Freedom

Chapter 9

Outburst

Natsu stared at the small broken down guild hall before her. Her small hand gripped tightly in Cobra's larger one, she was glad the guild was more run down now. She doubted she would have been able to go inside the massive castle like structure they had had before she was taken away.

Eric tilted his head. "It looks like a windmill..."

"It is..." Lucy said scratching her head. No one made a move to go into the building where people could be heard chatting and fighting. A chair came flying out at one point and Cobra had side stepped so as not to get a face full of wood. "They're very energetic aren't they..." He muttered. Gray looked over at him.

"That's right, you've never seen our full guild."

"Nope." He dead panned. "Just those of you who came to Nirvana."

"Which was basically all of us here right now...." Lucy said with a small sweat drop. "This will be interesting for both of you guys huh..."

"Let's go inside already!" Happy said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Eric and Aaron cheered at the same time. Natsu bite her lip and let go of Cobra's hand so she could approach the door. One shaky hand reached for the door nob... And she slowly opened it.

Inside people were laughing and cheering as a few people tussled around in a play fight. Cans sat drinking on the guild bar that MiraJane was behind along with a purple haired girl Natsu didn't recognize. Laxus was surrounded by his private group alone in the corner and everyone was watching Gajeel wrestle with Elfman. Natsu felt her heart speed up and her eyes began to burn... It was just like the old days, back when she was still male and she would fight with Grey and Erza. People would take bets on who would win but never found out because Master Makarov would break it apart. Natsu wiped at her eyes before she actually cried. She remembered saying that she never wanted to come back here.... She guessed a part of her really did.

"Natsu?" A little girls voice asked suddenly. Her onyx eyes looked to the speaker and she saw Wendy. Sweet little Wendy with Charle gripped in her arms, she had wide eyes and a look of shock on her face.

Someone else had hear her because some eldest called out Natsu's name and soon everyone was stopping what they were doing to look at their gender-bent friend. Master Makarov stood up on the guild halls' bar to see around people and stare at the fire dragon slayer.

"Natsu...?"

She gripped her clothes and felt Cobra come up behind her. Her sons were with him and her other friends came to stand beside them. She felt like she had a thousand pairs of eyes on her, boring into her soul and body like the scars she once held on her skin. Her mouth was dry and she didn't know what to say. No one registered Cobra or the kids, just Natsu.

"Is it... Really you..?" Wendy asked coming forward slowly. Natsu could see the deep gashes along her cheeks and neck where her skin show. The scars all the dragon slayers held on their bodies. She felt ashamed that she no longer had hers while everyone still suffered with the horrible memory permanently engraved into their skin.

Natsu swallowed a lump in her throat and knelt down to look at Wendy from her height. She reached out and drew her thumb across the smaller girls cheek, feeling very motherly she wiped away the tears brimming along the blue haired girls' eyes. "Yeah... It's me." She made sure to be loud enough so everyone could hear her. "I came back for a little while... I know I may look different but-"

She was cut off as Wendy and Charle both lunged forward and hugged her tightly. The girls shoulders starts shaking and she clung harder, thinking Natsu would suddenly vanish if she let go. "Your alive!"