Trail of a Fairy

04. Time for Action

"Nashi," Gael looked at her friend. "Are you gonna ask Uncle Natsu about your mom?"

Nashi kicked at a stone. It hurt his foot, but he did it anyway. "Probably not. I mean, dad rarely even looks at her picture."

Gael slowed down to look at her friend. He was beat up from their job - catching a small demon. His face and arms were all dirty, and there were already a few bruises forming. Nashi's hair was ruffled even more, and his pants had a layer of dust on them. But he gripped the straps of his pack firmly and looked forward.

Freyr was flying a little ways ahead. But he could hear every word that his friends spoke. Not far, he could see Magnolia coming into view. Freyr wished his friends would walk faster.

"Magnolia ahead!" He called.

Nashi looked ahead. He could see it. Cardia Cathedral towered over the nearby buildings, and Fairy Tail was just behind it. Nashi could even see the river as it cut through the park. And the old cabin that was his home. Grinning, he turned to Gael.

"Race you back!"

"Oh no you don't!" Gael replied as she started to run.

Freyr flew faster and blew a raspberry behind at them. "See ya!"

The kids ran as fast as they could, all the way into town. And then kept running. They weaved through crowds, and bumped into a few people. They didn't stop; just threw an apology over their shoulders. Gael slowly pulled ahead of Nashi. When she did, she smirked at him. Growling, Nashi tried to run faster. But he was already running as fast as he could.

"Beat you!" Gael called as she ran into the guild. From just behind her came Nashi and Freyr. The boys were panting, and Nashi tried a weak glare. Gael just brushed it off and walked towards the front of the guild. Their friends were sitting there, all whispering to each other. At a nearby table, all of their parents sat. Gael headed to her parents first.

"Mom! Dad!" She called, waving.

Juvia looked up and a smile spread wide across her face. When her daughter came closer, Juvia stood up to give her a hug. Gray watched with a grin as his family hugged each other. With a slight push from Gajeel, Gray joined the hug. Juvia and Gael pulled him in and didn't let him go.

"You're welcome." Gajeel chuckled.

Nashi came up behind Gael. Juvia saw him and pulled him into the hug too. Natsu watched from the other side of the table - his face a veritable wall of stone. Eventually, Gray and Nashi pulled themselves out of the hug. So Juvia and Gael turned back to the table. Nashi went and sat beside his dad. Freyr flew in a little later - since his mom had to make sure he wasn't bruised.

"How was the job, kid?" Natsu ruffled Nashi's hair. "I see you got some bruises."

"Eh," Nashi shrugged. "It wasn't too hard."

"The demon was a lot smaller than we thought it would be." Gael piped up. "It was only as big as Freyr!"

"Hey!" Freyr mewed. "I'm already thirteen!"

Natsu laughed loudly. "Thirteen? You're still half the size of Happy!"

Sneaking away from a glare, Natsu leaned over to Happy - who had just joined them. "Is Freyr really thirteen?"

Shaking his head, Happy replied "Oh Natsu. He really is thirteen."

"Oh."

Gael stood up and pulled Nashi along with her. Nashi waved a quick goodbye to his dad and Aunts and Uncles. Then he followed Gael over to their friends. Once they got closer, whispers stopped. They all looked up and smiled at their two friends. Gael and Nashi slowed down as they got closer.

"Um... Is something up?" Nashi asked.

Everyone shook their heads, so Gael and Nashi sat down. Subaru was the first one to speak up. "Nashi, when's your birthday?"

"Oh, uh - In two weeks. Why?"

"Just wondering. You're turning twelve, right?"

Nashi smiled proudly. "Yep."

Everyone started to chatter, saying how cool it was, or how young he still was. It didn't take long for them to start comparing their ages - and which was best. Nashi was turning twelve, and Gael was about half a year behind at eleven. Nayeli was fifteen and Freyr was thirteen of course. Subaru was the oldest - a whopping nineteen. Nayeli chuckled at this.

"You're old, Subaru!"

"Hey," Subaru turned. "At least I'm not flat like a pancake!"

"I-I" Nayeli stuttered. There were a few resounding chuckles. Glaring, Nayeli finally got her words back. "I'm only fifteen! I'm not supposed to have big boobs yet!"

"Okay... This is a conversation to walk into."

The kids all looked up. It was Natsu. He had on a worn black cloak. With his stubble and long messy hair, he looked like Gildarts. Nashi cocked his head to the side.

"Going on a job, dad?"

Natsu shook his head, and placed his hand on Nashi's shoulder. "Nope. We're going on an adventure. As an early birthday present to you, Nashi."

"What?"

Natsu nodded his head to the door. "You. Me. Adventure?"

"What?" Nashi repeated.

Natsu shook his head. "Seriously, kid. I'm just gonna take you now."

He reached down and grabbed his son around the waist. Slinging him over his shoulder, Natsu headed for the door. Nashi made no movement at all, but he watched as his friends got further and further away. Nayeli whispered something to Freyr and Gael. When Gael looked back at Nashi, she grinned and did a thumbs up. What?

Nashi tried to look at his dad. All he could really see were his dad's arms. They were heavily scarred now, and they were still just as muscular. One of his arms was wrapped up in bandages. Nashi tried to poke it, but his dad moved his arm too fast. Groaning, Nashi relaxed his head. It was too hard to keep his head up while he was over his dad's shoulder.

"Dad ~" Nashi whined. "I can walk by myself!"

"You sure?" Natsu grinned. "You didn't seem to have much brains back at the guild."

"I don't need brains to walk, dad!" Nashi yelled. "So put me down!"

Chuckling to himself, Natsu set his son down. They were back at home anyway. When Nashi saw where they were, he gave a curious glance to his dad.

"Why are we back home?"

"We need to pack. It'll be a long adventure."