Trail of a Fairy

06. Let's Go!

Natsu rolled over in bed. In his arms, he was holding the extra pillow. But his nose twitched, and one eye opened. Rolling his head over, he glanced at the clock lacrima. Eight in the morning. Natsu pulled himself out of bed and towards his closet. He pulled out his regular clothes and slung his cloak over his arm. He would put it on once he and Nashi had breakfast. As Natsu headed out of his bedroom, his nose twitched again. Pancakes.

Nashi stood by the stove. Beside him was a small bowl full of batter. And on the other side, a small stack of pancakes. He smiled as he flipped another pancake onto the stack. As Natsu came in, he grabbed the pancake and bit into it. Nashi grinned.

"Morning, dad!"

"When'd you get up, kid?"

Shrugging, Nashi poured more batter into his frying pan. "Around seven."

"Huh." Natsu nodded and grabbed two plates from the cupboard. Placing them on the table, Natsu looked at the golden brown pancakes. "You sure those are cooked enough?"

"Yep. Not a single one is burnt."

"But I like them burnt!" Natsu whined jokingly.

Nashi chuckled as he brought the stack of pancakes to the table. Natsu brought the syrup and cutlery. They sat down, and Natsu helped himself to a rather large portion of pancakes. Nashi helped himself to a slightly smaller portion.

"So," Nashi began. "Where are we going?"

Through a mouth full of food, Natsu grinned. "First, Hargeon."

"Hargeon?" Nashi questioned. "That doesn't seem like a good place to start an adventure. I mean... it's a town."

"Well, Hargeon was the start of the best adventure I ever had."

Nashi shut up after that and finished his pancakes. Natsu had already helped himself to a second portion and was making his way through that. Nashi sped up his pace; not wanting to be left behind. Soon the two were done the stack of pancakes and the dishes went in the sink. Natsu grabbed Nashi as he tried to get away.

"We gotta do the dishes." He stated. "There's gonna be things crawling on them by the time we get back if we don't clean them."

So, quickly, Natsu scrubbed the dishes and Nashi dried them. Stacking them in the cupboard, Nashi headed quickly to the living room. He had a decent sized pack with a futon roll on top. Natsu had a slightly larger pack and futon roll. Grinning from ear to ear, Natsu opened the door of the house. Nashi followed his dad out - unable to fully contain his excitement.

"So!" He looked at his dad. "What was this big adventure of yours?"

Natsu ruffled his son's hair. "Calm down. We've still gotta make it to the train station. And then there's the train ride."

Nashi blew a raspberry at his dad. "You're not gonna be able to talk on the train! I wanna know now!"

Natsu gently shoved his son away. "Hey, be easy on your dad. It's not easy being me."

Nashi looked away, moping. "I know, I know."

Smiling, Natsu held his son close as they walked. Nashi was glad to feel the warmth of his dad's hand on his shoulder. He didn't push for anymore; he was content with his dad there beside him. But as they walked closer and closer to the train station, Nashi could feel the small shudders going through his dad's body. Nashi chuckled to himself, and headed to the ticket salesman.

"Two tickets to Hargeon, please!"

The man looked down at Nashi. Behind him, Natsu stood ready. He had the fee out already. The man took the money and pulled out two tickets. He passed them to the travelers without a word.

"Thank you!" Nashi smiled as he walked away. Natsu simply nodded his head to the man. The two boarded the train quickly. Natsu sat opposite his son, and wiggled nervously in his chair. Nashi watched without a word as the train began to move and his father began to lose strength. Natsu melted into the train seat and his face turned a unique shade of green. He leaned over and pulled his cloak up and over his head.

"M...maybe if I- I can't see the train..." Natsu mumbled.

Nashi chuckled and looked out the window. Magnolia was disappearing before his very eyes. He had never gone on a train before. He had never gone far from Magnolia. Even when he planned to find his dad in Crocus, he didn't go all the way. Because his dad came back.

Nashi focused on the scenery outside of the train. The trees whipped by the windows like blurs of red and gold. A leaf got caught briefly on the window for a second. Nashi could see each vein of the leaf before the wind tore it away.

Through his cloak, Natsu watched his son. There wasn't much he could focus on, but he tried. Nashi seemed to like the window. It reminded Natsu of what it was like to fly with Happy. Or to fly on Igneel.

"Ugh..."

Nashi turned to look at his dad. He had melted even more into the seat; he was almost completely sideways now. Nashi felt bad for is dad.

"I'm sorry, dad."

Natsu barely heard his son. He had fallen so far over and even covered his head. That, plus the effect of the motion sickness was not a good thing. Natsu just prayed that the ride would be over soon.

Nashi looked outside the window again. There was no hint of civilization as they passed through a dense forest. A few of the branches reached out for the train, but the train pushed them away. The curious part of Nashi wanted to open the window just to see what would happen. He even traced the locks on the window. But Nashi never ended up opening the window. The forest was gone so fast, and Hargeon was coming into view. Nashi couldn't stop the smile from coming out, and he couldn't stop his excitement.

"Dad!" Nashi cried. "We're almost there, dad!"

Natsu shuffled on his chair. "G-good..."