A/N: So, taking a bit of a break from cute fluff for a dose of angst. I write a lot of angst, to be honest. I'm not really sure if this should be in the crossover section or not. Read it and tell me what you think, yeah? Then if it should be, I'll switch it over.
"And there she is, our resident mama-to-be!" All the ladies cheered and raised their cups at the sight of Lucy. The Celestial mage blushed deeply and waved at them. All of the men were seated at the bar, miffed that their women had abandoned them.
"Come on, Lucy, join us!" Levy leapt up and dragged her friend over to the table. Juvia, Eden, Mirajane, Lisanna, Wendy, Erza, Yukino, and Cana all cheered again.
"So, how are you feeling?" Lisanna gushed at her dear friend. Lucy just laughed.
"I've been feeling pretty good. Erik does almost everything for me," she admitted with an eyeroll and fond look in her husband's direction. The Fairy Girls shared smiles at the obvious affection in Lucy's voice. Lucy continued. "So far, I haven't had morning sickness, which is good, but I have been very tired and sore. Thankfully, Erik isn't treating me like an invalid just yet." She winked at them, brown eyes dancing.
"Congrats, Lucy," Eden said, raising her cup to her. "This is going to be pretty fun and pretty crazy."
"How does Eden know?" Juvia asked. "Eden has no children."
"Yeah," Lisanna said. "How would you know what pregnancy is like?"
Eden merely raised her eyebrows. "It seems like you people consistently forget that I am an older sister with a married younger brother," she drawled. "I'm also godmother to Ling and Lan Fan's brood, and they already have seven children. Al and Winry have three…no, scratch that, four kids." Eden frowned, looking at her beer. "That's not right," she muttered. Shaking her head like a dog, she blinked the alcohol haze out of her eyes. "I have been drinking too much. They have three and Win is pregnant again."
"Why are you not with her right now?" Yukino was curious.
Eden stared at her with a comical amount of sheer alarm, making all of her friends burst out laughing.
"Are you out of your mind? Last time Win was pregnant, she tried to brain me with a wrench on a daily basis!" Eden shuddered. "So when I found out she was going to have another niece or nephew of mine, the first thing I did was hightail it for Fiore!" She gulped her drink, shaking her head. "Besides, I was due back soon anyway."
As her friends laughed, Mira looked at them, the baby-crazy gleam entering her eyes.
"Now that Lucy and Cobra are going to have a baby, the rest of you need to get married and start giving me more sweet god-babies!" Mira was more than a little surprised when, instead of moaning and complaining like they normally did when Mira brought up marriage and children, they actually seemed like they were considering it.
Wendy studied the table in front of her with a serious look. Juvia had bright pink cheeks and was muttering something about Lyon-sama and babies. Lisanna likewise had scarlet cheeks and was looking in every direction except toward the men at the bar. Erza choked on her beer, flushing at some thought passing through her head. Yukino had a soft smile on her face as she traced letters into the grain of the wood. Cana guzzled her beer and refused to look at Mira. Levy gazed adoringly in Gajeel's direction. And Eden just looked serious and sad.
Mira leaned forward, admittedly rather intrigued by this turn of events. "So you aren't objecting to the thought of having babies? None of you?"
Eden raised an eyebrow. "I think Wendy should wait a few years before thinking about babies."
All the women laughed as Wendy flushed pink and wailed, "Eden! Not fair!" Lucy patted her back gently.
"It's okay, Wendy. I think Laxus and the other Dragon Slayers might kill any guy who would look at you like that."
"Darn straight, Bright Eyes!"
"Shut up, Erik!"
Lucy shot her eavesdropping husband a stern look. He merely grinned and raised his cup to her, making the other men question the Poison Dragon Slayer about the women's conversation.
Mira noticed the funny look on Eden's face. It wasn't super obvious, but it seemed like the former alchemist was upset by the turn of the conversation. "Eden, honey, are you okay?"
Eden flinched, sloshing beer all over the table. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Mira. Why do you ask?" The golden woman was being overly cheerful trying to redirect the conversation.
Her friends were having none of that.
"Eden, what's the problem?" Levy said, touching her arm.
"It's nothing, really."
"Has all this baby talk upset you?" Lucy kept her voice soft, not wishing to hurt her friend.
Eden shook her head stubbornly. "I'm fine." Her tone was clear. Drop it.
Cana butted in, ignoring Eden's hint, loud and brash as always. Her voice carried through the entire guild. Just at a sudden lull in the conversations, too. "Yeah, kid, don't you want to have babies with our Gray?"
At the bar, aforementioned male spewed his drink all over, hacking and gasping in shock. Every head turned toward Eden. To their surprise, however, Eden wasn't even blushing. She usually turned varying shades of red and purple when teased about her on-again, off-again relationship with the Ice Make mage. It was a source of prime gossip in the guild. Oh, look, Gray and Eden broke up again. Now they're back together, that sort of thing. The bets were pretty spectacular, as well. When Eden didn't react at all, Mira knew something was wrong.
