This is just a little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone. It finally managed to wear me down enough today to write it out, so here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the mentioned characters; they and Fairy Tail are property of Hiro Mashima. All I own is this fic.

Summary: Natsu has a question, and apparently Capricorn is the only one who can provide an answer. NaLu.

Doing It The Proper Way
By: Saya Moonshadow

Capricorn wasn't entirely sure of what to make of this. One minute he was sitting in the Spirit World, enjoying a nice cup of tea with Virgo and Aries, and the next, Leo was popping up out of nowhere and saying that someone wanted to see him. Apparently it was rather urgent, which was why he should really get up and go see what the problem was.

The Spirit of the Goat Constellation frowned, adjusting his glasses speculatively. "The only one who may call me is Lucy-sama," he said. "She holds my key, and so she is the only one in Earthland who may command me to appear."

Leo smiled, which set a great deal of his reservations at ease. If it had been serious, then the Lion wouldn't be smiling. Flaky though he could be, Leo also knew when to be somber. "Yes, but it really is important, at least to him. Please at least hear him out."

It took another minute to decide, and when both Virgo and Aries looked at him expectantly, Capricorn knew he was going to go whether he liked it or not. "Fine," he sighed, getting up; he was just beginning to enjoy himself, too. He did so like Virgo's tea... "I'll see what he wants."

Leo smiled and took his place next to Aries. "Thank you."

The Goat grumbled a little, but then traced where the Lion had come from and appeared in the human world with his customary puff of smoke.

Of all people to have called him, he wasn't expecting it to be his master's best friend, the quaint young man with pink hair. It really was an odd color for a boy to have, and it was a wonder that he wasn't ashamed of it as any other young man might have been, Capricorn thought, but then turned his attention to more pressing matters.

Namely, that of just why this boy had called him here.

"You wish to speak with me, Natsu-sama?" he asked courteously. His dear Lucy-sama would never forgive him for being rude to her friends, and he also found that he genuinely liked the boy. He was a good, kind, cheerful person, and best of all, he made Lucy happy and kept her safe. There was absolutely no reason for Capricorn to dislike him.

The pink-haired young man grinned cheerfully at him, waving a greeting. "Yeah! I gotta ask you a question."

"Leo-sama says it is important?" Capricorn asked, and watched with some perplexity as the boy's smile dropped into a very serious expression. Was something wrong? Had he said something wrong? What was going on here?

"It's very important," Natsu told him, and the Goat felt himself stiffening up a little. What matter could be so important that this easygoing young man would give him such a serious look? He quickly ran through a list of possibilities; death, kidnap, ransom, money issues, on and on. However, he wasn't expecting the next words.

"You take care of Lucy, right?"

Capricorn blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"You watch over her. You train her, you keep her safe, and you check up on her all the time to make sure she's OK."

The Celestial Spirit let out a slow breath. "Yes, I do all of that. Why?"

"Well..." And now Natsu looked somewhat uncomfortable, as though he felt foolish for what he was about to say. Was there even anything that could make Natsu feel foolish? He was, as Lucy often put it, downright odd, with some of the strangest tendencies Capricorn had ever seen out of anyone, be they human, Celestial Spirit, or other. Capricorn had never seen him ashamed of anything; rather, he seemed to believe in giving everything your all and never regretting a single moment of it.

"That's the kind of stuff that...that fathers do, right?"

"Excuse me?" Capricorn blinked again, completely nonplussed, as Natsu faltered at his words. Well, when it was put that way, then yes, those actions were of a distinctly fatherly sort. Though Capricorn had a special reason for treating her the way he did. He'd been very dedicated to and fond of her mother, the dearly departed Layla-sama, and had, in fact, been relieved of their contract a month or so after Lucy had been conceived. Not only that, but Layla had tasked him with protecting her daughter and her descendants for the rest of his life, as long as the family line still existed. He had kept that promise to the best of his ability, and did it even more willingly after seeing just how good a person Lucy actually was. To put it plainly, there was certainly no wondering why her Spirits loved her so much.

"Well...I mean..." the Dragon Slayer took a deep breath and plowed on at an extremely loud tone of voice that hurt Capricorn's sensitive ears, as if he thought yelling would somehow make this easier. "YOU DO ALL THIS FATHERLY STUFF FOR HER AND YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE HER CARETAKER OR SOMETHING, AND SHE REALLY RESPECTS YOU SO YOU'RE LIKE THE CLOSEST THING SHE'S GOT TO A DAD NOW THAT HER REAL DAD IS DEAD, RIGHT?"

Capricorn took a moment to get his ears to stop ringing, and another to process what had just been shouted at him.

