Disclaimer: Fairy Tail may not be mine, but the cute cuddly Shunko is!

Chapter 10

Lucy blearily opened her eyes. Her visions was distorted for a while before she focused onto the ceiling illuminated by the warm light of the fire. At first, she couldn't place where she was, there was a nice scent floating in the air. It smelled delicious and Lucy's stomach growled.

Getting out of bed, Lucy wandered throughout the house, trying to find the source of the smell. The house she noted, was a bit weird. All of the walls, from the floor, to the ceiling was made of wood. Normally, this wouldn't bother her since most houses are constructed out of wood but this one, it seemed as if it was carved out of wood. It was most interesting. That, and the fact that there were no windows in the house so far.

Her route lead her to the sound of softly clanking metal behind a door. Lucy tentatively opened the door to find a pink haired woman making soup in a kitchen, which was perhaps, the only room in the house not made out of wood.

"Porlyusica!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Ah, so you are awake girl." Porlyusica commented. She turned the fire down to low and let the soup si as she turned to the girl.

"Why are you in my forest? I certainly did not expect to find a girl fainted due to over exhaustion on my daily patrol."

"I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"Porlyusica, you have to help me please. Do you remember me? My name is Lucy Heartfilia, from Fairy Tail. You have treated my master, Makarov Dreyar, and my guild mate Gray Fullbuster before."

"So you are one of Makarov's kids."

Porlyusica paused and resumed stirring her soup, once again turning the fire back to high. She gave no indication that she knew Lucy was there. In fact, Lucy had thought that Porlyusica had forgotten about her and was about to comment when Porlyusica shoved bowl of soup towards her.

"Eat. You need to get your strength first. Anything you have to say after that can wait until later." She commanded.

Lucy gratefully accepted the bowl of soup, her senses overwhelmed by the flagrant flavor. After days of foraging for whatever she could find in the forest, this was a welcomed dinner. She had tried hunting, but without Natsu's fire to cook things for her, it was very hard to eat the things raw. Her own essence flames was just a manifestation of energy. Having spirit magic did not make her a fire mage, and she was unable to cook the food using her own flames.

Lucy had several bowls of soup before she was finally satisfied. She set down her spoon and turned to Porlyusica who was watching her quietly.

"I won't beat around the bush. I came to see if you have any information." Lucy stated.

"Information on what?" Porlyusica asked.

"About Acnologia, and …" Lucy hesitated, "my son."

"You have a son child?" Porlyusica exclaimed in surprise.

Lucy nodded and proceeded to tell Porlyusica all that happened. She knew that she could trust the healer. Porlyusica may be a human hater, but she was a great listener, and this would be part of the doctor patient confidentiality. Lucy briefly recounted the attack on Tenrou Island which Porlyusica knew about, then her relationship with Natsu, the new village, the black haze, and finally her son and his mysterious powers.

Throughout her story, Porlyusica remained quiet, a contemplative look on her face as she rolled and examined the facts and ideas in her head. She had several possible conjectures about what has happened to Shunko's magic, but she was not unsure without definite proof. When Lucy finished telling her story, she waited expectantly for Porlyusica's answer.

Porlyusica sighed.

"Lucy, I would love to help but even my powers have their limits. I would have to meet Shunko personally to see how his magic has been affected by Acnologia."

Lucy frowned. She was aware of this outcome, but she was still worried. Shunko was still young, and she would prefer not to bring him out from the village yet.

"Shunko is too young." Lucy replied. "I don't think I can take him out yet. I am afraid of what will happen if he loses control of his powers."

"Alright then" Porlyusica conceded. "I will try to look into your memories and see what happened then. I need to see with my own eyes what happened, not just hear your story. It will be painful, and certainly not effective as bringing him to me in person. I can probably teach you some counters against his powers but there is no guarantee that they will work. Are you still willing to go through with it?"

Lucy nodded her affirmation. Porlyusica signaled her to follow as she stepped out the door. She led Lucy through an intricate set of passages throughout her home. Lucy felt as if she was walking in a maze. If she lost sight of Porlyusica, she felt that she may be lost forever. Finally, the hallway opened up into a wide circular room. There were tables pushed against the wall with various ingredients and books laid out. Porlyusica told Lucy to sit in the middle of the room and she turned to one of the tables and begin putting seemingly random ingredients into a bowl. She then began grinding the ingredients together until black paste was created. Porlyusica took a brush and began painting symbols onto the floor around Lucy. When the spell circle was formed, Porlyusica turned to Lucy and began giving her instructions.

"Lucy, I am going to start the spell. Once the spell has started, you will be put in a trance state. Once that happens, I will be using my powers to view your memory. It will hurt, because the brain has a natural barrier against intrusions. But you have to relax and let me in or else it will be even more painful."

Lucy nodded and took a deep breath in preparation.

Porlyusica began chanting softly, slowly raising her voice in volume. As her voice rose, a glow began to emanate from the symbols on the floor. Lucy felt her eyes become heavy and slipped into an almost meditative trance.

