(c)Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

CHAPTER 4

Year X973

"Luuusshiiiiiiiii~" Happy flew at the blonde haired mage who just passed through the guild doors. Lucy smiled as she patted the blue feline who's now making himself comfortable in Lucy's chest. "What's wrong, Happy?" The girl smiled.

"Let's go on a mission! I asked Natsu and he said that it's fine!" Happy flew from Lucy to face her and cheered.

"Hmmm…" Lucy was deep in thought when Mira talked. "I suppose it's been a while, Lucy. Why don't you go on a mission?" the barmaid smiled sweetly at the celestial mage.

Not that Lucy never wanted to go… In fact, she's running out of jewels. She also knows that Happy missed having missions with the complete Team Natsu since Lucy had a break. "But how about—"

"Luce!" Lucy Heartfilia's thoughts were interrupted as her best friend called her.

"Oh, Natsu! It's about the mission…" Lucy's face was filled with worry but Natsu proudly smiled at her.

"It's fine! Lisanna told me that she's going to take care of Nashi! So… we could go on a mission together as a team again!" Natsu grinned at Lucy. He saw Lucy let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at the salmon-haired dragon slayer.

"I suppose we could go. But only a short one, okay? Nashi's gonna miss us."

"Alright!" Natsu nodded as he informed Erza and Gray about the mission.

Who was this Nashi, anyway?

Nashi is a one-year old baby girl who was born in the year X972. She has salmon-colored hair (which she got from her father) and big brown orbs (which greatly resembled her mother's). Her parents? None other than the resident celestial mage and the fire dragon slayer of Fairy Tail.

How in Earthland did that happen?

Well, one day they just came into the guild hand-in-hand and announced that Lucy's pregnant. The whole guild froze after Natsu told them about that. Heck they didn't even know that the two were actually dating under their noses.

Year X971 (A few months after the Tartaros incident)

"HEY GUYS! I'M GONNA BE A DADDY!" Natsu cheered as he entered the guild pulling a scarlet-faced Lucy with him. Loud clanks were heard due to mugs of booze being dropped (in addition to the fallen jaws of the guild members) and fights were halted after the sudden announcement. After a few minutes of silence, Mirajane's squeals were heard before she passed out. Elfman caught her before she hit the floor.

"YOU WERE ACTUALLY TOGETHER!?" The whole guild shouted in unison while Master cried tears of joy due to having another family member in a few months. They were shocked because they thought that Natsu's denseness would make the two of them best friends forever.

"Oh my God the dense idiot got laid before me!" Gray shouted in horror while Juvia was in the background trying to console her 'Gray-sama'.

"Isn't it obvious that we were together since the beginning?" Everyone smacked their heads because… yup, it's the flame headed idiot who's involved. The dense idiot who has a potato has a head.

"Idiot, it's not something that's decided from the very start! You didn't even say a single word to me until a few months ago!" Lucy smacked Natsu in the head and the guild erupted in laughter.

After rubbing his head, Natsu grinned at Lucy and patted her head. "Well, it doesn't really matter anymore now that we'll have another family member coming up!" He lifted her and swung her around before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Gihee, who knew that the idiot had it in him?" Gajeel smirked while watching the two of them. Levy, who was sitting beside him, had tears in her eyes while muttering something like being the godmother or something around those lines.

"Congratulations, Lucy-san and Natsu-san!" Wendy smiled at the couple while Charle (who's now holding a fish adorned with ribbons) was being bugged by an energetic Happy.

"OI GUYS PAY UP! I told ya he's gonna get laid before most of you!" Cana wiped her mouth after chugging down a whole barrel of booze. Cries and grunts were heard around Cana while jewels were piled up on her table.

'They actually had bets!?' Lucy sweatdropped because they thought Natsu couldn't do it. Well… think again. 'He's actually… pretty good.' Lucy's cheeks were stained with pink at her realization.

Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca were reminiscing about the time they first learned about Asuka. They are very much sure that Natsu and Lucy feel very happy right now. They gained someone who's directly related to them. Just like what they felt when Asuka came, they're sure that it'll be very heartwarming and fulfilling. While cheering on the side, Asuka was happy that she'll be a big sister in a few months.

Back in the bar, Lisanna was tending to her unconscious older sister. "Well, those two are now definitely happy because…they gained another important treasure. Their own bundle of joy." Lisanna smiled as she lovingly gazed at her two friends. Don't get her wrong, she looked at Natsu only as a brother; nothing more, nothing less. And ever since she got stuck in Edolas, she saw how their Edo versions also loved each other despite their weird relationship. 'Meanwhile, Mira-nee should really get a grip.' She sweatdropped.

"THIS CALLS FOR A PARTY!" Master Makarov announced as he raised his mug of beer. The whole guild followed suit and continued their merry making, dancing and of course brawls. Fairy Tail will not be the same without the usual fights. Gray threw a chair at Natsu for being so mushy with Lucy. Natsu smiled at Lucy, put her at a safe place near Mira and Lisanna, then threw another chair at Gray who dodges it. The chair hit Erza's cake instead so the two were running around the guild while avoiding her swords. Eventually, everyone in the guild got involved and Master just cried like a child because of the expenses of the repairs due to the fight. On his side, Laki sighed and calculated the number of new chairs and tables that should be made tomorrow morning. But in the end, everyone was laughing like crazy and was at peace with each other's company. They really gave a warm welcome for Natsu and Lucy's child.

After 6 months, Lucy got into labor and delivered Nashi.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy panted as she tried to smile at her boyfriend who's now holding their little bundle of joy. She was at Porlyusica's clinic and the whole guild swarmed around the room much to Edo-Grandine's annoyance.

"Luce, look at her! She's so cuuuuuuute!" Natsu grinned as he put their baby beside Lucy. As she held the baby in her arms, Natsu admired the sight of the new mother and child. He could really get used to this situation. He created a family. His own family. And he'll never let them go.

"Ne, Natsu. Can I name your baby?" Happy flew near the couple and landed near the baby girl. The feline touched the baby's hand with his fur and smiled. "I want her to be Nashi!"

"Why Nashi?"

"It's a combination of your names! 'Na' from Natsu and 'shi' from Lushi!" Happy explained.

Small 'o''s were formed from Natsu and Lucy's mouth as they looked at each other. They smiled and agreed that their little girl will be named as Nashi.

"Nashi!"

Nashi gripped Happy' paw. "N-Natsu! I think she likes it!" Natsu grinned while Lucy patted Happy's head.

"Of course she did! Her big brother gave her a name so she'd definitely like it!"

After explaining a few things to Lisanna on how to take care of their little Nashi, Natsu and Lucy each kissed their child's forehead and headed on their mission as Team Natsu.

Well, actually they left after Erza played with Nashi. She loved being with that child.

Anyway, they randomly grabbed some easy-looking mission (just catching a dark mage named Kyrios who's been messing around in a town called Rosencrow) which is surprisingly high-paying, too! (Can you imagine… 950,000 jewels for this simple mission?) Natsu and Lucy hoped to finish the job within three days since Rosencrow is just three hours away from Magnolia.

Oh well, of course, they had to ride a train.

To calm him down, Lucy let Natsu fall asleep on her lap. They discovered that Natsu feels better when he's lying on her lap while she caresses his salmon-colored locks. Well, at least no one will block the windows now.

The team arrived at Rosencrow. They were told that Kyrios possesses Portal magic that could send people to different dimensions at will. He was using this power to make the town folks disappear. But here's the catch, the people must work under him to get the missing people back! After talking to some folks (who were very scared because of the dark mage), they headed to the forest near the town river so that they could raid the dark mage's hideout and capture him.

