Ch 1: One Small Change

July 7th X778 at Fairy Tail:

It was just your normal day at Fairy Tail; most of the older members had drinks in hand as they regaled their friends about their most recent job. Those that weren't doing this were either getting ready to go out on a new job or were just returning from one and wanted to relax at the guild. Well that was what the older generation of Fairy Tail was up to at the moment; the younger generation was for once actually being fairly quiet when compared to how they usually were.

Now what could possibly be keeping all those over active mages in line for once in their lives, the person responsible for this was surprisingly the same person that was usually responsible for most of the commotions that took place there on a normal day. It was none other than their little self-proclaimed fire dragon slayer, Natsu Dragneel who was currently telling them a story about what he and Igneel did two years ago. And from what most of the adults could gather from walking past and listening in on his story, it had to deal with the infamous Igneel taking Natsu to an island where he was forced to fight fire breathing lizards bigger than him.

Most of the younger members were hanging onto his every single word, which was really easy to do since the boy really got into telling stories. And he would usually get on a table and demonstrate exactly what happened while using his whole body to make sure they could visualize it, something that most of the adults enjoyed watching. A few of the kids looked as if they were pretending to not be interested in his riveting tale, but seeing how they remained silent and let Natsu continue his story gave away that they were enjoying it just as much as the rest. All except for a certain blonde haired boy that is sitting at the bar by himself with a disgruntled look on his face.

This grumpy teen was Laxus Dreyar and grandson of the current guild master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar. Now he wasn't actually mad at any of the younger generation, some of whom he considered too young for him to even bother at trying to get to know them. No, he was still upset with his grandfather for kicking out his father just a few years earlier and right now he was still trying to figure out what to do with himself. Laxus was contemplating if he should remain in Fairy Tail or go out on his own and try to find his father. But it would seem that his grandfather happened to see how he was off by himself right now and decided to have a little chat with him.

"What's wrong Laxus?" asked Makarov as he took a seat next to his grandson.

"Who says something is wrong with me?" he asked back in an upset tone as he looked in the opposite direction of his grandfather.

"The way you're currently acting is more than enough for me to realize something is bothering you." replied the elderly guild Master with a concerned look, having a good idea that this was still related to the kicking out the boy's father.

"Well you're wrong so why don't you mind your own business and just leave me alone." he mumbled back just loud enough for Makarov to hear, which he definitely did as the old man's expression became one of slight hurt.

"I can't do that Laxus, it's my job to be worried about your wellbeing." stated Makarov, hoping that he would look back at him. Which is exactly what happened, but he was now face to face with an angry teen that looked ready to snap at any moment.

"If that's actually what you were concerned about then you never would have kicked him out." he replied with a sneer.

"We've already been over all of this, more times than I can remember." said Makarov with a sad look in his eyes as he looked back at his grandson who was clearly still in pain over it. "You know that I had to do that not only for you, but also for the wellbeing of Fairy Tail." he finished with a sigh.

"And I have to completely disagree with you on that one Grandpa!" spat out Laxus as if it was an insult.

"Okay, I can see that this isn't going to go anywhere productive so why don't we talk about something else. Like why you aren't with the rest of them and trying to make a team with members closer to your age?" he asked with a hopeful look. He could tell that his grandson wanted to continue talking about how he believed kicking out his father was the wrong decision, but for some reason he decided to also move on from that as well.

"Why in the world would I want to work or hang out with any of those weaklings?" asked Laxus as he and Makarov looked over at the younger generation that was currently laughing along with Natsu about something he just told them.

"Laxus just because you're now an S-Class mage doesn't mean you're better than the rest of them and there are jobs out there that require you to have a team. Also I think it would be a good idea if you made a few friends here, which is something you can never have too many of." he answered with a smile.

"That's exactly what becoming an S-Class mage means, and I'll just pick jobs that don't need a team to accomplish since they would only get in my way. As for making friends I definitely don't need you of all people worrying about my personal life." stated Laxus as he continued to watch the members that were around his age or younger.

