The Red Dragon

Chapter 21

But he should have realized he'd been living on borrowed time. That there was no way that Acnologia would just disappear and leave him alone. Natsu had no one to blame but himself for bringing terror to the man he loved and the village they had both sworn to protect.

"Natsu?!" The voice sounded closer now, its tone more urgent, and when Natsu turned his head to the side, he could see Atlas flying next to him. That minor effort was enough to make him lose his concentration, and he felt himself fall.

0-0

When Natsu came to, he immediately recognized the familiar smell of his room and of Happy, who was whimpering in a corner. He could hear the loud voices of his father and uncle arguing in the main room.

"What the hell happened?" his father yelled.

"I already told you, I don't know. He was on his last wings when I found him."

"Did you get a look at those wounds?" Igneel roared.

"He's going to be fine. We both know he's survived worse."

"I don't understand any of this. Why would Natsu have transformed in the first place?"

"That's an interesting question. It probably has something to do with why the village is on fire."

"You went to the village?" Natsu could hear the irritation in his father's voice. "I've told you to stay away from there."

"I didn't go to the village. The fire was enormous. I could see it in the distance."

Natsu grew tired of listening to them. He attempted to push himself up, but he was too weak. That wasn't good. That meant that they wanted him to be awake when Atlas healed him.

Fuck, that was going to hurt.

Could this day possibly get any worse?

It had gone from being the happiest day of his life to his worst nightmare in one scant hour. He honestly didn't even care about his injuries, they were the least of his worries. His heart felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces, and that hurt more than any purely physical pain could.

Natsu heard his father approaching and couldn't keep a whimper from escaping his throat.

"Natsu, are you awake?" Igneel's usually gruff voice was gentle.

Natsu grunted as Igneel entered his bedroom. Happy flew up to his perch, wanting to give them some privacy but not wanting to leave Natsu's side.

Igneel moved slowly, still recovering from the injuries he'd received during the war. He made his way directly over to his son and fussed over him, nuzzling his face tenderly with his snout and whining at the extent of his injuries.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Igneel asked, his voice the softest Natsu had ever heard it.

"Acnologia," Natsu spat out the name and felt the temperature in the room quickly rise to almost uncomfortable levels. Even for him.

"Acnologia did this?"

Natsu nodded, trying not to move the rest of his body.

"Start from the beginning."

"We'd almost reached Talos when he flew past us... I- I had to change." Natsu couldn't mask the grief he felt, and he could see from the pity reflected in his father's eyes that he knew precisely what choice he'd been forced to make.

"Atlas was right. Once I transformed, I felt something snap inside me. I can't turn back," Natsu moved his head down to his claws and lay there feeling miserable.