Writer's block was had. Also, found this really good anime, Otome Youkai Zakuro. If you haven't watched it, you definitely should.

I don't own Fairy Tail

The Best Father in Fairy Tail

The noonday sun beat down on Magnolia Park, the summer-green trees rustled their leaves as birds chirped in their branches. Citizens of Magnolia were out enjoying the perfect day: families having picnics, boys playing with their dogs and young lovers holding hands as they strolled along the paths.

A shout destroyed the peacefulness of the park.

"You're going down, Conbolt!"

"In your dreams, Dragneel!" came the taunting reply.

In the south corner of the park, two men were facing off as a large crowd looked on. Natsu's dark green eyes glared into Romeo's pitch black ones as Gray drew a chalk line across the path at their feet.

As the ice mage sprung back to his full height, he drew a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He caught his friend's attention with a loud cough.

"Excuse me, ladies, if you're quite done gazing into each others eyes - "

"Shut it, ice freak,"

" - I'll explain the rules." Gray continued, ignoring Natsu's stab at him and unconsciously undoing the top buttons of his shirt. He unfurled the paper.

"One lap around the park, on the course Jet marked out in blue. The first one back over this line wins. Magic is allowed, but strictly no flying."

He shot a pointed look over his shoulder at Happy, where he hovered under a 'Team Natsu' banner.

"If you leave the marked path, you are automatically disqualified and if you physically touch your opponent it's a forfeit too. If your stroller leaves the ground - "

"Wait," Jellal interjected from where he sat under a tree, "what does a stroller have to do with anything?"

"We're playing Stroller Derby, duh," Natsu pointed to where his six-month-old daughter sat in her pink stroller. She gurgled and clapped her little hands happily.

"But… Why?" the sensible blue haired wizard asked,

"For ultimate glory and the title of 'Best Father in Fairy Tail'," Romeo told him like it was obvious.

"I know I'm new here," Jellal had been married to Erza for ten years but only joined Fairy Tail recently, "but isn't that dangerous?"

"Not at all," Romeo said, lifting his eight-month-old son, Hamlet, from his stroller to hold him up to Jellal, "they wear helmets."

Jellal inspected the little black helmet that was fitted snugly over Hamlet's head and buckled securely under his chin. The baby giggled and reached for a lock of the mage's blue hair.

"And Lucy and Wendy are okay with this?"

"Pfft," Natsu scoffed, "they'd murder us if they even knew about it!"

Jellal shook his head at the hopelessness of his comrades and returned to his seat under the tree.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Gray glared at Jellal, "if your stroller leaves the ground at any point, you instantly lose."

Gray then turned to the crowd. It was mainly made up of male Fairy Tail members, roughly divided into Romeo and Natsu supporters.

"And now I'll introduce the competitors," Gray announced in a booming commentator voice, undoing a few more buttons on his shirt. He threw his arm to the left gesturing at Romeo,

"Team Conbolt, the challengers! Romeo and Hamlet!" Romeo raised his fist and held Hamlet to his chest as applause rained on him, Macao and Wakaba cheering especially.

Gray now turned to motion at Natsu,

"And defending their title, Team Dragneel, Natsu and Layla!"

Natsu raised his daughter above his head as cheers thundered from beneath his banner.

"Stroller Derby is MANLY!" he heard Elfman call,

"Go Natsu!" Happy shouted.

Gray turned back to Natsu and Romeo, "contestants, ready yours babies."

Romeo clipped Hamlet into his stroller and made sure his helmet was on tight enough. Natsu found Layla's helmet and clipped it over her tufty pink hair, a shade lighter than his own. He also padded the inside of her stroller with pillows for extra cushioning.

"Alright contestants, on your marks!"

Natsu and Romeo pushed their strollers up to the chalk line. Alzack stood close by, his pistol in the air, ready to let off a starting shot.

"On the count of three!" Gray told them.

"Three!" Natsu tightened his grip on Layla's stroller, his legs bent and ready to take off.

"Two!" The audience chanted along with Gray. Romeo gulped nervously and shifted his feet, crouching lower.

"One!" Silence…

And then the 'crack!' of Alzack's pistol as Gray and the crowd shouted "GO!"

Natsu and Romeo took off simultaneously and were even for a few seconds before Natsu pulled in front. They crowd lost sight of the race as they rounded a bend in the path.

"Everyone, please feel free to watch how the match unfolds via lacrima vision!" Gray turned to show the audience a massive lacrima screen hovering above the starting line.

