Chapter 6

Guild members scattered, some made their way to the library or into the town to get the information asked for. Some spoke amongst themselves about the situation at hand. And a small group stood around Juvia and Levy looking at them angrily.

"Why are you looking at us like that for?" Levy asked.

Erza looked as though she would explode any moment now. "You should have told us." She said.

Juvia and Levy sighed. "We already said we couldn't." Juvia said hoping to end this conversation.

"You should have, then we could have brought her home and she wouldn't have gotten taken. She wouldn't have been in danger!"

"Alright that's enough." Gray said as he and Gajeel stood protectively infront of the girls.

"It's not their fault she was taken so there is no point shouting at them. What we should be focusing on is finding Lucy and taking care of her kids" Gajeel said reminding everyone of the dire situation. Once the small group dispersed the two men turn to their significant others.

"Thank you, and we're sorry for not telling you but we promised we wouldn't." Levy said as she and Juvia hugged them.

The guys were still upset but decided not to say anything to the girls.

"Mommy we're hungry." Gale said running up to the adults with Ur, Emmelia, Storm, Luke and Nashi trailing behind him.

Juvia made her way to the bar and placed an order already knowing what all the kids wanted. For her and Levy's children she ordered BBQ chicken wings, she ordered the same thing for Luke and Nashi but told Mira to make it extra spicy.

Gray and Gajeel had left the guild. They said they were going to nearby towns to see if they heard anything about the reapers.

As they waited for food the kids continued playing.

"Ow! Nashi stop!" Luke's voice rang through the guild hall calling everyone's attention to them. Nashi had begun throwing fireballs at her brother making him frustrated.

Luke began to throw fireballs back at her. Before Levy and Juvia could intervene Loke appeared between the twins.

Upon seeing him standing there with a stern expression on his face the twins froze.

"What did your mom say about your powers?"

At the mention of their mother the twins' moods dampened. With their shoulders slumped and heads down they replied in sync "Never use them against each other or when playing."

Loke made them apologize to each other before leaving to the spirit world again.

Nashi and Luke went to sit at a table, oblivious to the eyes of their father watching them. He had been watching them since they announced that they were Lucy's children. He just couldn't look away from them.

His girlfriend had grown upset and fled from the guild hall, so it was just him. He continued to watch them, wondering what kind of life they had. If Lucy had told them about him.

Lucy, it occurred to him that she was in danger. He felt a sensation in his chest pushing him to go out and look for her. He felt like she needed him.

He sighed. He was so confused on what to do and how to feel. All he knew was that he needed to see Lucy. He stood up and exited the guild unnoticed.

It was around 8pm when everyone started to file back inside the guild hall. Most looked exhausted after chasing leads that got them nowhere, some hadn't found anything at all. Nobody would be giving up anytime soon though.

Gray and Gajeel entered the guildhall and made their way to their families. They greeted each other with hugs and kisses. They sat with them and ordered beers.

"Metalhead." Gray said calling Gajeel's attention to him. Gray signaled for him to look behind him. At the far end of the guild hall sat Natsu, looking more dejected than everyone else. His eyes were fixated on his glooming children, he didn't take notice of Gray and Gajeel till they stood directly in front of him.

"We need to have a little talk."

To say Natsu was shocked would be an understatement, he hadn't held a proper conversation with either of them in years since they along with everyone else was upset with him. They wouldn't even brawl with him but then again he himself never felt like brawling.

He got up without complaint and followed the two men outside. They walked far from the guild so nobody could hear their conversation.

"So what did you guys want to talk about? Thought you were mad at me." Natsu asked once they arrived at the park.

"Oh we're still mad, but we figured you could use some friends right now with everything going on." Gray said as the three of them took a seat on the ground.

They sat in silence for a good 5 minutes before Natsu spoke. "How could she do this to me?" He asked out loud. While he spoke quietly you could still hear the anger behind his words.

"Why didn't she tell me about her pregnancy? How could she leave like that? I missed out on so much! I could have helped her. I could have been there for everything now my own kids want nothing to do with me."

Gray and Gajeel waited for Natsu to finish ranting before adding their two cents.

"Can you blame her for leaving though? I mean think about it, you broke up with her so abruptly then you immediately started dating Lisanna. On top of heartbreak she probably couldn't handle being around you two. It wouldn't have done her any good." Gray said.

