Today was the perfect day. The sky was a clear bright blue, the sun was high in the sky, and it was the first night Nashi slept all the way through. Hopefully she did it again tonight. Finally, the sun had began to set and I sat in the rocking chair in our room slowing rocking Nashi to sleep. She was staring up at me with a familiar grin plastered on her face.

"You have his smile." I whispered to her.

She was a lot like her father. Her hair was the same shade of pink and she had the same charcoal colored eyes. Their shape was the same as mine but in all, I saw him in her eyes. Then her smile. It was exactly the same, including the small fangs.

I smiled back at her then began to hum, lulling her to sleep. Her eyes drooped more and more the more I hummed. Not before long, she was sleeping with her mouth slightly ajar. Very similar to the way He slept.

I had just put Nashi into her crib when I heard knocking on the door. I smoothed her blanket one last time before I grabbed the baby monitor and went to answer the door. I pulled the door open before checking to see who it was but I wish I had checked. Standing on my doorstep and the last person I ever expected to see was Natsu Dragneel. Sure I knew he would look for me after I left but I hoped he wouldn't find me like he hadn't found Igneel.

Even though it had been two years since I last seen him, he looked much older; that was probably because his childlike wonder was gone replaced by a surprising maturity. His hair was longer now but that suited him. Gone was his vest and white pants, replaced by a black t-shirt and surprisingly, jeans. He was a little taller now and he was more defined in muscle wise. And I know I was going to kick myself later for admitting it, but he looked twice as handsome as I remembered.

He finally found me.

"Hi." I said

Before I could protest, he gathered me in his arms and pulled me against him, holding on tightly.

"Lucy." was all he said.

"Can you let go?"

He did as I asked him but he looked disappointed that I did. He stood awkwardly in the entrance of my new home. I just knew he was going to be here for a while. He just found me, there was no way he would accept a door in his face.

"Want to come in?"

"Sure." he answered.

I lead him in and closed the door back. I showed him the couch and I moved to the chair opposite of him. Even over here, I could feel Natsu's eyes on me as he took in the few changes to my appearance.

My hair was longer but right now it was tied into a ponytail to keep Nashi from playing with it as easily. I wore a sweatshirt with a burping rag thrown over my shoulder but I highly doubted he knew what it was. My shorts showed off my legs which was probably the only thing that remained the same.

My chest was slightly bigger and I was still trying to trim the last few pounds off my waist from my pregnancy but he wouldn't know that.

"So.. what are you doing here?" I asked as quietly as I could. Didn't want to wake the baby I just got to sleep.

" I came to see you Lucy, I missed you." Natsu sounded offended.

"How did you find me?"

" What the hell, Luce. Why are you asking that?"

" I obviously left for a reason and didn't want you coming to find me." I mutter not really wanting to get into this.

The look of hurt on his face was painful for me to look at. I had to look at the table in front of him to keep myself from throwing myself into him and pleading for forgiveness for leaving like that. I had to remind myself that he deserved my departure and that he didn't care about me like I did for him.

"Why?"

I debated if I should tell him or not when I heard a loud shattering noise. It came from the back of my house and my first thought was to protect Nashi.

"Nashi." I whispered and went to go check on her. Natsu stood up at the same time I did and he ran towards the sound while I went to my baby's nursery. Thankfully, she was still asleep and I let a sigh escape my lips. But I still had the feeling of unease. I didn't know if it was because Natsu was here and I didn't want him here or if it was because of the sound we just heard that could mean anything. As I turned to go see what made the noise, I came in contact with who made the noise. Standing in front of the now closed door, was a hooded figure with a knife in their hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" I made my voice as level as I could manage but I could still feel it falter.

"There is no need to worry. I am only here for the child and then be on my way. If you don't interfere, you may leave this room alive." The figure threatened in a monotone voice.

"You're not getting my baby!" I snarled and pulled my whip off my hip.

