Hey everybody! Did you miss me? Here we are again with another chapter of Swords of a Brother Unlimited. This one is going to be special, being the first chapter in which we adapt a canon event and see how the inclusion of Shirou as an older brother to the Strausses changes things (in all honesty, not much, but its an early event). For now let's get some reviews responded to.

PheonixQueen15: Sorry to say this, but that's not coming for a long time. I'd estimate about a year with how often update any given story.

tl34lt12: Yeah, Shirou's life/route in the Nasuverse is a sort of amalgamation multiple routes, and left somewhat ambiguous intentionally. What we can confirm is that Shriou experienced something akin to primarily a mix of Fate and UBW with elements of HF and a few comedic incidences from HA and CF. Shirou is being used as the butt of a joke in this case. Of course he was going to say his iconic "Why!?". Expect to see a lot of that whenever he's the victim of slapstick.

bluefish1945: Yeah, given Shirou's personality, he's not likely to have a one-night-stand during his mercenary days. Sex isn't going to fill that kind of void for him.

Dragon lord Syed 101: You know your family life is healthy if you can all laugh at accidents like that.

apostlelord: Will do... eventually.

daizuke: I cannot tell what you are saying. Sorry.

ZooFan: I can't help it! It's just so fun to mess with Shirou! Eh, Erza was going to start pounding discipline in all of them eventually, the training incident just gave her incentive.

ENDDRAGON369: The world may never know. I chose to believe its because he's actually a demon. The logic behind that theory? How bold of you to assume there was logic involved.

Ztassassin555: Well, the thing about Noble Phantasms is that a lot of the more powerful ones can level a city. Not something you want to use too regularly when your guild already has a reputation of causing massive amounts of collateral damage. Rule Breaker is especially problematic since about 90% of all the problems in Fairy Tail that can't be solved with brute force can be solved under the assumption that it can break pretty much all manner of curses, which is just too much of a cope out. While Fairy Tail is loose with its magic, it's only really loose in that there's a form of magic for everything. No one is going to have the exact form of magic needed to solve any given problem. The issue with Shirou is the fact that UBW is pretty much that, a grab bag of Noble Phantasms with effects that can solve pretty much any problem, so limitations on his use on Noble Phantasms is needed for story reasons. There is also the in-story reason of the Noble Phantasms being foreign to Earthland, originating from myths and legends that do not exist in that world. Using them too often would arouse suspicion.

DannyPhantom619: Tis no scorn worse that that of an angry woman.

AngelFaux: I can neither confirm nor deny that claim. I will say that the Shirou's style of Take-Over Magic will be something along those lines, but the exact mechanics will not be revealed just yet. As for how strong Servants are in relation Fairy Tail Mages, I'd say the weakest of Servants aside from Angra Mainyu would be as just above the strength of the 10 Wizard Saints, assuming they are properly summoned via a Holy Grail.

TeotakuFantasia: Oh, it would look familiar to someone like you.

GenieNight08: Okay, rude. Did you not pay attention to anything that happened in this or the original story by Ray O'Neill? Shirou has been raising his siblings singlehandedly ever since they're parents died and has been a very loving older brother who is very much worthy of his siblings love and respect. By the time I took over writing the story, Shirou had been thought dead by Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna for a year, and vice versa. Those strict rules are safety precautions agreed upon by everyone because they fear losing each other again; and the whole thing was Lisanna's idea to begin with. Everyone outside of the Strausses has plenty of reason to like and respect Shirou: he saved more than half the kids from slavery, he's demonstrated strength and maturity that Laxus is unable to find as the only other teen in the guild, and his a genuinely nice guy to everyone by cooking meals and assisting in training. If you think all the Fairy Tail characters are "massively out of character," I think you need to reexamine your interpretation of these characters and take into account the fact that their backstories have changed substantially because of the inclusion of Shirou in all of their lives. I have nothing but respect for Fairy Tail's story and it's characters. If you believe that my intentions were to insult a pair of franchises that I hold so dear to my heart, then allow me to shatter that ridiculous illusion!

Primordial Inscriptor Z-09: Yup. Never underestimate the hairpin trigger that is Fairy Tail children.

Neema Amiry: Sorry to keep you waiting.

ALTER-BOT: What makes you say that?

ultima-owner: Nightmares sure can be funny when they belong to someone else.

Ferdiad: Don't forget, this is the same series were the most powerful demons and dragons have motion sickness as their greatest weakness. Plus, Shirou wasn't hurt too bad. He was just caught off guard.

PasiveNox: Thank you.

Guest (1): Eh, harems have their own brand of suffering.

Guest (2): Oi! Don't go insulting my cohosts!

Old steamer (Guest): Thank you for the antidotes!

hellousoull (Guest): Eh, a loveless life has its own brand of suffering.

Kroz Phantomville: You hit the nail on the head, good sir. Sorry, putting reponses at the beginning has been something I've been doing for a long time, and I don't see myself changing that any time soon.

Lifelessman: Thank you!

Vendre: Don't worry. We have workarounds and justifications of limiting powers. For Shirou, it will be harem, but who will be included will be saved for later.

Guest (3): It certainly will be something interesting to see... in like a year or so.

Good news: That was all of the reviews! Bad news: I've been losing motivation in the story but don't want to give it up, so I will be taking a break from this so I don't suffer from burnout. You probably won't see much from this story for a while. Sorry about that.

For the time being, let's just focus on the now and do the disclaimer so you can all get to the actual story.

Disclaimer: Neither I nor Ray O'Neill own Fate/Stay Night or Fairy Tail, or any of the series' respective characters, and we make no money from this

Chapter 5: Happy Egg

It was a totally normal day for Shirou at the Fairy Tail Guildhall. As per usual, the eldest Strauss siblings was busy in the kitchen, preparing various meals for his fellow guildmates. It was a particularly busy lunch hour that day, so Shirou had been cooking in the kitchen none stop, leaving Kinana to wait tables. That totally normal lunch hour quickly became unordinary when he heard a rather large ruckus coming from the common room in the guildhall, one of the loudest he had heard in the last month. Putting aside all his cooking utensils and turning off all the appliances, Shirou quickly rushed out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

"What happened out here?!" Shirou cried in a panic, fearing that another guild wide brawl had broken out.

"Nothing at all," Erza and Mirajane beamed with pure and innocent smiles.

Looking around the guildhall, Shirou could see several tables chipped and slightly out of place, with some guild members currently moving tables back into place, but nothing to suggest that the guildhall had suffered from another one of the guild's regular brawls. The only real out of place thing in the guildhall was the giant white and blue egg sitting in the middle of the room on a throw pillow.

Unknown to him was the fact that Erza and Mirajane fight just as often as, if not more so than, Natus and Gray do. The catch is that whenever they are in Shirou's line of sight, they act all sweet and innocent, pretending to be the best of friends. I was a sort of truce the two girls shared, as neither one wanted Shirou to think any less of them for fighting.

"Real classy girls," Cana sighed in exasperation.

"Oh sure, we all get punished when we fight, but she and Mira go completely unnoticed by Shirou?" Gray complained, "You'd think a guy as skilled and powerful as him would have noticed by now."

"Then I'll just to do if for him," Natsu growled, cracking his knuckles, "Just you wait, one of these days, I'm going to give both of them a beating they'll never forget!"

