Sorry for the long delay, I had some personal issues to take care of for the past few months. Things have calmed down enough that I can actually do a little writing, so here ya go. I hope my writing hasn't changed too much, or at all if I'm lucky!
Chapter 9: Mirajane's Date
Natsu groaned as the sky parted to direct sunlight into his eyes, effectively waking him from his small nap. Cracking his eyes open he looked down at the slight weight on his chest to see a tangled mess of black hair draped across him. Instinctively, as if second nature to him already, Natsu tightened the arm around the young girl to pull her closer to him as he sat up, being extra careful to prevent himself from waking the young girl.
Off to his right lay the youngest Dragon Slayer that he knew, the one that had been helping him teach Myou the basics of hand to hand combat- how to keep herself from being caught in a situation she didn't want to be in. Further off past the bluenette lay two Exceeds lying next to one another, a particular white cat sporting a content smile, one that Natsu knew she would deny to the ends of Earthland should he ever decide to bring it up. Despite that fact, he could plainly see that Happy had finally gotten past the icy shell of his fellow Exceed, if just barely.
A sudden voice echoed out in the silence. "About time you woke up." Natsu looked up at the voice to see Mirajane sitting on a branch in the tree that he and Myou had been napping under. He couldn't help but crack a small smile at her presence.
"I didn't expect to see you this early what with our 'date' being later tonight." He said with a small amount of mirth in his voice. It was hard to not look forward to going out with her the coming evening because he knew how much Myou loved being around the woman.
Natsu let his gaze wander over her appearance a couple of times, from her freshly brushed waist length hair down to fully take in how much she had changed over the past week and a half since she and Lisanna had stated their interests in him. Offhandedly he had mentioned to her that he sometimes missed her constant take-charge attitude that she had before her sister's disappearance. That wasn't to say that he didn't absolutely love to see her in a dress and high heels, or see her as merely a pair of legs for him to look at. No, he merely missed how she radiated confidence and strength before she had decided to take a step back in her role towards the Guild.
The only thing he had hated about her was her changed outlook on life was and how she was always blaming herself for everything, thinking that if she went back in the field that something similar would happen to one of their friends. She was always holding back and maybe now that she was sticking up for what she wanted, she would step out of her shell once again.
The eldest Strauss had nearly reverted to how she used to dress; a form fitting royal purple tank top that hugged her curves stopped in the middle of her stomach just above her belly button, a short black skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees that had a slit up the right side of her leg up to her hip combined with a line of thing metal chains preventing the slit from opening up further. Underneath her skirt she wore a pair of tight royal purple biker shorts. In order to accentuate her exceedingly long legs she wore knee-high high heeled boots and a lone white belt circled her hip, angled loosely that obviously was just for fashion. Natsu noted absently that her belt looked strikingly familiar to the scarf his father had given him, the same one that was now wrapped around Myou's neck.
A set of thin fingers snapping in his face brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality, revealing that Mirajane was now standing in front of him with a devilishly seductive smile across her lips. "Sorry, what were you saying?" Natsu asked sheepishly, setting Myou down next to Wendy to let her rest a little longer before they started training again. The young Dragon Slayer curled her arms around the mage-to-be's thin body to pull her close in what he assumed was to share in her warmth.
Mirajane giggled to herself cutely and stood back up to her full height and kept her smile. "Well if I knew surprising you like this would earn me such a reaction, I would have woken you up instead of waiting for you to do it yourself."
Natsu sent a small glare over at his most current 'date'. "I hope you had something else to bring up other than to seduce me, you have plenty of time for that later."
Mirajane had the decency to blush momentarily, but only a moment later it was gone and was replaced with a seemingly innocent smile. "Is it so bad that I wanted to see little Myou and make sure she was doing alright with Wendy's way of fighting? You know, if she doesn't take to this, I can always give it a try at teaching her how to fight like me."
Natsu barely stopped himself from laughing out loud. "You have no grounds to talk about 'your way of fighting'. You fight just as head-on as I do." He couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his lips when she started to pout at him. Maybe it was the way she looked in that moment, what with the sun shining in her hair and the way the wind… 'No, bad Natsu, bad Natsu. No perverted thoughts until AFTER things calm down!' He thought to himself harshly.
"I'm still stronger than you; at least I didn't lose to that weakling Erza." Mirajane huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. Natsu shrugged at that and gave her a bright smile, throwing his mask back on to hide how he was truly feeling.
