How the Birthday Gang Got It's Name:
It was a normal, crisp, autumn day at the Fairy Tail guild hall. Well, almost. There had been no scuffles or rowdy competitions yet, but it was still early, and the little card game going on in the center of the room was starting to get a bit heated.
"Got any 5's?" Storm asked, looking at his hand.
"Go fish!" Nashi shouted.
"Nu-uh! I know you've got 5's, you cheater!" Storm argued.
"I do not!"
"You asked for 5's two turns ago!"
"Yeah, and then Cato took them!" Nashi said, pointing to the platinum blond boy sitting next to her.
"Oh," Storm glanced back down at his hand. "Cato, you got any 5's?"
"You can't do that! You just asked Nashi," Cato said.
"Well, I take it back!" Storm insisted.
"You can't take it back!" Roman shouted. "That's cheating!"
"You gotta go fish! You gotta go fish!" Nashi teased in a sing-song voice.
Storm glowered at her as he picked up a card. "Aw, man! I don't have any queens!"
"Storm?" Roman, who's turn was up, asked. "Have you got any queens?"
Storm's eyes grew wide, then he frowned and passed the card over. "Yeah, here."
Roman smiled, took it, and then laid down his hand, comprised of four queens. "I win!"
"WHAT!?" Nashi shouted. "That's the fourth time in a row!"
"I think he's the cheater!" Storm said.
"No I'm not. I'm just good at Go Fish," Roman insisted.
"So good that you win four times in a row?" Nashi challenged.
"It's not my fault you two talk too much," Roman crossed his arms.
"We do not!" both Storm and Nashi protested.
"Guys, don't fight," Cato spoke up. "Let's just play something else."
"Checkers?" Roman asked, hopeful.
"Nah, you'll just win all the turns at that game too," Storm muttered.
"Jump ropes?" Nashi suggested.
"We can't," Roman said.
"Why not?"
"Because you burned all the jump ropes, remember?"
"Oh, yeah…" Nashi nodded.
"Yeah, why'd you have to go and do that, Nashi," Storm grumbled.
"I didn't mean to! I thought they were a pile of snakes!" Nashi shouted.
"Maybe we should just color instead," Cato suggested.
"You always wanna color," Storm whined.
"Well, it's fun and no one gets mad," Cato explained.
"Eh," Nashi and Storm shrugged.
The door to the Guild Hall opened and the Redfox family walked in.
"Koree! Persephone!" the four children waved to their friends.
The twins looked about the main room, exchanged a glance, and then raced to their friends at the table.
"Guys, we've got a situation!" Koree whispered with the uptmost importance.
"What?" all four of the other children asked at once, leaning forward as the twins took their seats.
"Have you guys seen Happy and Carla around?" Koree asked.
"Um…" Nashi looked about the main room. "No."
"Nu-uh," Storm shook his head.
"Nope," Cato agreed.
"I can't remember when I saw them last," Roman added.
"Exactly!" Koree said. "They haven't been here for days, and days, and days!"
The children all exchanged glances, eyes growing wide.
"Where'd they go?" Cato asked.
"Lily says they've been at home," Persephone said. "He says they've gotta stay there for a long time."
"Why, are they sick?" Roman asked.
"I dunno," Koree shrugged. "We heard Mommy and Daddy talking about it. They said they were overwhelmed, exhausted, and fa...fa…what was the other word Sephy?"
"Fatigued."
"Yeah, fatigued."
"What's all that mean?" Nashi asked.
"Yeah, that's a lot of big words," Cato added.
"I dunno, but it sounds bad," Koree said.
"Yeah, they've gotta be sick," Storm nodded.
"What if they're bad sick?" Cato asked. "What if they're so sick they can never, ever come out of the house again!"
"Maybe we should take them stuff to make them feel better," Roman suggested.
"But we don't know where they're house is," Storm said.
"I do," Persephone said, pulling up an archive screen. "I asked Mommy to show me everyone's houses so I could put it in my archive. I've got a map from here to their house. I can put it in everyone's head and then we can go see them."
"You can put maps in people's heads?" Storm asked.
"Oh, yeah! She does it all the time," Koree smiled.
"Cool!" Nashi cheered.
"Does it hurt?" Cato asked, looking worried.
"No," Persephone answered.
