return will be noticed soon enough, especially after that fight in Clover Town…” Wakaba scratched at his chin. “If that’s the case, I’m sure we should get new missions soon!”

Nab made an excited noise. “Yes! And if we start training and take these missions, everyone will start to hear about how Fairy Tail is making a comeback! We’ll show them all just how strong we’ve always been!”

A loud cheer erupted through the small building, with all the guild members raising their glasses in a toast at their newly found encouragement.

“We’ll make everyone we lost proud of our progress!” Bisca declared happily, and then suddenly sobered. “It’s… I think it’s what they would want.”

Another silence fell over the guild, as they found themselves once again thinking about their old guild members. They all knew that no matter how many years passed, they all would still miss their lost family with all their hearts.

Still standing on the table, Romeo turned his wide eyes towards Natsu. “Do you think that… Maybe the others could have survived like you did?”

The whole guild focused on Natsu again, watching as his blue and black eyes narrowed in thought. He ran a hand through his shaggy pink hair and hummed. “Well… I’m not sure. I don’t even know why I survived, if it was because of my dragon slayer magic or something else, but…” He gave a soft grin. “It sounds strange, but… I just have this feeling, like they are out there somewhere… Like maybe someday, we’ll see them again.”

Macao and Wakaba watched in awe as the guild seemed to grow even more optimistic, just from the softest words of hope from their resident dragon slayer. 

"And, whether or not they end up coming back, we should all still do our best to get strong and be the best guild in Fiore!"  Natsu continued loudly, his voice powerful and determined. "It's okay to be sad, I miss them too. But they wouldn't want us to fall apart, they'd want us to live on for them. We should live our lives and be people they would be proud of! Then maybe one day, if they do come home, we can show them just how far we've come!" 

Loud, excited cheers erupted from the guild as they all began to grow even more excited. Chatter echoed through the room as they all began to discuss their plans for the future, and how they would become stronger. 

"I'm going to actually take missions more often!" Nab declared. 

Jet leaned against his partner and wrapped an arm around him. "Me and Droy will start working out again and doing duo missions!" 

Romeo jumped up on his chair. "I'm gonna get my guild mark!!" 

Bisca took her husband’s hand into hers, placed her hand on her stomach, and smiled. "Me and Alzack will make sure the future is bright!" 

"Maybe I could try to learn some magic!" Kinana suggested softly, as if she was afraid of getting rejected, but her idea was met with excited cheers. 

As more and more members began to proclaim what they would do, the little celebration morphed into a true party. Despite having no funds for a true celebration, everyone still found a way to make it work. They danced, shared the wine sparingly, and chatted eagerly amongst themselves. 

Wakaba chuckled as he watched, chewing on the end of his cigar. "Natsu's changed since we last saw him, hasn't he?" 

"Hm?" Macao looked up from his wine. 

The brown haired man leaned against the bar and motioned to where Natsu was chatting with Bisca and Alzack. "He seems to have grown a lot. It's only been a year, but the kid seems to have become wise beyond his years." 

Macao looked at the dragon slayer. "It suits him." He rubbed his chin in thought. "And I can think of something else that might as well." 

The blue haired man pushed himself off the bar and walked over to the group. As they saw him coming, Bisca and Alzack stopped talking. Seemingly sensing him, Natsu turned to face the direction he was approaching from. 

"Natsu…" He began, feeling the need to announce himself. "You've done what I couldn't do for a year… You brought back hope to this guild, and I'm very thankful for that. That's why… I want to ask you to take over as the Guild Master." 

Anyone within listening distance quickly turned to face Macao with wide, shocked eyes. Others quickly noticed the silence and spun around to see what was going on as well. Except for a few shocked whispers, everyone was silent, waiting to see what Natsu would say. 

The pink haired mage looked genuinely surprised. He shuffled his feet and ran a hand through his pink hair, and then after what felt like an eternity finally made his decision. 

"No."

A ripple of disbelief flew through the guild, and Macao's jaw dropped in shock. "What?! Why not?! Is it about the paperwork? I can help you read it!" 

"No, no it's not about that!" Natsu quickly interrupted as he lifted up Tree and cradled him against his chest. "I just don't want to. Being a Guild Master… I just don't think it's right for me. Maybe in another life, but not this one." 

Macao visibly deflated, his eyes shining with desperation. "But… Natsu, please. I…" He motioned to the guild. "Look at this! You made everyone happy, everyone is so excited and they all want to try and build the guild back up. You did what I could never manage to, you should be the guild master, not me! I can't do anything right!" 

Natsu frowned and shook his head. "Hey now, that's not true. Macao you're being too hard on yourself! Weren't you the one who was just in Clover Town trying to get help from the other guilds?" 

"And weren't you the one who always tried to get Romeo to smile, even when he was having really bad days?" Wakaba called from the bar. 

Laki raised her drink and motioned to the other girls. "You found the funding to keep the Fairy Hills open for as long as you could!"

More and more people spoke up. They talked about Macao being a shoulder to cry on, someone to look up to, someone who they knew they could count on. Each and every encouragement only made the man want to cry even more.  

It ended up being his own son who broke the dam. The young boy took his hand, and looked up at him with a smile that his father dearly missed. "Dad, you're a good leader. Because even though you were sad like us, you always did your best!" 

Macao shuddered  "You guys…" He rubbed his eyes and sniffled. "I love you all so much!" 

It took him a bit to calm down, probably because it was the first time in a year that Macao had truly allowed his emotions to break free. When he finally began to breathe correctly again, Bisca handed him a handkerchief that helped him to compose himself. 

Once he had wiped away the tears and snot, he noticed the attention was still on him. He sighed, and then smiled. "Alright, alright. You've all made your point. I'll remain as the Guild Master." 

"YES!" Several guild members cheered at the same time. 

He quickly raised his hand. "But, Natsu… I meant what I said. Whether you believe it or not, everyone looks up to you. You helped people have hope again." He placed his hands on the young man's shoulders. "If you don't want to be the guild leader, how about you join Wakaba as my advisor?" 

Natsu once again looked surprised, but after some thoughtful noises, he smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Alright, Macao! I accept your offer!" 

Another round of cheers ran through the guild, and the party continued on even harder than before. They celebrated Natsu's return, his new position, Macao remaining as the guild master, and the memory of their old guildmates who they secretly hoped may return one day. 

Their celebrations lasted so long into the night, everybody ended up just staying at the guild hall, and sleeping together in a giant pile. Nobody said it out loud, but they all slept easier knowing they were with their family. 

In the middle of the pile, Natsu sat quietly with a peaceful expression on his face. He could feel the magic of everyone around him, and the constant reminder of their presence filled him with a comforting feeling. It helped him remember that he was back at Fairy Tail, he was home . 

He closed his eyes, and imagined his missing guildmates. He wondered if they were okay, if his idea that they were alive was unfounded or not. Could they be out there somewhere? All he could do was hope. 

"Don't worry, you guys…" Natsu whispered in the silence of the guild hall. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I'll be here to take care of our guild, no matter what happens." 

With a smile, Natsu allowed himself to lay down as he hugged Tree close. Enveloped by the comforting feeling of his guildmates- his family -around him, he allowed himself to drift off into slumber.

Chapter Text

When Porlyusica first heard the knocks on her door, she tried to ignore it and focus on the potion she was making. She had not been expecting any visitors, and she didn’t want to deal with them either way. 

The loss of Team Tenrou had hurt her more than she would have liked to admit. Even if she didn’t show it all the time, she still cared about the guild. They were often moronic, bullheaded humans but she still cared. 

To lose so many lives at once…

To lose Makarov…

The old woman stopped chopping her ingredients as she fell into a mournful silence. She thought of all those lost, and made sure that her quietness would be long enough to pay respects to each and every one of them.

There were so many of them, she hated it so much. Why did so many have to die? Why was the world so cruel? 

One, two, three, four- 

“Yo! Porlyusica!! Are you home!?”

“She’s always home, Jet.”

“Then why hasn’t she answered the door, Droy?”

…Or perhaps it would have been if there weren’t annoying humans constantly trying to invade her home and bother her.

The old woman dropped her knife and turned to grab her broom (she didn’t need a sharp object to be threatening) and stomped her way over to the door. 

Just as the next knock began, she shoved the door open and sent whoever was in front of it tumbling backwards. “What do you want!?” She snapped as she raised her broom.

On the other side of the door, she noticed Bisca flinch at the sight of the broom, and hold up her hands in a placating manner. “We didn’t mean to bother you. It’s just that we have something important to show you!”

Porlyusica resisted the urge to roll her eyes or scoff as her eyes scanned the group. “What is there that could possibly be important enough for you to-“

A shock of pink hair made her gasp. 

 She froze and dropped her broom. Standing at the top of her staircase… No way… Was that…?

“Natsu?” 

At the sound of his name, the mage gave her a sheepish smile, and turned his strangely colored gaze towards her. “Hello Porlyusica… Long time no see.”

For a long moment, all she could do was stare. How was this possible? Natsu had been killed on Tenrou, just like the others, hadn’t he? Was this some kind of illusion? Were her old eyes playing tricks on her? 

She took a step closer as she scanned the figure. He had changed, with those strange eyes, markings, and shaggy hair, but she knew it wasn’t a trick.

“You’re alive… ” Porlyusica whispered, her heart pounding in her chest. “How did… How did you manage to…”

Natsu still looked sheepish as he shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, but I could give you my ideas and explain a bit about what happened while I’m here.” He motioned to the guild members nearby. “They insisted I get a check up.” 

Usually, Porlyusica would snap at such a suggestion. She was a healer, yes, however that didn’t mean she could be called for the smallest of requests. This time was different, this time she wanted to do it. 

“Alright. You can come inside.” She stepped out of the doorway to allow the dragonslayer in.

But as soon as the others tried to step forward, she swiftly grabbed her broom again and slashed it through the air. “The rest of you stay at the bottom of the staircase!! I hate humans!! Get out of here!!” 

With squeaks of fear, the rest of the guild members who had accompanied Natsu practically tripped over each other to escape the wrath of the pink haired woman. 

Satisfied that they would listen to her demands (they would be sorry if they didn’t) she took the broom with her, and returned to her house. She had a patient to tend to.

— — — — — — 

The check up started off normally, something that she could tell confused Natsu. She knew he had expected her to focus on the magical changes to him, but she was not so callous. His check up would be done in full. 

As she worked, she let him tell his tale. Natsu told her about the events on Tenrou, the encounter with Acnologia, and what led to him being blinded. 

Porlyusica had figured as much. She was a healer after all, she had noticed the change in him as soon as she saw him. How he focused on nothing in particular, the mother henning from his guild, and the way his eyes had looked had brought her to that conclusion right away.

Porlyusica knew she probably should have asked more about his blindness, so she felt a little guilty about what came out of her mouth next. “So then… I assume the others did not survive?” 

Natsu’s expression turned into a saddened one, and he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Part of me wants to hope that they’re still alive, maybe they somehow survived like me… But unless they come back, we’ll just have to assume that they…” He trailed off with a cringe.