"I guess that just means I'll have to train more!" He shouted throwing a fist in the air. He was quickly hit in the side of the head with a water balloon, a second following shortly after towards Mirajane as well.
"Seems like you still need a lot of training!" Myou teased, sticking her tongue out at the two. "And that's what you get for being loud."
Natsu looked over at the little girl that was now awake, still surprised that she had thrown the water balloon at him. In another blink of the eye he was on all fours, quickly rushing his way over at the girl like some sort of animal. Myou let out a high-pitched 'eep' as she scrambled to get away, rolling over Wendy in the process of her escape.
The young mage in training tried to escape, but was quickly caught and overtaken by Natsu. Myou squealed in simulated horror while Natsu continued to tickle her, causing the young girl to fight back. She attempted to swat his hands away from her so she could squirm away, but he was too strong for her to outright force him away.
She needn't have worried though; her saviors were only a few seconds behind him. As soon as his hands were pulled back and away from her, Myou scrambled back, still fighting to stop herself from giggling at the phantom fingers at her sides. She looked up to see that Mirajane had her father in a headlock while Wendy held his right arm and the two Exceeds held his left arm, all three struggling quite visibly to hold the Dragon Slayer back.
Mirajane peaked out over his shoulder at Myou with a small smile, her eyes turning to Natsu after a moment. "Not very nice of you to pick on poor, helpless, little girls… wouldn't you say Myou?"
Said girl dusted off her dress with a huff, placed her hands on her hips, and nodded curtly, an unconvincing frown adorning her face. "What do you say about a little payback?" Mirajane asked.
Myou grinned excitedly and voiced her thoughts with a giggle of concurrence. She closed the distance as Natsu struggled against his restraints.
Let it be known that one of the strongest Mages in Fairy Tail couldn't withhold his girlish screams as his adopted daughter tickled him.
Two hours later all six of them reentered Fairy Tail's main hall with a thoroughly exhausted Myou, who was dragging her feet across the ground. As soon as they entered, each of them disappeared into their respective areas; Mirajane stepped back behind the counter with Kinana to catch up on the work she had skipped out on to join Natsu, Wendy and Myou in the young girl's training. In her haste to see her two favorite people at the time, she had postponed writing up the missions into the log book and had a lot of work to get back on track.
Wendy and Carla slipped into a booth to relax for a few minutes. They hadn't exactly been working too hard, just getting Myou into certain stances so she could adequately redirect, block or even dodge attacks. So, while not normally physically taxing, she needed a break to let her brain reboot. Carla however… wouldn't be one to pass up some relaxation time with her best friend.
Natsu noticed that Myou's eyes were slowly drooping as her training caught up with her and picked her up, the young girl wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle to hold herself up. Once she was settled, Happy flew over and landed on her shoulder, snuggling himself up against her neck with his tail wrapping around her to help keep her warmth, needless of the fact that Natsu's body heat was far higher than anything Happy could ever hope to produce.
Once the girl was comfortable enough that he could walk around unhindered, Natsu made a quick pass by the bar and told Mirajane that he would see her later that night, that he and Myou would be by her house to take her out on what would be their third 'date' and that she should make sure to dress warm for their excursion. Another quick stop to thank Wendy for her help and the three quickly left and proceeded to set everything up for their night out with Mirajane.
As soon as they were ready, and thoroughly re energized, Natsu sent Myou and Happy over to make sure Mirajane was ready while he stopped at one final destination. Myou gave a mock salute to her father and happily jogged off next to Happy. She could not have felt happier in that moment because she knew how much it meant to Natsu that this went well. He had spent so much time planning each individual date for the three women to the point that she couldn't say, if asked her opinion, who he would have picked to date. The only thing he knew was that he was giving the three all an equal opportunity to gain both his and her favor over the others.
The only thing that she knew was that all of the women in his life held a special place within his heart, that none specifically had a leg up on the others in terms of holding his heart romantically. If anything, the three he was currently 'dating' were in a slump only because he felt bad that he was dating more than just one woman at a time. He had commented once to her that he felt unworthy of them by letting them share him, even though he didn't necessarily want it that way. But on the other side he knew it was entirely his fault for not putting his foot down and denying the other two when he had decided on dating Millianna.
