Disclaimer: I don't own Natsu nor Gray, I kind of own Nashi and Platinum but not really. I own NONE of the other characters in Fairy tail since they belong to Hiro Mashima and nobody else.
Fire and ice
Natsu Dragneel knew that he'd never love trains for as long as he drew breath.
Each time he'd step on to one, walk into a booth and settle himself down in one of the seats, he'd feel as though he would be trapped inside some sort of rumbling glass box. The very thought of any kind of vehicle or any form of transportation made his stomach clench and his face turn shades of green that shouldn't be humanly possible.
He'd feel very claustrophobic.
For about two hours now, he had to stay in this hell of a ride with his gut flipping on itself over and over and over again.
He hung his head lowly, feeling his poor stomach do another flip as the seats bumped a tiny bit inside the train cabin. He had an agonised look on his now pale green face as his motion sickness left his body a huge wreck and he couldn't help but moan in discomfort. He felt dreadful and he wanted nothing more than to make a desperate jump out of the nearest window and walk the rest of the way there.
But, ever since his daughter had been born, he had found a way to sort of distract himself from his misery.
Yet it was not as effective today.
The fire Dragon slayer wizard had been doing a few requests at the Fairy Tail guild lately to try and earn a few extra jewels to try and support his wife, Lucy Heartfilia, and his very young daughter, Nashi; Unfortunately Lucy had to stay behind in Magnolia to do some stuff with her Celestial spirit friends along with Happy, to take a small break from motherhood and having a little bit of relief for a day. The rest of the guild were very busy and that meant that little Nashi, only a year and a half old, had to go on a job with her father.
This mission was to acquire a feather from a rare species of bird and, since that seemed safe enough, Natsu decided that it was the perfect daddy-daughter trip.
Little Nashi was seated on the pink-haired Fire wizard's lap and was obliviously chewing contentedly on one of the ends of his scarf. She let out the giggle while she sat on her father's knee, being bounced by the train on the rather bumpy train tracks, and she couldn't help but look up at the pink-haired Fire wizard's face with the end of one scaly scarf tail —tassels and all— stuffed in her mouth.
The infant was wearing a small pink onesie, it was a few shades lighter and more vibrant then her hair, and it was decorated with a unique pattern of pink stars and faint red dragon cartoons, the perfect outfit to compliment her parents. The onesie was buttoned up at the front and was quite thick and fluffy as to keep her warm and looking quite cute.
The nauseated Natsu looked down and saw his daughter's face.
Nashi's large brown eyes filled with childish innocence softened as she made a "hmm?" noise whilst she tilted her head to one side, seeming worried for the grownup with the spiky pink hair. She sat on his strong knee and watched with keen interest as he closed his eyes for a moment and held back as much of his nausea as he could whilst he held one hand on his stomach and proceeded to use the other to ruffle Nashi's pink hair playfully.
Natsu smiled weakly as he did this.
"It's...okay, sweetie, d-daddy...daddy's gonna be fine..."
It was after mumbling this that he immediately blanched.
Nashi giggled when she saw the look on the Dragon slayer's face, thinking that he was trying to full some faces for her amusement. Natsu felt his cheeks puff out he felt the feeling of bile bubble in his throat and threaten to spew right out of his mouth and it took everything he had to reign it back and steady himself as he reclined in his seat and held his little girl to his chest, trying to focus solely on her and trying not to throw up in the train. Thankfully she seemed none the wiser to his pitiful state and he hoped that Nashi wouldn't have to suffer with this too when she got older and her magic got more powerful.
He swallowed and started to feel as floppy as a banana peel.
"Uuuuugh..." He bemoaned pitifully, his tummy clenching painfully, "...I hate trains..."
Natsu looked down at Nashi, whom started rubbing her head affectionately against his strong and well-toned chest whilst making coos of the purest form of contentment. It was the one and only thing that made the salmon pink-haired dragon slayer smile in spite of the horrendous throes of motion sickness he had to go through each and every time he was unfortunate enough to have to go on a vehicle.
He held his child close to him as though she were his lifeline and he sighed beneath his breath, trying his best to hold back the dam of sick that threatened to burst.
"I can't wait until you get older...ulp...because then we can walk everywhere..."
After a train ride that lasted three hours, the fire wizard found himself in a small but lively village that was close to some mountains.
