One Year Later

Setting Iggy in a bouncing seat on the table, and handing him his stuffed dragon, Lucy turned to the stove to make breakfast. She was somewhat relieved to know that she wouldn't have to cook for Natsu and Happy this morning, since it would've probably have eaten up a good chunk of her time. It was sometimes a wonder that they hadn't already gone bankrupt from all the food she had to buy. As she was cooking, she heard Iggy whining, and she quickly deduced that he was hungry. Picking him up, Lucy sat down, and pulled aside her shirt so he could suckle, which he enthusiastically started doing.

"Of all the things you had to get from your dad, couldn't you have gone without his appetite?" Lucy jokingly griped. As she fed Iggy, she thought about when he would move to solid food; if his current attitude was indicative of anything, chances are the family would definitely be bankrupt, probably within a year.

As she cuddled with her child, she looked around the apartment she shared with Natsu. After the guild disbanded, Natsu and Lucy had to find new jobs. Eventually, it brought them to Crocus, where they found out that Lucy was pregnant. Using the money Natsu had saved up, they managed to find a new, larger, and somewhat nicer apartment, where they were now raising their family. On top of that, after they realized Lucy was pregnant, the two had decided to get married. It was a actually a rather small affair, with only Hisui, the King, and whoever they knew who happened to be in the area attending. They hadn't invited their friends from the guild, but Lucy got the distinct impression Natsu didn't want them to come, so they didn't.

Though the two had been fairly happy together, they hadn't seen any of their friends from Fairy Tail since the guild disbanded. Natsu in particular didn't seem to want to go looking for them, as he kept saying that they didn't need to meet with them. "We've all moved on" is what he'd always be saying. It worried Lucy some that he was so dismissive of their friends now.

Eventually, Iggy was satisfied, and after getting some food for yourself, Lucy set him back in his seat to finish getting ready. Once she was finished dressing and put her makeup on, she picked up her son.

"Let's get you to daycare," Lucy said, and upon seeing the baby frowning, she added, "Don't give me that look, Mister, it ain't my fault." Though she would've preferred to bring him with her to work today, her task for the day was to report on the Grand Magic Games, and she wasn't allowed to bring her baby with her to such an event. It frustrated her, but nothing could be done about it, and Natsu couldn't take care of him, so she arranged for him to spend the day at daycare.

"We're going to do our best!" Lucy declared, pumping her fist as she started her day.

(at the stadium)

After dropping Iggy off at his daycare, Lucy hurried over to the stadium. It was the last couple days of the Games, though they weren't nearly as good as they were last year; none of the good guild like Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, or Mermaid Heel were participating. When she got there, the first thing she did was go to a couple of guards.

"Do you know where the commander is?" she asked. The guards pointed her in the direction, and she hurried over to the Northern entrance. Once she got there, she looked around, but couldn't find the man she was looking for.

"Lucy!" The blonde then turned to see her husband running over to her, Happy floating next to him. Natsu was wearing his work uniform, which consisted of a red and black coat over a black shirt, and black pants. He had a couple of medals on his right breast, and his classical scarf. Happy was wearing a red and black jacket with black pants (which in hindsight made Lucy think that he had spent the whole time naked).

"What're you doing here?" Natsu asked, when he got over to her.

"Since you were already gone when I woke up, I wanted to say hi before the event started," Lucy answered, "So, how are things here?"

"Boring as ever," Natsu said with a sigh, "Wish something would happen."

"We had a streaker yesterday," Happy said, "It was weird seeing a guy other than Gray strip."

"Thanks for putting that image in my head," Lucy said with a slight sweat drop.

"Commander!" The three turned, to see an average infantry soldier running forward. Once he got to them, he saluted.

"Sir, Sergeant Livingston reports! We've found more vandalism on the East wall!"

"Really, again?" Natsu said with a sigh, "Damn kids. Just clean it up; I'll post more guards there in the night."

"Yes, Commander!" After nearly a full year, it was still rather mind boggling to hear that.

After the disbandment, they were actually rather hard pressed to find a job. Unlike the others, Natsu bluntly refused to join any other guild on principle, and unfortunately, he didn't have much of a skill set beyond fighting. Fortunately, when they moved to Crocus after Lucy got her job in Sorcerer Weekly, the king offered Natsu a commission to the Royal Army as a lieutenant, saying that he earned it in during the whole Eclipse debacle; initially Natsu turned it down, but when they found out about Lucy's pregnancy, he took the offer. After only a year, Natsu was promoted from Lieutenant to Commander, mostly for his efforts in bringing down various gangs throughout the country. Initially, while Natsu clearly wasn't happy with the new restrictions put on him by being in the military, he put up with it for his family. Happy, of all cats, also joined, now serving as Natsu's assistant, becoming the first "cat soldier" as Happy put it. Natsu was now in commander of the 7th Fiore Army Regiment, and was currently tasked with serving as the guy in charge for the security of the Games. Though it was boring, they all knew they were lucky; Natsu could have just as easily been deployed to some distant fortress.

"The Games are almost over," Lucy said, "You'd think they'd lose interest by now."

"I dunno," Natsu answered with a shrug, "I'd go deal with them myself, but Happy said I'd get in trouble if I tried sniffing them out."

