Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail, if I did it would never end x)
How many princes did you have to meet until meeting the right one? That was what Lily asked herself each time her mom went out with a new "prince."
Ever since she was four years old, she has been observing her mom, Lucy Heartfilia, go out with various princes: tall, short, fat, and skinny. She had seen them all, but somehow none of them seemed to make her mom happy. Every time Lucy came back from one of her dates, or as Lily likes to call it, "the prince's castle," she would take her daughter into her arms and climb up the stairs to Lily's room to tell her about her date, and tonight was no different.
Lucy had just gotten back from the "the prince's castle." Both, Lucy and Lily were lying down on the comfort of Lily's warm bed. Lily was wide awake, eagerly waiting to hear her mother's voice.
"He wasn't a prince." Lucy finally whispered as she stoke her daughter's long, blonde hair. "He made me pay for dinner."
A tiny gasp crossed Lily's lips as she turned her body around to face her mothers' "That's not right!" She exclaimed widening her already big, black eyes.
Lucy smiled at her daughter's reaction, she loved the faces Lily made whenever she talked about the many made-up defects the "princes" had. They reminded her so much of Lily's father.
"Isn't it?" She raised her thin eyebrows, and added; "but it's okay, there are a lot more princes in Magnolia."
Lily sighed, she has heard that phrase a million times and she was beginning to get tired of it. "I know… but which one is the right one?" She asked looking into her mother's brown eyes.
A small sad smile appeared on Lucy's face, she didn't know the answer to that question either. There was a time when she believed in "true love" and fairytales, but that was a long time ago.
"Alright, time to go to sleep." Lucy said as she slowly rose from Lily's bed, "Tomorrow we are going to the par—"
"Will Silver be there?!" Lily practically yelled in excitement.
Rolling her eyes playfully, Lucy tried to tuck Lily in bed again. It was incredible how much Lily loved Silver, every time she heard his name she would… well, do something like this. Her already clear eyes would fill themselves with light and her smile would grow even wider than it was before. It was something she remembered she used to do.
"Yes, Lily. Silver will be there, now get some rest." She leaned in and planted a small kiss on Lily's forehead before walking out of her room.
Lily didn't close her eyes right away, instead she decided to look up at nothing in particular, she couldn't stop thinking about her mom. When would she finally meet her prince? Why hasn't she met him yet? Her mom was a good person… So why couldn't she find a prince that would make her smile whenever she heard his name? Lily let out a long, tired breath, she was getting frustrated with the many unanswered questions. She wanted to help her mom, she wanted her mom to find a prince because she wanted her mom to be happy, but how could she help? It's not like she could give her a prince for Christmas…
"That's it!" She whispered to herself before throwing the covers off of her, she quickly jumped out of bed and made her way to the window.
It was a dark and peaceful night, and she could see a few snowflakes dropping from the dark sky. But that was not important at the moment, without losing anytime, Lily kneeled in front of her window, putting her hands together she whispered to the spirits.
"I…I don't know if anyone can hear me, but I have seen a lot of kids doing this kinda thing in movies… Anyways." Lily shook her head trying to concentrate, "I need your help… I need you to help me find a prince for my mommy… it's kind of important and urgent." She let out a long breath.
"My Christmas wish is for my mommy to find a prince that would love her forever and ever… Please…"
Lily waited a couple of minutes there, she didn't know what she was waiting for exactly, but she thought something was supposed to happen. When nothing happened she sighed feeling a little disappointed, she had to be honest, the wish wasn't only for her mommy. She had always felt as if something was missing, and she was pretty sure her mom felt the same way.
She slowly made her way back to her bed, she laid down on it again and she stared up at the ceiling while she thought of her dad. This was the first time she wondered about him, in her six years of age she had never, ever asked her mom about her dad. Grandpa always told her not to because according to him, her dad had hurt her mom very badly. That's why Lily never asked her mom about her dad, because she was scared that if she asked about him, her mom would get sad, and she did not want to see her sad.
"So…" Lily looked over at her mother as they both walked on the icy sidewalk. They were on their way to the park and Lily wanted to walk because there was snow everywhere, it had snowed all night and she couldn't resist the temptation to touch the snowy bushes as they walked.
