"Didn't Mira say she'd put out actual painted eggs for the hunt?"

Lucy held up a purple, plastic egg that she'd just found with the help of her spirits for Levy to see, and the other girl frowned. "Yeah, she did. Do you think these are for someone else's Easter Egg Hunt?"

"Possibly," Lucy replied, scanning the rest of the East Forest clearing that they stood in. Apparently the Easter Egg Hunt was a Fairy Tail tradition this year, with eggs hidden with enchantments. Whomever got the most was awarded a huge prize, or so they'd been told.

Lucy had thought she was a bit old for it, but when Master had mentioned in passing that it could be a good idea to get out the bunny costumes for the girls again, she'd snatched up her basket and gotten out of there as quickly as possible.

"I wonder what's in it," Levy mentioned curiously.

But before Lucy could open it, a flash of black shot across their vision and the odd egg was snatched from Lucy's hand. The girls stumbled backwards with a shriek, and across the clearing they spotted Gajeel lifting a fist triumphantly. Lily had taken their egg and given it to him.

"That's cheating!" Levy protested, stiffening with a glare. "Go find your own!"

"Gihi, no one ever wins by playin' by the rules, short stuff," he said, turning the egg over in his hand. "Plastic, huh? There's probably a prize inside!"

Gajeel opened the egg and immediately got a faceful of a fiery explosion.

The girls gasped as he choked on the smoke; luckily, he was a dragon slayer, and didn't get affected as much as if he weren't, but his face was coated in soot. "SALAMANDER!"

There was a familiar cackle and blur of pink as Lucy's entire basket of three eggs was ripped from her grip. "Karma, Gajeel!" And then he was gone.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted, squinting off to where he'd dissapeared. "Oooh, you thieving… Ugh, I'm getting those back! Later, Levy!"

Lucy took off through the trees, twigs whipping across her face as she followed that obnoxiously pink hair.

Finally, she slowed to a stop, panting, as she neared him, crouching down by a small next of twigs he'd made. He ad Happy were carefully placing her eggs beside about twenty others, covering them with more grass.

"What are you doing?!" Lucy hissed, reaching forward for her eggs. If the prize was money, she could use that for her rent. "Why are you hoarding all of these? You know you can take them back to Mira to count up to make sure they don't get stolen, right?"

"Shh," was all he said, pushing her hand away. "You might upset them."

"What are you talking about? You know, you probably already have enough to win-"

"I'm not collecting them for the prize!" he said, horrified. He finally looked up at her. "We're keeping them to hatch! It's cruel to use baby chicks as a game!"

Lucy blinked. It took her a moment to finally get what was going through his head, and then she burst out laughing.

"What?" he demanded.

"Natsu," Lucy gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. "These eggs weren't fertilized — there are no baby chicks in them."

She could tell he hadn't understood a word she'd said. Happy spoke up, "Of course there are baby chicks — they're eggs!"

"No, no, you see," Lucy tried to explain, kneeling beside him and picking up a blue-dyed egg. "Hens lay eggs all the time as part of their menstrual cycle. There are no chicks in them unless there's a rooster. These were the ones sold at the store, and they were bought from hens with no rooster. There's no chick — only a yolk."

Natsu's eyes went from hers, to the egg, and then to the whole nest he'd made. Then he slumped over, disappointment flooding his expression. "So… they won't hatch? Oh…"

"I'm sorry, Natsu," Lucy consoled, both warmed by his enthusiasm for new life and anxious to make his frown go away. "Look, these may not have babies, but I know somewhere that does…"

After Lucy, Natsu, and Happy had turned in their eggs and collected the prize that only ended up paying half of Lucy's rent, Lucy dragged him off, leaving Happy to paint more eggs with Charle and Wendy. She took him by the wrist to the very outskirts of the forest, where she finally slowed and knelt low to the ground.

"Stay quiet," she whispered, "and watch. Over by that little hole."

"Okay, Lucy."

After about three minutes of needing to hold Natsu still several times, the mother rabbit slowly made her way out of the burrow, followed by a line of four baby bunnies.

"Those are Easter animals too," Lucy said softly, watching as they hopped over to some clover. "I just noticed that they'd been born a few weeks ago."

She looked over to see Natsu's eyes widen in wonder and following the poofy tails around. Laughing quietly, Lucy lay down on her stomach, elbows on the ground and face cradled in her hands. Natsu did the same, head rested on his crossed arms on the grass. There they stayed for nearly an hour, feeling the breeze that lightly sifted through the flowers by the burrow until night had fallen.

The following day, Lucy looked up after several hours of being at the guild, frowning. "Why hasn't Natsu shown up yet?" she asked Gray, mowing down on his breakfast across from her.

He only shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

Right on cue, Natsu rushed into the doors, having slammed them open. "Mornin'!"

"Good morning, Natsu," a few chorused as he slid in beside his partner, beginning to eat off of her plate.

Lucy pushed his hand off of her food forcefully, so that her hand accidentally smacked into his stomach. There was a squeaky noise as she did so, and her eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

His eyes flicked around nervously as he gave an unconvincing laugh. "What was what? You're such a weirdo…"

"You didn't."

"Didn't what?"

With a flat glare, Lucy made a beckoning motion with her hand. "Take it out."

"Take what out?"

"You know what. Take it out."

Bowing his head with a pout, Natsu slowly pulled open his black and gold jacket to reveal a small ball of fur.

"Natsu, put the bunny back."

"No."

My Easter present drabble from Tumblr - Happy Belated Easter!

Mizpah,

~LoneStorm