"What are you doing here?" Lucy said sternly.

"You know, you and your daughter had nearly the same reaction." Loke chuckled, although no one laughed with him. He noticed this and cut the chuckling short. "I came to apologize. I've already done so with Nashi, but I have yet to talk to you yet."

"Umm, I'm going to go check on Happy." Nashi excused herself awkwardly, sensing the tension between the two.

Once the door shut behind the child, Lucy returned to the conversation at hand. "So.. continue. What did you need?"

"As I said, I came to apologize. What I said was unprovoked and wrong, and I shouldn't have told Nashi. I know you wanted to keep it from her."

Lucy gave Loke a long stare before letting out a breath. "She was bound to find out anyways. I just... didn't want history to repeat." Lucy frowned, recalling the events that had occurred when she was about the same age as her child.

"I'm aware. It's why I'm apologizing." Loke restated. "However, I'm still mad at Natsu."

"Loke-"

"I don't understand how he could leave you like that! With a child, nonetheless."

"He didn't know!" Lucy defended her husband.

"Wouldn't he have been able to smell it, then?"

Lucy paused, considering the spirits rebuttal. It was true, the slayers could smell a lot of things, and pregnancy seemed to be something that was a part of that list. But as Lucy thought about this, she remembered a conversation she had with a certain slayer.

"You couldn't smell it?"

"Not precisely." The slayer wrinkled his nose. "Sure we can smell a lot of things, but even we have limits?"

"Such as?"

"You ask too many questions, Bunny-girl." The father rolled his eyes, causing Lucy to snort.

"That's ironic coming from Levy's husband."

"Har-Har."

"But seriously, how did you not know?"

Gajeel was about to make another smart response when she felt the cold eyes of his wife on his back. 'You better not make her upset', he could almost hear her say. He shivered, reconsidering what he was going to tell the pregnant blonde. He now realized that what he would say was quite important as he recalled Levy's sensitivity during her pregnancy, which was a terror in and of itself.

Letting out a huff, he finally answered the pregnant mage. "Let's put it like this. Salamander told you that we can smell when people get laid right?"

"Yea..."

"So it's like that. For a while, it just smells like you just got with someone. But after a few months, it'll smell like a completely different scent all together, meaning that person would be pregnant. But as it would take months to recognize, Salamander probably didn't know.."

"Hmm.." Lucy frowned.

Gajeel put his hand on top of the blonde's head, ruffling her hair. "I wouldn't worry 'bout it. Salamander wouldn't put you in that situation, not on purpose anyways..."

Lucy smiled. "Thank you."

Lucy smiled at the memory and shook her head. "No. It would've been too early to tell. Gajeel himself told me so."

Loke scowled. "Whatever. What's done is done. I won't talk about him anymore to Nashi, if you wish."

"That won't be necessary." Lucy dismissed his proposal. "I've decided to tell Nashi about him. I wouldn't feel right if I let myself pass without telling her anything."

"You made the right choice." Loke answered finally. "It's good for her to at least know."

Lucy chuckled. "I hope so."

Lucy brushed the mark at the back of her neck, reminiscing the dream she had had a few moments ago. Although it had been quite awhile since that mark had been created, it was still as visible as ever. Lucy would like to think that Natsu would be proud of that fact.

Loke noticed this. "You still miss him, don't you.."

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? He's my husband."

"I mean, yeah, but after everything he's done? He's the reason you're confined to this bed after all."

Lucy shrugged. "I love him. That should be enough to outway all of the 'bad'. Plus, it's not even his fault. I'm not even sure he knows what he's doing.."

"Well he should.." Loke grumbled.

Lucy exhaled, looking out of their window. She was grateful that the lion wouldn't make that big of a fuss anymore, but she knew better than anyone that it would in no shape or form allow Loke to forgive Natsu, and she was okay with that.

The woman's only wish was that one day her husband would uphold his promise to her, coming back safe and sound before the inevitable time would come to pass where she would take her last breath.

------------

"And then he ate the ethernanos anyways!" Happy exclaimed in exasperation, causing Nashi to let out a loud laugh.

"Silly Papa! Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, but that's my best friend for ya!"

