And I'm back with our next chapter. This one is a bit of a time jump. So far we left with Natsu leaving on a sudden mission for the Magic Council and Lucy chasing after him but it being too late. Now, we jump almost 5 years head. or just under that. It will all make sense in the story- I promise!

Enjoy~

Chapter Three

I need to know

After 2 and half long hours on the train, he was now on the edge of passing out. His head squished up against the window, his shoulders sagged and his stomach hurling with every bump and turn the death trap took. He could see his face was green from the window's reflection, his cheeks puffed out as he held back the urge to barf all across the seat and himself. The only thing giving him comfort was the scaly scarf tucked under his chin and the satisfaction of seeing his friends.

He hadn't seen nor heard from them in just over 4 and half years so he couldn't imagine how things would have changed. What they had been up to and if at all they missed him.

He hadn't expected his mission to go on as long as it had, with the small floating village of Haven being under his protection for so long after the sighting of a dragon. The villagers were certain they were to be it's dinner, but with the famous Dragon King around they had no fear at all.

And when the dragon did appear, by showing off his strength and determination, Natsu was able to restore the peace which was the outcome he really wanted despite the council's demands for it's head. So really everyone came out a winner.

"Now approaching…Magnolia station" the announcer called.

A long slow sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he sat up in his seat, still feeling queasy as the train slowed on it's tracks eventually coming to a halt. Shoving his belongings into his bag, he stood up steadily, flipping it over his shoulder while holding his mouth to prevent sick from spewing out his cheeks. He needed to get off now!

The doors of the train coaxed open, and the passengers left all with a hurry in their step, with green faced Natsu amongst them. He charged out of the doors and landed to the platform, rushing quickly through the crowd of people before hurling his head into an open bin.

Passengers pulled their faces as they passed him, the loud groans and chucks of whatever he had the night before now oozing from his mouth and dripping down into the dark hole with the rest of people's rubbish. A final hurdle made him slowly rise up, wiping his lips with his sleeve before nervously looking around at anyone else watching him.

No one was there. A silent and quiet platform, just how Natsu liked it.

He adjusted his bag on his shoulder, walking down the steps from the platform and grinned at the cobblestoned path of Magnolia. How he missed it.

There wasn't much change to the small town, he noted as he trotted down the streets. Some houses had their bricks repainted, some had new flowers planted outside. Not many major changes that he recognised. Even the river leading up to the cathedral was the same, in fact the water looked clearer.

He grinned, stepping up onto the edge of the river bank and balancing along it. He remembered Lucy did this a lot, walking along it and the riverboat men always telling her to be careful. On a few occasions she almost fell in, if it wasn't for him there to catch her fall.

He jumped down and turned, looking further down the street at a familiar pink building. An apartment that he knew too well. A thought crossed his mind as he peered up, wondering if he should jump up into her window and surprise her. No doubt she would be sat at her desk writing, that was usually her favourite pastime.

He smirked, pouncing up onto the brick wall, and swinging his legs up to a certain brick that stuck out, it was his trick to breaking and entering her apartment all those years ago, so he wasn't going to stop using it now.

Using his upper body strength, he yanked his top half up and with a quick leap, he jumped up, snatching hold of her window ledge and using the rest to pull himself up. He perched for a moment, looking in to see if she was in.

Only to his surprise that her bedroom had been changed around. The bed was no longer against the window to give him a comfortable landing when breaking in, but instead a strange chest of drawers.

The bed was positioned the other side, beside the bathroom door with a desk and chair next to it. He frowned at the layout. It was different and sometimes different was hard to get used to. But regardless, he slipped his fingers under the window and unclipped the hatch, sliding the window up to give him access inside.

He smirked. Although she locked it, he had his ways of getting in that was for sure.

He climbed round the draws blocking his entry and landed delicately on the soft grey carpet. This was also new.

However the more he tiptoed around, the more his nose tickled and his breathing hitched. Something was off.

