S.R: Okay so you guys all seem to be ready for Lisanna and the Edolas arc… Not yet. I'm going to take a few chapters to do some daily life stuff with Natsu and Cana while they raise Michiko. I mean this isn't a retelling of the canon story with random inserts when convenient.


Even though Mira wanted to go visit Natsu's home and get the chance to hold Michiko, she was talked into waiting until the next day since the bar became extremely busy after the two announced that they'd adopted Michiko. So she forced the master to let her have the next day off.

Which was why Cana opened the door to find the barmaid standing in front of her.

"Hi Cana."

"Come on in Mira."

Cana spoke before leading the white haired woman towards the living room. When the entered Mira couldn't help but squeal at the adorable sight of Natsu sitting in one of the leather chairs with Michiko in his lap as he read to her.

"If only the others could see this. The two of them together are so cute!"

Mira whispered to Cana, not wanting to interrupt Natsu's story. Cana nodded her head unable to disagree. The duo quietly sat down on the couch as they did their best to make as little sound as possible so Natsu could read for Michiko without any interruptions. When he finished reading to Michiko she giggled happily while he smiled at her.

"Hi Mira. You didn't have to let me finish reading her story."

"But you were getting so into it. I'm sure if you weren't holding her you'd have been using your hands to help tell the story."

She replied, chuckling at the pink haired man. Natsu had figured Mira and some of the others from the guild would try to come by and see Michiko so he stood from his seat and took the two steps he needed to be standing next to her seat on the couch.

"I know you want to hold her. Since Cana's next to you it shouldn't be too bad, but please don't feel bad if she doesn't warm up to you for a bit."

After saying that Natsu handed Michiko to Mira. The little girl squirmed, not quite happy about leaving Natsu's arms. She was about to start crying because of the fact it was a stranger holding her, but Cana tickled her stomach as she got the baby girls attention before letting Michiko hold her hand with her two tiny hands.

"Wow, she's really attached to the two of you."

Mira commented as Natsu took the chance to head towards the kitchen. Michiko had eaten just before he started reading to her, so the little one would probably be falling asleep soon. Which meant he and Cana would be able to get some lunch for themselves. Cana smiled sadly as she gave Mira the full story on how she and Natsu had come to adopt Michiko. But the white haired woman merely responded that they had done the right thing.

"You know, I still wasn't sure Natsu and I could handle this responsibility. But yesterday when Erza pointed her sword at Natsu and demanded that we hand Michiko over to be taken to an orphanage or foster family…. I acted without thinking. I just saw her sword and that it was pointed in Michiko's direction. That was all that mattered to me when I stood up to Erza."

"Well you are her mother. Of course you'll protect her."

Mira responded as she looked up from her cooing at the baby girl Natsu had let her hold.

"It wasn't until Natsu and I put her down for her afternoon nap yesterday that it really sunk in. He and I sat here talking as I realized she was my daughter now and not just some child we're raising…"

Mira was silent as she let Cana speak.

"But you know what Mira? I think Natsu and I needed this to happen. Agreeing to raise Michiko together has caused us to think about a lot of stuff and grow up a bit."

"I don't know if you needed it to happen, but it did and you guys are certainly going to give it your all."

The white haired woman said with a supportive smile. She could easily see how the situation had forced the two to mature. At that point an adorable sounding yawn was made by the baby in her arms. Cana and Mira both looked down to see Michiko fighting off sleep. The little girl was still uncomfortable being held by Mira but she was getting used to it, since she had stopped squirming and even let Cana move her hand away. But it wasn't enough for the little one to just fall asleep in her arms yet.

"Alright, alright little one. It's time for your nap anyway."

Cana spoke softly as she accepted Michiko from Mira, and gently carried the baby up to her room. Mira followed since she had nothing better to do and it was such an adorable scene she had to see more.

