Hiya! Yeah, I know, another story to add on to my plate, but I just couldn't shake the idea! I really liked the idea and I wanted to give it a go, plus I want to toy with the idea of Natsu just faking his personality and all that. His past will come in later on, but it's going to be a different one from the recent manga chapters, so there's hopefully not going to be any manga spoilers in here, but if there is, I'll try to put out a warning and all that. Anyway, please tell me what you guys think in the reviews, I'll love to hear your lovely thoughts! Please leave a review and favorite! Farewell and Enjoy!

-Let there be midnight

Fairy Tail is not owned by me or in my possession, Hiro Mashima has all rights

What's Inside the Doll?

Words Bring Us Out

He isn't oblivious, he's quite the opposite actually. He notices the little twitching of the fingers when someone is nervous, the averted eyes and hidden smiles or frowns or tears. He notices the drooping of shoulders, the tensing of muscles, and the curling of fingers. He even notices how people walk, how they talk, how they laugh and breath he notices everything even the slightest changes, but he doesn't let it be known that he does.

Everyone thinks he notices nothing, that he's oblivious, naïve, and just about everything in-between, but really he's just an actor. He's so good, no one knows who he truly is, they just see the character he has built up over the years. He's the best actor, better than the actors ever known because every mannerism he shows, is not of his own. He built them up carefully, he crafted them into perfection that even the best detective wouldn't be able to notice that it is all fake. He's like a doll maker that lives in his best creation. What people see, hear, and feel is all his doll while he's really the one on the inside making the magic work.

He even pretends to sleep. In all actuality, he sleeps maybe, at most, three to four hours on a good night. He's always been like that, never needing too much sleep. He's even so good at pretending he could pretend to fall asleep in front of people, snoring and all that when he's just listening in. Never know when you're missing out on stuff when you're sleeping, and he doesn't like not knowing.

The fights between him and Gray are even staged by him. He honestly could care less to fight him, but that was just a part of the fake Natsu's behavior. A well-crafted character needs their own quirks even though they may not suit the writer in his or her own right.

The only thing even being remotely close to the real him is the search for Igneel, but the light died in him years ago, the hope and want. It all dwindled out because he felt like there was nothing of him to love. The last Igneel has seen of him, he was different. He was half of the truth, but now he's all lies. His guild mates don't love him. Well, at least they don't love his true self. They've never seen it. They loved his lies. The lies he has been feeding them without their knowledge. He's been spoon feeding them ever since he came across Makarov Dreyer years ago. It's a curse to be such a good actor.

The reason why he lies and why he acts and why he's not truly him is because he never liked people knowing who he was. He felt naked, felt like he was stripped of his skin and all his weaknesses was shown to the world before him.

In truth, the fake Natsu is more confident while the real Natsu likes to hide, even behind acts outside of the play.

It was always an act. His acts started to seem more normal to the point where he couldn't remember he was acting and he was just on auto pilot while his true self sat back and thought. He thought so much now-n-days, he could tell who was faking at any given moment and why they did certain things. He may not act like it, but he has managed to make himself wise, make himself see and not be blind. He has opened up his eyes, but the only thing that needs to be done is to show his true self.

But it's too late. It's too late to be who he actually is. The guild loves him to death, even other guilds love him and he's saved too many people with his false act that if he let it crumble even half way, people wouldn't like it and want his act back up. He wouldn't say anything, just do what they want and act like it was all just a joke, because maybe his life is just a joke.

A joke joke joke. He tells people that he doesn't remember about his past before Igneel, but he does. He painfully remembers. He remembers the fear, the always frantic heartbeat and taste of blood in his mouth. He remembers how his stomach always growled and grumbled and roar even when he slept and he just couldn't find enough food to feed him in a day.

He remembers the cold, the heat, the wetness, and the dryness. He remembers it all, but he does try not to remember. In the end though, something always brings up those horrid memories.

He just acts it away, and when he remembers he acts even harder just to forget again.

He didn't ever think that he'll ever be able to show his true self, well that is until a small botched spell screwed up everything. Suddenly his walls and his false act came crumbling down and it was just like his skin was torn from his body and all his weaknesses was shown before everyone in fake Natsu's guild.

"Wait, so what is this spell supposed to do?" Lucy asked as she and Levy looked over a little old book Levy had found just earlier that morning.

"It's not a spell Lu-chan, or at least I don't think it is?" Levy screwed up her nose and shifted her reading glasses further up her nose as she leaned in towards the book to get a closer look. "Oh wait, no, you're right. It's a spell." Levy said with a nod.

"What does it do?" Lucy repeated, looking at her friend. Levy pursed her lips just slightly as she tapped her foot gently against the ground in thought, rereading the words over and over in her head just so she knew she got them right and she understood them hopefully perfectly.

"It's supposed to unleash hidden mannerisms, I believe." Levy said, Lucy leaning curiously.

"Hidden mannerisms…" Lucy muttered under her breath as they both leaned back and looked at each other, blinking before a mischievous smile spread over Lucy's lips. "Hey, we should try it on Natsu to see if he has some hidden characteristics! Maybe he actually can talk properly and remember stuff, but just says he forgets it just to get out of trouble!" Lucy said, getting more excited by the thought of it as she put a hand on her chin and nodded her head. Levy awkwardly laughed beside her, wondering what else was going through her blonde friend's mind.

"Um… I dunno Lu-chan…" Levy said, trailing off as Lucy looked towards her in an almost pleading way, bringing out her biggest puppy dog eyes that Levy knew she couldn't resist. She was a sucker for those things. "Fine! We'll do it! But you're the one who reads it!" Levy pouted, pushing the book in her direction and crossing her arms. Lucy beamed happily, taking the book and setting it out in front of her as she read the words of the spell in her head a few times.

"So do I just put Natsu's name at the end?" she asked, Levy nodding her head as they both glanced in the direction of the said pink haired teen who was currently in a fight with Gray, both of them tugging at the other's hair with one hand and throwing punches with the other.

"Yup." Levy said, both looking back down to the page.

"Alright, here goes nothing!" Lucy said in excitement. "Adis opiml crotum rishmil lifor waqima del oia erdmbe: Natsu Dragneel." They both glanced up in time to see Natsu engulfed in a bright light for a second before it disappeared. Everyone's eyes in the guild transferred to Natsu, wondering what the light was about just to see Natsu's hand drop from Gray's hair and take a step back, blinking up at the slightly taller mage with a different type of look in his eyes. He looked around suddenly, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion, the corner of his mouth being chewed on by his sharp canines. This drew everyone's curiosity in even more since they never saw such an expression on his face before, or him to even stop fighting with Gray.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy yelled, wanting to know if this was just Natsu in a total state of confusion or if it was something more. Natsu looked over at her and tilted his head just slightly, but otherwise stayed where he was.

"Why did you stop fighting Gray?" she asked innocently. Natsu glanced towards the raven haired teen for a second, then back to Lucy.

"Because I don't like fighting him." he said in a softer tone of voice, quieter and just different from his usual one. Without answering anymore questions, Natsu started to walk towards the door with a fast pace, not looking at anyone as he walked.

Lucy didn't think she was seeing right, but even the way Natsu was walking wasn't how he walked. He walked with a straight back and his arms barely swung at his side and how he glided across the floor with ease wasn't something she normally saw from him. Everything was suddenly strange and she didn't know for sure that if that spell was a good or bad thing.

Looking over at Levy, the blue haired girl seemed to mirror her thoughts.