Praise the Father Sun and Sister Moon

The wind gently tapped against the glass of the window, the moon shining through the thin curtains and into the room. Natsu and Lucy slept peacefully through the night, both of them utterly exhausted from their latest job. They were so deep in sleep, the only sound in the room was Natsu's light purring as he snuggled closely to his wife. His head rested on her shoulder as she lay on her back, his arm draped over her stomach and his legs tangled with her own. There was no disturbance all through the night. Until…

"Daddy," Nashi whispered, poking his back. He stirred, but didn't wake. Nashi huffed impatiently, reaching over him and nudging Lucy instead. "Mama." She had more success this time. Lucy turned her head and moaned, lifting a hand to her face to rub her eyes.

"What is it, baby?" she asked groggily.

Nashi yawned. "Otōto-chan is crying again…" The blonde sighed wearily. She and Natsu were so tired they didn't even hear Ryū's cries. She lightly slapped her husband's head.

"Natsu." He didn't budge. She bounced her shoulder and tried again. "Natsu." Still nothing. Groaning with frustration, she slipped out from under him, moving to the other side of the bed. This was an instant problem for him. He growled, his eyebrows knitting together as he slid his hand across the mattress, blindly searching for his human body pillow.

"Lucyyyy…" he whined when he couldn't find her, his eyes still closed.

"Natsu," she said again, shivering at the lack of warmth.

"What?" he snapped bitterly.

"Ryū's crying." There was silence for a moment. Natsu sighed when he finally heard his son.

"So he is…" The sleepy Dragon Slayer pried his eyes open, reluctantly turning onto his back and sitting up. He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, ruffling it even more. He slid out from under the covers and staggered to his feet, padding lazily across the room, Nashi following close behind. Natsu yawned like a lion as he stepped into his kids' room, approaching his son's crib. There he was, flailing around with the blanket pushed aside and a disgruntled-looking Happy curled up beside him, his paws flattening his ears against his head. Natsu reached in and rubbed the feline's head, muttering a small "Sorry, buddy." over the child's sobs.

"Shh…" he cooed softly as he hoisted Ryū into his arms. "What's the matter, buddy?" He, of course, received no answer. He didn't smell anything. Ryū hadn't soiled himself in his sleep. Then what was it? "Are you hungry?" He turned to leave the room, tousling Nashi's hair as he passed by.

"You two go back to sleep, alright?" he said, referring to his daughter and Happy. Nashi nodded and climbed back into her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Aye…" Happy muttered sleepily as Natsu closed the door. He carried the bawling baby into the kitchen, snatching his bottle off the counter. Ryū greedily took it into his mouth and began chugging it down. The wizard yawned again, shaking his head to try and wake himself up. He lightly bounced up and down while rocking from side to side, a method Lucy taught him when Nashi was an infant. And it usually worked; but at the moment, it felt like he was rocking himself to sleep. Within a minute or two, the boy had gulped down the milk to the very last drop, but when Natsu pulled the bottle away and set it down, he continued to cry his eyes out. Out of habit, he lifted his child to his shoulder and pat his back, his eyes involuntarily rolling into the back of his head.

Once Ryū finished burping, he wailed particularly loud in his father's ear. He cringed. That seemed to happen a lot to him. Groaning, he lowered him back to cradle him against his chest. He wiped away his son's tears. "What is it, Ryū?" he asked desperately. He angled his head to get a look inside the boy's mouth, but quickly straightened up and shook his head. "Nah, you can't be teething. You're barely a month old…" He stroked the fine hair on his head. "What do you need, son?"

"Natsu." The said wizard nearly jumped out of his skin, his eyes snapping upward to connect with Lucy's across the room. She was in her silk black and white nightgown—the one that liked to hug her curves, ending with a lace trim mid-thigh—her eyes looking just as heavy as his felt as she leaned against the doorframe. She nodded toward their bedroom. "Bring him to our room," she said softly. Without another word, she turned the corner and disappeared. Natsu was quick to follow her, watching as she sat down cross-legged on the mattress. She waved him over, holding out her arms. "Lemme hold him." He nodded without any questions, sitting down beside her.

"I already fed him," he sighed, leaning against the headboard. "And I burped him, too. But he won't stop crying." He watched as she ran the back of her fingers down the baby's cheek, shushing him gently. "What do you plan to do?"

"Sing to him," she answered. Natsu straightened slightly. She used to sing to Nashi when she was a baby, and it almost always got her to go to sleep. Lucy smirked at him. "I know you don't like my singing, but—"

"I love your singing, Luce…"

"—I don't see any other way to get him to calm down." Natsu nodded, waiting for her to start. She never sang the same song twice, so he was excited to see what the song would be.

Praise for the high tide,
praise for the seaside,
praise for the sun at high noon.
Praise for the lightning,
praise for the singing,
praise the father sun,
and sister moon.

Natsu blissfully closed his eyes. He'd never heard that song before.

Praise for the red dawn,
grass that we walk upon,
praise for the river's whispered tune.
Praise for the wind brother,
praise for the earth mother,
praise the father sun,
and sister moon.
Praise the father sun,
and sister moon.

Ryū's cries had stopped.

Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya.
Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ya.

"I've never heard that song before," Natsu said quietly, so as not to wake his now peacefully sleeping child.

"It was a song my mother used to sing to me," Lucy explained, adjusting the shirt on her son. "She told me it got me to sleep every time." She smiled. "I guess it works on him, too." The two of them laughed as she slid off the mattress, going to put him back in his and Nashi's room. When she came back, Natsu was already under the covers and asleep. She giggled and shook her head. "It even works on Natsu… Go figure."

Author's Note: bah. That's all I have to say about this chapter. Long breaks between updates (hehehe. I made a rhyme!) does not work for me… I hope this chapter wasn't too bad, though. Perhaps I'll rewrite it... And that song was something my mother used to sing to me when I was little. It's from a movie or something, but I can't remember what. But I remember the lyrics…

Anyway, congratulations to Miho for being the 300th reviewer! You guys are so awesome! 400, here we come!