"Can someone please explain what this egg is doing here?" Shirou asked, inspecting the anomaly up close.

"It's a dragon egg Natsu found in the East Forest!" Lisanna explained cheerfully.

"A dragon egg, huh?" Shirou mused as he stroked the top of the egg.

Focusing on the egg, Shirou pushed a bit of magical energy into it to analyze it. Using his Structural Grasping, he could tell that it was a fertilized egg and well into its incubation cycle. The amniotic sack was mostly drained of its fluids and there was a small heartbeat. He also picked up traces of magic both inside and around the egg, but both magic signatures were completely foreign to him.

'It's certainly big enough to be a dragon's egg, and the creature inside is definitely magical in origin, but it doesn't have the scent of a dragon,' Shirou thought as he continued his analysis, 'If anything, it smells of fish and cats. Not only that, the traces of magic around the outside of the egg seem somewhat similar to that of the Kaleidoscope.'

"Say, you're pretty smart, Shirou," Natsu pointed out, "Think you can help me hatch it?"

"While I'm happy you think so highly of me, I think Lisanna would be of much more help. She's the animal expert in our family," Shirou chuckled, "What do you think, Lisanna? You want to help Natsu with this egg?"

"Sure thing!" Lisanna cheered, "I was actually about to ask Natsu if I could help anyway."

"Really?! You want to help?!" Natsu exploded in joy.

"Mhm! I've never tried raising a dragon before!" the young Take-Over Mage beamed, "I bet it will be really fun!"

"I'm not sure 'fun' is the right word for it," Gray deadpanned, not particularly interested in what Natsu and Lisanna were planning on doing with the egg.

"So, how are we supposed to make it hatch?" Natsu asked, having no clue on what they were supposed to do."

"I think you just need to warm it up," Lisanna mused.

"For real?!" Natsu said with a wide, almost demonic, grin, "Then it looks like I'm the right man for the job!"

To everyone's collective shock and horror, Natsu picked up the large egg and released a weak, but still dangerously hot, Fire Dragon's Roar upon. Had it not been for everyone else's immediate reactions, the egg surely would have met the same fate as that morning's pantry stock.

"Not like that Natsu!" Lisanna cried in horror.

"Are you stupid?!" Gray yelled as he dropkicked the Fire Mage away and secured the fire egg.

As soon as the egg was safe, Shirou immediately Projected a fire blanket and threw it where Natsu was previously roasting the unfortunate egg, putting out the remaining flames scattered across the floor.

"Okay, you need help way more than I originally anticipated," Shirou sighed in relief as the remaining flames were extinguished.

"Geez! We're trying to hatch the egg, not poach it!" Lisanna reprimanded her hot-headed friend.

"Yeah, you're right," Natsu apologize in shame, "Sorry."

"Just sit back and let my magic handle this," Lisanna declared.

Beneath Lisanna's feet, a pink magic circle appeared and ingulfed her in light. When the light faded, her entire body had transformed. Gone was the little girl with white hair and a pink dress. She now stood before everyone in the form of a large bird with beautiful green and pink feathers.

"Woah! Amazing!" Natsu cried in awe.

"Oh, I get it! You're going to keep that egg warm just like birds do," Gray deduced.

"That's right," Lisanna replied as she wrapped her wings around the egg, "They're experts at hatching eggs."

"Wow! You're so smart!" Natsu complimented.

As he watched his little sister and her friend fawn over their egg, Shirou couldn't help but smile to himself. It had been quite some time since he had seen Lisanna this excited over something. Something he missed the most during his time as a mercenary was being able to see moments like this, the moments when a look of wonder and discovery adorned his baby sister's face.

However, those moments were equally contrasted by the ones currently experienced by his little brother, Elfman. Off to the side, Shirou noticed that Elfman had been staring Natsu and Lisanna with eyes full of sadness and longing. His older brother instincts going off, Shirou quickly moved over to speak with his only brother.

"Hey, little man," Shirou greeted, kneeling down to meet his brother at eye level, "Why the long face?"

"Mira-nee and Lisanna have already mastered the Full Body Take-Over, but I'm still having trouble with it," Elfman confessed, "I'm a sucky mage."

"Come on, don't be like that," Shirou encouraged, "I still haven't figured out the Full Body Take-Over either. Heck, I can't even manage a Partial Take-Over."

"But you can still do a whole ton of cool magic," Elfman pointed out, "If I could do the things you and everyone else can do, I could turn into a bird and go look for my parakeet."

"Parakeet?" Shirou inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I adopted him not too long after we arrived at the guild. We used to be the best of friends, but he flew away and I never saw him again," Elfman explained, "It happened just a week before you showed up at the guild."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Shirou replied comfortingly.

"Man, I wish I had an egg to take care off like they did," Elfman sighed, sounding depressed.

While Shirou tried to think of something to cheer his little brother up, he heard a rather loud commotion coming from where Natsu and Lisanna were hatching their egg.

"Hey, why don't we take the egg to the park?" Lisanna suggested, "That way we can hatch it in an area filled with much more nature."

"What are we waiting around here for then? Let's go!" Natsu cheered as he grabbed the egg off the ground and ran out of the guildhall.

"Natsu, be careful! We don't want to drop it!" Lisanna reprimanded as she flew after the boy.

Seeing that Natsu was more than likely going to need a bit more than a little supervision, Shirou quickly developed a plan he was sure was going to make everyone happy. It would teach Natsu a bit about being constructive, give Lisanna the explorative experience she had been craving, and cheer up Elfman by giving him something to think about other than his lost pet. All Shirou needed was the time off to put his plan into motion.

"Hey, Elfman," Shirou said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I think I know just the thing to cheer you up. If you can hang on until after the lunch rush, we can do it together. What do you say?"

Trusting his older brother's judgement, Elfman replied with a quiet nod. Happy with his response, Shirou gave his little brother another quick pat on the back before returning to the kitchen. He still had a long lunch rush in front of him before he could enact his plan. He could only hope that Natsu and Lisanna didn't get into too much trouble before then.

Towards the southern side of the town as Magnolia South Gate Park, a place of greenery within the suburban reaches of Magnolia Town easily spotted by it's massive centerpiece tree. Underneath said tree were Natsu and Lisanna, eagerly waiting for their supposed dragon egg to hatch. Or rather, Natsu was eagerly watching Lisanna hug the egg in her Bird Soul Transformation in her attempt to hatch the egg, leading to some rather awkward tension between the two children.

"You're starting to make me nervous," Lisanna complained as Natsu continued to eye the egg.

"So, the egg will hatch if we just sit here?" Natsu asked, seemingly ignoring his friend's discomfort.

"Mhm," Lisanna nodded, "It gets kind of boring though."

As if hearing Lisanna's complaints, the egg visibly began moving, a clear indication that it was alive and well. Like a married couple noticing their unborn baby kick, the pair of children initially met this discovery with joy and excitement. However, things quickly got too exciting when the egg moved so much that it ended up jumping out of Lisanna's wings and knocking her away, forcing her back to her human form. As if it had a mind of its own, the egg bounced into Natsu's arms before ceasing all movement.

