A/N: Thanks so much to HinaSnowBastia, Neko-Tiara, kram32, nightwatcher55, redstars, xXxAddicted2ChocolatexXx, KirstyKakes, Chrys Stone, xXJeanetteXx, oshirajinda and lucy-chan 3 for their reviews on the last chapter! When I looked at the story and saw that the last chapter had gotten 11 reviews I felt truly touched. Thanks so much! =)
Many of you asked this question the last time round so here is the answer: Yes, Natsu is the father of Kasei and Tsuyu but how that came to be will be revealed in the later chapters. And no, Lucy didn't leave Magnolia because she was pregnant. The answer to that will be revealed in the chapter after this one. ;) I hope that this chapter answers any other questions you might have... if not you can ask away, I'll do my best to answer them. =D
I'm also sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, but now that my final exams are over and the holidays have started I should be able to update at least once a week if not more. =)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fairy Tail characters or settings, Hiro Mashima does!
And now without further ado I present chapter 3 of A Chapter from the Past!
Please leave a review! =P =D
A Chapter from the Past
Chapter 3 - Kasei and Tsuyu
"Mommy, I'm kinda hungry." Tsuyu pulled at her mother's arm impatiently, the hunger starting to get to her. Although she had only had breakfast two hours prior her stomach was beginning to note its displeasure at the lack of food once more.
"Mommy?" Suddenly Levy turned to Lucy as something dawned on her. Who were these two small figures, clad from head to toe in the same kind of cloak that Lucy was wearing?
"Of course Tsuyu, we'll find you something immediately." Lucy smiled at her daughter, only now becoming aware that her children were still here. Normally never far from her mind, the thought of the two of them still being here must have escaped her in the chaos that was her return to the guild.
"Mira-san, do you think that you could get something spicy for these two here?" Lucy turned with hopeful eyes to the beautiful bartender who was looking at her two children with her mouth in a wide 'o' shape.
"Of course Lucy." She smiled, deducing that Lucy would introduce the two newcomers to the guild sooner or later. And, as always, she was right.
"Okay everyone, I'd like you to meet someone." Lucy called over the shouts of her fellow guild members. She had noted, with a certain degree of sadness, that her former team were not currently in residence.
The rowdiness around her died down a bit as Lucy bit back a smile. Fairy Tail was as noisy as ever. It felt so good to be back. It felt so good to be home.
"Come on you two. Why don't you introduce yourselves?" Lucy smiled encouragingly at her two slightly intimidated children. Grinning at their mother the two of them stepped forward, Kasei being slightly more hesitant than his confident sister.
"I'm Tsuyu." The girl said proudly, standing upright with her hands behind her back as her cloak fell off. Rolling on her heels, her blonde hair swung back and forth along her back, being longer than her mother's was.
"I'm Kasei." He grinned up at the group standing around them, theo goofy grin reminding them of someone else they knew. His blonde hair was cropped short, the spikes standing in every discernable direction as his eyes twinkled once he had opened them again.
"And Lucy here is our mum." They both smiled proudly as they rushed back to where their mother was standing and grabbed both of her hands within their smaller ones.
Several seconds of silence followed the second statement of the two children. Lucy swallowed rather nervously as her nakama proceeded to stare at the three like goldfish.
"MUM?" The whole guild erupted into new chaos as they all stared at Lucy.
"I think I just turned deaf." Gajeel murmered as he rubbed his rather sensitive ears, the surprise non the less written all over his features.
"I know that I just turned deaf." Levy retorted, her own ears still ringing from the rather loud shout of them all. Yet she couldn't believe it herself. Lucy was the mother of these two adorable children. And even more importantly, she was a mother.
"Ah-ha..." Lucy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly after prying one of her hands out of Tsuyu's rather firm grasp.
"What do you mean, you're their mother?" Bisca quickly said as she popped up in front of Lucy.
"Who's the father?" Evergreen piped in, for once looking interested.
"It'd better not be Gray-sama..." Juvia muttered, a dark aura flowing around her, scaring the living daylights out of Tsuyu and Kasei. Lucy just laughed nervously before opening her mouth in a desperate attempt to answer some questions before the next guild member popped up with another question, followed by another and another and another.