The old woman nodded, before she remembered that Natsu couldn’t see it, and quickly made a noise of agreement. She had the same feelings, especially now that the dragonslayer had returned. Maybe the others were alive too, but she wouldn’t hope too much unless she got proof. 

They fell into a silence as she continued her examination. She made the dragon slayer remove his shirt, and couldn’t hide her cringe at the sight of the scars beneath it.

 She was a professional, she should have been able to look upon them without fear. But as she gazed upon these wounds, wounds were caused by Acnologia, she felt nothing but sadness. 

“I’m sorry, Natsu.” She quietly said as she gazed over the scars across his chest, claw marks from Acnologia. “Damn that dragon. He took so much from all of us… But it seems you most of all.”

Natsu’s expression shared her sorrow for a moment. “He did, and it took me a long time to accept that.” He let a smile appear on his face and glanced towards her. “You don’t have to worry about me. I figured out a way to help myself.”

“Oh?” The old woman raised an eyebrow curiously. 

Taking that as an invitation, Natsu quickly delved into an explanation. 

Porlyusica wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but she listened to Natsu’s explanation of his magic sensing with rapt attention. She had never heard of such a maneuver, and she knew it took someone with great skill to manipulate their magic in such a way. 

Some things made more sense now. Such as how Natsu knew where to motion to his guild members, and didn’t flinch when she had grabbed and steered him to her patient bed. 

“I may have to have you show me how you use this magic sense in the future.” She said as she set her tools down. “I have never heard of anything like it. It sounds like you have mastered an entirely new art, Natsu.” 

The young man turned a slight pink, and rubbed his hair. “Well, I guess I did. I don’t really see it as that. I’m just using magic in a different way. A more… Natural way?” 

Porlyusica raised her eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?” 

“Well, everything has magic? It’s just a part of life. But when I use my powers, I’m not doing anything special. Just connecting my own natural magic to the magic in the world.” 

“You are too humble.” Porlyusica bluntly declared. “Using magic in such a primal way is something many struggle with. Even if it is natural, it is still extremely complicated. The world is complicated, that’s just the way it is; But there aren’t many who can work their way past those complications.”

Natsu seemed even more embarrassed, and nodded without saying anything. He looked a little uncomfortable now.  

Porlyusica knew Natsu was still uncertain, so she continued. “Why do you think Dragon Slayer magic is so sacred? It is a natural art as well, from a creature of the world: Dragons. You learned from them, which is why you can use it so naturally.” She looked up at her own treehouse. “You did the same thing with your magic sight. You learned from the world.” 

This time, the dragon slayer perked up. “Hey… I didn’t think of it like that.” He smiled. “I guess I did learn both my magics the natural way, huh?” 

The old woman made an amused noise, and decided to switch topics and return to what she had been doing. “You are in good health, Natsu. Although you are a bit malnourished, you are still healthy and your muscle mass is returning. It seems that your guildmates dragged you here just for me to tell you to eat more.”

Natsu gave her a laugh and shook his head, his expression growing tired. “I’m afraid that’s not what they were most worried about.” He moved his hand up and tapped at the side of his head. “They were wondering about my eyes and markings.”

Porlyusica pursed her lips and sighed. She wasn’t surprised, and she couldn’t really blame the Fairy Tail members for it. She knew they just wanted to know if Natsu could be healed, but she had a feeling they would be disappointed. 

Using her magic, Porlyusica gently explored the markings and his strangely colored eyes. She tried not to shudder at the colors as she recalled Acnologia’s description. 

She tried to push her healing magic through his eyes, but was surprised to find some kind of resistance. She frowned, unsure where it was coming from. 

Sometimes, if a wound had already healed to a point, her magic could be rejected… But she felt as if something else was at play.

“It doesn’t look good.” She eventually admitted. “It isn’t just a wound, Natsu. His magic is inside you. It’s like a curse, a powerful one. I can’t even tell if your blindness is a result of his magic or the wounds he inflicted. Your markings likely sprouted from this magic, considering they changed your skin into scales. There may be effects from this that we haven’t seen yet.”

For the first time since he arrived, Porlyusica saw a glimmer of anger in Natsu. He frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he turned his head downward. “I hate him…” He growled. “I hate what he’s done to me, and I hate him for taking them from us.” 

Porlyusica felt a similar anger, and found herself sighing in agreement. She didn’t say anything else, she didn’t feel the need to. 

After a moment, Natsu’s anger had faded away, and was replaced with a more concerned expression. “Um… Is it…” He moved his hand upwards, trailing across a marking on his cheek. “Does it really look that bad? Do I look… Freaky?” 

The old woman frowned. “Who cares?” She snapped,”You survived Acnologia , Natsu. Even if your eyes are blue and black, or you have those marks, that doesn’t change a thing. You’re a powerful mage, you always have been, and anyone who thinks you look ‘freaky’ is simply insecure about themselves. Don’t care about others' baseless opinions, it’s a waste of energy.”

Her words were harsh, but they had the desired effect. Natsu’s lips turned up into a smile, and he made an amused noise. “That’s good advice. I’ll try to remember it next time someone says it.” 

Porlyusica nodded. “Good, It’s high past time that someone took my advice.” 

Once he had put his hand down, she took another look at those eyes, and thought back in time. “If you really wanted, I could try to make you some artificial eyes, and surgically implant them. But considering that Acnologia’s magic is affecting you in such a way, I cannot guarantee if it would work.”

Porlyusica was surprised to see Natsu think for a moment, then close his eyes and shake his head, his pink hair swaying at the movement. 

“Don’t worry about it.” His voice was calm and firm.

Curious , she thought. What happened to the hotheaded dragon slayer from a year ago? She decided to probe further. “I believe your guildmates will be displeased when they hear that you had another option.”

Natsu’s face remained passive. “Well then that’s what’s going to happen. It isn’t their decision, and I don’t mind if I’m blind, I have been for a year now.” 

Porlysuica found that she couldn’t argue with that, not that she wanted to anyways, it saved her from wasting time building something that probably wouldn’t work… And she secretly enjoyed Natsu’s rational reasoning behind his decision. 

“I understand.” She moved aside, her hands on her hips. “But I would still like you to come see me every month or so, I want to keep an eye on Acnologia’s magic and see if anything changes.” 

Natsu gave her a smile as he stood up. “Gotcha! I’ll have someone write it on a calendar for me!” 

Finished with her examination, she led Natsu outside to his eagerly waiting guild members. Though he couldn’t see it, many of them had hopeful expressions on their faces. She knew what they hoped, and she couldn’t be mad at them entirely for it. 

Porlysuica decided to keep what she had discovered about Natsu quiet. It was his decision to tell them about having Acnologia’s magic within him, not hers. But that wouldn’t stop her from being blunt about anything else. 

“His eyes cannot be healed. The damage is done.” She declared to them. “Due to the… Nature of the injury, I am unsure if artificial eyes would work, but Natsu has refused them either way.” 

There were a few outraged and shocked noises from the gathered guild members. She saw Laki looking upset, Jet and Dory angry, and several others just slumped sadly. 

“What?!”

“Natsu, why don’t you want to try?” 

“You could see again!!” 

Natsu waited until everyone quieted down before he held up his hand, as if trying to comfort them from afar. “You guys, it’s really fine.” 

Laki looked the most distressed. “No it’s not!! Natsu, don’t you want to be able to see again?” 

This time, the young man sighed. There was irritation in his expression, but his voice remained calm. “Listen. I know you guys mean well. You’re just worried, you want me to be back to the way I used to be. But I don’t need to be healed. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

The small group of guild members halted their protests, and stared at the pink haired mage in confusion. Porlysuica found herself falling into a similar silence, eager to hear his reasoning. 

“I may be blind, but that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly a stranger. I might need help more often, or do things a little differently now, but I’m not a fragile piece of glass. I’m still me.”

He gave them a gentle smile. “I can tell, you know. The way you guys tip toe around me, the way you talk about my eyes… You guys are uncomfortable with me being blind.” 

Porlyusica’s sharp gaze caught several people shuffling their feet and slumping forward, obviously embarrassed that Natsu had called them out so easily.

Those blue and black eyes gazed upwards as he continued,”But you have to understand my side of this too. I’ve been like this for a year, I’ve grown used to it, being blind is something that is a part of me. But it’s not my defining trait. I’m Natsu Dragneel first and foremost! Don’t forget that!” 

Porlysuica saw what he was doing, he was giving them time to get used to his blindness, but he wanted to make sure they knew that he was still their Guildmate, despite all that had changed about him. 

And quite a lot has…

The guild seemed to settle somewhat as they saw their dragon slayer’s perspective. Though a few still looked dismayed, she could see that they were trying to take Natsu’s own words into account. 

It would take time, as all wounds did, to heal. The loss of Team Tenrou was a wound that all the Fairy Tail members had. But if Porlyusica was honest, that wound had probably been infected. Thanks to the guild’s loss of money and them being ignored by other guilds, they never had a real chance to mourn, so the wound never healed right.

Natsu’s return reopened that wound, which could explain why they were so desperate to ‘fix’ Natsu, and why they were being so protective of him. But Natsu made sure to shut it down, without hurting their feelings. Yes, the wound was open again, but this time it might be able to heal properly. 

Turning to her, Natsu gave a wide grin. “Thanks for the check up, Porlyusica! I’ll be back in a month or so. We’ll leave right away, so you can leave the broom inside!” 

This garnered laughter from the guild members, who eagerly swarmed their long lost guild member as they headed back towards the city, leaving the old woman alone at her treehouse.

Porlyusica herself was in awe once again, it had been a long time since she had been surprised so many times in one day. What had happened to the brash and reckless teen she had known?

“Hmph, why am I asking such a foolish question? I already know the answer.” She looked at his retreating form. “He grew up.”

She saw it in those cursed eyes, the posture, his tone. Natsu’s experience had been awful, but the event had changed him. He had become more cautious, gentle, and wise. He had learned, and was apparently growing more and more each day. 

And what of the guild? Last time she had seen them, they had all been desolate, and heartbroken. Now they were full of life, shining as bright as the sun in the sky.

Natsu Dragneel. Back from the dead for only a few days and yet.. . It seems your return has already had quite the effect on everyone.

She turned her head up towards the blue sky and released a gentle sigh. “Makarov…” She whispered with a smile. “You would be very proud of him.”

Chapter Text

The next few days passed by in a rush for Fairy Tail, their guild more active than ever. Every member was working hard again, practicing their magic and waiting for their chance to take up more missions. They didn’t have to wait long, Wakaba’s prediction that Natsu’s return would garner attention quickly came true. 

The mission board was flooded with requests, each one barely having a chance to be pinned on the board before it was snatched up and completed. Money was slowly flowing into the guild again. 

“It’s nowhere near as much as we were making before…” Macao had worriedly muttered as he counted out the first month of earnings. He looked across the desk to his two trusted advisors, his anxiety beginning to resurface. 