"Huh, seems to have calmed down," Natsu noted, closely inspecting the egg to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"Hey, maybe the egg is trying to say something," Lisanna deduced, "Maybe it wants you to warm it up instead."

"Really? You think so?" the Dragon Slayer inquired.

"Yeah! Doesn't it seem happier now?" Lisanna pointed out.

"Hey, egg, do you want to be with me?" Natsu asked in turn.

His response was a couple of happy chirps created from the creature inside tapping against its egg walls.

"I think it said yes!" Natsu cried in joy, making his own interpretation of the sounds.

"See, what'd I tell you?" the young Take-Over Mage cheered.

"Right as always!" the Dragon Slayer laughed.

"Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we build the egg a little house?" Lisanna suggested.

"Like a secret base?!" Natsu asked in reply, immediately on board with the idea.

Taking the egg to the just outside the East Forest, Natsu and Lisanna took turns attempting to build a house to hatch the egg in. Natsu's attempt was as crude as one might expect. The house he built amounted to a hollow pile of boulders he had ripped out of the ground with his bare hands. The "house" was as structurally sound as a house of cards and as deadly as an avalanche, collapsing in on itself mere seconds after Natsu placed the final boulder.

Lisanna's attempt was much more skillful and thought out compared to Natsu's, but anything was better than the disaster of a building the Dragon Slayer created. Using her giant Rabbit Soul Transformation, the youngest Strauss sibling constructed a small hut from straw branches. It was plenty sturdy, and even if it did collapse it was unlikely to hurt anybody. Despite being a small hut, the interior was rather spacious, more than enough to accommodate the two children and their egg.

"It's kind of like we're a family now," Lisanna mused.

"How do you figure?" Natsu asked, confused.

"Well, you've got a mommy and a daddy, and the egg is like our little baby that hasn't been born yet," Lisanna explained cheerfully.

"… I guess that doesn't sound so bad," Natsu chuckled after a moment, blushing.

Lisanna did the same, unable to stop herself from smiling at the thought. She had always found Natsu to be a pretty interesting boy. He could be brash at times, but he was also extremely friendly and the stories he always shared about the dragon that raised him fascinated her to no end. Really, having Natsu be a part of her extended family in Fairy Tail was nothing but a pleasure to her.

"How about we try warming the egg together," Lisanna suggested, hugging the egg in the center of the hut from one side.

"Oh, okay," Natsu agreed, hugging the egg from the other side.

As they sat there keeping the egg warm, both children could feel the gentle warmth of a developing life. It was a pleasant experience, one made more so by the company of a close friend.

Back at the guildhall, word had gotten around about the supposed dragon's egg Natsu had found and how he and Lisanna were busy trying to hatch it. Pretty much everyone in the guildhall was talking about the egg and its caretakers in some capacity. The likes of aspiring intellectuals like Jellal displayed intrigue at the prospect of a dragon's egg, while more gossip savvy members like Wally and Sorano joked about the pair of child mages being romantically involved. However, there were those like Laxus who took these stories with a rather large grain of salt.

"You kidding me? A dragon's egg?" Laxus scoffed, "Don't tell me you believe in all that garbage."

"I don't know," Macao shrugged, "Natsu said he was raised by a dragon, so why not?"

"Yeah, like I'd buy that," the lightning mage snarked.

"I will admit, I'm skeptical about the egg being that of a dragon's myself," Shirou injected, wearing his usual pink apron and carrying with him a small bento box, "Still, even if it's not a dragon in that egg, there's definitely something special waiting to come out."

"I still don't buy it," Laxus sighed, "Besides, dragons have been extinct of a long time. No one has seen a dragon for hundreds of years. Even if they are still around, don't you think someone would have noticed a huge ass, city leveling dragon hanging around a forest next to a town with some of the best tourist traffic in the country?"

"Wait, if dragons have been extinct for such a long time, how could Natsu know Fire Dragon Slayer Magic?" Shirou inquired, "He said he learned it from a dragon since the style was simply dragon's magic in the hands of humans."

"There are other means to learn certain forms of magic besides being taught," Laxus replied dismissively, "The brat probably just told people he was raised by a dragon to get attention. I mean, I guess it worked if he's basically dating your baby sister at this point given how close they got because of her interest in his stories, but that's beside the point."

'Is there really some way to learn magic without being taught?' Shirou pondered to himself, 'Something like a Magic Crest? I thought those were something exclusive to the previous world.'

"By the way, do you have my take-out order ready?" Laxus asked abruptly, shaking Shirou out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. One bento box of Karaage Deep-fried Chicken, fresh from the kitchen," Shirou replied, handing over the box, "That should make for a suitable dinner for your overnight job."

"You sure you don't want to come along on this one? The company would sure make this job a lot less boring," Laxus inquired.

"Sorry, I already have plans for today," the resident cook apologized, "Family matters."

"You're not planning on roughing up Natsu are you?" Wakaba asked with a hit of concern.

"Why would I do that?" Shirou asked in turn, tilting his head in confusion.

"Well, Natsu has been getting pretty close to Lisanna lately, even more so now that they have that egg they're hatching together," Wakaba pointed out, "Lisanna even build a little house to protect it. That egg may well be your nephew."

"Really? That's so cute," Macao cooed.

"Aw, puppy love," Wakaba gushed, "It's like they're a little married couple."

"Man you guys are lame," Laxus scoffed as he walked away, "I'm leaving before I barf in my mouth. See you tomorrow, Shirou."

"Later, Laxus," Shirou replied with a wave before quickly turning his attention back to the young pair of men in front of him in exasperation, "And you'd think I'd beat up Natsu for that? What exactly do you take me for?"

"An overprotective older brother," Macao replied, failing to notice the rhetorical nature of the question.

"Doesn't that kind of reaction seem a little off brand for me?" Shirou asked with even more obvious sarcasm.

"This coming from the guy that cloaked his little sister in a blanket just because one of her magical transformations put her in a swimsuit, and a pretty tame one at that," Wakaba snarked in reply.

"Hey, I was just adhering to an article in our Family Contract that she insisted on including," Shirou countered.

"Exactly our point!" Wakaba accused, "You're so protective of your family that you have a whole contract with rules and guidelines to keep them safe! Last I heard, that thing was 113 articles long! Surely one of them involves the people that your siblings date!"

"Well, there is Article 100: All boyfriends and girlfriends must be given approval by the rest of the family," Shirou mused, before shaking his head in frustration, "But that's beside the point. I know Natsu can be pretty brash, but I can tell he's a good kid a heart."

"Enough to earn approval from everyone?" Macao rose an eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure Mira has more than a few problems with him."

"Elfman seems to like him well enough," Shirou shrugged, "Speaking of which, where is Elfman? The lunch rush just died down and we arranged to meet and do something together once it did."

"I think I saw him heading towards the edge of the East Forest a little while ago," Wakaba informed, "Actually, I'm pretty sure that's also where Natsu and Lisanna built their little house."

"Is that so," Shirou mused as he took off his apron, "Thanks, Wakaba. Master Makarov, I'm taking the rest of the day off!"

With no resistance from the generous guild master, Shirou quickly made his way out of the guildhall on his search for his missing brother, all while ignoring the barely suppressed chuckles of his fellow guild members joking about him trying to keep the young Salamander away from his little sister.

