Respect Your Elders

by Suahtloh

Natsu was Igneel's first dragon slayer, having been lost to the blight of dragonification during the King's Festival, but now Igneel has taken another apprentice, and things are going to be different this time. Follow Natsu's story as he tries to keep his promise to Zeref and the dragons to protect the next generation of slayers.

10. Birthdays past and birthday presents

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and all that noise. Only thing that's mine is the plot or whatever.

---

To Nnathann: The meaning of "that one line" will be revealed in time, once Irene and Natsu become better friends.

To STAG98: Yes and no. Irene will be less homicidal than her canon counterpart, but I wouldn't go so far as to say she doesn't have any loose screws. She's a product of her past and her past was hardly kind to her. I don't want to say anything that will spoil future elements of the story, but just know that the changes should make sense in the context of what's occurred (basically Natsu's presence and Erza no longer being her daughter) and nothing should seem out of the blue. Maybe. Hopefully. The path to her being a good "mother figure" for the slayers will be a long one (and one I'm still tweaking in my head as I write), but she will be one eventually. In her own way. About your second comment, all I really have to say is 'nah.' But seeing as that's not much of an explanation, I'll just add this: it's a minor part of the story, if you can't handle it when it'll only be in the background, then that's your own business. I write because I enjoy it and I post because other people might, but I couldn't care less if they did. I'm not writing nor catering this story for you, if you want that, pay me. At what I make at my current job, that would be somewhere between one-hundred-fifty and two-hundred-fifty per chapter, give or take. Your choice.

To Pixie Duck: Was Irene happy on her wedding day? Hmm. Good question! Guess we'll just have to wait and see, maybe Natsu's listeners will pick up on something that Natsu didn't at the time.

---

Chapter 7: Birthdays past and birthday presents.

---

Natsu's eyes widened as his ears picked up on a conversation on the other side of the guild hall and he was across the room before the speaker had even finished their sentence. The two whose conversation he had interrupted turned to him with wide eyes, not expecting the dragon slayer to practically teleport to their side so suddenly.

Could they really be blamed?

"N- Natsu? What are you doing here?" They looked over their shoulder, half expecting to have just been in the way of his path, but there was nothing over there besides a cobweb. For some reason, they doubted the pinkette was doing some random spring cleaning.

"What you just said. Repeat it."

"Uhh.. " They blinked. "Y- Yeah.. sure.. I.. uhmm.. "

Natsu leaned forward in anticipation, half expecting, yet half dreading the next words that would leave their mouth. Words that would apparently never come if they kept this up.

"Well? What was it?"

"Uhh.. "

All the guy could seem to manage was a stuttered groan. It was hardly the concrete information Natsu was looking for here.

So, he took the only logical next step for a dragon slayer with little patience.

He grabbed the man by his shoulders and shook him vigorously in every direction. Side to side. Up and down. Back and forth. The works. He didn't stop until the other person grabbed his arm and begged him to.

"C'mon, what were you saying?"

"Huh'ba-duzzuh.. "

They fell to the ground. Natsu prodded them with his foot to make sure they were alive, you could never be too sure, and they groaned, so he was just going to assume that was a 'yes!' Then, he turned to the one remaining person. It was some guy, kinda tall, kinda hairy, kinda ugly. You get the picture. He probably had a name too, but Natsu sure as hell didn't know it.

Natsu raised an eyebrow pointedly at the guy, crossing his arms in expectation. Luckily, he at least seemed to have his wits about him (or just enough so to be able to get out a somewhat coherent statement.)

"He— He— He was just saying there was news! Yeah! That was it! Some strange happenings in some village on some island! They were—uhm.. they— they— oh! They said they were being turned into— "

He was cut off by a throaty growl. It was an animalistic sound, one that never failed to force mouths to click shut. Very useful in Natsu's opinion.

"I don't care about all that," Natsu whined, in a complete contrast from his previous mood, because honestly. He didn't need an entire book's worth of information on recent events, he asked for what the guy had just said. Just. As in like: right then. Not what he had been talking about, not what he was going to talk about, what was said like a second or two before he ran all the way over here and interrupted them. It wasn't that hard! "I just wanted to confirm what he'd said right before I got here?"

"Uhh.. " The guy swallowed thickly. "Could you— could you remind me?"

Natsu tapped his foot.

"About what he'd been saying," the man clarified.

"Something about a date."

"You want to know the date?"

"Yes!" What was so hard to understand about that?

"It's Wednesday." A wave of the hand was the only clue he would be given that more information was needed. "The twenty-fifth." A beat passed. "Of April."

"April twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah. Pretty easy to figure out if you just check a calen—" They sighed. "Never mind. Forgot who I was talking to."

Natsu frowned briefly before shrugging it off. It's not like he could blame the guy, he forgot who he was talking to too. Just to show how forgiving of a man he was, he gave the guy (no, seriously, who was this?) a hardy slap on the back. "Ah, no sweat, man. I don't know your name either!"

"What? No, I— wait. You don't even know my name?"

".. "

".. "

"Well, would you look at the time? I almost forgot my kid's birthday! I really gotta hurry, so.. bye!"

Natsu couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Mira and Erza spooked far less than generic human mage 'A' and 'B' back there when he randomly appeared at their sides, grabbed them, and dragged them to a side room. He was so proud of them. "Jane, Red."

"Natsu," they chorused. They may dislike the other's general presence, but they were willing to put that aside for Natsu. If only temporarily.

"It's Sting's birthday. We forgot."

Erza's nose scrunched up. It'd be cute if it didn't remind him of Irene so much. She was doing it more and more the older she go – the reminding him of Irene bit, not the nose scrunch – it filled him with an odd mix of nostalgia and longing. He wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not. "No," she shook her head, "his birthday was last year, I remember it clearly."

Mira elbowed her, and not lightly. "They happen every year, dumbass."

Erza shot her a glare. "Watch your language. And, no, they don't. If they did then each would have celebrated three by now, not— oh, gods damnit, Natsu! You forgot our birthdays, didn't you?"

"Me?" He played innocent. "I would never." He had. He absolutely had.

"I can't believe you!"

"It's not like I forget your birthday. I just forgot.. about birthdays altogether?"

"How did you.. ? Actually, I don't want to know." Erza turned away from Natsu, ignoring his presence entirely, which, rude. Adults had feelings too. She looked to Mira. "Natsu is an idiot, but that is no excuse to ruin Sting's important day." Then, in an act she would probably regret, the redhead weakly stuck her hand out toward her rival. "Truce?"

Mira, though she looked pained, took the hand. Even if Sting was a twerp, he was still a kid and kids deserved to have a nice day for themselves (goodness knows the effort she put in for Lisanna and Elfman's birthdays to keep them happy over the years). Plus, she supposed he was family too. "Truce," she agreed.

They eyed each other warily for a moment, both likely trying to figure out how much they can trust the other to keep the peace, but they didn't have much choice, in the end. Then, they turned back to face Natsu who was looking wholly unimpressed.

"Erza, you're grounded."

"You can't ground me."

"I can and will."

She scoffed (actually scoffed!) at him! At Natsu! As if he wasn't some uber-powerful and uber-scary mage! As if he wasn't her guardian! He fed her several times a week! If he hadn't been dead set on punishing her before, he definitely was now. "Or else what?"

An interesting question. One he was very much happy to answer.

"Easy," he began, "I'll just follow you around, day in and day out, negating every spell you use or beating every opponent you face before you even have a chance to draw your sword or flare your flames. You won't fight anybody, not even Jane. And I will just keep doing it for as long as it takes for you to break." He leaned in as he spoke, slowly lowering himself down to her level. It was still almost a foot of difference, even if she was growing. "How long do you think that'll be?"

"What did I even do wrong?" She whined as she tugged on her hair with a frown. He had to give it to the girl, she always was the easiest to discipline. "Can't you just hit me instead?" He takes it back. She was easy to discipline, he just hated doing it for that particular reason. What was with her insistence on physical punishment?

"No, and you called me an idiot."

"Mira called me a dumbass!"

"Language," he chided and just because Mira smirked in victory, he turned to her too. "Mira, you're grounded."

"Wha— "

He didn't let her finish, pantomiming a mouth closing with his hands while cutting her off. "Distract the kids for a day while I get stuff ready, and we'll call it even, sound good?"

They both crossed their arms and for once acted as a unified front. (Not that farce of a truce from earlier, that would have fallen apart soon enough, and they all knew it.) They glared at the older mage. "You planned this from the start," it wasn't a question, just a matter of fact, one that was confirmed when Natsu grinned.

"So.. ?"

His onyx eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them rapidly, waiting for one of them to answer him. Eventually, one did.

"Fine," Mira bit out, "but," she amended, "you still have to make it up to us."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu waved her off, already forgetting this was meant to be an alternative to punishment, not a favor to him, "whatever you want. Just take all of the kids out for a hike or something, let Sting and Rogue fight a Forest Vulcan if you get too bored." His mind was elsewhere, already trying to figure out a way to make this party perfect for the little squirt, he didn't even see as the two's eyes lit up at the promise.

'Whatever' they want? Yeah, they could work with that.

Erza and Mira shared a quick look, really more a formality than necessity, before each stuck a hand out toward their guardian.

"Deal."

Natsu shook them both simultaneously, sealing his fate – whatever that may be – but also ensuring he would have more than enough time to prepare.

Then, before either of the two teenagers could withdraw from the handshake, Natsu smirked and tightened his grip, tugging both of them forward into his chest. Mira let out a squeak of surprise and before she (or the stoic Erza) could hope to recover he placed a soft kiss atop one of each of their brows. Then, he retreated, and not a moment too soon.

Mira was already swinging.

He dodged, of course, but it was a close one (if only by virtue of the fact that he wouldn't have been hurt even if she had hit him, so there really wasn't much need to put a lot of effort in.)

