**I don't own Fairy Tail... Standard disclaimer stuff. Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

So this is the "Back in time" fic written as a request. This isn't exactly your traditional "back in time" story as Natsu will have no memory of the future he was sent from. But anyway, here it is. Hope you enjoy it!

Over… It's all over…

That was the only thought in Natsu Dragneel's mind as he lay there on the battlefield. Everyone in Fairy Tail was dead. Zeref, August, and Irene were enough to take out even Gildarts, Laxus, and Erza fighting together. Their one ally among the Spriggan 12 had been killed as well, and though in the end they'd defeated all but their strongest members, the remaining few had been enough.

He wanted to get up again and kill Zeref, but his body wouldn't move. Couldn't move. He could only watch as the black mage – his brother – advanced toward him on the battlefield. The conflicted emotions – the sorrow and remorse – that he'd once seen on the man's face were no longer there. It was clear that this Zeref thought of people only as pieces. Pieces to be moved around on a chessboard of his making.

Then suddenly Zeref, August, and Irene stopped midstep. The whole battlefield became dead silent, even the cries of the vultures already gathering in the skies above were gone. Then came a deadly, swishing sound like a whirlwind, and something emerged from Dimaria Yesta, who lay fallen on the ground nearby. Was this the god soul that Wendy spoke of?

The thing swirled around, growing larger till it was bigger even than the celestial spirit king, and formed into a humanoid shape. The form was nothing like the valkyrie's god soul takeover. The god wore no armor, but seemed to be composed almost entirely of gears and empty space, his face having two eyes that were set like the faces of a clock in it. When he spoke, his voice was deep, timeless as it echoed through Natsu's very soul.

"Natsu Dragneel. It was for this moment that I came to this battlefield. It is against our law for the gods to interfere in the realm of humans, but this is a critical juncture in time. Your loss here would open the door to a new universe where the gods themselves are overthrown, and everything is plunged into the darkness of one man's unquenchable thirst."

"To avert this crisis, the gods have allowed me to come this once and interfere in your world by assisting the one being capable of defeating the black wizard. You, Natsu Dragneel, or Etherious Natsu Dragneel if you prefer."

"Help me how?" Natsu finally managed to find words. "I have no magic left…"

"I will send you back in time," the time god replied. "When you awake, you will remember nothing of the future you left. Your magic power will be the same as it was at the age you return to. But your subconscious will remember. Your only conscious memory of the future will be that you were not strong enough. And that must be enough to drive you to become stronger. I can do no more."

"But… Wait, couldn't you send someone else?"

Before he even finished the sentence everything faded into white, and Natsu Dragneel knew nothing more.

~~~~~~Time unknown~~~~~~

"Wake up brat!" Natsu started up from the roar, jumping like a startled cat into the air.

"Hahaha!" Igneel laughed, his deep, thunderous voice filling the forest as Natsu came to his senses. The boy just pouted at his dragon father.

"You could be nicer about it." He said, crossing his arms and huffing.

"Maybe when you learn to take your magic more seriously."

The young boy paused at that, the words striking a deep chord in him. He had the nagging feeling there was truth to those words. He wasn't taking his training seriously enough. He needed to grow stronger.

"Alright," He said, jumping up and pumping his fist. "I'm gonna' train double hard today so I can become the strongest dragon slayer around. I'll even be stronger than you dad!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself brat," Igneel sounded a bit taken aback by his enthusiasm. Natsu was a little confused by his reaction, but he just rolled with it. At least, he rolled with it till his stomach suddenly roared at him.

"Better get some food in you first, Natsu," Igneel chuckled, tossing some kind of dragon-cooked meat in front of him.

"Thanks," Natsu ate everything as quickly as he could. As soon as he finished, he jumped up and got into his fighting stance. "Alright, let's train!"

"What's gotten into you, brat?" Igneel said, another laugh shaking his enormous frame. "Not that I'm complaining. It's only fitting that the fire dragon king's son be the strongest slayer."

