Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Final Fantasy X.
(Timeframe: Following the Battle with Seymour)
The morning sun was just rising over Magnolia. The warmth of the beginnings of sunlight penetrated the cold morning air, touching the spires of the Fairy Tail guild hall.
The town, more a city at that point, was still with morning lethargy. The only ones awake were the lawyers working in their offices and the merchants preparing their wares in their stores. The wizards of Magnolia had yet to wake, and join at Fairy Tail's guild hall to catalyze the bustling of a growing city.
In a newer part of Magnolia, however, there was a family that was also awake. In the Ambassador's Residence in Magnolia, Natsu d'Elorien was tirelessly poring over all sorts of governmental paperwork. In recent years, Natsu had become very efficient at his job, especially with a pair of Speed-reading Glasses, managing to finish most of his work for the next two days by seven o'clock.
Natsu set down his fountain pen, and put his paperwork away to get up and move around. He opened the curtain to let in some of the morning light to illuminate his office.
"Things have been somewhat quiet recently, haven't they?" Natsu said quietly, to himself.
"If by quiet, you mean that nobody's been threatening the world's safety, then you would right, Natsu." Lucy said from the door to the study, still in her robes.
"Good morning, dear." Natsu said, giving Lucy a kiss.
It had been six years since the allied guilds of Team Veratos had rallied together in order to defend Crocus against a gigantic beast in the sky. Only the Magic Council was aware of the true details of the event, and had sworn to keep it a secret so as not to cause the public anxiety over their safety. It would not have been good for the Magic Council to release such information, as the activities of the Order of Shadows had completely escaped their notice.
Now that things had calmed down in Fiore and the rest of Earth Land, Natsu was looking forward to being able to spend more time with his family. Natsu put his paperwork away, and went downstairs to wait in the dining room for Lucy to change. He sat down at the head of the table, where he was met by Virgo.
"Good morning, Lord Ambassador." Virgo said.
"Virgo, I would prefer if you just called me Natsu. Even having lived as a prince for a few years, I'm not used to being addressed so formally." Natsu said.
"I apologize, but I cannot bring myself to address you in such a manner. It is above my honor as a maid to do so, my lord." Virgo said, while handing Natsu the newspaper.
"Very well. Just call me lord, but that's it. None of this, 'Lord Ambassador,' business." Natsu said, as he opened the newspaper.
Suddenly, Natsu heard the rapid thudding of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Daddy!" Braska said in an excited and happy voice.
Lucy and Celesta followed close behind. Celesta was a generally quiet girl, but was sociable enough for a six-year-old. Braska, on the other hand, had inherited his father's active and boisterous personality. Like other children of magical heritage, and especially from two very powerful wizards, the two children had shown signs of being able to use magic from a young age. Natsu and Lucy hadn't decided on when their magic education would begin.
The two children were hoisted onto highchairs by Virgo. Lucy sat down as Virgo then served the family their breakfast: omelettes, with some habañero pepper added to Natsu's. Braska and Celesta ate their breakfasts quickly, and then went to the parlor.
Strangely enough, Braska and Celesta had taken an avid interest in playing music, especially on the viola, in the past year. For their fourth birthday, Natsu had bought them handcrafted violas from Elorien and hired a private tutor to come to the residence to teach them. Even more curiously, they had learned to read extremely early, and were reading short stories independently.
"Oh, look at the time! It's time for the children to go to school! We can't have them missing the first day! And Juvia invited us over for tea today!" Lucy said.
"The car is out front, milady." Virgo said.
"Braska, Celesta, it's time to go!" Natsu said.
The two got their bags and headed to the car outside. As the family piled in, Virgo asked if she should drop off the children or Natsu and Lucy first. Natsu said that he'd like to meet his children's teacher. Virgo nodded, and headed off in the direction of the Magnolia Private Academy.
When they arrived, Braska and Celesta stared up at the large marble edifice, and remarked on how it wasn't as big as their grandparents', "house."
"You can't compare everything to the Diamond Palace. Besides, this is one of the bigger buildings in Magnolia." Lucy said.
Virgo waited in the car outside the building, while Natsu and Lucy escorted Braska and Celesta to their classroom. When they found the classroom, it turned out that several parents had had the same idea about meeting their children's teacher.
Braska and Celesta joined the rest of their classmates on one side of the room as their teacher introduced herself to the parents.
"Hello. My name is Lorea Ferin, and I will be your children's teacher for their first grade year. I assure you, I have been well trained at the University of Crocus, and have all the proper credentials." she said.
This introduction apparently eliminated any doubts that the parents held regarding her, so many of them left. Lucy remained to ask her one more question.
"Ms. Ferin, please notify us if Braska gets into fights. He's quite active, and is somewhat combative like his father. As for Celesta, just tell us if she's by herself too often. She's always been a bit reserved, so we'd prefer if she were more social." Lucy said.
