Chapter Text
"You must bare a strong will."
"Decide who you are."
"Are you a dragon? Or a demon?"
The words echoed through his head, like a record on repeat, again and again.
"I don't choose either. I'm a Human!!
He'd always reply the same way, he was human. Nothing would change that, it was the truth. The only one he'd accept.
"You Do know the correct answer!
It was the same dream he'd had every night.
The same words, the same people, everything was an exact reenactment of the first time.
Always the same, never a word out of place.
He could feel as his conscious was pulled from the dream-scape, just as it had been the first time.
Waiting for the last words his father said to him, the same as always. Just before he would wake once again with the sun.
"I just wish it was a choice you could make..."
~
Natsu awoke with a start. The birds singing outside the window did nothing to cover the sound of his own heart pounding in his head. Sun doing nothing more than reflecting off the sweat dripping down his face. His breathing was erratic, losing more air than he could take in.
His eyes where blown wide yet unseeing, still trapped somewhere inside his own head. Mind repeating the words.
Over
And over
And over
And overoveroveroveroveroveroveroveroverover
It wasn't the first time he'd had that dream, if fact he has had the same one every night since the war ended. Like clockwork it would start and end the same way, repeating night after night. The last conversation he had with his father, (whether it was really him or not Natsu couldn't say, but he always liked to believe it was.)
Normally when he woke up, a scene of calmness would wash over him, he knew he had made the correct choice back then. He made Igneel proud, saved himself and was able to return to his friends to win the war.
His fathers last words.
"Now you are ready to move on, right?"
"On your own two feet."
It was exactly what he needed. Every night it repeated, giving him renewed energy each day. Keeping him moving forward after everything thats happened, everything that's been lost.
So why?
Why was it different this time?
What did Igneel mean?
Was it even Igneel? After all these were just dreams. Something could have happened the previous day, not that Natsu remembered if it did. Really though he knew he was just over thinking this. Bad dreams happen, no matter how real they feel, they are still just dreams. It was common knowledge. Besides. He was already feeling better.
Sure that dream was an odd way to start the day, that didn't mean it had to ruin his mood. Deciding it was best to just head to the guild, forgetting it ever even happened. Fairy Tail had a way of making everything better.
After getting showered and changed Natsu stepped into the kitchen. Which in his small hut served as more a kitchen-dinning-living room all sort of stuffed into one. While small, it was perfect for him and Happy, the small size giving it a chaotic look when everything was set up how it had been the last some years. Chaotic was perfect though, nothing fit the duo better than a bit of mayhem.
Speaking of Happy, the Exceed was currently making some breakfast, which consisted of, you guessed it. Fish. You'd think he'd get sick of eating fish after so long, most people would. However Natsu never really cared, food was food, and this particular food made his best buddy happy.
"Hey Natsu!! Breakfast is almost done, I started without you because you were taking soooo long." He whined. Though Natsu knew he wasn't really complaining.
"Ehe yeah sorry bud, I slept in a little." The Dragon Slayer responded, scratching his chin awkwardly.
"Pft I'd say."
Natsu took a seat at their table while he waited for Happy to finish cooking. Most likely he'd have to toast his a bit more. The cat tended to enjoy his fish a bit undercooked for his tastes. While Natsu could eat it, he was raised by a fire dragon, everything they ate was more or less charcoal. He'd learned there was better ways to eat food since, and even found himself enjoying certain foods on the more raw side sometimes. Somedays however returning to his roots was a nice comfort.
Happy danced around the kitchen to some music that wasn't playing. Tail waving like a flag in the wind, while his ears twitched to the unheard beat. The Exceed had been working on his transformation magic, he was even getting quite good at it. According to Carla it would help with his magic reserves. Though Natsu believed Happy didn't care about that as much as he cared about getting the female Exceeds attention.
If you asked Natsu, Happy was getting rather good as well, he could hold the semi human transformation longer than keeping his wings, and was even working on other transformations with some help from Lisanna. It made him proud to think of how far Happy had come in such a short time.
After a few more minutes the food was finished, Happy set two plates down for them before taking his own seat at the table. Happy greedily scarfing down his food. Natsu took a little longer than usual to finish his own, while still faster than most people would even attempt. It was enough to get him a few odd looks from his companion.
"Hey you feeling okay Natsu?"
"Oh yeah, I'm good don't worry 'bout me. Just tired." He made a show of yawning to prove his point.
Happy still looked skeptical, but just shrugged his shoulders and moved on. He knew best that the fire mage would tell him if something was really wrong. Natsu just offered him a smile.
"You ready to go? I think Erza was talking about taking a job sometime this week, we should hurry so she doesn't pick without us!" Natsu changed the subject.
"Aye! Let's go!"
Neither of them bothered to clean the mess from breakfast, they never did, it was a future Natsu and Happy's problem. Gathering a few things, they duo made their way to Fairy Tail.
~
The walk to the guild was pleasant, the sun was beating its warm rays on them. They both enjoyed days like this, many of them spent just basking in the sun on a grassy hill just outside Magnolia. Despite the enjoyable day Natsu couldn't shake the bad feeling he got from his earlier dream. It was still just off-putting.
Whether happy noticed his odd mood or not, the cat made no comment. Which Natsu was greatful for, he could only hope it would continue once they got to the guild.
