Family is Everything
Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail
Summary: Natsu accidentally claims Gray as his mate, leading to some unexpected consequences. Gratsu/MPREG
Chapter 2 – Honest Truth (Rated T)
Wendy arrived at Gajeel's place walking much like a zombie. Anyone would considering what the iron dragon-slayer had told her: Gray and Natsu were mates, but Gray didn't know. It was difficult keeping Happy and Charle out of the loop, but it was for the best right now.
Gajeel opened the door and stepped inside, and they just stood in the middle of the room facing Natsu.
"Natsu? Are you okay?" questioned Wendy, looking at him quite worriedly. She grew a little uneasy when he didn't respond. "Natsu," she called again, stepping in front of him and crouching down. "Are you okay?"
Still no answer.
Wendy knelt on the floor in front of Natsu and hugged him around the waist. "Natsu-nii?" she stated quietly.
Natsu jolted out of his daze when he heard that. Tears suddenly filled his eyes as he pushed himself away from Wendy. "Leave me alone!" he yelled, racing to the other side of the room. This was making it all too real. He didn't want it to be real.
He fled to Gajeel's bedroom, slammed the door shut and locked it. And then he started trashing Gajeel's room. Natsu threw anything he could get his hands on. After his tantrum, he collapsed on the ground.
A sudden pounding sounded at the door.
"Oi, Salamander! Open this door before I eat the knob off!" shouted Gajeel from the other side.
Natsu furiously rubbed at his eyes before reluctantly walking toward the door and unlocking it. He half expected Gajeel to yell at him for trashing his room, but the iron dragon-slayer surprised him.
Gajeel pulled him into a hug. "I know this is a lot for ya right now, but Wendy needs to check. To make sure, ya know?"
Natsu nodded briefly against Gajeel's chest. As he was led to the bed, Natsu sat down and awaited Wendy's inspection.
"This might take some time," said Wendy, placing her hands over Natsu's abdominal area. A faint glow illuminated the space between her hands and his stomach. Wendy closed her eyes, searching for confirmation of what they all expected.
And there it was. A spark of life. It was a small spark, but a spark nonetheless.
Gradually, the light from her hands faded, and she looked up to Natsu, her eyes full of love and concern. "You're pregnant, Natsu-nii," she whispered.
Natsu inhaled sharply and held it for a few moments before releasing a shaky breath. Pregnant. He was pregnant. And mated to Gray, which the ice mage knew nothing of. What if Gray didn't want to be mates? Or worse. What if he didn't want the baby? Oh, Mavis! He was having a baby!
Gajeel and Wendy both threw their arms around Natsu when he started crying again.
"Hey, this should be a happy thing, right?" said Gajeel. "You've got a mate and a little troublemaker on the way."
"B-But what i-if he hates me," sobbed Natsu.
"Hates you?" Wendy echoed. "Why would Gray hate you?"
Natsu wiped away his tears as he took a few calming breaths. "We never talked about mating before. And it all just happened so fast. What if he doesn't want me as his mate? What if he doesn't want…this?" he replied, placing his hands on his abdomen shakily.
Wendy smiled and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "How could he not?"
"Yeah. And if he doesn't, I'll just beat some sense into him until he does," added Gajeel.
Natsu didn't want to think about this right now. Everything in him was telling him to get away.
And that's exactly what he did.
Before Gajeel and Wendy even knew what was happening, Natsu had bolted from the room.
"He moves fast considering he's pregnant," observed Gajeel.
"It's only been a day," said Wendy.
The iron dragon-slayer shrugged. "Yeah, well, pregnancy works differently with dragons. I better find him before he does something stupid."
Gajeel burst into the guild looking absolutely furious. How could he—of all people—lose track of Natsu's smell. Were his pregnancy hormones changing his scent so much that he couldn't recognize it?
"Outta my way!" Gajeel shouted as he shoved Jet and Droy into a table.
"What's your problem?" snapped Jet.
