Sorry for the delay, I had to rewrite this on my phone due to my computer crapping out. Sorry! I'm working on fixing it as I post this (rewrote the story and posted it before starting on it).
Okay, a lot of people are asking about the pairing here so I'll say it one more time, I plan on putting out 5-6 possible pairings for Natsu. Since everyone wants to know so much about them I'll just let you know now. Mirajane, Lisanna, Millianna, Yukino, Chelia, and Minerva (Just run with it for now you'll understand why later). The voting hasn't started yet so even if you tell me what you prefer I can't do anything about it yet. I want to introduce each character to the story first and show how they interact with Myou before you all start claiming a certain one to be your favorite.
No, Lucy is not a viable pairing, no matter how many people like her. She is and will be only a friend to Natsu. Partially because of what she has put Natsu through recently with Sting and the adoption, but also because neither of them want to take a step away from their friendship, however rocky it would seem at the moment, to pursue a deeper relationship just in case it didn't work out between them. That is the last I will say on the matter. So no, this will not be the cliché 'Lucy regrets her actions and tries to make up with Natsu and ends up with him' type of ending.
Anyways, on with the chapter!
Chapter 4: A New Life
"It isn't going to happen, that's all you should be worried about Natsu." Mirajane mumbled. She had some things that she needed to talk about with a few of the girls back at the Guild, and maybe a few of the guys to get them to explain to Natsu about a certain subject. "Come on, we should get back to Magnolia so you can get some rest. I'm sure Myou would appreciate you coming to pick her up early in the morning."
After the grueling train ride, Mirajane had bid Natsu goodnight and had made him promise to bring his little girl over as soon as possible. In return, Natsu had made her promise to keep what had transpired that night a secret between the two of them. He wanted to surprise everyone by actually showing up with Myou. He watched her turn and walk happily back down the street towards the Strauss' family house, a noticeable pep in her step.
Darkness swallowed him, lamplights clicking on to light his way back towards the edge of town. He stopped suddenly, frozen in place just inside the walls as it dawned on him. It wouldn't matter how ready he thought he was, or how good his intentions were right at that moment. Not only was his shack of a house small, but it was in the middle of the forest. It was a complete mess and in no way was it suited for a small child.
As fast as he could process the information, Natsu set up a plan for the following day. He would clean the second he got home, and not the usual 'push everything into a corner' tactic that he usually used when too much crap got in the way. No, he needed to devote his time to a thorough deep cleaning like the ones that Lucy used to help him out with. Just thinking about the Celestial Mage tore at his heart. He truly missed her, no matter what he said. She was still one of his best friends and it hurt to not be able to see her the way he had in previous weeks, but he knew that one day this would have happened. They both needed to find that person that they could devote themselves to, and at the moment Lucy had Sting and Natsu had found Myou.
He shook the thought out of his head and focused on the matter at hand. In the morning he would find one of the girls to help him get whatever Myou might need. He knew the basics of course; clothes, food, a roof over their heads, a bed, and… well… what else was there? This was why he knew he needed some help setting everything up for her. He wanted everything to be perfect for her. She wouldn't want for anything if he had his way.
He slapped his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up from his delusions and sprinted towards his house while running the women that he could ask to help him with making a list of what he would need. He could ask Mirajane, she knew a lot about how to run the Guild as it was, she might know what it took to raise someone, in fact she had raised both Elfman and Lisanna already too even though she had done it at a young age. Or there was Lisanna herself, who had helped him with Happy from the time that he had hatched. But that was different; Happy could fend for himself and had done so plenty of times, as was evident now that he was spending most of his time with Carla and Wendy.
He finally made it to his house and kicked open the door, hard enough that he heard cans and bottles scatter from where they lay when the wind rustled against them. He sighed and pushed his sleeves up his forearms and shook his head. He threw himself into his work, grabbing trash bags and filling them with everything in sight. Maybe Erza would be… No that would be worse than asking Happy to help him. There was no way she knew anything about children, let alone have enough time to help him with Jellal always on her mind.
Natsu slapped his forehead and groaned. "I'm an idiot…" He whispered to himself. Here he was wondering who he could ask for help when there was already someone that was raising a child of her own in the first place. He would head straight to Bisca and Azlack's home in the morning and hope she wouldn't freak out at him and yell with him being so unprepared. He shook his head and threw himself back into action, running around the house and picking up what was left of the stuff on the floor, reminding himself to take the bags into town in the morning on his way in.
He grabbed a broom and quickly went to work without another thought to what he would do in the morning.