Still, a quick getaway was (once again) needed. She may not be able to hurt him, but he'd rather not have to foot another bill for guild repairs because his children were such passionate fighters.

"Love you both, bye! Have fun!"

"That sappy asshole!" Mira grit her teeth and rubbed her sleeve against the spot he'd kissed, the skin turning red under her violent attempt to rid her body of Natsu's love.

Erza, on the other hand, was just smiling softly as she fondly watched the pinkette book it around the corner and out of sight. Unfortunately, however, all good things must come to an end. The redhead grabbed Mira by the collar, just another thing the white-haired girl could add to her seemingly endless slew of curses and started dragging her down the hall.

"Come, harlot. We must do our job."

She probably should have expected the elbow that slammed into the back of her head.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

---

Natsu didn't even flinch as a weight settled on his shoulder. He was over at the bar, talking quietly with Makarov as Mira and Erza (both now sporting several bruises he was pretty sure weren't there before) about the best way to decorate the guildhall. He knew at some point that this would happen.

"Bud, you need to stay with Sting for today."

There was a huff of air and Natsu's cheek twitched subtly at the sensation of brushing across his skin. "I know that. I'm just making sure you aren't going to mess this up. He's my best friend, he deserves a good birthday."

"I'm not going to mess it up."

"You almost forgot."

Yeah, Natsu sighed, that's fair.

The pinkette drummed his fingers across the surface of the bar as he chewed his lip. He wasn't afraid to admit that he was a proud man, he didn't like thinking that he needed help with anything, especially not with his kids. He'd spent centuries living independently, completely on his own, accepting help, it was.. it was hard. It was even worse when it had to do with his kids. He was their guardian, the dragons—his dad entrusted their safety to him. He was supposed to be able to do this. He was.

But, well, he loved these kids, each and every one of them. Even if (and when, oh gods, the when) they inevitably drove him up a wall, as they tended to do, he still wanted what was best for them. And if that meant setting aside his pride as a father and guardian to make sure Sting had the best birthday he could, then he would do it.

Natsu sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His furry, little visitor had to grab onto his ear as he shifted around, but he hardly noticed.

"What did you have in mind, Lector?"

He didn't even need to be looking to tell the cat was smirking, the way the whiskers moved across his jaw was enough of a tell, regardless. "Well, that's easy! You see, all you need to do is just.. " He leaned in then, whispering even quieter than they already had been. (You could never be too careful with dragon slayers involved.)

His plan was, by all accounts, stupidly simple, with added emphasis on the stupid.

Natsu sighed.

But it was also, though he was loathe to admit it, a fairly okay idea.

"Fine," he agreed, and not a moment too soon, as a small weight slammed into his leg.

"Salamander!"

The pinkette glanced down, seeing Sting grin up at him, it was slightly crooked, which was never good, it meant he was expecting something to happen. Natsu had a faint idea of what it might be.

"Stick," he greeted.

"Are you coming with us? Are you? Are you? Mira said we might get to fight our first Vulcan today! A Vulcan! It's going to be awesome! It'll be all like 'rahhhhh!' and then I'll be all like 'not today!' and then go 'white dragon's iron fist!' and in one hit it'll all be over! You've gotta come, Salamander! You've gotta!"

Well, that was going to make this all just that much harder.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Natsu sighed as he kneeled down. Lector hopped from his shoulder down to Sting's head, sitting down without ceremony and patting his best friend comfortingly when his face fell. "I won't be able to go on the hike with you today. But, hey," he punched him lightly in the shoulder, causing the boy's pout to shift into a scowl of mock anger, "how 'bout you take down two of those punks, one for the each of us, eh?"

"But.. " He trailed off, his shoulders slumping slightly before he picked them right back up and nodded. "Two? I get to fight two?"

The pinkette smirked, tapping his nose as he did. "You're going to have to find them first."

"Right!" Apparently, there was no time to waste. Natsu didn't even get to say goodbye before Sting was sprinting back off toward the larger group by the entrance, waving and grinning like a maniac. It would seem they picked up a few extras. Grey was there, though he looked terrified, so Natsu was just going to guess Erza 'convinced' him to come, Elfman was up as well, so he probably had no clue they were going to be hunting monsters – well, either that or he was hoping to use his magic on one of the downed monsters. Cana was nearby, stuffing her satchel full of snacks, and Levy appeared to be..

"You iron-for-brains jerk! You were going to leave without me!"

Gajeel turned around, fixing Levy with an unimpressed look as he grabbed his bag. "That's strange.. I could've sworn.. " He trailed off, his eyes flicking up to the bluenette's frowning face and back down to his bag. "Huh. Sorry, shrimp, I really, honestly thought I'd already grabbed you. You're just so small I must've assumed you were already in my bag."

Natsu was a big believer in letting his children make their own mistakes, so he turned away before Levy really started laying into Gajeel.

"You sure about this, son?"

Natsu just grunted, finishing off the last of his glass – just water, there wasn't much point to drinking anything else when you can't taste it – before shoving himself away from the counter.

"Not really, no. But Lector's right, it would make his day. 'Sides, he's turning eight. When I was his age I was getting up to far worse."

Makarov hummed and nodded, deferring to the kid's father in this. "Well, you better get a move on, the kids look like they're waiting for you to say goodbye. I'll get things ready here, you won't need to worry about any of that."

The pinkette waved over his shoulder as he walked away, smiling softly as the kids turned to face him. "You guys have everything you need?"

"Mm!"

There were other, more fairly routine questions to be asked, but they'd gone through them all so many times that it was almost automatic.

Once the kids were all set and on their way, Natsu took the moment to take a mental inventory of what he had stored in Requip. It would be super unfortunate if he just didn't have what he needed. He did. But it never hurt to be sure.

With that settled, he walked toward the heavy front doors of the guild and shouldered them open. The sun over Magnolia was bright, but distant, still rising over the eastern walls, and a chill nipped at his skin. It was weird, he didn't normally feel cold. Not since Igneel had seen fit to teach him dragon slaying magic, at the very least.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden flare of light, but when they did, he was met with a sea of dusty stone houses and the clammer of a distant market, where vendors hollered to passersby day in and day out. It took a moment for it to set in, but he was home.

"Natsu!" A voice called out to him, and he turned, already smiling, to catch the body flying his way. The chuckle that erupted from his throat was completely unbidden and wholly welcome.

"Miss me already?"

The smack he got to his shoulder was warranted and surprisingly hard. Natsu yelped and jolted out of the hug. "Ireeeene," he whined, "the hell was that for?"

"That is not how you greet a lady!"

"Yeah? Well, you're no lady! You're some kind of monster, I just have to prove— owww! Stop hitting me!"

Irene crossed her arms with a huff, turning and resolutely looking away from her so-called 'friend.'

Natsu, being the oblivious teenager he was, didn't pick up on her body language at all, finding himself too distracted in his own grumblings to do anything else. And, well, it would be remiss of the kingdom's princess if she didn't correct her citizens' wrongdoings.

An arm wrapped around Natsu's neck, bringing him in close to Irene's chest as she began dragging him down the street and away from the orphanage he called home.

"Irene? Where are we—ack! Where are we going?"

"To teach you a lesson on respecting royalty."

"I have plenty of respect for royalty!"

"The first thing you said about my father was that he was a butt-head."

"I did?"

"Yes, Natsu," she sighed, "you did. I mean honestly, how did you forget?"

"I'm a very busy man."

"You're thirteen."

"Fourteen," he corrected.

"What?" Irene stopped moving, her grip slacking enough for Natsu to slip away.

"I'm fourteen."

She turned to face him and her nose scrunched up in the way it always did when she was confused. "Since when?"

"Uhh.. " Closing one eye and squinting the other, Natsu looked up into the sky. "Do you want like.. an exact time? 'Cause mom always said I was born just before supper and that's why I'm always hungry, but I'm no good at telling time, so it's hard to say exactly."

"You mean your birthday is today!?"

"Yeah?" Seriously, what was the big deal? He was going to go deaf before he reached his fifteenth if she kept shouting at him like that!

"Oh no, oh no, no, no!"

Natsu watched, mildly disturbed, as Irene started tugging on her hair and pacing back and forth through the town square like a woman possessed. It was strange, in the months he'd known her she'd never lost her cool quite like this. Why was she making such a big deal out of nothing?

"I don't have time to find a gift and there definitely isn't time to have the court artists draft up a banner." She started chewing on her fingernail, that has to be a good sign. "I can probably get the kitchen staff to bake something, but on such short notice, they could probably only manage something small, nothing like a proper cake. Would that be okay? No, no, Natsu would want the whole thing, not just some tiny little cupcake."

She shook her head as if the entire notion was idiotic, who knows it might have been. Natsu certainly had no idea. What even was a cupcake, or cake, for that matter?

"Umm.. Red?"

The girl in question held her hand up to him. "Not now, Natsu, I'm in the middle of something."

"R- Right, okay, yeah. I'll just.. " He took a step backward and chuckled nervously to himself, but Irene didn't even seem to notice. She just kept on pacing, kept on mumbling, kept on grumbling. Then, out of nowhere, her hand snapped out, snagging Natsu's sleeve before he even saw it coming, and pulled him forward.

"Come with me."

What followed was the most disorienting and confusing eighteen minutes of Natsu's life. Four hundred years later and he still wasn't sure where exactly Irene had led him. He lived in the city of Dragnof for over two decades, and he was never again able to find that little shop tucked away somewhere in the upper echelons of the city.

But he was here now.

Irene released him and spun forward with a flourish, waving her arms dramatically through the air as she presented him with the front door and sign. He looked up at the letters he knew spelled something but couldn't tell what any of them actually meant.

"Do you like it?"

He gave her a funny look.

"What is it?"

Tucking her hands behind her, Irene leaned forward and smirked. "A butcher!"

