Oh, Well, It's a Fairy Tail

Growing Pains

SEPTEMBER 12TH — ADVENTURE

"Growing Pains"

"Your name is Etherious Natsu Dragneel," his creator said in a soft voice. "And you are my brother."

Those words were the first he ever heard, and they carved the mold in which Natsu would fit the rest of his life. More pieces would define his features as the ages went on: he was a demon called an Etherious, he was impossibly tough to kill, he had both Dark Magic and Fire Magic to control, he was one who struck fear by just his name...

But the baby girl, she was unafraid. He wondered why.

Natsu was trained in the art of fighting, and he was also trained to change his form as he pleased. Brother said it was something for him to do at his leisure, but he didn't think so. He hadn't known Brother long at that point, but he did know Brother did things for a certain...purpose. If he gave Natsu two forms to shift between, it was for a use he would need later. But, if he had the option, he chose to look like a man.

The little girl liked his demon form more though.

Physically, he peaked early, but biologically, according to Brother, there would be no end for him but a magically-induced death. Humans were a different story. Humans were born with a very short time limit, and — as Brother told him, the only time his calm exterior ever broke — there was no bringing back a human. There was, and would only ever be, creating demons.

The girl said You're not a demon though. You're the cuddliest person ever...with horns.

Often, very often, more often than he could write with his limited understanding of that, he wondered what his purpose was — what any of the Etherious's purposes were, because Brother made more of them. He asked Brother once, and he only smiled and said sweet nothings to abate Natsu's worries. Natsu worried regardless, especially when he became aware of an odd occurrence: occasionally, maybe once every lunar cycle, he would wake up after a blackout with numerous sore spots all over his body like a rash. Brother wasn't too concerned and told Natsu not to be either. Natsu supposed that was when he began to grow a sense of self-awareness.

She found it funny. She told him all people had self-awareness and that he only did what Brother told him to because he didn't want to think of doing anything else. For the first time, he became angry at her, and through that anger came recklessness. He didn't cover his tracks as well as he had been, and Brother found out. He was amazed that didn't happen sooner with how smart Brother was. Then again, Brother didn't act without a purpose.

Brother did...something to him that made him black out again, but this time was different, he could feel it. When he awoke, Brother was smiling, but Natsu was only concerned with getting away. He ran back to where he met the girl in her small town, and she was still there alive and well. He grabbed her hand to ensure her corporeality and pain struck through both — both because he could hear her screams ringing through his ears. When he woke up again, she was gone. He didn't see her again for many years, but he could...feel her.

It was something he never told Brother in fear of Brother taking it the wrong way, but Natsu had begun to feel her. He felt her fear, her dismay, her anxiety as she awoke, and many things more as the days went on. He tried to go about his daily life, but the girl's presence had irreversibly grown in his mind: she was no longer a passing interest, but an integral part of his existence. Whether he wanted to or not, he could feel her every emotion, and while he certainly didn't want such a thing to happen, they began to imprint on him.

The day that set everything off, he woke with a strange feeling filling his chest. It made him feel like he was flying above all his troubles, like he still possessed a beating heart. Love. The word bounced around his skull and he mouthed it absently throughout the day. It made him smile every time he thought about it...then Brother called him down. And, as Natsu went face-to-face with him, he was struck by the most shocking realization of his life:

He did not love Brother, not at all.

If anything, Natsu resented him.

The words lay sour on his tongue and not even Brother could coax them out. Eventually he let Natsu go, a pensive look on his face. It was the last time he would see Brother's face for a long time, because that night, Natsu ran. He didn't know what he was looking for, if it was the girl or adventure itself, but he ran. And his heart lifted and he placed another emotion — happiness.

He didn't find the girl in town in her home, so he went looking elsewhere. He never stopped to consider she was dead because he could still feel all she felt, and while it majorly helped him develop, it wasn't all fun and games. Sickness, for example, was a terrible, horrible sensation he loathed on humanity's behalf, particularly motion sickness. He got the sense she was moving, and suddenly his sense of balance was all off, and he felt grossly dizzy and nauseous. Pain was also a very potent sensation; although he thought it to be purely physical, like the warm pain he felt from her in his lower abdomen occasionally, it sometimes was abstract, a baseless hurt that made him want to curl up and cry.

Was that what it meant to be human? Brother was human and he never shifted through so many emotions — neither did the other Etherious. As the days passed and he traveled farther and farther, seeing many humans in their towns and on the road, it started to make sense: they were missing something, this tiny bit of something that all humans possessed. Not all humans utilized it, like the three or so groups that tried to rob him on his way before he cleanly curb-stomped them, but they all had that ability to birth, process, and give a piece of themselves to others. He received it with every wave and smile he was given, and from every sensation he received from her. They built upon themselves over time and suddenly, as he awoke and squinted at the blinding sun in the middle of the desert, he realized he could feel. He wasn't feeling her emotions any longer, but he was feeling his own.

It made him feel real. It made him feel alive. It made him feel...no, it made him human.

After so long, he was almost startled to feel something from the girl again. It was also a very strong feeling; she was close, he could tell. In the next town was a main area, and on top of a wooden stage was a dancing woman. Her long blonde hair and amber eyes were vaguely familiar, and as she executed a full turn that had her gold and green skirt twirling around her ankles, her eyes landed on his. And she felt, and he felt, and he knew she was who he had been searching for.

With a tiny choked noise, she picked up her skirts and stumbled down the steps before pushing through the little crowd. They turned in interest as she ran up to Natsu, eyes squinted, then they widened and a wide smile crossed her face. She leapt on him with her arms clasped around his neck, happy tears running down her cheeks. He reached out and clasped her slim waist in return. The day that set everything off, he woke with a strange feeling filling his chest. It made him feel like he was flying above all his troubles, like he still possessed a beating heart. That feeling returned twofold: once from him, another time from her.

"All these years and I've never stopped feeling your heart," she whispered in his ear, the smile clear in her voice. He let out a noise that could've been a sob or a laugh — he wasn't too sure himself. He set her down and took her hand, savoring the sensation of the love passing between them, love born from shared experiences and understanding over a too long time.

"My name is Etherious Natsu Dragneel," he said in a soft voice, squeezing her hand. "And you are my love."