A/N: Here is promt four for Laxana week- family. Ok, I'm not happy with how this came out. Originally this scene was supposed to be a chapter in a next-gen fic I'm writing called The Immortal Five Dreyars, with my other story Magic Merge as a prequel to it, but I couldn't reference a lot of stuff which was because it will ultimately just be confusing, so fair warning, one-shots particularly are not my forte. Anyways as always, read, review and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
"Hey Kyoko!" Uncle Grey called out to the little girl. The blonde five year old turned from where she was arguing with her best friends, the Dragneel twins, Jude and Igneel. Natsu grinned, quelling the laughter that had risen due to a certain piece of information given to them by a reliable source. The little girl smiled over at her uncles, making her way towards them.
"Yes Uncle Grey?" she asked sweetly, in one of her better moods. It was well known that the Dreyar siblings had all inherited their parents temper, let alone other such undesirable traits. Kyoko looked up at them, eyes wide, biting her lower lip as she waited for a response. Grey nudged Natsu, the pair grinning as he leant forward to match her eye level.
"Does your Daddy sing to you sweet heart?" Grey asked, barely keeping a straight face. Any dirt on the Guilds new master was like gold around here. Kyoko frowned in confusion, searching his face.
"How did you know? It was me and Daddy's secret." Kyoko said, a little hurt that maybe her Dana had told someone about her special song. Wait, that didn't make sense, her Daddy would never tell a secret, not to anyone. Her confusion immediately transformed into suspicion, taking a step back.
"Your Dad told us, but he wouldn't sing, so I was wondering if you could tell us what it sounds like?" Grey asked, at hearing his words Natsu became excited, leaning forward to match Grey's stance.
"Is it like Uncle Gajeel's or more like Auntie Mira's?" Natsu asked insistently. Kyoko frowned at the pair at first, but decided that she should trust her uncles, looking over her shoulder to see if her parents were around. Her Daddy seemed to be in his office, talking to someone, and her mum was taking Macky to visit Grams.
"Umm, its sorta like a what a wolf would sound like." Kyoko said, searching for the right way to explain his deep soothing voice. Natsu and Grey grinned at each other, laughing in sync as if on cue. They started howling like wolves between laughs, rocking back and forth. Kyoko glared at the pair, finally comprehending the reason for their question. They were making fun of her Daddy, no one except Mummy was allowed to do that. Kyoko felt the adrenalin course through her veins as her fury rose, magic energy flowing into the young mage. Grey and Natsu froze when they realised they had triggered Kyoko's beast transformation.
"You shouldn't make fun of Daddy like that." Kyoko ground out, her dress tearing slightly as her hands transformed into the claws of a tigress, the fine hairs all over her body thickening until the orange and black coat replaced her skin. Before the pair could call Gildarts over in the hope he'd be able calm her down she launched forward, clawing at their faces.
"Ahhh" Natsu yelled, trying to shuffle away. Grey settled for trying to get his hands around her waist so he could hold her at arms length and maybe get her to one of her Grandfathers before he was torn to shreds by the little time bomb.
"Kyoko Cornelia Dreyar," Laxus voice boomed from above them, "Stop attacking your uncles right this second!" Laxus ordered, arms folded. Kyoko froze, stopping her transformation and letting the magical energy flow from her body. She stepped back, blood splattered across her dress and hands from the hundreds of minor wounds she inflicted on the two men. Grey and Natsu were relieved at first, but soon came the realisation that Laxus would find out what they we're laughing at, at that definitely would not end well. Grey stood, nodding at Laxus in an attempt to make a quick get away but Kyoko stood on his foot rather painfully, growling at him. Laxus raised an eyebrow at Grey who smiled nervously. Laxus frowned, lowering himself to his daughters level. "Now I want you to apologise to your Uncles for hurting them like that, ok?" Laxus said patiently, watching her cherubic face scrunching in distaste.
"Not unless they apologise first." She said, a tone of finality ringing in her voice. Laxus eyebrows rose, talking back like this wasn't one of Kyoko's faults, something pretty major must have happened to make her this riled up. Laxus looked up at the two men questioningly. The pair were locked in silent conversation.
"We're sorry Kyoko." Natsu said quickly, ready to make his belated getaway. But he was stopped by Kyoko irritated voice.
"Not to me! Say sorry to Daddy for making fun of his singing." She said over her shoulder, her eyes threatening. Laxus stood, arms crossed. No wonder she was so upset, he thought to himself, Kyoko'd tear apart anyone who mocked a Fairy Tail mage, even if they were fellow mage, let alone those who mocked her family.
"Oh, and what were they saying about my singing, Kyoko?" Laxus asked sweetly, taking his daughters hand.
"They were howling and laughing, it wasn't very nice." Kyoko said with a slight pout, just like her mother. Laxus grinned as the two mages turned to face him, a wince planted on both of their faces- there was basically no way of getting out of this in better condition. Laxus' smirk turned into a frown, realising he shouldn't be condoning the use of violence to his daughter.
