Summary: The children of Fairy Tail can't help but notice their parents tell different versions of the same stories…

Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Gray/Juvia, Gajeel/Levy, Erza/Jellal, one-sided Jet/Levy/Droy, and Ur/Nashi/Edward/Gilly friendship.

YouTube Prompt: Fairy Tail tribute to 'Consider yourself' from Oliver Twist because that song speaks volumes of their attitude to their new recruits and any friend they make.

It was a quiet night and the brand new Team Nashi ("We are so not calling ourselves that!" Ur argued for the thousandth time) were enjoying their first ever camp out without parental supervision after their first job alone more than a day's travel away.

Okay, technically it wasn't the first one, but it was definitely the first one without someone like Uncle Freed or Wendy-nee or their parents hiding behind a bush or up a tree.

Believe them, they checked.

Sadly the excitement wore off after Nashi's attempt of cooking almost killed them (Ur was already smirking at the memory of the can of baked beans exploding), lack of bathrooms, and the fact there was nothing to do but talk to one another.

Trust them, after spending pretty much every second of the day for their entire lives together, it didn't leave anything new and interesting to talk about.

This, however, did not stop Nashi from trying.

"Hey," she piped up when a thought occurred to her, "do your parents ever tell you two totally different stories about how they got together?!"

Edward blinked blankly while Gilly looked up to the sky thoughtfully and Ur suddenly burst out with; "Oh God yes!" he moaned. "All the fricking time!"

"It's as if one parent lives in a different world from the other, isn't it?" Nashi rolled her eyes.

"Well," Ur smiled sheepishly, "Mum lives in her own world all the time. So it's not a really a new thing."

"I don't understand," Edward said, "what do you mean your parents tell different stories?"

"Well, if you ask Dad how he and Mum got together, he'll tell you a really long-winded story," Ur rolled his eyes at that, "about how they started off as enemies, then he saved her life and told her not to give up living because of some rain, and in return she saved his life and helped our parents against your Dad," he shot an apologetic look at Edward but the redheaded boy merely shrugged in reply. He wasn't bothered by his father's evil past, his mother's temper however…. "and then how she joined Fairy Tail and they got to know each other, how he turned her down," Ur growled slightly at that, it didn't matter what his father's reasons were, either way he had made his Mum cry. He knows he did because his mother gets all upset whenever it's brought up. "And then their bond was made stronger during the battle against the Tartarus demons, and then how Dad became obsessed with revenge, and almost destroyed it all, until Uncle Natsu and Aunt Lucy and Uncle Gajeel and Aunt Levy knocked some sense back into him, and after they defeated Zeref he finally plucked the courage to ask her out."

"That sounds….very long-winded," Edward said eventually.

"Yeah and that's the edited version," Ur rolled his eyes again, "but my Mum tells a different story altogether."

"Oh?" Edward was insanely curious now. "What does she say happened?"

"That Daddy-sama," Ur cringed at the honorific, "tackled Mum out of nowhere, grabbed her breast, and they had been dating ever since. In fact they have been together for…..and then she includes an insanely high number of days that I can never remember."

Everyone sweat-dropped at that. "Aunt Juvia…." Gilly coughed. "Is very honest."

"Yeah…." Ur looked rather sick. "Too honest sometimes. Way too honest…."

"Well," Nashi immediately decided (for everyone's mental health's sake) to change the topic slightly, "my parents are exactly the same!"

"Your Mum says they got together sooner too?" Ur asked, surprised to know that he might actually have something in common with Nashi. You know…..aside from having embarrassing parents, super-powerful magic, and living in the most notorious guild in the world. "I thought your Mum would be more realistic than that."

