CHAPTER THREE

"Time is not something a child could or should be able to use." Ultear said angrily as Gray dropped onto her couch shirtless and sighed.

"But, you did." He countered and earned another sharp glare for his troubles.

"Look." He continued. "I think Natsu's kid came from the future and I need to figure out if it's affecting the timeline. You, at least, taught me that much."

As Gray told her this, he watched Ultear's withered face soften slightly as she sat down and sighed.

"Have you considered the child being a fake?" she asked, causing Gray to shake his head.

"There's too many coincidences and she's harmless." He told her as he watched as she closed her eyes in thought.

He knew she could be awhile, so, Gray stood up and made his way into the kitchen to make tea for them both, losing his shoes along the way.

Nearly two hours later, Gray spent his time at Ultear's home, discussing possibilities for Nashi's appearance.

And when he finally had to leave, he made sure to leave her a small meal to eat.

But, before he left, Ultear told Gray that she had a few more ideas about the young child, however, she needed to do a bit of research to be sure.

*TIME SKIP*

A few days later, Natsu was returning home from his chosen mission, excited to see his mate and daughter once again.

After the train had finally stopped and he was able to get over his motion sickness, the dragon slayer exited the train station and ran through the streets of Magnolia, not stopping until he was standing outside Lucy'd apartment.

Unable to contain himself, Natsu threw open the front door as he shouted into the interior.

"LUCY! I'M HOME!"

A few minutes later, he laughed out loud as Lucy and Nashi entered the room, wearing looks of both confusion and exasperation.

"Natsu, really?" Lucy laughed. "That show is so bad it makes me want to bleach my eyes and brain."

However, Natsu just shrugged as he bent down to Nashi's level.

"Hey, princess. Don't I get a welcome home hug?"

The little girl smiled brightly as she ran into his arms.

"Welcome home, Daddy!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck as Natsu placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.

After they had eaten lunch, Natsu was sitting on Lucy's couch, watching T.V. with Lucy leaning on his shoulder and Nashi asleep on his lap.

Seeing this, he carefully picked up his daughter and carried her to Lucy's bedroom for her nap.

He laid Nashi's body on the bed and kissed her softly on the forehead before tucking her in.

Natsu then smiled as he closed the door and walked back out to Lucy, who was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels. And he was about to sit down when there was a sharp knock on the front door.

*ON LUCY'S FRONT STEP*

Gray continued to knock on Lucy's front door, hoping that they were at home.

Ultear had sent him a message that morning, saying that she had been up the entire night researching her theory about Nashi's sudden appearance and she needed him to gather a bit of information about her from Nashi and Lucy.

"Please be here." He muttered as he absently tugged off his shirt.

Natsu finally answered the door and when he saw who it was, he gave his rival an annoyed look.

"What do you want, Frosty? We're a little busy here."

Gray, however, just sighed as he fought the urge to punch Natsu in the face.

"Look, Pyro. I just need to talk to you and Lucy. It's about Nashi. Surely you've realized that she doesn't belong here. In our current timeline. We need to figure out how to get her back to her own time."

At his words, Natsu tried to hide his fury, but the look of outright rage on his face was making it highly difficult. Lucky for him, Lucy showed up at the door at that very moment.

"Gray?" she questioned as she gently moved Natsu to the side. "Is there something wrong?"

The ice wizard took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Where's Nashi?" he asked first and held up his hands to the two parents.

"I'm not after her or anything weird like that. I just don't want her to hear me." Gray said carefully as Lucy nodded while nervously biting her lip while Natsu just glared at him.

"Lucy, can anyone use a Celestial Spirit if they wanted to?" Gray asked, earning a confused look from the female wizard. She was probably trying to figure out how this related to her daughter.

"No, you have to be some kind of Celestial Spirit mage?" she said, confused.

And Gray nodded, expecting that kind of answer.

"Do you have any Spirit that has anything to do with time?" Gray asked and growled when Natsu suddenly broke in.

"What the hell does this have to do with Nashi?" he snapped, causing Gray to clench his fists, trying not to hit the dragon slayer as he kept his attention on Lucy.

"Natsu's got a point, Gray. What does this have to do with Nashi?" she asked as Gray decided to reveal his thoughts.

