Unsurprisingly enough, Earth Natsu's dominant presence and fearsome appearance made the welcoming Edolas Fairy Tail guild weary at first.
However, after seeing little Nasha proudly show her 'second daddy' off to everyone like he was a brand new bug she had discovered by a creekside, everyone was swift to welcome him with open arms as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.
After all the hectic greetings and commotions, the nostalgic blather about the memories Earth Natsu's return brought spread across the guild. He promptly took advantage that he was no longer the center of attention and retreated to a corner by his lonesome.
Every once in a while, Nasha and Asuka would scamper up to him with awed questions, using him as both a jungle gym and source of endless entertainment.
And from afar, Lucy watched.
She wasn't sure how to properly express her surprise about his return, or his admittedly intimidating appearance.
Lucy liked to think she hadn't mellowed out as much as say Levy or Juvia, but she knew what aggression she had left would undoubtedly show its belly if face to face with him.
Everything about him screamed 'apex predator' in her mind, Earth Natsu just exuded an aura that informed everyone, unintentionally or not, that he was at the top of the food chain.
Most of her fear was squashed seeing him so tenderly amuse and regale her daughter and niece, but compared to the last time she had seen Earth Natsu, he was almost an entirely different human being.
Using the intention of getting the two girls to stop pestering Earth Natsu as an excuse to approach, Lucy did her best to reclaim the fires of her youth and made a beeline for him.
"See, I told ya they were real." she heard her daughter's voice state.
Finally able to see through the busy foot traffic of the guild, Lucy watched as Asuka settled herself atop Earth Natsu's shoulders and grab his horns like they were handlebars to a bicycle.
Ignoring her instinct to scold her for that, seeing as it was basically the equivalent of yanking on a dog's tail, Lucy halted her advance to listen unnoticed.
Standing next to one of the many stout support pillars that populated the four corners of the roughly square shaped interior, Earth Natsu and the two young girls conversed.
Asuka quietly 'wowed' in enthralled wonder, "You are a dragon!"
Earth Natsu practically shook the guild hall with his chuckle, "No, a dragon slayer."
Lucy almost shivered at his baritone.
Even though his current attitude was merry, warm, and gentle, it was the equivalent of a wolf wagging its tail, it did not remove the fact it's mouth was lined with fangs.
"If you're not a dragon, then why do you look like one?" Asuka questioned, leaning over his head to peer at him despite being upside down.
Catching the cowboy hat that fell from her head, Earth Natsu replied, "I ain't normally like this. I usually look just like the Natsu you girls know."
Nasha gasped, "Just like that boy Johnny from school!"
"Yeah, yeah, he was in our class and he left, then came back one day completely different." Asuka added with a chirp.
Earth Natsu laughed, "Girls, did he look and sound completely different?"
They both nodded.
"Then I think that was just another kid, not Johnny." he reasoned humorously.
Asuka paused, thinking hard before mumbling, "Maybe."
"Well he didn't have scales!" Nasha basically reminded herself, throwing her hands up to show she wanted to touch them.
Once again, Lucy had to restrain herself from stepping in to scold her daughter's blunt behavior, because she knew exactly where Nasha got it from.
Earth Natsu slowly lowered himself to her level, his grip on Asuka's legs careful yet firm to keep her stable.
"Be real careful, they are a bit rougher than I remember, so don't cut yourself." he warned softly.
As Nasha's tiny fingers gently poked and felt the warm draconian surface, her best friend kept the questions coming,
"Mom said there was another Fairy Tail in your world, is that true?"
Earth Natsu refrained from nodding to avoid jostling his scales against Nasha's hand.
"Yep, we're a mage guild. Most of the people you know also exist in my world."
"Ooh, ooh, do you know my Mom and Dad there?" Asuka pressed urgently.
Earth Natsu answered as he reached up to plop her hat back onto her head, "They are part of Fairy Tail there too, probably some of the most reliable people you could ever meet. You wanna know something cool though?"
