His Own
Hello! This is my take on Natsu meeting Nasha when they unexpectedly found themselves in Edolas in FT100YQ. I’ve changed it up a little to indulge my nalu heart. Please read, review and enjoy!
Summary: Natsu recalls his first meeting with Nasha and what it means to him. How can one little girl have such a profound impact on him?
He felt it even now, the rush, the adrenaline coursing through his veins when he thought back to that day. As he lay there on the cool, evening grass, with his arms stretched behind his head staring up at the dusky sky, he found himself thinking back on their most recent quest. The 100 years quest to be precise; something he found himself doing more and more often these days.
It had been…eventful… to say the least, and they’d come up against many a good and bad dragon, however, regardless of that, there seemed to be one particular incident that dominated his brain more than the rest. One unexpected and eye opening trip to a land he’d long since put to the back of his mind.
Edolas.
Their visit had been surreal, for sure. Everyone he’d assumed he would never see again, welcomed their Earthling counterparts with open arms. Feasted and made merry, as it were. There had been so much to talk about, to learn of their current lives and they of theirs. Time had changed them, all nine years of it (or two for him). They’d become closer, intimately so, and had even created families of their own.
And that included her.
At first, after learning the truth, he couldn’t quite believe just who had been stood before him, sought him out even and engaged in sweet, childish conversation. Not many could say they’d seen what he had, or would even choose to if given the chance.
He’d made sure of it though, in that moment, that his initial shock hadn’t shown on his face when he’d engaged with her for the first time. Such a tiny little thing, barely reaching his hips, looking up to him with those big, gleaming, brown eyes that were oh-so familiar. Her hair the spitting image of his, spikes and all, and her cute smile resembling that of a certain blonde he held so very close to his heart.
He’d got down to her level, grinned bigger than his lips could stretch and listened to her small voice chatter to him as if they’d been doing so for years. He was tentative, hung on her every word and spoke with a gentleness that lit up her entire being.
She’d been shocked to learn that there were two Papa’s, even though that wasn’t entirely true, but to her it was all that mattered.
“There are two Papa’s?” He remembered the conversation starting, a smile peeking his lips as he recalled the rest of it like it was yesterday.
“Yes, this is me from Earthland.” The goggle wearing man explained to his daughter.
“Yo! I’m Earth-Natsu!” He said cheerfully, waving his hand at her before picking her up and shoving her in her father’s face enthusiastically, “Hey! Can she breathe fire and stuff?”
Sweat dropping, the older man didn’t really know what to say, “She’s not a monster!”
With that, the fire mage placed her back down on the floor, tapping her on the head like some novelty toy.
Taking no notice, she beamed with excitement as she turned around to get a closer look at this person, the wonder evident in her face when she realised this second Papa really did look just like hers.
“We have the same hair!” She giggled, scrunching her nose up in amusement.
“So we do.” Natsu smirked, pretending to have only just noticed, “That’s because only awesome people get to look like this!”
Nodding her head, she couldn’t have agreed more, “But Papa says my eyes look like Mama’s.”
“I can see that.” It was almost frightening just how similar they were to Lucy’s, so much so he couldn’t stop himself from staring. “But your Mama’s pretty awesome too, right?”
“Mm-Hmm. She’s the best!” The young girl laughed, tilting her head cutely to the side. “So, do you like cars like my Papa, too?” She asked, intrigued.
Kneeling down before her, Natsu chuckled embarrassed, kinda glad they’d moved off the subject of Lucy, before she asked something he wouldn’t be able to answer. “Uh, no, actually—or any kind of transport. I get bad motion sickness.”
“Oh.” She responded, a slight uncertainty in her voice, “Does it make your tummy hurt?”
Surprised by her concern for him, he replied, “Yeah and it makes my head spin, too. So I try to stay away from them.”
“That’s too bad. Papa said he’d take me to see the new ones soon in the capital, and maybe I’ll get to ride in one, too!”
Her grin, wide and slightly lopsided, was the thing that caught him off guard the most. He felt as if he was staring at himself—a younger, female version of himself, with just a hint of someone else, creating the full picture that was this cute little girl talking to him.
