"Lucy!" Natsu called as he pushed his body on, forcing it to move, ignoring everyone who had begun to crowd around him to congradulate him on winning against the future Rogue and keeping the spirits of the others going. "Lucy!" He called out again. He had seen her trying to get his scarf that had fallen during his last attack before she was caught in the dragon, Mothergrea and future Rogue falling to the ground. The dust was still settling and he could feel his heart clench and begin to break as fear took over. "Lucy!"
Coughing off to the side caught his attention making him run towards it. "Natsu?" He heard as he pushed rubble out of the way and found Lucy curled up on the ground.
"Lucy…" He whispered making her open her eyes and slowly sit up, coughing the dust from her lungs.
"I saved your scarf. I know how much it means to you and I couldn't just let it get crushed and ruined." She explained as she held his scarf in her grasp. "What?" She asked, confused at his angry and hurt look.
"I could have found it later. It would have been under stuff but better it be crushed than you." He said as he reached out to touch her cheek. "Don't do that to me. I felt like my heart was being ripped apart when I saw you disappear in the dust and then I couldn't find you…" He shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you're scarf safe, I know how important it is." She said softly as she felt her chest tighten.
Natsu had a look in his eye that she had seen glimpses of before as he moved closer to her. "Don't make me worry like that, you weirdo." He whispered before he pulled her into a deep kiss. She felt herself melt into his touch all thoughts about what was happening just drifted away as she felt his hand cup her cheek and his lips move on hers. Pulling back the two looked into each other's eyes, neither saying a word before Natsu pulled her back in for another kiss and Lucy placed her hand on his chest.
"Natsu." She said as they pulled apart and rested their foreheads together.
"I love you Lucy." He said making her look at him. "I love you." He said again.
Lucy looked at him before she touched his cheek and gave a small smile. "I love you too, Natsu." They sat like this another minute before the others found them. Natsu glanced around and stood up before offering his hand to Lucy to help her stand up. "You're scarf." She said softly before looping it over his head and around his neck. The two shared a look before Happy plowed into Natsu, crying.
"You did it!" Wendy smiled as she walked up with the others. "You saved everyone Natsu."
"I just fought one person, we all worked together to save each other." He smirked.
"You did good, Wendy." Lucy smiled at the girl.
Wendy gave a soft smile before smiling back to where Laxus stood leaning with his arm over Mirajane's shoulder. "I had a lot of help from Laxus and Mira. They did most of the work."
"Don't sell yourself short, kid." Laxus said as he sat down. "That was one brutal fight and everyone made it through."
"Not everyone." Erza said as she walked up with Jellal. "Did anyone notice the premonition while you were fighting?" The others looked around before giving a little nod. "Ultear used a spell to give the world back some time, to save us… At the cost of her own life."
"What?!" she heard as Meredy broke from the crowd with tears in her eyes. "No! That can't be!"
Jellal stepped in front of her as she cried. "She gave her life to save everyone. It was something no one could have predicted." Meredy threw her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. He stood for a second, shocked before wrapping his arms around her to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Meredy." He whispered.
"She kept us from being overrun." Cobra said.
"She brought Gray back." Juvia added softly with the memory of watching Gray be killed still fresh in her mind. "The small dragons killed Gray when he saved Juvia." Natsu looked at his friend, shocked. There were so many that he nearly lost today. So many hearts nearly broken. A hand on his arm made his thoughts settle as he looked over at Lucy. She gave him a soft, reassuring smile that settled his fear and pain. She moved closer, to lean into his side as he wrapped an arm around her to keep her on her feet as exhaustion took over.
"We should rest." Makarov said looking around at everyone. "We'll rest and then make decisions. Set up tents and find areas that weren't destroyed, to sleep in."
"Fairy Tail truly deserves to be called number one in Fiore." Makarov heard, making him turn to see Rogue and Sting. "I'm sorry for causing all of this." Rogue said sadly.
"It wasn't you who did this." The guild master told him. "It was a man who had lost his path, you are still on the path you should be on." Rogue looked at him a minute before tears began to flow.
