This was mostly inspired by Love_Psycho and Gloomiebunnie009's Baby of the Future on AO3. It's similar to Another Chance being inspired by liketolaugh's Cosmic Composite. If you don't want to read it, nobody's forcing you to.
Also, I apologize to all of my followers looking forward to more updates on my other stuff. I'm seriously sorry. End-of-year testing has started, and won't end 'til next week. While I will still be writing, there will be no updates in this amount of time.
Another Chance - Chapter 10, one third done, expect sometime in May
Demon Baby Daddy(s) - Chapter 8, written, will be published the week after testing
A Change of Fate - Chapter 2, almost finished, published sometime in May
Title: Future's Children
Rating: T
Pairings: Gray/Natsu
Summary: One day, when coming home from a mission, Team Natsu find a couple of kids on the side of the road. Natsu and Gray are confused as to why they're calling them Mama and Papa, while Erza, Lucy and Wendy are only curious why the two kids look like miniature versions of their teammates. Who are these kids and why are they here?
Warnings/Notes: Female!Natsu, Unlikely/Impossible circumstances, Cussing, Possible gore later
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Hoseki and Nikko. I'm only writing this for your entertainment.
"Mommy! I wan' my mommy!" cried a little boy with dirtied pink hair.
"Quiet down," hissed one of the guards. "Before you get us in trouble."
The young child with bruises on his face seemed to understand, so he clammed, but still let out a few whimpers and hushed sobs, tears streaming down his face.
"Good," the same guard grumbled.
"Thank god. I thought the damn brat would never shut up. He gives me a headache when he screams for hours on end like that. Doesn't help that he does it every day," the other guard said. The boy's highly sensitive ears picked it up and he hiccupped. Then, another voice spoke up, a girl's, definitely older than the boy.
"Stop picking on my brother, you meanies!" she exclaimed from her neighboring cell.
"Oh? Does the little missy think she's hot shit?" the first guard asked.
"Just leave him alone!" the same girl yelled.
The second guard opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, there was a flash of light and whispered words, too quiet for even the boy to hear. And then black.
Natsu let out a groan, arms swaying side to side. "Vehicles are evil," she groaned pitifully.
"I'm really sorry my Troia spell doesn't work anymore," Wendy pouted. Natsu turned to the youngest of the team and smiled gently.
"It's fine," the pink-haired female said. "I just hate vehicles."
"Makes me wonder why you haven't died yet, with how many vehicles you travel on," Gray teased.
"Shut up, Ice Princess," Natsu glared.
"How about you don't tell me what to do, Flame-for-Brains," the only male shot back.
"Stop fighting," Erza said menacingly, and the two quickly stuck to each other, one arm over the other's shoulder.
"Aye!" they said in unison.
Lucy giggled at their antics. Her team was still the same, despite seven years passing. Though, that should be expected, seeing as they were on Tenrou Island under the spell. Then, a quiet sound reaches her ears. It was like a keen, a high-pitched whine. Some hushed talking and the keening quieted down.
Tuning out her teammates for the time being, the blonde slowly approached the brush at the side of the road. Cautiously, as to not scare what - or who - ever was there, she pulled the branches of the bush apart to reveal two kids. One was a boy and the other was a girl. The boy had spiky pink hair, olive-green eyes and tan skin, while the girl had long midnight blue hair tied back into a ponytail, dark blue eyes, and pale skin.
"Hey, it's okay, Hoseki," the girl whispered, obviously older. "There's nothing to worry about. Mama and Papa will be here soon. They wouldn't forget us. I'm sure they're really worried."
"B-but, Nikko!" the boy - Hoseki - exclaimed. "I'm really scared! I want Mama and Papa!"
Lucy softly cleared her throat, causing the two kids to look at her. Their eyes filled with relieved tears and, in unison, they cried, "Auntie Lucy!"
In the blink of an eye, they throw themselves onto the blonde, causing her to fall backward. She let out a soft chuckle as she hit the ground with a soft oof. Lucy sat back up, now the center of attention for her team. Natsu looked at the kids in puzzlement.
"Who're they Lucy?" the pink-haired girl asked.
"Not sure," Lucy responded. "They just jumped on me and called me 'Auntie Lucy.'"
