"There you go." Erza smiled as she fed Aura another spoonful of food; although more of it fell onto the baby's bib than in her mouth.
Erza laughed a bit while she wiped the corners of her daughter's mouth with a warm cloth. "You're quite the messy one aren't you? Just like your father. Speaking of which-" Erza looked up from Aura and looked around her currently empty house.
"Where is Natsu?" She continued looking around. "Happy's gone as well." She looked down to Aura, who was looking up with her eyes wide as she cooed.
Erza smiled again and picked Aura up. "Let's go find your Daddy and Uncle Happy." She cooed with a smile as she lightly bounced the smiling baby up and down.
Erza walked outside and looked around, but Natsu and Happy were nowhere to be found. "Where are they? Where do you think they ran off to?" she asked Aura, who continued looking at her wide eyed.
"GOT IT!" A voice yelled from the west.
"Natsu?" Erza called
"Wow that's a big one!" another voice yelled excitedly.
"That sounded like Happy." Erza turned towards the direction of the noises and began walking into the forest.
"What are we going to do with it?" Happy asked.
He and Natsu looked over at the fish they had just caught, it had to be at least 10 feet long.
"We're gonna eat it of course." Natsu replied.
"I know that. But how? A fish this beautiful has to be prepared with utmost of care. You can't just burn it like you always do."
"I don't burn the fish." Natsu protested. "You just can't handle spicy food."
"There you are." Erza said, emerging from the tree line. Natsu and Happy watched as she walked down the small hill to the pond, Aura sitting comfortably on her arm.
"Hey, Erza." Natsu greeted with a smile. When he looked to his daughter he smiled even wider. "Hey there."
Erza handed Aura over to her father, who proceed to lift her up and down. Aura giggled happily with each rise and fall.
"We were looking everywhere for you two." Erza said to Natsu and Happy. She looked out to the pond. "When did you come out here?"
"Before the sun came up." Natsu answered, placing Aura in his lap.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were still sleeping."
"Natsu was too scared to wake you up." Happy corrected.
"Shut up." He looked down and watched as Aura reached for the fish next to him. "Yeah, I caught that." he smiled at her. "You want to eat it?"
Aura cooed and continued reaching for the fish. It seemed like she had said yes.
"She's too young to eat that, Natsu." Erza said.
"Really?" Natsu looked at Aura, who was now looked back at him. "That sucks huh?" he said to his daughter with a smile.
Aura cooed and turned her head slightly. Natsu mimicked her by turning his own head.
"Erza, can you cook this big fish for us?" Happy asked looking up at the knight with a gleam in his eyes.
"Yeah." Natsu nodded as Aura played with his cheeks, stretching them a bit. "Can you?"
Erza looked over the fish and thought about what she could make out of it. "I don't know. It's pretty big." She said facetiously. "That may be too much for me."
"Pleeeease?" Natsu and Happy pleaded with puppy dog eyes, which was ironic from Happy since he was a cat.
Erza eventually relented when a small smile appeared on her face. "Ok ok, I'll prepare it for dinner."
"Yeah!" Natsu and Happy shouted happily.
"That's enough. Come on you two." Erza rushed. "It's time to head to the guild hall."
"Ok." Natsu gave Aura back to Erza and stood up, grabbing the fish and hoisting it onto his shoulder. "Let's go, Happy."
"Aye."
6 months had passed since Aura was born, and Natsu and Erza were still getting used to concept of being parents. Despite a few hiccups along the way, they managed to survive the more difficult moments that came with being brand new parents.
Erza took care of most of the baby girl's needs, but Natsu helped where he could. Happy was there as well, but he mostly provided commentary when Natsu screwed up.
"Hurry up, Natsu." Erza said impatiently as she stood by the door of their home. Aura sat in the sling tied across Erza's chest, her head peeking from behind her mother's shoulder. Happy stood next to Erza.
"I'm coming hold on." Natsu replied. He stepped out of the bedroom, and was fixing his scarf around his neck when he walked up to her. "Ready."