".. "

".. "

".. "

".. "

Her smirk faltered. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

Natsu just shook his head and Irene sighed, the smirk vanishing in its entirety as her shoulders slumped. Her energy, though, was not gone for long, as she immediately perked back up with a genuine smile, a wide, toothy grin that showed only joy. "Well, that just means I'll get to be there for your first-time trying meat!"

"I've had meat before!"

Irene flicked him in the nose. "Fish doesn't count."

Wha— What does she mean fish doesn't count!? It's fish! Fish is meat!

"No, it's not."

Had he said that out loud?

"Yes. Now stop delaying the inevitable and just come on. I want to see your face when you try your first pork loin or shepherd's pie!"

Then, just as before, Natsu found himself being drug inside the building. The door was thrown open with little ceremony, it was a miracle that Irene hadn't embedded it into the wall. Of course, Natsu just had to stumble on the threshold, sending both him and Irene careening to the floor.

"Ow." Natsu grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, his hand unconsciously shifting to the part of his ribs that were throbbing with every beat of his heart. He cracked an eye open, wanting to check on Irene (and possibly ask what possessed her to attempt to catch him with her elbow), but he was interrupted before he could muster his own voice.

"You alright, son?"

"Huh?" Natsu glanced up, seeing a large, bear of a man staring down at him from over top a counter. He nodded quickly, pushing himself up on aching knees to stand. "Yeah, sorry, I was just— " He looked around the room, finding it entirely empty except for the man and himself. He shook his head. "Right, sorry, I was hoping you could help me?"

The man's smile was partially hidden by his beard, call it a father's intuition or just blame it on the enhanced senses of a former dragon slayer, but Natsu could tell it was there, clear as day; even if the guy's face looked about his artic as a polar bear.

"Of course," he nodded, beckoning with his hand for the pinkette to step forward, "what can I do for a fine young man such as yourself? If it's meat you seek, then rest assured as 'Curtis Meats' has the finest cuts in all of Magnolia!"

Natsu just shook his head. "Actually, I was hoping I could commission you to butcher some meat that I have? It's for my.. err.. my son's birthday, and I'm a little out of my depth. Cooking hasn't been my forte since," how do you explain to somebody that you haven't cared to learn how to cook past charring meat because you lost your sense of taste some four centuries in the past? It was hardly a simple conversation. So, Natsu just settled with a simple: "Well, let's just say it's been a while."

The butcher, for his part, simply nodded along. He didn't pay any mind to the entire mess that was Natsu Dragneel at this moment in time, which the dragon slayer was eternally grateful for. "So, you need some meat cut up and some tips on how best to cook it? Not a problem, let's see what we have to work with, shall we?"

Natsu nodded in agreement and raised his hand to call forth the requested item, but he faltered.

The butcher raised a brow as the mage just stood there, fingers primed to flick, yet completely motionless. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, actually, I forgot what the meat was called."

"I take it you need to know the name in order to summon it?"

"Yeah."

"How specific is the name?"

Natsu tapped his foot on the floor and rubbed a hand through his hair. "Kinda specific? It was.. just—shoot, okay. Like.. four hundred years ago there was this one tribe," he snapped his fingers a few times, the requip magic he'd gathered in the tips fizzling out into nothing with each consecutive snap, "they were warriors and all that. Yoko or, or Yaku or.. Yuma? Something with a 'Y.'" He thinks. It was hard to tell, he hadn't known how to spell back when they were still alive and kicking. "They had these.. umm.. Battle Gods? I think?"

"The Yakuma?"

Natsu clapped his hands together. "Yes! The Yamuka— "

"Yakuma."

"— that's what I said! Okay, so their battle gods, right, do you remember any of their names?"

"Why?"

"It's important!"

The butcher sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. Normally, he wouldn't consider the patronage worth all this hassle, but it wasn't like there was anybody else waiting anyways. "Izumi, dear, could you come out here?"

A head peeked out through a doorway in the back of the store, a middle-aged woman who Natsu could only assume was this 'Izumi.'

"What is it, Sig?"

"Do you know anything about the Yakuma Battle Gods?"

She pushed the door open a little further, her gaze shifting from her husband to their guest. Natsu didn't shiver when she narrowed her eyes on him, but he could see why other people would be scared of her. Her eyes never once left him as she slipped fully into the room, carefully making her way to her husband's side. "I suppose I know certain things," she spoke tentatively as if trying to not reveal too much, "why?"

"This gentleman here," he gestured to Natsu, "seems to need information on them in order to conjure the specific meat he wants."

Natsu grinned and waved. Izumi didn't wave back.

"That doesn't make any sense."

The butcher – Sid, or something – rubbed a hand down the back of his neck and leaned closer to his wife. Natsu was pretty sure he wasn't meant to hear this next part, seeing as the man was obviously whispering, but, well, he should've accounted for the senses of a dragon slayer. "Yeah, I didn't think so either, but you know how weird mages can be."

For the first time since spotting him, Izumi broke eye contact with Natsu and turned her attention to her husband. He's not exactly sure what passed through their faces in that moment, but she eventually turned back to face him and sighed. "What do you need to know?"

"Just one of their names."

"You're going to have to be more specific, there are eighteen gods that governed the Yakuma clans. Yagdo Rigora. Ikusa-Tsunagi. Yukobo Helane. I could go on."

"Right, umm.. well, which looks like a bull?"

Izumi blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

"A bull?"

"Yeah, y'know, like a cow?"

"I know what a bull is, you— " It looked like she wanted to say more, but instead she just shut her eyes and inhaled a heavy breath. Natsu wondered why that was. "There is no such deity amongst the Yakuma. No cows, calfs, yams, or otherwise, and certainly no bulls."

"Really? Well, darn." He stuck his tongue into his cheek and hummed, his hands on his hips. He really thought he'd been onto it then. He was stumping, truly, he was. "No cows?"

"No cows," she reiterated.

"Huh."

Izumi drummed her fingers across the counter and sighed. "Could you perhaps be referring to.. Aresu'senki?"

"Wassat?"

Another sigh. She certainly was doing that a lot, was she breathing alright? "Not 'what,' who. She's a Yakuman Battle Goddess, the eighth, to be exact, and is often depicted as a sow."

".. "

".. "

"A female boar."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Well, why didn't you just say that from the start?" That was what he'd been trying to figure out all along! The meat was from a sow! Not a cow! "So, this.. "

"Aresu'senki," she reminded.

"Right, this Aresu'senki, she was a pig?"

"A sow, yes."

"So, not a pig?"

Izumi's eye twitched, so Natsu figured he'd best move on from that sticking point. "Never mind, I think I got it." Yeah, he could definitely remember her now. He brought his hand back up and started gathering his magic around his fingertips once again. "Uhmm.. let's try.. Requip: Meat of Aresu'senki?" Nothing. "Body of Aresu'senki?" Zilch. "Aresu'senki's Corpse?" Nada.

Natsu frowned and looked down at his fingers, snapping them and regathering his magic over and over again in an endless cycle, completely unaware of the wide-eyed look on the couple's face.

Izumi turned to her husband. "Did he just say— ?"

Sig only nodded. "I think so."

"So.. he's crazy?"

Before the butcher could respond (no doubt to refute his wife and assure her the mage was perfectly sane, because he obviously was), Natsu burst in with a triumphant 'aha!' and wouldn't you know, that was one big piece of meat. Just a veritable slab of red and white tissue wider than any two of them were tall, and heavier than the weight of Lector's expectations on Natsu's shoulders.

Sig grunted as he shoved bits of flesh away from his face, growling as it refused to budge more than an inch. "Put. It. Back!"

Natsu did so with a quick chant of 'Requip: Divine Loin of Aresu-senki!' and a flash of light. The proud grin stretching the pinkette's lips was in stark contrast to the dark look on Sig's face. He wasn't sure why the butcher was looking at him like that, but it sure was unsettling!

"You destroyed my shop."

Did he?

He took a look around and sure enough, he'd crushed a portion of the storefront. Whoopsies!

Natsu chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry?"

Sig helped his wife up, his face perfectly stony as his eyes looked around at the remains of his display cases, shattered glass and crushed wood littered the floor and at the center of it all, Natsu stood. "You destroyed my shop," the man reiterated.

"I'll pay for it?"

"With?"

"Uhh.. meat?" It was really just about all he had at the moment, unless this guy wanted to dealings in first aid kits, snacks, swords, and changes of children-sized clothes.

"Is your plan to repay for my shop to summon the piece of meat that destroyed it, again?"

Natsu was no expert, but this guy didn't sound so enthused about the idea.

"Err.. no?"

Sig nodded. "Good idea." Then, he waited.

Natsu shifted uneasily from foot to foot. Truth be told, that had been his plan. "What's a, umm.. " He really should have thought more before he started talking, but here he was so he might as well just run with it. "A.. smaller piece of meat?" Sure, that sounded like a reasonable question to him.

Sig must have disagreed though because he just continued to glare at him. So, it was a 'no' on the smaller pieces. Fine. That's fine. He could work with this.

"Do you have a bigger room?" A beat passed and nobody spoke. "Like.. in the back or something?" Natsu wasn't sure if they remembered which way that was, so he helpfully pointed toward the room Izumi had originally come out of. Bad idea. The door was caved in too.

Sig turned away from the door and back to face him before crossing his arms. He continued to wait.

"Okay, okay, wait! How about a wager?"

"A wager?"

Yeesh, did this guy have an expression other than 'perpetually angry'? He was only just now noticing how stone-faced the guy was at all times. Whatever happened to the jovial smile from before? Had he just been imagining things?

Probably.

"Yeah! A wager!"

"What kind of wager?"

"Uhh.. arm.. wrestling?" His gaze shifted away from Sig's angry face, down to the man's bulging, muscular arms, and he gulped.

This might have been a mistake.