The scent of the entire apartment was different. There was no sweet fruity smell that reminded him of Lucy, but rather a smell of citrus and powder. He frowned, lurking into the living room to find all furniture had changed and nothing looking as what it once was.

"What…" he inhaled once more, the strange smell more prominent than before. His head turned quickly, only to be met with the bottom end of a broom.

"GET OUT!"

Natsu's eyes widened as he spat the bristles of the broom from his face, looking over at the young girl dressed in her tank top and shorts. Her long shiny hair was green and tied up into a messy discarded bun, clearly proving she wasn't expecting visitors.

"What…" he stumbled backwards into the tv and tripped up, only to be battered by the broom once more and the girl's high pitch squeal as she did continued to slammer him. "Look lady! Chill out!" he raised his hands up, finally grasping hold of the broom and throwing it to the side, just for the girl to panic and shudder backwards.

"Get out!" she shouted again, this time her voice was full of fright and her eyes glared around her as she looked for something to use as a weapon.

"Who the hell are you?" Natsu snorted, studying the young girl. She didn't respond, instead she threw a cushion at his face which made Natsu's eye twitch. "What are you doing here?" he asked again.

"I should be asking you that! You're in my house! Perv!" she darted another cushion across at him, scooting herself further away as Natsu finally stood up and stretched.

"You're house? This is Lucy's house!"

"Who the hell is Lucy?" the girl shouted back. "I told you, I live here…get out now!" she signalled the door, her finger trembling as he looked at the direction of the door and back again.

"Lucy…doesn't live here?" he frowned, confusion building in his face.

"I told you, I don't know who that is" she shouted.

"Lucy Heartfilia! She's blonde, brown eyes…smells of fruity candy, carries a set of keys?" he shook his head, his hands now rubbing his long messy pink hair with distress.

"Oh…you mean as in Fairytail?" the girl's voice changed quickly, as she darted across to some old magazines hidden under her coffee table. "Her?" she shuffled one out in particular and threw it at him. Natsu caught it. "She's a wizard at the guild…she was in sorcerer's weekly a lot"

Natsu stared down at the front cover of the magazine and smirked. There she was, posing delightfully on the front cover with her pleasant sweet smile, a key in hand and a seductive wink.

"That's…her" he reached back out to hand it back, but the girl shook her head softly.

"Keep it, it's an old copy anyway" she stated, now feeling a bit more relaxed around his company. "If you're looking for Lucy…that must mean that you're him right?" Natsu's brow raised. "You're the famous salamander, the rank 1 wizard…you're the strongest wizard of all time!" she suddenly swooned, giggling excitedly.

"I'm just Natsu" he addressed calmly, ignoring her excitement.

"Well I'm Emily and I live here, I've been here for 2 years now" she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled confidently. "I'm only 19 but I have a job and I'm single too" she winked at the last part, but Natsu seemed unfazed as he continued to fix his eyes on the magazine in his hand.

"That's nice Emma" he muttered.

"Um…it's Emily" she corrected, huffing.

"Yeah whatever, so where does Lucy live now?" he wondered, still glaring at the front cover.

"How am I supposed to know? Go the guild and ask someone who actually knows her?" Emily pouted, shrugging her shoulders.

Natsu tilted his head puzzled, why didn't he do that before?

Completely oblivious to Emily's reaction, he passed her and darted into her bedroom causing her to squeal once more.

"What are you doing? Get out of there!" she followed him, stomping her feet crossly only to find him escaping through her bedroom window and dropping down the two story wall to the street pathway.
Surprised, she ran to the window and looked out, seeing him run down the street in the direction of the Fairytail building. She shook her head, more flattered than annoyed that the famous Natsu Dragneel had broke into her home.

…

Natsu, on the other hand was completely baffled by his experience. Trying to shake the memory from his head of a strange random girl now living in Lucy's apartment. How could she leave that place? She loved it so much, she told him that all the time. Why would she move from it?