"It's about time. Let's go." Erza opened the door and the four began making their way into town and towards the Fairy Tail guild hall.
Erza internally chided herself about her attitude towards Natsu, but she couldn't help it, She was anxious. The day had finally come where she would be able to go on jobs again.
She had been waiting for this day ever since her pregnancy. Since giving birth Erza's magical power had slowly returned, and last week she was finally cleared to resume worked. She was initially told to wait at least a month before trying to use magic, but Erza started training again after only a couple of days. Although since most of her day was occupied with taking care of the baby, Erza only found time to train at night; Natsu sometimes joining her.
Natsu burst through the guild hall doors with his usual bluster. "Hey, guys! We're here!" he yelled with a smile. Everyone in the guild greeted him as they always did.
Natsu, Erza, and Happy spotted the rest of their team sitting close to the bar and made their way there. Natsu sat next to Gray, Happy flew to where Wendy and Carla sat, and Erza took Aura out of her sling before sitting next to Lucy.
"Good morning, everyone." Mirajane greeted as she walked to the table. "Good morning, Aura." She poked the baby's nose, causing her to laugh.
"Hi." Lucy smiled at Aura, taking the baby girl's hands and moving them up and down, making her giggle even more.
"How is she?" Lucy asked, looking up to Erza.
"She's quite the handful." Erza said as she looked down at her daughter, who had begun babbling.
"Awwww." Lucy and Mirajane cooed, melting at the sight.
"She's been doing that a lot lately as well." Erza added with a sigh.
Wendy sat fidgeting at the edge of the table. She wanted to go over and see the baby but she was nervous. She had no idea what to say. She was feeling the pressure to emulate the description of what Aura's future self told her she was like. Wendy wanted to be confident, but was having little to no luck in that department.
Erza noticed the young girl's uneasiness. "Come here, Wendy."
The sky dragon pointed to her herself in confusion. "M-me?"
"Not unless someone else by the name of Wendy joined our guild recently." Erza grinned.
"O-ok." Wendy nervously she got up from her seat and walked to Erza's side. Mirajane stepped back a bit to give the young dragon some space. "Y-yes? Is there something you need?"
"Do you want to hold her?"
"W-what?" Wendy asked, her face turning red.
"Do you want to hold Aura?" Erza asked again, this time lifting the baby to Wendy.
"I-I don't…" Wendy looked over to Carla - who was sipping tea.
The tabby caught the eyes of her anxious friend.
"Just hold her, child. She won't bite…probably. Human babies are still a mystery to me." She returned to sipping her tea.
Slightly less nervous, Wendy slowly nodded at Erza. "O-ok, I'll hold her." Erza smiled and placed Aura in Wendy's open arms. Wendy saw warm smiles coming from the girls and she meekly smiled back. She then looked down at Aura. The baby was staring at her wide-eyed.
"H-hello. I'm Wendy." the sky dragon stammered. She saw Aura's small hand rise up and firmly grip some of her hair. "Ow." Wendy yelped as Aura tugged on the young girl's blue locks, smiling and laughing.
"I think she likes you, Wendy." Erza said.
"R-ow...really?" Wendy winced, trying her best to ignore the pain.
Erza nodded. "I think that's how she says hello."
"Yeah." Gray interjected. "Kid almost pulled mine out the first time I held her." He ran his fingers through his own hair.
Wendy gave Aura back to Erza and returned to her seat with a smile. Carla saw the young girl's expression and smiled herself.
"So what's Fairy Tail's strongest team up to today?" Mirajane asked.
"We're going on a job of course." Erza said confidently. "Find us one, Gray. And make sure it's challenging."
The Ice wizard reluctantly rose from his seat and walked to the request board, grumbling under his breath.
"Are you sure you should be taking a job now, Erza?" Lucy asked.
"I am. My magic is fully restored and it's been too long since I've enjoyed a good battle." She grinned confidently.