"I...I suppose so, yes," he said, thinking of the proud feeling he got whenever Lucy showed her true potential. Her comment about the One Magic being Love stood out particularly clear in his mind, and suddenly he had a feeling that he knew what this was all about. "Then what is it that you wished to speak to me about, Natsu-sama?"

It took all of his considerable willpower not to smile as the young man squared his shoulders. Ah, yes, he knew what that look was all about.

"I wanted to ask," Natsu said, "since you're the closest thing she's got to a dad and all, and Mira says I've got to do this proper...I wanted to ask if it's OK for me to ask Lucy to marry me."

Yes, a dead ringer. Capricorn congratulated himself on figuring out the situation before it had happened, but this time did not attempt to hide his smile. He could only imagine the look on Lucy's face later on. "Are you sure you wish to ask her?"

Natsu looked surprised, then a little annoyed once the question had sunk in. "Of course I'm sure!" he snapped. Capricorn held in a chuckle at the indignation in his face and voice. "Why wouldn't I be? Lucy's the best thing I ever had happen to me, and I want to keep her with me for the rest of my life. It's only natural that I'd wanna marry her, right?"

"Layla is the greatest treasure in my life, and I want her to stay with me for the rest of my days. It's only natural that I'd want to marry her, right?"

He'd said yes back then, and he knew he had no other answer for the Dragon Slayer in front of him now, a full 27 years later.

"I thought she'd left me once, you know," Natsu said, and Capricorn's ear twitched at this new information. Lucy had attempted to leave Fairy Tail? That was certainly news; the way she went on about the guild, he never would have thought that she'd ever try to leave it behind. "It was right after we fought with Phantom Lord, Gajeel's old guild. Her dad was the one who had 'em come after her, and she was all set to blame herself for it 'cause she thought it never would've happened if she hadn't joined. And then the old man talked to her, and she was alright, but the next time I went to her house she wasn't there. All I found was this note saying that she'd gone home. Nothing about coming back. It was easy enough to find her 'specially now that I knew who she was, and I was ready to throw her over my shoulder and carry her back if I had to, but then she told me she only went home to tell her dad off. Still, it was..."

He trailed off, unable to find a word to accurately describe how horrible the feeling of Lucy leaving him had been. This was a boy who valued all his friends, his team most of all, and to believe that the girl he'd befriended and brought to his beloved guild was going to leave him behind must have been simply awful.

Capricorn had no doubt that this was before any romantic feelings had occurred between the two - he'd heard stories from Leo about how he had been so close to sweeping Lucy off her feet (reports varied on how successful he'd actually been), and the girl named Mirajane was constantly lamenting the lack of any action between the Dragon Slayer and the Celestial Summoner despite their obvious feelings for each other - but the loss of a dear friend could hurt just as much as the loss of a lover. He would know. He still felt the pain of Layla's loss, though Lucy did a marvelous job of picking up where her mother had left off.

"Yes," he said.

Natsu cocked his head to the side in confusion, and he smiled and explained himself. "Yes, I give my permission for you to marry Lucy-sama."

The grin that spread across the boy's face was absolutely enormous - how on earth did a smile that wide fit on anyone's mouth? It showed all of his teeth and the laugh that came out next was very, excruciatingly loud. Capricorn had never seen anyone grin quite like that before, which made him appreciate the fact that Natsu could make being happy look so natural. If this was the kind of man that his Lucy-sama was going to marry, then she would never spend a day in misery.

He approved very much.

Natsu spent all of perhaps two seconds thanking him and saying goodbye before speeding off in search of the Celestial Wizard, and Capricorn was left with his own thoughts for a while. His services would likely be needed soon in planning the upcoming wedding, for he had absolutely no doubt that Lucy would say yes, and he fully intended to bounce ideas off of the female Spirits before long.

Of course, Natsu and Lucy would have the final say on how their wedding would go, but it never hurt to be prepared.

He also fully intended to be the one walking her down the aisle, especially now that his role in her life was affirmed, and anyone who tried to take that position from him would find themselves suddenly very much in need of a hospital bed. One does not just take that kind of privilege away from a Celestial Spirit, after all.

END.

AN: I've always liked the relationship between Capricorn and Lucy, especially after whichever chapter it was where he was overseeing her training in the months before the Grand Magic Games. The anime portrays it very cute as well; with him wanting her to grow up to be a fine lady who knows all the social cues and whatnot like her mom. I dunno, I'm just a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I know Natsu is probably a little OOC, though I hope it's excusable. He's shown that he can be serious when the occasion calls for it...

Please review and tell me what you think!