Natsu leaned back in his chair and casually shrugged. “It’s a start, isn’t it?”

Macao made an uncertain noise. “I don’t know how we’ll afford to buy back our old guild hall at this rate…”

Wakaba hummed his agreement. “We will make a budget plan, we’ll be frugal and focus on saving and essentials until we can afford more. Don’t worry, Macao, missions are still coming in fast. If this keeps up, I bet even Makarov will be jealous of how much cash we brought in!”

Macao glanced down at the pages of bills, and their finances. “Yeah, you’re right.” He forced out with a big smile. “We’ll get there.”

The older man moved and grabbed the money they had set aside for repairs. “I’ll head into town and order the supplies we need.” He tapped his fellow advisor gently on the arm. “Want to come with me? We can practice that trick you’ve been doing to keep track of your money.”

Natsu gave a blinding grin. “Sure!”

Macao turned his gaze back down to the overwhelming pile of paperwork, all the writing starting to look more like random scribbles the longer he stared. As the sound of movement faded away, he felt his self-doubts rear their ugly head. 

If only you were here, Master… He thought sadly, a shaky sigh escaping his throat. If you were here, then everything would be-

“Macao.” 

Macao jumped in a panic and looked up. Standing by the door was Natsu, his cursed eyes staring in Macao’s general direction with an odd expression on his face. “N-Natsu! I-I didn’t realize you were still here. D-Did you need something?”

Natsu tilted his head slightly. “You’re not Makarov.”

The words stabbed him in the heart, and he couldn’t stop the feeling of shame and anger that rose up at that statement. “I know that.” He ground out through gritted teeth, his pen shaking in his hand.

“Then why are you trying so hard to be?” Natsu asked him, his tone genuinely curious. 

The older man felt his cheeks turn red. Part of him wanted to snap at Natsu and tell him to leave, but a much bigger part of him knew he needed to answer. He wanted to vent, and he wanted someone to listen. 

“I just- Makarov always seemed to have a handle on everything. He was so sure of what to do all the time, even when he sacrificed himself to save you guys on Tenrou. I feel like I’m standing on a tightrope, juggling everything, and it all can fall at any moment. I know you all chose me to be guild master, and I know why, but… I still feel like I don’t deserve it. I’m nothing like him.”

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest. “You don’t need to be anything like Gramps. We didn’t choose you for Guild Master because you were like Makarov. We chose you because you’re you.”

Macao huffed. “You make it sound so easy, but everyone here still talks about the past. They get excited for when things will go back to normal, for when things will go back to the way they were before Tenrou… But that’s not going to happen.”

“Exactly!” Natsu agreed, shocking the older man. “Which is why you need to be your own Guild Master. The future of Fairy Tail is up to you now. Lead your way, not the way Gramps would. You don’t need to be like him to be a good leader. You already are one.”

Macao felt his eyes burn with tears, and felt extremely guilty about the relief that Natsu couldn’t see him start to cry. “Thank you, Natsu.” He whispered truthfully. “I don’t know how you knew, but I really needed to hear that.”

Natsu gave him a gentle smile. “That’s what advisors, and families, are for.”

The dragonslayer left without another word, and Macao returned to his paperwork with a renewed vigor. This is my guild now. He thought as he pushed aside some more papers. His eyes landed on the red-inked budget they had just drawn up, with the plan to set aside cash to buy back their old guild hall. After a moment of thought, he crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside.

This is my guild now. He repeated as he got a new, blank sheet of paper and began to draw up a new plan. And this is our guild hall. We don’t need to go back to the ‘good old days’ to be Fairy Tail.

First on the budget list, repairs and renovations for their current guild hall.

We’re Fairy Tail, and we’re already home.

– – – – – –

Thanks to the sudden influx of missions and the confidence to complete them, the run-down guild hall tended to alternate between being extremely full and extremely empty. Everyone was busy with different things, and often that business took them outside of the town. 

There were still quite a few who stayed behind. Bisca and Alzack weren’t taking any missions, instead helping Wakaba with errands around town. Jet and Droy had taken a few, but they were focused more on getting in good shape before they took any intense missions. Nab had actually followed through on missions instead of abandoning them, but often needed to take long breaks between them to mentally prepare himself for the next.

Kinana didn’t mind the emptiness, she was used to it. Even before the motivation returned to the guild, it was usually quite empty. It hurt a lot of people to sit in the creaking old building and face what they had become so quickly. The emptiness was familiar, but the lighter atmosphere that radiated throughout their guild hall always helped her smile.

Though, there was one person who stayed behind that surprised her. Natsu, possibly the sole survivor of Tenrou Island's destruction, had barely left the guild hall since he had returned with Macao and Wakaba from Clover Town. 

Kinana wasn't sure what to think about Natsu. She was happy he was alive, but he was quite different than she remembered. To be fair, they really got to know each other before he and the others left for Tenrou, but she'd heard plenty of stories from the guild members. 

She'd heard stories of Natsu's tempers, the brawls, things burst into flames, and intense battles around Fiore. The young man who had returned to them, though he still had his same fiery spirit, was much more calm and laid back than he had once been. 

Kinana felt a strange kinship to him. Though they barely knew each other, she felt as if she understood him to a certain extent. He went through a horribly traumatic event, losing his sight and most of his guild mates to the apocalypse dragon but still managed to find his way back. She had lost her memories, and had nothing to her name until she found herself employed at Fairy Tail. 

Both of them lost a part of themselves, and managed to push onward despite what they were missing. Part of her felt ashamed for comparing their two experiences. She could always get back her memories one day, but Natsu would likely never regain his sight. Still, she couldn't help but admire his stubbornness in the face of the impossible. 

It was part of the reason she nervously asked with help in learning some magic. She probably wouldn't be good at it, she'd probably mess up every spell, but she still wanted to try. It took nearly two months for her to gather the courage to bring it up again, too afraid to bother anyone who might be busy with things more important. Thankfully, Jet and Droy were more than happy to offer their assistance.

Several guild members had gathered outside the guild hall, taking in the warm, sunny day. Bisca and Alzack were having a picnic under one of the tall trees, Reedus was sketching their mountainside town with Laki overseeing it, and Natsu was sitting against the tavern's front wall, sharing a fresh fruit with his lemur friend. 

Kinana shuffled awkwardly in the grass as Jet and Droy did their usual workout stretches. She wasn't sure what to do, she'd never really taken part in any of the guild exercises or even done research on magic. Oh no… I'm already messing this up, aren't I? 

Jet gave his muscles one final flex and, seemingly satisfied with their status, finally focused his gaze on her. "Alright! Are you ready to get started?" 

Kinana awkwardly nodded her head. "I think so! Um… S-so how do we start?" 

Droy placed his hands on his hips, taking a star look on his face. "Well first you need to know about magic! It's very important that you know it's the physical embodiment of the spirit!" 

"In order to use it, you need to train your mind, spirit, and strength!" Jet added. 

"Your magic is also connected to your life force, and your feelings are a big part of it too!" 

"And if you don't have a strong mind, and aren't strong enough to wield your magic, magic will happily beat your ass! You need to be able to kick magic's ass back!" 

Kinana glanced back and forth between them, her head spinning as she tried to register and understand what they were telling her. She glanced around them as they continued to ramble on, but nobody else sitting outside seemed confused by their ramblings. 

"So the first thing we'll do before we learn magic is get your strength started! Let's do a workout together!" Jet declared suddenly, and pointed towards the city below them. "Eighty laps! To the city and then back up to the tavern!" 

"Eighty?!" Kinana squeaked aloud without meaning to. She quickly covered her mouth and blushed in embarrassment. She didn't want to seem ungrateful, they were teaching her magic after all!

Droy, however, heard her. "She's right. Twenty is too much for a beginner. Maybe we should lower it a bit." 

Jet looked a little disappointed, but gave in with a sigh. "Alright, sixty-five laps." He grumbled, as if that number was much lower than the original. His sadness faded suddenly as he continued,"Ready, set, go!!" Then, with a burst of air, he took off down the hill with Droy at his heels. 

Kinana gasped in surprise and quickly stumbled after them. "W-wait!" She exclaimed, but they were already too far away for her to get their attention. With a suffering sigh, she resigned herself to chasing after them. 

She could only manage four laps before she couldn't do anymore. Her lungs were screaming for air and her throat was dry from gasping for heavy breaths. She stumbled to the top of the hill and flopped to the grass with her heart pounding against her chest. 

Jet and Droy seemed to have gotten into some kind of competition between the fourth and fifth lap, because their workout routine had suddenly become a race. They chased after each other up and down the mountain, all the while yelling and taunting each other. On the twentieth lap, their race turned into an all out brawl. 

They fought so fluidly. For all their talk about the dangers and experience needed in using magic, they used it as if it were second nature. Even in all their chaos, it was like a beautiful, coordinated dance of magic.

Kinana watched them from the ground, the heat of the sun replaced with the heat of embarrassment. Jet and Droy didn't understand. How could they? Magic came to them as easily as breathing. It did to all of them. 

Her eyes flickered to the people around her once more. She watched Reedus, jealous at how he made magic just through simple strokes of paint. Laki, who could create whole structures without breaking a sweat. Bisca and Alzack, with their requip and magic bullets they were an unstoppable duo. Natsu, who had lost so much to Acnologia but learned to adapt to his loss and use his magic to fight and to see. 

Kinana felt her breathing picking up as dozens of thoughts ran through her mind. She tried, desperately, to understand what her two teachers had told her. Exercise your body, your mind, your spirit. What does that even mean? Choose magic? Just one? Many? And how? When?! 

It's hopeless, isn't it? Even as the world around her started to fade in and out, the weight of her failures on her shoulders, Kinana knew the truth. I'll never be like them .

Her heart started to beat again, the blood rushing in her ears as her body started shaking. Wet tears slid down her cheeks as she tried to hold in her sobs. I'll never be good enough. I can't even get back my own memories! I can't even remember the name of the kind voice! What use am I in a guild like this? They don't need me, I'll just weigh them down. I'm weak, I'm useless, I always have been! I should just go, they probably won't even notice I've gone… 

Her thoughts descended as she faded in and out of awareness. She wasn't sure how long she was drifting before she felt something soft and furry wriggle its way under her arms. She jolted out of her stupor, her red rimmed eyes landed on the green eyes of Tree. 

The lemur chirped at her, bringing up his cold nose to nuzzle her cheek. She focused completely on the animal, letting her hands run across his fur. It was very soft, and the constant petting motion helped her ground herself once more. 

When she started to calm down, her focus began to shift. She glanced away from the lemur, and was surprised to find herself slightly circled by everyone who had been outside, even Jet and Droy. They were far away enough that they didn't crowd her, but close enough that she could see the gentle worries etched on their faces. 

The only one close by was Natsu, who was directly in front of her. She glanced down at the lemur again, and realized suddenly that Natsu must have directed his companion to her. She quickly began to pet the creature again with one hand, rubbing her teary eyes with the other. 

