*not proofread*

Erza smiled as she watched Lucy and Natsu play with her daughter. Despite the fire dragon slayer's rather violent personality, she knew that he was absolutely gentile when it came to kids... And also his partner, Lucy.

They weren't together or anything... At least not yet. They've always been shy about their feelings ever since the start. But that's fine... Because they wouldn't dare end up with anyone else besides each other.

Erza watched happily as Natsu lifted her daughter into the air and blew a raspberry against her stomach. The baby let out a fit of snorts and giggles as she held onto Natsu's pink hair with her strong baby hands.

However at that point, Erza's baby refused to let go of his hair, making Natsu repeatedly say ow under his breath.

"I always wanted to have a baby of my own..." Erza heard Lucy say to her, soft enough for only the redhead to hear. "They're so adorable."

"They're adorable, sure... But they are a lot of work." Erza chuckled, prying her eyes away from Natsu and her baby to look at Lucy. "Jellal and I barely get a whole night to sleep..."

"But it's worth it..." The blonde responded, helping Natsu by taking the baby away from his hair.

"Yeah... Totally worth it." Erza nodded, smiling as she took the baby in her arms, cradling her against her bosom.

There was a moment of silence that consisted of Erza and Lucy looking at the baby... And Natsu smiling over at Lucy, obvious thoughts going through his head.

---

"She was cute, wasn't she?" Lucy hummed, holding her hands behind her back as she stood beside Natsu at the request board, searching through different jobs.

"Yeah... She's got her mom's strength... That's for damn sure..." He replied, a little conflicted about the fact.

Lucy giggled and watched as Happy pulled a paper off the board and presenting it to them both. "This one! It's a lot of money for something as simple as finding a simple kind of plant. Seems like the offer is from an elderly couple that don't have enough energy to get it themselves."

Natsu smirked and took the page from the cat, leading them over to Mira. "This'll pay for Lucy's rent for a couple months." He exclaimed, shooting a proud look towards Lucy whom was beaming happily. He would've been staring at her for too long if it wasn't for Mira handing the paper back to him with a cheerful good luck!

---

Lucy pouted as she walked around the forest, glancing down at the picture of the plant the old couple had given them every now and then. "You'd think an unnaturally bright orange plant would be easy to find."

Natsu kept his eyes on the girl for a moment before looking town at the bases of the trees. "I wonder why they need the plant anyway. Hopefully these ancients don't intend to be taking on drugs or something."

Lucy shot him a warning look, mentioning how disrespectful he was being. Despite acting annoyed, he only admired how cute she was whenever she would nag at him like that.

Happy floated along with a gleeful look on his face, barely paying attention to their conversation as he inspected every plant he caught sight of. "Maybe we should split up and look around. We'll cover more land."

Natsu flinched and open his mouth to decline, but Lucy quickly spoke before he could. "You're right. How about if you find something, give a signal."

"Yeah!" Happy exclaimed, cutting Natsu off before he could speak. "Natsu can shoot some fire. I can just make myself noticeable above the trees, and Lucy you can summon Virgo or something."

"Great plan happy!" Lucy said excitedly, giving the cat a high five. "I'll go this way... Good luck."

"Good luck!" Happy snickered, heading in a different direction, leaving Natsu standing alone confused and helpless.

"....w-wait..." He mumbled softly, watching as Lucy and Happy disappeared. "Lucy don't..."

Natsu sighed, shifting his weight between his feet. "Should I follow her? I want to follow her..." He said to himself under his breath. "But she'll be pissed at me for not doing the job..."

He paced back in forth for awhile before taking a deep breath and hesitantly following Lucy's scent. "I'm just gonna say I just happened upon her... She can't get angry at me for that... She'll just... Do that head shaking thing she does. With the cute sigh and— shit shut up."

He gulped and slowed down his pace once he knew she was nearby.

Looking at her for a moment, he decided to make himself known. "Lucy!"

Lucy turned to him with an uplifted eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be searching?"

"I uh..." He trailed off, meaning to say what he was going to say but he just all of a sudden forgot everything.

She watched him for a moment before sighing and standing up straight. (Which made heart buzz.) "Well... You can either stick with me or head off in that direction." She said, pointing to her left.

Natsu bit his lip and silently made his way over beside her. "I'll stay with you."

Lucy observed him carefully for a moment before shrugging and continuing to walk down her path, the pinkette following beside her with a proud smile on his face.

"I'm only staying because you're probably lonely." Natsu informed, though that was kind of a lie.

"No... I was fine." Lucy smiled at him before looking back ahead of her. Natsu quickly frowned.

"Then you must've been scared."

"Nope."

With a grumble, he crossed his arms and struggled to think of more reasons. "Are you sure you weren't lonely?"

