Here is another story. This is a Christmas one and since Christmas is one of my favorite holidays I decided to do a Christmas crossover staring the Fairytail characters as characters from The Grinch.

Natsu stars as Cindy Lu

Lucy/Erza/Gray star as best friends of Natsu

Igneel stars as Natsu's father

Mavis stars as Max

Zeref stars as Grinch

You will notice that this is based off more of the 2018 version than in 1966. That's because the new movie had more content and character development so you will see some pretty obvious similarities.

Finally, Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail or How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Now, onto the story!

It was Christmas time down in Fairyville, and all the Fairies were decorating their houses all around their tiny village beyond the hills. There were lights and garland and stockings and trees, presents and food and Christmas wreaths. And in one little house a child stood, staring through the trees and into the woods.

His father was out there chopping down a Christmas tree. Wrapped in scarves and coats and snow pants he chopped and chopped until the evergreen fell down with a thud. Then Natsu watched as his father hauled the tree into the house. "Here we are, son. A nice, full, green Christmas tree."

"Wow daddy, it's so green!" Natsu quickly hurried over and helped his father haul it into the living room. Then he helped his father stand the tree up before both of them moved back to take a look at it. "It's beautiful." Natsu whispered, his eyes twinkling with wonder. He hadn't thought that anything could be so beautiful. "Can we decorate it now?"

"Yes." Igneel said and opened the decorating box. Natsu loved to decorate with his father, it was one of his favorite things to do. Christmas was his favorite time of year, even if his entire family wasn't there anymore. Christmas had never been the same after his mom died and his brother left. Nothing ever would be the same again.

But he and his father made the best of it and celebrated just as merrily as they would every year. It was hard to move on and celebrate without them, but Natsu loved Christmas too much to dwell on sad things. "Is it okay?" Igneel as him.

"It's perfect." The young child replied, a huge toothy grin spreading across his face. So, they wrapped the lights and the garland, and the ornaments on the trees. Natsu took a few steps back after they were done, admiring his work. "I love it." And it wasn't the tree he loved, it was what it signified. "Do you think… do you think mommy likes it just as much as we do."

"Of course, honey. She loves it more than you'll ever know. She's watching over us, celebrating with us, just like she does every year." Igneel said.

"What about nii-chan. Is she watching over him?"

Igneel pursed his lips. It was no secret to Natsu that his father was mad at his brother for leaving them so shortly after her death. "Yes. She loves him too, she's celebrating with him too." Igneel smiled finally.

"What about you? Do you love nii-chan?" Igneel nodded, patting his son on the head.

"Of course."

Then Natsu smiled and continued to decorate the house with wreaths and lights. "I love Christmas." He said, stringing up more lights on the trees.

"It's the best time of the year." His father responded.

Once they were done decorating Natsu looked up at his father and said, "Let's put on the angel now." Igneel nodded and picked his son up, setting him on his shoulders so the tiny boy could reach the tippy top of the evergreen tree and place the angel right on top, front and center.

"That's a beautiful placement job." Igneel complimented, setting his boy down.

"I learned from you." Natsu said.

"Ha! That'd explain it. Now, why don't we go eat some dinner before you get up to bed. Only five days till Christmas after all." Natsu nodded so both he and his father ate some food before Natsu went upstairs to go to bed.

"Daddy… I've decided I'm going to write a letter to Santa Clause." His father was silent, blinking.

"But you haven't written to Santa Clause in a few years. You thought that he already knew what you wanted, and that's proven to be true." Igneel said.

"Yeah but, this Christmas wish is really special. It isn't something materialistic like a new skateboard. I'm worried that if I don't mail a letter to Santa Clause then he won't know what I really want."

"Um… alright, then, why don't you write a letter to Santa Clause first thing tomorrow morning and then we can mail it, how does that sound?"

"It sounds great, dad." Natsu said, smiling.

"Don't worry, honey. I know it's our first Christmas without them, but it's gonna be just as magical." Igneel patted Natsu's shoulder.

Natsu smiled slightly, nodding. "Yeah, I know dad… I know."