She sounds like Natsu. Lucy and Mirajane thought as they looked to the dragon slayer - who was talking with Happy about something.
"Here." Gray returned and placed the job request he picked on the table. The group looked at it and Natsu read aloud.
"Strong wizards wanted to escort merchants to Hargeon. Reward: 40,000 Jewel"
"Sounds pretty straightforward." Lucy said.
"Hmm." Erza grumbled. "Not as challenging as I hoped, but I suppose it will do for now. Hopefully there will be bandits along the way." She stood up, holding Aura in her arm. "We'll depart this afternoon."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Yeah!" Natsu exclaimed. "We finally get to go on a job with everyone again. It's been forever!"
"You're not going, Natsu." Erza said, blowing away all of his enthusiasm.
"What?! Why not?!"
"One of us has to stay and watch Aura." She directed Natsu's eyes to their child, who was now playing with Erza's hair.
"We can't bring her with us?" Natsu asked.
Everyone sweat dropped.
Gray shook his head. "Idiot." He muttered.
Erza's glare hardened. "You would bring our baby on a dangerous job that will most likely have us engaged in battle with all manners of bandits and wild forest creatures?"
Natsu opened his mouth to speak but then looked over to his daughter. He then thought about all the things that could happen on the job, as well as how they would affect Aura's safety.
Aura gurgled and Natsu's eyes softened. "Fine, I'll stay." He said slightly sad.
"Good." Erza smiled. She held Aura in the air and smiled. "Mommy's going on a job but she'll be back soon. Will you be a good girl for Daddy?" Aura laughed and Erza kissed her forehead before giving her to Natsu.
He was disappointed that he couldn't go on the job with his friends, but he knew looking after his daughter was much more important. There would be plenty of other jobs.
"Let's get going." Gray said cracking his knuckles.
"Hold on, Gray." Erza said.
"What?"
"You're not going either."
"What?!"
"I need you to stay here and watch Natsu. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble while he's watching Aura."
"Can't Lucy do it?" he pointed to the blonde.
"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Lucy protested.
"Lucy's wide variety of spirits could be valuable on this mission." Erza pointed out.
"What about Wendy?"
"We need her healing magic in case someone is injured on the trip."
"Mira?"
"She has her own job."
"Well I still don't see why I have to-"Gray's mouth instantly shut when he felt Erza's cold glare - colder than even his own magic - chilling his body. He tried to stay strong but it was too much for him. "Ok, I'll stay." He slumped his shoulders, Gray Fullbuster had admitted defeat.
"Thank you. Come on, you two, let's get ready leave." Erza said to Lucy and Wendy.
"Right." Lucy said, looking back at the boys worriedly.
"Come along, Wendy." Carla called to the young girl.
"O-ok." Wendy slowly nodded. She was nervous about leaving Natsu and Gray behind.
Much to Natsu's chagrin, Happy went along as well. Most likely to follow Carla.
"Traitor." The dragon slayer grumbled. He and Gray sighed in disappointment as they watched Erza's group finally exit the guild hall.
Natsu held Aura in front of him. "I guess it's just you and me now huh?"
She giggled, causing Natsu to smile.
"So what do we do now?" Gray asked as he and Natsu sat back at the table.
"I don't know." Natsu placed Aura on top of the table, letting her play with his hand.
"Just my luck to be stuck here with you." Gray sighed in irritation.
"It's not like I wanna be here with you either." Natsu retorted with his own scowl.
The pair sat silence - with only Aura's random coos and babbles filling the air.
Eventually Natsu spoke up. "Where's Juvia?" he asked
"She went on a job with Lisanna and Shadow Gear. Why?"
"I don't know. You guys just seem kinda close lately." Natsu shrugged, watching Aura try to put one of his fingers in her mouth. He moved it away.
"It's not like that." Gray replied. Another silence passed between them. Now it was Gray's turn to speak up.
"How are things with Erza?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Natsu inquired, his cheeks now being pushed together by Aura.
