Blue with Envy

For the first few months there, Natsu and Happy kinda just walked on eggshells. They didn't know what to do, after all, with a kid. The closest they had ever come was babysitting Gajeel and Levy's baby, Locke, and the few times they'd been around Laxus and Mira's kid, Haven. His kid though seemed nothing like either of them.

She was quiet. And then, when she wasn't quiet, she was screaming. And a few times, she'd get really happy and giggle or babble. Then it was back to crying. Or pooping. Or needing to be fed. And the puke, well, that was just unimaginable.

All in all though, it wasn't a completely unpleasant experience. Although, with the pregnancy and then a new baby at home, Lucy wasn't exactly able to come out on missions anymore. This left poor Natsu and Happy to either go alone or, occasionally, go with Erza and Gray. It just wasn't the same without their celestial wizard though.

When they were home though, Natsu and Happy found that things, once again, had changed. Before, while she was pregnant, Lucy had had some strange rules. Like they had to clean up after themselves, make their own meals, and actually weren't allowed to annoy her anymore. She claimed that those thing would help relieve stress and, as he didn't want nothing to happen to his little baby grow inside her, Natsu was fine with at least trying to follow the rules. They were more of guidelines than anything.

But when the baby was born, she was even more strict. No yelling, no bouncing around, no inviting people over without asking. The list went on and on. Plus, she actually expected Natsu to help change the baby and get her fed. Sometimes that was fun, sure, but other times…

Still, she was his baby. And it was fairly obvious. She looked just like him! …Or at lest he insisted that she did. It didn't rightly matter if she truly did or not. How could you tell, with the way that babies faces are all scrunched up and stuff? Nah, fact was just for people that thought too much. Natsu had decided that she looked like him and that was all that mattered.

And boy, did she get more fun the older she got! The more days that were added on, the more interactive she became. It seemed so sudden that she was able to drink more than just milk and actually play with toys (sort of). And even when she wasn't capable of playing with them, Natsu was just fine with doing it for her, usually to the amusement of Lucy, sometimes to the annoyance.

At the moment though, Natsu was sitting on the living room floor, blocks and other soft toys strewn around, as he sat cross legged in front of his baby. She was enjoying banging blocks together and he was totally enjoying watching her.

"Look at ya, Navi," he congratulated as the baby giggled. "You're so smart. Huh? Just like me."

"I sure hope not," Lucy remarked as she walked through the living room, headed towards the kitchen. "Lunch in ten, Natsu, Happy."

"Thanks, Luce."

"Aye, sir," Happy responded joyfully from where he was over in the corner, working out some. Err, rather, he was running in place for, oh, five minutes at that point and was kinda all pooped out. Lunch sounded swell.

"Hear that, Navi?" Natsu waved a plushie version of himself that he'd gotten down at the souvenir shop at the guild in her face. She liked to chew on it sometimes, which to him meant it was pretty much her favorite toy ever. He tried to give one to Haven and Locke too, as a show of good faith to their fathers, but both men has practically shoved it back down his throat. Apparently they didn't want their kids to play with dolls of him. Go figure.

Probably jealous.

"It's almost time to eat." Natsu grinned at her, tilting his head to the side. "You hungry?"

She only babbled back at him, dropping her blocks then before reaching for the plush. She only knew a few words then and none of them referred to Natsu, but he was sure they'd get a Dada out of her eventually…or at least he hoped!

"Natsu, I'm tired," Happy complained as he stopped his running, panting slightly. "I think I worked out enough for the day. Don't you?"

"Sure do, little buddy," he said, though he didn't glance at Happy. Frowning, Happy came closer to stare down at Navi as well. It would be an understatement to say that his relationship with both Natsu and Lucy hadn't been strained by the arrival of the baby. Because it had. In the past thirteen months, Happy had noticed the severe backburner effect that was cast upon him. He'd asked Lily about it once, as he'd no doubt gone through the same thing, but the other Exceed only chuckled.

"It is childish, Happy, to be jealous of a human child," Pantherlily had laughed as Carla, who was seated with them that day in the guildhall, shook her head.

"I'm not jealous of Navi," he complained, glaring at both of them. "I'm just saying that Lucy and Natsu don't-"

"They have a child now, Happy," Carla told him with a roll of her eyes. "It is only natural that it would take up most of their time."

"Yes," Lily agreed. "Gajeel and Levy both spent much time with Locke that first year. Much. And even after. But I did not and do not see this as a slight towards me. I am the child's best friend. You should attempt to be the same with Navi."

And he did try. Hard. But the baby was just so…so…much like a baby. She never did anything remotely interesting to him. And when he tried to be nice and share his fish with her, it only got him yelled at by Lucy.