At the new yet familiar voice, the two kids looked up and saw Natsu. The little boy stood and ran for her, albeit slowly, as he was only about four or five.
"Mama!" he cried, latching onto Natsu's legs. The poor teen looked completely lost, staring down at the boy. Slowly, unsurely, she knelt and pet his hair that was colored identically to hers.
"Hey, hey, shh…" she said softly, attempting to comfort the crying child. The tears stopped, but he was letting out a high pitched keen, similar to a baby dragon's.
Meanwhile, the girl had walked over to Gray, then started punching his legs lightly, as if she was mad, yet didn't want to hurt him.
"Stupid Papa!" she yelled feebly. "You were supposed to protect us and you didn't!"
Although being completely confused, Gray knelt and pulled the girl into his arms, giving her a hug. He didn't know why he did it, but he felt that it was the right thing to do at this moment in time.
"It's okay, Papa's here now," Gray said, and the girl finally stopped pushing against him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as if he was going to disappear. He tried to pull away, but she just held him tighter, silently crying. Gray let out a sigh before standing, picking the girl up with him.
Natsu gave the boy hugging her legs a smile before drawing him into her lap, kissing his head lightly. Then she pulled her head away sharply. Why was she acting like this? Was she going soft or something? Light snoring brought her away from her thoughts. She looked down to see that the boy was now out cold, Natsu's jacket clutched in his fists. Natsu slowly stood, wrapping her arms around the child and picking him up.
Lucy looked at the two pairs. Obviously, the girl was Gray's kid, which the blonde could see, seeing as how he used to sleep around. But Natsu and the boy was confusing. Surely they would all notice if the pink haired girl got pregnant and gave birth. Plus, the age wouldn't match up either.
Erza also saw this, but she also saw that the boy shared similar features with Gray when the ice mage was younger, and the girl had Natsu's face and figure when the Dragon Slayer was that age. So, when had these two had kids? Were they even from this time? It was really hurting her head - surprisingly - so she put it off to talk with about Makarov later.
Wendy sensed the strong Dragon Slayer-like magic coming from the two. It was possible they were being trained by Dragon Slayers, maybe even a Dragon Slayer's children. But who would have had kids? Not any of the Dragon Slayers in Fairy Tail, so maybe one from a different guild or a stray Dragon Slayer, if there were any. Maybe she would talk to Gajeel and see what he thought - if he was even at the guild when they got back.
Natsu looked at Gray the same time he looked at her and they shared a moment of silent conversation using their gazes. It went a little something like this.
Hey Flame-Brain, looks like you're stuck with a kid.
Not like you have any room to talk, Ice Princess. You're holding one, too.
Do you sense anything strange about them?
A little. Also, you've stripped.
He looked down to see that, yes, he had indeed lost his shirt. When did that happen?
A little while ago, actually. I'm sure your shirt is in the bushes a ways back. Anyway, who do you think these kids are?
Well, they seem to know us.
Then their 'staring contest' was ended by Lucy saying to them. "I heard them talking earlier. The girl is Nikko-" Said girl looked over at the blonde, face now clear of tears. "-and the boy is Hoseki."
"Nikko and Hoseki, huh?" Natsu said, gazing at the sleeping boy. Nikko looked over, leaning her head on Gray's bare chest.
"Hoseki wore himself out," she said softly. "We were captured by the bad guys. Mama and Papa were supposed to protect us, but they lied. We were really scared, but I had to keep up a strong façade, to not let Hoseki freak out and burn everything down. It was hard." She her grip around Gray's neck tightened. "Don't leave us again."
Natsu smiled and walked over. "We won't, we promise."
Gray nodded, rubbing Nikko's head. "Yeah, we'll take you back to the guild now."
"Let's get going," Erza interrupted. "We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall."
"Right," everyone else nodded.
With that, Team Natsu - minus Carla and Happy - and their new additions set off through the trees, heading for the grassy plains not far ahead.
"Auntie Erza, where are we going?" mumbled a half-asleep Hoseki, who was now in Erza's arms - er, arm, as she cradled him with one and pulled her wagon of luggage with the other.
"Home, to the Fairy Tail guild hall," Erza replied with a gentle smile, gazing down at the pink-haired boy with affection. Despite his looks, he was nothing like how Natsu was when she was four - they had asked for their ages, Hoseki was four and Nikko was six. Granted, Erza didn't know Natsu when the fire mage was four, but the redhead was pretty sure the younger female was never this calm.
