I don't own Fairy Tail, all rights belong to their respective creators.
Okay, I've been notified that there might be things that are confusing to people so here is a list of changes I've done to canon:
1. Natsu is older in this than he is in canon, he looks to be around 30 but nobody knows the truth. (It will be revealed as the story progresses.)
2. Mirajane is 22, Elfman is 21 and if Lisanna were alive, she would be 23. Yes, she was the oldest and I did that because the story needed it. Sorry if this is a deal breaker to anyone. Also, Lisanna is dead. EdoLisanna is not as I got plans for her but still no NaLi. Or at least I'll try not to have NaLi but to be completely honest, anything can happen. Tell me if I should somehow integrate the age's in the story or if this is enough.
3. The fire did not hurt Lily, they think it did but it didn't and if you read carefully you will find this out.
4. Grammatical errors will occur as English is not my native language so this might make things confusing also, so please tell me when you spot something that seems to be out of whack.
Asking for help, my mind doesn't work like I want it to. Give me something other than daddy or dad for Lily to call Natsu. Father is too formal for a six-year-old. And every other idea I get is still unusable for a girl that age. IE Daddy-o, dada and stuff like that.
"Speaking."
"Thoughts"
"Absolutely not Mira, she's not ready." Natsu said to the white-haired barmaid and crumbled the paper she had given him. Natsu had thought that the day had started nicely, Lily had awoken without trouble and even ate her breakfast without a hitch. He should've known that it had been too easy of a start to a day.
"Oh, c'mon Natsu. We weren't that much older when we started doing missions." Mira said to Natsu with annoyance.
"Or is it that you don't trust me and my training?" She continued and gave Natsu one of her dark glares. Natsu gave Mira a flat stare.
"Those don't work on me Mira, you should know better than to try and intimidate people who are older than you." He stated and and started to smooth out the paperslip that Mira had given him as a peace offering. Mira hmph'ed and went to fill orders. "Now, lets see what she is wanting to do." Natsu thought and started to read the paper.
HELP! MAGES WANTED FOR EXTERMINATION! was in bold letters at the start of the slip. "WHAT?! Extermination for my little girl?" Natsu thought after he had read the headline of the request. He continued to read, hoping that it was a bad case of moles in a field or something.
Lacrima mine in Harrowstown is being over-run by monsters. Need quick help for removing said monsters. We are prepared to pay 100.000 jewels and a Lacrima lamp of choice. "Lacrima lamp? What's with this ridiculous request?" Natsu thought and scratched his head.
"What is it daddy?" Lily asked and climbed to a chair next to Natsu. Natsu continued to scracth his head and turned to look Lily in the eye.
"What? Did I do something bad?" Lily asked with a sorrowful voice. She was used to get that stare when she did something wrong but Lily couldn't remember doing anything, yet.
"No, I was just wondering if you would be ready to do a mission." Natsu answered and kept staring at Lily. The little girls eyes started to shine.
"Like you and mommy used to? Going to wonderful places and meeting new people?" She asked quickly, her head already in a fit of dreams.
"Not quite. Your aunt seems to think that you're ready for beating up monsters." Natsu said and sent a look to Mira, who raised an eyebrow. Mira quickly dried the beer stein she had in her hand and went to Natsu.
"You've reconsidered?" She asked the man. Natsu shaked his head before answering the eager mage.
"Not unless you can convince Lily to another bashing of living things." He answered and pointed Lily with his thumb. Lily eyes started to from tears when Natsu mentioned beating, remembering the rabbit she had clobbered.
"I-I don't want to hit anything anymore. It's mean!" She shouted to Mira, who chuckled at the little girl. "Honestly, she's just like Lisanna was." Mira took Lily into her arms and gave her a squeeze.
"This is different Lily, the monsters we need to beat are bad. They went to someones mine without permission and the owner of the mine needs help to get rid of them." Mira said while smiling to Lily.
"Really?They're bad and not cute?" She asked with a small voice. Natsu shaked his head at this. How is it that his daughter was fine with beatings if the recipient wasn't cute.
"No honey. They are not cute, I promise." Mira said and crossed her pinky finger with Lily's before setting her down on the floor.