"Fine, if you don't want to make a team with any of them then how about forming a team with some of the older members?" he asked, hoping that he could get his grandson to open up just a little more. Because if he kept to himself like he currently was, Makarov knew that he would just become more detached from the guild and do who knows what.

Makarov expected his grandson to start yelling at him about how stupid of an idea that was, or maybe even storm away without a word. But the one thing he didn't expect to hear from him was actual laughter, which was exactly what he was hearing right now.

"Come on Grandpa; that is way worse than suggesting for me to form a team with those brats. At least the brats could possibly grow in strength and learn a thing or two from me, but the rest of the older members have already hit their prime. So I think I'm just fine with staying on my own for right now." he explained with a slight smirk on his face.

"Laxus my boy, the one thing I've learned while being the Master of Fairy Tail is that people are always ready to surprise you when you least expect it." stated Makarov with a small smile. Now wondering how he could try and get his grandson to be more involved with the rest of the guild, so that he would eventually see the truth to what he just said to him.

"Whatever Grandpa." he replied as both of their attention was drawn back to the group that was now drawing the rest of the guild's attention as well.

A few moments earlier with the younger generation of Fairy Tail:

"And after that I fell asleep and Igneel flew us back to our cave." finished Natsu with a big smile as he sat back down in his seat. That for the last few minutes was completely vacant since he was standing on the table for most of his story.

"That sounds like quite the day Natsu." replied Lisanna with a bright smile.

"No kidding, I don't think I would have been able to survive something like that." stated Cana as she shook her head back and forth.

"Too bad Flame Brain is just making all of it up." said Gray with a smug grin spread across his face.

"Are you calling me a liar Ice Princess?" asked Natsu in a loud voice as he now glared at the ice mage.

"That's exactly what I'm calling you Idiot, none of us even believe you were raised by a dragon. So why in the world would we believe anything else that you tell us that involves your made up father." he stated now just in his boxers and glaring right back at Natsu.

"Igneel's real you freaking Stripper!" growled out the dragon slayer, who wanted nothing more than to leap across the table and beat the shit out of Gray. The only reason he didn't do that right now was because of a certain red head sitting at the table with them, who made it very clear to him about her opinion on them constantly fighting with each other.

"Well let's take a quick vote and see what everyone else thinks about your stories Ash for Breath." suggested Gray, who also decided to not start fighting the fire mage for the same reason as him.

"Let's do that then, you believe me right Lisanna?" he asked turning to the little takeover mage sitting next to him.

"Yep!" she replied with a confident smile, which caused Natsu to smile right back at her.

"Well of course your girlfriend would side with you." stated Gray, causing a few of them to snicker at the two kids slightly blushing at his statement.

"They're not dating Gray, and I also believe Pinkie is completely full of crap." declared Mira as she glared at the Ice mage, who usually would be cowering from it. But he seemed too focused on his task of beating Natsu in their current argument.

"One to one Matchstick and I know that the rest are going to be on my side." said Gray with a confident smirk.

"We'll see Snowflake." replied Natsu as he turned to look at Elfman who was on the other side of Mira.

"Sorry Natsu, your stories are really fun and interesting but I'm with Mira-nee on this one." apologized the large boy wearing a suit and not being able to look the fire dragon slayer in eyes. This honestly shocked Natsu since he thought for sure that Elfman believed him since he would actually ask him questions when he told stories about his time with Igneel. But that didn't matter right now since he was still confident that everyone else believed him.

So turning to the next person he waited for their reply, which just so happened to be the brunette Cana Alberona. But just from a quick glance at her face he could already see that she too didn't believe that he was raised by a dragon before he was a member of Fairy Tail. "I'm with them on this one Natsu, because I'm fairly sure that if there was a dragon in the country we would have heard about it by now." she replied with sad smile, since she along with everyone else could see the hurt in his eyes already forming.

"What did I tell you Moron!" stated Gray with a slightly amused look on his face.

"Shut up Blockhead!" yelled Natsu as he glared at him, only to then turn to the next person and start waiting for their answer. Who unfortunately was Levy McGarden, one of the last people in the guild who would ever want to hurt Natsu after he's only ever been extremely nice to her since he joined.