After a few minutes of searching the boarder of the East Forest, Shirou came across a small straw hut that he could only assume to be the house he had heard Lisanna had built for the egg. Not too far away hiding in the surrounding shrubbery was a boy with tan skin and white hair and dressed in a tidy suit.

"Elfman?" Shirou asked in confusion, "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh! Shirou-nii!" Elfman jumped in surprise, "I didn't see you there. I was just watching Natsu and Lisanna take care of their egg."

"Why not just up to them and ask to help?" Shirou inquired, "You did say you wished you had an egg to take care of like they did, and I'm sure they'd be more then welcome of the help."

"I… didn't want to intrude," Elfman admitted sheepishly, "They seemed to be having fun, so I didn't want to disturb them."

"Well, I guess this lines up with what I had planned to begin with," Shirou sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"How so?" Elfman asked, tilting his head.

In response, Shirou Projected a pair of binoculars and handed them to his brother. He then Projected a second set of binoculars and sat down next to his brother in the shrubbery, raising his pair up to his eyes.

"We are going to keep an eye on your sister and Natsu to make sure they don't get themselves into trouble," Shirou replied, a look of brotherly protectiveness evident in his eyes.

"You don't really think Natsu would do something to hurt Lisanna, do you?" Elfman asked wearily.

"Of course not!" Shirou answered, offended, "What I'm worried about is that Natsu might do something stupid that could get them hurt. You know how he can be. In a way, it's like we're also protecting the egg by protecting its caretakers."

"So, what now?" Elfman inquired, confusingly inspecting the binoculars handed to him.

"Just sit back and keep a close eye on them," Shirou instructed, already focusing on the pair inside the straw hut, "We'll intervene when necessary."

Although unsure about the extent to which Shirou wanted to observe the egg and its caretakers, Elfman merely shrugged and rose his own pair of binoculars to his eyes. It was really no different from what he was doing before. He now just had a pair of binoculars curtesy of his brother to help him do the job.

While it was true that Shirou wanted to make sure Natsu and Lisanna stayed out of trouble, he also had an ulterior motive. He knew for a fact that the egg was magical in nature, but he couldn't quite figure out what kind of creature would hatch from it. If it was a dragon, it could be a very volatile one that will require some assistance in restraining. If it was some sort of baby monster, Natsu and Lisanna might be caught off guard and unable to defend themselves. Overall, it was not a risk Shirou was willing to take.

As the pair of brothers watched their younger sister and her friend warm their egg with a hug, they noticed Lisanna raise her hand and offer her pinky finger to Natsu. Curious as to what could be going on, Shirou enhanced his hearing by applying Reinforcement Magic to his ears, allowing him to listen in on what was supposed to be a private conversation.

It was rather sweet how honest the two children were capable of being with one another. With how they spoke, it was almost as if they had known each other for their entire lives, or at the very least shared an extensive history. It was like how siblings spoke to one another or how spouses confided in each other. Master Makarov always said that members of the guild saw eachother as family, and the relationship between Natsu and Lisanna was solid proof of that. However, it made Shirou question his own position within the guild's family.

When he first joined the guild, Shirou did so because the family he thought he had lost had been a part of it. Even before learning that his family were members, the guild master had welcomed him to the guild with open arms saying that the guild was a place for lost souls like himself to heal and find some place to belong. As he stood now, Shirou's place was with his family, and thus with the Fairy Tail Guild. But what would he do if they chose to leave. He knew his days of acting as his family's father figure were numbered. In a couple of years, Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna would all be old enough to make life choices for themselves. If they decided they wanted to leave the guild, it was not his place to stop them. What would he do if they did decide to leave? While he was sure that the guild would still welcome him as family, did he feel the same way? As he was now, Shirou lived for his family. It was the thing that made him happy, that gave him purpose. Would caring for the rest of Fairy Tail give him the same happiness that his siblings did? Would he go back to wandering Earthland aimlessly as an empty mercenary? He knew that he couldn't follow them through life forever.

"Hey, Shirou-nii," Elfman whisper yelled, pulling Shirou away from his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, sorry Elfman," Shirou apologized, "It something the matter?"

"Natsu and Lisanna are on the move," Elfman replied, pointing towards the now empty hut, "They're taking the egg to the East Forest to show Lisanna where Natsu found it. I've been trying to tell you for the last few minutes, but you were in a complete daze."

"Really? Sorry about that," Shirou apologized again, chuckling at his uncharacteristic lack of focus, "Come on, let's follow them before they get too far away, but not too closely. We don't to ruin their fun now, do we?"

Following Natsu and Lisanna into the East Forest, Shirou and Elfman discovered for themselves where exactly Natsu had found the egg. Based on what they overhead of Natsu's story, the egg had fallen out of a tree that he had been punching earlier that day. Closer inspection of the tree revealed it to have a wooden plank tied to it with two crudely drawn pictures of Gray and Erza attached to it. It didn't take Shirou's structural analysis to tell why Natsu was punching the tree in the first place.

While Shirou couldn't help but shake his head in mild disappointment at Natsu childish antics, he couldn't deny that there was some genius to it. For one, while the act of punching a tree was a rather childish and immature manner of venting anger, it did make for some pretty solid training. For Natsu in particular, it helped him in his physical strength and in focusing his anger. From what Natsu had explained to him in the past, Fire Dragon Slayer Magic was unique among many forms of magic in that it derived a lot of its power from emotions, especially those that correlate with aspects of fire like anger and passion. With the Flames of Emotion, Natsu's magic grew more powerful the more intense these particular emotions became, so learning to better focus those emotions was a must. With any luck and some more focused training, it might be what Natsu needs to grow stronger and cause less collateral damage.

Before Shirou could think further on the topic of Natsu's pseudo-training and how to implement it into Natsu's personalized training regiment, he noticed a loud thud come from deeper in the forest. Looking around, it was evident that he wasn't the only one that noticed the sound, as Elfman, Lisanna, and Natsu all turned towards the source of the sound. Coming out from behind the dense trees of the forest was a creature that Shirou had grown quite familiar with, a Gorian. Ever since that first mission with Laxus, Shirou had studied up on Gorian behavior out of fear that more of the monsters might settle closer to Magnolia and endanger his family. In those studies, he learned a rather mundane but important fact about the monsters' diets, their favorite food is eggs.

"Hey, give it to me boy!" the monster demanded, his mouth watering as he eyed the giant egg in Natsu's arms.

"Yeah, fat chance!" Natsu yelled defiantly as he handed the egg over to Lisanna, "You really want to eat something? How about my fist!?"

Rushing at the gorilla-esque monster, Natsu threw hard punch at the Gorian's stomach. However, he failed to do any damage as the monster had some seriously strong abs.

"Hey, that kind of tickles," the monster mocked.

"You asked for it!" Natsu cried as he unleashed a fury of punches on the Gorian's abs.

His efforts were rewarded with a slap from the Gorian that sent him bouncing off several trees before landing at Lisanna's feet.

"Shirou, is this the part where we make ourselves known and help?" Elfman asked timidly.

"I would say so, yes," Shirou answered, Projecting his bow and a single arrow.

