The forest vulcan's giant fist came crashing down at Aki. She quickly leaped into the air and swung her fist at the monkey.
"Heh, that tickles, little girl," The creature mocked her before slamming his fist into the child's gut.
She wiped some of the blood from her lip and narrowed her eyes. Wind gathered around her hand as she swung it forward. "Sky Dragon: Crushing Fang!" Her hand sliced through the vulcan like a dragon's claw.
However, the monster simply just scratched at its wound unconcerned. "No way," Aki muttered. "I hardly did anything to him…"
"Why are you so surprised? As if a little runt like you stands even an inkling of a chance against me!"
A powerful fist to his jaw sent Aki to the ground with a thud. She spit out some grass and twigs as she rose back to her feet. Billows of air framed her fists as she charged forward.
The monkey easily dodged every single one f Aki's blows, laughing jollily as he did so. A sharp knee to the chin rocketed Aki into the air. She threw both her arms up as wind in the shape of wings formed around them. "Sky Dragon Wing Attack!"
The attack sliced up some of the monkey's skin as he pushed forward through the wind. As Aki landed, she took in a deep breath, sucking in a lot of the air in the forest. "Sky Dragon Roar!"
A massive blast of wind erupted from Aki's mouth sending the vulcan spiraling through the air. Then, the young dragon rose her hand as a green aura began surging around her. "I call upon thee, the stout might to clean the heavens! Arms!"
She raced forward, catching up to the monster in no time. She pummeled at it relentlessly at a rapid pace. The vulcan tried its best go get a hit in but caught nothing but air. The bulky fist slammed into the ground as Aki rolled under the beast's feet.
"You stay away from that girl, you hear me?!" Rosa walked up to the monkey holding a torch in her hand.
"Ah!" The vulcan shirked at the sight of the flame and covered its eyes. "Get that thing away from me!" It swiped its arm down and the torch flew out of Rosa's hands.
Aki grinned at that. Now was her big chance…to try and finally master her father's signature move. Suddenly, all the fire went directly into Aki's mouth and she let out a loud belch. "Oh, excuse me," she said in a polite tone, blushing a little.
The forest vulcan gasped at this. "I don't believe it…You must be the spawn of that little flaming brat, huh? I heard that Salamander and the Sky Maiden had a child. So that must be you, huh? The Dragonfly."
Aki zeroed in her gaze on the vulcan. "That's right, I'm the daughter of two of the most powerful wizards in the Fairy Tail guild." Her scarf blew around wildly as the wind picked up, her salmon pink locks blowing in front of her eyes. "And I'm also going to be the future number one Wizard Saint! My name is Aki Dragneel, the Sky Flame Dragon!"
A tiny flame lit on Aki's fist. She bit her lip in response. "Come on…grow bigger…grow bigger!" Aki squeezed her eyes tight as she tried to focus all of her power on making the flame larger, but it was futile. She slowly opened her eyes, specks of water dripping off her bottom eyelashes. "Why can't I ever use my fire the way Daddy does?"
"I see now," the brawny monkey said as he marched towards Aki. "You may talk big, but you're still nothing but a little runt. Sky Flame Dragon, huh? Don't make me laugh!"
The massive shadow of the monkey's foot circled around Aki as she winced preparing for the worst. "You leave that girl alone!" Rosa cried out, ready to run up to the vulcan.
"No, Miss Rosa! Stay back!" Aki yelled at the top of her lungs. "I've got this."
Rosa hesitated for a bit, but she decided to comply with Aki's wishes and step back. "Go on and show that thing what you're made of, future Wizard Saint."
"You won't gt a chance to even be a regular wizard once I'm done with ya! You're going to die here, little Dragonfly!"
Aki dropped to the ground and somersaulted underneath the vulcan. It turned around, leering down at the small girl with disdain. "You're only making this harder for yourself, you know? So, just give up already!"
The monster's knuckles came rushing down for Aki as she held up her own fist, still lit with a baby flame. Gusts of wind surrounded her other hand as she brought it close to her left one. The small flame lit up immensely, growing into a much larger and more intense one. Aki increased the wind on her right hand and in response, the flame on her left continued to grow.
The vulcan began to sweat all over from the immense heat Aki's fist was emitting. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Aki drove her flaming fist right into the vulcan's abdomen. Everything went up in flames as the vulcan was sent crashing through several rows of trees. The bright orange fire flickered all over the trees and grass in the forest as the monkey came plummeting down, smoke seeping out of his body.
Rosa's mouth was agape at the sight of what she had just witnessed. Then, she just made an impressed smile. "She used the wind in her right hand to fuel and magnify the fire in her left. Even more impressive is that she was able to keep increasing the size of the wind to make the fire that much more volatile and powerful, even after the attack had already hit." Rosa looked over at Aki who was on her knees, panting heavily.
"Still, it seemed like she used up all her energy doing that. There's a lot of magic power inside that tiny little body. But I guess that's to be expected for the child of two dragon slayers. Aki, I look forward to seeing how you'll grow." Rosa looked around at all the burning trees and grass around her and a sudden thought came to mind. She turned around and her eyes widened in horror at the sight.