Natsu's blue-black eyes stared at her as he tilted his head. "Are you alright?" 

"I- I'm fine. It's fine…" She whispered, but the tears refused to agree with her words and continued to fall. "I-I'm sorry, I- I didn't mean to bother everyone…" 

Bisca quickly rushed forward, gathering Kinana in a gentle hug. "You don't need to apologize for anything, Kinana. Magic, especially when you're learning it, can be overwhelming." 

Jet let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, it really can be. Sorry, I should have explained it better… I've just been doing magic for so long, I don't really think about it from the perspective of someone who can't do magic yet." 

Kinana appreciated the apology, but she still let herself sigh. "It's fine…" She whispered. "Maybe magic isn't for me. If I can't even do a few laps without panicking, I doubt I can do magic well at all. Not like you guys." 

Natsu narrowed his eyes slightly, and then his expression morphed into understanding. "Well, we've had years of practice to get this good. Once you have your magic chosen and start practicing, it won't be long until you catch up with us." Then, his gaze turned suspicious. "But, I have a feeling that it's something else that is making you want to quit." 

Kinana tensed up, realizing that Natsu had somehow seen right through her words. Can his magic sense detect lies? No, I wasn't really lying. Does it let him read minds? She wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. She glanced at him, then at the others, her heart starting to race again. 

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Reedus consoled her in his gentle voice. "If you want, we'll drop this subject right now." 

Kinana opened her mouth, ready to immediately request they all drop it and leave her alone. However, when she looked into the eyes of her guildmates, she stopped. They all seemed to agree with the shy painter's statement, their eyes reflecting concern and care for her that they did for each other.

She had seen this look from them before, but had never really registered that it was for her. Even though she was just an employee, a person who didn't even use magic, they cared about her like family. 

In that moment, she felt herself begin to be honest. "I just feel so… insecure around all of you." She softly admitted. "It feels like you all are strong and powerful, you all trained so hard and worked so much to get to where you are today. How can I compare to that? I'm nobody, I don't remember anything about myself, how am I supposed to become a mage when I can't even get my memories back?" 

Bisca gently freed her from the hug, but stayed close by. The other mages took the opportunity to gather around her too. Their focus on her words were the only things stopping her from collapsing in on herself. 

"Kinana, you don't need to prove yourself to anyone." Natsu firmly told her. "That's not what our family is about." 

Droy was quick to step in. "Natsu's right. You're part of Fairy Tail, and we like you because you're you!" 

"You don't need magic for us to care about you." Laki gently confirmed. "If you don't want to learn anymore, we will still love you as much as we did before. Nothing could change that." 

Alzack brushed his shaggy hair from his face so he could focus on her. "And if anyone says otherwise, you'd better believe everyone in Fairy Tail would make them regret it!" 

Tree made sure to add his input too with a loud trill of noises as he nuzzled against her cheek, then moved to shove his snout underneath her hand, demanding more pets. 

Kinana giggled at his antics, but gave in. She petted the lemur as a small smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, everyone. I… really needed to hear that." 

The self doubts she has carried before, though not gone, felt less heavy than before. She felt more confident, knowing that no matter what she chose her friends would be behind her. With that in mind, she moved her hands up, and curled them into fists. 

"I still want to learn magic!" She eagerly declared. "I'll practice hard and learn all that I can, so I can be a great mage one day!" 

Her friends, her guildmates, returned her declaration with a round of cheers. They started to move again, now all invested in her decision. 

"We'll help you!" Laki brightly declared. "I'll find some books on types of magic! You can devour the words and learn from them!"

"Me and Droy can look for examples of magic items!" Jet said, once again too excited to wait for a response as he took off down towards town with Droy on his heels. 

Kinana watched everyone scatter once more, and found herself eager to see what they would have in store for her. The one person who didn't leave, however, was Natsu. 

He stayed where he was, and gave her a comforting smile once they were mostly alone. "Don't worry, I promise you won't have to run those eighty laps again." 

The young woman let out a sigh of relief she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank goodness. I don't think I could do that, even if I was a powerful mage. I-Is that really a part of magic training?" 

Natsu chuckled. "Nope, that's just Jet and Droy being Jet and Droy. They have their own way of learning and practicing magic. In fact just about every mage does, nobody learns quite the same way." 

"Like your dragonslayer magic? And your sense?" Kinana asked, gaining a nod in return. After a few seconds, her curiosity got the better of her. "I've heard how you learned dragonslayer magic, but… How did you learn to use your magic to guide you? Wasn't it hard? Did you know what you were doing?" 

Natsu looked thoughtful. "Well, it was pretty hard. Because when it first started, I didn't know what I was doing. All I knew was that I was blind, lost, and alone. I almost gave up, I was so sure I was going to die alone out there."

The young woman leaned forward, listening with rapt attention. Natsu had told them about his time in the forest a bit, but he'd never gone into this much detail before. 

"Then, after I first met Tree, I stopped panicking and thrashing and just sat and listened. I'm still… not sure how it happened. But, I know that my sense comes from magic itself." He explained. "Magic is life, and by using my own to interact with the world's magic, I can find my way through the world in my own way. So, in a way, I never learned any new magic. I work with the world's magic itself." 

Kinana tried to imagine what he felt like to see the world like that. "Does everything ever get… Overwhelming?" She questioned. 

Natsu nodded easily. "Of course, anything can be. My sense relies a lot on my own ability to focus and recognize the magic around me. Sometimes the things I feel around me just become too much to handle. Sometimes the things I can't feel stress me out even more. But, when that happens, I use my meditation to calm down." 

"Meditation helps?" 

"In a way, it's kind of what gave me this power in the first place. When I meditated, I was able to focus and discover this ability. It helped me to clear my mind, and give me a broader sense of the world around me." Natsu closed his eyes. "Nowadays, it's the way I train myself to explain my awareness. Also, it's… Nice to let myself relax every now and then." 

Kinana thought about his words for a long moment. "Do you… think I could practice that too?" She nervously asked. "I probably won't learn how to sense like you, I don't even know what magic I was to try yet! But maybe, I can use meditation to help me and… Help me see what may work for me?" 

Natsu gave her an excited smile. "Of course! I'd be more than happy to help you learn. Just let me know when and where, and I'll be there to help." 

Kinana returned his grin with one of her own, before remembering he couldn't see it. In a moment of boldness, she moved forward and gave him a sudden, gentle hug. "Thank you. For this, and for… Tree." She didn't say more than that, knowing he'd understand. 

He hugged her right back. "Don't worry. We'll always be here for you when you need us. Every single one of us." 

This time, Kinana had no trouble believing him. 

As the days passed, she gained more tutoring from plenty of guild members on different types of magic and training methods. But her favorite days were when she joined Natsu below the gentle, swaying trees. There, they'd sit, close their eyes, and let the world speak to them. 

Sometimes, on those days where her thoughts easily cleared away, she could swear she'd hear a kind voice asking to hear her thoughts. 

– – – – – – 

Laki hemmed and hawed at the papers in front of her. On her left, she had the artistic concept Reedus drew for the renovations to their guild hall. On her right, was the paper where she was attempting to turn that concept into a blueprint she could be satisfied with. 

After their guild began to bring in a steady stream of money again, Macao had announced to the rest of the guild that he had decided they would stay at the run-down tavern instead of trying to buy back their old guild hall. 

There had been confusion at first, some anger from a few of the older guild members, until Macao explained his reasoning. 

"We need to show the world that we are here to stay. We're not the same guild from a year ago, times have changed. We are Fairy Tail, no matter what! And the best way to prove to the people who still doubt us is to show them how strong we are already!" Macao proudly declared to them all. 

There was a moment of understanding, followed by rowdy agreements and cheers. Laki couldn't help but join in. After a full year of being called weak, being ignored, and never having the chance to mourn her guildmates because she was so focused on making sure they could afford their expenses and debts, she was more than ready to show Fiore that they were making a comeback. 

"That's inspiring and all, but does that mean we're going to be stuck calling this dump a guild hall?" Warren bluntly asked. Max quickly elbowed him in the side, but the young man didn't relent. "What? It's a valid question!" 

Macao held up his hands. "It is!" He agreed. "And I want to assure everyone that we have plans to remodel this original building, and expand it once that's finished. If you have any suggestions, please bring them on paper to my office and I will review them myself for when the expansion starts." 

Natsu, who was standing on Macao's left side, had a playful smirk. "Would you prefer if I use pencil or paper for my ideas?" He innocently asked. 

"Pencil would probably work better, though pen would be easier to-" Macao cut himself off as he realized who he was talking to and turned to glare at Natsu. "Oh, ha, ha. Very funny." 

Though the guild master sounded sarcastic, he couldn't help but smile and the guildmates all chuckled along with the joke. It had taken them some time to get used to Natsu's casual jokes about his blindness, especially considering how horribly he received his injury. 

But as time went on, and they grew more used to their long list of guildmate's blindness and maturity, they grew more comfortable with his jokes as well. It helped that Natsu was very open with them about what he felt comfortable with when it came to that type of humor, and they made sure to respect the boundaries that he set about it. 

"Do you know who will be doing the repairs and remodeling?" Alzack asked. 

Macao shook his head. "I haven't chosen anybody yet, but I plan to take a trip around town later this month and see if we can get a price range from the local architects and carpenters." 

Laki glanced up from where she was sitting, an idea suddenly popping into her head. "Wait! Master Macao!" She threw her hand in the air, but didn't wait to be acknowledged. "Let me rebuild the guild!" 

Macao glanced at her, surprised. "Are you sure?" He asked, quickly continuing. "I mean, it's going to be a lot of work. The whole building might need to be replaced." 

"I'm sure!" Laki firmly stated, pushing up her glasses to emphasize her point. "I want to become a carpenter in the future, remember? This could be a good start! And then, our guild hall was built by us!"

She glanced around at her guild mates. "I won't be able to do everything that needs to be done to expand and repair this place, but I can do a lot! And if others want to help me, I'm sure we'll be able to get this place looking beautiful in no time!" 

Her guildmates had been ecstatic at the idea, and Macao seemed excited at the idea of saving money. (Though he quickly assured her that he would pay her the standard guild rate for her time spent building). Since she still had time until they could get everything they needed, she focused on what they could do right away. 

Reedus helped come up with a design that everyone would like, reminiscent of their own building but with the cozy feeling of their current home. Reedus did some wonderful paint work, choosing to incorporate colors from both buildings.

Then the guildmates all worked together to brainstorm an idea on how to honor their fallen guildmates. At this point, they weren't sure if they were dead or not. Natsu had survived, and he seemed sure that they were out there somewhere, but the whole guild agreed they still deserved to be part of the building.  

They chose the circular window on the second floor. There, they decided they would replace the window with one of stained glass. Each piece would match the color of the guild marks of their fallen family. That way, even from wherever they may be, they could watch over the guild whether they were in the guild hall or out in the world. 

