Epilogue 2: Every Morning After

A/N: Just wanted to start this off by saying thank you to all for all the support you've shown for this story. This little extra was inspired by my ex-teacher's Facebook status. (: I thought it'd be nice to have a short chapter with the latest addition to the Dragneel family included.

Hope you enjoy!

It was time to go. Natsu turned back, giving his home yet another wistful, sad glance, before sighing and reaching a calloused hand out to open the front door. A boom of thunder sounded, and as he put on his shoes, several raindrops slapped his face almost mockingly.

"Look, I don't want to leave either, okay?" he muttered in annoyance. He didn't want to leave his family behind, but this was something he had to do, or Makarov would have his head.

Natsu pulled the front door close, but just before he could, he felt a weak, gentle force pulling it back. It was then that he noticed a tiny little hand by the edge of the door, about to get squashed in between.

Alarmed, he pushed the door back a little too hard, and the next thing he knew, he heard a small thump and then a wail.

Oh no. A thousand horrific scenarios crossed his mind as he hastily kicked off his shoes and rushed back into the house.

There on the floor, a fair distance away from the force of his push, sat his precious baby girl. Her hands were curled into tiny fists as she tried to wipe her tears while curling up into a little ball.

If it weren't for the fact that Lucy was probably still sleeping or that Nashi was still so young, Natsu would have been yelling profanities by now. He rushed forward, holding the sobbing child in his arms. "Nashi, are you hurt? Papa's sorry!"

"Papa..?" His precious baby girl stared up at him with moist, brown eyes. Her pink hair was all messed up from wildly tossing and turning in her sleep, and despite the situation, he felt a tinge of pride at the little spikes sticking out of her little head – Nashi looked way more like him, Lucy just didn't want to admit it.

The toddler shook her head and proceeded to stand up, tipping her chin up for good measure. "N-Nashi's fine! Nashi didn't cry! I didn't cry!"

Natsu couldn't help but laugh, and he ruffled his daughter's head affectionately. "Does it hurt? And don't ever put your hand on the door like that again, okay? It would have hurt a lot if I didn't notice in time."

She stared at him with big, innocent eyes. "Door would have hurt?"

"No, not the door, Nashi. You."

"But- Nashi strong! Nashi strong like Papa!" She let out a giggle and ran over to throw her arms around his neck. Her father laughed once more and picked her up, bringing her close so that he could nuzzle his nose against her tiny button one. "Yeah, Nashi's strong. Papa's so proud of you."

She grinned broadly, a grin that everyone said mirrored his, and Natsu felt his heart melt. She was going to grow up to become just as beautiful as Lucy. Which meant he would have to up his guard around all those boy friends of hers.

His thoughts must have shown on the scowl that appeared on his face, because Nashi suddenly slapped his cheeks together with both her hands, squeezing them so he was pouting. "Who made Papa angry? Nashi will beat 'em up!"

"Oh trust me, I'll beat them up real good before you can," he muttered as he broke into a smile. But of course, he knew Nashi would not hesitate at the prospect of a good fight - she was too much like him, which Lucy didn't particularly like, so he would only encourage Nashi to do so in secret, usually in the form of a whisper or nudge when Jay, Gray's and Juvia's son, was around.

And the best part? Nashi could beat him up real darn good, just as he could beat Gray up any time with both hands tied behind his back.

"Okay," he resolved, putting her back down and checking his watch, "Papa's gotta go now, so be a good girl and-"

He stopped mid-sentence when he felt a small tug on his pants. "Papa... leaving... Nashi?"

Oh no... Natsu began to panic when his daughter's face began to scrunch up. In a matter of seconds, hot tears were rolling down her fat, rosy cheeks and she was sniffling every few seconds to prevent snot from leaking out from her nose into her open mouth.

Natsu racked his brains for something he could do. It was early in the morning, damn it, he couldn't think, much less so now that his baby was crying. He was always helpless when Nashi cried - a trait that she had taken from her mother, definitely. "H-Hey! Nashi! Look here, Papa's got a funny face, see?" He twisted his face in the most idiotic way he could think of, making weird noises as he did so.

