Laxus was more than a little surprised that the kids managed to keep the secret long enough for Makarov to actually be surprised. Normally, Sylvia said every thought that came to mind and couldn't be trusted not to spill anything. Maybe she was finally calming down, he mused.
No, he decided as he watched the girl nearly tackle her twin to the pavement. She never would. Not that he was surprised. She didn't show it as much, but Juvia was just as loud and crazy about her loved ones as always.
"Wendy," Makarov said, tilting his head back to look up at the young woman. "Is there a reason why the guildhall is so quiet?"
"Whatever do you mean, Master?"
The innocent look she gave him further convinced him something was amiss. He raised an eyebrow. She bat her eyelashes. He rolled his eyes.
"It's probably because Natsu isn't here," Mira cut in smoothly. "You know how he riles everyone up."
"You say that like your brother didn't cause just as much trouble those years that team of theirs was away," Laxus shot back.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "He's your brother too, now."
"Hm."
Mira pushed his shoulder with a laugh, the sound echoed by her daughter. Zori wrapped her arms around Laxus's forehead, chin resting amid his wild blond locks.
"Mira, dear, if Natsu isn't here, then where is he?" Makarov asked. "Because, unless my memory is going, I thought we had just talked about how Natsu wasn't out with his team on this job, same as Wendy."
"Oh, uh…" Mira fumbled for the right words, blushing furiously. Who would've thought she'd become such a bad liar? Laxus was never letting her live this down. "He's… out?"
"Uh huh," Makarov said with a raised eyebrow. "Out. Surely not getting into trouble, I suspect?"
"Not at all!" Her voice jumped slightly, and she nudged Wendy to push the old man's wheelchair faster. Laxus rolled his eyes, smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.
"Out?" He whispered.
"Shush," she shot back. He snorted, tilting his head slightly to get Zori to loosen her grip. Oh, yeah. She was getting teased about this for the next week, at least.
Thankfully, the small group arrived at the guildhall a moment later. The kids stood patiently by the door, albeit shifting and jumping around a lot.
"Can we?" Sylvia asked, looking hopefully up at Wendy. The young woman laughed, nodding at the girl. Sylvia grinned. Together, she and Storm grabbed the handles of the door and pulled with all of their might. The heavy wood creaked and groaned as it moved, the twins assisted by a slight breeze.
Wendy pushed Makarov in, the Dreyars following behind and no longer hiding their glee. Mira grinned and Laxus smirked, Xavier giggling and running ahead. Makarov squinted, trying to make out what was happening in the darkened guild before him as his eyes adjusted from the sun outside.
It didn't take too long for the picture to become clear.
"Surprise!" The words leapt from several throats, young and old alike. The curtains were pushed from the windows, illuminating the packed guildhall.
Makarov blinked, taking in the sight before him even as his vision grew blurry and cheeks grew wet. All of his children gathered in one place, beaming and laughing and full of cheer. They'd fought so hard for this, for the ability to be carefree and raise children and live life to the fullest. And here they were celebrating him, attempting to surprise him when all of them were completely inept at keeping something secret.
(Cana had spilled it two weeks ago after drinking herself under the table. She didn't remember, though, so Makarov would pretend like he didn't remember either.)
"Oh, you brats." He sniffed, not bothering to hide the tears streaking down his face. "Brats, all of you."
"Oh, Master," Levy said. "You didn't think we'd send you off without a party, did you?"
"Proper Fairy Tail farewell," Wakaba added, raising his cup in an imitation of a toast. "Especially for the oldest member alive."
Makarov scoffed and wiped the tears away. They were quickly replaced. "All of you have put decades on my life."
"Aw, come on, Gramps." That was Natsu. The Dragon Slayer held his squirming son at arms length, the boy giggling and waving at Makarov. "You can't say that when Gray and Erza aren't here."
"Natsu, I've known you forever," Macao said, leaning against the bar. "I can say with certainty that you turned both my and the Master's hair gray."
"His hair was white before I joined!"
"Well, you still turned my hair gray."
"I did not, that was all Romeo."
"I take offense to that."
"No, son, he's right."
"What is going on?" Romeo, exasperated, shook his head. Wendy laughed, leaving Makarov's side to join her husband.
"Just Natsu being Natsu."
"Ah, yes. Now it all makes sense."
The pink-haired man made an affronted squawk, the spark of the loud laughter tumbling through the guildhall.