With his bags thrown over his shoulder, Natsu sprinted back into town just as the sun was starting to rise. After dropping the bags off for recycling he ran off to the Guild, even more ecstatic than the day prior. He kicked open the doors only to have them rebound and slam shut in his face after hitting the wall. He groaned and rubbed his face, gently opening this time so he wouldn't cause any more damage. After a quick scan, he didn't see either Bisca or Azlack, nor their daughter anywhere in sight but there were a couple of others hanging around in the early hours of the morning.
"Mira!" He called out, heading over to the bar. He called out again when there wasn't an answer.
Lisanna poked her head out from the kitchen. "Mira-nee isn't here yet, something about grocery shopping for the week."
Natsu groaned and scrunched his face in irritation for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to know where Bisca and Azlack live do you?" He asked dropping into a seat at the bar.
"Mmm, I think so. Mind if I ask why?" Lisanna inquired leaning on the counter in front of him.
Natsu waved off her question. "Just some questions about Asuka and some of her necessities for just in case Clarissa gives me the okay." He lied, hoping it was convincing enough that she wouldn't press further. He knew he was terrible at lying and just wanted to get away quickly before she caught on too fast.
Lisanna wasn't buying it though and narrowed her eyes at him. "What aren't you telling me?" She questioned. Natsu tried to laugh it off and scratch the back of his head, but she persisted. "I'm serious here Natsu, why do you need to know?"
Natsu sighed and looked down at the counter in front of him. "You kind of hit a nerve the other day when you asked about Myou not having a mother if I adopt her. Not so much that she won't have a mother, but more that I don't know everything that it takes to raise her. Don't get me wrong, I know I can do it, but when it comes to what she needs, I can't say I know everything. If it was a boy that would be another story, I remember what I needed, but she isn't a boy." He sighed again, but looked up this time. "I figured with Bisca having a daughter of her own, she would know most of what it took to raise Asuka."
Lisanna looked a little taken aback. "What about me? I help with Asuka all the time, and you and I raised Happy! If we got through that, I'm sure we could get through raising Myou!"
Natsu laughed. "I don't think raising Happy counts as actually raising anyone. He's more cat than kid no matter how we look at it. All he wants is fish all the time." By the look of pain on Lisanna's face he knew he had probably gone too far. "Don't get me wrong." He said trying to alleviate the situation. "I don't regret having you help with Happy at all. I'm just worried is all. I just want to do what is best for Myou no matter what happens with me."
"Tell you what, I'll take you over to Bisca's if you let me help you too." Lisanna offered sweetly clasping her hands together in front of her. "And if not, then you can hunt them down yourself."
Natsu frowned at the ultimatum, but relented. "Fine. Not like I would have turned down your help anyways, you are like a best friend to me!" Lisanna ignored the best friend comment and smiled happily, skipping around the counter and taking Natsu's hand to drag him with her. Natsu couldn't hide the small blush that inched up his cheeks and turned his head away hoping she didn't notice.
Lisanna wasn't deterred by the looks they got through town and merely led her companion to a small quant house at the end of a street and knocked on the door. Azlack opened the door and she quickly explained the situation for Natsu. After explaining everything, Bisca and Azlack were more than happy to give the Dragon Slayer a list of everything that they felt he would need for Myou should he succeed in adopting her. They suspected more than he was letting on, but were just happy that he was trying to prepare for the possibility of being a father.
Natsu had to pull Lisanna out of the house with him in order to get her out of their friends' home. She had wanted to sit and talk about what it took mentally and physically to raise Asuka, but Natsu didn't feel like having his ability brought into question, thus the quick departure. Once back into the shopping district of town Natsu let Lisanna lead the expedition with the short list of supplies. They quickly ran through a furniture store and picked out a small bed with a dresser and nightstand, all a light shade of pink much to Natsu's distaste. He didn't push the issue though, figuring Lisanna would know more about what girls liked since she was in fact one herself.
Even though Lisanna had suggested they pick out clothes, Natsu had downright refused to help here there. Not only did the smell inside nauseate him, but they didn't know what size to get the girl. Not only did Natsu not know her size, but he couldn't recall quite how old she had been. "Besides, you can help her pick clothes out when she gets here." He said to defend his argument.
Lisanna caught onto the slip up and spun Natsu around to push his back into the wall of a nearby building they were passing. "When she gets here? There's something you're not telling me here." She stated poking Natsu's chest with a finger. "What are you hiding?"
Natsu swatted her finger away and tried to step to the side to go around her but she followed, keeping her body in his way to prevent him from going any further. "Can you just trust me here? Everything will work out sooner or later and you'll understand."