Now that her fingers were numb, she decided to ask her mom about something she had never asked her about. Her father.
"So…" Lucy smiled, already knowing that Lily was nervous about something.
Lily took a deep breath, "What did my dad look like?"
Lily spat out the question so quickly, it took Lucy a couple of minutes to process what Lily had said, but as soon as she realized what she had asked, her eyes widened instantly. She was surprised that all of a sudden Lily wanted to know about her dad…
"W-why do you ask, Lily?" Lucy stuttered nervously.
Lily shrugged her shoulders as she began to lower her gaze, "I-I just want to know how he looked like so I could look for someone who looks just like him." She explained in a whisper.
"Why would you want to look for someone like him?" Lucy asked, taking Lily's hand.
"So I can find a prince for you." Lily smiled proudly. "One that you would actually like… I figured that you would like a prince that looks like the only prince you have been with."
Lucy shook her head while giggling, this was something she could deal with. Smiling, she took Lily into her arms and carried her. "Hmm… Where to begin…"
"What color eyes did he have?!" Lily snapped wrapping her arms around Lucy's neck.
Lucy smiled remembering his eyes, every time she thought about him she would smile, it was something she couldn't control. It just happened,
"As a matter of fact…" Lucy turned to Lily, who was staring at her with curious eyes. "You have his eyes." She explained smiling down at her daughter.
Lily's little eyes widened, "Really?! I have his eyes?! That's so cool!" Her smiled grew wide with excitement. "Tell me more, mommy."
Lucy giggled and turned her attention forward, trying to remember every little detail about him. "He had long pink spiky hair…" A chuckle escaped her rosy lips.
"It always seemed to be in his eyes, he liked it that way sometimes. Even when I tried to move his hair out of his eyes, it would still fall in front of them."
Lily remained quiet as her mom remembered her prince, she was studying carefully, smiling at how her mom's eyes shined by just thinking about her dad. She didn't want to interrupt her at all.
"He was always smiling… about everything." Lucy continued, "He had a very strong jaw, well a strong physique about everything generally." She giggled, smiling to herself as she remembered the many times she ran her fingertips on his jaw before kissing him.
"And he loved…loved helping people. More than anything in the world." More than us… Lucy thought to herself as she drifted off her memories. "That's it."
Lily narrowed her eyes at Lucy, trying to find that glow in her eyes again, but it was gone. It was all gone, like magic. Before she could ask her mom anything else, the sound of someone calling her name caught her attention. It was Silver, he was running full speed towards them, waving his arms excitedly from side to side. "Lily!"
Seeing Lily's smile, Lucy set her down so she could meet Silver. "Silver, hi!" Lily greeted him as soon as he was close to her. "Come on, we're on a mission!" She waved her to get him to follow her.
"Wait, where is your dad?" Lucy yelled after them as they ran away from her.
"Nope." A deep voice made Lucy turn around, "I don't think they heard you." A man with spiky black hair grinned at Lucy, it was Gray. Silver's dad, and one of her best friends.
Lucy giggled as Gray stood beside her, "They're crazy." She crossed her arms across her chest to keep herself warm. The park was covered in snow, the perfect place for children to play, especially a child from the Fullbusters.
Gray buried his cold hands inside his pockets as he watched Lily and Silver run around the park, Lily seemed to be giving Silver orders about something. "They remind me of…" Gray stopped, realizing what he was about to say.
"Of who?" Lucy asked turning to face Gray.
A small smirk formed its way on Gray's face, "Of you and him."
The minute Lucy saw that smirk on Gray's face, she knew he was going to mention him. He did this to her every single year. "Really, again?"
"Oi." Gray raised his hands defensively, "I'm sorry, I miss him that flame idiot too." He turned his attention to Silver and Lily again. "Tomorrow will be his sixth year gone…" He whispered trying to see how Lucy reacts from the corner of his eye.
Lucy knew what Gray was trying to do, "If you're trying to make me feel better by reminding me of him leaving Lily when she was only a few months old…" She turned to Gray with a sarcastic smile on her face, "It's not working.
"What are your orders general Lily?" Silver yelled as he saluted Lily.