"Anyway." Mira bit back her mirth as she turned to the Eighth Master with a smile. "Thank you, Master, for everything you've done for us all and for this guild for your entire life. You taught us what it means to have a family, and you've been the heart of this ever-growing family for so long. So, Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail's Third, Sixth, and Eighth Master," here she flashed a grin, "we gather here to say goodbye and wish you well, and to show you how much you have come to mean to all of us. We love you very much, Master."
Makarov all but wailed, fat teardrops soaking through his beard and drenching the neckline of his jacket. Mira wiped away her own tears, laughing as she bent down to wrap her grandfather in a hug, careful of her swollen stomach.
"Enough of this mushy stuff," Cana called. "Let's fu-, er, let's party!"
Laxus snorted at the woman's almost slip-up. With gentle hands, he removed Zori from his shoulders, the little girl complaining all the while. "Cana, I'm going to make you pay your tab one of these days."
She cackled, raising a tankard in his direction. "Everyone who's come before you never did! I doubt you'll be the first!" She paused, eyes twinkling and lips curling up in a familiar smirk.
Evergreen cleared her throat loudly, glaring daggers from behind her glasses. "Need I remind you there are children present, and they are of an age that whatever crude comment you were about to make will make more of an impact that any of us want?"
"You can remind me all you want," Cana said with a wink. "That's not gonna stop me."
"Cana."
Levy glared, hands on her hips. Cana smirked back. Levy raised her eyebrows. The brunette pouted.
"Damn, Levy, I forgot how scary you've gotten."
Levy beamed at Mira. "Learned from the best!"
The Take-Over mage winked. "Damn straight."
"You're so not cooler than me!"
"My magic is literally colder than yours!"
"Means nothing!"
"Ugh, just fight me already!"
In one of the walkways, Kaltain tackled Nashi around the waist, ice already encasing the younger girl in sheets. Nashi shouted in wordless outrage and turned in midair, twisting enough that Kaltain hit the ground first. Her fists broke into flames, swiping and punching.
Natsu groaned, slumping in his seat and letting his head thump against the wooden table. "That's the fifth time today."
"You're just annoyed cause Kate keeps kicking Nashi's butt." Gray leaned against a pillar, arms crossed and shirt missing.
"That is such a lie, and you know it."
"Uh, it isn't actually."
Natsu raised his head, frowning at the Ice Wizard. "Wait, what the hell are you doing here?"
"Thanks, Natsu, you won me twenty jewels."
His head spun around so fast it was a wonder it didn't fly off.
Lucy stood behind him, small smile on her face. Natsu blinked, eyes going from his wife to his brother before finding Erza standing slightly behind Lucy before returning to his wife again. He stared for a moment more, simply because he could. Her smile grew bigger, long used to his antics.
She'd only been gone a week, but it felt so much longer than that. The stress of the job was evident to him, the darker bags under her eyes, the hair pulled into a ponytail instead of loose against her back, the tense set of her shoulders.
But she'd enjoyed herself, and the pendant against his wrist had only burned twice. And he was sure her necklace had alerted him to the many times their children had nearly given him a heart attack. His still-singed hair was proof of that.
"You're back," he said, rather belatedly. She snorted, closing the gap between them and sliding across his lap. His arms wrapped loosely around her waist, her face pressed against the side of his neck. "Welcome home."
"I'm gonna sleep for a year," she grumbled.
"You say that every time."
"Yeah, and it keeps adding up. What am I at now, sixteen years?"
"Probably more like thirty."
She snorted again, the vibration against his neck reminiscent of late nights in front of a movie. He pressed a soft kiss to her hairline, feeling her mimic the movement against his throat. Citrus flooded his nose, soothing and comfortable and all Lucy.
"Hey, why'd I win you twenty jewels?"
"We had a bet," Gray said as he sat across from the Heartfilia-Dragneels, Erza following behind.
"Gray thought you'd fight him before realizing we were back from our job. I had a little more faith in you."
"Thanks," he snorted.
"To be fair," Erza added, "no one else seems to have noticed us yet."
"Yeah, because you snuck in."
"Hey, we got twenty jewels out of it."
"What's that gonna get us, a pair of socks?"
"I was thinking more some pretzels from that stand down the street."
"Oh, I like your style."
"Mommy!" The air whooshed out of Lucy as a small body slammed into her back. She laughed, removing an arm from Natsu's neck to rest awkwardly against her son.
"Well, isn't this a warm welcome."
"Mommy, I missed you!"
"I missed you too, little man. Were you good for Daddy?"
