Quality Time

"So when are they coming back?" asked Mirajane as she polished one of the beer mugs. Natsu sat at one of the barstools, his curious daughter sitting on the counter in front of him, giggling whenever he made a silly face.

"Um, in two days, I think," he answered without looking away from Nashi. He crossed his eyes and puckered his lips like a fish, dropping the face as his little girl let out a squeal of delight. Mira and Levy also giggled. Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Charle, and Happy had gone out on a mission, and it was Natsu's turn to stay home. He'd been left alone with Nashi for almost two weeks, not that he had a problem with it. But he was a little concerned about Lucy. He knew she could take care of herself - he's seen her do so before – but he wasn't a big fan of letting her go on a mission without him. If she were to get hurt, he wasn't there to protect her. Granted, she had Gray and Erza with her – and Wendy, of course, in case she did get hurt – but he couldn't help but worry.

Happy offered to stay and help him with Nashi, but he refused, claiming that Lucy needed him more than he did. He kind of regretted denying the offer, though, because the house would get way too quiet for his liking once Nashi had gone to bed.

"Do you miss her?" asked Levy, although she already knew the answer. Natsu glanced at her and scoffed.

"Duh," he said. "The nights are too boring without her." The bookworm and the barmaid exchanged mischievous glances.

"Oh?" said Mira, lifting an eyebrow. "Too boring at night, you say? Why Natsu. I had no idea the two of you were so libidinous." The Dragon Slayer quirked an eyebrow, confused at the use of such a big word.

"What does that mean?" Levy giggled and waggled her eyebrows.

"What exactly do the two of you do at night that makes it so… interesting?" As realization hit him, Natsu snapped his eyes up to Levy's, shocked (and somewhat embarrassed.)

"Wh-what?" he stuttered, a distinctive blush fanning across his tanned cheeks. "N-n-no! That's not what I m-meant!" He looked away for a moment and said quietly to himself, "We don't do it every night…"

"Then what did you mean?"

"I-I-I meant… it's just different without her there, y'know? It's too quiet." Levy and Mirajane nodded, an identical, knowing grin on their faces.

"Ah, I see," Mira said slowly. Fed up with the teasing, Natsu lifted Nashi into his arms and stood.

"I'm gonna head out early," he said quickly, playing off the intense blush on his face. He turned to Nashi. "Say bye." Still not being able to talk, Nashi lifted her small hand waved, a toothless grin stretched across her pretty face. The two girls giggled and waved back, earning a cute gurgling noise from the back of Nashi's throat. Natsu laughed as well, waving himself as he turned to leave. "See you tomorrow, guys."

"Bye, Natsu," the girls said in unison. As soon as the doors shut behind him, they turned to each other.

"He is such an adorable father," Levy mused. Mira nodded in agreement.

"He's so innocent, too."

"Can you believe them, Nashi?" Natsu asked his daughter in a goofy voice as he sat down on the bed, settling her in his lap. "Teasing Daddy about doing naughty things with Mama." Nashi suckled on his scarf. He spoke in his normal voice. "I'm glad you don't understand what I'm saying." Nashi continued to blissfully gnaw on his scarf, her brown eyes glinting happily. Natsu smiled gently. She was so cute. Suddenly, she stopped sucking, her eyes wide as they fixated on something to his right. Natsu's eyebrows furrowed and he looked over his shoulder, trying to see whatever she saw. But nothing out of the ordinary was behind him, so he turned back to her. "What do you see?" he asked, as if expecting an answer.

"Ah," she gurgled, reaching for the part of his scarf that sat on his right shoulder. "Ah." She pulled it down and placed a tiny hand on his neck, right over his scar. She looked up at him, her big chocolate eyes seeming… worried. Natsu chuckled.

"It's nothing, baby girl," he assured softly, reaching up and taking her soft hand into his. He lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "That's from a long time ago." Nashi looked up at her father's face, but quickly reattached her gaze to the jagged, discolored piece of flesh on his neck, eying it curiously. Natsu laughed at the look on her face – which, unbeknownst to him, mirrored his face – and stood up from the couch. "Alright, silly girl. Bath time." At the word 'bath,' Nashi looked up at him with a large grin and happily clapped her hands together.

The Salamander sat on the floor beside the bathtub, resting his side on the side of the tub while he watched her play with her toys. He reeled back when she splashed water into his face. She laughed as he wiped his face dry with his scarf. He looked at her. "You think that's funny?" he asked playfully. He dipped his fingertips into the lukewarm water and flicked some back at her. She whined and pouted, causing him to smirk. "What? You can dish it out but you can't take it?" As if understanding what he said, Nashi swiped her hand into the water to get him back, effectively soaking the front of his shirt. He growled playfully and made a move to splash back, but Nashi sneezed before he could get the chance.

A wispy trail of fire shot from her mouth, flew passed his head, and scorched the shower curtain. With wide, stunned eyes, Natsu looked at the curtain – which now had a large chunk of it missing – and back to his daughter. She was giggling as she applauded her work. "Bless you…" Natsu said slowly, a small half grin crawling onto his face. He was too proud of his daughter to even think about how Lucy would react when she got home.

Natsu willingly let Gray play with his daughter when he and the girls got back from the mission. He was sitting a barstool away, just waiting for Nashi to sneeze. And when she did, Gray's shirt – yes, he was wearing a shirt – caught fire immediately. With a yelp of surprise, he stumbled off of the barstool, trying to take it off. Juvia doused him with water and flocked to him, asking if he was alright. Natsu nearly fell off his stool from laughing so hard. Mirajane and Lucy also began to giggle.

"Pa… payback's a bitch!" the Dragon Slayer shouted between laughs. "Isn't it, Ice Queen?"

"I'm gonna kill you, Dragon Breath!" Gray threatened, fisting Natsu's shirt and lifting him out of his seat. The fire wizard was completely unfazed as he continued to laugh, tears of mirth forming in the corners of his eyes.

"But I d-didn't do any… anything!" he defended, not even trying to push his rival away. He was too caught up in giggles to do anything but slap his hand against the counter. Gray cocked his fist back for a punch, but Lucy stepped between them, dislodging Gray's other hand from her beloved's shirt.

"Learn to take a joke, Gray," she said merrily, a wide smile spread across her own face. She grabbed Natsu by the scarf and took Nashi into her free arm, making her way for the door. "Let's go you two goofballs. I want to go home." When they got to their apartment, Lucy turned to Natsu, her eyes wide with excitement. "When did she start breathing fire?"

"The other day," Natsu answered, his grin permanently stuck on his face. "It scared the shit outta me." He began to laugh again, but stopped short when Lucy pulled his head down for a kiss. His eyes rolled back into his skull as he began to kiss back. They pulled back after a moment.

"I missed you two," she said softly, kissing the top of Nashi's head.

"We missed you too." Lucy smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek before handing him their daughter and making her way for the bathroom.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower."

"Okay." It wasn't until Lucy closed the bathroom door and screamed when Natsu remembered the shower curtain.

"Natsu Dragneel!"

"Shit…"

Author's Note: Ne, mina! So… I got a review saying that fiancée means before they get married. Yes, I know what it means. I used it because Natsu and Lucy are not married yet. It's a wedding at Fairy Tail, it's gonna take some time. :D Maybe I'll write about the wedding… Maybe not, because I suck at weddings…

Anyway, how was it? Good? I hope so. Let me know in a review!