Placing her hands behind her, Lily began pacing back and forth in front of Silver. "We have a very important mission cadet!" She stopped just a few inches away from Silver, "We are looking for a prince." Lily whispered, narrowing her eyes at him.
Silver gave her a puzzled look, "You mean a guy with a cape and a sword?" He asked narrowing his eyes.
Lily sighed as she buried her face into her hand, "No." She mumbled.
"Then w-what kind of prince, general?"
Lily walked closer to Silver, her eyes still narrowed. She was trying to intimidate him and it seemed to be working. "We're looking for a man with, my eyes!" She stopped and pointed at her dark black eyes, "And long pink spiky hair!"
Silver nodded, his black spikes bouncing gently by it. "Got it."
Lily stood straight, "We'll meet here at three thousand hours."
"How long?!" Silver asked with wide eyes.
Lily rolled her eyes, "Oh, just go!"
"How's Juvia?" Lucy asked Gray, they were both sitting on a bench in the park, facing each other as they talked.
Gray chuckled, "You know Juvia." He grinned thinking about her, and shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, "Going all out on Christmas dinner as usual, you're spending Christmas with us aren't you?"
Lucy tilted her head to the side, "Don't I always?" She grinned, and then added; "It's too bad Gajeel and Levy are on their honeymoon, and Erza and Jellal and the twins are visiting old friends of theirs this year, it's going to be a lot quieter with just us."
"That'll be nice for once." Gray laughed turning his attention to the pond not too far from them, watching people skate casually on the frozen ice. He's quiet for a couple of seconds.
"Do you ever wonder… why he left?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted saying them. He already knew how hard this was for Lucy, but even though he won't admit it, it was hard on him too.
"All the time." Lucy exhaled crossing her legs, "But I'll guess I'll never know."
"It just doesn't make any sense, Luce." Gray snapped as he turned his body to Lucy. "I swear, I had never seen him so in love before. He really did love you."
Lucy rolled her eyes, she had heard this a thousand times. If Natsu really loved her so much, then why wasn't he here right now? "My dad says that Natsu left, because he didn't want to take care of me and Lily… and to tell you the truth, I'm starting to believe that."
"Oh, your dad never liked Natsu!" Gray snapped furiously, "He would always look down on him, I bet he was ecstatic when Natsu left. I bet Natsu was scared of your dad."
Lucy narrowed her eyes, her lips were slowly curling up into a small smile, "Really Gray, Really?" She giggled slightly.
Gray smiled at his own lame excuse, "He's a big guy." He mumbled trying hard not to laugh.
Lily and Silver had been looking around the park for ten minutes now, and there was still no sign of the perfect prince. "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, and four…" Lily yelled as she marched around the park for princes without a kid or a woman with them. So far every single prince seemed to be taken… except for the hotdog guy, but he looked too old to be her mommy's prince.
Just as she was about to head back, the sound of music caught her attention. She turned and turned looking for the sound until she found it. There was a man playing the guitar underneath a snow covered tree, he was sitting in the cold and he was wearing sunglasses. There was a small suitcase beside him and Lily couldn't help but feel curious about him, he had messy spikes that were pretty long. That was one out of three things her mommy liked in a prince so Lily decided to give it a try. She slowly began to make her way towards the man underneath the tree.
As Lily got closer to the man, the sound of his guitar seemed to get quieter and quieter, but she could tell the song he was playing. It was one of her mom's favorite songs, which was a bonus.
"What can I do for ya, little lady?" The man smiled and he turned his attention to Lily and it was then she noticed his pink hair.
"Wow!" Lily yelled throwing her hands in the air, "I can't believe it! You look like my mommy's perfect prince!"
Natsu couldn't help but laugh at the little girl in front of her, he could only imagine that a lonely and desperate woman sent her adorable little girl to get him to talk to her. Too bad Natsu wasn't interested, at all. "Oh, do I?" Natsu asked setting his guitar to the side.
Lily nodded her head eagerly before narrowing her black eyes at the man in front of her. "Do you consider your jaw to be strong?"
The seriousness in Lily's tone made Natsu hold in his laughter, "Excuse me?" He asked chuckling under his breath. "What's your name little one?"
