Updated: July 4, 2023
Chapter 9: Mothers Know Best
As the Friday dawn arrives, Grandine wakes up early before the sun rises. She does her usual morning weekday routine—prepares her office attire, takes a bath, cooks breakfast, and then wakes her children. As she knocks on Wendy's door, to wake the young blunette, Natsu's door finally opens and the teen steps out to take his bath. Watching her son close the common bathroom door, Grandine thought about her agenda later at the breakfast table.
Soon enough, everyone was having their breakfast—Igneel sitting at his usual seat, with a cup of black coffee and newspaper in hand; Wendy in her school uniform, eating her toast with a sunny side up egg; and Natsu, solemnly eating his white bread with orange juice.
"Well, good morning everyone," Grandine chimes in as she places spam slices on the table.
"Good morning, honey," Igneel quickly greets as he tilts his head upward and kisses his wife on the cheek, "Thank you for the food,"
"Welcome, honey," Grandine beams back before she takes her seat between her husband and daughter, "Well, everyone seems serious,"
"It's morning Mom," Wendy then shrugs her shoulder before she takes another bite.
"I know it is," Grandine then eyes her son, who still kept quiet and seemed lost in his eating of plain bread, "But I've never seen Natsu like this,"
Three pairs of eyes then focus on the pinkette, making the teen somehow shiver. At the sudden feeling, Natsu looks up from his bread and jolts a little as he finally realizes that everyone was looking at him.
"Um…morning," Natsu then clears his throat trying to snap himself awake and aware, "Thanks for the breakfast mom,"
Everyone except Grandine then looks away. The blue-haired mother gently smiles back at Natsu, "You're welcome. So, how was school yesterday? You went home late,"
"Um, yeah…" Natsu then fixes himself on his chair, as if he felt unstable in his seat, "I had…basketball practice,"
"Oh," Grandine then nods her head before looking away from her son and begins to serve herself some breakfast. She notices the glance of her daughter at her brother. "So, you skipped the play practice? Or—"
"No, it was rescheduled," Natsu then takes a mouthful bite of an egg, straight from the whole plate of eggs. He then continues to talk with a full mouth, making Grandine grimace in disgust.
"Natsu," Igneel suddenly gave a deadpan look at the pinkette, "don't talk when your mouth is full, remember?"
Natsu then stops chewing and just stared at his father. He then slowly nods at him before he starts chewing again, but this time, deliberately slow.
Seeing the antics of her brother, Wendy couldn't help but raise a brow at him, "Are you intentionally eating your food slowly, so that you wouldn't have to tell Mom what you told me last night?"
"Wendy!" Natsu mutters in surprise as both of his parents look back at him with questions on their faces. He eyed them both with hesitation before he notices the raised brow of his mother. So, he quickly finished the food in his mouth and swallowed hard.
"What happened yesterday?"
Natsu glares at Wendy for a moment, making the young blunette shrug her shoulder, curious as to why her brother seemed to decide to keep it a secret.
"Nothing," Natsu replies, eying his sister to keep mum, "Nothing extreme,"
"Right," Wendy mumbles, making Natsu growl at her subtly.
"Why are you growling?" Igneel asked as he nudged the foot of his son, grabbing the attention of the pinkette, "Is there some secret or something?"
"I didn't know it was a secret," Wendy suddenly says and causes Natsu to groan and roll his eyes, "What? You didn't tell me that you and Lisanna dating officially is a secret,"
Natsu widens his eyes at his sister as he hears the surprise gasp of his father at the side, while a stern look from his mother was directed at him.
"You and Lisanna are now dating exclusively?" Igneel nudges the pinkette again, making the teen jump in his seat, "Since when?"
Natsu looks back at his father, "Just…yesterday,"
"Well then congratulations," Grandine then smiles at her son when he looks back at her, "You weren't planning to tell us?"
"Huh?" Natsu clears his throat as he took a few seconds to think, "No. I was…I was going,"
"Then why were you reacting like that to Wendy?" Grandine then looks at her daughter, "She seemed happy to share the news. Aren't you happy?" she then looked back at Natsu, taking him by surprise with the stern attention of his mother.
"Um…yeah," Natsu then shook his head awake, "Of course…I'm happy,"
Everyone was then silent for a moment until Igneel breaks the silence as he drops his teaspoon too loudly on his plate.
