*A/N- First off I would like to thank so much everyone that followed/favorited and reviewed the first chapter! Also- I figured out who I am going to cast as Jumba and Pligly, so the alien plot is a go, I just have to figure out how I'm going to work it. Obviously the original plot from the movie with them trying to catch Stitch isn't going to work, but I have a few ideas, and we'll see where those go. The casting is going to be pretty random because I decided to go off canon personalities and not relationships, so some of the relationships that develop in this story might seem a little weird, but oh well, what can you do?
"Zeref, I want a cat!"
"No."
"PLEASE!"
"NO."
"BUT WHY?" Natsu whined, falling dramatically on the floor in front of Zeref, acting as if the lack of a cat in his life was costing him the ability to stand.
"Because I don't trust you not to set it on fire."
"Why would I set the cat on fire?" Natsu asked, looking at Zeref like he was crazy.
"You set everything on fire."
"Yeah, but not a cat!"
"Only because we don't have a cat."
"ZEREF I WANT A CAT!"
"AND I WANT YOU TO STOP ASKING FOR A CAT BUT WE CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT WE WANT!"
Natsu huffed loudly, it was becoming apparent to him that this was not going well. He sat up and looked at what Zeref was doing with his hands, intrigued. He was sewing something, but Natsu hadn't managed to figure out what yet. There was a pile of patched fabric in Zeref's lap, but he couldn't tell much about it, but Zeref appeared to be making repairs. Occasionally he would remove the last few stitches he had done and try again. Zeref tossed a discarded patch onto Natsu's face, and Natsu was intrigued to see that the fabric was singed. Now he had to know what his brother was doing. Natsu climbed up onto the couch next to Zeref and squished himself as close as he could get, peering down curiously at Zeref's hands.
"Hey," Zeref said, jostling Natsu back playfully. "Move your fat head, I can't see what I'm doing!"
"My head is not fat!" Natsu replied, standing up and banging his little fists on Zeref's head as revenge.
"Hey-hey-hey-ow! Natsu cut it out, that hurts! I was only joking!" Natsu sat down, humphing angrily. His ire didn't last longer than a few seconds before he was once again peering at his brother's hands, trying to figure out what he was sewing.
"What're you doing, Zeref?"
"It's a surprise."
"NO FAIR TELL ME!"
"Just relax I'm almost done!"
"Hurry up!" Zeref rolled his eyes at his brothers eagerness as he put in the finishing stitches. He couldn't tie off the thread fast enough as Natsu was practically bouncing up and down out of eagerness to see what Zeref was making.
"Alright, alright, I'm finished! Hold your horses, Gimme a minute."
"You've already had a minute!"
"Well then gimme another!" Natsu screamed in frustration and threw himself back onto the couch dramatically covering his eyes with his forearm. Zeref couldn't help but chuckle at his little brothers theatrics. He got to his feet and held up the skirt, undoing the tangles before holding it out in front of himself to inspect it. He was no master seamstress, that was for sure, but he got the job done.
"Alright," he said, "tadaa!" Natsu opened his eyes eagerly, shooting upright excitedly, but when his eyes landed on the thing his brother was holding up, he tilted his head in confusion.
"I don't get it."
"You don't-? What's not to get? It's part of a fire dancer outfit! Look!" Natsu turned his head back to look at the thing once more. It did vaguely resemble the skirt type thing Zeref wore during his shows, but it wasn't near as pretty or nice as that one.
"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, looking skeptical.
"Hey!" Zeref replied indignantly, "I worked hard on it! It's not easy repairing a twenty year old skirt!"
"Why do you still have it?"
"Because Dad made it for me when I was little!" Natsu's entire demeanor changed from skeptical to awed instantly.
"Really? Daddy made it?" Zeref nodded, smiling.
"I found it in my closet last night, and I thought I would patch it up for you! It's not very nice anymore, I burnt it some, but it was my first one and I wanted to give it to you!"