"I think we should probably just stop this discussion and talk about something else." she replied in a shy voice, not liking all of them staring at her right now.

"It's okay Levy." he said with a bright smile, which only made the girl feel worse about all of this. Something that Erza easily picked up on and decided to try and end this before it got even worse than it already was.

"Levy's correct, we should probably talk about something else before someone's feelings gets hurt." stated Erza in her commanding voice, expecting that to be the end of it.

"Like hell we're going to stop while Gray's winning!" shouted Natsu, only to receive a deadly glare from the red head. But to everyone's surprise this didn't cause him to back down like it usually did when she stopped the two rivals from fighting.

"No Erza, I'm not going to let that asshole there disrespect Igneel by saying he doesn't exist when he does." he continued now glaring back at the knight sitting next to him.

"Natsu I said this discussion is over, so it's over and you are going to be punished for uttering such vulgar words in front of ladies." she declared while glaring right back at him.

"And who exactly made you the boss of us Tin Can? If Pinkie here wants to continue this conversation then that's completely up to him." stated Mira with a defiant smirk as Erza was now glaring at her.

"Someone has to, so why don't you go somewhere else you Skank." she hissed back while clenching her fists in anger.

"Bring it Red, I'm just glad to see that I'm no longer the only one who won't be pushed around by you." replied Mira still smirking.

"Oh you're so on!" she shouted back while drawing her sword, but before the two could clash with each other a small explosion of flames erupted in front of Natsu.

"You two can fight each other after we're done here." he declared while still looking at Levy. Everyone else was completely shocked that he did something like that, because up till now the only person that could stop the two was Lisanna. And she used her cuteness to do it, making most of them now extremely afraid for the well-being of their pink haired fire mage.

"I'm okay with that are you?" replied Mira after a little chuckle, now looking at Erza with an expression that just begged for the re-equip mage to disagree. And if she did it would mean that Mira won this round in their rivalry to see which one of them was better.

"Of course I am." she answered through clenched teeth with a forced smile. This once again brought all of the attention back to poor little Levy, who knew that there was now no chance of her getting out of answering this one anymore.

"Sorry, but I don't believe you either Natsu." she whispered out, knowing that he would be hurt by that.

"But it's not because of you, it's due to no one else ever seeing one of them for years now." she explained, hoping that it would make him feel a little better, which it didn't.

"What about you two?" asked Natsu in a dull tone as he looked at Jet and Droy, who for some reason believed that they would be forgotten if they just kept their heads down. Seeing that they couldn't sneak past it, they both just nodded their heads no at his question and decided to keep their heads down once again.

"Looks like I'm right Pinkie." said Gray in a smug tone.

"There's still one more person." he stated as he turned to look at Erza with an expectant look. He was hoping that she would believe him since she was the one to help fill in the gaps on his education that Igneel didn't have time to properly teach him about.

"Natsu it doesn't matter anymore." she replied, not liking the completely blank look he had on his face right now.

"Yes it does, so do you also believe I'm lying about Igneel, Erza?" he asked her as his onyx eyes locked with her chocolate ones.

"I believe that you believe you were raised by a dragon." she replied, instantly regretting it as a completely devastated look came over his face. That only became worse as Gray burst into laughter at finally beating his rival in something and he only stopped because of the glare Erza sent his way.

"Does everyone besides Lisanna think I'm lying about Igneel?" asked Natsu as he looked around the guild, knowing full well that most of them had started to listen in on their conversation a while ago. Most of them tried to play it off as if they weren't listening and didn't hear him, which was more than enough to let him know that they didn't believe him either.

"That would be a yes Numskull, so why don't you do us all a favor and stop telling us lies." stated their resident ice mage and stripper. But rather than getting an angry response like he expected from his rival, all Natsu did was lower his head and remain quiet.

"Gray that's enough, and I would love to hear more of your stories Natsu." said Lisanna as she glared at Gray and then looked back at Natsu with an encouraging smile. That he couldn't see due to his hair obscuring his vision of her at the moment.

