The Good Tails

Happy

"Luce, I want a pet."

It started as a simple question. Natsu thought it would be easy. A dog or a cat. Maybe even a fish. But some sort of pet that would add to their family of two. Right?

"What?"

Lucy was shocked. A pet? Natsu was just standing there, blinking at her with his stupid grin. Did he even get what it meant to have a pet? Besides, if it was Natsu, he wouldn't stand for something so normal as a cat or a dog. He might even ask for a dragon! But... a dragon might be a little too close to Igneel...

"Luce?" Natsu repeated. "You okay?"

She shook her head, and Natsu watched carefully as a few strands of hair came loose from her bun. "A pet? What kind of pet do you mean?"

"Dunno. A cat or a dog."

Lucy had to stop her jaw from falling out. A cat or a dog. He really said it. Something as simple as that. "But you know, Natsu, you've already had a cat."

Natsu cocked his head. He tried his hardest to remember, but he couldn't. Lucy watched as she saw Natsu briefly contemplate her question. She was already prepared for the backlash.

"When did I ever have a cat, Lucy?"

"You had Happy."

He pulled back, almost as if in disgust. Lucy felt chills go down her spine. She knew that look. She had seen it before; when she called Happy a mode of transportation all those years ago. She could barely hold a laugh in.

"You're right — Happy's not a pet, he's a friend. My bad, my bad." Lucy tried to wave away Natsu's brief look of shock at her admittance of defeat. "But anyway, did you and Igneel never keep any pets?"

Natsu shook his head strongly. "Nope. The only animals Igneel and I had were for eating. But they never lived long..."

Lucy giggled, and turned towards her husband. She looked at his smile when he talked about Igneel. About his dad.

"You know, I think I had a pet once. It was an injured bird. I kept it hidden in the servants' quarters because my father hated the idea of an animal messing up our house."

Natsu watched as Lucy's eyes became glazed over when she remembered her father. She leaned a little heavier on her hand, and looked slightly off in the distance. He tried to peek over his shoulder to see what was there, but there was nothing. Yet Lucy stayed like that as she continued talking.

"Mom eventually found the bird. It had been flying around the servants' quarters when she went to visit them. The bird landed on her shoulder, and even nudged her cheek. Mom laughed so hard at that. But I had to let the bird go. It had healed."

Lucy sighed. Natsu sighed with her. But he could feel his feet fidgeting under his chair. He needed to move. As politely as he could, he left and ran out into town. Lucy stayed in the guild, awash in memories. It was a while later that she returned home. And Natsu was already there, waiting outside for her.

"Hey Luce ~"

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back." He grinned. "I've got a surprise."

Lucy groaned. His surprises were always rooted in good intentions, but never really succeeded. But she allowed her husband to cover her eyes as he led the way into the house. As she entered with him, He stopped right inside the door. Gently, Natsu removed his hands from her eyes.

"Stay here, and don't peek. Got it?"

Lucy nodded, waiting attentively. It wasn't long before she heard Natsu's steps in the room. And not much after that he told her to open her eyes. She did, and paused. 

"Natsu?" She wavered. "Is that...?"

"Yep." He grinned. "A stuffy."

She giggled. The stuffy was probably half the size of Natsu himself, and maybe a bit wider. It was a pudgy thing— a pudgy bird. It was a bright, blue colored bird with red stripes on the wings. The feet were little things sewn straight onto the stomach of the bird — they looked much like little black flippers.

Lucy stepped forward and took the stuffy from her husband. "Really? Why?"

"You seemed happy when you talked about that bird." His grin spread wide across his face, almost too wide for him to be taken seriously.

Lucy laughed, hiding her face in the bird. "You ask about pets, and you buy me a giant bird stuffy?"

"Because it made you happy."

"Baka." She teased.