She of course nodded furiously, gripping his horns tight in anticipation.
"There is another you where I come from too."
Eyes alight with delight, the elated Asuka kicked her legs back and forth, "Really!?"
"What's other me like? What's other Mom and Dad like!?"
He pondered for a second, unable to hide a genuine smile that began to spread to the slits of his pupils, "Well, you two are basically the same. When I first saw ya, I couldn't tell the difference."
"Your parents are pretty much the same too, along with a lot of other people."
Nasha finally brought in a question that made Earth Natsu flinch, the reaction enough that even Lucy had no choice but to take notice.
"Is there another me in your world too?"
His face fell, but he answered honestly, "I'm sorry Nasha, but no."
"Aww." her cheeks puffed as she pouted, "That sucks."
Before any more questions could be lobbed in his direction, his nostrils flared as Earth Natsu's reptilian eyes turned from ovals to diamonds as he turned in Lucy's direction.
Lucy nearly lost all the feeling in her knees being on the receiving end of such a stare.
His shrunken pupils enlarged once more as the smile he took when talking with the two girls returned, although not as bright.
"Alright girls, could you give me a sec?" he requested, tenderly lifting Asuka off his shoulders to set her down next to her friend.
The clamor of their protests was short lived when Earth Natsu yanked Asuka's hat down over her eyes and playfully poked a few fingers into Nasha's ticklish belly.
Over the sound of their giggles, he proposed, "We can talk more later, kay'?"
"Alright, but next time we're gonna get Greige to see you breathe fire!" Asuka stated.
"Sounds like a deal," he agreed.
Satisfied, the girls scampered off to find something else worthy of their interest, barreling right past the spectating Lucy without even noticing her presence.
Earth Natsu stayed rooted to his spot, patiently awaiting his next interaction.
Lucy approached her husband's Earthland counterpart with a mixture of anxiousness and excitement wrestling around in her stomach.
"So, you're... different." against her better judgement, she led with a sardonic comment.
Earth Natsu lowered his posture to seem less threatening, the action so instinctual he probably didn't even realize he was doing it.
"You too," he said, "ya started with a quip rather than a sloppy headlocke."
"Sloppy?" Lucy repeated, pitching rising with indignation.
He snickered, "I know shoddy grapplin' when I see it. But really, all this time has gotten you so laid back you haven't even lunged at me yet. Ya certain you're the same Luce?"
"You're one to talk bucko, I still ain't sure you're that Natsu I met, given you haven't tried to square up with everything that moves yet."
They both eased, Lucy finding no difficulty saying outright, "It's good to see you."
"It really is, this world feels a whole buncha nonsense to me, so hearing your voice helps."
She cocked a hip, "Speaking of worlds, what trouble did you get yourself into this go around? How did ya get here?"
"Nothin' too big, fought a space-time wizard."
"Another day at the office, huh?" Lucy deadpanned, "So it's just you? Last time you and your world's Wendy were connected by the hip, and you had those exceeds too."
"I was flying solo, just a thing on the sly. Not too long ago we got done with a…" Earth Natsu scratched a temple and reconstructed his next words, "A pretty nasty job, so I was just getting back into the swing of things."
"That's a rough string of luck, sorry, and from the looks of you that cruddy string of luck has lasted way longer. How much time has passed since you were last here?"
"Same time has passed, almost nine years. But we and some of my guild got into some shenanigans, so I guess it's only really been around two."
"Well, you look forty. No offense." Lucy said, reminding herself why she had chosen not to scold her daughter's lack of tact earlier.
Her expression softened and her head tilted, "Seriously though, how are you holding up? Must be wild bein' back here again."
"Fine I guess, not too happy y'all have to see me like-" he gestured to his face, "-this."
"Well, all the guys think you look awesome so I wouldn't worry about it." she dismissed, missing the guilt that had slowed his movements.
"My Natsu said it was because 'game recognizes game'."