Try as he might, the baby just got on his nerves for the most part. He and Natsu could have plans to go out and hangout together, go fishing or something of the like, but before they made it out of the house, if Navi even so much as whined, Natsu'd be running over to her crib to make sure that she was alright. Or if they were working out, he'd put it all on hold if Navi had an upset tummy and needed him to rub it.

She was just annoying. And not in the way that Lucy was annoying. Oh no. It was almost like the baby just didn't want him and Natsu to be together. Like she was the one that was jealous of him.

"Hey, Natsu," Happy was saying then as he looked at his best friend ever. "You wanna go down to the guild after this and-"

"No can do, little buddy," he told him as he reached out to stroke Navi's matching pink locks. "Promised my favorite little buddy that her and me would spend the day together. And that means all day. Don't it, Navi?"

Favorite little buddy? Happy only blinked as Lucy called out for them to come eat lunch. Not even concerned with his old little buddy, Natsu snatched up his new one, pressing tons of kisses to her cheeks to keep her from crying out about having to leave her toys.

If she was the favorite what was Happy? Huh?

"Like animal crackers, Navi? Huh?"

"Me," Haven reminded Locke as he opened his little baggie of the cookies that his mother had given him before he left the house that day. "I do."

"You can have some too," the dark headed boy giggled as Navi, who was seated on the floor with him, focused more on sucking on her fingers.

Gajeel, who was standing over the children, only snorted. Leave it to his kid to be the little sharer. The brats.

"It was real nice of you to bring Locke over to play, Gajeel," Mirajane told him from over at the couch, where she was seated with her sister and Lucy. "With Levy out on a mission, we figured we wouldn't see much of Locke."

"You kiddin'?" he grumbled, patting his boy on the head before heading to the door. "Free babysittin'? The hell I look like, passing that up?"

"No one said anything about free," Lucy commented, making a face at her best friend's husband as he left. "And you were supposed to bring more than a few animal crackers!"

"Yeah, yeah. I ate all the other stuff Levy gave me to bring."

"It was for the kids, Gajeel."

"They look just fine to me," he told her as he opened the front door. "Be around later, Locke, to get ya."

"Bye-bye," the little boy called, though he was more concerned then with making sure that both Haven and Navi got their fair share of crackers. Though he resembled his father heavily, the boy had the heart and brain of his mother. Being the oldest and the only boy meant that he was the leader and had to take care of the girls. It was his duty.

"Keep it down today," Mira told the others, glancing at her sister before at Lucy. "Laxus still isn't feeling too well. And me telling him that I'm pregnant went over like a wet blanket."

"Mmmm." Lisanna glanced down at her own stomach. "I couldn't imagine having a baby. It seems so…weird. You know?"

"Hear that, Happy? What Mira said?" Lucy called over to the blue Exceed, who'd followed her over to the woman's house that day. It was more because Natsu had an upset stomach (he'd eaten some bad sausage) and was stinking up the whole apartment. And since Wendy and Carla were out on a mission and Lily was going to be practicing with Gajeel, that left Happy with little else to do.

But Lucy had been kind enough to summon Plue for him to hangout with. The two were sitting pretty close to the children, both trying something interesting to do. But as they were in the house of the Thunder God, they were too afraid of messing anything up. And he was sleeping? No way they wanted to wake him.

Locke had finished by that point, handing out the crackers, and jumped up. Taking his share with him, he marched over to where Happy and Plue were sitting.

"Here you go," the little boy giggled, holding some of them out. "Hap and P'ue."

He actually said Plue's name like the word poo, but Lucy and all the others though it was just so cute. Plue didn't seem to notice though. He only happily reached out to take a few animal crackers for himself, making a noise as well that set Locke into some more giggles.

Happy took one as well, just to please the child, thanking him with a big smile. Locke only grinned back, his dark, tangled hair falling in his face. Gajeel was no doubt supposed to have combed it, as Levy had left so early that morning for her job with Shadow Gear, but the man probably neglected to. What else was new?

After tasting one of the crackers though, Plue spit it back out, shaking his head. Locke, seeing this, only grinned before reaching into the pocket of his pants. Then he produced a tiny lollipop.

"I forgets," he apologized to Plue before handing over the celestial spirit's favorite treat. "Gots it just for ya."

Plue was more than excited then. Suckers were, after all, the only thing he really lived on. Animal crackers weren't near sweet enough for him, but a lollipop?

"Plue," Happy complained as the white dog jumped up then to follow Locke back over to the girls. Sucker still stuck in his mouth, Plue sat right down next to them.

Great. So not only had the kids taken Natsu from him, but Plue too? What was the world coming to?

They stayed over at Mira and Laxus' place for most the day. The kids even took a nap at one point, Locke and Haven being tucked into the little girl's bed and Navi sleeping in Haven's discarded crib, which would be used soon for the new baby that Mira was carrying.