The mountains were tall and craggy and stretched out on the horizon —they sort of reminded him of the mountains he and Igneel lived...but he decided not to focus on that, but it was where Natsu had decided to gather some items before he made his attempt to find that bird and grab that feather.
Since he knew that holding Nashi in his arms for the entire way there wasn't possible nor was putting her down, he had decided to use his scarf as a means to strap young Nashi to his back, making sure to wrap it around his mid-chest region so as to properly secure her. Thankfully the scarf's tough but cozy and always-warm material was good enough to keep his precious bundle close to him so he didn't need to worry about it making her uncomfortable or anything.
The village was bustling as the sounds of like a billion voices intermingled with each other, calling out for sale advertisements and people chatting and townsfolk going about their everyday lives and, as far as villages went, this seemed like s pretty peaceful (albeit noisy) place.
The Fairy tail mage and his daughter weaved through the crowd, Natsu jostling about to try and find a place to restock his supplies to get ready to go on the mission. He surveyed his surroundings to find a good place to do just that and then his eyes landed upon a small hut a little distance away. It looked rather run down but he could smell the
"Alrightie, Nash-Nash! Let's go and get us a bite and then go and roast us a birdie!"
Natsu was delighted to hear some high-pitched giggling beside his sensitive ear and he couldn't help but peak over his shoulder and smile at Nashi, his brows quirking as he shrugged his shoulders to intentionally give his daughter a little upwards jerk, eliciting a squeal of delight from the year-and-a-half old infant with pink, short, sleek yet spiky hair.
"Papa!" The child cheered.
"Heh! That's my girl!"
He approached a small wooden hut that appeared to have been an inn, the faded scratch lines etched into the sign out front made that obvious, and made his way to the front door; he stopped in front of it and reached forwards and used one hand to swing it open and barged his way through.
He was beheld by a rather large room that sort of reminded him of the Fairy tail guildhall.
There were tables and a counter and there was even a pool table where a few customers were playing the game with their pool cues at the ready, there was a counter where a barmaid was serving a few men and women their wines and beers along with other such beverages and Natsu was almost swept away by the smells and the sounds, his Dragon slayer ears picked up the "clinks" of glasses, the voices of pub-goers and adventurers and maybe even the odd cutthroat.
The strong scent of beer hung around the place along with the sweet smell of nectar and he could also pick up a scent that he sort of recognised.
Natsu ignored it, though, and he simply made his way over to the counter as he used a bounce in his step to appease the little toddler strapped to his back; Nashi let out trilling giggles as she bounced up and down with each step her father made, hearing his sandled-feet clop against the floor below.
His scaly scarf tails swished as he practically cantered towards the counter and when he gazed across the wooden surface, he was met with several glances from nearby men whom were mostly too indulged in their drinks to take much notice of the pink-haired pair. One or two sent looks of surprise or indifference, some even scrunched their faces at him in confusion as though they seemed to recognise him.
The bar maid looked up at the pink-haired pyro and eyed him casually.
"Hmm? What're you here for?" She asked.
Natsu leaned across the counter, reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out a small bag of jewels. He dropped it on the wooden surface in front of him and he replied to the question with as much politeness as he could.
"We're here for some drinks and to grab some stuff to go."
The woman just stared at him blankly. She had short hazel brown hair and had piercing, golden honey eyes that almost burned into his soul and she wore a bland pink dress with an apron that was tied at the back with a pretty yellow ribbon. The bar maid had a look of slight disinterest on her thin face as she looked the fire Dragon slayer over, scaly scarf included.
It wasn't until she spotted the red Fairy tail emblem that marked his upper left arm that her eyes lit up in recognition.
"Oh. You're Natsu Dragneel of Fairy tail, aren't you?"
Natsu smirked.
It seemed that his reputation proceeded him...
Then the maiden asked as she clapped her hands together, even though she still didn't seem all that interested. "You must be here to meet up with your friend."
Natsu's smirk dropped into a rather large frown of both perplexity and confusion. Friend? What did she mean? And how could she assume such a tone while looking like she couldn't give a dragons wing about any of this? Who was this friend she spoke of?
To answer that last question that raced through his mind, the bar maiden started to scrub a chalice with a damp rag and then used her gaze to point at a table not too far away from where Natsu was standing. His heart dropped into his stomach as he absentmindedly unstrapped Nashi from his back and took her into both of his embrace.