"Eden, if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." The rest of the Fairy girls murmured their agreement. Eden managed a shaky smile.
"I'm fine, really I am." She absently traced a transmutation circle on the tabletop. "It's not that I don't want to have children, I'm just not sure how good of a mother I would be." Her shoulders slumped. "And…" her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not sure I would be able to even have children."
Her friends made noises of shock. Lucy leaned forward, alarm in her eyes. "What do you mean, Eden? Why couldn't you have kids?"
Erza looked stern. "You would make a wonderful mother, Eden. I know it."
Eden sighed. It seemed there would be no getting out of this conversation. She risked a glance around. The men at the bar had disappeared, something she was distinctly grateful for. When she and Gray had had this conversation, it had been painful and the cause of one of Eden's unplanned jaunts back to Amestris. Gray had been close to proposing. Eden had spooked, her commitment phobia rearing its ugly head again, sending her running for the hills. She hadn't come back for nearly three months. Three months in which Gray moped about the guild, wondering what had happened with his sweetheart and where he had gone wrong.
She sighed again, wincing at the expectant looks in her friends' eyes. Here went nothing.
"Well, you all know about my past, what happened with my parents and all." All of them nodded, recalling what she had told them. "I've thought about it and I'm just so afraid I would end up the same way as my father, running from my responsibilities. I couldn't do that to Gray, or to any children we might have." She frowned deeply and muttered. "If we could even have children."
Erza poked her. "That's the second time you've said that. What makes you doubt your ability to bear children?" All the other girls blushed at Erza's usual forward behavior.
Eden glanced about again. Standing, she unlaced the corset she wore over her plain white shirt. Dropping said article of clothing, she pulled up her shirt to expose a hideous scar on her left side.
Silence reigned among Fairy Tail's women. Wendy came around the table and touched her friend's side. "What happened, Eden? This is…this is horrific!" Her medical persona taking over, she leaned closer to examine the scar. "There is no way you should've survived such a terrible injury. What caused it?"
Eden dropped her shirt, sank back into her seat, and took a long draught of her beer.
"Back in Amestris during the chaos before the Promised Day, I got caught in a mine explosion." Her voice was soft and subdued. Levy, Yukino, and Lucy seemed on the verge of crying. "When I came to, I realized I had been…" the blood leached out of Eden's face. Both hands gripped the table with crushing force as the former alchemist struggled to get her words out. It was clear that this was a very difficult subject for her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. "I had been impaled on a support beam. Two friends of mine pulled it out of my side and I used my life force to heal it as much as I could. I don't know, even if I could conceive children, would I be able to carry them to term?" Head bowed, bangs covering her eyes, she was the picture of grief.
Erza shook her head slowly. "I know you have been injured in the past, but nothing you said indicated why you think you would be a bad mother." At Eden's sudden opening of her mouth to object, Erza held up a hand. "I'm not trying to minimize the pain you have been through in the past, but look around you. Many of your friends have suffered abandonment and loss, Lucy and Cobra included. And yet they are bringing a child into this world, no matter what happened in the past." Eden blinked. Slowly, the tension eased out of her shoulders and she looked calmer.
"Thank you, Erza," she told the re-quip mage quietly. "I've been needing to hear that for years, I think." She turned to Lucy, a wry smile twisting her lips. "And I'm sorry for stealing your thunder. We should be celebrating, not sulking!" She raised her mug, her friends mimicking her. "To Lucy and Cobra!"
"TO LUCY AND COBRA!" Laughter and cheers rang around the table, the formerly cheery atmosphere returning rapidly. The males, hearing the cheers, returned to claim their women. Cobra quickly took Lucy home, hoping to get out of there before a brawl started. Eden hugged Lucy tightly, whispering something in her ear before Cobra dragged her off. Gray strolled over to his sweetheart, who was leaning against the wall, watching Fairy Tail.
"What did you tell Lucy?" He asked curiously.
Eden looked at him steadily. She hoped her voice stayed the same way. "I told Lucy that anytime she needed a babysitter, I would be here." She waited several seconds while the implications of what she was saying dawned on Gray.
"You mean…" he trailed off, hardly daring to hope. Eden nodded firmly.
"I intend to stick around, not go running off at the drop of a hat." Her voice lowered as she stepped closer to him. Gold eyes met and held dark blue ones. "I can't promise that I'll always be around the guild hall, but I'm not going to run again. I'm staying. For good." Gray looked as if he wanted to kiss her, but restrained himself and simply took her hand.
"I'll be here," he told her in a quiet, fervent voice. "I'll always be here for you, Eden. I promise."
"Good," she said. Dropping his hands, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. "Good," she repeated. "I'm glad."
A/N: This story was supposed to be about Lucy and Cobra. But it seems Eden demanded that it was her turn for the spotlight to focus on her angsty problems. By the way, Eden is Fem!Edward Elric, just so y'all know. :)
Also, if anybody has any prompt ideas, please drop me a PM or leave a review. I'm constantly on the prowl for new ideas. :)