With all the plans in place, Laki decided to start seeing what she could do without requiring any extra supplies. She accosted Natsu, forcing him to carry her supplies while she circled their tiny building to see what could be done. 

"I didn't know you wanted to be a carpenter." Natsu mentioned after she stopped adjusting her blueprints for a moment.  

Laki paused, realizing she'd never really talked about it before. Then again, she and Natsu had never been close before. Friends and guildmates, yes, but usually more focused on their missions and current events than each other. 

"I mentioned it in an interview for Sorcerer Magazine. I don't really talk about it in the guild, mainly because there's not a lot of missions that come in asking for a carpenter." She chuckled. "They can just go into town for that." 

Natsu hummed again. "That's true. Though, I bet none of those businesses in town are as talented as a Wood-make Mage!" 

Laki scoffed and puffed out her chest in pride as she gazed at her blueprints, there was no doubt in her mind her design was perfect. "Are you kidding? It wouldn't even be a challenge. Lucy said that if I ever build a business in town, they'll all be out of a job before they can blink!"

She said the name without even thinking and started when she realized who she mentioned. She hurriedly glanced down at the blueprints, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. But her hands were shaking, and her breath was shallow. 

Natsu didn't say anything. He simply held out his hand in her direction. After staring at it for a moment, she placed her hand in his. He led her to the side of the guild hall, and sat down beside her. He pulled his knees up to his chest, stuffing his mouth underneath his scaly scarf. 

"It's… hard." He whispered. "As sure as I want to be that they're alive, I have no evidence that they are. And when I think about them, when I think about Lucy in particular… I feel like she wouldn't have been in that situation if I never brought her to join Fairy Tail in the first place." 

Laki didn't say anything to comfort him, she understood that wasn’t what he needed. It was something a lot of guild members had gotten used to over the past year of mourning. Sometimes, they simply shared memories of those they lost, and then let themselves be sad for a while. 

Not letting go of Natsu's hand, Laki let herself lean against his side. "I almost did leave…" She quietly admitted. "About six months in, we were having a fight over the debts and finances. Macao was going to see Fairy Hall. I knew he had to, but I was so mad. It felt like we were losing everything that we had from you guys." 

She closed her eyes, remembering the day vividly. "I packed up my stuff, and grabbed plans to set up my shop somewhere in Fiore. But then, right before I left I passed by Lucy's apartment… I don't know why that did it, but I knew I couldn't leave. Maybe it's because I knew, if it was her, she'd never have given up no matter what." 

Natsu smiled at that. "That is true. Lucy could definitely take care of herself. She kicked my ass plenty of times. And even though I wasn't there, I know for a fact that she and the others didn't let Acnologia win easily." 

Laki turned to look at him, and saw the tears silently streaming down his cheeks. They weren't the normal clear tears that others had, instead stained a shimmering dark blue. She stared up at his eyes, her heart aching for him. She knew that Natsu didn't care that he could no longer see, but… 

"Acnologia did that to you. He blinded you and tore our guild apart that day. Does it… Hurt? Knowing that he marked you like that?" She asked. 

Natsu frowned. "Sometimes… It hurts to know that at that moment, I couldn't do anything. I keep thinking about the what ifs, but even if he hadn't thrown me off the island, I probably would have just been lost with everyone else." He moved up, his hands trailing over his eyes. "It's… scary. To know that he's left his mark on me forever. On my face, and in my memories." 

The Guild advisor let out a broken chuckle. "And you know, I don't even know what it looks like. I've heard 'black and blue', I've heard 'scary', I've heard 'freaky'…" 

Laki turned to face him. "Want me to tell you?"  

Natsu gave her a quick nod. With his permission, she gently took his cheek in her hand, and turned his head to face her. 

"Well, to start off, you have no pupils. Your eyes are mostly black. If it weren't for the blue, it would probably look like you have no eyes at all. The blue… is strange. It reminds me of what light reflecting off water looks like. It goes over the black, seems to glow… or shimmer? The blue also goes over some of your skin too, in the same way." 

Natsu said nothing, she could practically hear the cogs turning, putting an image to her description of his wounds. Once he seemed satisfied with the image, he asked,"Are the markings on my body like that too?" 

The only ones visible to her were the ones on his arms and neck. "Your left arm has a big splotch of black on the shoulder, with the same blue marks. On your right, it sort of wraps around between your wrist and elbow. There's a bit that climbs out up your neck from the right side, but that's all I can see." 

Natsu traced his hands over the points she mentioned. He didn't linger for long, only touching just long enough to register where she said, and then he pulled his hand away like it burned. He seemed to shrink a little bit, as he sighed. "I wonder why this happened to me… Why didn't I die?" 

"What do you mean?" Laki asked, alarmed. 

The dragonslayer, realizing how bad that sounded, quickly continued,"I- I mean, it doesn't make sense. He's the apocalypse dragon! He was beating Gramps when he was fully powered up! If he could do that, why not just kill me?" 

The purple haired mage thought for a moment, but she couldn't think of any reason for Acnologia to spare Natsu. He was a dragonslayer, a powerful one at that. Killing him would mean less trouble for Acnologia in the future. 

"Maybe you're stronger than you think you are." She suggested instead. 

"You think so?" Natsu asked, his tone both teasing and curious. 

Laki nodded quickly. "Of course! Not everyone can take a blast to the face from Acnologia and get out mostly unscathed!" 

Natsu hummed and glanced up towards the sky, the blue in his eyes reflecting the sunlight. "Maybe Igneel was watching over me that day…" 

Laki followed his gaze, her eyes landing on brown eyes landing on a cloud that reminded her of a dragon. "You know… This is going to sound bad, but I'm kind of glad Acnologia attacked you."

Natsu snorted. "That does sound bad." 

Laki elbowed him in the ribs. "Let me finish!" She teased. "What I mean is that, if you hadn't come back to Fairy Tail, I'm not sure how much longer we would have lasted." 

"Really?" 

The purple haired mage nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty bad. We lost the guild hall, Fairy Hall, everything in less than a year. How much longer would we have handled that on our own? Two years? Six? Ten?" 

"Don't put all this on me, you are all stronger than you think." Natsu told her, parroting her own words right back at her. 

Laki snorted. "Oh yeah?" 

Natsu nodded in response, his expression turning gentle. "I know it. I don't think I really did anything magical. I just gave you what you needed to get back on your feet: some hope, and a verbal can of ass kicking." 

Laki giggled again, it was a very good description of Natsu's type of encouragement, especially when he heard them refer to themselves as weak that first night he had been back. Since then, word had spread about Natsu's protectiveness and nobody in Magnolia had dared refer to Team Tenrou as the 'stronger guild members' again. 

As her mind drifted to their old guild members again, she found herself once again growing shaky. She leaned over, resting her head against the dragonslayer's shoulder. "You… really think they're alive?" 

Natsu, after a moment of hesitation, leaned against her as well. "Yes… I don't know how I feel so sure about it. I think they are out there somewhere, but I don't know if- or when -they'll come back."

"What if they don't?" Laki asked, her voice barely a whisper. 

Natsu let out a shaky sigh of his own, but even as the tears fell, he remained strong. "We'll keep on living. We'll get stronger. And, if he ever dares to show his face again, we'll make sure Acnologia knows never to mess with Fairy Tail again."

Neither Laki nor Natsu dared to move for a long time, soaking in the comfort both of them desperately needed. The promise stood in their air proudly, and they both knew it was not just meant for Acnologia. It was meant for anybody who dared to mess with their guild ever again. 

Then, as if summoned by this thought, Natsu suddenly jerked his head up and turned towards where the front of the guild was. "There's a group coming towards the hall… their magic feels… Slimy." 

Laki quickly jumped up and grabbed Natsu's hand. They moved to hide in the trees, with Laki carefully peeking out to check at who it was. A wave of disgust washed over her. "Oh great, it's Twilight Ogre!" 

Natsu's frown grew. "Macao told me about them. I thought he paid off the last of the debts with the first mission payments?" 

"He did, but those guys are just greedy loan sharks!" Laki replied, reminded of the time early in their year alone where Macao nearly managed to pay off the loan, only for them to claim the interest rate had always been at one hundred percent. "If they can get more money from us, they will!"

Natsu let a grin blossom on his face, and started cracking his knuckles. "Sounds to me like we have a problem to get rid of, don't we?" He motioned to the direction of the man we're coming from. "Care to help me show them the true power of Fairy Tail, Laki?" 

Laki let her own sadistic grin climb up. "Oh, I'd love nothing more. But let's make sure that the rest of the guild gets their fun too!" 

– – – – – – – 

Twilight Ogre wasted no time banging on the rickety door, they were never one for boundaries. "Fairy Tail!" The man in front shouted. "We're here to collect!" 

However, the group of things hesitated at the sight of an empty guild hall. The tables were all spotless, the chairs stacked against a wall. The only sign of life was Kinana, who was casually polishing a beer glass. 

Confused, the guild members trudged their way over to the bar. "Hey there, pretty barmaid." The one in front sneered. "This is the Fairy Tail guild hall, right? Or did they finally realize it was a lost cause and give up?" 

"Fairy Tail?" Kinana asked innocently, her customer-service smile plastered on her face. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I haven't seen any members in a long time. Rumor has it they all scattered to find new guilds." 

"Then why are you here?" Another thug demanded. 

Kinana didn't react at all to his suspicion. "I think with a little work, I can turn this place into a nice bar. Wouldn't you agree?" 

The man in front gave the old building a cursory glance. "Yeah sure," He sniffed, obviously lying. Then, his uninterested gaze shifted into one of slimy satisfaction. "Well then, if this building is yours now, then I guess their debt passes to you!" 

"Oh, it does?" Kinana asked, her smile never leaving her face. "I thought they paid it off?" 

The third thug scoffed. "You really think a guild on their last leg would pay up? Nope, they ran away without paying off the last jewels or their…" He paused in thought, and then gave a leery grin. "Three hundred percent interest rate!" 

Kinana hummed cheerfully. "Oh, I see. Well, thanks for letting me know!" 

"Of course, sweetheart." The first man grinned, leaning heavily on the counter. "And now that you know, how about you give us whatever cash you got on hand and maybe we cut that interest rate down for ya. What do you say?"

Kinana thought for a moment. "Hmmm… No, I don't think I'll do that!" 

"What the hell do you mean you 'don't think'?!" The loan shark snapped, suddenly growing much more agitated. "Are you just an idiot? You owe us money, so stop smiling like that and get us our cash! Now!" 

"I already told you, I won't." Kinana said, her tone  more stern, but her smile was still there. 

"And why not?!" The thug demanded, only to be cut off when an orange blur suddenly zoomed past them, knocking all of them onto the ground in a heap. 

Skidding to a stop at the wall, Jet spun around with a brave smirk on his face. "Because Fairy Tail doesn't owe you anything anymore!" 

The leader of the thugs scrambled to his feet first. "You little bastard! You think we'll forgive a debt after that?! No way in hell! In fact, I think you need to learn your lesson!" He raised his metal club, ready to strike the mage down. 