"Really?" Natsu exclaimed, his face lighting up, "it's for me?" Zeref nodded again. Natsu laughed excitedly and jumped off the couch, running to Zeref's side and reaching for the skirt. "Lemme try it on!" Zeref couldn't help but smile at his brothers excitement as he knelt down and helped him put it on.
"You know, since I'm off work today, and you missed your class yesterday, why don't I teach you a few things?"
"REALLY?!" Natsu cried, his excitement escalating further.
"Yeah, it'll be fun!"
"ALRIGHT!" Natsu ran off to get ready, or burn the house down, maybe both, and Zeref went up to him room to get on his work clothes. After the day he'd had yesterday he needed to let loose as much as Natsu did, and he couldn't think of a better way to spend time with his brother.
Of course, Zeref wouldn't allow Natsu to actually touch any fire, he was far too young and reckless for that. But one day, if he ever learned some restraint, Zeref would teach him about fire dancing. The phone rang while Zeref changed, he answered it while unbuttoning his shirt, securing the phone between his cheek and shoulder.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Zeref, it's me."
"Oh hey Mavis," Zeref replied, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat. "What's up?"
"Actually I was wondering what you were doing today," she said.
"Um, I'm teaching Natsu some dancing and stuff, y'know, because he got kicked out of class yesterday."
"Oh that's perfect!" Mavis said, sounding unsuspectingly thrilled. "I have something for Natsu, do you mind if I bring it over?"
"You got Natsu a present?" Zeref asked, pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected Mavis to be so sweet to his brother when they weren't even dating. She had no obligation to Natsu; which of course only made Zeref like her more.
"Well no, not exactly, I made it."
"You made him a present?"
"Well, yeah. I know he has a hard time fitting in, and that Fullbuster kid made fun of his weather fish. I just had this idea and I decided to do it to cheer him up."
"Oh, um, thank you, that was really nice. Natsu is going to get spoiled with all the presents he's receiving today, but yeah, you can bring it on over. We'll be out on the beach probably."
"Awesome!" Mavis chirped, "I'll be over soon! Bye Zeref!"
"Bye Mavis, see you soon," Zeref replied. He hung up the phone, feeling a bit light headed. Mavis was on her way here. What was happening to him.
"So your girlfriend is coming over?" Natsu asked. Zeref nearly jumped out of his skin, spinning on the spot to see Natsu standing in the doorway with his little arms folded.
"Natsu, how long have you been standing there? And she's not my girlfriend!"
"Not long, I just heard you say goodbye while you were making that dumb face you make whenever you talk about her."
"I don't do that!"
"You do so! You go just like this," Natsu made an exaggerated dreamy looking expression that had Zeref burning at the ears. Did he really make that face? There was no way he was that transparent, but if even Natsu had picked up on his feelings for Mavis, then maybe he wasn't being as subtle as he had originally thought.
"W-whatever," Zeref stuttered, still hot in the face. "The point is that she's not my girlfriend."
"But you want her to be." Zeref's face burned even brighter as he turned away and grabbed his fire dancing supplies. Perceptive little brat isn't he? He thought. When he turned back around he grinned evilly at Natsu, who began to look nervous. He didn't like that look. Zeref always wore that look when he was about to pick on Natsu.
"Oh yeah, and what about that little Heartfilia girl, the hula dancer?" Natsu turned an impressive shade of red for a five year old. "Your girlfriend is very pretty."
"She's not my girlfriend!" Natsu protested.
"But you want her to be," Zeref said, throwing Natsu's own words back at him.
"Why would I want someone as weird as her to be my girlfriend?"
"You liiike her!" Zeref teased, making mocking kissy faces at Natsu.
"DO NOT!"
"Do sooo!"
"Alright I call a truce!" Natsu said grumpily, sticking his little hand out for Zeref to shake. Zeref chuckled and took it, accepting Natsu's truce.
"Now that that's settled," he said, scooping Natsu up and throwing him over his shoulder carrying him out of Zeref's room and through the house.