"I'd also like to still hear them." stated Elfman, since he really did enjoy them even if he didn't believe all the crazy things that happened to Natsu in them. But this still didn't get a response out of their usually hyperactive dragon slayer, all he did was raise his hands and quickly wipe something away from his eyes before turning away from all of them.

"Are you actually crying?" asked Gray in complete disbelief since he had never been able to get him to do that in any of their fights before this.

"No I'm not!" shouted back Natsu as his voice wavered just a little bit, signaling to most of them that we was most likely about to start crying soon if he already wasn't.

"Awe that's so cutie that you're crying over all of this." said Mira as she smiled at his back, not caring about the glare she was getting from Erza at the moment.

"Mira-nee!" yelled Lisanna as she hit her sister, knowing that Natsu definitely didn't need her sister making this worse for him.

"It's fine Lisanna, and you were wrong Gramps." he replied before hustling out of the guild before anyone could try and stop him.

"You're all idiots." declared Lisanna as she turned back to the table and had a glare that rivaled Erza and her sister's. Needless to say this shocked the whole guild way more than Natsu not getting into a fight with Gray, because none of them have ever heard her say anything like that to any of them before or glare at them like she currently was.

"Why, because we decided to finally call Flame Brain on him lying to us?" asked Gray in an angry tone, only for him to start cowering before Mira glaring at him just daring him to continue.

"I'd also like to know why you just called all of us that?" asked Mira as she turned to look at her little sister.

"Because you all just told Natsu that the only father he had while growing up was just made up by him. And to make matters worse you decided to do that on today of all days, I just hope he decides to come back." she replied with a frown.

"Wait, why is today so important and why wouldn't he come back?" asked Erza now with a very concerned look on her face.

"You all really don't know why today is important to him?" she asked and only received all of them shaking their heads no at her.

"A year ago from today is when Igneel went missing and left Natsu all alone, and that's why I was happy to listen to him tell us all about some fond memories he had before that happened." she finished with her frown having only gotten bigger since she started to explain it to them. Most of them were now regretting that they had this discussion on today of all days, not that it would have been any easier for the dragon slayer on a different day.

"But why wouldn't he come back?" asked Levy with a sad look on her face, already starting to blame herself for not believing in him about Igneel.

"Would you want to come back to a place where they all think you're a liar?" she asked while getting out of her chair and heading to the bar.

"We need to go and find him right away and apologize." declared Erza, with most of the other kids following suit. Gray fell in line after a quick glare from her, and surprisingly Mira didn't need to be convinced at all which couldn't be said for her little sister. This was something that shocked all of them after realizing that little fact.

"Aren't you going to join us Lisanna?" asked Mira as she came up to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Nope." she replied, stunning them even more than they already were.

"And I'm saying that not because I don't want to find him, but because I know that it's going to be pointless. He lived out in the wild until he came here, so even if Igneel doesn't exist, it would mean he knows how to survive out there and not be found if he doesn't want to be." she explained, causing most of them to return to their seats with frowns.

"Gray he better return or you'll regret it for the rest of your life that you started all of this." declared Erza before storming out of the guild to most likely go and look for the dragon slayer.

"He'll come back, won't he Master?" asked Levy quietly, hoping to not be heard by anyone but him.

"I have faith that he'll return to us, and so should everyone else." he answered with a smile, only for Laxus to scoff loudly at him.

"Do you have something to say about all of this Laxus?" he asked while turning to look at him.

"Actually I do, if you plan to just keep sitting around like you have been this whole time then you might as well get used to that brat not being here anymore. I'm kind of surprised that he's lasted this long, not many people could deal with Gray constantly harassing them. And let's not forget the illogical beatings he gets from Erza or Mira just having fun messing with him when she knows he still hasn't learned how most things work in the civilized world." replied Laxus in a loud voice so everyone could hear him.

"I'm surprised that you know that much about what's going on around here." he stated with a surprised look on his elderly face.

"I'd have to be blind and deaf to not notice all of that." stated Laxus with a small grin.

"So I'm guessing that you believe you know what to do in a situation like this?" asked Makarov as a small idea started to form in his mind. And he believed that Natsu was definitely the correct kid for the job, for multiple reasons with the main one being that his happiness was infectious.

