Chapter 19
Natsu woke up the next morning and found Lucy wasn't there. "Where Lu" but before he could finish his thought, he heard the bathroom toilet flush. "Ahh, never mind" he said to himself as he laid himself back down. Lucy came out a minute later, messy hair and barely awake. "Hey beautiful" he said nicely making her blush as she hid her face. "Hey,hey don't do that" he said lightly getting up and walking over. He put a hand to her cheek and slowly turned her head back around. "You know you never have to hide your face from me" said Natsu. She saw a warm smile on his face as she hugged him. "Natsu?" "Hmm?" "I'm cold" she said a few seconds later. "Oh crap" he said realizing they were still fully naked from the night before. "Ha, ssorry Luce. go ahead and get dressed" he said amused and slightly embarrassed. Lucy giggled and shook her head going to her dresser. She couldn't help but look over as Natsu was getting dressed. "His body is just perfect" she thought to herself not realizing she was staring. "Admiring the view Luce?" he said highly amused as she caught herself and looked away causing him to laugh. Getting fully clothed, he walked over. "Nothing wrong with loving what you got" he said with a cocky grin.
"Alright Mr. cocky, let's go wake up Layla" they both walked over and opened the door and found her playing on her bed with Happy and a few other stuffed animals. "Morning mommy and daddy!" she said cheerfully. "Hey baby girl." They replied. "Ready to get something to eat? And get ready for school? Said Lucy. Layla happily nodded as she left Happy and went downstairs with them. Getting breakfast, Layla ate it up and ran back upstairs to get dressed and ready for school. "What do you want to do today while she's at school?" asked Lucy. "Better go check on the base, make sure the bastards haven't done anything stupid" replied Natsu lazily. "Alright. Layla! ,bus is here!" yelled out Lucy. She came running down the stairs with her backpack on her back. "Ready mommy!" she announced. "Have a good day baby" said Natsu giving her a quick kiss as she ran out the door. "Love you baby!" yelled Lucy. Layla got on the bus and waved goodbye to her. "Okay Natsu, let's get going" said Lucy. Grabbing the keys, they went out and headed for the mafia base. Natsu walked in and started looking around as Lucy saw Erza and Gray hanging out. "Hey guys" waved Lucy walking over to them. "Hey Lucy" they greeted. "You doing alright?" Erza asked kindly. " I'm managing" she answered quietly.
Erza looked over and saw Natsu looking at them. "Hey Natsu, come over for a moment, I have something I want to ask you" said Erza. "How's everything look?" Lucy asked as he came over. "Seems fine to me, what do you want to ask Erza?" "How would you feel about MMA fighting?" " Both Lucy and Natsu gave her shocked faces. "Mixed Martial Arts fighting? It's pretty awesome..but why are you asking?" Grabbing Natsu's arm, she pulled him into a corner and looked him straight in the face. " I know you are still feeling guilt Natsu, I can see it in your face" Erza stated factually as he looked away. " Keep your voice down please" he muttered as Erza crossed her arms. "I was right. And that's why I think you should compete" "huh?" said Natsu baffled. " There's an opening in a couple days that I think you should take and think about doing. It will be a good way for you to let out your guilt rather then just going to the gym and beating the shit out of a punching bag." Said Erza. She looked at Natsu as he thought about it. "Sure" he said after a minute. "That quick, you don't need anymore time?" questioned Erza. "Nope, let's do it" said Natsu as him and Erza shook hands.
With a satisfied smile, Erza had them walk back over as Natsu announced to Lucy. "I'm gonna compete..are you alright with that?" He watched Lucy's eyes to see if she was hiding anything as she answered "yes. I'm alright.. I think it will be good for you" "Okay" he said giving her a hug as she returned it. "Just want to make sure I'm not worrying you" said Natsu. "Your fine Natsu" she replied. "What do I need to do Erza?" he asked. "Tomorrow we can go around and start your training for it. There's a lot to it that you can learn" she told him. "Sounds fun , damn, you were pretty confident I was going to take it weren't you?" " I had a feeling you would" teased Erza. "Well it looks like you've kept everything straight. Thanks, Erza" said Natsu nodding his head. "You welcome, now go on , get out of here" she said waving her arms at them. "We're going, we're going" replied Natsu and Lucy in light humor. Gray and Erza shook their heads watching them walk away. "You really think MMA is the best thing for him Erza?" asked Gray. "Natsu needs another outlet then just going to the gym. That guilt he feels about Lucy isn't just going to go away and this is the best way to let it out" "Yeah…just feel sorry for the other guy he's going to beat up" joked Gray making Erza chuckle. "You sure your up for this?" questioned Lucy. "Yes" he said firmly. "My question is, are you good with this? The training, my fighting, everything, I don't want you to think I'm leaving you behind..ever" said Natsu as they headed home.
