Chapter 15: Running

AN: I've had a few people write to me that they are confused about why Milliana is in the running because she's 'new' and hasn't been around for years. I know that no matter what I say in the author notes or even in the story will change how anyone feels, but I'll do my best to explain in the story. If you're still not happy after this chapter... I don't know what to say, I've used as much as I can think of to explain it.

Natsu felt like a bundle of frayed nerves. He couldn't seem to finish one thought before another screamed at him from somewhere else in his mind. There was only one thought that kept coming back, stronger every time it resurfaced. But it didn't stop him from running. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he needed to be away from the Guild right now to get his thoughts in order.

At first, he had been happy to hear Myou's sudden declaration. It was unexpected, but it had made him happy. It meant that they were all growing closer. Coward. That had been a good thing, right? Maybe that was where he had messed up, maybe it wasn't right to end things, to take a break to get his head clear. But they had seemed so understanding. Had he read that wrong, had he driven them away with his indecision?

Coward. Then the lipstick and the bites. There was no way that hadn't been on purpose. Wherever they had come from, the marks had been purposefully left there. He knew that for a fact because even during his own encounters with any of the girls, there had been a considerable effort to hide them from Myou so she wouldn't misunderstand.

His eyes widened at that realization. He hadn't even thought about how she would react to that. Coward! The thought rattled him deep down. How would Myou react? He knew she knew about same sex couples, Mirajane had explained it to her that one day back when he was still at Sabertooth so he wasn't worried about that. No, he was worried about how she would react to the two kissing someone other than him.

Worry and self-doubt morphed into anger in a heartbeat. Had they been doing this around her since he had left for his mission? He took a slow, sobering, breath and tried to think everything through. It didn't seem likely that it had been going on for long due to Myou's lack of confusion before the kiss. He hadn't stayed around long enough after the kiss to even notice her reaction. He slowed to a walk.

It was decided. He had to get back and talk to Myou. He had to make sure things weren't confusing her. But that lead to his next dilemma. How could he get to her and talk to her without confronting the two women? Despite being what he needed to talk to his daughter about, he didn't want to do it around them and that seemed like it would be inevitable because Myou was staying with Mirajane.

'I have no right to question them anyways.' He thought bitterly. 'I was doing basically the same thing before I asked for some time.' It brought more thoughts up that he really didn't want to think about right then. Had they been doing this since the beginning and he only happened to see them this time? He honestly couldn't say one way or the other as none of them had brought up any of their sexual preferences other than not-so-subtle flirting. The only difference, in his eyes, between the two situations was that they had known he was essentially dating three girls at the same time whereas here… He hadn't known they were seeing one another, if that's what had actually been happening.

He needed time to process everything and think back to the beginning of when all of this started to see if there were any signs that he had been ignorant of. 'Was this gut-twisting feeling what they had been feeling when they saw me kiss or be around one of the others?' Had he been hurting them like this the entire time? He didn't have that time right now, Myou came first. 'As she should have before I ran away.' He swore at himself silently.

He finally found himself stopping and smiled sadly. He was standing in front of the tree he and Lisanna had carved into as kids, this place always brought him joy. It wasn't surprising that his body had brought him here. He ran his fingers across the still wounded bark with a small smile. This is where they had raised Happy from his egg. He then let out a sigh. "What if she knew and that's why she was so distant on the mission?" He whispered to himself.

He looked at his hand on the tree and dread filled him once again. The scales were back. He lifted a hand to his head and he confirmed the short and curved horns were back as well. He walked through the trees, ignoring the rustling of branches just above him, to a stream that he knew was close by. Best to see what the damage was before he left back to the Guild.

Looking down at the stream he blinked owlishly, then rubbed his eyes to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. "So that's what was hitting those branches…" He looked up and could see his mutation had further increased. Suddenly an idea popped in his head.

This could actually work in his favor. He just needed a little bit of luck.

"You're absolutely sure that he saw us?" Mirajane asked for what had to be the hundredth time since Lisanna had come up to them.

Lisanna sighed. "Yes. I'm sure. He was sitting with Levy going over some book when Myou called out to you." She looked over to the table in question, her eyes drawing in on the hand print.

