Shout out to taninou999 I don't know if you read this book anymore... But thanks for those nice comments that made me smile so much!! I just can't describe how much those comments mean to me :)

~Nobody's POV

Natsu was pissed off she dared to request something like that. He doesn't want random people around Nash. His suspicious rose. He never told the public eye about his son's kidnapping for obvious reasons. So how did she know?

"Please, let me see Nash," the beggar pleaded. Natsu glared at her, shocking the woman. He had one hand in his pocket and the other pointing at her. "Listen, I don't care who you are but you will not see my son. Who are you even to ask that of me?

To his utter shock, Natsu saw her eyes shining in the light, indicating they were watery. Natsu shook his head at how rude he had been to an innocent woman. He stopped himself from apologizing.

Lucy was grabbing his arm, telling him to be a little gentler with her. Walls under her eyes have been showing for a while now. She was tired although she had a good sleep. It just doesn't make any sense. The whole kidnapping scenario.

The woman suddenly pulled off her cloak. "Do you not remember me?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Natsu raised his eyebrow while looking at her good for the first time. Her hair was overall dirty, making the hair colour almost impossible to see. But Natsu had a good feeling which colour it was.. dark blue.

He knew it, because the dirt was from mud, and Wendy showed up in his room once with the sight of that. He looked at her eye colour, her posture, her height. Everything.

His hand retreated from the pocket and he stepped back, his eyes wide, pupils growing big.

M-mum? he inwardly asked. He didn't have the courage to ask out loud. He gritted his teeth and balled his hands to a fist, no, never, she died years ago.

No way this can be her.

"No, I don't know you," he calmly said. But Lucy could hear the hesitation behind it. Something was bothering him.

She could feel the tension getting thicker and thicker. It was between them, them alone. She softly left the room. Natsu tried to tug at her shirt, trying to get her back. But she refused and said that they had to solve whatever they had to solve.

"Please, I know you do," she begged again, but for a whole other reason.

She walked forward, Natsu not trying to show his hestitation didn't move. He won't be intimidated by someone else. "I know you do, you have to," she said.

"Listen woman, I don't fucking know who you are. So instead of wasting my time you could just tell me," Natsu said harshly, being impatient as always.

She had to say she was someone else. She had to. Because if not, he would be so furious he couldn't even begin to describe it.

He won't be able to handle it.

"It's m—" she began but was immediately interrupted.

"Don't you dare say I know you."

This time the tears were leaving her eyes and her hands were shaking. "It's me! Grandeeney! I know you remember your mother!"

There, she said it.

Natsu glared at her, for even saying his mother's name.

He was in denial, face hardening. "I don't have a mother. She's dead."

A painful seconds in the air before he continued, "Don't try to ruin her name," he added lowly.

She did it, she said it in front of his face. She had the audacity to say she's his mother.

She moved her arms around her frantically. But she had nothing to be angry about.

"It's me! I think I remember my own son—"

"No! My mother is not a coward. She wouldn't hide herself from me if she were alive," Natsu spat out, disbelief in his face.

"BUT I DID!" she yelled at him. But she wasn't angry at him, but at herself. She tried to calm down by taking some deep breaths.

"I hid from my lovely children. I am your mother and don't try to deny it. I know you know," she said while looking down.

Natsu only stared at her, progressing everything. The silence was overwhelming.

Waiting as if a big flood can come any time now.

Natsu slammed his fist in the wall. She flinched at this.

"Why?" he asked, his voice a bit louder, wanting answers. He was past denial and the only question he could ask was why.

"Because I couldn't look into your eyes anymore after Igneel died," she answered regretfully. Even though Natsu was guarded, he saw it all. She felt the way she regrets it, the painful ache everything she thinks about it. But that doesn't make it okay what she did.

"That is the pathetic reason why you left us all alone? You were scared? I could never hate you. And even now I still don't. But I can't forgive you for this," Natsu said, shaking his head and trying his hardest not to let his emotions appear. "I can't forgive you for leaving."