This initially caught the blonde off guard, but he quickly recovered and started to come up with a plan of his own. "I do, that brat just needs someone to take an active interest in him and teach him a thing or two that he'd never learn on his own." he answered with a confident smirk.

"Interesting, but how would we measure the success of your plan for Natsu other than him staying here? Something that I'm already confident he'll do on his own even if we don't do anything after what happened here today." replied Makarov with his own confident smirk, knowing that it would help push Laxus the way he wanted him to go.

"Easy, we can measure this by what rank he reaches after a certain amount of time." he suggested, now trying to come up with an answer to the next question that he was positive his grandpa would ask him next.

"Indeed that would suffice for a form of measurement, so the only really big questions felt to answer right now are who would be the perfect mentor for a child as hyper as Natsu. And also what rank are they supposed to get him to and how long do they have to complete that task?" asked Makarov as he put on a thoughtful expression and started to stroke his mustache.

"I got it; we'll have Erza start teaching him how to become an A-Class mage. And I think she'll be able to accomplish that within the next three years." he said while snapping his fingers and looking back at his grandson with a huge smile.

"Anyone could do that, I'm betting he'll be able to do that by himself within that amount of time." stated Laxus after scoffing at his grandfather's suggestion.

"Then let me hear who you think could do a better job than Erza?" he asked, while trying to hide the fact that he was happy the conversation was going this way. Something that he was finding harder to do with each passing second as Laxus contemplated his options, and eventually coming to a realization that he at the moment was having a hard time dealing with.

"I've got just the person in mind." replied the lightning mage after a few more seconds of contemplation as a sly grin spread across his face.

"And not only will they be able to make that flaming idiot into an S-Class mage, but they'll also be able to do it by the third S-Class exam from now." he stated while still grinning and slowly getting up from the bar.

"You do realize that's less than three years?" pointed out Makarov with a skeptical look on his face.

"Of course I do, which just shows you how confident I am in this person's abilities." he replied as he did a few little stretches.

"And who exactly are you talking about Laxus?" asked Makarov, already knowing the only person Laxus currently had that much faith in.

"Myself of course, oh and we're definitely going to have to come up with some sort of wager to make this even more interesting." he answered while heading towards the exit.

"Why don't we just do that right now?" asked Makarov, honestly surprised that his grandson didn't want to work out these last details right now.

"I would love to Grandpa, but first I have to make sure that I don't lose this little bet of ours before it's even started." he stated now standing at the door.

"You're not going to be able to find him." stated Lisanna with a frown, only picking up on the fact that Laxus was going to be looking for Natsu for some reason.

"If I was an ordinary mage you'd probably be right, but I'm anything but ordinary." he replied with a smirk before exiting out of the door the next second.

"Master what did he mean by that?" asked Mira in a demanding tone.

"And why is he going to look for Natsu?" asked Lisanna, clearly concerned for their pink haired dragon slayer since he didn't really get along that well with Laxus.

"Mira that is just Laxus being his usual smug self, and don't worry Lisanna, he's only trying to find Natsu so he can start training with him." he answered, causing both girls to have shocked expressions come over their faces. Something that happened to everyone else that was eavesdropping in on their conversation as well.

"You can't be serious!" shouted both girls together. One because she was concerned for her pink haired friend, while the other one was imagining how strong the kid she kept calling Pinkie would become with Laxus as his mentor.

"I am, which should definitely shake things up around here." he responded with a smirk before taking a large swig from his mug. He felt that he earned it if things end up going like he expected them to after this surprising team up.

With Natsu in the middle of the woods:

"Just a bunch of jerks!" he shouted while punching through a tree.

"How dare they think I made you up Igneel, FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" he bellowed, reducing a large line of trees in front of him to smoldering stumps. This left him a panting mess as he looked at the large chunk of the forest that he destroyed while blowing off some steam.

"I'm surprised you found me." he stated while slumping down next to a stump and leaning against it.

"Did you come here to also call me a liar and tell me Igneel doesn't exist?" he asked with an upset scowl coming over his face.

