Notes: Just needed to get this out of my head, as it was taking up too much space there.
Natsu of the Dragoness Clan
A Fairy Tale Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
Chapter 1: Lost and Found
He did not remember much about that day.
He knew when it started, he had a family, and when it ended, he was all alone.
He knew he was hungry, and scared, and angry.
He knew he had stolen a few bites of food, here and there, and been chased away.
And when he saw the red-haired girl, he knew she would not be an easy target, but that changed nothing for him. He'd still tried to snatch her purse, hoping for some loose change at best.
Instead, he got a hard punch to the jaw, and a harder thump on the head that nearly knocked him out cold.
When she stood over him, looking furious, he cowered and waited to be hit again.
But she extended her hand to him instead, and said calmly, "Come with me."
Having been on the street for a couple of hours, he knew better than to trust such an offer, and bit her hand, hard.
She hit him again, much harder this time. Which meant she hadn't really been trying to hurt him the first time, but easily could. Then she said, softly but with steel in her voice, "I don't like to repeat myself."
He stared at her, very afraid now, and did what she said from then on.
The beach was mostly deserted, what with it being so early in the morning, but she preferred it that way. The twins didn't seem to notice the difference, they only cared that there was water and sand. And as for her, the lack of a crowd was more soothing than anything else in their surroundings.
She sighed heavily as the baby within her shifted. What had she been thinking, she still wondered at times. A third one? The twins could look after themselves, being her girls, but they still managed to find plenty of trouble with little effort. Which reminded her, one of them was nowhere in sight.
"Raze," she called, gaining the present twin's attention. "Where's your sister?"
Raze shrugged. "Dunno. Don't care."
"Really." The warning tone made Raze freeze.
"Dunno, then." That was as close to an apology as one would ever get from Raze: a correction.
"Go find her."
Raze scowled at the order. "Do I have to, Mom?"
"Have I ever once told you to do anything that was a mere suggestion?"
"No."
"There's your answer."
Making a show of how much she did not enjoy searching for her twin, Raze got up and stomped off.
The girls were back in under five minutes, though not due to any extra effort on Raze's part. And they brought company. No, they brought an extra mouth to feed. "What happened?" the mother asked, speaking more to Raze's sister than anyone else.
"I found him," was the simple response. "I'm keeping him."
"Erza, you don't know the first thing about this boy-"
"I found him!" Erza insisted. "And I hit him! So he's mine!"
The blood from what may have been a busted nose indicated the hitting part was true. They at least owed the boy a chance to clean up.
The mother directed her attention to the boy. "If you want to run, I won't let her chase you."
The boy glanced between them, and then, to everyone but Erza's surprise, moved closer to Erza. She put her arm around him, which was clearly odd for him, but he made no move to shake it off or escape.
"See? He's mine now," Erza said proudly.
"He's not sharing our bed," Raze stated firmly.
"Definitely not," the mother agreed. "We'll have to get him one on the way home."
Raze did not like that at all, and opened her mouth to protest.
"Nothing fancy, of course. We're not even sure if this will be permanent."
Erza started to argue.
"Erza, he may have a family, or someone who is looking-"
"There's no one," the boy muttered. "They're all dead now."
The mother frowned, and Erza hugged the boy, though a bit too hard, from his pained expression that had nothing to do with emotional loss, and everything to do with an improperly applied hug.
"I'll still need to check with the local authorities. But assuming there are no leads, I'll do my best to ensure that you stay with us. For now. And it's no use complaining, Erza. We aren't ignoring the law on this one."
"Next one, then?" Raze asked, more curious than defiant.
The mother smirked. "We'll see." She turned back to the boy. "Do you have a name?"
"Natsu." He offered nothing else, but she suspected from the stubborn look in his eyes that he knew perfectly well what his full name was, but wasn't going to offer it, yet.
The mother nodded. "You've met Erza, that's Raze, this little one in my tummy is Flare, and you can call me Irene. Welcome to the Dragoness Clan, Natsu."
Natsu made a sour face. "Dragoness? That's for girls." He shrank back as Irene, Erza, and Raze all seemed to radiate overpowering auras of malice.
"You have something against the name of the women who have so graciously offered to take you in?" Irene asked coldly.
"No," Natsu said quickly. "Girls rock."
The auras faded at once. "Back to the car, everyone," Irene ordered. "We've got some stops to make."
Erza seized Natsu's hand and pulled him along with her.
He'd been wrong. Targeting Erza for her purse had not changed nothing for him. It had changed absolutely everything.
Continued Chapter 2: Return of Zeref
Turns out Natsu's family isn't all dead. And Natsu isn't exactly happy to discover that.