"Yes Natsu, I understand. You can learn a lot" said Lucy confidently . "Alright..just checking..and we will go to your therapy once this is done" said Natsu. "Thank you" she said. "I love you Lucy..and you can come with us tomorrow if your up for it" said Natsu. "I love you too and you bet" Lucy said with some enthusiasm. "I'm glad to see your smile" he said softly as he watched her look out the window with a small smile on her face. The following day after they got Layla on the bus, Natsu and Lucy met Erza at an address she texted him. "What is this place?" he asked. "This is where you will begin your training" Erza said bluntly as she waved for them to follow her. "What kind of training will he be doing?" asked Lucy as they followed her inside. " Martial arts fighting has a lot of skills. Some stuff that I won't even attempt to teach you" said Erza. She stopped as they looked around and saw people fighting in different places all around the building. A older man in a martial arts uniform walked up to them and bowed his head. They respectfully bowed back. "How can I help you guys?" he asked friendly. "I'm competing in MMA in a couple days and wanted to know some training" said Natsu. "Are you familiar with MMA? Or competive fighting in general?" the man questioned. "Yes" answered Natsu. "I mean I know how to defend myself" "Alright, well let's see what you have then" "Come on Lucy, let's go sit down" said Erza as she pulled Lucy gently to a seat so they could watch Natsu. Walking over to a mat, Natsu took off his shoes and socks. Getting into a fighting stance, he took a deep breath as the guy motioned with his hand for Natsu to come at him.
Not hesitating, Natsu charged at him. He dodged easily pressing his arm hard on Natsu's leg causing him to cry out as he landed on the floor, Grabbing at his leg, he looked up as the man motioned him for to try again. Groaning, Natsu stood up and put his hands up again as he watched the man circle him then tried to attack him from behind. Natsu's instincts kicked in as he grabbed hold of the mans arms and yanked him forward trying to land a punch but the man blocked it as he tried to punch Natsu. Grabbing his hand, he left his stomach open as he rapidly punched it bringing Natsu to his knees. Lucy rushed over to his side putting her hands on his shoulders. "Natsu" she said worried as he cringed in pain. "I'm ffinne" he stuttered trying to get back up but his muscles screamed as he got back on his knees. "No your not. Stop being so stubborn" she said trying to reason. Clutching at his stomach, he slowly got back up. "Nnno Lluce..I to do this" he said wincing in pain. "You stubborn idiot" Lucy thought as she saw the determined look on his face. "Natsu, you need to stop" ordered Erza as he gave her a defiant look. "Excuse me?,. you're the one who asked me to do this in the first place" "I didn't ask you to hurt yourself." "I'm fucking fine! Jesus. One injury isn't going to kill me or stop me from training. And one more thing, you don't give the orders..I do" " he said annoyed. Erza took a step back realizing she had said all she could and that he was right. Lucy stood with her as Natsu tched at them as he turned his back to them.
"Sorry Luce, if I don't do this , the guilt I feel..i don't know if it will ever go away" he thought to himself glancing at Lucy with pity before turning his attention forward. The teacher was standing there ready and waiting. "Are you sure you want to continue?" he asked. "Yes" answered Natsu firmly. " I want to know all I can... Clearly I overestimated my strength." Said Natsu honest. " Alright, block my hand" he instructed. Natsu gave him a confused look but did as instructed as he down blocked his teachers attack with his hand. "Good. Now copy my movements" He went into a lunge position as Natsu watched and repeated letting out a breath. Lucy was very intrigued watching him as he followed the man's every word. "Okay now do that movement again and punch. Natsu followed quickly feeling confident in himself. He went on for a couple more hours.