Myou sighed and shook her head as she arrived at the Strauss' household, hoping to herself that neither Elfman nor Lisanna were there to distract either Mirajane or herself from meeting up with Natsu. All of these dates had been enjoyable for the young mage in training, not only at the prospect of obtaining an actual mother, but at the chance of getting to know everyone else around her and to learn more about Natsu and what he used to be like as a child.
She knocked on the door lightly and took a step back to wait after hearing a muffled "Be right there!" from inside. In a few moments the door opened to the youngest Strauss looking rather flushed and irritated. As soon as she saw who was at the door, Lisanna brightened up and smiled. "Come on in, Mira should be just about ready."
Myou smiled back in response and stepped past her other potential mother. "Where were you today? We didn't see you after my training session." She inquired curiously.
"Nowhere special, just preparing a few things for my next date with Natsu." Lisanna chirped, looking a bit red in the cheeks.
Myou frowned mentally; every time Lisanna got that look in her eyes she was either thinking of or about to do something perverted. However, the young girl didn't let her thoughts display over her features and instead decided to change the subject. "Mira upstairs?" She asked gesturing towards the stairway at the end of the hall.
Lisanna nodded and lead Myou up to her sister. "Mira, Myou is here! Are you ready yet?"
As soon as they reached the top of the stairs, Mirajane appeared from the bathroom blowing on her nails. "Just waiting for my nails to dry and we can be on our way. It shouldn't be more than another minute or two. Where's Natsu, I thought he was coming to pick me up?" She inquired with a gentle smile down at Myou.
The newest Dragneel shrugged. "He had something else to take care of before the date so he sent me here to guide you so we wouldn't be late."
Mirajane nodded and blushed slightly. She wasn't used to be treated like a woman like Natsu had been lately. She was used to being a mage, or a magazine centerfold or even a girl seeing as she was barely 19. "It's good to see that he is taking all of this so seriously and not just taking us all out on the same dates."
There was more truth to that then she knew, for Natsu had specifically catered to their tastes and personalities with their dates while including his own flair so they could see what it would be like for him and Myou to be in their lives. It wasn't a mere date that he was preparing for; he was preparing to decide on whom to spend the rest of his life with. "Well, let's not keep him waiting shall we?" Myou stated suddenly, remembering that she needed to get Mirajane down to the river by a certain time.
Mirajane readily agree and took Myou's hand in her own, bidding Lisanna a quick goodbye before heading out to meet up with her date. The door clicked behind them and they were off.
Shortly after Myou left did Natsu allow himself a moment to gather his thoughts. Being on his third date with Mirajane, he couldn't help but feel nervous. She was beyond beautiful, he couldn't deny that, but she was still a mystery to him.
In the years prior she had only been there as a friend or a confidant, not once had she shown a slight interest in him, honestly, two years ago he wouldn't have noticed even if she did, but after Lisanna had disappeared he had taken it upon himself to be more observant, not just in general but towards the opposite sex too.
Once Lisanna had come back, everything had been so hectic that he couldn't keep up with the emotions that were swirling around him. Should he explore the chance of having a relationship with her now that she was back, or would that be him taking advantage of the situation? In the end he let her have her space with her family and waited for the right time, which he had eventually fallen apart completely once the Games had started.
In that time he had tried pursuing Lucy for a short time even, but her friendship was too valuable on the off chance that she took it as an insult to her and thought that it was all he had wanted from her from the beginning. That indecisiveness had led to the loss of a friend entirely to someone that he absolutely despised.
That led him back to Mirajane and how she had started acting around him. He quickly shook the pain of such thoughts from his head and broke into a jog towards his destination. As if preplanned, a hand reached out from inside a shop window to stop him on his way past, jerking him to a halt by his scarf.
"Natsu! Just the man I was hoping to see!" The rosy-haired Dragon Slayer turned to see the owner of a local blacksmiths. Funny, he hadn't thought he was near that side of town. A quick glance proved him correct, he was merely passing a restaurant and was recognized. In the time that he was reminiscing, the blacksmith had slipped out of the restaurant and was standing before Natsu. The man towered head and shoulders over Natsu, muscles stretching his shirt and apron to their breaking point; the very definition of a mountain of a man. "Erza dropped off this gauntlet to be repaired a few days ago and was supposed to pick it up later this afternoon, but something came up and I need to leave town for a few days. Would you mind giving it to her when you see her?"