"You got permission didn't you? Is that why Mira-nee was so happy last night?" Lisanna asked, finally putting things together. "That would explain why you were so desperate to get all of this for her today instead of waiting until you knew… because you already knew!"
"Keep your voice down!" Natsu whispered urgently. "Yes, alright? I'm going back to Clover Town after we finish up here to finalize everything."
"I'm coming with you." Lisanna stated.
Natsu sighed and hunched forward slightly. "You won't let me go by myself will you? And if I make you stay you'll tell everyone?" He guessed. Lisanna nodded, smiling slyly knowing she had him in her grasp. "Fine you can come with, but don't make a scene please!" He pleaded.
Lisanna pat him on the shoulder. "I'll be a perfect little girl for you, don't worry about me. Should we head out now? The rest can probably wait until we get back with your beautiful little girl!" She couldn't hold herself back from freaking out a little, clapping her hands and bouncing up and down where she stood. "I knew when I woke up today that it would be a good day, thank you for not disappointing Natsu."
Standing outside the orphanage Natsu couldn't help but feel nervous. His hands had even started to shake slightly and he began to second guess himself. Lisanna noticed this and gently touched his arm, offering him a small smile instead of words knowing that actions spoke louder than words for him. She earned herself one of his signature grins. "Shall we?" He asked now that his resolve was renewed.
No sooner had he opened the door than was he bombarded by a flying body, effectively knocking him back out the door to land on his back. He could only groan from where he lay, reaching his head up to rub the back of his head with one hand, the other moving to the back of the body that had tackled him so he could sit up without dumping whoever it was that had hit him on the ground. "What's the big idea, huh?" He mumbled.
"Get me away from those little demons!" The woman cried out, shrinking against Natsu's chest. "Those aren't children, they're demons!"
Natsu groaned and looked down finally taking notice of who it was that had hit him. "So why did you tackle me Millianna?" He asked.
"I wasn't trying to." She countered. "You just got in the way when I was trying to run. Oh! They listen to you, get them to stop pulling on my hair!"
Natsu laughed and pushed her off of him and stood up. "They're just curious, don't get so worked up about it. I'm sure they didn't mean any harm by it." Once again he pushed his way into the orphanage, prepared to be attacked yet again just in case. He didn't even have to try and search out the little girl that occupied the entirety of his mind. "I'm back everyone!" He called out, most of the children smiling and waving at him. Myou however, dropped her fork onto her plate and sprinted over at him, throwing herself into the air so he could catch her and pull her into a hug, something that she had taken a liking to after he had decided to come by more often.
Lisanna was stunned by the young child, drawn into the scene that was playing out in front of her. The little girl had pitch black hair that dropped to the small of her back, her eyes stunningly golden in contrast. The girl couldn't have been older than eight; nine at most from where she stood watching the two interact.
"Natsu! It's about time you got here, the cat lady wouldn't let us play with her tail and kept running away!" Myou cried out, waving her hands dramatically.
Natsu chuckled. "Go easy on her; she isn't used to how energetic you kids are yet. She'll come around more if you don't scare her away."
"Who's the lady that you brought with you today?" Myou asked peaking over Natsu's shoulder at Lisanna shyly. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Natsu sat Myou on her feet and looked down at her, frowning and furrowing his brow, but Lisanna beat him to the punch. She stepped up to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling herself against him and leaning closer to him as if to kiss his cheek. "That's right Myou, I'm-"
Natsu caught her face with the palm of his hand and pushed her back with a sigh. "She's a friend Myou, a friend." He untangled himself from Lisanna and squatted down in front of the little girl. "I have something more important to talk to you about anyways. Did Clarissa have a chance to talk to you today?" Myou shook her head. "Well, to be blunt, I want to take you home with me today. How does that sound?"
Myou stood there silently, wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck to pull him closer. Natsu smiled and returned the hug, smelling the silent tears that were running down her cheeks. "You better not be teasing me." She whispered.
"I'm serious." Natsu said standing up, still holding her in his arms. "We just have to fill a few things out with Clarissa then I'll take you home with me." Myou started to laugh and only squeezed tighter onto the Dragon Slayer, who could only smile brighter. He gestured over to Lisanna, motioning for her to come over to him. "Hey, I want you to meet one of my friends from Fairy Tail, you remember me telling you about Lisanna?" He asked.
