Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

"Don't even think about it."

Nashi – in the process of sneaking up on her mother while she was writing, planning to let out a perfectly practiced roar – stopped in her tracks. Her cheeks puffed out, trying to conceal the sound she was about to make. How did she know? The petite girl decided to voice her thoughts. "How did you know it was me, Mama?" she asked, folding her arms against her chest.

"I'm your mother," she answered simply, clicking her pen and setting it down. "I know everything." She turned around to face her daughter, slightly taken aback by her appearance. She was wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a spaghetti-strap tank-top, and there was dirt smeared across her face, arms, and legs. "What have you been doing?" Lucy inquired, observing her up and down. Nashi giggled.

"I thought you knew everything," she retorted. Lucy laughed and lifted her five-year-old daughter into her arms, settling her on her lap.

"You're just like you're father," she sighed. "A little smart mouth."

"Yeah, but you love Daddy. And me, too, right?"

"Yes, I do. Very much. And speaking of your father, he should be home any minute now. Go wash up for dinner."

"Yes, Mama," Nashi sighed, slipping off of Lucy's lap and making her way toward the bathroom. Lucy smiled as she watched her daughter disappear behind the door. She was so cute, so sweet, so funny. But she could be a bit of a sarcastic troublemaker sometimes. And Lucy knew that she would become an amazing wizard when she's older. She would be a strong, brave, smart, clever, determined, loyal warrior one day.

Just like her father.

Nashi was so like Natsu, it was almost uncanny. It would often creep Lucy out when the two of them would say things in unison, or make the same expression. And it happened a lot. You would be amazed at how many times they would look at her with the exact same pout, how many times they would say "oi" in perfect unison. It was weird. But what Lucy considered the good thing, was that Nashi wasn't nearly as loud or immature as Natsu. Nashi was polite, relatively quiet, and even at such a young age, she picked up on social cues, something that Natsu rarely ever did.

And although the young Dragon Slayer was like her father in a lot of ways, she was also like her mother. Nashi loved to read – even though she can't do it very well yet – she was decent at cooking – or, rather, helping Lucy in the kitchen – she loved sweets, she liked to stargaze, she wanted to become a writer when she was older, she was good at chess.

And for some reason her parents weren't quite sure of, Nashi was the most excited about Lucy having a baby. She was really looking forward to having a little sibling – it was too early in Lucy's pregnancy to tell the gender. And after all the talk at her birthday party about the baby being a boy, she was really hoping it was a boy. She wanted a baby brother. Although she wouldn't mind having a sister. Because hello, she would have a sister!

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts. Like she'd told Nashi, Natsu was going to be back from his mission soon. She needed to make dinner. She was making tonkatsu today. Her belly gave a loud growl at the thought. She placed her novel-in-progress in the drawer and walked into the kitchen, her stomach growling again. She laughed and placed a hand against it. She will be eating for two, again. And Natsu always has seconds, sometimes thirds if there's some left over. Happy would want a fish. She sighed. She's going to have to do a lot of cooking tonight.

She began to fry the pork after rolling it in breadcrumbs, and that's when Nashi pranced into the room, her hair damp from her shower and her tanned skin flawless. "What's for dinner tonight, Mama?" she asked, standing on her tiptoes to see what was happening on the stove.

"Tonkatsu," Lucy answered, getting started on the noodles. Nashi scrunched up her face.

"What's that?"

"Deep fried pork rolled in breadcrumbs. I'm adding some seasoned noodles and vegetables too. And a fish for Happy, of course." Nashi took in a deep breath through her nose, taking in the delicious scents of the food.

"Mm, sounds good. Do you need help with anything, Mama?"

"No, amai. Not tonight." Nashi looked up at her with a pout, and Lucy sighed in defeat. "Alright, why don't you get the table set up, then?" The child beamed.

"Okie dokie!" She turned to do as her mother asked, but stopped short when she saw a certain pink-haired Dragon Slayer climbing through the window. "Daddy's home!" she squealed, running up to him. Lucy looked over her shoulder just in time to see her jump into Natsu's open arms.

"Hey, akachan," he said happily, holding her to his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Daddy." Holding her up with one arm, Natsu walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Luce."

"Hi, Natsu."

"What smells so good?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at what she was cooking.

"Tonkatsu."

"Sweet. I love coming home." He draped an arm over her shoulders, using his hand to turn her face toward him so he could kiss her. After a few slow, gentle caresses, Nashi gagged, catching her parents' attention. She was staring at them, her eyebrows knitted together and her nose wrinkled in distaste. Natsu snorted. "What's that look for?"

"You guys are being gross." The two wizards laughed, and Lucy eventually shrugged her husband's arm off her shoulder.

"Help Nashi set up the table, would you?" she asked, sending him a glance as she stirred the noodles. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Got it," Natsu said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before setting Nashi down, the two of them making their way for the table.

"Oh, Natsu?"

"Yo."

"I was talking to Juvia the other day, and the two of us set up a play date for Nashi and the twins."

Natsu stilled. "What?"

"Yeah. They haven't hung out very often, and if Nashi and Avalon are going to start dating when they're older—"

"Whoa! Who said anything about my little girl dating Gray's kid?" Natsu exclaimed, whirling around to face his wife, his obsidian eyes wide with surprise.

"—then we're going to have to start their relationship early," Lucy finished, tying to conceal the giggle that threatened to trail up her throat. Natsu has always been pretty iffy about Nashi and Avalon spending time together, in fear that Avalon would "taint his daughter's innocence." Lucy laughed lightly at the memory.

"I don't want to date Avalon!" Nashi said. The novelist turned to face them. The two of them were pouting, arms folded, and leaning their weight on one foot. Lucy shook her head and laughed, turning back to the food.

The apple certainly didn't fall very far from the tree.

Author's Note: Ne, mina! Thank you to jneth1lary88 for the amazing idea. Nashi and the twins' play date will be the next chapter. And I'm so glad to see that all of you are as excited to meet Nashi's unborn sibling. And as a response to Drunkly, who said I should add some intense moments, there will definitely be some intensity in the upcoming chapters. So be on your toes! Don't forget to leave a review!