When the chant was complete, the black paint was glowing white on the floor. Porlyusica slowly extended her mental powers to focus on Lucy. Lucy felt the foreign presence poking at her mind and she reflexively pushed against the presence. Immediately, a backlash of power washed over her and she cringed in pain. Remembering Porlyusica's earlier instructions, Lucy took some time to compose and calm herself. She couldn't feel her physical body, but she was very aware of her own self. Everything was metaphysical. The strange presence prodded against her brain again. This time Lucy reigned in the urge to resist. A steady pressure was applied to her mind as Porlyusica looked through her memories. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the pressure lightened and the pain receded. Lucy felt the sensations of her physical body come back to her.

Lucy opened her eyes to a concerned Porlyusica looking down at her. Lucy groggily sat up as she tried to ameliorate the pounding in her head.

"Did it work?"

Porlyusica nodded. "Yes, I was able to observe the effects clearly. From all the past events you told me, I have several theories about what happened. However, I am still unsure which would be true unless I examine Shunko myself. But I could make you some potions to help with controlling the power for a while."

"Thank god." Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

"How long will it take?"

"Perhaps two to three weeks. You are welcome to train in the forest during that time. However, do not destroy anything." Porlyusica fixed Lucy with a stare.

Lucy sweat dropped as she repeatedly nodded her assent. Once Porlyusica left for her to recover, a frown marred Lucy's features. Two to three weeks as too long. She had promised Shunko that she would be home a long time ago. Lucy sighed.

Shunko, I'm coming home soon.

~~ Somewhere in the middle of a market ~~

The kid was absolutely driving him crazy, and he will never babysit anyone again. Natsu concluded. That, or he was slowly going insane. Wait … don't they mean the same thing? Natsu shook his head and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. His brain was fried after Shunko led him around the village all day. It all started perfectly, then it ran downhill from there.

Shunko wanted fire candy. Not seeing any harm to that, Natsu bought him some. But afterwards, the kid wanted to go everywhere. He ran around to different market stands, into shops, and back out to the streets. Natsu had a very hard time keeping track of the hyper three year old. After spotting Shunko at a candy apple stand, Natsu made a beeline towards the child in the crowd and scooped him up in his arms.

"Alright buddy, I think you have enough sugar for the day."

Shunko pouted.

"But Natsu –"

"No buts." Natsu responded firmly. Then in a softer tone he asked, "Don't you think it is about time we go and try to find your mom?"

At the mention of his mother, Shunko began to tear up. He gave Natsu a tight hug and nodded his head. Natsu sighed and carried the child to a nearby bench. After setting Shunko down, Natsu made sure he calmed down before asking where his house was.

"House on the edge of woods."

Natsu nodded, and continued with his questions.

"Did you see your mom in town at the market or any of the places we went to?"

Shunko shook his head. Tears streaming down his face.

"Whad do I do Natsu? Mommy disappeared and she is newa comin back!"

Shunko wailed, his words became more indiscernible as he cried louder. Natsu gulped and quickly tried to calm the child. Seeing that hugs and calming words aren't working, Natsu began to do what he does the best. He lit his hands on fire and began to juggle fire balls.

"Oh a ha ha ha, look at all this fire I have!" Natsu began yelling out, as he added more balls into the fray.

"Oh no!" Natsu pretended to be distressed, "I think I have too much now."

Natsu began doing acrobatics while pretending to have trouble juggling the fire. Shunko soon forgot his crying as he watched the pink haired man do a fire show. As Natsu continued doing his antics, a decent crowd gathered as they watched the man do amazing tricks with fire. After a while, seeing that Shunko was cheered up, Natsu let out a big roar, creating a huge fireball above him. The crowd gasped in delight and Shunko clapped his hand in happiness. After the ball of fire was created, Natsu sent out consecutive smaller fireballs to propel the big one into the sky and let it explode in a shower of warm sparks. The finale done, Natsu took a dramatic bow before Shunko as the crowd roared and cheered around them. Coins were tossed towards Natsu, and although surprised, he caught took them gratefully. Years on the road gave him experience and foresight to know that spare change is always valuable.

Once the commotion died down, Natsu turned to Shunko.

"Come on little guy. I think I know a place where we can stay at the night with all the money we just made. I saw an inn downtown. We could probably grab something to eat and then sleep."

Shunko smiled and nodded.

The two walked hand in hand as the sun slowly settled into the horizon.

A/N: Yes I am alive! I know this is long overdue, but I will not be putting this on hiatus. It will only take me really long to update (maybe, depends) because of college. I have been writing snippets throughout the week, but I didn't want to post anything until I have a substantial amount of writing. Due to this, the Monday postings will be gone. I currently have no idea what my posting schedule will be but bear with me please. For some reason Porlyusica really reminds me of Sesshomaru. Perhaps it is the whole human hating thing. Do you guys think the Natsu/Shunko development is going too slow? I want to show them bonding, but I also didn't want to bore you guys with details. To be honest I was kind of having a writer's block while I wrote this, so anything feedback would be appreciated. Please R&R. Hope you enjoy.