Back to my roots

Chapter 3

The inside of the building was okay, it was better than the outside. Inside was mostly clean, other than a few crayon markings on the wall. Natsu was greeted by a very tired looking woman.

Natsu introduced himself and began asking about the orphanage, and the steps to adopt a child.

~

Natsu smiled to himself as he walked to the cafe, checking the time to make sure he would not be late.

"Alright, so first complete a Homestudy. Alright, I can do that! Just gotta fill out some papers and submit some certificates." Natsu was mumbling the steps to himself whenever he entered the cafe.

"Morning Natsu!" He looked up to see Mira standing behind the register. "You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something, everything okay?"

"Good morning Mira, and yeah everything's fine. Just thinking about my to-do list." Natsu made his way to the break room and did his usual routine of putting on his uniform and getting ready for the day. "So, I'm working on making drinks today, right?"

Elfman, who was prepping the other desserts, nodded an affirmative. Natsu walked over to where Lisanna was wiping down the last few tables, "Hey Lisanna, you having fun cleaning those tables?"

"Oh yeah, nothing beats breaking my back making sure there is no dust on these tables," Lisanna said as she stood up and stretched. "It's my turn to get the groceries for the cafe this week. I think I'm going to do that later just before my break."

"Alright, well you know where the list is. Let us know when you leave."

~
Today Natsu was the one who flipped the sign before he headed back behind the counter. It was half-past noon whenever the bell chimed, Natsu who was busy making some coffee ignored it.

"Can I get a plain black coffee? And a French vanilla frozen coffee." Natsu gasped and smiled. Quickly hurrying to get the orders done.

Once they were finished, he hurried to the counter, "Zeref! And here I thought you weren't going to show up!"

Zeref chuckled at Natsu who was leaning on the counter, "The drive here isn't too far from my house, maybe 15 minutes tops."

"Well, Lisanna should be getting off-break soon, then I'm on break."

Zeref nodded and headed to a table where Mavis was waiting. Natsu, finally noticing her, waved at her. Mavis eagerly waved back, almost hitting Zeref in the process.

"So, finally meeting up with the family?" Mira asked once she was done dealing with the customer that was previously behind Natsu, "Also, a peppermint mocha for this one."

Natsu hummed, "Yeah, he called me last night. I gave him the address for the café, I think I'm going to use one of my off days to visit mom and dad."

He handed Mira the peppermint mocha and leaned back, "Oh, that's nice! I hope that we can have dinner with you guys again soon! Your mother's lemon meringue pie is amazing, what are her secrets?"

Natsu smiled, "Sorry, Mira, you know that's classified information!"

Mira huffed as Lisanna left the break room, "Well, I'm going on break. Have fun Lisanna!"

Natsu quickly discarded the apron and grabbed his scarf and phone and headed back out, quickly making his way over to Mavis and Zeref.

"Natsu!" Mavis yelled quickly getting up to hug him.

"Hey Mavis, it's been a while! How have you two been!" Natsu smiled at the two, taking a seat next to Zeref, who immediately ruffled his hair. "And, why do you insist on messing up my hair every chance you get?"