I cracked the end as a warning for the intruder to leave but instead of leaving he lunged forward, swinging the blade in his hand in an arc. I flicked my whip forward, catching his foot and tugged forcing him on his back, all the while holding my ground in front of Nashi. From the ground, the man raised his knife and sliced behind my knee, forcing me down. He gathered himself and rose from the floor. Now he towered over me but I wouldn't give up that easily. I brought my whip back up and snapped his torso with a loud crack. He jumped back almost in time to dodge my attack but not fast enough. I could tell that it connected. This angered him and he let out a cry. He charged me again and haphazardly slashed the air, trying to cut any part of me he could.

I needed to get that knife away from him. I positioned my whip while dodging another swing. With just the flick of my wrist, my whip snapped up and knocked the knife out of the man's hand and out of sight.

"Infuriating Bitch!" the man sneered. It was then that he decided to show he was a mage and use magic. His entire right arm lit itself in an ugly green flame.

"I've never been infuriating before." I commented while drawing out my keys. "Open! Gate of the maiden! Virgo!" A golden light formed at the end of the key I summoned and Virgo popped out with a bow.

"Time for punishment, princess?"

"No. Get Nashi and protect her at all costs. If I go down, run to Natsu." I ordered.

"Your celestial spirit cannot help save the baby!" The man laughed.

The joke was on him however. He was underestimating me and my spirits. Most of celestial wizards could only summon one at a time but not me. I could summon two Zodiac spirits at once. But I was going to save that as my trump card. So I stood in the room with the fire mage holding only a whip.

The man tried to run at Virgo but I snapped by whip on his shoulder distracting him from the spirit.

"Over here sparky!" I called out, hoping taunting angered him more. And I was right. He didn't like it.

He took his opportunity to throw a fireball at me. I jumped out of the way and it landed on a blue teddy bear with a loud pop. Well, it wasn't blue anymore. The sound that came with the impact caused Nashi to wake up and start to cry.

"You charred Nashi's teddy bear! And you woke her up!" I yelled at him. I brought my whip all the way around then flicked it towards his hood. I heard the sickening snap of leather against skin. A sharp hiss escaped his unseen mouth and I felt a smile of accomplishment twitch my lips. I was so distracted by the fact that there was actually a face under the hood that I didn't see him throw another fireball until too late. I tried to dodge this one also but it managed to singe its way along my right side. Pain shot up through my entire side, causing me to gasp sharply and my eyes to water.

"Your flames look disgusting."

My head snapped to the door and saw that during the last attack, Natsu had walked into the room.

"Natsu, no! You'll destroy the place!" It was the only thing I could think to say at the time. But really, I didn't want to have to rely on Natsu like I used to. Especially now that I haven't seen him in two years.

"Come on, Luce. So little faith." Natsu teased.

The man saw the new situation and came up with the sum that he couldn't win. He dashed toward the window and jumped out before I had a chance to stop him. I wanted to interrogate him. I needed to know why he wanted my baby. But I guess I didn't have the time to think about that right now. Nashi was wailing now and I had to calm her down. Virgo just couldn't seem to do it no matter how hard she tried. I walked over to the spirit and took my baby away from her.

"I'm sorry sweetie. I didn't mean for the mean man to wake you." I cooed while rocking her in my arms. " You can return to the spirit world now Virgo."

"Good-bye Princess." and with that, she left.

Now it was just me and Natsu again. Nashi had calmed down to a quiet mummer but she hadn't went back to sleep yet. As I lulled her, I could feel Natsu's eyes on me.

"Shouldn't you clean up those wounds?" Natsu asked and I finally remembered what the man had been able to do.

"No. What I should do is get Nashi somewhere safe and fast." I responded not even caring if I got scars or worse. I just needed to make sure she was safe.

"Lucy, if those wounds get infected, who is going to take care of the kid?" Natsu argued. The second time tonight that he argued her.