Gray ignored the funny look on Natsu's face and powered through. "I mean you guys have been living together for over a year now right?"
"Yeah. And?" Natsu still didn't understand what Gray was trying to say to him.
"How is it? Is it weird?"
Natsu sat and pondered Gray's question for a moment. "It was kinda weird at first." He finally answered. "But I don't know. I guess I just got used to her being around me all of the time. Now it feels weird when she's not around." Natsu blushed a bit, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Mirajane caught a bit of the boys' conversation from behind the bar while cleaning glasses, smiling to herself when she saw Natsu's blush.
"You guys sleep in the same bed?" Gray asked.
"Yeah why wouldn't we?" Natsu questioned, his head titlted.
Gray shrugged. "I don't know, just making conversation."
The two sat in another awkward silence, this one longer than the others. Neither knew what to talk about anymore. Normally in a situation like this they would have a fight over something trivial like Natsu's constant whistling or the fact that Gray was once again without a shirt, but the baby sitting on the table took all the momentum out of that plan.
"How's being a dad going?"
"It's pretty cool." Natsu smiled. "I feel like Igneel. Although Aura can't talk yet."
"She's only six months, right? I don't think babies can talk that early."
"Maybe. This is actually the first time I've been with her without Erza around."
"Really?"
Natsu nodded. "Yeah, usually it's me and Erza takin care of her - well more Erza. I don't really know what to do without her around." He gave an embarrassed smile. "I'm kinda lost."
"Sounds like you suck as a father." Gray smirked.
"Yeah." Natsu laughed.
Aura began laughing when suddenly her eyes began to water and her lower lip quivered.
"Waahhh!" she wailed, much to Natsu and Gray's surprise.
"What's wrong with her?!" Gray shouted.
"I don't know!" Natsu answered.
Aura fell to her back and cried even louder.
Erza, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, and Carla walked through the East Forest alongside the merchant convoy. There were no signs of bandits or wild animals yet, but their eyes remained open for any sign of trouble.
"Thank you so much for escorting us through the forest." The head merchant said to Erza from atop his horse. "I hope we didn't inconvenience you by requesting this job. There are just so many things that can go wrong in the wild."
"It's no trouble at all." Erza reassured with a smile. "We were more than happy to accept the job. It must be cumbersome carrying so much cargo. You shouldn't have to worry about foreign dangers as well. We will do our absolute best to safeguard both your people and your goods."
"Thank you so much." The merchant gratefully bowed his head.
"Hey, Erza, are you sure it was ok to leave the guild like that?" Lucy asked.
"It's fine. I trust Gray. And I know Natsu will let nothing happen to our daughter." Erza replied confidently.
It's not the baby I'm worried about. Lucy thought with a nervous smile.
Natsu and Gray continued looking down at the still crying Aura.
Interestingly enough Gajeel, Elfman, and Pantherlily had now huddled themselves around the table. It was if Aura's cry had beckoned them all to her.
"Can't you stop her cryin? I was tryin to sleep." Gajeel grumbled, shooting Natsu an irritated look.
"I would but I don't what's wrong with her." Natsu admitted.
"Perhaps she is tired." Pantherlily suggested.
"I don't think so."
"Maybe the kid needs to eat." Elfman ssaid.
"She ate just before we left home."
"Perhaps she misses Erza then." Pantherlily suggested again.
"She was fine when Erza left."
"Sounds to me like she needs to be changed." Mirajane called from the bar. The boys turned around.
"Oh yeah!" Natsu realized. "Wait…" Natsu sniffed the air.
Mira was right Aura did need to be changed. Bad. Natsu's face grew white with fear, at the task. He hated changing dirty diapers.
"So you gonna changer her?" Gray asked Natsu.
"I don't want to." Natsu refused. He looked to Gajeel. "You do it."
"Why the hell should I do it? She's not my kid." The Iron Dragon slayer retorted.
"You're no help. Elfman?"
THe middle Strauss sibling shook his head in refusal. "Nope, I don't do dirty diapers."
