Title: Always, Forever, Eternity

Rating: T

Genre: Romance. Fantasy.

Disclaimer applied. I zodious, do not own Fairy Tail.

Summary: After one thousand years of loneliness, Natsu Dragneel finally finds his mate. Only thing is, she's human and worse, she's a kid. A four year old kid.

Warning: Alternative Universe. Out of Characterness. It's a different universe and it's not meant to be humorous but I'll try a thing or two just don't expect anything. This is a slightly more mature Natsu^^ Probability of cursing. Very high probability of multiple characters being attracted to Lucy in future chapters.

Chapter 1

Finally

With a quick sniff of smoke, an exhale of air and a movement of his shoulders, another sigh of sadness slid heavily from his lips. When his hand ran through the pink locks of hair, his eyes drifted closed, inhaling the scent one final time.

Smoke. The holes of his nose broadened. Thick, clouds of smoke. Another harsh intake. The smoke was everywhere, permeating the destroyed village, strangling the remaining bricks of houses, flicking harshly against shredded bodies, caressing the liquid of red and swimming violently within the mist of silence.

And he sighed. He sighed with agitation at his failure. They were too late. Then his hands were folding, knuckles drawing blood as they clenched tightly.

Another waft of the wind swept across the land, mingling with his exposed chest, white trousers and black waistcoat stained with the blood of the woman who had asked for his help.

"Please save them…please save her…"

And his eyes snapped shut, teeth gritting against the other, face constricting and jaw tightening even more.

A scowl harshly tugged at his face as he disappeared calmly into the cloak of smoke.

Taking a few steps forward, he paused again, whiffing in the air one last time. This time he sniffed harsher, harder and he sighed again, continuing his walk.

Nothing.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, wind dragging lazily into his hair and then another scent abruptly crashed into him.

Natsu's eyes widened slightly, surprise and this time he inhaled deeply. This time there was something else there besides the threat of death, destruction and smoke. It was an appealing scent. One he had never sensed before. One he had never smelt. It smelt…

Of vanilla, of flowers, of beauty, of him and…and of innocence, of tears…of pain.

He growled lowly, intensifying his speed. It was close and he sniffed again, eyes coldly scanning the place. This scent. Then his eyes widened in realization. It was her.

She was here and his heart thumped again in anticipation. If she was here then she could be hurt. His mate could be hurt and he growled again, eyes flashing red for a moment before he began running, dashing through the place and ignoring how the smoke seemed to darkened with each step he took.

Repetitively, his heart thumped furiously against his chest.

I'm coming.

His fists tightened.

I'm coming.

Again, he was harshly gritting his teeth.

I'm coming.

And he stopped, dirt riling up at the unanticipated halt in movements.

For a moment, he felt his breathing become heavier than before and he searched frantically, hurling through the broken pieces of furniture, of wood then through the mist of the smoke he saw it.

Something small.

A shadow of a small body with flowing short hair, a small dress, tiny legs, tiny feet and his heart thrashed again.

Someone had survived but most of all that scent that seemed to command his every senses were coming from the small shadow.

The pink haired male tilted his head, frowning before taking a hesitant step forward.

When he reached the smoke, the first thing he noticed was that the tiny person was exceptionally small. The second thing he noticed was that this tiny person was in fact female. A female with blonde hair whose head laid buried towards the ground, hands covering her eyes. The third thing he noticed was that she was nothing more than a mere child. His heart tugged but the most impactful of them all was the fourth thing he noticed and that was the scent of tears.

The child was crying.

Another twirled of his heart.

This scent was coming from her but how-how? This scent, this was the scent of his mate and his mate. Was his mate supposed to be a child? Pushing the thought aside at the intensifying of her cries, he realized that those questions would have to wait. Right now, this kid had probably been traumatized. He could only imagine the horrors of what she had went through.

Hesitantly, he took a small step forward, hoping that she wouldn't freak out at the sight of him. Hopefully she wouldn't be startle too much that she would run, thinking of him as the enemy.

He was conflicted on what to do. He wasn't very good with these things. There was never a need to comfort anyone nevertheless a child. He wasn't too sure if he should hold her and this urge. This urge was unbearable. He wanted- no craved to hold the child but he was afraid that he would startle her or worse break her.

How could something so innocent be stained like that?

Another thumped of the heart.

And it hit him.

For the first time in his life, Natsu Dragneel found himself thoroughly confuse.

He didn't know what to do and he took another step forward, watching her closely as her sobs filled the air.

Then he gritted his teeth at the rising of her heartbeat, the raising of her shattered voice, the intensity of these vicious cries. He didn't like this.

The sounds of her despair, of her agony. Probably the screams of help.

She…She…

He didn't like this one bit and for some reason he felt a trigger of anger. Anger at who ever had done this. To his mate. Anger at himself for not coming in time. Damn it, he should have been here.

He growled lowly, unaware that the thing had slipped with an animalistic nature from his throat and he froze, noticing her hands had lowered, cupping her face gently, and she was peeking through blonde spikes of hair, revealing the most fascinating chocolate orbs he had ever seen.