Earth Natsu shuddered, "He said that? Like-like with a straight face? Was he doing a bit or something?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he had been doing a bit for the last 9 years."
Earth Natsu nodded to the side in agreement, "Yeah, I didn't expect this world's me to be able to hold a conversation outside of a car."
"He made a 180, I've noticed." Lucy remarked fondly, fiddling with her wedding ring, "He told me you were the reason he decided to pick up martial arts and grow a pair."
"So he's strong now?"
"Stronger," Lucy reiterated, "but I don't know how much. He's been training with King Mystogan ever since you left, but he doesn't tell me anything much about it."
"And you?" Earth Natsu asked, his lips entertaining the idea of a smile as he leaned down to sniff her, "You don't seem any stronger."
A vein popped atop her forehead as Lucy hissed defensively, "Watch it bud! Havin' a kid don't mean I've become a pushover!"
He shrugged, unable to resist teasing, "Well his scent is all over you, so it's obvious he is wearing the pants in the relationship these days."
"Listen Dragon-boy, bulking up ain't gonna stop me from laying you out!" Lucy's hand curled into a fist as her cheeks steamed.
Earth Natsu continued to enjoy himself, "Have at it Luce, I'm down to see if you got rid of those ameatur wrestling moves." he stated, his face splitting into the same bright smile he had shown the girls earlier.
Up close, Lucy was finally able to get a clean view of his teeth.
Natsu's serrated rapacious fangs were something she would see in the mouth of a beast of prey, their carnivorous enamel designed with the specific purpose to rip flesh from bone.
Just like she predicted, her haughty temper melted away as Lucy realized this wasn't someone she could bully.
This Natsu, this dragon slayer, would play her game in the same vein a bear would humor a rambunctious cub.
He would play her game, with all the playfulness she expected from him, and win.
Glowering, Lucy scoffed in disdain and looked away, "Whatever, I'm not in the mood, just stop yappin'."
"Aww, ya pout just like Nasha." Earth Natsu crooned, voice soaked with mischief.
"That does it, come here you bastard!" Lucy effectively said 'screw it', and lunged at him.
She had no idea where this new sense of coyness came from, but this daring attitude was something she only allowed her husband to pull.
He make look like him, he may be scarier than him, but she was going to remind Earth Natsu the ferocious Lucy Ashely was still in her one way or another.
Earth Natsu side stepped her, "Ope, ya almost got it, you gotta be quicker than that."
"You gotta death wish or somethin'!? Stay still so I can turn you into a freakin' pretzel!" Lucy announced, nettled.
When she went low, targeting his legs, Earth Natsu spun to let her sail right past him, "I'm shaking in my baby seal leather boots." he informed impishly, aloof to the attention he was gathering.
"Come on, my Luce would have never made such a rookie move." Earth Natsu taunted, ducking as Lucy attempted to leap onto his back so that she would fly past him yet again.
At this point, the guild had shifted their attention to what could very generously be described as a scuffle, throwing in their own amused laughter and cheers.
"Holy crap, he's standing up to Lucy!"
"Come on Lucy! Show him what for!"
"Grab his dick and twist it!"
"Don't let him humiliate you girl!
"The ole' dick twist!"
"Can somebody please shut up Max? The kids are here!"
A loud slap rang out through the clamorous acclamation.
"Ow!"
"Thank you!"
Realizing that in this situation, she was more or less a ball of yarn for him to play with, Lucy resorted to more straightforward tactics.
Said tactics involved clasping her hands together and raising them up so that she could smash them down upon Earth Natsu's head.
It went as expected.
Earth Natsu, almost giggling, caught both her wrists snug in one palm.
Lucy's boots dug into the floor as she helplessly attempted to tug herself free, the erratic movements causing her skull hair pin to come loose, letting her hair fall down to tickle her shoulders.
"Let me go Dragon-boy, I promise this gets worse for you!" she panted with acerbic determination. Intelligent brown eyes searched desperately for an opening, and found one.