Then there was lunch, which Laxus was woken up for. He about coughed up a lung at one point, after playing something called dragons with the kids out in the backyard. Happy though got to spend some time with Plue though, but eventually he had to go back to the celestial world, leaving him behind.

"What's up with you, Happy?" Lisanna asked at one point when they were alone in the kitchen. Lucy and Mirajane had taken the kids back out to play while Laxus had gone off, back to his bedroom. It was only the two of them around.

"Nothing's up," he told her with a sigh as he sat at the table, staring at the plate of fish bone in front of him, leftover from lunch.

"You sure?" Lisanna was over at the sink, washing the dishes. Jumping up, Happy went to scrape his fish bones off into the trash before giving her the plate.

"Mmmhmm."

"Then how come you aren't out there playing with the kids? You miss Natsu?" She glanced down at him, cocking her head to the side. "Lucy said that he had an upset stomach or something."

"Nah," he said with a shake of his head. "I don't miss him. I'll see him later, I guess. Would rather be here than in a smelly apartment, after all."

Lisanna took to giggling. "I suppose you would."

"And besides," Happy said as he adjusted the little green knapsack he kept tied around his neck. "The kids are fun and all, but I just don't really wanna play with them."

"You don't? Well, you do play with Navi, like, every day, huh?" She giggled slightly. "I was talking to my boyfriend, Arik, about what it'd be like if, you know, we ever had a kid, but he-"

"Not you too, Lisanna!"

That definitely counted as an outburst. Frowning, Lisanna turned off the water before moving to dry her hands on a a dishrag.

"Happy," she said slowly, glancing at him. "Why wouldn't you want me to have a baby?"

"Because," he grumbled, looking off then. "It'd be just like it is with Natsu and Lucy. You'd only ever want to, you know, do stuff with your baby. And then…then I'd lose you too! And I don't wanna. Why can't things stay the same? Huh? Weren't we all happy? Before everyone started pairing off and having babies?"

Lisanna blinked. Then, after a sigh, she moved to get down on her knees in front of Happy so that they could meet each other's gazes. Instead of saying something stupid though, about how that's just the way life was or any of that garbage, she only nodded her head.

"I know, right? Now Mirajane can't ever just come hangout. Natsu or Lucy either. They have to find a sitter. It's beyond annoying."

"Aye, sir," Happy agreed, nodding his head. "Natsu and I can't ever go anywhere without him checking with Lucy first. Or sometimes, when we're out, we have to get home before sundown even, just so he can be there to tell Navi goodnight. And we can't go out after she's gone to bed. Because what if she needs something and he's not there?"

"Mira is the same way," Lisanna complained, rolling her eyes. "We can't even go out to eat without Haven. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I love the kid."

"Me too! I wouldn't ever let anything happen to Navi. She's, like, my kid too practically!"

"Right? And I'm totally not jealous of Haven or nothing. Not Navi or Locke either."

"No way! It's not that at all."

"I just…"

"Miss the past," Happy finished for her. And then they were just staring at one another, both feeling the exact same thing.

"Yeah," she said after a moment, nodding her head slightly as their eyes locked. "I feel like I'm the last one to grow up or something."

"Which is horrible when you consider the fact that Natsu's in the equation."

She only sighed before standing slowly. "But what can you do?"

And with that, the moment was over and Lisanna was gong back over to sink to finishes the dishes. Happy only stood there for a moment before finding the solution to their problem.

"Well," he said slowly. "We could always hangout together."

"Hmmm?"

He nodded his head when she looked over at him. "Yeah. Just me and you. 'cause we don't have to worry about kids or nothing. Just me and you! You can help me catch fish, like Natsu used to. And we can train together, even."

"Me and you? Alone?" Sure, she and Happy were friends. The best of them, even. She'd helped hatch him, after all. But they'd never spent any time alone together. Not really. That had more to do with the fact that Happy was never without Natsu, which was more than fine with her when they were kids. The older they got though…

"Sure," he said, nodding his head. "Why not?"

"Well, you work out with Natsu, for one. I don't think we'd be on the same-"

"Trust me, Lisanna," he sighed. "If I were honest with myself, me and you'd be probably more evenly matched than me and Natsu ever will be."

And then Lisanna was giggling and it made him smile and, and, and.

And the back door was opening and the kids were coming back in, Locke leading the way while the girls were in their mother's arms.

"Hi, Hap," Locke greeted, though he just as quickly headed passed him and into the living room. Giggling, Haven wiggled in her mother's arms until Mirajane released her and let her follow the boy.