"None of your concern!" he said before turning his attention to Mira at the bar. Gajeel slammed his hands on the counter, causing it to crack. "Where is he?"
Mira paused in cleaning a glass to stare at the dragon-slayer. "He?"
"Salamander! Natsu! Where is he?!"
"He went on a mission not too long ago. You just missed him. Poor Happy got left behind, too," she replied.
"That idiot!" Gajeel growled, slamming his hands on the counter again, making it crack even further.
"Gajeel!" Wendy shouted and she burst into the guild. "I can't smell Natsu!"
"He left on a mission," he replied. "What mission did he take?"
Mira just stared at him.
"Dammit, woman! Tell me what mission he took!"
"Calm down, Gajeel. You make it seem like a matter of life and death," Mira laughed lightly.
"It might very well be!"
The intense seriousness of Gajeel's tone quieted the guild, drawing the attention of several of its members.
"What are you talking about, Gajeel?" asked Erza.
The iron dragon-slayer looked conflicted. "I…can't say. It's not my right."
"What can you say?" asked Master Makarov as he walked toward him, hands behind his back.
Gajeel clenched his fists. "I need to bring him back. Now. For his own…safety. It'd be best if it was just me and Wendy."
Master Makarov looked as if he was contemplating the idea. Finally, he nodded. "All right. Anything else?"
Gajeel hesitated, which was an unusual look for him. "I need someone to bring Gray back."
"Why?" Erza demanded, her eyes narrowing. "Did he do something to Natsu?"
Gajeel swallowed hard when she summoned a sword and stabbed the ground with it. "You could say that."
"Consider it done," replied Erza as she marched out the doors of the guild.
The iron dragon-slayer turned his attention back to Master Makarov. "What mission did he take?"
It was early morning. Too early for anyone to be up yet, but one certain pink-haired individual was.
Natsu sat silently in the woods and stared blankly at the dark sky. Salty tears trickled down his cut and bruised face, stinging his recent wounds. His tears seemed to fall in time with the light rain that trickled through the trees. Rubbing his eyes vigorously, Natsu sniffed and hugged himself in an attempt to warm his chilled body. It seemed his magic wasn't quite working for him now.
Yesterday had been one of the worst in his life. He'd taken a mission to take out some thieves a few days ago, and it hadn't turned out as he'd hoped. Being distracted by his thoughts had given the thieves an upper hand, which led to a bit of a beating. When he'd tried to summon his magic, it had faltered.
But as soon as one of the thieves came toward him with a knife, aiming for his stomach, all he could think about was the tiny life starting inside of him. His magic had swelled and taken out the thieves.
And then his magic had dissipated again.
When he'd gone back to the town that hired him for the job, the mayor confronted him almost immediately. He demanded to know what had taken him so long to finish the job. The mayor also claimed that Natsu was supposed to return all of the stolen goods. Of course, that request hadn't been on the original mission statement, but it had been "implied" according to the mayor. So the mayor decided he wasn't worthy of the reward.
Natsu told him that it wasn't fair, and that the reward was important, even if he only received half of it. This news just sent the mayor over the edge. He went into a rage. The mayor demanded Natsu be thrown into prison for defiance and disrespect, saying that his so-called guild would have to pay for the stolen goods before he was released.
Well, Natsu wasn't going to let that happen. Even if it did somewhat damage Fairy Tail's reputation. So the fire mage took off into the pouring rain and went in search of shelter.
He'd been like that for the rest of the night. Wet, cold, tired, and hungry. He could feel himself getting sick now.
Natsu sniffed again, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his numb arms around them. He rested his chin atop his knees and shivered; he didn't remember the last time he felt so cold. Closing his eyes, Natsu started to doze off.
He snapped out of his drowsy state, however, when he heard a loud noise behind him. Natsu weakly turned his head, merely to see Gajeel staring at him.