"Hey, put me down!"
"Nope." Zeref carried the protesting Natsu all the way to the beach, where he plopped him down on the sand gracelessly next to his fire baton and fuel and grinned.
"When's Mavis gonna get here?" Natsu asked, looking around like he expected her to be hiding behind a bush or something.
"I don't know," Zeref said, "she said soon."
"But how soon is soon?"
"I don't know!" Zeref repeated, "I don't know where she lives, I'm assuming she was coming from home."
"I like Mavis!" Natsu declared.
"I like her too," Zeref replied idly, looking around and realizing he'd forgotten to bring matches. "Oh, oops."
"I have them here," Natsu said, holding them out to him.
"What?! How did you find them! I hid them in a totally new spot!" Natsu shrugged.
"I just know."
"Well stop knowing!" Zeref exclaimed, "you're not allowed to play with the matches!"
"But if I hadn't known this time you would have had to walk all the way back to the house!"
"Alright," Zeref conceded, "I'll give you that one, but you're not allowed to 'just know' anymore."
"How can I stop just knowing something I just know? That's like trying to tell me to stop knowing my name is Natsu."
"Well if you can't stop knowing then you have to stop getting them out! It looks really bad when the social worker comes and you're playing with matches you know."
"Do you think he's ever killed anyone?" Zeref slapped his hand to his forehead. What is it with this kid?
"I don't know," Zeref replied, grinning evilly again, "but I bet if he thinks you've caught on to his dirty little secret then maybe you're going to be next." Zeref couldn't help but chuckle at the sheer horror on Natsu's face.
"Don't scare the poor kid!" Mavis called. Zeref's head snapped up and his eyes landed on her. She was wearing a hula outfit, but not her work one, and she was walking down the beach towards them, hiding something behind her back.
"I was just teasing," Zeref defended.
"Natsu, your social worker isn't going to kill you, Zeref was just being mean!"
"Hey!" Natsu protested, "Don't be mean to me I'm just a kid!"
"I'm pretty sure you're a demon."
"Natsu is not a demon," Mavis laughed, "and I have a present for you!"
"For me?" Natsu asked, leaping to his feet excitedly. "What is it?"
"Close your eyes!" Mavis said, side stepping around Natsu so that the gift remained hidden behind her back. Zeref peered around to see what it was, and he couldn't help but grin. He knew what it was at once, and he couldn't help thinking how thoughtful it was. Natsu closed his eyes impatiently fidgeting while he waited. Mavis took the gift out from behind her back and began twirling it around her fingers expertly. "Alright, Open!"
Mavis's gift to Natsu was one of her old high school majorette batons. She had sewn yellow and orange fabric that had been cut to look like flames and placed them over the rubber stoppers. When she twirled it it looked almost like she was twirling fire, and it was the perfect proportions for Natsu to use it like Zeref would his fire baton.
"I thought, since you're still too little and inexperienced to twirl real fire, you might like to have this to practice with!"
"Wow!" Natsu said, "This is so cool!" He took it from her and gave it an experimental toss, which promptly landed on his head. "OW!" While Zeref examined his brothers head, Mavis chuckled.
"And the rubber stoppers on the end should keep him from getting hit too badly with them. Though that's not to say I never gave myself a wicked headache or jammed my finger with one…" She added quietly. Zeref snorted, he could very clearly imagine Mavis twirling one of these around between her fingers and koncking herself on the head.
"It's only funny until it happens to you," Mavis said, in a singsong voice. "You laugh now Dragneel, but you won't be laughing when it's you that's on the receiving end of one of these suckers." Zeref glanced over his shoulder at her, and for the first time noticed that she carried a long cylinder slung over her shoulder, and a bag he was sure had fuel and a lighter in it. Looks like I'm not the only one putting on a show for Natsu tonight.