Feeling rather backed up against a metaphorical wall, she turned around to look for anyone who might come to her aid and help her and Tsuyu and Kasei flee the crowds before the two behind her fainted from fright. After all, they had never really come into contact with so many people at once and especially not so many loud people.
Her saviour came in the form of a bustling Mirajane carrying in two plates of spicy food and setting it down on the counter.
"The food's ready!" She called across the room. Tsuyu and Kasei heard the shout and attempted to come forth from behind their mother to no avail. Mirajane saw their desperate situation and chuckled slightly.
"Minna! Food's ready!" Suddenly everyone's heads turned as they heard her voice. In the short lull that followed Mirajane's exclamation Tsuyu and Kasei took Lucy's hand and ran out of the crowd, pulling Lucy along behind them.
"Mama, mama, look at the food!" Tsuyu exclaimed excitedly as she danced around her mother and the stool in front of her. The boundless energy that Tsuyu contained reminded Lucy so much of Natsu although she would never admit that to anyone, least of all her children.
Kasei simply took the straight-forward approach, letting his stomach win over all else while Tsuyu danced around making a slight fuss. But that was simply the way that Tsuyu did things. She had a natural charisma that endeared people to her and grabbed their attention. He was more the child to calmly watch her make a fuss and do what he thought was right anyway no matter what anyone else did. And yet the two of them relied on each other heavily, being the other's counterpart and balance.
And how the two of them were hungry yet again was beyond her, after all, they had eaten breakfast not even an hour ago. Another trait inherited to them from their father. One that had cost her most of the money that she had earned over the past four years. Even as babies they had consumed more than an average infant would. She did not want to imagine how Igneel had managed to keep Natsu content and not hungry, his appetite was larger than theirs if her memory served her right.
"Mira-nee?" Lucy looked over to see Mirajane nearly melt in the cuteness of Kasei's 'puppy-dog eyes'. Another trait inherited from his father. Tsuyu on the other hand was the more daring side of both her and Natsu. If she wanted something she had no qualms in stating what she wanted and more often than not getting what she wanted too. It had been a long and hard road installing good manners into her daughter she reflected.
"Yes sweety?" Mirajane looked at the small boy with a large smile on her features.
"May I please have some Tobasco sauce?" The small boy looked at her with pleading eyes and Lucy chuckled as Mirajane complied happily but then suddenly froze in mid-step.
"To-tobasco sauce? Are you sure that's what you want?" Mirajane looked at the small boy dubiously. He looked so sweet, how could he possibly like something so spicy?
"Seconds please!" Tsuyu held out her plate, the please coming out after a slight hesitation and a certain 'look' from her mother. Mirajane turned to the small girl. Had she already eaten all of the food?
"Kai-chan is always like that." Tsuyu shot a toothy grin at Mirajane, using her nickname for her brother. "You should see him eat at home. We have stocks and stocks and stocks of Tobasco sauce at home, he doesn't like to eat anything that isn't really spicy. I like spicy food but I like sweet too. According to uncle Loke that makes my eating thingies..."
"Habits." Lucy corrected her with a smile while Mirajane continued to look at the small family incredulously.
"Yeah, that thing." Tsuyu said with a brilliant confidence. "More like mama's than my papa's. Of course me and Kai-chan..."
"Kai-chan and I..." Lucy said softly. The role of the mother was a tedious one at times. But no matter what she had to make sure that her children could at least speak properly.
"Yeah yeah." Tsuyu said in slight annoyance, her temper beginning to rise. Another thing that the guild would soon learn about Tsuyu. Even if they didn't know the identity of the father of her two children, they would still see that Tsuyu had a legendary temper. Loke had often complained that Tsuyu had inherited the flamy temper of both Natsu and her which in his opinion equalled a deadly combination. Aries and Virgo had also seconded that along with all of her other spirits. Kasei on the other hand had inherited the patience that she had found she possessed while coming to Fairy Tail and having to deal with the boisterous guild, especially when dealing with her team.
Thinking about her team made a melancholy feeling rise within her and she knew she simply had to ask Mira where the team was at that moment in time. For that matter she couldn't see Lisanna, Elfman along with Wendy and Charle either.
