AN: So I may have overlooked something….. who should I pair Mystogan with? We have Jerza, Nalu Gale, Gruvia, Miraxus (eventually I have a plan), Bixanna (when she comes back) Elfgreen (or whatever their ship name is) but I don't know who to pair Mystogan with. Cana? Someone else? Drop me some reviews on that.

Also I wanted to add in some fluff and humor before I started the next arc and I realized that its hard to do so when you're feeling depressed. I'm sorry this is late. I just haven't been feeling very happy and its hard to write fluff when you're depressed.

Its also shorter than the rest but for the life of me I just can't write this chapter anymore. I ran out of ideas.

Chapter twenty four

Natsu and Gray were trying to get the horrible news out of their mind. Erza was dating. She was like their big sister/mother. The thought of her being actively involved in a relationship was traumatizing. Natsu had a sneaking suspicion on who might have asked her out but that didn't mean that he wanted to see any part of it. Just thinking about it gave him a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

Gray was about to leave since he had spent the entire day with Natsu without killing him. He had alot information dumped on him and he processed everything that he learned. At least he thought that he processed everything. Gray was pretty sure that at some point he would have to talk to Lucy because he would have questions that Natsu wouldn't be able to answer.

Lucy was more logical of the two of them. Natsu gave him some vague details of what he remembered but Gray was sure that if he wanted a more in depth understanding of what happened he would need to talk to Lucy. It was nice to have his immediate questions answered.

Lucy and Erza had been gone for about fifteen minutes when Gray decided to go home. He walked Natsu back home and shared the horror of Erza going out on her first date. He had enough life changing information dumped on him for one day. This day had been a roller coaster of emotions and he was done with emotions for a while. He wondered if it was finally time to take that holiday.

He walked up to the door and just before he could open it someone knocked. Gray closed his eyes and tried to stay strong. He had that feeling in the pit of his stomach that said that if he opened this door crazy was going to hit him. He was probably going to get swept up in some crazy scheme that would make him wish that he just ignored the damned door. It would probably be something humiliating or he would end up seeing something that would scar him for the rest of his life. That knock sounded a lot like the devil knocking on the door, coming to collect his dues.

Then Natsu just had to call out, "Its open."

Gray closed his eyes as the door opened and resisted the urge to whimper at the people in front of him. It was never a good thing when these three people gathered in the same at the same time. Dark guilds that heard they were coming ran for their lives or turned themselves in. Apparently prison was the better option between fighting them and being stuck in a cell forever.

Gray was pretty sure a few beasts went back into hibernation just so they wouldn't have to fight against them. Nothing good came from this trio. Now they were looking for Natsu Dragneel. He wondered if it would be too obvious if he took off running as fast as his legs could go in the opposite direction to them.

There was a blur of blue and Gray was once again looking back on his life and wondering how the hell his life choices had led him to this moment. He liked to think that he was a good person. He wasn't overly destructive and he even donated to charity a couple of times.

He saved some lives where he could so he didn't think he was a complete asshole. He got the feeling that Fate, Destiny or whoever ran the universe didn't agree with him. They were laughing at his expense. He could hear haunting, child-like laughter in the wind and it actually sounded pretty terrifying. He wondered if he should get Wendy to check on his mental health again. He was sure Deliora knocked a few screws loose.

Siegrain pulled open the door and brushed past Gray so fast he nearly face planted into the floor. Laxus stood outside the door with a smug grin on his face. Mystogan stood next to him with a lost look on his face. He looked like he had no idea what he was doing here.

"Can someone tell me whats eating him?" asked Mystogan.

Gray stared at him, "You don't know? He is your brother."

Mystogan shrugged, "I was supposed to meet up with Laxus and Siegrain. They went to the guild and everything was fine. Then they found me at the market. Laxus hasn't said a word expect grin like an ass and Siegrain had this goofy look on his face. A few minutes later the look turns to terror and he runs all the way out here like a bat out of hell. That ass won't answer any questions."