Zeref taught Natsu only the most basic moves while Mavis sat on the sand and watched, and while the baton wasn't perfect, it certainly boosted Natsu's morale. He hadn't asked to twirl real fire all night, perhaps satisfied with his pretend fire for now. There was a part of Zeref that was sure Natsu was planning some sort of mischief, but he didn't act suspicious of Natsu in case he was imaging it so he didn't ruin the night. All three of them were having a good time, and it was a great way to lighten up after the Social Workers ominous words yesterday. He wondered slightly if Erik was going to be stopping by again today, and prayed to God that if he did Natsu would behave himself. Maybe he wouldn't act out with Mavis there.
"I think that's enough practice for tonight," Zeref said, after Natsu clocked himself with the baton for the tenth time. Natsu rubbed his head sullenly and didn't disagree, apparently he had had enough of hurting himself for one night.
"Alright," Zeref said grabbing his lighter fluid and matches. He soaked the ends of his fire baton then lit them. "I might as well practice my routine while I'm out here," he said, twirling his baton slowly so it wouldn't go out as he backed away from the group. (The majorettes in my high school band twirled fire batons, and you do in fact have to keep them moving constantly or they will go out. I'm operating under the assumption that really big ones fire dancers use are the same way.)
Natsu looked way too excited, considering how often he saw Zeref's show anyway. Natsu likes fire a bit too much, Zeref thought, not for the first time. He grinned at Mavis, who smiled back at him.
"I don't think I've gotten to see the whole thing yet," Mavis said. "I've always had to serve tables."
"It's awesome!" Natsu exclaimed, turning to face Mavis. "And It's different every time!" Zeref Gave Natsu an incredulous look then met Mavis's eyes over Natsu's hair and shook his head. He almost never changed his routine. What the hell? He shook his head again, discarding his brothers strange declaration and began his routine. Natsu sat transfixed as usual, and Mavis watched pleasantly, her lips spread in a content smile. He couldn't help but show off a little with her watching him like that, and he added perhaps a little more flare than he normally did at work.
Natsu was eating it up, and Mavis seemed to be enjoying herself too. At this point Zeref had to force himself to focus on the fire in his hands so he wouldn't burn himself. It was getting more and more difficult to focus as the sunset and illuminated Mavis, seeming to light her hair on fire. Not the kind of fire that Natsu seemed drawn to-the destructive kind- the kind that Prometheus climbed Mount Olympus for, and dared to steal from the Gods to obtain. It was the kind of fire that breathed life into you and brought warmth to your extremities when you were freezing to death.
Whoa there Zeref, he thought to himself, wrenching his eyes away from her and focusing on not setting himself on fire again. Where did that come from? You just need to calm down. There too much on your plate for you to be thinking that sort of thing about a girl. You have to worry about Natsu. Still, he couldn't resist showing off a little more, and he'd be lying if he said it was wholly for Natsu's benefit- although his brothers mystified expression was definitely a bonus.
Getting an idea for a grand finish he threw his baton high into the sky and grabbed his bottle of lighter fluid. He opened his mouth and poured some in, careful not to ingest any. He reached up and caught his baton. He held it in front of his face, and sprayed the lighter fluid out, flames shooting out in front of him. He was careful not to burn either of them, and He dropped his baton in the sand to smother it and bowed low when he was finished. Natsu cheered loudly and Mavis clapped happily.
"I guess you've never done the last one at work because the stage's ceiling is lined with straw?" Zeref nodded grimacing.
"I have to be careful with the tosses because I might catch the place on fire, and that would probably get me fired." Zeref gave a half laugh at the pun while Mavis nodded understandingly.
"Well I guess now it's my turn."
"What?" Natsu asked, looking at Mavis, shocked.
"You're brother's not the only one who knows how to twirl fire!" She said, giving Natsu a mischievous look.
She stripped off her grass skirt to reveal a pair of tight athletic shorts, and pulled a hair bow of her wrist. She pulled her long mane of blonde hair into a high ponytail, and Zeref couldn't help but worry she'd set her hair on fire. As if she read his mind, she grinned at him and told him not to worry, she'd been doing this for a long time.
