Mysterious Fates One Shots (1st Place in the FT Wattys 2015 for Best One Shot!)

A Father's Promise (Fairy Tail)

A/N: MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Get ready for some feels in this chapter. *thunder booms*

By the way, if you want the tears to start coming steadily, just click on the video that I posted. Granted, the music is not from Fairy Tail but once you hear the music, you'll clearly see why I chose this one instead. Also, I'm so happy to announce that this one shot won 1st Place in the FT Wattys 2015 for Best One Shot!

One more thing: I dedicate this one shot to HiBi-CHi. XD

With that note, enjoy!

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A Father's Promise

Natsu remembered that day.

He remember the day when he thought life couldn't get any more confusing and yet...more sweeter than it was. He remembered her exact words. She was only three years old when she said it. Scared out of her mind and crying, he recalled the day when she said to him:

"I feel happy here, dad!" she had said. "My home is here, with you!"

"Then don't you worry," Natsu said to her, holding her in his arms. "As long as I'm with you, nothing will ever come to harm you."

He started to relive the events leading to that memory when a voice startled him.

"Natsu? Are you feeling alright?"

Snapped out of his daydream, he looked up to the concerned face of his girlfriend, Lucy Heartfilia.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "Just wondering what else to get for Meena's 8th birthday."

Lucy arched one of her eyebrows and sat down next to him with a smile. "If you are thinking about baking Meena a cake, forget about it. Remember the last time you tried to make a cake for her?"

Natsu's mind wandered to the scene of batter mix exploding all over the house after he tried to bake a strawberry cake for Meena Randall's 4th birthday because he tried to bake the two layer cake by using Dragon Slayer magic. The cake exploded and had covered him, Lucy, Happy and Meena. Defeated, he gave up on it and as he cleaned Meena up, she said to him, "Dad, you don't have to make me anything. All I care about is that you are able to spend time with me."

He smiled at that thought. He must have been silent for more than a minute, because Lucy put her hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Natsu, she's your goddaughter. She'll be happy with anything you do for her. You're the only family she's got besides..." Lucy choked up on her words but Natsu understood what she was trying to say.

"Thanks, Lucy. But don't start crying on me." He put a hand on her head and bumped his forehead to her's. "The next time I want to see any tears from your eyes, its tears of happiness. Got it?"

Lucy nodded and let out a tiny laugh. "Yeah, Natsu. I got it."

They enjoyed the bliss for a bit until Natsu realized that it was close to sunset, he needed to pick up Meena's present and that he needed to make Meena dinner before Happy suddenly decided to unintentionally cause her stomach pain again.

"Ahh! I gotta run! I swear, if I find a raw, uncooked fish sitting on Meena's plate..."

"Natsu, you're overreacting again..." Lucy had started to say but Natsu didn't hear her as he had already rushed out the guild entrance to their house. As he ran, he thought about the devastating reactions of him and the rest of the S-Class competitors when they found out that Jodha Randall had died mysteriously from an unknown disease and how her husband was later killed in a horse carriage accident shortly before they escaped Tenrou island. After they got the news, Jodha's half-sister, Nikita had visited the guild bringing Jodha's daughter Meena with her, along with the rather astonishing news that Jodha made Natsu her only daughter's godfather. Nikita wouldn't tell exactly how Jodha died but handed Meena over to Natsu's care, saying that she'll be safe and happy here. Ever since then, he, Meena and Happy have been living happily together. Meena easily integrated into their lives rather nicely and now it was impossible to imagine life without her. But the one day that Natsu swore that he'd never forget was the one that truly cemented him and Meena as a family unit...