~~~~~~Some years later~~~~~~

"I must say Natsu, you progressed far beyond my expectations." Igneel looked down at his adopted son, a glimmer of pride surfacing.

"Of course I did dad, I'm awesome!" Natsu pumped a fist in the air. The young dragon slayer was now close to ten years old, but his magic power was immense for his age.

The dragon shook his head, surprised at the turn of events. Since the day that the young boy changed, his dedication to training had been absolute. He quickly mastered all the basic moves of a fire dragon slayer, and even mastered techniques that he formerly labeled 'boring' such as advanced meditation.

The fire dragon king had never really figured out what happened to elicit such change in the boy, but he decided to chalk it up to growing up.

"Fire Dragon's Savage Talons!" His thoughts were interrupted by the boy's improved talon attack, receiving a quick, successive, double talon strike to his back. Obviously he hadn't grown up too much.

"Enough! Our training is done for the day!" He grabbed Natsu in one of his large hands, setting him firmly down in front of him.

"I still can't even hurt you…" Igneel was surprised to see the boy looking at the ground, almost in tears. Where was this coming from all the sudden? Perhaps the boy could sense that tonight would be their last night living this way… From tomorrow on, he would exist inside, unknown to the boy he raised as a son.

"Hey," Igneel raised Natsu's chin with one of his enormous fingers. "You're far past any other human your age. Remember everything that I taught you. Train hard, and in 4 or 5 years you should be able to use the fire dragon king spells that I taught you. Until then, your body won't be ready to handle the magic power they require, even with your dedication to training. When that happens, you'll have access to the dragon king force, and the true power to kill dragons."

"Dragon king force?" Natsu looked at him, his small black eyes wide.

"It's like your dragon force, but stronger." Igneel said. "It's a variation of the dragon force that can only be passed from the dragon king to his chosen heir."

"COOL!" Natsu pumped his fist in the air again. "Except I'm not sure how happy I am to become your ear. Does that mean I'll be attached to your body?"

"Heir…" Igneel corrected with a sigh. "It basically means son."

"Oh," Natsu said. "Cool!"