Liddian nodded, wriggling his way onto Lucy's lap. Natsu grunted. Lucy elbowed him in response. "I was, I was the best."
Lucy shifted him so his back rested against Natsu's, his legs dangling in the air as he grinned up at his mother. Lucy grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped at the chocolate powder decorating his face like a five o'clock shadow. "Oh yeah? And is Daddy gonna say the same thing?"
"Nope," Natsu said, popping the word with a grin. "Only thing he has going for him is that he was better than our lovely she-devil."
"Oh, be nice."
Gray leaned against the table, elbow supporting the glass of water he'd stolen from Natsu. "Our daughters are in the middle of trying to kill each other and you're still going to defend her?"
"It's not defending if I'm keeping my husband from calling our beautiful, lovely daughter a devil."
Natsu smirked, locking his eyes with Lucy's. "Luce, it's like she has demon blood in her veins."
Gray choked so hard water came out his nose. Erza exclaimed, pounding him on the back as his face turned darker than his sister's hair.
Lucy punched Natsu's shoulder harder than he expected, pushing his body against the back of the booth. He winced even as he laughed.
"You are inordinately proud of yourself," she seethed, pretending as if she wasn't fighting back a laugh herself. She glanced over at Gray with a poorly concealed grin. "Gray, you okay there?"
He nodded, face still colored and back still victim to Erza's 'comforting' hand. He coughed, rubbing his chest and putting the glass down. "Jesus, Natsu," he rasped out. "What the hell was that for?"
"I have absolutely no idea what you mean," he said in return.
"Oh, Gray, my darling!" Juvia fluttered over to his side, draping herself over his back with a contented sigh. "My dear, when did you get back?"
"Just a few minutes ago." His hand wrapped around her wrist, tilting his head to rest against hers. Juvia's chin rested on his shoulder, body angled awkwardly over the back of the booth. Yet she was absolutely unwilling to let go of her husband for a second longer than needed. "Missed you."
"Oh, my love, I missed you too." She finally seemed to take in the mess he'd made on the table. "Darling, what happened here?"
"From what I gathered," Erza said, "Natsu made a wildly inappropriate joke that only these three understand. Seems Gray was caught off-guard."
"I didn't think it was funny," Liddian stated.
Natsu snorted. "I'll explain it one day."
"What's stopping you now?" Erza raised an eyebrow.
"Eh. It's not that important." Natsu shrugged, grabbing Lucy's legs and pulling her closer against his chest. She could feel the way his heart pounded.
"Why'd you make the joke if you didn't want people asking questions?" She breathed against his neck.
"Cause it was funny," he responded in kind, slightly louder so her lesser senses could catch it. "And I don't care. I just… Not now." Or ever, was the unspoken sentence she felt in her heart.
She removed her hands from Liddian and instead placed them on either side of Natsu's face, drawing him into a soft kiss. Liddian gagged. He pushed at both of his parents' chests in a weak attempt to force them apart. Lucy smiled against Natsu's lips, pulling away after another long moment. He leaned his forehead against hers, taking heart in just sharing the same space as his wife.
She pulled away all too soon, frowning over Liddian's head. "Juvia, if you're over here with us, is anyone stopping Nash and Kaltain?"
Juvia sighed, pressing the side of her face against Gray's. "It's good for them to get their energy out, right?"
"I'd like to see the day either of them wear themselves out," Natsu grumbled.
"Yeah, what's the point in breaking them up? They're just gonna start up again ten minutes later." Gray squeezed Juvia's wrist as he rolled his eyes. Juvia blinked. He'd been wearing pants just a minute before, hadn't he? How in Earthland…
"It's fitting," Erza said, "that it is the two of you who have children who cannot stop fighting each other for more than an hour. That's all you ever did for years."
"Hey, we've gotten better!"
"You were about to throw down with Gray, like, ten minutes ago."
"And?"
Lucy laughed. Then she pulled Liddian against her chest as she reluctantly slid off Natsu's lap, missing the warmth of his body. "Come on, little man. Let's go say hi to your sister, yeah?"
"Okay! Oh, and Mommy, Mommy, I made a fort in the living room! Daddy let me keep it up, and now you'll play with me in it when we get home, won't you? Nashi won't play with me anymore, and, and, and I don't, I don't know why. But you will, right?"
Lucy disappeared into the party with Liddian on her back, much too big to be carried but holding on regardless. Natsu watched as she cut through the crowd, drawing attention to her return as she listened to their son ramble on.
