Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail, Mashima-kun does.

(A/N: This will be multi-chap, I will be posting the other chapters shortly)

It was a cold wintry evening. The sun shied away from Magnolia, as clouds were draped over it. The guild that lay in the epicentre of the town, was just as rambunctious as usual. Tables were being smashed through, chairs were being thrown, beer was spilt and cake was smashed. Elfman had decided to use a few 'choice' words to tell Natsu that he was not a man, which prompted the slayer to punch the man through more tables than letters in his name. Gray immediately formed a self-centred opinion that this was a futile attempt on the Slayer's side to harm him, and took swift action in the form of an Ice Make:Lance.

As the hours went on, the number of occupants dwindled, while Erza decided to go on a solo extermination quest, Gray had decided to go home, which prompted the Rain Woman to follow him. Levy took her leave, citing that she had to visit a bookstore before heading home, surprisingly Gajeel and Lily accompanied her in this endeavour. Jet and Droy went home mumbling about stupid Slayers, and ungrateful dragons. Lucy went on a mission to find a necklace, making sure it was easy to accomplish. Cana was close to passing out so, she was dragged to fairy hills by a helpless Laki. Elfman and Lisanna had decided to go on a quest for old time's sake.

This left Mira and Natsu as the only people left in the guild. Natsu wanted to wait for Master to return as Master wanted to talk to him about something. Mira however, had nothing left to do and requested the fire Mage to close the guild up before he left. Natsu asked her if she wanted him to escort her home but Mira declined, and bid him goodbye. Makarov soon entered the guild, coming back from one of his meetings and upon noticing the guild was empty initiated a conversation.

"So, Natsu do you know why you're here?" Makarov asked, his voice in a serious tone.

"Nope, why am I here? I didn't destroy anything for a majority of the last few requests." Natsu answered, his brows arched up.

"I wanted to tell you first hand, you will be promoted to an S-Class Mage tomorrow." Makarov stated, expecting the Slayer to be overjoyed. Instead a more cautious and cold voice replied.

"What's the reason? I haven't done anything to incite such an honour, neither am I near the power level of an S-class" Natsu asked, his eyes queerly relaxed.

"I have seen you brat, your training, the amount of magic power you hide, and even that aura you give off. However what really confirmed everything was the report from Stella." Makarov commented, causing the Slayer's eyes to widen.

"Who else knows?" Natsu asked, almost growling.

"No one, but to control that amount of power you'll have to take S-class quests or you will die at the hands of your own raw magic" Makarov boomed, as Natsu replied.

"Don't mention it to anyone and also, what do you think this is about?" Natsu added, hoping he was wrong and the old man didn't know about his otherworldly half.

"It's about you being capable of controlling you Dragon Force, isn't that it? How oblivious can you be?" Makarov spoke, a bit harshly due to Natsu taking it so lightly.

"I'll take care of it gramps, I'll train to be able to control the power and I'll be a proud Fairy Tail Mage. I'll whip guildarts and Laxus and then I'll beat you" Natsu laughed maniacally, fire blowing from his mouth and hands, making his impression of the 'Demon Lord Dragneel'. Makarov sweat dropped at his actions and found a hidden desire to face palm. Before he could do that, Natsu bid him goodbye and made his way to his house.

He couldn't help but feel that something was wrong, that something that shouldn't happen had happened, and a part of him couldn't help but be worried. In the end he couldn't sleep through the entire night, a part of his dragon side, which he hadn't felt in ages was suddenly acting up. For most of his life, his dragon side never took over him except in extreme cases. Needless to say he was worried beyond relief and was seriously debating letting his dragon side take over. He would've done so if he knew how to control it, after all when his instincts took over he could very well kill, without hesitation. Looking back at it, if he knew what was happening he would've undoubtedly let his dragon take over.