"I guess the father will!" I snapped but I knew he had a point. Plus, I very well can't let the father raise her alone. "Fine. I'll go clean up."

I walked to the bathroom where I kept the first aid kit and gathered what I would need. "You're going to have to apply the salve. I'm not putting her down." I called out to Natsu who hadn't followed me.

When he came into sight, he looked troubled. "What's wrong?"

"Who is Nashi's father?"

The question I had been dreading. I cleared my throat and looked at the child in my arms rather than the man beside me. She stared back up at me with onyx eyes. Her skin tone and face shape was the same as mine. The only physical appearance she inherited from her father was the soft pink hair that sprouted over her small head and his eyes. I ran a hand over her locks, smoothing them down. I couldn't delay the inevitable anymore. My eyes found his charcoal colored ones and I opened my mouth.

"Natsu Dragneel."

He looked like a swallowed a giant pill after I told him. I thought it was because he had a kid. No, I was wrong.

"You disappeared because you were pregnant? You went through that alone?"

To me, it felt like he was talking to himself rather than to me.

"Listen, I know that telling you this is huge. But we really don't have time for this. Who knows when they'll come back for Nashi or how many this time. You're the one who said I needed to take care of this now get busy."

He nodded and began working on the cut on my knee and the burn on my side. It was so hard to keep my mind off the fact the Natsu's hands were currently all over my right side. It was so hard to ignore the electric pulses that coursed through me as he spread healing salve over my burn and knee. But I had to do it. I couldn't let him think I still had feelings for him. He would just use them to his advantage again.

…

I sat on the train with Nashi in my arms, sleeping. Her diaper bag was beside me and was crammed full of all her essentials. I had to pack anything that we would need in a haste to get out of there quickly. Fortunately, Natsu had just stood there on alert for any possible threat and didn't ask the questions I knew he was thinking.

Why didn't I tell him? Why did I leave knowing I was pregnant? Why did I choose to go through it all alone?

I would have to answer those eventually but I preferred when Nashi was somewhere safe. And that lead to the questions I had.

Why did that guy want my child? Was he alone, or did he work for a larger source? What would he do to her if I failed to protect her?

"No one is going to harm her." Natsu assured seeming to have read my thoughts.

"What if they do?" I asked, my voice low and soft.

"I won't let that happen. Fairy Tail won't let that happen."

I held my gaze on Natsu. I knew my eyes spoke the fear and uncertainty I felt right now. I had always been the weakest link in Fairy Tail. It was fully possible that Nashi was unsafe in my care alone. But Natsu had a point. Fairy Tail was filled with strong mages who are willing to throw their own lives on the line for their nakama.

" Were they mad? When I left?"

"Mostly sad. They never thought you would leave."

When the train rocked into motion, our conversation died. Natsu leaned his head back against the seat and kept his eyes tightly sealed as if trying to keep a grip on his motion sickness. There once was a time that I would have laid his head on my lap and would run my fingers through his hair to attempt to help his illness. I hope Nashi didn't inherit that from him. The town I had ran too after I left Magnolia wasn't too far away so thankfully it was a short ride.

It wasn't that long until I was standing in front of the guild holding my baby and her bag tossed over my shoulder. Natsu kindly grabbed my bags and carried them for me. Behind us, the sun was in its final stages of setting and I knew it would be dark soon enough. But I just couldn't get my feet to move forward. Natsu gave me a small smile and made his way to the door.

Taking a deep breath, I joined him by the door and waited as the door swung open.

Inside was just as I remembered. Full of people, each shouting at one another and a few fights could be seen erupting all across the hall. I was almost too afraid to walk in there with Nashi. But I knew that they wouldn't hurt her and it was my best chance at saving her. With that motivation, I stepped into the guild I had missed so much.

My first priority would be to talk to Master Makarov, then I could catch up with my nakama cause I knew that was coming.

.

.

.