"Do you have anything else you can teach me? This stuff is not that hard" "You feel ready to move on then?" the man said with an eye raised. "Yes, teach me something else, I'm good" Natsu insisted. The man just had a blank expression as he said "you feel so sure of yourself, fine" Natsu grinned. He went to teach him a few more things, some kicking moves and hand movements before he said "that's enough. Your body needs time to rest" he bowed his to Natsu who returned the gesture then walked over to the girls. "So how you feeling?" asked Erza. He grinned a happy grin and said "I feel great, I got this. I'll be ready" Erza lightly shook her head as Lucy smiled a nice friendly smile at him. "I'm happy for you Natsu" she said softly. "Thanks Luce. Come on we should get home. Layla will be home soon" said Natsu. She nodded and grabbed his hand as they walked together. "Ow" he said making Lucy stop. "You alright?" she said instantly. "Oh yeah I'm good. Just sore." He assured with a goofy grin. Putting his arm over her shoulders, she helped him to the car as he sank into the drivers seat the moment, he hit it. "That feels better. Sitting" expressed Natsu relieved. Lucy chuckled. "Catch you later Erza" yelled Natsu waving at her. "See you guys tomorrow" she said with a smile waving as she got in her car and left. "You sure your going to be up for tomorrow?" she questioned. "Oh definitely. I'll be good" "Natsu, maybe you shouldn't go to that match. Give yourself more time to train. You can do your first match when you have had more then two days to learn" Lucy said trying to reason with him. "Lucy, I'll be fine. Stop worrying about me" Nat" "Luce, drop it..please" he begged as she sighed. "Okay, just worry that's all" He smiled a warm smile as he placed a hand on hers. "I know baby but I promise I got this" She nodded believing him when he said "besides this is me we're talking about" he said with a teeth showing grin. "Yeah, that's what I mean" she laughed. He went and turned on the car as they went on their way home.
They got home minutes before Layla's bus showed up and she ran off it running straight to Lucy. "Mommy!" she yelled happily. "Hey baby" she cooed as she helped Layla take off her backpack then hugged her. Natsu came walking up making Layla yell "daddy!" "Hey baby dragon" he greeted running his hand on her head messing her hair up. "How was school?" "We had to learn math today daddy, it wasn't hurt my head" Layla complained making Lucy chuckle. Kneeling down, Natsu said "I know baby girl but you will find it useful when you get older" "But I'm not there yet" she pointed out. "I know" he said casually closing one eye as he smiled at her. "Aside from math, did you do anything else today?" Lucy asked. "Oh yeah, we!.." then she stopped suddenly. "Layla, why did you stop baby?" asked Lucy as Layla pointed her head down.
"Layla" Natsu said quietly concerned, she looked up at him with a guilt written face. "Baby girl, what's wrong?" he wanted to know "We sang…today" She quickly turned towards Lucy "Baby girl, don't feel bad about that. I am so happy you got to sing today" she said assuring. "Just didn't want you sad mommy" Putting her lips together for a second, she hugged Layla to her wrapping her hands around Layla's head. "Layla, don't ever feel bad about that..and I swear I'm getting there bit by bit. With you and your daddy's help. I'm getting better" she said honest. "Love you mommy" "Oh I love you too baby girl..more then anything in the world" She kissed the top of Layla's head staying there for a minute before she released. "You okay Layla?" Natsu asked caringly. Layla nodded her head saying "yes daddy" "Good cause your cat is upstairs waiting for you" he said with a smile. "HAPPY!' Layla screamed getting Lucy to let go as she ran up to her room. "Are you alright?" he asked Lucy serious. "Yes" she answered softly as Natsu gave an unconvinced face. "I meant it" she said so faintly it got his attention. "What I said..about slowly getting better bit by bit..just still hard sometimes"
He grabbed her hand and entangled his fingers in it as she looked up into his face. "I know..but like I said, we will make it through this together. When we go see Leo. How about we ask him about other options then therapy.. would you be up for that?" "No..but that's more reason why I should do it" "Lucy, I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do" "You aren't" she assured. "I love you" he said "I love you too" she replied reaching her head up to kiss him. Layla came running back down as she released from the kiss where they both smiled at each other. "I love seeing you two smile" said Layla. "Thanks baby" thanked Lucy. "Do you have any homework?" asked Natsu as Layla gave him a disappointed face "Laaaylla" he questioned hard as Layla looked at him. "Yeah" she answered annoyed. He pointed to the backpack. Layla huffed and begrudgingly went for her backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out a folder then walked back over handing it to Lucy then grumpily sat back down crossing her arms. "What do we got Luce?" asked Natsu. "It's nothing bad. Some English and some math but nothing horrible. Layla, baby this is nothing, come on, we will help" said Lucy getting to her feet. She pulled Layla up.
