Trail of a Fairy

25. Oh, the Embarrassment!

 "Hey! I got something for you, Nashi!"

Nashi shuddered. This cannot be good. He looked over to his dad. His dad had this stupidly large grin on his face. It was one that Nashi had never seen before. His grin took up the entirety of the lower half of his face. Nashi could even see the pointed canines that were unique to the dragon slayers. Without making much movement, Nashi ran his time tongue over his own teeth. They were smooth.

"What do you want?" Nashi chuckled.

Natsu pulled a small box out from behind his back. Thrusting it forward, he pushed it against his son's chest. Nashi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Dad — my birthday was last week. You're a little late."

Natsu shook his head — that stupid grin never leaving his face. Yet he pushed the box a little further, poking his son with it. Nashi groaned, barely rolling his eyes. He couldn't anything particularly unusual around. So, he assumed there wasn't a trick. He took the box from his dad; his hands surprised by the lightness. With one more questioning look to his dad, Nashi opened the box. The first thing he saw was the reflection off a pane of glass — the photograph. After that, it took him less than a second to see the actual photo.

"Dad!" He cried, utter horror etched across his face. "What on earth is THIS?"

Natsu couldn't hold the laugh in anymore. It burst out, completely uncontrolled, and echoed off every wall in the house. There were even a few frenzied flaps coming from the nearby woods — startled by the sudden noise.

"That-" Natsu gasped for air. "That, is you, kid!"

Nashi retained his horrified look as he shoved the box away and onto the table. He pushed it as far as he could. He did not want to see that photo again.

"Where did you even get this photo from? How many years ago was this?" He yelled, finally starting to become angry.

Natsu chuckled, wiping the snot from his nose. "Years and years ago. I think you were maybe one in that photo."

Nashi immediately stopped. His heart dropped into his stomach; he was sure he could feel his stomach acid burning his heart too. Immediately, he lunged across the kitchen table to grab the box again. As soon as it was within his grasp, Nashi's tiny fingers ran over the wooden edges of the frame. Pulling his hand back, he gasped. A splinter. He tried to bite it out with his teeth, but could do nothing.

Natsu sighed as he saw Nashi trying and trying to pull the sliver out. And yet, he never once let go of the picture frame. He held it tightly — maybe getting another splinter to match. Quickly, Natsu grabbed his son's hand — but left alone the hand that held the frame.

"C'mon Nashi, that ain't gonna do you any good. I'll grab the tweezers."

Nashi sat still as his dad walked away. He watched as his dad left the kitchen and headed to the bathroom. Waiting patiently, Nashi held his hand. He waited some more. Dad's taking an awful long time. Nashi hopped off the chair and headed to the bathroom. Just as he was entering it, his dad came out. Nashi fell back on his rear end with a plop. Natsu immediately reached down for his son.

"Are you okay, kid?" He pulled his son up from the ground with one hand. The other held rusty red-brown first aid kit.

"Yeah — I'm fine dad." Nashi rubbed his back end. Dang, that sucked. "What took you so long though?"

Natsu paused. "Oh. I, uh, just hadn't used the kit in a while, so I wasn't sure where it was."

Nashi didn't believe his dad — he heard the shudder in his voice. Yet, there wasn't much Nashi could say about it. So he simply turned tail and headed towards the kitchen. He sighed, knowing his father would be off-set for the day.

With a silent groan, Natsu followed his son. Damn. I did it again. But, Natsu followed his son into the kitchen anyway. What he saw saddened him. Nashi was sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, head flopped over his arms. His eyes were closed, and Natsu could barely see the shudders. But they were there. With each breath came a small tremble through the boy's body. With each breath Nashi took — with each shudder of his frail shoulders — Natsu's heart dropped a bit. He sighed.

"C'mon kid, let me see that splinter of yours."

Without moving his head, Nashi held out his hand for his dad. He took it carefully, almost surprised at how small this hand was — this tiny hand that had the same pink mark on it as her. Natsu sighed. As he pulled the tweezers from the first aid kit, Natsu took a deep breath.

"You know, that photo you got there, I'm pretty sure that was the day you met Subaru for the first time. Man, did you cry. I never thought a kid could have such a set of lungs."

Nashi groaned. "Really dad?"

But Natsu continued. "She was... eight? I think."

Nashi groaned. "Just stop it, dad." You don't need to try to cheer me up.

"You were so scared of her. Honestly. If I wasn't holding you, you probably would've run right out of the guild and never come back." Natsu sighed. "Of course, that meant that when you peed your pants it was on me."

"Dad!" Nashi whined, finally looking up at his dad. "I don't need to remember that, okay?"

Natsu grinned. Finally. "Doesn't matter to me."

Natsu released Nashi's hand. Nashi wiggled his hand, the splinter gone. When did dad... But his thought was cut short. Natsu had put aside the first aid kit and picked back up the box that held the photo. He sighed quietly, Nashi barely even able to pick it up. Nashi paused as his dad removed the frame.

"You know, Nashi, there's another gift in here."

Quickly, Nashi took the box back. It was much lighter without the photo frame. But as he took it, he blinked.

"A white sweater?"

Natsu shook his head with a smile. Without a word, he pulled out the knitted project. Nashi watched — eyes wide — as the scarf unraveled itself. Natsu passed the scarf to his son. Taking it lightly, Nashi ran his hands over the individual stitches. Soft.