"Shit…" Fate muttered under her breath, holding her tank top up as she looked at her stomach.

The bump had grown, making it a little more noticeable. If Fate ended up standing a certain way, people with sharp eyes or that were close to her would see the bump. She would have to hug people in certain ways so they wouldn't feel the bump either and it annoyed her just thinking about it.

"Are you okay?"

Fate jumped, dropping her tank top back over her stomach and turning around quickly. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was Destiny and she nodded. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug that she gladly accepted.

"Is that Micah's bump?" Destiny asked, making Fate groan.

"Yes… if I'm not careful, the others will find out." Fate replied.

"Is that a bad thing?"

Fate sighed, shaking her head.

"I just… I don't want them to know just yet. I'm only 12 weeks in, which is 3 months, but I'm just scared of them knowing why I'm pregnant with Micah in the first place." Fate explained.

Destiny rubbed her back slowly and gently, making Fate sigh in content and completely relax. It made him smile before he kissed the side of Fate's head.

"It'll be okay… everything will work out." Destiny promised. Fate sighed and nodded.


"The rules are simple! Whoever shoots the target from the farthest point is the winner."

Fate smiled and shook her head as she observed Natsu babysitting Asuka while Bisca and Alzack were out on a job. Wendy, Carla, Erza and Lily had banded together to make a cake for Asuka, although Fate was sure that Erza had just grabbed Lily and pulled him along to go strawberry picking.

Natsu and Asuka were "playing a game" together. It was actually a shooting contest, in which Natsu was going to spew flames from his mouth and Asuka was going to shoot her toy gun.

"There's no way I'm going to lose." Natsu stated.

"If you lose, you have to do whatever I say." Asuka declared.

"Likewise!"

"Is this guild full of people like Natsu…?"

Fate glanced over her shoulder, her eyes following Tristan as he walked to stand beside her. Fate smiled and shrugged.

"I suppose. It depends on what you mean by it, Tristan." Fate replied.

"Nevermind…" Tristan sighed.

Fate was about to look back at Natsu and Asuka before catching the sight of something hanging from Tristan's side underneath his shirt and she looked down at it. It was a handgun.

"Tristan…" Fate muttered, getting his attention.

Fate looked down at the gun and then back up at him, and he seemed to understand because he sighed heavily.

"I can't explain everything to you completely… but I'm not going to shoot anyone or even aim this gun at them unless they give me a good reason to." Tristan promised.

"If you do, I swear I'll take it and use it against you. I'm not the same little girl who refused to kill a fruit fly or even hurt it." Fate stated.

"I'll count on you if I make a wrong move, then."


Asuka had won and was now riding on Natsu's back, pretending that he was a horse. She even made him neigh and everyone laughed at him. She told him to run to the park like that and Natsu agreed. When he ran past Macao and Wakaba, Macao told him to take care of Asuka because there had been rumors of dangerous characters around town.


Lucy, Happy, Fate and Tristan sat on the grass in the park, watching as Natsu ran from Asuka because she was shooting at him with her toy gun.

"Why did I have to chaperone?" Lucy asked, sighing.

"For one thing, I worry about Natsu looking out for her on his own." Happy replied.

"Why did you drag me along?" Fate asked.

"I should be asking that question…" Tristan sighed, falling onto his back and lying there.

"Well Fate, you take such good care of Abygale that I figured Asuka-chan shouldn't be much trouble either." Happy replied.

"She's getting better at not having me around… then again, she stays with Nate otherwise…" Fate sighed. "And I dragged you along because I just did."

Tristan sighed, sitting up when he heard Asuka's footsteps. Natsu jump into the bushes soaking wet from jumping into the fountain and they all sighed.

"Next, I wanna go out on a job!" Asuka said.

"You can't do that." Lucy stated.

"You're still too little." Happy agreed.

"You're little, too, Happy! Tristan, too, and Fate most of all!" Asuka argued.

"Hey, hey…" Fate sighed as Tristan laughed at Asuka's comment about them.

"Why do you wanna go out on a job?" Natsu asked from behind the bushes.

"'Cause there's something that I want, see? So if I get money, then, you know…" Asuka replied.

"Cheeky little brat…"

Fate couldn't help but giggle at Natsu's quiet comment.

"I see. But that's something you'd better ask your parents about." Lucy said.

Asuka suddenly started to whimper, tears brimming her eyes.

"He promised…" Asuka mumbled.

"Okay, okay!" Natsu decided.

"Should we go back to the guild and check the request board?" Lucy asked.

"Really!?" Asuka asked.

"Leave it to me!" Happy replied, flying off with his Aera.

"Yay! Thanks!" Asuka cheered.

"Are you sure you want to bring a little girl on jobs?" Tristan asked.

"Happy is smart. He'll choose a really easy and a really safe job for us to do." Fate replied.