"Sorry," Igneel bashfully mutters when all eyes were on him. He then clears his throat and asked instead, "If you are happy, then why do you seem to be thinking too much? That doesn't suit you,"
Natsu rolls his eyes at his father, "I'm just…" he was then lost in his thoughts as he replays the happenings last night in his mind.
"Is everything all right, Natsu?" Grandine questions after a few moments of Natsu trailing off, "You do know that you can tell us anything. We'll listen, I'll listen,"
Natsu looks up at his mother, then at his sister and father. He has been thinking a lot about what happened that night. He knows to himself that he should be happy and excited about everything between him and Lisanna. But he couldn't shake off the feeling of wariness and uncertainty. Something about Lisanna saying 'yes' felt like he was being caged.
Natsu shakes his head, "Nothing, Mom. Everything is fine, don't worry," He then smiles but didn't reach his eyes. He then pushes back his chair and stands up, "Thanks for the breakfast, I'll go ahead," and with that, he dashes out of the dining, grabbed his things, and left the house.
As soon as the door closes, Wendy puts down her own utensils and mumbles gratitude for the food. When she stood up and pushes her chair back, Wendy looked at her mother and said, "See, I told you. Something is odd with Natsu-nii,"
"I know…" Grandine says with a sigh before smiling back at her daughter, who later bid them goodbye as she heads to school.
Walking toward the Strauss' residence, Natsu keeps on muttering to himself as if he was psyching himself up about his new relationship. In less than fifteen minutes, he arrives at Lisanna's house, just in time as she steps out of their gate.
"Hi, babe!" Lisanna calls, snapping Natsu out of his thoughts, and looks up.
"Hi…" Natsu smiles sweetly as he takes a step closer to the silverette. The beauty suddenly leans sideways and places a soft kiss on his cheek, making Natsu blush at the sudden affection.
"Good morning," Lisanna greets as she pulls back and smiles at her boyfriend, "Can this be our routine now?"
"Uh, yeah. Of course," Natsu then takes Lisanna's bag, "Let's go,"
The two then walks along each other as they headed to school. They were silent at first, but Lisanna had some thoughts that she wants to act on. So, despite the running blush on her cheeks, she clears her throat and takes action.
Lisanna grabs Natsu's hand and entwines them. It was no surprise that Natsu jumps at the sudden gesture. He looks down at their hand and then back at the silverette.
"I just thought, since we're now official, it would be fine if people saw us like this," Lisanna then smiles at the pinkette before she leans on his arm, "I want people to know that we're together,"
Natsu was stunned, to say the least, but he nods his head and smiles in agreement. "Okay, if you want that. We are…a couple,"
"Yep!" Lisanna then giggles, "From now on, I won't hesitate to call you, babe,"
"Oh…pet names," Natsu shyly scratches his cheek as he felt his face warm, "Yeah, you're my uh…baby,"
Lisanna giddily smiles at the pinkette as she nods her head, "I like that, baby,"
"Where are the others?" Cana asks as she takes her usual seat at their cafeteria table, "I know Erza and the others are in the student council meeting, but where is Juvia?" she then looked at the raven-haired student.
"Why are you looking at me?" Gray questions with a raised brow.
"Because you're always with her?" Gajeel then rolls his eyes before making a disapproval sound, "I don't even understand why she spends so much time with you,"
"What are you-?"
"Anyways, boys," Lisanna suddenly interrupts as she settles down next to the quiet pinkette, "Erza's not here, so, try to get along without causing any harm, unless you want her to arrive in no time,"
Cana and Mira then chuckle as Gajeel and Gray grumble in agreement. The last thing they want is for the red-haired president running towards them to smack their heads.
"What's wrong with flame-brain?" Gray inclines his head towards the pinkette with a curious look, "You're oddly quiet,"
Lisanna suddenly looks at the teen, with wondering eyes, "Baby—?"
"Baby?" Everyone on the table suddenly cuts off, making the other two look at them with surprise.
"Since when did you two have pet names?" Cana questioned with different expressions on her face.
"Oh," Lisanna giggles, "We started calling each other that this morning,"
Everyone except Mira raised a brow at them. Gray and Gajeel couldn't help but look at one another before looking back at the pinkette.
"Is there something new between the two of you?" Gajeel suddenly kicks the pinkette by his shin, making the teen jump and whine in pain.