Nashi grinned, wiping the rest of the dishes. After leaving her mother's room, she had decided to make some blueberry pancakes with the fruit Happy had brought from the market. With Happy's assistance, they came out better than the pinkette had originally anticipated.

Happy had also made it upon himself to tell some stories of her father as they cooked. It was a win-win situation for the little girl.

Happy looked over their workstation. "We still have some blueberries left..."

Nashi frowned, deep in thought. "Hmm, what will we do with them?"

"I'm not sure."

Nashi nearly jumped up as an idea sprung to her head. "I know! We can make blueberry pie for mama!"

Happy winced. "Do you know how to make pie?"

Nashi nervously twiddled with her fingers. "Not really... is it like how you make pancakes?"

Happy laughed. "No. I could ask Mira to do them, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Can I come?!" Nashi wrung her fingers together, begging the exceed to let her follow him. She knew it was a hard bargain since she barely got to go, the last time she had visited the guildhall a few weeks ago when they had celebrated their Grand Magic Games placement for the twelfth year in a row.

"Eh... I'm not sure. You would have you ask Lucy but..."

"Pleeeaaase? I haven't seen Jutla, Yajee, and Storm in ages!" She used the largest pout she could manage, furrowing her eyes to strengthen the effect.

Happy frowned, taking pity on the little girl. "Alright fine, but don't tell your mom! And you need to wear your cape when walking through town."

"Gotcha!"

---------------

The walk through Magnolia was a quiet one, Nashi covering her pink locks underneath the large cloak.

Even though the child was bound to stay in Magnolia for who knows how long, she couldn't exactly walk around freely either. Happy and her Mother were especially strict about her showing her hair, which is why she held it so close to her head. At first she was confused at how specific it was, but knowing that she inherited her hair color from her father, she wondered what he had done to make being recognized such a hazard, especially in a town as quiet as Magnolia.

Well, quiet was an understatement... Nashi thought, cringing internally. Fairy Tail wasn't known to be the calmest guild, but it was on her side, and that was all that really mattered to the child at that point.

She walked along the edge of the canal, Happy flying cautiously behind her.

"Be careful, young miss! You don't want to fall in, it would be very unpleasant!" A sailor yelled from his small boat, exporting boxed goods that Nashi could tell was fish due to her sharp nose.

Nashi halted, unsure how she could answer. "U-uh... thanks! I won't..."

She took a deep breath when the sailor had continued to pass through the canal, sparing the child not one more glance. She was grateful but she cringed internally, knowing Happy would be on her case once the two were alone.

After a few moments, Nashi saw the large doors of the guild and sighed in relief. She quickly entered as Happy shut the large doors behind her, letting her hood fall to her shoulders.

"Hello..." She murmured quietly, although most didn't listen. It wasn't that they didn't want to, it was rather that the guild had broken into quite a large brawl, which Nashi and Happy really weren't that surprised to see.

"Nashi!" a young girl with blue unruly hair ran up to the girl.

"Jutla!" Nashi chirped, wrapping her arms around the older child.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yea," Nashi nodded in agreement. "I just have to stay at home, especially now to keep Mama company!"

"Mhm! I wish the grown ups would tell us why though..."

"I know!"

As the two girls were talking, two boys also decided to make an appearance.

"Hey, Nashi." The taller one, Yajee, grunted. Nashi gave a wave in response to the slightly younger twin.

"So you finally decided to come out of your hole, eh?" The younger, shorter boy stated cockily. "I wonder if your combat has weakened-"

"Not in a million years ice-freak! I will always be stronger than you!"

"Oh, you think so?" The child, Storm, smirked; getting a bit angry.

"I don't think so, I know so! Your magic is too weak to compare to mine!"

"Take that back!"

"No!"

Before the two children could battle it out, a voice was heard from the top floor. "Do I hear fighting?"

The guild froze as the red haired mage at the top gave a cold stare. Begrudgingly, the fight began to dissipate, allowing the guild to return to a somewhat calmer state.

The Redhead pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, about to return to where she was before when a hint of pink hair caught her eye.

"Nashi!" She cheered, rushing down the steps and wrapping the child in a large hug.

"A-auntie.. Erza.. too.. tight..." She struggled to get out as she was shoved into the metal chestplate.

