Dragon Family Values

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

Summary: Natsu should never be trusted with magical items. Unless you want to witness the hilarious consequences.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

Fairy Tale (Rated T)

"I don't want it! Why are you giving it to me?!" Natsu exclaimed when Sting thrust the magical book into his hands. It was a large book, very old and musty. He could just make out the words Fairy Tales on the cover in faded gold lettering.

"Because, Natsu. I need to find a safe place for it. It's not safe with Lector and Frosch running around, you know? They're always getting into mischief," replied Sting with a shrug after a brief moment of hesitation.

And Sting thought dropping it off at his place would be safer than Sabertooth?! "So you're giving it to me because...?"

"You keep it safe for now until I find better place for it."

Natsu gaped at him before turning his attention back to the book. "And what am I supposed to do with it? Bury it in the woods? Why can't you give it to Rogue? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Rogue and I are busy working with your Master right now. And everyone back home is busy. You're not on a mission, so you're not as busy," stated Sting matter-of-factly. "And if you do a good job, I might talk you up to Gray," he added with a wink.

He was about to protest, but the thought of Sting talking him up to Gray was an opportunity he didn't want to miss out on. "Okay. You've got yourself a deal."

Sting smacked a hand to Natsu's back and laughed. "Good. I'll see you soon." And with that, he disappeared.

Clutching the book to his chest, Natsu walked over to a large tree next to his house. Propping himself up against the trunk, he traced his fingers over the faded lettering, wondering what he could do to pass the time.

On a whim, he decided to head to Gray's apartment. It had been some time since he'd visited the place, and he could do with some fun. Even if Gray had practically forbidden him from entering it.

Okay, well, he had been forbidden from entering it. But it wasn't his fault that a spider had landed on his arm. He hated spiders. So he couldn't really be blamed for swinging his arms like a madman, thus burning the entire apartment with his fire and nearly destroying the place.

The rage that had radiated off of Gray at that moment had sent him running. And it had taken months for the ice mage to put his apartment back together. After that, Natsu had been banned from entering.

Once he arrived, it seemed Gray wasn't there, so it couldn't hurt to look around the apartment for a bit. He set the book down on a rickety table on the far side of the room and wandered around. Twirling his scarf in his hands, Natsu browsed around, wondering what he should do.

Immediately growing bored—and disappointed from the lack of knick-knacks he could play with—Natsu decided playing with his scarf while no one was around would be more fun than doing nothing at all.

So he took it off and began whirling it around. And when that failed to entertain him, he decided to pretend it was a whip, so he slashed the air, fighting invisible fiends as he channeled his magical power through it.

"Fire Dragon's Flaming Scarf!" he shouted as he cackled in delight. This was fun!

Suddenly, his scarf began vibrating. Well, that was new. But instead of throwing it across the room like a normal person would when an inanimate object started moving of its own accord, he held it up to examine it. And when he did, the fire magic he'd channeled through it shot out of the scarf and hit the table on the far side of the room.

Natsu dropped the scarf then. However, that wasn't the only thing that fell. The book he'd placed on said table plummeted to the floor…and it was glowing. Natsu knew from experience that if an inanimate object started glowing, chances were the outcome would not be good.

"Great," Natsu muttered under his breath, fully expecting the book to come to life and eat him or something. But nothing happened. In fact, the book stopped glowing altogether.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Natsu reached down to grab his scarf. As he did so, the book suddenly flew open, pages whirring speedily before they abruptly stopped.

The book began glowing again.

But that wasn't what had Natsu shaking in his metaphorical boots. It was the fact that some glowing orb shot out of the book. The orb then began to morph and take shape, turning into a—

"Wolf!" Natsu shrieked, scrambling away from the large wolf that was now present in the apartment.

The wolf slowly crept toward Natsu and it seemed to be…smirking? "All the better to eat you with, my dear," it growled before pouncing.

Natsu cringed, fully expecting to be mauled. But when he didn't feel claws piercing his skin or teeth sinking into his flesh, he opened his eyes. And his jaw dropped.

"Away, foul beast!" cried Natsu's savior. The man fending off the wolf with a sword looked like a knight, only fancier. And soon enough, the wolf scampered away from them, only to jump out the window. Then the man turned around. "Are you all right, fair creature?"

Natsu's jaw dropped even further. "Wha—?"

"I am Prince Charming, fair one," said the prince, taking Natsu's hand and kissing it. "And you are?"

Natsu was having a hard time forming words. And it was mainly due to the fact that this Prince Charming looked exactly like Gray. Except he was wearing a puffy outfit, had incredibly nice manners, and a charming smile. Maybe that was why he was called Prince Charming.

Wait! Prince Charming? A wolf?