Mirajane's eyes were on Myou off playing with Asuka. Asuka was firing a dart gun at Myou's slowly moving targets and the two seemed to be having a good time. "I still say this was for the best. He's shocked now, but sooner or later he's going to have to talk to us."

Milliana was putting on a brave face, but underneath she was extremely worried. "I thought there might be some anger or some sadness at first… But he was gone before I could see his reaction."

"If that burn is anything to go by, I don't think it was a good one." Lisanna glared at the hand print on the table. "It's not like him to run though, that's not Natsu."

"He's headstrong and brash. He'll come around eventually then we'll tell him what we are doing. I'm telling you; it'll be for the best in the end." Mirajane reaffirmed her stance. It had been her plan after all.

"I can't tell you how hard it was to keep this from him while we were gone. I could barely talk to him without wanting to tell him everything." Lisanna said sadly. "I've never felt so far from him than I did on that mission."

"Come on, what's done is done. Let's go out to dinner, then we can wait for him to come over tonight. If anything, he'll come for Myou and we'll make him talk to us before he can leave." Milliana got two nods from the other women at her suggestion and went to collect Myou.

"Come on, honey. We're going to get some dinner while we wait for your dad to finish his errands. How does that sound?" Milliana squatted down next to the two girls.

Myou smiled excitedly at the thought of her dad coming back. She nodded and hummed to herself while she focused on her powers to bring the darts and targets over to them. "Wanna do this again tomorrow?" She asked her friend.

Asuka gave a huge smile with a nod. "This was fun!" She took the supplies from Myou before bidding her goodbye and going back over to her dad that was watching them practice.

The four left the Guild together with Myou skipping ahead of the group. After a brief discussion they all decided to get something light since it had been a pretty uneventful day overall. Eventually they stopped at a small café to sit outside since it was still pretty warm in the setting sun. "What's the first thing you want to do with your dad once he's back?" Milliana asked the girl, adjusting Myou's scarf so it wouldn't cover her mouth while they ate.

"I wanna go to the beach!" Myou cheered. "Maybe Asuka can go with us and we can train there! We can have fun and train!"

Milliana smiled warmly at the girl next to her. "We'll ask her parents tomorrow, if your dad doesn't have any other plans that is. We have to make sure he's okay with it first."

"He'll say yes, I know he will!"

"That's right, and what can you do if he says no?" Mirajane asked.

Myou scrunched her face as she thought. "Oh!" She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. "Do what you showed me, Mama Mira. You said it'd work and I haven't gotten a chance to try yet."

Milliana ruffled the girl's hair with a giggle. "Be careful, if you do it too much, it won't affect him as much. You have to pick when you try to use the puppy dog face on him."

Myou perked up suddenly and jumped out of her chair. "Daddy's getting close." She looked down at the anklet and focused on it. "He's getting close really fast! Like really, really fast!"

"Myou!" Everyone looked around for the Dragon Slayer but couldn't see where the voice was coming from. "Put your arms up!" The voice was much closer this time.

Myou did as asked and not a moment later a black blur slammed into the ground behind her, cracking the ground under him. Natsu gave a grin and wrapped his arms around her waist to prevent her from stumbling at his sudden arrival. "Hang on tight!"

Myou had just wrapped her arms around his neck when wings snapped into view from behind his back. This brought a surprised gasp from the little girl and a series of shouts from the women at the table. In the next blink of an eye, Natsu and Myou were airborne and disappeared straight up.

"Natsu!" All three women jumped to their feet and ran forward to chase after him.

"Where'd he go?" Lisanna's head darted up into the sky but she wasn't seeing the Dragon Slayer.

"His transformation is getting worse…" Milliana frowned looking down at where Myou had been standing just moments prior. "Maybe we pushed him too far too fast."

Mirajane transformed in the blink of an eye to her Satan Soul Takeover form. "I'll fly up and see where they went." Raising up into the air she looked around with narrowed eyes, her takeover form giving her better perception than she normally had. They were nowhere to be seen so it's possible that he had landed on another street before they could react. "Natsu's house is the furthest so I'll head there, Lisanna you head home to see if they are going there. Milliana, head to the Guild and ask if anyone's seen them. If you find them, keep them where you are. If you don't, meet back at our place and we can decide what to do from there." Without waiting for a reply, she took off towards the forest that held the Dragneel home deep in the woods.