The ass that Mystogan was talking about was Laxus. He wore an expression so smug that Gray actually wanted to punch him in the face. It was obviously a sentiment that Mystogan shared with him because they ass just looked more smug as their frustration grew. Gray shared a look with Mystogan that basically asked him if he really wanted to get involved in whatever mess was about to unfold.

Mystogan on the other hand was spending too much time with Laxus. He wanted to know what was so important that Siegrain was panicking. He knew that they were probably going to be dragged into some sort of mess but he was kind of looking forward to the drama.

It wasn't exactly his fault but he had spent nearly a decade all alone. Mystogan was slowly coming to appreciate the chaos and drama of the guild. It was far more interesting than anything else he had come across for a while now.

If you wanted to blame someone then he blamed Natsu and Lucy. They were the ones that got him involved in their hair brained schemes. At first he thought they were crazy but he slowly came to appreciate the adrenalin rush and the spontaneity of this new life filled with so many people.

He had never felt more alive and enjoying his brothers suffering – well, what sibling didn't delight in their siblings drama. Unless of course, something was actually wrong and he could get hurt, then he would have to wipe that threat off the face of the earth. No one was allowed to mess with his family but him. Lucy was thrilled he was truly enjoying being in the

Gray resisted the urge to hide in a hole. Mystogan had a look on his face that spelled trouble and he wasn't sure who it would be directed at. Mystogan did have more common sense than the other two but right now he seemed content to let whatever this was unfold.

Natsu stared at the out of breath, blue haired man in front of him, "Nice to see you but what are you doing here?" asked Natsu.

"What do I do on a date?" cried out Siegrain with a blush on his face.

Gray and Mystogan felt their jaws drop and Laxus finally started laughing. It was a deep belly laugh that shook his whole body and Siegrain turned to the man and hit him with a beam. He would have hit Mystogan with one as well but it seemed he was too much in shock to do anything else but stare.

"When you finally get your head out of your ass and ask Mira on a date I'm gonna be the one laughing my ass off." Snarled out Siegrain.

Laxus looked horrified, "I would never ask the Demon on a date."

Mystogan just threw up his hands in a time out gesture, "Brother, who did you ask out?"

Siegrain blushed harder, "Erza."

Mystogan laughed until he cried and Gray put his head in his hands and groaned. Crazy had literally come knocking and he had not managed to get out of the way fast enough. He just knew that he was going to get caught up in something insane. Now, he was caught up in planning Erza's first date.

Natsu on the other hand just looked at him, "When is the date?"

Siegrain looked at the clock, "I got an hour and a half before I gotta pick her up."

Natsu frowned even more, "Did you make any reservations for dinner?"

Siegrain shook his head and Natsu looked at him in horror, "What is she gonna wear?"

Mystogan raised an eyebrow, "Does it matter?"

Natsu chuckled, "If she's wearing some fancy dress and expecting a fancy dinner and you have no reservations and no idea what you're gonna wear what do you think she'll do to you?"

All four men shuddered in horror and then Natsu just had to continue, "Lets not forget that my wife just dragged Erza out of here to go to Fairy Hills to help her get dressed. That means every woman in the guild is going to be in her apartment waiting for you to pick her up. If you mess this up they will kill you."

Siegrain felt the blood drain from his face as Natsu painted a picture of abject horror. He could picture them all hiding behind the door, then he shows up with no plans and then he is running and screaming and swords and blood.

"Tell me you can save me." Cried out Siegrain.

Natsu laughed, "Alright, you're in luck. Wendy's home with Happy and Carla."

The men turned to see the little blue haired girl walking up to the house and smiled at her father. There was a gust of wind and she flew towards him. Natsu hugged her tight and patted her head, "You're gonna save this idiot from dying a painful death. Go to Fairy Hills and tell your mom casual not fancy."

