19 The beginning of spring (2)

"By the way!" exclaimed Natsu at that point, "But why do animals want to have babies in spring? How do they make them?"

Igneel nearly choked on his own saliva.

"I forgot to ask Grandeeney..." Erza continued, shaking her head. "I don't know how babies are born."

"Do you know, Igneel?"

And there it was: the fateful question had finally arrived for the old dragon. He had lived for centuries, survived wars, enemies, and cataclysms, and now... What could he do now?

"Igneel?" Natsu insisted with eyes full of curiosity. He was sure that his father, the best dragon in the world, would explain everything!

"Well..."

At this point, Igneel had four different possibilities: deny, pass the ball, tell the truth, or come up with a convincing excuse. For example, he could start shouting, "How should I know where babies come from! Do I look like a baby?" But the dragon already knew that wouldn't work.

If he didn't answer the question satisfactorily, Natsu would keep insisting for the rest of eternity. And what if he used Grandeeney as a shield? "She's female, and females know these things better than males!" But Igneel knew that wouldn't work either; the dragoness would probably get angry with him and cut his head off. Telling the truth, on the other hand, was definitely not the right thing to do! Knowing Natsu, there was a danger he might try everything at the tender age of eight. And what if he invented a convincing lie? After all, everyone knows you don't die from white lies...

But what could he come up with?

Igneel grumbled, cleared his throat, pretended to sneeze and scratch behind his ears, all the while trying to think hastily of an excuse. A dragon like him was more used to using claws than the brain, but... Okay! Now he had the solution!

"To make babies, you need magic."

"MAGIC?" exclaimed Natsu and Erza in unison.

"Exactly!" Igneel continued, emphasizing the concept even more while waving a paw. "You see, little ones, in reality, love is a form of magic, and the most powerful one in the world! It's the only one that allows creatures to use a special spell to bring forth a new life. Imagine that love is such a strong magic that everyone can use it! All animals, mages, and even those who are not!"

Erza and Natsu stared at him with open mouths as he explained everything he knew.

"But to use the love spell, which brings forth babies, you need to follow some rules," added the dragon. "Just like when making a potion, you need certain ingredients. First of all, you need to become adults, then you need a male and a female of the same species, and finally, you need to love each other madly!" For a moment, Igneel deluded himself into thinking he had closed the matter, but then Natsu attacked again, more intrigued than ever. "And once you have all the ingredients, how does it work? What do you do?"

"Well... it depends. Each couple has a different spell. You can only discover it when you meet someone you truly love! And there's another important thing to say: when you find out, you must keep it a secret! If a couple reveals how their spell works, it immediately loses its effectiveness and no longer works!"

This time Natsu and Erza exchanged glances, and then the little Dragon Slayer sighed dishearteningly, "It sounds complicated..." And Igneel smiled. Natsu didn't like complicated things, and he didn't like spending time on puzzles; perhaps he had found the right solution to dissuade him from continuing to ask questions. "Yes, love is a very serious matter, especially for dragons and Dragon Slayers," Igneel added gravely.

"When a dragon falls in love, it's for a lifetime. Choosing a mate to love is equivalent to being together forever! It doesn't just mean having babies but being faithful and helping each other in difficulties. Some animals stay together for only a season, others only for a few days, but dragons do things for eternity." After finishing his speech, Igneel smiled and puffed out his chest; he felt like a genius, having just emerged unscathed from the worst of questions! He had no idea how wrong he was...

"But, if it's true that two adults, a male and a female are needed..." Natsu began again, tapping Erza, "Do you think Igneel and Grandeeney can have dragon babies?"

"Maybe!" the girl applauded, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "They would be so cute!"

"That's true! Igneel!" Natsu shouted. "Hurry up and do this spell too!" For a moment, the dragon couldn't even reply. "M-me and Grandeeney? Do you know what a curse you're giving me? I won't even think about it! I already have enough human babies to take care of!" The dragon roared furiously, but instead of silencing the two children, they continued to laugh:

"I think they like each other."

"Sure! But do you think they would be fire dragon babies or sky dragon babies?"

"Maybe they would have both powers."

"I said enough! I'm not getting together with Grandeeney! Shoo!" Igneel snapped his tail menacingly. "Go play! Hunt squirrels! Do something else! And stop meddling in the affairs of adults!" Natsu and Erza easily avoided the tail swipe and the subsequent ones, and in the end, they ran away laughing as their voices echoed among the trees:

"What can we name Igneel and Grandeeney's babies?"

"What about Cloud and Smoke?"

"Or Grandeel and Igneeney?"

"I said: SILENCE!"

For the rest of the day, the two children didn't touch on the topic anymore, caught up in the countless curiosities the forest offered. They went to pick berries, counted fish in the lake, and checked the trees that were beginning to bloom.

Only when the sunset came, and it was time to say goodbye and return home did Natsu remember what Erza had explained to him. He thought there was no better way to tell his friend that he cared about her and would miss her until the next day.

"Okay, I'm going!"

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

"Don't worry! And tell Igneel not to get angry. He and Grandeeney are so cute together!"

"Okay... Umm... Can I tell you one last thing, Erza?"

"Tell me."

Natsu moved so fast that Erza would not have been able to avoid him even if she had wanted to. He took her by the arm tugging her closer, while with his other hand he held her cheek and then placed his lips on hers. It was just a quick, simple kiss, but Erza's body reacted by practically moving on its own.

She pushed Natsu away and ... BAM, she dealt him a punch so hard that it literally sent him to the floor. The child was on the ground in an instant with his hands on his face and a missing front tooth, flown who knows where.

"DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Erza also covered her face with her hands and splashed away, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"But I love you!" Natsu tried to shout at her but to no avail. The child thus remained lying back in the middle of the grass, arms spread wide like a star, staring at the sky and wondering where the problem was "Maybe I should have done it better..." A punch like that would have deterred any sane person from trying the same experiment twice. But Natsu was a dragon slayer and not just any person.

As Erza ran away, she didn't know that that kiss was only the first of a long series and that from that day forward, trying to kiss her would become Natsu's new hobby.

She also didn't know that the Dragon Slayer would learn all the best strategies and the most incredible tricks to catch her off guard. She didn't even know that the "I love you" from before would soon be followed by many more.

-—-

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