Natsu of the Dragoness Clan

A Fairy Tail Fanfic by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 3: Flare's Crush

Initially, Natsu had been hesitant to meet the Heartfilia family. Nothing about them sounded interesting. They were rich, Zeref liked them, and Mard was the one who arranged the first "playdate" between the Heartfilia kids and the Dragoness kids.

The differences only became more obvious on the way to the Heartfilia mansion. Zeref spent the entire time giving a history lesson on why the Heartfilias were important. Nobody was paying attention past the two minute mark. Flare even fell asleep. Thankfully, Zeref had to end his lecture once they were inside the mansion.

The first Heartfilia that Natsu met was Jude. About the best thing Natsu could say about the man was that his unpleasantness enhanced the relief and pleasure of meeting the womenfolk. In fact, if the order of introduction was a calcuated strategy, then it was no surprise why Anna and Irene could spend hours on the phone with each other. The only real difference between them was that Anna was far less visible in the way she controlled her family.

Layla was the first Heartfilia that made Natsu forget he had already decided that he wasn't going to like them. She was too nice, too motherly, too hopeful that the Dragoness kids would become her daughter's new friends. Natsu could admit that even before he met Lucy, part of him wanted to get along with her, solely to meet Layla's expectations. Irene would have been impressed... with how easily Layla got him to fall in line with her wishes. Natsu could not be sure anymore, but he suspected Layla reminded him of his birth mother. And if so, even more reason to keep her happy.

Layla made a point of introducing Grammi, who was the family's maid. She was nothing like Mard, however. Natsu did not associate Grammi with money at all, but instead with delicious food and sparkling countertops and replacing empty plates with full ones at uncanny speed. She did not have to try especially hard to get Natsu to like her: anyone who gave him plenty of food, unasked, could do little wrong in his eyes.

Anna was even easier. And kind of like a really fun witch, in Natsu's mind. If he selected a book in her library, she could tell him everything that was in it. When she asked what he wanted to be in the future, Natsu told her he wasn't sure yet, but that he wanted to remain close to his family. She recited to him a chapter of a book on estate planning. Natsu didn't like it, but it did help him understand the way Zeref and Mard seemed to think a little more, so he appreciated it. Anna said she'd lend the book to Irene if he wanted to finish it on his own.

The first meeting with Lucy was far more challenging. Natsu thought she was cute, but Lucy was very nervous about meeting new people, and spent most of the time hiding behind Brandish, who was her best friend and Grammi's daughter. Brandish did not strike Natsu as being especially strong, but despite that, she was absolutely fearless, and had a glare that made even Raze freeze if it was directed at her. Naturally, this was considered very impressive by them all, and Erza and Brandish became fast friends.

Lucy tried her best, but she only seemed willing to befriend Flare, at first. Sadly, Flare had no interest in tea parties or trying on dresses, and began to turn her head away any time Lucy got close to her. This crushed Lucy, who had thought she'd found a little sister to play with.

Natsu didn't want things to end that way. So he walked right up to Lucy and said, "Don't worry. I'll be your friend."

Lucy stared at him. Natsu was no psychic, but he could tell: the idea of having a boy for a friend was not exactly exciting to her. Still, she had been raised to be polite, so the only thing Lucy could say was, "No, thank you."

But Natsu was a Dragoness. So he only smiled a little wider and added, "That wasn't me asking. That was me warning you: I've caught you now."

Lucy went pale, and immediately ran away.

Brandish was in his face at once. "What do you think you're doing to Lucy?!"

Natsu replied calmly, "Being a friend that will never let her feel lonely again."

Brandish could tell he probably didn't mean that in a totally healthy way. But she could also tell that he wasn't lying. And she could use the help, being Lucy's only friend wasn't exactly easy. "Okay then," she said, and left him alone.

Natsu grinned and went in the direction he'd last seen Lucy running. "Oh, Luuuuuuucy, come out and play!"

Zeref later claimed that Natsu was a heathen that knew nothing about girls.

Natsu was of the opinion that four out of five Heartfilia girls liked him just fine, so by his count, he was at least as popular with them as Zeref was (Lucy didn't like Zeref, either).

It happened with no real warning at breakfast one day.