He pondered the question heavily, all the way up to the large guild building that was still standing strong. Nothing had changed by the looks of it. It was still how he had left it those years ago.

He smiled, relief washing over him as he opened the door only to be greeted by a small miniature copy of his nemesis barging into him and falling backwards with a bewildered look on his face.

He was holding a toy in his hand that dropped and landed before Natsu's feet. The boy gulped, slowly looking up to observe the tall pink haired wizard before eyes reverting back down to his toy.

"Um…you dropped this" he knelt down and held up the toy carefully towards the child, mainly because he had already had a broom to the face this morning and didn't want any more occurrences like that.

He flashed a fanged grin and quick enough the boy's face lowered. "You gonna take it or what?" Natsu encouraged, holding the toy out further.

The boy snatched it quickly, fearing for his life he scurried backwards and over to a table where his mother was sat. When he rose up, every member of the guild sat at their tables looked over, expressions stumped and stunned. Some he recognised instantly, while some looked new or different. But familiar scents made him smile.

Before he could even start of a quick greeting, he was forced backwards by a pummelling ice fist, sending him flying back into the door he came from. The ice was sharp and cold, prickling his stomach in which it hit.

He slumped against the wooden door startled by the sudden impact and groaned, looking over at the ice wizard himself flexing his shoulder and clicking his fist.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time" he sniggered, his smirk growing wider.

Natsu croaked, rising up from his heap. He crunched his neck and grinned, slamming his fists together.

"Nice to see you too ice prick"

Before the guild members could count their blessings, Natsu had fired back his own attack, sending Gray across the room and threw a back window. Of course, this resulted in the ice wizard charging back with all his might. And the two squabbling in the centre of the guild hall with chairs, tables and even the high ceiling bannisters to break off and swam the air.

"So…Natsu's back then" Max announced, dodging an ice ball hurling his way.

"Seems that way doesn't it" Wakaba chuckled, smoking his pipe and ignoring the commotion around him. Macao twisted his moustache, glancing over as a beaming fire attack launched across the room, slamming into the mission board and narrowly missing Nab.

"It's like he never left"

The chaos torrented, seeming like it was a battle of frustration and pimped up energy all releasing at once. And boy did Natsu enjoy it.

"Ice make lance!"

"Fire dragon…iron fist!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Her voice bellowed across the guild hall, her eyes piercing down from the broken banister of the second floor. Everyone looked up as she stared down sharply, monitoring the situation and growling at the destruction from just two people. She knew instantly, her eyes landing on the charred chairs and the frozen tables that were dotted around the room, who the culprits really were.

Natsu stopped in mid attack, while Gray had stopped altogether. His arms dropped to his sides, calling off the fight the moment he heard their guild master's calling. Natsu, however smirked at this, sending one more punch in Gray's face before cooling himself down. He then looked up and grinned.

"Hey Erza"

She rolled her eyes.

"Natsu…welcome back"

"So am I supposed to call you Gramps now or…" Natsu asked causally as he stepped into her office, Gray followed behind him rolling his eyes at his stupid question.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's still Erza" he responded, shaking his head. "Did I knock your brain out or something" Natsu jerked his smirk towards the ice wizard.

"You barely scratched me, since when did you get so weak Gray?" he taunted, brows wriggling.

"That's enough, both of you" the red head grumbled. "After Gramps retired, he named me the next guild master. I'm still Erza" she answered, responding to his last question. Natsu nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he pouted out.

"Why didn't I get picked?"

"Cause you left, idiot. Besides, Erza was the right decision. Even Laxus agreed" Gray replied, as he took a seat in front of the desk. Erza nodded her head to confirm, her hand signalling to the chair beside Gray for Natsu to sit.

"So…what's new?" the dragon slayer asked, plonking himself down in the comfy seat.

"A lot actually. You have missed…quite a bit since you've been gone" Erza prompted, her eyes shifting to Gray nervously. "I'm assuming you haven't seen everyone yet?"