He didn't want to hurt the poor guy! What if he snapped the guy's arms? Those things didn't hold a candle to him! He might crush the poor butcher underfoot if he didn't hold back enough!

Well, whatever, mistakes were meant to be made!

"Yeah! That's right! Arm wrestling!" He punched his fists together, sending arcane fire spittering out from between his knuckles as he grinned. "Oh-hoh! I'm getting fired up now! Let's go, Sid!"

A half an hour later and Natsu grinned as he was presented with a large variety of cuts from a sullen butcher. As it would turn out, he didn't just have the loin, but just about every other part of the pig, too. He wondered he got away with that, but eh. It was centuries ago, he couldn't be bothered to remember the circumstances around every god he'd fought. Besides, the Yakuma were extinct! Literally nothing bad could happen for eating a god, and you may quote him on that.

Sig let out a breath before quickly detailing how to best cook each of the different pieces of meat – he even went so far to write down the instructions and attach them to the associated cut with twine. The whole nine yards. He was nothing if not a proud craftsman.

Natsu did end up paying him in meat, mostly he'd forgotten to bring money of any sort. He knew he was missing something, but could he really be blamed for not bringing money to a transaction?

"Thanks, big guy! You're the best!"

He didn't even wait for a response, simply just heading for the door and shouldering his way through it. The sun flared down from overhead as he stepped past the threshold once more, the light warming his skin pleasantly against the chill of the wind. He smiled at the sensation, patting his belly twice before he took a step further out onto the street.

"What, ho!"

Only to immediately jump back and press his back to the butcher's front door as a cart thudded quickly past along cobbled streets, the wooden wheels impacting each stone with extreme prejudice. The rider atop the wagon's draft horse shot him a look. "Watch where you're walking, brat!"

"You watch where you're driving, jerk!"

The man's face contorted into something ugly, his lips pulling up into a sneer as he grit his teeth. Natsu doubted he looked all that much better, he was just as angry – and more justifiably – than this chump with his silken robes and gaudy hat. His hands itched and all he wanted to do was ball them up into fists and tackle the guy off his high horse, but before he could even have the chance, a palm pressed into his chest and forced him back. He glared at the head of red that stepped in front of him, but they didn't seem to notice.

"Is something the matter, sir?"

The man's expression shifted so quickly, so rapidly, that Natsu had trouble keeping track of all the changes. First was just—well, it was just more anger. It didn't last long, of course. Surprisingly, most people found it rather hard to stay angry at Irene. (Natsu always thought it was because it just wasn't possible to dislike her, but the first time he'd told her, she'd punched him and called him an idiot. He didn't like her much then. According to her, people only kissed up to her because of her father.) After that, it was like a war was occurring in the man's mind, where not even he could decide on how he was feeling. In the end, he decided on a carefully calm expression. "Princess Irene, I had no idea you were traveling today." Then, despite all logic suggesting he should do otherwise, the man allowed some of his anger to seep back in, because why not? "You shouldn't concern yourself with such rabble, my lady, if this boy is disturbing you, I'd be happy to teach him the error of his ways."

"Oh?" Irene leaned forward, taking her hand away from Natsu's chest so she could cup her chin in mock thought. She cocked her head to the side and jut her hip out. "And what do you have in mind, good sir?"

The merchant-jerk smiled a self-congratulatory smile. "Nothing her majesty wouldn't approve of; that much, I am certain."

He was deflecting and Irene knew it, so she pressed him harder. "I would hardly be the ruler my father is raising me to be, nor the one he wishes for, if I did not know the happenings of my own kingdom and her people. I beseech you, sir, I only wish to learn the proper way to punish somebody such as.. " She trailed off, glancing over her shoulder to where Natsu was still standing. With her head turned, the merchant wouldn't be able to see her facial expression, so she sent her friend a wink and smirk before turning back. "Such as this," she finished.

"B- But, of course, my lady need only ask! This boy has interfered with important business and his insolence has caused me to lose precious time; time that could be put to better use servicing the good people of Belaren!" He turned his nose up, seeing no need to hide his disdain for the dust-covered teen with the princess on his side. "I would seek only to bring him to the storerooms at the edge of the city, one afternoon of work should certainly remind him of the importance and sanctity of labour."

"Is it just me or does this guy just like talking?" Natsu groused. Seriously, the way he purred out that last word? Seriously freaky.

Irene subtly jabbed him with her elbow – she didn't say anything, nor did she look his way, but the message was clear: be silent. Normally, he wouldn't have listened. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to fight the guy. He'd gotten into enough brawls in the street to train an eye for who he could and could not take. (He'd fight them anyways, even knowing he'd lose, but that's beside the point!) So, unless the man was packing some serious muscle beneath his oversized robes, then he wasn't anything dangerous. Yet, despite his confidence that he could take the man, he conceded to Irene's silent plea – something about the rigidity of her stance was putting him off.

"You make many good points," the man and Natsu both smiled, yet for different reasons, "but," and there was Natsu's reason, "I fear I will require of him his services as well. Your argument has me completely convinced that he would be able to provide me with an invaluable boon. Your tongue was golden today, not silver, and your words too brilliant to deny. Take pride, fair man, for they will serve you well in the future."

And with that, Irene turned and grabbed Natsu by the ear. He didn't even have to fake the squeal of pain he let out; the girl really had a good grip.

"My princess! Please, wait!"

Irene stopped walking and pivoted where she stood to face the merchant once again, a perfect eyebrow raised up at him in question.

"Might I ask what task you have for him?"

"You may not, but I will answer regardless."

"O- Oh! Th- thank you, my lady."

"You are welcome. And it is the anniversary of the passing of the sun for my greatest friend, I wish only for this boy's help in making sure they have a most memorable day."

"And this boy is crucial to doing so?"

"This boy has a name."

Another elbow. Natsu grumbled some more under his breath but said nothing anybody could actually hear.

"I believe to do so would be impossible without his aid."

"Perhaps, I could— "

"No." Irene cut him off in a way that brokered no room for argument. "Will be that all, magnate? It would bring me great sadness to waste more of your day, the sun continues its journey frighteningly quick, and time is quite precious."

The merchant looked as if he wanted to say more, but ultimately closed his mouth with a click and returned to his horse without so much of a 'good day.'

"What was his problem?"

Irene watched as the man disembarked, her eyes narrowing critically upon the caged cell that sat atop the man's wagon. It was empty, blessedly, but her heart couldn't help but lurch for the times it wasn't, the times when small, wiry hands would grip at its bar and sad eyes would search the crowds for any sympathetic faces, only to find none. To think, he'd intended to subject her friend to such a fate.

In lieu of an answer, the princess grabbed Natsu's hand and started tugging him in the opposite direction, away from the 'merchant.'

"Don't worry yourself with him, Natsu! He's gone and it's your birthday! Let's just enjoy it!"

Her enthusiasm sounded forced, even to her, but Natsu didn't pay it any mind. Go figure. He was distracted by something else entirely. Namely, just how different she sounded when she spoke to him versus others.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Talk differently to me?"

"Hn?" She made a noise of surprise in the back of her throat before turning to look at the younger boy. "I do?"

He nodded, his eyes transfixed on the road they were walking down. The wealthier portions of the city were certainly different from what he was used to. The buildings all appeared to be made of polished stone, not a speck of dust marring their bricks, and their roofs were made of something solid. He'd never ventured this far before, finding the people far too unpleasant and unwelcoming, so he hadn't ever seen anything quite like it. The rooves he was used to were made from either thatch, thatch, or thatch. Not.. whatever was on these buildings.

"I guess I don't feel the need to put on a show around you. You're my friend, so I can just be myself, right?"

"Right," Natsu nodded, and then, seeing as Irene seemed really invested in his answer, he confirmed it to her. "We're friends."

"Friends," she repeated and smiled. Then, because she seemed to take immeasurable joy from it, she started dragging him around again only to release his hand after a few paces. "Come on," she squealed, "we're losing daylight! Your birthday will only last so long, so hurry! Up!"

Natsu grinned as he followed after her, their pace picking up faster and faster as they bobbed and weaved between the shoulders and arms of throngs of adults. Irene giggled as she took a tight turn and Natsu made to follow her, only to collide with the side of a woman.

"Oh!" He reached over and started brushing off their coat, not wanting to be the reason for dirtying such a nice thing. He glanced over from their shoulder and met a pair of mismatched eyes beneath a quirked, grey eyebrow. "Just who I was looking for!"

"Natsu?"

"Alfia, hi, hello! It's good to see you!"

"And you as well," the baker smiled, "you said you were looking for me? Whatever for?" Then, she placed her fists on her hips and pulled together a stern expression. It looked entirely out of place on her, and Natsu could just tell it was fake, but man if this woman didn't have a kid, he didn't know who would. She had the 'disappointed mother' look down. "It has been over a year since you last stopped by, you know."

"Yeah, I— sorry. I'm not really.. much of a food person. I usually just hunt something and cook it myself. It's my kids that I buy stuff for."

Alfia smiled and nodded, apparently content with his reasoning. She waved to him and begun walking in a different direction through Magnolia. "I suppose I can trust they're the reason you were looking for me, then?"

Natsu caught up quickly enough, it was hardly as if the white-haired woman was trying to escape him, though she didn't seem to enjoy the crowds that surrounded them. "Yes," he confirmed, "it's Sting – my son – it's his birthday today, and I was hoping you could help me get the perfect treat for his party."

Alfia hummed, quietly beckoning him to continue speaking.

"Right, so, he's a special case; his magic allows him to consume Holy magic and it's rare to find a source of it for him to enjoy. Erza – do you remember Erza?"

Alfia rolled her eyes. "Sweet, well-tempered, red-headed girl with a vivacious appetite for strawberry cake? Yes, I do believe I recall her." It didn't hurt that the child came in almost daily for a slice of sponge.

