After Natsu's house was remodeled, the family moved into their new home near the Exceeds.
He and Lucy stayed home with the littles while Gale and Misty taught Ignius and Sakura how missions worked. They caught on quickly.
It was fun watching the younger generation go off on their own adventures and make their own friends, frenemies, and memories.
Lucy explained how her magic now worked. A Celestial Spirit on a higher plane of the Realm was the actual source.
Ursa Major, the mother bear (Gajeel cheered that he'd "called it"), was a protective and nurturing spirit. When Lucy and the twins had been attacked, she'd managed to summon the higher spirit due to her resolve to protect them.
Because of the higher spirit's involvement, Lucy's keys had returned to her, but they couldn't pass through the lower spirit realm anymore making it impossible to contact them unless they were nearby.
Natsu was loving this new phase of their lives. Lucy wasn't fighting for their lives anymore; she was able to relax and just heal, most of the time. The twins were being loved as they always should've been. The little ones were cared for and were being treated with respect as members of the family and society.
If he thought about it too much, he still became angry wishing further bodily harm on the reasons they couldn't have all of this sooner. He'd had to stop himself a few times from paying them a visit and injuring them worse or just terrorizing them. It was awfully tempting though.
Two years later, Lucy found out she was pregnant with twins again! As the months went on, she swore she wasn't having any more children. Growing twins was hard work.
Natsu, Porlyusica, Wendy, and the guild were wonderful throughout her pregnancy. She and the newest babies were completely safe unlike during her previous pregnancy.
A few more years went by and the elder twins had moved out and were living with their new spouses. The younger twins were just learning magic. The older children were in school and learning a trade.
Lucy had always been curious how she'd been taken but she never bothered asking about it, thinking it would be too hurtful to Natsu and the others.
She felt guilty as well, even though she knew she'd done nothing wrong.
Everyone could see her turmoil from ten thousand kilometers away.
While most days were good, she was still having occasional panic attacks, nightmares, and flashbacks causing her to fly into a glowing protective trance.
Natsu, luckily, never had a problem soothing her even at her worst, but their friends always struggled when he wasn't around. She had destroyed and repaired the guildhall and half of the city when one of her worst memories was accidentally triggered.
As much as they all knew it would hurt her, everyone agreed she deserved to know how it had happened so she could heal properly.
"It was a cloak," he finally told her before she could ask.
"What?"
"How they were able to get to you," he confirmed, "it was a cloak."
She shook her head in confusion. How could a cloak help with that? She figured she'd been teleported.
She waited for Natsu to continue. He grudgingly explained everything, still regularly fighting against the rage he kept locked up.
He told her about his hunt for her and how it ended. He told her how he'd been drugged with warped results. How the man had been watching her for a long time, using the cloak to remain hidden, even from Natsu.
He told her about the other girls they'd also kidnapped after her. He reassured her that they were safe now and both men were brought to justice, though he left out the part about how he'd punished them.
He told her how he'd thought she was dead. He'd had too much evidence not to. He told her how much it destroyed him to lose her. About how much it had broken his heart to find out what all he'd lost with Ignius and Sakura. And how he still struggled not to act on his fury.
"They stole you from me," he growled. "They stole me from you!"
She ran her fingers through his hair understanding he had his own traumas to work through. "I know," she cooed softly.
He felt lucky knowing that Lucy never lost faith in him even when he didn't have any in himself.
They continued to mend their hearts and minds a little bit at a time.
It was a regular occurrence from day one to wake up snuggled against one another only to realize they were surrounded by all the tiny humans that had joined them after they'd woken up.
Natsu couldn't resist smiling each and every time.
He was home. She was home. They were home and everyone was safe.
Life was finally good again and getting better every day.