"Bite."

Natsu blinked and looked at Flare, who was staring at him. "Flare? Did you talk?"

Flare continued to stare him, but said nothing.

Natsu remained cautiously optimistic, however. Irene's girls were smart as a rule. "You did, didn't you?"

Flare grabbed a fistful of ham slices and stuffed them into her mouth.

Natsu sighed. "Maybe I imagined it."

Flare chewed, swallowed, and then said, very clearly, "Bite."

Breakfast came to a halt. Everyone was staring at Flare. They'd all heard her.

"She talked," Natsu insisted.

"No one's debating that," Irene replied. "Good job, Flare. Anything else to add?"

Flare looked at Natsu, grinned, and pointed. "Susu!"

Natsu smiled weakly. "Ah... okay?"

"Don't discourage her, Natsu," Irene said sharply.

"I'm not! But... I thought she'd get my name right on the first try, somehow."

"She is still a baby. You can't expect-"

"Zaza!" Flare cried, pointing at Erza.

Erza immediately stood up, walked around the table, and gave Flare a hug, being sure to shoot Natsu a dirty glare.

Natsu felt this was unfair. Nobody hugged Flare more than he did.

"Zeze!" Flare shouted, pointing at Raze.

Raze froze, sighed, and nodded. Judging from the way Flare beamed, this was recognition enough.

Which really made Natsu feel low. He was about to tell Flare what a good job she'd done, but then it happened.

Flare looked at Irene. Everyone got quiet again. And then:

"Boss," Flare said with a respectful nod.

Irene smiled. "Good girl."

Natsu scowled. "Uh, shouldn't you want her to call you Mama?"

"That will come later," Irene said with no small amount of confidence. "She knows what's important, for now."

Natsu glanced at Flare. "I guess, but she-"

"Natsu!"

He froze and gaped at Flare, who liked his reaction enough that she laughed and repeated herself.

"Natsu! Natsu!"

At a loss, Natsu gave her his bacon, which she happily accepted.

There could be no question that Natsu was Flare's favorite sibling. The naming incident only confirmed it. Erza and Raze remained "Zaza" and "Zeze" to Flare for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, they didn't mind.

Flare learned, not so much not to bite her sisters, but that they wouldn't hesitate to bite her back, as they felt that being of talking age meant she could take her own medicine. She also learned that her sisters would destroy anyone who made her cry. So she never doubted their feelings for her, even if they seemed mean to her at times.

But neither of her sisters was Natsu, who always had time for Flare, and never failed to make her feel special. She went everywhere he did, by his own choice, and hers. She tried to do everything he did, exactly like he did them, but that was how she realized the two of them were different. And when he saw how worried she was about that, Natsu smiled, kissed her cheek, and rubbed her head.

"Don't try so hard to be me, Flare. Maybe you didn't know this, but I've been watching you since you were born, and you're pretty amazing. There's no need for you to be anyone else."

This was both the best and worst thing he could have told her. Flare took it to mean that she could do no wrong. Rather than spoiling her, it simply made her believe that any behavior she preferred was acceptable. And if she had been in any other family, that would have been a disaster. She did not force her preferences on her family, but she always asked them to join in. Which made a lot more sense, when Natsu realized something that hadn't occurred to him until it applied to Flare in particular: they didn't have any friends, outside of each other. It hadn't bothered him much, but Flare seemed to realize very quickly that Erza and Raze were not going to take her everywhere they went, and that while Natsu would, at some point, she was going to need non-related allies.

Natsu took his concern to Irene, though he was somewhat afraid she would dismiss this. Instead, Irene took one look at her baby girl, and decided that friends wouldn't be the worst thing. But, in true Irene fashion, she wasn't going to leave this up to chance.

The sign on the building proclaimed it to be "CRASH GYM," and it gave no outward sign of being a great place to meet kids. Natsu mentioned this in the car. Irene told him to be quiet.

They were barely through the door when a girl with long, white hair in a violet sweatsuit bounded up (her gym nametag had "Mira" on it) and punched Erza hard in the stomach. Which wouldn't have been a big deal, except Erza doubled over. Almost like it had hurt. It had, Natsu realized with shock. Someone had actually hurt Erza.