"Actually I came here to tell you to not listen to those idiots, most of them don't have even the faintest clue of how huge and crazy the world is out there." replied Laxus as he slowly came out from behind one of the few trees left standing.

"So you believe me about Igneel?" asked Natsu with a hopeful expression.

"I do, it would kind of be pretty hypocritical of me to not believe in the creature responsible for me even having magic." he answered with a little chuckle as he leaned up against the tree he used to be hiding behind.

"Hypocritical?" asked Natsu with a confused look, clearly not knowing what the word.

This caused Laxus to shake his head and start wondering if he could actually turn the kid into an S-Class mage like he claimed. But then he remembered what he noticed Natsu doing during some of the guild brawls, which was being able to use all of the chaos to his advantage and even prolong the brawl like the boy wanted.

"It basically means stupid in the instance that I used it in." he explained, glad to see Natsu absorb this information and realize something else that was definitely more important.

"Wait, are you saying that a dragon trained you also? And is that why I thought you always smelled somewhat familiar?" he asked jumping to his feet and rushing over to the teen excitedly.

"No a dragon didn't raise me, but I did have one of their lacrimas implanted in me when I was younger. And that's probably why I smell similar to you, oh and smelling people is not a normal thing for people to do since they don't have noses like we do." replied Laxus with a smirk as Natsu's eyes showed how excited he was right now.

"I knew it, I can't wait to rub it in all of their faces!" he declared, while starting to imagine the look on Gray's face after hearing this.

"Sorry Natsu but you can't tell anyone about me being a dragon slayer like you." stated Laxus with a stern look directed at the younger dragon slayer, who now no longer had the excited expression he had on earlier.

"Why not, this would prove that I'm not lying?" he asked while glaring up at Laxus.

"Because Master Makarov said I have to keep it a secret and he'll probably be upset if he ever finds out that I told you." answered Laxus still looking at Natsu with the same look as before.

"Then why did you even tell me?" asked Natsu with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"So that you'd trust me when I told you that believe you were raised by Igneel. Also I was hoping that it would make you more open to the suggestion I have for you." he replied, noticing that Natsu was still a little hesitant of him. Something that he was glad to see, since it meant that the kid had good instincts and wouldn't trust someone just because they were saying something he wanted to hear.

"And what are you suggesting?" asked Natsu, finding it odd that Laxus of all people was coming to him and trying to help. Not because he disliked the teen or anything like that, but because since he joined the guild all he could tell about the blonde was that he only cared about himself and thought he was better than the rest.

"How would you like to train under me and eventually become an S-Class mage?" he responded, smirking when he saw Natsu's eye brighten at the idea of becoming an S-Class mage. But it was then quickly replaced by a skeptical look as the pink haired boy started to inspect him for some kind of trap.

"What do you get out of training me?" asked the pink haired boy after not being able to come up with any good reason why the lightning mage would even consider doing this. After hearing this Laxus couldn't help but start chuckling, which caused Natsu to lose his cool and try striking the teen that found his question amusing. Of course the next thing Natsu knew he was a twitching mess and now on the other side of the clearing he made before Laxus showed up.

"You're smarter than everyone gives you credit for Natsu, which is why I was chuckling. As for why I would help you and start training you, I'm not going to try and lie to you since you would easily see through it. I want to prove Makarov wrong and show him that I know what I'm talking about and to do that I need to turn you into an S-Class mage within the next three S-Class exams." answered Laxus as he walked towards Natsu.

"Is that the only reason?" he asked once Laxus was now standing over him.

"That's the main reason, but it also wouldn't be bad to see you put those other annoying brats in their place. And the last reason is that I see something in you kid, with a little help I'm confident that you'll become one of the strongest mages to come out of Fairy Tail, trailing behind me of course." stated Laxus as he held out a hand for Natsu to pull himself up with.

"When do we start?" asked Natsu as he pulled himself up while grinning at his new teacher.

"Tomorrow, so make sure to be at the guild as soon as it opens." he replied with his own grin. Turning away from Natsu and heading off to his own place so he could start coming up with a training regimen for the hyperactive dragon slayer, who was currently right now dancing around in joy.