Wendy giggled, raised an eyebrow at the utter mess that Siegrain was currently. The poor man was currently pacing a hole through Natsu's living room and sweating. He was also a little red and no one knew if it was embarrassment or fear. Laxus and Mystogan just looked amused. It was nice to see the normally composed man so freaked out. It reminded them that he was human.

Wendy kissed her fathers cheek and flew through the air towards Fairy Hills.

Natsu turned to Siegrain, "We don't have time to get reservations for a fancy dinner also going out means getting a lot of attention. You don't want that until you're both comfortable with your relationship. Its why I hid my relationship with Lucy for so long."

Siegrain moved to say something but Natsu was already pulling out a box from somewhere and he thrust the box into Laxus's hands.

"There's an alcove near the river. Set up the fairy lights, bring in a table, two chairs and some candles. Go back to the guild and ask Mira for dinner." Ordered Natsu.

Laxus raised an eyebrow and Siegrain turned to him with stars in his eyes. Laxus sighed, took the box and started his walk back to the guild. He needed to get the food ordered and the furniture. He hoped Mira was still on her shift at the guild. She would be able to help with the set up better. He could just show her the box and ask her what to do with it.

He should have known he would get stuck in this simply because he laughed. However, it was Erza that he was taking out on a date. No man in the guild could ever see her as a sexual creature after growing up with her and now he was helping with her first date. There was irony in here somewhere, he just didn't know how to find it.

"Mystogan go home and get him a change of clothes. Something casual and you get in the shower."

Happy, Carla, "You two go to the florist and get Erza some flowers. What's her favorite flower?"

Siegrain blushed, "She did always like lilies. The white ones especially."

Natsu nodded his head and gave Happy and Carla some money, "Carla make sure Happy gets the flowers and not fish."

Mystogan left and Gray wondered when the hell did everyone turn to Natsu for relationship advice. There was another part of him that wondered when the hell Natsu got so good at giving that advice. Gray decided to go home before he got caught up in this any further.

He managed to get one foot out the door until Natsu saw him, "Where do you think you're going?"

Gray closed his eyes and he could hear the funeral march at the back of his mind as he turned, "Home?"

Natsu laughed and Gray felt fear like he had never felt fear before in his life.

Wendy showed up at Erza's apartment only to find every girl that lived in the dorms there. Mira was working and no one had seen Lisanna and Cana for a while but everyone else was in there. Wendy raced towards her mother and whispered the message that Natsu gave her to give her mother. Lucy giggled as she realized what he was planning.

"Alright girls, it looks like Prince Charming finally realized that he needed to plan the date. He says to wear something casual."

There were so many squeals that Wendy actually hurt her ears listening to it. Suddenly all the fancy dresses were put away and everyone was looking through the more casual clothes Erza had in her closet. Levy insisted that Erza wear something blue. Bisca pointed out that shorts or pants would ensure that she didn't accidently flash him if something went wrong.

There was a mini argument about whether or not anything would go wrong until Wendy pointed out that it was getting pretty windy. A skirt or dress would rise up if they were outside so they settled on shorts. It showed off her long, creamy looking legs but also ensured that nothing weird would happen and make things awkward.

Lucy fished out a pair of white jean shorts and a blue tank top with the Fairy Tail symbol on it. They paired it ballet flats and tied her hair into a high pony tail with a white ribbon.

Evergreen insisted that she wear a pair of diamond ear rings and lip gloss. Since she wasn't going anywhere fancy they kept her make up natural. Lip gloss and some eye liner to make her eyes pop.

By the time they were done using Erza as a dress up doll it was time for Siegrain to pick her up. He knocked on the door right on time and Erza blushed red. She turned to Lucy and grabbed her hand, "I don't know if I can do this. What do I say?"

Lucy laughed, "Greet him and pretend it isn't a date. You two were friends before this date so just be natural. You don't have to change anything to be with him."

Erza took a deep breath and opened the door. Siegrain stood there in black pants and a purple shirt. He was also holding a bouquet of flowers. His ears went red when he gave them to her and muttered, "I got these for you."