"So you're back." Natsu's head spun around once more. (Seriously, for being a Dragon Slayer with super senses, he was getting surprised too often today. Maybe he was getting sick.) Laxus towered next to their table, hands in pockets and coat hanging from his shoulders like a cape. It was hard to look menacing, however, with his daughter clinging to his shoulder like a bag.
Erza reached out with a delighted smile, and Laxus deposited the girl into the woman's arms with barely a glance. Zori giggled, twisting her chubby fists in Erza's red hair almost immediately. Erza winced. "Yes, we were lucky enough to find a magic mobile to rent. If not for that, it likely would have taken another day or two to take the train. Why it's such a roundabout way just to go a few hours south-"
"Ten hours of straight travel is not what I would call 'just a few hours,'" Gray muttered.
She glared at the interruption. The Ice-Make wizard dropped his eyes, properly cowed. Then she turned back to Laxus, the guildmaster watching the interaction with poorly concealed amusement. "Are you done?" He asked.
Erza quirked an eyebrow, head pulled sharply to the side as Zori continued to pull on her hair. "I'll stop by your office tomorrow. I could probably spend hours and hours relaying all the details, keep you long past lunchtime, create reasons for a stack of paperwork…"
"Jesus, I get it, you're petty." Laxus shifted, eyes scanning over the heads of his guild. "Seriously, sometimes I wonder if anyone else in this guild actually grew up."
"Nope!" Natsu grinned, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back in the booth.
"Speak for yourself," Gray said. Then he yelped, pulled half way under the table by some unseen force. He growled, diving under the rest of the way to tackle the two monsters holding onto his legs.
Sylvia shrieked, desperately trying to scramble out of the way. Her dad had one arm around her waist, pinning her to the ground even as she squirmed. Much like his mother had been moments before, Storm was draped over Gray's back, arms locked around his throat and legs locked around his waist. Gray, seeing no other response, turned and fell back against Sylvia, crushing Storm between them.
The twins moaned and thrashed, but Gray leaned back with a smirk. "That's not a very warm welcome," he teased.
"Yeah, no warm welcome because you're cold." Storm twisted, pushing at his dad's shoulders in an attempt to dislodge him. "Ugh, you're heavy!"
"That's no way to speak to your father." Gray leaned back even more. "'Sides, it's not me, it's gravity."
"That's not how gravity works! Daddy, let us up!"
"You only ever call him Daddy when you want something!" Gideon announced, flopping down on top of his dad. The air was forced from Gray's lungs, the man groaning dramatically even as he banded an arm around the six-year-old to keep him pinned to his chest. "No! Not me too, Daddy!"
"Yup, yes, you too." Gray craned his head, searching the sea of legs around him, searching for the last one. "Is Kate still beating Nash in a fight?"
"Hey, I beat her fair and square!"
Gray blinked up at the two eight-year-olds hovering above him. Kaltain's hair still smoldered and Nashi's eyelashes were weighed down by many crystals, but they ignored the other and looked down at the Fullbuster pile. "Gray, I get you're weird, but why are you on the floor?"
"Good one, Nash! Make your old man proud!"
"Hey, don't insult my dad!"
"You say that like you never insult my dad!"
"All right, then I'll insult you instead!"
"You want me to kick your butt for the second time today?"
"I've beaten you the other four times, so sure, go ahead and try!"
"Uh huh, Levy broke us up twice and Mom just separated us over there, so we're even! One to one!"
"Let's break that tie then!"
"Come on, then! Fight me, Dragneel!"
"Heartfilia-Dragneel," Lucy said, swooping over to push the girls apart. "And you're better than this, both of you."
"Sorry, Mom."
"Yes, Lucy."
Nashi kicked the ground. Kaltain hunched her shoulders. Lucy shook her head with an amused smile. With tender hands, she pulled the girls closer, straightening Kaltain's tank top and wiping the ice from Nashi's face. The pink-haired girl squirmed and batted her mother's hands away. "I'm not a baby anymore, Mom."
"You'll always be my baby," Lucy responded, cheesy smile bright across her face. Nashi groaned and rolled her eyes. Then Lucy fully appraised her daughter. "Natsu, did you pick out Nashi's outfit today?"
"Nah, she picked it out herself." Natsu folded his arms behind his head, scarf clinging to his neck in the humid air. Makarov's goodbye party still raged around them, the man himself relaxing by the bar as all of his children gathered before him.
Lucy crossed her arms, biting back on a smile. "Nash, while I appreciate the initiative, let's try and match a bit more tomorrow, yeah?"