With a well-placed shot, Shirou could end the fight right there. An arrow to head and the Gorian would be dead, never to bother anyone present until its soul found another unfortunate host to possess. Pulling back the bow string, Shirou took aim and prepared to kill the beast there but stopped when he heard Natsu and Lisanna's cries.

"You're hurt, let me help you!" Lisanna begged, unable to bare watching her friend get hurt.

"No…," Natsu denied, picking himself up off the ground, "Just stay back."

"But why?" Lisanna asked in confusion.

"Because I'm the dad, and I have to protect my family," Natsu declared, stepping up to face the Gorian once again.

The Strauss siblings present to hear this declaration were stunned by what they had heard. When Lisanna first proposed that Natsu, the egg, and herself were a family, she had only meant that as a joke and had by no means meant it literally. Fairy Tail was a big extended family, yes, but that didn't mean she considered everyone family in the same way that she did with Shirou, Mirajane, and Elfman. Seeing Natsu so determined to protect her and the egg on his own when he had no real obligation to do so in such a way.

Similarly, Shirou could hardly believe what he was seeing from Natsu. When he first met the Dragon Slayer, he had taken him for a headstrong but good-natured kid with a good heart. This display against a monster he had no real chance of beating showed just how deep that good nature. On the surface, the confrontation appeared to be the result of misguided bravado on part of an easily aggravated child. But deep down, it was an act of heroism with the intention of protecting something personally dear to him and others. It was an act that Shirou could admire, having lived two lives now in which he had done the same.

In that moment, Shirou couldn't bring himself to fire the arrow. Yes, it would have been much quicker and less dangerous to simply kill the Gorian himself, but he needed to see Natsu handle it. The Dragon Slayer had a wish; a wish to be able to protect those he called his family. Shirou could sympathize with that and as such couldn't bring himself to deny Natsu the chance to make that wish a reality with his own two hands. Although he did not release the tension on his bow string, Shirou did change his target from the Gorian's head.

"Besides, I'm just getting warmed up!" Natsu yelled defiantly, "I'm the son of a dragon, you know! I won't lose to a monkey!"

Once again, Natsu leaped headfirst at the Gorian, his fists chambered back for a series of punches. Just like the last time, this attack was met with an effortless counterattack from the monster that sent the young Dragon Slayer bouncing off several trees. Shirou and Elfman winced a bit at the sight, feeling sorry for the pink-haired boy. While Shirou admired Natsu's resolve, that last move was undeniably stupid.

"Natsu, hit him with your magic!" Lisanna cried, confused as to why her friend had only been fighting barehanded so far.

"If this ape wants to fight with his fists, then that's how I'm going to beat him!" Natsu declared, unsteadily picking himself off the ground once again.

"I'd like to see you try," the Gorian laughed confidently.

Wiping his chin, Natsu flashed a confident smirk and called the monster out, goading him to attack first.

"You better stop yapping and start fighting," Natsu taunted, "I'm gonna paint you white and send you back to Mount Hakobe!"

Not appreciating being compared to his mountain dwelling cousins, the Gorian leaped high into the air with a ferocious yell before rushing at Natsu with a wild kick. The young Dragon Slayer managed to block that attack and mitigate the damage, but the force still sent him flying through the forest, inbound to bounce of another tree, just like before. However, Natsu was a fast learner in battle, and getting knocked around the trees so many times by the monstrous monkey gave him an idea crazy enough to work.

Just as pervious bouts had proven, the Gorian had launched Natsu with enough force that he would bounce of trees multiple times at high speed before he finally hit the ground. However, this time Natsu took control of the situation and use the consistent bouncing to his advantage. Twisting himself in the air, he positioned himself so he would impact the upcoming tree feet-first. By doing so, he was able to jump off the side of the tree, adding to the bounce he would have already experienced from being kicked into said tree, and rocketed back at the Gorian at a breakneck pace.

Seeing what Natsu was planning, Shirou acted quickly to give the young Dragon Slayer an edge to help insure his victory. Discretely firing two arrows from his bow in quick succession, Shirou shot at the backs of the Gorian's legs, forcing him to fall to his knees, immobilizing him and leaving him open for a free attack from Natsu. With a loud bonk, Natsu headbutted the monstrous ape in the face, throwing the monster on his back and knocking him out in a single blow.

"You did it! You did it!" Lisanna cheered, clutching the egg close to her chest, oblivious to the outside help from her brother, "You saved the day!"

"Yeah, I know," Natsu boasted as he picked himself up off the ground, "Awesome, right?"

"What's wrong with your face!?" the young girl cried in horror upon seeing her friend's face, mangled by the rough headbutt he just pulled off.

Hidden in the bushes, Shirou fell back on his butt, releasing a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. For the most part, he didn't expect Natsu to be able to take down that Gorian given the massive difference in brute force between the two of them. But as Shirou had just seen, Natsu was a lot smarter than he originally gave him credit for. Not to mention his devotion for protecting those important to him. Now if only the Fire Dragon Slayer wasn't so prone to getting hurt so badly before making a comeback.

"Wow," Elfman sighed in awe, "Natsu was amazing out there. He took that Gorian down in one hit."

"Well, I wouldn't say he was all that amazing," Shirou chuckled as he watched Lisanna nurse Natsu's wounds from a distance, "He did get smacked around quite a bit before he landed the killing blow. Still, he definitely has potential."

"I wish I was even half as strong as Natsu is now," Elfman mused wistfully, "Then I can protect everyone if you happen to not be around, just like Natsu did."

"Don't worry, little man," Shirou encouraged as he tousled his little brother's hair, "You'll get there eventually. Who knows, maybe you'll surpass both of us some day."

"Thanks, Shirou-nii," Elfman laughed as he fixed his hair.

As he got to work straightening out his recently messed up hairdo, Elfman noticed that the top of his head was a bit wetter than he originally expected. A second later, he felt something wet fall on to the back of his hand. When he looked up, he saw that the sky had grown gray and the sun was lost behind the clouds. Shirou noticed the signs as well and immediately Projected a pair of umbrellas for the two of them. It looked like they were in for quite the downpour.

Sure enough, the rain came down hard the moment Shirou handed his brother an umbrella. From where they were hiding, they could Natsu and Lisanna already making a break for their straw hut at the edge of the forest, with Natsu holding the egg underneath his shirt to keep it safe from the rain. Once again, the pair of brothers trailed close behind to make sure that the two youngest of the group didn't get into too much trouble.

With relatively little hassle, Natsu and Lisanna were able to reach the safety of their straw hut with Shirou and Elfman once again claiming their previous hiding spot within the shrubbery. However, Lisanna did something rather strange when they first arrived.

"Hold on, wait here a sec," the young girl requested as she ran into the hut ahead of her friend.

"Huh?" Natsu asked in confusion as he watched his friend run ahead.

"Okay, come in!" Lisanna called out once she was properly situated.

"What's with her?" Natsu asked himself as he hurried inside.

Upon entering the small house, Natsu was happy greeted by Lisanna sitting in the dead center of it.

"Welcome back, dear," Lisanna greeted in a very housewife-esque manner.

"Oh uh, what?" Natsu asked, oblivious to the situation.

"I said, 'Welcome back, dear'," Lisanna stressed again, showing some slight irritation at Natsu's obliviousness.

