What's a Soulmate?
"Daddy, what's a soulmate?", the young, messy-haired child asked, gripping her father's right arm and resting her chin on his bare shoulder, her salmon-haired pigtails tickling his skin.
Natsu perked his head up upon hearing his young daughter's question. "Hm? Why do you wanna know something like that?", he grimaced, his daughter was too young to be home by herself, let alone thinking about soulmates and love.
He swore, if Snowflake had been putting ideas in his daughter's brain, he'd knock him into next we-
The girl left the salmon-haired man's side to move across from him, sitting cross-legged and gripping her ankles nervously. "Well, momma was telling me a story about a princess and a dragon that fell in love, and when I asked her why her why the two ended
up together she said something about 'soulmates'," Nashi used her fingers to create air quotes, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout before continuing, "She said I'd find out when I'm older, but I don't wanna wait that long!"
Natsu puffed his cheeks, letting out a sigh and rubbing a hand down his face. This certainly wasn't what he expected his morning to turn into. This would have been much easier if Lucy was home, he could just push it on her, but she had just left for a
mission after putting Nashi to bed the evening before. So, here he sat, staring his wide-eyed daughter right in the face, unsure of how to respond. "Nash-" he started, clearing his throat, "-I think it's best if we wait like your mother said."
Yeah! That should do it! Problem solved, he mentally celebrated his victory, crossing his arms proudly.
Of course, being the child of a Dragneel made a person many things. Not only were they automatically loud, destructive and determined, but they were also some of the most persistent and stubborn people to roam the earth. Once their mind was set on something,
there was no altering their ideas. Nashi was no different, and if that wasn't enough, she knew exactly how to get her father to do the things she wanted. She had him wrapped around her little finger since day one.
Sniff. Natsu's ears twitched at the sound.
Sniff sniff. There it was again, but he would stand resilient in his decision. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, determined not to break down to his daughter's fake whimpers.
He could smell the saltiness of tears, and he almost cracked an eye open to reassure himself that she was okay, but he knew how well his daughter could play him. She was just like her mother in that aspect. Just by batting her eyelashes and sticking out
her lip, she could get him to do absolutely anything. He harrumphed to show his disapproval of her actions, and stuck his tongue out. Two could play at this game, he thought haughtily. Little did he know, he'd awoken a monster. A mistake any
poor soul could make in the presence of such a small little child.
"WAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!", the screams echoed throughout the entire Dragneel household, causing the picture frames on the shelves and hanging from the walls to shake around, nearly falling to the floor.
Natsu's eyes popped open and nearly bulged out of their sockets at the astronomical pitch of his daughter's screams as he plugged his ears in distress. There was another trait she had picked up from her dragonslayer father, and his super sensitive hearing
certainly didn't help his situation. He had two options at this point; he could wait for her to give up or he could give in like he always does. He furrowed his eyebrows as he pondered his decision. The screams grew in octaves and at this he had finally
reached his limit. FOR MAVIS' SAKE, ALRIGHT. I GIVE IN!, he removed his fingers from his ears and slammed his hand on the coffee table in front of him, catching the attention of the screaming child.
The child immediately shut her mouth, her sniffling the only noise coming from her person. The salmon-haired man breathed in deeply to calm himself down before speaking, "Alright…Alright I give up. I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you'll
help me clean the entire house before mommy gets home!"
Sniffles soon warped into cheers as Nashi scrambled to take a seat next to her father, "Yay! I promise!"
Natsu chuckled to himself as he looked at the large, signature Dragneel grin plastered on his little clone's face. He cleared his throat before he began, "Wait- ",his facecontorted in thought, "-what was your question again, Nash?"
The girl giggled at her father's antics as she hugged his right arm, "Silly, daddy—", she smiled softly, "What's a soulmate?"
"Oh right.", he scratched the top of his head in consideration, "Well, a soulmate can really be anything."
He gazed into his daughter's beautiful coffee-colored irises, nearly identical to her mother's. "A soulmate can be your friend, your mother, a pet, a boyfriend or girlfriend; however, I would like to say a soulmate is, well, something like a best friend."
Nashi raised an eyebrow at this and scratched her chin with a finger, "That's kinda lame," she replied, mouth stretched in a line, "So the dragon and the princess were just best friends? If that's what a soulmate is, I'm not sure I want one of those stupid
things!"
"Hey! You didn't even let me finish, Nash!", he barked in irritation, but then an idea sparked in his head, "Or…Maybe you're just too young to understand such a concept. I suppose I can just stop explaining now."
"Hey! I'm plenty big enough to understand your stupid explanations, old man!", she growled, clenching her fists in irritation.
Natsu smirked in her direction, but complied anyways, "Fine, fine. As long as you let me finish."
"Deal!"
"One day, you'll meet somebody who walks into your life and changes it completely without even realizing it. They'll make you a better person just by being there because they inspire you to do remarkable things; to try new things and make you happier
overall. This individual, whether it be animal or human, will love you unconditionally no matter what you do. By no means does this make them perfect, but it is the fact that they are imperfect that makes them perfect for you.", he finished, smiling
at the awed expression held by his daughter.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Nash?", he asked.
"Do you—", she started, a rosy blush forming on her cheeks, "—Do you only get to have one soulmate?"
He chuckled and brushed her messy bangs out of her eyes before answering, "I'm not sure, Nash, but I do know that you will have many people that come into your life who may do the same things."
The girl nodded at his response, "Is Momma your soulmate?"