Shoving the poor prince out of his way, Natsu dove at the book and shut it. "Shit!" he hissed. This was a book of fairy tales, which meant…did that mean fairy tale characters would keep pouring out of the book?

Well, it seemed the book wanted to answer his question, because as soon as he'd had the thought, the book flew out of his hands and opened up again. What in the world was going to come out of it this time?

Natsu took a step back when something—no, seven somethings—popped out of the book. Dwarves? The seven dwarves?

"This can't be happening," said Natsu as he eyed the seven dwarves.

"Come on, men," said one of the dwarves. "Let's get to work."

"Work?" Natsu blurted. "What do you—no! Not the floor!" But it was too late. The dwarves had decided that mining the floor of the apartment was their mission now. Gray was going to kill him.

A tap on Natsu's shoulder brought him out of his stupor. "Fair one? Shall I slay these creatures for you?"

What was with this guy? "Slay? No! I don't want you slaying anything!"

"Are you sure?"

"Or course I'm sure!"

"Not even him?"

Natsu turned around to see just who Prince Charming was pointing at. And it was another little man, but he wasn't a dwarf.

And he had the book!

"Give it to me!" Natsu yelled, pouncing on the man, but he soon scrambled out of his reach.

"You have to catch me first!" cried the little man as he scurried toward the front door.

"Get back here!" Natsu bolted after him, shooting fire every now and then in hopes of hitting his target. He had to catch him—and quick! There was no telling what else might come out of that book.

As he made it outside, Natsu was determined he was going in the right direction—if the three little pigs scurrying away from him were any clue. And was that the goose that laid the golden eggs?

Shaking his head, he took off and then nearly plowed over the little man. "Gotcha!" Natsu cried. He grabbed the book and tried to yank it away.

"No! It's mine!"

"Give it to me!"

"Wait, I have an idea," said the little man.

Natsu raised an eyebrow while tightening his hold on the book. "What?"

"I'll give you the book, but on one condition," he cackled.

"And what's that?"

"You have to guess my na—!"

"Rumpelstiltskin. Now give me the book!"

The little man did so, a look of shock on his face. He seemed stunned that someone knew his name. Natsu just thanked that whatever might be up there had granted him the opportunity to know Lucy. She knew her fairy tales.

But now that he had the book, what was he going to do?

Well, the book decided it would be a good time to release another character. So when the book flew out of Natsu's hands again, he threw himself against a tree. What was coming out of it this time?

"Another wolf?!" Natsu screeched. But a wolf had already come out of the book! "Please don't eat me."

However, the wolf didn't seem to be paying him any mind. In fact, he just walked up to the apartment building, stood upright and…oh, no.

The wolf huffed…and he puffed…and he blew down the second floor of the apartment building down. Thank goodness Gray was the only one who lived up there. And that the building was only two stories.

Natsu felt his jaw drop for what felt like the hundredth time that day, so he didn't really notice that all the fairy tale characters that had been running rampant in the apartment had bolted before it was too late.

"Excuse me, but you dropped this."

Natsu turned to find Prince Charming—the Gray Fullbuster lookalike—offering him his scarf. "Um, thanks."

"May I ask what your name is now?"

"Uh, Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"That's a beautiful name," replied the prince, looking quite smitten.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Natsu questioned, taking a hesitant step back.

"I do believe I've found my damsel in distress. I shall save you, and then we shall live happily ever after."

Natsu smacked himself in the forehead with his palm. Great. He'd just released fairy tale characters into the world, Prince Charming was after him, and the book—the book!

"I need to find Sting!" Natsu exclaimed, snatching his scarf out of the prince's hands and taking off. With the scarf and the book—and Prince Charming following him—he ran further into Magnolia, fully expecting to see the town already engulfed in flames.

Breathing a sigh of relief when it wasn't, he glanced over the surrounding area. Where should he go? Should he go find Sting? Or Erza?

Or perhaps…HE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO STOP LOSING THE BOOK WHENEVER IT WANTED TO RELEASE A CHARACTER!

Scrambling for the book, he braced himself for whatever hideous creature would come forth this time. But it was nothing but…a peddler. Well, that was a relief.

"Excuse me, sir," said the peddler, opening his hand to reveal some beans. "Can I interest you in some magic beans?"

"I don't want any beans! No beans!" cried Natsu, smacking the peddler's hand away. "I have bigger problems to deal with than you!"

And boy was he right. Once he'd hit the peddler's hand, the beans fell to the ground, sank into the earth, and up shot a giant beanstalk.

Natsu stared at the ominous plant. Well, things could have been worse. But maybe he thought that too soon.

"What's that rumbling sound?" asked Natsu as he looked up at the sky.

"I do believe it's the giant," replied Prince Charming calmly.

"Giant?!" Natsu screamed. "No! I've got to stop this! Take off your belt!"