Lily set her hands behind her head, something Natsu does quite a lot. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers." She whispered adding a sarcastic little smile, with a twinkle in her eye.
"And yet, here ya are." Natsu said grinning brightly at her, he couldn't stop staring at her eyes, they were just like his…
"Well." Lily quickly said, her sarcastic grin growing wide, "This is strictly business sir."
Again, Natsu laughed. "How old are you?"
"I just turned six." Lily answered.
"Six, huh…" Natsu looked away from Lily for a second, then back at Lily. "That number just seems to be haunting me today." Natsu laughed humorlessly. "Anyways… I'm sorry princess, but I can't be your mommy's prince."
Lily's eyes widened, "What?! But why?! You're perfect!"
Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Would you mind telling that to my princess?"
Lily stopped, with disappointed eyes, she whispered, "You're taken…"
Natsu sighed, he wished he was taken, sadly that wasn't the case. "If by taken you mean that a beautiful princess has my heart, then yes, I'm taken little lady." Natsu said, with a sad smile.
Lily looked up at the man in the sunglasses, "Do you have her heart?"
The question hit him like a sudden punch from a drunken mage in a bar. It hurt, not the question, but the ugly truth, he couldn't even look straight at the innocent girl's eyes. "No…" He whispered looking back at her. "Sadly no, I messed up royally with her."
He couldn't just leave her like that, Lily thought to herself. Now he had to tell her everything. "How so?" She asked walking closer to him.
Natsu smiled looking up at her. "Well… let's just say, I'm not really a prince—"
"Everyone is a prince!" Lily interrupted with a smile on her face, "But you have to believe it. Everyone deserves their princess."
Natsu laughed, "Not a dragon."
Lily looked at the man in confusion. And tilted her head for him to go on.
Natsu chuckled a bit at her cuteness, but continued. "You see I was never a prince to begin with, I was a fire breathing dragon. And you know how the story goes, the dragon sadly doesn't get to be with his princess. The king forbids it, he says a princess should marry a prince. So, here I am."
Lily frowned thinking how sad the dragon must be feeling, not being able to be with his princess.
"I think you should be with her. Just cause you are a fire breathing dragon, doesn't mean she doesn't love you. Maybe your princess doesn't want a prince, because she already sees the prince in you."
Natsu stared at the girl in awe, how can a six year old be so wise? How could she be smarter than him, he sure wished he had her when he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life, he wished he had heard those words before he ran away from his family.
"It wasn't that easy little lady," He insisted, tilting his head to the side, mimicking her. He continued, "The king was the princess's father, and he told me that I would never be enough for the princess, and that I didn't deserve her."
Lily's thin eyebrows rose up, "That's so mean…." She whispered.
"I know right?" Natsu grinned. He patted the snow beside him for Lily to sit down, once she did, he continued with his story. "Your words would've helped me so much at that time." He turned to the little girl, who was staring at him with such curiosity it made him grin. "I actually believed the king, and I flew away from my princess."
A gasp crossed Lily's rosy lips. "You left her?" She asked. "But… but why?"
Natsu had to think about that question. Why did he do it? He always thought he did it because he wanted to prove her dad wrong, that he wanted to prove that he was worthy of his princess by working his butt off day and night until he had a decent amount of money to provide for his family, but the truth was that he left because he was afraid that his princess would realize that a dragon doesn't deserve to be with a princess at all. He wouldn't of been able to deal with her leaving him.
"I left because I was afraid…" Natsu whispered.
"Lily!" A voice Natsu knew all too well filled the air around him. The voice was far away from where he was, but it was all he could hear.
"Oh my gosh." Natsu heard Lily squeal as she rose to her feet, "I have to go!"
That was when it all clicked, "Lily?!" Natsu whispered with wide eyes. "Wait, you're Lily?"
"I have to go!" She began to run from him, "It was nice to meet you, bye!"
"Lily…" Natsu whispered, unable to process the fact that he had just spent the last twenty minutes with his own daughter. Lily Dragneel, one of his princesses. Slowly and very carefully, Natsu rose from his spot to peer out from behind the tree, and what he saw made his heart stop. Lucy.