"I won't beg for your forgiveness right now, but at least I want a chance."

"No, not now. You left us. You fucking left us with nothing!" Natsu yelled, anger taking over. Anger combined with the tears.

"That's not true. We gave you the money to live, you had the house. You had everything we had," she whispered.

"I don't care about the money or anything else. Do you have any idea how hard it was for us? Do you? We lost both of you at the time and nobody could take care of us. You let us down," Natsu said through gritted teeth, the tears he tried to stop were falling down. He swallowed his saliva.

"And for what reason? You were scared to face us," he said and laughed darkly at the end. "So why now? Why did you muster the courage after all those years?"

"It was hard for me too, not only for you. I couldn't just not meet my grandson when he went through all of this."

She clenched her hands and looked him in the eye, her composture was sure on point in a kind of situation like this. "But that's wasn't the only reason I didn't come back. I also knew you guys had to be strong. Before we 'died' you could never understand why other people feel powerless sometimes. Now you did. But you three had to be strong for each other, to continue living daily. If you don't know how it is to lose someone you can never appreciate what you have."

"So you tell us you didn't come back because we had to learn how to be strong?" Natsu asked with his face picturing disbelief.

She nodded. "A part of it." A very very very very small part of it. The biggest part will always be the fear.

"That is so fucking selfish," Natsu scowled. Grandeeney took a step back. "How can you expect us to learn how to be strong and overcome this without any fucking help? We knew nothing of life and the only thing we got was pity. I hated it, I hated every second of it. But mostly I hated you and dad for leaving us all alone. Yes, yes we managed to survive and eventually continue living like a normal person. But have you any idea how hard that was? You are so fucking selfish!"

Grandeeney's eyes widened and more tears came. It was ten times worse to hear Natsu say it.

"Didn't you tell us we have to face our problem? Because that would help us grow? So why didn't you? All these years I have been grieving about you and dad only to find out my mother is still alive. And the reason was because you were a coward."

Grandeeney tried to reach out for him but he pulled back. "Because I was the reason Igneel died! I wasn't there for him when he needed me!"

Natsu's breathing was heavy, so many emotion flowing through him. "But yet again, you chose to make the same mistake. You weren't there for us either."

Grandeeney was lost for words, he was right. Her children needed her... but she wasn't there.

"Should I know about other things too?" Natsu asked sarcastically. She shook her head while clenching her fist.

"Then I will leave."

"No! Wait," she spoke, pain in her voice at seeing her son this way. Even though he was all grown-up. "Let me make this right. Let me do something right now, as your mother," she begged him. Begging to give her one last chance.

"You don't deserve that title," Natsu said lowly. Wiping away the tears with his sleeve. He immediately opened his mouth again, what he said was going overboard. But yet no sound came out. And it hurt her more than ever.

She broke down to her knees and cried loudly. She even went further pleading for another chance on her knees.

Though Natsu would be smirking if an enemy begged him on his knees, this was far the opposite. "Don't go that low... mum," his voice cracked when saying mum.

"Don't beg for a chance to make it up.. please.. not now," he said while walking past her. Now their back was facing each other.

Grandeeney's eyes were wide. She, of course, knew Natsu was going to be angry, but she didn't expect this.

"Don't forget we love you!" she shouted. Natsu stopped immediately in his tracks. No matter what, he did too. He turned his head to the side, watching her on the corners of his eyes.

"Wendy, Zeref and I love you too." That made his mother smile widely. She was afraid that they would loathe her.

"Will you give me a chance in the future?" her voice was soft and gentle, exactly like in the past. It surprised Natsu how well he knew her voice, even without years of contact.

"Soon, mum, soon," Natsu responded. She was still his mother, but it was too soon to play 'forgive and forget.'

"I'm glad you're well," Natsu muttered out, barely audible. Then he left her alone.

He heard her mumble something, but couldn't make out what she said. And he didn't bother to ask.

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Thank you guys for reading it!! Already the 30th chapter!! My plan was to make between 20-30.. yeah.. nope.

What do you think of this chapter?