Trail of a Fairy

13. The Box

Nashi sighed as he ran after his dad. He knew where he was heading. It was always the same place after a train ride: the nearest public bathroom. Nashi could already see the sign, and he thought he saw a flash of pink hair as well. So he went and waited just outside the door. His dad's backpack had been left just outside the bathroom stall. Luckily, the bathroom was near-empty. Nashi grabbed it and kept it close.

But as he set it back down, a small box fell out. It was made out of a dark wood, and had a copper combination lock. Nashi looked at it briefly. He could already guess the combination. X784. The year his parents met. Nashi knew at least that much; but he had to do the dishes for Mira at the guild in return. Luckily, Nashi guessed right. The box opened to reveal a pile of letters - not even sealed. Nashi grabbed the one on top of the pile. It was dated as a few weeks ago.

Hey Luce.

Nashi's growing big. He's going on job after job now. He even figured out where your old apartment was. I had to apologize to your landlady for his break-in. He really wants to know you.

Nashi could see the tear stains on the paper already. The ink was blotted and faded all over the paper. But Nashi quickly put the paper away. He could hear the toilet flushing in the bathroom. Just as he had put the box back in, Natsu stuck his head out of the bathroom. A painful grin on his face.

"Thanks kid, for watching my stuff."

Nashi shrugged. "No problem, dad. I'm not the one puking it up in a public bathroom."

Natsu frowned, but didn't say anything. Even with a brief look at the sky he could tell the sun was setting. Besides, he didn't want to start the trek to Shirotsume town. Walking by the mountains at night was not a good idea. Especially with the Vulcans.

Natsu shuddered and pushed forward. "C'mon, kid. Let's find a cheap hotel."

Nashi followed after his dad. But he saw the flinch. He knew something was up. Something that had to do with his mother - even more so than this whole adventure. Yet he didn't dare ask his dad anything. So he caught up quickly to try to change the topic.

"Hey dad - can we go back to Magnolia after this? I wanna celebrate my birthday with my friends as well."

There was a brief pause in Natsu's stride. "Sure, kid. I was thinking that anyway."

"After all, we need to do jobs here and there to make money." Natsu continued.

Nashi watched as his father walked. His strides were long, but nothing Nashi couldn't keep up with. It was surprising to him how fast he himself was growing. His dad was no longer the strong Dragon Slayer that Nashi thought he was. But as Nashi watched his dad walk, he thought about it some more. The scars. There had always been scars on Natsu - ever since Nashi was young. But there were always new scars that he hadn't seen before. So Nashi guessed that his dad was still strong in some ways.

"Dad - what was the hardest job you ever went on?"

Natsu took it in stride. "Hmm. The hardest job I'd ever taken. Probably was Galuna Island."

Nashi paused. "Wait... Uncle Gray told me about that one. He said it wasn't that hard."

Laughing, Natsu replied. "It was an S-Class job, Nashi. The job itself wasn't hard - but running from Erza was!"

Nashi shivered at the thought. He didn't spend a lot of time with Aunt Erza and Uncle Jellal, but if Subaru took after her, he didn't need to know. "Did you really run away from Aunt Erza, dad?"

Natsu grinned. "Yep. But Lu..." His voice wandered off for a moment. But Natsu took a deep breath. "Yeah. But Lucy couldn't. Erza caught her and Gray. Then they convinced her to help the islanders."

Natsu stopped. "Here we go. An inn."

Natsu led the way in and Nashi followed. The front room was very simple, with plain wooden chairs and a singular wooden table. The owner sat behind a high desk with multiple keys lined up in front of her. She was old, and her skin sagged off her face. It was obvious that she had attempted to counter it, but instead had just succeeded in pulling her thin hair tight against her scalp. Her small eyes loomed over the two boys as they came in.

"Room for one night for two, please."

The exchange went on without much more. The lady specified where the bath house was, and pointed to the hallway where their room was. With a nod, Nashi followed after his dad. This time, they were on the second floor of the inn. The stairs were wooden and creaky. Nashi made sure he held tightly onto the handrail that was bolted to the wall. If the stairs fell, Nashi didn't want to fall with them.

Once the two were in the room, Natsu dropped his bag again. "Kid? I'm going to the bath house. You wanna come?"

Nashi shook his head. "No thanks, dad."

Natsu looked slightly taken back. But with a pause, and a small "Oh." He turned and left. Once he was out and the door was closed, Nashi hopped off his bed. He pulled his dad's backpack down and opened it. It didn't take him long to find the wooden box again. Once it popped open, a letter popped out. This one was dated all the way back to when Nashi himself was three.

Hey Luce.

I miss you. Every day. Every day I feel your blood on my hands. The guild tries to tell me it's not my fault. But they don't know. What happened on that mountain - God, how can I ever face Nashi again? I killed his mother. I killed you, Luce.

Happy doesn't say it, but I know he wants to say something. And I don't let him. I just can't do it. I can't. Not without you. I can't live without you anymore.

Dammit.

Natsu paused as he got to the bottom of the note. It was burned. There was something else. Something that his dad couldn't let stay on paper. With a sigh, Nashi put the note back in the box. He riffled through it a bit more, and found the note he had started to read earlier. It got harder to read as the tear stains got heavier. But Nashi persisted.

He really wants to know you. Nashi just won't give up. He looks at your picture almost every day. And although he doesn't ask me, I know he asks the guild about you. Who knows how much he got them to tell him; or how much your spirits tell him. I guess I'm the only one who's not ready to talk about you.

Pretty crappy father figure, aren't I?

I miss you, Lucy.

Love,

Natsu.

Nashi sighed as he finished the letter. There were a lot of ink smears. It pained him to think of the tears his dad cried while writing this. Carefully, Nashi folded the letter and locked the box. He took care to put it back in the bottom of the pack. And as he was heading over to his bed, he paused. There was a desk in the room. With a pen and paper. So Nashi sat down to write a letter. As soon as he finished, he put it inside of the wooden box.