"What's it feel like?" Roman cocked his head to one side.
"It doesn't feel like anything," Koree said. "It just pops up."
"Oh," Roman nodded thoughtfully.
"So what are we going to bring them?" Nashi asked. "What'll make them feel better?"
"My Mama always makes me soup when I'm sick," Cato suggested.
"I can make soup!" Nashi suggested.
"No you can't," Storm crossed his arms.
"Yes I can! I learned when Mommy was in bed for a long time!" Nashi answered.
"Mommy makes me take vitamins so I stay strong and don't get sick," Roman said. "She's got extra hiding around in the Guild Hall in case she forgets to give them to me before we leave."
"We can borrow a storybook from the library," Koree suggested. "Mommy always reads us stories when we're sick."
"We should get some blankets," Storm said. "My Mommy and Daddy always make sure I've got lots of warm blankets when I'm feeling bad."
"Great! Let's get everything together and then we'll go see them and make them feel better," Nashi said, scooting off her seat and running to the kitchen. "I'll go make some soup."
"Wait, Nashi! You can't just go in there by yourself! It's too dangerous!" Cato shouted as he ran after her.
"So? You can come with me," Nashi grabbed his hand and dragged him after her.
"No, I meant you gotta have someone big!"
"You're the biggest of all of us."
"Not like that! I mean big like grown-up big!" Cato protested, but it was no use. The two disappeared into the kitchen.
"Guess I'll go looking for the vitamins," Roman said.
"We'll pick out some story books, c'mon Sephy!" Koree said.
"Why I gotta listen to you?" Persephone asked, even though she followed after her sister.
"Guess I'm getting blankets," Storm shrugged, trudging off.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"You sure you know what you doin'?" Cato asked nervously as he watched Nashi fly up onto the kitchen counter with a pot.
"Sure, I've done this lots of times," Nashi assured him, as she grabbed a pot off the wall and flew to the sink. She filled the pot with water and then carried it-
-well, more like dragged it across the counter to the stove before leaning down to press the button to turn it on.
"Aren't you scared you gonna get burned?" Cato squeaked as he watched his friend lean dangerously close to the now lit stove eye.
"I'm a fire wizard! I don't get burned!" Nashi assured him as she hopped down from the stove. "Now we just gotta find carrots, peas, corn, borcolli, and noodles."
"Why so many vegetables? That sounds nasty!" Cato whined.
"No it's not! Not if you cook it right," Nashi insisted, opening one of the cabinets and sticking her head inside.
"And you know how to cook it right?" Cato asked.
"Uh-huh. Just gotta use the right spi-ACHOO!" A cloud of flour exploded out of the cabinet as Nashi coughed and pulled her head out, wiping the white dust out of her eyes.
"Nothin' in there," she said, closing it back.
"Eos," she said. Her wings reappeared and she flew to some of the higher cabinets, opening them all and peaking in. "No. No. No. Oh, here they are! Catch!"
"Wha-OH!" Cato reached out to catch the bundle of carrots Nashi threw down towards him. Followed by a bag of peas, an ear of corn, a head of brocolli, and a bag of noodles.
"You're gonna use all of this!"
"Yup," Nashi dropped back down, took the armful of food from Cato and then flew back to stand next to the stove.
"You really sure you know what you're doing?"
"Yes," Nashi rolled her eyes as she grabbed a cutting board off the wall and then pulled a knife out of a draw.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Cato squealed.
"Cutting them up," Nashi answered.
"But you could cut yourself!"
"No I won't! I told you, I've done this lots of times before," she sighed as she began chopping the carrots.
"Your Mama and Papa let you cut stuff with a knife!?"
"Well, no…" Nashi answered bashfully. "They like to cut them up for me. But I've watched them do it, so I know how."
"Oh, no! We're gonna die!" Cato lamented as he dropped dramatically to the floor.
"No we won't! Stop being such a baby!" Nashi scolded as she finished cutting one of the carrots and then scooped up the bits to drop into the water, scattering a few of them here and there as her hands were too small to hold all of them. She then began cutting up the brocoli.
"How many things you gotta cut!?" Cato asked.
"Well, anything too big to fit in your mouth," Nashi set her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes. She grabbed the ear of corn and tossed it to Cato. "Here. Take all the leaves off this instead of just lying there crying like a baby."