Natsu nodded uncertainly. "Everything alright? If you need any help…" Natsu accepted the gauntlet, taking notice that it was wrapped in a rough leather satchel. "Erza would skin me alive if she knew I let you get into trouble and didn't offer any help."
The blacksmith barked a short laugh. "Relax, Natsu." He smiled to further abate the mage. "Not that I couldn't take care of myself, but it isn't that sort of situation. My brother is due to have his first son and his wife requests we be there for the birth!"
Natsu grinned excitedly, knowing from Erza's stories that they had been excited for this moment for quite some time coming. "Congratulations Kaiza! I will be sure to pass your message onto Erza the first chance I get!"
The two clasped hands in a firm handshake. "There are instructions on how to engrave the gantlet if she wishes, but if she would rather have me do it, I should be back in two weeks or so." The now introduced Kaiza nodded and disappeared inside for a moment. "And here is that item you wanted made. Just be sure to bring it back if it wears too much from your fire."
The two bid a quick goodbye, but Kaiza called after him when he was a few feet away. "Be sure to get Erza's measurements before you stop by next time! Last time she was over and we were repairing the boots of her armor she commented that she needed more changed." Natsu raised a hand over his shoulder to indicate that he got the message and kept on his way.
In a manner of minutes he had found the store he wished to find and was on his way to the meeting place with Myou and Mirajane. As luck would have it, they were just arriving as well. Thinking quickly he stepped up behind Myou and picked the young girl by her waist and tossed her up on his shoulder.
Myou, having already felt the comforting warmth that Natsu gave off just moments before, squealed in delight at her impromptu flight. "Were you waiting long?" The young mage-in-training asked, excitement seeping through her voice.
An enthusiastic grin slipped over Natsu. "Actually, I had just arrived as you did. Also, I had time to pick up your anklet!" He reached into the inside pocket of his vest with one hand and pulled out a small box, his other arm curled around her legs to ensure she wouldn't slip and fall. Mirajane gave a small perplexed look between Natsu and Myou at him allowing Myou to wear jewelry; it was common knowledge that excess items or shiny objects could get in the way if you had to fight, or give away your position if you had to hide.
Upon seeing her so confused, Natsu explained while he popped the box open with his thumb. "Millianna had commented a while back about how frustrating it was when her guild members couldn't find her if they got separated on a mission. Since Myou here doesn't have my enhanced senses, we found a way for her to find me should she need me, not only when we are on a mission but for any reason in general." Just inside the box was a plain looking silver band that appeared to be in one solid piece.
As soon as he picked it up, his fire arced around it and it popped open. "Only my magic, once attuned upon closing it…" As he spoke he snapped the anklet to Myou's leg, once more sealing seamlessly. "…can open it. Once attuned and clasped together she can feel my magic radiate in any direction when she focuses on it. The warmer the feeling, the closer I am. And as you can see… Myou focus like we practiced."
Myou lifted her leg and closed her eyes as she focused, fire arcing around the band to stop and hold for a moment in the direction Natsu was, coincidentally at the back of her leg. "It shows the direction I am in when you look at it. With some practice she will be able to know where I am by the heat signature at her ankle instead of just looking at it."
Myou shook her leg and jingled the anklet a little to see that it barely moved, only enough so as to not pinch her skin or hurt her but otherwise was tight around her leg. In a single fluid motion, the young girl slipped off his shoulder, spun and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. Her feet dangled as she continued to squeeze him, repeatedly thanking him for the gift.
Mirajane watched on in fascination at how close the two had become in such a short time, at how much the two completed the other in a sense. Suddenly it dawned on her. "How did you know how to do that? That could be ultimately priceless for any team to have! No offense here, but you don't seem the type to actually know how to play the support role, that's Wendy's role. You are more of a front-line tank than a thinker."
Natsu shrugged absently, letting her teasing tone roll over him and not rising to the bait. "Levy found the spell actually. I went to Gajeel to see how they worked around their situation, or even if they had a plan for such an occasion. Turns out that he likes to hunt her down whenever she disappears. She took it upon herself to find the spell and set us up with a jeweler to get this made up. The jeweler made the anklet with some special metals or something, you'd have to ask Levy for the details on that, and I took it down to Kaiza to have him incorporate the spell into the metal. That man can work some miraculous spells when he sets his mind to it. It can only attune to one mage however, so teams with more than just two members, like most teams are, would have to devise a way to get in touch with several others at once."