"The hell?!" Natsu bellows at the pierced teen, "What's your problem?!"
"Baby, they're just curious," Lisanna soothes the pinkette by his arm, making the others widen their eyes at them, stunned at the sudden public display.
"Okay," Cana then smirks before she chuckles in understanding, "I think I know now…"
"What?" Gajeel and Gray mutter at the same time as they looked at the brunette.
"Seriously, boys? You've got no clue?" Cana sarcastically asked before she points at the couple, "Just look at them, Lisanna's practically draped over Natsu—"
"Hey—!"
"What do you see, boys? Tell me!" Cana stared at the raven-haired teens, who were scrunching their faces in thinking. When the two remained clueless, Cana began to groan, "You two are such thick-headed idiots. They are a couple!"
Gajeel and Gray gasp in surprise as they widen their eyes at the two.
"Really?!" the two unisons, making Lisanna chuckle in amusement.
"Yeah, is that something surprising? I mean, you both know Natsu was asking me out since summer,"
Gray and Gajeel then sit upright as something suddenly strikes their mind. Lisanna didn't see the sudden change as odd, but the brunette easily figures out the two boys. So, Cana looked back at Natsu and quickly saw the unsettling stature of the pinkette.
"Congrats, Dragneel," Cana greets nearly flatly but still able to snap the pinkette out of his thoughts, "You got a girl,"
As Natsu and Lisanna walked home from school, hand in hand, the two settled for a silent journey. Lisanna was blissful, as she was able to declare to as many people as she can talk to about her relationship with Natsu. Having the moment to walk hand-in-hand with the pinkette was enough for her. But as soon as they were close to her street, Lisanna began to chatter.
"I'm so happy that our friends actually support us," Lisanna squeezes Natsu's hand as if urging him to speak up.
"Uh, yeah…" Natsu softly smiles at the silverette, "Of course, they'll be happy for us. Why wouldn't they?"
"I don't know," Lisanna beams back at him, "Just thought that they'll have a different opinion. But, it's ridiculous of me to think like that." She huffs a laugh.
"What do you mean?" Natsu squeezes Lisanna's hand back.
Lisanna looks up at the pinkette for a moment before she sighs and looks away, "It's just that, you and Lucy have been a tight duo. But summer came and you asked me out, and then I said yes… I sort of changed the dynamic." She then looks at Natsu, "I was thinking, that's what the others think too…"
"Oh," Natsu suddenly felt guilty as he felt that way at some point last night. Hearing it from her now, made him realize that he'd been acting weird about their relationship when he should be happy. "No, don't think like that…"
Lisanna looks back at him again and waited for him to continue. Natsu hesitated for a moment but he clears his throat and told his thoughts.
"To be honest, I do feel like a change of partner has happened," Natsu suddenly stops walking when Lisanna pulled back. They were still holding hands, but he felt the way Lisanna clutched his hand. Natsu eyed her for a second before he continues, "But I think, this is how it should be…"
Lisanna remains quiet for a moment before she shook her head and exhaled deeply, "I don't understand,"
"What I'm saying is…maybe there is a change of dynamic but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Maybe what's right is that you and I got together and that we should be happy about it,"
Lisanna slowly smiles in relief, which Natsu reflects on her. "We are happy together," she then embraces the pinkette, which Natsu copies as well as he wraps his arms around her waist.
"We are…" he mutters uncertainly.
Soon enough, Natsu got Lisanna home and he heads home immediately. The sun was nearly setting when he arrived at his neighborhood when suddenly someone called out his name. As he turns around to look, he quickly notices his mother carrying sorts of grocery bags.
"Mom, let me help you," Natsu quickly grabs the heavier plastic bags and walked along with his mother.
"Thanks, dear," Grandine smiles happily, "So, you were in practice again?"
"Uh, no…" Natsu kept his eyes on the street, not feeling confident to look back at his mom, "I walked Lisanna home,"
"Oh...right, she's your girlfriend now," Grandine then looks away but still sees the stunned look of her son in her side view. "Don't act surprised. You admitted it this morning, remember?"
"I did?" Natsu curiously asks, making Grandine chuckle.
"We're you really out of your thoughts this morning that you don't remember getting annoyed with sister for telling us that you and Lisanna had made it official?"