"Ah, sorry! I got a head of myself." She pulled away a tad bit, letting Nashi breathe. "How are you? Have you been behaving well? Have you done any training?" Erza interrogated.

"Yes, Auntie Erza.." Nashi recited.

"And your mom? Is she doing okay?"

A flash of pain was evident in Nashi's eyes as she averted her gaze. "She's okay." She answered quietly.

Erza frowned, knowing that something was up with the little girl, but had decided against questioning her further.

"Where's Reiki and Rosemary?" Nashi asked, moving the attention away from herself.

"They're on a mission with Uncle Jellal..." Erza responded.

Nashi frowned. She couldn't help but be jealous of the other kids who could go on missions, with their parents nonetheless. Nashi wasn't even allowed outside of Magnolia, which automatically made going on missions impossible. Not only that, but her mother was bedridden and her father had disappeared.

"Nashii..." Happy nudged the girl, silently reminding her what they were here for.

"Oh, right!" She remembered. "I'll see you around, Auntie Erza!" The pinkette waved and began to head towards the bar.

She hopped onto a bar stool as Mira greeted her. "Hey, Nashi! What could I do for you?"

"Hi Auntie Mira!" Nashi greeted, giving Happy a small nod as he dropped the basket on the counter. "We had some leftover blueberries at the house and I wanted to make them into a pie for Mama, but I don't know how to do it..." She explained.

"Aw, how sweet!" Mira swooned. "Of course I can help! It shouldn't take too long, only about two hours. Can you wait that long?"

Nashi nodded quickly. "Yes. Thank you so much!"

"Anytime! Go enjoy yourself while you wait!" Mira shooed the girl off, knowing that the child needed some sort of social interaction with kids her age after being stuck in her isolated home for so long.

"Ok!" The girl hopped off the stool.

Happy flew closer to her. "I'm going to go find Charle and Joy. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone!"

"I won't!" She promised. "Say hi to Joy for me!"

Joy was Happy and Charle's daughter, having Happy's blue fur and Charle's eyes. She was extremely like Happy, very optimistic and playful. She had only seen the small exceed a few times, but she adored her and loved spending time with her when she could.

"I will!" Happy smiled and flew away, leaving Nashi alone.

"Hey, Nashi!" A black-haired young man walked up to the girl.

"Uncle Romeo!"

"It's alright kid, you could always just call me 'Romeo'.." The man chuckled. "Have you practiced the techniques I've shown you?"

Romeo had been teaching the young girl how to use her fire magic, telling her about the different techniques that he used around her age. Of course, he couldn't really teach her about the dragon or combat portion (which Gajeel and Wendy attempted) but Nashi was willing to accept any help she got, and she appreciated Romeo's effort.

"Yes!" The girl chirped. "It's been going well! Thanks for teaching me!"

"Not a problem!" Romeo grinned. "It's the least I could do, after all your father did for me.."

"Papa?" Nashi tilted her head. "What did he do for you?"

"Uh..." the man froze as he exchanged glances with Gajeel, the long-haired slayer giving him a long stare. He could obviously hear what they were talking about. "... I don't think I could tell you.."

"But why? Mama told me stuff!"

"She did?" Romeo's eyes widened.

"She did?!" Levy exclaimed, causing Nashi to jump a bit as she wasn't expecting her Aunt to jump into the conversation. As she looked around her, she'd noticed that her Aunt Levy wasn't the only one who had tuned into their conversation. In fact, it was safe to say that the majority of the guild was listening to them.

"Uh..." Nashi blinked. "What.. did I say?"

Murmurs were heard throughout the guild, and it drove Nashi insane that she didn't know what she had done to cause such speculation. One distinct murmur was louder than the rest, and it wasn't exactly positive.

"Isn't that his daughter?" One snickered.

"I didn't even know he had one."

"It's cute. They could make a whole demon family." The first person continued. "I wonder why he's not around though. Maybe he abandoned her, it fits his description."

Tears burned Nashi's eyes as she clenched her small fist. She didn't need to see the people to know that they were new to the guild, not recognizing their smells or voices. It still hurt though, because Nashi knew what this meant.

The people of Magnolia saw her as a monster. Or at least, that's what she assumed they believed.