"Kaiza?" Mirajane asked, cocking her head to the side as she tried to put a face to the name.
"The guy that Erza goes to, to get her armor tailored after she gets it from Heart Kreuz. They work together to get them tailored to fit her and he has the know-how to keep the magical properties of the armor and weapons intact despite them altering the spell's patterns." Natsu explained. Once again Mirajane looked at him like he had grown a second head. "Enough mumbo jumbo though, we need to get a move on if we want to get this date underway, we only have so much daylight left."
Mirajane immediately nodded and gestured for them to lead the way, seeing as they had not informed her of where they were going. Myou let go of Natsu and skipped ahead of them, giving Mirajane space to walk next to Natsu.
Trying not to blush, Mirajane slipped her hand into Natsu's. She was slightly afraid that he would be able to feel her heart race through their hands, but she was relieved when his fingers curled around her small hand, easing her heartrate ever so slightly. She focused on watching the young girl ahead of them skipping towards their destination enough that she zoned out to not think about where they were going of what they were going to do when they got there, but more on what they would be doing and why they were being so secretive about it.
In no time at all they were at the outskirts of town where they simply stepped into the train station and, once Natsu pulled a key from under his scarf, Myou opened a locker and tossed a bag to Mirajane. "Put that on, you'll need something a little warmer for where we are going.
Once again Mirajane was caught off guard but did as she was instructed and headed to the nearby bathroom, only to find that there were a pair of tight fit pants and a sweater inside. She slipped them on and came out to see that Myou had dawned on a sweater as well, but Natsu hadn't changed at all. 'It's likely due to his internal temperature and his magic.' Mirajane thought to herself.
"Ready to go Mira?" Natsu asked. Mirajane shrugged and nodded as he lead them out of the train station and off into the woods once again. She quickly realized why they had her put on warmer clothes than her usual shorts and tank top. It was progressively getting colder in which did she realize that they were headed uphill towards a mountain. She subtly, or so she thought, slipped closer to Natsu to draw from his warmth. After a few yards of walking after she had moved closer to him did he show her that he knew what she was after by putting an arm around her.
"Sooooo… where are we headed?" She asked finally.
"Just a little more and you'll see." Natsu smiled and thrust his jaw towards the edge of the tree line just a few dozen yards ahead of them.
Myou ran off ahead of them again, already having been here with Natsu before so she knew how cold it would get. As they reached the clearing, it was clear where Myou and Natsu were leading her. "Why are we headed up there?" Mirajane asked, already thankful their forethought to give her warmer clothes.
"Our date." Natsu answered plainly, gesturing absently with his free hand. "Myou wanted to see the snow, and the fastest and most simple way to get there is up this way. Besides, it has been awhile since we have been up there together, the last time… didn't turn out so well with Lisanna. But! This time we can just have fun and relax!" Gently Natsu took his arm from around Mirajane and held a hand out to Myou, offering her a hand up so she could get up on his back. "I recommend you use your Satan Soul form, it'll allow us to get there much faster."
Mirajane nodded and focused her energy for a moment. Immediately her transformation took place and she stood in her primary take-over form. With a quick look to Natsu, and a nod to tell him she was ready, they took off with Mirajane flying up the mountain at a relatively quick pace alongside Natsu while he, with Myou on his back, leapt, jumped and ran up the steep incline. She could feel the heat, even from this distance, as he used his Dragon Flames to propel himself up even further with each leap and bound.
They traveled on in a comfortable silence for nearly fifteen minutes until Natsu signaled for them to stop. They landed on a large plateau of snow that was plenty large enough to allow them space to run around or do anything that they wished to do. Natsu promptly tossed Myou into the air, stopped his flames, and dug his hand through the snow to make a snowball. Just as he was throwing it up at Myou's falling form, he was hit in the side of the head by a snowball.
Suddenly Mirajane was leaping through the air over Natsu to snatch Myou up in her arms. The two skidded to a halt some twenty feet away. Without further ado, the two spun on their heels and dove out of the way of Natsu's frozen missiles. They rolled to their feet and returned fire immediately. Natsu spat a glob of fire to intercept the snowballs, melting them to vapor much to Myou's ire.