"Oh! Uh," Natsu fumbled, pulled the egg out from under his shirt, "Hi honey, I'm home?"

Satisfied with the reply, Lisanna gave Natsu a blushed smile and giggle, which the Dragon Slayer returned.

Outside the hut, Shirou couldn't help but smile at the display of familiarity. It was nice that Lisanna got along so well with friends like Natsu, even if he was a bit on the headstrong side. Seeing as the rain didn't look like it was going to be stopping any time soon, Shirou Projected a larger beach umbrella and planted in in the ground underneath a nearby tree. Calling Elfman over, the two brothers huddled under the umbrella as they waited out the storm, keeping a Reinforced ear on their little sister the whole time.

Several hours went by, and the rain had showed no signs of stopping. It came down just as hard now as it did when it first started. Shirou and Elfman were still positioned underneath their Projected beach umbrella, with Shirou listening in on his sister and her friend as best he could through the rain.

"Good thing made it here. The rain isn't stopping," Lisanna mused as she and Natsu continued to hug the massive egg.

Suddenly, a loud growl could be heard over the rain, but it didn't come from outside. Rather, it was Natsu that let out the growl, or more specifically, his stomach.

"Heh, sorry," Natsu apologized, backing away from the egg and gripping his stomach in hunger and embarrassment.

"Hey, I've been wondering. You live alone, don't you?" Lisanna inquired.

"Yeah," Natsu replied rather easily.

"Then who cooks your meals for you?" the young girl asked again.

"I just eat at the guild," the Dragon Slayer replied again.

"So do you have to pay?"

"Sure do," Natsu lamented, "Why else do I work all the time? At least your brother's meals are well worth the price."

"I think it's kind of sad," Lisanna admitted, holding her cheek in thought.

"Well, of course you think that," Natsu lightly snarked, "You live with the guy, so you get to eat his meals for free all the time at home.

"You know, I could cook dinner for you some time if you'd like," the youngest Strauss sibling offered.

"Whoa! Really!?" Natsu asked excitedly, "That'd be awesome! I had no idea you could cook!"

"Yeah! Shirou-nii taught me everything I know," Lisanna boasted proudly, "Of course, I'm nowhere as good as he his. I don't even compare to my sister."

"Wait, hold on. You're telling me Mira actually cooks!?" Natsu asked in shock, "You mean like food, right!? Not small children!?"

The image of a sadistically smiling Mirajane brandishing kitchen knifes as weapons flashed in the young Dragon Slayer's terrified mind.

"Does Elfman cook too?" Natsu asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course he does!" Lisanna answered jubilantly, "Shirou-nii taught us all how to cook at a very young age."

The image of a gently smiling Elfman sautéing rice and vegetables while politely asking the food to cook well flashed in the now calm Dragon Slayer's mind.

"Actually, that's not strange at all," Natsu mused, "It actually kind of suits him."

Amidst all the talk of food, Natsu mind wandered into deeper territory regarding food. He's seen a whole ton of different types of food that were added to the menu ever since Shirou took on the role of head chef and bartender at the guildhall. Even growing up with Igneel, Natsu had never seen such a wide variety of ways to cooks things like fruits, vegetables, rice, meats, fish, and eggs. Even if Lisanna wasn't anywhere as close to Shirou's level as a cook as she claimed, he was sure she could do some amazing things if she had the right ingredients. For example, she could probably make a pretty amazing omelet if she had an egg like the one he had found in the forest.

"No! I'm not going to give you the egg!" Natsu cried in accusation, pulling the egg away from the young girl, "I bet it's Igneel's kid! I got to let it hatch! Don't you dare try to fry it up!"

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Lisanna yelled, clearly offended, "Now look here! I built this house so that we could raise the egg together, didn't I? I want it to hatch as much as you do."

"Then why'd you scare me like that, you jerk," Natsu shot back before drowning the egg in an excessive amount of cuddling.

"Even if you get mad and pick fights all the time, you still have a sweet side, don't you?" Lisanna mused, "Just like Mira."

"Huh?" Natsu paused from his cuddling, caught of guard by the unthinkable claim that Mirajane of all people had a sweet side.

"It's been fun playing house with you," Lisanna beamed with a wide smile, "Maybe some day I could be your real wife?"

"Wh-what got you thinking about that!?" Natsu stuttered, blushing profusely at the question.

"I just noticed how strong and brave you are and you're good with kids too," Lisanna swooned, holding her cheeks, "What's not to like?"

"Y-you think so?" the Dragon Slayer asked in embarrassment, his face becoming the same shade of red as his shirt.

"What are you getting so embarrassed about?" Lisanna sighed calmly, "I was just making a joke."

"Ah! I know the word for you!" Natsu yelled furiously at the reveal that he had been doped, "Gramps calls me it! Nuvejile!"

"You mean 'juvenile'?" Lisanna giggled under her breath, "Geez, you're one to talk."

"Ugh! No fair! Why do you got to be smarter than me!?" Natsu cried in anger, furiously scratching at his scalp in frustration.

Having heard the entire exchange from outside, Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the pair's chemistry. Lisanna was special among Natsu's friends in that while she was able to get him mad much like anyone else would, she was the one person that Natsu never seemed to lash out at. In addition, she seemed to be the only person besides Master Makarov whom Natsu is completely open. Shirou knew all about how the two of them first became close from the banter circulating around the guild, which was later confirmed when he traced the history of Lisanna's red umbrella. In a similar vein, Natsu was special among Lisanna's friends in that his stories were always the ones she had the most interest in; constantly mystified by the tales of a powerful but caring Fire Dragon King.

Now that the thought about it, Shirou couldn't help but notice the parallels between the pair of children and the Chinese idiom, "the tiger and the dragon". As the idiom goes, the tiger and the dragon are beings that couldn't possibly be any more opposite but at the same time were perfectly equal. The tiger was headstrong and straightforward, preferring to bulldoze through its opposition. By contrast, the dragon was patient and wise, preferring to observe first and form a winning strategy before they act. Ironically enough, it was Natsu, the Dragon Slayer, the most closely resembled the tiger and Lisanna, whose preferred transformation was her Take-Over: Cat Soul, who most closely resembled the dragon.

While lost in his thoughts, Shirou had failed to notice that the rain had stopped and that Natsu and Lisanna had exited their straw house. Thankfully, he had the ever vigilant Elfman by his side to shake him out of his own mind and back to reality.

Once again aware of his surroundings, Shirou looked westward to see Natsu and Lisanna standing outside of their little house. Following their gazes, he saw what he could only describe as one of, if not the, most beautiful sunsets he has ever seen in either of his lifetimes. The sun was peeking over the distant mountain ranges, bathing everything in yellow and orange light. The way the light reflected off the surrounding hills and greenery was simply divine, making Shirou feel more at ease then he had ever been before.

"Wow!" Lisanna sighed in awe as she and Natsu stared into the distance, "It's so pretty."

"it sure is," Natsu agreed, too focused on the sunset to make eye contact.

"It'd be nice to stay like this forever, don't you think?" Lisanna mused, savoring every moment that the view was in front of her.

"Yeah," Natsu mumbled, "Being able to see this view no matter what happens, it seems nice."