"Found you, Salamander," Gajeel said. "What happened to you?" Natsu didn't respond; he just stared at Gajeel. It unnerved him slightly. "Salamander?"
Still no response. Although he was extremely concerned, Gajeel tried not to show it. He swiftly approached Natsu. "Salamander?" he called again. "Why won't you say anything?"
"What's there to say?" Natsu answered hoarsely.
This took Gajeel by surprise. Upon closer inspection of Natsu's face, he noticed a large bruise around his left eye, along with numerous cuts. They looked fairly recent. His eyes were also red and puffy, like he'd been crying. And he looked…pale. Gajeel also noted how drenched he appeared; he must have been in the rain for quite some time.
"You're soaking wet. We need to get you somewhere dry," ordered Gajeel. When Natsu made no signs of moving, he reached out and grabbed one of his arms, only to have Natsu hiss out in pain as he desperately tried to pull his arm back.
Gajeel froze.
"Just leave me alone," Natsu said, barely audible. He tried to move away from Gajeel. He slipped. The fire mage braced himself for the imminent impact of the forest floor, but it never came.
Natsu hesitantly opened his eyes. Gajeel was gently holding him by the arms. But he couldn't feel him. Was he that numb from the cold? Natsu shivered again, consciousness fading.
Gajeel felt him shiver and panicked when he felt Natsu go limp. "Salamander? Wake up," he hissed, shaking Natsu lightly. There was no reaction. "Salamander?" Gajeel sighed while he kept Natsu steady.
"Let's get you to Wendy," he mumbled. Gajeel lifted Natsu bridal-style, astounded that he felt so cold. That was not good.
When Gajeel arrived at the inn he'd forced Wendy to stay at while he looked for Natsu, he glanced down at the fire mage and felt a tiny pang in his chest. His arms tightened protectively around the person he considered a younger brother—not that he'd say it out loud—when he heard him whimper, inching closer to Gajeel's chest.
Natsu abruptly woke with a start. Where was he? He looked up, his startled eyes meeting Gajeel's concerned ones. "Gajeel?" he said roughly. His throat hurt. Swallowing difficulty, he asked, "Where are we?"
"At an inn. You passed out. I'm taking you to Wendy," he replied in a neutral voice.
"She's here?" Natsu said. It really hurt to talk.
"Yep," Gajeel answered.
"G-Gajeel…" he strained out.
"Try not to talk right now. You're really weak. But Wendy'll take care of that soon enough," Gajeel said. "How're ya feeling?"
Natsu clutched his head in his hands. "Dizzy…cold." He shivered again. "So cold," he murmured.
"Wendy!" Gajeel snapped as he entered the room of the end. The startled young girl leapt from the bed and ran over to the two dragon-slayers.
"You found him!" she cried as she looked him over. "Set him on the bed so I can heal him!"
The iron dragon-slayer did just that. He watched as Wendy used her healing magic on Natsu. "Ya feel any better yet?"
Natsu nodded. "I'm not cold anymore," he mumbled.
"It looked like ya took quite a beating. What happened?"
The fire mage stared at his clasped hands. "My magic wouldn't work like I wanted it to. I don't know what happened."
Gajeel crossed his arms and frowned in thought. "I think you've been away from your mate too long. Either that or your magic is goin' to that new fire in your belly, gihi."
Natsu glared at Gajeel; however, it did make him feel a bit better that he was trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe."
"Natsu," Wendy started when she was finished healing him, "I don't think you should go on anymore missions. At least not until the baby is born. You put yourself into serious danger. What were you thinking?!"
Natsu jolted at her tone.
"You not only have to think about yourself, but the life growing inside of you," she continued. "What if something had happened to you…or the baby?"
The fire mage sighed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. This is all just so much to deal with at once," he replied quietly.
"But you don't have to deal with it alone," said Wendy. "You have lots of people who care for you and love you."
Natsu wanted to believe that, but something still bothered him, so much so that he needed to say it aloud. "But does Gray?"
End Chapter