A voice interrupted the child's thoughts. "Hey! Watch your mouth!" Nashi recognized the voice as the guildmasters, Uncle Laxus. When had he come down here?
"If you're against the Dragneels, you might as well leave the guild. We don't condone that here." Aunt Erza added, her voice darkening.

The two new members gasped. "You don't mean... you support her! That little... thing!" the first man pointed at Nashi.

"You've got some nerve talking about lil' Salamander like that..." Uncle Gajeel growled, glaring at the two members.

Before the child could witness anything else, her feet had begun to move, leading her out of the main hall.

"Nashi!" Her Aunt Mira called out to her, reaching an arm to stop her. But, it was too late, and probably for the best. The little slayer had disappeared.

----------

Nashi had ran. She didn't know where she was heading, all she really knew was that she had to get out of the main hall, and quickly. She had pushed past many people, promising internally to apologize to them later. She ran down the hallway and darted into the nearest room, which happened to be the library.

She collapsed into a small ball, holding herself as she cried softly. Her thoughts were a complete mess, ranging from why those people thought of her that way to if more people in Magnolia were really like that.

She knew that running away wasn't the best thing to do, but she felt so exposed and overwhelmed in that moment that she felt like she couldn't have stayed there any longer.

As she held herself closer, she could hear footsteps approaching where she was. Soon enough, those footsteps halted as the door squeaked open.

She could tell by the way the temperature dropped who had walked into the room to join her.

"Uncle Gray.." she mumbled, her voice muffled as she refused to lift her head to meet his gaze.

"Hey, Nashi.." He started awkwardly.

He frowned when she didn't respond, sitting next to the girl without being sure on how to proceed. "Look, those guys are just idiots. Don't listen to them."

"But what if they had a point?" The girl mumbled.

He sighed, debating about whether to go into depth about Natsu or not talk about it at all. He had decided on a variant of the former. "I used to think your Dad was a monster too."

Nashi raised her head at this. "What? Did he do something bad?"

Gray shook his head. "Back when I was around your age, my mom and dad were killed by this demon named Deliora, who was a creation by this dude, or should I say your uncle.."

"My uncle?"

Gray nodded. "Your Dad's brother. It just so happened that he created your Dad too."

"Created?" Nashi scrunched her nose. "What does that even mean?"

"It'll probably be explained to you later," Gray avoided the question. "... but I unfairly hated him for that, when he never really did anything bad towards me, in fact it was quite the opposite..." Gray's eyes furrowed as he remembered that day. "I tried to kill him.. and of course he fought back, though his original goal wasn't really aimed at me.."

"Your Aunt Erza broke it up of course, but it really changed how I saw him. It wasn't directly his fault that my parents died, but I put that blame on him anyways." Gray chuckled. "I was an idiot."

"So.." Nashi began. "Those guys lost people because of a demon that has the same master as my father too?"

The ice mage winced. "Not exactly. Look, as much as I hate to admit it, your father is really strong."

"Stronger than you?"

He snorted. "Of course not."

"Sure, Uncle Gray.." Nashi rolled her eyes and let out a small giggle.

"He's definitely up on the ranks," He continued. "And that's without using his demon powers..."

"Do I have demon powers too?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. You'd have to ask a dragonslayer or even Porlyusica, they'd probably be able to tell."

Nashi frowned. Was that why everyone was afraid of her. Did they think that she was a demon too?

As far as she was aware, she was completely human. She did have fire dragon-slaying magic which she knew had to have come from her father, but it was quite underdeveloped. Romeo had done his best to teach her the fire aspect and Uncle Gajeel and Aunt Wendy had taught her the slayer-portion, but neither could teach both which made her magic weaker compared to the other children who were slayers.

"But that's what they're afraid of," Her uncle interrupted her thoughts. "He has so much power that people are afraid that he could use it for bad, since it is considered demonic. Since they're afraid, they want to exile him so that he would have no choice to use it for bad. It's kinda like putting him away so that they don't have any chances of running into trouble in the future, not that he's actually done anything bad."

"Wait, so Papa is locked up?"

"No, as far as we know he's a free man."

Nashi grew quiet. "So.. why did he leave?"

"That," Gray put a large hand on the child's head, ruffling her hair. Nashi jumped at this. "... is something you'll have to ask you mom. I don't think it's my place to say, and I don't understand it all myself anyways.."