After explaining the situation with Master, I spent most of the night catching up with everyone at the guild. Erza and Mira practically killed me for leaving and coming back with a baby. They were mostly upset because I did it all by myself but I know they were angry that I kept something as sweet as a baby from them. Levy was so excited about Nashi and was playing with her. Everyone else wanted to know who the baby daddy was. At this I was a little reluctant to answer but I eventually did.

"uh, It's Natsu."

I heard gasps ring out all over the massive hall. It had got so quiet after that, that I could hear Nashi's soft breathing in my lap.

Then shouts erupted everywhere.

"He's the dad!"

"When did that happen?"

"How did that happen?!"

"This Dumb ass is the father!?"

Various people had crowded around me, all statements and questions of their own. I was surprised when I noticed that Natsu was just sitting at a table and not fighting back.

"Don't crowd me. Y'all are going to wake up Nashi."

Several apologized and backed away, still muttering questions and statements of doubt. But as the more people left my side, the less nervous I got. However, Erza, Mira, And levy stayed behind.

"Lucy, perhaps you should take her home." Erza suggested.

"Where? I don't have anywhere to stay in Magnolia anymore."

I hadn't thought about all of this. What did I expect for us to do when we got here?

"I need somewhere heavily guarded. I don't want a repeat of the yesterday." I whispered lowly to the small group. I didn't want everyone to know and panic when I just came back home. For all they know, Natsu had found me and I came back because I missed them all.

" Y'all could stay with me and happy. Bring anyone you want to help Nashi, but I figure since it's practically hidden in the woods, nobody could find her." Natsu just stood beside the table and volunteered.

I thought it over. The last time I had been there, Natsu was too busy entertaining another girl. Part of me, I wanted him to know Nashi and be there for her but the other part didn't want to count on him to be there and him just disappear. But he did have a good point. His place was hidden in the trees and hard to find. I nearly got lost when trying to find it myself.

"Uh, sure."

.

.

.

Later that even, I was sitting outside Natsu's house staring at Magnolia, the place I missed so much. Nashi was inside with Natsu, Erza, and Gray. The idea of Natsu finally meeting Nashi – granted two full years later- lifted a great weight off my shoulders and filled me with a hope that maybe Nashi can grow up knowing both parents even if we weren't like other families.

I was still going over the thoughts when I heard someone exit the small house behind me.

"It's getting kinda cold out here. Don't you think you should come inside?" Natsu asked when he stood beside me.

"Just give me a few more minutes." I mumbled without looking up at him.

Natsu, clearly not wanting to leave me alone, sat down beside me but giving a foot of space between us. We sat in silence for what felt like hours. It was really awkward. Whenever we hung out like this, it was never quiet like this. Not one moment of silence ever fell between us.

Finally, Natsu broke the quiet. "Were you ever going to tell me or did you plan to raise her on your own?"

I noticed how he avoided looking at me. Just kept his eyes on the ground or towards the sky.

My mind whirled as I thought about the question. Did I ever plan to tell Natsu? If I did, when? When Nashi was ten? Sixteen? Or would I just leave a letter to Nashi finally telling her who her father was like Cana's mother did?

"I don't know." I finally muttered. It was kind of the truth.

"She's why you left, isn't she?" Now Natsu looked at me. Probably to tell if I would lie to him or not. Or maybe to see for himself what I looked like when I told him the truth?

"Partially."

"What else was there?"

"You."

Natsu looked stunned when he heard me say that. His mouth opened to say something but he changed his mind and shut it.

"Look, it happened but I don't think it matters right now." I tried to change the subject. But of course Natsu wouldn't allow it.

"No, it does matter. I need to know what I did so I can make up for it. So I can actually be part of your life. And hers." Natsu argued.

I was shocked. Too shocked to say anything. I just stood up and walked to the house, leaving Natsu on the ground alone.

.

.

.

this was my first copy for Saving Their Angel but I thought the other one was better. The small happy family.