And then Erza grinned weakly, and punched Mira so hard in return that they both sank to the ground, glaring at other, as if the one who cried first would be the loser for life. And nobody was giving in.

"Mira, I've told you, you can't greet customers that way!" a smaller white-haired girl in a green sweatsuit ("Lisa") said as she ran up. Then she got a closer look at the group and seemed to recognize most of them. "Oh, it's you guys. Give me a few minutes to drag out the shock absorbers before you get started."

"So you've finally come back, Erza," Mira wheezed, slowly getting to her feet. "Too bad you've gotten soft around the middle."

"We'll see who the soft one is," Erza growled as she stood up. "Since you haven't greeted Raze yet."

Mira paled slightly as Raze cracked her knuckles ominously. "Uh, but it's only fair if we each get a turn." She turned away and shouted, "JANE! ERZA AND RAZE ARE BACK!"

"What! I don't believe it!"

Natsu got the distinct impression that something was very wrong as what was, in his mind, a very pretty and friendly-looking girl in an orange sweatsuit walked up. She and Mira were twins, obviously, but somehow Jane was easily more approachable and attractive. And yet, when Natsu looked at his older sisters, they seemed absolutely terrified.

Of Jane.

"Girls, it's been ages! I've missed you!" Jane gave Erza and Raze a big hug and a kiss, which they accepted very cautiously, as if she were a bomb that would detonate if handled incorrectly. "Oh, and I see your family has grown!" Despite having never met her before, Natsu and Flare also got hugs from Jane. But Flare seemed to have the same caution around Jane as her older sisters did.

"Jane, is your boss here?" Irene asked. "I'd like a word with him."

Before Jane could reply, a man appeared at Irene's side, grinning like it was his birthday, Christmas, and All Redheads Must Kiss Bachelors Day (his own invention) at the same time. "Irene," he almost purred, reaching out to put his arm around her.

Irene grabbed his arm mid-move and squeezed it, hard enough to make him wince. "Gildarts. I'm here for my kids, not for you. I'm sure you hear that a ton."

"All that matters is that I'm once again graced with your intoxicating presence-"

"No, what matters is my kids need to make friends, and this is the best place for that. More precisely, this family is the only one even close to being able to survive friendship with my kids."

Gildarts laughed. "Don't you mean that the other way around? Jane can't even get grown men to thumb wrestle her anymore."

"Smart men. I assume they want to keep those thumbs."

Natsu could not help feeling that there was something odd about the Strauss family.

Mira and Jane were odd enough. Although, Mira was enough like Erza where Natsu could understand why they were friends. Not so much why Irene had stopped bringing Erza and Raze to the gym, though. Unless it had something to do with Gildarts, who didn't seem to be such a bother that Irene could not easily handle him. Natsu had noticed that Gildarts was overly friendly with the ladies, but despite that, the gym had no shortage of customers. The Strauss siblings were very good trainers, in that half of them were ridiculously strong, so if one were to mistakenly assume the gym was how they got that way... (Natsu was convinced a gym was one of the few businesses that destructive people could maintain without raising too many eyebrows... and, Gildarts had asked Irene to come work for him, but had been turned down)

Lisa appeared to be the most normal sibling, and her twin, Anna, was much the same... except for the tendency to dress up in animal costumes. Which made sense, as Anna dealt mostly with kids that came to the gym... but she also didn't take the costumes off outside of work, which was... a choice.

By the time Natsu met the brothers, Elf and Manny, he expected them to be absolute freaks. They were not. Not really. Elf was a total muscle-head, and Manny was perpetually anxious, but they were positively timid compared to and around Mira. All of the Strauss siblings were terrified of Jane, which Natsu simply could not figure out. Not until Irene explained it in terms he could not mistake.

"Natsu, don't you get it? She's their me."

His eyes widened in shock. "Guh."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the standard answer to that statement."

Natsu could not deny, however, that Flare was very happy at the gym. For the first time, he could actually leave her alone, and not have to worry about her being upset about that. Lisa and Anna were great with kids, and for some reason, were determined to battle eternally for the position of Flare's favorite babysitter. The end result was that Flare took home a new stuffed animal from the gym every few days, and once she got old enough to actually participate in the activities that the gym offered, spent most of her free time there.