"But why?" She whined, frowning up at her mother. She thought she did a pretty okay job. The blue tube top contrasted nicely with her pink hair, a matching skirt held up by a golden belt.
"You did a good job, sweetheart, really. But…"
"But what?" Nashi put her hand on her hips. Lucy swallowed the smile, not wanting to annoy the girl any further.
"But… the leggings don't match at all, kiddo." Nashi looked down, frowning at the bright green fabric covering her legs. She thought it was fine, especially with the same color ribbon holding back her hair. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the same color, but it was still green! "Tomorrow, let's lose the leggings and the ribbon, maybe switch the sandals for some boots?"
"Oh, Luce, you and your love of boots."
She grinned at Natsu over her shoulder. "Better watch out, Dragneel, or they might just beat you."
"That's Dragneel-Heartfilia to you."
She gaped at him, mouth slowly twisting into a goofy grin. "Using my own thing against me? Well played."
"Katy!" This was Gideon, pressed to his dad's chest like a coat. "Katy, help us!"
"Yeah, come on, Kate," Sylvia said, face red and limbs incapacitated. "I can't breathe. You gotta help." Kaltain giggled, throwing herself on top of the pile. Gray grunted. Lucy smirked down at him, fingers drumming a rhythm against her keys.
Gray tilted his head back to rest against Storm's back. "What are you laughing at?"
"Oh, if I wasn't so sore, I'd join the kids." To emphasize her point, she rubbed her fist against her thigh. "But come on, get up and stop messing around. We gotta go see Gramps."
"I saw him when we walked in."
"Seeing him across the guildhall is not what I meant, and you know it."
"Yes, Gray, we must go greet the Master. There's only a few days until he leaves, after all." Erza rose to her feet, her conversation with Laxus ending as Zori begged for her father's arms and a snack. Erza stood by Lucy's side, ruffling Nashi's spiky hair and pulling it from its tie.
"We're helping him move in, so it's not like it's the final goodbye today."
"No, but it is still polite. I didn't raise you to be rude."
Gray narrowed his eyes at his sister. "You didn't raise me at all."
"You were still practically a feral child when you joined the guild," she shot back. "Someone had to teach you manners."
"You weren't much better yourself," Cana called, halfway through another barrel. "Hey, Erza, when you'd get back? Wait, all three of you are back. What the hell?"
"Good to see you too, Cana." Erza smiled, stepping to the side as a butter knife flew past her and embedded itself in the wooden column behind their small group. "Esmerelda, I hope that was an accident."
"Mama, nothing I do is by accident." The blue-haired girl clasped her hands behind her back, solemn expression with twinkling eyes. "Elwin said I couldn't aim that far away."
Erza turned her fierce eyes on the older boy. He hunched his shoulders, frowning at the girl nearly half his age. "Em! Way to throw me under the bus."
"We'll talk about that later. Emmy, where's your sister?"
"Daddy took her on a job today. Said he was training her or something."
"And you've just been throwing knives around while he's been gone?"
"Not the whole time."
"Mhm."
Natsu slid from the table, hating how that look on Erza's face always made him feel like a troublesome child again. But now he was just a troublesome adult, still scared of Titania's wrath. Honestly, he was more scared of her excitement; she was truly unable to control herself and typically broke more bones and gave more bruises than she meant to.
Natsu jumped as a massive fist filled the room. He glanced over, finding Makarov lifting Liddian and Krystal into the air as they shrieked with laughter and cried out for more. "You know," he said, "I forgot he used to do that for us. I've gotten so used to him just smacking us down to size with his magic."
"You're the only one he does that too," Gray retorted.
"I'm pretty sure he crushed both of you my first day in the guild." Lucy crossed her arms, popping out a hip in the same motion as her eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, and Natsu called you Luigi." Happy swooped in with a snort, landing on top of Natsu's head. Natsu tilted his head, attempting to see any part of his friend.
"Ugh, I forgot about that." Lucy held out her arms, waiting. A second later, a familiar small body crashed into her, wings vanishing in a burst of light. "Hey there, Malcolm."
"Lucy!" The little white Exceed beamed up at the Celestial Spirit mage, paws clinging to the edges of her vest. "Dad made me do chores all week, Lucy!"
"Oh no, that's terrible."
"Lucy! Don't take his side!" Happy flopped over Natsu's head, tail dangling against the pink-haired man's neck. Natsu pat Happy on the back, the Exceed grumbling even while burying himself deeper in the pink strands.
