Lost and Found

Chapter 1

"No."

The eight year old blink. "Huh?"

"No," Laxus repeated, continuing to stare down at the paper in front of him. It was a letter from a recent job requester who, while thankful, was a little distraught at the ruin that her town now sat in after being rescued by none other than Team Natsu. Keeping his breathing in check, Laxus sat the letter aside before glancing at his daughter, who was standing at the side of the table he was seated at, some of her friends gathered around. "No, Haven."

"But that's not fair!" she told him, glaring. "I'm old enough to go wherever I want."

"Your sister's not," he said, nodding at newly crowned six year old standing behind her.

"Then Marin'll stay here."

"Navi's not," he added, then nodding to the pink haired girl at her side.

"How do you know? You're not her father. You can't-"

"I'm the fucking guild master," he told her back just as harshly. "What I say goes. And I say-"

"Then me and Locke'll go alone."

His eyes fell to the soon to be ten year old standing next to his daughter, who did not, in any way, look ready to defy his master.

"No, you're not."

"You-"

But by then, his attention had drifted to the letter that he had just opened, yet another one detailing all the damage that a certain team had dealt to a poor town.

"Dragneel!" He growled as he jumped up from his seat and marched across the guildhall towards the man, who was currently eating more than his fair share of food, his wife and stupid cat right next to him.

"Uh-oh," Navi said, a hand coming up to her mouth as she watched the Master go over to chew her father out. Then she started giggling. Haven, however, saw the whole thing as no laughing matter.

"I hate you!" she yelled at Laxus, though it was drowned out by the sound of everyone else in the guild.

"Come on, Haven," Locke said, reaching over to pat his blonde friend on the head. "Just 'cause we can't go to the park today, it don't mean-"

"Oh, I'm going to the park," she said, turning swiftly away from him. "We all are. Now come on."

"B-But Haven," her little sister whined, rushing to catch up as she headed to the guildhall doors. "Daddy said-"

"If you wanna be a baby, Marin, you can stay and-"

"Hey." And suddenly, Haven noticed which table they were by and frowned. Seated at it were her uncle and one of her aunts, Bickslow and Evergreen.

"What's your problem, kid?" Bickslow kept up, staring at her through his visor.

"Problem, kid?" some of his stupid dolls piped up.

"Why do you care?" she growled as Marin rushed over to the table for Evergreen's protection.

"Personally, I don't," he told her then as he looked back at his food in front of him. "But if Lissy hears you talking that way to your sister, she's going to-"

"I don't care! I don't-"

"Oh, you don't?"

Just like that, she did. Mainly because the sound of the voice behind her was eerily close to that of her Aunt Lisanna.

"Bet you'll care when I go and get Mira, huh?" Lisanna tapped Haven and Navi on their heads as she passed them, quickly heading over to the table to join her husband. Bickslow stuck his tongue out in greeting, but she only rolled her eyes.

"Will you take us to the park?" Marin asked as she stood by Evergreen still, convinced the second she left, Haven'd tear into her again.

"Please?" Navi asked. "Mommy and Dad are going to go on a job today, so they can't. And I'm gonna stay the night with Haven, so Ms. Mira went to the store to go buy some things."

"What about Laxus?" Evergreen asked. "Or Levy, Locke?"

"She ain't around either," his son said, reaching up to scratch his head. He did that a lot, as his coarse black hair was usually tangled and unwashed, much to his mother's usual chagrin. "She's on a mission. And Dad's at home."

"See, kids, we ain't really children people, you see?" Bickslow glanced at them. "And the park sounds really-"

"But you have a son," Haven pointed out, glaring at him. She and her uncle had a pretty rocky relationship for the most part. One minute, they were best friends, the next they were bitter enemies. Not that Bickslow ever changed, but Haven's opinion on a person was the most untrustworthy thing in the world. "And a bunch of dolls that you treat like your children."

Bickslow blinked. "What's your point?"

"You-"

"Where is our kid, Lissy?" Bickslow cut his niece off, which ticked Haven off even more.

"Mirajane took him to the store with her," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "Guys, do you really want to go to the park? Can't you just go play in the pool or something?"

"Or practice your magic," Evergreen said as she ran a hand down Marin's white hair. When the little girl looked down at her, she said, "If they're being mean to you, sweetie, you don't have to play with them."

When she glanced across the table at her glaring sister though, Marin knew better than to say anything other than, "No, I'm fine."

"Why can't you go to the park by yourselves, anyhow?" Bickslow grumbled. "I mean, come on. You ain't babies."

"I know we're not," Haven agreed. "But Laxus is being mean. He says that we have to have someone go with us or we can't go."

"Three little girls at the park? Hmmm." The seith shook his head. "You got Locke with him. Ain't you, what? Eighteen by now, kid?"

He blinked. "I'm nine."

"Close enough."

"Just go play at the pool, guys," Lisanna said then with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not your parents. If they say you can't go-"

"Locke's mom and dad let him go anywhere though. And Natsu says that Navi can do whatever she wants whenever she wants," Haven argued.