Natsu shook his head.

"Where's Happy?"

"Currently on a mission with Romeo, Wendy and Carla. They wont be back for another week yet" Erza stated. "But he's doing very well" she added. Her hands cupped together in front of her. "Natsu…"

"And where the hell is Lucy?!" Natsu grumbled. "I went to her apartment and some whacky girl Lily was there" he frowned, looking at Gray who turned away instantly.

"Lily?" Erza wondered.

Natsu flapped his hand. "I don't know, Lily…Emma…"

"They don't even sound the same" Gray chuckled.

"I didn't really care, that was Lucy's apartment…" his eyes jolted to Erza's nervous ones and paused. "Where is she?"

"She moved Natsu" the guild master admitted. "About 2 years ago. The apartment was…too small for her"

"What happened? Did she bloat or something?" Natsu asked suddenly worried. Gray sniggered harder, his eyes flashing to Erza with a mysterious smirk.

"You could say that"

"What's that supposed to mean?" his brows tensed harder at the sudden insult made to his friend. "So what she got bigger, Lucy's Lucy!"

"Natsu, Lucy isn't any bigger than when you last saw her. She's perfectly fine and still lives here in Magnolia. In fact, she has a job as a journalist for the local town paper" Erza explained calmly. Natsu could tell something was up, the tension in the room was too thick, and the smell coming from both parties confirmed his suspicions. Something didn't seem right.

"Is she not a Fairytail wizard anymore?" he asked suddenly. Erza shook her head quickly.

"She is, she just couldn't go on missions outside the border…so she chose to get a local job here" this made Natsu scowl quick, his eyes flickering back between his two friends. Why would Lucy need to get a local job here? Why couldn't she go on normal missions?

"Are you just going to tell me? Or leave me guessing?" he blurted, annoyance rising.

"I think it's better if you go see her for yourself. Here…" Erza pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled on it quickly, handing it over to him across the desk. "It's her address. Where she lives now. But whatever you do Natsu…don't go in there blazing and…well yourself" she urged. "Just be calm"

"Calm?" he took the piece of paper from her hand and read it out loud. "12 berrywood lane…"

"Yes, it's a house literally a few blocks away from here, near the park"

Natsu frowned, holding the piece of paper with two hands as he studied it. He rose from his chair in silence left without another word, all while staring intensely at the address written on the paper.

He could tell something was wrong, by their expressions, something they weren't telling him and it was frustrating to say the least. Why couldn't they plucker up the courage to say what he wanted to hear.

Had something happened to Lucy? This made him fearful, a guilt erupting in his stomach as he left the guild and heading down the streets in search for this particular house.

...

He found it eventually.

Down a lovely stoned walkway with pretty polished streetlamps lighting the way. He hadn't imagined that a place like this existed in Magnolia. Houses with front gardens, fenced off with white panels, the sound of birds chirping and flowers dotted everywhere. Not like her usual route home, back to her apartment that is. Something about it felt more family-oriented.

That lit a bulb in his head. Did Lucy get married? Did Lucy…move on like she said she would? Suddenly he felt his heart ache and his breathing intense. His feet became heavy and his legs struggled to move. With every step, it became more nerve racking and more painful, before finally he stood outside it. A house, a white one with blue shutters and a pale blue door.

She did move on, she did forget him.

As he shuffled himself to the fenced property, he entered and stared at the unfinished planting from around the fence of the front garden. Seems like she had started and given up half way as several different plants were plotted around, but some clearly missing. His brow peaked, stepping up to the path way and slowly reaching the door.

He clenched his stomach and panted, his body now struggling to breathe before taking the plunge and knocking the door. Two knocks. That's all he needed before hearing her voice on the other side.

"Coming!"