He decided that now wasn't the best time to debate this and decided to go out for a walk, as he slipped on his vest and wandered aimlessly. He passed through countless trees and it felt like he was out there for hours but it had hardly been about two hours since he had exited the guild and about three since Mira had left. Suddenly, his nose picked up a smell, the scent was familiar, it was Mira's but there was something wrong, he could smell blood and pain on her, not only that he recognised another smell, this smell was completely doused with sins.

He didn't like the idea of Mira being with someone like the latter so he dashed towards the scent, as he came closer he could hear muffled cries. Finally when he arrived, a minute or two later, he found Mira. She was bruised heavily, her clothes were torn. Her angelic face was sore and there were marks of abuse all over her. Her lip was bleeding and her hands were tied to a tree. The cuffs used were magic suppressors, used only for jailed inmates. She was naked and sobbing, her sobs and cries came more as squeaks indicating that her throat was sore due to crying all the time.

What Natsu felt at the moment, couldn't be described in words. He experienced despair, angst, hurt, frustration and above all he felt anger. He was disgusted that someone could do this. He puked due to the flurry of emotions before he staggered and got up. He dashed to her, and cut off those magic cuffs. Mira was effectively scared of him, she couldn't recognise him, and spoke like a broken record. She couldn't say anything other than something along the lines of 'please, no more', 'I'm sorry', and 'please stop'. Natsu let his own tears flow at her sight, he removed his cloak and put it on her, giving her some protection against the foreboding cold. He spoke to her in a reassuring tone.

"Mira, it's alright I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you now" Natsu spoke through his own sobs.

"Natsu? Is-Is that you? The-they did this to me. I to-told them no, but they wouldn't li-listen." Mira croaked out before breaking into tears again, and screaming in her sorrow and angst.

"Mira, I promise you. I'll keep you safe from now on, I won't let anyone hurt you, and the ones who did this to you, I'll have them suffer a fate worse than death" Natsu assured her, wiping his own tears away.

"Let's go Mira, I'll take you to Porlyusca's place and she will give you first aid." Natsu said, before picking up her shaking form and heading towards the healers house. The walk wasn't very long but it felt like forever for them. When they finally reached, Mira's sobs were now reduced to whimpers.

Porlyusca! Natsu screamed, still recovering from the sight.

"What is i-" Porlyusca was about to scream before she noticed Mira.

"Get in" she commanded, her eyes stern. Natsu obeyed and brought Mira inside, and laid her on a free bed, before dropping to his knees and begging her to help Mira. Porlyusca was taken aback by his devotion, but recovered and started healing Mira as much as she could. It was after half an hour that she was done, after which she turned to the slayed and asked him what had happened. Natsu told her everything he knew, not skipping out on any detail.

"You can stay here, she's restless right now. Since you helped her right after she uh suffered the unfortunate incident, she views you as someone good and won't be repulsed by you. Her physical wounds are healed but her mental scars will definitely take an immense time to. What do you plan on doing now?"Porlyusca explained, before asking him his intentions.

"I will help her through it, and I'll keep the promises I made to her. All of them, even if I have to dirty my hands." Natsu replied, as he made his way to Mira, who was curled up in a ball. He inched closer to her and comforted her. He stroked her arm and back while giving her words of comfort, concern clearly etched on his face. Mira fell asleep after 10 minutes, and Natsu too dozed off with her. He was tired and righteously so. He had made promises and he intended to go through with all of them.

The Next Morning

Natsu awoke to a sliver of golden rays falling onto his eyes from a lone window. He got up and was about to don his cloak when he realised where it was. He got out of the blankets and was about to go buy something for her to wear before he felt a tug at his vest.

"Please don't leave me" Mira pleaded, her eyes welling up.

"Hey, you're safe here. I just need to go and get you some clothes. I'll be back right after that and then we'll go wherever you need to go, whether it's the guild, your house or just some place quiet." Natsu said in a soft voice, ruffling her hair. The silver haired maiden blushed before nodding. Natsu then got up and talked to Porlyusca before heading out. He made his way to a clothing apparel store.