"Her magic allows her to eat fire. It's a lot easier to find a source for that, obviously. Of my kids, Sting has the hardest time finding any magic to eat, but their sources are also the thing they enjoy eating the most, so— "

"So, you want me to make something with Holy magic? I'm sorry, Natsu, but that's not something I can realistically do. I would if I could, believe me, I would, I just.. can't. I can't do that kind of magic." She looked genuinely sad that she wouldn't be able to and Natsu just hated it when people were sad.

He waved off her concern easily enough. "Oh, no. I just wanted to see if you could use this to make something." He showed her a jar, full to the top with a yellowish liquid.

Alfia accepted it easily, bringing it closer to her face as she observed it. "Fat?" She guessed.

Natsu nodded, "from.. a sow."

"A sow?" Alfia raised a brow but didn't look away from the jar. It'd be more apt to say she just mumbled the question, probably not even expecting him to hear, a practiced response to continue a conversation when she wasn't paying it her full attention.

Natsu nodded his head, confirming it, but the baker still wasn't looking at him.

"I can work with this, but I still don't understand how it will change anything."

"Huh? Oh, it's from a god." Alfia did turn away from the jar then; now, instead of staring at it, she was just staring at him. He thought she might look away eventually, but she didn't. She just kept on staring. "A goddess," he amended. Then, since she still didn't seem too taken with the idea of speaking again, he just kept on going. "Aroothempi, or something like that." He'd honestly forgotten, it was a good thing he hadn't stored that fat in his pocket dimension, he did not need a repeat of earlier.

"You mean to tell me that I'm holding a god's fat?"

"Goddess," came the immediate correction and he'd note down for later that Alfia didn't seem to like being corrected. Strange.

"Right," she bit out, "Goddess." She smiled then, but it hardly seemed to be an expression of joy, more of the baring of teeth of a predator facing its prey. A challenge. "So, am I holding a goddess's fat, then?"

"Err.. what answer are you looking for here?"

"The truth."

"Then, yes?"

"Awesome," she awed. She didn't even hesitate after that, immediately agreeing to make something 'perfect!' for Sting's birthday but insisting that she would need space to work because she 'can't have him clowning around in her workspace while she's creating art!'. She shoved him harshly down into a chair and threw an apron in his face. "If anybody comes in, you man the counter!"

That seemed like a horribly bad idea, but okay. He'd manage.

It took a while before she came back, so long that he had to actually deal with a customer or two. Luckily, none of the women who came in seemed all too concerned with the fact that he knew nothing about anything inside that bakery. It was strange. It was even stranger, though, that all the men who came with them seemed to be mad at him for something, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Eventually (and thankfully), Alfia finished her preliminary bakings.

"Try it," she pressed the plate more firmly into his chest, ignoring the fact that he wanted nothing to do with it.

"There's no point, I can't even— "

She cut him off, not even letting him finish his perfectly reasonable excuse to not test out the food. "Try it."

Natsu sighed, eyes closed and head shaking, but ultimately lowered his hands from where they'd hovered in midair to grasp the plate. It was a cake – he knew that much, at least – and probably vanilla. It looked light, spongey, fluffy, and probably some other adjectives used to describe cake too, but he didn't know them. The icing was white and appeared to also be present between different layers of sponge and— yeah, okay, this was boring. He was bored. Why stare at something when you could just do something else instead?

Never one to hesitate for long, Natsu took the dive and threw the entire piece of cake into his mouth. Not even a full second later, Alfia was throwing her hand over his eyes insisting through a harsh whisper that he 'close them' and 'taste more deeply.' So, he did. (It wasn't like there was any harm in doing so, he wouldn't be able to taste it regardless.)

".. how is it?"

Natsu's eyes went wide.

"It's amazing!" Seriously, it was so good! And he didn't even know what 'it' was!

Irene startled back; the apprehensive look she'd been wearing completely melting into one of absolute contentment. "So.. you like it?"

"Wha- duh! I just said it was amazing, didn't I? Weren't you listening?" He paused, his nose crinkling up cutely as he gazed down at the confection nestled between his fingers. "What even is it?"

He was too distracted by the delicious treat to see the hand inching closer to his face.

A finger impacted his forehead.

"Oooow!" Natsu whined. He gripped his nose in one hand while the other shot out to swat Irene's away. "Why are you always flicking me?"

"I already told you what it was, dummy!" She glared at him and he glared right on back. He was almost certain she was going to flick him again, but all she did was smile and shake her head. "Honestly," she sighed out, "I'm just lucky you listened to me and ate it slowly."

"I always eat slowly!"

"You eat like you've never tasted food before," she deadpanned before turning away from him and staring out over the cityscape. The scaffolding groaned beneath them as the wind picked up, but she'd been up here enough by now that she knew not to fret.. even if the lurching of her heart seemed to tell her otherwise.

Natsu shrugged the criticism off as easily as he escapes the city's fish mongers with his latest haul. "It's not my fault it tastes so good."

"Uh-huh." Irene didn't sound so impressed by his argument; he couldn't think of a reason as to why that would be. It was practically ironclad.

"So," she began, but Natsu was a little too quick on the draw and interrupted her.

"So?"

"So, are you excited to be fourteen?"

"Huh?" Natsu looked over at the redhead. "Why would you ask something silly like that?"

"It's not silly!"

"Is too."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is n- just answer the question, Natsu!"

"What was the question again?"

Oh yes, Irene was smiling, that was for certain, but man did she know how to make a smile look deadly sweet. "Are. You. Excited. To. Be. Fourteen?"

"Ooooh." He nodded. "I remember you saying that."

Irene was glad. She was so glad. She was also, and this was completely unrelated, about two seconds from throttling the nearest person, and, oh, would you look at that? It's Natsu! How convenient!

The boy, unaware of the imminent threat he faced, tapped his chin and took his time thinking over the question. Oh, how are we kidding? He didn't do either of those things.

"Nah."

He answered simply and truthfully. Straight from the heart. And Irene couldn't help but slump forward at the brutal honesty of it all. Who doesn't get excited over getting older? It was like half the fun of it!

"Wait— !"

She perked back up immediately, a wide, hopeful smile gracing her lips as she nodded encouragingly toward her friend. Perhaps his answer had changed? Yeah! That has to be it! Maybe he finally realized just how much fun things would be when he's older.

"Yeah, yeah, no. Not at all, no."

All that mounting hope crumbled beneath her feet, like the landslide that took out a nearby village during the rainy season the year past.

"What? Why?"

The shrug Natsu gave her was probably not the answer she wanted, but it was all he could come up with. Why should he be excited about getting older? He didn't get it.

"Should I be?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"B— Because!"

Natsu scrunched his nose up. "That's not a reason."

"Wha— whatever! Who made you the expert, huh? Birthdays are exciting because they are! And that's all you need to know." Irene nodded, as if she really, truly believed that was the end of that.

She did.

It wasn't.

"Well, I think I would know, because I'm older."

Irene shot him a funny look. "No," she began, as if speaking to a child, "you're not."

"What? Of course, I am!"

"How did you come up with that nonsense?" She looked as if she were holding herself back from laughing and it did absolutely no favors for Natsu's patience.

He scowled at her. "It's not nonsense!" Then, because he realized she'd asked him a question, he raised his chin and gave her the irrefutable proof that he was the eldest of the two. "I," he began, "am the more experienced thief."

Irene groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

Natsu knew what was coming next, so, as if they'd done it a million times before (which they very well could have), they both said, in perfect harmony: "I am not a thief! Never was, never will be! What will it take for you to finally realize that I wasn't running from the market that day!" Now, that was a good question, but one for another day, as Natsu had no intention of ever answering it. He had more pressing concerns anyway: there was still more to her speech, the coup de grâce to wrap it all up.

Irene realized what was, once again, happening, so she did the only thing that could properly sum up the way she felt whenever Natsu did this.

She growled.

So, Natsu growled too.

"Grrrrr—ow! Ireeeene!" He whined and rubbed his shoulder. It was definitely going to bruise come tomorrow.

"Stop doing that!"

"But you make it so easy!" Irene raised her fist again and he immediately backstepped. "W- What I mean to say is.. " His mind went blank. No matter how much he tried, no matter how far he grasped, nothing would come to him. Ancient historians would one day look back on this moment as the first time a mortal had achieved a perfect, nirvanic state, but Natsu called it Tuesday.

The princess of Belaren leaned forward and narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Is?"

There was an audible gulp as Natsu leaned backward, trying his hardest to get some distance between himself and the girl before him, to no avail.

"Is?" She reiterated and leaned closer still. Natsu didn't answer, he didn't move, he wasn't even entirely certain he was still breathing. Yet, despite this, Irene felt the need to apply more pressure to the poor guy. "I would choose your next words carefully."

"Sc- scary! So scary!"

Irene let out a 'hmmph!' that could've meant anything, Natsu might have tried to decipher it – if only for the peace of mind – but he never got the chance. "Oh, wow! Look at that one, Natsu!"

He followed the slender finger that jutted up into the sky and took another bite of the.. brown confection that Irene had given him (She really hadn't told him what it was when he asked, had she? Jerk.). She was pointing toward a cloud; white, fluffy. It was a cloud. It looked like a cloud.

He went to take another bite of the delicious unnamed food, only to end up knocking his teeth together harshly as he seized nothing but air. Moaning pitifully, grieving both his teeth and his treat, he rubbed at his jaw.

"It looks like bunny, don'tcha think?"

Natsu didn't even need to study it closely. "Looks like a dragon to me."

Irene groaned and all but threw herself backward, reclining fully against the wooden surface of the scaffold, and covered her face in the crook of her elbow. "You always say they look like dragons!"

"So?"

"Not everything in the sky is a dragon."

"Well, that's just dumb. Only dragons can fly, that must just be a sky dragon or a cloud dragon or somethin'."

"Are either of those even real?"