Bickslow snorted. "Is that what he says?"

"It actually is," Lisanna whispered softly to him. Then, glancing over at the kids, she said, "Haven, if Laxus says you can't go somewhere, you can't. Wait until Mira gets back, huh? I'm sure she'll let you go."

But she didn't want to wait till then. And as she stomped off, the others following, she decided that she wouldn't wait till then.

"Are we not going swimming?" her sister asked as they walked out of the guild.

"No, Marin, we're not," Haven grumbled, glancing at the timid girl. "We're going to the park. And if you don't want to or are gonna be a big baby about it, stay home."

"Haven," Locke complained as the youngest child in the group let out a slight noise of distress. Navi reached over to wrap an arm around the girl, staring at Haven as well. She knew better than to correct her friend though. Once she decided something, they all either went along with it or got the brute force of a spoiled eight year old girl.

"Then you can stay too, Locke. All of you can! I don't care. I-"

"We're going," Navi mumbled, following along behind her at a slower pace, holding Marin back with her. Even Locke wasn't keeping up with Haven, instead kicking at the ground as he followed behind her.

"Just stop yelling," he mumbled.

"But we gotta be back before my dad and mom leave, okay? For their job? They said they're leaving-"

"After sundown, Navi," Haven complained. "We're just going to the freaking park. So shut up."

Now though, the park didn't sound fun to any of the other kids. At all. Especially Marin who, being the overly timid younger sister, was near tears at the thought of her sister reprimanding her again. Locke had been their only hope of standing up to her, but he was keeping quiet too. He usually did when Haven was in one of her tantrums. It was just easier that way. Because there was no fighting with her then.

The further they got from her father's guildhall though, the more relaxed Haven became. And when her mood became more laidback, it gave the others a chance to calm down some too. Even Marin was giggling and chasing after them then, as they all raised towards the park, almost running into other pedestrians on the sidewalk at times. In fact, once Navi actually did. And it had to be the worst person to run into.

"Hey, kid," the man grumbled as Navi ran full on into one of his legs, the force making her fall back on her butt. "It ain't too manly to run into other people."

Marin, who had been trailing behind the others, came to a stop when she got to Navi, who was still on the ground, staring up at the man standing over her.

"Uncle Elf," the girl giggled as she moved to help Navi stand up.

"What are you two doing here?" He was carrying a bag of groceries in his hands, but did bend down some to stare at them. "You with your parents?"

"No," Navi said, shaking her head. "And sorry. We were with Haven and Locke, but…I think they ditched us now."

It wasn't intentional. But the two of them were currently in a heated battle of racing towards the park. They were long gone.

"Well," Elfman said slowly, reaching down with one hand to ruffle his niece's hair. "You better hurry and catch up with them, huh? Where you kids going, anyhow?"

"Just the park," Navi answered as Marin took to giggling.

"Have at it then," Elfman said, unconcerned as he gave Navi a pat on the head as well. "And be more careful. No telling who you can run into, huh? Not everyone's such a real man like me. Might not be too happy."

"Bye, Elf," Marin called with another giggle as she and Navi took off racing again. "Love you."

"Love you too. You're so manly, Marin."

By the time she and Navi got to the park, Locke and Haven were already there, locked in a battle then.

"-got here first!"

"You did not," Locke told the younger girl. "You always do this. I won. And I'm not going to let you say that I didn't."

"You didn't win."

"I did too!"

"Who cares who won?" Navi came walking over to them with a grin. "We came here to play, not to fight."

Marin hung back though, staring at them. Locke and Haven fighting usually ended badly.

But Navi, being the best friend to both of them, had long figured out just how to get them distracted enough to forget their arguments.

It was decided, rather quickly, that it would be determined who had really won by a new race, just between Locke and Haven, around the park. Marin and Navi would even wait at the park bench it would end at, so they would see exactly who won.

They even let Marin yell go, which she liked, giggling slightly as the older two children took off. Then she went to sit down on the bench next to Navi and wait.

"Who do you want to win?"

"Haven," Navi said. "Do you not?"

"No, I do," Marin assured her. "I think Locke does too."

Because if she didn't win, it very well might just ruin their whole day at the park.

In the end, Haven lucked out as Locke tripped about halfway through, giving her all the time she needed to beat him.

Boy, if she wouldn't shut up about that. They just let her brag for a bit, knowing that the victory would run its course quickly.

Hopefully.

Eventually they got down to really playing though, their game of tag somehow morphing into hide and go seek, Navi finding herself it. She took after her father though and had quite the problem with cheating and snuck a few peeks. Per usual, Marin stuck close to Locke, not wanting to be alone, the two of the taking cover over the same set of bushes. And Haven dove behind a tree at the last minute, not far from them.

Sp predictable.

She made a big show of it though, going off in the other direction to search some, wait for them to pop out and try to run to base.

But no one came.

Ugh. They were going to make her chase 'em, huh?

She went to the shrubbery that Locke and Marin were hiding beneath first, as it would be easy to get one of them. Either Marin would freeze up, too scared of being caught to run, and she could get her, or Locke, what with his overly caring nature, would try to help Marin get away and Navi would catch him.

