I don't own Fairy Tail. I don't own the characters.

For those of you reading my other current story, don't worry. I'm working on finishing it. I felt like I needed to start this story though.

This is strictly a Natsu x Mira fanfic. Haven't decided yet if there will be lemons, though I'm not ruling it out.

~During the final battle with Alvarez~

"No!" Natsu watched as the powerful mage, August, barreled through his comrades mercilessly. One after another they were thrown down. The fire dragon slayer attacked again, only to be thrown back again by the powerful mage, taking heavy damage despite dodging the brunt of the attack.

Feeling helpless before the enemy, a new emotion began to well up inside him. It wasn't anger. He'd been angry many times before, but the man before him had attained powerful magic that he would only use to hurt people.

No. This wasn't anger. It was something far more deadly. Something far more powerful. The dragon slayer was feeling pure, unadulterated, rage.

Suddenly his appearance changed. His face became longer, his chin narrower. Scales appeared on his forehead and face, and horns sprouted from the side of his head, spiraling upward. His fingers warped and changed, becoming armored digits ending in long, deadly claws. A line of sharp ridges. His eyes burned a bright orange color, and his magic aura pressure increased tenfold.

The others watched in shock as the suddenly different dragon slayer turned toward the attacking armies.

"You have angered me…" His voice was different. Deep, devilish, and the very tones seemed to contain immense power. "Now you will suffer the consequences."

In the moments that followed, everyone looked on in shock as he lashed out with a fiery claw, knocking the powerful mage several hundred yards back through the enemy forces.

He then proceeded to go on a rampage, mutilating and destroying the enemy battalions in his battle with August. By the time it was over, not only August, but the whole battalion had been taken out. Many were dead.

Then he rounded on Fairy Tail.

Inside, Natsu didn't know what happened, but he knew that if he didn't somehow get control back this thing that he had become could hurt Fairy Tail. He fought desperately for control, and somehow gained it just before the charging etherious reached the guild's ranks.

~A month later, at the guild~

"Hey Gray, fight me!" Natsu tried again boisterously. He'd been at it every day for the last 30 days.

"Leave me alone, demon boy." The ice mage turned away from him.

"Come on Laxus, let's rumble!"

"Not interested."

"Lucy, let's go on a quest!" He sat next to the blonde mage.

"Uh, no thanks Natsu…" Lucy scooted away from the boisterous dragon slayer. "I'm going on a quest later with Erza."

Natsu went and sat at the bar, his head down. That's my boy. Think of the future, and that shall become your will to live… Igneel's words rang in his ear.

What future? He asked himself. Most traces of his transformation had disappeared, but scaly patches on his face and forehead remained, a permanent reminder of the demon within him. Everyone in the guild hated him now. No one would fight him, go on quests with him, or even look at him directly.

"Hello Natsu," a sweet, gentle voice said next to him.

"Mira!" Natsu looked up. The beautiful mage was the only one who would talk to him. Even Elfman and Lisanna kept their distance, their former friendship forgotten.

"You look sad," Mira said, smiling at him. "It's not like you."

Natsu forced his biggest smile. "Why would I be sad?" He asked. "I'm right here, in this great guild, with all my wonderful friends…" A tear came to his eyes.

"Oh Natsu…" Mira hugged the dragon slayer tightly, looking out with a scowl around the guild. Only a month ago Natsu had been the heart of the guild. Everyone had loved him – been inspired by him. Hell, half the people in the guild had been saved by him at one point or another. But since the appearance of E.N.D., they treated him like an outcast.

"Natsu," Mira said, "How would you like to go on a training journey, just you and me?"

"Training journey?"

Mira nodded. "You aren't E.N.D., Natsu… sure, the demon is inside you, but I have a demon inside me too. I think you need to learn take over magic."

Natsu looked at her, still surprised. "You think I can?"

Mira nodded. "I first discovered take over magic when I acquired the powers of a demon. My village shunned me because of it. That's actually how I ended up at Fairy Tail. The master taught me how to control my take over magic." She smiled. "Now I want to do the same for you."

"Thanks Mira," the dragon slayer hugged her tightly. "You're such a good friend!"

I want to be more than that… Mira thought. She didn't know exactly when it happened, but at some point her heart had been given to the boisterous dragon slayer who cared so much for his comrades.

"Natsu," she said aloud. "This will be very difficult. In order to master take over, you have to train your power as high as the demon you want to take over."

"So I'll have to become stronger than E.N.D.?" Natsu said.

Mira nodded. "While learning take over magic. Do you think you can do that?"

"I'm all fired up!" He hugged Mira tightly, and she blushed a little as her breasts pressed against his finely muscled chest.

"I was beginning to think I'd never hear you say that again," she said, smiling at the dragon slayer.

"So when do we leave?"

"After everyone goes home for the day," Mira said. "No need to announce our departure to everyone."

The next morning when Makarov came in, he found a note pinned to his usual place at the bar. Picking it up, he read:

Master Makarov,

Natsu and I are going on an extended training quest. We probably won't be back for a long time, so don't look for us. Give the guild my regards,

Mira.

Shortly after he finished reading the note, Elfman and Lisanna came in.

"Master," Elfman said. "Mira never came home last night. Did she go on a request?"

Without a word, Makarov handed him the note.

"Take care of each other, my children," he murmured. "And don't forget, wherever you go, you're still Fairy Tail mages."