"Now that Kai is gone... DO YOU MIND ACTUALLY EXPLAINING TO ME WHAT SORT OF NONSENSE YOU'VE PUT IN MY DAUGHTER'S HEAD FOR HER TO THINK NATSU IS HER FATHER!? AND DON'T GIVE ME THE SAME EXCUSE!"
After spending time with Natsu, Nashi and Happy for a couple of hours, Igneel had been summoned by one of the dragon apprentices that usually helped Lucy in her daily duties around the castle. They were of the second youngest generation, the youngest being dragon hatchlings, and learned in the castle about official duties while on other islands they would be learning to control their elements. The trio had wished him good luck as Igneel prayed for his soul fragment to survive the empress' wrath.
Unfortunately, when he had gotten to the blonde's study, she was already emitting a dark aura that filled the entire room and she looked at him with hostile glowing eyes with Kai cowering in the corner. Both had literally just got out of an argument just as she was about to return to Earthland since the fire dragon was completely against using Nashi as bait to lure out the enemies that had brought her into Lucy's care, and now they were going to enter another argument over how that same child had mistaken Natsu as her father.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't tell her anything about the boy!?" Igneel retorted, tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. "I don't know how she came to think that Lucy, but when I say that I had nothing to do with her misunderstanding - I'll even put my pride as the Fire Dragon King on the line here!"
"If not you then who else!? We all thought that they were stuck in between dimensions this entire time and agreed to never mention them unless it is certain that we can bring them back!" Lucy reminded, referring to the Tenrou Team.
"Hasn't ever occurred to you that Nashi is not all that she seems!?" Igneel asked, making Lucy step back and think about the mysteries surrounding her adopted daughter. "She not only looks and acts like you and Natsu, but you must have noticed that her scent is a complete mix of yours and his as well! Her magic has been with her since birth and to top it all off, all these rogue mages are after her!"
"Of course I've thought about all of that!" She cried, stopping for a moment to catch her breath and catching Igneel off guard. "Of course I've noticed all those things... what do you want me to do?"
Lucy just fell back into her seat at her desk, sinking into it as she massaged her temples of her forehead and reorganized her thoughts. It was just that none of it didn't seem possible, even if they lived in a world full of magic, Nashi's entire existence seemed to only be described as impossible. The way Nashi could be so reckless like Natsu, but also be so well behaved like herself - Lucy didn't know how to process any of that. It was not like she and Natsu were a couple and she certainly didn't recall giving birth... so what is the answer?
Igneel, realizing the stress about the entire situation has gotten to the dragons' empress more severely than he thought, just let out a heavy sigh as he leaned on the wall and crossed his arms. Like Lucy, he was also highly attached to the child and there was nothing that he wouldn't do just to keep her safe along with the rest of Fairy Tail, but he and Lucy knew that any memory that had happened before Lucy had found her had been subconsciously repressed in Nashi's head.
"Lucy... I know you're worried about her, but worrying about this is not the thing we should be worried about." Igneel said. "The rest of us on the council all care for Nashi deeply and it's important that we find her enemies first."
"Yes you're right... the mastermind behind Vetani." Lucy replied with a dark tone. "I encountered her when I arrived at Fairy Tail... and that woman was so close in taking Nashi from me."
"What!? How!? You have been so careful when training Nashi on Earthland."
"It seemed that Natsu was curious about her magic and believed that he could teach her." The blonde explained, not surprising the fire dragon as much since he knew how his son would get. "Now that Vetani knows that Nashi is affiliated with Fairy Tail, it's only a matter of time before whoever is working with her make themselves known."
"I see..." Igneel replied straightening his posture and walking in front of Lucy's desk. "I shall let the rest of the council know that the plan has been put into motion and inform them of the situation."
"Thank you, Igneel."
"Of course, your majesty." He said with a slight bow. "Anything... for my son's mate."
Meanwhile, in Lucy's suite, snores rang through the air. Natsu, Nashi and Happy had long since returned after Igneel went to receive his "scolding" from the blonde empress and they decided that they would wait for Lucy by taking a quick nap. However, that nap must have lasted longer than they had hoped because after settling the manner about Nashi thinking that Natsu is her father, both Lucy and Igneel spent the next three hours discussing what to do when facing any of Vetani's comrades.
So it was no surprise that Lucy walked into her room to see her daughter, best friend and his exceed still sleeping while cuddling with one another. She sighed whilst shaking her head at how quiet and peaceful they all were before slowly making her way to pry her daughter from the dragon slayer and carry her to the bathroom to freshen up before dinner. When Nashi felt herself being lifted and breathed in Lucy's scent, she opened her eyes tiredly and yawned.
"Mama...?" She asked in a hushed voice. "You're back...?"
