"Should I call you Lucy or can I call you Mama?" Nashi asked bluntly causing Lucy to choke on her strawberry milkshake.
"H-Huh!?" the celestial mage stammered after drinking some water Mira gave her. "W-What brought that on?"
"Papa said you might feel weird if I call you Mama," the young girl explained while pulling herself to sit on the seat to Lucy's right at the bar. "So I wanted to ask you."
Lucy shifted her body to fully face Nashi and leaned over to meet her eye level, an impressed smile on her face. "Wow, you're way more considerate than I had thought considering how Natsu and Happy act."
"She actually gets that from you, er, our Lucy," Mira said causing the two girls to turn their attention to her. "Natsu may be more mature now, but that doesn't really stop him from doing what he wants when he really wants to."
"Huh."
It was the next day since Lucy arrived in the future. After agreeing to stay in the guild for awhile yesterday, per the fire dragon slayer's suggestion, she had gone around getting acquainted (re-aquainted if she got technical) with everyone in the guild. The first being Levy, Gajeel and their son, Gale. It was a weird feeling, reuniting with friends that were a decade older than you and who had a son. But after exchanging two words with the bluenette, Lucy knew their friendship was still the same.
Levy had told Lucy that Gale was actually the eldest between the four children that had brought her to the guild, he just looks small due to her genes, which shocked the blonde woman. She knew Levy's feeling for Gajeel ran very deep but she did not expect for them to progress faster than she expected. When she took a proper look at the boy, Lucy noticed that even though he resembled the iron dragon slayer physically, the fact he was reading a book so intensely proved he was Levy's kid.
She went to Gray and Juvia next, not used to the rain woman greeting her by name rather than 'Love Rival'. Lucy teased the ice mage of course, proud that he eventually manned up and accepted his feelings for Juvia. Meeting Storm and Umeko was a treat too. Storm was more shy than what she expected but there was no mistake he looked like the perfect blend of the couple. Umeko was quite the needy child, but Storm was always at the ready to help Juvia - making Lucy squeal.
Talking with Erza was no different either. If anything, Lucy could tell she had eased up on her strict and serious attitude. It was a nice change, and she had a feeling Jellal was the one who helped her loosen up. When she introduced Senna to her, Lucy could not help but chuckle at how the violet haired girl replicated her mom's charisma down to the facial expression. It reminded her of the one time Team Natsu travelled back in time for a day through a book in the guild's archives.
After that, she went around the guild and found out more about the other married couples and kids in the guild. Mirajane and Laxus had gotten married much to her surprise and had twins the same age as Gale: a platinum blonde haired girl with navy eyes named Ryllie and a white haired boy with blue eyes named Rayan. Evergreen and Elfmen had also gotten married, which Lucy had expected one day, and had a daughter with pale brown hair and dark brown eyes named Ava.
Cana would not tell her if she was dating someone no matter how hard she tried to pry, the card mage saying that if she were to tell anyone first it would be Gildarts just to see the expression on his face. Wendy had told her she had a small crush, but was not sure if it was actually going anywhere. Lisanna had been dating Bixlow for quite a bit and Kinana had a husband named Erik. Heck, even Carla and Happy were a thing.
It was honestly weird for Lucy to see. Just before Tartaros happened, all she would do during her free time in the guild would be gossiping with Mira and Levy about all the potential couples in the guild. But now, everything was right in front of her. What was even more, once she was done meeting everyone, Natsu and Nashi were glued to her. While she was talking with Makarov, who had finally retired as guild master, the two of them were practically attached to her hip.
When everyone was ready to go home for the day, Lucy asked if her future self was still renting her apartment. Erza and Gray looked away sheepishly while Mira and Levy just giggled. The latter two pointed behind her and Lucy turned around to see Natsu and Nashi grinning at her. It was then Lucy remembered what everyone told her earlier, that her future self married Natsu. He then told her that after getting married, they expanded his little house so that it would be bigger for their family.
This prompted Lucy to blush heavily and become very embarrassed. She still could not fathom being with Natsu in that way and she would be damned if her increased heartbeat stopped her from having a peaceful sleep for the first time since her Fairy Tail disbanded. She would have just gone to a motel, but Makarov told her to just stay in the guild since there is a spare room for such situations. Lucky her, she supposed.
So that is how she found herself sitting at the guild's bar earlier than most, drinking a milkshake now that she had finished breakfast. Nashi had just shown up out of nowhere and when the celestial mage looked around, she could not see the fire dragon slayer anywhere and sighed in relief. She had been happy to see him when she first arrived, but her awkwardness with him went beyond just knowing she had a kid with him and was married to him. And she could not understand why.
"Say Nashi," Mira asked while handing the peach haired girl some bright red chicken drumsticks for her breakfast. "Where's your dad?"
"Papa is snoring away again," she replied while chewing on her food. "When I went to wake him up, he was just rolling around in bed."
"He finally got rid of the hammock?" Lucy asked.
Nashi shook her head. "The hammock is in my room now! When I want to nap at home, I nap on that instead of my bed."
"And it's comfy?"