"I think Navi's done for the day, guys," Lucy told the women then as she snuggled the aforementioned child to her. Sure enough, Navi was whining a little. She always got cranky when she got overtired. And the nap before, as it was joined with that of Locke and Haven, hadn't been very long, given the other two children were months older than her and didn't need to sleep as long. "So I think I'll go."

"That's fine," Mira told her, going to give Navi a little kiss. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course. See you later, Lisanna."

"Bye," the woman called. Then, glancing at Happy, she said, "We'll talk more tomorrow, huh?"

Happy only nodded, saluting her slightly. Laxus was coming into the room again then, grumbling to his wife about when everyone was leaving because they were keeping him up. That was more than enough of a cue for Lucy and Happy to take off.

"That was fun, huh?" Lucy looked to Happy as she pushed Navi's stroller down the sidewalk, heading back to their apartment. Happy was flying above her head.

"I guess so."

"Think it's safe to go back to the apartment now?" she asked.

He nodded slightly. "His stomach can't still be upset. Can it?"

"I sure hope not," she grumbled. "I told him not to eat that. I said that it was rotten and to just throw it out. But does he listen to me? No. He says that he has a stomach that can digest fire; what would a little rotten sausage do to him?"

"Make him smell horrible, apparently."

Lucy snickered before glancing down at her baby. "You think Navi had fun?"

"Who can tell?"

"I think she'll have more fun when she gets old enough to really play with them."

"Probably."

"So what were you and Lisanna talking about?"

That made him pause. "Huh?"

"You and Lisanna. When I came into the kitchen, you were talking, weren't you?"

"Not about anything interesting." Happy flew a little ahead of her then. "Race you!"

"No fair, cat. I am pushing a stroller, you know!"

When they got home, Natsu was more than happy to see them all. In fact, he was about to go out and get them. There was nothing he liked more than spending time with them, after all. Lucy and Happy were his closest friends and Navi was, well, his baby. And he'd always pledged to take better care of her than anyone ever had him.

"Hey, Luce?" Natsu asked that night as she started on dinner. He produced something from the fridge. "Can you make me some-"

"No more sausages!"

Happy was standing over by Navi, who was in her little high chair, banging one of her toys against it as she waited for her own dinner. Forcing his wings to appear, he then flew up, closer to her face, to stare at the girl.

She only stared at him, as entranced with his wings as she always was. She reached out for him, but he was too far out of her reach for her to grasp anything. After a moment, she gave up and took to whining.

"What's wrong, tiny buddy?" Natsu was over there in a flash, to stare down at Navi as well. "Or do you just want some attention?"

"If she's anything like you, yeah, that's probably what she wants," Lucy remarked as, against her better judgment, she allowed herself to be worn down by her husband enough so to make him those sausages for dinner. At least they weren't rotten.

"I think she wants you, little buddy," Natsu told Happy as the baby reached out for the cat again. Happy only frowned.

"Why? She doesn't want my fish, does she?"

"Do you have another freaking fish in that backpack? Happy, I told you to stop carrying around raw fish," Lucy complained. "They start to stink after awhile, you know that?"

"I'm gonna eat it soon!"

"Between you and Natsu, I don't know how Navi and I live here."

"It's the love, Luce," he told her as he reached out to ruffle Navi's hair. This only upset her more. "You love us so much that your heart outweighs your sense of smell!"

"Yeah, if only."

Happy fluttered closer to Navi then who only reached out some more. Giving her his paw, he was rewarded with silence. Finally. Even when she took to making babbling noises again, it wasn't as bad as the sound of her crying had been.

"Hey, no fair, Navi! You can't have 'im. Totally mine." Natsu made a face at his daughter who only giggled and let go of Happy before reaching out for Natsu to pick her up, which he readily did. "Good girl."

It was Happy's turn to glare at Natsu. "You're totally jealous."

"Heck yeah I am. You're my little buddy." He nuzzled Navi's head, making her look up at him. "It's the one thing you can't have. Now, Lucy, well, just name your price."

"Watch it, Natsu, before this sausage gets tossed in the trash," Lucy complained, glaring over at them.

He only laughed though, making the baby in his arms giggle. Grinning himself, Happy then went to go land on Natsu's head.

A year out and Lily wasn't completely off, but Happy was far from Navi's best friend. But that didn't mean he was, like, envious of her and Natsu or anything. Nah. Besides, he had Lisanna.

And what could be better than that?

I mentioned that Natsu and Lucy had a kid back in Remember Me and never named it, but…I've kinda loved the name Navi since I first played Ocarina of Time and, well, I finally got a chance to use it. And I could see Happy getting a little annoyed over Natsu having a 'new little buddy' parse. It would change a lot of things, I figure.

…And I won't lie. I did just kinda want to write some more stuff about Haven and Locke.