Natsu let out a yawn, watching the sun begin to settle behind the mountains in the distance behind them. A brisk wind sent shivers down her spine and she wondered how Gray - who never retrieved his shirt - could stand it. Actually, scratch that. He was an ice wizard, and he apparently had stripped in blizzards before. Crazy Ice Princess.
Nikko yawned right after Natsu, nuzzling her nose into Lucy's neck, who had taken over after Gray said his arms were starting to hurt.
"Is somebody getting sleepy?" Lucy asked softly. The midnight-blue haired girl nodded, yawning again.
"I'm not surprised," Natsu sighed, crossing her arms. "I'd be tired too if I was travelling all day at that age."
And then Hoseki yawned. What was up with all the yawning? Natsu felt like a zombie, she was so tired. Maybe that midnight walk to Gray's house was a bad idea after all. She didn't even go inside, just stood at the door for a moment before continuing. Natsu yawned again.
"Erza," she whined. "Can we stop for the night? I can barely stand any more. I feel like I'm about to fall over."
"Mama, did you stay up really late again?" Hoseki asked, though his words were slurred with sleepiness.
Natsu perked up at that, confused as to why they knew that.
"You tend to do that," Nikko replied, looking over at Natsu. "Mama has trouble sleeping sometimes, even when she sleeps with Papa." The two in question blush. "Sometimes Mama has nightmares and it keeps her up. She likes to read to us, and other times she takes walks."
How do they know? Natsu wondered. Are they really my kids, especially mine and Gray's?
Whether they are or not, they know too much about us for this to be fake. Then there's what Nikko said. Me and Gray sleeping together? She started to blush again, twiddling her thumbs. That's kind of… I mean… It's not possible.
Gray looked over at the Fire Dragon Slayer before stuffing his hands into his pockets. He had a similar train of thought, but silenced it quickly. There was no way that Flame-Brain had feelings for him, even if he liked her a little bit - okay, a lot, but Gray liked to deny that.
"Alright guys, let's go ahead and set up camp here," Erza said, setting the now sleeping Hoseki on the ground gently, but not before having Natsu put a blanket down for him. Lucy let Nikko down too, and the six year old walked over to her brother, then laid down next to him. They cuddled together and Wendy was reminded of the Fire and Ice mages. When they slept next to each other, they tended to cuddle together too.
Natsu and Gray set up a tent, and Lucy watched them, making sure they didn't fight, unlike the last overnight mission they were on. They both seemed deep in thought, yet worked like a team, flawlessly putting up the tent.
"I got Nikko," Natsu told Gray, picking up said girl.
"Then I'll get Hoseki," the Ice Mage responded, lifting the pink-haired boy into his arms. "Hope you don't mind sharing a tent Flame-Brain."
"As long as you don't freeze me to death, Ice Princess," Natsu said, shouldering her way into the tent.
"I won't if you promise not to burn me in my sleep," Gray shot back, and their friendly bickering continued as the rest of the team set up their tent.
"Those two kids are a lot like them, aren't they?" Lucy asked Erza and Wendy.
"Yeah. I sense Dragon Slayer magic from them too," Wendy replied.
"Really? I feel Maker magic," Erza told them, rolling over to look at the two girls.
"What if they're from the future?" Lucy exclaimed softly, eyes sparkling.
"Unlikely," Erza started. "But still possible. I suppose we'll talk to Master when we get back."
"Yeah, I think that's the best choice of action," Wendy said. "Anyways, good-night you two."
"Good-night," Erza responded.
"'Night," Lucy smiled.
Then the three fell asleep, as did the four in the other tent. They all had a long day ahead of them in the morning.
I apologize if it's not what you guys were hoping for. I'm planning on making a Gratsu(Gray/Natsu) one-shot sometime in the future. Not at the moment, but sometime in the distant future. Two, actually. And no, don't worry about either being female. They'll both be male in those. But this was the best thing I could come up with. I really hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, be expecting updates for all my other stuff. Thank you for being patient with me! I like reading your reviews because it warms my heart, and it's just really awesome seeing what people think. Anywho, thank you for reading and expect the next chapter in 2-4 weeks!