"Mm-hmm!" The peach haired girl took another bite from the drumstick. "When I couldn't nap, Papa said to just imagine Mama rocking me to sleep. When I was still a baby, Mama used to nap with me in the hammock all the time."
Even though she did not give birth to Nashi, yet she guesses, Lucy admitted she felt guilty. Even if the child was someone Lucy cannot fathom having over a decade from her time, she could not help but think she was absolutely adorable. So without warning, Lucy took ahold of Nashi by the sides and moved her to sit on her lap, making the girl look at her with wide eyes with a messy mouth from her chicken.
Both Nashi and Mira watched as Lucy took a napkin and wiped the peach haired girl's mouth clean of whatever sauce the chicken was slathered in. She moved the plate of chicken in front of the both of them and then wrapped her arms around her waist to keep her secure. "Calling me 'Mama' might weird, but why don't you call me 'Mom' instead?"
It took the girl a minute to process what Lucy had just said, but when she did, Nashi's eyes sparkled with excitement that made Lucy just want to snuggle with her for the rest of the day. "Really!?" she exclaimed. "I can really call you Mom!?"
Lucy nodded and Nashi quickly put her drumstick down, wiped her hands clean and turned her body around so that she could basically give the blonde woman a big koala hug. She was squealing and giggling and it warmed both Lucy and Mira's hearts. The white haired woman knew how much Nashi wanted to know and have her mom back in her life while Lucy, on the other hand, remembered her own relationship with her mother and she did not want Nashi to feel lonely like her when she passed away.
"Nashi!" Storm called out as he, Gray, Juvia and Umeko arrived at the guild. "Oh good morning Auntie Lucy!"
Lucy ruffled the navy haired boy's head with a grin. "Good morning, Storm."
"Looks like someone got comfortable already," Gray said, an amused smile on his face seeing Nashi sitting on Lucy's lap. "Shouldn't say I'm surprised though."
The peach haired girl finished her last drumstick quickly and handed the plate back to Mira, jumping off Lucy's lap to tell Storm how she's allowed to call the blonde woman 'Mom'. "I wouldn't say comfortable... more like she's just so adorable I can't say no."
Gray, Juvia and Lucy watched the two play in a little corner of the guild, Nashi's eyes super wide and still sparkling while Storm looked so happy for her while nodding to her every word. "Our Lucy used to say the same thing when she was born, but she had no choice but to learn since Natsu would always allow her to do anything."
"Not surprising there," Lucy chuckled. "But it is strange."
"The fact that the pyro somehow survived raising Nashi or the fact that you have a kid with him?" Gray asked.
The blonde shook her head, making the couple tilt their head. "The fact that I'm in Fairy Tail with everyone at all right now."
Gray and Juvia took in her expression, unable to determine a way to describe it. Before they could ask though, Nashi had called for her once Gale and Senna arrived at the guild hall. The two children were accompanied by their parents, Lily and Natsu. Lucy got up from her seat and greeted them briefly before joining the children. From the sounds of it, they took what the fire dragon slayer suggested seriously and wanted her to tell her version of their old adventures.
"Yo, morning." Natsu greeted, sitting in the exact seat Lucy was just sat at. Erza and Jellal following behind him while Gajeel, Levy and Lily went to meet up with Jet and Droy. "Got some good breakfast for me, Mira?"
"Same as Nashi," the white haired woman said as she placed a new plate of bright red coated drumsticks in front of him. "Flaming hot."
"Alright! Thanks for the food!" He said before digging in like a madman.
"Good morning Erza. Jellal." Juvia greeted while Umeko babbled some baby noises at the sight of the two.
"Good morning, Juvia. Gray. Little Umeko." Erza replied while letting the baby hold onto her finger.
"I must say, when Erza told me a younger Lucy appeared at the guild, it took me back to when her future self was here." Jellal said.
"You don't know the half of it, man." Gray said, all their gazes going to the celestial mage.
She had brought the kids to a table. Nashi sat to her right, Storm on her left while Senna and Gale sat in the seat in front of them. The children looked so focused by whatever story she was telling them, not a word leaving their mouths. The expression Gray and Juvia saw earlier completely gone, but they could not get it out of their minds. The ice mage turned to Natsu, who was finishing up his last piece of chicken and also had a focused gaze on Lucy.
"You know Natsu, I think Lucy is-"
"Yeah, I know," he said, interrupting Gray's sentence and bringing the five mages' attention onto him. "Luce is not acting like herself. Or at least she's trying."
"Do you know why?" Mira asked while she grabbed his dirty plate.
Natsu shook his head. "It probably has something to do with why my Luce never likes talking about the year the guild disbanded."
"Maybe we can ask her after the children have gone," Erza suggested to which the fire dragon slayer shook his head again.
"Just leave her be for now," he said before downing a glass of water. "She may not actually be my wife, but I know better than to pry before she's ready."
"Even though our Lucy hasn't said anything after all this time?" Jellal asked.
"Unlike my Luce, she has us to be with her after six months of no contact from anyone a part of the guild," Natsu stated. "She'll talk once she's actually comfy here."