"Okay, fine," Cato grumbled, as he began creating a pile of leaves next to him. Geez, you're so bossy!"
"I'm not bossy, you're whiny!" Nashi insisted, dumping the brocoli into the water, scattering more veggies everywhere as he hands were still too small to hold them all.
"No I'm not!" Cato insisted, knocking over a mop and bucket as he whirled around to face Nashi. "Oops."
"Now you've done it!"
"Just finish your soup so we can get out of here before we get in trouble!"
"I'm working on it! Don't rush me!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" Storm grunted as he dragged a large pile of blankets behind him. "I didn't think these were so heavy until I put them all together!"
"Here, let me help," Roman scampered to Storm's side, grabbed one corner of the bottom blanket and helped him drag it back to the table where everyone else was waiting.
"What took you so long?" Peresephone asked, arms crossed.
"I had to go all the way to the otherside of the guild hall to get these!" Storm explained. "And they're heavy when they're all together!"
"Huh," Koree cocked her head to one side. "I guess I never tried to carry lots of blankets together."
"I guess we'll each have to carry one," Cato said.
"How we gonna do that and carry everything else?" Nashi asked, pointing to the canteen of soup on the table in front of her.
"Oh, we can use the blankets to make baggies like all the travelers in the story books do!" Koree opened the book she and Persephone picked out and pointed to a picture of a travelling man with a handkerchief tied to a stick slung over his shoulder. "See?"
"I guess that could work," Storm shrugged.
"Okay, we've got everything. Persephone put the maps in our heads so we can go," Nashi said.
"Alright, alright," Persephone said as she pulled up a screen and then beckoned for Nashi to come to her. Persephone placed her hand on Nashi's forehead. "There, next!"
"Whoa, that actually worked!" Nashi exclaimed, putting her hands to her forehead.
"Duh, we told you it would," Persephone replied as she placed her hand on Storm's forehead.
"That's kinda weird!" Storm exclaimed as he staggered away.
"It's just archive magic, it can't hurt you!" Persephone shouted in exasperation.
"Uh-huh! You gave me a big bump o the back of my head by throwing when you threw a screen at me yesterday!" Koree protested.
"Okay, so, some spells can hurt you. But not that one," Persephone clarified, placing her hand on Roman's forehead, then Cato's, then Koree's.
"Okay, let's go!" Nashi cheered heading towards the door.
"Wait, shouldn't we tell someone where we're going?" Cato asked.
"We can leave a note," Koree suggest. "Our Mommy leaves them for Daddy all the time."
"What do they say?" Roman asked.
"I don't know. We're not allowed to read them," Koree shrugged as she grabbed a napkin off a nearby table.
"Persephone, have you got any pencils?"
"I always have pencils," Persephone pulled a rather chewed one out of her pocket. Koree scribbled something onto the napkin and then placed it on the table where they had been playing.
"Okay, now they'll know where we went."
"Okay, let's go!" Nashi shouted again and they all slipped out of a side door to go find Happy and Carla. The group followed along a dirt pathway that led through the woods towards the rear of the Guild Hall, their makeshift packs made from the blankets slung over their shoulders.
"Hey, guys, you following the map?" Cato asked after a little while.
"Yeah," Nashi answered. "What else would we be following?"
"It say we're gonna run into a river soon…"
Sure as he had spoken it, they pushed through a pile of overgrowth and onto the banks of a river.
"Is there a bridge we can cross?" Roman asked.
"There isn't one on the map," Storm replied.
"So how we gonna get acr-"
Spash! Cato's question was cut off by Storm jumping into the water, taking on his water body and zipping acroos the river.
"Well, easy for you water boy!" Persephone shouted after him as he climbed up on the bank on the other side of the river.
"C'mon, you guys gotta have some sort of spell you can use to get across," Storm called back.
"Eos!" Nashi shouted, her wings reappearing for her to fly across the river.
"Requip!" Roman called, a bullwhip appearing in his hands. He popped it, wrapping the end around an overhanging tree branch. He took two steps back, then ran forward, jumped and swung across the river, landing safely on the other side.
Fwoom! An archive screen flew and floated over the water just a few inches from the bank. Persephone hopped to it, then tossed another screen a few inches in front of the first one and hopped to it, repeating the process until she'd cleared the river.
