Of Fire and Ice

C.5

We were back at Fairy Tale around noon the next day. Lucy came up the minute we stepped in and hugged us. "How was your first job, Henley?" She asked. "Natsu wasn't a jerk to you, was he?" Grey came up and asked.

"It was great! And Natsu was actually the biggest sweetheart ever." I smirked over at him, just to see him groan. "What did he do?" Lucy asked. "Well, you know how he original plan was to split the money?" "Yeah."

"Well, the dude who made the ad raised it the night before we got there to ten thousand, and we didn't know. Then Natsu decided he wasn't going to help, he was only there to supervise me. Then after I was done, the guy gave me twelve thousand, the extra two were because I apparently impressed him by burning down the house. Later I tried to offer some of the money to Natsu, but he didn't take a dime." I said and Lucy awed.

"Sounds like fire brain has a crush." Grey chuckled. "I do not have a crush on her! It was just the right thing to do!" He yelled at Grey. "Sorry, Natsu. But Henley doesn't date. We don't do romantic relationships." Ari told him. "I don't have a crush on her!" Natsu groaned.

"It's okay, man. I don't really like you like that either." I chuckled. "See? She doesn't even like me like that!" Natsu said. I could only laugh.

A little while later, I was sitting with Lucy while Grey and Natsu were fighting again. Ari was napping on the table beside us and Happy was eating fish or something I don't know.

"I keep forgetting to ask. Is your hair naturally that colour?" Lucy asked and I nodded. "I look exactly like my mother, well, according to people who knew her." I smiled. "Where is she?" Lucy asked. "Uh, she and my dad died when I was thirteen." I shrugged. "Oh, I'm sorry." She bit her lip. "No no, it's fine." I smiled, then leaned in close.

"I'll tell you when we get back home. There are way too many ears here." I said and she nodded. "We can go now. Besides, I think they're going to start a fight soon." She said, nodding towards Natsu and Grey.

"Yeah, okay." I nodded, scooping up Ari and cradling her in my arms to not wake her. Lucy and I walked home in silence and I set Ari down on my bed.

"Okay, well, my parents were apparently black magic wizards, and they belonged to a dark guild. Once mom became pregnant with me, she decided she didn't want her child to grow up in that environment, so they left. Now I don't know which guild it was, but apparently you can't leave that one. So they started tracking my parents down. My parents were also fire dragon magic users, and they had a dragon of their own who also had a kid, Ari. Once I was born, they decided Ari would be mine. They left us and Ari's mother in a lonely cabin in the woods while they escaped. She took care of us until I was ten, and then she died, leaving Ari and I alone. I decided to pack and travel to find my parents. I knew their names. Cersei and Viserys Targaryen. I found them when I was thirteen, but then the guild found them right before me. Mom told me to run, and then they died. Ari and I have been on our own since." I smiled towards the sleeping dragon.

"And how old are you?" Lucy asked. "Eighteen." I answered. "Ari is kind of small for eighteen, don't you think?" Lucy smiled and I nodded. "Yeah, her breed grows very slowly. She'll get bigger very soon though. By around this time next year, she'll probably be around the size of a large cow or a bull. Then the year after, she'll be a proper dragon size." I nodded.

"Hopefully by then she'll learn that she can't ride on my shoulders anymore." I snickered.

"You know more magic than Natsu, don't you?" Lucy asked and I shrugged. "It's a possibility. But I don't know how much he knows." I hummed. "Well, Natsu's father left him when he was a toddler or something, then a dragon came and took him in and taught him magic, then that dragon left as well. You have a dragon by you all the time, and you were raised by one. I think it's very possible you know a lot more than him." Lucy nodded.

"I might. But we're not going to tell him that." I said and she nodded. "Yeah, knowing Natsu, he'll probably want to fight you over it." Lucy snickered.

"So what talents do you have?" She asked and I just shook my head. "I don't have much. I mean, I'm best at making pretty pictures with fire and smoke. That's about it. I mean, I sing often too, but there's nothing special about that." I shrugged.

"You sing?! Can you sing something for me?" She gasped and sat up straight. "No, I couldn't." I shook my head. "C'mon, please. I have one celestial spirit that sings, but she's only available three days of the month, so I never get to hear people sing. Please?" She begged.

"Maybe one day, but not now." I swore her.