Summary: Natsu told Gray that his marriage wasn't arranged. This is the story behind that declaration of his…

Pairings: Parental Igneel/Natsu, Siblings Gray/Natsu/Erza, Natsu/Lisanna friendship, a few other friendship feels, and, of course, Natsu/Lucy.

Author's Note: A Birthday present to Tsubaki! Thank you so much for being my inspiration and greatest encouragement. Happy Birthday! May you have everything you wanted and a enjoyable day.

"Now remember," Makarov, the Earl of Warwick glowered down at the children, "you are to be on your very best behaviour for the duration of this visit. You are young lords and ladies, not ruffians, and you are to be presented to the King, not playing in the market please, for the love of God, behave!"

"Yeah, Natsu," Gray whispered, "behave."

"What was that, you snowflake?!" Natsu yelled.

"Shut it!" Lyon growled. "Didn't you hear him? He said that you should be on your very best behaviour, or does your illegitimacy deafen you?"

"YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!"

"Natsu," Erza growled from behind the boys, "you are embarrassing us all, and Lyon," an evil glint appeared in her eye, "we shall discuss your lack of honour in a duel later."

Lyon gulped and looked to his older sister for help but Ultear ignored him as she believed, for one rare moment, that Erza was quite correct in this. Needling Natsu did not make him a better person at all.

"Serves you right," Lisanna glared at Lyon as she wrapped a protective arm round Natsu's own arm, "you big meanie!" she then stuck her tongue at him.

Another round of arguments started up, this time the Strauss siblings joined in as well.

"Grandfather!" Laxus hissed, embarrassed and irritated with his 'younger siblings'. "Can you not make them stop?! They're embarrassing!"

"I give up," Makarov threw his arms in the air, "as long as they're quiet as mice in front of the King, let them make as many scenes as they like with their bickering. I'm an Earl not God, I cannot work miracles."

The children all immediately stopped then and smiled sheepishly. They had forgotten that they were no longer home in Middleham castle, perhaps one of the greatest estates in England, under the care of their foster father, and where anything goes as long as they did not kill one another. They were now at Court, ready to have their first presentation in front of the King.

For the first time in months they were going to see their father, well, unfortunately not the Strauss siblings who were orphans under Warwick's wardship, but the rest were the Duke of York's children, and he too would be at Court.

Not that Natsu cared about his so called father. The Duke of York was nice and all but Natsu had only met him a handful of times and occasionally received presents from him. Lots of presents. So the Duke was good at something but….well he wasn't Natsu's Papa, Natsu's Papa was –

"Ah." A familiar, tall, lean, red-headed man appeared round the corner. His razor sharp teeth was bared into a cheerful grin and he was dressed casually, in only shirt and breeches which would suggest he had been training not that long ago. "I thought I heard Natsu's delightfully loud and obnoxious voice."

"Papa!" Natsu cried out delightedly as he flung his arms round his true father. Igneel happily returned the embrace and it took a few beats for Natsu to realise exactly what Igneel had said. "What do you mean loud and obnoxious voice?!" he yelled indignantly as he pulled away.

"What do you think, Ash Brain?" Gray scoffed. "You're the loudest and most obnoxious person in the kingdom."

"What was that Snow Fairy?!"

"You heard me!"

"That's it!" Makarov stepped between the two brothers. "You two obviously have way too much energy despite travelling all day. I want all of you brats to be gone. Go and play. Fight in the stables for all I care, just come back in time for me to make you presentable and be on your best behaviour at the presentation and feast, or so help you God, you will never be able to feel your buttocks again."

"Pervert," Mirajane muttered.

"What was that?!"

The children all ran before Makarov could punish Mira for her comment and eagerly went in search for new playmates. As much as they cared for one another, well okay, Gray and Natsu drove each other and everyone around them mad, Lyon enjoyed picking on Natsu too much, Laxus could not tolerate any of them, Mirajane was just as easily irritated and held a rivalry with Erza, and Ultear was aloof with everyone but Gray and Lyon…..they wanted more friends.

At first, they wandered around and bickered between them. Gray berated Natsu for calling Igneel 'Papa' ("Father is your father not Lord Igneel, as nice as he is."), Natsu argued churlishly, Erza had to intervene, and then Elfman tripped, knocked into her, and she lost her temper slightly which caused Mirajane to snap at her….and the arguing started all over again.

Then Gajeel, Natsu's sort of cousin, before he found out that he was not Igneel's son, found them and they were soon surrounded by various children who were all way too impressed with Gray's title as Earl of March for Natsu's liking.

The others soon disappeared, Laxus and Mirajane were talking to people their own age, Ultear sat in the corner reading her book and ignoring everyone, Lisanna and Erza went off with some girls, and Natsu was ready to join in a game of battles with Gray and Lyon when some snotty-nosed child pushed him back.

"Not you," he sneered, "you are not allowed to play."

"Why the hell not?!" Natsu demanded hotly.

"Because you know."

