Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except the OCs. Miiiiiiiiiine.
The Dragon
Crickets chirped. A soft night breeze blew through the trees. Lucy sat with her legs crossed on the cool grass, her breathing even and her eyes closed. She heard a rustle directly opposite her and cracked an eye open.
"Nate," she said sternly, "quit fidgeting."
The little blonde boy in front of her sighed.
"I'm trying not to," he told her, "it's difficult. Everything's so quiet."
Nate was so much like his father, unable to sit still for even two seconds, always looking for action and adventure.
"We're meditating. It's supposed to be quiet."
"Your mother is right, young master Ignatius." Capricorn's deep voice accompanied the crunch of his cloven hooves over frosty grass.
"For your power as a celestial wizard to grow, you must become one with nature and the heavens. And for that, we must be quiet."
Nate sighed again and lowered his spiky head.
"I'll never get the hang of it," he lamented.
Lucy reached over and cupped her son's face in her hands.
"Of course you will, sweetheart. You just need a bit more practice. Shall we try again, Capricorn?"
The celestial goat nodded his horned head. Lucy resumed her original position and Nate mirrored her as Capricorn began to speak.
"Lift your eyes to the stars. Feel their light shining down on you. Feel the power they offer. Let that power seep into your body and become one with your energy. Now feel the wind as it brushes your skin. Hear the trees as they bend and sway. Bring yourself to their speed. Synchronize your breathing with nature. Feel your heart beat as one with the Earth."
Lucy took her eyes from the sky to peer at her son. She saw his chest rise and fall with slow, steady breaths. His eyes fluttered closed as he became fully immersed in the meditation. A windy vortex of golden light began to swirl around the boy, whipping his already wild hair around his head.
"That's it, young master," Capricorn encouraged, "feel the power of the stars, the strength they lend you."
"I feel it," Nate whispered, barely moving his lips, "right here."
The blonde boy slowly lifted a hand from his knee to rest on a place below his chest and above his stomach.
"Mama, I'm ready."
"Alright, sweetheart. Say the words, like I taught you."
Nate opened his eyes as he took a gleaming silver key from his jacket pocket and held it before him.
"I am the person who connects the mortal world to the celestial spirit world. Thou shalt respond to my call and pass through the gate."
White light began to gather, creating a luminous whirlpool around the tip of the key.
"Open a door to the Dragon constellation, Draco!"
For the first time in Ignatius Dragneel's nine years, a golden magic circle appeared beneath his feet, accompanied by the reverberating 'ding dong!' that heralded the arrival of a celestial spirit.
From the portal created by the key came a sinuous snake-like dragon with four stubby legs and a rectangular head. The spirit's long body coiled around itself as he spiraled into the sky.
After completing a wide arc, Draco twisted his body back down to earth and hovered just above their heads. Nate wondered briefly how the dragon could fly without wings as his mother helped him to his feet. The young boy gawked in admiration of the grand spirit.
"Woah!" the newly minted celestial wizard yelled to his new companion, "you're awesome!"
The dragon spirit was truly magnificent. The emerald scales along his body glinted in the moonlight and a fiery orange mane rippled down his back from head to tail. Matching orange whiskers sprouted from beside each nostril, above which golden eyes glinted mischievously. Draco flashed his sharp ivory teeth in a grin of appreciation at the compliment.
"You're enormous aswell!" Nate continued to gaze up in fascination.
When Draco opened his wide jaws, his voice was deep and rumbling, like boulders rolling down a mountain or thunder growling in the distance.
"If the master finds the dragon's size inconvenient, the dragon has another form he can take."
"Okay!" Nate shouted excitedly.
A puff of smoke and a 'ding dong!' later, the scaled behemoth was replaced with a shirtless boy in loose pants who looked to be about Nate's age. His unruly orange hair fell to his shoulders and stood out against alabaster skin while his playful smirk showed off pointed teeth. He would have looked like any other fun loving kid but for the smattering of bright green scales over his shoulders and down his back.
Draco approached Nate and bowed low to him,
"The dragon is pleased to make his new master's acquaintance."
The spirit's resounding timbre had been replaced with a higher, breezy lilt, much more befitting of his new body.
"Me too!" Nate exclaimed, "I mean, I'm Ignatius, but call me Nate."
Lucy rested a hand on her son's shoulder,
"Don't forget the contract," she told him gently, handing him a pad of paper and a pen.
"Oh yeah! Thanks Mama," the young mage gratefully took the implements from his mother, but before he could say a word to Draco, the porch light snapped on, bathing the lawn in yellow light.
"Oi, Luce!" a certain pink haired wizard called as he threw open the back, "what's with all the racket? You woke me and the baby!"
Natsu pouted as he gestured to the heavily blanketed bundle he held in his arms. A chubby hand darted from the folds of the wrapping and tried to grasp the dangling end of Natsu's scarf. The dragon slayer glanced down at his daughter and smiled before offering her his finger instead. The baby promptly latched on and shoved her father's finger in her toothless mouth.
"Sorry, Dad!" Nate called with a grin that could have been his fathers.
Natsu looked back up at the group on the lawn. Something was different but he couldn't quite put his finger (not the one in the baby's mouth) on it. He scrutinized the gathering with narrowed eyes. There was that weird goat-man from the spirit world, his golden-haired wife and their excitable son. But there was another boy with them, barefoot and slant-eyed.
"Wait, who's the kid?!" Natsu called back.
I hope you liked it I haven't written fan fiction in forever…