A/N: The stories in this short story collection are a part of the challenge to write 21 one-shots for Nalu week! Please enjoy.

This is an Angel-of-Oops 2 one-shot based on an Anniversary Natsu reminded Lucy about: the family's first trip to a large hotel in Crocus for Aki's dance recital. The memory consisted of Natsu reminiscing about the elevator from hell that Connor made him ride over and over again 5 years previous to the story of Oops2. Lark is 11, Connor is 4, and Brielle is 2.

"What is it?" Hansuke asked, glancing at the metal box in front of his family.

"It's an elevator," Lucy told them flatly.

It had been a long trip. Everyone was tired and hoping for a good sleep. Tomorrow would be Aki's first day of dance competition. Tonight, everyone was just hoping for some rest. Traveling with 8 kids was...an adventure.

"Get inside please," Lucy beckoned, correcting her tone of voice.

It wasn't the kids' fault the trip was long. Nor that they didn't know what an elevator was. Natsu had determined that that Dragneel family would avoid elevators at all costs. It was miracle they'd managed to do so for this long. She took a deep breath, re-focusing herself on being a calm parent with infinite patience.

Natsu shook his head, gulping bravely. He hated elevators. They always made him feel sick to his stomach. After he and Lucy had moved from the apartment to their house 8 years ago, he swore he'd never take an elevator again.

"It's not even big enough for all of us," Aki muttered, "How completely pointless. We should just take the stairs."

Natsu nodded his emphatic agreement.

"Fifteen flights of stairs…doable!" he announced, heading for the stairwell. Lucy grabbed his collar, yanking him backward.

"We can go in halves," Lucy suggested, waving the card that would serve as the key to their hotel room, "I'll take Brielle, the twins, and Aki, you take Lark, Hansuke, Mieske and Connor."

He groaned, "But the stairs!"

She held 2-year-old Brielle firmly in her arms, gesturing the twins and Aki on board the elevator.

Smiling at her husband, Lucy leaned forward and kissed his lips sweetly, "You'll be fine, Natsu…remember to breathe."

Natsu nodded dumbly, ignoring the eye-roll Lark was performing next to him. Lucy had such a way of calming him down.

The elevator doors closed. Connor watched with fascination as the lights on the door lit up and the numbers on the indicator began to climb.

"It's not that interesting," Lark sighed.

"What do the lights do?" Connor asked, wide-eyed, ignoring his older brother's comment.

Natsu knelt down beside him, "See the one that's moving? That's Mommy going up to our room. See how it stopped? Mommy is on the 15th floor now."

Connor wasn't paying attention anymore, trying to strain his little fingers to reach the buttons.

"No touching," Hansuke warned, "We want the elevator to come back down for us."

Connor withdrew his hand, glancing up at Natsu. The door chimed, revealing the empty elevator.

"MOMMY!" Connor screamed in alarm, "Where's Mommy?"

"She's on a different floor – it's okay," Mieske assured him. He turned to Natsu, "What about our suitcases?"

"I guess we'll have to come back for them," Natsu groaned, "Okay…let's get this over with."

His stomach lurched before the elevator did, anticipating the disgusting roll of stomach fluid that would come with the motion of it. Moments later, he felt the tell-tale lurch he'd been expecting, instantly turning a shade of green.

"Daddy?" Hansuke asked, "Are you okay?"

"Elevators make Daddy feel sick," Natsu explained, holding his stomach.

Connor was watching the lights again, his eyes glued to the console as they climbed.

"It's taking us somewhere?" he asked, awed.

"It's taking us to the 15th floor," Lark told him, "That's where you'll find Mommy."

Natsu could feel the stomach acid churning. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply as Lucy had suggested. Finally, the door chimed and opened. He stumbled to the ground, taking heaving breaths as he spilled out onto the floor like a big pile of goo.

"1504," Lark said, pointing down the hall, "We'll be that way."

Lark and Hansuke started down the hall, leaving their father in a pile on the floor. The door chimed again and the doors closed.

"Dad!" Lark snapped impatiently, "Here's our room. Are you coming?"

Natsu groaned, willing his body to move. He was beyond dizzy, but he managed to drag himself to his feet and lumber after the boys. Lark had the door open.

"I can't do that again, Luce," Natsu moaned, "I'll just take the stairs from now on. Why didn't we ask for a lower floor anyway?"

"Because the 15th floor is the penthouse," Lucy reminded him, "And the penthouse is the only room large enough to accommodate our family's size."