Lucy's shin met Earth Natsu's crotch with the force of a sledgehammer.
Despite the plethora of fried nerves that created an unintentional cushion for any attack, Earth Natsu's eyes went wide as a gasp escaped him.
Fingers falling slack, he allowed Lucy to slip free, who stumbled back a few feet and watched as the dragon slayer sank to his hands and knees, trembling.
From his pursed lips came a whistling whine, similar in pitch to that of a kicked dog.
Through her heavy breathing, Lucy mentally thanked every god she knew for allowing that hail mary to land.
While all the spectating men winced and booed their disapproval of the act, she brushed hair from her face and huffed, "That's what you get."
She approached what she assumed to be a completely subjected Earth Natsu, plucking her discarded hair pin from the ground.
"For all that talk about being an amateur, you made the biggest mistake in the book. You didn't invest in a cup." Lucy told him cockily, binding starry gold hair back into a side ponytail.
Earth Natsu fell silent.
Suddenly, Lucy found both her wrists restricted inside the confines of Earth Natsu's larger hand yet again.
The dragon slayer rose to his feet, a contralto growl welling beneath his chest like the warning tremors preluding an eruption of a volcano.
As he reached his full height, he dragged Lucy up with him to tower over her, engulfing her whole in his apocalyptic shadow.
Realizing she just kicked possibly the most dangerous man currently living in the cajones, Lucy's eyes drifted wide as her brain stopped diverting power to her knees.
The guild, now dead silent, could really only watch as their guild member had her fate forcibly accepted for her.
Earth Natsu brought Lucy's arms above her head, his knee blocking yet another frenzied attempt at his loins.
His golden fissures trailed down to her unguarded stomach, then to his free hand. He wiggled his fingers coyly, sending Lucy a knowing look.
"D-don't you dare!" she whispered, the warning in her voice undermined by the caught-in-the-headlights expression she wore.
Earth Natsu sniggered sadistically, "Like mother like daughter."
Nonconsensual squeals broke from Lucy as meddlesome fingers played with her ribs like the strings of an instrument.
"S-stop! S-st-stop it!" Lucy shrieked, any further pleas eroded by pesky laughter she didn't sign off too.
Even as she wiggled and squirmed, bucking this way and that, Lucy could never maneuver herself out of Earth Natsu's dastardly reach.
"E-enough, knock i-it-" she paused and gasped for air, "Knock it off! Q-quit it already!"
Eyes clenched shut, fuzz built in her stomach and tears gathered along her eyelids as the tickling didn't cease.
Meanwhile, "So… is it like a girl thing to be ticklish?" Earth Natsu proposed to himself as if pondering a critical philosophical dilemma.
Her legs eventually fell slack, overwhelmed, leaving Earth Natsu the only thing keeping her upright.
Her babbling laughter stopped for a moment as she yielded, "Y-you win! Let m-me, let me go!
"Tell me you're sorry, and say it loud for everybody in the back." Earth Natsu requested deviously.
Lucy instantly gave in, moments away from losing control of her bladder, mewling, "I-i'm sorry, I-i'm sorry! I p-promise I wo-won't do it again, I-i'll be good, just let me go!"
Earth Natsu's fingers went slack, allowing her to fall to her knees heaving selfishly for air.
The rest of the guild gave a resounding 'aww' in disappointment that they didn't get to see their rambunctious hard sell Lucy in such a state for any longer.
"Welp," Earth Natsu crouched down next to her, patiently quizzing like a parent asking a child about their latest knee scrape, "What did we learn?"
Lucy cradled her belly, her defiant glare weak as she rasped, "That I'm gonna smother you in your sleep."
Earth Natsu giggled.
"Aw, you are so adorable Luce, you think you're a threat."
A whine and a growl came together to create a befuddling noise that stirred in Lucy's throat.
