NASHI:

I woke up and the first thing I felt was the warmth, almost at the point of being uncomfortable. It was coming from behind me, and my shirt was slight sticking to my back. I rolled over and came face-to-face with a mass of bandages, a few spots of red bright against the white. Papa's scent hit my nose and I felt the tears slide down my cheeks. Would he hate me because I hurt him? Because I wasn't strong enough to keep my magic back? Mama always told me it was okay, but he wasn't mama. My shoulders shook and his arm, draped across my waist, tightened.

"What's wrong?" His voice was gentle, and that only made my tears worse.

"I-I'm sor-ry, I-I d-didn't—" I could barely get the words out.

"It's okay, Nashi. I know it's not your fault. None of us blame you." He murmured softly and I curled against him, desperate for some sort of comfort. "You were incredibly strong last night, just like your mama."

My eyes widened at his praise. "B-but I could-dn't hold i-it in…"

"Most people your age can't even dream of holding in power like that. You held it in alright – you jumped to save us from the explosion, you attacked me because I had the best chance of knocking you out. You ruined your own attacks to keep from really hurting me, and you told me what to do all while fighting your power. That's incredible, Nashi." He spoke softly and gently, explaining everything in a way he knew I would understand. Maybe he was like mama.

"You don't hate me?"

"Never, Nashi. I could never hate you." He hugged me gently before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Man, I'm starving! Let's go raid the food!"

"Aye!" I cheered, ending with a huge yawn. He chuckled and I grinned, jumping up to stretch out my sleeping limbs. A couple pops and I was set to pummel the ice freak. Gray, I think his name was.

Papa and I quickly dug out Erza's food case from the luggage mound and flipped it open. The scent of chicken hit first, accompanied by subtle traces of vegetables and fruits. Papa reached for a chicken leg and I felt something hard close around the back of my shirt, pulling me away from the case. I was greeted by glittering purple eyes and scarlet hair.

"Oh? Stealing food, are we?" Erza questioned in a deadly calm voice. Papa, his vest caught in her other hand, quickly dropped the chicken leg he'd snatched and pleaded innocent.

Erza just dropped us both, rolling her eyes and pointing a finger for emphasis while explaining in a way that made no sense why we couldn't just take the food. The moment she was done she left to wake up Gray, and I took full advantage of her absence to drag papa and Happy on a hunt. We caught seven fish before Wendy found us and heavily hinted at Erza being pissed. Breakfast was a tense and very fun affair, to say the least.

"How's your stomach, Nashi?" Wendy carefully wiped her mouth with a napkin before speaking.

"Good." I, on the other hand, talked right after swallowing. The monster lady narrowed her eyes at me and I felt a shiver go down my spine. Wendy nodded and we packed our campsite, making sure there were no traces of our presence, before setting off again. I walked next to papa, my hand in his bigger one. When I got tired, which didn't take long, he lifted me so I could sit on his shoulders and explained that I was tired from using too much magic the other night.

"You need some time to get back the magic you used." He finished his explanation with a little shrug of his shoulders to adjust my position.

"Since when do you know stuff like that?" Gray asked with exaggerated shock. I frowned at him, not really getting his point.

"Since forever, popsicle. It ain't that difficult." Papa shot back.

"Who you calling popsicle, flame breath?" Gray snapped in response.

"You, ice freak. Who else?" I jumped in, earning narrowed eyes from Erza, a giggle from Wendy, a smirk from Carla, a cheer from papa and Happy, and a hand over the heart from Gray.

"You've wounded me…" He staggered to add to his play. "Natsu, what have you done to your kid?"

"She's my kid, ice prick. You've got your own, and it's your fault that both think of me as Uncle Natsu." Papa said with a smirk.

"Oi! That's Juvia's fault, not mine!"

"You're the dad, aren't you?" Happy flew circles around Gray's head.

"Well, yes, but she's as much of an influence as I am!"

"You just aren't trying hard enough." Happy darted out of the way as Gray aimed a hit at him.

"Natsu didn't even do anything, and his kid still hates me!"

"You did nearly freeze my ass in the fight. I have a good reason." I pointed out. A sword slid out of its sheathe with a cold hiss and the silence reigned absolute.

"You dare besmirch a fair maiden's virtue?" Erza's tone was deadly. Gray visibly swallowed.

"N-no! It was nothing like th—" Gray squealed in fear as Erza's sword swept right above his head, slicing through a few strands of hair.

"I'll teach you a lesson!" The monster lady abandoned her luggage cart in favor of dealing out punishment.

"Nashi?" Papa turned his head to look at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah?"

"Where did you learn the word 'ass'?" He asked slowly.

"That's what mama called the bad guy sometimes." I said. Papa blinked a few times, as if shocked. "Why?"

"Lucy used to threaten to set up a swear jar if Natsu wouldn't stop swearing." Wendy said with a slight giggle.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about that anymore." Carla sighed.

"Aye, sir!"

Erza finished with Gray and resumed pulling her cart, leaving the ice prick to peel himself off the road and limp after us.

By sunset we had reached the base of the mountains where mama was. We decided to push a little further after a heated debate that ended in a three-way fight between me, papa, and popsicle. The invisible man didn't show up again, and neither did his soldiers. Erza put her foot down once the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon and demanded that we set up camp. There were no protests once her sword came out.

"Papa, why can't I control my magic?" I asked, leaning against his chest and keeping my eyes trained on the dancing flames of our campfire. Wendy, Carla, and Gray had gone to bed, three lumps in their sleeping bags. Happy was dozing on papa's head and Erza was drawing something in a sketchbook.

"We called the guild for information, and Levy said that your magic is a combination of my magic and Luce's magic. Your magic has its own unique mold, and the bastard took the original mold out of your body. That's why you don't have complete control, and that's also why you have so much raw power at your age." Papa explained carefully. His arms curled around me in a loose hug.

"Can I get the mold back?" I wanted to control my magic and be as strong as mama and papa. I didn't want to have to fight it all the time.

"'Course. We'll make sure to get it back from that bastard." Papa flicked a little bit of flame at the campfire to keep it burning. "C'mon, let's get some sleep."

I crawled around the fire and the monster lady to get to my sleeping bag. Papa slid into his own next to me and I got comfortable before turning to face him.

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Huh?" Papa looked weird all of a sudden.

"Mama always tells me a story. Can you tell me one?" I thought that much was obvious. Papa thought about it for several moments before giving me a large grin.

"Yosh! Let's get this story started! Ok, so once upon a time there was a badass dragon and a stupid ice prick. They hated each other…" He trailed off as he glanced fearfully at something behind me. I twisted slightly to see the monster lady giving us the evil eye. "But, naturally, they were the best of friends! Anyways, the ice prick always though he was stronger and he tried to fight with the dragon to prove. The dragon made sure to ignore his challenges, since the ice prick was stupid, but eventually he decided to have some fun. So, the dragon agreed to fight the ice prick…"

I drifted off, listening to how the dragon beat the ice prick into a pulp. Sleep engulfed me right as the dragon landed a hard punch to the ice prick's jaw, sending him reeling.