She walked over to the counter stool where Lucy and Natsu walked over to her. Lucy handed Natsu the folder where he quickly scanned it. "Luce, help her with the English, I got the math" he said lightly handing her the English. "No problem" she answered as Natsu looked over the math more focused. "Nahh, this is nothing... not like what Lucy and I have to deal with" he teased inside his head. Lucy was helping Layla read through paragraphs and pick out words in them. "Mommy, what does this mean?" "What?..oh , read these two paragraphs and find the synonyms in them..what the hell?" She got Layla's attention as her and Natsu both eyed her. Feeling Natsu's glance, she looked up. "Oh shut it Natsu" she huffed as he held in a laugh. "Mommy?" Lucy blew air as she went back to her paper. "It's asking for you to find words that mean the same thing" "Why the hell are they giving this to a seven-year-old" she questioned in her head. "Like this?" she pointed to a couple words. "Yes baby, good job" said Lucy cheerfully making Layla smile. "Do what you can then if you need me again, I'll be here" Lucy told her leaving Layla to work on her homework.
"Man, I don't remember it being that hard as a kid but then I was always rather good at English" Lucy said to Natsu. "Yeah, yeah smarty pants" he teased. "You can't say anything mister. You were always good with math, finances and anything with numbers or need I remind you" "That wasn't all my fault..Evelyn made sure I had a let's just say an expensive education before we met at school. Then my head was built for numbers thankfully or that would have just made it ten times harder." Explained Natsu. "I'm done mommy" said Layla. Lucy walked back over and checked it. "Nice job Layla, go ahead and put that in your folder then come back up so your dad and you can work on your math" Yes mommy" she answered getting up, she put the paper in the folder then walked back up where Natsu had switched places with Lucy. "This isn't too bad Layla. I promise" said Natsu positively. " You see this number line, count from this one here to where that dot is and draw a line to it. Go ahead" He listened as she counted quietly then looked up at Natsu hopeful "Is that right daddy?" He nodded "Keep going Layla, do those five then I'll help you with the next part" She put her head down to her paper and began counting for the next problem as Natsu stood silently near by waiting. "Daddy, I'm done" she said after a few minutes. He came back over and looked. "You went a little too far on this one sweetheart." She looked down and erased that one. "Count with me, one, two ,three, four ,five. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,eleven. What's the number after eleven?. "Twelve?" "Yes, you see, you went two numbers over twelve. Just gotta pay attention to where the dot on the number line is" he told her nicely. She nodded understanding when Natsu said "alright, next , for this part , it's just adding Layla. You can do this part on your own. Don't doubt yourself baby girl, you got this. What's ten plus two? " "Twelve" "There you go" he said happily as he walked away letting her do her homework. They both watched Layla using her fingers to count then once she got the number, she wrote it down.