A win-win.

But…they weren't under there. Which was odd, she figured, as she had kept a pretty good eye on them.

Where could they have gone?

So she went over to the tree that Haven was behind only to find…no.

How had she lost all three of them?

"No fair," Navi grumbled as she took to running around the park, searching for her friends. At first, she was certain that they were only playing a trick on her. They had to be as there was no way that, after ten minutes, none of them would have appeared or tried to change hiding spots.

After twenty minutes, the young fire mage got a tad worried.

"Haven? It's not funny anymore," she called out to them. "Locke? I… Did you guys ditch me?"

The park wasn't empty by any account. It was a rather nice day, if not a tad breezy, and there were a few other kids out playing, as well as couples. Maybe…maybe they found someone else to play with?

As time went on though, Navi only got more worried. She kept going back to the bench that they were using as base for their game, to see if the others had returned, but they didn't.

Eventually, as she was searching for them, she found tangled in some bushes the little knit cap that Marin always wore. She had a tendency to get cold easily and was usually bundled up in stuff.

It was then that Navi decided that even if it was a joke, even if they had only ditched her for some reason, that she didn't care. They'd been gone for awhile at that point and…well…

She wasn't scared or nothing! She wasn't a baby. But…

When the pink haired child arrived back at the guildhall, she was expecting to find her friends there, waiting for her. Upon finding that that wasn't the case, she headed over to where her father was sitting, talking happily to her mother and Happy.

"Hey, Navi." Lucy spoke right over Natsu upon spotting their daughter. "Where-"

"I went to the park with Locke and Haven and Marin and…and…and… They ditched me!"

Now, for the record, Navi wasn't a tattletale, no matter how many times Haven called her that, it just wasn't true! She just…liked her father. And mother. A lot. And told them things. About the other kids. And how mean they were to her sometimes.

"Poor Navi." Happy, who was standing on the table, jumped off before landing on her head, where he stayed. That usually made her feel better, but in the moment…

"Where did they go?" Lucy asked her daughter then as Natsu only frowned.

"Why'd they ditch you? That's not very friendly," he complained. "And you're supposed to be staying with Haven while we're gone. Is that not happening now or-"

"I don't know," she said, speaking more to her mother then as she moved to hand her Marin's cap, which she'd been clutching the whole time. "I found this though. Haven's mean sometimes, but why would Locke and Marin leave me too?"

Frowning, Lucy took the hat. "That is kinda weird. I haven't seen them around here. Maybe-"

"You."

At the sound of his guild master's voice, Natsu grimaced. Laxus had already scolded him earlier which sucked because it hadn't even resulted in a battle. The last thing he wanted was to go through that again.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu grumbled as the lightening mage approached the table. "I get it, alright? Don't cause too much damage."

"I told you not to cause any," Laxus grumbled, but he didn't even glance at the man. He was glaring instead at his daughter. "But I don't give a damn about that right now. Where are Haven and Marin, Navi?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me. I-"

"She honestly doesn't," Lucy said, shooting him a frown as Happy jumped off the girl's head to land on the table once more, just so he could glare up at Laxus. "She said that your daughters and Locke ditched her at the park. She doesn't know where they went. Here. This is Marin's, isn't it?"

Natsu, wanting to get back on the good side with the guy (if he had one of those), snatched it first and took a big whiff. He thought, maybe, he would be able to smell another guild member on it. Like Gray or Max or someone. Someone who might have saw the kids out and let them accompany them somewhere. Instead he only frowned.

"It only smells like her. Mirajane. Your house. Locke. Haven. Navi. Evergreen. Elfman. You. And…something sorta like you," he grumbled to Laxus as the man took it in his own hand. He didn't have to sniff it, not really, as he almost immediately recognized it. Still, he held the cloth against his nose, breathing in deeply once, just to be sure.

"That's not me." He tossed the cap down on the table letting out a low growl. Navi rushed over to her father for protect.

"What do you mean?" Lucy stood. "Who-"

"It's feint, but it's there," Laxus growled as he turned away from them. Mirajane, who was back from the store at that point and was over waiting on a table, glanced over at the sound of his roar.

"Laxus." She came over to his side almost immediately. "What-"

"He has them. I know he does," Laxus said. "I-"

"Who? Who has who?"

"The girls," he said through clenched teeth. Then, he yelled out, "Bickslow! Ever! Freed! Come the fuck on."

"Laxus!" Mirajane was rushing after him as he only headed to the door, his old bodyguards, still ever so loyal, rushing to his side. Most everyone was glancing up at his outburst. "Who are you talking about? Who has them? What-"

He didn't turn around to look at her as he headed out of the guildhall doors. Over his shoulder though, he only hissed, "Ivan."

So, yeah, this definitely isn't the sequel to Parenthood that I've been overly hinting at, but I have been working on this a lot longer (the concept for it at least). I'm thinking at most ten chapters, but if I can knock it down to five, I will (it's doubtful).