"No I do not know," Natsu growled, "why not en-en-enlighter me?"

"Enlighten, you moron," Gray muttered.

Natsu ignored him in favour of glaring at the snotty brat that stood before him. The idiot glowered back and then smirked. "You know what," he said in an annoyingly superior voice, "you know very well why not. You." He stabbed at finger at Natsu's chest, "are not legitimate."

"What has that got to do with anything?!"

"You are a sin," the idiot smirked, "my mother told me that I should not go near you in case you infect me with your impurity."

Natsu was on the verge of screaming an insult, it annoyed him to no end when Lyon teased him about it, but he never once called him a sin or impure, and Erza always said Lyon never meant it. He was just jealous. Because he wanted to be the Duke of York's true son instead of a stepson, Lord knows why, it was not very fun being the Duke of York's son. Natsu would much rather be Igneel's true son. Igneel was there, and gave nice hugs, and played games, and knew how to get rid of tummy aches….

Anyway! The point is this brat deserved a punch and Natsu would happily give him one, and Gray also appeared ready to fight on Natsu's behalf, when a girl stepped out between them.

"Illegitimate or not," she said coldly, "he is a better person than you, and his lineage is superior to yours. He is a son of a Duke while your father is a steward to a Lord no one remembers."

The brat flushed as everyone around them laughed.

"Yeah…well….well," the brat floundered, "no one will play with him anyway!"

"You are wrong!" the girl declared. "Because I will play with him."

And then she turned round and Natsu's mouth dropped open.

It was not that he had not seen a pretty girl before. Mirajane was pretty, and so was Lisanna, in fact she was an exact copy of Mirajane, only smaller, and Erza and Ultear were rather pretty, for sisters, but none of them had brown eyes like this girl, eyes that were earthy and yet looked as if they had stars in them, or hair as bright as the sun, or pink cheeks that matched her dress.

She was really, really pretty.

Her friends did not seem to want her to go, and she smiled sadly at a ginger boy before she waved goodbye and led Natsu away. "Do you not want to ask your friend to join?" he asked quietly.

"He cannot play with you," the girl said apologetically.

"Because I am illegitimate?"

"No," she shook her head, "because you are the son of the Duke of York."

"What is the difference?" Natsu asked bewildered.

"If you were illegitimate, he would play with you because it does not matter, if you are the Duke of York's son he cannot play with you whether or not you are legitimate," she explained. Natsu tilted his head in confusion. That made no sense at all! And when he said as much she smiled. "The Queen does not like the Duke of York," she explained, "it is silly because if it had not been for the Duke then our country might have suffered a lot. But not many people like him for taking power like that. My Father does not like him very much either but that's because he thinks he should have been Lord Protector when the King was sick, not the Duke of York."

"That's…..that's….."

"I know," the girl said quietly, "really silly but that's grown-ups for you."

"Are you sure you still want to play with me?" Natsu asked worriedly. Not really wanting to lose his only, new, sort of friend. "If your Father does not like me then-"

"I do not care if my Father does not like you!" the girl said fiercely, her cheeks even pinker than before, "I like you!" she looked away as her cheeks started to turn red now. "So I will play with you."

She then smiled.

It was a really nice smile. All warm, and sparkly, and pretty.

Natsu decided right there and then that he would do anything for her to smile again.

And that was why he let her win chase, not because he tripped!

(So shut your mouth Gray!"

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

Igneel's face was impassive as everyone else's face in the Great Hall. No one dared to show their true feelings while in view of their King, his Queen, their heir, and all their political enemies.

Igneel would not let the Lancastrian faction know that that it bothered him how disdainful the Queen looked when she stared down at his beloved child.

Just as he did not let them know that his loyalty to Silver, the Duke of York, was only for Natsu's sake and little else.

They all thought of him as a fool. A cuckold who raised his cuckoo, was one of their never-ending jokes. He let them because it always meant that he would have the advantage over them later.

The Queen was incredibly displeased with today's events. Igneel knew that she was irritated to have been forced to welcome the children of her greatest enemies at her Court, and he knew she was further put out that the King, who was in his right mind and fortunately had been for last three months now, has declared that their son, the Prince of Wales, would now be in the Earl of Warwick's care.

She could not even protest it, the Earl had once been the King's own guardian at one point. He was the best tutor in military arms there was on both sides of the sleeve and was highly respected by both factions, while she, their French Queen, was a power-hungry princess from a kingdom so poor that England had to pay her dowry, and it had been proven that she was not worth the money spent especially now they have lost most of their French lands again.

"Papa!" Natsu cried out as he rushed towards him. Igneel had to smile at him, it was a sight no one who has been in wars, dealt with the backstabbing of politics, and a great deal of hurt, could not be glad to see. Natsu, eight years old, nowhere near as political savvy as his half siblings, and was more innocent than anyone else in the world, if you asked Igneel. "Did you see me? Did you see me? I did well, right?"