"Guess it's my turn," Koree giggled, transforming her arm into a metal pole. She stretched it until it was about twice her legnth. She then backed up, ran straight forward, stuck the pole into the middle of the river and launched herself to the other side.
"C'mon, Cato, your turn!" Nashi called.
"Yeah, c'mon!" Storm shouted.
"It's not that hard," Persephone added.
"Gimmee a minute, I'm trying to choose a spell," Cato answered, crossing his arms, brow furrowed in thought. "Oh, I got it!"
He put his fingers on either side of his head. "Memory make, Wood Wall!"
A line of wooden posts, stacked close together like a fence appeared going over the river.
"How is a fence going to help-"
Clunk!
Before Koree could finish asking her question, Cato cocked his head far to one side, flipping the fence on it's side so that it lay across the river like a bridge.
"You gotta be kidding me! You could have made us a bridge the whole time!" Persephone shouted.
"Sorry, I didn't think about it until now," Cato blushed as he made his way across.
"I could have missed a step and fallen in!" Persephone conintued.
"But you didn't, so it's okay," Roman smiled at his downcast friend.
"Not this time," Persephone crossed her arms and huffed.
"Hey, don't we have somewhere we're supposed to be going?" Storm cut in. "Let's just keep going."
"Yeah, we should be getting close," Nashi nodded as she turned to run off, only to stop at the sound of pounding footsteps.
"What's that?" Cato asked as the footsteps got closer.
"Get down!" Storm hissed, pulling all of his friends into the underbrush. All of the children ducked down on their hands and knees, peaking under the branches to see what was coming near them.
A large, green and purple vulcan appeared, reaching in a giant hand to scoop up water to his crooked mouth.
"Is that a vulcan?" Nashi asked.
"Looks like it," Cato nodded.
"What do we do?" Koree gasped, holding her hands to her mouth. "Vulcans like to steal pretty girls like me, Persephone, and Nashi."
"Don't worry, we'll protect you!" Storm promised.
"But we're little," Cato said. "He's big, how are we gonna beat him?"
"Maybe we can just trick it into going away," Roman suggested.
"How?" Storm asked.
Roman closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. Something began to flicker and sputter in and out of view behind the vulcan. All the other children gasped as a second Roman appeared behind the vulcan.
"Hey ugly!" the second Roman shouted.
"Huh?" the vulcan turned around.
The second Roman stuck his tongue out at the creature, making a face and blowing raspberries. "Betcha too stupid to catch me flea bag!" the second Roman shouted, making another face.
"Hey, that's mean!" the vulcan said, swiping a hand at the boy. The second Roman dogded.
"Missed me!" he shouted as he raced off.
"Get back here!" the vulcan yelled as it chased after him.
Once they were gone the children all climbed out from under the brush and turned to Roman.
"What was that!?" Koree asked.
"Thought projection magic," Roman explained. "Daddy taught me how to do it before he left to go on another job. I can't keep it up for very long, though. I had to let it go right after the vulcan ran off so he might be back soon. We should leave now so he doesn't see us."
"Right," Storm nodded and the children scampered off following the map again.
It wasn't long before they came upon a rather large stump that had been converted into a house. A mailbox that read "Happy and Carla" sat just outside of it. A billowing trail of smoke was rising lazily from the chimney.
"We made it!" Nashi cheered.
"I just hope they're okay," Koree said as the children skipped over the small fence surrounding the yard of the house. They all tip-toed up the pathway toward the front door that was almost too small for them (and was in fact too small for Cato). They all looked around at each other, not sure what to do. Finally Nashi reached out and knocked. The children all waited anxiously until the door was opened by-
"Happy!"
"YIKE!" the blue exceed jumped at the sound of six voices shouting his name. "Oh, hi guys! What are you doing here?" he looked about. "And where are your Mommies and Daddies?"
"We came to check on you," Nashi explained.
"You haven't been to the Guild Hall in forever so we were worried something was wrong," Storm continued.
"We thought you might be sick," Persephone added.
"We brought you stuff to make you feel better," Koree held up the multiple bundles they'd brought. Well, tried to. She ended up stumbling and tripping under the weight.
"Aw, you kids are so sweet!" Happy exclaimed. "But we're okay. Sorry we made you kids worry."