Momentarily, he was captivated by the beauty of it then he saw the girl tremble, taking a step away from him. She seemed to break even more, body tearing through an abundance of earthquakes; shaking furiously, and the tears were large, big, slippery, transparent and drowning her face. Again, despite the state she was in he was in awe. The child was beautiful.

His lips parted to say something, anything but she drew further away, taking a bunch of nervous steps. "P-please…stay back." Her voice was wobbly and broken and the tears erupted even more.

Smiling gently, he outstretched a hand. "I'm not going to hurt you, kid."

Shaking her head, she continued to take more steps away, murmuring, "Please…" And then she tripped, landing flat out on her back and releasing a moan of pain at the collision.

Instantaneously, Natsu was at her side. However, with the abrupt movement, he had unintentionally cause her to release a gasp, struggling to get back up but only toppling over, tears becoming worse as she shook.

She was shaking like crazy. "S-Stop…" she cried, squeezing her eyes shut, still struggling to get back up and for the first time since his arrival, Natsu noticed that there were multiple cuts and bruises marking her skin. Something within him died even more at his failure.

She was too terrified. Too damaged. Too hurt. Who could have done this to her? And he darkened again, struggling to remain calm. To not lash out in anger. They had made his mate afraid. Afraid of him. They had hurt her and he took a deep breath.

Right now, she didn't need to see his wrath, she needed comforting but how could he handle this when she was afraid of him. He didn't want to touch her. She was already hurt. Damn.

"Kid. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Please stay back," she murmured, palms squeezing either side of her head, eyes more tightly screwed than that of before, body in a sitting position.

His heart dropped. The sight literally killed him.

Again he inhaled deeply before exhaling.

He came closer to her, trying to forge his face to that of warmth and he attempted another smile, hoping that his anger remained still. "I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated firmly, outstretching a hand. As soon as his skin had met with the top of her head, she had pulled back. "Stop!" she exclaimed and his hand curled within thin air. Then he attempted another smile. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already," he whispered softly, watching as she slowly peeled another eye open, meeting with raven.

"…W-Why… Who…" Her lips-pink and plump- had separated from the other, another eye had opened and she stared at him, conflicted between fear and confusion. He-He didn't want to hurt her?

Why…Why?

No! She shook her head. No! No! No! This was a trick. They just wanted to get her and she quickly fled to her feet, stumbling a bit before beginning to run, ignoring the curse mutter from the stranger's mouth.

And she tripped again, falling face flat. Launching her hands out, she supported her weight as she made haste to stand up.

The ground had shifted. A shadow now shaded its countenance and she realized that he was behind her, towering over her and once again her heart was ticking vigorously.

Turning around, the blonde quickly sat on her butt, scrambling backwards, eyes bulging from their frames, tears highly visible and he took a step forward.

When her back met with something hard, the blonde came to a startling realization that made her chest thump in despair. She had been cornered and she squeezed her eyes shut, allowing the terror to brutally rip through her. This was it. He was going to kill her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

She felt it. Something radiating nothing but warmth had threaded itself through her hair. One eye snapped opened. The guy was stooping down besides her, smiling brightly. "See I'm not going to hurt you, kid." And he trailed his hand down, lightly tracing her cheeks and she flinched at the warm touch, unaware of the broadening of his smile. "I promise I won't hurt you. Trust me."

She stared into his eyes, long, hard, as if searching for something. Perhaps the truth. She was searching for the truth. His eyes were dark, bright and friendly. There was so much warmth coming from him. But-But…

He-He didn't want to hurt her…

The tears rolled even faster. "P-Promise."

This time when his smile expanded, canines showing, eyes glinting, she saw it.

The truth. This stranger was telling the truth and for some reason she broke.

There was no time for him to react. No time to do anything as she threw herself roughly into him, making him lose his stance as he landed unceremoniously onto his butt, eyes heightening.

Tiny hands fisted into his clothing, brown eyes were now sealed shut followed by another layer of loud cries.

Confusion. He was a bit confuse but then he smiled again, dropping a hand on her back as his other free hand snaked behind her head. Her hands tightened around his clothing.

Everything had grown eerily quiet behind them and the wind lashed out again. It was the only sound that had been offered besides the noise of her cries. And he sat there, silently offering whatever comfort he could emit, grip tightening when his eyes darkened murderously.

Another beat of the heart.

Then darkness.

To be continue.

So wow this is my first fairy tail fan fiction. Fortunately, I'm use to only writing bleach fan ficsXD But I love Fairy Tail and I decided that I really wanted to give it a try so here it is my first ft story.

I hope you guys love this as much as I enjoy writing itXD So be gentle with zodious-chan, this is her first time entering the realm of fairy tail. Please expect out of characterness because the characters have went through different experiences so some of their personalities maybe slightly altered but I'll try my best to write them in characterXD

Like the story so far, Zodious-chan will be very happy to hear your thoughts.

And thanks for taking the time to read!