And when Natsu finally learned why Irene had stopped taking Erza and Raze to the gym, he totally understood. Irene had worried that the girls would be so happy, surrounded by people who understood them, that they might put their own dreams on hold and never want to leave the gym. This turned out to be a valid fear, but only in Flare's case.

When Gildarts eventually retired, he left the gym to the Strauss siblings. Jane began to make changes right away, and the first was to hire Flare, who, despite being too young to have a job at the time, was eager to get started. So, with Irene's blessing, Flare started working at the gym. It was never clear what her exact job title was, but she came home every night, thrilled to be making money doing something she loved, and excited to do it again the next day. Natsu could only be happy for her, and made no secret of how proud he was of her for finding what she loved so quickly. Flare would always laugh, hug him, and say, "How could I not be good at finding what I love, Natsu? You're always with me, so I got lots of practice."

Flare was barely thirteen the first time she came home with black lipstick, orange highlights in her bangs, multiple piercings, and a different color polish on every fingernail.

Natsu could only stare, he was so shocked at the transformation. Erza didn't know what to say, and Raze only smirked and went back to what she was doing, which at least for her wasn't disapproval.

Irene did not react, at first. But, finally, she sighed, and said, "Since you've clearly gotten enough practice on yourself, would you mind doing my nails, too? Stick with only one color, though."

Flare rushed forward and kissed Irene's cheek, then chose a polish (Molten Sunset, which Natsu learned the name of when Flare begged to try it on him, too) and got to work.

With Irene's acceptance, Natsu and Erza naturally followed her lead. At the end of the day, Flare was still Flare. She looked different, but she was still the baby sister. Although, nobody was exactly surprised when she requested that the whole family get matching tattoos on her sixteenth birthday.

Irene's compromise was that they would do it on Flare's seventeenth birthday, but only if Irene picked the design and placements, and everyone agreed to it. This was largely to allow time for anyone against the idea to change Flare's mind, but it seemed unlikely. By then, Raze already had three tattoos, and had been nagging Erza to get some, as well. Erza would only consent to the family tattoo, but she was the first to get it done. Natsu insisted on being the second, and although he had no doubts about her by then, Raze not arguing over that privilege was proof of her acceptance of him. She did, however, slap him hard on the tattoo for nearly a week afterward, so the healing process was slower than he would have preferred. Flare mistook his tears for pure joy and cried a little herself.

Oddly enough, Flare also invited Zeref to get the family tattoo. And even apologized for biting him when they first met.

Zeref merely said, "Thank you, but no."

Flare didn't think anything more about it, and hadn't really expected a yes.

However, almost a year later, Natsu spotted something on Zeref's wrist. It was easily covered by sleeves, but Zeref happened to have his shirt off at the time. Natsu only knew for certain that it was small, black, and suspiciously familiar. But when he tried to get a closer look, Zeref quickly turned away, pulled on a long-sleeved shirt, and told Natsu to mind his own business.

Flare was thrilled at even the possibility that Zeref might have gotten a smaller, darker version of the family tattoo, and from then on regularly invited him to participate in family activities.

He always said no, but politely. But Mard, always one to prevent anyone from bothering Zeref, mysteriously began to allow these interactions where he would not have before. So if he hadn't decided it, Zeref surely had. But even though that was the extent of Zeref's interest in the family, he had made an effort, and Natsu appreciated it. Particularly since Flare was the only Dragoness that might have taken rejection from Natsu's older brother very personally. Maybe it was even because Flare was the youngest sibling, as Natsu had once been.

When was she younger, Flare had often worried about fitting into her own family. Thankfully, she grew out of that, and into exactly what a Dragoness should be: a wild, free spirit. Although, she somehow managed to consistently surprise them all with how wild and free her spirit was. But nobody was more surprised than Flare when her heart suddenly began to beat more wildly... but only around Lucy.

It was odd. Flare had known Lucy for some time by then, and hadn't found her to be particularly interesting. If anything, Lucy had been the more interested one, what with Flare being younger than her, and Lucy being an only child. But what could have been a friendship had mostly faded to simply nodding as a greeting, and little else.