Natsu shrugged before joining his friend in laying down and staring up at the heavens. "I think so."

It was quiet after that, both teenagers simply happy to just lay there in the company of the other and watch the clouds – whether they be leporine or draconic in appearance – make their voyage across the skies.

Being the more naturally restless of the two, Natsu was the first to break the silence.

"So.. how old are you?"

"It is rude to ask a lady her age," Irene replied patiently.

"But then how am I supposed to know how old anybody is?"

Irene just shrugged. "I don't make the rules."

"What? I thought that was exactly what you did! If I were the princess, I'd be making the best rules."

"A prince."

"Bless you."

"No— " Irene let out a breath through her nose that could've been a laugh, a sigh, or both. "If you had my position, you'd be a prince, not a princess."

"What's the difference?"

"A prince is a boy, a princess is a girl."

"That's weird."

"You say everything is weird."

"No, some things are silly."

Irene just sighed like she'd heard the same thing repeated in the past, and she probably had.

They lapsed back into silence.

"Can you tell me about Igneel?"

Natsu immediately pushed himself up onto his elbow and looked over at the girl with a bewildered, yet simultaneously excited, smile. It was probably quite the sight to behold, equal parts wobbly and frowny as it was beaming and toothy. "You want to know about him? You've never asked about him before."

"No, I haven't." It was true, she'd always been too apprehensive about the subject to wish to delve deeper into it. Not wanting to confront the very real possibility that the creatures that killed her mother weren't all bad. Natsu, after a few mishaps, seemed to pick up on her reluctance and limited his discussion of them to just a few exclamations when his excitement got away from him; like when he'd see a cloud or bird (he insisted they were dragons that never grew to their full size because they were too scared, which he would then demonstrate by yelling – in the middle of the road, mind you – and sending a flock scattering into the air) and couldn't help but smile in awe at them. "B- but, I want to learn more and, well, it's your birthday, and dragons make you happy, so," she sat up and offered the boy a shy, tentative smile, "tell me?"

Natsu didn't need to be told twice.

What followed was the most disjointed, incoherent, and scatter-brained story Irene had ever had the pleasure of hearing. It started out as a hunt – she thinks – there was definitely some kind of prey involved, but she was still yet to figure out what they were hunting because Natsu had been certain of the fact that he'd never tried meat before. He'd said so! So, how could he have not eaten it before if he'd been hunting?

It didn't make any sense!

She didn't think Natsu would lie to her, she wasn't even sure he was capable of lying. He was just too genuine. If he didn't want to answer something, he just avoided the question, but she'd never seen him be dishonest with anybody.

Then, because the story wasn't confusing enough, he just started talking about a bath he'd taken, but (because the water had been too cold and Igneel too tired to deal with a child's winging) the dragon had heated up the entirety of a lake to appease the child.

Truly, she hoped that Natsu never got into the business of frequent story-telling, if he kept this up his audience would lose themselves completely in the details and not understand a word of what was happening.

Irene sighed a sigh, trying her best to withhold a smile as Natsu waved his hands around emphatically. According to him, hand motion was the 'essence of storytelling,' like how Igneel would always flap his wings when he laughed or wiggle around like a child when he ate something he really liked. It was incredibly endearing. She thinks she could have listened to him a while longer, probably almost as long as Natsu had stories left to tell, but the evening wore on, and her father would be expecting her back soon.

"Hey, Natsu?"

The pinkette cut himself off, ending his monologue on how warm a dragon was and how they made the perfect beds, and turned back to his friend. "Yeah?"

"Let's always be friends, 'kay?"

He gave her a funny look. "You're being weird again."

Irene threw her head back and groaned. "Just say 'okay!'"

Natsu wasn't even listening. "Why would we ever stop being friends? I don't get it! It doesn't make any sense!"

"It's just something people say, Natsu," Irene sighed and shook her head. "Whatever, you dork, just ruin my sweet, heartfelt moment, I see how it is."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't know!"

Another sigh, this time far more fond and far less exasperated. "I know, I was just joking." She stood up then, offering the younger boy a hand and helping him up to his feet. The two began their descent with practiced ease, bobbing and weaving between supports that could bear their weight while avoiding those that couldn't. Irene was a far cry from the nervous girl who'd gently apply more and more pressure to boards before trusting them. She knew her way around the two's favorite spot like the back of her hand, and even if she didn't, you need only fall a few times before you learn how not to.

Once they reached the ground, Irene tugged the boy into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday, Natsu!"

"Oh!" He wasn't quite expecting this. "Umm.. ! Right! You.. too?"

Irene giggled as her chin rested atop Natsu's shoulder. "Thank you, I'm sure it will be, you're just a little early."

"How early?"

"Natsu, are you trying to figure out my age?"

"No."

Irene ended the hug, gabbing Natsu's shoulders and pushing him to an arm's length away. She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, but Natsu just shook his head.

"Really, I'm not! But you did all this for me, so I want to know so I can do it for you!"

"You're sweet." She ruffled his hair, shoving Natsu's head lower as she did. He ducked even lower, freeing his head from her hand's embrace, before bringing it back up to scowl at her. He was fully prepared to give her a piece of his mind, but she just smiled serenely at him and he forgot all about it. "But, I think it'll be more fun if I don't tell you." The smirk that followed was devious, Natsu didn't even get the chance to protest her blatantly unfair treatment before she promptly shoved him through the orphanage doors and started walking away.

Wha– ! That jerk!

Natsu was fully prepared to barge out and show that girl a piece of his mind, but today was (apparently) interrupt Natsu day, and he was interrupted. Shocking.

"Ah, you're back! Did you get everything sorted?"

Natsu waited as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light of the bar before turning and waving to the guild master as he walked through the guild hall. "Yeah, everything should be all set. Do you think one of the barmaids would be okay cooking the meat for dinner? I should have enough for everybody, and Alfia will be delivering dessert later."

Makarov hummed into his mug; it would seem everything was as planned then. "I don't see it being an issue. They'd end up cooking everybody a dinner in either case, this way you're just providing the ingredients." He waved over one of the women on staff for the day and asked for her to ready the kitchen.

A nod. "And you got your part done?" Natsu wasn't entirely focused on the conversation he was having, instead trying to figure out what the name of the damn goddess was again.

"Bah! You doubt my ability to manage my own guild?"

Natsu paused his machinations to shoot him a dry look. It wasn't like it wasn't public knowledge how much the guild spent on internal damages.

The guild master just waved a hand carelessly through the air. "That's not what I meant, and you know it, brat!"

"Mhmm, sure thing, gramps."

Makarov's eye twitched. "You wanna go!? I'll stomp you into next week!"

"Yes!" Absolutely, he did! That was all he'd ever asked for! He'd been trying to get the old man to fight him seriously for years! Was it finally going to happen?

"Nah." The bastard just stuck a pinky in his ear and started fishing around for wax. "Not feeling it, sorry."

"Wha– " There was a shift in the air and Natsu narrowed his eyes at the master's smirk and growled. "This isn't over. You're lucky I have more important things to do today. Requip: Dump all."

"Oh, sure, I'm quaking in my boots. Can't y'see?" Makarov didn't seem all too worried about the storm of swords, clothes, foods, and otherwise unmentionables that fell to the floor in a flash of arcane light. It was only mildly more hazardous than any one of his children roaming around, so no use worrying himself over it.

"Just get everybody into their places." Natsu shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched his way back toward the doors of the guild, occasionally reaching out with his sandaled foot to kick something and return it to his pocket dimension. He could smell the group coming back now, it'd only be a few minutes more until they reached the entrance of the city. All he needed to do was follow his nose and find them, should be easy enough.

The eldest dragon slayer shouldered open the front doors and took in a long breath, allowing the smells to diffuse through his nose and into his mouth and throat. He mulled the scents over on his tongue for a second, tasting each for the characteristics that made his kids his. It didn't take long to find them, not long at all.

If Natsu's nose was correct, and it always was, they should be right over..

He turned and narrowed his eyes toward the northeast. It was rather unfortunate that there lay many buildings, small to large in size, between him and there. He'd have to navigate all those windy streets and chattering people and.. yeah, no. Not happening.

Natsu spun on his heel and marched back to the guild's front steps where he took a seat.

The kids would be making their way back soon, no use in trying to track them down when they'd be coming to him directly!

It truly was a genius plan.

So, Natsu waited.

And he waited.

It was a big city, and the triplets had little legs, it could be a while.

He waited some more.

And then:

"Natsu!"

"Salamander!"

"Papa!"

There was a chorus of calls followed immediately by a stampede of little feet pounding down the streets. The pinkette glanced up and smiled widely as the children raced his way. He ducked down low, dodging Sting's glowing fist, and at the same time as his hand reached up to snag the boy by his ankle, his heel impacted the stone below. A quick chant under his breath was all that was needed to send a streak of raised earth snaking toward his daughter. It made it there just in time, elevating her foot just enough so that it didn't snag on the raised lip of the next stone and send her into a painful tumble.

Natsu allowed himself a single, solitary moment to let out a breath before he was back into action.

Rogue was somewhere, but that kid was always so damn sneaky that it was hard to tell where he'd be coming from. But that was fine, he had other louder and more brash combatants to deal with at the moment, he couldn't do any searching for the shadow dragon slayer if he was getting pummeled.

A torrent of fire exploded forth from a scarlet circle, bathing the street in an intense heat. Natsu didn't so much mind the temperature, his dragon slayer magic may have been sealed, but no seal could take away the physiological changes he underwent during his training. His skin was still able to weather any flame, his lungs still capable of breathing them. Still, he doubted it would be great for local infrastructure and– oh, who was he kidding? He was just feeling vindictive, she had called him an idiot this morning.

Natsu took the time to lock eyes with Erza as he raised his fist. He could see it already, the irritation in her eyes, she knew exactly what was about to happen. The elder fire dragon smirked and winked at her, flaring his magic just enough.

