Hey guys. This is the rehash of my story "Memories of Fire." I never finished it but it was relatively successful and I liked the story, so I'm doing it again, but better. Updates may be few and far between, but they're gonna come. Cheers!

Fire. Fiiiire. FIRE. FiRe. You can write it in so many different ways, say it in even more. But none of those descriptions, none of those words accurately describe the wonder of fire. The mystery.

There are three states of being, in physics. We know this much. You have solids, you have liquids and you have gasses. Every thing is one of those, or a combination of several, like humans. To be anything, you need to at least meet the prerequisites of being. On other worlds, in other dimensions, I bet there are hundreds of others as well. Is magic a state of being? It might as well be. So add that to the list, because that's what we wizards are made of. Magic.

The elements bend to this. Water is a liquid, Earth is a solid and Air is a gas.

So what's Fire?

Is it all? Or is it none? That's the mystery that surrounds it, an embodiment of heat and energy and hunger and power. Fire is the be all and the end all, the alpha and omega, the beginning.

And the end.

Fire is the creator, the spark in the past that allowed us to reach so far, with our tendrils of knowledge and expansion.

It also tastes good.

Really good.

The house was on fire, and it wasn't my fault.
Well, maybe a little bit.

"Damn it Natsu!" howled a voice, as I ran as fast as I could around the corner, slamming into my boss. Ricks was a large man, sweat on his thick brow and a large belly that I rebounded off. He had a light mustache that was uneven, curling at the edges.

As I hit the ground, the large chef glared down at me. I gulped.

"My bad?"

The restaurant, "Ricksie's Bits" was a popular little way station along the main road into Crocus. The small township itself was about two hours long walk to the capital, so quite often travelers who were on their way out of the city would stop for a bite to eat before heading on-wards. I had arrived there, bleeding and half-starved, three weeks before, and the sympathetic, if gruff Head Chef had given me a job. Simple, and pretty much standard for someone like me. A fire wizard.
Ricks knew about the magic, of course. That was why I was in charge of cleaning and disinfectant.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Natsu?!" the fat man scowled, dragging me by the ear ("ow, ow") towards his house.

He turned back to the restaurant. The blaze was now roaring, with villagers rushing to help. A few men had dragged buckets over and were throwing water and sand over the blaze, but it would not die down. I was confused. I hadn't used that much fire, had I?

"Stay there!" the chef roared, before rushing to help with the recovery operation.

There wasn't much left of the restaurant afterwards.

"I'm sorry!" I protested as the chef, face purple with anger, tossed me onto the road, "Sometimes it gets hard to control! It just builds up and up and I can't help but let it loose! I'll build a new one. I'll pay for repairs, I..."

"STOP"

I gulped at the enraged tone. This chef was the first person who had ever shown me kindness. Apart from Ig...

Pain exploded in my head and I moaned, eyes watering. Shit, it was happening again. The headaches. I always got them when I tried to remember stuff. Stuff that hadn't happened. Or had, but I had been forced to forget.

"Please Ricks... I don't have another place. I don't even know who I am," I was surprised to find tears in my eyes. I never got this emotional. Most of the time, I was generally flippant with issues like this, but this was serious.

"Natsu," I was shocked by the tone of the fat man. He wasn't angry anymore. He was sad, with a touch of kindness in his eyes.

"You don't belong here, washing dishes. You're a wizard, so go join a guild. My brother was a member of one in Magnolia once. Head there. I'm sure the place will welcome a talented wizard like yourself. Live. Have a life away from this kind of poverty."

I had thought about joining a guild in the past, but I hadn't actually had the courage to. But now, I supposed that was my only choice.

"Thanks, tubby," I said, grinning at the chef. He laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

And so I walked.

My memory had been missing for as long as I could remember, which was a pretty weird way of thinking about it. But it was the truth. I could remember up to a month ago, but the rest... My family, my friends, the nature of my power... They were all a haze, a fog that had surrounded my brain and that lashed out whenever I tried to broach it. Even the huge burn mark on my right shoulder was a mystery, a scar to remind me of something... but what?

I hated my magic. It was useful, and the whole eating fire thing was satisfying and pretty cool when you think about it... but all that stupid fire had done was get me into trouble.