And yet, Flare could not deny her renewed interest in Lucy. The way Lucy looked, smelled, moved, smiled, and laughed... Flare could not get them out of her head. But Flare also knew very little about making friends. She had mostly decided that her siblings (she saw the Strauss sisters as extended family) were the only friends she needed. They alone had understood her, so she assumed she'd been correct in her belief. She had no idea how to approach Lucy now, especially when Flare had rejected the initial offer of friendship. But Flare was stubborn, and excited, and she couldn't help herself, or bother to ask for help.

This resulted in a very long phone call between Irene and Layla. The end result of which was Irene having to patiently explain to Flare that stalking Lucy was probably not the best way to win her affection (strangely, though, this had never gotten Natsu banned from visiting). Flare had been more embarrassed than upset, but Irene held her hands firmly, and told her that liking Lucy wasn't wrong. But there had to be a better way to go about it.

The next day, Flare wrote Lucy a very long letter. Luckily, Irene asked to look it over first, and was glad she had. Flare had basically filled three pages with how beautiful Lucy was, and how she belonged in the Dragoness Clan. Someone not in the know (namely, Lucy's parents) might have actually taken it as a threat of eventual kidnapping. But Irene was in the know. And she then knew one thing for certain: Flare was not in love with Lucy. Flare simply wanted to bring Lucy home. The same way Erza had wanted to bring Natsu home, to join their family. In this case, Flare's execution had been sloppy, but her instincts had been correct. Lucy did belong with them, and Flare's heart pounded around Lucy because it knew what her brain did not: that she had found her beloved brother's one true love, and escape could not be allowed.

Unfortunately, Irene knew it was not her place to explain this to any of the kids. They had to realize it for themselves, or it wouldn't matter. So she gently encouraged Flare not to give up, but also advised simply asking Lucy to be friends.

That... didn't work out too well.

What did work was Natsu, upon realizing how miserable Lucy's rejection was making Flare, starting to stalk Lucy himself (or rather, stalking Lucy even more than he already did). And where Lucy found Flare's attention to be creepy, she found Natsu's increased attention to be supremely annoying. To the point where she actually preferred Flare, who was at least quiet most of the time. So Lucy began inviting Flare over more often, on the condition that it was strictly girl time, and that Natsu would have to be elsewhere in the house. Flare was perfectly willing to do all the former activities that she still found boring with Lucy, since this would let her remain close to Lucy, and scare off any potential suitors. Lucy merely saw Flare as a slightly creepy friend (with a very annoying brother) and managed to adjust.

Natsu was very pleased with himself for fixing Flare's problem for her.

Irene could only shake her head at this development, but she couldn't fault her two youngest for loving each other so much.

Natsu could not put his finger on why, but he had never trusted Mard. Perhaps it was easier to associate Mard with money, and Zeref had been far more likable before he had money.

No one else shared Natsu's suspicions: they either ignored Mard or found something they liked about him. But that only made Natsu more determined to find the truth. And he did find the truth.

About Zeref.

Natsu had begun snooping when he thought Mard wasn't looking. The truth was that Mard was pretending to ignore Natsu, at Zeref's request.

So when Natsu got his hands on a briefcase that he thought was Mard's, he was ready to expose the butler's dirty secrets, and hopefully get him fired.

But the only thing in the briefcase was something called the Eclipse Project. Natsu didn't understand most of it, but there was a very detailed blueprint of a strangely shaped building, and a business plan that included, among other things, a merger between Dragneel Industries and the Heartfilia Konzern. Of greatest importance, however, was that the merger would be officially announced alongside a marriage, between Zeref and an unnamed female from the Heartfilia family.

Natsu was not even concerned about who the female was (or perhaps he refused to think about it). He was instead more upset that Zeref said nothing about this to him.

But when confronted, Zeref simply looked at Natsu and said, "This is why I wanted you to come live with me, Natsu. You'll never have a head for business, and our late parents would never forgive me if I didn't look after you. I wouldn't forgive myself, either. My business is how I take care of you. It's best if you don't concern yourself with it."

