Voyage of the Fairy Tail

{14} Why They Left

My eyes widened, jaw dropped and I lost my breath as I recognized one of the ghostly figures.

The man from the picture. Natsu's father.

"D-dad?" Natsu whimpered softly.

Natsu's father Igneel looked the same as he did in his picture. Except his clothes were more tattered like he was in a fight. He stared a Natsu kindly with kindness and loss.

"Dad!" Rouge, Sting and Gajeel all gasped.

"Mom?!" Wendy squeaked.

These five people were their lost parents. Wendy's mom looked like a gently and kind woman, with blue eyes and long, smooth white hair. A rough looking man with piercing (I assume Gajeel's father) stared at us Intensely. Then there were two other men, one with white/gray hair and blue eyes and the other with black hair and red eyes like Rouge.

"Hello, I am Igneel Dragneel. And those with me are Grandeeney Marvel, Metalicana Redfox, Weisslogia Eucliffe and Skiadrum Cheney" he said.

Natsu ran towards his father but Gray caught his arm, "Wait man!"

"We hope it is our children, Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Sting and Rouge we are speaking too" Grandeeney spoke, "We are projections. This Dragon stone is very powerful and we were able to form our spirits with this stone so would could tell you children why we left."

Wendy began to cry, "You see the five of us ventured out to find the Dragon Stone ourselves. We have been friends for such a long time and we planned to introduce all of you when we returned. However as you see that was not the case. We are dead."

Sting and Rouge stood in shock. "What?!" Natsu cried.

Igneel spoke again, "We are so sorry that we never made it back to you. Especially you Natsu. I prayed you would find friends and a place where you belong. And You did. You all found your ways to each other and we're proud of you."

Skiadrum smiled, "It was our Dream to be the first ones to find the Dragon Stone, but now we pass that honor onto all of you and your friends."

Their glowing bodies started to fad away, "Again we are sorry we left so early and never got to see you all again, but we are grateful we can pass this message onto you all."

"Wendy, be brave my little girl."

"Sting, keep growing."

"I'm proud of the man you've become Rouge."

"Keep that evil glare Gajeel."

"Natsu, I love you so much son. Take care of my scarf."

They disappeared leaving nothing behind. We sat in silence all we could hear was the sobbing of the five. Carla held Wendy, Sting and Rouge hugged each other in silence but I could see their bodies shaking. Lector and Frosh hugged them for comfort. I could see tears in Gajeel's eyes while Levy and Lily kneeled beside him.

Natsu was crying and sobbing while clutching his scarf. Erza bowed her head and Gray let go of him. He crumpled to the ground. Happy walked over to him and gently rubbed his back while rubbing his head against his shoulder. I sat down beside him and very gently pulled his head into my chest, between my breast and held him tightly as he cried.

"All this time he's been dead" Natsu whispered.

"I'm sorry Natsu. I know what it's like to lose a parent."

He raised his head to look at me, "When I was a child Natsu, my mother died. I was only five then, I know how it feels to lose a parent you love. But if it helps, I hold her memory with me forever. You have memories of you father and a gift to remember him by. Love him and remember him. Cause he'll always love and remember you."

I watched Natsu straighten and then wipe his tears away. He smiled at me, "Thank you Lucy. Thank you."

The others stood up as well, they had all wiped their tears away, "Are you all alright?" Erza asked gently.

Sting nodded, "Yes. Let's head back and finish what our parents started."

I felt Natsu grip my hand and I turned to look at him, "Lucy" he murmured, "Thank you."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and I felt his hands on my waist, "Your welcome Natsu. You know, if anything bothers you, you can tell me."

He brought his hand up and caressed my cheek, my breathing got heavier and our foreheads touched, "Lucy..." he starts to lean down and I tilted my head back. Our lips came closer and closer.

Then he was jerked back and pulled into the water, his eyes wide with terror before he went under.

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Good job to adashofcinnamon for commenting that it was Lucy's mother she saw. Back when I was writing the plot of this story originally it was Lucy's mother that she was going to see. But I changed it since it mentions a couple of times that Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting and Rouge's parents all disappeared to the same day and they had no idea where they went. So I changed the plotline to this where they do find out. When they died, their spirits connected to the Dragon Stone so they could record the message for their children to hear.

Natsu is having a rough time with water in this book. He really needs to learn to swim.

Bye~