Settling into the rocking chair, Cana slowly and calmly began rocking herself. The motion was very soothing for Michiko who closed her eyes and smiled softly. After a few minutes the baby was fast asleep. But Cana kept rocking for another minute just to be sure, before putting Michiko in her crib. After they'd returned from the guild yesterday Cana and Natsu realized they didn't buy any monitor lacrimas. So while Cana put their daughter to sleep Natsu rushed out and bought some. Turning them on for the first time the brunette woman left one next to the crib and grabbed the other before returning downstairs with the guilds poster woman in tow.

They walked into the kitchen where Natsu was just finishing up with a few simple grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

"Michiko taking her nap now?"

Natsu asked as he noticed the absence of the baby.

"Yeah, she's in her crib."

Cana replied as he handed her a plate with the cheesy sandwich. He handed one to Mira as well, surprising the white haired woman.

"I wasn't sure if you'd eaten or not, but I figured I'd make something for you anyway. It'd be mean for Cana and I to eat in front of you while you're here."

He told her as he placed a sandwich of his own on a plate for him before joining the two at the dinning room table. Mira just smiled and thanked him for being considerate as they sat down. The trio made small talk as they ate, Mira noticing a few subtle things between her companions that made her smile. Though she also thought to herself, wondering what her little sister would have thought of the situation.

In the end her curiosity got the better of her.

"You two sure have gotten pretty close because of all this."

Mira commented. Her tone reminded Cana of when the would gossip about the relationships in the guild. Which caused the brunette to blush heavily at the unexpected thoughts that came to her mind. Natsu on the other hand replied in such a way that left Cana blushing even harder, and Mira surprised.

"I'm happy that Cana's my partner in all of this. I wouldn't choose anyone else."

At that moment the back door, which lead directly into the kitchen opened up and Natsu's blue companion Happy made his appearance, distracting them. He was munching on a fish, so the group figured he finally caught enough fish to satisfy him for a bit.

"Natsu I'm bored."

He groaned. They hadn't done anything interesting since before Cana asked for Natsu's help on the job that lead them to adopting Michiko.

"Sorry buddy. There's not much we can do right now. Until Michiko gets used to some more people Cana and I both need to be here."

"What about money? I know you don't normally get a lot of the job rewards since you have to split it with the rest of your team, and Cana really only did enough jobs to keep her labeled as an active mage so she really doesn't have a lot saved up either."

Mira questioned, concerned how they were handling that aspect of raising a baby.

"Did you know that on one of the jobs Natsu and Happy took back when Team Natsu was just the two of them, one of the rewards was some freshly mined uncut diamonds?"

Cana answered, letting Mira know that money wasn't as much of a concern as they first thought it would be.

"That reminds me, gramps said he had a friend who could appraise them. Maybe we should talk to him about getting that done."

Natsu commented as he finished up his sandwich. Since it was a good idea Cana agreed to head over to the guild after Michiko woke up from her nap. Now that they knew about her, she and Natsu wanted to slowly get the little girl used to being around the other guild members. After all Fairy Tail was their family.

Even though they could afford to take some time off money wise, they couldn't take too much time off or they risked becoming semi-active wizards. That was a problem because semi-active wizards were limited in what jobs they could take, and those jobs couldn't always guarantee as much of a reward as the missions an active mage could take. Which would hurt them in the long run.

Two Hours Later

Since Natsu and Cana were going to head for the guild when Michiko woke up Mira decided to stay until then. Because of the fact it was a fairly unusual situation they just made small talk while they sat in Natsu's living room. When Michiko finally woke up she was pleasantly surprised that Natsu was the one to rush up to their little girl's crib.

Following Cana up the stairs she was stunned to see Natsu had already dealt with the reason the little one had woken up, which was the fact she needed changed.

"I would have thought Natsu would avoid being the one to change her, given his sense of smell."

"It wouldn't be fair to Cana if I did that. Besides this time she was just wet, so it wasn't that bad."