She kissed his nose gently, smoothing his bangs back from his eyes, then wiping the sweat accumulated on his brow.

"You're okay now," she promised him.

"Where's Connor?" Aimi asked, glancing around the room.

Lucy's eyes widened, "Oh Mavis! He didn't come in?"

"He must be on the elevator still!" Aki exclaimed, "I'll go find him."

"No way!" Natsu shook his head, "This is a strange city and all of you are to stick together where we can keep tabs on you!"

He gulped even as he said it out loud, cringing at the thought of riding the elevator a second time.

"I'll go," Lucy suggested.

As if on cue, Brielle started to cry.

"She's hungry," Lucy said helplessly, begging her husband with her eyes to understand.

Natsu's face fell, knowing it would be up to him. Even their oldest, Lark, at 11 was a bit too young to ride the elevator in such a large hotel, looking for the 4-year-old Connor.

"I'll be back," Natsu droned.

Closing his eyes to regain his composure, Natsu wandered back out into the hall.

"I'll call the front desk and ask them to hold Connor there," Lucy called out after him.

Natsu nodded, not even looking back at her as he steeled himself for the next ride.

"It's all good. It's all good," he chanted to himself as he called the elevator back to the 15th floor.

"You're looking a little green," a dark-haired man commented as Natsu boarded.

"I'm not good with elevators," Natsu admitted, "But my son didn't get off the elevator so I have to go get him."

"Little guy?" the man asked, "Blondish pink hair?"

"Yeah," Natsu was holding his stomach again, resisting the urge to spew as they descended the floors.

The man patted his shoulder sympathetically, "I think he did get off on the 15th floor, buddy…I passed him in the hallway on my way to the elevator."

Natsu audibly swallowed.

"Dude…you don't look so good."

The door chimed and the man hurriedly got off – and away from Natsu.

Natsu glanced at the front desk, looking for any sign of Connor.

"He's not here," the front desk clerk confirmed.

Sighing, Natsu reboarded the elevator, pressing the button for the 15th floor again.

His stomach was so topsy-turvy by the time he arrived at his destination, Natsu was crumpled on the floor in the corner of the elevator. The door dinged. Natsu literally crawled out into the hallway, resting his head on his arms for several moments before lugging himself to his feet and heading down the hall in the opposite direction of the Dragneel room.

"Connor!" he called, regretting the call-out immediately. His stomach jumped, the stomach acid burning his throat.

Connor was staring at the view out the window at the end of the hall, kneeling on a chair that was kept there. The boy was fascinated at the busy streets of Crocus. Natsu glanced out the window for a moment, appreciating the view himself, before grabbing Connor by the hand.

"C'mon, kiddo," he said softly, "Mommy is worried. You can't take off like that, okay?"

Connor glanced up at his father, pointing out the window, "Small people!"

"Yeah," Natsu agreed, desperately trying to take deep breaths to make the room stop spinning, "Let's go see Mommy, okay?"

Finally, the boy climbed off the chair, taking Natsu's outstretched hand. Natsu smiled to himself. Connor really was adorable. His sweet little cheeks were so plump and his eyes were so alert with curiosity and fire. Even as sick as he felt, Natsu still felt pride as he joined hands with his little son. It truly amazed him that he and his wife had 8 perfect children. He was one lucky man.

The further they walked down the hall, the better Natsu started to feel. He began to swing his hand so that Connor's would swing too, sometimes swinging his entire body into the air for brief moments. He knew how much Connor enjoyed this game based on the squeals of laughter.

Natsu knocked on the room door, waiting until Mieske opened the door so they could come in. Natsu flopped on the bed dramatically, Lucy giggling as she finished feeding Brielle.

"Hello Connor!" she quipped, "Where were you?"

"I watched little people!" Connor replied with lit eyes.

"He was at a window on the other end of the hall," Natsu explained.

Lucy regarded her son sternly, "You cannot go away from Mommy or Daddy. This is a busy city and you can get lost very easily. Never, ever leave our sides! You stay close to Daddy!"

Connor nodded meekly as Lucy went back to tending to Brielle.

"What about the luggage?" Haru asked.

Natsu face-palmed. He should have grabbed it when he was at the main floor.

"I can go get it," Lark offered.

"We already told you," Natsu told him, "You're too young to be wandering the hotel on your own!"

Lark shrugged, grabbing his earphones so he could tune out the world.

