BlackLynx17: I wear Toms, he wears sneakers, he's banging your friend underneath the bleachers.

SKATER BOY

CHAPTER 21

"Last night was a total failure, how could we have forgotten about Lisanna?" Wendy whispered harshly.

"Because we hate her." Mest shrugged.

"Still she was like a freaking ninja, no wonder Lucy left. I don't think she told Natsu that she came to visit, he didn't seem to be acting weird when he joined the party."

"She most likely didn't then, Lucy must have said something to her that really bugged her. She told me not to worry about it this morning when I was dropping about Misty... speaking of Misty though, I need to pick her up right now. Her and Cora; Misty has been wanting him to come over lately and I planned a play date with her and Cora over our house for today."

"Oh my God Mest, you are a genius! That's it!"

"What's it Wendy?"

"Have Natsu pick her up! Her and Cora up! When he goes to drop Cora back off at home, or when he comes here to drop them back off we can make him stay so he can meet up with Lucy and they can talk! Bam! I'm a genius!" Wendy started laughing to herself.

"Wendy not only is that a horrible idea, but Lucy's going to kill us when she finds out what you're planning."

"Too late, I'm already calling him."

"Wendy don't!"

"Natsu! Hi, could you pick up Misty from school today? Yeah something came up and Mest and I can't do it. We should be home around five so could you take her out for some fun too? She's going to have a little friend, a boy named Cora with her... perfect! See, that's why I love you Natsu! Okay, well thanks again. Yeah, you should head over there right now. Okay, okay, bye Natsu!"

Wendy smiled as she hung up the phone and Mest sighed, shaking his head side to side as he looked down.

"You just signed our deaths."

"Come on Mest, this could be a good thing. Natsu's going to meet his son and he won't even know it! This way I'm not revealing anything to Lucy and I'm keeping my promise."

"Don't blame me when this blows up in your face Wendy."

"Shut up Mest and be supportive."

"I love you dear."

"Aw, I love you too Mest."

Natsu repositioned his baseball cap as he skated to the school, knowing he was late. If Wendy hadn't told him so last minute he would have been early, but Misty won't mind that much. She was a good girl, a sweet girl and super fun to play with. Natsu turned that last corner and saw the school coming up in the distance. He stopped at the fence and saw her swinging on the swings, a boy pushing her. That must have been the friend Wendy was talking about, Cora he thinks.

"Misty! Misty over here!" Natsu waved out.

Misty looked up and got off the swings, grabbing the boy's hand as they started running over. She released his hand as she jumped up for a hug, Natsu laughing and swinging her around as he caught her.

"Uncle Natsu! Why are you here?"

"Your Mom and Dad had something to do, so they sent me here to make sure you and your friend had a fun day today. Hi there, I'm Uncle Natsu. It's nice to meet you Cora." Natsu grinned at the small boy.

This man was his father. Cora had seen pictures of him hidden away in her mother's stuff when she was younger, and again all over the house and walls in his grandparent's house. Pop Pop and Mima had actually told him stories about the man his father was. No matter what though, in Cora's eyes this man was a bad man. A man who abandoned his mother and made her sad and cry all the time. Cora just stared at him, wondering how in the world this man was his father if they looked nothing alike?

Natsu laughed nervously and placed Misty back on the ground, scratching the back of his head.

"Er... so, yeah. What do you think about going to the park and practicing skate boarding? I brought an extra board so we could all try it, well you two while I teach. And later before going home we could ice cream."

"Yay! Ice cream!" Misty cheered.

Cora wanted to go back inside and call his mom, begging for her to come over here. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet his father though and he didn't want to pass this up. He wanted to see exactly what kind of man his dad really as, so he stayed. Natsu quickly got used to the quiet boy and just talked to Misty on their walk to the park, telling her jokes and laughing at her stories. She was the same way, telling him all about her day and all about Cora. She'd answer when he'd refuse to and Natsu wondered why she liked the boy so much? Was he a mute? All he would do was stare at him and sometimes glare. Did he not like him or something?

"Skate board! Skate board! Skateboard!" Misty started cheering when they entered the park.

"Here you go little one, remember what I taught you?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, I can do it all by myself." Misty smiled grabbing the board.

She started skating around the water fountain in circles, cheering and giggling to herself. Natsu watched her with a careful eye before looking back at the small little boy. His blonde hair was so bright it hurt and his eyes... there was something familiar about him.

"Can you skate? Or do you need help?"

"I can do it by myself." The boy said, the first words he's ever heard him say.

He grabbed the board and placed it on the ground, placing one foot on top of the board. He fell right after and landed on the ground face first. Natsu snorted, but quickly picked him up and started dusting him off.

"Cora, are you alright? Any scratches or cuts?" Natsu started fussing over him.

"I'm fine, stupid board." Cora glared.

"The board is not stupid, you just don't know what you're doing. I'll help you though, here. Grab my hand." Natsu said holding his hand out.

Cora glared at the hand and stood up himself, trying again by himself. He fell down just the same and the next time he grabbed Natsu's hand tightly. He chuckled lightly and picked Cora up, placing him gently on the board.

"There we go, now try to stand by yourself."