"Well if the two of you apologies, I'll forgive you." Laxus said, but his eyes gave a completely different message. The mages gulped, nodded and quickly said
"I'm sorry." before departing hide behind their respective wives. Laxus sighed, looking down at his blood stained daughter, then over his shoulder to where Levy was waiting for him in his office. Laxus reluctantly lead her between the tables to where a greying Gildarts sat, beer in hand. He glanced over his shoulder to see his granddaughter, in trouble as usual.
"Get into another fight eh, Kyoko-chan?" her Granddad asked, standing to pick her up, holding her with one arm under her thighs.
"Don't encourage her; Cana's going to have a fit when she gets back." Laxus said, running a hand through his hair. Gildarts rolled his eyes, giving the worried mage a quick peck on the cheek.
"Don't worry about it Kyoko-chan, I bet it was those idiot Dragneel twins again, wasn't it?" Gildarts asked, her response was a silent head shake.
"If she starts swearing, I'm blaming it on you." Laxus said, feeling a little guilty at how upset his daughter looked, she wouldn't have missed his comment about Cana. Gildarts chuckled, lifting her a little closer to his face.
"Now you wouldn't want to get Grandad in trouble would you?" He asked, grinning his usual carefree grin. Kyoko shook her head, biting her lip to hide her smile. Laxus watched the two, glad his daughter had such an adoring grandparent despite his personal disagreements with the man.
"Anyway, I've got a meeting to get back to, so I'll see you later sweetheart." Laxus said, brushing his thumb against her cheek. "Cana you clean her up a bit before Cana gets back in an hour? I've got a change of clothes in a bag behind the counter so just ask Mira for them and I'm sure it'll be fine." Laxus said to Gildarts quickly, striding across the guild, over the kids which made up the guilds next generation. Gildarts abandoned his drink, walking to the bar to secure a change of clothes for the little girl.
"So who was it this time?" Gildarts asked, and the little girl frowned.
"Uncle Grey and Uncle Natsu…. They made fun of Daddy and I just got so mad…" Kyoko said quietly as they walked into the sick bay, closing the door behind them. Gildarts took her over to the shower.
"Arms up" Gildarts said, pulling the dress up over her head. She discarded her underwear and hopped into the shower, waiting for her granddad to fix the water for her. As he adjusted the taps Gildarts spoke to her, trying to help her in some way.
"I used to be like that, every time someone insulted Fairy Tail I'd make them fight me." Gildarts said, finally getting the water the way she liked it.
"Did you win?" Kyoko asked, scrubbing off the blood dried to her skin and underneath her nails.
"Usually, but one day your Gramps stopped me and asked me something I'd never thought about before." Gildarts, thinking about how to rephrase it so a five year old would understand.
"What was it?" She asked as her scrubbing continued.
"He asked me what gave me the right to hurt other people because I was hurting." Gildarts said, sorting through the bag of clothes until he found some shorts and a shirt that looked to be her size. Her efforts paused for a moment as she considered the question.
"I've never thought about it like that." She said, more to herself than her grandfather. Gildarts smiled, hopefully from now on she'd only get into a fight a couple times per day. "But what if you're trying to stop them from hurting other people?" she asked, surprising her granddad as he usually was with their conversations.
"Well, I think at least, when people fight they are fighting either to protect a person or what they believe in. And if you're not fighting for one of those then you're never going to really win." Gildarts said, reaching his hand in to turn off the taps.
"But how do you decide whether or not your protecting something?" She asked, reaching for the towel he offered. She wiped herself down and Gildarts helped her get dessed, chucking her bloodied dress in the garbage.
"It comes with practice. You just need to think hard before you hit someone, and one day you'll find something you can't back down from." Gildarts said, ruffling her hair. She smiled up at her Granddad, taking his hand as they walked back out into the guild.
"Kyoko only go in two fights today." Laxus said, his pregnant wife lying beside him, bags under her eyes. "And Sana won the riddle competition." Laxus said proudly. Despite how much time he had to dedicate to the Guild and its subsequent issues, he was always watching over their four children. "That Dragneel girl and Ceilie are practically inseparable. Today all the kids made houses out of ice-cream sticks." Laxus continued, leaning over to retrieve a box of Cana's favourite chocolates that he bought at the store on the way home.
"That's good, I think Gildarts said something to her. They always seem to understand each other." Cana said quietly, thankful for the rare quietness of the house at nine at night. Laxus smiled at her lovingly, placing the sweets in her lap. Eyes already closed she ran her fingers over the box, smiling as she realised what it was. "Thank you, I'll put them in my secret stash in the morning." Cana said, smling as Laxus pulled her into his arms, his lips pressed to his chest.
"Night Cana."
"Night Sparky."