With his spirits lifted, the boy at the dinner that Igneel laid out for him. The rest of their short evening continued as it usually did, using advanced meditation to increase the magic container and spell power until the boy couldn't push his body anymore. And then they went to sleep.

~~~~~~A few days later for Natsu, 400 years later for the rest of the world… AKA x777~~~~~~

Makarov Dreyar, guild master of Fairy Tail, stopped as he opened the door, a grandfatherly smile on his old face. "You see? This is a wizard guild," he said to the pink-haired boy he was escorting.

"Cool," Natsu grinned as he looked around at all the people. "And I can join?"

"Just come to the front with me and get your guild stamp," Makarov said. "Then I'll introduce you to your guild mates."

He couldn't help smiling as he saw the boy's sadness disappear, if only for a few minutes. He brought him to the front of the guild. "Now where would you like your guild mark, and what color?"

"Red, and on my right shoulder."

Makarov placed the stamp on Natsu's right shoulder as he requested. Then turned toward the rowdy guild in front of him.

"Attention everyone! I want you all to meet your newest guild mate, Natsu Dragneel! Make sure you introduce yourselves to him brats!"

As he expected, the only ones to approach initially were Cana, Gray, and Levy. They started immediately.

"Natsu, where are you from?"

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"How strong are you?"

"Umm, I grew up in the forest," Natsu said with a grin. "I was raised by my father Igneel. He also taught me dragon slayer magic."

"Dragon slayer magic? I've never heard of that before!" Levy said, her eyes sparkling at the idea of new magic.

"Probably because he made it up," Gray smirked. "Ain't no such thing as a dragon slayer."

"I did not make it up!" Natsu yelled, turning to Gray. "My dad taught me dragon slayer magic. And he would know too. He was a dragon after all!"

At this there was silence. Makarov watched, interested to see how this would develop.

Gray was the first to break the silence, his laughter filling the whole guild. "A dragon! Ha! That's a good one flame brain. Everyone knows there haven't been dragons on Earthland for 400 years."

"That's not true!" Natsu yelled. "Igneel was a fire dragon, and he raised me and taught me magic. He's the only dad I ever had!"

"Well where is your 'dad' then?" Gray scoffed. "If he's so real, prove it."

Natsu's face fell. "He… He disappeared a few days ago. I woke up alone in the forest, and when I searched for him I couldn't find him anywhere…"

"Of course he did," Gray laughed. "So your imaginary dad vanished and now you're here with no way to prove he ever existed."

Makarov started as he felt the temperature rising in the room. Natsu's eyes reflected anger as he yelled at the ice mage. "You take that back! My dad wasn't imaginary! Don't you dare make fun of Igneel!"

"Yeah sure, why don't you go out and find your gecko then?" Gray asked. "I just lost interest in fighting you. You probably make up these stories because you're so weak and you don't want to have to fight people."

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Makarov groaned, burying his face in his hands as half the guild was destroyed and an enormous hole appeared in the wall. Gray remained standing for an instant, his mouth still open as though he were about to say something more, then he toppled, his eyes closing in unconsciousness.

"Enough!" Makarov groaned as Erza's voice cut in, the red-headed child approaching Natsu with her sword drawn.

"What, you wanna' fight too?" Natsu asked.

Erza looked stunned that this newcomer dared to challenge her. Makarov knew he should probably intervene, but he waited, knowing that this would be a good chance to gauge how strong the boy actually was.

Recovering from her initial shock, Erza charged the pink-haired boy, ready to teach him a lesson. Natsu dodged her attack, striking her with a flame-covered fist. She fell back a couple steps, grunting, then glared up at the dragon slayer.

"I see I can't take you lightly, but you will learn discipline," she stated, putting her sword at the ready..

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu grinned.

By this time, any remaining members of the guild were gathering. Nobody expected the new guy to stand up to Erza. Makarov stroked his chin as he watched, knowing he would have to intervene soon.

Erza fired the first attack, a quick, straightforward slice that would've devastated most in the guild with its sheer power. Natsu manage to avoid the strike, kicking out with one of his feet toward her midsection. Erza blocked with her non-sword arm, but was still pushed back a couple feet. "Time to kick it up a notch," she said, requipping to her winged armor and summoning her blades.

"Wow!" The pink-haired boy seemed to forget all about the fight for an instant as he looked at her new armor. "That's really cool!"

"Dance my blades." As Makarov expected, Erza didn't take the time to acknowledge the compliment, focused only on forcing the new member into submission. He watched as Natsu reacted quickly, dodging and weaving among the blades. Occasionally he would deflect one with his fist, and sometimes a blade would slip past his defenses and nick his torso.

Then, when the blades had run their course, he instantly hit back with a counterattack. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Erza was unable to dodge the attack and flew backward, colliding with a pillar in the back of the guild with such force that the thick wooden support pillar cracked under the impact. When she came back to her feet there was fire in her eyes.

"Let's see you beat this," she said, requipping to her purgatory armor.

"I'm all fired up," Natsu grinned, his magic aura radiating in the form of intense heat.

Makarov's eyes widened as the two prepared what looked like devastating strikes. As they charged, he reached out, his arms growing to titan proportions. His fists enveloped the combatants just before their attacks could be completed, saving hundreds of thousands of jewels worth of damage to the guild.

"Enough brats!" He yelled, letting his titan voice come out a little bit. "Are you trying to destroy my guild?!"

"Oops, sorry gramps." Natsu just gave him the cheeky grin that he was already becoming accustomed to after only a few days with the dragon slayer. Erza looked properly chastised, hanging her head in shame.

"I have failed to uphold discipline in the guild," she said. "You may strike me."

Makarov sighed, releasing them both from his grip. "If you want to fight, do it outside from now on."

"Got it gramps!"

"Yes, master Makarov."

Makarov watched as the guild members, who had been watching the battle with baited breath, now swarmed the dragon slayer, some of them more willing to believe his story about being raised by a dragon now. But Natsu pushed his way through them toward Erza, who had retreated silently toward the back of the guild.

"You're really strong," he said with a cheerful grin. "What's your magic called?"

"Leave me alone," Erza turned away, heading toward the bar.

"But that was the most fun I've had since… since my father left," Natsu said, his tone dropping a bit for a minute. Then his voice regained its higher, more excited pitch. "And your magic is awesome! How do you change your armor and weapons like that?!"

"I said leave me alone," Erza said, sighing as she sat down at the bar and ordered a strawberry cheesecake.

"But why? I mean, you've got an eye patch too!" Natsu grinned.

Erza turned, her eyes on fire now. "Let. Me. Eat. My. Cheesecake. In. Peace." She ground out, glaring at the pink-haired boy.

Makarov watched the duo with a sigh. If only Erza would open up to Natsu. Someday the girl would have to recognize that she couldn't carry all her burdens by herself. And he could already see Natsu would be the perfect person to pull her out of her shell. His unquenchable cheerfulness and big heart assured that. If only she would give him a chance.

A chance, hmmm? Yes… she just needed to give him a chance…