"And you'd be right," Nashi agreed (Edward and Gilly choked at that and wondered if they heard correctly. Did Nashi Dragneel admit that Ur Fullbuster was right?! Was the world still spinning? Are pigs now flying?! What the hell is happening?!). "But Dad isn't. You see Mum would tell you all about how she met Dad, he took her to Fairy Tail, and how ever so slowly she fell for him, and though she was sort of aware thanks to Aunt Mira, but she always denied it until the Eclipse Gate, which they're still sketchy about the details, and then Dad left and she finally, fully, accepted her feelings, but they didn't act on it until after Zeref was defeated."

"And what does Uncle Natsu say?" Gilly asked amused.

"That on the day they met Mum was a total weirdo and insisted on paying for their date, and then got kidnapped by freaky creepy, and after Dad had to rescue her, he took her home and they have been together ever since."

"I thought your parents lived apart when they were younger," Edward frowned, "all the adults talk about how cool Aunt Lucy's apartment was."

"Yes," Nashi sweat-dropped slightly, "Dad calls it 'Your Mum's weirdo need for space that took her forever to get over'…..it keeps making Mum shout at him. A lot."

"Yeah," Ur snorted, "well your Dad is a moron."

"He is not!" Nashi retorted hotly.

"He so is!" Ur snapped back. "You've said so enough times!"

"I have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

"Have to!"

"Have not!"

Although they were relieved to see the world was not going to be ending any time soon, Edward and Gilly exchanged exasperated glances, and sighed heavily at their friends' petty and childish bickering. "What about your parents, Gilly-Chan?" Edward asked loudly as he cracked his knuckles subtly. Within an instant Nashi and Ur stiffened and fell silent. "Do they tell different stories?"

"Oh most certainly," Gilly said, "though a little less obvious that Aunt Juvia and Uncle Natsu, I must say. Their stories start out exactly the same."

"Which is?"

"That Dad was an evil prick who made some very bad mistakes including hurting Mum when they first met," Gilly shrugged, "but when Dad was given a second chance he did everything he could to make it up to Mum and proved himself worthy of the Fairy Tail name."

"So when does it change?" Ur asked curiously.

"Well, Mum would tell you that she realised her feelings on Tenrou Island, and that they grew closer afterwards, but didn't get together until after the Tartarus attack."

"And Uncle Gajeel?"

"That Tenrou was their first date and dating was extremely difficult with Uncle Jet and Uncle Droy sobbing in the background."

"….Well he's got a point," Nashi said as the boys sweat-dropped, "it would be awkward to have a date with two grown men crying all the time."

"It's still awkward," Gilly muttered, "they start sobbing every time we go and visit them."

"What about you, Edward?" Nashi asked quickly, "do your parents tell different stories?"

"Not at all," Edward said, "that's why your question surprised me so much. My parents have also told the same story, of how they cared for each other while they were enslaved by evil cultists, how Dad was brainwashed and turned against Mum, how he plotted to kill her for his evil plans, how Mum and her friends foiled said evil plans, how he got amnesia and was given the chance to redeem himself both in and out of prison, how they almost kissed but Dad lied because he didn't think he was worthy of Mum, how after saving the world and stopping evil, they realised how silly they were being and got together….you know the only difference is that Dad still says he's not worthy of Mum, and Mum says Dad is a giant idiot and I shouldn't listen to him as she's the one not worthy of him."

Edward suddenly became consciously away that his friends were staring at him in a gobsmacked manner. Nashi's eyes were wide with bewilderment, Ur's mouth had dropped open, and Gilly kept swapping between surprised to very thoughtful, as if Edward a new scientific discovery.

"What?" he asked, his mouth suddenly very dry, "what did I say?"

"Nothing…." Ur shook his head. "Nothing it's just….wow…."

"What's wow?!"

"That your parents are normal," Nashi replied, "no different, insane, versions of how they got together. No arguments about when their relationship really started. No weirdness. Just…..normal."

"It's so very odd," Gilly said in wonder, "to meet someone normal."

Edward ended up spending the rest of the night in a gloomy corner as the word normal kept attacking him.

How is it when his parents are being normal for once, he was still the weird one of the group?!