I was sick of it. I wanted a way to control it, to learn magical discipline.

When night fell, I headed towards the next inn that I came across. Ricks had given me a few supplies before I had left: A thicker coat than the black vest that I was wearing, which I had put on, and some sturdier shoes than the ones I had arrived in. He had also given me a pair of black cargo pants. He had even offered me a new scarf to replace the tattered white one I always wore, but I had become extremely anxious at the idea of my scarf being taken. It was a memento of the life I could not remember.

With the few Jewels Ricks had given me, I paid for a meal and a bed. The food was sukiyaki, a platter of raw fish that I really enjoyed and some juice of some sort. It wasn't gourmet, but it would do. I ate fast, my hunger sating itself as the fire in my belly cooked the fish.

The inn was warm, with very few people in it and a bartender chatting with the chef. The bartender was a woman, with long blonde hair and a motherly kind of look on her face. It reminded me of...

The headaches came again.

As I was rubbing my temples and scowling at the leftover fish, a girl walked into the inn. She was wrapped up in a big raincoat, water dripping from it. I hadn't realized it was raining, my pounding skill taking top priority. She sighed as she entered the warmth of the room, before throwing her raincoat off her and onto a coat rack.

"You can come out now Happy. We're inside."

A cat of a very bright blue leaped out of the girls coat pocket, his face and eyes bright with interest.

"Thank Mavis. I only like water when it's got fish in it."

The cat talked. It freaking talked. Natsu stared at it for a moment, before chuckling and picking a piece of fish from between his teeth. He was a fire breathing teenage boy, so it was a little hypocritical of him to be judging a talking cat.

"Boy I hope the 1 Million Jewel reward is worth it," said the girl. Her blonde hair fell down her back, with the side bundled up in a ponytail, decorated with a blue ribbon. Her clothes were all blue and white, with a vest, shirt and skirt. She wore leggings and canvas shoes that she kicked off. They looked soaked.

Instinctively, I tried to flatten my rosy hair down, and my heart skipped a beat. Something about this girl was familiar. Had I met her on my way to Ricks? Possibly, but I didn't rule out the possibility that she knew me from my past. It took my a moment to realize that she was very pretty, and her outfit showed off her pleasant curves nicely.

Then she turned her brilliant, hazel eyes on me.

Our gazes met, a second passing. My heart did a little tip tap, (stupid heart,) and I blushed a bit, planning to look away.

So you can understand my surprise when tears started to pour down her face. The cat, Happy, glanced at her, and then over at me. He made a little squeak and began to shake. Had I done something wrong? I only had three weeks of memories, so I wasn't exactly adept with wooing the opposite sex but still, I wasn't that bad was I?

I got up, planning to apologize to her. Maybe where she was from, meeting somebody's eyes was offensive?

As I did, the cat and the girl threw themselves at me over the length of the inn. It was quite impressive actually, crying hysterically.

"NATSU!"

The cat buried it's little cat face in my neck, howling and punching my shoulder with his cute little hands. The grief that racked his voice was staggering, unable to come from such a little person, cat or no. The girl wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder, her voice and breathing uneven. She felt very frail as I put my arms gingerly around her.

"We thought you were dead!" She cried, looking up at me. There are certain women who can look pretty when they cry, and she was one of them. My heart jumped about again and I smiled at her.

"I'm... I'm sorry?"

"You should be!" she said angrily, sobbing again and punching me feebly. I finally managed to get the pair calmed down, and sat them at my table. The cat wouldn't let go of me, and the girl kept looking at me as if I wasn't real.

"How did you survive?" she asked, taking a deep gulp from the glass of water that the barmaid had fetched her. The barmaid herself took one look at the trio and smiled, leaving the three to themselves.

"Survive what?"

"Wait... You're saying you don't remember?"

I frowned at her and shook my head, my heart galloping along. Was I finally about to discover my past?

"No... I'm saying I don't remember anything." I said, looking deeply into her big brown eyes. They became even bigger as she stared at me in shock.

"I'm sorry," I said, and the look on her face changed back to grief.

"I don't know who you are,"