"Can you give this to me?" he asked and the kid turned to look at him. Natsu froze at the sight of him. "Y-You are…" the dragon slayer said, a weird feeling overtaking him. There was something about this boy. The kid's eyes widened a bit and he stared at Natsu.

"Pa..pa?"

"Papa?" Natsu asked aloud. "Did you just say Papa?" he continued, still looking intently at the little boy before him. His eyes were brown and sort of slanty-like but still quite rounded, his hair was overall a shade of pink but he noticed that the edges of his spiky hairs were dissolving to a blonde colour. He was wearing brown shorts and a plain red T-shirt, his feet were bare and sinking in the wet sand of the seashore. His small frame stared at the tall Dragon Slayer before him with almost watery eyes that expressed strongly an emotion of longingness but also fear and Natsu was caught a bit off guard.

The kid, as if this was a staring contest, kept looking into Natsu's black eyes intenly, ignoring his question. He was too busy taking in the fire mage's characteristics. His small eyes travelled from his right arm where Fairy Tail's guild mark was located to his scaly scarf that was wrapped around his wet, pinkish hair.

He looks...so much... like Papa...

"Oi! Are you alright?

Is he...Papa?

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

The small boy came out of his trance as he saw Natsu coming closer to him, looking at him with worried eyes. He felt warm tears on his rosy cheeks and suddendly snapped.

"Shut up!" he exclaimed in annoyance, his innocent and vulnerable look both gone from his small face. "Wh-What?!" Natsu yelled in confusion and disbelief. "Who are you, you squinty-eyed pinkhead?" the child continued his cold and rude behaviour, questioning him with an angry look. "O-Oi...calm down, won't you? And give me this piece of cloth you're holding...please?" Natsu replied, not wanting to upset him anymore.

However, the boy gritted his tiny teeth. "No, I'm not giving it back." he told Natsu with a devil-ish grin and put Lucy's swimsuit behind his back. Natsu was starting to get pissed off. Who on earth is this annoying brat and why did he call him "Papa" before? On top of that, he had rudely called him squinty-eyed pinkhead and would not return to him Lucy's bra.

"Liste here, brat... I don't have time to play with you..." Natsu said as quiet as he could as he picked the boy up from his shirt and brought him close to his own face. "Return Lucy's bra and tell me who you are before you make me really mad." The boy stubbornly looked at him with piercing brown eyes and wouldn't say a word. Natsu was starting to lose his patience. "Do you wanna get burned or someth...?" his words faded as he stared in disbelief. The boy had opened his mouth, aiming at him and Natsu noticed in shock as red sparkles were forming at the back of his throat, his small hands, forming loose fists were about to come before his he could react though, a familiar voice interrupted them.

"NATSU!"

Alarmed, both Natsu and the kid turned to look at the source of the voice and saw Gray and Juvia running towards them.

Natsu? Did he call this guy "Natsu"?

Panting, Gray and Juvia caught up with the two, only to be utterly shocked by the sight before them. A few seconds passed in silence when Gray suddenly decided to speak. "What year do we have?" he asked, turning to Juvia who in reply turned to Natsu. "Natsu-san...what's going on here? Where's Lucy?" The said Dragon Slayer's expression started to change to panic. "Crap! She's going to kill me!" he exclaimed, letting the boy fall off of his hands.

"What's this?" Gray said as he picked the red bra from the sand. "Give it back!" Natsu replied annoyed and snatched it away from the Ice Mage's hand in a swift move. "Oi, oi..." Gray sighed in a tired voice. "I'll go return these to Lucy-san...Where is she?" Juvia offered, udestanding the situation smelled trouble. "Back there. Thanks Juvia!" he replied as he handed her Lucy's full swimsuit and pointed at some rocks in a short distance behind them. "I'll bring her here, don't leave!" she said and run towards the direction she was shown.

"So? Care to tell me how you did that?" Gray turned to Natsu. "Huh?" was all Natsu could reply. "Never mind..." Gray laughed, making fun of him and the pink haired man glared at him. The both of them now focused on the kid before them again and he stared back at them with a suspicious look. "So...will you tell us what's your name?" Gray asked him very nicely and the boy blushed a little and looked away. "No..." he replied, crossing his small arms before his chest. "He's one stubborn little brat." Natsu blurted out, mimicking the child's body posture without realizing. Gray sighed once again.

"You're really stupid, aren't you? Or have you gone blind?"

Natsu was about to start protesting but Gray spoke to the kid again. "Well then...where are your parents?" he continued kindly. The boy looked at him in silence and then dropped his stare on ground with a sad expression. "I don't know..." he finally said. "I don't know where I am! I want Mama and Papa come take me home!" he cried out as his knees dropped to the sand and finally tears were running down his face again.

Natsu and Gray started to panic. They didn't see that coming. "W-What's wrong? Are you hungry? C-Calm down! We'll find your parents, okay? Don't cry!" Natsu said and approached the kid reluctantly, afraid he might back away from him again if he got too close. But he didn't as he was too busy crying his heart out to the point some people started to notice them from some distance. "H-He sure is loud..." Gray commented, not knowing how to stop him. "Good job there, Natsu!" Gray congratulated the Fire Mage in a mocking tone. "What the hell is that for, droopy eyes?" Natsu yelled in annoyance.

"Haven't you realized it yet?"
"What am I supposed to have realized, stupid stripper?"
"No matter how you look at it... this little guy looks like he's your and Lucy's son, stupid flame head!"
"WHAT?!"

"Natsu~! What's going on?" Lucy and Juvia were now approaching the scene in suspense. Juvia had told her about the situation when she left the three. Upon spotting Lucy, the kid stopped his crying. Lucy came to a stop beside Natsu, panting a little. She took in the kid's frame before her and her eyes widened, her mouth almost fell open.

"W-Who is he?" she asked Natsu without looking away from the kid, who in return looked at her intently, his face that was stained with tears was now liting up. "He won't say..." replied the Dragon Slayer unsure of what was going on. The boy then, ignoring everyone, run to Lucy, holding her legs as if asking for her to hold him. "Mama..." he cried softly. Lucy gasped upon hearing the kid's wrods but found herself lowering to the ground's level and letting his small frame fill her arms.

For some reason, this strange boy's scent was sort of familiar to her and she suddenly felt so nostalgic. She slowly brought her hands up and embraced him back, one of her arms stroking his soft, spiky hair. She felt him calm down and relax and Lucy smiled at him. "What's your name?" she asked quietly. The boy stayed silent at first but decided to speak in the end.

"Ryuji...I'm Ryuji..." replied the strange boy softly as sleep blissfully took him over in Lucy's arms.

"Ryuji...?" Natsu repeated, exchanging worried looks with Lucy but no answer would come to their mind. "What a weird brat..." Natsu sighed, tired. "Anyway, I don't think we can stay here any longer. Let's bring him home." he finished and everyone agreed.

Walking a few steps behind Natsu and Lucy, Juvia turned to Gray. "So, Gray- sama, could we too -?"

"Forget it."

Sorry for short chapter D: But I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it ^-^
Some readers asked NaLu babies so I decided to include one...sort of... xD
Feel free to post me your ideas, if you have something in mind you wanna see in my story that is.
Till the next chap~