"Guys, I think Nashi may have used a Spirit to travel to our time." He said bluntly and was rewarded by stunned silence.

Suddenly, Lucy gave a shrill squeal of delight.

"That means our little baby took after me!" she shrieked happily, while Natsu looked torn between being proud and groaning.

*TIME SKIP*

Several minutes later, Gray was finally able to bring the conversation back around to its main point.

And after another few moments of discussion, Lucy and Natsu found themselves wrapped in each other's arms as Gray told them about his ideas behind Nashi's mysterious appearance.

"Lucy…you know she can't stay here." He said slowly, but instead of her going off, Natsu did.

""What are you talking about, you frozen bastard? She's ours, so damn right she's staying here!" he yelled at Gray, causing him to finally lose his temper.

"You'll ruin the timeline, you flaming dumbass!" he yelled back before they both dove to the floor, fighting and throwing punches, and missing it when a little pinkette walked in wrapped in a blanket cloak.

However, Lucy didn't miss a beat, scooping up her daughter and going into the kitchen, not even bothering with the wrestling boys as Gray's information finally sank in.

What were they going to do? If they tried to keep Nashi in this time, the girl would be ripped apart when her other self was born. But, if Lucy never got pregnant, then Nashi would fade away forever. The safest bet would be to send her back. Unfortunately, that would hurt both her and Natsu.

"What am I going to do?" Lucy whispered as she set Nashi down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands.

"We can make fire cookies, Mama." Nashi said innocently and Lucy had to laugh at the innocence of her daughter.

"Alright, sweetie. How do you make fire cookies?" Lucy indulged, wincing when she heard a loud crash in her living room, telling her the T.V. was destroyed.

*TIME SKIP*

When Natsu and Gray had finally finished their fighting, Lucy brought out tall glasses of iced tea.

However, as Gray sipped his tea, he stared at Lucy, noticing that she was making a great effort to hide her worries and tears.

So, instead he gave her an encouraging nod before leaving, making sure to grab his pants as he did, since he had lost nearly everything else.

Natsu, still furious at Gray trying to tear his family apart, continued to stare at the ice wizard as he walked out the front door. And when he was finally gone, the dragon slayer turned to Lucy in an angry fit.

"Lucy! What the hell is the matter with you?! Why didn't you let me punch that frozen pervert right in his stupid face?!"

"BECAUSE HE'S RIGHT, NATSU!" she cried, bursting into tears and causing Natsu to jump in surprise before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her.

"Natsu, we have to send her back before we end up killing her by mistake." She whispered weakly. Even Natsu felt his heart break a little as he glanced into the kitchen at his daughter, who was playing happily with bright red cookies dough.

It was all he could do hold back his tears as Lucy cried her own into his shirt. They would have to find a way to send Nashi back to her own time.

But, how?

Gray spent the next few days on a mission with Juvia and he did this for several different reasons.

One, to let the pyro and Lucy figure things out. The second, to be alone with Juvia. And the third, to clear his own head.

*TIME SKIP*

When Gray and Juvia arrived back at the guild hall four days later, it was to a more somber atmosphere. It seemed everyone had learned of Nashi's origins and the stress it was putting on the current timeline.

Noticing an incredibly depressed Natsu and Lucy sitting off to the side apart from each other, Gray turned to his own girlfriend with a worried look.

"Juvia…" he began, but stopped as the water mage rested a gentle hand on his arm and gave him an understanding nod, as if she already knew what he was going to say.

After giving each other a soft kiss, the two separated to go and comfort their respective friends.

Unfortunately, Natsu and Lucy both looked like they had given up. Not a good sign.

Natsu was exhausted.

He and Lucy had been up all night thinking about Nashi and their current situation.

Gray told them that a Celestial Spirit had been used to bring her to this time. He even seemed to know so much that he decided to pull him aside to see some idea as to which Spirit had been used.

He had already asked Lucy, but she was so distraught that she was unable to think straight.

However, he got his chance sooner than expected, as Gray had suddenly decided to join him, carrying two large pints of beer for them both.

"Hey, Gray." He said sadly

"Hey, buddy." Gray said in a friendly tone "How're you doing?"