When Happy returned, he had chosen several jobs for them to do. The first one they did counted on Lucy, since it was an understudy in a water fountain.

"Gate of the Water Bearer, I open thee! Aquarius!"

But like always, Aquarius was pissed off at Lucy. Even more so because she was in a fairly small fountain and Asuka was splashing water at her. A couple even got engaged on the other side of the fountain, which pissed Aquarius off more. However, when Asuka called her a beautiful lady, she said that she'd let it slide.

The next couple of jobs they took weren't so bad if they were going to be honest. For basically being a stove, Natsu took care of it. For a delivery, Happy took care of it, and they were on a roll from there.


Asuka took them to a pawn shop and used all of the money on one thing, a snow globe. Or at least, it looked like one. It was actually a Lacrima and it made them smile because of how beautiful it was.

"This is a keepsake from Papa and Mama." Asuka added, catching the attention of all of them.

"A keepsake?" Natsu asked.

"Why was it in a pawn shop?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. But I walked by that shop with Papa and Mama once before." Asuka replied.

"I see. So you wanna give it back to your parents, huh?"

"Yeah!"

Fate noticed the scowl on Tristan's face and it reminded her that only Peter and Sage were left of his family, but only Peter by blood. They had talked when everyone got back to Magnolia and that was when Tristan told her that.

Aria Keynes, Tristan and Peter's Mom, died right after Fate had left Arrine. She had taken in Sage and then died of an illness that she hadn't shared about with her family. William Keynes, their father, had started to abuse all 3 of them because he couldn't handle the loss of his wife.

When the Seekers of Nothing attacked Arrine, Peter had taken Sage to her safe spot, a closet upstairs while Tristan guarded the house. He had to watch Emhyr, one of the Seekers of Nothing, murder his Dad. Even though he hated his father, family was still family and the effort had been for nothing at all because Arrine fell and Tristan, Peter and Sage were taken away and locked up with the others.

Fate understood why Tristan had the gun; it was so he could protect who he cared for, but she still wasn't too sure if she wanted Tristan to have it or not. Not to mention that the scowl on his face didn't suit the Tristan she knew.

Fate placed a hand on one of his shoulders, getting his attention, and she smiled softly at him. He knew that she wanted him to stop scowling, so he nodded and seemed to apologize under his breath, but she just shook her head and pulled her hand away.

All of the sudden when they turned, someone stole Asuka's Lacrima. Asuka didn't hesitate to run after them, even if they were flying, and to yell at them to give it back. She suddenly stopped, whipping out her toy gun and firing at them as she continued to yell at them to give it back. Asuka started to cry when her toy gun didn't work.

Natsu suddenly pushed down Asuka's hat so she couldn't see for some reason. He seemed to be looking up at the people who took her Lacrima and suddenly yelled at her to fire her toy gun. Asuka did so and Natsu covered each of her shots in fire. They hit the people in the air and they fell straight to the ground in front of them.

Natsu collected the Lacrima, but a gun was suddenly held up to him and he was threatened. Fate sighed, walking forward to stand beside Natsu.

"I noticed it with Asuka-chan and let it go because she's still got a lot to learn, but you're an adult for the Mavis' sake…" Fate sighed, pointing at the gnu. "You aren't supposed to put your finger on the trigger until you're absolutely ready to shoot."

The guy pulled his gun away, checking where his finger was on the gun. It gave Asuka the chance to shoot him with her toy gun and Natsu followed her lead, punching the guy with his fist after covering it in fire. The other guys ran away and Asuka turned to Fate.

"How do I hold my gun properly?" Asuka asked.

Fate was surprised that Asuka had asked her, but she smiled and helped Asuka with how to hold it, instructing her on her posture when she was going to shoot. Asuka gladly followed Fate's instructions while the others watched with smiles on their faces. When Asuka's stance was practically perfect, Fate told her to remember it and suddenly got serious.

"One more thing, Asuka-chan. You have to promise me that you'll always remember it." Fate said.

"I promise!" Asuka promised.

"Never aim a real gun at someone unless you're sure that you can handle their life on your shoulders. It doesn't matter who, but if you're not going to shoot them, then don't aim a gun at them."

Asuka seemed to let it sink in and then she smiled and nodded.

"When I get a real gun, I'll make sure to remember that!" Asuka promised.

Fate smiled and nodded as well.

"Good."


"What was that about?"

Fate turned to Tristan with a confused look.

"What was what about?" Fate asked.

"The whole lecture thing… Why tell that to a little girl?" Tristan asked.

"Better sooner than later."

"That's not what I mean, Fate!"

Fate sighed and turned to look at Tristan once again, making eye contact with him.

"Tristan, you know what we have in common." Fate sighed.

"Yah, I'm aware, but…" Tristan trailed off.

"We've both killed someone by shooting them with the same kind of guns."