Mages, Bottles, and Babies

5. The Beast and Beautiful Traveler

Gajeel and Levy sat beside each other as the girl read the book out loud, amused by how intently Gajeel was listening to the story.

"The beast lives in the depths of the forest and cared for no one. It's only visitors were the angry mobs that attacked it."

Gajeel looked at the picture to see the villagers holding torches and guns. The monster hiding inside a dark cove. It brought back unpleasant memories.

"I'm done..it's late." He interrupted. "Good night." The boy said and pulled the sheets over his head. Levy sighed as she looked at the slayer.

"Okay... I'll leave the book on the dresser." She said and walked out.

Gajeel waited for her room door to shut before walking to the dresser. "Does this book even have a happy ending?"

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Back in a certain blonde's apartment Lucy woke up on the couch. It was morning and she was sore from the awkward position she was in.

"Stupid Natsu and Happy..." She muttered looking at the two partners snoozing away on HER bed. Even after 24 hours Lucy noticed that Natsu was still the in his toddler stage. It made the blonde wonder if he will ever be back to normal.

"Luuuuuccccy..." Happy muttered rubbing his eyes. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Because you too were snoring so loud I couldn't sleep!" She snarled clenching her fist in the air.

"Oh right! Natsu is still a kid." Happy reminisced.

Lucy sighed. "I guess we have to go to the clothing store today to get him some clothes....." She muttered to herself.

"Lucy's talking to herself.. What a weirdo..." Happy smirked.

"Hey! I'm not weird!" Lucy shouted waking the small dragon slayer up.

"Nhhh five more minutes Igneel..." He mumbled as he drooled all over her pillow.

Lucy sent him a look of disgust. 'There's more laundry to do....'

Minutes later everyone was eating waffles and heading out the door. Lucy wore her usual get up whereas Natsu had to borrow old clothes from Romeo. As usual his cherished scarf remained.

As they walked alongside the canal Lucy overheard the many women and people talking.

"Wow look at that little boy! He's so cute!"

"Doesn't he look like anyone? He seems familiar..."

"Hmm your right."

Natsu sent a glare of annoyance. If he was bigger he would've told those people to mind their own business.

"Here we are." Lucy smiled as they stood in front of a small department store. "I always wanted to come in here but I never had the chance to." She smiled widely as the windows revealed a series of dresses and outfits.

Natsu moaned. "I don't want to go girl shopping."

"Relax I won't buy anything for me, we are here for you after all." Lucy reassured.

The three walked in and examined the huge space surrounding them. In the middle was a huge fountain with small cupids in different poses. Surrounding it were a huge variety of stores like bookshops, boutiques, and magical items.

"Wow it's bigger than outside!" Happy awed.

"Let's go!" Lucy cheered pulling the boy to the nearest escalator. After pulling Lucy off of all the window displays of the latest fashions, they managed to find a nice children's clothing store titled: " Cub Juniors "

"Aww look at all the children's clothes!" Lucy smiled. "They're all so cute!"

"You better not dress me up all girly or anything!" Natsu snapped. " I still wanna look like myself."

Lucy laughed. " Alright. Alright. Maybe a nice sailor suit."

"Lucy!"

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding!" Lucy chuckled as she walked in, the duo following after her.

After a few hours of Natsu's objections and Lucy's teasing they managed to find a couple outfits they agreed with.

Natsu walked out with a light blue shirt with a dragon imprinted on it and cargo shorts. His scarf nicely wrapped around his neck.

Lucy sighed as she held the shopping bags. 'There goes next week's shopping money...'

"Let's go drop these off at home and head to the guild." Lucy said as they walked to the exit.

"Sounds good." Natsu agreed.

Lucy noticed that there was more people than usual as the department store grew more crowded.

"Natsu. Happy. Stay close or you'll get..." Lucy looked to her side to see that she was talking to herself. "Lost?"

"Natsu? Happy?" She called out looking around.

"Why me?" She whined as she searched for them.

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A/N: So guys I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I've been so busy lately with my job I got and stuff like that. I'll post another maybes yet this week since this chapter was kinda like a filler. Rate, comment, and vote. Thanks for reading guys! :3