"Uncle Natsu, Uncle Natsu!"
Natsu could barely brace himself before two blue blurs sped through the open, wooden door and collided with him in full force. He stumbled a little to the back, the extra weight throwing him off, but he managed to stabilize himself before he and his passengers fell to the ground.
"Uncle Natsu I missed you so much!" the boy tightened his arms around the older man's neck.
"Me too! I missed you lots!" his sister was quick to add, spreading her arms wide making a point to emphasize her words.
"Wow, be careful! I'm happy to see you too!" Natsu said laughing pulling the girl back to him so she won't fall and hugging them both tight.
"Kids don't do that, you're bothering Uncle Natsu." A blue haired woman scolded them softy, having just arrived at the house. She entered the room with a tall, brooding man trailing behind her.
"It's fine Levy! Don't worry about it. They're not bothering me."
"Kids, you have my permission to bother him as much as you want." The dark haired man whispered to them.
"GAJEEL!"
"What?" he said innocently.
"Don't bother Levy. I already know he's a jerk." Natsu said gently placing the two kids to the ground who run off to greet the small cat curled in a corner.
"Natsu! Not in front of the kids!"
"Why? What did I do?"
Levy sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration "You know what, forget it. I can't deal with both of you right now." She walked to the twins, crouching to be in their eye level, and opened her arms wide to envelop both of them in a big hug.
"Be nice to Uncle Natsu, now will you? Mommy's gonna come get you in a few hours." She smiled softly and placed a soft kiss in the top of each of their heads.
"Buy mom!" Yajeh jumped right back to his mother's arms hugging her tightly. "I'll miss you."
"Hey, don't get her all to yourself!" Shutora said as she pushed her brother away and tried to squeeze into the hug.
"Wow, there you're gonna push me over. Shutora, don't push your brother away I am enough for both of you."
Levy spared a glance to the other two occupants of the house who in the meantime had been standing side by side and trying to elbow each other discreetly. "And please don't end up like those two." She murmured to herself in a second thought.
"Come on let's get going." Levy motioned to her husband as she stood up "You don't want to keep Gray waiting."
"A little waiting won't hurt him." Grumbled Gajeel
"Wait, where's Haku? Wasn't Gray supposed to bring him too?" Asked Natsu.
"Nah, he's sick. That boy is too frail for his own good. Juvia stayed home to look after him." Gajeel responded.
"Hmm… maybe I should pass by and give them a visit later." Natsu pondered.
"That's a great idea!" Levy exclaimed smiling at him "I'm sure he'll appreciate the visit. He was pretty sad he couldn't come by." She turned to look at her husband who had strayed a bit further back with the kids "Gajeel, are you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He ruffled the twin's hair in affection and walked off towards the wooden door "See you later kiddos."
Natsu and the kids stood by the entrance for a few seconds waving goodbye at the leaving couple before Natsu ushered them into the considerably warmer house. Once inside the kids run straight up to the fireplace making themselves comfortable in the bundle of pillows and blankets that laid around.
They both turned to Natsu to look at him with sparkly, pleading eyes. "Tell us a story!"
Natsu laughed goodheartedly. They were too cute for their own good. "Alright, alright" He said as he plopped down in front of the kids and sat with his feet crossed over. "You win. What story do you want to hear?"
"Yay!" Shutora broke into a wide smile that reminded Natsu of her father. Well, of the rare times her father would smile like that.
"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Yajeh "Tell us about the hunter and the wolf!"
"Yes! That's my favourite!" Shutora nodded excitedly in agreement.
"Aren't you guys bored of that story already?"
"Noo!" They screamed in unison.
"Okay, then here we go."
Natsu watched as Shutora propelled herself forward to be able to hear better and Yajeh pulled the by standing Happy into his lap. He took a big breath and started, the crackling of the firewood accompanying his voice.
"Once upon a time, in a faraway land there lived-"
"Wait!"
"What is it?" Natsu looked at Shutora surprised
"You said the story was about our forest not a faraway land." She observed.
"Oh, okay then. So, once upon a time, in the forest of Magnolia, there lived a hunter with his red cat-"
"No!" Yajeh cut him off this time.
"What? What is it now?" Natsu was beginning to feel a little irritated.
"The cat was blue last time."
"Well, it seems like you know the story well enough and I don't have to tell it anymore!" Natsu begun to sit up before two pairs of arms grabbed his sleeves in despair.
"No wait, we're sorry!"
"We won't do it again, please tell us the story!"
One look into those innocent pleading eyes and he found himself beside the campfire again. He was only messing with them anyways. Children were so gullible, he liked to lightly mess with them.
"No interruptions this time please! Ahem. Once upon a time, in the forest of Magnolia, there lived a hunter and his blue cat companion.
The hunter lived close to the forest. Not deep into the woods but away from the center of the town. But this was no ordinary forest! Legend tells that there are man eating beasts in that forest! Creatures that lure you further and further away, making you go in circles until you're tired enough to not put up a fight. Wolves that can take a human form and lure you away and rip you apart if you wandered in the depths of the forest.
