Disclaimer: Yo! Terevi no maino mina and whatever the hell that follows. I don't own this stuff. With that I mean, I don't own Fairy Tail. It's Mashima's, weee~. Sorry about that.

Family.

(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fanfiction story.)

Major Metropolis of Crocus…

2 days later…

Once the proud capital of the Kingdom, Crocus grew even more with the passing of the years. Whereas Magnolia and Hargeon had changes noticeable by everyone, Crocus was another story. The city itself remained the same, save for the construction of some taller buildings by the old parts of the city and the expansion towards the mountain borders.

Aside that, the impressive wall surrounding the old part of the city was another addition, built to withstand sieges and any other kinds of threats. With patrols guarding the top of the walls and gates the seven days of the week and twenty-four hours of the day, no one so far dared to intrude or attack the now majestic city.

Not only because of the great wall but because of the troops garrisoned in Crocus.

Which were trained constantly to be prepared for anything, especially after the Dragon's Attack decades ago.

And the training of these men and women was in charge of the wizards around Fiore that wanted to take that job.

"'Kay, one more time, and now I want you to try your very best to take me down."

"Yes, Captain!"

In the barracks belonging to the city's garrison, more specifically, in the training grounds behind the fortified building, a group of thirty guardsmen stood in a circle formation with their weapons at the ready. All of them a bit worn out from the rough training session at the hands of their Captain but they were still ready to continue and give their all for the sake of bettering themselves.

'They'll probably attack in waves of five to try and make openings.' The young man in the middle of the deathly circle thought with a small frown growing on his face, looking in every direction possible through the corner of his eyes. He held two swords in his hands and his stance was ready to either block or deflect the future attacks. 'It's all a matter of not losing my footing and keep on with their movements and strategy… I cannot fall to distractions.'

He slid one foot to the side to enhance his stance even more and got ready to yell the start of the training.

When suddenly…

"Hah! I told you he'd be training!"

"You said he'd be busy, not training!"

"It's the same goddamned thing!"

"It's not!"

"It is!"

He was thrown off-balance, along with his men, when a group of four people entered the training ground with loud yells being delivered left and right. Their voices were really loud, he noted, and very familiar too. This prompted him to sweatdrop at the bad timing of these people. 'It could've been any other time of the day… but you just had to appear now, didn't you?'

"Shhhh, can't you see he's in the middle of something?" Natsu chided to the group of girls following him, casting an irritated glare to each and every one of them. They had been travelling for the past two days to get to the Capital and since they left Hargeon, the twins never stopped fighting over the most inane of things. Hell, the presence of the little one and Happy didn't help matters either. Both were involved somehow and that damned blue cat liked to add more fuel to the fire whenever the fights broke out. "You're probably bothering him with all the yelling."

Elis looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry, father…"

And Eris scoffed at the scolding. "It wasn't my fault."

'I need to go on a job or something after this…' Sighing at their obvious answers and knowing that before he realized the fights would start again, the pink-haired shook his head and returned his attention to the front, taking note of the young man that was surrounded by the city's guardsmen. "Go on, don't mind us."

"A-aye…" 'You can't act so casually after that.' The young man thought dryly at hearing the older guy's words, returning his attention to the fight about to start in his end while ignoring the pointed looks from the new set of spectators. He closed his eyes and did his best to ignore them, focusing on what he had to do. 'C'mon… they're not here… go back to fifteen minutes ago… and everything will be alright.'

Crimson hair styled backwards with spiked ends, with one bang going to the front and covering one side of his face, and buzzed sides of black hair that he dyed himself. The young man was almost identical to the older Dragneel that stood by the sidelines with the females, yet, his overall looks gave a hint of maturity whereas his father's gave away how carefree he was. His onyx eyes, with a slight red tint in them, and facial expressions were sharper, his entire posture spoke of discipline, but still not enough to compare him to his mother.

As for the attire; a black, sleeveless shirt to cover his torso, black fingerless gloves that went all the way to his elbows, white trousers that reached his ankles, black shoes and a red belt to keep his trousers in place. He had a small flame-shaped pendant hanging from a necklace around his neck and both ears pierced with prism-shaped earrings hanging from them. From all the kids Natsu had, this one was the one that wore less clothes, being more casual about his looks, but still well-dressed in anyone's opinion. Of course, he also looked like a punk or bandit, but that's something rarely heard.

Back to the situation…

"Start!"