A salmon (because it was salmon, damnit!) magic circle appeared in the space between Natsu and the fire and from it sprung another inferno of a lighter hue. He could hear Erza cursing the heavens for creating a monster such as him. He couldn't blame her for complaining, not really, it had to be fairly frustrating to see your magic whither into nothingness without so much of a scorch mark on the ground.

The redhead growled, extending her hand out in front of her. "Requip!"

Welp, that might be a problem.

Natsu immediately hurled Sting ass over head toward where Mira was gathering energy in her palms. If anybody had ever questioned what would happen when combining a siphoning well of demonic energy with a flailing pool of holy magic, the answer was about as disappointing as it gets.

Well, that is, if you're disappointed by very large, very weird, and very freaky-looking explosions. For Natsu, it simply wasn't large, weird, or freaky enough to warrant any extra attention.

For a little added flair, he used the basics of takeover magic that he knew to transform his remaining arm into one derived from his soul: that of a dragon. He was sure his metal arm would have handled a beatdown fairly well, but it was a gift, and he had no desire to see it dismantled by overzealous children.

Gajeel was at his side next, having apparently grown bored of letting the kids have their fun. His entire body was covered in steel and the manic look on his face told Natsu that he was enjoying this far too much for somebody who was about to lose. Badly.

Every jab, cross, hook that the iron dragon attempted – no matter how much he feigned nor how much weight he put behind them, he never connected a hit. The only contact he ever made with Natsu's body were the brief touches they made when the pinkette would redirect just enough for him to miss. The exchange wasn't short and Natsu knew he taught the kids better than attacking an enemy one at a time.

The air around him shifted and almost immediately a sword was in his prosthetic hand and blocking Erza's blade.

So, a fist fight on one side and a sword fight on the other. That wasn't so bad, complicated sure, but not unmanageable.

Shadows wrapped around his left leg, securing him to the ground and Natsu fought the urge to sigh. Luckily, he still had his other leg free and could do well enough with one limb down for the count – he was used to said limb being an arm, sure, but he was nothing if not one to persevere.

"Solid Script!– "

You have got to be shitting him. Even Levy!?

"–Bear Trap!"

"Wuh-oh."

That certainly didn't sound good.

He only had time enough to cover the bottom portion of his leg in stone before some very pointy letters decided to call the insides of his body home. Ouch.

"Ha! Nice one, shri–ummph!"

Natsu laid a haymaker into Gajeel's stomach, never letting a slip up go unpunished. With his right hand free, he summoned another weapon, this time the deadliest one in his arsenal.

Erza may have been expecting him to make some kind of move to finish off their little spar, but she certainly never expected his secret move. Now, she knew he had this magic, she knew it. But there is a difference between knowing something and expecting it.

Because really, who expects to be slapped with a fish?

"Fish Magic! Slap Happy!"

Erza stared blankly at Natsu as he stared blankly right on back. It was hard, it truly was, his entire being screamed at him to crack a smile, to laugh about it, but he didn't. He needed to remain strong. He did. But it was really, really hard because there was no such thing as 'fish magic.' There never was. And Erza was only just now realizing that she was hit across the cheek with an old, slimy fish for no other reason than the fact that he could and it was just so funny to him.

And she looked livid.

"Natsu," she snarled out dangerously, pulling her lips up and baring her teeth toward him.

He reached his limit, he grinned.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to hurt you now."

"You can certainly try."

She raised her sword up, leveling the point toward his chest, and Natsu yawned.

Then, Erza yawned.

Her eyes started looking awfully heavy the way she was sluggishly blinking like that, and she should probably go see a doctor if she wobbles on her feet that much on a daily basis, but what does he know?

She collapsed.

"Nighty, night."

Man, did he love sleep spells. Never gets old.

Natsu twisted around, both legs still locked firmly to the ground as he did so, and he grinned smugly toward the rest of the children.

Sting was finally managing to claw his way out of the pit he and Mira had made. His hair was smoking, but he looked otherwise fine. He'd probably only need a minor application of healing magic after this.

Gajeel was only just now pulling himself together; evidently, the answer to why knights never stood a chance against dragons was quite simple: scales beat metal armor. The poor guy just never stood a chance.

Levy had lost interest at some point between trapping Natsu and now. She was already lounging across the stairs and reading. Just living her best life.

Rogue was panting and sitting on the ground with his arms laying across the top of his head. Natsu wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to wear himself out so much, but the little man needed a breather. He'd let him have it.

For now.

Who else? Who else?

Erza was, of course, still sleeping. Cana was.. somewhere. Either she wasn't interested in fighting today and went inside, or she was biding her time. Both possible, neither unlikely. A cursory glance back toward the city showed that Lisanna and Elfman were both sat atop some wall, their feet swinging idly through the air as they waited for the spar to finish up.

Now, that just begs the question:

Where was Mira?

When in doubt: duck!

A barely audible 'soul extinctor!' was his only warning before a massive beam of purple energy flew over his head, slamming straight into the now standing Gajeel's chest. Sorry, kid. Better luck next time.

Natsu cracked his neck and grinned. Things were getting interesting.

"Oh, Jane!" He sing-songed in a poor mimicry of the girl's favored taunt. "You missed!"

There was a growl from the white-haired demon. "Shut up, Natsu!"

Another beam, another miss.

"Wow! Almost felt that one! But, hey, at least you didn't hit any of your allies this time? Small victories, am I right?"

He dodged again – or at least tried to. The third beam glanced off his side just beneath where his vest pulled up, turning the skin a mottling purple, ashen color that looked decisively not healthy. Natsu let out a low whistle. "Wow, that one hurt— "

Mira allowed herself a quick grin of triumph, but it quickly slipped from her face as a nasally voice rose back up.

"— my nose!" Natsu winked at her from behind the hand that was plugging his nostrils. He wasn't kidding either, it smelled horrific. She really had burned his skin, if only slightly, he hadn't even know that was possible!

The Devil of Fairy Tail lunged forward without a thought or care for what would follow, all she wanted was to punish Natsu for embarrassing her. She didn't get the chance. An almost bored 'arcs ray' left the pinkette's mouth as he watched her approach and a beam of light emerged from the tip of two, extended, metallic fingers. It was almost comical how many times she cartwheeled across the ground, but Natsu was a loving and caring father figure to the girl and–oh, who was he kidding? It was hilarious.

With a hum, he lifted his foot and stomped, finally shattering Levy's solid script pain-in-his-ass and freeing up his leg. Rogue's shadowy boot had dissipated a long time ago. It was a smart idea, but unfortunately, the kid just wasn't old enough for it to really matter, still but a hatchling compared to somebody like Natsu.

Natsu looked around one last time to appreciate his handiwork before sighing and mourning the drain all the healing would take on him. He was going to be exhausted.

There was a gust of wind somewhere behind him, but he was familiar enough with the source to know it meant him no harm.

Wendy flipped through the air, landing gently upon her father's shoulders and giggling to herself when he instinctively reached up and closed his hands – one cool and metallic, the other radiating heat from beneath its scales – around her ankles to secure her. She pat him on top of the head, carefully smooshing his spiky hair down with the palm of her hand. "Hi, papa!"

"Hello, little dragon." He smiled up at her through his salmon fringe.

She laid her head down in his hair, her cheek pressing into his scalp, and let out a long sigh of contentment.

"Sorry about this, papa."

.. huh?

Two tiny, soft, little hands reached around his head and covered his eyes.

It certainly didn't bode well.

Natsu reacted instinctively, falling into a grounded stance and releasing his grip on Wendy (she was a traitor and didn't deserve the security he'd been providing) to move his hands in front of his face.

He was forced to rely on his other senses, but without knowing who the attack was going to come from it was far harder to figure out where to put his focus.

He could hear Gajeel off in the distance, coughing. Levy was somewhere nearby the bloke, probably comforting him in some manner. Natsu doubted a direct hit from one of those beams would treat anybody too kindly.

Erza was still sleeping, so she was out too.

Rogue was.. huh. Where was Rogue? Natsu tried to pivot so he could focus his ears on something else, but his feet were stuck in place and that little punk. He'd been faking being tired before, hadn't he? That little imp. He was so proud.

If his nose wasn't being flooded by the horrific smell of his own seared flesh he might have been able to find the others. Maybe. If he tried, he probably could. Maybe.

Realistically, he could just pry Wendy's hands off him. It would be super simple and solve most of his issues right away. Honestly, he could probably even just ask her to let go. She'd seemed genuinely remorseful about what she was doing when she'd apologized. Even now, it was like she was giving his head a big hug as she blinded him.

He just couldn't bring himself to do it.

So, that meant finding–

"White Dragon's Iron Fist!"

—Sting and Rogue.

A fist made impact.

Natsu keeled over.

"Haha! I did it! I took down Salamander! Rogue, did you see it? Did you? Did you? Gajeel? What about you? You had to see it, right? Right? You promised you would watch! Erza? What about you? Did you.. oh. She's asleep. Why's she asleep?" There was a brief pause after that, where Sting seemed genuinely confused on why the redhead would just bugger off and take a nap mid-fight. (Did she not know how much fun fighting was?) It was immediately followed by the soft pits and pats of small, boot-clad feet walking over a stone path. Then, more silence. "Erza?" A beat passed. "She's really asleep. What a weird person."

If Natsu was paying any attention at all, he might have assumed Sting had shrugged to himself right then, but he wasn't. He wasn't paying attention because ow. That little ankle-biter just punched him in the dick!

"Ow."

"Oh! Salamander! I didn't kill you! That's good, I don't know my own strength sometimes," he guffawed. "Are you proud? I beat you!"

Natsu groaned.

"Is that a yes?"

Another groan.

"He said yes! Did you hear that, Rogue?"

