So, another new story, and no updates. Sorry!

I promise I'll actually update this one, though. Pinky promise!

-Radish

-5 years old-

"Mama! Papa!" The little girl screamed, her hair a golden fan as she rushed to find her parents. "They're here! They're here!" Her chubby little fingers stabbed at the window in her excitement.

Layla Heartfilia looked up from her novel. At 28 years old, she was the manifestation of beauty and grace; her smile the object of many men's hearts. She uncrossed her long legs and laid her book down on the loveseat to catch her little daughter who barreled toward her like a cannon ball. Using the momentum, she swung her daughter up in an arc, to which the little girl squealed happily. "Did you see them, darling?"

The girl nodded until her head looked as if it were bouncing on her neck. "There was a really big man and this boy with pink hair!" She gesticulated wildly as she giggled. Layla felt her heart swell at seeing her baby so excited.

"Why don't you go tell Papa? Let's go say hi together."

And the girl was off like a rocket toward her father's office. Layla felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward and glanced at the sheet of paper that lay innocently on the coffee table. Perhaps she would tell the little girl some other day.

Igneel was exhausted.

He ran a hand through his spiky red hair, his fingers getting caught in the crumbling hair gel in the process. He cursed quietly, just quiet enough not to be heard. After parking his truck in his new driveway, he unbuckled his seatbelt and twisted his torso so that he faced the fuming little boy in the backseat. "Natsu?"

The boy glared out the window as if he hoped to burn through the glass with his lazer vision. His eyebrow twitched when his name was called, but otherwise he ignored the man.

Igneel sighed and rubbed his face with his large hands. "Natsu, I know you didn't want to leave, but we couldn't stay there anymore. This neighbourhood is much nicer and—"

"Shut up!" The boy's eyes were burning with anger. "Just shut up, will you?! I don't want to hear your stupid excuses!" He sniffed and hopped out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Igneel groaned for the hundredth time that day. Being a single parent is just so hard. Wearily he opened the driver's side door and climbed out, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the frame. Shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun, he looked over his new house. It wasn't large but looked a hell of a lot better than his old one. He was surprised he was even able to sell that old, run-down place.

Natsu was kicking pebbles at the car from the driveway sulkily, his hands shoved into his pockets. He glanced up at the sound of Igneel shutting the car door and then promptly returned to his pebble-kicking with a vengeance to demonstrate his displeasure.

"Oi, stop that!" A jagged rock had bounced off the car door, and Igneel could have sworn he saw a bit of paint come off. Natsu glared at his father before giving a final kick and storming off. "Stupid kid," Igneel muttered to himself.

They didn't have much furniture, just a couple of chairs, a small dining table the size of a coffee table, and a couch with more holes in it than Swiss cheese. He moved all the things out from the car to the gravel driveway, grunting under the weight of the couch. He thought he saw a flash of pink and yellow out of the corner of his eye.

"Hello mister!" He set the couch down with a heavy exhale. An adorable little girl was looking up at him with the brownest eyes he'd ever seen. "I'm your neighbour!" She stuck out a chubby little hand dotted with the tell-tale rainbow stains of felt markers.

Squatting, Igneel grinned and took her tiny hand in his big one. "Nice to meetcha, little lady. Call me Igneel."

"Call me Lucy!" She was missing a front tooth. Lucy looked around, "Where did the boy with pink hair go?"

Igneel mentally shuddered. First impressions were important, and with Natsu in a stormy mood, Igneel dreaded what he would say to their new neighbours.

Standing up to his full height and looking around, he made sure Natsu was not in sight. "Ah… He went inside…"

"Oh…" She looked slightly disappointed but recovered within a second. "Then I'll help you move!" Beaming, she grabbed the nearest box she could find.

It was his toolbox.

Igneel swooped in and snatched it out of her hands before she could drop it on her feet and injure herself. He pointed to a smaller cardboard box. "Thanks, Lucy! Wanna help me grab that one?"

She grinned happily and obliged. "Where d'ya want me to put this, mister Igneel?"

"Uh…" He squinted up at the sun. "Just by the front door would be nice!" She disappeared behind the house faster than a speeding bullet. "Oh, and just call me Igneel!" He called after her.

Igneel wondered what her parents were like as he pulled out more stuff from his truck and glanced toward the next house in time to see the door open to reveal the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

Sitting on the front steps, Natsu heard the light patter of footsteps come nearer and stuffed his marbles back into his pocket. Tensely he waited.

Even before he had gotten here, he had decided that he would be mean-horribly mean- to every single person in this neighbourhood. After all, he didn't want to be here in this crappy new place.

His friends were waiting for him back east, waiting for their leader to come back. He had fun playing with them too. But Igneel, that idiot, just had to buy a new place.

Stupid dad.

The footsteps stopped and he looked up grumpily. "What do you want?"

In front of him was a little blond girl in a pink dress smelling of vanilla and strawberries and looking at him with an expression of curiosity. Their eyes met, black on brown, but she didn't look away. Instead, she grinned at him.

"Hello!" She was missing a front tooth, he noticed.

"What do you want?" Glare, just glare at her, dammit. Oh, but that smell was so distracting.