"We should find somewhere to sleep." Lucy said, breaking Natsu away from the conversation. He looked down at her cradling the already asleep Happy. "We all pushed so far beyond what our bodies are used to."
"Fairy Tail!" Makarov called. "As the guild master, you've done me proud! Today Fairy Tail was named number one guild and they showed you all when they could do, but after today everyone here deserves the title of number one! Go now and rest before the true fight begins to rebuild and move on!" Everyone cheered before they disbursed to find places to collapse and sleep. Lisanna started towards Natsu but stopped seeing him turn to talk to Lucy, never letting go, before he leaned in and kissed her. She had always had a childish crush on him from when they were young children growing up even to when she first came back, but she could see how much he cared for Lucy and how happy she made him when he was around.
Lucy gently pushed one end of his scarf over the opposite shoulder. With a smile she slid her hands to his chest. "I went through a lot of trouble to save that, don't go losing it now." Natsu smirked before he started laughing. "Come on, we need to sleep before both of us collapse."
"I want to make sure everyone else really is okay first. They all were beat up pretty bad." He said worried as he pulled away. "You and Happy rest for a while, I'll be back."
"Lucy's right." Lisanna said as she walked over. "You fought just as hard as everyone else. I'm sure everyone will be just fine with a little sleep. Just rest and then you can check on everyone when you wake up." She gave a smile. "Take care of him, he is so stubborn some times." She told Lucy.
Stunned at first as small smile crept across her lips as she glanced at Natsu. "You're telling me. never does listen. No matter what happens."
"You're one to talk. You see a dragon falling and you go running for a scarf and nearly get yourself killed." Lucy looked up at him feeling a little guilty. He sighed and shook his head.
"Natsu." Lisanna said making the two look at her. "I know you were scared you were going to lose her but Lucy knew how much your scarf is worth to you. She knows what it really means to you and she wanted to keep you happy. She risked her life to keep you happy. You shouldn't be too upset. Love makes you do things without thinking." She turned and left with a satisfied smile. It was a shock to see the two but she knew it was a long time coming. She was happy that the two were together, she had even begun joining in on her sisters plans and comments to get them together.
Natsu sighed as he pulled Lucy closer and rested his forehead on hers. "I know what you were doing, I just can't lose you. I love you, Lucy, promise you wont do something like that again."
"I can't do that." She shook her head. "I want you to be happy and even if I risk myself in the process I'll do what ever it takes to make you happy. Like Lisanna said. Love makes you do things without thinking." She smirked.
"Promise you'll try." He said making her giggle.
"I'll try, but promise you'll always make it back."
Natsu nodded. "I promise. Now let's sleep." The two wandered off, carrying Happy to find a place to rest.
"Natsu, you can go in." Porlyusica said as she walked from the room. Gray and Erza let go of the wild dragon slayer who had been struggling and fighting to go into the room for the last fourteen hours. Suddenly he stopped. He just stood in front of the door staring at it as his and Lucy's closest friends just watched. Gray rolled his eyes as he sat down next to his fiancé, Juvia.
"well? Are you going in?" Erza asked making him look back at her worried. "You've been fighting and arguing to go in there for the last fourteen hours and now you don't want to?" She watched as Gray sighed and walked over to him.
"Obviously everything's fine." He said softly making Natsu look at him before looking back at the door. "You've been bouncing around driving everyone crazy since you found out Lucy was pregnant, you were fighting to be with her a few minutes ago. Just go in and see your wife and baby." Natsu slowly smiled as the words filtered. His wife and baby. At 20 years old he was married to his best friend who had just given birth to their child. Happy landed on his head with a hopeful look.
"Natsu?" The two men looked at the exceed. "Can… can I come too?"
Natsu gave a smirk as he pulled Happy into his arms. "Yeah, of course you can, Happy." With that Natsu and Happy entered the room and found Lucy sitting up in the bed holding a little bundle in her arms. She looked up at him with the brightest smile he had ever seen.