Before he could, the ground rumbled and a pile of Knuckle Plants flew out of the cracks in the floor. Three of the men dodged out of the way, but the fourth thug was quickly pummeled by the violent plants, tumbling until he crashed haphazardly into the wall. 

The third thug cursed. "You think this is funny?! You won't be laughing when we come back with more and kick you're a- AH! " 

A blast of purple flames hit the man square in the face. From the top of the railing, Romeo stood with a victorious smirk. "Just try it!!" He challenged right back. 

Viljeeter flew down from above, his feet landing squarely on the third thug's shoulders. With a shove, he flew backwards and gracefully flipped through their air while the thug tumbled into a heap on the cold stone. "We're not afraid of you anymore!" 

"You will be afraid when I get the boss to come here! We'll burn this guild to the ground!" The man with the mace snarled, his voice growing louder as he grew angrier

Macao and Wakaba casually walked down the stairs. One casually holding a drink, the other holding a cigar. 

"You can try." Macao challenged. "But Fairy Tail is back on their feet, and that means that we don't need any low life loan sharks in our city anymore."

Wakaba grinned and leaned forward, hands on his knees like he was leaning down to talk to bratty children. "But we'll tell you what! If you behave, we'll share Magnolia with you. How does that sound?" 

The man in the front looked close to snapping, his teeth gritted and his whole body shaking. But as more and more Fairy Tail guild crowded the room with the same, determined look, his bravado began to crumble. 

"Thibault!" The second thug, and the only other one standing, muttered. "Let's just leave, this is more trouble than it's worth."

The man growled, but seemed to realize his guildmate was right. He kicked his other two thugs back to their feet, and stormed towards the door in a huff. 

Romeo, too excited by the turn of events, quickly jumped down from the railings and ran to the entrance of the guild. "That's right!!" He called, "Run away you cowards! And don't come back or we'll really kick your butts!" 

It seemed this was Thiabult's final straw. With a furious yell he ran forward, his spiked bat raised to attack the young boy. Then, just before he could swing the bat down, a torrent of flames slammed into each of the guild members, and sent them flying further into the field with terrified cries. 

The man tumbled to a landing and quickly scrambled to their feet. Disoriented and singed, they hurriedly looked for the source of the flames. 

"Who did that?!" Thiabult yelled. 

The second thug whimpered. "Oh, shit… You don't think…" 

"Of course not, those were just rumors!" Thiabult snapped, but even he was starting to sweat. 

"Let's just get out of here!" The third thug cried.

This time, they all seemed to agree. Sadly, their escape was stopped as a threatening circle of spiked wooden poles rose up out of the ground, sending dirt raining on top of the men. Then, those spikes lit up in a burst of bright flames. 

Standing in an opening of the wooden prison, Laki's glasses shined and her sadistic grin only added to the flames. She held out her hands, revealing four spiked coffins resembling iron maidens. 

"I'd suggest you breathe while you can!" Laki called above the flames. "Because I've been waiting for a long time to have a chance to use these things! Your blood would look perfectly stained on the inside!" 

The terrified guild members cried out in fear and turned around, only to scramble to a stop at the sight of another figure. A scaly scarf, pink hair, and haunting eyes that seemed to stare right through them.

"S-Salamander!!" One of them squealed in horror. 

Natsu's smile was sharp, and deadly. A friendly warning. "Take my advice. Run back to your guild now. Fairy Tail doesn't owe you anything and never will again. If your boss has an issue with that, he'll have to deal with all of us. And it's been too long since I let a building crumble to ash!" 

With one last, terrified cry the guild members scrambled away as fast as they could through the opening Laki mercifully made for them in the trap. They didn't look back, and they didn't stop running until they were back in their guild hall all the way in the middle of the city. 

Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail, the guild erupted in cheers and excitement. Everyone was encouraged and proud of the bravery they had shown, and the fact that Twilight Ogre had finally been scared away. 

"They're not coming after us anymore!" Romeo told his dad with an excited grin. "I'm sure of it!" 

Macao gave his son a tight smile. "That's right! Now, let's get inside. We have something to celebrate!"

With cheers of agreement, the guild quickly filed into the hall to celebrate merrily. None of the mess they made in the short threatening session was cleaned up, allowing everyone to stare at their accomplishments with pride. 

Laki and Natsu lurked behind, carefully deconstructing their scary death trap. Once the wood had vanished and the flames were put out, Laki wiped the sweat off her brow and smiled proudly. 

"Wood and fire, a perfect combination to scare those cowards! We'll have to remember that trick for missions!" Laki turned and hurried towards the door. "Let's go feed our stomach before the food is gone, Natsu!" 

But when the mage didn't follow her, she stopped and turned to look at him. The dragonslayer had stopped, staring off towards the forest in a random direction with laser-focus. 

Laki, worried, reached out and gently tapped his shoulder. "Natsu?" She asked. 

The pink haired mage jumped in surprise, and blinked slowly. "Huh?" He turned back towards the guild. "Oh, sorry. I thought I felt something familiar…" 

"Is everything okay?" The purple haired mage double checked, hearing the uncertainty in his tone. 

After another moment of silence, Natsu nodded. "Yes, I think so." He turned, fully focused on her now. "Anyway! What were you saying about food? I'm starving!"

When the last two guild members had gone inside the run-down tavern, a figure appeared from behind the tree. Her bare feet gently moved her towards the hall, until she was able to secretly witness the celebration inside. 

Mavis watched the party with bright green eyes, her smile as bright as the ones worn inside. They were happy, thriving, and keeping Fairy Tail alive. She couldn't be prouder of her guild. 

Her attention shifted to one person in particular, Natsu. When she had appeared to check on her guild, she had not expected to see the mage who Acnologia had done his best to kill. I had been too slow… I couldn't save you, I thought we lost you. But, you're here. A mixture of relief and pride warmed her heart. And the guild is thriving thanks to you, to all of you. 

Mavis watched her guild for as long as she could, until she knew it was time to go. She placed her hand on the edge of the guild hall, and closed her eyes. "Don't worry. I'll keep them safe for you. One day, the guild will reunite. Until then… Take care of each other." 

 With her promise and gentle request whispered cradled in the wind, Mavis allowed her ethereal form to fade away, leaving her guild to their celebrations.

Chapter Text

"What?!" 

A sudden outburst broke through the early morning chatter in the guild hall, making the members in the half-renovated space jolt and swivel their heads towards the noise. They filled the room with a tense silence, as their focus shifted to the standoff in front of the mission board.

Romeo glared up at his father, the older man's imposing figure blocking the rest of the mission board. Clenched in the child's fist was a paper that served both as a mission request, and the source of their argument. 

The youngest family member felt the eyes on his back, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He couldn't spare the irritation at his nosy guildmates, not when his father was currently threatening to make Romeo's rage boil over. 

Macao let out a frustrated sigh. "Romeo, you heard what I said. You're not taking that mission, you're not going on a mission, that's final-" 

"Why not?!" Romeo boldly demanded. 

The Guild Master's face remained ice cold. "I don't need a reason-"

Romeo interrupted again. "Yes you do!" He pointed accusingly at his dad. "You told me that whenever I say 'just because' about what I do, it's not a real reason. If I need to have one, then so do you! Why can't I take a mission?" 

"You don't have your guild mark yet."

"Then give me one!" 

"I will not. You're too young to-" 

"Bullshit!" Romeo swore without hesitation, too angry to care about Macao’s disapproval. "Natsu, Gray, Erza, Mirajane, and so many others got their guild mark when they were kids! I’ve always wanted to be a Fairy Tail mage! Why won't you let me join?!" 

Macao did nothing except stare, his face twitching with several emotions the child didn't care to discern. Romeo stared back, unrelenting. The tension radiating from the father and son was suffocating, to the point that Wakaba scurried away from that side of the bar to avoid the atmosphere. 

After what felt like an eternity, Romeo stubbornly straightened his back, and narrowed his eyes. “Give me one good reason why you won’t let me join Fairy Tail.” 

His challenge hung in their air between them. Nobody dared to speak or interject, afraid of what may occur if they got in the middle of the argument. The Guild Members watched, their eyes moving between their leader and his son. 

When Macao didn't budge, Romeo continued,"You can't say I'm not ready! I've been practicing my magic for ages now! Natsu says my fire is really good! I'm not helpless anymore! I can do it! Why won't you give me a chance?!" 

"Romeo!" Macao snapped, using a voice that was usually reserved for the guild when they got too rowdy. "I'm done talking about this! You are NOT going on that mission, that is my decision. This discussion is over!" 

The child stared up at his father with wide eyes, shocked by the outburst that had been directed at him. For a moment, he felt his eyes burn with the threat of tears, but the return of his anger shoved the sadness away. 

He furiously crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it towards his father. "I hate you!!" He cried out as he turned and stormed out of the guild hall as fast as his little legs could carry him. 

Romeo didn't stop running even as his father and several other guild members called out for him, he skirted around the building and darted into the thick trees that filled the hills, knowing he'd lose them there. When his lungs started to burn he stopped and ducked behind a thick bush, waiting to see if anyone was following him. 

The forest behind him was empty, only his heavy footsteps in the dirt showed that anyone was there. Good. They didn't follow me. He thought as he stood up with a relieved sigh. I don't want to hear whatever dumb words are going to come out of their mouths. It's always an excuse! They tell me no, they say I can't, but why?! 

His fist clenched at his side and he swiftly spun around, punching the nearest tree with all his might. At the same time, a loud explosion shook the ground and sent a shockwave through the trees. Romeo yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, his eyes frantically searching for the source of the noise. 

After a beat of silence he heard another explosion, followed by a bright burst of flame to his right. Instantly, his sour mood lifted the slightest bit and a bright smile exploded on his face. He knew that flame anywhere, there was only one person it could belong to. Natsu! He must be training!! Maybe I can join! 

The thought was quickly snuffed out as he found the clearing where Natsu was, and realized he had stumbled upon an intense training fight. Jet, Droy, Reedus, and Kinana were all circling Natsu with determined expressions. The pink haired mage wasn't focused on any one of them, remaining in a defensive position, his muscles tense and prepared for an attack. 

For a long and tense moment nobody even breathed, and then Reedus raised his paintbrush into the air, already glowing with paint. Natsu whipped around to face his direction, his hands bursting with a bright flame. At the same time, Jet used his High Speed to fly towards the dragonslayer with a battle cry. 

Natsu's attention quickly shifted as he swung his hand in an arc through the air, sending a burst of flame towards Jet and forcing the man to dodge his attack. He swiftly returned focus to Reedus, managing just in time to use his flames and dispel the painted boar that was charging at him. 

Droy had been creeping along the edges of the battlefield, but seemed to notice an opening. He threw his chain plants onto the ground at Natsu's feet which quickly began to burst from below him. Natsu stumbled backwards at a frantic pace, but had no time to adjust his footing as Jet and Reedus charged him from his sides. 