Milliana clutched a hand to her chest and tried to calm her heart. "He didn't even look at us…" She whispered.

Lisanna squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure he just needs to let everything sink in. Everything will be okay, Mili. I promise, we're all in this together."

Milliana wrapped the shorter mage in a tight hug. "Together. That's the only way we're going to make this work."

The two broke apart and with a nod broke off in opposite directions towards their destinations.

Natsu held his daughter tightly to his chest with both arms as he pushed his wings to propel them even faster. They were mere barely inches above people's heads much to Myou's growing enjoyment. The girl squealed in glee as he banked around a tight corner.

He continued at breakneck speeds until the Guild popped into view just ahead of them and he brought them to a stop just at the doors. "Was that fun?" He asked with a grin from ear to ear.

Myou hopped from one foot to the other excitedly. "That was so cool! You have wings! We were going so fast! Can we do it again?!"

Natsu chuckled and ushered the girl inside, proceeding to ignore the stares as he walked in. "Come on, we're going to take a job. Just you and me. We haven't had much time between just the two of us between being at Sabertooth and being here."

Myou gasped and dragged her father over to the mission board as fast as her legs could move. He had never taken her on a job before so she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. She looked around as fast as she could, trying to find one that would interest her. "Bandits… no too scary. Find a book… too boring…" This continued on for a short time.

"Clarissa needs more help, what do you say?" Natsu held the flier out to her.

Myou stared at it critically for a few seconds. "Yeah! This'll be fun! I'll go tell Asuka that I can't play tomorrow, be right back!"

Natsu went to the bar where Kinana was lounging and reading a book. "I'm going to take this job." He set the flier next to the woman.

Kinana, just now looking up from her book, flinched back. "Natsu? Since… what… when did…?"

"Long story, no time. Can you log that I'm out on a mission? Try not to tell anyone where I'm headed though, please?" He asked sincerely. "I need a little time to myself with Myou."

Kinana got over her surprise relatively fast and started to take notes in the logbook. "How long will you be gone?"

"Flier says one day, but if I remember right, they'll need more help then they are letting on. So, maybe a week. Two at the most." He said with a nod. When Kinana was done with the entry they both said goodbye and Natsu picked Myou up. "I'm going to see how far we can get before I lose my transformation, that way we don't have to take the train. Sound like fun?"

Myou jumped into his arms with a cheer. Natsu pulled the backpack off his shoulder and slipped it on her backwards so he could hold her back to his chest. "You hang on to this and I'll hold you. That way you can see where we're going instead of just looking at the sky." Once outside Natsu took to the air, dust kicking off behind him when he beat his wings.

Had they been any slower they would have seen Milliana darting through the Guild's main doors.

"Miss Clarissa!" Myou leapt through barely open doors and darted through the tables. "Miss Clarissa, where are you?" The young girl shouted to the nearly empty room.

Natsu gently shut the door behind him with a smile as he looked around, glad that most of his transformation had receded by now. He still had a few scales left on his arms and the back of his neck, but those were mostly hidden by his clothes. He was beyond happy that he didn't recognize any of the children around. It warmed his heart to think that all the kids that Myou had been here with, had been adopted already in the few short months since he had been here last.

The building itself was falling into disrepair and he was starting to worry that the place didn't have enough money to keep up. Regret started to fill him. He had known back when he took in Myou that the orphanage was in need of help. After he had gotten Myou in his life he had completely forgotten about this place entirely. 'Never again.' He told himself resolutely.

Natsu chuckled to himself as Myou started to draw a crowd with her running and yelling. He stopped by one of the older kids that were watching the others run around, a perplexed look of confusion marring the young teen's face. "Do you know where Miss Clarissa is? I'm here about a job request."

Myou came running up and pulled the flier out of her pocket, holding it up excitedly. "Yeah! It's my first job!"

The boy laughed weakly at the ball of energy that the girl in front of him held. "I think she's laid up in the back, I can take you there if you want."