"Okay. Then I will go with you Aunt Mira. If you need my help than I will help. Daddy always says that we need to help family." Lily said with a serious face that only looked cute on a little girl. Natsu nodded as he had predicted this, it was his fault for teaching the principles of Fairy Tail and in true Fairy Tail fashion, she didn't leave a family member hanging.
"You and your dad need to be ready in an hour Lily. Could you do me a favor and make sure that your dad is also ready?" Mira asked Lily and gave her a glass of juice. "Where does she get those all the time?" Natsu wondered to himself. Everytime Mira talked to the little girl, somehow she always was able to give her a glass of juice or milk.
***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***
After an hour, the father daughter duo was waiting the barmaid with growing impatience. Natsu glanced at the bar where Mira kept pouring drinks and at the same time trying to tell Cana that she was not to drink the bar empty while she was gone.
"When does Aunt Mira come daddy?" Lily asked and shifted her feet. Lily was like Natsu when it came to waiting, she didn't like it. Not one bit.
"Don't know Lily but I'm starting to think that never." Natsu said with a forced calm. His nerves weren't in the best of conditions right now as he was stressing about Lily's first mission.
"Alright. I'm ready!" Came a shout from inside the guild.
"Finally. Do you remember that it..was...you.. What are you wearing?" Natsu stumbled at his words. Mirajane had come from the guild wearing black pants that were split in the outside of the legs and had a sash like twine going upwards in a zigzag, that were hugging her legs. She also had a black tank top that had a skull biting into a bloody raven and on top of that a black jacket that had, for some odd reason, a pink rabbit over her left breast.
"My new mission outfit, I got it just yesterday. You didn't think I would go there with my dress now did you?" Mira asked and winked at Natsu. She rarely got to go on missions nowadays as she had made sure to stay in the guild just in case Natsu needed help with Lily.
"N-no. But I wasn't expecting this either..wait, yesterday?" Natsu asked. Mira nodded with eyes that shone innocence that was reflected from Lily's eyes. "I got played. BY MY OWN DAUGHTER!" Natsu shouted inside his head while to the rest of the world he simply sighed. Mira giggled at Natsu's reaction as she could guess why he sighed.
"What? You don't like it?" She asked the pink haired man and made a sorrowful look.
"It's not that. You look great, trust me. I just can't believe that I got played by my daughter!" Natsu said to Lily, not looking towards Mira. Mira blushed slightly at Natsu's comment. "Dang it. I need to stop this. I can't blush with EVERY thing he says." She scolded herself. Natsu tried to give a stern look to his daughter but couldn't as Lily hugged his feet with a smile wide across her face.
"What's the commotion guys?" Came a voice from the front gates of the guild. Mira waved at the owner of the voice, which turned out to be Lucy. She had stopped in the gates when she saw the three of them standing in front of the guild doors.
"We're going on a mission that's all." Mira said and tugged her shirt. She wasn't used to wearing one anymore as her more common outfit was a maroon dress.
"Who's going to look after Lily if you two go on a mission?" Lucy wondered, hoping that it was not her at the same time. She liked children but didn't know how to take care of one, especially Natsu's. Oh yes, Lucy has heard all of the destruction tales of Fairy Tail that concerned the pink haired wrecking ball of a man and she could only wonder what feats his daughter could do.
"It's Lily's mission. I'm supervising and Mira is going as she is Lily's trainer." Natsu said in clarification before Mira could butt in and confuse the blonde even more. Lucy looked at the three and only now seemed to notice that they all were ready for travel. Then she thought about her book and made a decision.
"Can I come?" She asked Natsu, who she thought of being the leader of the group. She was surprised when Lily tugged her skirt and nodded before answering.
"Of course Lucy-neesan can come." Lily said happily and placed her hand on the celestial mages hand before she had any chance to say another word. Natsu sighed again and shrugged his shoulders while Mira smiled in her palm.
"Well, you heard the leader. Let's go." Mira said and started to walk. She got two steps before a huge hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Where are you going Nee-san.?" Elfman asked his older sister. He had seen her new outfit and had guessed that she was going on a mission, he only hoped that she wasn't going with whom he thought she was.
"Going on a mission with Lily and Natsu." Mira said straightly. She didn't keep secrets from Elfman, not even when it concerned Natsu. Elfman growled at the news and narrowed his eyes.