"You told her about me?" Lisanna asked, surprised that he had talked about her. Natsu shrugged. "Well anyways, it's nice to meet you Myou. Let me tell you, I don't think you could ask for someone better to take care of you. He's saved my life more times than I can remember; I can only imagine what he'd be willing to do for you." She squealed with joy the more that she looked at the little girl. "I just can't get over how cute you are! Everyone at the Guild is just going to LOVE you!"
Natsu went to set Myou down, but she only clung onto him more and refused to let him go. "I'll only be a moment, Myou. I just need to find Clarissa so we can get this done, I want to get you back to meet the rest of the Guild." Finally Myou relented, but watched him head off anyways.
"Don't worry so much." Lisanna wandered over to take a seat at the table with a few of the other kids, her heart going out to them since she knew what it was like to be without parents. "He'll be back in a moment, it just gives us time to talk. So tell me something about yourself, Natsu says you have some kind of magic."
"Yeah…" Myou said, unsure of whether or not she should be giving this information to the woman, but decided it would be alright seeing as she was Natsu's friend. "He says it's nothing to be ashamed of and I've seen his magic, but I don't have anything like he does. I can't even control it yet, things just happen on their own." She walked over and sat at the table across from Lisanna and started to fiddle with her hands, poking her fingers together. "He says that Fairy Tail is full of mages, is that true?"
"Of course it is. All of us are mages so you'll fit right in! We have been so excited to meet you, but he wouldn't tell us anything about you." Lisanna said with a bright smile. "Even Millianna is a mage!"
Millianna stopped at the head of the table and put her hands on her hips, casting a smile down at the two at the table. "That's right, there are quite a few of us around."
Natsu and Clarissa appeared, seemingly out of thin air, next to the table with a stack of papers in their hands. Natsu set the papers down and picked Myou up to sit down where she had been only to set her down on his lap. "Sorry to interrupt, but we should get this over with as fast as possible."
"Who is going to be my mom?" Myou asked suddenly. "Why didn't she come with you?"
Natsu flinched and dropped his pen to the table. "Sorry Myou, but you only get me for now." He whispered. "But one day you'll have a mom, I just don't know when. One girl is more than enough for me to handle right now." He teased, ruffling her hair slightly.
"Oh… But you hang out with other girls all the time, aren't you close to any of them?" Myou asked, not convinced that he didn't have his eyes on anyone.
"Hey, girls can be friends too ya know. Not everything has to be romantic, besides you don't have to worry about it." Natsu said picking the pen back up, signing where Clarissa informed him he had to.
"What do you like for in a partner?" Myou asked. Natsu groaned seeing that she wasn't going to give up so easy.
"How about this, if I let you help me will you let it go for now?" Myou nodded and smiled. "Besides, it isn't that easy to just say what I like. You have to like them too, and they have to get along with you better than they do me."
"What about cat lady?"
Natsu coughed and looked up apologetically at Millianna. "What about Millianna? She's a friend."
"But you said that I had to like her and we had to get along. She already fits that, plus she's cute and soft." Myou said innocently.
"Sorry Millianna, I swear I don't know why she is pressing on this so much right now." Natsu apologized setting the pen down for a final time.
"It's alright, she's just a kid I understand." Millianna answered, blushing and finding that she couldn't make herself meet the Dragon Slayer's eyes. She had to admit that she had thought he was cute before, but she herself hadn't thought of pursuing a relationship other than the passing fancy.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not sitting right here." Myou mumbled.
Natsu pushed back from the table and stood up. He knew he had to find a place to stop this before things got too awkward. "How about we get out of here, hmm? I'd like to introduce you to the Guild and get you some new clothes before we get home."
Lucky for them, Myou lost all thoughts of Millianna at the sound of going home. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She grabbed Natsu's hand and drug him towards the door, only turning just before they left. "Cat lady!" Millianna looked over. "You should come by if you know where Fairy Tail is! I'm sure Daddy wouldn't mind seeing you again!" While Natsu was still reeling from having the young girl call him 'Daddy' she pulled him out the door so he couldn't discourage Millianna.
Lisanna followed the two out, knowing that she would have to worm her way into Myou's heart before the young girl would suggest her as a possibility of dating Natsu. For now she contented herself with watching as Natsu picked Myou up and tossed her in the air while the three of them made their way towards the train station. "I have to admit I was wrong the other day about your plan." She told Natsu. "I didn't know whether or not it would be smart for you to take Myou in, but just seeing the two of you together… Even without a partner, I think you could do it. I can see that she needs you and you never know, she might be exactly what you need too."
Next chapter we introduce Myou to the Guild! How will everyone react? Will she love everyone, or will there be someone that she particularly doesn't take a liking to? Come back next time to see for yourselves!