It wasn't even five minutes after the order was given that the older of the Dragneel kids stood impassive in the middle of his thirty opponents, not having moved more than ten steps –according to Natsu who oversaw the training- and without a single attack or defense move wasted. The young man had a ground-breaking talent for fighting, having a knack for reading his enemies' movements with just a mere glimpse to the opponent's muscles, and a scary skill to swing his blades at the right place and time.

The girls stood speechless at the sword-play, wondering if they would ever be capable of reaching the power and talent their only brother had by the short age of twenty-one. With the twins being eighteen and the little one having sixteen, the chances were 50-50, but very unlikely in their minds. As they knew, their brother had talent, whereas they would have to train a lot to at least scratch that height.

A couple of footsteps broke the silence and the older man moved towards his son.

"Looks like you still have it, huh?" Natsu commented once the fight was over and the guards laid sprawled around his son in the middle of the training ground, walking with careful steps to stand next to the crimson-haired wizard that was paying attention to the soft complains of the guards with a cheerful smile on his face. "Why don't you take that strength of yours to a guild and see what happens?"

"Again with that?" The smile left the youngster's face and he turned to glare at his father, suddenly doing a one-eighty in his mood at the mention of joining a guild. He called off his blades and rested his fists at the sides of his waist, narrowing his exotic colored eyes at the old wizard. "I told you already, I'd rather be a wanderer like Jellal and Cobra than join a guild…"

"Tch! C'mon, Lotus… you know you won't get the fight you want by waiting in this place or following those two." The pink-haired man fumed at the sudden argument between them, having the starts of a headache at just remembering the numerous times they discussed this. "You need to get out of this city and see the world for yourself, like your mother and I when we were your age."

"Again, then I'd rather join Jellal and his guild than a regular one." Lotus, whose name came from his father's top spells, hissed his answer and walked pass his father, heading to the door that led to the dorms while giving a semy-apathetic wave of greeting to his sisters. They replied to it with conflicted waves of their own. "I'll take a nap and be back in two hours… if there's something else you want to talk about, I'll be all ears."

The figure walked away from the group until it reached a door to the insides of the huge construction, opening it and closing it sharply before disappearing from view.

This left the rest of the Dragneels to wonder about what to do with the two free hours they had until the young man appeared again.

'Damn brat… if I tell you it's because I understand what you want.' Natsu frowned at the door from which is son left and shook his head; he really wanted to pummel his son and make the idea enter his hard-headed skull, but it seemed as if he wouldn't be able to do it. Not now at least, and even less with the pressing matter they had to solve. 'And you won't get it here, that's for sure.'

"Dad…" Eris scratched the back of her head and looked to the side, suddenly uncomfortable after that short discussion.

"I think you started that talk with the wrong foot, father." Elis pointed out, having the same feeling as her twin but withstanding it to voice her thoughts.

"You do know he doesn't like to talk about guilds, dad." And little Erza walked to stand next to her father with Happy resting quietly at the top of her head. This wasn't new to any of them, but it was still awkward whenever it happened. One would think that with their father knowing that, this kind of situation would be avoided, but it looks like the old man had a different point of view over the matter. "Now we'll have to wait two hours before asking him to join us…"

'Dammit… if she were here, she'd know how to reach him.' Natsu turned his eyes to the young girl, making her flinch at his cold stare. He really was mad at Lotus for that issue they've been discussing over the years and what occurred just now didn't help matters at all. 'Really, why the hell do you have to be away at a moment like this?'

"D-Dad?" The little girl asked timidly, trying to make the man snap out of it.

The cold stare continued on for a few seconds longer and, much to the sisters' relief, the man sighed and returned to normal, still sporting the disappointed frown on his face but with eyes that glinted with conflict and sadness. "Let's do as he said and go around the city for a while…"

He turned on his feet and walked to the exit of the building, avoiding the passing guardsmen that were dragging their partners out of the field and towards the infirmary. All the time with the gaze of his daughters following him, wondering what was the man thinking whenever he got quiet.

Crocus's downtown…

A few minutes later…

"It has to be about mom." Elis said once they got to a nice café down the main street of the city, talking to her sister while she sipped some of the tea that she asked for. "Whatever happened to mom has him on the edge and he doesn't want to tell us…"

"Unless we're all here to listen… it's probably something big, if that's the case." Eris answered casually as she finished the strawberry milkshake she asked for. She leaned back on her seat with her elbows resting on the back and looked out the window, towards the midday skies. "I remember mom telling me she was going to an S-class mission the last time we spoke…"

"Yeah, one of the difficult ones." The twin recalled, narrowing her eyes at the table with her hands holding onto the teacup. S-class missions were nothing to joke about, especially those that were between the toughest ones in the boards. The one that their mother took. "A ten years S-class mission."