"Natsu." She said softly. "It's a girl." Natsu felt his heart constrict. It was a girl, he had a daughter. "You want to see her?" She asked before Happy nodded. Natsu slowly walked closer to the bed before Happy climbed from his arms and hopped onto the bed. He watched as Lucy gently handed the bundle to Natsu who sat on the side of the bed. Curious he scooted closer as the buddle made a noise. Peaking at it he saw a tiny baby with pink fuzz on her head as she fussed and shifted a bit before settling back into sleep in her father's arms. Happy looked up at Natsu who was staring down at the baby with tears in his eyes.
Lucy smiled as she reached out and touched his arm making him look up at her. "She's so beautiful." He whispered.
"She's going to give you a run for your jewels if she's anything like you, and you're going to go crazy beating the boys off her when she's older." Lucy giggled making Natsu smiled at her and nod. "What should we name her?" Both parents looked back down at the little baby girl.
"Nashi." Happy said as he gently reached his little paw out to touch her head gently. "I heard someone say it when I was getting fish at the market before and I thought it was really pretty." He explained.
"I like it." Natsu agreed and looked at Lucy who nodded.
"It is a pretty name." She agreed. "It's a special name." The two looked at her confused. "A name picked by her big brother is special." She smiled before Happy lunged at her and held her tight as he cried. "You'll have to make sure she's always safe now that you're a big brother."
"Can't let any bullies pick on her." Natsu added. "And keep other boys away." Happy pulled away from Lucy and looked up at Natsu as his tears dried. He gave and stern look and nodded, taking his responsibility as big brother serious. "Levy will want to see her." Natsu said looking back at his daughter. "You want me to tell everyone to come in?" He asked looking back to Lucy.
"Yeah. Let them meet the newest addition to Fairy Tail." She smiled before Natsu gently handed Nashi back to her to hold as he went to the door. Happy stayed beside Lucy, watching Nashi in fascination as he heard Natsu.
"You guys want to come in and meet Nashi?" He asked with a bright grin. With in seconds all their closest friends were in the room. Gray smirked as he stood next to Natsu who had been pushed back as the women surrounded the bed to gush over the newborn. He and Natsu had always fought but it was their way of keeping each other moving forward.
"You deserve all of this." Gray said making Natsu look at him confused. The two never spoke generously to or about each other. "You've been through hell and back, you deserve to be happy with Lucy and your daughter." Natsu nodded as he caught the sound of the newborn fussing, making his eyes snap back to the crowd. "How it feel to be a dad?"
"It's…" Natsu trailed off as he tried to think of a way to explain it. "I feel like its all a dream and I'm going to wake up any minute and everything in the last three years was just some dream." He shook his head.
"We'll I can assure you none of it's been a dream. You're married to Lucy and you're the father of her daughter." Gray shook his head. "Never thought you'd ever get married, let a lone have a kid."
"Like you're any different." Natsu scoffed. "Getting married to Juvia in two months." Gray looked at the woman smiling brightly as she watched the little girl be passed around from woman to woman.
"I never thought I'd get married. And I definitely never thought it'd be to her, but I guess life has a funny sense of humor." Gray shrugged.
A voice from the doorway made everyone turn to see Makarov standing with the Strauss siblings, Laxus and the thunder god tribe, Gajeel Jet and Droy. "So we have a new addition to the family do we?"
Natsu laughed and nodded happily. "Yeah. You want to meet her, Gramps?" Makarov looked at the boy a minute before smiling and nodding. Natsu walked up to the bed with the master beside him and Levy handed the baby to her father with a bright smile. Everyone watched, it was a sight to see, Natsu the crazy dragon slayer was holding a fragile newborn, his newborn daughter. "Her name's Nashi." He moved around to let the old master see the newborn as the others moved closer.
"Nashi?" Mirajane asked as she looked at the baby. "Where did you get a name like that?"
"Happy." Lucy said. "he said he heard it at the market and liked it. We liked it too so her name is Nashi." She smiled brightly as Happy looked somewhat embarrassed.
"I think it's a cute name." Wendy smiled at the blue exceed who blushed a bit before he smiled and flew to Natsu's head.