Natsu groans as he recalls. He then sighs in defeat, "It's just that…I have some thoughts,"
"And what are those thoughts?" Grandine then nudges Natsu on the shoulder, making the teen look back at her. She simply showed her genuine smile and made Natsu feel more assured to open up.
"I was thinking…is it normal for couples to set some rules? I mean, did you and Dad ever make rules with one another in your relationship?"
"Rules?" Grandine repeats at the odd choice of word, "Um, well, I wouldn't call it rules, but we had some mutual agreement about certain things in our relationship. Like promises…"
"Right…promises…well she used that term. At first, she said rules then quickly changed it to promises," Natsu chuckles at the irony, "She made sure that I abide by our promises first before she said yes,"
Grandine looked at her son, a little concerned by the tone her son was using. She knew that something had happened last night that bothered the young man.
"First promise, we'd spend time together, always. I mean, that's fine…that's what couples do," Natsu then looks at his mom, who nods her head in agreement. He then looks away, "Second rule—I mean promise, we tell each other our problem and I get that. She should be my confidant now…"
"But?" Grandine suddenly inquires as there was a tone of hesitation.
"But…" Natsu makes glance at his mother before looking away and sighs, "I'm not used to telling her things that bother me. I'm used to doing that with Lucy. She's the first person I run to when…something bothers me,"
"Did you tell this to Lucy?" Grandine questioned and wondered what the young blonde had said.
"No…" Natsu sighs again, "I wasn't able to talk to her all day,"
"Oh…" Grandine was taken aback for a second, "But she knows that you and Lisanna—"
"No," Natsu then stops as they reached their gate, "I wasn't able to tell her that either,"
"Oh…" Grandine sighs in defeat before she steps ahead inside their gate, "And does that bother you?"
"Yeah," Natsu quickly replies as he shuts the gate close, "Everything bothers me. It's like, I changed everything without her consent and now, I feel like, I'm screwing something up,"
"Wait, hold on," Grandine then puts down the grocery bags and stops Natsu from walking away further, "Why would you feel that? I thought you liked Lisanna?"
Natsu was quietly taken aback, feeling overwhelmed at the facts being laid out, "I do…it's just that, I didn't expect that asking her out would make me feel this way…about my relationship with Lucy,"
"So, you're bothered that something will change between you and Lucy now that you and Lisanna are official?" Grandine eyes at the pinkette, who deliberately kept his gaze down, "Honey, look, you and Lucy are best friends. She'll support you and Lisanna, no matter what. Unless there's something more?"
Natsu abruptly looks up, a little stunned at the insinuation. He didn't know what his mother was trying to say, but somehow, he remembers what Levy had told him the other day. He felt the same conflict inside his chest.
"There's nothing more…" Natsu then grabs all of the bags and heads inside, leaving his mom a little surprised by the walkout.
As Grandine enters the kitchen with Natsu sitting down on one of the stools, she sighs out loud to pronounce her presence. Natsu jumps a little but relaxed when he saw it was her.
"Natsu-dear, I hope it's clear to you that Lisanna is now your girlfriend and that Lucy is only your best friend. You probably don't realize this but many of the things you do with Lucy should be done with Lisanna and not her." Grandine watched the pinkette contemplate, but she knew it wasn't something easy for Natsu just accept.
Grandine has always been aware of the closeness of Natsu and Lucy. She even thought at some point that they were secretly dating. But when Natsu had told them last summer that he had asked Lisanna out, she knew that one day it was going to be a confusing moment for him.
"I think…your mantra should be 'Do the right thing. Be the best guy for your girlfriend.' What do you think?" Grandine smiles reassuringly.
"…Yeah, I think I should follow that…" Natsu sighs in conflict with his thoughts.
"Anyways, I saw Lucy the other day…" Grandine then turns her back and begins to pack away the groceries, "I think she was walked home by a blonde boy…Do you know him?"
Natsu made some disapproving sound, "That's probably Sting,"
"Oh, do you know anything about them?" Grandine curiously asks as she glances over her shoulder
"He's asking Lucy out…and it annoys me!" Natsu suddenly bellows, which took them by surprise. Grandine quickly turns around to look at the pinkette and places her hands over her hips.