Tsuyu seemed to sense that her mother wanted to say something and quickly butted in. " And as I was saying, Kai-chan and I don't know who our papa is but we think uncle Loke knows but he never tells saying that it's mama's secret and that she will tell us when the time is right."
"Yu-chan just thinks that uncle Loke's being mean." Mirajane turned her attention back to the small boy and squeaked in surprise when she saw the mounds of tobasco sauce on his plate and food. "Thank you for the tobasco sauce." He said politely and then dug in while Mirajane just stood there speechless.
Behind Lucy Levy burst out laughing. The rest of the guild had gathered behind them and watched the scene from slightly further back, all of it bringing a warmth to their hearts. Makarov smiled as happiness and serenity filled him. His lost lamb was back amongst them and he couldn't help but feel nearly euphoric at her return. An unexpected surprise had come in the form of her two children and yet he already felt that they belonged right into the picture of the guild.
The reason as to why Lucy had left though was still nagging at the back of his mind and he desperately wanted to figure out the exact details. She had told him everything yet even she had confessed that in the seven years that she had been gone and had had the time to figure out the reasons she still hadn't come to a definite conclusion.
Knowing that Lucy would probably want to spend more time with her nakama and her children he felt his heart grow heavy at what he was about to ask of her. But he knew it had to be done and she would probably agree once she heard his proposition. Silently beckoning over to her she nodded and excused herself, saying that she needed to go to the bathroom and made her way over to him.
Going up the stairs both of them smiled as Tsuyu and Kasei captured the guild members with their charm. Lucy knew that no matter what might happen to her one day, she would always be able to count on her spirits and the guild to protect her children.
"Lucy, I am sorry to ask this of you so soon after your return but..."
"You want me to scout out something, don't you?" Lucy asked as she closed the door to his office behind them.
"Yes. I have a slight idea on where we might find some leads and you could go under the pretenses of completing a mission for money. Even if you find something that contains some potential, if it puts you in any possible danger I want you to return immediately, is that understood?" Makarov felt his age creap up on him and show on his face. He didn't want to lose one of his 'children' so soon after finding her again.
"What about Tsuyu and Kasei?" Lucy asked softly, maternal concern evident in her face as well as a reluctance to leave them behind.
"The whole guild will take care of them while you are on a mission but you don't have to worry about that today. Today we are celebrating your return!" Lucy laughed as she saw the master's excited expression. No one knew how to throw a party as Fairy Tail did.
Forgetting about her worries for the day, she decided to let herself go and truly enjoy herself despite the people that she had wanted to see the most missing. Tonight she would simply have some fun before setting off tomorrow to get some rent (and mainly food) money and possibly more.
~.~.~.~.~
"Na~tsu!" Happy whined as he looked at his constant companion. They had just gotten off the train at some place called Geroviac and Natsu was a spitting image of the walking dead. At least that was what Happy imagined the walking dead to look like. The face being a deathly (and slightly sickly) pale, a nauseous and yet lifeless expression on that face and emitting groans which normally creeped everyone within hearing distance out. He really did look like he was about to die.
And that despite Erza having knocked him out beforehand to make sure that he wouldn't throw up on any of them.
Erza waited impatiently beside her baggage while Gray just sat down on a bench knowing that it would take a while for Natsu to recover. Surprisingly Erza was sending death-glares in Lisanna's direction while Elfman was passionately arguing with Charle about being a man which she rebuked each and every time by saying that she was a female cat and nowhere near a man. Wendy was flitting around worriedly, trying to make Natsu feel better but to no avail.
If Happy hadn't known any better he would have said that Natsu's motion sickness had grown worse over the years yet that was hardly possible, wasn't it. Once again, like every so often he simply wished that Lucy would be here and help sort Natsu out. As a matter of fact, when Lucy had been there it had almost seemed as if Natsu's motion sickness got better instead of worse.
But that was just wishful thinking on his part. It had taken them all so long to confront themselves with the fact that Lucy was gone despite their desperate attempts to find her. He for one missed her like hell but as he often told himself, she wasn't coming back. Or if not, why hadn't she sent a letter or something years ago or given any sign that she was alive at all?
And he knew Natsu missed her just as much even if he would never admit it.
He just wished that she would come back to them. And then maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright once more.