Natsu slowly started letting go and Cora clawed into his arms, hanging on for his dear life. He slowly eased off of him though and soon he was standing on his on in the middle the middle of the park on his board. Cora let out a soft breath of relief as he didn't fall.

"Good, now we're going to walk. Misty, come on! Follow us!" Natsu called out as he grabbed on Cora's hand.

He started walking slowly and Cora held onto him, the board rolling around under his feet making the world move a little slower than usual. He never tried to skateboard before, but he had heard from his grandparents that his father was a skater. It made him not want to skate at all because he didn't want to follow after his footsteps, but this... this was pretty nice. Especially when they started going down a hill, Cora even flashed a smile and started laughing.

Natsu paused for a minute as he stared at it, seeing something familiar from his smile. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared and so did the feeling that Natsu remembered. He stopped Cora's skating and stared at him gently.

"Cora... who's your parents?"

"Mommy and Daddy." Cora answered, trying to move the board.

Natsu kept him there though, a frown on his face. "Who is Mommy and Daddy?"

"Mommy and Daddy are Mommy and Daddy. Let's go."

"Do you not know your parent's names?"

"Cora! Uncle Natsu! Let's go! Let's go! I see the ice cream truck up ahead!" Misty screams echoed from the back.

Natsu looked up and Cora jumped off the board, abandoning it as he started running towards Misty. Natsu picked up the board and started following after, making a note inside of his head to ask Wendy who exactly was Cora's parents.

Lucy checked her watch and sighed, hurrying down the street to Wendy and Mest's house. She didn't mean to be so late, but one of the kids got into an accident in class so she had to deal with the parents and reassure them nothing was wrong. She was late, she was so late, but she was sure Cora was having a wonderful time over there. Misty had really done some good Cora; he's been more open and happier, more talkative, more like the child he was supposed to act like. She was so happy she moved back here, the effects of being back in her home was already showing.

Lucy didn't bother knocking on the door as she walked in, Wendy and Mest wouldn't have mind and always told her to just walk in whenever. She started looking around the house with a smile on her face.

"Cora! Cora I'm here! Where are you Cora?" She sang lightly creeping through the halls.

She popped her head into the living room and her smile immediately fell as she saw charcoal eyes staring back at her. These weren't her son's eyes though, but someone elses. Cora turned from the video game he was playing with his father and stood up, running over and hugging his mother's legs.

"Mommy! I missed you!"

It was the end of the world. The world was ending right now. Lucy was going to die right now, she didn't feel as if she was dying though. Natsu felt like he was dying right now, but he was still managing to breath and blink and... stay alive.

"Lucy, you're a little late. Would you and Cora like to stay for dinner?" Wendy asked standing up from the couch.

Lucy looked right at her and Wendy looked right back, the two of them having an inner conversion.

I'm going to kill you.

This was only to let you meet him again since last night didn't go so well.

You're dead.

You should be happy I set up this opportunity for you.

You broke your promise!

You'll thank me later.

"Misty, come help Papa with dinner." Mest said picking his daughter up.

"Come on Cora, we're leaving." Lucy said tugging Cora aside.

No one tried to stop her as she left and that hurt Lucy a little bit. She didn't know what to expect now that Natsu saw her, saw him, spent time with him and finally discovered that she had his child. He didn't react at all... so did that answer that? Did he just not care? Did he not want them in their life?

"Mommy?" Cora asked.

"What is it baby? Did you have fun today?"

"That man picked us up instead of Uncle Mest, he taught me how to ride a skateboard and bought me ice cream."

Lucy blinked, "really? Was that fun?"

"Yeah, a little. I'm still not good, but I like the skateboard. Can I get one?"

"Sure baby, whatever you want... did that man, um Uncle Natsu? Happen to say anything to you?"

"Like what?" Cora asked.

"Anything strange you'd like to tell me."

"I don't think he recognized me as his son, he didn't treat me special at all. He did ask about you Mommy, he asked who my parents were. I didn't tell him though, are you proud of me?"

"Oh baby, I love you so much." Lucy knelt down and pulled Cora into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to keep your father away from you, but I never knew if he wanted you or not and was only trying to protect you Cora. I'm so sorry for that, I'm sorry for making you think that he was a bad man and he hurt Mommy. I'm so sorry, but your father isn't like that at all. You know that now, right? You saw how nice Daddy was." Lucy asked.

"Yeah, he was okay." Cora nodded.

"I'll tell you all there is about Daddy if you want me to Cora, anything you want at all. I won't keep anything away from you and don't worry, it won't make Mommy cry or sad. These are happy memories Mommy has that she treasures very dearly."

Cora nodded his head again. He was quiet for a bit before he finally whispered, "how did you meet him?"

Lucy smiled gently as she picked Cora up, carrying him home as she started their story.

"Well you see Mommy was just a junior in high school. I was walking to meet up with my friends when Daddy all of a sudden reached out and grabbed my hand. Mommy was so shocked and scared, she didn't know what was going to happen, but Daddy had the nicest smile on that made Mommy feel all relaxed and safe... hold on a second, wait... actually, scratch that, that was actually the second time Mommy met your father. The first time was when I was walking to my dance class and he was skate boarding down the road. I was looking at my phone and he wasn't looking at me, so we completely passed each other, but then all of a sudden I heard a crash and saw your father upside down lying in some trash-"