Natsu pondered for a moment before speaking again, "She still should've told me, I had a right to know." he said.

"Let's say she did tell you, what difference would that make?" Gajeel inquired.

"Obviously I would have helped her and took care of her and our kids." Natsu replied as if it was the most obvious answer.

Gray and Gajeel scoffed. "Yeah like Lisanna would have allowed you to do that." Gray added rolling his eyes a bit.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't she?"

"Dude, she's literally obsessed with you and not in a cute way." Gray replied.

Now that he thought about it, Natsu had noticed it before but he just never paid it any mind since she was always like that.

Gajeel laughed, "I once saw her in the guild planning your wedding, and this was before you two even got together." he said.

"She looks like she hates your kids too, should've seen her face when she found out they were yours and Lucy's. She kept glaring at them till she stormed out."

After Gray spoke they fell into silence once more.

"Why are you even with her anyway? It's clear you don't love her. You always look so uncomfortable around her like you don't want her touching you." Gray asked.

Both Gray and Gajeel looked to Natsu for an answer but it seemed like he had trouble finding one.

"I......don't know actually. Before we got together I had no feelings for her, I never even looked her way but then all of a sudden I felt as though I was madly in love with her and felt absolutely nothing for Lucy. Funny thing is no matter how in love I felt it felt wrong to me. Like Lisanna wasn't the one that's supposed to be by my side. I felt repulsed by her. After a while whatever love I thought I felt disappeared."

The two men listened to his explanation before Gajeel burst out in laughter. "Damn salamander you're dumber than I thought!" He said before continuing to laugh.

After Gajeel finally calmed down he spoke again, "It's obvious you felt this way because Lisanna isn't your mate dumbass!"

"How are you so sure?" Gray pipped in.

Gajeel scoffed, "Salamander is a Dragon Slayer just like me, I of all people should be able to tell who his mate is. No Dragon Slayer behaves that way with his mate and as much as I hate to say it we're always in madly in love with our mates. We can't lose feelings." he explained.

Gray nodded. "So that means Lucy is his actual mate then?" He asked.

Gajeel looked at Natsu, "There's one way we can be sure she is, since she's left have you dreamt of her?" he asked.

Natsu sighed and nodded, "Every single night when I slept, every nap I took and even when I would zone out. There was not one moment where she wasn't on my mind." he said.

Gray hadn't expected something like that to come out of Natsu's mouth.

Natsu sighed, "So what do I do now?" he asked.

"Obviously you need to form a relationship with your kids and break up with Lisanna as well as find your mate." Gajeel said getting up.

"Luckily you'll have help with only one of those things, the rest are up to you." Gray added as the three of them began their walk back to the guild.

"We speak of this little chat to no one."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

As soon as they entered the guild Lisanna latched on to Natsu's arm. Gray and Gajeel made eye contact with each other before leaving Natsu to his problem.

"Babe, where were you? I came back and you weren't here and you didn't come looking for me either." Lisanna whined rubbing her breasts up and down Natsu's arm.

Natsu pushed her off of him slightly, "I was doing something" he said. His eyes scanned the guildhall looking for his children. Once he spotted them he began to walk over there with Lisanna trailing behind him.

"Hey." Natsu greeted his children awkwardly. He had no idea what to say to them.

They looked up at him blankly, "What do you want?" Luke asked aggressively.

Natsu held his arms up in surrender, "I just wanna talk to you is all." he said.

"Well we don't want to talk to you." Nashi pipped in.

Lisanna sneered at how the twins were treating their father telling herself if they were her children they would be much more behaved. "That bitch couldn't have raised you any better huh? As useless as always no wonder her kids are such brats." Lisanna thought she had said this in her mind but judging from the expressions of everyone around her she hadn't.

"Don't talk about Lucy like that!"

"Don't talk about our mom like that!"

As well as their voices being in sync the expression of anger on both Natsu's and the twins' faces looked identical. Luke burst into flames ready to lunge at Lisanna when Nashi grabbed a hold of him.

"Remember Luke, mama said never to burn the trash." Nashi said trying to calm both herself and her brother.

Lisanna glared at them.

"We need to talk, now." Natsu said walking out the guild. Lisanna followed behind him.