"Mira?"
"Sorry, I still have work to do." The barmaid smiled.
"Lily?"
"I would but I don't have opposable thumbs." The exceed replied, holding up his paws. He could have easily done it in his battle form, but seeing as how Natsu didn't mention it, Pantherlily didn't find it important to bring it up.
Natsu began looking in Gray's direction. "Don't even think about it." The Ice Wizard said.
"Fine." Natsu sighed and looked over to the bag lying on the ground next to the bench. He grabbed it and put it on the table next to Aura. He undid the latch at the top and opened the bag. Inside were diapers, food, a blanket, and other baby care items.
He reached inside the bag and pulled out a diaper. There appeared to be a piece of paper attached to it. "What's this?"
Natsu turned it over in his hand before Gray snatched it away from him. "Hey! What's the-"
"Shut up and change your kid. I'll look at this." Gray interrupted.
Natsu wanted to punch the ice wizard, but returned his attention to his still wailing daughter. She sure does cry a lot. Natsu thought.
Gray began to read the piece of paper. "Natsu. If you are reading this then you have finally begun taking responsibility as a parent."
"What?" the dragon slayer glared at Gray.
"Hey, don't look at me. Erza wrote it."
"Man, that's harsh." Elfman commented.
"I thought it was funny." Gajeel smirked.
"Shut up." Natsu grumbled.
"Achoo!" Erza sneezed.
"Bless you." Wendy said.
"Thank you." Erza replied with a smile.
"Someone must be talking about you." Lucy teased with a mischievous smirk.
"That's just superstition."
Gray cleared his throat and continued reading the note. "Seeing as how this is the note attached to the diaper, then it is time to change Aura. Either that or you clumsily opened the wrong note."
Natsu sulked even more as Elfman and Gajeel snickered. Even Mirajane began to softly giggle.
"If you are still staring at the diaper as it if it were a foreign object then I was right to assume that you weren't paying attention the last time I taught you how to change a diaper, and our daughter is currently going hoarse from crying." Gray stopped reading the note and looked to Natsu, who was doing just as the note stated. "You don't know how to change her diaper?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Natsu smiled and scratched behind his head. "Not really no."
"What kind of man doesn't know how to change his kid's diaper?" Elfman questioned.
Gajeel shook his head in disappointment. "You really do suck, Salamander."
Natsu sulked again and Gray resumed reading.
"So I'm going to guide you through the process…again. Be sure to pay attention this time around. In the bag there should be a blanket."
Natsu reached into the bag and pulled out said blanket. "What do I do now?"
"Place the blanket under Aura. This will allow you to change her without worrying about the germs on the surface of wherever you're changing."
Natsu lifted up the crying baby and spread the blanket atop the table before placing her back down. "Done."
"Next - before you do anything - wash your hands. Thoroughly." Gray's tone was flat, but Natsu could feel Erza's patented sternness through her written words. He walked behind the bar, Mirajane allowing him space to wash his hands in the sink before he returned to the table.
"Open the clean diaper and place it under Aura."
"Ok." Natsu said after completing the task.
"Make sure you distract her so she doesn't move around while you're changing her."
"Distraction…distraction." Natsu repeated. "Hey Gajeel!" he yelled to the Iron Dragon Slayer.
"What?"
"Do that stupid face you make when you're angry."
"What?!" Gajeel yelled in offense. He furrowed his brow, narrowed his eyes, and gritted his teeth in anger. "I'll show you stupid." He walked to Natsu, but couldn't help but notice that Aura had stopped crying.
He looked down at her and saw that she was fixated on his currently twisted face. When he fixed it she started crying again. He quickly twisted it again, and Aura stopped crying.
"Aw, she likes your angry face." Mirajane cooed from behind the bar.
"Mind your own business." Gajeel retorted, his face still contorted. "Hurry up, Salamander. I can't hold this forever." He said through gnashed teeth.