It was her. It was definitely her. Her scent overpowered his nose as she reached the door, opening it with a forceful jolt back. "Hi, sorry I…" she paused, her eyes landing on his. There she was, still as bright and bubbly as ever, dressed in a summery white dress with specks of yellow which made sense due to the weather. Her long hair was slightly shorter than he last remembered, but it was tied up into a ponytail with a matching yellow scrunchy holding it all in place. He gulped hard, looking at her up and down. She had lost weight too, especially round her waist as her dress came in tighter, but her chest remaining the same.

He tried to smirk, but instead he gawked only to be snapped out of it by a hard slap across his cheek that left him wincing from the stinging after math.

Before he could exclaim in pain, Lucy stepped back clutching her hand and yelping.

"Ow that hurt!" she shook it tenderly, rubbing it down the side of her dress.

"Hurt you? What about me?!" he growled, polishing his left cheek. "What was that for?"

"You deserved it" she snapped angrily, forcing his arms across her large chest. "You idiot"

Natsu was taken back by the insult, stepping back from the door and from the angry blonde who was now seething smoke between her ears. She wasn't happy in the slightest. "Stupid moron, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she barked, her eyes burning into him.

"I came to see you…I went to your apartment-"

"You broke into my old apartment?" she yapped. "Unbelievable"

"How was I supposed to know you moved Lucy?" the male groaned under his breath. "Instead I got whacked to death by some girl" Lucy huffed at him, her face turning displeasingly.

"Is that meant to make me feel sympathy for you?"

His eyes shrunk as he let out a snivelled whimper.

"YES!" he whined.

"Well I don't. I don't feel anything towards you Natsu" she turned away quickly, her leg suddenly gripped by a small being.

Natsu's eyes flashed to the small child who clutched Lucy's leg, his eyes growing wide as they slowly rose up to meet his. Big brown eyes staring back at him. A small petite thing she was, looking identical to Lucy, all par her distinctive pink hair that was tied in two ponytails either side of her head.

"Mommy…I'm hungry" she sobbed softly

Mommy?

Lucy's attention fell to the child instantly, dropping to her level and wiping her small tear from her daughter's face.

"Go grab your bunny and I'll be right in to make you something nice ok?" her voice was soothing, sweet and motherly. Something that Natsu had never imagined before. The little one nodded her head slowly, taking one final look to the strange man at the door before skipping the way she came. As she left, Lucy's eyes drew back to him.

"You…have a daughter?" he mumbled, watching as she rose back up to face him.

"That's what happens when you have unprotected sex Natsu" she said bluntly with a shrug. He froze, stepping back as Lucy eyed him.

"You're married?...so…you did move on?" there was a hint of heartbreak in his voice as Lucy's lips thinned. She crossed her arms once more and leant against the door causally, watching him as he started to crumble on her doorstep. His legs wobbled and his chest caved, like his heart had been suddenly stabbed multiple times. It was the worst feeling, and he had been through worst pain before.

Her brow lifted.

"I'm not married, no" she said simply. "Believe it or not, single mothers don't really have time for dating…not that anyone seems interested when they realise you have a kid" she whispered the last part, feeling bitter like it had brought up some unwanted memory.

"You're a single mother?" he tensed, guilt rising up once more. Now he needed to find the man responsible. Who would leave her with a child. He had always said before a parent who didn't care for their child was always a loser in his eyes. No matter what. This brought up a quick memory of his brother Zeref and his demon made son Larcade and his stomach twisted further.

"I am"

"So that's why you can't go on normal missions" he blurted out loud, suddenly understanding Erza's comment. Lucy frowned at him once more, shaking her head.

"No, I can't leave Nashi"

"Nashi" he repeated.

"My daughter" Lucy announced.

"Right…" Natsu nodded slowly, standing there still memorized and completely puzzled. And while doing so Lucy seemed more on edge than before, that was mainly because she had wondered if he put two and two together and made the connection. She rubbed her arm nervously and sighed with a heavy pout, her head tilting towards the direction of her daughter.

