So Far Yet So Close [Fairy Tail Fanfiction]

A New Name?

Tsuna opened the door to his new home, it was already dark. Although he was adopted by someone he never met (he had no next to kin), he found it strangely comfortable. It was nothing like the apartment he once lived in (the new place is dirty, old, and messy), but he still liked it. As he stepped into the house, he froze when he saw Igneel's shoes already placed nicely at the front door, Igneel was already home.

"Where have you been boy?" Igneel questioned with a gruffy voice while leaning against the corridor wall, hands crossed.

"Uh… Out?" Tsuna tried his luck but knew he failed miserably when he saw Igneel raise a brow.

"Then who's that?" Igneel continued.

"Who?" It was Tsuna's turn to question now.

Following Igneel's gaze, he turned to look behind him to find the girl he saved just now standing behind their house's front gate, peering over and quickly hiding when she saw him turn. Sighing, he turned back to Igneel to explain.

"I uh… she is a girl I saved from a bunch of bullies who were bullying her."

"…" Igneel said nothing but just raised his brow again this time with the expression as though that was impossible.

"What?! It's true!" Tsuna tried to prove.

"I-It's true… he helped me…" The girl mumbled out just loud enough for the old man to catch.

Tsuna turned in surprise to the girl to see her still hiding behind the gate and then back to Igneel who had his eyes closed like he was considering something dire. Opening his eyes, he gestured for the kids to get into the house before turning and walking deeper into his sanctuary.

Tsuna turned to the girl and then to Igneel in shock before proceeding into the house but turned back to grab the girl when he realized she wasn't following. The girl let out a small yelp as she let herself be dragged in. When they entered, Tsuna noticed that the girl had the same expression as him (awe and curiosity) when he first stepped into the house and felt obliged to take on the role of Igneel who showed him around the house on his first day.

"Com'ere! I'll show you around!" Tsuna announced as he grabbed the girl's hand and gently pulled her along (he felt like she was really fragile and was unable to be rough).

"A-ah!" The girl yelped as she let herself be pulled along (again).

After exploring for about 1 hour, the boy found the girl stuck at the study room with all the books and he frowned (it was the last place he wanted to be in). Quietly, he walked up to her since she seemed like she was concentrating on the book and he did not want to spoil the lovely expression she held while she read.

"Hey." He called out softly to lessen the impact of intrusion.

"Oh, hi." The girl smiled sweetly at his presence and Tsuna couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

"Oh, uh, Igneel said that dinner's ready!" Tsuna explained with a big smile spread across his face and that made the girl blush (being born into a rich family made it hard for her to make friends like that).

"Come on!" Tsuna urged as he pulled her along again and the girl followed with the book in hand.

At the dining table, Igneel sat cross legged with his hands crossed as he waited for the kids to make their way down. He was deep in thought as he tilted his head up to look towards the ceiling. Layla, was this what you wished for? The heavy stampede from the two kids (mostly Tsuna) snapped him back to reality.

"Go wash your hands!" Igneel commanded before Tsuna had a chance to land his hands on the food and Tsuna quietly complied with a sour face while the girl just followed with a comforting hand on his back.

Igneel stared at the girl while they settled down and turned to look at Tsuna as though expecting some sort of introduction. After a while of silence, Tsuna got the drift of what he was supposed to do and turned to the girl.

"Oh, this is my new father, Igneel, Igneel Dragoneel." Tsuna began his introduction.

"Hi." The girl bowed a little in a respectful manner.

Turning to his new father, he pointed at the girl and continued with her introduction, "And this is-" but was stuck half way realizing that he still didn't know her name, "Uh…"

Catching the drift a lot quicker than Tsuna ever had, she continued for him, "My name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia."

"As I thought…" Igneel heaved as he spoke knowingly.

"Huh? As you thought?" Tsuna questioned, but was ignored by Igneel who had started eating already.

Annoyed, Tsuna also started digging into his food. It went silent for a while until Lucy decided the atmosphere was too stale for her taste and decided to break it.

"Uh, what's your name?" She asked turning to the boy who at that moment had his mouth stuffed with food and unable to speak, so, he took a nearby pen and scribbled on the table, earning himself a glare from Igneel.

"Na…tsu?" Lucy read as Tsuna wrote.

Wide eyed, he read his own writing and was shocked to see he had wrote his name wrongly. Igneel stifled a laugh that nearly escaped his lips while turning away.

"N-NO!" Tsuna chocked out as he tried to swallow hard but failed horribly and started coughing hard.

Lucy quickly grabbed a glass of water for the boy to drink and while he did, she patted his back to sooth him. Igneel watched the interestingly amusing scene with a raised brow, surprised that the girl was so well nurtured. When Tsuna finally calmed down and recovered, Igneel spoke.

"Well, I'll just make your new name Natsu then."

"Huh?" Tsuna stared at Igneel in shock and so did Lucy.

"I just went through your official documents today and was wondering if I should give you a new identity to start over. Natsu Dragneel. That'll be your new name." Igneel announced.

"What?" Tsuna mumbled.

Lucy stared at Tsuna, his eyes unvisible due to his fringe and suddenly, he burst.

"MY NAME IS MASHIRO TSUNA, NOT NATSU DRAGNEEL!" With that said (or yelled), he dashed out of the house.

"Natsu…" Lucy whimpered (she is more used to Natsu than Tsuna) as she saw Tsuna's retreating figure.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault." Igneel comforted. "He just needs time to think. He'll be back in time."

Lucy stared at the opened door, hoping that he is right.