"Don't worry, Mrs. d'Elorien." Lorea said.
Lucy nodded, and then left, telling Braska and Celesta to behave at school. The two children nodded, and sat down at their desks.
"Class, my name is Ms. Ferin. It's very nice to meet all of you." Lorea said.
"It's very nice to meet you too, Ms. Ferin." the class said in unison.
"For our first day, I want all of you to introduce yourselves in front of the class. Tell us your name, what you like to do, and your favorite place to be." Lorea said.
Several children introduced themselves normally, some quieter than others, expressing rather ordinary interests.
However, one child said, "My name is Shiran Efito, I like to fight with my fists, and I like to be in the East Forest, beating up Vulcans!"
The boy was showed a great pride in who he was, and seemed to want to make that clear to everyone. However, Braska, like his father would have done, was determined to beat him at his own game.
"My name is Braska d'Elorien, I like to play music, and my favorite place is the Fairy Tail guild hall!" he declared loudly.
Some of the boys who were friends with Shiran laughed at Braska for talking about the Fairy Tail guild hall as if it were a place he'd be familiar with. While he certainly did hang around the guild and its members frequently, it was not expected of a child to know about wizard guilds.
"Why don't you stop lying, little squirt?" Shiran said haughtily.
"Who're you calling a squirt?" Braska said.
"Now both of you, calm down. Go back to your seats, and behave." Lorea said.
Celesta proceeded to introduce herself rather modestly, saying that she preferred to stay at home and read. She also said that she was Braska's twin sister, which amazed some children, having never met twins before. Many of the other children, and Lorea, were also surprised to know that she could read so early. Celesta also revealed that Braska could read as well, inflaming the situation between Braska and Shiran.
The children were then released for recess, giving them time to acquaint with one another. Braska was quick to make friends with other boys that had wizard parents, while Celesta befriended many other girls, of wizard parentage or otherwise. The two were fairly popular among most children, save for those who were friends of Shiran.
Shiran went up to Braska and said, "Know your place around here, squirt. We don't like foreigners. My grandpa says you guys are bad news for Fiore. Why don't you just go back where you came from?"
"What are you talking about? I was born here, just like the rest of you!" Braska said angrily.
"Braska, stop it... Daddy said not to get mad at people..." Celesta said, trying to calm her brother down.
"Don't all of you know? He's the son of the ambassador from Elorien! So he's also a spoiled rich kid! His sister too!" Shiran said.
Some kids started gasping, not having known about Braska and Celesta's background. Some kids backed away from them, but then Glacia and two of her friends came to see what was happening.
"What do you guys think you're doing!? Just because their dad isn't from around here, doesn't mean that they're bad people! You should be ashamed!" Glacia said.
"Why don't you leave us alone? This between us! This doesn't matter to you fifth graders!" Shiran said.
"Do you want to get beat, kid?" Glacia said coldly, reminiscent of Gray's former aggressive nature.
Shiran and his friends backed off, and left Braska and Celesta alone. Glacia asked if they were OK, but Braska became angry, telling Glacia that she shouldn't have interfered.
"You would have gotten clobbered!" Glacia said.
Braska gave up, knowing this would be true. The teachers called their students inside for the remainder of the day's lessons. Braska and Celesta breezed through learning the alphabet, although they preferred reading and in the Elorienne style of the alphabet, which was more flowing, and more akin to calligraphy, although vastly more legible. While other children were still learning the first ten letters, Braska and Celesta could already read at a relatively high level for their age.
When school was dismissed, Lorea took Braska and Celesta to meet with their parents. Lorea informed them what happened with Shiran that day, and urged them to help Braska not take it personally.
"While I certainly don't approve of racism in schools, I imagine that this boy Shiran doesn't really understand what he's saying. I'll let my husband know. Thank you, Ms. Ferin." Lucy said.
"Also, I wanted to talk to you about something else. Braska and Celesta demonstrated an accelerated understanding in all material I covered today. I was wondering where they had learned this." Lorea said.
"I taught them to read when they were younger, because I believe that reading is an important skill, especially for wizards. They've taken an active interest in learning ever since." Lucy said.
"Well, in that case, I will be meeting with the other grade level teachers to discuss a diagnostic test for Braska and Celesta. Depending on how well they do, they will be given different schoolwork from the other children, but will stay in my classroom." Lorea said.
Lucy nodded, and said goodbye to Lorea. Lucy watched Braska and Celesta as they sat with their books. Although they had learned to read and write so early because of her, Lucy knew they had an innate thirst for knowledge, and that would lead them to many places. Living among wizards had that effect on people.
Note: So, because I don't have time to write about Braska and Celesta growing up slowly, I may skip a few years every chapter or two. Hopefully, you like this story as much as the first one!