"Wasn't one Strauss enough Natsu?" Was all he got to say before Mira slammed her hand on his mouth. Natsu looked Elfman sadly and took Lily's hand in his and started to walk towards the forest.
"Let's go Lucy, Lily. Mira, we'll wait at the forest entry." Natsu said without turning his head. He knew better than to try and talk to Elfman, he didn't want to listen to him so it didn't matter what Natsu said to him. Lucy followed Natsu and Lily while turning her head over to Mira and Eflman. Elfman looked angry as he stared at Natsu's back and Mira was equally annoyed by the looks of it. "Wonder what's that about?" Lucy thought and shaked her head. "Gah, I need to start writing these questions up so I remember them." She made a mental note while hitting her fist on her palm, an action that Lily watched with great interest.
"Dad." Lily said to her father with a serious tone as she kept her eyes on Lucy.
"What honey?" Natsu asked and gave a look to Lily to let her know that he was listening her as they walked.
"I think Lucy-neesan is crazy." She replied and kept watching Lucy being silent and waving her arms about.
"I think you're right." Natsu said when he looked what had made Lily say something like of Lucy.
"C'mon, we need to hurry. I want to get as close to the town as we can before night comes." Natsu said and picked Lily up before he started walking faster.
***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***
Mira caught up with them after a while and the look on her face made it clear that she did not want to talk about it.
"So, what's the mission?" Lucy asked the group, trying to break the silence.
"We're going to beat up baddies! Some evil things are in someones somewhere and we are going to tell them that they're bad." Lily said happily from Natsu's arms which made Lucy sweatdrop at the little girl.
"A monster extermination. A Lacrima mine was invaded and we're going to drive the monsters out so they can continue doing work." Mira explained to Lucy. Lucy nodded in response, already writing things down in her head.
"Say, Mira. Can I ask you a question?" Lucy asked Mira after making sure that Natsu wasn't close.
"You already did but sure." Mira answered and smiled.
"Why was Elfman like that?" Mira sighed at the womans question and looked at Natsu.
"He blames Natsu for something. It happened a long time ago but he just can't forgive him." Mira explained the situation that happened before they left.
"No, I'm not going to explain it further, that is for Natsu to decide." Mira continued after she had seen the curious look on Lucy's face.
"But he doesn't seem to want to talk about it." Lucy replied, hoping to get help from Mira.
"Well, then there's nothing you can do is there." Mira said flatly and continued walking in silence. The group made their way through the forest with little happening, Lily only left the group three times when she saw a rabbit or a squirrel. Mira noticed that Lucy looked the way Natsu and Lily were with sadness which made her think that there might be more to the reason why Lucy were so interested in Natsu and his little girl. She wanted to ask about more but was certain that the blond would not tell anything, personal matters were personal matters after all.
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It had gotten dark when Natsu decided that they needed to get rest, it was not a good idea to exterminate monsters if you're feeling tired and the way Lily kept dozing off in his arms were a clear sign that she was tired. Mira had wondered when they would make camp but knew that if Lily wanted to keep doing missions, she needed to learn quickly that the travels could take long when walking. And that happened alot around Natsu. They spotted a small stream on the left of the small animal path they had turned to and all three turned for the stream with unanimous decision.
"Thank god! My feet are killing me!" Lucu said as she dropped on the ground and took her boots off.
"Well of course they are, your choice in footwear is pretty bad for a walk in the forest." Mira said and gave Natsu a fishing rod which made the man blink. Natsu kept looking the fishing rod and then Mira a few times and his eyes were asking if Mira was serious. Mira only nodded and took Lily off from Natsu's hands and put the fishing rod in her place.
"I wasn't thinking about a walk in the woods when I woke up this morning!" She said and huffed to the other woman who were smiling and setting Lily in a sleeping bag.
"Well you could've gone to change or borrow from the guild. I'm sure there are a few people who are your size." Mira answered and started to make a small campfire. Lucy watched the woman in confusion.
"Why are you making a fire?" Lucy asked as she couldn't figure out the reason of making a fire if they were going to sleep.