Natsu hummed and shook his head. "I know where you're talking about, I'll head back myself." He turned to his daughter and took the flier from her. "Myou, you keep everyone entertained while I get our mission parameters from our client."

Myou clenched a fist in front of her with a determined face. "You can count on me, Daddy!" She stepped up on the table as Natsu addressed everyone in the room.

"Everyone, gather around." He called out loudly, waving his arms to get everyone to come to them. "My name is Natsu and this is my daughter Myou. We are going to be helping out here for a little while." Most of the kids had joined them now and he nodded his head towards Myou. "Myou is a telekinetic mage. She's still in training and has a long way to go, but she's gonna show you what she can do!"

A small cheer came from the group and Natsu waited until Myou started to levitate some of the smaller items around her, her hair lifting in response to her power activating. Once he was sure all the kids were distracted, he headed into the back room. When he received no reply at knocking at the door, he peaked inside and sighed sadly at seeing Clarissa sleeping while leaned up against her desk. He quietly stepped into the room and pulled a spare blanket that he knew she kept in the closet there, then draped it over the caretaker. He moved as quietly as he could so as to not wake her up, cleaning up the room around her. She wasn't looking too good. 'Probably running herself ragged being one of the only adults here.'

After the room was taken care of, he left and went out to see Myou still entertaining the crowd of kids. He stopped next to the teen that he had talked to earlier. "Do any of you guys have any experience cooking?"

The boy looked up at him and shrugged his shoulders. "A couple of the younger kids help out with cutting stuff, but Clarissa usually does all the cooking."

Natsu frowned and hummed. "We can't have that. Get anyone that wants to learn to meet me in the kitchen. I'm gonna teach you some easy recipes so you can help out Miss Clarissa." When the boy nodded and grabbed a couple of the kids Natsu called out to Myou. "Let's change things up, make it a little more interesting."

Myou looked over curiously and shuddered at the smile her father was sporting. "I-I'll do my best?"

Natsu summoned a fireball in each hand and lobbed them over. Myou cried out, dropping all the things she was currently holding with her telekinesis. She threw out her hands and caught the fire mere inches in front of her, sweat started to pour down her face while she concentrated. She was so focused on the two orbs of fire that she nearly missed the third one, but managed to snatch it out of the air before it could land on the table. Natsu watched her practice her magic for a few seconds, then jogged off to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen there were five kids waiting for him and he began to teach them how to make an easy meal of curry with white rice. One of the more studious girls wrote down the recipe as he led them through it.

"Now, I know it isn't easy being here, but I'm going to have to ask you kids to help out wherever you can. Miss Clarissa looked really worn out. I'll be sticking around for a while to get things back on track." Natsu explained while they plated up food. They all walked out and, with a wave of his hand, he dispersed his magic that Myou was still practicing with. "Everyone take a seat, foods ready!"

After everyone was served, he took a plate into the office for Clarissa. He gently shook her awake. "Clarissa, you need to eat something." He said quietly when her eyes opened ever so slightly.

Clarissa jumped up in surprise. "Oh no! I fell asleep! I have to-" She finally noticed Natsu squatting down next to her chair. "Oh, Natsu, it's you! Did you take our flier again?"

Natsu nodded with a small smile. "Sorry I haven't been around in a while. After you eat, do you mind watching over everyone for cleanup so I can head out and get some supplies?"

"But I haven't told you what needs to be done yet…" Clarissa pouted but sat and started in on her curry.

Natsu chuckled. "You just worry about yourself for now, I'll worry about getting this place back up to snuff!" He gave her a large grin. "You can count on me!"

"Did Myou come with you?" Clarissa asked after a few bites. "It would be nice to see her again, none of the other kids have come by to say hi lately."

"She's excited to see you again, so if you have time please say hi to her." He said jogging out of the room. "I'm gonna head out and grab supplies and find a place for Myou and I to stay while we are in town."

"You guys could always stay here; you don't have to stay at an inn." She offered with a soft smile.

"Nah, Myou needs to learn about how to find places to stay and all about what we do when we head out on missions. We'll be back in a couple hours." Natsu gave her a salute and left, closing the door behind him. He took up the seat that Myou had saved for him and quickly dug into his food, explaining to her what his plan was.