It was a heated battle. Kyrios had no underlings. He was working alone but the team had difficulty in defeating him because he was using the town folks as a shield. But Erza had a different plan in mind. He requipped into her Heaven Wheel's armor and summoned around a hundred swords. Each sword lunged at each town folk and hit them at their napes with the hilt. Now having unconscious people that he couldn't manipulate anymore, Kyrios had to battle Team Natsu head on. Using Scorpio's sand, Lucy tried to obscure Kyrios' vision so that he won't be able to use his magic accurately. That was when Gray took the opportunity to freeze his limbs to prevent him from casting any magic. Natsu lunged forward and knocked Kyrios out. And it was Team Natsu's victory.

"Sweet!" Natsu pumped his fists in the air. He turned to Lucy and they high fived.

"Now all that's left is to hand him to the Council. Well, they'll be here in a little while so we'll have to wait." Erza stated as she dragged Kyrios in a nearby tree to tie him up. After the deed is done she reunited with the team who's now resting on the ground.

"Maaaan, I can't wait to go home and see Nashi!" Natsu claimed as he laid on his back in a nearby rock.

"You've really become a doting father, you flame brain." Gray smirked.

"At least he's wearing clothes." Lucy pointed at Gray.

"Ah crap not again!" Gray left frantically searching for his missing clothes. Erza arrived just in time to accompany Natsu and Lucy.

"That little Nashi really changed our lives…" Erza was the one to speak. She was really attached to the little one. Well, they had Asuka at the guild but she's already six when they returned home from the Tenrou incident. Team Natsu lost their parents so Nashi will definitely be brought up full of love and care by the guild and of course by their parents.

Lucy smiled at Erza's statement. "I agree. It was hard at first because I did not know what to do— I'm still a teenager but… knowing that I have Natsu and the guild by my side…" Lucy looked at Natsu as he gripped her hand, "I feel like I can do anything!" She grinned at her friends. Gray finally returned thankfully with clothes on and smiled.

"I did not have any parents and Igneel was the only one I had so I was happy when I knew that Nashi's coming to us. I wanted to be the best father for her!" Natsu smiled at his girlfriend.

"They liiiiiiiiiiiike each other~" Happy jumped into the conversation and the whole group laughed.

But they did not expect what happened after.

Shadows started to creep into Lucy's limbs and were trying to engulf her completely. Natsu realized too late and wasn't able to pull Lucy out on time. He turned to the man tied into the tree and ran towards the culprit.

"YOU BASTARD!" He punched Kyrios. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE LUCY!?" Natsu grabbed Kyrios collar and lifted him up. The guy just smirked and replied.

"T-That was m-my last spell. I-it's the m-most powerful and d-don't look for that b-blondie anymore. She'll be fucked up, anyway." At the last sentence, Natsu grabbed Kyrios' head and smashed it against the tree. Erza came and stopped Natsu.

"Natsu, leave this to me." Erza tapped Natsu's shoulder.

"No. Lucy—" Erza just gripped Natsu's shoulder harder telling him to stop. Natsu released the man as Erza took his place. Erza requipped into her Purgatory Armor and stabbed a few swords around the dark mage but she noticed that Kyrios was not moving anymore. 'LAST spell, was it?'

Natsu's anger was replaced by shock and sadness as he recalled Lucy's last words before she disappeared.

'Please take care of Nashi for me.'

He roared in grief as his tears fell to the ground.

She still smiled at the very end.

Year 2014

And now, Natsu found her at last.

Now on her knees, Lucy was crying uncontrollably because of a single name. She couldn't believe that she forgot about her! Nashi wasn't even on her novel!

Then he heard her mutter something while she was sobbing.

"So it was not a stupid dream after all…" Natsu smiled as he kneeled in front of the blonde and hugged her tightly, Ami and Lester completely forgotten.

After a year of longing, it seems that he now gained his Lucy back.

AN: Oh dear I'm having a writer's block. I'm currently typing chapter 8 but... - I hope it comes to me soon. Sorry for the irregular updates. Sometimes the urge to draw something wins :)) Thank you for reading!