A/N: This is so lame. But, uh. GOD, I HATE WORD LIMITS. THEY MAKE EVERYTHING SO MUCH HARDER. I'll definitely do a better version of this later. But for now... Round 2 of The NEW Fairy Tail Writing Challenges... ding ding, FIGHT!
At first his senses had been overwhelmed, his small chest heaving and his breath coming out in short, quick pants as his pert nose wrinkled. At this, the dragon would shake mightily, his body rumbling with a sound that could only be laughter.
Still, he could only laugh with the mighty creature- he loved the dragon, always clinging tight to the warm scales of his body, as if warming his heart by a hearth.
The dragon taught him many things, and in time, the boy learned to welcome the fire as the dragon did; to breathe it in and welcome it as it filled his chest with a hearth of his very own. He learned to listen to the skies and stars, how to drift with the breeze and move soundlessly, his toes curling and uncurling in the grass in wonder.
They find her in the heat of summer, with the sun streaking the skies and the musky scent of smoke and flame coiling together in an upwards spiral that clogs the clear, blue sky until it is painted violent shades of orange and gray.
She is curled in upon her self and shaking in great heaves as she tries to suppress sobs. He can see the color of her eyes, and he is almost shocked to see that they are the dull color of dry sod and sorrow.
When his father asks her name, only silence reigns, accompanied by interspersed sniffling and whimpers. He merely squats and pokes her cheeks with a stick until she bursts with a mighty wail that hurts his ears and causes the dragon to snarl smoke emanating from his scaled nostrils.
This action quiets the girl; satisfied, the dragon gives up on his query and continues along the way, with the boy trailing proudly by his tail.
They do not notice that she has followed until a thump followed by a squeal. Turning, the boy sees that she has tripped over a tree root that has strayed onto the path.
The dragon eyes her curiously and gives an infinitesimal nod. With a scowl, the boy brushes aside his messy pink locks and goes to help her up.
Sleeping has always been a mundane activity that he disliked, as it had nothing to do with playing or hunting, and yet still managed to be necessary. However, this particular night is different. Blearily, he opens his eyes and sure enough, the girl is there, perched precariously on a rock and shivering in the darkness, those frail arms of hers wrapped about her legs in a feeble attempt to keep warm.
She gives no sign that she's noticed him in her melancholy- the only movement she makes is the jerking of her night-kissed sunny strands as she sniffs loudly. He momentarily debates whether or not to say anything
Eventually, he rolls a word on his tongue for a moment before trying it out.
"Wh-what…" He stammers, frustration lacing his tone.
The girl looks up then, eyes rimmed red and cautious.
He tries once more. "What is your name…" After another moment's consideration, he adds, "…child?" At that word, his chest swells up proudly, his voice dropping an octave lower as if to mimic another's.
The sun-haired girl glances at the dragon slumbering behind them, and then shivers as a breeze ruffles through. He shuffles closer, wondering if she, too, can feel the hearth within him if he gets closer.
"Lucy," she whispers, shuddering violently and whimpering. He pokes her and is surprised she is at an alarmingly low temperature. Wondrous- his own body heat is much more heated, after all- he touches his hand to her arm.
She stills, ever so slightly.
Surging with a new confidence, the boy settles in next to her and wraps himself about her body, pulling her towards his own, personal hearth. Briefly, he wonders if she can feel its warmth and the way it beats steadily in his frame.
Hours pass until she has finally warmed; he knows this because when her entire body has relaxed, the sun is starting to peer in from between the mountains afar. He has almost fallen asleep when his keen ears picked up on a strange sound- the girl is emitting some kind of a sound akin to a mewl. He listens intently.
"Thank you," she sighs peacefully, turns, and nestles up to the boy. He freezes, an odd feeling overcoming him, and then—
"Mama," she murmurs.
He scowls. "It's Natsu."
Somehow, he thinks he sees her small lips curve into a smile.
When they teach her, too, to fill her chest with her own fire, she is just as overwhelmed as Natsu had been. He finds it almost odd to witness her struggling to stay conscious and emanate magic while smoke seems to wisp out in tendrils from her every pore. Their father is impatient, and when she has collapsed one time too many the dragon beats his wings against the ground, lets out a ferocious roar of disapproval, and shoots off into the sky.
Lucy bursts into tears, her grimy hands trying to wipe away the drops and wave away the smoke, all at once. Natsu bursts into laughter, jesting about how he had learned way faster, how he could use his inner hearth with only a split second's thought, and—
-how… he can't quite seem to remember as her wails and shaking grow stronger. Somehow, superiority is suddenly dwarfed by pity, and his outstretched arms lower, uncertain. He hadn't the faintest idea how to comfort someone…
Memories of a night surface; his arms are suddenly wrapped around her tightly, trying to transfer his heat to her body, meant to still and cease.
They stay there until sundown, and he watches over her as she eventually gets up and attempts to do it again; this time, there is a spark, and a fierce flame ignites over her limbs. In wonder, she gazes at the colors, and when Igneel returns, the twinkle in his eyes can't be missed.
Natsu grins at the new emotion immersing his body. It seems there are other victories than just winning.
Time passes blissfully, until Natsu can no longer recall a day that Lucy has ever not been with them; such a thing was unthinkable.
Their father takes them flying several times, when he is in a good mood and they have listened to his lessons attentively. It is during one of these flights that Lucy falls in love with the night sky.
Natsu, in turn, can only gaze at her face, her hair buffeted by the wind and her small hands clasping their father's horns so tightly that her knuckles turn white. Lucy learns to love the night, love the stars that twinkle merrily as they pass and the moon that gleams, ivory and silken in her eyes.
She loves it so, she tells him one day, only because she needn't be afraid of the cold when he is near- he keeps her warm with his inner flame, and that is enough.
Every night, their father rambunctiously joins in on their play-fights, and every night, Lucy falls asleep in his arms, their breathing as steady as a metronome.
The dragon can only shake his head at this, his eyes sorrowful despite the unmistakable smile gracing his crooked jaw.
One day, Igneel disappears.
It is an abrupt disaster, a soundless cacophony. They do not speak. They do not eat. For three days, they go about their lives in a stunned silence, doing the bare minimum to survive until on the third day, Lucy punches herself and Natsu snaps out of his stupor to rush to her aid, concern overcoming the numbness within him.
Tears are streaming down her cheeks; a purple bruise is forming, a disfigured lump on her side, and yet, she smiles encouragingly. Natsu's heart swells inexplicably.
"Daddy…. Igneel is gone," she smiles through the pain, her words distorted by the sobs that threaten to escape. "He's gone, but we still have each other."
Something in Natsu trembles, and all his rage and hate and hurt and fear finally burst out of him, his body igniting in a raging inferno as he screams and snarls and finally just breaks down into tearless sobs, Lucy's petite body wrapped around his the entire time.
Igneel may be gone, but she's right- they still have each other.
Sometimes, Natsu thinks that somewhere in another world, this has all happened before- the trust, the bonds, the loss- except that Lucy wasn't there, was absent from his life. Somewhere, in another world, just maybe, Lucy wasn't there and he grew up alone.
He can't imagine it though, because she is family, and they belong to each other.
"Let's go," she smiles, her words accentuated by her hair, by the shining sun, by her warm expression…
"Yeah…"
He couldn't possibly ask for any better family.
"To Fairy Tail!"