Erza just gaped at him before Lucy appeared and took them from her frozen hands. "I'll put these in a vase for you. Have fun. Bye."

Erza sneaked a peek at him, "Thank you for the flowers. No one ever gave me flowers before I was just shocked."

Siegrain let out a breath and gave her a gentle smile, "I'm nervous too."

Erza chuckled, "What are we doing?"

Siegrain smiled at her, "It's a surprise."

Erza didn't know what to say to that but he held out his hand to her. In that moment she heard what else he wasn't saying to her. He was holding out his hand to her and asking her to trust him. If she took his hand she didn't know where it would lead them. It would be a whole new adventure and she would have to trust him to stand by her side through it all.

Then again when thinking about this new adventure she knew that there was no one else in the world that she wanted to take this step with. She took his hand and he guided her to an alcove, decorated with fairy lights. There was a table set up just for the two of them. It was quiet and peaceful and there was no one else around to pressure them. It was perfect.

Siegrain took pulled out her chair and gestured for her to sit down. A moment later Gray appeared wearing a tux, holding a bottle of wine.

"Wine madam?" he questioned and Erza shared an amused look with her date.

Siegrain nodded his head and Gray poured them their wine and disappeared before saying, "I'll be back with your meal in a moment."

Natsu kept the food warm, while Gray dished it out and played their waiter. Gray knew that he should have ran and now he was stuck playing waiter. He wondered how the hell this was his life and why it couldn't have been anyone else. He was stuck watching them make bedroom eyes at each other and blush when they realized what they were doing.

Later that night Lucy and Natsu were having dinner and explaining their day to each other when Lucy realized something, "You know this changes things in a way that we can't really predict."

Natsu just raised an eyebrow at her, "What do you mean?"

Lucy walked out into their backyard and looked at the stars, "Siegrain and Erza were never a couple. They loved each other and they were always there for each other but they never shared this type of intimacy. We don't know how their relationship will affect the timeline."

Natsu wrapped his arms around his wife, "Are you worried?"

Lucy nodded her head, "We've changed so much. I've been thinking about the timeline and in the original timeline we would have just ended battling against Phantom Lord. Not long after Phantom, Loke would have been fading. I would have spent about two or three days, finding out about Loke and his past and that he was dying. Then it would have been maybe a week or so later that we would have went to Akane resort where we would have ended up at the Tower of Heaven."

Natsu nodded his head as she spoke. He couldn't remember the exact time frame for every major thing that happened but he was sure that Lucy had the timeline more or less correct. They may have been a few days off but it was as close as they could get to the accurate timeline.

"After the Tower of Heaven, would have been the Battle of Fairy Tail. That only lasted a day or so and then we would be facing Oracion Seis. Out of all those things that would have happened due to our interference the only thing that will happen is the Oracion Seis battle. It won't be for about a month or so but it will be dangerous."

Natsu hugged her tighter, "You're worried about that fight."

Lucy nodded her head, "Angel will be practicing a different kind of magic. I already have her keys so her past must have changed. She will be the only completely unknown but I do worry. So far none of our battles have gone off exactly how we remember them. I'm worried about the changes that will come from this battle."

Natsu sighed, "We can't control what we change anymore. We've influenced too many people in too many different ways. Our friends and enemies will make their own choices. The only thing we can do is roll with the punches. We'll make it through and while I do believe that you're right and the fight to come will not be easy I do believe that together there is nothing we can't handle."

The next day Natsu took Wendy fishing. They had some time before the next major battle that they would need to face and Natsu wanted to bond a little more with Wendy outside of their training. He wanted to be a good father to her and not just her mentor and trainer.

The two sat in silence for a while until Wendy snuck another peek at him and Natsu grinned, "You can ask if you have any questions."

"Why did you insist on doing this?" asked Wendy.