Outside the Dreyar residence early the next morning:

"Didn't I tell you to meet me at the guild?" asked Laxus as he exited the house's front door with a slight smirk. He expected Natsu to be extremely excited about starting to train with him, but he didn't think he'd be so happy that he would actually be waiting for him outside his place.

"You did, but I didn't want to wait that long for you to start training me. I can't wait to show that stripper how much better I am than him!" declared the young dragon slayer while thrusting a fist into the air.

"I can already see we're going to have to work on your patience more than I originally thought, and I know that for a fact you can already destroy Gray if you don't hold back." replied Laxus as he started to walk towards the guild with Natsu following next to him.

"But Gramps told me that if I wasn't careful I could really hurt someone." said the pink haired boy with a conflicted look coming across his face. Because it sounded like Laxus wanted him to no longer hold back when he fought Gray the next time, which would probably be the next time the two actually saw each other.

"The old man is correct since you going all out could easily destroy the whole guild, but that doesn't mean you can't show that ignorant Stripper how much stronger you are compared to him. So the next time he tries to get you to fight him I want you to tell him you'll only face him in a duel outside of the guildhall." he explained with a mischievous grin on his lips.

"And if he doesn't accept I expect you to ignore all of his taunts and don't engage him, which will work as a good way to show me how serious you are about all of this." he finished while looking at the angry fire dragon glaring back up at him.

"Why can't I just hit him like I always do?" asked Natsu after thinking about it for a little bit on his own.

"Because each time that you let your emotions control your actions it's just setting you up for failure." he answered with a slight frown since it was a really hard lesson for him to learn when he was Natsu's age. But boy did his dad make sure that he learned that lesson the hard way, even going so far as to teach him how to be the one making his opponents attacking in a fit of anger. Something that he was apparently very skilled at when it came to Erza and Mira, all he really had to do was call them weak girls and the next second they would most likely be charging him blindly.

"But Igneel told me that my magic is connected to my emotions." stated Natsu, wanting his new teacher to explain himself for going against what Igneel told him.

"Okay Natsu, I'm guessing that Igneel is completely correct about that since he definitely knows more about your magic than I do. But I'm guessing that he would also agree with me on not letting those emotions completely determine what you do next. You need to be able to control them and then focus them in a productive and smarter way than just charging in blindly like you're known to do." elaborated Laxus, hoping that his new protégé was at least understanding a little bit of this.

"I don't get it completely…" he started with his face scrunched up in a thoughtful expression, almost causing Laxus to smack himself in the face right then and there.

"But you're saying that I shouldn't attack right away and wait until later to pay them back for making me angry." he finished with a hopeful look on his face now, which caused Laxus to let out a little chuckle.

"That will work for today I guess and that is basically what I was getting at. So what are you going to do if Gray starts calling you those idiotic names like he usually does?" asked Laxus since they were getting closer to the guild by the second.

"I'm going to ignore him and tell him if he wants to fight me we have to do it outside so I don't have to hold back!" he answered with his usual grin.

"That's what I wanted to hear, but you should probably skip the part about no longer holding back. I'm confident that Makarov will tell you not to so Gray doesn't get too hurt, now what are you going to do if he calls you a baby for crying over your dragon that doesn't even exist?" asked the blonde lightning mage, only to jump back from a now angry Natsu covered in flames.

"I'm going to smash his face through the guilds wall." declared the little pyro with a scowl that showed off his fangs. But the next second he screamed out in pain as he was struck by Laxus' lightning covered fist that smacked him into the ground.

"That's what I was talking about Natsu, you can't just let your emotions distract you which could allow someone like me get the drop on you like that. Also if you do go ahead and just attack him even after he says something like that, I will no longer help you in your training." stated Laxus with a stern look sent at the boy now rubbing his bruised head.

"Fine, Erza would probably stop me anyways." he mumbled while still rubbing his head with a frown on his face.

"She would wouldn't she, actually I bet if you beat up Gray in your duel I'm confident she'll attack you to try and teach you a lesson of some sort. Kind of very hypocritical of her if you ask me." said Laxus as another plan started to form in his mind.