Mira thought she whispered it quietly enough to Cana but Natsu still heard her and responded. Since Natsu had moved on to getting the little girl dressed, the blanket she'd been wrapped in while Mira held her before had been removed which let the white haired barmaid see the onesie and smile.

"You had to get her clothes that were Fairy Tail related didn't you?"

"Of course."

Natsu and Cana responded in unison. Michiko was wearing the black onesie they'd bought her, which had the fairy tail emblem on the front and back in white. To keep things simple her outfit was finished off with a pair of white shorts. Then Natsu picked her up with a smile, one that was echoed on the giggling baby's face. He had already put the baby carrier on, so he carefully placed her inside the sling and turned to Mira and Cana. The diaper bag was on the ground by the door so it was closer to them, and already packed so after Cana picked it up they were ready to go, as Happy floated in the air beside Natsu.

When they got to the guild the were greeted by several people, though because most of them were closer to the door it was at an acceptable volume level and didn't scare Michiko. Sadly there was a brawl going on so not everyone noticed them enter. Which lead to Cana tossing some of her cards into the air as she used her Card Dimension spell to disrupt the fighting before something could be thrown towards Natsu and Michiko. She knew that Natsu would protect them, but it would still aggravate both her and the pink haired man. Not to mention the risk of upsetting their child would be high in that situation.

"I don't care if you guys fight, but you better start paying attention to your surroundings! If I hadn't done that, Gray would have jumped over Elfman and he would have collided with Natsu who is holding Michiko at the moment."

She berated them, drawing apologies from all of them, especially Gray and Elfman. After that she let the group go, canceling her spell. Most of them were surprised to see her being so protective, and then they remembered how she stood up to Erza.

Macao and Wakaba both proudly smiled as they thought to themselves about how Cana was shaping up to be a great mother for the little girl. She'd cut back on drinking, she was very protective, and from what they could see of her outfit, she was even dressing a bit more conservatively to be a better role model for when Michiko was old enough to remember things.

So when she approached them to ask where the master was, they took the moment to tell her how proud they were. Mira and Natsu had followed along though Natsu was only half paying attention, instead playing 'I got your nose' with Michiko who was happily laughing and smiling at him.

"Natsu's pretty responsible too. When I got to his house earlier he was reading her a story. While I was holding Michiko, he even went and made us lunch. Plus when she woke up from her nap, he was the one to change and dress her."

"Just by looking at him right now I can tell how much he cares about that little girl. Seeing him like this is all the proof I need to agree with the master on allowing you two to be her parents. It's a shame Erza wasn't here to see it."

Wakaba commented, as he removed his pipe from his mouth. Even though they all knew it was for his magic, he decided that while the little one was around he wouldn't smoke at all. That way he wouldn't risk her getting sick because of it. Cana smiled appreciatively at him for that.

"Oh, to answer your earlier question, the masters in his office at the moment."

Macao commented as he remembered the whole reason Cana had even walked up to them at the bar. Nodding her head in thanks Cana lead Natsu up to Makarov's office. The door was open so they just walked in, though Natsu shut it after them.

"What brings you two to my office today?"

"Gramps, you mentioned having a friend that could appraise diamonds right?"

Nodding, the guild master affirmed that he had mentioned it once before to Natsu after he'd gotten the uncut diamonds as a job reward.

"Would you mind introducing us?"

Cana asked, getting right to the point.

"I can do that, but it would be a better idea if only one of you were to go and meet him. He doesn't like having children in his workplace, and unless Michiko trusts someone other than the two of you, at least one of you would need to be here with her."

"Make sense. Well since they're Natsu's diamonds he should be the one to go."

Natsu didn't see a problem with that so he agreed with Cana.

"Alright. I'll see when he can pencil us in."

"That works for me gramps."