The forest was a dangerous place. Nothing that came out of it would mean any good. But there's another side to that story that no one else knows…
It started on a sunny day at the start of winter-"
And Natsu went on. Telling the story as best as he could, watching the kids smile, laugh and sympathize with the characters of the story. He watched them as they stared right into him with wide eyes, mesmerized by the tale. Then before he realized it, he had reached the final chapter of the story.
"The hunter aimed his arrow at the fleeting wolf and fired. He watched proudly as the arrow pierced right through its skin and the wolf collapsed in the ground after taking a few steps forward, still trying to run away. But the hunter's triumph didn't last long. At that point something unimaginable happened.
As the hunter went to look at the fallen wolf he found it no longer laid at the ground. In its place lied a beautiful woman, her long golden locks sprayed around her. The hunter immediately sprinted to her side and cradled her in his arms crying tears of regret. He felt relief wash over him when he found she still alive and breathing. But not for long. He knew he had to get help immediately. He tried getting her to his house but before they could arrive to safety she fell limp into his arms."
Natsu stopped for a second and looked at his audience. They were both leaning slightly forward their arms clasped tightly together, eager to hear the ending of the story. They looked so young and small. They waited in excitement for him to finish their favourite story. Finish it the way he always did. Natsu took a big breath and continued. Not yet.
"The hunter cried. He wept holding the woman close to him begging for her to come back. His tears were flowing like a river, falling into the woman's still face.
And the forest heard his cries. It felt his pain and love for the woman. Legend said the forest was cold and unforgiving. It wasn't like that. It was harsh only to the one's that wanted to hurt its residents. The forest only wants to protect its creatures from the destruction humans bring with them everywhere they go.
But when the forest saw the human clutching one of the forest's children so lovingly, it sensed something different in him. So it decided to make an exception.
It decided to show itself to the human. Something that was never done before. So the spirit of the forest took upon the form of a young girl with long light blond hair and vibrant green eyes and appeared in front of the hunter.
'Why are you crying?' She asked him.
The hunter looked up to her, surprised by her sudden appearance and held the woman closer to his body.
'Don't worry. I won't hurt you" the girl's eerie voice ringed through the forest like a lullaby. It sounded like leaves rustling from the wind, birds singing their songs.
'I can help.' She continued "I can bring her back… but there is a cost.'
The hunter looked at the girl with pleading eyes 'Please! Please help her. I'll… I'll do whatever you want.'
The girl smiled cryptically at him and crouching down to the fallen woman she placed a kiss on her forehead.
A soft light enveloped the woman and the hunter looked at it in awe. Then the woman's eyes flattered and she cautiously sat up. The hunter turned to look at the little girl to thank her but she was no longer there.
But an unspoken deal still stood by. The hunter could only meet his loved one when the moon had come to a full circle. The rest of the days she has to stay in the forest besides the spirit. So he left the woman to the forest with a heavy heart, but happy to still be able to see her smile. And from then on every full moon the woman would visit the hunter and the lovers would finally be reunited. And they lived happily ever after. The end."
Natsu looked at the twins who were resting their heads on top of each other, trying- and mostly failing- to keep their eyes open.
He smiled softly "Don't fall asleep when you begged me for a story you little rascals."
He gently picked both of them up and placed them in top of his bed covering them up with a wool blanket. Not even before he had finished tucking them in, they had already fallen to the land of dreams.
"Thanks again for watching over them!"
"Nah, it was no problem. You know I like playing with them!"
"Oh I brought what you asked for" Levy handed him a small ceramic cup.
"Thanks, I owe you one! I didn't have time to go to the city myself today."
"I didn't know you liked yogurt" she observed.
"Well I guess tastes change like that." He grinned
"Anyway we have to go now, it's already pretty late… Come on kids!"
"Bye uncle Natsu!" the twins run up to him enveloping the man in and left with their mother.
Nash closed the door behind them and eyed the cup in his hand.
"Well, I guess it's about time for a visit."
He put on his coat grabbed the cup and opened the door once again.
"Come on Happy! We're good to see Lucy! You missed her didn't you?" He said smiling at the cat.
Happy mewed in agreement.
"That's what I thought. Let's go before it's too dark outside."
Natsu and his feline companion walked a few meters away from their house into the outskirts of the forest stopping in a small clearance just before the woods thickened.
"There we go! Sorry we didn't visit sooner." He said plopping down in the ground. "Oh! Almost forgot." He said placing the small cup in the ground "I brought you're your favourite desert! I have no idea how you tolerate that thing.
"Shutora and Yajeh visited!" he said after a few seconds of silence. They're such a delight! I wish you could meet them. They would really like you, I'm sure of it. I told them our story again. It's their favourite one so far… One day I'm gonna tell them the original version."
Natsu placed his hand on top of the cold hard stone and looked sadly at the words craved in messy handwriting.
Lucy
"Wish our story had a happy ending..."
Hello again guys! We hope you enjoy this little bonus (sort of like an epilogue) story! We weren't originally planning on continuing the one-shot but I think this addition is fitting! I hope you liked it too :)
(Haku is the name Ruby came up for the Gruvia son Mashima drew)
However this isn't the last you've seen from this AU! There might be something more coming up in the farther away future, if you're interested, so be in the lookout for that if you liked the story.
Thank you for reading, we'd love to hear your thoughts about it!