"Because you would," Happy said plainly.

"Hate to agree with Happy, but he's right," Lucy said, "You're a soldier now, and soldiers don't go breaking into people's houses looking for troublesome kids."

"Gah," Natsu groaned, "Being a soldier is so boring."

"Come on, you've made it this far," Lucy said, "At the rate you're going, you'll probably get another promotion soon." Natsu sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I just need a damn break," Natsu said, "I need a day with Iggy."

"Then you have all the more to look forward to once you get off of work today," Lucy said, patting him on the cheek, "Well, I've got to go now, the Games are starting soon."

"I'll be watching from the top," Natsu said, "Its the closet I can be while still technically being on duty."

"I'll look for you then," Lucy said, before kissing her husband on the cheek, "See ya!" The three all waved to each other as Lucy hurried into the stadium stands.

(at home)

After the day came to a close, the Dragneel family was at the table eating dinner. Happy sat on the table eating his fish, sitting beside Iggy who was asleep in his seat.

"So, what're you going to do now that the games are finally over?" Lucy asked.

"Dunno yet," Natsu answered, "I hear they might be sending me to deal with some bandits just North of here."

"Ah, that's too bad," Lucy said with a pout, "Means you'd be away from home."

"Eh, I wouldn't be gone long, I can deal with it in just a few days."

"But still…"

"It'll be real easy," Happy said, "Natsu won't even need all his men to do it."

"Yeah, besides, gods know we can't let the Council do it," Natsu declared, rolling his eyes. Something the group had learned since Natsu and Happy enlisted was that the Council really wasn't liked in the Royal Army. They were thought of intrusive bureaucrats that regularly shoved their noses in others' affairs, and demanded constant submission from mages. Also, they always somehow had the right to take away criminals who committed crimes against the kingdom, just by claiming it was related to magic. Natsu and Happy had picked up on that attitude as well, and Lucy and to admit, she agreed with their opinion somewhat; Fiore was a sovereign country, and the Council had no right to interfere in its internal affairs.

As they continued eating, Lucy's mind went to things that they could do as a family. In the past year, they hadn't had many opportunities to get out of Crocus and just do something. That was when she remembered something that she heard at work earlier today.

"You've got some leave built up, right?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Natsu answered.

"Well, I heard that Lamia Scale will be having its Thanksgiving Festival in a few days," Lucy said, "Sorcerer Weekly often sends someone down there to report on it."

"So?"

"Well, I was thinking about volunteering for it. Wendy, Gray, and Juvia will probably be there," Lucy continued, reaching over to Iggy's seat and rocking it slightly, "It'd be great to see them again, and we could introduce them to Iggy."

"Carla will be there too!" Happy said, raising a paw. Natsu was silent, as he averted his eyes, and downed his drink.

"Why should we?" he finally said, shocking both Lucy and Happy.

"Natsu!" Lucy scolded standing up, "How could you say that? They're our friends, and we haven't seen them in over a year now!"

"I bet they've all moved on. Why would they want to see us now that they've got their new guild and their new friends?" Natsu said, not looking up, "We've moved on too, haven't we?"

"Oh come on, just because we're not in the same guild anymore doesn't mean we aren't friends," Lucy said, "Think about all we've gone through with them."

"Yeah, I do," Natsu said, staring at his food still, and clenching his fists hard. Lucy glared at him for a time, before sighing, and sitting back down.

"Well, one way or another, I'm going," Lucy declared, folding her arms, "And I'm taking Iggy with me"

"Hey!"

"He deserves to meet them, and they deserve to meet him."

"Aye! I'm going too!" Happy said, frowning, and floating up, "I wanna see Carla."

"There it is, Natsu," Lucy said, with a nod, "You can stay here and mope on your own, or you can come and enjoy some time with your wife, son, and friends. So what'll it be?" Natsu opened his mouth to argue more, but apparently lost the motivation as he sighed, and shrugged.

"Fine, I'll come," he relented.

"Good, that's what I like to hear," Lucy said with a nod, before smiling and learning forward, putting her hand over his, "You'll see. We'll see them all, have a good time, and be happy we did it, just wait."

"Whatever," Natsu said, averting his eyes.

Note: Yep, I put Natsu in the army, because let's be real, he can't do much beyond fight. I considered making him a mercenary, but decided not to since it would prevent him from really settling down. A pretty short chapter as they go, but I think this establishes where Natsu and Lucy stand.

I'm also willing to take some suggestions on where the other guild members will have gone after Fairy Tail disbanded. So far, I put Gray and Juvia in Lamia Scale with Wendy and Carla; I didn't want to do the Avatar arc, and I think it was a good fit for them. I'll also take this time to say that this story will include a completely original arc, of which I won't reveal much of.

Be sure to review.

I'll take this as a brief opportunity to respond a Guest reviewer. I think some people have have misunderstood what I was going for in the scene when Lucy stops Natsu. I wasn't trying to say that Natsu was in the wrong for what he was doing (I actually agree with the perspective that people are too hard on him for leaving), I was more trying to express a sense of raw emotion Lucy is feeling, and the raw response she gives. In the end, Natsu decides that he feels better by being together with Lucy, instead of going out on his own.