Once Igneel and Ava finally settled their differences, thanks to Lucy's interference and much to Kai's relief, the Fairy Tail mages climbed aboard Igneel's back and left for the castle. Leaving Ava, Weisslogia and Skiadrum to tend to their own islands. To say the rest of the Tenrou Team was surprised of Igneel's presence was an understatement, especially upon learning of his situation from Kai and Lucy, but they were absolutely content that Natsu was finally reunited with the dragon he had been searching for so many years.
When the fairies slid off the fire dragon's back, a soft red glow surrounded his body as he, too, transformed into his human form with Kai. For such an old dragon, he seemed to only be in his mid 40's to early 50's in human form. His hair was much darker than that of Erza's and fell just past his shoulder blades with spikes like Gajeel's own hairstyle. He kept a well toned and formed body, though he held some battle scars, the most notable was the one going right across his right eye.
His eyes were narrow and midnight black, showing that though he was childish sometimes, he was also very wise when needed be. The wrinkles scattered across his face being the only indication that he was older than he looked. He wore a simple very dark brown sleeveless turtleneck tucked into his baggy black army pants that were also tucked into his combat boots. On top, he wore a long red military general's coat that had an orange flame pattern at its hem and the ends of the sleeves.
After he had introduced himself, Natsu began his bragging spree about everything that Igneel had taught him, the rest of his guild members just bearing with it since it was a happy day for the slayer and hoped that Wendy and Gajeel wouldn't do the same if their dragon parents were here. Lucy, who was carrying Nashi, couldn't help at laugh at the scene. She would have her talk with Igneel later, but at the moment, she wanted Natsu to catch up with his father for now.
She placed Nashi to her feet and the peach haired girl turned to her mother with a questioning look. "Where are you going, Mama?"
"Mama's just going to do her boring things with Kai, Nashi." The blonde reassured kissing her child's forehead. "You stay with Grandpa, Papa and the other's until I get back, okay?"
"Huh? You're going somewhere, Luce?" Natsu asked, stopping his bragging spree when he realized that the girl wasn't paying attention.
Everyone's eyes turned when they heard Natsu's question and Lucy internally groaned even though she should've expected as much from her pink haired partner. "Kai and I just have a couple of things to check before we all have dinner, so you guys go do what you want until then." She replied, Natsu not liking that she was leaving with Kai again. "Can you watch Nashi for me?"
Natsu nodded whilst forcing himself to give her his signature grin and patted Nashi on the head. "Of course I will! She's my daughter too, ain't she?" He asked in an innocent manner while the rest of the guild held in their laughs.
The blonde just mentally facepalmed herself at her partner's idiocy. "I need to figure this parent situation out soon or else I'm going to have to endure a lifetime's worth of teasing unless or until I get married!" She thought.
"Lucy... about our 'talk' later..." Igneel spoke up to which Lucy just shook her head before she dragged Kai into the castle.
"You worry about that later. The guild can go knock themselves out with training on one of the islands while you go and catch up with your son." She replied, waving to everyone behind her without looking back.
Soon, Lucy and Kai's bodies disappeared as they went up the main stairwell. Max then told the rest of the guild that there was a room that would teleport them to certain islands that were used for training and spar battles on the first floor of the castle and told those who wanted to train follow him. Most of the males, Laki, Erza and Juvia followed after him to the room while Makarov, Reedus and the other girls went back to their rooms to just freshen up before dinner, leaving Natsu, Happy, Igneel and Nashi outside.
The fire dragon then noticed that his son looked mildly irritated and saw that Nashi and Happy stared at him with worry. Igneel then scooped the child in his arms, much to her surprise and amusement, and then placed his free hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Why don't you and I talk in the castle's gardens while Nashi plays there, hm?"
Nashi immediately ran ahead of her father and grandfather in excitement as the castle's gardens were her favourite part of the castle. Her eyes lit up as she twirled in happiness. "I'm going to the fountain, Papa!"
"Don't you go too far, Nashi!" Natsu replied as he turned to the blue exceed on his shoulder. "You mind keeping her company so she ain't playing by herself, little buddy?"