"So why have you not been at the Guild Hall in so long?" Nashi asked. "You haven't even come by my house to see Daddy in a long time."
"Well-"
"Happy, who is that?" Carla's voice called from inside.
"Oh, y'know. Just the Birthday Gang," Happy answered.
"The what?" Carla asked.
"You know. The kids who all have the same birthday: Nashi, Storm, Cato, Koree, Persephone, and Roman," Happy explained.
"Birthday gang?" Storm asked as he looked about at his friends. "Is that like our team name?"
"I guess so," Roman shrugged.
"Wait, we have a team?" Nashi asked. "Like a real team? Like our parnets have?"
"Why not!" Koree cheered. "I mean, we already play together all the time, so it makes sense we'd be on a team together."
"Yeah, I guess so!" Nashi agreed.
"What are they doing here?" Carla asked again from inside.
"They say they were worried about us because they haven't seen us in a while," Happy explained.
"Oh, sweet things!"
"Can we come in and see Carla?" Nashi asked.
"Oh, um...I don't know if that will be such a good idea…" Happy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"No, it's alright, they can come in," Carla called.
"You sure?" Happy asked.
"We can't keep them all to ourselves forever, Happy," Carla giggled.
Happy sighed, though he had a smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess. C'mon in kids, and I'll show you why we haven't been at the guild hall in so long."
He led the children inside (Cato had to duck to make it in the door.) He brought them back to his and Carla's bedroom. Carla lay on the bed, curled up next to her-
"Oh, my goodness! Kittens!" Koree gasped, running to kneal down next to their bed, the rest of the children gasping and gathering around behind her. Sure enough, lying on the bed were five exceed kittens.
"They hatched six days ago," Carla explained with a smile. "They were a bit early, so we thought it best to keep them at home for a few days."
"Early like my little brothers and sisters?" Roman asked.
"Not quite that early, but yes," Carla nodded.
"They're so cute!" Nashi squealed.
"Thank you," Carla beamed. "We think so too."
One of the kittens, a white one with a blue patch over the left side of it's face peeked it's head up and crawled over to Nashi, booping her on the nose with his paw, making her giggle.
"That one's name Fin," Carla said. "He's our little trouble-maker."
Nashi giggled again as she scratched him behind his blue ear. "Hi, Fin. I'm Nashi."
Fin mewed, swatting at her hair with both paws.
Another kitten, one that was mostly blue except for his face, paws, and the tip of his tail sprouted his wings and flew to hover in between the Redfox twins, coking his head side to side, mewing in curiosity.
"That's Milo," Happy said. "He's our little explorer. He's super curious about anything and everything."
Milo plopped down into Koree's lap, curling up and yawning widely, making both girls squeal in excitement.
Storm leaned his chin on the mattress, smiling at the kittens. One of them, a blue and white tabby, bounded up to him, crouching down, tail twitching as he growled playfully.
"That's Charlie," Happy said. "He's thinks he's all big and bad."
Charlie watted at Storm's nose. Storm smiled and petted Charlie on the head. Charlie mewed and began pawing at Storm's fingers.
"You like, playing, huh?" Storm asked.
Charlie just mewed in response, his tail twitching. He barely noticed when one of his sisters, a white kitten with a blue face, paws, and nose, began chewing on his tail.
"That's Willa," Carla said. "She's quite playful, she is."
Cato chuckled as he waved to her. "Hi, Willa!"
Willa spread her wings and flew into his hair, chewing on his platinum locks.
"Hey, that's not food you silly."
Roman scooted closer to Carla and the last of the kittens, a blue, white, and black calico. "What about that one?"
"This is Maisie," Carla said, stroking her daughter's head. "She's the runt of the litter, I'm afraid. She's very small."
Roman could tell Carla was worried. Maisie blinked as she stared at him, mewing softly. He reached out and gently petted her head with one finger.
"Aw, it's okay, Maisie. My brother Von was really little when he was a baby too."
Maisie crawled up into Roman's hands, turned around twice, and then lied down to sleep. Roman smiled as he brough her closer to his face, nuzzling her against his cheek.
"You're really cute and nice, though. Von can be a little mean sometimes."
Carla chuckled as she looked about the room. She would have figured her children would find their humans soon. After all, she had Wendy. Happy had Natsu. Now it seemed that Fin had Nashi. Milo had Koree and Persephone. Willa had Cato. Charlie had Storm. And little Maisie had Roman. Her smile brightened as she sat up.
