Trail of a Fairy

14. Vanilla and Lilacs

Natsu gently lowered himself into the water. It was hot, and burned strongly against his skin. He flinched as it touched the most recent scar; it was still tender. But with a sigh, he managed to relax. Thankfully there was no one else in the bath house.

Natsu rested his head back on a towel and closed his eyes. Let's see... how many years has it been? Six- no, seven years. Natsu swished his hand around the water. Making a fist, he took a glance at it. There were a few new scars on it. And on his shoulder, another scar cut through his guild mark. Man... I'm one patchy guy now, Luce. I'm sure you'd laugh at me.

Natsu could almost picture her on the other side of the bath. Her hair would be tied up in a towel, or maybe flowing loose and some of it floating in the water. It depended on the day. Natsu guessed it would be in a towel - Lucy liked to keep her hair dry while traveling. And she'd keep herself wrapped up in a towel. She was shy, and would stay seated. That is, until Natsu would come over and start to tickle her.

With a sigh, Natsu sunk lower in the water. If he closed his eyes, every single detail of her was etched into his mind. But she'd be gone when he opened them. He'd be alone again. In this steamy bath with no one to share it with.

"Dad?"

Nashi peeked around the corner. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and in his hands he clutched a bottle of soap.

"Dad, where are the showers? I wanna take one before I get in the bath."

Natsu blinked once to get the steam out of his eyes. "They're just on the other side of the toilets, kid."

"Oh. Thanks."

Natsu watched as his son walked away. The bottle that was clutched in his hands, why was it familiar? But Natsu shook his head; causing a torrent of water droplets to land on the surfaces surrounding him. There was a brief moment of dizziness and then Natsu felt his mind return to him.

"Ah..." He rumbled, resting his head on the rocks behind him. "I guess the kid's gonna join me then."

Nashi found the showers without problem, and began to clean up. When he opened up the bottle of soap, he took a moment to smell it. Juvia had pointed it out to him in the store, and Gael had given it to him as an early birthday gift. Nashi just hoped that what Juvia had told him about it was true. So he washed up quickly, wanting to get into the hot baths as soon as possible.

"I'm back, dad." He called.

Natsu didn't need Nashi to call him. He could tell someone was coming. And it startled him. His nose had picked it up first. Vanilla and Lilacs? Once Nashi was in the bath, Natsu walked up to him and sniffed him.

"Dad... ?" Nashi questioned. "What are you doing?"

"That soap. Where did you get it?"

"Gael gave it to me." Nashi paused. "- And Aunt Juvia said it was mom's favorite brand."

Natsu almost fell down in the pool. He steadied himself by holding onto Nashi's shoulder. The boy felt the weight of his father on his shoulders and shifted his stance. He waited for his dad to talk.

"Where did you get it?" He asked again.

"It was in the shop just off center street - the one that has all the flowers in the front."

Natsu fell back onto the seat. Nashi watched as his father's eyes glistened over. He didn't need to be told what was going through his father's head at that moment. He knew. But he didn't do anything to change it. Nashi simply sat himself down on the other side of the bath to wait for his dad to come back again.

Natsu blinked a few times, never really focusing on what was in front of him. But he could smell it. Hell, he could practically smell her. And it wouldn't stop racing through his mind. The scent wafted through every center of his brain, pulling at strings and tugging at memories. There was one, one that stood out more than all the rest. And from across the bath, Natsu watched as Nashi quietly traced faces on the fence again.

"Hey, Nashi." Natsu called.

Nashi's head immediately snapped up. In reflex, his arm wiped away the drawings in the mist. "Yes dad?"

"Do you want to hear a story about your mom and I?"

Nashi blinked in surprise. "Yeah!"

Nashi shuffled across on the hot spring seats to be beside his dad. Natsu waited, and once Nashi was beside him, Natsu stretched his arms out, relaxing back. He looked up. The stars were coming out - and he could trace them. He hoped the spirits could hear him.

"The day after I proposed to your mother was a strange day."

Nashi chuckled. "That's not a surprise." He wanted to ask how his father proposed, since no one at the guild could tell him. But he didn't want to push off a story about his mother.

Natsu continued. "Your mom was sleeping on my couch, and Happy and I wanted to make her some breakfast."

Nashi shivered. If dad's still burning pancakes now, how bad was he back then? Nashi briefly recalled the renovations Natsu had to do to the burnt kitchen.

"Happy and I decided to make her some eggs. Happy said that would be the easiest." Natsu chuckled. "So I lit up the stove. Using my fire, of course."

"Dad..." Nashi whined. "Why would you do that?"

Natsu shrugged, grinned down at his kid. "Hey, I mean, why would a fire dragon ever stoop down and use a flint stone?"

Nashi paused. He took a moment to think, then looked back up at his dad. "Because he had a wife sleeping in the cave that would get mad if he burnt something?"

Natsu laughed. "You forget, kid - your mom and I weren't married yet - I had no training in the ways of women!"