Leaning in he whispered to her. "I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be making any money off this job. In fact, we're going to be spending a lot on it. This isn't how jobs are supposed to go, but I think we owe it to them to make sure they have a nice place to stay." At Myou's confused look he pointed to some of the more run-down areas that were in the main hall. "If things are this bad, then they don't have the money to fix it. After you finish your food, we are going around town to find a lumber supplier so I can start on repairs. I'll try to fix what I can without getting a professional, but most of it isn't something I can do myself. You understand?"

Myou looked around sadly, but noticed that most of the kids had smiles on their faces. "You did a lot to help them just by demonstrating your magic." Natsu explained, following her eyes. "That's half of our job as mages. We help people, and right now they need a reason to smile. You may not be all powerful and able to take down a bunch of monsters, but your actions have so much more weight behind them because of it." He tapped her on the chest over her heart with a single, still clawed, finger. "You bare your heart to them and show just how determined you are and it'll change those around you. Keep it up."

After everyone had finished eating, Natsu enlisted the help of some of the younger kids to help clean dishes. Clarissa came out of the office eventually and Natsu took that time to head off with Myou, telling everyone that they'd be back soon.

Once outside, Myou spoke up again. "Daddy?" Natsu looked down at the little girl holding his hand as they walked. "Why didn't the others come with us if these guys need help smiling?"

Natsu smiled sadly. "When we retire for the night to our room, we're gonna have a little talk about that okay? There are some things I need to ask you and I want to do it when we are alone. Don't need others butting in on our personal lives, okay honey?"

Myou pouted but nodded anyways.

Mirajane landed at her home and pushed her way inside, internally screaming at herself. 'I knew it was risky and a huge jump, but I…' Once inside she saw Lisanna and Milliana waiting for her in the living room. "Any luck with either of them?" She asked, somewhat hopefully. "He tore apart his house, but I could see he grabbed some clothes for himself and Myou."

Her hopes were dashed instantly. "I just missed him at the Guild, apparently he took Myou out on a mission. Kinana refused to tell me what it was or where they were headed." Milliana looked just as dejected as Mirajane felt. "Did we push too far?"

"He'll understand in time, we just need to sit down and talk to him." Lisanna put on a brave face for the others. "As long as we stick together in this, I'm confident that we can get this handled as a team."

"Well, if I'm totally honest, I think this might be my only chance anyways." Milliana admitted quietly.

"You can talk to us, you know that right?" Mirajane sat down next to her friend and wrapped an arm around her.

"I… I just don't think I have much of a chance to stay with Natsu unless this plan works. I'm willing to try anything at this point…" Milliana leaned into Mirajane's embrace for comfort with Lisanna sliding in on her other side to help. "You've both known him for so long and already had a good friendship with him before all of this started and despite how close we've gotten over these few months… it doesn't feel like enough has changed."

"Just because you've only been around for a few months doesn't discount what you two have now." Lisanna said quietly. "It doesn't matter to Natsu that we've known him longer. He and Myou love you. I heard Myou call you Mama when we came in today. She is beyond attached to you."

"I love Myou, but I never expected to be this far along when things first started. When we first got together, when Myou tricked Natsu and I out on that date… I was terrified of the thought. Dating is one thing, but dating a guy that has a kid is something else entirely. It scared me because I wasn't ready to have a kid of my own, and that's what would have happened if I started dating Natsu. But… after spending a few weeks helping out the orphanage once Natsu had left… I couldn't help but miss being around the kids, they were so full of life and hope." Milliana was wringing her hands together nervously.

"So, you decided to give it a try?" Mirajane asked.

"Natsu was this really awesome guy that I knew barely anything about. Sure, I'd heard the stories about all of your guys' accomplishments, but the only time I had ever talked to him was at the Games… Then seeing everything that happened afterwards with the celestial gate… I wanted to see what it would be like to date someone like that. He was a hero and he offered me a chance to date him, I would have been crazy not to take that chance because he seemed to genuinely like me from the few times we had actually interacted."

"That doesn't… So it was just a chance at first?"