Natsu quickly ducked down and slammed his fist into the ground. Flame pillars erupted out of the grass, forcing the three challenging mages to stumble backwards, though they were still left slightly singed. They all looked exhausted, but prepared to attack again as Natsu stood up, his flame pillars still burning brightly. 

Before any of them could make another move, there was a blur of moment and a high pitched battle cry as Kinana burst her way through a gap in the pillars. She sent her foot flying, slamming into Natsu's stomach. It wasn't that strong of an attack, but caught Natsu so off guard he couldn't stop himself from crashing to the ground, his flames vanishing all at once. 

Instantly all ferocity in Kinana's attacks disappeared. "O-Oh my gosh! Natsu, are you okay?!" She hurried to his side, helping the dazed dragonslayer sit up. "I'm so sorry!" 

Natsu blinked a few times before a bright smile emerged on his face. "What are you apologizing for, Kinana? That was badass!" 

"Yeah!" Jet roared in agreement. "Talk about a sneak attack!"

"I didn’t see that coming!" Droy complimented. "You won that match for sure, with just a kick! How cool is that?!" 

Reedus gave a small nod. "Good job." He softly whispered. 

Kinana blushed in surprise from all the praise, and quickly looked down as she twisted her hands together. "I- I didn't expect that to actually work…" 

"But it did!" Jet reminded her with an encouraging nudge. "Remember a few weeks ago when you were too scared to even join the training? Look at you now!" 

Somehow, her blush grew even worse. "I- I still have a lot to learn…" 

Natsu chuckled as he raised his arms above his head and stretched. "So do I." He motioned to the general area around him. "We all do, that's part of being a mage, and a Fairy Tail member, you never stop learning!" 

"Hell no! Not when there's so much to learn! And so many cool bad guys to beat up!" Droy eagerly agreed. "And especially when those bad guys keep getting stronger!" 

"I dunno…" Jet looked unsure. "Can any bad guys be stronger than the apocalypse dragon?" 

Droy shrugged. "Probably. It seems like everytime we beat up the 'strongest' bad guy, a new 'strongest' one shows up. Maybe we'll fight the god of death or something one day!" 

For once, Reedus was quick to join the conversation. " Please don't predict something like that." He muttered desperately.

At that moment, Romeo decided to step out of his hiding spot. "Uh… Hey guys." He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to act chill and hide his internal fanboying at getting to witness such awesome training battles. "Are you all training over here?" 

If anyone knew he had been watching, they were kind enough not to say anything. 

"We are!" Kinana happily replied, still shining from her battle-win. 

"We're training our own skills, and helping Natsu with his magic sight thing, so it's a win-win!" Jet casually supplied as he began to stretch his legs. 

Romeo turned his attention to his idol. "I thought you had your magic for that all figured out?" 

Natsu gave a half smile. "I do. It's just that when I'm in crowds of people or if there's a lot of magic being thrown around, it's hard to separate it all and figure out what's coming from where. I start to get overwhelmed, and that's not something I want to happen during a battle." 

He motioned to everyone again. "So we've been doing one on one fights, and fights like these. That way we all get to train and get better together!" 

Reedus fiddled with the ends of his paintbrush as he softly added,"You are improving too, Natsu. Last time, Droy's chain plants were able to grab you." 

"Yeah! You dodged them that time, that was really cool!" Droy pointed out, and then puffed his chest out proudly. "And it's even cooler because I'm even stronger than I was when that happened!" 

"Didn't that happen yesterday ?" Kinana asked, genuinely confused.

Droy froze, and then broke into a huge grin once more. "It did! And I'm already even stronger than that! I'm just that awesome! Sorry, but you wouldn't really 'get it'. You gotta be one with the vines to feel the growth of the vines; It's a plant magic user thing!" 

The rest of the gathered mages responded with blank, confused stares. 

Jet snorted with a mischievous grin. "Can't reason with crazy, Kinana. Believe me, I've been trying for years ." 

"Oi! What did you say?!" Droy instantly charged at his friend, the two rambunctious Shadow Gear teammates descending into a good-natured brawl. 

Natsu shook his head with a fond sigh, and then turned to face Romeo's general direction once more. "Was there something you needed, Romeo?" 

"Are you here to join our training?" Kinana asked as she stretched, ignoring the kicking and screaming men three feet away from her. 

Romeo was about to eagerly agree to join them when an idea wormed its way into his head. He leaned on the scorched tree next to him, and tried to look as casual as possible. “We could do that... Or , maybe we could take our training butts back to the guild hall, go to the board, and find out just how good our training has gone by doing a mission! You guys can pick the mission!!" 

Yes, yes! If he could get his guildmates to agree to get a mission, he could have one of them grab It, and then they'd be off before his dad even had a chance to realize he was gone and get lectured again. It's the perfect plan! 

For a moment it looked like it was going to work, too. Jet, Droy, Kinana, and Reedus were all sharing excited glances and chatting idly about the possibility of taking a mission. It just might work! But then he turned his eyes to Natsu, and saw the dragonslayer face was marred by suspicion.

"Did your Dad say it was okay for you to take a mission?" Natsu questioned.

Instantly Romeo's veins flooded with red hot anger, but he did his best to keep calm. "Uh… of course he did? I wouldn't be asking if he had said no!" 

"So if we ask Macao if he agreed to this, he'll absolutely say yes?" Natsu pushed further, his arms crossed over his chest now. 

The young boy's mind frantically tried to come up with a way to escape the lie he'd cornered himself in, but quickly realized he had no way out. "Fine! He didn't agree. I was lying!" He snapped, then motioned towards the dragonslayer. "But Natsu, you have to understand where I'm coming from, right?"

Natsu sighed. "I know you're eager to start going on quests, I was too when I was your age, but if Macao said you can't yet, then I'm not going to argue with him." 

"What?!" Romeo balked. "But… How can I become a true Fairy Tail wizard if I never get to do missions?!" 

Kinana moved to stand by Natsu's side. "Romeo, you're only eight, you have all the time in the world to start missions-" 

The young boy fumed. "I don't need more time!! I'm ready! I know I am! Why can't any of you see that?! Why aren't any of you listening to me?!" 

Natsu's expression melted into a sadder one as he reached out. "Romeo-" 

"Forget it!" Romeo snapped, turning away from the useless adults. "I'll just go and sit in a corner or something, since that's all I seem to be good for!" Without another word, he stormed off back out of the forest. 

With nowhere to go and nobody who would listen to him, Romeo climbed up a random tree and sat up on the thick beaches, his knees pulled to his chest and silent tears streaming down his eyes. 

He sat like that for a while before a quiet chirp made him jump. He looked up above him, and found Natsu's pet lemur, Tree, staring down at him with those wide, green eyes. The animal chirped again, tilting his head. 

"Oh, hey." He reached up and gently scratched behind the animal's ears. "I guess you'd probably not want to be around during all the fighting, huh?" 

A glutton for attention, Tree eagerly grabbed Romeo's arm and used it as a bridge to crawl into the boy's lap. He curled up into a ball, closed his eyes, and melted under Romeo's gentle petting. 

The simple, rhythmic motion helped Romeo calm down a little bit, but he still felt so frustrated. "I don't understand it… Why do grown ups have to be like that? Why can't they just be honest and talk to me? I know I'm just a kid, but I'm not stupid!" 

Tree chirped in what the child hoped was agreement, nuzzling his cold snout against Romeo's free hand to encourage more petting. 

"And so what if I'm a kid? Natsu was my age when he started doing quests! I don't know why he and dad suddenly care now! I can do it, I know I can!" Romeo insisted as he scratched behind both of Tree's ears. "But if they don't give me a chance, how am I supposed to show them that?!" 

The sound of footsteps made him freeze, his wide eyes quickly looking down to see Nab pacing nearby as he stared down at a quest paper with a pinched expression. Vijeeter was standing next to him, gracefully leaned against the outside of the guild hall. 

"So is that our mission or not?" They asked. 

Nab let out a long, suffering sigh. "I don't know. How do I know if this is the special mission I'm looking for?" 

This time, Vijeeter let out the suffering sigh. "I don't know, man! Maybe it isn't, but that's not the point right now. We're trying to make sure Laki has enough money for the renovations, remember? Like Natsu and Macao asked us to do?" 

Romeo, despite his frustrations, couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the two mentioned names. His dad had truly come into his role as master now that he knew the guild was behind him, his shining confidence helping him escape from Makarov's large shadow. 

Natsu had surprisingly fallen into the role of advisor quite smoothly, and had almost even taken up Erza's guild role as well. While he was still their fiery, excitable dragonslayer, the entire guild had already grown to fear those dangerous glares and stern talking-to’s that he'd give when they screwed up badly. (He was pretty sure Warren and Max still had nightmares about Natsu's ferocious lecture after they nearly toppled half the guild's newest extension during a brawl).

When he realized he was smiling at the memory, his anger suddenly returned and he quickly shook off those feelings and refocused on the conversation below him.

"B-but…" Nab's stuttering was cut off as he gave a tearful pout. "S-special mission…" 

"No buts!" Vijeeter grabbed the mission from Nab, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged the blubbering man behind them. "We're going on this mission! You won’t suffer too long, it’ll take less than a day! And if you try to abandon it halfway through like last time, I'm tying you to a tree and force feeding you celery sticks!" 

Looking a little green at the threat, Nab let them drag him away without protest. Romeo watched them walk away, his growl of frustration causing the lemur in his lap chitter nervously. 

Romeo waved his hand towards the two departing mages. "Look at them! They don't know how good they have it! Nab can stand in front of the request board all day until he finds a mission he likes, I'm not even allowed to look at the damn thing! How is that fair! How am I supposed to prove myself if they won't let me?!" 

An idea suddenly popped into his head, and he eagerly scooped up the lemur. "You know what, Tree? Who needs them! I know what I'm going to do. I'll sneak into the guild hall tonight, grab a mission, and do it before anyone can stop me! Then, when I come back with the reward, they'll see they were wrong! They'll see I'm just as strong as any of them!" 

He scooped up the lemur and hopped out of the tree, running back towards his house to pack his bag in preparation for the trip he would soon be going on. It’s a foolproof plan! 

– – – – – – – 

Romeo knew the guild hall would be empty that night. Though usually there were some stragglers, the plans for the party that would celebrate Alzack and Bisca’s return from their honeymoon kept everyone busy. He knew there were still a few hours before the couple would arrive at the station, and that he had at least an hour before his Dad would come back to finish up paperwork. This small window was his best chance to do what he needed to do. He'd be on the road before anyone knew he was gone. 

The wooden doors groaned as he pushed them open. He didn’t shut them, that would waste too much time and he didn’t have a lot of that. He began slowly sliding across the grainy floors. It was nearly pitch black in the guild hall, but he'd been staring at that mission board so long that he knew exactly where it was. 

Nobody could stop him now, he was almost there. He held his hand out as he crept forward, until it came into contact with the feeling of cork board and paper. The mission board! Now he could just grab a mission and- 

"Going somewhere?" 