Christmas Eve, one of Lily's favorite nights. One, because she gets to open some presents early, and two because she gets to spend it with her mom and Uncle Gray and Aunt Juvia and of course, Silver. He was Gray and Juvia's son. They met when they were babies and they have been attached to the hip ever since. Christmas at Uncle Gray and Aunt Juvia's house was ten times better than Christmas with Grandpa…
"So…" Lucy took Lily's little hand into hers as they walked the short distance between their apartment to the Fullbuster home. "Tell me more about this… 'Prince' you talked too." Lucy asked a bit worried.
Lily gave Lucy a sad smile remembering the man underneath the tree, she felt bad for him, she really hoped he would get another chance with his princess. "Oh, he wasn't a prince. He was a Dragon!" Lily shrugged her shoulders.
"Did he try to do something to you?"
"Noooo." Lily rolled her eyes, "For the tenth time mom, he didn't do anything to me. We just talked, he told me how he lost his princess… it was quite sad."
Lucy laughed, "Quite?" She repeated. "Are you sure you're six years old?" They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence as the cold air hit their faces and turned their cheeks pink. Lily was skipping and reaching to touch the snow from the floor, well everywhere.
Once they stepped into Gray's driveway, the front door flew open. Silver stood in the doorway, a huge grin on his little face. "Lily!" He yelled, "You're here!"
Lily and Lucy, both walked inside the house as soon as they could, trying to get away from the cold. Silver and Lily both ran to his room, while Lucy walked into the kitchen where Gray and Juvia were. "Hey." Lucy smiled.
Juvia was making, what looked like cookie-dough and Gray was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around Juvia's slim waist. "Hey, Lucy." Gray flushed, embarrassed to be caught in an intimate moment with his wife. As you see he was still not used to displaying public affection.
He took a few steps away from his wife, "You're here."
Lucy giggled as she walked across the room towards Juvia, "Jeez, Gray. She's your wife, it's not like you're doing anything wrong."
Juvia giggled with Lucy, "Lucy-san knows how reserved Gray-sama can be." She smiled looking up from the mixture in front of her, "Gray-sama stills acts immature, just like Nat—"
Lucy knew exactly why she had stopped before saying his name, and she was tired of everyone thinking that if they said his name it would somehow affect her. "Okay guys, this has got to stop." Lucy turned to Gray and Juvia, "You can say Natsu's name as many times as you want it won't affect me." She let out a humorless laugh.
"It's not like I'm going to see him aga—"
A soft knocking on the front door caught everyone's attention, Gray and Juvia turned to each other with puzzled looks and that gave Lucy the impression that they weren't expecting anyone else. With narrow eyes, Gray made his way to the door, he looked out of the small window, but he didn't see anyone. Again he turned to Lucy and Juvia with a puzzled look on his face before opening the door.
As soon as he opened the door, a loud "What are you doing here?!" filled the silent kitchen and both Juvia and Lucy were ready to make their way to the door.
They only took two steps towards the door before stopping completely. Gray held his hand out to stop them as he made his way back into the kitchen, Lucy eyed him suspiciously, he wasn't making any eye contact with her.
"Luce, there's someone that wants to talk to you…"
Lucy narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't know what was going on, nor did she know what to expect. It couldn't be her dad, he was away on business. The others were away, so it couldn't be them... But if it wasn't her dad… then who—
"Natsu…."
Lucy couldn't believe her eyes…. After six years there he was, Natsu Dragneel, standing in front of her with his hands inside his pant pockets. His spiky hair was pushed back, and she could finally see his eyes easily, but that didn't matter to her. "What are you doing here?" She asked without meeting his eyes.
Natsu was hurt at the way she avoided his eyes, he wanted to look into her eyes, he missed those big brown eyes. He missed her.
"I came here to get you back."
A humorless laugh crossed Lucy's lips. Was he serious? Did he really think that after leaving her for six years without any notice, without ever calling, without even telling her why he left, she was just going to run into his arms and take him back?
"Are you serious, Natsu?" Lucy asked crossing her arms across her chest. "You leave for six years without telling me why, and now you 'want me back'" She air quoted the last three words to emphasize how ridiculous he sounded.