The little girl was used to Lucy mothering her. The older girl often took her out to go shopping or for ice cream or just sat and chatted to her about anything that crossed her mind. She knew that Natsu cared about her but he took on a more mentor role. He didn't really know anything about young girls so he mostly just left that stuff to Lucy.

"When I first came to the guild I was a brat. I didn't know a lot about the outside world and Igneel wasn't around. Gramps had his own problems. Laxus was a teenager and he wasn't in the best of places at the time. Gramps spent a lot of time keeping the guild together and trying not to lose Laxus down the same path that he lost his son. Gildarts brought me here one day and told me that I could talk about anything and he wouldn't judge me."

Wendy seemed really interested in the conversation and Natsu smiled at the memory, "I cried for Igneel and he didn't judge me. Then I got mad at Igneel. I was angry that he left me all alone. I wondered if he loved me. I thought that I did something wrong and that made him leave me. I raged and spat and cussed and Gildarts let me. Then he pulled me into a hug and insisted that whatever happened wasn't my fault. He told me that someday I would see him again and he would still love me."

Natsu turned to Wendy, "After that we spent a lot of time at the river. Sometimes we would chat about his adventures and sometimes we wouldn't say anything for hours. This was a safe place. I could say whatever I needed and he wouldn't judge me. He always gave me advice and in that time I knew that I wasn't alone. No matter what happened there would always be someone who would come when I called even if it was just to sit by a stupid river and say nothing."

Wendy could feel her throat get tight and her eyes burned when Natsu turned to her, "I want you to know all that as well. I'm not Lucy and I'm not as good with feelings and shit but if you ever need me I want you to know that I'm here for you. No matter how old you get or how far away you go I want you to know that if you need me I will come. I can't promise I'll know what to do but I will never judge you. I want you to know that I'll stand by you not as a dragon slayer but as your father."

Wendy dived into his arms and cried. She didn't know what it meant to have a father, she never had one before but she had Natsu. She called him dad and he was her mentor but never before had she ever felt like his daughter until this moment.

With Lucy everything had come so naturally. The two of them connected as mother and daughter as easily as breathing and it happened before she could even truly acknowledge the change and now with Natsu this changed things. This was a man telling her that she was his family and that come the end of the world he would stand with her. It wasn't something she thought she needed until she finally had it.

The two took some time to calm down and once they got back to fishing Wendy couldn't help but ask, "Will I ever get siblings?"

Natsu dropped the fishing pole into the river, "Someday but not any time soon. I would like kids and I know Lucy wants them too but we got married really young. There are still a lot of adventures that your mom and I wanna go on before we settle down with a family."

Wendy raised an eyebrow at him, "But you have me?"

Natsu shook his head, "You weren't a hand baby. You were already a walking, talking, potty trained kid when we got you. You needed guidance to learn your magic and a mother to teach you girl stuff not someone to change your nappies."

Wendy giggled, "You think that things will change if mama gets pregnant?"

Natsu nodded, "We both know things will change. She won't be able to use her magic properly for nearly a year. Then we'll have to limit jobs while we raise the baby. I would like a family but your mother and I have a lot of things we want to do before we settle down. You can't be old and wise if you're never young and stupid."

Wendy nodded, "What will you do when I get my first boyfriend?"

Natsu looked at her in horror, "Dating? Who said you were allowed to date? I'll turn him to ash."

Wendy pouted, "I'll tell mama."

Natsu just stared at her, "I'll tell Uncle Laxus. He will bring over your uncles Mystogan and Siegrain and while your mother is busy doing your hair I'll leave your date with them. I'll go outside and help your uncle Gray dig the grave and when your uncles are done with him we'll bury whatever is left over."

Wendy's jaw dropped, "You wouldn't!"

Natsu looked smug, "Watch me."

Wendy tackled him and the two spent the rest of day chasing each other through the forest. Their laughter rang through the forests for hours and back home Lucy smiled. Life was good for the moment. She enjoyed the peace while it lasted.