"What! Ice princess, what're you doing here!?" Natsu exclaimed as he spotted a certain ice-maker mage across the way.
Gray seemed just as stunned.
"I should be asking you the same question, Flame brain!"
Natsu held his giggling pink-haired daughter in his arms as he carried her over to the table to greet Gray and Juvia's child, who had been promptly named Platinum Silver Fulbuster. Gray said that Juvia and himself named him Platinum because it was an awesome name but Natsu suspected that it was really because the family was running out of colours that resembled the colour...
The pink-haired Fire wizard held his young daughter in his arms as he sat at the table where the ice wizard was also seated, bouncing his son on his knee to entertain him.
As the two rival wizards talked when they saw each other, their two children could not help but seem intrigued and curious whence they spotted one another.
The younger boy, whom was a few months old, had pale skin, a head full of thick and bushy Prussian blue hair and rather large obsidian/blue eyes that had eyelashes beneath and he was wearing a thick onesie that had a big fluffy collar engulfing his little neck.
Platinum had this air of shyness as he seemed to try hiding away from the older girl that was smiling happily at him but he just hid his face partially in his collar.
Natsu stared dumbfoundedly at Gray.
"Don't tell me. You're on the same mission as me?"
The ice-maker Fairy tail wizard shrugged his shoulders, his own look of dumbfoundedness etched upon his face as he glared lamely up at the Fire wizard standing over both him and his son. He hadn't expected to see his frienemy here and he also didn't expect him to have his daughter there along for the ride.
Nashi giggled delightedly and then raised a chubby arm and pointed at the ice wizard.
"Unca Gway!"
Gray focused his attention on the young girl for a minute and smiled warmly up at her.
"Hey, Nashi."
He leaned forward as he readjusted Platinum so he was holding him close to his chest now and he proceeded to tickle Nashi's cheek lightly, causing a flurry of giggles to erupt from her cute little vocal chords, he loved the little girl and would even sometimes make her little ice sculptures with his magic to make her smile. When he finished tickling the small child, he proceeded to recline back in his seat and the small infant he held just huddled as close to his father as he could and Gray Just cradled his son to be as close as possible, he smiled as he felt the little ball of warmth snuggle against his cold body.
Then he returned to the matter at hand and glanced up at Natsu.
"So you're here for the stupid feather too?"
Natsu sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, it would seem like it."
Natsu couldn't believe it. Why did Frostbite have to show up? And what were the chances that they would take on the same request without each other knowing...and bringing their children along? To be honest he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that this was actually happening and he didn't want to tackle this when he just wanted this to be a special outing between his daughter and himself.
The fire dragon slayer closed his eyes, lowered his head and shook his head when he came to one conclusion to this one dilemma.
He raised his head again and looked his arch rival in the eye.
"Saaay, ice princess-punk? I've got a proposition."
That seemed to grab Gray's attention as he furrowed his brow with obvious intrigue.
"I'm listening..."
Natsu smirked and bared his fangs, his eyes flashing green with excitement, "What about a race."
Gray shrugged his shoulders again, which were completely bare now since he wasn't wearing a shirt anymore now that it had mysteriously seemed to vanish into thin air. Seeing this didn't shock Natsu in the least but he did have the sense of mind to cover his daughter's eyes with one hand.
"Dude, there are kids in the room and you're shirtless again! Not cool!"
Gray looked down and almost fell backwards in shock as he noticed that he was shirtless.
"DARN IT! Not again!"
Then Gray and Natsu glared at each other but they couldn't help but smirk aggressively at each other, shooting up to their feet as they pressed their foreheads to each other so their eyes were solely glowering on each of their obsidian pools. The two Fairy tail wizards practically drew sparks from the friction of how close they were, the aggressive energy between them building.
All eyes were on the two and their children.
"Here's what we'll do; we'll do a race to see whose gonna find that bird and feather and finish this mission first —the loser has to wear makeup for a week."
"Heh! You're on, Frosty!"
A/N: Here's the first chapter of this short story.
I thought that I'd make it mostly about Natsu and Grays kids, Nashi and Platinum; I thought Platinum would be the perfect name for a Gruvia son.
I hope you guys like it.
Btw, FAIRY TAIL SEQUEL SERIES WHOOOOOOOOOOOOP! :D
-Chloemcg