"Because the night is cold, there are wildlife here and I don't want to wake up only to see Lily missing as a bear had dragged her away. Besides, we need to eat." Mira said and frowned as the campfire didn't want to stay on a nice cone shape she had tried to put them.
"So Lucy, tell me. Are you interested in Natsu?" Mira asked out of the blue, effectively blanking any means of thinking from the blonde.
"W-what made you think that Mira?" Lucy stuttered in bewilderment. "Does it really look like that to others?" She thought and waited for Mira to answer. Mira placed the last twig in the pile and turned to face Lucy while rubbing pieces of bark from her hands.
"Well, you always seem to be with him. I mean, you talk to him and ask questions about him in the guild." Mira said and squatted to the backpack Natsu had brought along to find something to light the fire with but had no luck. "Figures, he wouldn't need anything now would he?" Mira chided herself.
"Well, it's because he sparks my interest." Lucy said and started to go through her own bag when she understood what Mira was searching for.
"Not in that way! It's just that I'm a writer and he seems to be a walking conflict." Lucy said and pulled out a tinderbox and passed it on to Mira.
"Conflict? What do you mean?" Mira asked and squatted next to the twigs, starting to light the fire.
"He's usually so carefree that you wouldn't think that he has a daughter and sometimes it seems that he is so dense that he wouldn't notice someone to be attracted to him even if he was told straight in the face." Lucy said, remembering the appraising looks from the women that Natsu had got and ignored when they had been in Everlue. Mira smiled slightly and gave Lucy her tinderbox after the fire had been started.
"That's true, he wouldn't notice." Mira said with a hint of sorrow that Lucy did not miss.
"Could it be Mira that YOU are interested in Natsu?" Lucy asked carefully, making Mira's cheek get slightly pink.
"you don't need to answer if you don't want to but I can tell you right now, you got nothing to worry about me." Lucy said and then blushed herself when her stomach grumbled. Mira didn't say anything as she suddenly found the crackling campfire very interesting.
***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***MaP***
"Can you sense it?" A woman in a black cloak asked the figure standing next to her, both facing towards a small source of light flicking in the distance. The figure nodded silently, concentrating on the pulsating feeling of magic of divine origin.
"How many?" The woman continued and took a communication lacrima from the depths of the cloak. The silent figure lift two fingers, making the woman smile.
"Found you!" She said happily and squeezed the lacrima, making it turn deep indigo in color and when it turned green, she let it go. The two figures then retreated in the depths of the forest, not noticing a tuft of pink hair not far from where they were.
"What was that?" Natsu thought as he felt the rush of something familiar close by. "It was like HIM, but it can't be. Not here." He kept thinking, trying to remember if he'd felt something similar ever before and almost lost the fishing rod while being immersed in his thoughts as it was now roughly pulled towards the center of the stream. He quickly stood up and started to pull the rod while backing up, the familiar fleeting feeling already forgotten.
When he came back to the campsite, he was happily surprised at the campfire being already done. Natsu had thought that it was his responsibility as he had the fire magic and hadn't packed anything to light the fire with.
"Hello girls, I see that you've got the fire going." He said and placed the fish on top of the fire, glad that he was also unneeded in making a stand on top of it to cook the fish he brought.
"Yes, and no thanks to you." Mira said and gave Natsu an irritated look.
"Oh c'mon Mira. It's not like I need anything to light fire's with." Natsu said with mock hurt and Mira glared at Natsu but both soon broke in to a laughter.
"Lily being sleeping okay?" He asked and turned the fish on it's other side so it wouldn't burn.
"Yeah, and there hasn't been a speck of fire from her either." Mira said and looked at the sleeping form of Lily, who was now completely submerged in the sleeping bag.
"Fire?" Lucy asked in confusion, she had been quiet and let the two of them talk but this piqued her interest.
"Yeah. You see, when two mages have a child, it's common for the child also be able to use magic. It's usually from either parent but in some rare cases, and this is true for Lily, the child get's a combination of both." Mira explained. Master had told her this before and she knew that not everyone knew about this small, but sometimes important piece of information. Natsu stayed silent and stared at the campfire while Lucy nodded at the words of Mira, writing on a small memo pad. "If only you were right Mira, I have a feeling that this is all on me." He thought and took the fish from the fire as it smelled ready.
