Summary: Natsu, Gajeel, and Elfman are men enough to play dolls with their daughters.
Pairings: Implied Natsu/Lucy, implied Gajeel/Levy, implied Elfman/Evergreen, implied Gray/Juvia, parental Natsu/Nashi, parental Gajeel/Gilly, parental Elfman/Ellie, and parental Gray/Tulia.
YouTube Prompt: Fairy Tail tribute to 'Ever After' by Carrie Underwood.
The guild has been messy before but never like this.
There was no broken furniture or furniture overturned, no smashed, glass, no bleeding bodies, and no debris to be seen. Instead the floor was covered with dolls, little dresses, little shirts and trousers and skirts, the tiniest shoes, and the dinkiest accessories.
"Daddy," Nashi spoke up, "which dress do you think my doll should wear? The pink one with the stars or the blue one with the lace?"
"Hmm…." Natsu said with all the seriousness of someone making a lifetime changing decision. He eyed each dress properly and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he gazed at Nashi's doll. "The pink one definitely," he nodded, "pink suits her colouring."
"You're right!" Nashi grinned. "My doll is going to be the best dressed doll at the ball!"
"You wish, kid," Gajeel smirked, "I've been helping Gilly deck out her dolls and they look far more awesome."
"You're wrong Uncle Gajeel," Ellie Strauss piped up from her father's lap, "my dolly is the prettiest of them all. She has fairy wings too!"
"Oh I don't know," Natsu said gleefully as he held up one of Nashi's other dolls up, "Princess Sugar-Sparkles here is the prettiest one around." Everyone stared at the doll doubtfully, even Nashi, as the doll was wearing neon green leg warmers with pink high-heels, a tight, purple, mini-skirt, a white t-shirt, and all of her hair had been chopped off (from one of Nashi's attempts in mastering the Cancer Scissors). "I dressed her myself," Natsu said proudly.
"We can tell," Gajeel said rudely, "your attempts have nothing on this one," he held up an elegantly dressed doll that he had clumsily put in a ball gown on his daughter's behalf. "She's truly the belle of the ball. Like my little girl," he added as he ruffled Gilly's hair.
"Dad!" Gilly moaned half-heartedly as her cheeks flushed pink with flattered pride. "You're messing my hair!"
"I still say mine's prettier!" Ellie sniffed. "Prince Charming is going to pick my doll to marry."
"Nu-uh!" Nashi shook her head. "Prince Charming is going to marry one of my dolls but first he'll dance with each and every one of them and they'll all have fun, right dollies?"
"Oh yes!" Natsu squeaked as he made all the dolls nod. "We're going to have the best of times!"
"But we're going to have more fun!" Gajeel said in a horrible, high-pitched, voice as he made two of Gilly's dolls move. "Because we have brains as well as beauty."
"And we fairies," Elfman's voice screeched, "are going to make sure everyone has fun with our special powers."
Nashi, Gilly, and Ellie all exchanged 'our Dads' are very silly, aren't they?' glances before they all giggled in response. "You haven't said, Daddy," Ellie wiggled in Elfman's lap, "which dolls that you think are the prettiest."
"They're all pretty," Elfman ruled diplomatically, "and MANLY!"
"Uncle Elfman!" Nashi whined. "Dolls aren't manly they're pretty and girly."
"You got that right," Gray snorted. Everyone jumped and looked up at him as he towered over everyone, hands on his hip, and a disdainful sneer on his face. "There's nothing manly about getting down on the floor and playing with dolls while cluttering up the floor with all this girly crap. You three looks like giant saps."
"Shows what you know," Gajeel scoffed, "we look totally cool playing with our daughters."
Natsu, Elfman, Gilly, Nashi, and Ellie all nodded with grim agreement. They all glowered up at Gray. "Please," Gray said dismissively, "you can have fun with your daughters without playing with dolls like three giant losers."
"You're just saying that because you're stinky boy!" Nashi burst out angrily. "You have no idea what's really fun or cool because you're too hung up on your masca-mascu—masa – Gilly, what's the word?"
"Masculinity," Gilly filled in her for her friend. "And there's nothing wrong with boys playing with dolls either. I bet Ur would like to play with dolls."
"Well too bad," Nashi muttered darkly against her doll's hair, "'cause he ain't invited."
"Even if Ur were to play with dolls – which he doesn't – I wouldn't embarrass myself by playing with them in the middle of the guild," Gray said primly, "I have male pride."
"I think," Ellie said loudly, "that it is MANLY to play with dolls."
(Elfman sweated up a river as he felt Evergreen's glare bore into the back of his neck. If her magical eyes could have shoot out laser beams instead of turning people into stone, then Elfman would definitely be dust by now….she has never forgiven him for teaching their daughter THAT word.)
"Trust me kid," Gray shook his head, "it's not manly whatsoever."
"Says the man that has no daughter," Gajeel muttered. "If you had one you wouldn't be acting all high and mighty now."
"The gender of my child has no bearing on my opinion on this whatsoever."
Gajeel, Natsu, and Elfman all snorted at that and gave Gray the same patronising, pitying, looks of amusement. "Just you wait," Natsu said smugly, "one day when you have a little princess of your own you'll be playing dolls just like the rest of us. You won't be able to say no."
"Yeah right," Gray snorted. "I'll never play dolls."
Natsu just smirked all-knowingly in reply which irritated Gray to no end. His irritation was made worse when he went to walk away only to have one of the girl's plastic high-heel doll shoe embed itself into the naked, soft, flesh of his underfoot.
The pain, and everyone's laughter aimed at him, made Gray swear even more he would never play with dolls…
…Five years later and Gray was enjoying a quiet morning reading the newspaper when he felt a tug at his trousers leg. He glanced down to see his four year old daughter stare up at him pleadingly. Her big, blue, eyes were wide and innocent as she sweetly clasped one of Juvia's Gray-sama dolls to her chest.
"Daddy," Tulia said with sweet innocence, "could you play with my dolls and me? Pretty please!" she begged as she clasped the Gray-sama doll closer to her chest. "I'll let you be you."
He took one, long, look into his daughter's deep, blue, pleading blue eyes that seemed to get wider and wider as tears began to fill them, her trembling little bottom lip that was jutted out in a pout, and found that the word 'no' was immediately caught in his throat.
Natsu had been right. There was no way, not even if pigs started to fly, in the world that he could say no to his daughter's request to play dolls with him. Regardless of his feelings about dolls.
"…shit."