"Goodnight my little dragon."

"Night." Natsu said and rolled over, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

The next morning Natsu awoke to light pouring in from his bedroom window. Natsu squinted and sat up, yawning before hopping out of bed and running quickly down the stairs to the kitchen where he grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper before parking himself at the dining room table, writing a letter to Santa Clause.

"Writing your letter to Santa Clause?" Natsu jumped when hearing a voice behind him.

"Yeah dad, I am. Can I mail it to the North pole?" he asked, sealing the envelop and slapping a stamp on it.

"Yes, sweetie. Go mail it." Igneel said.

"Can I play with my friends too?" Igneel nodded, shooing him out of the house.

"Yes, yes, go on!"

So, Natsu ran off into Fairyville where he could catch the mailman and give him his letter. Everywhere he turned there were trees and wreaths. Everywhere, everyone was setting up for Christmas, and they greeted him as he ran through the snow. "Hey Natsu!"

"Hi Mira!" Natsu cried waving. The older girl smiled and asked,

"Where're you going?"

"I'm gonna mail this letter to Santa!"

"Well good luck!" she called.

"Thanks!" Natsu cried and kept running. He had to hurry if he was going to reach the mailman in time to deliver his letter.

As he was running Natsu placed his foot on a slick piece of snow and his feet slid out from under him. "AH!" Natsu cried out as he kept sliding on the snow.

Natsu tried to regain his balance, ice-skating around the town of Fairyville, trying not to fall. Several people had already dived out of the way of his pursuit. "Hey, Mr.!" Natsu yelled as he slid towards a man, wrapped in scarves and coats. Black hair protruded from his hood and his eyes were covered from ski glasses. "Watch out!" he cried, trying to slide out of the way but unable to. The man looked up, Natsu could almost see the shock on his face. The man cried out and threw his hands up before Natsu barreled right into him. Natsu groaned before slowly looking up.

"Watch where you're going." He said, standing up and brushing himself off. Natsu blushed from embarrassment at his own clumsiness and said,

"I'm sorry Mr. I'll be more careful next time."

The man stared at him for a while longer before simply nodding and walking onward. Natsu blinked as he stared after him. He thought that the way the man had been acting was rather strange, but he shrugged it off and kept walking merrily to see the mailman just one block ahead.

As he was walking, he met some of his friends on the way. In fact, he saw his best friend. Natsu smiled, waving and ran over to her. "Hey, Natsu." Lucy said, smiling and hugging him. "I haven't seen you in a little while, how're you doing?"

"I'm fine, Luce! In fact, I'm better than fine. I've decided what I'm going to ask Santa for Christmas his year!"
"Oh really, what're you going to ask him?" Lucy asked, pretty brown eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Oh um, I don't really want to say. It's kind of silly and I know that he probably won't be able to get it but… I'm going to try anyway!"

"Well, even if you can't tell me, I hope you get what you ask for."

"Thanks Lucy, you're the best." Natsu said, smiling.

Then he heard a voice behind him, hands covering his eyes. "Guess who."

"Uh, it's Erza right?" Natsu said. Erza giggled lightly and removed her hands, smirking.

"Good job, flame brain, maybe you aren't a total idiot after all." Gray said, coming up behind Erza. Natsu rolled his eyes as Gray put some money into Erza's hand.

"I told you he would guess it was me."

"Meh, whatever." Gray said shrugging. "So, how are you Natsu?" They all knew that this was the first Christmas without his mom and brother.

"You know… it's hard, sure but… they've just been gone for such a long time, that this hardly seems any different than any other day. Besides, mom's still celebrating with us even if we can't see her. And my brother, well… he's out there too. And he'll have a great Christmas." Natsu said, grinning.

"I'm sure he will." Lucy said, grabbing Natsu's hand. "Come on, you said you were gonna mail that letter, right?"

"Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me. Come on guys!"

So, the four children hurried down main street to where the mailman was taking letters out of mailboxes. "Hey!" Natsu cried, hurrying up to him.