"I'll be fine, but…I'm worried about Lucy. She's so upset about having to return Nashi to her own time." Natsu took the beer Gray offered and sipped it slowly.

"You know, Natsu. If Nashi is your daughter, then even if you send her back, she'll still be born and able to exist. So, technically, you'll be able to get her back."

Taking in his friend's kind words, Natsu perked up a bit as he gave Gray a small smile.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Gray." The fire mage said before he downed his beer in one gulp.

Feeling a burst of courage, Natsu was finally able to bring himself to talk to Gray about Nashi.

"Hey, Frostbite? I was just curious if you had any ideas about the Celestial Spirit Nashi may have used to travel through time."

"I'm actually not all that sure. It could be any number of Spirits. The only one that could tell us anything would probably be Lucy or maybe Yukino." Gray told Natsu in disappointment.

Unfortunately, it would be impossible to get to Yukino since she was on a mission in another country, but maybe Juvia would be able to calm Lucy down enough to talk about it.

After they had finished talking, Natsu decided to take Lucy and Nashi home.

Standing up, he made his way across the guild, only to be stopped by Gajeel, of all people.

"Listen, flame-brain, shit's real messed up right now. Enjoy your time with the brat. While you can." The Iron Dragon Slayer told him.

Natsu, however, just gave him a confused look, his eyes darting over to where Lucy and Juvia sat with Nashi before turning back to Gajeel.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu asked suspiciously while the other man leaned in close.

And, surprisingly, Gajeel didn't even blush, instead, his eyes grew darker as he answered in a harsh whisper.

"I just got a bad feeling somethin's gonna happen." He told the fire mage, causing Natsu to clench his fists in fear.

Ever since Gajeel's brush with death, he could get feelings of when something was off. The entire guild knew to take it seriously after dismissing one and thus having to rebuild the guild hall…again.

Natsu was finally able to walk over to Lucy and Nashi with Gajeel's warning still echoing in his mind.

Just what did Gajeel mean 'shit's about to go down'? Surely if we return Nashi to her own time, everything will go back to normal, right?

Natsu was so distracted by his thoughts that he slammed his knee into the corner of a nearby table, causing him to cry out in pain.

"FUCKING SHIT THAT HURT!"

However, his shouts caused Lucy to look up at the dragon slayer in surprise.

Her eyes were red and puffy while the other females all glared at him.

"Natsu! Swear jar!" Levy commanded, pointing to a large jar that Mirajane had set up and that was already filled a great deal.

Natsu grumbled angrily as he walked over to the bar and placed 100 jewel into the jar. He then walked back to Lucy and the girls, Erza just shaking her head in disgust.

"Lucy…we need to talk." Natsu finally said, motioning to the other girls to leave so that he could get to Lucy.

"Iron breath's saying something's about to happen. We need to get Nashi home." He said in a soft, but serious tone as Lucy wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement.

Giving Lucy a gentle kiss, Natsu picked up Nashi in his arms as he and Lucy walked out of the guild for the day.

And a few minutes later, the concerned parents were walking through Magnolia with Nashi holding both their hands between them.

Both Natsu and Lucy walked in silence, lost in thought and unsure how to bring their worries to each other.

However, Nashi didn't seen very happy either.

"Can we get ice cream?" the little girl asked, looking up at her parents with her own worry shining in her big brown eyes.

But, Natsu and Lucy were still stuck in their own minds, unable to hear anything except their own tangled thoughts.

Unfortunately, this caused Nashi's worry to grow and her cautious movements showing her emotion as she watched her parents.

"Daddy? Mama? Are you okay?" she asked with tears welling up in her eyes.

Finally, Lucy blinked a few times, the haze of her thoughts lifting as her own eyes focused on her daughter.

"Hey, baby. What's wrong?" the blonde mage asked as she wiped away Nashi's tears and pulled her close.

These movements finally drew Natsu's attention and his olive eyes filled with present concerns as he pushed away thoughts of the future.

"We're sorry, princess. Mommy and Daddy were just thinking about something boring. Why don't we head out for dinner tonight? There's a great little café up ahead." Natsu then forced himself to smile as he took Lucy's free hand and began to lead them towards the small café.