"I'm helping Igneel move!" The grin got wider as she shook the box she was carrying. "See?"

Natsu's eyes narrowed as he noticed his box in her hands. "What the hell are you doing? Don't touch my stuff!" With one bound he was in front of her, wrestling for the box.

"Stop it! I told Igneel I would put it in front of the door!" She pulled the box away from him, her voice high and whiny.

"Just give it to me! That dumbass doesn't know anything!"

"No! Stop pulling!"

"Fuck you!"

Her eyes grew as round and bright as the moon as she froze. Natsu had one moment to regret his words before he fell backward, the box flying out of his hands. His bottom hit the concrete path painfully and he winced.

"Fine! You have it!" She was storming away now, voice stuffy. "You're the worst!"

Natsu could hear the tears in her voice and the pang of regret turned into an ache. He hated it when girls cried. Now you've done it, he thought as her pink dress turned orange in the sunset and she raised a hand to wipe away her tears.

He caught up to her retreating figure. "Hey, don't cry… I'm sorry." He despised the way his voice sounded so pitiful but he pushed on. "I didn't mean it! I was just kind of mad that we moved here."

"You didn't want to come?"

She looked at him then, her glistening tears surrounded by a halo of golden orange. The scent of strawberries and vanilla paralyzed his tongue. And those eyes, those soulful brown eyes, sucked him into their gradient warm depths. He thought he would drown like this. At the moment, drowning in chocolate didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Then she sniffed and the spell was broken. Natsu felt stupid for staring at her so he quickly looked away.

"Yeah. Didn't wanna leave my friends in the hood."

She crinkled her nose. "Why do you talk like that?"

"Like what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno! It's just that you talk in a funny way." She added hastily when she saw the look on his face, "It's not bad or anything! Just different!"

He grunted, since he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what she meant, but he didn't want to make her cry again. Right then she was smiling, and he quietly admitted to himself that she looked kind of nice. Not that he liked her or anything.

Liking people was for pussies, and Natsu Dragneel was not a pussy.

"I'm sorry too," she said suddenly. He looked up, surprised. She wasn't looking at him anymore.

"For?"

"Your box." She pointed to the mess in front of the stairs leading to the porch. "I let go of it."

"Naw, it's 'kay." He broke away from her and trotted to the mess. "It's just my stuff." Bending down, he began to pick things up.

He heard her light footsteps following behind and turned around to see her holding up a photo. His photo. He felt the familiar boil of rage, but reined the monster in until it stopped rearing its head. It was easy. He'd been angry for a whole day, and it was beginning to tire him out.

"Are they your Mama and Papa?"

"Yea." He kept his voice steady and cool. "They died." He turned his back toward her and continued to pick things up. His pokemon cards, his marbles, his figurines.

"Did Igneel adopt you, then?"

He hummed. "Yea."

She didn't say anything else and quietly helped him clean up. He glanced at her a few times, but her face betrayed no emotions. Really, people usually asked more questions.

Finally, after a few minutes, the contents of the box had been replaced and they stood side by side, staring at the closed lid. Now that the main source of conflict had been resolved, there seemed to be no more reason for them to stay together.

She made no move to leave. Natsu scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh… Thanks."

She nodded and there was another long silence. Natsu examined the concrete. There was a long crack beneath his feet and he watched the ants crawl over it.

"My name's Lucy," she suddenly said, looking at him.

He stared back. "Natsu." Then he noticed that she had stuck her hand out stiffly toward him. Her face was pink as she glared at him with determination.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Wh-What's with that face?!" He gasped, trying to control himself. She hadn't moved. He stopped laughing. "What?"

"Shake!" She commanded, wriggling her hand at him.

"No." He crossed his arms. "That's so old-school. Uncool." He made a face.

She glared at him, her hand still held out. "What do you mean?"

"Here, I'll show you the Handshake. This is the cool way of doing things! Watch carefully!"

Igneel rounded the corner, carrying the couch by himself, followed by Jude and Layla carrying the dining table.

He was glad that his neighbours were so wonderful and kind. Jude was a nice guy, though a little formal and haughty in that rich-businessman way. His wife, though, was amazing.

Amazing was the only word he could find to describe her. It was the only word that could do her justice. Aye, if only she wasn't married…

He decided to put her out of his mind. With some effort, he tried to ignore the click of her heels on the cement.

As he brought the heavy couch to the porch, he noticed a little boy and a little girl sitting together and laughing in that innocent, clear voice that only children could.

He smiled at the scene and felt a part of his soul rest. A burden heavier than this couch he was carrying fell away into the vast ocean of happiness. Maybe things would be alright after all.

"Whatcha smiling at, old man?" Natsu was trying to glare at him but the corners of his mouth kept lifting upwards. Lucy waved cheerily, showing off her missing front tooth.

Igneel grinned at his son, who turned away, blushing. He thought he heard something that sounded like "stupid old guy", but decided that he would let this one pass.

Fumbling with his keys, he opened the door to his new home as the sound of children's laughter drifted into the sunset.

Hope that was alright!

Let me know if you liked it.

-Radish