With that the conversation was over, and they left Makarov's office. When they returned down to the ground floor Mira, Levy, Wendy, and Carla approached. Mira because she just couldn't get enough of how adorable Michiko was. Levy and Wendy came closer because things were calmer around the baby now and they wanted to hold her. Michiko struggled for a moment at first while Levy held her, but she settled down much faster than she had when Mira was holding her. Something Natsu and Cana both noticed, though they didn't say anything about it because it could possibly hurt Mira's feelings.

"She's so adorable."

Levy whispered, despite the fact Michiko was awake and they didn't have to be quiet so long as it was at a calm volume level. Wendy and Carla both nodded their heads. Though the white cat did speak up.

"You know, I agreed with Erza yesterday based off what I had seen from you two. I didn't expect you to change how you act and prove us wrong, but you did. I apologize for not supporting you at first."

Carla had a very remorseful look on her face. As if she was genuinely sorry to not have given them the chance to prove themselves before forming her opinion. But Cana just shrugged her off.

"It's fine Carla. We know how things looked. Besides you and Wendy haven't been around to really get to know us, so I kinda expected it."

"I'm happy to know you support us though."

Natsu commented, a smile on his face as he looked towards Carla.

After that the conversation became lighthearted as they began talking about Michiko. Though they were surprised to she her snuggle into Wendy when the young blue haired girl got her turn to hold the baby. By the end of the day and seeing how she reacted with the others in the guild when they came to see her, it was determined Michiko was okay with Wendy holding her because her magic was similar in feeling to Natsu's.

"Wait does that mean she'd be okay with Gajeel?"

Cana asked when they realized it. But since he was out on a job they were unable find out.

"We can find out some other time. Besides I think Michiko's ready for bed."

Natsu chuckled as the baby girl started nodding off against his chest since he was the one holding her at that point. The brunette agreed that going home sounded like a nice idea and they left. The few people that were still sitting around were shocked to see just how readily Cana called Natsu's place home. Happy floated along behind them, following his best friend home.

"They grow up so fast."

Makarov chuckled from his seat on the bar. He'd come down and joined the guild for a while before Natsu and Cana left to put Michiko to bed.

"What do you mean master?"

Wendy questioned, confused as to why the guild master and a few of the other older members in the guild were calling Natsu a lucky B word.

"We've known those two since they were younger than you. But to see them grow so close, we can tell where the future is going for them."

But the young Dragon Slayer was still confused. Makarov's just chuckled and said she'd understand when it happened. Wakaba and Macao reacted similarly when she asked them what the guild master had meant.

Meanwhile

Natsu and Cana laid Michiko down in her crib so she could sleep, before sneaking out of the room as quietly as they could. Everything involving Michiko felt like it was instinctive already, but when she wasn't around the two were slightly awkward with each other. Natsu because he wasn't sure how to bring up his previous statement about dating her, especially now that his opinion had gone from not minding it to wanting to. Cana was awkward because she didn't know what she thought of Natsu. She remembered him mentioning that he'd be okay with dating her when then first discussed raising Michiko. But she hadn't figured out how she felt about the idea, so she was still a little shy in regards to the pink haired man.

So rather than deal with the awkwardness they went to different rooms in the house. Cana to the living room to read. Though she wasn't actually paying attention to the book she'd picked out instead diving headlong into her thoughts. 'What do I actually think about Natsu?' She questioned herself, thinking that would be the best place to start.

While Natsu retreated to the basement and began lifting weights to kill time. Similarly to Cana he wasn't really focused on his actions, and instead lost in his thoughts. 'I know I told her I wouldn't mind dating her… But how and why did it suddenly become I want to date her? Why is that feeling growing stronger so quickly?'


S.R: Daily life, and a little bit of proof for the guild that they can be responsible enough to be parents. Now depending on how quickly I drive myself insane with this it'll be anywhere from one to three chapters before we get to the Edolas arc. I have a hard time doing what could be labeled as 'slice of life' type stuff like this chapter, but hopefully I did okay by you guys with this one. See you guy's next time (which likely won't be until next month because I'm switching focus over to my A Different Team Natsu story for a bit now).