"At first yeah." Milliana admitted sadly. "When I showed up that first night and I heard you two were also jumping at the chance to date him… then we got drinking… I took a shot. It was dumb and it was stupid and it didn't even make sense at the time. I missed having those kids around and Myou was so cute with him that I wanted to get to know both of them. So what if I had to compete for his attention?"

"It doesn't matter to us how you got here, Mili, you should know that by now." Mirajane hugged the woman tightly, squishing her in-between the two sisters. "All that matters is the connection you three have now."

Milliana shook her head. "Yeah, I know that, but it doesn't raise my confidence any. I have no idea who among us is close than the others to him or who has a better chance for a one on one relationship. But… no matter how much I want that to happen, I know that it would hurt Myou and Natsu if any of us just up and left. Sure, I don't think we'd stop being friends, but it wouldn't be the same. I love him and I love Myou. But that's not enough anymore. I don't want to steal him away anymore, I want all of us to be happy."

"I'll admit, it's going to be a change of pace to try dating you two as well." Lisanna chuckled. "I already love my sister, but it isn't that kind of love. Not yet at least, we just have to work for it."

"All of us do." Mirajane added. "I really had fun on our first official date Milliana. Actual fun, not just like a girl's day out with a friend, but I can see something happening here. Like Lisanna said, it's going to take work. Maybe we should have talked this through for longer than a single afternoon, but I know everything will be okay. We are all tied together."

Milliana smiled weakly. "I really do love Natsu and Myou now. They grew on me so fast and I don't know when it changed from casual dating to what it is now, but I can't give it up. Same as before, it's all starting with a chance, but this time I know what I'm pushing for. I want to make this work between all four of us."

"Now we just need to find a way to talk to Natsu, I can't imagine what he's thinking right now…" Lisanna added sadly. "I knew it was going to be bad, but to have him snatch up Myou from us like that and just take off…"

"Leave that to me, I'll find out where he went." Mirajane nodded in complete seriousness. "He may be confused right now, but I know he'll come around to talk to us eventually. He loves us, he won't just run away forever. There has to be trust in there somewhere and we'll be together when we explain our plans."

"Are you going to be okay sticking around with us away from your Guild until all of this blows over?" Lisanna asked curiously.

Milliana smiled weakly. "I took a leave of absence for a while. I can't exactly leave and have him show up after I leave. That's not fair for you two to explain to him alone. I'm all in on this with you."

"Then we'll make the most of this in the meantime. I planned a date for you two to go on tomorrow while I try to figure out where he disappeared to." Mirajane smiled at the other two.

Milliana blushed. "You know, I was always a little jealous whenever either of you would kiss Natsu… But after our date and what I shared with you, Mira… I think I was jealous for the wrong reasons."

Mirajane smirked, but a small dusting of pink adorned her cheeks. "I definitely know what you mean. I didn't mean for that last kiss to go on for as long as it did, but I didn't want it to end."

"One more, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke…" Milliana reached over and gently kissed Mirajane for a few seconds before pulling away. Milliana was vibrant red, but grinning happily when they finally parted and she looked over to Lisanna. "Are you really okay with all of this? All plans aside, I don't want to do anything if you aren't okay with it."

"I'm confident that it will be okay, I know I'm attracted to you. It'll just be a change to actually act on that attraction. Mira and I are the ones that are going to have to really learn to make it work." Lisanna admitted. "We've shared almost everything in the past, why shouldn't we be able to share one another as well?" She shot Mirajane a wink. "It can't be any harder than it is to share a guy and his daughter."

By the time Natsu and Myou had set up a supplier, found an inn, and helped out for another hour at the orphanage to make sure they were alright for the rest of the night, Natsu was drained. Physically from the flight in his transformation, as well as emotionally from everything he had learned. But, even as they changed into their night clothes, Natsu knew he had one more thing to do before he could pass out for the night. Eventually he brought up the courage to talk to his daughter and sat her down on one side of the bed while he sat next to her, turning his body to face her.

"I need to talk to you about what happened earlier at the Guild." He started hesitantly. "With Mili and Mira." He clarified at her confused expression. "When they kissed."

"What about it?" Myou asked, tilting her head to the side cutely. "They love each other, isn't that enough?"

