Trail of a Fairy

29. The Second Adventure

Natsu flopped onto the bed. It creaked, but he did nothing about it. He let his arm flop over his eyes — he didn't really want to see the open closet.

He sighed heavily, letting his lungs empty like a balloon. And once they were empty, he sat there for a while under the crushing weight. But he eventually breathed again, releasing another sigh.

But he stood up to walk across the room. He shut the closet door — barely managing to shove Lucy's poofy dress inside. He cussed as he caught his fingers on the door. When he pulled them out, the closet opened again, dropping its things on him.

Natsu cried out as he was buried under his things. Yet, Nashi was out with Gael and Freyr. There was no one to notice him. So, after letting loose a few stronger words, Natsu climbed out of the pile.

Groaning as he pulled himself up, he flopped onto his bed. As he faced the roof, he sighed.

"Dammed junk. Why do I have so much stuff?"

He grumbled and groaned, but in the end, he stood up to put it all back. There were the normal things — such as clothes, and books (which always made him shiver) — but something caught Natsu's eye. It was small, and barely noticeable within all the clothes that Natsu held in his hand, but he noticed it. Mainly because it cut him. With little excitement, Natsu dropped all that he was holding. The pair of pants was stained red. With a groan, Natsu clenched his fist.

What the hell cut me?

Natsu used his other hand to leaf through the pile he dropped. He chuckled when he found a piece of rubble.

"Of course, what else would be in my closet?" He sighed, flipping it over to look at it. One side looked like average concrete, but the other side had a dulled green to it that tickled Natsu's mind. He passed it over his hands a few times, even the injured one, trying to remember. He waited, even taking the time to sniff the rock. But it did nothing. Looking the other way, he threw the stone back into his closet.

"Stupid rubble."

He paused.

"Rubble?"

Climbing back over the pile of stuff, Natsu reached again for the stone. Holding it tightly, he stared at it. He wished it would change shape — just a bit — so he might be able to tell where it was from. After all, there was a lot of times that Natsu's missions ended in rubble.

Tossing it in his hand, he wondered aloud "Why would I keep this thing?"

And it hit him — almost as hard as Erza did the day he found this piece of rubble. He remembered it all at once. It came like a flood — fighting with Gray, Lucy playing peacekeeper, and the winds that covered the station that day. The day that he, Lucy, Gray, and Erza fought the entire dark guild of Eisenwald.

"Eisenwald. Lullaby." Natsu stared at the rock. "Lucy... met Erza that day."

As if a gong was struck, he jumped up and raced out the front door. He paused briefly to grab something from the very top of the closet, and then he was off again. He didn't even bother to close the door as he ran down into the town and through the streets. Laighing loudly, Natsu shouted apologies over his shoulder when he bumped into someone. They looked at him strangely, but Natsu didn't care.

"I'm going to find my son!" My son! He thought loudly. It was the only thought that really went through his head. He still had the piece of rubble in his hand — he could feel his injured hand bleeding onto it — but for once, he didn't care about the blood. The only way it even registered to him was the pumping he heard in his mind. It kept time with him, pushing him forward through the town. It never dropped its pace.

When the guild came into view, he turned around. Nashi wasn't there — it didn't smell like him. With his new vanilla and lilac shampoo, Natsu could tell. The second person who he could always tell where they were. And with a tiny piece of his first adventure in hand, Natsu went running up the streets again. He knew where Nashi would be. It was silly of him not to go there first.

And he knew he was right. Lilacs and vanilla was in the air. When he saw the blueish house, he finally slowed down. He barely slowed down in time not to run into the front door. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He rapped loudly on the door frame. Doesn't matter if I knock Gray on the head when he opens the door.

And he did, Gray opened it violently, cussing at Natsu.

"The fuck you want, flamer?" Gray yelled, briefly pausing to rub the new bruise forming on his forehead.

Natsu grinned. "Hey — don't make me punch you for your bad language again!"

Gray scowled, and pulled his hand in a fist. "You wanna try that again, Natsu?"

Natsu didn't retaliate. Instead, Natsu just shoved Gray out of the way as he made his way into the house. "Be quiet, I know my kid is here."

As Natsu entered, Nashi and Gael came out of the kitchen, each holding a bowl of ice cream. Nashi looked confused. His eyebrows twisted above his eyes into a familiar shape. Natsu stepped towards his son, ruffling his golden hair.

"I knew you were here, Nashi."

"Would you like some ice cream, Uncle Natsu?" Gael offered, leading the way back to the kitchen. Nashi turned to follow her.

"C'mon dad. Uncle Gray makes really good ice cream."

He followed them into the kitchen, but he still answered "No way, I wouldn't eat anything this exhibitionist makes."

Natsu heard Gray grumble, but did nothing. He simply went up behind his son — holding him by the shoulders. Nashi looked up at his dad.

His chin was cleanly shaven, and his hair was shorter — it stood up in every way it could. His dad wore a different vest than the ones Nashi was used to. It was closed. Nashi couldn't see the scars on his dad's body. One sleeve was there — the other arm was bare, proudly displaying Natsu's red guild mark. And he was smiling. A smile so big it took up almost all of his face.

"What's up, dad?" Nashi asked.

Carefully, Natsu put the rock on the table. It received a disgusted look from Juvia, who had followed Gray into the kitchen.

"Natsu-san, why do you have a bloody rock?" She moved to pick it up, but Natsu grabbed it faster. Carefully, he placed it in Nashi's hands. It looked so dark compared to his pink Fairy Tail mark.

"Hey, Nashi." He started, leaning down to be right next to his son's ear. "I've already had one adventure — with your mother. How would you feel about having my second adventure with me? We can go everywhere — do everything you can think of."

"It'll be a mystery as to where we go." Slowly, he pulled something from his pocket. Nashi knew the shine of the frame as soon as he saw it. "And Lucy can come with us too."

It was a different picture. Not the family photo, nor the wedding photo. It was one that Nashi had never seen before. And it was strange. He had always seen his mother as just that — his mother. Yet in this photo, she looked to be several years younger than any photo he had seen before. Her hair was significantly shorter — it barely came over her shoulder. She was thinner, although still a woman. She wore a blue bow on a side ponytail, with most of her hair free. Lucy wore a blue skirt, with a white shirt. It had blue stripes — one up and one across. On her hip sat a whip, and her ring of keys. Nashi noticed several were missing. He grabbed his own.

She was smiling, Up by her face, she held her hand up. It had the pink Fairy Tail mark on it. She looked so happy. Behind her, amidst the ruins after a fight, Nashi saw his dad, looking so much younger, and not as scarred. He was glancing over his shoulder at Lucy.

On the bottom corner, Nashi saw something written. He couldn't tell who wrote it; he didn't recognize the writing. It was beautiful, a seemed to curl around the letters.

My First Adventure Begins!