"Aye sir!" Happy cheered as he summoned his wings and followed after the peach haired girl. "Hey Nashi! Wait for me! Are there fish in the fountain by any chance!? I'm starving!"
The pink haired slayer chuckled at Happy's never ending obsession for fish before going quiet again. Igneel didn't say anything to disturb his son's thoughts, knowing that the only time Natsu ever gets quiet is when he doesn't like something and needs to actually think about how he should deal with it. Though the fire dragon's soul is still laying dormant within Natsu's body, he had overseen his growth and development for the last seven, in reality fourteen, years and knew when he was unsure about something.
"Hey Dad?" Natsu finally spoke up while Igneel took a seat on one of the benches in the garden. "Gajeel and Laxus said something to me before we met the dragons... something about Luce..."
"What about Lucy?"
"I mean... is it really that weird for me to sleep in the same bed as my best friend and partner!?" The question literally threw Igneel's brain into overdrive, the fire dragon not expecting a question like that from his son. So he just stared speechless while Natsu ranted. "It's not like it's the first time! Me and Happy always sleepover at Luce's place in the past, so what's different!?"
Igneel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had known since the beginning that Natsu was never the brightest person when it came to romance and things like that. If he was, it wouldn't have taken three whole days for him to fully comprehend what mates were to dragons back when he was a child. But he never knew that Natsu was that oblivious to why Laxus and Gajeel had said those things - even Happy probably knew what the two were suggesting!
"Natsu... any normal person knows that when you sleepover at someone's house, you either sleep on the couch or on another bed if there's one available." The fire dragon finally said, cutting Natsu's rant off.
"But Luce is my best friend!" Natsu retorted in frustration. "And what pisses me off even more is that she's always so busy nowadays that we can't even joke around like we used to! She's always doing guild master things when we're at the guild and now she's always leaving me, Happy and Nashi behind with that Kai guy!"
After Igneel heard that, he immediately relaxed and a mentally smirked upon realizing why Natsu was so angry. He crossed his arms and thought about how he should explain this, or if he should explain this at all. Natsu, and most likely Lucy too, hasn't realized what has happened between them and will most likely not find out unless one of them gets hit on the head. Satisfied with his thoughts, Igneel ruffled Natsu's hair with a grin on his face, much to the pink haired boy's annoyance.
"You've sure grown up, Natsu!" He said with pride.
"As much as I like the compliment, Dad, not exactly what I was hoping to hear."
"If you feel this frustrated about Lucy not spending time with you, Natsu, just go ahead and tell her that." Igneel said, taking his hand away from Natsu as he turned to face his father. "Lucy always wants for her work to be perfect and that's why she's so good at being Empress. But sometimes, us dragons worry she doesn't get the breaks she deserves."
"So?"
"Now that you and the rest of her nakama have returned, she'll be able to be comfortable, relax and be herself from before we bailed all this stuff on her." He said, causing Natsu to looked at him with big eyes. "This is a free world, Natsu. She doesn't need to check up on everything but she does since it keeps her busy. But, you're now here to distract her and let her have fun like before."
Natsu took in his father's words carefully. It's true in its own sense, now that he thought hard enough. Lucy didn't need to be guild master anymore now that Makarov is back and like Igneel said, the Dragon Realm is a free world where all the remaining dragons can roam free and live peacefully as before. Lucy didn't have to do all the hard work that she gives herself, she can just go back to how it was before and go on missions with him and the rest of Team Natsu like before. And he was gonna make sure of that.
"Thanks Dad... that actually made me feel better!" Natsu said, no longer in the dull mood he was in before. "But don't think I can help you with the yelling you're gonna have to endure with Luce later."
Igneel sweatdropped at the reminder and faced the wall in shame. "I might just have to die before I finish making the necessary defenses to prevent dragonification from overtaking you..." He sulked, earning a laugh from Natsu.
Meanwhile, Nashi and Happy were hiding behind a bush so that they can spy on the father and son. After hearing everything, the two had cheshire grins and scurried back to the fountain to plan their strategy. "They won't know what hit them..."
Z0f2: just wait 'til you find out the reason Nashi is in this story ;)