“That’s cool!” Snapping himself out of his stupor, he chuckled again, rubbing the hair at the back of his head.
“So, if you don’t like cars, then what do you like?” The pink haired child continued.
“Well, what I like is fire!” He grinned, about to summon his flames to show her before remembering he couldn’t.
“Fire?! But Mama and Papa say fire is dangerous!” Shocked, she gasped.
“Hmm. I guess in a world without magic, it would be.” Natsu surmised, realising quickly he was muttering to himself. “Where I come from, there’s something called magic and people like me can use it to create things like fire or water, just like the rest of my friends!”
“You’re like a dragon, then?” She said, amazed by how cool that would be.
“Ya damn right! I’m what’s called a dragon slayer and my fire magic is made to defeat bad dragons. My dad was a dragon, too, but he was one of the good ones. He’s the one that taught me how to use it!” He gestured to himself with his thumb, positively brimming with pride, because he’d been able to share something he held so close to his heart. “That means I can breathe fire, or set my whole body on fire if I wanted and it doesn’t even burn me!”
“Wow! You really are a dragon!” Her eyes were wide in awe, blown away by such claims, “Does that mean I can be one, too?”
Natsu’s face dropped instantly, tilting his head to the side in thought, “Well, in this world magic doesn’t exist any more, so, I don’t think I’d be able to teach ya how to wield fire.” But upon seeing her face sadden, he back tracked, remembering he was talking to a small child who didn’t quite understand those things just yet. “But I guess in a way you already are!”
“I am? But I don’t know how to breathe fire. And Papa says I’m not allowed near it in case I get burned.” She hoped with all her might that what this Papa lookalike had told her was true.
“And you should listen to him. You don’t need to breathe fire to be a dragon, ‘cause if I’m the Earth version of your Papa, then that makes you part dragon already, doesn’t it?” He smirked, watching the tiny cogs whirl around in her brain until she understood what he was saying.
Gasping, she grinned even bigger this time, letting out a few cute sniggers, “Yeah, you’re right! I’ve got to go tell Mama! Thanks, Earth-Papa!”
And with that, he watched the tiny, excited little girl, who couldn’t have been any older than about five or six, run over to where the two Lucy’s were talking, and pulled at the leg of the one with tattoo’s. Her eyes like stars and full of wonder, animatedly telling her mother everything they’d talked about. He smiled as he caught a glimpse of his own Lucy flush red from her words—a reaction he hadn’t fully understood at the time, and had simply put it down to her weirdness.
Thinking back on their conversation always managed to bring a warm smile to his cheeks and a tingling feeling to his belly. She’d been the highlight of the entire trip, a glance almost into what might be possible for himself in time.
So what was this feeling then? If he thought back on it with such fondness, why did he feel so… uncertain?
Was it a yearning? A longing, maybe? Whatever it was, it was powerful, and took over his entire body.
Knowing he’d never see her again, pulled at his heart way more than he thought it should have. He’d wanted to bring her home. All jokes aside, he would have taken her with him in a heartbeat and he couldn’t explain why that was.
How had she affected him so? What kind of magic was this?
She wasn’t his. He knew that, and yet, he wanted her to be. She belonged to another Natsu; another Lucy; in an entirely different world; she didn’t belong with him.
And that hurt, for reasons the young man still struggled to comprehend. The very idea of having a pink spiky haired, and big brown eyed, Nasha, for his very own made his heart soar with emotions still very foreign to him, but he welcomed them nonetheless.
His own, Nasha.
No, that didn’t sound quite right.
His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out just what he was missing. The stars began to shine brightly in the sky, the white crescent moon far off in the distance as he continued to look up at the darkening abyss.
And then he realised. The answer had been staring him in the face all this time; how could he have forgotten such a crucial part—?
Lucy.
The was no Nasha without his blonde bombshell, and as selfish as he wanted to be, he’d have to share his love with her too, and that did things to his insides that he couldn’t even begin to describe.
Their very own, Nasha.
Yeah… That sounded much better.
I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading!