"Were you really gonna let those brats speak to me like that?" Lisanna started as soon as the guild doors closed behind them. She continued ranting on for a good five minutes on how Natsu should've stood up for her since she was going to be their step mother. She ranted about how disrespectful the kids were and even made snide comments about Lucy which pushed Natsu over the edge.

He felt enraged by the way she was speaking of his children and mate so much so he had to restrain himself from harming her. He wondered how he hadn't realized how much of a bitch Lisanna was until now but remembered he rarely spent time with her due to his missions.

"We're over." He said simply, causing her ranting to come to a halt.

He watched as a look of shock fell on her features before it turned into desperation.

"Natsu baby think this through, you can't break up with me. We're meant to be together. You said we would get married and start a family together. You can't leave me!"  She babbled on, moving closer to him.

"I never once said that we would get married, let alone start a family."

Lisanna's desperation quickly turned to anger.

"It's because of those bastard children isn't it?! That's why you're leaving me?!" Lisanna seethed.

Lisanna was adding fuel to the fire. Her words caused his anger to intensify. "Don't you ever speak of my children like that again." His tone was dark. Steam could be seen coming off of his body but Lisanna didn't get the hint.

"You've only known them for a day Natsu! One day! How could you choose them over me?!" Lisanna shrieked.

"Lisanna, we're done." He said before walking off. He needed to blow off some steam, he decided to head to the woods by his house.

Lisanna stood outside the guild hall frozen. How could this have happened? Realization hit her.

"It must have worn off." She muttered to herself unaware that Gajeel was in earshot.

"I can fix this." She said determined before running off.

The entire guild had heard what happened due to Lisanna's shouting. They felt sorry for her since they had a feeling Natsu didn't really love her.

Gajeel on the other hand pondered on Lisanna's words. 'What did she mean by it wore off?' The only thing that came to mind when he thought of that would be a potion or spell. He didn't want to think that Lisanna could stoop so low as to do this to Natsu but it was the only thing that made sense.

It would explain the sudden love Natsu had felt for Lisanna and how quickly he fell out of love with her. He didn't know what to do with this piece of information, it isn't a good time to tell the guild due to the current situation. And what if he was wrong, he doubts that he is but he needed to be a hundred percent sure and even get some proof.

Proof, that's what he needed. He couldn't do this on his own though. His eyes trailed over to Gray, the only other person who knew Natsu's situation.

"Gray, I need to talk to you outside." He said walking out of the guild.

Gray turned serious knowing it was something important. He followed behind Gajeel.

As soon as they got far enough from the guild Gajeel told him everything. Gray was shocked to say the least, he didn't want to think his childhood friend could do something like this.

"Are you sure man? This is a serious accusation."

Gajeel ran his hands through his now short hair, "I know but it all makes sense, we just need some proof." he sighed.

"So how are we gonna get that proof?"

Gajeel turned to look at him. Gray knew exactly what he was thinking. "Please don't tell me you want to break into her house." He said hoping that wasn't the plan. The smirk on Gajeel's face told him other wise.

"We'll do it whenever we get the chance since we don't know her schedule."

Gray nodded, he and Gajeel walked back to the guild.

"Why do you two keep disappearing?" Levy asked as they walked up to their table.

"Guy stuff."

Cana who had been in the back drinking heard, "Sure you didn't mean gay stuff!" she said cackling. Gray threw a block of ice at her making her fall of her stool still laughing.

Luke and Nashi had fallen asleep along with the other children. Loke appeared and took a seat with the adults and caught up with them a little before they all decided to call it a night.

"Hey, where are you guys staying?" Levy asked Loke as he was picking up the twins.

"An inn down the street."

"Are you gonna be with them the entire night?" Juvia asked worried.

"Of course."

Loke left the guild and headed to the inn. He changed the kids into their pjs before putting them into bed. He sat in chair the entire night watching them since celestial spirits didn't need sleep. He could sleep if he wanted to but it wasn't necessary.

He thought about how much the twins missed their mother. The more he thought of how the twins felt the angrier he became with himself. He should've been there to protect Lucy. How could he call himself her celestial spirit and the leader of the zodiac when he couldn't protect her from danger.

Before he knew it the sun had risen. How long had he just been sitting there? He looked at the clock and saw that itwas a few minutes after 8.