Natsu shook his head. "That wasn't a kiss like you're thinking. It wasn't like when I kiss you, not how I love you or how they love you. It was more of a kiss like you've seen between them and me." He explained slowly.

"What's wrong with that?" Myou asked, not understanding entirely what he was saying.

Natsu sighed and had to think for a few seconds on how best to explain it. "Don't be surprised if you don't see me going on more dates with them, that's what I mean. I don't know when they started doing what they are doing, but they looked happy. I can't find it in myself to question it. If they are happy together, then we have to let them be happy together."

Myou was even more confused now than she was earlier. "But, if they are happy and we're happy, then why do things need to stop?"

"Feelings don't work that way, honey. After we get back to the Guild, and I've had time to think about things for a while, I'll talk to them about what they want to happen. I'll admit that it hurt more than a little to see them like that, but if it makes them happy then I'll learn to be happy for them." He wasn't doing a good job explaining things, he could tell that she was still confused. "I don't know what's going to happen between all of us, but I can promise you that if you want to have fun with them and they want to have fun with you, I'm not going to be in the way of that. At the end of the day it'll still be you and me though."

"Is that why they didn't come with us? Because they kissed and you saw? Because it made you sad to see them kissing?" Myou asked sadly.

"A little, yeah. Like I said, if they are happy then I'll learn to be happy for them. It just hurts that they didn't trust me enough to tell me before I saw it."

"What about Mama Lissy, she didn't kiss anyone but you."

Natsu didn't have an explanation for that. "I just needed some time away so I didn't do anything that hurt any of them, okay? Just give me a little time and I promise we'll find a way to move forward from this. But for now, I think you should stay with me. I'll take you on all of my jobs unless an emergency comes up."

"Okay, Daddy." Myou looked sad so Natsu pulled her in for a tight hug.

"When did you start calling them all Mama anyways? I was really surprised to hear that from you." Natsu asked, trying to divert the conversation into a more lighthearted area.

"Because I love them and they are everything I could ever want in a mom." Myou shrugged like that explained everything.

"What changed? I was gone for three days and when I got back you were calling them Mama."

Myou frowned and stared at her hands. "Is it wrong?"

"Of course not, that's not what I'm saying. I was just surprised you didn't wait until I married one of them." Natsu ran his hand through the girl's hair affectionately.

"I… just did? I don't know, it just happened and it made them happy when I said it so I kept saying it. I want them all to be my moms so I wanna keep saying it." She smiled happily. "When I said it the first time to Mama Mili the other morning when she woke me up, she cried happy tears, then Mama Mira told me that none of them would leave me and that they would all be my Mama if I wanted them to."

Natsu sighed and shook his head. Something was going on between those two, he just didn't know what it was. Lisanna probably too, if her attitude towards him over their mission was anything to go off of. "Okay, honey. Now, why don't we lie down and get some sleep?"

Myou nodded and slipped into the bed. "Can you sleep with me tonight?"

Natsu chuckled and, after turning out the lights, slipped into the bed next to his daughter. He pulled the scarf from her neck and wrapped it around the bedpost. "Of course, honey. Of course."

It wasn't long before Myou was out, but Natsu wasn't having as much luck. The scene from the Guild continued to run through his mind and he didn't know what to do about it. He knew that when he closed his eyes, he was going to dream about it and he didn't want to see where those dreams went. He feared how dark they would get, at how dark his imagination would twist their actions. He was used to dreaming about one or all three of his girlfriends, but he didn't think they would be happy this time.

AN: More drama and we're back at square one with the orphanage! His whole world changed when he first when there, so how will his world change this time?

As for Milliana, like a lot of people are still confused about, she didn't have a good reason at first to start dating Natsu. But, just because she didn't have history with him, does that mean that what they both feel for one another now means less than how the other two feel? By that logic, anyone you meet later in life automatically makes that person mean less to you than someone you knew for longer.

I don't like that way of thinking. To me, it doesn't matter how long you've known someone or how you came to feel that way for them. Feelings change and people change too, and so as long as you are happy with how you feel with someone and they feel the same, should it matter if you haven't known them that long? No. No it shouldn't. Thank you for reading and I hope I've quelled at least one of your thoughts on the matter.