Natsu gently handed the baby over to Makarov who watched as she shifted and settled again in his arms. "She has your hair, Natsu." Mira said as she looked at the pink fuzz. "I wonder if she'll have your eyes or Lucy's."
"It doesn't matter. As long as she's healthy." Natsu said making everyone look at him shocked. He seemed so grown up in that instant. No one seemed to notice the one person who stayed quiet and towards the back of the group. Lisanna looked at the child in Makarov's arms, Natsu's child. After the war with the dragons she wasn't surprised when he confessed his feelings. He had thought he had lost her during the last few seconds of the fight and she could see the pain and fear as he searched for her.
She was glad he was happy and with someone who loved him as much as he loved her, Slowly she moved closer, until she was beside Natsu. "Let's just hope she just looks like you and not acts like you." Levy laughed from where she sat next to Lucy.
"I don't think it would be such a bad thing is she acted like Natsu." Lisanna said with a soft smile making Natsu grin and laugh as Lucy agreed.
"Well maybe to a point." Lucy giggled making the others laugh.
Porlyusica broke up the talks and laughter as she spoke, "Mother and daughter need their rest. There will be plenty of time to spend with both of them later." Makarov handed Nashi back to Natsu as the others filed out.
"I'm proud, Natsu." He said with a smile before he filed out with the others. Levy and Mira gave Lucy one more hug before they left too, until it was just the little family left with Porlyusica.
"You can lay her in the bassinet over there." Lucy said with a little yawn. She watched as Natsu walked over and gently placed the newborn girl in the little bed. He couldn't take his eyes from her as he ran his hand over her pink fuzz covered head making her coo as she shifted. His heart beat a little faster and he couldn't help the smile that played across his face. "Natsu…" He heard making him pull his eyes from his daughter to look at his wife. "Come lay with me." She yawned. He nodded and climbed into the bed as Happy nestled down beside them.
"Thank you, Lucy." He whispered before she gave him a kiss. "Go to sleep now." She gave a nod before letting her brown eyes drift closed. Before they knew it they were both sound asleep. Happy smiled looking at the two mages who had been his parents growing up. They were both so happy together and now they had a daughter. His head snapped to the bassinet as he heard noises. Flying over he saw Nashi squirming as she fussed and was about to cry.
"Don't cry." He said softly as he settled into the bassinet. "It's okay. It's just time to sleep. Your mom and dad are really tired and need to rest, so you should get all the sleep you can too." Natsu shifted making Happy glance over to see if he had woken up. "I'm your big brother, Happy and I wont let anything happen, so you don't have anything to worry about, Nashi." He whispered as he sat and gently ran a paw over her head. Natsu cracked an eye and couldn't help the smile that was plastered on his face at hearing Happy talking to Nashi.
It had been five years since the war against the dragons. Fairy Tail still held the top guild rank and had even been able to regain their original guild hall back. The guild was thriving and growing. Not only in members joining…
Lucy sat at a table talking with Levy, they both didn't like remembering the war but couldn't help thinking of the end when they had finally had all the feelings confessed. Lucy sighed as she heard the door fly open making everyone look over to see Natsu walking in with a two year old girl grinning just the same, waddling beside him. She paused and looked around with her brown eyes before letting go of Natsu's hand and running to Lucy as her pink pig tails bounced with every step.
"Mama!" The girl called out with a giggle as Lucy pulled her onto her lap with a bright smile.
"Did you have fun with Daddy today, Nashi?" Lucy asked and watched the girl nod happily as Natsu sat beside her. He gave a smirk and chuckled as Nashi climbed from her mother's arms to her father's lap. "Such a daddy's girl." Lucy smiled and looked at Natsu as he began paying attention to the girl.
"She's just like him." Levy said with a giggle as Lucy rolled her eyes and mumbled that she had no idea. "I hope this one wont be too much like its father." She said as she laid her hand on her growing belly. She and Gajeel had gotten married almost a year ago and were expecting their first child. Jet and Droy had a hard time handling it at first but soon they became even more of her protector. When she and Gajeel announced that they were going to have a baby the two men had taken it upon themselves to be somewhat of servants. They would follow her and care for her, making sure she was safe and didn't do too much while Gajeel went on jobs. Levy was getting frustrated already and couldn't imagine another four months of it, but Lucy helped by shooing them off and convincing them that she would care for her and if Levy needed anything the women would call.
