Celestial Fire (Nalu)

Chapter 56 - Natsu

I'm going to kill him.

Gray went too far, and now Luce is crying in my arms even in her sleep. Don't we have enough stress that we are dealing with? Without them making things harder? Between finding the remaining celestial keys, the baby dragon slayers and then there is all the hounding we are getting from our parents to hurry up and give them grandkids. Now we have to deal with our "friends" lecturing us and trying to prevent us from starting our own family too?

Isn't that just too much? I mean, our parents need to back off too but we actually do want to have little babies running around soon so the support is kind of nice. But the way that Gray has been laying into us and the fact that Erza agrees with him hurts. Luce and I have been together for five years already. I mean sure we only just got together sexually but it's not like we are strangers or anything.

I know just about everything about her, from the way she wrinkles her nose when she first wakes up to how she could easily spend the day in the tub if she could. Her favorite food is yogurt but she absolutely loves Mira's strawberry smoothies and how she only eats so little in front of people because she doesn't like people watching her eat. The fact she can drink in starlight now is a huge blessing for her because she doesn't feel hungry all the time.

So why can't they just be happy for us? ALL of them.

Or is it that they are worried? I guess we have only been together for a few months, November is when she came home and now it's April. Has it really been that long?

Maybe I'm the one that needs to back off? I still want to start a family with Luce but now that I've thought about it, it's not like they are trying to keep us apart.

Damn it! Why couldn't I just punch him in the face and call it a day? Now that I've thought about it I just feel bad for overreacting. I look down to see Luce still crying in her sleep and pull her close to cradle her in my arms. Maybe my problem isn't so much as what or even why they said what they did so much as how Luce is reacting to it?

I brush her hair out of her face and give her a soft kiss on her forehead. "Everything is going to work out just fine," I whispered into her hair, I felt her adjust to my touch and even though she is still crying she seems more at peace than before. I think she knows we are overreacting too, otherwise she wouldn't have backed off. She would have fought him tooth and nail and I would have helped her.

I close my eyes and try to get a few hours of rest but honestly I would be shocked if I even dozed for an hour. We both ended up getting up after only a couple hours and we raced up the rest of the mountain. Now we just want to move on with the mission, the sooner it's over the sooner we can disappear for at least a little while. The thought of just running off on an adventure, just the two of us just screamed at me. It was like my whole being wanted to hide us away, even from Happy and that scares me.

"Luce?" I say out loud only for her to stop directly in front of me.

"What's wrong?" Hell, her tone of voice was serious, I told her what I was thinking. How my instincts were telling me to run, to hide away from not only the world and its dangers but also our friends and family and how torn up I'm feeling from it, because it's not just Fairytail but also the Dragon Realm.

She nodded, listening carefully to everything I was saying, never interrupting from start to finish. At the end my words sent a chill even through me, "It feels like I'm being hunted."

"Natsu, it's okay. Actually if you are feeling like that, there is a decent chance that I'm pregnant. Did you ever actually read the dragon slayer books or just the demon slayer books?" She asked and my whole body froze the moment she said 'I'm pregnant.' She let out a sigh before briefly turning her attention to her stomach smiling sweetly before she refocused on me. "Dragons go into hiding when it's time for them to lay their eggs, even separating themselves from their older children during the process, unless the children are still very young of course. Your dad was going on and on about it while you were sparring with Zeref, he really wants us to choose laying eggs over live birth."

"You're pregnant?" I asked hopefully reaching out for her only for her to smile brighter than before.

"The father is always the first to know. I'll call for Loke and we can send him to find us a little cottage somewhere while we quickly finish this mission. Looks like we won't make it in time for the S-Class exams this year," her sweet voice giggled while I gently rubbed her stomach.

"Call for Loke as soon as we get back to town, oi are you listening?" I turned my attention halfway through from my beautiful mate to her charm bracelet only to hear his chuckling reply before he opened his gate next to us.

"I hear you loud and clear. Could you send Virgo, Capricorn and Aries with me once you're back at the train station? We'll set the cottage up with a garden so everything will be ready for you," he smiled, getting down on one knee in front of Luce. "My Goddess, you will be a wonderful mother." I pulled Luce into my arms holding her gently but tightly while we made plans. We would probably stay hidden away for a year unless something happens hell it could take two depending on the baby.

"Natsu, we have to hurry. If I really am pregnant we only have a couple weeks before things start going wrong," Luce reminded me and the look of worry on her face was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on me.

"Let's go," I whispered before picking her up and carrying her the way she liked the rest of the way up the mountain.

Guess I don't have time to deal with these crappy emotions at the moment.