"Yeah, what?" Macao asked, glancing down at the four children. Natsu thrust his letter out at the mailman, grinning widely.

"This is my letter to Santa can you make sure it gets to the North Pole for me?"

"Uh, sure, Natsu. I'll get this letter to the North Pole lickity split!"

"Thank you, Macao!" Natsu cried and waved goodbye as Macao rode off in his car. "I'm happy." Natsu said. "Even though this holiday won't be the same, it'll still be the best."

"I know." Lucy said. "Believe me, it wasn't easy after my mom died. It's still hard, but it gets better." Natsu nodded.

"Yeah, when my parents died and Aunt Ur took me in, I was kind of in a bad emotional state, but now, we can still celebrate Christmas happily!"

"And after my dad died my mom and I were heartbroken, but we learned to live each day without him. We have to keep living, that's just the way of the world."

"Yeah…" Natsu said nodding. "I know you guys have all lost people but… nobody in your family has left you by choice. I feel like I wasn't good enough for him. That the only reason he stayed was because mom was there."

"Nonsense, Natsu. You were his favorite person in the world." Lucy said. "He's just sad like you and Mr. Dragneel. He still loves you, he just needs some alone time to adjust. He'll come back, I know he will, I can feel it." Lucy said smiling. Erza nodded in agreement.

"Well, I have to get back to helping mom decorate, but I can play later with you guys." Erza told them.

"Well, I have to bake cookies at home too. My dad's hopeless." Lucy said, giggling. "But I can play later too!"

Then, the girls left leaving Natsu and Gray alone on the curb. "Listen Natsu…" Gray said, staring at the snow. "I know that the girls told you that he would come back, but you have to know that… sometimes, people don't come back." Gray's eyes had dulled slightly as if he didn't see anything that was in front of him. "Sometimes people leave, and they stay gone. Not everybody comes back, not everybody loves you as much as you think they do."

"Is this about Lyon? He said he was going away for a while Gray, but he'll be back."

"No, he won't." Gray said bitterly, his eyes clouding over. "Lyon just sent us a letter. He got a girlfriend, her name's Merudy, they live in a big city, own an apartment, and a cat. They're gonna get married, he's never coming home."

"Gray, he'll visit." Natsu said.

"Natsu, he's been gone for over five years, over half my life. If he hasn't come back yet, then he's never going to." Gray said. "I'm just warning you. It's good to have hope, but not too much. Or reality will come to keep you in check."

"Gray, he'll come back, he's just busy."

"Aunt Ur has been singing the same toon for over five years. Every Christmas she tells me he'll come back next year, well guess what, he never did. And he's never going to and even if he did all I'd want to do is sucker punch him."

"Well me and my nii-chan don't have that relationship!"

"Well, neither did Lyon and I. But relationships change, Natsu. People you used to love can become somebody you'd never recognize, no matter how long you look. And not everyone comes back. You can believe what you'd like Natsu, but as your friend I'm telling you the reality of the situation. He might not come back. That's just how it is." Gray shrugged.

"NO! He'll come back, and we'll all be together again!" Natsu shouted. Gray stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked slowly in the direction of his house.

"I truly hope he does, I truly hope he comes back because you want him to but sometimes… sometimes what we want changes as you grow older. I hoped Lyon would come back a long time ago, I was wrong, but for just this once, I hope your right." After a few more minutes of walking Gray disappeared behind the corner of another house, leaving Natsu to stare after him, eyes wide and confused hoping that he was right as well.

A/N Here it is. I'm not sure where this is going but I plan for it not to be long. Maybe five chapters give or take a few. This might take a while and I can't guarantee it will be done by Christmas, but it will get done. I'm going to separate the chapters by days since there's only five days left till Christmas (in this story). This was Day 1, next chapter will be Day 2. You might also have noticed that the first paragraph was full of rhyming. I planned for the first paragraph of each chapter rhyme so that's what I'm going to do even if it sucks. Anyway, I apologize for any mistakes and reviews/favorites/follows encourage me to update faster, so if you like this drop a review/favorite/follow. Thank you for reading, Bye!