Lucky for him the guild was as always in organized disarray. A few friendly fights had broken out, not so slowly drawing more of the guild members into them. Despite the early hour many members were already drunk, or doing their best to die of alcohol poisoning in some (Cana) cases.
Most people didn't even notice him entering, continuing on with their own business. A few members waved or made some comment to either him or Happy. Really nothing much had changed since he joined all those years ago, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face every time he thought that.
They made their way to the usual table. While there was definitely no designated seating, after so long their little team had sort of claimed one of the tables. No one prevented others from sitting there, they just didn't. Most hours of the day one of their team was nearby. Currently Gray and Lucy were sitting there, watching as Natsu approached.
Gray had his feet kicked up, shirt missing like usual. While he tried to look uninterested, Natsu knew he was just itching for a non-repair job. After all he was as well, and they, while being almost complete opposites knew eachother better than anyone else. In both their opinions they had done enough repairing after the war for ten or more lifetimes.
Lucy was looking up from her book, a pink? Purple? One, with a flower on the cover. He recalls her talking about it, 'The Boar Princess' if he remembers right. It was a book they found on a job a while back, he swears she read that thing three times before they had even returned to Magnolia.
"Look who finally showed up." Gray teased. "You're lucky you got here before Erza."
"She's not hear yet? I was sure we'd the last ones here." Happy commented.
"Well I'm not one to complain, I'd rather this than making her angry." Natsu shivered at the thought as he said it.
"Aye." Happy agreed.
They both looked around the guild quickly while Natsu took a seat next to Lucy. Happy spotted Carla across the room, without a word he ran off. Both Gray and Natsu just laughed at his antics, while Lucy shook her head not expecting anything else from the Exceed.
"I'm pretty sure I heard Erza was at the bakery in town earlier..." Lucy brought a hand to her chin as she thought.
"If that's true we could be here a while." The ice mage added.
Lucy hummed in agreement.
The three made some small talk for a while, before gray eventually fell asleep. Lucy had returned her focus to her book, silently mouthing different words as she read. Natsu had learned she had a habit to do that when she was really focusing, not that he understood what was so interesting about a book.
"But don't you?"
A shiver traveled down his spine, causing him to jerk upright. Lucy looked over to him with a question in her expression though she didn't voice it.
"Gettin' some food, be back." He told her.
He wasn't sure where these thoughts or feelings came from, but he knew he was not wanting to deal with them. It was best to play it off, let the day continue on and eventually allow it to slip his mind. It worked most of the time. Even if it didn't, the day was only so long Erza would show up eventually, a job would be a good distraction for him.
"Hey Natsu! What can I get you?" Mira asked from behind the bar.
"Just surprise me Mira." He offered a smile.
Mira matched it with her own warm smile before turning to prepare the food. He took a seat at the bar as he waited. As he felt his thoughts start to drift back he refocused. The guild around, Lucy still reading, Gray still sleeping. Most the fights had died down, not having the usual participants. Still no sign of Erza, he could only pity the poor baker.
After some time Mira returned with his food, she didn't immediately leave, debating if she wanted to say anything, or leave him alone.
"You feeling okay Natsu?" She asked him.
He thought about it a moment before replying.
"Ya, just tired."
She looked at him suspiciously for a minute, looking for something. Eventually giving up she smiled once again before turning to other guild member waiting for refills on their drinks. Natsu was relieved he got away again.
Whatever was going on he was sure would be gone soon, he just wasn't in the right mood today. He got to work on his second breakfast.
~
Some hours later Erza finally made her appearance at the guild hall. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy had went back to talking... well at first. Gray and Natsu had turned it into a fight somewhere somehow. Until Lucy saw the scarlet haired woman making her way over. The guys were incredibly greatful for their friend. Neither wished to die that day.
Natsu was already in a better mood from that morning, he knew he would be, Fairy Tail and his friends always had a way of lightening any mood. Thankfully after Mira's small question no one else had bothered him about it, even if he caught Mira giving him the odd look when she thought he wasn't watching.
"Ah good, looks like we are all here." Erza began. "Hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long."
She most certainly did keep them waiting if the fading sun was any indicator. They would not be telling her that.
"Not at all, you got here just in time." Lucy said for all of them.
Erza nodded in appreciation. She didn't bother taking a seat, just sat one of her large swords on the table.
"Now, to business." She stood at the end of table, like a queen preparing her army.
"I picked out a job request last night, I hope that's alright."
Natsu and the others looked at each other.
"Aye!" The three agreed.
"Good! It's too late to leave now, we shall meet back here first thing in the morning."
"Hey hey hey, now I don't mean to question the job you picked, but you haven't even told us what we are doing." Gray wondered.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"Ah yes I apologize, the job is simple, we are to investigate some ruins farther north up near Waas Forest." Erza continued. "Since the war ended the residents have been reporting strange incidents. Apparently some have been hearing voices, seeing shadows, a few people have went looking but not a single one could remember anything."
"Well I'm all fired up!! Sounds like the perfect job for us!" Natsu shouted.
Gray nodded in agreement.
Looking thoughtful for a second Lucy agreed as well.
"Then it's settled, we'll meet here bright and early!"
~