"Do you want to feed Brielle and I'll go?" Lucy offered.

Natsu glanced at his little daughter, screaming for her food. Hansuke and Mieske were having a pillow fight...while Aki and Aimi were having a real fight, arguing about whether Aimi had brought the right hair brush. Haru had the TV on full-blast. Lark sat on the bed with his earphones on, singing loudly...and very out of tune.

Between the elevator and the loud noise, Natsu's head was pounding.

"I'll get the luggage," Natsu promised.

"Natsu…" Lucy said, "Maybe Lark should go with you at least."

He shook his head, already feeling the dizziness returning, "I'll get the luggage…and then I'll use the stairs for the rest of our trip."

"Aki's dance competition is 3 days long," Mieske reminded him, "That's a lot of stairs."

Natsu sighed again, knowing very well how truthful those words were. He lumbered back to the elevator, taking deep breaths with his eyes closed to calm himself.

"Just two more times," he reminded himself.

"Can I press the button?" a little voice piped up.

"Connor!" Natsu exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Mommy said I had to stay with either her or you," Connor said innocently, coming into the elevator with Natsu.

"Okay," Natsu sighed for the third time in less than 5 minutes, "But you stay right with me and you don't wander away."

The little boy nodded, glancing again at the buttons.

"The top one makes the elevator go up and the bottom one makes the elevator go down," Natsu explained, "We want to go down. Go ahead. Press the button."

Connor's face lit up, pressing the button Natsu pointed to, then the 'Main' button Natsu pointed to next.

The dizziness set in, making Natsu fall to his knees instantly. He closed his eyes, willing his stomach acid to stay in his stomach where it belonged. He creaked an eye open at his little son, now pushing all the buttons on the console at once. He couldn't get up. The pain of his stomach ache and disorientation of the motion immobilized him.

"Connor!" he begged, "Please…don't…press…buttons!"

The elevator jerked to a stop. Connor's eyes widened with excitement as he realized he had found the stop button, then pressed another floor key.

"Please Connor!" Natsu pleaded.

The elevator lurched again, resuming its descent. The little boy laughed as it screeched to a halt again, resuming in the other direction.

"Oh, for the love of Mavis...make it stop!" Natsu begged.

The bellhop was unsure if the Dragneel family was aware their luggage still sat in the lobby. He was off shift now. Everyone at the hotel had been enamoured by the family of ten that had arrived that day. There was a couple of kids his brother's age, so he told the desk manager he would take the Dragneel luggage up to their room, free of charge.

He wheeled the luggage cart to the elevator and called it, glancing up at the lit board. His eyes widened as he realized it was completely erratic, hopping between the 4th and then the 10th and then the 2nd floors.

"Dorianne!" he called to the front desk, "We have a pusher!"

Dorianne pressed a button, cancelling the elevator's pre-programmed schedule. Once she nodded to him, he turned back to the elevator and called it down to the main lobby.

The door opened and a cute strawberry-blonde boy grinned up at him.

"I made it go!" he exclaimed.

At the back of the elevator, the boy's father was literally 3 shades of green. He was on the floor, heaving to keep himself from throwing up.

Natsu groaned. His stomach still churned as the bellhop helped him up and escorted him to the lobby couch. He held Connor's hand so that the boy wouldn't have a chance to run.

"Mr. Dragneel," he said softly, patting his hand to try to gain his attention, "I suppose we should have asked you…would you like 3 queen-bedroom suite on the main level so you don't have to ride the elevator so much?"

Natsu's face went white as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Yes please," Natsu murmured.

Then he fainted dead away.

When he woke, he was curled up in Lucy's arms on a large bed...but it wasn't their room.

"Where am I?" he asked, holding his pounding head.

"In our new hotel room," Lucy told him, gently pushing him back down to a prone position. It wouldn't be good to sit up too fast, "On the ground level."

"It's too quiet! Where are the kids?" he exclaimed.

"Shhhh..." Lucy soothed him, running her fingers through his hair, "The front desk volunteered an employee to take them to the pool so that you can rest. They'll be back in a half hour."

His aching eyes shot open, "We have a half hour?"

She grinned wickedly, "Yeah...we have a half hour."

Natsu felt his headache disappear instantly as he reached for his wife. She giggled as he flipped her down to the mattress and pressed his lips to hers. Suddenly, the prospect of spending 3 days in this hotel wasn't so bad anymore...provided the venue for Aki's dance recital did not require riding on an elevator.