"Um…this is great and all, but…mother duties call…" she turned her back slowly, clamming her hand around the edge of the door to close it, but felt a pressure that prevented her from doing so. His foot lodged it, as Lucy looked down slightly irritated that he had done so.

"Can I meet her?"

"You want to meet her?" Lucy faltered. He nodded, serious and straight faced. "Um…I don't know" she looked away from him, uncertainty glazing over her eyes.

"Please Luce…"

Slowly, she puffed regrettably, opening the door wide and stepping aside for him to make entry. As he walked in, she shut the door behind her and motioned him into the living room where her young daughter was, sat around her toys on the ground.

"Nashi, sweetie…meet Natsu" Lucy presented, grasping the small girl's attention.

"N-Nat…su" the girl mumbled, watching him intensely.

"Natsu was Mommy's best friend" Lucy admitted shamefully. She stepped aside and avoided his look knowing that triggered a burn.

"Hello Nat-su" Nashi greeted, waving her bunny towards him. "My name is Nashi" she spoke sweetly now standing up from her play area, she skipped over with her bunny. "And this is Bunny" she showed him her tatty off-white bunny and grinned.

Natsu smirked back, holding the bunny she had given him. He looked at it and a grin similar to hers playfully rose on his face. Lucy rubbed her face, averting her eyes as Natsu cheerfully acknowledged the stuffed toy rabbit.

"Here, come play!" Nashi grasped at his hand, tugging him across the room to her collection of toys. "I have a drag-on, you can play with that" she ordered him to sit, passing over her red scaly dragon to Natsu. He took it happily. "That's Ig-ne-all" she announced, signalling the dragon in his hand.

The name stunned Natsu instantly as he held the red plastic dragon in his hand. "Igneel" he repeated, admiring the toy.

"Yep!"

"She has a thing about dragons…and bunnies" Lucy admitted, watching Natsu's baffled expression.

"Oh…" was all that came out of his mouth as he watched the girl rock her bunny in her arms. She did look an awful lot like Lucy, her sweet cheeks and her bashful cheering smile. But the more he stayed with her, the more he began to pick up similarities that reminded him…of well…him.

Lucy had offered dinner and he found it strange at first, as they sat round the table devouring pasta down their throats like it was going out of fashion. Lucy had nibbled at hers, but she had always had. But as he scooped up another portion of his own food, he noticed Nashi do the same and gulp it down while rubbing her tummy to reveal how delicious it was. It threw him off, leaving him with a blanked expression more times that he could count.

And not to mention her hair.

Who else did he know with pink hair like that? Not just any pink hair, but the same pale salmon colour just like his. And soon enough it became real to him.

Surprising that he had expected Lucy to tell him, rather than him to spend the evening with her to finally figure it out. Or even worse, let him think that she belonged to someone else.

He sat on the sofa, twiddling with his thumbs as Lucy collected her sleeping child into her arms and trotted up the stairs to place her to bed. That's when it hit him. It was that night, the night of Erza and Jellal's wedding. The dream…

His face paled and his breathing hitched as he collected himself up from the sofa, just as he heard Lucy coming back down the stairs. Her smile faded as she reached the bottom step, rubbing her arm nervously.

"I think she enjoyed that, so um…thanks" he was silent at first, giving her the opportunity to announce what he figured out.

She stayed quiet, her feet rustling towards the front door. She was making him leave, without telling him. He felt his hands turn to fists as he remained in place, looking down at the ground and avoiding her stare.

She wasn't going to say anything? She was going to keep this from him?

His teeth gritted, his compassion getting the better of him as he finally croaked, his voice seeming dark than he intended.

"When was you going to tell me?"

Her face pondered.

"Tell you what Natsu?" she sounded tired, unfazed by his deepened voice. There was silence, a moment where Natsu quickly questioned himself. He had to be certain, no he was certain.

"She's mine, isn't she?" there he said it. Blunt and anger lingering across his tone. He looked up from the ground, his forced taunted eyes now staring at her. Her face slumped. She said nothing, her hand reaching for the handle.