The prince's eyes widened as he froze, a blush staining his cheeks. "But—my fair one—we must be married before—!"

"Not that! I'm going to use your belt to keep the book closed!" he said, nearly ripping the belt from Prince Charming's waist. "And I've already got a prince. Well, an ice prince, anyway."

"Oh?" responded Prince Charming, his eyes narrowing. "Perhaps he's not the right man of royalty for you if he's going to let his fair one remain in danger."

Natsu paused when he realized what he'd said. Did he actually say that out loud? He hadn't even told the real Gray about his feelings yet.

Groaning, he secured the belt tightly around the book. Natsu held it against his chest before pointing at the prince. "Just shut up and do as I say. I need to get to the guild."

"Guild? What is this…guild?"

Natsu resisted the urge to set fire to this man. "Just follow me. And do not attack anything with that sword!"

Sting jumped when he heard the door to the guild burst open and slam against the wall. His head shot up, only to see a flustered looking Natsu and…Gray in a weird costume. But then he noticed something even odder.

"We are in the middle of a meeting, Natsu," stated Makarov seriously.

"Why have you brought the book back, Natsu?" inquired Sting.

"Help me!" Natsu shrieked as he threw himself at him.

"Is this your prince?" snarled Prince Charming.

"Why is Gray staring at me like that?"

"He's not Gray! He's Prince Charming!" Natsu corrected, his arms flailing.

"What?"

"Look!" Natsu started. "After you gave me the book, I was playing around with my scarf in Gray's apartment. It did something to the book," he said, slamming the book of fairy tales on the table. "And now fairy tale characters keep popping out of it! He's one of them!"

Sting looked from the book to the scarf, to Natsu, to…Prince Charming. "Rogue?"

"Yes?" came his partner's voice from the other room as he came into the main part of the guild.

"We have problems!" exclaimed Sting.

Rogue rolled his eyes before he caught sight of a disheveled Natsu and a weird looking Gray Fullbuster.

"What's all the commotion out here?" started Lucy, making her way out to them with Erza and Wendy following. "Gray? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Who is this Gray all of you keep referring to?" snapped the prince, finally losing his patience.

"Are you all right, Gray?" inquired Erza.

"For the last time, I am not Gray! I am Prince Charming! Why do you people not understand this?"

Wendy blinked a few times before pulling whispering something to Charle. The female Exceed quickly disappeared.

"I am going to take my damsel, and we are going to live happily ever after!" declared the prince, grabbing Natsu by the waist and pulling him toward him.

Suddenly, the temperature dropped in the guild. And a few seconds later, the real Gray Fullbuster appeared. When he saw Natsu in the arms of a doppelganger, something came over him. "Get your hands off of him," the ice mage ground out.

"Aha! A foe!"

"Gray!" Natsu cried, throwing himself at the ice mage. "It's not what you think! He's a character from a book! He's not—!"

"This is your prince?" commented Prince Charming, eyeing his rival up and down. "He doesn't look like a prince. For one, princes are clothed."

"At least I don't look like some frilly fruitcake," spat Gray.

"You dare insult me?"

"When someone lays their hands on what is rightfully mine, I'll do more than just insult you."

"Fine! Then a duel we shall have!" replied Prince Charming.

"Fine," agreed Gray.

"But perhaps we should do this outside. Things could get messy in here."

As the two figures left the guild, Natsu's mind began to race a mile a minute. Wait, he was Gray's? When did that happen? What did that mean? And these two had completely different ideas as to what a duel was! And that meant…

"No! No duel!" Natsu screamed as he ran out of the guild, his friends following suit. But it was too late. The duel had begun.

Prince Charming withdrew his sword from its sheath, brandishing it skillfully.

Gray, on the other hand, placed his fist in his palm, ice swirling around it. "No one—and I mean no one—messes with what is mine. Ice Make Dragon," he growled, morphing his ice into a ferocious looking dragon. It seemed his training with Lyon had finally paid off.

The prince flinched as he witnessed the dragon roar before him. "What sorcery is this? Royalty doesn't tame dragons!"

Grinning sadistically, Gray sent his dragon forward. This was going to hurt. "Dinner time."

Before they knew it, Gray's dragon began chasing down Prince Charming, him screaming all the way.

"Uh, Natsu?" Sting called, his voice shaking.

Natsu turned to find the man pointing at the book in his arms. Glancing down, he realized the whole book was starting to glow. And it was vibrating?

Throwing the book onto the ground, Natsu jumped back when the belt busted, allowing the possessed text to spew forth more characters from even more stories. But this time, they shot off in all directions. Apparently, the book had decided to seek vengeance for being bound.

Boom!

"What the heck is that?" asked Lucy.

BOOM!

