He rolled out of bed, ruffling his dark hair and went out to the kitchen where his father stood, leaning against the table. Gajeel grabbed his toast off of the counter and settled into his favorite seat with a smirk.
"What are you smirkin' at pipsqueak?" Metalicana raised a studded eyebrow at his small son. "And close your mouth when you eat. No one needs to see that."
Usually, he would mumble something under his breath but today, he let it go. Above all else, it was training day and he wasn't about to do something to make his father take it away from him. It was finally time to get training done without that obnoxious flame head and his pop. Today was training for iron dragons only. He was proud and ready. Quickly after eating, Gajeel ran to his room to get dressed and went outside to meet the old man.
"Alright old man, let's do this!" He slammed his fist into his palm and smiled. The smile quickly fell from his face when he saw his father talking to a blonde woman and a little blonde girl that came up to Gajeel's chest. Metalicana smirked at his son and motioned him over. "Layla, this is my son Gajeel. Gajeel, this is Layla Heartfilia and this young one is Lucy, her daughter. She will be training with us today."
He couldn't help his jaw dropping. "But, but Dad! You said-" Metalicana gave Gajeel a tight pinch. "Hey!"
"If you will excuse us ladies, I believe my son and I need to speak privately."
With a kind smile, Layla nodded. Lucy seemed like she was holding back laughter.
Metalicana pulled his son out of earshot. Before he could open his mouth, the smaller version of him spoke. "What the heck old man! You said -"
"I'm aware of what I said, but today Lucy needs to come with us." His son's eyes darkened.
"Like hell she does! How am I supposed to train around some prissy girl?"
"You will watch your mouth around her as well." Metalicana crossed his arms and looked down at his enraged son. "Lucy has not used her magic in fighting before. She needs our guidance. You will help me teach her."
"No!" He stomped his foot, but he knew what his father would say. If you cannot control your emotions, why should I listen to you? Gajeel took a deep breath and brushed a stray hair that escaped from his pony tail back from his face. "Pop, what if we took someone I could train with? You can even invite the fire breath! Please. You can train her another day."
His eyes were pleading and Metalicana could not help but sigh. "I'm sorry son. We will train together another day, but today, Lucy needs our help." He gave Gajeel a pat on the head and walked back to the blonde females. With a smile, he looked down to Lucy. "Are you ready little miss?"
With a large grin, showcasing her missing front tooth, Lucy straightened up. "Yes sir - I mean Mr. Metalicana. Absolutely. I will do my very best!"
He looked back to his son and then to the small girl before him. "I don't doubt that for a moment."
Within minutes, Metalicana led Lucy and Gajeel into the forest behind their home. Lucy looked to the young boy next to her. "Excuse me, Mr. Gajeel?"
With a roll of his eyes, he spoke. "What do you want punk?"
"Could you?" She nervously played with her hands. "Could you tell me what kind of magic you use?"
He stopped dead in his tracks, causing his father to look back for a moment before continuing on. Gajeel simply shook his head and kept walking. "What's your magic pipsqueak?"
"Well, I have the same magic as my momma." She said with a proud but small smile. "I'm a star mage."
"A star mage? What in the -"
Before he could finish, Metalicana shot a glare to silence him. "What I believe the little miss means is that she is a celestial mage. She works with spirits that are based on the stars."
Lucy gave a proud little mhm! "Thank you Mr. Metalicana. Though I hope that one day, I will be able to learn about other kinds of magic. Mr. Metalicana's magic is my favorite! He makes such pretty things."
Gajeel rolled his eyes once more. "Pretty?" He snorted. "Iron slayers don't do anything pretty pipsqueak."
Lucy's eyes met the ground. "Oh...well, but..." She looked up to his father's back. "One time, Mr. Metalicana made me a pretty star out of his metal. See?" She pulled a cord out of her shirt and attached to it was a tiny metal star, obviously a product of his father's magic. With a dismissive snort, Gajeel looked away and continued walking until they reached the clearing.
The two dragons trained the little mage until she was exhausted. Sweat dripped from her brow, causing her spirit to appear with a small water bottle for her.
"Great." Gajeel groaned. "Now, you have another slave."
Lucy was so surprised she spilled the water. Metalicana crossed over to his son. "That was uncalled for."
"Dad, it's true!" Before he could continue his reasoning, a slap resounded through the clearing. A small Lucy stood shaking before Gajeel, her red handprint on his cheek.
"They are not my slaves! My spirits are my friends." The spark in her eye left him taken aback for a moment, not to mention the strength in her slap. Silence filled the air. Metalicana cleared his throat. "Little miss, why don't you take a break? I believe it's time for me to train my son." With a small nod, Lucy sat on the rock and studied her hands as if they held the secrets to the world.
Soon enough, Gajeel was equally as exhausted and broken, lying on the grass by her feet. Metalicana had gone to get them snacks before their walk back home and the silence was deafening.
"Excuse me, Mr. Gajeel?" Her voice was so quiet it took him to realize it was her and not the wind.
His response bit like ice. "What?"
The awkward air sat between them for a moment and he finally hoped he had scared her away. "I'm sorry for slapping you." He was about to tell her she should be when she spoke up again. "I would never use my spirits like that. They are the only ones who have ever been around besides my parents. I would do anything for them. They are the only friends I have." Sadness filled her voice. "The house is so cold, and I just want to be able to play. I think that's why momma brought me here. She was, I think she was hoping we could be friends..." With a sigh, she replaced the small, and now as he realized, fake smile on her face once more. "It's okay though! I'm used to being by myself."
Most of the things she said didn't sink in with him until the last words left her mouth. That he understood. He was always alone, except for when his dad was home. Even then, it wasn't much like playing with other kids. Every now and then the flame brain would show up but he was so much of a pain that Gajeel didn't really consider him a kid. He was stuck in his own thoughts for a few moments until he realized, ahead of them in the clearing, snuck a fox getting ready to pounce on a rabbit. "Pipsqueak, close your eyes."
His voice broke her concentration and she became more alert. He let out a sigh. "Fine, you want to see a rabbit get ripped to shreads, the nightmares are on you."
"The rabbit will win."
He looked at her in surprise. "I knew you were weird pipsqueak, but didn't take you for a crazy person."
"I'm not crazy." As soon as she said it, the rabbit turned around and used its back feet to claw the fox's eyes. It escaped into the forest without a second thought. "Maybe you shouldn't make guesses without information." She spoke calmly and then leaned back onto the rock. Gajeel thought it over for a minute. This little thing was like a damn rabbit. She seemed innocent and harmless, but she took him down a peg, she demanded respect from his father, and if he was being honest - her magic was kind of cool. She appeared to be adorable but she had it in her to be vicious. It was this final step, the knowledge of rabbit violence apparently, that won his respect. "Come on bunny girl." He held out his hand to her. She cocked an eyebrow at him before hesitantly taking his hand. "What did you call me?"
"I called ya bunny girl. Now come on, I can hear pops yelling for us."
She gave him a kind smile as he pulled her up. She did her best to hide her surprise when he didn't let go of her hand as they walked home together.