"Welcome Sir, my name's Misaki. What would you like to buy?" The saleswoman asked politely, gesturing towards the rows of clothing.

"It's not for me, it's for a friend of mine. I'd appreciate it if I could get some clothes for her. Nothing showy, and should be able to withstand a large amount of magic" He answered. "They must also be comfortable and not loose" he added as an afterthought. She lead him to a section of the store that was labelled with the words 'For Mages'.

"Can you tell me what her height or size is, it'd help" Misaki requested. Natsu tried his best to tell her Mira's size and in the end, he picked out a black long sleeved buttonless shirt with red trimmings and baggy pyjamas. He also bought the barmaid outfit she usually wore, incase she wanted to wear that. After paying, he headed over to Porlyusca. Mira chose to wear the black top along with the pyjamas. She was still meek, a shadow of herself that had found recluse in the Slayer.

"Brat, you need to inform the guild about this too" Porlyusca stated leaning on a wooden pillar, her arms crossed against her chest.

"She's right, Mira, do you want me to go talk to them or do you want to be there too" Natsu asked Mira, his voice as soft as could be. At the prospect of meeting others she was struck with horror. Her eyes widened and she vigorously shook her head. Natsu realised he couldn't do anything about this and decided to talk to them alone.

"Okay Mira, I won't push it. I'll talk to them alone. We can't really trouble Porlyusca anymore than we already have, so what do you say, I take you to my place and we'll talk for sometime before I head over to the guild." Natsu proposed, flashing her a smile.

"Th-thank you" Mira stammered our, her throat still weak from crying. Natsu smiled before extending his hand towards her. She accepted and started walking towards his place, it was about a half an hour walk, Mira clung to his arm throughout the whole ordeal and had shut her eyes closed. Natsu couldn't help but feel sorry for her state and unbridled rage at the one who did this.

After reaching Natsu's abode, Mira went inside and made herself home at his bed. She lay on the bed and tried taking a nap, but the memories of the prior trauma flushed back causing her to bolt awake and let her tears out. She couldn't sleep, she was still traumatised, a brittle flower whose petals would fall at the slightest touch. Natsu saw this, he saw her trying to sleep and fail. He saw her eyes widen and then start tearing up. He saw her shedding tears for having had a terrible fate.

He could only grasp her hand and be by her side for some more time. So he did just that, he whispered to her, he wiped the tears away. After he was sure she was alright, he stood up and made way to the kitchen. He took a few fruits out of the fridge and cut them up. He made her a fruit salad and wrapped it to prevent spoiling. He also wrote a note and stuck it on the salad. Looking back one last time at her calm form, he exited his house and made way to the guild.

The path towards the guild was relatively not too long, but just the sheer pressure and feeling of guilt he had at not having saved her, formed a lump in his throat and made it feel longer than ever. His mind was flooded with simulations of how he would break the news. He couldn't help. Every step of his, was met with a flurry of angst. Finally, when he reached the guild doors, he couldn't help but fall to his knees once. Just then he promised himself to stay strong, not just for himself but also for Mira. She needed him and he had to help her.

He took a deep breath and pushed the guild doors with more effort than he thought was needed. He slowly dragged himself in, his fists clenched to help him prepare. He made his way to the Master, ignoring all the insults that were hurled at him in hopes that he would join the guild brawl. His behaviour caused quite a few members to grow concerned and worried.

"Master, I need to tell Lisanna, Elfman and you something. It's serious, please, tell them to listen. I'll break if I have to repeat myself." Natsu said, mustering whatever resolve he had, his eyes still sore from having seen Mira in her state. Makarov was concerned, Natsu Dragneel, one of the strongest people in Fiore had just claimed that he would break down if he had to repeat myself. Regardless he followed the mage's requests and called Lisanna and Elfman.

"Lisanna! Elfman! Natsu here has something to tell you. Follow me to my office" Makarov bellowed, worrying a few members and causing Lisanna and Elfman to rush to the office.