"Eat up girls, tomorrows going to be a hard day." Natsu said and ate in silence. Both Mira and Lucy wondered at the reclusive behavior of Natsu but counted it for him being tired. Mira and Lucy went to the tent with Lily while Natsu stayed outside, his body could stand the elements better than the other two and he really didn't need to worry about being cold. "What was that feeling. It was so familiar and so close to being his that it's starting to bug me." Natsu thought as he stared at the stars, feeling homesick.
The girls woke up the next day when Natsu was shouting them to wake up and that he and Lily was already to go. Both of them groaned, Lucy from being tired as she was not a morning person and Mira from being in pain as it had been a long time since she had last slept outside.
"I don't get it. How can you so energetic right at the morning." Lucy said and yawned while rubbing her eyes.
"Habit. I had to learn how to wake up early and not be sleep addled." Natsu said and waited for Mira and Lucy to pack up the tent.
"Has she eaten?" Mira asked and looked at Natsu. Natsu crossed his arms and looked at Mira like she was an idiot.
"Right, never mind." Mira said and walked to the pack Natsu had on his back to tie the tent on it. After tugging it firmly, Mira was satisfied by her work and the group started their walk.
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It was mid-day when they entered the small town and saw an idyllic scene of a regular country market. People were walking from stall to stall with baskets in their hands, picking vegetables and small items.
"Nice looking place. Hard to think that there would be monsters here." Natsu said as they walked along the main road of the town. Lucy and Mira nodded while Lily was shifting her eyes from one stall to another, getting more excited by the second.
"Daddy, can I get a new toy?" Lily asked when she spotted one stall selling freshly made wooden toys. Natsu chuckled and ruffled the little girls hair.
"After work kiddo. Then you can do what you want with your share." He said, getting an annoyed groan from the girl.
"But daddyy!" She whined and watched the toys with longing.
"No buts. Work comes first, playtime is later." Natsu said with a stern voice. Mira smiled at the scene. Even if Natsu was a bit of a loose cannon, he would always make sure that Lily did what was needed before she got to the fun things she wanted. It had taken Mira a few weeks to teach the concept to Natsu but it had been worth it, he had understood it and hadn't stopped using the most effective tool for rising children. Threatening, bribery and extortion, worked like a charm.
"Fine, but after work, I'm getting a new toy and you can't stop me." Lily said and started pouting. Natsu only nodded, knowing that it wouldn't make any difference even if he did say something.
After the market they came to the industrial part of the town. Many offices of multiple mining companies were present and they were a bit overwhelmed by the multitude of them. One worker saw the group staring at the offices with a confused look and came over to ask if they needed directions. They explained that they were mages on a job to empty out an lacrima mine and the worker gave them directions to the office of the company who had posted the request. It hadn't been a secret that one of the mines had been overrun by arachnids and there was supposed to be a group of mages on the way to empty the mine.
They had to walk to the other end of the district to get to the office of the manager of the mine. They entered the office and was greeted by a man with white hair and mustache who offered them coffee and small pastries. The group declined the kind offer and informed that they could most likely start mining again the next day as they had planned on emptying out the mine during this day. The manager promised all of them a lacrima lamp if they really did get the mine empty in one day, he would be most grateful for it as they were falling more and more behind schedule.
"Lacrima lamps, why would I need lacrima lamps." Natsu wondered aloud when they were walking to the mine in question.
"They are really nice for decoration, you can get them in any color and they don't smoke like candles or torches."Mira said as she had heard Natsu. Natsu turned his head towards the white-haired woman and stared. Mira shifted on her feet, feeling uncomfortable under the stare.
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing. Didn't think that the Demon would be so...domestic." Natsu said with small smile and continued to walk with Lily. Lucy shaked her head when she saw Mira's dark aura rise at Natsu's comment.
"And what's wrong with me being domestic Natsu?" Mira asked with a dark growl while her hair was starting move around her like it was caught in the wind.
"Nothing wrong. If I'd pick something, I would say it makes you more cute than anything." Natsu replied with a normal tone, making Mira's mood brighten and a small smile worked it's way on her lips. Lucy heard Natsu and started to wonder if Mira's interest was one-sided as she had originally thought. "I'm cute! He said I'm cute!" Mira thought happily and started skipping. She stopped when she felt Lucy's stare on her back.
