Trail of a Fairy

15. Stupid

Nashi stared up at his dad. He was unusually talkative. But Nashi stayed quiet — he didn't want his dad to stop. After laughing at his joke, Natsu looked down at Nashi. His eyes were wide, and he was even inching closer to his dad. Natsu couldn't help but grin at his son. Moving his arm from behind Nashi, Natsu ruffled his kid's hair.

"Nashi, you will learn the ways of women too, eventually. But I was the slow learner I always was."

"And the eggs?" Nashi prodded. He didn't really want a lecture on relationships.

Natsu took a deep breath. "My first mistake was using my own fire. And of course, I thought the more gas I put on the stove, the faster the eggs would cook. Happy sure didn't know any differently."

"Are you sure, Natsu?" Happy asked.

Natsu waved away his friend's worry — after all, fire was what Natsu did best. "Don't worry! It's obvious, more fuel means stronger flames, which must mean the eggs will cook faster!"

Happy pulled back slightly as Natsu reached for the dial on the stove. He turned it all the way up. The smell of gas filled the kitchen, and Happy shivered. Natsu grinned, and lit up his hand.

POW! The first thing either of boys realized was that more fuel did not mean that food cooked faster. It meant the flame was wilder. And they watched as the flames from the stove jumped across the room, leaping with all the extra gas in the air. Happy was the first to respond.

"Natsu! Eat the fire! Eat the fire, Natsu!"

Natsu prepared himself, but within a second he realized another thing — kitchen stoves should not be lit with his own fire.

"I can't eat it, Happy!"

"Dad? What happened then?" Nashi prodded. His dad had paused in the story, looking off somewhere in the sky. Nashi tried to follow where his father was looking, but just couldn't. "Dad?"

"Yeah?" Natsu snapped back, looking down to his son, eyes wide in expectation. "Oh, yeah. The kitchen fire. Of course, Happy and I tried our best to keep the fire under control."

"Happy!" Natsu called. "Pass me the table cloth!"

Happy flung the half-burnt cloth to his friend. He grabbed it, and began to try to hit the flames with the cloth. It was a weak effort, but the only one Natsu knew how to do. If you need something to go away, you beat it! He could only think that as the kitchen door swung wide open. He saw her face staying there, frozen briefly by the fire in front of her.

"Luce? What — aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

As if he snapped her back to reality, she ran away. Natsu didn't know whether to be grateful or sad about her running from the fire. But he didn't have time to do that. He had something that he couldn't really look away from. And Happy, flying above him, was a constant reminder.

"There's a fire!" He sobbed. "It's gonna burn our house down!"

Suddenly, Lucy ran back into the kitchen, throwing a heavy blanket over the flames.

"You baka! What did you try to do?" She screamed over the flames.

Happy, still flying above the fire, cried out an answer. "It was my idea, Lucy! I said we should make you some breakfast.

Natsu groaned, and kept beating the flames. If he was doing any good, it wasn't showing. And he was starting to get annoyed. And then Lucy ran from the room again

"Great!" Natsu groaned. "What else is she going to throw on the fire? Soon I won't have a house!"

Natsu's answer came faster than he thought it would. Within minutes Lucy was back. Although Natsu didn't see her, he certainly felt it. Cold water splashed over both him and the fire. He froze with it, slowly watching the embers die. Water. Huh. Was all he could really think.

"Natsu you baka! Why didn't you get water or eat the fire?" Lucy yelled at him. Her eyes were set in stone, and did not look happy.

Natsu paused for a second. One question was easy to answer, the other, not so much. So Natsu tried his best. "First, I can't eat my own flames. You know that, baka, and secondly-" Natsu took off his soaked jacket to wring it out. Damn, why didn't I go get water? Oh! "Why would I leave a flaming room? That seems stupid."

"You basically called mom stupid the day after you proposed?" Nashi sat, dumbfounded. "Dad, you really shouldn't have said that."

Natsu shoved his son playfully. "Yeah, yeah. I know that now. But, I am a slow learner." He grinned.

Natsu stood up from the bath. He wrapped the towel tighter around his waist and grabbed his soap from behind him. "C'mon kid, we should be getting to bed."

"But-" Nashi protested. "What happened after that? Surely mom didn't let you just call her stupid!"

Natsu chuckled and turned to look at his son. He had stood up, and gripped the wet towel around his waist. His hair was still plastered to the sides of his head, and veritable waterfalls ran off him. Natsu couldn't help but ruffle his son's hair. With it covering his eyes, Nashi shook his head. He felt like a wet dog. Natsu chuckled at Nashi.

"Sorry kid, I'll save that for when you're a bit older."

Nashi huffed, but followed his dad. At least he got a story out of it. In his hand, Nashi clung to the soap bottle. He could still smell it — for once glad for the dragon slayer training his dad was giving him; although rarely. Nashi paused.

"Hey dad, when are you gonna teach me some more magic?"

Natsu turned to look at his kid. Nashi stood there, still dripping into the tub, clutching his mom's favorite soap brand. The mark on his hand stood out impressively, and Natsu couldn't help but flinch. But he put on a smile for his son.

"Don't worry about it. Right now kid, your job is to be curious. Okay?"

Nashi watched as his dad turned around to leave. He looked so strong, but there were so many scars on his back. Hugging the soap close to himself, Nashi looked down. His hands were still tiny, and he was still short. Dammit. Nashi stood there for a few moments as he let the tears fall down his cheek.