The Princess and the Commoner

Chapter 12: Mother

Natsu slowly walked toward the nearest sleeping bag and collapsed on top of it. He sighed and fell asleep immediately. But he dreamt of strange things. Natsu slowly opened his eyes and looked around; he was in a bright, cheerful town. There were children in front of him and there was a woman standing there with pink hair. Natsu walked forward and looked down the balcony and saw a man with black hair fighting a bunch of men. He knocked the last guy out and yelled, 

"Alright, who's next?!" A bunch more men went into the battle arena to fight the man and Natsu heard the woman sigh and laugh, 

"I'm glad that I married you, Tetsuya Dragneel..." Natsu's eyes widened in shock, 

"Dragneel...?" 

"Natsu..." Natsu looked over to the two boys and saw the black haired one pointing at Tetsuya with a grin on his face, "Look! There's daddy!" That sounded like...

"Zeref. That must mean..." Natsu walked around and looked at the boy with salmon pink hair. He glanced at his face and gasped, 

"That's me!" Natsu pulled back and looked at the woman who was now looking at him, "Mom?" The woman smiled and walked up to Natsu, 

"That's right Natsu. I'm your mother." She reached forward and pulled Natsu forward in a hug. Natsu slowly brought his arms up and hugged the woman tightly. 

"You're my mom..." She nodded and Natsu let his tears of happiness fall down his face. Natsu pulled away and wiped his tears away. 

"I'm so glad that I am able to see you and talk to you." Natsu's mother smiled and she put her hand on Natsu's shoulder. Then her expression turned serious, 

"Listen Natsu, your brother Zeref has turned dark and he is trying to turn you evil. But you must resist him. You need to protect your friends and your guild. You need to protect Lucy." Natsu nodded and hugged his mother, 

"I'm glad I met you mom." She put her hand to her mouth and started crying, 

"You've grown into such a fine young man Natsu." Natsu smiled and pulled away, 

"Now...you need to wake up Natsu!" Natsu frowned in confusion, "Wake up! Please wake up! I need your help Natsu!" Natsu opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in the forest but it was caught on fire and Lucy was above him with blood on her face, 

"Lucy? What happened?" Lucy looked down to him and smiled slightly, 

"I'm glad you're awake Natsu. Please...help the others..." Natsu looked a few feet in front of him and saw Gray, Erza, and Gajeel fighting someone in a dark hood. Romeo, Wendy, and Juvia were down and the three exceeds were knocked out beside Natsu. He reached over and grabbed Happy off the ground. Happy slowly opened his eyes and Natsu smiled, 

"You want to help me out buddy?" Happy got up and unfurled his wings. He looked up at Natsu with a smile on his face, 

"Aye sir!" Happy picked up Natsu and flew over to where the cloaked figure was. Natsu took a deep breath in and sucked up all the fire on the trees below. Gray, Erza, and Gajeel looked up at him and gave him a thumbs up. And then they started running as fast as they could away from him and the enemy, 

"Fire Dragon King's...Roar!!" A giant blast of fire burst from Natsu's mouth and struck the man on the ground. Natsu kept going until he was completely out of magic energy. He went limp and Happy's paws slipped and he dropped Natsu. 

"Natsu!" Happy flew as fast as he could to Natsu but he didn't have enough magic energy to get to him in time, "I won't make it..." Suddenly, Gray burst through the trees and caught Natsu right before he hit the ground. Happy sighed in relief and flew the rest of the way to the ground. Gray gently set Natsu on the ground and looked at Happy with a smile. 

"Good timing for dropping flame brain Happy." Happy laughed and looked at Natsu who was unconscious on the ground. He looked up at Gray with a worried face, 

"Why don't you think Natsu woke up Gray?" Gray looked at Happy and shrugged helplessly, 

"I don't know." Gray laughed slightly and looked at Happy, "But I'm sure he's fine. He's as tough as nails." Happy smiled and nodded, 

"You're right." Gray picked up Natsu and headed to the makeshift camp they were at moments before. Lucy ran up at them and looked at Natsu with a worried expression, 

"What's wrong with Natsu?" Gray smiled and laughed, 

"Don't worry Lucy, he just used too much magic energy." Lucy sighed in slight relief and looked at Natsu, 

"I think we should be heading back to the guild now though." Gray nodded and Lucy looked behind him, "Where's the man that attacked us before?" Gray looked behind him and saw a black cloak stuck to a tree branch. But no sign of a person. Gray looked back to Lucy, 

"Either he got away or he was turned to a pile of ashes." Lucy looked the other direction and nodded. 

"Let's go." Gray nodded and kept walking to the camp. When he got there, he set Natsu on the ground and sat next to him, 

"What's going on Natsu? Is there something you never told me about?" Gray laid down and fell asleep. 

~*~

Makarov looked at the guild door with a worried face. Mirajane walked up behind him and smiled at him reassuringly, 

"Don't worry, they're fine. They're going to come back safe and they're going to save Natsu." Makarov smiled and nodded, 

"Your right Mira. They're going to be fine..." Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the front of the guild and Makarov looked away from Mira in panic. He looked out the door and saw 9 figures fighting someone and there was someone on the ground. Makarov ran outside and found out that Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, Wendy, Erza, Juvia, and Romeo were fighting someone while Happy, Carla, and Lily were flying nearby. And Natsu was on the ground. Makarov rushed out and smashed the man that was attacking the mages. Gray turned to Makarov, smiled, then collapsed. 

"Gray!" Makarov and Mira ran to Gray and saw that he was severely injured and bleeding badly. Makarov went over to Natsu and flipped him over. There was a gash on his head which was running blood all over his face, 

"What is going on here?!" Erza walked up to Makarov and looked to the ground in shame, 

"We were attacked. I was off my guard and wasn't expecting it. Natsu and Gray were severely wounded and the man who attacked us got away." Makarov smiled and put his hand on Erza's shoulder, 

"It's not your fault child. Now, let's come inside and you all can rest." Erza smiled and nodded, 

"Sure thing... master."