Oh, Well, It's a Fairy Tail

A Rose By Any Other Name...

SEPTEMBER 14TH — FUTURE

"A Rose by Any Other Name..."

"'morning, Miss Mira!" Mira looked up from the mug she was polishing to see a fuzzy pink head grinning at her. She smiled sweetly in return, bending over to meet the girl's eyes.

"Good morning to you too, Tsubaki. Orange juice?"

"Nuh!" She shook her head vigorously and climbed onto the bar stool to make them more level. She was eight and five quarters as she'd happily tell anyone who asked — well, she generally was happy, a trait from both her parents. Her hair stuck out in wild curls and she had a laugh that could soften even Laxus's heart, loathe as he was to admit it. Makarov was only praying she inherited her mother's calm spirit as she grew into her magic.

"Don Perry-non, please," Tsubaki went on to say. Mira looked at her with wide eyes.

"You know that's not a children's drink?"

"Duh!" she said with a giggle. "It's for Mama and Daddy!"

Oh. Well, that made more sense. Mira inclined her head curiously. "Did they ask for it?"

"Nuh, it's a surprise for their anniversary. Me 'n Iggy have it all planned out." She smiled triumphantly and stuck a thumb into her chest. That was such a Natsu-ish thing to do that Mira laughed aloud.

"Alright, alright, here..." Rooting through the bottles on the shelves for a moment, she pulled a shiny olive-colored bottle and set it on the counter. Tsubaki nodded seriously and pulled a crumpled wad of Jewel from the chest pocket of her overalls. "No, it's okay. Call it a gift from me for their anniversary."

Tsubaki's eyes widened more than should've been humanly possible, and Mira kept a smile on even as she wanted to explode from the cuteness. Then Tsubaki vaulted over the counter to hug Mira around the waist. "Thank you so much, Miss Mira!"

Mira squealed inwardly as she returned the hug. She didn't think the Master would have much to worry about.

Gray was just about to lay the final card on the tower when the door to his apartment was unceremoniously slammed open. He hit the table and the whole house came tumbling down. Letting out a great sigh, he turned to the only person left without a care of personal boundaries.

"What can I help you with now, Iggy?"

"Need something from you, Ice Princess." Iggy's shaggy blond hair hung untamed around Natsu's loosely wrapped scarf, and he had his hands buried in his jeans as he sauntered in and flopped onto Gray's leather couch. He mentioned in passing he liked the smell of leather, so the couch became his prime bum spot whenever he felt the need to burst in, which was often. Not that Gray minded; he still butted heads with Natsu now and again, but his son, while trying his damnest to be Natsu's carbon copy, was so...alive, in a different sense of the word.

With his magic heightening his senses, he sought every interesting smell, taste, and sight he could find, and he kept a journal that he didn't mind showing Gray, as red-faced as he got on the subject. He had a way with words that certainly came from his mother, which showed as he tried to jot down his experiences with the world, and although he wasn't even twelve yet, Gray felt assured he could be a writer if he tried.

—Not that he ever told Iggy that. Just because his fire was weaker than Natsu's didn't make it any more pleasant to be attacked with.

"A sculpture." He pulled a folded piece of paper from the scarf and handed it over. Unfolding it, Gray saw a drawing most certainly done by Reedus from the level of detail. He raised his eyes back to Iggy's amber ones with a curious eyebrow raised.