"You want to play that way huh, cheater? Well you two can play at that game!" Myou cried out as she dropped to her knees and started to make snowballs as fast as she could. When she looked up, her eyes were glowing with excitement. She rose from her knees and raised her hands at her sides at the same time. A couple of the balls rose up shakily, making Natsu pale at the implications of her powers being used in such a way. In a last ditch effort, he turned tail and ran, foregoing any attempt at melting the snow any further.
Twenty minutes later found Myou and Mirajane sitting in front of a warm fire courtesy of Natsu after his utter defeat at the two women's hands. "I have to say." Mirajane started, gaining the attention of both Dragneels. "I could never have pictured you as a father. You act more like a child yourself than a responsible adult. Over the years I had hoped you would have matured, but here you are, playing in the snow while on a legitimate date. I can't tell you how happy I am to be wrong about you not growing up. Granted, Myou is a very mature girl for eight, but you two make a great pair."
Myou turned and sent a grin over to her father, becoming even happier at the thought of Natsu being her father. For so long she had wanted a family, and here he was. Soon, she hoped, she would have a mother to call her own as well. All she had to do was convince Natsu that there was a right woman out there for him. That there was a single woman out there that could change his heart and make them a happy family once again.
"Why date me then?" Natsu asked, finally deciding to just get it out of the way and ask the question that had been pestering him for quite some time. "If you wanted me to change so bad, why bother joining the others in a chance to get with me? As you pretty much said, I haven't been a prize for a very long time. I don't understand your change of heart after all this time."
Mirajane mentally lapped herself for how she had worded her statement and quickly wracked her brain on how to remedy the situation. "I didn't mean that you weren't a catch. It was more along the lines of the fact that I only saw you as a younger friend at the time and wanted to get you into the man that I wanted for myself. I thought that if you calmed down a bit, paid more attention to your surroundings, started less fights and opened up more… that you would be a better-rounded person."
Natsu cocked his head to the side, "You wanted me to change that much? I wouldn't have been me if I had none of that."
"At the time…yeah I did." Mirajane said quietly. She could see Natsu's gears turning and didn't want him to get the wrong idea. "That was before Myou here came into all of our lives. Before she came and after the Games, you looked so defeated and started to work alone. I thought you were becoming who I wanted you to be; quieter, smarter, and more observant. I just wanted to cheer you up so you would have been as happy as you used to be, but still be what you were becoming. But, I let the excitement of Sting joining blur my sight until that big blow up with you and Lucy. You were changing and I could see that, but I wasn't paying any attention to why you were changing. Everything crashed into me at once about why you were becoming that person and it just didn't sit right with me. I didn't want you like that; I didn't want you to become who you were just because something had happened. I think after that happened, we all saw you for who you were really and it was obvious that you were already what we wanted. No one could replace you, and we don't want you to change, none of us do. I just hope that Lucy comes to terms with just how wrong she is before she loses you too much."
Natsu sighed, hoping he was hearing her right. "So, Myou brought me back, so you see that you prefer me the way that I have always been?" Mirajane nodded, happy to see that he understood. "I wish someone would have noticed what was happening before hand, but everything worked out for the best in the end. If it hadn't had happened that way, I would never have found Myou, and to think… I have never been happier because everyone ignored me and I couldn't get anyone to help me."
Myou, a little depressed to hear that it had taken so much for everyone to realize what was happening, scooted closer to her father and leaned her head on his shoulder. "If it helps, I like you just the way you are. I couldn't ask for anyone better to have next to me."
Natsu smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to hug her close. "I hope it doesn't come to that, I like being the way I am. Besides, being who I am is what lead me to you, we can't change that now." Myou grinned again and latched onto his side.
Mirajane took the chance to change the subject as far as she dared to, "So, why did you think to give me a chance if you were so skeptical of my reasons?" The take-over mage leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her knees. If she had to be truthful, she was indeed quite curious, if his thoughts of her not liking him were to be true, as to what reason he would have to give her a chance when he already had Millianna vying for his time.
Natsu adorned a quizzical look and stared off into space for a few seconds before finally looking back to his date. "No idea." He said with a shrug. "At first you didn't really give me an option; your sister, Millianna, and you of course, seemingly decided I was to date the three of you until I could choose one of you."