It reminded Natsu that Zeref had changed greatly. Like he was a stranger wearing a Zeref suit. It wasn't that Zeref no longer loved Natsu. It was the ways in which Zeref chose to show that love that truly bothered Natsu. And, as was becoming habit for Natsu, when something troubled him, he went to Irene, who was easily one of the smartest women he knew. Irene had been the smartest, but apparently when Anna Heartfilia's sight began to fail her, she made it her life's mission to memorize the contents of every book in her library, and had succeeded. Even Irene was not quite that obsessed with learning (if only because she had always felt her home was secure enough where there was no need to go so far).

Irene listened to Natsu's problem, and solved it at once. "I wouldn't worry too much. Your brother doesn't strike me as the marrying type. And in any case, I doubt the Heartfilias would sacrifice their daughter's happiness for money."

Natsu turned bright red. "Why are you assuming it's Lucy he's planning to marry?!"

"Why are you assuming it's not her? She's not the only choice, but she is the most obvious one. Anyway, like I said, don't worry."

"Why are you so certain?"

Irene gave him a flat look. "Because I'd never do it to any of you. And they love their one kid way more than I do my four. Which isn't easy to pull off."

That made Natsu feel better. "Thanks."

"Thank me by finding out who the intended bride actually is. Even if it's not Lucy, no girl should end up stuck with your brother, if she has any say in it. The least we can do is warn her."

Natsu was in full agreement. If that stranger in a Zeref suit had wanted to marry Flare, Natsu would never have allowed it. He couldn't let it happen to one of Lucy's relatives, either. Although, the only other female Heartfilias he'd met had been Anna and Lucy's mother, so unless Zeref was into really old ladies, or Lucy's parents were going to sabotage their own marriage for the deal, Natsu wasn't sure how Zeref's plan was going to work.

Natsu didn't realize it until much later, but every Dragoness had exceptional instincts, and despite being adopted, he was no different. It was as if prolonged exposure to them had been enough to awaken the ability. But he still didn't fully understand how to read those instincts. So he had no way of knowing that he'd already met Zeref's chosen bride, that she was well aware of what she had signed up for, and that if he had tried to warn her, she would have told him that his wedding gift to her should be minding his own business. Which wouldn't have worked, anyway, since as his new sister, ensuring her happiness would have been his business, in Natsu's opinion.

And yet, years later, when the marriage had obviously failed, she would always remember fondly that Natsu had tried to "save" her, continued to treat her as a sister, and still gave Zeref a hard time about ruining the idea of marriage for her. But, truthfully, being a wife had never really been important her, so if being a husband had been important to Zeref, they still wouldn't have worked well together. Which was odd to say because they did work well together, she as one of Zeref's most valued employees.

Flare was not Natsu, so she did assume someone else might want to marry Lucy. But she also assumed that if anyone would know about such a person, it would be Brandish. And Lucy wasn't going to marry anyone that Brandish hadn't approved of first.

Brandish simply thanked Flare for her concern, and confirmed that if Lucy was going to marry anyone, Brandish would be the very first person that Lucy went to for advice (although Brandish called it "permission"). Flare was reassured... that is, until she found some bridal magazines in Lucy's room. It was unlike Brandish to lie, she was far too bold and blunt for such things. If she hadn't wanted Flare to know something, she simply would have said it was none of Flare's business.

But then Flare remembered something important, that only someone who frequently slept over at Lucy's might know: Brandish and Lucy slept in the same room (and so did Flare, when she slept over). So it was easy to imagine that Brandish might be reading a bridal magazine, and then quickly threw it out of sight as Lucy walked in. Because if there was one person Brandish might have trouble lying to, it was Lucy. And if there was one person who might agree to being adopted into the Heartfilia family, primarily so she could then marry Zeref, so Lucy didn't have to, it was Grammi's daughter.

Flare certainly understood protecting family, or someone you saw as family. So, while she did want to tell Natsu, she chose not to, out of respect for Brandish's wishes. Anyway, what mattered most was that no one was marrying Lucy, which meant that Natsu still could... but that would require Lucy to agree to being in the same room as Natsu, which Flare hadn't quite worked out yet...

Continued in Chapter 4: House of Filled Hearts

Lucy discovers a plot to arrange a marriage between her family and the Dragoness Clan, and assumes the worst.