"Next, carefully unfasten Aura's diaper. Use the front half to wipe any excess waste from her bottom." Gray instructed.
Natsu unfastened his daughter's diaper and instantly felt a gust of foul air attack his nostrils. Elfman, Gray, and Gajeel smelled it as well; though Natsu and Gajeel got the worst of it due to their enhanced sense of smell. Aura began to laugh.
"I think she knows that she stinks." Elfman said as he held his nostrils closed.
Natsu turned his head away from the smell and carefully wiped Aura's bottom with the cloth diaper. "W-what's next?"
Gray looked to the next step, continuing to hold his nose closed. "Wet one of the cloths in the bag and use it to wipe Aura back to front."
"Mira-"Natsu called, his nose still burning. "Can you help me out on that one?"
"Sure." The barmaid walked from behind the bar towards the table where everyone was gathered and reached inside the bag, but not before catching a whiff of Aura's dirty diaper. "Oh, someone's a stinky baby." Mirajane cooed, lightly poking a laughing Aura's nose. She returned to the sink and wet the cloth in warm water before giving it back to Natsu. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Natsu took the cloth and wiped Aura down before moving the dirty diaper to the side and fastening the new one. "There ya go, kiddo, all clean." he smiled wide at his cooing daughter.
"Finally." Gajeel sighed in relief, fixing his face. "That took forever."
"Gotta admit, it was kinda cool seeing Natsu change his kid's diaper." Elfman said.
"What?" Natsu said as he walked back from throwing away the dirty diaper.
"Our little dragon slayer is growing up." Mirajane complimented with a smile. This made Natsu to blush.
"It's not like that. A dad's supposed to take care of his kid right?"
Gray smirked as he folded up the note and handed it to Natsu. "Here."
"Thanks." Natsu took the note and put it back in the bag before folding up the blanket, putting it back in the bag as well.
He placed Aura back on the table and took a small red ball out of the side pocket of the bag. He held holding it up to her. "You want the ball?"
"Ba." Aura said.
"Ball?"
"Baa." She said with a slight inflection.
"Ball." Natsu said slower.
"Ba."
"Eh, close enough." He smiled and handed her the ball, much to her delight. "When will you be able to talk?" he asked laying his head down, watching Aura play with the ball.
Mirajane giggled, "Be patient, Natsu. She's only six months old."
Natsu continued looking at his daughter and smiled a bit as she played with the ball.
"The kid is cute." Elfman said.
"Must have got that from Titania." Gajeel joked with a smirk, earning him another glare from Natsu.
"Yeah. How did Aura end up with a knuckle head like you for a dad?" Gray teased.
"Sometimes I don't think I'm cut out for this whole dad thing." Natsu smiled ruefully. "It's been six months and Erza still has to do almost everything for Aura. I can barely change a diaper."
"Geez, man, I was just joking." Gray said catching Natsu's mood. "I'm sure you're a good dad." He looked over at Aura who pushed the ball towards Natsu, who pushed it back at her. "See? She thinks so."
"Yeah, stop worryin so much." Gajeel added. "It's annoying."
"Takes a real man to raise a kid." Elfman nodded sagely.
"Besides, I'm sure Erza appreciates everything that you are able to do. There's probably some things you can do for Aura that she can't." Mirajane said.
"Maybe." Natsu pushed the ball back to Aura. Despite still feeling uneasy when it came to raising Aura, he did feel a bit better after talking to his friends about it.
"Have you told Erza about how you feel?" Mirajane asked.
"No." Natsu answered. "I don't want to worry her about it. She has other things going on. Especially since the S-Class trials are coming up in a couple of months."
"Oh yeah, those are happening soon." Gray realized.
"S-Class Trials?" Gajeel inquired.
"It's a test to see who is gonna be the next wizard to reach S-Class, the strongest of the strong in the guild." Elfman explained.
"Is everyone in it?"
"Nah, the master usually picks the people with the best overall performance of the year. Most jobs completed and stuff like that." Gray said.