They were both proud of her trying. After a short while, she held her paper up and announced "Done!" Natsu looked it over and gave her a high five. "Nice job Layla" he said as she jumped down and put it in her folder. "Can I go play now?" she asked them. "Yeah, go play baby" said Lucy with a smile as she ran upstairs with Happy. "What do you want to do for dinner?" Lucy asked Natsu. "Hmm, you know honestly, I could go for some fish and shrimp" he replied. "I don't even know if we, oh well look at that, you got lucky Natsu. One box of fish and a box of frozen shrimp" "Cool" said Natsu getting out a baking sheet. "Hold up, I just thought about something, can you even eat this, with your throat?" asked Natsu. "It should be fine; the fish is soft, and shrimp is easy" assured Lucy. "Just checking. Okay let's get this going" he said turning on the oven to heat it up. Once it was up and heated, they stuck the fish and shrimp in and watched something while waiting for the food to cook. An hour went by before Lucy yelled "Layla! come down baby girl, dinner is ready" She heard footsteps slamming down the stairs as Layla zoomed up to her chair as she climbed up onto it ready as can be to eat. Lucy got out plates for everyone as she used a spatula to scoop fish and shrimp. Giving Layla her plate, Layla blew on her fish as she cut it and ate. "Thanks Luce" Natsu said with his mouth stuffed. Chuckling, she shook her head playfully.
Once they had finished eating and put everything away, they all crowded onto the couch and watched a movie. Lucy poked at Natsu when she saw him doze off. "What, huh? Im awake" "Natsu" she whispered softly. "your falling asleep, I think that workout finally caught up to you. Come on, you should get to bed. You have a long day tomorrow" urged Lucy. "Your right..alright baby dragon, time for bed" he said as Layla yawned cutely and looked at them sleepily. "Come on sleepyhead" said Lucy as she picked Layla up and carried her to her room. "Goodnight mommy" she said after Lucy tucked her in and was at her doorway. "Goodnight my sweetheart. I love you" she said sweetly. "I love you too mommy" Closing the door, Lucy walked in and saw Natsu was already out cold. "He's always been a quick sleeper" Lucy thought to herself amused looking at her passed out husband. They were up the next day and moving as Natsu got lose clothing for his training. They kissed Layla goodbye as she ran for her bus then met Erza at the training center. " You alright for today?" Erza asked warily. "Yep, all set" said Natsu confident. "I'll be all set up" "You should take your training more serious then that" cautioned Erza. "Lay off Erza, I'll be fine" Natsu sniped irritated as they went inside.
Lucy eyed Erza a look telling her to let it go" Erza unhappily nodded understanding what Lucy was saying. The man who taught him yesterday was there again as Natsu took off his shoes and socks and walked up to him. "Back again , are we?" "Yup" he answered. "Can your body take more? "Yes" he said again mildly getting irritated. "When is your first fight?" "Tomorrow" Natsu answered. "You sure you are up for it?" "Yes, now are you going to train me or ask me questions all day. You sound like my commander over there" Natsu motioned behind him to Erza with his thumb. "Okay, get into a fighting stance like yesterday" he ordered Natsu. Natsu did as instructed as let out a deep breath clearing his mind. "Today we will learn of the movements of a kata called Heian Nidan. I showed you a hint of them yesterday. Now you will learn more" "Great let's get started" insisted Natsu. The instructor grabbed Natsu's forerm making Natsu look at him sharply. "Keep me from grabbing it" he told Natsu as Natsu yanked his arm out and went to hit him with his elbow but missed. Very fluidly the instructor moved aside as Natsu's punch went past him as he grabbed Natsu's arm and pulled him to the floor causing Erza and Lucy to look away embarrassed for Natsu. Looking down at Natsu, he said "the move I'm going to teach you is called a forearm block. Then the soto-nagashi uke or in other words the outside flowing block where you target your opponent's elbow" Holding his arm out, Natsu took it as he said "alright then, let's get to it.
After a few hours, they took a break as Natsu sat on his knees sweating. "Jeeze, this is a lot of work" remarked Natsu. "Backing out are we?" teased Erza. "No way in hell" said Natsu as he sucked down a bottle of water. Once he was done with that, he went back at it. " We have to go because our daughter will be home soon. But thank you for all you've taught me. I'll be sure to use tomorrow" he said after a while . "Natsu, I don't think" said Lucy before Natsu gave her look cutting her off. "Never mind" she said quickly. "I don't think you are even close to being ready Natsu. You damn stubborn idiot" Lucy thought to herself. They bowed goodbye to his teacher then said goodbye to Erza and headed home. "Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. He might have more strength then I think..just have to wait and see tomorrow" she admitted in her head.