A/N: Wow, I posted something on time! I can't believe that - usually I'm too slow with the editing and it takes forever until the fic feels good enough to be published. Also, while most of the fics take place in an unspecified time, this one is explicitly set during the 7-years skip.
"Dad, you should not have taken me." Romeo stood in the shadow of a giant tree, eyes stuck to the endless lake. He traced mentally every line he could see, imagining them in a single, greater picture. Anything to distract him from looking up.
"Bullshit!" Macao stood in front of Romeo, his skates digging in the ice. "I have promised to teach you skating year after year, yet winter has always ended before I could go through with my word. Now I have some free time - why should I not spend it with you?"
Romeo saw a burst of flame, aimed upwards - away from the frozen waters. He caught himself almost smiling and his expression immediately soured. Those memories - his dad skating over the ice, uncle Wakaba trying his best to not fall, Romeo laughing with them - would never become a reality again. Fairy Tail had died with Sirius Island. Only its ghost - a lingering shadow that refused to let anyone from its icy gasp - remained. With it had died Romeo's cheer.
"Dad, you should not do this. Today…" Romeo gulped down. No, he had to say it! His father had sacrificed everything he had for the guild. Making him give up on his time would be only selfishness. "You have been trying so hard to keep the guild after…" Tears covered Romeo's face. The boy tried his best to keep speaking, but even he could barely hear his muffled sobs. "You had no time for yourself! You should not spend your few free days on me!"
Macao's warm arms hugged Romeo, but he only cried more. He was making his dad feel guilty - on his free day. No matter how much the boy tried to free himself and run, Macao did not let him.
"Oh, Romeo, you are a child!" Warm drops - his father's tears - fell on the boy's shoulder. "And yet you grew up so fast… Do you think I would want to do anything but spend more time with you? You are half my world - how can I be happy when my child is in pain?"
Romeo did not answer; he hugged his dad even tighter.
The boy's legs shook - he had not got used to balancing on the thin blades of metal. His dad firmly held his hand; "I am not going to let you fall," he had promised. Romeo tried to walk forwards, his legs gliding for a bit over the ice. After each step he felt he was going to lose balance, waddling and almost crashing on the ground.
He did a few times - after he had insisted he had learned the basics and told Macao to leave him. But each time he stood up - a bit closer to his goal each time. And each time his dad cheered for him.