However, the universe seemed to have other plans in mind. Inside the house was the sound of something tapping against something hard yet brittle. Rushing back into their hut, Natsu and Lisanna were overjoyed to see that their egg was so active. It was a clear sign that the egg was sure to hatch soon.

When night fell, Natsu and Lisanna opted to sleep in their straw house so they could keep the egg in its home and guard it at the same time. What they failed to account for was with both of them sleeping, no one would be there to keep the egg warm during the night. In addition, they forgot to give the egg some sort of alternative for warmth, having only brought along enough bedspreads for the two of them. Thus, Natsu and Lisanna had condemned their egg to freeze to death overnight. At least, that's what would have happened had they not been watched by Shirou and Elfman all day.

"Figured they would end up doing something light this," Shirou sighed as he carried the egg through the streets of Magnolia, "So excited to take care of this thing that they forgot to get the basic necessities."

"So, what are we doing now, Shirou-nii," Elfman asked, following closely behind.

"Getting those basic necessities," Shirou replied, stopping in front of a certain store.

In the store windows, items such as cradles, stuffed animals, and highchairs could be seen on display. It was Magnolia's local baby store, the one stop shop for new parents and their families to get everything they need to properly raise an infant.

"Do me a favor and wait here with the egg, Elfman," Shirou instructed, handing the large egg over to his little brother.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" the young man asked in uncertainty.

"I'll be fine. This shouldn't take long," Shirou insisted, "Besides, its cold out tonight and I need someone to make sure this egg stays warm. You can do that, right little man? After all, a real man knows how to persevere and hold their ground."

"O-okay, Shiroun-nii," Elfman nodded affirmatively with a hint of anxiety, "I'll do my best."

Smiling at his brother's timid enthusiasm, Shirou quickly entered the store to collect the essentials for the soon to hatch creature. Whether or not it's a dragon inside that egg remains to be seen. Making his way through the store's many aisles, Shirou collected a variety of baby goods in a shopping basket, including a swaddling blanket, a bottle set, and baby formula. Once he as sure he had everything, he took his basket to the cashier and started checking out. The cashier looked vaguely familiar to Shriou, being a woman about his age with brown eyes and short, shoulder length hair. The way she held herself could best be described as strong, but her overall appearance also made her come off as pretty.

Seeing this woman, Shirou couldn't help but feel like something was off. The cashier and everything about her shared an uncanny resemblance to someone he had known in his previous life, but he couldn't quite place the name. Everything from the looks to the way she held herself lined up, as if the previous person had died on Earth and been reincarnated in Earthland in the same way he was.

"Are you an expecting parent?" the cashier asked as she started ringing up the goods.

"Nah. Never even had a wife," Shirou clarified, "I've never had the best luck with women."

"Really? You look like the kind of guy a lot of girls would fight over," the cashier teased, "Then again, you do look a bit young to be a father."

"Well, I have no trouble getting women's attention. The issue is keeping it," Shirou admitted sheepishly, "I usually end up making them so mad that they dump me, or I accidentally push them away emotionally and they leave."

"So, you're a strong, handsome bachelor that can't get women to stay," the woman giggled, "If that's the case, why are you here buying everything you need to raise a newborn?"

"It's all for my sister," Shirou explained, "She adopted a baby recently so I'm picking up some stuff for her."

"Ah, so you're trying to be a good uncle," the cashier deduced with a smirk.

"I guess you could say that," Shirou chuckled.

"If that's the case, then your eligible for this special promotion we're having," the cashier announced, ducking underneath the counter.

When she came back up, she was holding what appeared to be a men's t-shirt. Overall, it was a rather plain article of clothing, boiling down to a simple blue t-shirt. However, it did have one defining feature, and that was the print on the front. Dead center on the chest of the shirt were the words "Best Unkle" written upside down. Clearly, it was a novelty item intended for new uncles.

"Every uncle or expecting uncle who makes a purchase this month gets a free 'Best Unkle' t-shirt," the cashier explained jubilantly, "All we need is your shirt size."

"I really don't need that," Shirou insisted, having never been one of novelty items, "I'll pass, thank you very much."

"If you don't take the shirt, I won't finish ringing you up," the cashier threatened with a deceptively sweet smile, "Also, you're holding up the line."

Looking behind him, Shirou saw at least half a dozen angry women behind him, and at least half of them were visibly pregnant. He knew better than anyone the scorn of an angry woman, and if the rumors were true, an angry pregnant woman was several times worse. He did not want to have to deal with that today, or any day for that matter.

"I'm a size large," Shirou sighed, conceding defeat, "Just please finish ringing me up."

"With pleasure," the cashier replied, pulling out another shirt from behind the counter and placing it in Shirou's bag, "That will be 65,000 Jewels."

"This is extortion, you know that right?" Shirou deadpanned, handing the cashier a 100,000 Jewel bill.

"I prefer to think of it as teasing flirting," the cashier giggled, handing Shirou his change, as well as a folded piece of paper.

"That was flirting?" Shirou asked in confusion, inspecting the extra piece of paper to see a ten-digit number.

"Strong, handsome, fun to tease, and dense. You're just the full package, aren't you?" the cashier giggle, "The paper has my Communication Lacrima Number. I rang you up, so return the favor and ring me up some time."

"But why? I don't even know your name."

"Um, because you're fun to talk to and I find you interesting? I thought you had experience with women," the cashier teased, "If names are the issue, then you can call me Ayako. See? Problem solved. Now all you have to do is give me your name in return."

'Ah, that was the name. This is just getting weird,' Shirou thought to himself after having discovered yet another inhabitant of Earthland that resembles someone he knew in his previous life, even sharing the same name.

"And what if I refuse to give my name and chose to never contact you ever again, Ayako-san?" the former mercenary challenged.

"Then I'll keep your shopping over on this side of the counter and leave you to the scorn of all the increasingly impatient women in the line behind you," Ayako replied smirking, hiding Shirou's shopping under the counter.

Looking behind him, Shirou saw that the line had grown to be twice as long as before with three out of every four women in the line being visibly pregnant.

"… Shirou," he answered, his head lowered in reluctant acceptance, "My name is Shirou."

"Pleasure to meet you, Shirou-san," Ayako smiled, handing over the shopping bag, "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

"And I rue the day we meet again," Shirou snarked, grumpily trudging away from the check-out counter.

"Oh, snarky. You really are the full package, aren't you?" Ayako giggled, getting one last tease in before Shirou left the store.

When he stepped outside, Shirou found Elfman sitting on the curb outside the store, clutching the egg close to his chest. Looking over his shoulder, Elfman quickly got up and rushed to meet his brother, a look of worry plastered on his face.

"Hey Elfman," Shirou greeted, "I see you kept the egg nice and warm."

"What took you so long?" Elfman asked in concern, "You were in there for quite a while."

"I really don't want to talk about it," Shirou sighed in a tired voice, "Let's just get home so we can properly take care of this egg, alright?"

The next morning in the Fairy Tail Guildhall was utter chaos. After waking up that morning to find their egg missing from their straw house, Natsu and Lisanna went around interrogating everyone they knew in hopes of finding some clue of the egg's whereabouts. Or rather, Natsu went around accusing everyone of stealing the egg while Lisanna politely asked everyone if they had any idea of what could have happened.