"So that's why the old man was so worked up earlier."

"Eeeep!?" Both girls jumped out of their seats when a new person appeared and joined their conversation, scaring the hell out of them and making them turn to see who the eavesdropper was. Who they found though, was their older brother, followed by little Erza who was now carrying an awake and giggling Happy on her arms against her chest. "L-Lotus-nii!?"

"Sigh… really, that old man..." Taking a seat next to Elis, the older Dragneel sighed and leaned back with his arms folded over his chest, closing his eyes in irritation at the whole situation. "If he wanted to talk about mom he could've said so."

"Hey, it's not like you tried to change the topic when the argument started." Eris reminded him with a small scowl, moving a few inches to the side so that her little sister could take a place next to her. "You just left the place and went to take your beauty nap."

"Tch, it's not like I had a choice." Lotus muttered bitterly, opening his eyes to give a mild glare to his sister. He later softened them and looked towards the little one on the table, who was currently asking for some beverages for the two of them and a fish for Happy. "I'd have taken that nap if not 'cause Erz here talked to me after all of you were gone."

"Oh, so that's why you stayed behind." Elis said with realization striking her, now smiling gratefully to the little girl with them. "Nice job, Erzy, it's nice to see you can control this beast of a brother we have."

A vein formed on Lotus's temple and he growled lowly, feeling his irritation returning at two hundred percent. "Oi…"

While the young Erza only laughed nervously at the whole thing. "H-heheh… I-I just did what I thought best…"

"Well, good job… now we can finally hear about what happened to mom from dad and be on our way." Eris yawned with a hand covering her mouth and blinked a couple of times, seeing her siblings nodding to her in agreement through her tired eyes. "The problem though… is that we must find dad first…"

"That won't be necessary."

A new person appeared in their little group, making the girls jump and the boy to tense up.

"I saw your father mopping his way to the old Domus Flau not a moment ago." The person talking to them was a man who seemed to be close to their parents' age, of long and untamed black hair and many piercings adorning his face. What unnerved the youngsters a little were the man's red eyes, that seemed alike to those of a wild beast than a human's, with dark slits where the pupils were supposed to be. "That pinky's worried as hell for his woman, so I'd not leave him alone if I were you."

With that said, the man exited the building, not even bothering to hear the kitchen's staff that was yelling at him for eating all of their cooking utensils, and leaving a group of youngsters wondering what the hell just happened.

"…wasn't that…?" Little Erza broke the silence.

"…I'm pretty sure he was…" Eris followed, still sweating bullets at the sudden apparition.

"…and he was here because…?" Elis asked a bit curious, not knowing what that man could be doing there and that precise moment.

"Who cares? Gajeel-san said dad was going to the Domus Flau, that's all that matters." Lotus reminded the girls, indifferent about the person that gave the information to them and standing up from his seat to march towards their next destination. "If we go now, we'll catch up to him and get the answers we want."

Hearing all that they needed to hear, the girls stood up as well and followed after their brother.

Not listening to the café's owner who yelled at them for leaving without paying.

Domus Flau…

Some more minutes later…

The great coliseum known as the Domus Flau, the place where the strongest guilds gather once a year and fight for seven days to see who has the strongest wizards. It is the pride of Fiore and the capital city of Crocus, even though it has a dark past and foundation. Apparently, the whole Tournament was a ruse to hide a plan of the higher-ups, to gather magic power from the wizards fighting in that arena and to power up an old device that could transport people to the past. The plan failed, unfortunately, and instead, the device brought seven dragons to the current time, dragons that were barely contained by the wizards of that time.

After that, the games were over, the King decreed that the Tournament would not be held again and everything returned to the dull times of old. Yet, not a year passed since the Dragon Invasion that the games were resumed, due to public demand, and the competitions were brought back to life once more, this time with careful eyes on the organizers from the Guild Masters of the competing guilds.

Entering the building at this time of the year was not something easy to achieve, since the place remained locked down and guarded after the events were over, but it looked to the group of youngsters that there was no one impeding their path now.

"Ah, you must be the guests Lady Hisui spoke about." A couple of guardsmen greeted them, waving their hands and showing friendly smiles to the group, which confused them. "Please, go in, the place was reserved for your use today."

It's more, it seemed like the keepers of the place wanted them to enter the coliseum.