Natsu laughed as he sat his daughter on the table to face him as she babbled. "Did you hear?" Lucy asked Levy. "Mira had a girl. I bet Laxus is already wrapped around her finger." She laughed softly.
"He wont be crazy any more." Natsu said as if he was upset about that. "He's not gonna do anything but what she wants." He said before he laughed as he pictured Laxus playing dolls and dress up.
"Like you're any different." Lucy said with a smirk making him look at her confused. "You're telling me that you would ignore what Nashi wanted to do just to look tough." Natsu blinked before looking at his daughter as she turned to grab for Levy who smiled brightly and took her.
"We've all seen you with Nashi for the last two years, Natsu." Levy giggled at her friend. "You are hopelessly wrapped around her tiny little finger." Natsu slowly gave a little smile.
"I guess I am." He shrugged. "So?"
"So." Lucy continued. "You shouldn't be sitting there laughing at Laxus when you've been hopeless since the first time you held her." Natsu looked at his wife as he remembered that day and grinned.
"Who would have thought the crazy Salamander would be so wrapped up with a little girl." Levy laughed making him chuckle.
"Daddy." Nashi said turning back to look at Natsu. "Play happy?" She asked as she pointed over to where Happy was with Carla. "Play daddy." She said as he set her on her feet with a grin before she took off to play with Happy. "Daddy!" She called out. The others in the guild still couldn't get used to having a little girl running around calling Natsu 'daddy' it was something no one had ever seen coming but not one could say he wasn't a good father.
"Natsu." They heard as Makarov say as he walked up to them.
"Daddy!" Nashi called as she ran over and grabbed a hold of his leg.
Lucy reached out and took her from Natsu with a small smile. "Daddy has to talk with master. How about you play with Happy and wait for him to come back."
Nashi looked up with her puppy dog eyes making Natsu chuckle and ruffle her hair. "Play with Happy, and Levy and Mommy. I'll be back." She gave a little nod before looking at her mother and smiling. Natsu glanced at Lucy before the two women walked away. Looking back at Makarov he found the old man smiling at the girl as she bounced away.
"Even all this time it's still strange to hear her call for you and Lucy." Makarov smirked at Natsu. "She's looking more like her mother and acting more like you every day. I hope you'll teach her not to do too much damage on jobs." Natsu just chuckled. "That's what I thought." He sighed and shook his head thinking of all the problems he had now on top of what that little girl would cause in the future.
"What did you want Gramps?" Natsu asked making him look back at him.
"I'm sure you heard about Laxus and Mira's baby." Natsu nodded. "Laxus was scheduled for a job yesterday and since he was here with Mira-."
"Don't worry, master." They heard as Lucy walked over to the two men. "Natsu and I will take it. We know how much you want to stay home after a baby is born. Laxus should spend all the time he can with Mira and his little girl." Natsu smirked as Makarov looked between the two. "When Nashi was born I didn't want Natsu to leave on jobs for a while and even after I was cleared to go on jobs I didn't want to leave Nashi."
"What about now?" Makarov asked looking at the little girl giggling and running around with Happy as the other guild members watched.
"It's not like we want to leave her but she'll be okay with the others and it would be nice to help the others, since we know how it feels." Lucy explained.
"If you're sure."
"We are." Natsu nodded.
"Alright here's the flyer." Makarov handed it to Lucy.
"We'll see if team Natsu wants to go." Natsu grinned happily before running off to the others.
"He's never going to change." Lucy sighed and shook her head. "I just hope Nashi doesn't turn out like that." Makarov laughed as Lucy walked over to her daughter who had started jumping up and down, dancing, making her father laugh.
Makarov looked around. Things were definitely different and changing but they would always be the Fairy Tail guild who fought from the bottom up to be number one once again.