Two years later
"We're going out to dinner, just me and mom," Natsu said calmly as he knelt down in front of his daughter. She crossed her arms over her chest, and pouted. "Maybe I want to go!"
Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled, as she was listening to their conversation from the bathroom. She finished applying mascara, then moved onto a light pink lip gloss.
"You'll be staying with Metalhead an-"
"Natsu!" Lucy scolded.
"I mean Uncle Gajeel and Aunt Levy."
"But I want to go with you guys!"
"Wouldn't you want to play with Alanna?"
"All she ever does it read those stupid kid books!"
Natsu sweat-dropped. Yep, that's Levy's daughter for ya.
"Look, how about this. You train sm'ore with Uncle Gajeel tonight, and we'll go on a mission tomorrow when we pick you up. Just me, you, and your mom."
Mizuki's brown eyes widened and a grin was set upon her face. "You mean it?!" She yelled, clapping her hands together once.
Then, Lucy walked out of the bathroom, finally ready. "Took ya long enough.." Natsu whispered under his breath, but his wife heard and shot him a dirty look.
"Be a good girl and we'll definitely go on a mission." Lucy smiled happily and winked at her daughter, while passing the duo to put on her black heels to accompany the red dress she was wearing.
Natsu stood up and followed Lucy- Mizuki shortly behind.
"Start walking Mizuki, we'll be there in five seconds."
Lucy sighed, and wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck affectionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing softly. She leaned in, aiming for a kiss. But just before meeting, she whispered, "Stubborn like her father.." then Natsu finished, "Smart like her mother.." And their lips met for a few, long seconds.
"Gross!" They heard a small voice yell, and they split apart, smiling. "Oh hush, Mizuki! You'll be doing it too one day!"
Natsu and Lucy intertwined their fingers and began walking towards Gajeel and Levy's house, with Mizuki leading the way, backpack filled with clothes and a stuffed bear bouncing off her back with every step.
A soft, sad smile crept on the woman's face as she began to feel extremely nostalgic walking down the sidewalk. It reminded her of when she'd be walking side by side with Ruko, and Sophie would be far ahead of them, happy as ever. Lucy missed those times so much it made her feel sick to her stomach. However, as much as she missed those times she spent with the gang, she wouldn't trade what she had now, for anything.
Upon reaching her best friend's doorstep, Lucy then rang the door bell. A classic ding-dong reverberated throughout Levy's house, and a soft 'coming!' could be heard.
A few seconds later, a click indicating an unlocked door was evident, and then was opened to reveal a smiling bluenette in pajamas. "Hey guys!" Levy greeted gleefully, kneeling down and opening her arms wide. "Hi Auntie Levy!" Mizuki happily exclaimed, jumping into Levy's arms and squeezing her with a hug.
Lucy's best friend then stood up with the pink-haired girl in her arms. "Thanks so much for watching her tonight, Levy-chan. I really owe you one."
"Oh it's no problem, really Lu-chan! We love having her. Especially Gajeel," Levy leaned in closer to whisper, "Even though he may not act like it, he loves helping train her. I bet he can't wait to start training Alanna!" Levy and Lucy both giggled, while Natsu obnoxiously cleared his throat. "C'mon, Luce.. We're gonna be late.."
Lucy gasped, and nodded her head. "Right! Sorry, but we gotta run. Bye honey!" Lucy leaned in and kissed her daughter on her forehead, as did Natsu. "We'll pick you up tomorrow. Thanks again Levy!" The married couple began to walk off, but the blonde turned her head for one last thing. "Tell Gajeel I said thanks too!"
At dinner
Lucy held Natsu's hand across the table as they waited for their food to be served. Lucy ordered pasta, while Natsu ordered something incredibly spicy with a funky name that was hard to pronounce.
"I'm glad we got this time to ourselves," Lucy sighed, "I'm sorry we haven't spent as much time together lately.."
Natsu shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. Sleeping next to you at night is enough."
"So.. How's the counseling goin'?" Natsu asked in a hushed tone, making sure not too be too loud considering the background music was pretty quiet. Lucy's lips quirked up and she nodded her head. "It's going great, actually. I'm glad I went back."
After a few comfortable minutes of silence, Natsu decided to speak up again. "So what typ'a mission do you think we should go on?"
"Well, nothing too hard. Considering she's so young and all.."
"Of course, Luce! It's not like I'm gonna take 'er on a mission where we have to fight someone or anything.."
Their food came, and the married couple released hands.
Gajeel and Levy's house
"Alanna's already sleepin', so you better not wake 'er up," Gajeel warned Mizuki. Levy rolled her eyes at her husband, and retrieved three fudgsicles from the freezer.
Handing one to Gajeel and Mizuki, Levy kept one for herself, and immediately began sucking on it. The raven-haired man held a side-long glance at his wife, and a light blush dashed his cheeks while watching her lick up and down the treat.
"Why is your face all red, Uncle?" Mizuki curiously asked, biting down on the fudgsicle in her small hand. The blue-haired woman began giggling, while Gajeel stammered, "Uhh-duuuh, dunno but'ah, maybe I'm comin' down with a cold... I'm gonna go to bed now."
Levy winked at Gajeel before he scurried off to their room, and mouthed 'I'll be there in a minute'. Even though the Iron Dragon Slayer and Sold Script mage are starting to get...older...'fun time' is still as great as ever.