"Eh? Guests?" The twins questioned aloud, not really getting what was going on.

"U-uh… excuse me, but why are you letting us in?" Erza asked them a bit nervous.

"And what do you mean with 'reserved'?" And Lotus threw in his own question, sensing something off in all of this.

"Oh, Natsu Dragneel-sama asked Lady Hisui for the use of the arena." One of the guardsmen explained while the other one moved to open the doors leading inside. "He probably explained why to the Queen but she didn't give any information to us… aside letting you in."

The young man's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know it is us who you're waiting?"

"Well, no one comes here during the time the place is closed… so that means you're the people we're waiting, right?" The soldier explained a bit troubled, suddenly having second thoughts about letting this group of kids enter.

"Okay, let's say we are the people you're supposed to let inside." Elis interrupted before another question from her brother could complicate things. She was slightly off with all of this too, but it wasn't enough to be getting aggressive with a couple of clueless guards. "Anything else we should know?"

"We weren't told much so no." The soldier told them flatly, foregoing his nervous and stepping aside when the great doors were pushed open. "If you want answers, you might as well ask Dragneel-sama… he's inside."

Sharing looks of both confusion and nervousness, the group nodded to the guards and entered the building, Eris falling behind the rest when she noticed a cloaked figure looking at them from one of the upper floors in the coliseum.

'Eh? Who is that?' She wondered curiously, trying to see if she could get a glimpse of the onlooker's face before this one disappeared from sight. Her eyes widened slightly. To disappear in the blink of an eye, she could tell that the mysterious individual was strong, perhaps more than her and her siblings. 'First, Gajeel-san… and now this person…'

It was all starting to become a little scary to her. Suddenly, she felt like a pawn in a game where the only thing told to her was where to move and when. Maybe her father would have the answers to all of this? She shook her head and looked back to her siblings, running to catch up to them and walking through the great number of halls and corridors with one destination in mind.

The sight that greeted after some minutes of walking was astounding for the little girl of the group, the only one who didn't participate in the Tournaments held inside the great coliseum. She watched the Grand Magic Games a couple of times in the last few years but the lacrima vision didn't do the place any justice.

It really was a place for only the strongest to fight.

'I-It's huge…' Was the only coherent thought she could conjure after marveling at every detail of the huge structure.

Having the arena before their eyes, the group started to look around in search of the person that was supposedly waiting for them…

"I'm having troubles here… so if you could hurry up a little, it'd be appreciated."

"Sheesh, Erza… give me a break, you know how tough is to handle these brats."

"I know, Natsu, I wouldn't have asked unless it was something serious."

"That's true… yeah…"

…but all they could hear were the voices of two people, echoing inside the large place and confusing them as to the source of all the noise.

One thing was certain.

Their father was there.

And from how familiar the other voice sounded, and the name they heard, he was talking to their mother.

"How much time?"

"I'm guessing a few days more… probably three."

"…you're not about to do what I think you will do, are you?"

"Hahahah! Hey! Don't look at me like that, you know I cannot take them there if they aren't ready!"

"…I guess you're right on that."

"Yeah… and don't worry, I know you're running out of time and all… I'll make it quick."

"Just don't be too harsh on them, Natsu."

"Aye aye, I'll try not to."

"..."

"…"

"…I'll be waiting."

"…aye, be safe."

"Where the hell is he?" Lotus asked unnerved after hearing the conversation between their parents, scanning their surroundings with livid eyes that wanted an explanation.

"I don't know, but he must be close." Elis was doing the same, only that she wasn't as mad as her brother.

"His voice sounded clear as crystal so he must be around." Eris jumped a few steps higher in the arena and took a more ample view of the surroundings, finding nothing as her siblings.

"Happy? Can you smell dad around?" Erza asked to the blue cat that stood next to her, now anxious to know the details of their parents talk.

"Oh? Natsu is there…" Happy revealed to the group after jumping to the railing that separated the public stands from the arena, pointing to one of the exits/entrances used by the contestants on the lower floor.

The group turned as one to the tunnel that the blue cat pointed at and glued their eyes to it, trying to catch a glimpse of their hiding father, but the shadows of the tunnel and the position from which they were watching made it almost impossible to see if there was anyone there.

It was a blind-spot.

"Tch! Come on out, old man! This isn't funny!" Lotus yelled aloud with rage interlacing with his voice, jumping down to the arena with his legs bending and straightening in a mere blink. He started to run towards the tunnel and demand some answers from his father when he noticed something wrong.