Her mushroom-shaped house was now a smoldering mess with some charred bits and pieces falling off of the roof and sides. "M-My house!"
Aki looked over at Rosa's house and realized what she had done. She clasped her hands over her mouth and bowed several times. "I'm really sorry, Miss Rosa! I'll help you rebuild it if you want!"
The elderly woman just rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, don't worry about it, deary. I'll just hire some wizard to fix it up for me."
Meanwhile, outside the Fairy Tail guild building.
"So how was the meeting?" Laxus asked as if he was only mildly interested.
"It went well," Erza answered with a small smile and started to walk past Laxus.
"Really?" Laxus cocked an eyebrow. "Cause you look kind of anxious to me."
Erza stopped walking as she let out a sigh. "You would be right in that assumption."
"So? What gives?"
The armored wizard turned around to face the lightning dragon slayer. "They want me to become a Wizard Saint and thus join the Magic Council."
Laxus had to gasp at that and couldn't keep up his unfazed persona any longer. "What? That's great news."
Erza nodded, "Yes, it is truly an honor."
"Well? Then, why do you seem so bummed about it?"
"Because…I'm a member of Fairy Tail." Erza turned to face the emblem that lied at the center of the guild building. Just looking at that emblem brought back so many fond memories for her and filled her with nostalgia. "I can't just leave it, it's my home."
"You don't have to leave it," Laxus informed her.
"So, you think I should stay then." Erza's eyes slowly traversed to the ground as her red bangs fell over her eye. "I think so as well."
Laxus shook his head. "No, that's not it. I'm saying that you should take the job."
Erza's head jolted up at that. "What?! I can't do that. What about Fairy Tail?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you. Over the years, countless members have left the guild in some way. Warrod, Loke, Mystogan…but they're all still members of Fairy Tail. So, you see, Erza, you don't have to be afraid of following your own path. Because you will never truly leave Fairy Tail. You'll always be one of us." A warm, kind-hearted smile crossed over Laxus' features.
Erza couldn't help but be impressed by that. "You've become a great guild master, haven't you?"
Laxus scratched his neck, "I'm just trying to do whatever I think the old geezer would, honestly. It's nothing special."
"No, it is. Thanks for your help, Ninth Master." She gave him a small, teasing smile.
Laxus couldn't help but find that smile infectious and thus decided to return it in full. "Take it easy, Seventh Master."
Erza let out a light chuckle at that. "Same to you." And so the two masters shook hands, giving each other a kind and encouraging smile. Erza had never thought that she would feel this way, but she honestly felt that she was going to miss Laxus. He had grown much more dependable over the years and she couldn't help bt be a little proud of him for that. "I'll come visit as soon as I can."
Aki ran into the house, a bright smile plastered on her face. "Daddy! Daddy! Guess what!" She ran up to Natsu who was sitting on the couch and pressed down on her father's knees.
"What is it?" Natsu asked, curious about the cause of his daughter's excitement.
"I was finally able to do a Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
"No way!" A huge and proud smile formed across Natsu's face as he jumped off the couch and lifted Aki in his arms. "That's my boy! I always knew you could do it!" Natsu and Aki laughed together as they spun around the living room.
Wendy came out from the kitchen and smiled at the sight. Natsu put Aki down and gave her a wide grin. "I think I have one more birthday present for you. Though, you'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"Really?!" Aki held her fists in front of her chest in anticipation. "What is it?!"
"Didn't I just say you'd have to wait until tomorrow?" Natsu chuckled a little. "Silly little rascal."
"Aw, no fair, Daddy~ Tell me now~"
"No can do," Natsu said with a cheekish grin.
"Well, for now, how about we all eat dinner?" Wendy suggested as she took off her white heart-shaped apron.
"Sure thing, I'm starving," Natsu admitted as he rubbed his belly.
"You're always starving, Daddy."
"And you should be too. You're a growing girl after all!" Natsu reached his hands out towards Aki, his face shadowed in darkness. "Otherwise…"
Aki gulped, "Otherwise what?"
"The tickle monsters will get you!" Natsu started tickling Aki like crazy, putting the girl into a fit of laughter.
"Hahaha, Daddy, stop it! Hahaha!"
"Only if you promise to eat everything on your plate this time!"
"Okay! Okay! I promise!" Aki gave in to her father's whims as tears started to form in her eyes from the excessive laughter. "Hahaha! Just please let me go already! Hahaha!"
"Your wish is my command, young dragon slayer," Natsu said in a humble voice as he finally released his daughter from his clutches.
Hey everyone, so if any of you are interested, I've added a timeline to my profile that chronicles all the major events that have taken place between the end of canon and this fic. I didn't include every detail since I still want their to be some surprises, but character births, marriages, S-Class and Master promotions and such are all chronicled there. So check it out if you feel like it. Also for my NaWen fans, NaWen week will be happening from May 24th to May 30th, so look forward to it!