XIII

Regarding partners, Natsu had never really had one. Since joining Fairy Tail Igneel had sat back and watched Natsu go on job after job, some small, some not so small, and some a little terrifying. However, Natsu had never been one for partners or teams. There was team Shadow Gear, the Raijinshuu Tribe, among many other clearly divided lines in Fairy Tail that stated who went on jobs with who.

Happy was of course Natsu's partner, but as far as humans went… Natsu had never really shown an interest. Sure, every once in a while he'd go with someone. Lisanna or Elfman, or even Cana and once even Macao, but none were considered his team. They were one time deals.

That was until apparently Lucy. Natsu had made a very rude habit of barging into her apartment unannounced, and an even more unruly habit of lounging on her bed. Igneel himself couldn't feel the comforter or sheets, but by the thoughts running through his son's head it was as if he'd found a bed that easily resembled a cloud blessed by the god of softness. And so despite Lucy's objections, Natsu –in his own way- claimed it as his own. It was then that Igneel noticed less and less time was spent in Natsu's actual home. As time progressed it would seem as if Lucy's apartment actually was he and Happy's abode.

It was through these times spent in her apartment that Natsu began to learn about her. She was a writer. At least she was writing a novel, anyway. She also didn't want anyone to see it. Natsu grew to know her schedule. She woke up at eight in the morning. She bathed at eight at night. He knew these things mainly so he could sneak in the window while she was occupied, but subconsciously somehow Igneel felt Natsu's internal clock and schedule slowly shifting to match hers.

Why was it shifting? Well, they'd gone out on a job together, and it'd pretty much just happened since then. The job was a quick one: destroy a book. Of course, it escalated from there and after beating the owner of the mansion –Mr. Everlue- and his lackeys, and finding out the true secret meaning behind the novel thanks to Lucy, it was returned to the man who'd requested the job, who in the end decided not to destroy his late father's book, which turned out to be the man's greatest piece of literature yet.

Igneel was impressed with Lucy's smarts. No, she wasn't polished in fighting, however she did have a head on her shoulders. If it'd been Natsu he would've incinerated the book the instant he'd found it, but Lucy recognized that something was off, and because of her, she was able to go above and beyond in fulfilling the job. She was a good balance against his headstrong and trigger-happy son.

Of course, through that job –no matter how short it'd been- Lucy had of course been truly introduced to Natsu's antics. Natsu was a handful. There really wasn't any other way to put it. However, Lucy seemed to have hands big enough to hold his handful and more. With her constantly snapping at him and somehow managing to keep him in his place, Igneel was absolutely positive he couldn't have done better himself. And he felt a coy grin cross his face. It might be a bit fun to watch these two; Lucy definitely did show potential in finally taming Natsu.

But after the job was when the real difference occurred. Not only did Natsu's schedule begin to shift to hers, but his mindset did too. As he looked at the job board, he wondered which one he should go on with Lucy. And after she'd ranted about her rent money, Natsu was looking at which ones had a good amount of reward so Lucy could pay her rent. Something had so easily changed inside of his son's mind, that Igneel was curious if Natsu had even noticed the shift.

Because after she joined, and after their first real job came to a close, somehow Igneel knew Natsu had found his first and only true partner.

I don't know why but I always sort of found it interesting that Natsu didn't have a partner, and then after Lucy he somehow had a partner and a team basically overnight. Dunno why I always was curious about that, but I figured Igneel might be a little glad his son found someone to really lean on.

Also, next chapter we bring in Erza and Gray for good! Yay! Fairy Tail's strongest team is almost here! XD
Thanks for the amazing reviews as always, it's still so amazing to hear what other people think Igneel would point out! :D

~Foxtail-chan