As it's getting close to Halloween, I thought I'd bring this out to get everyone in the mood for it! Going to be honest, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to be writing about when I decided to start this but I tried so enjoy!

Set a few months before beginning of series (so no Lucy or Wendy etc.)- Natsu is entrusted by Macao to take Romeo trick or treating. There's no way this could go wrong...right?

Natsu/Romeo Friendship, Macao/Natsu Friendship, Mira/Natsu Friendship

"But daaaaad! You promised!" It was a grey October morning when the cries of the younger Conbolt broke through the guild's animated atmosphere, meaning several heads turned towards the father-son duo. Macao froze when he felt their glares piercing through the back of his skull, daring him to make a wrong move. Swallowing hard, "Romeo, listen..." How was he supposed to let his son down gently without shattering his hopes and dreams? Was there actually any acceptable way to do it? Or for that matter, anyway at all? Probably not, but he had to try. Somehow. The warnings flashing through the eyes of his guildmates were a signal he had to tread carefully.

Today was Halloween, usually a day at which Macao would jump at the chance to take his young son out and actually spend some time bonding instead of dealing with the younger generation of mages being drunk later in the night during the guild's traditional Halloween party. But today was different and he really didn't want to put up with another year of going door to door, a fake smile plastered on his face, in the cold autumn air while strangers cooed over "how cute" his son looked in his chosen costume. And then the following morning, he'd be forced to deal with everyone complaining of their hangovers and having to care for his son on a sugar high. Oh Halloween, a holiday he was slowly learning to loathe. Maybe this year, just this one year, he could pass Romeo off to someone else and save himself the headache. Maybe... "Listen, I know I promised but..." The look of innocence in Romeo's wide eyes (accompanied by the stares he was getting) nearly made him reconsider, "I'm getting old Romeo-" The snickers from his younger guildmates did not go unnoticed, "-I'm not as mobile as I used to be. Can I have a break? Just this one year and I'll make it up to you?"

"But dad..." He looked like he was going to cry and Macao instantly felt bad for saying it. The man sighed and decided it wasn't worth it. Just as he was about to take it back, "I can take him." The rather abrupt declaration surprised the group of mages as they turned to look at the pinkette. "What? I'm great with kids!" Natsu's smirk caused several eye rolls but they didn't dispute it. For some reason, Romeo seemed to look up to the dragonslayer with such a positive light that it made it incredibly difficult for the others to tell him that Natsu probably wasn't the best role model for anyone. At all. Besides, he can't say he's good with kids when Romeo is the only child he's ever really spent a lot of time around. But that didn't mean that they trusted him to be alone, at night, with the six year old, on Halloween for that matter! It just...it didn't seem very responsible of them. Macao simply stared blankly at him before Romeo's soft questioning snapped him back to reality, meaning he had to answer. Mentally, he was preparing a list of pros and cons to back up whatever decision he made, you know, just in case the guild decided to provide their input like they usually do. "Well, it's, err, nice of you to offer Natsu but-"

"You said it yourself Macao, you're getting old. I'm sure Natsu of all people would be able to keep up with Romeo." Gray spoke up, surprisingly enough to defend the fiery pinkette. And of course, this meant that other guild members followed suite in providing their input. Macao didn't even try to interject and made up his mind right then and there, "Alright! Fine! Natsu, you can take Romeo. But, you've got to help him pick out his costume as well. That's his least favourite part of the night." Natsu didn't even have to think about it, agreeing almost immediately. It would be fun to spend some time with the future fire mage, and really, how hard could it be to care for him for a few hours?

At around six o'clock that evening, Natsu found himself in a now almost unrecognisable room with little pieces of fabric strewn around the place. He found himself drowning in reds and yellows, the odd sequin or button here and there, after Mira had somehow managed to convince him to actually make Romeo a costume for the night. And now, with only twenty minutes to go until he had to present his final effort to the hopeful little child, he finally reclined in his seat in defeat. This was hopeless, a lost cause if you would. He honestly didn't know how the others were able to do this. Natsu pushed the bundle of what could only be described as a knot towards the end of the workbench. Natsu eyed it with disgust, decided at that moment that he would never, ever, stitch another thread in his life. Maybe one day in the future he'd find someone to "help" him with it. And by that, he means they do all the work whilst thinking they can teach him how to do it as well. But with twenty minutes left he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to let Romeo down but he also didn't want to be enforced to endure this torture any longer than he had to.

"Natsu? How's everything going in here?" The sudden opening of the door and Mira's voice calling out softly from behind it made him sigh in relief. Finally! Someone who could help him! "Mira! Thank Mavis you're here. You gotta help me."

"Sorry Natsu, no can do. Master's orders. He says you've got to 'learn how to do it' by yourself." Natsu groaned at her statement and slumped back into his chair. The woman giggled before grimacing at the sorry state of what was supposed to be Romeo's costume for the night. An idea suddenly sprung to mind as she spotted a random piece of red fabric hanging off the back of Natsu's chair. "You didn't have to make his costume by hand if you knew you were going to struggle." She says whilst leaning over to swipe the cloth. Natsu looked at her, confused, "What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean," Mira held it up to the light as if to emphasise whatever point she was about to make, "You don't have to sew every single piece together."

"But Erza said-"

"Who cares?" Mira interrupted him, "When Lis-" She cut off when she realised what she was going to say. "I-I mean-"

"It's alright. You don't have to say it." She saw his eyes soften slightly and a sad smile ran across her face thinking of memories when they were younger.