"That's great, Sting. Can we go sit inside now? That was tiring."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." There was another shuffling of feet and a scattering of stones across the pavement. "Should we.. help them at all?"

".. nah."

"Okay!"

Natsu didn't even care that he'd missed the massive shout of 'surprise!' and 'happy birthday!' from behind the guild doors because his kid just punched him in the dick. Who does that? Did he broker no goodwill from those little twerps after everything he'd done for them?

He was just going to lay here forever. Maybe if he did that then the pulsing pain would eventually ebb.

Maybe.

He hoped.

There was a soft pat on his cheek. "There, there, papa. You can't win them all."

Thanks, Wendy. Very reassuring.

"You deserved it."

Thanks, Jane. Very reassuring.

Truly loving children, he has.

A third voice made itself known.

"You still have to give him his present."

Ah, Lector.

"Do I have to?" Natsu whined.

"Yes."

The father groaned and shoved himself up onto his feet. He crossed his arms and pouted but was forced to give in when Wendy raised her hand up into the air for him to take. Still, he was going to hold that hand as sullenly as he could, damnit.

"You can quit the act, you know."

Natsu turned away from the voice. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you weren't lying you'd show me your face."

He didn't.

"Thought so. He went inside, you don't have to pretend anymore. He won't hear it from any of us."

Natsu just grunted and straightened back up, willing to let the act slip until he was back in the sights of the two twerps. "Did you all even go for a hike? Or did you just sit in a circle and plan for this the entire day?"

"Little bit of both."

A sigh. "Wonderful. Thanks, Jane."

"You're welcome!" She chirped and wrapped her arm around his waist to give him a quick squeeze that could loosely be described as a hug. She broke it off before anybody could see or Natsu could return it, but he knew it happened.

She made her way over to her two siblings, dragging them both inside. Natsu couldn't blame her, the two were notorious for their bad moods when hungry. Believe you, him: nobody inside that guild wants to deal with cranky Lisannas or sad Elfmans. Nobody.

Natsu and Wendy, on the other hand, went over to where Gajeel and Levy were and kneeled down in the grass.

"You okay, Gajee?"

The sky dragon reached out and poked Gajeel's cheek, prompting him to playfully swat it away. "I'm fine, squirt."

"O- Oh! Good. That's.. uhm.. good."

Natsu coughed pointedly into his fist and Gajeel sighed.

"I mean.. ow. Oh, oh, it hurts. It hurts so, so badly. I am in immense and excruciating pain. Please, oh benevolent maiden of the sky, please heal me. It hurts, oh how it hurts." The delivery could use some work, far too little screaming and far too much deadpan stares and flat words, but Natsu had to give him points for playing along.

Wendy was all too happy to comply and her hands glew faintly as she held them up to Gajeel's chest, the faint bruising on his stomach fading into nothingness as the iron dragon sighed out softly.

"Thanks, kid."

She nodded sluggishly and offered her brother a faint, but inarguably happy smile. Natsu's arm was hovering behind her, ready to catch her if she fell, but it wasn't needed. She was getting stronger. Progress was slow, and it would be a while yet before her body's ether nano stores were large enough to perform any substantial healing, but she was getting there.

"There should be a few swords lying about inside if–"

He didn't even get to finish, Gajeel was already sprinting off, one Levy McGarden barely keeping pace as he dragged her along.

"Well, what do you say, Wendy? Wanna go get some food?"

She yawned and nodded into his chest but made no move to actually walk herself.

Well, at least she didn't fall over this time. He'd have to take solace in the little things.

When Natsu entered the guild once again, the party was already in full swing. Mugs were clashing, sending spatterings of ale through the air and across the surface of the already sticky tables. Food was interlaid throughout the room; steaming piles of ribs, bacon, and other types of meat that Natsu couldn't be bothered to name. The banner was hanging from the railing of the second floor, a thoroughly unamused Laxus glaring down at the partying members from around it.

All in all, things were going good.

"This is amazing!"

Natsu glanced over and watched as Sting tore into a frighteningly large amount of meat.

Correction, things were going great.

"Salamander! Hey, hey, Salamander! Have you tried this food? It's so good!"

"I know, bud. It was made just for you."

Sting took another bite of meat and Natsu used the time it took for him to chew and swallow to cross the room and sit down with Wendy in his lap.

"Wassat mean?"

"It means that the food you're eating is full of magic, your favorite kind."

Sting blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"IT IS!?"

"Yes," Natsu winced, "it is."

Sting stared at him, wide-eyed, for a few more seconds before breathing out a singular, awed 'how?'

"Well, that's a long story."

Sting wiggled closer in his seat and gave the fire dragon his undivided attention.

"A story for another time. It would ruin the progression if we jumped straight to that part of the story!"

".. you mean?"

Natsu hummed and nodded. "It was with Irene." He took a long swing of the mug that was placed in front of him: ale, he could only assume. It was unlikely that he'd feel its effects, but he might as well partake in the festivities.

"Oh!" Sting let out an excited noise and inched closer still, staring up at his role model expectantly.

Natsu didn't pick up on what he wanted. "What is it?"

"Tell us more?"

"More?" He set the mug back down. "More about what?"

There was a collective groan, and not just from the usual culprits, but from Lisanna, Levy, and Wendy too – albeit sleepily from the last.

"What?" Natsu looked around the faces of the children and frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"

"They want to hear more about Irene, Natsu."

"You do?"

Every last one of them nodded. "But.. " He could have sworn he'd bored them all to death with his last story. None of them had asked for a second one since the first telling a week or two back, so why now?

"We decided to wait until you offered to tell us more," Erza entered the conversation through a yawn and rubbed at her eyes. "I guess Sting just got impatient."

The blonde didn't even bother denying it. In fact, he almost seemed proud. "Yeah! I did!" He nodded. "So, can you tell us more?"

"Is that your birthday wish?" Natsu joked.

"Sure!"

Wait, what?

"Seriously?"

Sting just nodded and inched forward. Again. How had he not fallen out of his chair yet?

Natsu stared wide-eyed at the boy for a few seconds before slowly shifting his gaze over to the cat seated next to him. Lector met his gaze and just shrugged in response, equally surprised by his best friend's request. He turned back to his son. "You don't want.. like a new spell or something?"

"Can I have both?"

"Uhh.. " Why the hell not? He'd already planned on teaching him a secret art after Lector pleaded his case, there wasn't any benefit to not doing it now. "Sure."

Sting whooped.

"I guess I should.. start then?"

Another collective nod.

Natsu took another sip of ale and tightened his hold around Wendy's waist.

"Okay, where did we leave off?"

---

Meanwhile:

---

Blue skies and white clouds listed by slowly overhead, taunting Irene where she lay sprawled out across the ship's deck. She glared up at them, wishing she could be flying amongst them once again. But, alas, Acnologia was still out there in the world and while she could hold her own, it just seemed like a real bother to deal with him right now.

So, here she was, and here she laid.

A wave collided with the ship's hull, sending the vessel into another series of slow rocks. Irene's stomach lurched with each and every moment and motion, desiring nothing but to send its contents over the freshly mopped wood that her cheek was pressed into.

"Lady Irene? You okay?"

Irene groaned.

"Obviously she isn't, you imbecile! Why would you even ask that?"

The first voice shrugged vocally with an 'iohno.' She didn't seem all too bothered by the insult, but it was hard to tell when your entire focus was on keeping your lunch. "Sometimes it helps to show concern for those you care about, even if you can't do anything to help out," was all she ended up saying.

The second voice just bit out a sigh before walking closer to the downed woman. "Here, my lady, drink this." She placed a finger delicately beneath Irene's chin and tilted it up ever so slightly before placing a ceramic cup to her lips. "It's tea. It should help ease your discomfort."

If some words were like music, those were a symphony to Irene. She drank greedily from the cup, if only for the hope that it might quell some of her nausea.

"Wow, wow, wow! Why didn't you tell me you had that, Heine? What's even in it?"

Heine sighed once again. "It's tea made from the root of a ginger plant. It's foreign. I keep some with me for times such as this."

"How much I didn't know about it?"

"Because you're– "

"An imbecile, I know." The first voice sighed in response, cutting Heine off. "You really need to come up with some new insults, that one got old weeks ago!"

"Girls," a voice cut in and they both turned to find a pair of brown eyes staring at them from beneath scarlet bangs. She was looking ever-so-slightly less green, but it was far too soon for it to be the tea's handiwork, so it must have just been a small reprieve from the ailment that's been holding her hostage their entire journey. "How much longer until we're there?"

"A few more weeks, my lady."

Evidently, those were decisively not the words the Scarlet Despair was hoping to hear as she promptly shoved her face back into the salty boards of the ship's deck.

Off to the side, the first voice sighed dramatically. "Man, I bet this would have been faster if we had a magic ship. Do you think that's a thing? Magic ships? Maybe they haven't been invented yet. Hey, Heine? Do you think we should invent a magic ship? These sails don't make us go fast at all and I think magic would work a lot bett– "

"Juliet?"

"Yes?"

"Do shut up."

"Okay! But only because you used my name!"

A few more weeks.

A few more weeks until she was finally, finally free of this damnable ship and able to get her true mission underway. She would personally rain hellfire down upon Fiore for forcing her upon on this ship, she would see to it that the country was burned to ash.

Of that, she was certain.

---

I'm waffling back and forth between how I want to go about the stories of the past. Should I jump straight into when Irene enchants herself with Belserion's magic, or should I develop their friendship a bit more through stories over the years between when they met and then.

There are still things that could be explored in Belaren/Dragnof with the king, Irene's coming of age and coronation, and Natsu's feelings about his mother, so I don't want to skip it, but I can also see it slowing the story down a lot if I give it the proper attention.

I'd love to hear your opinion about it all. At the end of the day, I'll decide what I want to write, but it would be helpful to hear others' thoughts.