"It is stupid of her, I mean she's always telling me to stop fighting but then she goes and does that with Mira all the time." replied Natsu with a slightly angry look washing over his face. His comment made Laxus chuckle again to himself and made him realize that he might actually enjoy hanging out with the boy more often like he was soon going to be doing on a regular basis.

"I am definitely going to have a lot of work ahead of me when it comes to you and your vocabulary." he said as a look of horror came over Natsu, as the poor boy was remembering how his lessons with Erza went.

"Luckily for you that can wait until after I've trained you so hard you can barely stand. But before we do any of that we need to let Erza and the rest of the guild know that you aren't going to be pushed around by any of them anymore." stated the blonde with a grin that Natsu was soon replicating.

"And how am I going to do that?" asked Natsu while coming to a stop next to Laxus, who decided to stop so no one from the guild could accidentally listen in on their plans.

"If she does happen to attack you after you beat Gray, then you're just going to have to do the same thing you did to Gray to her." he answered as if it was the most obvious solution out there.

"But she's faster than me, I can never land a hit on her." pointed out Natsu with a slight frown, never being someone to actually admit that someone was stronger or better than him.

"For now that is, but you are correct about that being a problem." he said while scratching his chin and humming to himself for a little bit.

"Got it, what is one of Erza's major disadvantages?" he asked only to look at Natsu who had a completely clueless look on his face.

"She barely has any ranged moves, and the ones that she does have you can easily dodge. So you're going to beat her with a ranged move, like that dragon's roar I saw you do yesterday." he finished with a smug look.

"I usually prefer using my fists but I guess that could work." replied Natsu with a bright smile coming over his face only for it to quickly change into a frown.

"But I could really hurt her with my roar if I'm not careful." he pointed out.

"So what, it's not like she hasn't hurt you countless times before. Also she will have no right to attack you if all you did was just beat Gray in your duel, so Makarov can't punish you either for defending yourself. If anything this will just point out how bad he's been handling your whole situation since joining the guild." said Laxus with a really excited look in his eye, glad to have another thing to rub in his grandfather's face.

"Are you sure I won't get into trouble with Gramps?" asked Natsu, clearly still not on board with this whole using his roar on Erza.

"Positive, and if he tries to punish you I won't let him since like I just said you aren't doing anything wrong and are just protecting yourself." he finished with serious expression. But he could tell that Natsu was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of hurting Erza for some reason, so he decided to go about it a little different.

"Okay Natsu, if you are that afraid of hurting her then just stop your roar after it just hits her. You can do that right?" he asked, only for the little pink haired boy to be glaring up at him.

"Of course I can!" shouted Natsu while still glaring at Laxus.

"Good, now let's go to the guild and see how long it takes for that Popsicle to start all of this." declared Laxus he started to head towards the guild again with Natsu following right beside him.

Neither of them knew that their choices over these two days would change their lives in unexpected ways that even Makarov couldn't have predicted. Changes that would affect the guild's daily life in a few drastic ways, that some of the members would view as positive while the others didn't. And those that didn't would almost be willing to do anything to change it back to how it was before that fated day of July 7th X778.

End of Chapter

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading this story and giving it a chance. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now I would also like to give a shout out to a story that used to be on here that inspired me to write a story with Laxus taking Natsu under his wing. I think it used to be called Firebolt, but once again I don't know since I'm fairly sure that it was taken down for some reason. So on to the part where I ask your input on a few key details of this story, such as who do you think should be paired up with Natsu and would you even like to see a Laxus pairing. And if so, who would you like to see him paired with? Also I was planning on having it where the two both have an effect on the other's personality, like Laxus not being as distant as he is in canon. And Natsu not being as care free or idiotic as he usually is, with of course him being a lot stronger or at least acknowledged for his strength. Well those are my thoughts on this little story of mine, so feel free like always to send me a review or pm and I'll send one back to you as soon as I can.

Oh and if you would like me to update faster or possibly start a new story I have information about my page that I set up on my profile page.

Until the next Chapter

Digem Out!