"I'm sure your parents are worried about you. And I think it's time we introduced the kittens to everyone in the guild. How about we start heading back?"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Where could they have gone?" Natsu asked as he leaned down from the second story, trying to get a glimpse of the missing children. "Nashi!"
"Nashi!" Lucy shouted from behind him as she checked under all the tables, Igneel strapped to her back.
"Nashi!" Natsu shouted again, before noticing Layla toddling along behind him, headed for the steps. "Ah, ah, ah! Don't you slip off too!"
"Storm!" Gray shouted from the main room below them, Bianca on his hip. "Storm! Where'd you go, son?"
"S'orm!" Bianca yelled just as Juvia walked back in, Meeko in her arms.
"I just checked the girl's dorms, they're not there!"
"Cato!" Mirajane called as she ducked behind the bar. "Cato?"
Farrah climbed up on the bar and cupped both side of her mouth: "Cato!"
"Roman!" Erza walked back from one of the numerous corridors, Von toddling in front of her, Minette and Eva walking by her side, clasping onto her hands.
"Roman? Where'd you go! Figures Jellal would go on a job and you'd disappear!"
"Koree? Persephone!" Levy called as she bounded up from the basement. "Gajeel and I just checked the library, they aren't there."
"Rugrats!" Gajeel shouted. "Where you at!"
Laxus ran in from the back door. "Just checked the stables. Not there either."
"Oh, where could they have gone?" Mirajane worried, holding a hand to either side of her face.
"They didn't steal another job, did that?" Gajeel asked.
Mirajane shook her head. "I checked the board, nothing is missing."
"Where could they have gone?" Natsu wondered out loud. Just then the front doors of the Guild Hall opened and in walked-
"Kids!" all the parents shouted, bounding towards them. Natsu, despite being on the second story, got there first by jumping down from the second floor and landing in front of the children. He snatched Nashi into his arms, hugging her tight.
"Don't you scare me like that!" he scolded.
"Daddy, careful, you'll hurt Fin!" Nashi said.
Natsu let her go. "Who?"
Nashi held up a tiny white kitten with a blue patch over his left eye and ear. It mewed happily at him and spread his wings, hovering just above his face.
"Well, look at that," Natsu said with a smile, before realization hit him. "Oh, so that's where you kids went!"
"They came to check on us because they were concerned that we hadn't been to the Guild Hall in a while," Carla explained.
"I'm a little offended you didn't let your kids know I had kittens, Natsu," Happy grumbled, crossing his arms at his old friend.
"I was going to tell them!" Natsu said. "But I was gonna wait a little while because I figured if they knew now they'd be begging to come see them, and you said you and Carla wanted some space for a few days!"
"Well, one of them ended up coming to see us anyways," Happy shrugged good-naturedly.
"Yeah, I guess so," Natsu shrugged as the rest of the parents caught up and began hugging their children, who then promptly introduced them to their respective kittens.
"How'd you kids even make it all the way to their house?" Mirajane asked. "And without a scratch none-the-less."
"Oh, Persephone made a map with her archive and put it in all our heads," Cato explained.
"Did you now?" Gajeel asked, thoroughly impressed.
"Yup," Persephone nodded, proud of herself.
"And then we got to a river, and I used my club to jump across," Koree said as she changed both her hands to iron in demonstration.
"I used my Memory Make to make a bridge!" Cato said, proudly.
"A bit too late. We'd all made it across when you did it!" Persephone scoffed, making all the parents laugh.
"I didn't think about it until too late," Cato blushed.
"I just used water body," Storm shrugged. "Oh! And then this scary vulcan showed up, and Roman made him go away by using though...something to make two of him."
"Did you now?" Erza asked, turning to her son. "I suppose those lessons your father gave you have paid off."
"Doesn't change the fact you kids shouldn't have left without telling us where you were going," Lucy frowned, arms crossed. The rest of the parents may have gotten distracted by how much prowess the children were showing with their magic, but she was not!
"We left a note," Koree said, pointing to the table they had been playing at earlier. Laxus went over to investigate.
"They're not lying, they left a note!" he held up the napkin.
All the parents laugh.
"Maybe next time just tell us so we don't miss it," Gajeel suggested.
