The Red Dragon

Chapter 21

"Did you kill him?" Igneel asked, and Natsu could hear the hope in his voice.

"No," Natsu closed his eyes in shame, "We fought and I injured him, but he went after Gray, I-I had to save him."

Igneel closed his eyes, trying to control his rage at the renegade's actions. He had a good idea Acnologia had singled out Gray because Natsu's scent was all over him.

"You did the best you could. Your mate was in danger, and you protected him. None of us would have done any different."

"How did Gray react?" Igneel waited for an answer, but when Natsu only shook his head in response, he wrapped his wings around his son protectively.

"Had he already accepted your token?" Igneel asked, hoping that Natsu hadn't gone through with the mating yet, but knowing in his heart he had.

"Yeah," Natsu tried to keep the sorrow he felt out of his voice, but he kept seeing Gray's face, and it still hurt.

"I'm so sorry."

Natsu avoided his father's gaze as he answered defensively, "It's fine, I should have known it would never work out."

"You don't know that," Igneel protested but backed off, realizing this was not the time for pep talks. He understood the pain Natsu was experiencing, and he knew there was nothing he could say that would ease it. So instead, he tried to get him thinking about the future, "What are you going to do?"

Natsu shrugged. There was nothing he could do. Gray would never accept being mated to a dragon. What kind of life would that be for him, anyway? Igneel was right, he shouldn't have gone ahead with this. His transformation to his dragon self had probably been inevitable. He was a fool to think it could have worked out.

"Maybe he'll change his mind..."

"I'm a dragon, he's a human. It's over. He deserves better than a half-life. I... I set him free."

"What does that mean?" Igneel waited as patiently as he could for Natsu to explain himself, but when the minutes extended and he remained silent, Igneel pressed. "Natsu, what did you do?"

Igneel narrowed his eyes to slits and roared. "Tell me you didn't do something stupid."

"It doesn't matter what I did, he'll have a chance to be happy."

"Of all the stupid... Do you really think he'll find happiness without you?" Igneel boomed his displeasure at him, then suddenly became quiet. After a few minutes, he asked calmly, "What about you?"

"What about me? This is what I am now. It's what I'll always be." Natsu wrapped his wings around himself.

"This is a reunion! Why is everyone so gloomy in here?" Igneel and Natsu both flinched as the overly loud voice of Atlas filled the room, but Happy jumped down from his perch, his tail almost wagging at Atlas' entrance.

"Can't leave you alone for a minute," Atlas walked over to where Natsu was lying, rolling his eyes at the state he was in. "Let's look at you, kid. You bled all over me. Again."

Atlas' claws glowed as he worked on healing Natsu's injuries. Natsu's screams echoed in the cave as he felt his body speed through the healing process. Atlas, the sadistic bastard, grinned at his discomfort and as much as Natsu hated to admit it, feeling his uncle working away at his injuries as he'd done since Natsu was a child soothed him just as much as Igneel's wing hugs.

"Why the fuck couldn't you do that while I was unconscious?" Natsu complained.

"If you don't like the way I do things, then why didn't you do it yourself?" Atlas groused. He growled when he saw Natsu's discomfort at the question. "You used up all your healing magic on him, didn't you?"