"And why are you annoyed? Shouldn't you be happy for your friend? That boy seemed gentle and nice to Lucy. They were laughing and seemed happy together,"
"Tsk," Natsu grumbles, "Sting came out of nowhere. All of a sudden he becomes friends with her, then declares he likes her…He'll probably just hurt her,"
"Well," Grandine walks up to her son and cups his cheeks, "As her best friend, just keep an eye on her. But don't ever meddle in her relationship with him without her permission. Got that?"
Natsu pulls away, "And wouldn't I?"
"Because Lucy didn't meddle with yours." Grandine gives a stern look at his son, making Natsu pay more attention, "She never stopped or questioned when you had asked Lisanna out. From what I know, Lisanna is a friend of Lucy's too. You give the same respect to Lucy's choices the way she respected yours. That's what friends do,"
Natsu looks down at his fumbling hands, feeling defeated that he couldn't fight what he felt like arguing for. He then feels a caress on his head, "Let Lucy be happy and be a good friend to her. At the same time, be a good boyfriend to Lisanna. Okay?"
"Got it," Natsu then stood up without looking back at his mother and walks out of the kitchen, and goes straight to his room.
Dinner happened in a blur with Natsu remaining quiet while Wendy and the rest cautiously just observed him. They all made minimal conversation until Natsu left the table. As soon as he did, Wendy began to ask her parents about Natsu. Grandine told a few things but didn't outwardly detail everything that Natsu had shared. She knew it was not her story to tell.
As the night got deeper, the Dragneel family decided to go to bed. Igneel, settled on their bed, reading through his tablet, suddenly notices the stiff posture of his wife. He quickly puts down the gadget and walks over to Grandine, who was doing her night routine.
Igneel then begins to massage Grandine's shoulders, earning a soft moan in satisfaction. "You seemed stressed. Is everything okay at work?"
"Um, yeah…" Grandine opens her eyes and smiles at her husband, "Don't worry about it, honey," She then pats his hand before they entwined it.
"But something is bothering you," Igneel then leans down and kept his gaze at his wife through the mirror, "Is this something to do with Natsu?"
Grandine sighs in response and Igneel knew what it was about. He then kisses her on the cheek, "Funny how you try to help your son and end up shouldering his problem,"
Grandine lifts a small smile, "It's just that…sometimes I'm not sure if I know my children enough and whatever that is happening with them. I tell them things that I think are right, but then, I'm not even sure I know what is right,"
"Okay, honey," Igneel then steps back and moves in front of Grandine. He squats down to have the same eye level as her, "Look, we aren't perfect parents. But, I'm sure that you know your children best than any other people. They came out of you, you have that maternal connection with them. So, no matter what, I'm sure that Natsu takes your words with wisdom. He'll listen but at the same time he'll reflect, just like how you always teach them,"
Grandine pouts sheepishly as she felt overwhelmed with the trust of her husband. Soon enough, she nods her head and accepts his opinion, "You have too high regard for me as a mother—"
"Because you are the best. As Mama said, mothers know best," Igneel then grins widely as he cups his wife's cheeks before leaning in to kiss her on the lips. "And you are one hell of a good mother," he adds as he pulls back.
"Even when I told our son to let his best friend be happy with another guy and be a good boyfriend to a girl that we didn't expect?" Grandine asked as she sheepishly smiles at her husband.
Igneel raised a brow, "You told Natsu to let go of Lucy? I thought you were for the Natsu-Lucy tandem?"
"Well," Grandine sighs in defeat, "What can you say when your son has claimed to be now in a relationship with someone you weren't rooting for? And then learn that the girl you were rooting for your son now has a suitor?"
"Wait, Lucy has a suitor who isn't our son?" Igneel asks stupor, making Grandine roll her eyes at him.
"Iggy, you know that Natsu never asked Lucy out, which we find frustrating. But then…who are we to get frustrated?" Grandine then stands up and lets herself be pulled by Igneel toward the bed.
"You're right…" Igneel then wraps his arms around Grandine's waist and pulls her even closer, "As his parents, our job is to support him,"
"Correct," Grandine nods her head as she drapes her arms over Igneel's shoulders, "And as his parents, we are to support whomever he wants to love. In this case, Lisanna."
"All in?" Igneel curiously asks.
"Hmm…make it ninety percent yes, and a ten percent of other possibilities," Grandine then grins, "You never know. After all, we're talking about Natsu,"
"Of course…" Igneel grins back before the two chuckles.
To be continued...