Lily and Silver ran into the kitchen before Natsu could say anything else, it took a couple of minutes for Lily to recognize the man in the kitchen, "You're hair is pushed back." She smiled, tilting her head a little to the side.
"My princess likes my hair out of my eyes." Natsu explained, smiling at his daughter. Now he was able to see how much Lily resembled her mother. Same hair, same nose, same smile.
Lucy turned to Lily with wide eyes, "You know him, Lily?" She asked a little too loud.
Lily nodded as she turned to her mom, "Yes, that's the prince—I mean dragon I was telling you about." She explained smiling innocently at her mom, "Doesn't he look like your—" It suddenly made sense to Lily… "Y-you're her dragon…" She turned to Natsu, who had a grin on his face eager to hear her say who he was. "T-the story, about you losing your princess… You're my… you're my dad…"
Natsu tried to hold in the urge to cry, "Hi princess." He whispered as he leaned down with his arms wide open.
Lily didn't waste any second, as soon as she saw her dad kneeling she was running towards him to bury her face into his chest. All these years feeling she was missing something, and she finally felt complete.
Lucy met Gray's eyes and he nodded towards Natsu and Lily as if telling her to give him a chance.
Lucy gulped, "Why?" She whispered looking back at Natsu as he carried Lily. "I just want to know why you left without an explanation."
Natsu looked at Lily and she gave him an encouraging nod, "I left because I let myself believe that you deserved better than me. I left because I was afraid that you would someday leave me if I didn't prove myself worthy of you…"
Shaking her head, as tears started to form in Lucy's eyes. She answered, "Natsu, I was with you because I loved you. It didn't matter to me what you did, or how you earned money. I just wanted you to be happy."
A small grin appeared on Natsu's face and he set Lily down, "I guess I was the only one who didn't believe I was worthy of you."
"I guess so." Lucy whispered shrugging her shoulders.
"But I came to fix everything." He looked from Lily to Lucy, an excided grin spread across his face. "For the last six years, I have been working day and night to gain the amount of money that I considered suitable for us to raise our family." With each word that came out of his mouth, Natsu took a step closer to his princess.
"I know my decision was dumb, I know I should've at least told you how I felt or why I left. I'm an idiot and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I am still going to ask for it." He stopped just a few inches away from Lucy, close enough to smell her sweet scent, but still far enough to dodge her 'Lucy kick' if she wanted to beat him to death.
"Today I bought a house just two blocks away from here, but I won't be able to call it home, if I don't have you and Lily there with me. So…"
Lucy stared down at Natsu with wide eyes as he… As he kneeled down right in front of her, she couldn't believe what Natsu was doing. He was finally going to ask her the question she had been dying to hear ever since she heard she was pregnant with Lily.
"Lucy…" Natsu pulled a red box out of his pocket, grinning from ear to ear, looking up at her brown eyes. "Would you marry this dragon?"
With tears in her eyes, Lucy covered her mouth with both of her hands. She couldn't speak, all she could do was nod her head up and down.
Gray wrapped his arms around his wife and put his hand on his son's shoulder smiling at the now complete family.
Lily looked from Natsu to her mom and she couldn't help but notice the smile on her face, she had never seen that smile before… Not when it came to princes. So… How many princes did you have to meet until meeting the right one? Lily smiled, finally getting the answer of one of her many unanswered questions. Just one dragon.
"Merry Christmas…" Lily whispered, hoping that whoever or whatever made her wish come true would somehow hear her and understand that that was her way of saying, "thank you."
A/N: So, I've been watching the Hallmark channel, and of course Christmas movies are playing and I got the inspiration to write this XD Please let me know what you think! I love Christmas, and I was going to make this about Gruvia, but I decided hey, lets try some more Nalu ;D I'm sorry if there any mistakes, I don't usually write one shots this long! But anyways enjoy! And Yes, Silver is a spitting image of Gray, and Lily is a spitting image of Lucy, and Erza and Jellal have twins, and Gajeel and Levy were the last to get married :P Please review, and critique is always welcomed! I hope you all had a happy holiday, if you celebrate thanksgiving that is! ALSO, I don't hate Lucy's father, I just had to have him mean in this story :)