Pretty much everyone's answer was the same, they didn't know anything about the egg's location or its kidnapper. Unfortunately, frustration turned to anger when some harsh words from Mira sent Natsu into a rage. From there, anger turned to violence as Natsu attacked the older girl, inevitably dragging the rest of the children present into another senseless brawl. Thankfully, Erza was able to break up the fight rather quickly and painlessly.

However, tensions were still high within the guildhall since the question of the egg's location still remained unanswered and continued insults and accusations pitted the children against one another. However, that was soon released once a certain pair of brothers entered the guildhall.

"Hey, what's all the commotion about?" Shirou demanded as he and Elfman entered the guildhall.

"Not now, Shirou!" Natsu yelled in frustration as he stared at the floor in despair, "We're in the middle of a crisis here! Someone stole my egg in my sleep!"

"Well, look up and your crisis will be over," Shirou instructed calmly with a hint of levity.

"Why would… The egg!" Natsu cried upon seeing what was in Shirou's hands, "Why do you have it!?"

"And why is it in a swaddling blanket?" Gray asked, noticing the egg's latest accessory, standing in only his underwear as per usual.

"I figure that Natsu and Lisanna might forget something critical when taking care of the egg, so Elfman and I checked on them when the night fell," Shirou explained, "Sure enough, they were fast asleep without giving the egg something to keep it warm, so Elfman and I took it into town to keep it warm and get it some supplies."

"So you've been taking care of it all night?" Natsu asked hopefully.

"Actually, it was Elfman that kept it warm for most of the night," Shirou admitted, "I just paid for all the next equipment."

"You two are the best brothers ever!" Lisanna cheered with glee, "Thank you both so much!"

"It was nothing," Elfman insisted sheepishly, handing over a baby bag to his little sister, "This bag has everything you will need to take care of the egg and whatever hatches out of it."

"Wow! You two thought of everything, huh?" Natsu said in awe.

"Just being a good uncle," Shirou chuckled, handing the egg over to Natsu, revealing himself to be wearing the "Best Unkle" shirt from last night.

"Nice shirt," Laxus joked with a smirk.

"The store was having a promotion," Shirou shrugged, "Besides, I couldn't let a perfectly good shirt go to waste."

Suddenly, a cracking sound was heard throughout the guildhall, catching everyone's attention. As for the source of the sound, it was the egg, whose shell had just formed a massive crack on its top. Undoubtedly excited for what was coming next, Natsu set the egg down in the middle of the guildhall so it could hatch. By now, everyone in the guildhall had gathered around the egg to see it hatch, either out of curiosity or genuine excitement.

After a few more shakes, the egg jumped into the air and shattered, revealing a ball of bright blue light. When the light faded, flying above everyone's heads was a light blue kitten with small, white, feathery wings.

"A kitty!" Millianna cheered, barely held back by a clearly struggling Wally.

"It has wings! Is it a bird?" Natsu asked in amazement.

"No, it's a cat! A blue cat!" Lisanna corrected as she and the rest of the guild watched the kitty flutter around the room.

Being a newborn, the kitten struggled to remain airborne with its tiny wings. Unable to properly maintain its flight, the kitten slowly descended before landing on Natsu's head, its wings disappearing in a blink of light a second after landing.

"Aye!" the kitten squeaked, sitting up and raising his right paw in a waving manner.

"He's so cute!" Lisanna cooed.

"I know!" a majority of the guild cried out.

Soon enough, the entire guild had mobbed the small kitten taking turns holding him in their arms and admiring his cuteness. Amidst all the commotion, a blue parakeet flew into the guildhall and landed on Elfman's shoulder. Seeing the small bird, the young man cheered for joy, believing his best friend to have come home. But, as Mira pointed out in one of her and Erza's few civilized conversations, Elfman had somehow forgotten than the parakeet he had lost was red, much to the two older girls' amusement.

"You see that?" Lisanna said, looping her arm around Natsu's arm, "A minute ago, everyone here was all worked up, but now they're all happy! He's almost like a blue bird of happiness, isn't he?"

"Happiness, huh?" Natsu mused, holding the small kitten in his arms, "Well, in that case I'll name him Happy!"

"Aye!" the newly dubbed Happy cried, as if approving of the name.

"Happy the Dragon!" Natsu cheered, dancing for joy with the newborn kitten in his arms.

"It's not a dragon," Erza pointed out, baffled by Natsu's moment of stupidity.

"Congratulations, Shirou, you just became the uncle of a cat," Laxus joked, a lighthearted smirk visible on his face.

However, Shirou didn't care for the jab at his family dynamic. As he watched Natsu dance about with Happy in his arms, he could feel nothing but joy at the sight. As unconventional as it may be, the family created in Fairy Tail was a welcome one that continued to grow. Seeing Natsu and Lisanna so happy over the arrival of Happy was proof of how much of a family the members of the guild could be. Maybe, just maybe, Shirou could learn to see the rest of the guild as family the same way his siblings did. Maybe then, he will never have to walk alone.

Special End Card Segment: Animan Temple

"Hello everyone! Once again, welcome back to our Special End Card Segment, the Animan Temple," a man in a red jacket brandishing a massive sword cheered, "Once again, I'm your host, Animan von Elysium X! Along with me is my good friend and cohost, Ray O'Neill, and my rival and sword sister, Taiga Fujimura!"

"Great to see you all again," the masked man known as Ray greeted with a calm wave of his hand,"

"Man, it sure is great to be full sized again!" Taiga laughed.

"So happy we were able to fix that," Student Number 1, Illya, beamed.

"You really should be more careful with that sword, Master," Priestess Number 1, Himegami reprimanded.

"Enough about the past! Let's all focus on the here and now! Like the chapter I had just written!" Animan demanded.

"It certainly was longer than some of your previous works," Himegami mused.

"Serial escalation. What are you going to do?" the master of the temple shrugged.

"I liked the little Tiger and Dragon connection you pointed with Natsu and Lisanna," Taiga admitted, "Pretty neat how that all worked out.

"Such a shame that Mashima never went anywhere with that," Illya lamented.

Suddenly, the air within the temple dojo became ice cold. Turning towards the source of the sudden cold, the girls saw that Ray's eyes had ignited with blue flames and his whole body gave of a black aura of death. The cohost stared at his partner with a hutched back and hungry eyes, as if preparing to pounce and kill. Scared for their lives, the girls immediately huddled behind the master of the temple for shelter (or in Taiga's, a vantage point to easily throw Animan to the metaphorical wolves).

"Was that Ayako Mitsuzuri I saw working the check-out counter?" Ray asked hopefully, his eyes practically supernovas.

"Yes and no," Animan replied sheepishly, "She's someone like her, but not necessarily her. But don't worry, I have plans for her! She will surely become a reoccurring character."

"Master, it looks like we're out of time," Himegami pointed out, directing everyone's attention to a nearby clock.

"So it would seem," Animan nodded solemnly before suddenly yelled out the top of his lungs, "Well then, we'll just have to wait until next time to speak with you all again!"

"Stick around for the next chapter!" Ray encouraged, "Long live the goddess Ayako Mitsuzuri!"

"Chapter six! Hup! Chapter six! Hup!" Taiga chanted, swinging her Tora-Shinai wildly.

"Bye-bye!" the two assistants waved.