"Shhh... you don't want to wake up your dad, do you?" Lucy asked in a whisper as they entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her. "Let's clean you up so we can both look pretty for dinner, hm?"
By this point, Nashi had fully woken up and smiled at her mom brightly. The plan she and Happy had made secretly still fresh in her mind. "Okay!" She replied as Lucy began to undress her. "Can I wear my pretty dress?"
"Sure sweetie."
Unknown to the two girls, Natsu had awoken the moment Lucy stepped foot in the room. His senses were better than Gajeel and Wendy's so the minute his blonde partner's scent filled the air, he had regained consciousness. But when Natsu heard Lucy's exhausted sigh, he decided that it would be best to have his talk with her when they were both alone - without Nashi, Happy or any of their guildmates and the dragons around to disturb them and make Lucy forget about him. So he pretended to remain asleep.
Once the bathroom door was closed and he heard Lucy lock it, he stretched his arms before sitting up, cradling Happy in his lap and looked out the window. It was already evening and the sun could be seen going down. He wondered how Lucy managed to be here for so many years, knowing that she couldn't see her family often but to them they had only seen her an hour before. He never realized it, since the others had welcomed him and everyone else without hesitation, but he knew that there was hurt he didn't know about.
He saw it on Lucy's face every time she forces a smile on her face whenever thinking about the past. Sure, he didn't know how to deal with Lucy most of the time, but if there was something he could sense indefinitely from her - it was whenever she felt sad or alone. Something about her even trying to smile whenever she was worried or sad just made Natsu annoyed and so he took it upon himself to lift up her spirits. They were best friends after all, right?
Natsu looked down at the palm of his right hand and rolled it into a fist, his eyes burning in determination. "Why do you gotta be so weird, Luce..." He thought to himself.
But if there was one thing that had calmed him amidst his thoughts, although he had no idea why, when Natsu heard Lucy refer to him as Nashi's dad, he could feel his chest warm and his ears burn. Luckily, he had held it back before Lucy could somehow feel the increase of humidity in the air. He had learned that she was taught dragon slaying magic when she first arrived here but he was still unaware of any of the elements that she had learnt and mastered thus far. So he couldn't be too careless like usual.
"Papa! You're awake!"
The dragon slayer was immediately brought out of his deep thoughts and his expression turned bright as the peach haired child ran up to him and he immediately pulled her into a hug. Happy somehow rolling off his lap and woke up while rubbing the dirt off his eyes. "Huh? Is it morning already?" He asked.
"It's actually evening already, you sleepy heads." Lucy said as she placed a hand on her hip. "Now get up or we might just have to leave you both and go to dinner ourselves."
She had her blonde hair tied up in a high side pony tail and wore a simple white sundress that ended a little passed her thighs with bell half sleeves. On her left ankle, she wore a simple chained anklet and wore white half inch wedged heels. Nashi was wearing a cute and poofy blue sundress that had white lace lining the hem of her skirt. Her hair was tied into two low pigtails and rested on her shoulders. On her feet were white flats to match her mother.
"Wow, why are you and your mom dressed so pretty for dinner?" Natsu asked, the sparkling in his daughter's eyes showing that she wanted to be complimented.
"Because it's the first time Papa and the others have dinner with the dragons!" Nashi cheered. "Plus, Grandpa always asks the chef to prepare the best fire chicken for dinner! You'll really like it!"
"What about the fish?" Happy asked excitedly, fully awake and drooling at the thought of a large fish fit for dragons.
"Kai and the water dragon apprentices bring the fish and they never settle for less but the best of fish." Lucy said, giggling as Happy began to daydream about his feast. "Though that fire chicken is definitely good."
"You've tried it too, Luce!?" Natsu asked in surprise since Lucy always questioned him whenever he ate fire chicken back in the guild before the seven year time skip.
"When Igneel was teaching me dragon slaying magic, he refused the idea of me eating anything but your kind of food on a daily basis." Lucy explained, rolling her eyes about how she quickly grew tired of it overtime. "Though the our chef here knows what he's doing."
Natsu could practically see the floating piece of fire chicken in front of him, but he stopped himself by shaking his head and standing up with Happy flying to rest on his shoulder. Nashi had scrambled away from her father's grasp and stood in between her parents and took hold of their hands, sharing a scheming grin with Happy as the group exited the room and made their way to the dining hall... or that's what Natsu and Happy thought as Lucy brought them down a different path.
"Uh... Lucy?" Happy asked, earning a hum from her in response. "I'm pretty sure I can smell the fish down the other way."
"Before we go to dinner, we have to fetch two more guests." Lucy said as Nashi giggled, causing the two boys raise their eyebrows in curiosity. "I'm sure Wendy and Gajeel would appreciate seeing their dragons too, don't you think?"