Natsu then took a deep breath and told them.

"Yesterday, I stayed late at the guild to talk with Master. Mira had gone home by then. After talking to Master I went home. I was plagued by a feeling that told me something was wrong. That caused me to be sleepless for quite some time. So I decided to go for a walk" Natsu began, and when he came to a pause, looking at Lisanna and Elfman, seeking confirmation if they were with him. He then continued.

"While I was walking I picked up two scents, one was Mira's and the other one was of a scumbag, I could smell death, blood and all the pain he had caused on him. I-I knew that something had to be wrong so I dashed towards the source of the scents. When I finally reached..." Natsu continued, stopping abruptly, shutting his eyes close, and clenching his fists and jaws. He took a second before he continued. No one dared to speak during this pregnant pause.

"The other scent had disappeared, Mira however was still there. Sh-She was tied to a tree. Her wrists had ma-magic suppressors on. Her clothes were torn, she was naked. There were many bruise marks on her sk-skin. It finally dawned on me as to what had happened. She was ra-raped. There was that vile scent all over her. There was no other explanation. I rushed to her and cut off the suppressors, she mistook me for the assailant and begged me to stop. I-I couldn't stop myself from crying. I wrapped my cloak around her and tried to comfort her. She wouldn't stop crying, her throat was sore, and her voice was feeble but she wouldn't stop. She cried till she passed out, and I was there the whole time, trying to help her. I then picked her up and took her to Porlyusca, I begged her to help Mira. Porlyusca nodded and healed her. It took sometime but all her physical wounds were healed. Porlyusca told me that she had suffered mental scars and they would take time to heal, that I had to be there for her as she only trusted me as I was there for her." Natsu narrated before letting his resolve break and falling to his knees clutching his racing heart and cursing his fate.

His vision was hazy from the build up of tears but he could clearly hear the tears dropping. Lisanna was a mess, she was crying uncontrollably and Elfman, for once let all his bravado drop as he hid his eyes, with his hands as he too let his pain out through the amalmagation of water and salt. Makarov had his eyes shut, tears trying to break out. Natsu then got up and spoke one last time.

"Mira is at my place right now, she isn't in the condition to move. She also still needs space to go over what has happened. Elfman and Lisanna you guys can come over, since you're siblings." Natsu declared, rising from his knees and making way to his abode. Lisanna and Elfman gathered the strength to get up and followed him, hoping to meet their elder sister.

Natsu's Place

"Lisanna, Elfman, I'm so happy to see you!" Mira beamed, her smile returning.

"Thanks Mira-nee, we heard about what happened and we want you to know that we'll always be there for you" Lisanna said, hugging her sister.

"Nee-chan" Elfman began, a hitch in his voice "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, it's a mans duty to protect his family but I failed. I'm not a true man" Elfman confessed, his eyes welling up. Mira's eyes widened as she remembered what had transpired, she couldn't help but feel like the Earth's weight was on her. Before she could try to say something, Natsu intervened.

"Elfman, don't blame yourself. Mira wouldn't want that. Just protect your family from now on, you're a true man" Natsu reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulders.

"Thanks Natsu, can we take nee-chan with us?" Lisanna asked but immediately regretted it when she saw the look of worry and the look of pain on Natsu and Mira's face.

"Actually, Mira-nee seems to like it here and she also trusts you so it shouldn't be a problem. Mira-nee, I hope you recover soon" Lisanna quickly said, trying to brighten the sullen mood. She succeeded as the smile's returned on both their faces, she then talked with her for sometime, before heading over to her own place. While they were leaving, Natsu warned them to not mention the incident around Mira, who was still coming to terms with everything.

Both the siblings thanked Natsu profusely and went their way. Natsu wanted to be there for Mira, he wanted to be there for her every step of the way. He would help her come back, he would help her recover, he would help her smile again. Then, he would punish the ones who had committed the atrocity, he would make them regret the day they were born.