Romeo whipped around, found himself staring into eerie blue and black eyes, and couldn't stop himself from jumping backwards with a high pitched scream of terror. In his panic, he lost his footing and crashed to the ground, but his gaze never left those terrifying eyes. 

After a few, panicked seconds his mind caught up and he realized that there was only one person those eyes could belong to. "Natsu?" He croaked. 

"Yup." The dragonslayer casually waved, as if he hadn't just scared the living daylights out of Romeo. 

The young boy balked.  "H-How did you know…" He trailed off, unable to find the courage to verbally admit to his idol what he had been about to do. 

There was a moment of silence, as if Natsu was waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, the guild advisor let out a soft sigh. "Did you forget about Galuna island? When me, Lucy, and Gray thought it would be a good idea to steal an S-Class mission?" Natsu reminded him. "It didn't take me long to figure out that you might try something similar." 

Romeo has completely forgotten about that. He blushed with embarrassment and turned to glare at the floor. He felt so angry, both at Natsu for catching him and at himself for thinking his stupid plan would work. Why did he even think he could do this? 

Without his permission the tears began to fall. He furiously rubbed at his eyes, but the waterfalls wouldn't stop. It was like the dam had finally broken.

"Romeo…" Natsu's voice was soft and gentle. "Please, talk to me." 

"What's the point?" Romeo tried his hardest to sound mean, but it just came out sad. "Nobody listens to me…"

Natsu's shadowed form moved to slide down the wall, sitting down in a relaxed position. He patted the ground next to him, an open invitation. "I'm listening right now. Tell me what's on your mind, you've got my undivided attention." 

The boy sniffled a bit longer. Part of him wanted to refuse the request and show Natsu what it felt like to be ignored, but a bigger part of him just wanted to let it all out.

He carefully made his way over to the wall and sat down next to his idol, with his knees pulled up to his chest once again. He took a few deep breaths, gathered his thoughts, and opened the floodgates. 

"I don't understand why Dad won't let me get a guild mark, or why he won't let me go on missions… I've been training for this for my whole life, and I thought that he supported me! But now, whenever I ask, he says no! He won't even listen to me when I try to explain! Why doesn't he listen to me?!" 

The tears began to return in full force, and this time he didn't even bother to try and stop them. "I just want to be a mage like him, why doesn't he want that anymore?" He looked up at Natsu. "Why?" 

For a long moment, Natsu was silent as he contemplated Romeo's questions. "Well, I can't speak for your dad, but I have a feeling that he and I are dealing with the same thing right now." 

"Dealing with what?"

"Fear. I'm scared." Natsu admitted without a hint of shame. 

"Scared?" Romeo echoed in disbelief. "You? But you're Natsu! The Salamander! You're one of the best fighters in Fairy Tail! What could you be scared of?" 

"I'm scared of a lot of things. After what happened on Tenrou…" Natsu's winced, his expression darkening. "Whenever someone leaves on a mission, I'm scared that they won't come back. I'm terrified of losing any more of my family. I wish I could protect you all from everything forever, but I know that’s not possible and it hurts ."

Romeo couldn't help but stare in awe at his idol. He had never even thought about how Natsu might feel about what had happened. He lost sight and so many of his guildmates to that horrific dragon. Though the rest of the guild also mourned their lost family, Natsu was the only one of them who saw Acnologia and survived to tell about it. It was likely by miracle and complete chance that he was alive, no wonder he was scared.

Unconsciously, Romeo scooted closer to Natsu and slowly moved to lean against the young man's side. Natsu responded to the affection with an arm around his shoulder, holding him in a close, protective hold.

"Do you…" Romeo paused, trying to phrase his question right. "Do you think dad is scared like that too?" 

"Of course I am." 

Romeo jolted in shock, while Natsu didn't react at all. He turned towards the source and found his father standing in open guild doors, the moonlight illuminating his strong form. 

"Dad!" Romeo jumped to his feet, took a few steps toward his father, and then hesitated. "Um… How much of that did you hear?" 

Macao's face melted with sadness. "I heard enough." He moved closer and knelt down to match his son's height. "Romeo, I'm so sorry. I should never have snapped at you like that. I shouldn’t have shut you down like I did, I should have explained myself to you, and even if I was scared, I should have listened to you." 

Romeo sighed. "It's okay, I… I shouldn't have said I hate you. I don't hate you. I was just mad, but… I shouldn't have said that." The traitorous tears returned again, and he quickly wrapped his arms around his dad in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry." 

His father hugged him back without a hint of anger. "It's okay, Romeo. I forgive you. I understand." 

Romeo squeezed the fabric of his dad's coat, and somehow managed to find the courage to keep talking. "Dad… Why don't you want me to go on missions?" 

This time, instead of snapping or refusing to explain, Macao let out a large, sad sigh. "I'm scared. Just like Natsu is. After losing a master who practically raised me, kids I watched grow up, guild members I spent so many years with… I don't want to lose anyone else important to me." He placed his hands on Romeo's shoulders, and the boy could feel his father shaking. "Then when Twilight Ogre attacked us and you almost got hit, all those fears felt even more real." 

The young boy easily recalled that day, it had been so exciting that it had been hard to concentrate on anything other than celebrating, but he did remember how tight his father's smiles looked for the rest of the night whenever he looked at Romeo. 

"Oh…" He looked down, he wasn't sure what to say. How did one respond to that? He twiddled with his thumbs for a moment, and then looked up. "Does this mean that… I can still become a mage?" 

He was immediately swept up into another hug. "Oh, buddy, that was never out of the question. Your magic is already so much stronger than mine was at your age, and I know one day you'll be one of the best mages in Fairy Tail, but… You're only eight years old, I want you to still have time to be a kid. You deserve that much." 

"But what about the guild?" Romeo frantically asked. "We need money, right? For food and housing and stuff? If I took missions, I could help pay for things!”

Somehow, his father looked even more sad. “Romeo, that’s not on you. I’d never put that much responsibility on your shoulders.”

Romeo sniffled again, rubbing his eyes. “I know, but… I- I just feel so useless. Everyone else is doing so much for the guild, but I’m not helping at all. What am I even good for?”

“Well, I can think of plenty of things.” Macao didn’t hesitate in his response. “You’re my son, you’re Natsu’s little brother, you’re family to everyone in the guild. Most of all, you’re a kid with a bright future who we all love and cherish very much. It’s our job to take care of you, not the other way around.”

Still, Romeo wasn’t satisfied. “I know that, I do, but… I still feel guilty. I feel like I should be doing something to help…”

Macao hummed softly, scratching at his stubble. “Well… What if, instead of missions, you help Kinana with the chores sometime? Dishes, sweeping, stuff like that?”

It wasn’t the missions he wanted to do, but the more Romeo thought about it, the more he found that he liked that idea. Even if it was just busy work, he wouldn’t mind helping Kinana. It would be nice to do something. He looked up at his father and gave a small nod.

“Alright. You can help Kinana whenever you feel up to it. ” Macao gave him another tight hug. “Don’t forget, we all love you no matter what. You’re a strong, brave young man and I am so, so proud of you.”

“I know, Dad.” Romeo said, and then realized he really did believe it. Though there was still a simmering of guilt and sadness within him, it was beginning to fade away with the kind, genuine words from his father.

The past year was extremely rough. Romeo had lost so many people in one day, then lost his childhood home, and the guild had fallen into ruin. Even now, when the guild was back on their feet, it was hard to let himself accept that fact and act his age. It was hard to remember that he was just a kid, that it wasn’t his responsibility to pay bills or keep the guild from falling apart. It was hard to remember that he wasn’t a burden.

But then he looked up at his smiling father and saw the warmth in his eyes, the love that was constant and unfazed by any dangerous force. He knew without a doubt his father loved him more than anything. Even if Romeo one day changed his mind and never joined Fairy Tail, he knew his father would still love him. That would never change.

He thought about himself. He knew he had changed, he could feel it in every step, every thought, and every flare of his magic. He was never going to go back to that innocent kid from almost two years ago, he had lost too much in such a short time, and he still did want to become a mage with all his heart. However…

“I think I want to be a kid a little longer,” Romeo softly decided. “I still want to train and learn more magic of course, and I can help Kinana with chores around the guild hall, but I don’t mind waiting a little longer before I start going on missions.”

Macao looked momentarily surprised, and then smiled. “That sounds like a good plan. In a few years, we can revisit the mission idea. You can have a small team, and see how you feel before and after the missions. If you still don’t feel ready, we can wait until you are. Does that sound good?”

The boy gave an eager nod. “Yeah! I don’t mind waiting a bit longer because in a few years, I’ll be even stronger!!” He flexed his arms and grinned. “And then, no mission will be too tough for me and my teammates!”

His father laughed and ruffled his messy hair, his tired face alight with a happy smile and the guild hall brightened by the sound of his laugh. He pulled Romeo into one last hug. “Thank you for talking to me, son. I love you.”

“Thank you for listening.” Romeo hugged him right back. “I love you too.”

When they pulled away, the father and son felt lighter than they had in months. The tension between them had faded, replaced with understanding. Though there were still plenty of conversations to be had, it was a start.

“Unfortunately, I have paperwork to do, and lots of it.” Macao suggested. “Why don’t we all head down to the station? The paperwork can wait, Alzack and Bisca should be arriving anytime now.”

From his spot against the wall, Natsu suddenly jolted up in a panic. “Wait, it’s been that long?! Oh shit, the fireworks! I need to set off the fireworks!”

“Fireworks?” Macao echoed, looking slightly nervous. “Who thought it would be a good idea to set off fireworks for them?”

“It was Jet and Droy’s idea, but I told them couldn’t light them without me because with my fire, I’ll make sure it’s an excellent light show!” Natsu explained quickly as he scrambled to his feet. “But if I take any longer they’ll set them off without me, and that will be such a boring welcome home!”

“N-Natsu, I’m sure regular fireworks are fine!” Macao desperately tried to argue.

The dragonslayer wasn’t having any of it. “No way! We need this to be just like their love! Bright and explosive!!”

Macao looked even more pale. “We really don’t-”

Ignoring the guild master, Natsu turned towards Romeo. “You know, two flames are better than one!” He gave a mischievous grin. “What do you say we use our fire to make things more exciting?”

“Say no more, I’m in!” Romeo declared loudly, charging out of the guild hall with an excited Natsu and a panicked Macao following swiftly behind him. “This is going to be the best ‘welcome back’ party ever!!”

The party was incredible, lasting several days and several nights as they celebrated the return and union of the couple. And though both Natsu and Romeo were both banned from ever touching fireworks again, the delighted looks on Alzack’s and Bisca’s faces at the sight of the brilliant light show was well worth it.

As he danced and feasted with his guildmates, Romeo realized he felt happier than he had in a long while, like a weight on his shoulders was suddenly lifted. With his family around him, he knew that he didn’t have to try and be an adult, he didn’t have to worry about the guild’s money anymore. For now, he could just be a kid, and make some more amazing memories.