After Mizuki had been put in bed in the guest room with Spongebob playing on the television, the blue-haired mother then ventured off to her own bedroom to meet her husband for a night of quiet love-making.
Come morning, the pink-haired child was the first to be awake, being a morning person like her mother. First making a trip to the bathroom, the small girl then quietly opened Levy and Gajeel's bedroom door with a sharp creeeak. Both being heavy sleepers, neither adult woke up. This gave Mizuki the perfect chance to wake Gajeel up, the way she usually wakes her father up.
Creeping onto their bed from the end, Lucy's daughter began crawling behind Gajeel, (who was spooning Levy), and a large grin set across her face. She itched her upper right thigh, which held her pink guild mark.
Mizuki held up a finger, and a small flame appeared around it. Giggling quietly, she moved the flame closer and closer until her finger was finally touching his cheek.
"AH!" Gajeel yelled, waking up violently. Levy stirred, and moaned in her sleep, but miraculously didn't wake up. Mizuki sat back on her calves, laughing obnoxiously. Gajeel whipped his head around, and held a hand against where he was burned.
"What the hell Mizuki?! You couldn't have woken me up a different way than that!?" He yelled in a hush tone, praying his daughter or wife won't wake up.
"That's the, HAHAHA, way I wake, AHA, Daddy up, HAHAHA!" The pinkette began holding her stomach from laughing so hard, and Gajeel glared at the young girl. "Do I look like 'yer father? And be quiet! Everyone's still sleepin'."
"Get out so I can get dressed, and we'll get some breakfast before going out back to train."
Gajeel kissed the still sleeping Levy on her forehead before venturing out into the backyard with Natsu's daughter.
"So, what should we work on today, Uncle?" Mizuki began stretching out her legs, then moving to her arms. The man shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "Dunno. How about tryin' to manage using the flames and the err... light thing at once."
Standing up, Mizuki nodded her head, determination running across her features. She closed her eyes, and took a long, deep breath. She concentrated on her magical build up; allowing her senses to sharpen. The sounds of the wind lightly causing the grass to sway flooded her ears, as well as the flapping of birds' wings overhead. The splashing of water and a croak could also be heard from the nearby pond. Mizuki smiled tranquilly, loving every second of the sounds of nature.
"Ready when you are," Gajeel's deep voice broke through to Mizuki, and she nodded her head. She finally opened one of her eyes once she felt heat radiating off of her right hand. Yes!
"All right!" Gajeel praised, smirking. He's proud to see how far along Fire Breath's daughter has come, in a short period of time. She finally was able to get her arm engulfed in flames up to her elbow.
Now, for the tough part. Before this point, all Mizuki was able to do was have her fingertips emit her Celestial magic.
Concentrating harder, the pink-haired girl took a deep breath and..
"Great job, Mizuki!" Gajeel praised Mizuki, clapping his hands together before folding them once more over his chest. She had advanced from just her fingertips, to her entire hand holding the Celestial light. The girl smiled cheerfully, extremely proud of herself.
"Okay, now you know what to do."
One foot back, and the other forward, Mizuki readied herself for her practice attack.
Bringing both fists together, Mizuki chanted the spell. "Celestial Fire Dragon's...Brilliant Light Flame!"
A small ball of swirling flames and bright white light flew forwards from the girl's hands, and dispersed only two feet in front of her. The light wasn't even bright enough yet to blind anyone, like its original intentions are.
...
"Ah...well..."
"A-at least it's something," Mizuki sweat-dropped.
Then, clapping from behind the duo was heard, and they both whipped their heads around. Lucy and Natsu were approaching them, grinning.
"We're so proud of you, Mizuki!" Lucy happily praised her daughter, drawing closer.
Levy had informed the couple once they arrived that Gajeel and Mizuki were in the backyard training, and so they went.
"You saw that, right mom?!" The seven year old ran over to hug her mother, smiling. "Of course!"
"She did a great job today," The Iron Dragon Slayer told Natsu once he was in front of them. "You better have not been touchin' her or anything like that.." Natsu folded his arms over his t-shirt, and narrowed his eyes.
Gajeel's eye twitched.
"What the hell did you just say Salamander? Who do you think I am! I ain't no pervert like that Ice Freak!"
As the bickering kept on, Lucy knelt down and placed a hand on Mizuki's head. "Oh, honey. You're growing up so fa-"
"We're leaving," Natsu began dragging Lucy away by the back of her collar, and somehow, he threw Mizuki over his shoulder in the process.
"N-Natsu!? Dammit, let go of me!... Th-thank you Gajeel!"
And so, Natsu eventually let go of Lucy, and put Mizuki down. They walked from Levy's house to the guild, stopping along the way to grab lunch.
Choosing a mission, the trio embarked on a family-safe mission.
But, of course, it wasn't their first, and it certainly wouldn't be their last adventure as Fairy Tail mages.
So that's it.
I'd like to thank everyone who viewed, reviewed, faved, and followed my story, from the bottom of my heart. Also, a special thanks to Nicole for always encouraging and supporting me since I began writing.
I know this story wasn't the best, but it was my first long/ongoing story, so I've learned from my mistakes. Please do not ask me to continue on with further chapters. This story is finished.
I currently have two more long/ongoing Fairy Tail stories planned, so those will be published in the near future.
If you have any questions or advice you'd like to give me, or if you'd like to leave an overall review, please do! It'd really appreciate it!
Again, thank you minna-san!