Peppermint

Part One

Magnolia was almost always quiet while the sun was rising. By then, even the night owls were in bed, and most of the early risers hadn't even stirred, but it never stayed that way for too long. The city that housed Fairy Tail is just as crazy as they are, and that is not a fact they like to let outsiders forget. The hustle and bustle of the city started barely an hour after the sun made its presence known, but for the short time between the light and the noise, there is silence.

It is during that silence that Natsu always feels most like himself. He has always woken up at the first sign of the sunshine, and it's something that he never plans to stop doing. Even after all this time, he remembers how he and Igneel would spend the first bit of their morning watching the sun rise and thinking of the day ahead in comfortable silence, so he carries on that tradition.

The green mug is warm in his hands as he sits on the porch of his cabin and watches the light slowly rise over the trees. Happy is still inside and nestled in the blankets, so he takes this time to let the silence surround him. It's not a true silence of course, because with the morning comes the sound of birds and the animals of the forest, but it reminds him of the home he'd found in his dad as a child.

He doesn't bother to blow on the tea, instead holding it close to his face between sips so the steam hits his face. The smell of peppermint fills his nose, and he smiles. There was a whole clearing full of it near the cave he grew up in, and he would lie in it when overwhelmed as a child, letting the smell surround him and drown out his worries. It quickly became one of his favorite smells, so Igneel taught him how to grow it. It was, after all, an exceptionally hard plant to kill.

Natsu pulls the mug away from his nose and takes a deep breath, letting the smells of his garden join the smell of peppermint, and just from how sweet all of the fruit smells, he knows he will have a lot to pick this week. He makes a mental note to gather a basket of strawberries for Mira and Erza each and to dry some of the orange peels to add to a tea mix he's making, which just brings Igneel's habits to mind even more. Why am I thinking about dad so much today?

A quick glance at his phone gives him the answer in the form of today's date, June 21st.

The summer solstice is a very important date for fire dragons, because there's a festival held every year, but it was even more important to him and Igneel. Every year they went to the festival and every year Igneel would carry him on his shoulders and laugh and joke with the other dragons about how special Natsu was to have a birthday that everyone there to celebrate. Natsu used to hide his face in Igneel's hair, embarrassed by the sudden attention but it never stopped him from accepting sweets from all Igneel's friends.

After Igneel vanished, he tried to find any of the dragons he once knew, but the festival grounds looked like they'd been untouched for years when he got there, and there wasn't so much as the smallest clue to where any of them could be. It had hurt even more to know that Igneel was not the only person who had abandoned him, and the memories of the weeks he waited for even the smallest sign that any of them were there flash through his mind. He had spent so much time cleaning up the area, hoping that that would draw them back, but they never came.

Gildarts found him after three weeks.

He had spent a month befriending Natsu while working on his mission in the nearest city, and that kindness is what made Natsu follow him to Magnolia, and then to Fairy Tail. He had lost his entire family before, but he wasn't going to let himself lose this one. He doesn't think he could handle being forgotten again.

Natsu sighs softly as he finishes his tea. The guild had finally found out when his birthday was a few months ago, and he's not sure he's ready to handle what they probably have planned. Not that it matters. They'll come get me if I don't go.