Metaphorical Dreams of a Broken Soul

Dreams

Gratsu Week 2019

Prompt: Dreams

"A book?!" Natsu looked at the object in his hands with equal parts disgust and dismay. "I didn't do all this for a stinkin' book, Lady!"

The woman shrugged and showed Natsu the part of the request where it listed the reward before walking away with a wave.

Damn it!

Natsu looked at the item in his hands with dismay. He didn't want to return to the guild with nothing but a moldy old book to show for his efforts. It was his first solo mission after all.

He certainly didn't need another lecture from that Erza on how he needed to learn how to read better. She thought she was so special 'cause she was scary. And he certainly didn't want to have to deal with Gray's stupid smirking face.

What he did want was to make jewels so he could eat. He had half a mind to burn the insulting book, but then he wouldn't even be able to eat the fire, and it would just be a complete waste. Maybe Levy would like it.

Levy McGarden was a sweet girl who had joined the guild after he had. She didn't talk much yet, and not much was known about her, but one thing was for sure, that girl sure liked to read. Maybe if Natsu gifted her the book, she would be his friend. Natsu liked making friends, it kept him from feeling lonely.

The busier Natsu kept himself, the less time he had to think of Igneel. So he practiced his magic every day, determined to impress Igneel when they met up again. He sparred with Gray as often as he could. He might not like the ice mage all that much, but he had to admit the bastard was a good opponent. He ran errands for Jii-chan and basically filled his day with noise until he fell into an exhausted heap on his bed in the boy's dorm.

Natsu decided to go in search of odd jobs that would pay him jewels he could then pretend to have earned on his job. He lucked out at the first place he went and did some boring manual labor for a few hours before heading back to the guild. Take that stupid Gray!

Natsu kicked the door of the guild open and announced loudly, "I'm back everybody!"

A few of the guild members welcomed him back and asked him how his first mission went. He looked over to where Erza was standing and gave her a big toothy smile when he saw she looked proud of him. The half-naked pervert looked flushed and out of breath and Natsu had no idea why but he shrugged it off, happy to bask in the affection he received from the older guild members.

Remembering the reward he'd earned, Natsu walked over to the table where Levy was sitting and plopped across from her. He placed the book on the table and gently pushed it towards the girl. Levy smiled at him shyly, before grabbing it from the table.

"What's this?" She asked with great interest, looking at the cover. Her eyes widened when she saw the title. "Natsu, this is a book of magic spells!"

"You can read that?" Natsu could see how excited the girl looked just from reading the cover, and he was happy to have thought of giving it to her.

"Well, kinda. I've been learning some languages, and this one seems very familiar," Levy admitted, her eyes never straying from the symbols in front of her. "May I?"

"Knock yourself out," Realizing he was starving, Natsu left her with the book as he hurried to order some food. The bartender promised to deliver his order to the table, and Natsu rushed back, curious to see what Levy had uncovered.

"Well?" Natsu asked curiously, noticing the excitement on Levy's face had not diminished one bit.

"There are a lot of spells in here, look at this one," Levy pointed to the page she was reading, "This one lets the caster inject themself into someone else's dream."