"I see," Nashi grinned at the mage. "Thanks, Uncle Gray."

He smiled. "Anytime, kid."

He got up, offering the child a hand, to which she accepted. "We should probably head back now, everyone's probably worried about you."

"They are?"

"Of course they'd be! You're a part of our family after all.."

Nashi grinned. Although she didn't get to visit the guildhall very often, she enjoyed every visit.

"Mm! It smells so good!" Nashi moaned as she took off her hood, finally arriving in the thick forest on the outskirts of the town, getting closer to home. "Mira's such a good cook!"

"I'm sure Lucy is going to love it!" Happy chirping. "She's not going to like what we did though, I'm not sure if we can do anything like this again though..."

"But why?!" Nashi whined.

"Look at the scene that went down! This is going to spread through Magnolia like wildfire."

"It's not my fault." Nashi pouted, remembering her Uncle Gray's earlier words. "Those guys were just jerks."

"They were," Happy agreed. "But that's not the problem. It's your safety that Lucy is concerned about. We don't want to bring any negative attention to you. It could be in the words of insults like those idiots, but in other cases people can actually come to attack you instead."

Nashi shivered. "They would really go that far?"

"When it comes to your father, pretty much."

Nashi pouted, her cheeks puffed.

Happy chucked. "You know, you look a lot like Lushi when you do that."

Nashi grinned cheekily. "I'll take that as a complement. Mama's the prettiest in the world!"

"I can't disagree with that. Well, if Carla and Joy didn't exist." Happy swooned.

Nashi rolled her eyes. The exceed would mention his wife and daughter almost every chance he got. Nashi admired it though, it was cute how much he loved them both. It reminded her of what she wished she had.

Just as Nashi was about to make another comment, she smelled something that was off, another presence.

She sniffed again, only further reiterating that claim.

"Nashi? What's up?" Happy was confused, not knowing the cause of the child's sudden change in demeanor.

Nashi gave Happy a worried glance before sprinting off towards the house, Happy following her carefully so that he didn't drop the pie.

When they had finally reached the house though, Happy nearly dropped the pie based on shock alone.

The door was ajar, allowing you to look into the house. There were three men. One, seemingly the leader, was standing in front of her mother. The other two were guarding the door.

"Mama!" Nashi shouted, running towards the door. She was immediately stopped by the two men, who held her back with their arms.

Happy looked at the men, noticing the mark on their jackets. It was adorned with a cross, a small loop at the top.

The magic council.. He recognized. This was bad. If they were coming here, then....

Happy wasted no time, flying back towards the guild at full speed, abandoning the basket behind him.

Nashi, angry with the people who had tried to harm her mother, increased the temperature in her hands, burning the guards who pulled their arms back in shock and allowing her to come stumbling through.

"Mama!" She repeated, falling into her.

Lucy caught her immediately, wrapping her in a hug. "Nashi! You're alright..." She sank to the floor with the girl in her arms.

"Are you okay?!" The small slayer panicked, knowing that her mother shouldn't have been up on normal conditions.

Lucy winced. "I'm fine... just... tired.."

"Hoh? And who might you be?" The strange man smirked at the two, a sinister look in his eyes.

Lucy quickly pushed her pain aside, holding Nashi close to her and sending the man a threatening glare.

"Mama, why are they here? What do they want?"

"What do we want?" The man's grin widened when he saw the mother's demeanor change from anger to worry. "We're looking for a man; a little on the tall side, pink hair, tan skin. He goes by the name Natsu Dragneel."

Nashi froze. Suddenly the times she would wake up with her mother made descriptions completely matched the ones her mother had given her a few days prior, meaning that she knew who they were looking for. But why her father? And his name was.. Natsu?

"He's been off the radar for about 7 years now, and the last he was ever seen was with you, Lucy Dragneel." Lucy flinched at the mention of her full name. "So tell me, where has he gone?"

"I don't know where he went." Lucy glowered. "Even so, I would never give up my husband to people like you." She scoffed.

"Oh really?" The man sneered, starting to prepare an attack.

Nashi panicked and pushed away from her mother's grasp. What she did next surprised her.