"That's what happens when Malcolm's actually nice to me," she shot back, sticking her tongue out at the blue cat.
"I'm nice to you!"
"Not as often as you make snarky comments!"
Malcolm giggled at the adults' antics. "Thanks, Lucy. Can you keep me out of chores next week?"
"Sorry, bud, but you have to do what your dad says, especially when your mom is away."
"Happy!" Wendy draped herself over Natsu's shoulders, grinning up at the Exceed. "Happy, when's Carla coming back? I haven't heard from her in days."
"I dunno," Happy said. "Sometime soon?"
"You don't seem overly concerned about when your partner's coming back," Lucy said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Happy shrugged, the motion nearly sending him off Natsu's head. "She doesn't need me watching over her, she's tough. 'Sides, Lola can't stay away from Nashi for too long."
Malcolm nodded. "And Mom can't stay away from you, either," he said to Wendy. Then he looked back at Happy. "Dad, why didn't we get to go with Mom and Lola?"
"You've already asked that, like, a million times," Happy complained.
"Who let Happy be a dad?" Wendy muttered. Natsu snorted, elbowing her gently.
"Besides," Happy continued, "we didn't go cause Carla's looking for her mom."
"I wanna meet Grandma too!"
"They're learning about clairvoyance, Mal," Wendy cut in. "Lola has the gift, but you don't. So your mom took Lola to train her before her powers got out of hand, and she left you and your dad to bond."
"I still wanted to go." Malcolm pouted, pressing his face against Lucy's chest.
"You're still little," Lucy replied, tucking him tighter. "'Sides, I'm sure you had more fun here with Dad and Natsu, right?"
"Natsu took Krys, Liddian, and I fishing."
"Hey, I went with you guys too!" Happy sat up, and Natsu took the chance to pull the Exceed down to sit in his arms instead of his hair.
"Hm, I don't remember you there." Malcolm grinned smugly as his dad continued to complain.
Lucy shook her head with a smile, transferring Malcolm over to Wendy. She turned with the intent of finding Levy, but she was stalled by the tight wrap of arms around her waist. The blonde looked down, expression soft as she hugged her daughter back.
"I really did miss you, Mom."
"Oh, I missed you too, sweetheart."
"Dad taught me a new spell, wanna see it?"
"Let's wait until we're home, yeah? Then you won't have to worry about anyone getting in your way."
Nashi simply hugged her tighter, face pressed against her side. Lucy ran a hand through the girl's spiky pink hair, the longest strands brushing her collarbone.
"Don't go again," the girl said.
"There's still a few days until we go. Besides, we won't be gone for too long. We just have to help Master Makarov move into his new home."
"He doesn't need all of you to help." Nashi tightened her hold even more.
Lucy sighed, continuing to comb her fingers through Nashi's hair. "He might not need us, but he certainly appreciates it. Besides, we want to help him, especially after all he's done for us."
Nashi didn't respond. Lucy tried again. "After we're done, Dad and I will stay home for a while, okay? Until the next job comes up."
"Why do you have to go on jobs, though? You have enough money. You don't have to work if you don't want to."
Lucy pulled away from her daughter, kneeling down and placing her hands on Nashi's shoulders. "Nash, I need you to listen to me. We don't work because we need to. We don't go on jobs for the money or the experience. We do it because people need help. And if someone out there needs help and we're able to provide it, we have to. That's what it means to be a Fairy Tail wizard. Standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves. You'll understand that someday."
Nashi let her eyes drop even as she nodded slowly. "I know, Mom. Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Oh, sweetheart." Lucy pulled her into a hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'll always come back to you."
Nashi wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, squeezing tightly and burying her face in Lucy's blonde hair. "Love you."
"Love you too."
And Nashi held on tightly to her mom in the sea of their guild, unwilling to end the hug. Who knew how long it would be until the next?
Gonna be honest, Mira fumbled and messed up about where Natsu was because I messed up and forgot that Lucy was the one on the job not him. But I thought it was funny, so, it stayed :) Also, Nashi's outfit is definitely based on Ahsoka Tano's first outfit in The Clone Wars. Yup, she has a hold on my heart, so, here we are.
I'm terribly sorry if these two chapters have been slow and not a great start to a new story; I've gotten so used to writing oneshots these last several months that I've forgotten the pacing of a full-length story, it seems. But it's picking up soon, that I promise! Tune in next time for the moving adventures of your dreams :)
Thank you and hope you enjoyed! Until next time!