It was her turn to shrug. "It isn't like we were going to force you to choose between us. We had already talked amongst ourselves and decided that one day you would gravitate towards a certain one of us, but we knew that it wouldn't be hard to actually share you. You care too much to actually hurt any of us. Hell, I'm surprised you are letting us date you without asking us to give ourselves to you."
Myou cocked her head to the side. "Isn't that what you are doing here? He asked you to come out and you came."
Natsu chuckled and ruffled the young girl's hair briefly. Myou pulled away and glared mockingly at her father. "She doesn't mean like that, Myou. She is…" Suddenly he realized that he might need to give her 'the talk'. "Well… erm… you see… what I mean to say is…" He quickly turned to Mirajane for help, who held up her hands in her own defense.
"Nope, you drove yourself here, get yourself out." She commented with a simple giggle. Oh how she enjoyed watching Natsu work himself out of situations, it wasn't common that he found himself somewhere he couldn't punch his way out of.
Natsu gaped at Mirajane for a moment then coughed and shook his head to clear his mind. "Okay… so… she means in an adult way, something that isn't meant for young ladies to hear." Myou was only more confused. "Something that you won't need to learn about for several years to come."
Myou pouted even more and folded her arms over her chest so she could glare at him. "Fine, but I expect you to tell me more about this at a later date."
Natsu waved a hand dismissively, or at least he hoped it came off as such. It did not, she could see that his will was waving, but she let it slide anyways. "Anyways, as I was saying… besides that, I thought I owed it to you to at least give you a shot. You have been there for me, for all of us really, even through Lisanna's disappearance. I can't deny that you are beautiful either, because it is pretty obvious what I think about you physically."
Myou actually blushed, much to Natsu's surprise. He hadn't seen her blush in a long time, let alone because of him. "Is there anything else? Any other reason that you might have given me a shot? Maybe you had some feelings for me deep down?"
Natsu wanted to say that he did, but he didn't want to lie to her. "I… I don't know, I think I was somewhat in awe of the situation. Like I said, you were there and I found you beautiful… but I had never thought of you like this. Always the older sister or maybe a close cousin. I'm happy to say that I was wrong. You are much better than I had thought you were, much closer to what I want in a partner."
Mirajane, unable to handle the feelings that were coursing through her, grabbed a wad of snow and shoved it into Natsu's face. "Quit being so sappy, be more you… You're embarrassing me…" She whispered half to herself.
The sky was a mix of gold and orange by the time the three made it back to town. Mirajane had changed back to her own clothing, thankful for the dry clothes after having so much fun on their date. It wasn't what she pictured for them, but it was what she wanted; she had bonded more with Myou, had gotten under what Natsu had thought of her, and was able to spend it with Natsu doing something she hadn't done since she was a kid.
The trio stopped in front of the Strauss household, Mirajane jiggling her keys while she tried to think of something to say to get them to stay for just a while longer. "Thank you for taking me out again…"
Natsu bumped Myou with his hip and nodded his head over to Mirajane, silently hinting to her what he wanted her to do. Myou was only confused for a moment before she caught on and jumped up on Mirajane's top-step and hugged her around the waist tightly. "We were glad to take you out with us Mira… I hope we can do this again sometime."
Natsu stepped up as well and hugged the two, with Myou in the middle. "When I get back from my mission tomorrow I have a date with Lisanna, but after that… Maybe we can try this again in a couple of days?"
Mirajane released the two unwillingly and smiled happily. "I would love that. But, this time it'll be my choice, I'll take you two out to do something fun." Looking into Natsu's eyes was the only thing she regretted about the night. What she would give to invite him in to spend the night with her. She had to admit that her thoughts weren't completely innocent. While she wanted to spend some time carnally with Natsu, she would give up just as much to have him close and just to herself for a time.
"We'll see you in the morning, okay? Sleep well, Mira." Natsu said drawing Myou away. After a brief thought he grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. "Maybe next time we can get some time to just ourselves?" He offered in a whisper. He knew he needed to see if they were compatible not just as partners for Myou's parents, but as a couple too.
Mirajane nodded quickly and pulled Natsu to her, kissing his cheek seeing as she knew he didn't want to take things too fast. "Definitely next time. Come see me when you bring your mission back and we can see about setting up a time." With a smile and a nod, Natsu turned back around and walked off with Myou, casting a hand over his shoulder to wave to her before they disappeared into the crowd.
Well there ya go! Review and let me know if this is worth writing still!