She felt nothing but anger for this man, causing her mother stress and pain, nearly about to attack them both. Her hatred for the intruder burned brightly in her belly. She felt that anger manifest into a physical shape, clouding her vision in an orange haze. She saw the people in front of her shake in horror.

When she turned to look at her mother however, she saw something different. She had a look the child couldn't describe. If she had to guess, it would be curiosity, with a little pride?

It took the child a while to figure out that she had set herself on fire.

Nashi returned her gaze to the intruders, her small fists balled up, ready to attack.

"H-H-He has a heir?! And you fools didn't know?! How did we make this miscalculation!" The leader yelled at his lackeys, who exchanged confused and terrified looks.

The man let out a loud groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. If you-" The man was cut off when a small flaming first met the left side of his face.

In shock, the man tumbled backwards, caught off guard by the sudden attack. Nashi landed softly, on guard and ready to land the next attack, as Uncle Gajeel had taught her before.

"Little brat..." He rubbed the side of his face, which was now covered in a large burn. "You'll pay for that."

The man lunged at Nashi, too quick for her to put up a defense as he struck her right in her stomach, causing her to cough up a tiny amount of blood.

"Nashi!" Lucy let out a pained cry, trying to reach for her child.

The child wiped her mouth before preparing another attack, but was caught off guard when the man attacked again. She fell to the ground, completely open and defenseless.

The man used this as an opportunity to get in a few hits, attacking the child relentlessly. Nashi could only cover her head with her arm, hoping that the harsh punishment would be over soon.

"Stop it!"

Nashi looked up slightly, noticing a golden flash appear in the corner of her eye. Normally, another scent, typically Loke's, would accompany that glow. But this time, there was no scent, only a rise in magic power coming from someone.

Nashi gasped when she finally looked up.

There her mother was, her eyes turning a golden yellow as her magic surrounded her, causing her blonde hair to fly upwards in the direction of the magic current. She seemed to be chanting something under her breath, her eyes focused on the man above Nashi. He had stopped his advances to stare at the mother in amusement, which quickly morphed into fear.

Her mother was about to cast a spell, something that she hadn't done in years.

Her mother was not supposed to cast spells.

"Mama!" Nashi let out a terrified scream, reaching out for the blonde. "Don't-" She had tried to alert her, but it was too late. The room had erupted into a bright light, leaving Nashi to do nothing but cover herself until the magic had passed.

When Nashi came to, there were three things she noticed. She hadn't taken any damage from the spell and the room was dead silent. As she sat up, she saw her attacker as well as the two guards passed out on the floor. She took a breath of relief, but returned to her previous terrified state as she made out a heap of blonde hair in all the rubble.

"Mama!" She yelled, standing up and stumbling towards her mother's figure.

She rolled her mother's body over, looking for any signs of life.

"Nashi..." Lucy murmured.

"Mama!" A wave of relief passed over the girl.

"Are they... gone...." The mother struggled to get out, taking labored breaths.

"Yeah! You got them all! It was so cool!" Nashi rambled.

"Nashi..."

"I think Happy went to go get help, but we don't need it! We just have to clean up and get Aunt Wendy to heal us, then you can tell me another story tonight!"

"Nashi."

"We just finished the Edolas story? What's next? Isn't it the trial at Tenrou island? That sounds like so much fun! I wonder if-"

"Sweetie..." Lucy raised a shaky hand to cup her daughter's cheek.

Nashi froze, tears streaming down her face. She didn't want to admit it, but it didn't look like her mother was doing too well.

She wiped away the tears, trying to blink back her own. "I-I'm sorry... I can't spend... more time with you.."

Nashi's breath caught at this. She shook her head silently. "Y-you can't.."

"I love you." Lucy smiled softly as her eyes began to close.

Nashi let out a distraught scream as she saw her mother's figure still. Not too far away was the pie that had been baked an hour prior, completely destroyed from it's fall and abandoned in the grass. It would never get the chance to reach its recipient.

-----

This is probably going to be the longest chapter of this book, about 5K words. I didn't expect it and I was debating cutting it but I feel like the story would probably run better if I kept it all in one chapter. Ik this is kinda rushed but I'm not anticipating this to be over 12 chapters since I have other books and priorities. Let me know what you think, see you soon!