"No, no. It's..It's fine. I was just...When Lisanna was alive," Mira swallowed, "I would help her and Elfman make their costumes to go trick or treating when they were younger. We couldn't afford new cloth to make brand new ones, so we threw together costumes using whatever items were in our wardrobes. An old dress? Could be turned into a corpse bride costume with the right tools. Suit too small? Cut it up a bit, stretch it out, add a bit of makeup. Hey presto, you got a zombie! It's easy." She smiled, "So instead of sitting around here fighting a losing battle with the sewing machine, go out there and create one using whatever old junk you can find stashed away in the back of dresser." A few moments after Mira's advice, a flicker of understanding crossed Natsu's face and he sprang from his chair with his signature grin stretching across his features. "Thanks Mira! You're the best!" He ran to the door before turning on his heel again, "Mind if I borrow that red thing?" He gestured to the cloth hanging limply in her hand. The white haired woman shrugged and held it out to him to take, which he did and finally ran out the room after shouting to last thanks to her."Poor Romeo, I hope Natsu doesn't go too overboard with this."

"Stop squirmin' Romeo. I'm nearly done."

"I told you to make him a new costume."

"And I did- Oh sorry, is that too tight?"

"That's not new."

"It's still a costume." Natsu rather proudly exclaimed when gesturing to the little six year old boy fiddling with the cape Natsu had just fastened around his neck. Erza had caught them both in the street as they were on their way to their first stop of the night. They were a bit later than intended and other kids were already out, but Romeo didn't seem to care as he excitedly clung to the dragonslayers side. "I can't use the sewing machine," He added rather sheepishly, "So Mira told me to make it like this. I think it's better." Erza looked Romeo's costume up and down critically whilst the boy cowered behind Natsu's legs. Turns out the requip mage doesn't need a costume to be frightening, but everyone already knew that already. "What's he supposed to be?"

"Oh come on. Seriously? The cape, slicked back hair, puffy shirt thing that I 'borrowed' from Ic- Gray?" Erza still didn't look like she knew what he was talking about and Natsu was beginning to wonder if she was always this clueless to things, "He's a vampire, duh!"

"A vampire. How original."

"Look, it was the best I could do. Besides, he doesn't mind do you buddy?" Romeo looked between the both of them and flashed a timid grin as he tugged on his cape and finally came out from behind Natsu, "No! Not at all. I really like it!" He giggled before wrapping his cape over his mouth and pretending to be in one of those old timey Dracula movies he'd caught the others watching one day, "I vant to suck your blood! Ha ha ha!" Erza barely smiled softly down at him, as she imagined many others would do tonight at the adorable sight, "Aww. Well, as long as you have fun tonight Romeo that's all that matters," The six year old giggled when she dropped his first sweet of the night into his jack o lantern shaped bucket, "And Natsu," The red head straightened and glared at her guildmate, "If I hear that Romeo was in danger at any point tonight-"

"He won't be! I'll keep him safe. Right Romeo?" Natsu pleaded with the boy, who agreed much to his relief. This seemed to satisfy Erza, who nodded and began walking away from them allowing the two to continue their night. Natsu began walking but made sure Romeo was by his side so he didn't lose him. "Alright, let's go!" Ah, the dragonslayer's inner child was finally making itself known more than usual tonight. Which obviously means only good things can come off tonight.

"So Macao, how did letting Natsu babysit Romeo go last night?" It was now the day after Halloween and Wakaba asked the question that had been on a few people's minds that day. Honestly, they were curious. Letting Natsu, who was basically an overgrown child at times, babysit someone who could very well grow up to be just like him seemed to be a bad idea, even if it was just for one night. Still, they hadn't heard anyone complaining this morning, Erza and Macao were yet to go screaming bloody murder in search of the dragonslayer, and there was no sugar crazed six year old running around the guild. But the sour expression on Macao's face said otherwise. "Well, it apparently went 'fine' for the most part," this didn't sound good, "But then Natsu said he 'turned his back for two minutes' whilst Romeo was talking to some of his friends from the village, and when he turned around there was a kid hunched over on the ground, clutching their stomach!" A few gasps ran through the sea of guild members, a couple "Oh no" and "What happened?", but everyone else rolled their eyes when they realised they knew where this was story was going.

"Apparently a couple of kids were bullying Romeo because Romeo looked like he'd been dressed in the dark," Mira clutched the glass she'd been holding so hard it cracked and Erza immediately stopped sharpening her sword at that part. They'd both seen Romeo's costume at one point last night after Natsu and Romeo proudly paraded their hard work around the place and honestly, now that they thought about it, it didn't look too bad. Insulting it was insulting not only Romeo, but their hardwork and creativity which was something the guild wanted to impress on the young, future mage. "Anyway, turns out Natsu doesn't give the best advice when it comes to children. He'd told Romeo ages ago to 'punch first and ask question later."

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes. Romeo used all his strength to kick that kid straight in the stomach. I hate bullies as much as the next person, especially when it's directed at my own kid, and in someway I'm proud of both of them, but-"

"That's terrible advice to give to anyone..."

"I'm aware of that, but if you'd let me finish, I'm strangely proud of him. The kid can defend himself!" Everyone rolled their eyes at that. Of course that's the reaction he would have to this. Needless to say that when the likes of Wendy and Asuka came along, the guild was much more careful when it came to babysitting.

And as for Natsu's 'babysitting' career, well that was over before it even began!