"I'd like to think so," he beamed, "Daddy's lucky to have Mommy for a soulmate isn't he?"
She nodded eagerly, "And she's lucky to have you too, daddy, even if you are dumb sometimes!"
His jaw nearly dropped to the floor at her remark, "Hey! You take that back, you brat! You don't get to just insult me like that!"
Nashi snickered and patted her father on top of the head, "It's okay, daddy! You can't help how you are!"
"Why you—", he began with a growl, but quickly stopped when he noticed the sad look in his daughter's eyes, despite the smile etched on her face, I can tell something's on your mind, Nash. You suck at hiding it. Just like your mother.
"What's the matter, Nash?", he asked, noticing the tears pricking the corners of her eyes.
When she didn't respond, he brushed his thumb across her cheek and underneath her chin to get her to look at him, "This whole thing wasn't really about that story Mommy told you, was it?"
She shook her head and launched herself into her father's arms, stuffing her face against his chest, "The other kids at the guild were fighting, and I was trying to break it up. Momma always told me that the fights were pointless. So I told them to stop
fighting, and when they wouldn't listen I beat them all up. Now they're all afraid of me.", she was sobbing at this point, clutching her father's shirt for dear life, "Cain called me 'Fire Freak' and told me nobody would ever love me!"
Natsu was seething, flames began to slowly peak out from under hisskin, "Cain Fullbuster said this to you?" I'm gonna kill him and his jackass dad too.
Nashi feeling her father's body temperature spike pushed against him and hugged him tightly, trying to calm him down, "Daddy, I came for advice, not for you to hurt anybody. Besides, I'm not upset at him anymore. We all say things we don't mean when we're
mad." There was the Lucy side of his daughter coming out. Always a forgiving soul no matter how terrible the other person's deeds.
He sighed and resigned his anger to wrap his arms around his distraught daughter instead, "Alright…So then what's the problem you'd like my help with?"
Nashi cast her eyes downward as tears began to prick the corners of her eyes once again, "Do you think he's right? Am I ever going to find somebody to love, or am I destined to be by myself forever?"
The young girl's bottom lip trembled as the tears began to flow down her rosy cheeks. Natsu rubbed her back in slow circles, "Nashi, you know he's not right, so why do you let it get to you? You already have so many people in your life who love you and
will always love you no matter what. Your mother and I love you with all of our hearts; Aunt Erza, Aunt Mira, and even Uncle Gray. There are so many others who love you for who you are, even if they may not show it very well.", he finished with a
curt nod.
Nashi snickered through the tears, "You sound super girly, Daddy! You should listen to how you talk. Momma's been rubbing off on you!"
The salmon-haired man groaned and rolled his eyes, God. What have I created. Now I see why Gramps was always irritated with me.
"Hey!", he shouted, pushing her away from his chest and to the other end of the couch, "At least I'm not the one whining and crying! You should see yourself, little girl!"
"Girly! Girly! Daddy's a little girl!", she cackled as she wiped the tears away and grinned widely at her father.
"I'll show you girly!", he growled as a menacing look took over his features.
Nashi gulped and prepared herself to run away, but alas, she was not as quick as her father. He gripped her arm and pinned her to the couch with very little force and began tickling her sides. The girl's laughter pierced the air and rang throughout the
entire building. Her limbs flailed around and she begged for him to stop his attack, but he was relentless. It continued on for several minutes before he finally decided it was time to stop.
The young girl was hyperventilating when her father finally released her and she quickly sat up and frowned at her father, "How rude!" She harrumphed and turned away from her cackling father.
When the man's laughter slowly died down, chuckles still remaining, he got to his feet and headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast, leaving his daughter behind to pout. His bare feet felt a little chilly against the wood flooring, despite him being
a fire mage, and he decided he quite liked the temperature contrast. When he finally reached the kitchen, he quickly got to making himself some coffee. He grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it with water and the instant coffee. Being a fire
mage had its perks, being able to make anything hot whenever he wanted being one of those
Once the coffee was finished he slowly took a sip, letting the caffeine flow through his system. He sighed in relief as the day's issues seemed to have been resolved. Perhaps he could relax for the rest of the day. Maybe he could take Happy and Nashi
fishing. Sounded like a great afternoon to him. He grinned as he took another sip.
About an hour later, Natsu had finished his coffee and was now sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of pancakes in front of him and another full plate of pancakes across from him in front of an empty seat. The sound of Nashi's little feet padding
across the floor caught Natsu's attention, but instead turning around to greet her he simply smiled to himself. He watched her emerge in his peripherals and move across from him to take her seat for breakfast.
They sat in content silence for a few minutes as they munched on the fluffy cakes, relishing in the pool of syrup that flowed around the bottom of their plates. Natsu had just taken a large bite when Nashi decided to break the silence between them, "Daddy?"
"Hm?", was all he could respond with his currently full mouth.
"Where do babies come from?", she asked innocently with wide eyes.
Natsu sucked in a breath at the question, causing the pancakes he had been chewing to be sucked in along with it. He pounded on his chest as he choked on the food. With a big swallow, he had finally been able to clear his airway, coughing as he took in
as muchair as he could.
"Where the HELL did that come from, Nash!? Are you trying to kill me!?", he shouted exasperated.
"Heck.", she simply corrected.
Natsu scowled, "Fine. Where the HECK did that come from!?"
A blush spread from Nashi's cheeks up to the tips of her ears, matching the color of her hair. "Well, Cain said-"
"I'll kill him."