"Yes," Igneel chuckled, "you did well. I have no doubt that you have impressed the King and when you are finally old enough you will have a good place at Court and be rewarded handsomely with positions and a beautiful, rich, wife."

Natsu blinked. "What is a wife?"

Igneel almost face-palmed right there and then, but he quickly remembered with his wife's death, Silver's wife long gone as well, and no one can even remember what the Earl of Warwick's wife looked like, then Natsu had absolutely no example of what a wife or mother is.

It was a little heart-breaking to realise that his son had no motherly influence in his life at all.

He has Erza, Igneel reminded himself, she's a good feminine influence…..err…..okay, Igneel caught a glimpse of Erza knocking a boy off his feet with a battle maneuverer in the far corner and fought off another urge to face-palm, maybe not….

"A wife," Igneel said loudly, as he realised Natsu was still looking expectantly at him, "is a lady that you marry. She is to be your partner and friend until one of you dies and will also, one day, be the mother of your children."

"So she'll play games with you, no matter what?" Natsu asked. "For the rest of your lives?"

"Yes," Igneel tried hard not to laugh this time. Play games, if that was not an unintentional innuendo then Igneel did not know what was. "Till death do you part."

"Awesome!" Natsu grinned. "I know who I am going to marry!"

"Oh do you now?" Igneel smirked, "Who could it be, is it the lovely Lisanna?"

There could be worse daughter in laws out there but Igneel was fairly certain Makarov mentioned that Lisanna was reserved for the Church by her parents. He could be wrong.

"No," Natsu shook his head, "I like Lisanna but I do not think I could live with her forever. She likes praying too much and does not like playing with swords."

"Most girls do not," Igneel pointed out.

"Erza, Mira, and Ultear do!"

"I said most. Not all. So is it Mira, you like?"

"No!" Natsu said horrified. "Mira is weird."

"Ultear then?"

"Definitely not."

"Natsu," Igneel sweat-dropped worriedly, "you cannot marry Erza. She is your sister-"

"Not her either!"

"Then who?!" Igneel cried out a little frustrated. He swears Natsu is the only one who can make him lose patience. No one else drives him this mad. "You do not know any other girls."

"I do!" Natsu said triumphantly. "And she is the prettiest, nicest, and fun-est person in the world. Her!" Natsu suddenly pointed to a small blonde girl. "She's the girl I am going to marry."

"That girl?!"

Igneel's eyes almost popped out at the sight of the child. He knew that little girl, everyone knew her, and there was no way in hell Natsu would be able to talk to her let alone marry her. Not while her father was still breathing that is.

Jude Heartfilla, the Duke of Norfolk, was the King's cousin, just a degree closer than the Duke of York was, and he was the richest, most powerful, man in the country after the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of York.

And Lady Lucy Heartfilla was his only heir.

There was no way he would ever give his daughter and only heir's hand in marriage to a bastard.

Regardless of the fact Jude's own mother had been one.

But one look at Natsu's face and Igneel knew he could never tell his son that. It would be too cruel. He was going to lose his childhood sooner than later, he should be allowed one

"Yeah," Natsu smiled a soppy smile that was more suited for a love struck squire than an eight year old boy. Oh no! His son remains immature in every way possible apart from the one thing Igneel would prefer him to remain oblivious to till he was thirty? That was so typically Natsu. "Her!" Natsu said dreamily.

"And is the young lady….aware of your intentions?"

"No," Natsu said, "but I will go and tell her now! Hey Lucy-"

"Natsu!" Igneel grabbed his son's shoulder before he could go and make a fool of himself in front of the entirety of the Court and make an enemy out of Jude Heartfilla before he had even finished learning Latin. "Asking such a thing so soon is….improper, you would scare her off before you truly have a chance with her," Igneel decided to say instead of scolding. Scolding would do nothing. It would only further encourage Natsu to court danger into his life. "You should start small. Woo her first, ask for her favour first, and then ask her to marry you."

"Oh," Natsu blinked and then grinned again, "Okay! I will go and do that!"

Igneel sighed and chose to watch his son closely, in case Jude Heartfilla took any offence. Fortunately it seemed the pompous prig was too busy arguing with Lord Silver over something, and therefore he missed the pretty, happy, smile his daughter directed at Igneel's son, and no one but Igneel noticed how shy Natsu acted as he said something, and how both children's cheeks flushed pink before the young girl pulled out a ribbon from her hair and passed it to Natsu.

Sadly, that was as far as it went. Instantly noticing her charge's hair was loose, and strongly suspecting foul play, the Heartfilla's governess swooped in, herded Lady Lucy away, and glowered at Natsu.

This did nothing to dampen the beam on Natsu's face, and it was something Igneel was going to cherish for a long time.

After all…..hard times were coming, and they needed something good to hold on.

Two years later war broke out properly, and Igneel never got to see Natsu again. He held on tight to the memory as he took his place on the scaffold, and hoped no matter what, Natsu would never lose that grin of his.