Nashi calmed down slightly at the sight of his face, and when he felt his face begin to cramp up, Natsu stopped and smiled at his daughter. "That's more like it, dragon. Now, Papa's got to go-"

And then the waterworks began again.

Natsu sprung up, at a total loss for what to do. What made Nashi happiest? When they were sparring and when she won him, but he couldn't spar with her right now! He had to get to work! Makarov would sock him in the balls if he didn't get to the guild on time. Makarov had already told him countless times not to be late for this job too.

Then an idea came to him, and his face lit up like a bulb. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned down and grabbed Nashi by the waist, before carrying her up and throwing her in the air, catching her as she fell. The surprised child stopped crying, and soon peals of laughter began to fill the living room of the Dragneels' modest home. "Flying! Nashi, flying!"

"That's what dragons do. They fly!" Natsu laughed along with her, catching her and holding her close against his chest.

She giggled cutely, making his chest swell once again. "Nashi is a scary dragon! Rawr!"

"You've been working on that roar?" he asked in amusement. The last time he asked her to roar for him was a week ago, and she hadn't known what a roar was, so as an experiment she began screaming shrilly, which had caught the attention of Lucy immediately. Needless to say, she hadn't been very happy about what he had been teaching their daughter to do.

"Nashi asked Mama how to roar!" she exclaimed with pride. "Mama said Nashi will scare Jay if I roar at him! Rawr!"

Natsu feigned a look of horror and laughed when she roared and lunged at his leg. "Even Papa's scared; Jay's definitely gonna wet his pants."

"Yay!"

Natsu took a glance at his watch, and knew that he really had to go. "Nashi, Papa's gotta go now-"

"B-But... I want Papa... Play! Let's play!"

"We'll play together after I come back, okay?" he smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead. "You can play with Mama in the meantime."

"But-" she protested.

"Okay, so be a good girl and- Nashi, Papa can't go to work if you keep holding on to my leg. Gramps is gonna get mad."

"Don't care!" Nashi pouted stubbornly, holding on to his leg like it was her lifeline.

Why, oh why, did she inherit his stubbornness?

Natsu was close to giving up when he spotted his wife walking out towards the living room. "Oh thank god, Lucy! Help me out here?"

She stifled a yawn, and folded her arms across her chest while raising an eyebrow at the scene. "You two do this every morning. It's getting old, Natsu."

"Tell that to her, not me!" he retorted.

She chuckled, and went forward to pick Nashi up. "Come on, Nashi, Papa will come back sooner than you think."

"But, but-"

"You know, I heard Aquarius doesn't like naughty children..."

That did the trick. In an instant, Nashi let go of his leg and went straight towards her mother instead, who picked her up while laughing, pleased that her method of placating her daughter had worked.

"I should have known; nothing scares the two of you more than angry Aquarius does," Natsu sighed as he reached over to stroke Nashi's pink locks.

Lucy smiled. "I still know my daughter best, since she takes after me more, after all."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "No, she doesn't. She takes after me more."

"Yeah yeah, dragon slayer," she replied, "Now hurry and get to the guild or Makarov is really going to get mad. I don't want him nagging at me the next time I go there either."

"I know." Before leaving though, he leaned in close to capture her lips in his, kissing her for a few seconds that he would love to extend if it weren't for his stupid job. "I love you," he grinned, pressing his lips against her forehead.

"I love you too, Natsu," she returned, "Stay safe. And make sure you're back in time for dinner or I won't deal with Nashi for you tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am!" he saluted, and then with a final, fleeting look at Nashi's puffy, swollen face that broke his heart once more, he finally headed out, twenty minutes later than he had originally planned to - as always.

And as always, this was the part where he felt like the biggest scumbag in the world. Natsu hung his head low, kicking stray pebbles on the road and grumbling to himself, before resolving to quickly finish his job before hurrying back home for his family.

Such were the daily mornings of Papa Dragneel, but he wouldn't exchange them for anything else in the world.

A/N: Aww. I love father-daughter interactions so much. Hehe. They make me giggle with happiness.