"Man, if you're that ticklish," Earth Natsu shook his head, "Then if I try that with this world's Wendy, she might explode."
"Don't tell me you torture that poor girl like you just did to me."
"Compassion, from you?" Earth Natsu said with counterfeit disbelief, "You have gotten a little soft."
"It's called bein' a mother dipshit! I wouldn't expect you to know anything about it since it involves responsibility!" she shot back, dreaming about what it would be like to deck him in the jaw.
He offered a hand, "Hey, at least you admitted it."
Lucy said nothing, surprisingly enough, bowing her head with burning cheeks as she grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet.
She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react anymore. When someone who looked and sounded remarkably close to her husband won, her first instinct was to submit and… enjoy it.
But the part of Lucy that wasn't a wife and a mother screamed to unleash every technique she could onto him.
Seeing as Earth Natsu was just as forceful as her Natsu, the best Lucy could do was simmer in shame. No one would be letting her live this incident down anytime soon.
"Hey, don't mean to interrupt," a familiar voice cut in, dragging both of their attention elsewhere.
Lucy watched as Juvia brushed her way through the crowd, hiding a very amused laugh behind her eyes as she informed, "Levy just got back, so she'll have questions for our guest."
"G-good, good, about time he is someone else's problem." Lucy said curtly as she brushed herself off, wishing to restore at least a sliver of her pride.
Earth Natsu pretended to reach for her stomach, to which she recoiled and jumped away with a squeak, "You lookin' to lose some fingers bud?!"
Juvia held back several dry remarks, seeing as her friend's dignity was already so torn as it is.
"I will take him off your hands before he makes you pee yourself in front of the kids." she 'reassured', earning a growl from Lucy.
Earth Natsu spoke up before the conversation could grow any more terse, "Aight, Luce, I'll get out of your hair. Sorry for teasin' I was just happy to see you."
Lucy couldn't help but soften, "S'fine I guess. You were being…" she shuddered as she said, "You. Good lord, I think I like the quiet dragon warrior gimmick more."
"She's saying you're forgiven." Juvia translated, her voice much clearer now that the guild wasn't so lavish with its rowdy plaudits.
"Lucy, weren't you helping Kinana in the kitchen? She volunteered to help you prepare for tonight, remember?" at that, Lucy perked up in remembrance.
"Shoot, that slipped my mind. Uh, look Dragon boy, good to see you and all that, but I got some place to be. You can fill me in on the exposition later."
Earth Natsu blinked, "Wha?"
"I gotta go!" Lucy put more bluntly, abruptly jogging off, not before adding a stern warning.
Eyes narrowed dangerously, she hissed to her husband's counterpart one last time, "Seriously though, after that little stunt, you better learn to sleep with your eyes open."
Earth Natsu didn't get to respond before Lucy was gone, leaving him to wear a fish-out-of-water expression in her wake.
Juvia approached with almost purposely slow footsteps, "Before you stopped by, things were a bit hectic for the Dragion family." she explained, bemused.
"Now, Levy has questions for you, hopefully she knows how to get you back." Juvia tilted her head, "Are you in any hurry to get back to your world by chance?"
Earth Natsu cringed, "I ain't entirely sure if I am or not." he expressed regretfully.
Juvia smiled, placing a soothing touch on his arm, "Well I'm sure Levy can figure that out for you."
Juvia took a moment to wave goodbye to a few members that exited the guild before gesturing he follow with a tilt of her head, "Come on, Levy still hasn't discovered patience yet."
Earth Natsu didn't move just yet, "Hol' up."
He looked to the still swinging guild doors, "Was that… Gildarts?"
Juvia nodded, pushing the sleeves of her navy sweater past her wrists.
"Was he wearing a suit?"
She nodded once more, "That's a silly question, he always wears one. It's part of his 'gentlemen's code'. Where do you think Cana gets her manners from?"
Earth Natsu's features curled, unsettled.
"Yeah, this Edolas thing ain't working out, I need to go home."