~~~~~~Natsu~~~~~~

"Man, she doesn't have to be so mean, does she?" He sulked as he returned to the group at the table.

"What happened flame brain, get beat up by Erza for making up stories?" Smirked Gray, who had just returned to consciousness.

"Actually, he and Erza seemed pretty equal," the girl with long brown hair said with a big smile. "Master had to break up their fight."

"What?! No way!" Gray looked at Natsu with disbelief. "You can fight on par with that monster?"

"She's not a monster," Natsu said with a frown. "She's just a girl, but I don't know why she doesn't want to talk to me."

"Yeah, whatever bro," Gray said as another boy approached the table. This one had brown hair. "But seriously, you can fight equal with her?"

"Natsu, was it?" The other boy interrupted as he reached the table. "My name is Jet. It's a pleasure to meet you." Then he suddenly bowed, causing Natsu to sweat-drop. "If you will protect me from Erza's wrath I will be your most loyal friend forever."

"Hey! I was here first," Gray yelled. "Protect me from Erza, flame-brain!"

"Huh?" Natsu scratched his head. "Why don't you just protect yourselves?"

At that the two of them looked at the ground, digging their toes into the floor. "She's too strong…"

"So protect me or I'll beat you up!" Gray yelled.

"Umm, do you realize what you just said?" Jet asked as he sweat-dropped.

"Umm. Ok." Natsu sweat-dropped.

"Natsu and Erza, come to my office immediately!"

"Looks like you're in trouble, flame-brain." Gray smirked.

"Number one rule of Fairy Tail, don't piss off the master. He's probably going to make you do that." Jet said.

"He wouldn't make a new member do that," the girl with long brown hair said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Gray smirked. "Flame brain did just destroy half the guild."

"Good luck bro," Jet said as Natsu started toward Makarov's office. Erza also approached the office, glaring at him with her one good eye.

"This is all your fault," she hissed at him as they went in.

Natsu shot her a surprised glance. How was any of this his fault? She was the one who came up to him demanding a fight. All he did was give her what she wanted, and now she was blaming him? Was it because they were going to have to do that? And what was that anyway? Natsu grinned. He couldn't wait to find out!

"Close the door," gramps said when they were both in the office. Erza shut the door quietly behind them and stepped forward.

"I apologize master," she said before gramps could start talking. "I was not considering my actions, and stepped out of line. I will accept any punishment you give."

"Good," gramps said, a slight twinkle in his eye. "Because you and Natsu are going to team up for a few requests. We've had a lot of new requests come in, and there are very few in the guild who can match you for power."

"But Master," Natsu saw Erza's eye go wide as she protested. "You can't put me with this pyro!"

"You said you would accept whatever punishment I choose to give you," gramps said. "This is it."

"Hmph." Erza's cheeks puffed up as she turned toward Natsu, then back toward gramps. "Fine. But we're only teaming up until those requests are done."

Natsu just shrugged. He was a little disappointed that that would still remain a mystery, but he didn't mind teaming up with Erza. He'd get to see more of her magic after all, and maybe they could even become friends.