The twins began to wake up. Luke woke up first, he yawned and stretched before going to the bathroom. "Good morning Uncle Leo" He said. Loke gave him a bath and got him dressed for the day.

Nashi woke up 20 minutes later, more reluctant to get up than her brother was. Once she finally got up Loke gave her a bath, got her dressed and did her hair.

"Ok kids, we're gonna be eating at the guild, okay?"

The two nodded and raised their arms up to be carried. Loke grabbed their backpack and picked them up.

"Morning!" Loke exclaimed pushing the guild doors open with his leg.

He received many greetings back. He saw Levy, Juvia and Erza and walked over there. He placed the twins down and placed their back pack on the table. The twins ran to the group of children who were sitting at a table in the back.

"Good Morning everyone." Luke and Nashi said in unison.

"Good Morning."

There were 9 children sitting at the table. Including Juvia and Levy's twins Erza's Daughter, Cana's Son, Mira and Laxus's Daughter and Elfman and evergreen's daughter were there as well.

"You guys haven't met them yet, let me introduce you." Emmelia said getting off her chair.

She pointed at a girl with light purple hair, "This is Lilac, she likes to beat up the boys". Said girl smiled and waved before glaring at Luke making him shrink back and Nashi giggle.

Next up was a brunette boy who was chugging down apple juice, "This is Cain, he likes to pretend that he's drinking adult juice". Cain wiped his mouth and flashed Nashi a grin and a wink making her blush a bit and making Luke feel annoyed.

Emmelia's hand moved to a white haired girl with brown tips and glasses, "This is Evalyn, she thinks she's a fairy. She's not". Evalyn then retorted, "I am a fairy, you're just jealous".

Emmelia nodded, "Whatever you say Eva, This is Levina. She likes to electricute people." she said pointing to a blonde girl who looked like she couldn't hurt a fly.

After being introduced the kids decided to play hide and seek. The adults watched them run around to find hiding spots before taking their attention away from them.

"I'll be going now, the kids have money for whatever they want. They shouldn't cause much trouble. I'll be back later tonight." Loke was about to go back to the spirit world when Natsu walked in.

"Loke, could I speak with you for a moment?" Natsu asked.

Loke was hesitant due to his anger and hatred but decided to hear what he had to say. They went outside.

"I know that you're angry at me, and you have every right to be especially of the pain I put Lucy through. She didn't deserve any of that and I'm a complete asshole for doing what I did. I don't even know why I did what I did and I regret it immensely. And when we get her back I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her. I wanted to get to know Luke and Nashi and with your permission I want to take them somewhere today."

Loke narrowed his eyes at Natsu, the Natsu he knew wasn't this mature. It was clear that he had grown a lot over the years. The Natsu he knew wouldn't have asked for permission, he probably would've kidnapped the kids.

"Fine, the kids have a right to know who their father is and Lucy wouldn't want me to keep them from you. Just know that they don't like you and it's not because Lucy talked bad about you but because they know you hurt her. Make sure to keep them safe, or I'll actually kill you." And with that Loke disappeared leaving Natsu grinning.

He went back inside and took a seat next to Gray while the kids played. While the men started up a conversation with him the women looked surprised to see him. They shared looks with one another before shrugging. Juvia and Levy had stopped being angry at him once they saw how happy Lucy was and how miserable Natsu was a few years back. Erza on the other hand was still upset with him, less now that he's broken up with Lisanna.

Mira came over, Natsu expected her to murder him for breaking up with her sister but she smiled at him. Mira wasn't rooting for him and Lisanna in the first place and was actually displeased when they got together. She was glad now because this meant Lucy and Natsu could get back together, she had been rooting for them since Lucy first joined the guild. She felt bad for her sister though.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked.

Everyone ordered and ordered for the kids too. 20 minutes later the food arrived, the kids stopped playing and came to eat. Once they finished the kids just sat around doing nothing. Natsu saw this as the perfect opportunity to talk to them.

He stood up and went to their table, ignoring the glare they were giving him. Their glares didn't feel as harsh as yesterday so he thought that was a good sign. He raised his hands up in surrender "I come in peace." he said.

"I want to take you guys somewhere, would you want to come with me? It would be fun."

