Firefall || Fairy Tail

40 : e t h e r i o u s

The others knew something was wrong. They weren't sure how or what sixth sense pulled them toward the crater, but the six went.

Gray arrived first, seeing the situation and giving the siblings their space. Then almost together, the other two groups arrived. Verani and Erza walked up, the rare sight of Happy resting on Titania's shoulder, as Lucy was close at Amber's side in case the Blood mage needed a hand.

They found the brother and sister exactly where they had been, the only real change was that Natsu had bowed his head. Even though his hair shaded his eyes, the tears tracks were clearly visible on his cheeks. Kia's face was now buried in his back, but her arms were still wrapped tightly around him. She wanted him to know that she was there and she needed to know that he was too. Losing Igneel had been hard enough for her the first time, but she hadn't ever really had the chance to mourn it and it was all a jumbled hurricane in her now. She wanted to scream and sob, but Kia only gripped the front of Natsu's jacket as her tears fell silently.

Natsu's mind kept replaying everything their foster father had said to him that day, even the way he had hired him for a job in order to get the Dragon Slayer to go after the Book of E.N.D. But then he remembered something that he hadn't noticed in his frantic run after Zeref had left.

"Natsu, I owe you an explanation. And I'm going to give it to you while I still can, so your sister won't have to."

He rested a hand over one of Kia's clenched fists, his words were low. "Did you know?"

Kia's heart seized at the underlying tone in her little brother's voice. She wasn't expecting this right now, unable to find any words to reply. Instinctively, her hold on him tightened. But that was answer enough.

Natsu jumped to his feet, spinning to look down at her as his voice grew louder, "Did you know?!"

The others were shocked. Even when they were getting on each other's nerves, Natsu had never raised his voice at his sister.

Happy gripped Erza's shoulder a little more, "Natsu?"

But he wasn't listening as he yanked Kia to her feet by her collar, "Answer me!"

And she didn't respond. The only thing she could do was bow her head forward to hide her sorrow behind her bangs.

"And you just let us keep looking for all those years?!" He continued to yell, "You knew what had happened! What had been planned and you didn't tell me a damn thing!"

Understanding that he was upset and not in his right mind, Erza took a step forward, "Natsu, you should stop..."

"Say something!" He gave Kia a shake, "Do you even care?!"

"That's enough, man." Gray took a step forward now, "You aren't the only one who just lost Igneel."

"It's okay."

Everyone looked at the Phoenix Slayer, many amazed by how soft and almost gentle her words sounded. "He has every right to be angry."

But those words did nothing for the rage that was building in her brother. Natsu tilted his head, shielding his eyes as he tried to find something to focus on as he asked, "Is that all you have to say?"

Then there was silence again. Kia knew that there was nothing she could say to him right now that could fix the situation. He was upset and angry and confused. She would even guess that he felt betrayed, which he did. Even before Igneel had vanished, it had been him and Kia versus the world, but now he wasn't sure what that meant to her if she could keep this big of a secret from him.

Natsu let go of her shirt roughly as he put some distance between them with the motion, "Then get away from me."

"Natsu..." Lucy's voice wavered as they all watched him turn and start marching away from them.