She was going to make him leave without even explaining…without telling him what he needed to know. He repeated himself, sharper than before.

"Lucy…you haven't answered me"

She sighed heavily.

"Why do I need to answer you?" she breathed, clutching the handle. "You need to leave now"

He stepped forward, his fists squeezing harder.

"Not until you tell me"

"There's nothing to tell" she rumbled, opening the door slowly. "You've seen me, you've met her…now you can leave" she signalled the door, watching as he crept closer, his hand now resting over her head, pushing the door back close behind. "Natsu…"

"Just tell me Lucy" his voice strained into a plea, his eyes searching for answers in hers. "I need to know"

Lucy gawked at him, sweat pooling from her forehead as he leant into her, how the heat was radiating off his body showed that he was not only peeved but unable to control his emotion. She caved, darting under his arm and scooting back away from him.

"Yes…" she groaned.

"Yes what…" Natsu twisted his head to look at her.

"She's yours"

For a moment Natsu had doubted himself, but hearing it from her made his ears ring with bells. And everything he was thinking had come to light, that one particular dream that felt so realistic had actually been real. Him and her…together. And the proof of that was the small innocent child sleeping soundlessly upstairs.

He twitched, grasping his head in hands to rub his face and pull it down with exhaustion and distress. That's why Erza and Gray were so on edge, that's why Lucy had to move from her one bed apartment. It all made sense. Everything now made sense.

Nashi was his little girl.

"When was you planning to tell me Luce? When she needed her Dad to walk her down the aisle?" he snapped, folding in his sarcastic tone.

Lucy scoffed at him.

"Surprised it took you this long" she bit back, smugly smirking.

"How was I supposed to know that she was mine? I thought you moved on!"

"I have!" she growled. She forced her arms back into her chest, shaking her head knowingly. "Not my fault you knocked me up and left me, jerk"

"I don't even remember doing that Lucy!" his voice raised higher, more alerted as he grasped handfuls of hair on his head. "I thought it was a dream!"

"Sure…" she rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm serious! If I had known what we did…then-" he gulped, stopping himself but allowing Lucy to finish it for him.

"You would of stayed, right?" she shook her head, clasping her arms with her hand. "I doubt it, you've never been ready for a relationship, it's all about Natsu"

"You know it's not. I care for my guild and family more than anyone" he grunted.

"Then where were you? 4 years of her life you've missed out on, where were you when I needed you?" she gritted her teeth and sniffled, holding back her angry sobs as she glared at him.

"I don't know what you want from me Lucy" he mumbled.

"Nothing. I've done this on my own, and I'll continue to do this on my own. I don't need you" she snarled angrily. She rushed to the door, her hand now on the handle, aggressively pulling it open, she pointed outside. "You need to leave…now!"

Natsu's brows lowered.

"You can't stop me from being a part of her life Lucy" he warned. "She's mine too"

"Well I deserve her more than you do" the mother barked, tilting her head over to the exit. "Leave Natsu"

"Fine"

"Fine" she repeated, her eyes watching as he stormed past her. He didn't look back, storming down the front garden and out of the fenced property, his hands still raging in fists. Lucy slammed the door behind him, her back pushed against the door as she began to sob softly. Her hands cupping her tears as they escaped her eyes, her nose sniffling as she slowly banged her head against the door. "Stupid, stupid" she cursed.

Natsu, on the other hand had different ideas. He was so pumped up with rage that he set out to burn something. Anything. Storming through the park, he found a tree that looked at him funny and began to set it alight several times till it resulted to ash and even when that was done, he continued to stomp and kick it, growling and cursing away at himself till dawn.

Just to clear things up, it's been under 5 years that Natsu has been gone.
With that time, Lucy spent 9 months carrying Nashi...then gave birth to her. She's 3 coming up to 4.

:)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Stay tuned for the next one...