The lost omega

Chapter 8 - New horizons

Natsu and Gray had been living in the cottage for a little over a month now. Natsu was in his second trimester. Gray was surprised at how quickly dragon slayer pregnancies progressed. Natsu's stomach was quite rounded now. A healthy little baby bump.

Natsu's collection of celestial spirits had been growing steadily. He was now contracted to eight spirits.
Two of the elemental spirits: Cetus and Draco.
And six silver key spirits: Cygnus and Vulpacula as well as Corvus the crow , Eridanus the River , Andromeda the chained maidan and Hydra the water serpent.

Corvus he had found while gathering herbs in the forest. At first Natsu had just thought it was a regular crow with an injured wing and had nursed the bird back to health. After three days the crow was healthy and revealed its secret. It was a celestial spirit searching for a wizard to form a contract with, but had been attacked by an owl while it was resting. Corvus specialised in shadow magic.

Eridanus and Hydra, Gray found on a job. The job had been to slay an angry sea monster terrorising a neighbouring harbour town. It turned out the angry sea monster was Hydra. Hydra was upset because they'd been separated from Eridanus. The two spirits were like a package deal. After helping Hydra find Eridanus, Gray convinced the two to come along with him and make contracts with Natsu.

Finally Andromeda. She'd been a difficult spirit. Draco had requested that Natsu form a contract with the Maidan as he was worried about her. Andromeda had been contracted to a twisted psychopath of a dark wizard and was being forced to do terrible things. It had ended with Gray fighting the wizard and forcing him to relinquish Andromeda. Thankfully she was the only spirit the wizard had in his possession.

Natsu was becoming restless, wishing to practice his magic. He tried to busy himself with gardening, video games and reading but it was a repetitive routine and he was sick of it.

"Ughhh Gray I'm so bored." He whined as he hugged the other male's waist from behind. Gray was busy making fried chicken and potato salad for lunch.

"Watch some tv Dragon." Gray suggested as he tossed the chicken in oil and then bread crumbs and a mixture of herbs and spices before deep frying the chunks.

"There's nothing good on. I've been watching tv for two hours." Natsu huffed.

"We'll how about your video games?" Gray said as he focused on cooking.

Natsu burrowed his face into Gray's back. "Completed them all..." he mumbled. Gray hummed as he thought for a minute. Thinking of activities to entertain Natsu that didn't require tons of physical exertion wasn't easy. Natsu was usually an active person and enjoyed exercising , training and fighting. Though Gray knew there was a softer nurturing side to the pinkette.

"How about you look through some of the shopping catalogs for cute baby clothes, toys and furniture you want to get for the baby...and we should start thinking of possible names soon so how about looking through some baby name books too?" He finally replied. Natsu perked up a little at that.

"That's a good idea actually! Who knew you were so smart snowman~" he teased as he gave Gray a peck on the cheek before making his way to the library room to busy himself in the shopping magazines they always picked up whenever they went into town and the thick leather bound books of names in the cottage library which was where Natsu spent most of his time these days. He finally understood why Lucy liked reading so much.

He curled up in the nest of blankets and pillows he'd built in the library.  The soft material of one of the blankets rubbed against his bare legs as he settled himself down. A stack of magazines on one side of him and a stack of baby name books on his other side. He brushed a hand through his messy hair. It was longer now, touching the top of his shoulder and framing his jaw. He'd decided to grow it out.

He poured over the magazines , using a pink marker to draw hearts next to the things he wanted. Then he went through the baby name books and wrote a list of names he liked. He would discuss the list with Gray so they could choose a name together.

After lunch Natsu fell asleep on Gray's chest. A mess of wild pink hair and tangled limbs. Gray played with the pinkette's locks as he studied a spell book on cryomagic. He'd mastered ice make magic, even the most advanced spells and was working on his dragon slaying abilities. He looked down at the sleeping omega in arms. Natsu looked so peaceful. His skin had a healthy glow to it...a stark contrast from the 'Natsu' that had been on the news. It was a worrisome matter and one that had been nagging at him for weeks.

Every time he closed his eyes all he could see were images of that bloodied lifeless body that looked so much like Natsu. Like his Natsu. It scared him to death. He'd been pushing himself to the brink in training. He had to get stronger. To protect the Natsu that he knew was alive and make sure it stayed that way because he wouldn't just be losing Natsu but his baby as well and he couldn't handle losing another family. He'd lost his parents and then Ur. They'd left Fairy Tail and he didn't know when they'd return. Natsu and his precious unborn pup was all Gray had.
_______________________________________________________________________
*With Fairy Tail*
A thick wave of sadness hung heavy in the air. The Fairy Tail guild had been swathed in sullen solemness since Natsu's disappearance. With no trace of Natsu they had no choice but to believe that the news report was true. Natsu was dead. Gray and Happy were missing. Fairy Tail was falling apart.

No one had taken jobs for a while. Guild members overwhelmed with Grief and Anger snapped at each other, others sat wallowing in their sadness and drowning themselves in alcohol to forget. The whole of Magnolia avoided the guild hall like a plague.

All except one.

A hooded figure lurked in the back alleys of Magnolia. Perched on his shoulder was a strange creature. It had the body of a small cat but scaly legs ending in claws and a lizards tail. It's eyes were reptilian and it had a forked tongue. Sharp fangs dripping venom protruded from its mouth. It's sleek black fur fading into speckled green scales. A purple orb floated in the figure's palm. Reflected inside it was images of Fairytail looking miserable. "Perfect. The plan is falling nicely into place Anubis~ Soon the Lumen Histoire will be ours." The figure said to creature on its shoulder in a soft but murderous voice. "And so will Fairytail's greatest asset. The destroyer of worlds." He cackled. The creature made a noise between a hiss and a purr. The figure swept his cloak and disappeared in a swirl of shadows.

I will be your end Fairytail
________________________________________

Natsu yawned and stretched as he woke up from his nap. His head still resting on Gray's chest. He lovingly rubbed his cheek against the alpha's chest trying to rouse him awake. Gray groaned and cracked an eye opening.

"Mornin Dragon." He mumbled.

"It's evening silly popsicle." Natsu giggled.

Gray blinked. He saw the sun beginning to set.
"Did we really sleep that long." He asked as he cupped Natsu's cheek. Natsu purred at the contact.

"I guess we did." The pinkette murmured. After cuddling with Gray for a few more minutes he sat up, his hair wildly sticking up in every direction.

He reached for the list of names he'd made and settled with his back against Gray's chest. "Let's look at the name list." He suggested. Gray shifted slightly so he could see better as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "M'kay."

They browsed the list of names crossing out ones they decided they didn't want. They continued this process for half and hour. Natsu was already tired again so Gray decided they would turn in for the night. He would need to be up early tomorrow as he needed to take another job soon even if Natsu wasn't happy about it.

He carried Natsu to bed and got himself and the pinkette changed, before climbing into bed with the omega. He wrapped his arms around Natsu's waist and let his head rest on the omegas swollen stomach. Natsu purred softly and threaded his fingers through the alpha's hair. "Comfy there ice Princess?" He asked with a laugh. Gray hummed tiredly, he couldn't be bothered to think of a nickname to respond with, simply closing his eyes and relaxing against his pregnant mate. The love of his life and his precious pup were all he needed to be happy.