The idea of fun appealed to them but they weren't sure if they wanted to go with their father. If they were being honest no matter how much they hated him they always liked the idea of having a second parent even though their mother was more than enough for them. They always saw kids playing with their fathers and wondered what it would be like. Maybe they could experience it? Even for one day.

They stared at each other silently debating on whether or not they should go making Natsu feel all the more nervous. They gave in.

"We'll go with you." Luke said as he and Nashi got down from their seats.

Natsu was grinning from ear to ear as the three of them walked out. The town was very crowded, people kept bumping into the twins. They refused to hold Natsu's hand though.

Another reckless person came and bumped into Nashi making her fall to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Natsu shouted angrily as he picked up both of his children and placed them on his shoulders. They didn't complain since this seemed safer than being on the ground.

"We're here." Natsu said. The kids looked up, their eyes brightened instantly. An amusement park, that's where Natsu brought them. They got excited since they had never been to one. Natsu didn't put them down until they were inside where he took a motion sickness pill so he could fully enjoy the day.

They went on every ride that they could. Natsu won as many stuffed animals he could for them and bought whatever snacks they wanted. When they were leaving Natsu had to buy a wagon to carry all the prizes he won for them. Natsu brought them to one of his favourite restaurants.

"Order anything you want." He said, not minding that they might rack up a high bill.

When they left the restaurant they made their way to a park close by the guild. Natsu sat on a bench with the twins. He wanted to have a serious talk with them.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you guys when I should've been."

The twins looked up at him.

"Mama said it wasn't your fault since you didn't know about us." Luke said kicking his feet.

Nashi nodded, "She also said that you would have loved us if you knew." she added.

"Of course I would have, I love you both so much right now and I've only known you for a day." Natsu said to them. Natsu shouldn't have been surprised Lucy spoke highly of him to the children but he was.

The twins were surprised to hear that Natsu loved them.

"Do you love mama too?" Nashi asked making Luke look up at Natsu wanting to hear his answer too.

Natsu sighed, "I love her more than anything" he replied.

It was Luke's turn to ask a question, "So why did you break up with her?" he asked.

Natsu leaned back and ran his hands through his hair, "You have the dumbest dad on Earthland, I messed up big time and regret it every day." he said.

The twins stayed silent after that. The hard shell they had around their hearts cracked at the sincerity of his voice. They could see the pain and heartache in his eyes.

"I know I hurt your mom a lot and I deserve what ever comes my way. Just know that I'll be making it up to the three of you till the day I die"

Whatever hatred the twins had towards their father had dwindled significantly. They walked back to the guild in silence. Once they entered the twins decided to show off all their new stuffed animals and toys. They even decided to brag about what they did today.

The adults smiled watching them. Loke came back and heard how much fun the twins had. He saw how comfortable they felt around their father now.

He sat with the adults.

"Capricorn found a lead." He started.

Everyone's head turned to him urging him to continue. "We haven't fully investigated it as yet but we plan to, we don't want more than two of us in this world at the same time since the reapers might track the magic back to the kids. Capricorn and I plan to investigate so none of the other spirits can stay with the kids. Natsu I want you to stay with them." He finished.

Natsu, a long with everybody else, looked surprised but promised to take care of them. Loke said bye to the kids before going back to the spirit world. Natsu took the children back to the inn.

*Earlier today*

Lisanna had just walked into the guild. Gray and Gajeel made eye contact upon seeing her enter. They nodded at each other and hurried out the guild and to Lisanna's house. They saw an open window and jumped through it.

They began searching the place.

"What exactly should we be looking for?" Gray asked rummaging through the kitchen cupboards.

"A potion or a spell book maybe." Gajeel answered searching through her bedroom. He went to the bathroom and opened the cupboards. His eyes landed on a glass bottle containing a purple liquid. He turned the bottle to see the label. "Love Potion" was written on the bottle.

"I found it!" Gajeel said alerting Gray.

Gray ran to the bathroom, he couldn't believe that they actually found something. He had been hoping that Gajeel was reading into to things too much, that Lisanna would never do something like this. But now he had to believe it since the proof was right there in front of them.

They heard the front door slam shut. "Shit!" They whisper yelled at each other. Gajeel quickly snapped a picture of the bottle on his mobile lacrima before putting it back. He and Gray then proceeded to shove themselves through the tiny bathroom window and ran away.