"Or just don't go off somewhere on your own," Levy added, a motherly frown on her face.
"But we had each other," Nashi said.
"Yeah, we're a team!" Koree added.
"Oh, are you?" Natsu asked.
"Uh-huh," Nashi nodded. "We're the birthday gang! We're a team together, just like you, Mommy, and the other grown ups."
All the adults laughed again.
"I think you're still a bit too young to be a part of a wizard team," Lucy said, patting her daughter on the head.
"Yeah," Laxus nodded as he stood up. "But this has all reminded of something I've been thinking about lately."
Everyone stopped chatting and turned to face their Guild Master.
"You kids are all about the age Farrah was when she got her guild makr, so maybe it's time you all got yours. If your parents are okay with it, that is."
"PPPPLLLLEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEE!" all the children begged in unision.
"Only if you promise not to run off like this without telling us again, hear?" Lucy waved her finger in Nashi's face.
"I promise! I promise! Just pppplllllleeeeeaaaaaasssssseeeeeee!" Nashi begged.
Natsu and Lucy shared a glance, then nodded.
"Alright, go ahead," Natsu said, patting her head.
"YAY! YAY! YAY!" Nashi cheered as she bounded to Mirajane who had the stamp ready.
"What color and where?" she asked brightly.
"Um...got any colors that are like pink and red mixed up?" Nashi asked.
"Oh, because that's what colors your Mommy and Daddy's are?" Mirajane asked.
"Uh-huh!"
"Well, we've got a bit of a darker pink from the shade your Mommy has, would you like that?"
"YEAH!"
"Okay, now where do you want it?"
"Um…" Nashi looked down at herself. She began ringing her hands together as she tried to decided. Staring at her clasped hands, she got an idea-
"Here!" she held out her right arm, and pointed to her wrist.
"Okay," Mirajane smiled placing the stamp against her skin. Nashi's eyes grew wide as she watched Mirajane pull the stamp back. She squeed in excitment as she held her wrist to her face and examined it.
"Mommy! Daddy! Look!" she cheered as she bounded towards them, holding her arm out. "I got my Fairy Tail Mark!"
"Look at that!" Natsu cheered as he took his daughter's arm in his hand and examined it. "Now you're the real deal."
Nashi giggled and danced with excitement.
Koree and Persephone scampered up to Mirajane next.
"Okay, what do you girls want?"
"Well, since Daddy's is black and Mommy's is white, should we get grey?" Koree asked.
Persephone shrugged. "Sure, I want mine here," she pointed to her left shoulder.
"And I want mine here!" Koree pointed to her right shoulder.
Mirajane smiled as she stamped both of the girls' marks, making them both squeal and cheer in excitement.
Storm was next. "I want mine blue!" he said. "And I want it here!" He pulled his sleeve down and pointed to his right shoulder blade, or tried to. His arms were small, his shirt was tight, and he was still a bit clumsy, still being only five. Thankfully, Mirajane knew what he meant, and placed it perfectly.
"Yay! Now I look cool!" Storm declared.
"You sure do, buddy!" Gray nodded, ruffling his son's hair.
"What about you, Roman?" Mirajane asked.
"Um…" Roman scratched the back of his head as he thought. "Purple?"
"Okay," Mirajane set the color. "And where would you want it?"
"Um…" Roman thought again. "Well, Mommy and Daddy always say that the most important part of being a wizard is having a good heart, so can I get it here?" he pointed to his chest, just above his heart, making Erza tear up a little bit.
"Of course you can," Mirajane smiled, pressing the stamp over his little heart, leaving the mark. He beamed as he stared down at it.
"Last but not least, my little Cato," Mirajane beamed as she set Cato on top of the bar. "What color and where, honey?"
"Well, Rufus uses wear a lot of red, and he is my teacher, so I guess I'll have red. And I want it on my tummy like Papa! You don't mind do you, Mama? I mean, Farrah already has her mark where your's is."
"This is your mark, not mine. As long as you're happy, I'm happy," Mirajane smiled, putting the mark in place, making her son smile.
"Now you're official, kid," Laxus said, setting Cato on his shoulder, celebrating along with all the other parents and children.
Today was a big step for their little ones, and they were looking forward to watching them continue to grow into the magnificent wizard they all knew their children were bound to be.