"Natsu... I'm starting to think you were the one who was lonely." Lucy giggled and stopped walking to look at him. "Why didn't you find Happy instead?"

"Because... Uh.... Because he's way faster than you." He replied nervously. "You know... Those wings and all?"

"Sure." She nodded, shifting her attention to the sky. "Well... I'm honored you chose me. That's really nice."

Natsu smiled, taking the chance to glance down at her hand. "Yeah... I'm known for being a nice guy."

"Hah okay." She said with a snort. "At least with me you are."

Natsu sucked in a deep breath at her little laugh, covering his blush with his scarf. "Of course I'm nice with you. I can't think of any reason to be mean to you... You're perfect in my eyes."

"Huh?" She blinked, looking back at him with a light pink dusting her cheeks. All at once he noticed what he had just confessed.

"W-Wait I uh..." Natsu stuttered. "You're... Um... Nevermind. Forget what I just said. It's... That's not important."

"Natsu—"

He quickly shook his head and looked away from her, showing that he wasn't going to go any further than that.

The pair stayed silent for awhile as they looked around, hoping that they'll find the plant soon so they could just go back home to the guild.

"Guys!" Happy shouted from up top, waving his arms around. "I think I found something!"

"Great job, happy!" Lucy called, cupping her hands around her mouth for him to hear. "Lead us over, okay?"

"Yeah!" He beamed before turning around a slowly flying towards his location. Natsu and Lucy kept up a good pace behind he exceed, happy that they finally made progress.

---

"Ah~" Lucy hummed happily as she stepped off the train, taking in magnolia station. "Home sweet home."

"We aren't home yet." Happy mumbled, holding their reward as he sat on top of her head.

"I know... But... It just feels better here."

"It feels better getting off that train." Natsu gurgled, slowly recovering the color to his face.

Lucy looked at him for a moment before clearing her throat. "I'm heading to my actual home. I'm a little too tired to be going to the guild... Especially at this hour when it's extra crazy."

Happy let out a sigh and dropped the reward into Lucy's hands. "Well I'm going. Wendy said she was going to teach me how to bake a cake." He cooed, fantasizing some sort of a fish cake.

"Alright... Natsu?" Lucy said, hesitantly looking away from the blue cat. "Where are you going."

Natsu suddenly became aware of the conversation, and unconsciously let out a confused, dull sound.

The blonde rolled her eyes and waved the two off. "Whatever. Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight!" Happy cheered, already flying off towards the guild.

And there Natsu was, stuck in another cross paths, like he was earlier when he was on the job. "Join Happy and probably get into a fight which I love... Or join Lucy... And just... Be with her."

His heart thumped I his chest at the second choice. Just watching her walk away right now made him go crazy. The way her hair flowed in the small breeze, the way her hips rocked slightly side to side as she walked, the way the sun set was hitting her pale elegant skin so well...

Without him even knowing, his feet were already heading off towards her direction, picking up a fast pace to catch up with her.

"Lucy..." I said, catching her attention immediately. She seemed surprised at first but soon gave him a soft smile. He gulped before taking another step, signaling them both to keep walking towards her flat.

"What made you want to come with me?" She asked, however he didn't really give a direct answer.

"What do you think about kids?"

She blinked and looked up at him with an upraised eyebrow. "What?"

"Um... I overheard you and Erza when we were playing with her daughter. How you... Wanted kids of your own." He mumbled. "Don't think I'm implying that I want that kind of thing from you. I mean I want kids. I want to raise a family... But anyway I'm rambling..."

"I mean.... This is sudden, and coming from you it's also kind of weird." Lucy blushed, holding her hands up to her abdomen. "But I would like kids... Yes. I don't know when I'm my life."

Natsu watched carefully.

"Of course..." She laughed humorlessly, "I need a significant other for something like that."

"Significant other?"

"Well... Like a boyfriend? In my case... I'd like to have a husband when I have kids though."

Natsu blushed and kept his eyes trained to hers. "What do you expect?"

"They need to be caring and funny."

"Check."

She glanced at him for a second before hiding her smile with her hair. "Trustworthy and knows me."

"Check..." He mumbled, reaching over to brush the hair out of her eyes, making them stop walking.

"And... He needs to be an adorable dork who makes me happy no matter the situation."

Natsu opened his mouth to say check again but paused as he thought it over. "Is... Am.... Am I qualified for that?"

Lucy gave a snort and reached her hand up to grab his scarf. "Check." She nodded before pulling his down and placing a soft and quick kiss on his chapped, yet comforting lips.

"Oh." He hummed, giving a large grin before pulling her closer to his body. "Then I'm apparently the whole package." He concludes, before giving her another kiss, already dreaming of the future and his cross roads.