From the long canister Mavis pulled out two of what he recognized to be fire batons that high school majorettes used, and began prepping them.
"This is the routine for the closer that we marched my senior year," Mavis said. The words that obviously were Marching Band lingo rolled off her tongue naturally, not that that sentence had made any sense to Zeref.
"So I brought a recording so you can get the full experience." Mavis pulled a small stereo out of the bag she'd brought in. "Zeref, will you press play when I say go?" Zeref nodded, and placed his fingers on the key, ready. Mavis lit her batons and crouched down a short distance from them. She spun her batons slowly to keep them lit, then nodded at Zeref. He pressed play obediently, and the music started.
Mavis's mouth moved silently as she performed her routine, and Zeref guessed that she was counting out her moves. He had never considered structuring his routine so strictly, but he guessed in a performance with others they would all have to be in sync.
Zeref couldn't help feeling slightly like Natsu as he watched Mavis perform, he was quite mesmerized himself. Though she mentioned that she had twirled fire in her High School band, he'd never seen her do it before and the effect of the sunset behind her was not lost on him as he stared, transfixed. A part of his mind registered that he was in deep, and that maybe he more than just liked this girl, but the rest of his mind was focused on watching Mavis perform her routine.
His eyes landed on her face, her lips rhythmically counting to eight then starting over again, her brows furrowed in a focused expression he had seldom seen there before. It was amazing how she seemed to exude professionalism and seriousness while she was also clearly having fun. Her performance was much more disciplined and structured than he could ever hope to be, and Zeref was amazed she had remembered this routine so well after so long.
Zeref got the sense from the music that the song was winding down, and much too soon in his opinion. He would have been happy to sit there all night and watch her perform. But, as the music clearly hit it's climax Mavis threw her batons high in the air, rolled on the ground and landed with her legs tucked under her and to the side, she held her hands up high, and her batons fell neatly into them.
Zeref sat silently for a moment after the music ended, then his brothers cheering snapped him out of his own mind.
"She's way cooler than you, Zeref!" He said. Zeref couldn't help but chuckle.
"And prettier too." Mavis blinked in shock, and Zeref stopped moving. Wait.
Did I just say that out loud?
*Alright, so now, with all four of my Fairy Tail ongoings launched, I want to thank everyone who has followed and favorited any of them! I'm going to be updating all of them, and for people who don't know, here's what's going on: Within the span of two weeks I launched four ongoing Fairy Tail stories. All of them are AUs, and I have every intention of updating all of them regularly. All of the stories can be found here. Here are the summaries for the other three for those who are interested:
Bullet Holes: (A Zervis HS/Mob au) Mavis Vermilion, a junior in High School, meets a boy on the street who claims to have graduated early. Knowing she needs a tutor for her AP classes, she asks him to help her. Over time, she realizes this boy has a dark past, one that might not necessarily be in the past.
Confluence: (A Nalu/Jerza/Gajevy/Gruvia Lake House AU) Lucy couldn't bare the idea of another summer alone in that damned lake house with her distant father, so she brought along her best friend Levy. Even though Lucy's father owns this half of the shore, she's long since been curious about what's on the other shore. One day while she and Levy were out on her family's jet skis they meet a few people who live on the other side of the shore and become fast friends.
Troubled Waters: (A Nalu focused with other ships on the side) Lucy Heartfilia, Captain of the Heartfilia Private Navy, has only one goal. She want's to escape Pirate Captain Natsu Dragneel and export her father's goods without any harm coming to her crew. Natsu Dragneel, Captain of the Fairy Tail Pirate Fleet, has only one mission. He want's to take down the evil Heartfilias, and stop them from funding an enemy nation's attempt to bring war to Fiore. After the two both happen to stop on the same Heartfilia owned deserted island to make repairs after a battle, Natsu realizes that maybe the young Naval Captain isn't everything he thought her to be. Is it possible she doesn't know about her father's plans to fund a war?