"I think you should talk to Natsu, Mira." Lucy whispered to the woman and kept her eye on the man in question, not wanting him to hear something he shouldn't.
"L-lucy! What are you saying?" Mira whispered back with a hurried tone. Lucy giggled at Mira and her nervousness of talking about the subject.
"I'm saying that you should talk to him! You'll get nowhere if you just stand in the sidelines. Besides, you already got points in." Lucy said back with a whisper.
"P-points? What points?" Mira asked in confusion which made Lucy stare the woman in wonderment. "How can she be so dense on these things? Or maybe she really doesn't get it when it comes to her." Lucy thought. So far Mira hadn't lived up to her reputation of a matchmaker that the Sorcerer Weekly had given her.
"Well, Lily already likes you. It should be easier for you to get Natsu like you back too." Lucy said and patted the woman on the shoulder.
"I don't like him like that!" Mira said with a blush while Lucy smiled at ther.
"Sure you don't." Lucy only said and kept smiling.
"I really don't." Mira said louder and slapped Lucy on her shoulder.
"You don't what Mira?" Came Natsu's voice from behind their back and froze Mira on the spot. Natsu had wondered where the two were and had spotted them walking slowly with their heads near each other and had started to walk back to them. He had wanted to tell them to hurry up but then Mira had suddenly spoke a bit loudly and made him wonder what the two women were talking about.
"N-nothing." Mira said and walked quickly forward the road, not looking at Natsu. Natsu frowned at Mira, it was not unusual that she kept secrets but something told Natsu that this wasn't any regular secret.
"What were you guys talking about?" He asked Lucy and turned his head to her. Lucy shaked her head as she watched Mira walking away with her back stiff.
"Nothing important Natsu. Girl stuff." Lucy said to Natsu and gave him a look full of pity. "What the hell?" Natsu thought and was confused.
"Hurry up daddy, Lucy-neesan. I can see the mine!" Lily shouted. She had gotten pretty far with Mira as she had scooped Lily into her arms and walked with a fast pace, trying to get some distance between her and Natsu so she could compose herself. The two picked up their pace and soon they were in a small compound that had a fence go around it. The sign that told what mine and who's it were was ripped off from top of the gate and tossed aside somewhere while the gates themselves were inside in pieces. Natsu smelled arachnids and something else he couldn't figure out. The smell only got stronger when they got closer to the real entrance of the mine.
"Be careful. There is something else there than spiders." Natsu said and walked to the entrance.
"L-like what?" Lucy asked, being nervous as she didn't get along with spiders all that well. She could do well without seeing a spider ever again.
"Don't know and I intend to find out. Mira, stay behind me with Lily please. I don't like the feeling I get from here." Natsu said and pleaded the woman with his eyes. Natsu knew that if Mira's thirst for a battle rose, her inner demon would surely want to fight and not babysit. Mira nodded at Natsu and they walked in the mine slowly.
Wow was this hard to write. One reason is that I'm not that familiar with this type of writing, my other stories tend to be more grim and things like that. Also I tried to add more father-daughter things and more sisterly bonding and would like to know how I did. As always, read and review. If there is something wrong here (I'm sure there is something) please tell me what in specific felt wrong for you so I can do better next time.
Also, I would like to give a shout out to Bob Bandicoot, he was a huge help to me in this chapter and you should read his stuff. Really good I promise! Made me like Naruto characters for one :D But anyway, I would not have finished this chapter if not getting help from him so thanks a lot.
One Half: Hopefully this explained things for you! And I really am sorry about the quality, It's really sub par compared to your work.
treeofsakuras: Here is a new chapter like you wanted :D I hope you like this one too!
Kokuja-fafnir: I've tried to do better on the grammar, hopefully it is better now. If not, I'll try harder next time! And I think I made the wrong impression last time which I hopefully corrected at the start of this.
Thanks for all who followed and favorited and reviewed! Thanks a lot really, there are some pretty big names (in my opinion) writing Fairy Tail fics and it makes me nervous about my work. See you all in the next chapter. Unlike this one, it will probably come out pretty quick as I got most of it planned out.
-DraXXter-