Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome back to more of "The ABCs of Natsu and Erza!" Today's letter is... X for Xylophone! Because there's really not much else. What, did whoever wrote the alphabet have some sort of vendetta against the letter X or something? I mean, why else would next to nothing start with it? I guess X is just the Luvdisc of the alphabet. Or Farfetch'd, depending on your preferred generation of Pokemon.

The concept has been kicking around in my head ever since I first started this challenge, which was just under a year ago. Never thought I'd still be doing this in the twilight of April. Once again, this didn't come out at all like I planned, but for now, I'm satisfied with how it did come out, so... here you go.

Finally, before we begin, I just want to say how much I appreciate everyone's reactions to my Young Justice oneshot (even if your typical Young Justice fan doesn't read Fairy Tail fanfiction). Six reviews, and plenty of favorites and alerts. Meanwhile, people avoid my NatsuxErza stuff like the plague. Just a fair warning, though - I do not plan on writing any romance for Robin and Artemis, because as a rule, I don't mess with canon couples, and as of Auld Acquaintance... (see bottom for spoilers)

I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. I own Faye and Tai Dragneel.

Erza Dragneel strode down the streets of Magnolia with a sense of accomplishment. She had completed yet another S-Class quest, and if everything went as it should, her husband should have done the same.

It felt good to have this sort of freedom in her mission schedule again. Now that Faye and Tai were old enough to join the guild, they felt more at ease going on missions together. However, this time around, Natsu had a job that called for a fire mage, so Erza was working alone this time.

She reached the house where she and her family lived, and opened the door to find Faye eating a torch, Tai polishing his armor, and... a xylophone in her living room.

"NATSU!" she bellowed.

"Huh. Guess Dad's in trouble again," said Faye to her younger brother.

"What else is new?" muttered Tai. He loved his father dearly, but sometimes, he just wanted to punch the idiot in the mouth.

Natsu hurried down the stairs, eager to get his suffering over with. "Oh, hi, Erza! You're back already!" he said nervously.

"What do you mean 'already?' You obviously finished your job before I did mine!" said Erza. Pointing to the xylophone, she asked, "What is this?"

"It's a xylophone," said Natsu, trying to keep his composure.

"I can see that," said Erza dryly. "I mean, where did you get a xylophone? And for that matter, how did you pay for it?"

"Would you believe it was a reward for my mission?" he said hopefully.

"No," said Erza flatly.

"Seriously, who would give a xylophone as a reward?" said Tai.

Natsu sighed. "I bought it with my reward money," he admitted. Upon his confession, Erza punched her husband, sending him flying across the room.

"Ouchie-mama!" said Faye with a grin.

"You got that right," agreed Tai.

"That reward was supposed to go towards groceries for the month!" scolded Erza angrily. "Now what are we going to do for food?"

"Erza, relax! I won a bet with Laxus, and he has to buy all our groceries for a month!" said Natsu.

"Hey, that's just convenient enough to work!" said Tai.

"You should have more faith in me, Tai," said Natsu.

"Aye! Natsu has a plan!" said Happy, who had just flown down to see the commotion.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Really now?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Aye!" said Natsu. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to practice." He walked over to the xylophone, picked up the sticks, and began to play a disjointed tune, much to Erza's annoyance.

The Titania sighed. This xylophone thing was going to drive her insane.

Three days later, the Dragneels, save their patriarch, were hanging out at the guild. Tai sipped on some cream soda as he watched his mother and sister tear into a strawberry cake Mirajane had baked.

Lucy came up to the family, looking like she wanted something. "Hi, Tai. Where's your dad?" she asked.

Tai shrugged. "He's home playing with that stupid xylophone," he said disinterestedly.

"Still?" said Lucy with a frown. "He hasn't been to the guild since he got back! I should really talk to him about this!"

"Don't bother, Lucy," said Tai. "He's deadset on learning some song or something. Says he has to do it in time for his and Mom's anniversary."

Lucy gasped. "You don't mean...?"

"What do I mean?" asked Tai.

Seeing Tai honestly didn't know, Lucy decided not to say anything. "You'll understand when it's their anniversary," she said. With that, she decided to check on Cana and make sure she didn't overdrink as she normally did.

Meanwhile, Tai glanced at his mother, seemingly oblivious to his conversation with the woman. "Whatever that song is, it must have some sort of meaning for them," he said to no one in particular. He took a sip of his beverage and decided to look for someone to spar with, since it was obvious Faye wasn't going anywhere soon.

The day of his parents' anniversary arrived, and Tai still didn't get what was up with that song his father wanted to learn. Whatever it was, if he didn't have anything for his mother, the old man was dead, and Tai kind of needed his father alive.

"Tai!" The young mage heard the frantic cry of Happy as he flew into the guild. "Where's Erza?" the Exceed asked.

"I think she was talking with Master about something," said the second-generation Requip mage, confusion evident on his face. "Why?"

"It's your dad! It's an emergency!" said Happy frantically. "Erza needs to come home right away!"

Tai's eyes widened. What had happened to his father? "We're on our way!" he said. "Faye, get Mom!"

"Aye!" said the Dragon Slayer girl as she ran off to the Master's office. "Mom!"

Not ten minutes later, the Dragneels, sans Natsu, were rushing home to find out what had happened to their husband and father. Erza kicked open the door in true Titania fashion and barged into the foyer, brandishing her sword.

"Natsu, we're here! What happened?" she asked frantically. Her only response was Natsu playing that damn xylophone. Except... this time, there was a familiar melody playing. Natsu's voice joined in, and in that moment, Erza understood.

It was that song. The song they danced to on their wedding day. That one song that perfectly exemplified how each felt about the other. It was a song about love, protection, and a bond that can weather even the harshest of storms. Even with the nasty scar of infidelity, even after two wonderful children, the message of that marvelous song still rang true after all these years, and it still enchanted her every time she heard it.

"Natsu..." The Dragon Slayer had finished playing, and was now hugging his wife close to his chest.

"I love you, Erza," said Natsu. "I can't imagine my days without coming home to see your beautiful smile."

"I love you, too, Natsu," said Erza. She gave Natsu a chaste kiss, and in the blink of an eye, resumed her battle mode. "Now, what's the emergency?"

"...This was the emergency," said a clearly confused Natsu.

Erza stared at Natsu for a few moments, an unamused look on her face. Finally, she hit her husband over the head.

"You idiot! We thought you were hurt!" shouted Erza.

"Well, I am now!" said Natsu, wincing in pain.

"Romantic fool!" muttered Erza.

Tai and Faye exchanged a look. It said, without mincing words, "Those two were made for each other."

...Spitfire becomes canon. Also, this seemed a lot longer on OpenOffice.

Speaking of Young Justice, Usual Suspects at least gave me hope for that hero persona I came up with for Jade/Cheshire. I mean, we all saw her walk away from Sportsmaster, so the optimist in me wants to think that she's giving up the assassin game to follow Artemis's example and try to become a hero, even though it's more likely she's going solo. But then again, the DCU's been bastardized enough already, a little thing like Cheshire being a good guy won't make much more difference. Not that I pay attention to the mainstream continuity, I just check the DC Wiki whenever I need information on a character.

Anyway, I have visions for Y and Z, and I hope to finish ABCs on the 8th, exactly a year since I uploaded Awestruck. Full circle FTW! So until then, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.