The landscape turned upside-down in his eyes.

"W-what the…?" He was shocked.

No one ever managed to do something like this to him.

"I'd not rush like that… not when you don't know where the opponent is." Natsu spoke from behind the falling boy, standing with one outstretched arm and looking coldly at his firstborn that was now lying flat against the sand. He only had to flicker his wrist, add some strength to his hand, and the kid found itself in the current position. "That's a rookie's mistake, Lotus."

Lotus glared at his father from the ground and jumped to a standing position, clenching his teeth at the surprise attack. "You old geezer…!"

"Lotus!" The twins called, jumping to the arena in order to assist their brother.

"What are you doing, dad!?" Little Erza wanted to follow after her siblings but a small pawn clawing at the hem of her skirt stopped her. Looking down, Happy was holding her back without paying attention to her, his black, cat eyes focused on the veteran wizard in the middle of the arena. "H-Happy, why…?"

"Natsu is going to test them… he wants to see how strong they are." Happy explained simply, his plain and cold tone sending shivers to the little girl's spine aside surprising her. "Erza is okay with this, so you should step aside."

'T-Test them…?' The girl questioned internally, not understanding why her parents wanted to test her sisters and brother. This really was strange to her; why would Natsu tell her that their mother was in danger and needed their help, gather them all in one place, and later fight them? To test them? To see how strong they are? It didn't make any sense to her. 'W-why would he need to do this?'

"Sit back and watch…" The cat told her with the same tone, pulling from the hem of her skirt. "You might learn a thing or two with this."

Confused beyond her limits, Erza could only nod and do as told, worry in her eyes as she looked on towards the arena and the four wizards, her family, standing in the middle.

"F-Father, what's the meaning of this?" Elis questioned once she reached the position with her sister.

"What were you and mom talking just now?" Eris followed, confused as her siblings and wanting for an answer that could silence her questions.

Natsu remained quiet and regarded them with narrowed eyes, lowering his arm in the meantime.

This further annoyed his son, who now called his swords to make his point clear. "Say something, old man! What happened with mom!?"

"Your mom's alright… for now." The pink-haired man told them simply, inhaling a good amount of air to help with his concentration. He knew he would have to contain himself a little with them, so this would help him in keeping his restraints checked. "But she needs help, so I gathered you all to go and assist her."

The siblings threw disbelieving glances at their father.

"We don't have much time, so let's hurry up and start." Entering a basic combat stance, he stood with his right facing the girls and his left facing the boy, keeping his head even to have sight of both sides and fighters. "If you want to go with me and help her, you'll have to show me if you're capable of doing so."

Lotus grinded his teeth together and barked at the veteran wizard, now furious with all of this. "Stop messing around! Tell us where mom is!"

"Father… do you plan on taking us to help mom with her mission?" Elis, who was the only one that could keep herself level-headed despite the perplexing situation, nodded to her father and got into a stance, calling forth her humongous claymore to her hands. She swung it once, causing a small yet powerful wave of magic around her, and later rested it over her shoulder with both hands keeping it steady.

"If it's that, you could've said so…" Eris murmured a bit hurt at not being trusted by her father, bringing her palms together and separating them with a blazing fire forming in between them that took the form of a spear. She took hold of it from the middle with both hands and swung it a couple of times before letting rest behind her back with only one hand holding it.

"You're nothing but a pain in the ass, old man…" Lotus sneered to his father, slashing the air around him to stabilize his stance and delimit his personal space. Anything finding itself inside his range would be cut to pieces. And the better if it was the wizard in the middle of the arena.

Natsu paid no heed to his kids' words and let his magic reveal itself.

Setting his own fists ablaze with a fire stronger than that of his daughter.

And far more deathly.

"Enough talking… come here and show me your strength."

The twins shared a side-glance and nodded, looking back to their father and lunging.

Lotus clenched his hands around the hilts of his swords and leaped.

The veteran wizard in the middle waited.

And when the youngsters were within range.

The inferno started.

To be continued.

A/N: As for the question that's probably burning in everyone's mind right now - Nope, this story isn't taking a turn to the serious side of the force. *chuckles* Let's say that all will be explained in due time and leave it at that, arite? I swear the end of this will have you all laughing to your hearts' content. *nods* Meanwhile, why don't we sit comfortably on our chairs and see how this little family reunion ends up? *grins*

Saludos.

PD: It's so nice to see that the number of Favs/Alerts don't match up with the number of reviews. But that's my opinion, don't mind me. *sulks in a corner full of mushrooms*