He glanced over at the girl, who was stubbornly looking away from him, her arms crossed over her chest. Ok. So the friends thing might take awhile…

"Alright, here's the first request you'll go on," gramps handed Erza a sheet of paper with a picture and some writing on it. "I want you to leave tomorrow morning."

"If that's what you want master." Erza turned to glare at Natsu. "Meet me at the train station tomorrow at 8:00 sharp. Don't be late."

"What's the train station?" Natsu asked.

Erza gaped at him. "You can't be serious."

"I've never heard of a train station before," Natsu said, confused. Was this something he should know?

"What, did you live under a rock or something?" Erza glared. "How can you possibly go through any amount of life and not know what a train station is?!"

"I lived in a cave, actually." Natsu said. "Igneel never said anything about train stations…"

"Who is this Igneel?" Erza frowned.

"Igneel's my dad!" Natsu grinned.

"You'd think your father would've taught you better. How did you get around if you didn't ever use trains?"

"Oh, I walked, but if we had a long way to go Igneel flew," Natsu explained, grinning cheerfully. He was glad the redhead was finally taking an interest in his life.

"Flew?" Erza gaped. "Airships are very rare. Your father had an airship?"

"Of course not," Natsu said. "Igneel was a dragon."

"A dragon?" Erza scoffed. "Dragon's haven't lived on Earthland for over 400 years."

"Well Igneel did just a few days ago, before… before he left me." Natsu looked at the floor, pushing the doubts away. Igneel wouldn't just leave him for no reason, would he? Igneel loved him. He was his dad…

"Whatever. Just meet me here tomorrow," Erza said.

"Ok," Natsu said cheerfully.

"I'm glad you two are making up, but you need to get out of my office," gramps growled from behind his desk.

"Yes master!" Erza said.

"Ok gramps," Natsu grinned as he turned to leave.

As soon as they were out of gramps's office, Erza headed away from Natsu. He sighed and went back to the table he was sitting at before.

"Ummm…" He looked at the brown haired girl. "Why isn't Gray wearing anything? Is he one of those people Igneel told me about who take their clothes off for a living?"

This caused Jet, who was waiting to see what the punishment was, to burst out laughing, while the brown-haired girl face-palmed. "Gray, your clothes."

"Oh crap!" Gray started looking around for his clothes, as Natsu watched with a smirk.

"Why does he take his clothes off?" He asked again.

"It's just a weird habit he picked up from his teacher." It was the brunette who replied. "She apparently taught them that in order to be good ice mages, they need to be able to withstand cold. And to do that, she trained them to strip."

"Huh…" Natsu blinked. "So he's an ice mage? No wonder I instantly didn't like him…"

"So Fire and Ice really don't mix," the girl said with a smirk. "The name's Cana by the way."

"Cool," Natsu grinned. Then held his stomach as it rumbled loudly. "So what do you do for food around here anyway?"

"Oh, you can order some at the bar. Normally there's a small charge, but since you're new here and haven't had a chance to complete job requests yet they'll let you eat free for a few days at least."

"Hey flame brain!" Gray was back, half dressed. "Are you going to have to do that."

Natsu blinked. "If that means accompany Erza on a few job requests, then yes."

Their heads all turned to him instantly. "You're going on job requests with Erza?"

"Yeah, that's what gramps said."

"But Erza always goes on job requests alone." Jet said, his eyes wide. "Why are you going with her suddenly?"

"I dunno," Natsu shrugged. "That's what gramps wanted."

"Well, good luck bro," Jet said before heading off to the table where the girl with blue hair was sitting.

"Thanks?" Natsu said with a shrug. He didn't think it was a big deal really. Sure, things didn't start out the greatest with Erza, but how bad could she really be? She was probably nice enough once you got to know her. And she must be pretty cool if she had an eye patch!

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu said to no one in particular, pumping his fist into the air.

Then he went back to mingle with the rest of the guild.

So there's chapter 1. Drop a review and let me know what you think.