"Hey, sis, what's the test gonna be like this year?" Elfman asked Mirajane.
"Sorry." She winked and put her index finger over her lips, "It's a secret."
"Doesn't matter what the test is. I know I'm gonna ace it this year." Natsu confidently declared.
"Because Erza's gonna help you?" Gray mocked.
"No!" Natsu snapped. "Because, I'm clearly the best in the guild and I should be S-Class. Right?" he stood up from the table and looked down. Smiling at his daughter as if she would agree with him. She simply looked up and coeed.
"As if flame brain." Gray stood up next to him. "You're dumber than I thought if you think you're stronger than me."
The two glared at one another.
"You're both idiots. I'm the only one here good enough to be S-Class." Gajeel proclaimed as he stood up and pointed to himself. Natsu and Gray both gave him deadpan looks.
"You just found out what S-Class was a couple of seconds ago." Gray reminded.
"Yeah, and the old man would never let you be S-Class after all the trouble you caused as part of Phantom." Natsu added.
"Hey, that's all in the past!" Gajeel exclaimed. "I was just as strong as the Element 4 in Phantom. So basically I'm already an S-Class wizard." He boasted.
"Oh yeah?" Gray challenged with a smirk. "That means Juvia has a better chance of being S-Class than you since she was actually in the Element 4."
"You making fun of me, snowflake?!"
"That was the idea lead foot."
"You're all crazy if you think you're gonna make S-Class before me." Elfman declared. "Only real men deserve to be S-Class."
"Stay out of this!" Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray yelled.
"The only way you would become S-Class is if you begged Mira to let you in." Natsu said.
"Says the guy who had a kid with Titania." Gajeel retorted.
"Take that back."
"Make me, Pinko. You've got as much a chance of being S-Class as the streaker does keeping his clothes on for more than 10 seconds."
"You wanna start a fight?" Gray said, neglecting the fact that his shirt had been off for a good while now.
Elfman stepped to the three and they all began arguing loudly with one another. Mirajane nervously looked on.
"Umm, guys?" she called. They ignored her.
"All you do is destroy property!"
"I'll destroy your property!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"I'll make you make sense!"
"Just stop talking! You're giving me a headache!"
"Guys? Elfman, Gajeel, Gray, Natsu?" Mirajane tried again, but once again she was ignored.
"Everyone knows you're only in the guild because of Juvia." Gray said to Gajeel. "You're the weakest one out of the four of us."
"Oh yeah?" Gajeel retorted. He turned his hand into his Iron Dragon Club. "I'll show you whose weak!" he swung his arm but Gray ducked, and Gajeel hit Natsu in the face. Gray and Elfman began laughing as Natsu shook his fist in anger.
"Dammit, Gajeel! That was a cheap shot!" Natsu swung his fist but do to his impaired vision he hit Gray in the face. This soon devolved into Gray hitting Elfman in the face, who in turn struck Gajeel. There was nothing but silence as the four angry young men stood there with each other's fists in their faces.
Mirajane sighed and shook her head. "Oh dear." She looked down to Aura - who was now trying to put the ball in her mouth. "Come on, Aura." Mirajane took the ball from the baby girl and picked her up. "Things are about to become a little crazy." Mirajane carried her as she made her way behind the bar and placed Aura on the bar top,. She then leaned over the counter herself with her hand under her chin, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"You bastard!" the boys shouted in unison. They then began brawling in the middle of the guild hall.
Mirajane smiled when she saw Aura sleeping on the bar top. "You're in for one crazy childhood." She smiled, patting the sleeping baby's head as the four man brawl soon grew to encompass the entire guild.
Here we are, the first official chapter of "7 Years and Counting", as the note at the top said this takes place before the 7 year timeskip. I wanted to establish how Natsu and Erza interact with baby Aura individually before diving fully into the entire family dynamic. This chapter focused on Natsu and his relationship with his daughter. Hope you enjoyed and as always comment with your thoughts and thanks for reading :)