Natsu's eyes widened in realization. "Everybody in the guild! It's the giant!" How had it gotten here so fast?

"Giant! You released a giant?!" screeched Lucy.

"Just shut up and run!" shouted Natsu.

Everyone bolted for the guild, slamming the door shut as soon as they got inside.

"That was close," muttered Natsu as he slid down onto the floor.

"Wait! Where's Master Makarov?" gasped Rogue.

"I think he just got kidnapped by the seven dwarves," said Sting as he looked out the window.

"What?" shrieked Erza. They all watched as Erza raced after Makarov.

"Natsu?" called Lucy.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"You might want to go back outside."

"Why?"

"Because this weird little man just grabbed the book."

Natsu's head turned so fast, he was surprised he didn't break his neck. "Again?!" he screamed as he ran out of the guild, his friends following just in case they needed to help. "Give me back that book!"

The little man cackled as he danced with the book. "I'll give it back if you can guess my na—!"

"RUMPELSTILTSKIN!" everyone shouted. They weren't about to let that book out of their sight.

Rumpelstiltskin threw the book at Natsu, nearly taking his head off. "Why do you people know my name? Do you know how infuriating that is? Well, fine! I'm changing it! You haven't heard the last of me!" he declared, waving his fist in the air before running off.

Natsu felt his body sag. Turning back to face his friends, his heart skipped a beat again.

"Would you like an apple, my dear?" asked an old lady, offering Wendy an apple.

"Well, they are good for you," Wendy replied with a small smile.

"No!" screamed Natsu, knocking the apple away from his friend. He then grabbed the basket of poisoned apples and chucked it at the old hag. "No apples!"

"Natsu! What on earth is going on?!"

Natsu turned around to see Gray marching toward him, looking absolutely pissed. "Magic?"

"Is that my bo—." Gray paused when he saw Erza chasing after the seven dwarves, who kept swearing up and down that she was trying to steal their long lost grandfather from them.

"That's it!" cried Natsu, throwing the book down onto the ground. He held up his fists and brought them down, hitting the book relentlessly. "Stupid book! Stupid stories!"

With one final flaming punch, a beam erupted from the book.

Screeching, Natsu jumped back as he saw glowing orbs filling the sky and getting sucked up by the book. The text began to glow and then…stopped.

"That's it?" Natsu deadpanned. "All I had to do—this whole time—was punch the book with my fists?"

"Is…is that my book?" inquired Gray. "Who stole my book?"

"You saw all of that and all you care about is that Sting stole your book?!" Natsu exclaimed, whacking Gray in the head with said book.

"What—Sting stole my book. Why?"

Sting had the decency to look sheepish. "It was all part of a master plan…that didn't turn out as expected." Well, at least he got Gray and Natsu talking?

Gray glared. "This book becomes magical when struck by something magical, you idiot!"

"Well, I know that now."

Natsu sighed and inwardly groaned when Gray and Sting started going at it. He was just glad that the fairy tale catastrophe was over.

By the time Natsu and Gray made it back to the latter's place, the ice mage's eyes narrowed.

"Why is the entire floor to my apartment gone?" asked Gray.

Natsu looked at him awkwardly. "Uh, I'll explain later. Let's just go to my place."

"What happened to my apartment?!" roared Gray.

Natsu's eyes widened dramatically.

"Natsu! Just look at this place," snapped Gray. "Everything is destroyed."

The fire mage fidgeted. "I'm sorry, Gray. I didn't know this was going to happen."

Gray sighed. "It's for the best, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, confusion evident in his voice.

The ice mage shrugged his shoulders. "We were going to have to move in together, anyway. I guess it's fine that it's mostly in ruins. We can start from scratch at your place."

"What do you mean we?"

"You can't expect me to do all the decorating on our home, can you?" replied Gray, his eyes meeting Natsu's. There was something in them, something different Natsu couldn't quite identify.

"Our home?" Natsu echoed.

"Yes." Natsu suddenly found Gray to be very close to him. Very close. "I am your prince, aren't I?"

Natsu's eyes widened as he shoved Gray away. "You heard that?! You weren't supposed to—stop messing with me! I'll fix this place up, and then I'll leave you alone for good!"

"And why would I want that?" asked Gray, reaching for Natsu again. He pulled him into an embrace. "What if I want to be your prince, hm? What then?"

"What?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Gray sighed in exasperation. He lifted Natsu's chin and pressed their lips together for a brief kiss. "Do you understand now?"

Natsu blushed in realization, but decided to tease Gray for a bit longer. "Not really. But I'm sure I'll get it eventually. If you're up for it."

Gray snickered as he accepted the unspoken challenge. "I think I can manage," he said before pulling Natsu into a passionate kiss.

Author's Note – I kind of love my brain. Please review!

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