Fear of the Innocent Flame (a Nalu Fanfic)

Prologue: Natsu's Past pt. 1

Third Person POV

Natsu was just a 9-month-old infant when his biological parents left him by a shallow stream, in the woods that was near their village. He was all bundled up with a blanket and had a note attached to him, saying, Take care of our son, Natsu. He deserves the affection that we cannot give him.

When the baby left the arms of his parents, he began to wail. Natsu began to cry, cry, and cry.  The only time that he wouldn't lament was when he was tired and fell asleep.

After a day of laying there in the forest, clueless about where he was, the baby's eyes started to wander. That was when his tummy rumbled. Tiny, baby Natsu, now determined to find food, managed to get on his stomach and crawl around. The blanket that was around him stayed on his neck with the note still fastened.
——————————————————
He started his journey at early morning, but now it was way past noon.  About the time of day families would have dinner together.

All the crawling he did throughout the day wore him out. He was near ready to collapse from hunger, but his heart told him to keep going and not give up. So, he carried on.

He wibbled and wobbled until his pure eyes landed on a cave with a spacious opening. It was big enough to fit a three story building in it! The sun was setting with no light to expose what lies in it. He could not see in there, but that did not stop him. His childlike curiosity took over and pushed him to go in.

There, in the darkness of the cave, was a loud snore coming from a large creature. The noisy snoring freaked Natsu, so he whimpered as he began to cry once again. His sniffling and weeping awoke the sleeping dragon, which now had a puzzled expression.

"What is an adorable child doing all the way out here?" the dragon questioned to no one in particular. The dragon had a very deep voice, almost like a roar.

Natsu moved a little ways from the cave as the dragon walked out into the sunlight. Luckily, the sun had not set completely.  With the little light left in the sky, the beast showed all its features. He had red scales all along his body, also has a scar on his face and stomach. The dragon had wide, yellow eyes that were soothing, not scary in the least.

At least, not scary to Natsu.

When Natsu heard him speak and saw the creature, he quit bawling. He had astonishment in his beautiful, onyx eyes. The baby crawled up to the beast and hugged it, taking the dragon by surprise. The moment he received that hug, he knew he adored this child.

Though he loved him, the beast had an apparent, lingering question. He thought to himself, Where were his actual parents?

The creature picked up the child and inspected him for clues. That was when he saw the note telling him to take care of this child. This made the isolated dragon excited. He was acting like a father that just received news of his wife being pregnant.

The dragon looked fondly at his new son. He vowed to him, "My name is Igneel, and I shall love you and take care of you, as your father." Natsu smiled at his new daddy and giggled, showing his big, charming, two-toothed grin. He felt safe being with Igneel.

*Time skip to 2 and a half years later*

Natsu now is 3 years old and can speak only a little. He can say "da-da", "wa-wa", and "food". Those were the most essential words he needed to know. He can, also, now walk around instead of crawl.

This was the time when Igneel decided to start to teach him his magic, Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Natsu became so eager to acquire this magic that they spent night and day practicing how to handle and, most crucial, control it. The father and son pair went on mountain peaks to let their dragon roars out to help strengthen their magic ability. They did not want to cause a forest fire.

At this stage of life, Natsu was really carefree and didn't pry on anything. He will later learn the reasons as to why they live very deep into the forest.

* Another time skip to when Natsu turned 8*(Still No One's POV)

Igneel now has taught his son all he can know about his power. Natsu can now speak complete sentences and can write a few words like his name and some foods.

He doesn't learn anything else about writing due to lack of resources. Igneel can only teach him what he knows, which is very little.

As Natsu grew older, the more questions he had about his life.

He became perplexed about how his father, is his father even though he is a dragon. Natsu finally concluded that he should ask him. "Igneel, how are you my father?"

Igneel froze with this question. That was when he realized Natsu is becoming aware of things.

He decided to be honest with him saying, "You are not related to me by blood, but I have taken care of you since you were 9 months old. That is why I am your father."

This confused Natsu even more so. If he isn't my blood-related father, then who is? he thought to himself. He didn't push the topic any further though because he saw how Igneel reacted to the question.

*Time Skip to when he was 11*

Natsu was exploring around the woods when he came across the stream that he was left at when his parents abandoned him. Of course, he would not have remembered that from being so small.

He saw the cool water and ran to it. Natsu leaped into the shallow water and splashed around. He played and played like no one was watching until his dragon senses kicked in.

His ears picked up a rustling sound coming from a nearby bush.

Natsu got out of the water and slowly walked up to the bush to investigate. He climbed up on top of the plant to discover a little girl, about his age, afraid of something.

Instinct told him to comfort her, but he didn't know who she was. He knew, logically, not to speak to strangers. But instinct was what he listened to.

He jumped up onto the bush and landed in front of her. She flinched from his fast movement.

"Don't hurt me!" she screamed at him.

Natsu had no intention of hurting her which made him unclear as to why she said that. Natsu calmed her down by replying, "I am not here to hurt you. I was trying to come and comfort you!" He gave her his special toothy grin, making her feel like she can trust him.

Without warning, she ran to him and squeezed him tightly. That was when Natsu noticed she was crying.

"What are you doing all alone out here?" Natsu asked his new found companion. She looked up to him and grabbed her basketful of berries she had with her.

She answered him, "I was picking berries for my mom and then I got too far into the woods. She told me not to, but I wanted to find enough berries to fill my basket. That was when I stumbled across a huge, scary dragon that wanted to eat me. I ran and ran, becoming more lost than I already was." The little girl began to sob after saying this.

Her comment about the dragon struck Natsu as odd. He thought to himself, Was she talking about Igneel? He didn't question the girl any further and decided to help her find her way home. The only way he believed he could get her home was by getting her mom's scent.

Natsu put a calm hand on her small, quivering shoulder, "Do you have anything that your mom touched? I can track the scent to find someone's location. That is how I can get you home."

Her eyes beamed with delight as she heard the word 'home'. She pulled out a rag her mom had given to her the night before and handed it to the stranger. He inhaled the scent of her mom and immediately picked it up.

"Follow me," he said to the delicate girl.

It only took 10 minutes for Natsu to find the person he was searching for. As soon as he led the girl home, he raced back to his home, the cave.