"You can stop talking like that, ice princess," Gajeel growled and the dark haired mage deflated as he resumed his place with the Romeo supporters.

In the race…

Natsu puffed as he pushed the stroller up a hill, slowing from a sprint to a light jog. He heard Romeo's crunching footsteps close behind him as the younger man began to catch up.

Layla giggled as her father put on a burst of speed and crested the hill. Natsu sneaked a glance over his shoulder. Shit! Romeo was closer than he thought.

The dragon slayer cursed again when he felt something cold collide with his shoulder. It was the cold blue flames of Romeo's Rainbow Fire Magic.

Natsu threw some fireballs behind him, hoping to get Romeo without taking his eyes off path, but stumbled when a sticky purple fireball glued his feet to the ground. Romeo laughed manically as he sped past, Hamlet's delighted shrieks coming from the stroller.

After a few minutes, Natsu managed to burn away the purple fire with his own flames and took off at a sprint.

"Come on, Layla," the pink haired mage puffed to his daughter, "we can still win."

Layla gurgled in reply and laughed happily when the stroller bumped over stray rocks on the path. Encouraged by his daughter's mirth, Natsu put on more speed, blazing a trail through the park, flames burning in his wake.

When he saw Romeo ahead of him, the dragon slayer let out an evil, sharp-toothed grin.

"Ha! Thought you'd lost me, Conbolt? Takes more than purple fire to slow down Natsu and Layla Dragneel!" he called ahead to opponent.

He ducked his head just in time to dodge another blue fireball and tugged his scarf over his mouth to guard against green, sleep-inducing flames.

They were at the north end of the park now, the section most used by the citizens of Magnolia. Right now these citizens were scattering in an effort get out of the way of the destructive mages who were throwing fireballs at each other and appeared to be pushing baby strollers. The good citizens of Magnolia gathered their children to their sides and placed their hands over their ears as they yelled obscenities at the men for ruining their afternoon. The adults then exchanged silent looks that agreed all Fairy Tail wizards were crazy.

After shoving a man out of his way, Natsu gobbled down fire from a nearby barbeque and took a deep breath before shooting it at Romeo.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

The dark haired man barely had time to dodge the stream of fire, which slowed him down and allowed Natsu to regain first place.

The dragon slayer chuckled to himself as Romeo disappeared from sight.

"Nobody tries to take the title of 'Best Father in Fairy Tail' from me, huh, Layla?"

The baby squealed in agreement and then in glee as they rounded a sharp bend.

"Look, Layla!" Natsu shouted, pointing ahead, "I can see the finish!"

The large crowd came into view, Natsu's supporters cheering and hollering while Romeo's booed when they spotted the pink haired man.

"We're gonna win!" Natsu exclaimed breathlessly,

"Not so fast, Dragneel!" Romeo yelled from behind them,

"Shit, shit, shit!" Natsu cursed as he mustered every last piece of strength and dashed for the finished line. He felt Romeo right beside him as they flew closer and closer to the finish.

They crossed the finish line at what felt like the same time. As the strollers rolled to a stop, both men collapsed to their knees in exhaustion.

"Woah, that was close, I think we'll have to watch a play back," Gray directed everyone's attention to the lacrima screen and they watched with bated breath as the footage of the race played back in slow motion.

Half the audience erupted in cheers when Layla's pink stroller crossed the line a fraction of a second before Hamlet's.

"The winner of Stroller Derby and the 'Best Father in Fairy Tail' is NATSU DRAGNEEL!" Gray announced.

As Natsu unclipped Layla from her stroller and lifted her into his arms, his fans converged on him, patting him on the back and offering handshakes.

"She certainly doesn't have your weakness for transport," Makarov chuckled as he patted the baby on the head and Natsu laughed along with him.

After the mob thinned out, Jellal approached Natsu and cleared his throat, somewhat nervously,

"Congratulations," he said, eyes downcast,

"Thanks," Natsu grinned back,

"Hey," the blue haired wizard continued, "After Erza has the baby, do you think… you and I… could play a round of Stroller Derby?"

Please leave a review, I'd love to hear what you all think :)

If you aren't the guest reviewer, you don't need to read this part.

Not trying to bash your ships, but Mira and Freed and Laxus and Cana would never work. Freed's waaaay to into Laxus to be with anyone else, like, maybe not even romantically, maybe he's too busy protecting him to think about anyone else. I think Laxus and Cana are too alike, they both have the don't show me affection thing going on and that would never work in a relationship and have they even ever spoken to each other…? But hey, it's just my opinion.