Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome back to The ABCs of Natsu and Erza! Today's chapter is B as in Baby!
Now, I just want to say a few things before we start: First of all, this is my most trafficked story in the first week alone! I sincerely thank you all for making that possible, but it's not enough! I'm baring my soul to you guys through my work, and reviews let me know how I'm doing. On that note, I've also disabled anonymous reviews. I know it's kind of counterproductive to what I just said about reviews, but most anonymous reviews are either "cool story bro" or "love this pairing," and they don't tell me anything about how I can improve as a writer. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy what I'm doing, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. It's just that the average reader only notices spelling and grammar without any regard to plot or flow, and those are the kinds of things I obsess over, so if I could find just one reader who can tell me what I can do to make my plots flow better and, ultimately, enable me to tell a better story, well, a review like that would be worth a million reviews saying that they like my story.
Also, I had just noticed while looking at my traffic, but today marks the four year anniversary of my first real contribution to , Blaze. I'm not one for anniversaries, but I can't help but think I've matured as a writer over the last four years, and that's always a good thing. I might even do a version of Blaze with my Emboar from my Pokemon Black game if I can think of 30 good sentences, but that's something for another day.
I think I've rambled on enough, so I'll close this little note with the disclaimer I forgot in the last chapter:
I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. I do, however, own Faye Dragneel.
This chapter is rated T for language and a violent Erza.
One year ago, Natsu and Erza Dragneel had welcomed a baby girl named Faye into their lives. Of course, the mages of Fairy Tail were just as enthusiastic as the parents. The last year had been nothing but a joy for everyone who knew the family, and everyone was always willing to lend a helping hand.
However, being new parents affected their work as mages. Natsu and Erza always took it in shifts for one of them to take a mission to provide for their daughter and the other to stay home. The guild members would try in vain to convince them that Faye would be all right as long as everyone did their part, but the parents denied all offers of aid, saying it was crucial that Faye come to know her mother and father.
Our story takes place one peaceful night. It was Erza's turn to take a mission, and she had returned late that afternoon, tired, but, as always, happy to see her family.
Her family – every time she thought about that, it brought a warm chill down her spine. She had grown up without parents, having to rely on several father figures, but never a mother figure. When she had gotten the news of her pregnancy two years ago, she was overwhelmed with fear, joy, and doubt all at once. She knew next to nothing about being a mother, and she worried whether she and Natsu were even ready to learn. But through it all, she was overjoyed at the fact that she would actually have a family. Sure, she had her Fairy Tail nakama, but this was something her blood would conceive, so she could only worry that she wasn't up to the task.
However, like he had done so many times in the past, Natsu managed to melt away all of her concerns with the flame of hope he was unaware burned brightly as part of his personality.
Now, however, she was exhausted from her mission, and she was perfectly content in dreamland, having visions of strawberry cake and the allergic reaction it caused in Erza Knightwalker. However, the sound of her crying daughter broke that illusion with little effort.
Erza rubbed out the sleep and struggled to open her eyes. She checked the time, 3:30 in the morning, and groaned. Turning to face her husband, she muttered, "Natsu, the baby's crying."
There was no response from the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. "Natsu, get up!" she said again, raising her voice. All she heard in reply was a loud snore.
Erza was, by this point, furious. She just wanted Natsu to wake up and take care of their daughter so she could go back to sleep. With a growl, she grabbed her husband by the throat, held him in front of her, and kicked him in the stomach while yelling, "WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!"
Natsu, long since conditioned to the pain his wife inflicted, jerked awake in an instant. "Huh? What? I'm awake! Don't kill me!" he said in a panic.
Erza sighed. "Faye's crying. Calm her down," she said simply. Natsu nodded in response, sat down on the bed, and closed his eyes.
Erza groaned again. "Natsu…' she seethed, only to be shushed, causing her to snap.
"NATSU, FOR GOD'S SAKE, I JUST GOT BACK FROM EXTERMINATING A COLONY OF VULCANS, AND I AM IN NO MOOD TO BE AWAKE ANY LONGER THAN I HAVE TO, SO YOU HAD BETTER GET YOUR ASS OVER TO FAYE'S ROOM RIGHT NOW , OR SO HELP ME, I WILL SLIT YOUR FUCKING THROAT WITH EVERY GODDAMN WEAPON I OWN!"
At that moment, Natsu opened his eyes. "Faye's hungry!" he exclaimed happily. With that declaration, he left the room to do what he must. Five minutes later, he returned with a pink-haired one-year-old in his arms, happily nursing a bottle, oblivious to Happy cowering in the corner in fear of Erza.
"How do you know these things, Natsu?" asked a bewildered Erza.
"Dragon Slayers have enhanced senses, including hearing, so by carefully listening to a baby's cries, I can easily tell why the baby is crying," he explained.
"So you know what Faye wants by the way Faye cries?"
"Pretty much," replied Natsu. "It took me a while to learn, for example, her hungry cry from her gas cry, but once I knew what was what, I never had any problems."
Erza was astonished by how little she knew about her baby compared to Natsu. "I guess it just goes to show how little time I spend with her," she said. "It's always a chore for me to determine exactly what's wrong."
Natsu frowned at his wife's lack of self-confidence. "Hey, it took me a while to learn, too. I just used my Dragon Slayer abilities to help me," he said. "And anyway, I'm away from her just as much as you are. It's not like I like leaving Faye, I hate it! But hey." He smiled. "We gotta feed our little girl, right?"
Despite her tiredness, Erza smiled back at Natsu. Once again, he managed to put her worries to rest. At that point, Faye had just finished her bottle, and was once again crying.
"She needs to be burped," said Natsu. He slung Faye over his shoulder, patted her back for a minute or so, she gave a satisfied burp and fell back asleep.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you are, Natsu?" asked Erza.
"You mean in bed?" Natsu replied cheekily. Little did he know the only thing stopping Erza from punching him in the stomach was the fear that he might drop her baby girl. "I'm going to put Faye back to bed. You do the same for yourself."
"What about you?" Erza asked.
"Well, I'm wide awake now, no thanks to you," said Natsu. "Guess I'll light a candle and read the new chapter of Lucy's novel. But before that…" He leaned in and pecked Erza on the cheek. With that, the Dragon Slayer left to complete his task.
As sleep once again took over the Titania, she couldn't help thinking that having a family was the best thing that could ever happen to her.
Well, I'm prouder of this one than I am of most. And I guess I unintentionally lied when I said there would be nothing that could be said about Faye in Awestruck that would be redundant here, since I didn't end up saying a lot about her.
But hey, I'm up to C now, and I've been waiting to write this one for a while now. Don't be surprised if I don't come out with it for quite a while, because I really want to make sure this is presentable. All I'll say about it is that Jellal will appear! And he will be a major plot point! DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN!
But that's for another day, so until then, peace and love from Nightlingbolt! And happy Mother's day to all of you and your mothers!