#fuckyeahgratsu

Natsu looks over to his husband to find him staring worriedly at Erza. Gray’s teeth sunk into his lower lip in a way that made Natsu’s eye linger before traveling up to the eyebrow scrunched high on his face. He too could see what Natsu saw and knew they needed to do this.

With practiced ease, Natsu called a wide cocky grin onto his face. “Oh, come on Erza, we’ve babysitter for you a bunch of times remember?”

But as Gray and Natsu could see though Erza’s facade, she could see through theirs. She narrowed her eyes at them. “Rhea. You babysat Rhea alone. I’m warning you now that this is not the same. Rhea has always been self-sufficient even when she was younger. Andre can be…difficult sometimes. Toddlers are a lot of work.”

Gray interrupted this time moving closer to the mother. “Stop trying to scare us off Erza, you know that only gets us fired up.” Natsu’s grin turns into a smirk as he redirects his attention to Gray. “Stealing my lines now Snowflake.” Gray gives him a challenging stare back but says nothing. The two just smirk at each other like idiots in the Scarlet-Strauss yard speaking a thousand words without a sound. Erza always held strong for their guild, for Gray and Natsu, no matter the cost to her. That type of behavior had led to her self-destruction more than once, and each time the boys were there catch her before she fit the ground.

There was no way they were going to leave without the kids.

At that moment, the door opened again, and Rhea walked out. Heading their instructions, she brought along with her a bathing suit and towel carried on her cake-shaped backpack. The eleven-year old looks between her two rowdy uncles and her tired mom. Secretly, she had noticed that both her mothers had looked more down the last few weeks. Between issues at the guild and Andre tearing through whatever he could get his hands and/or teeth on, her mothers were always fixing problem after problem. Rhea tried to make up for it by being extra good. She cleaned up after herself and did her chores without her mother’s asking. She even tried to talk to Andre about being good too, but he just stared and giggled at her as if she were telling a joke. Rhea wasn’t anymore immune to that cute giggly face than her parents and ended up on the floor reading him stories.

Still. She was going to keep being good for her uncles as well. Especially since they seemed blissfully unaware how much of a little terror her brother has been for the past few weeks.

Mirajane smiled at Gray and Natsu and so did the little person slobbering on her dress. Andre giggled as Gray made silly faces and went willingly into his arms. Her turned to shoot a I-told-you-we-could-handle-it look at Erza only to be stopped by the same look of hesitance that flashed over Mirajane’s face.

At this rate, they’d never leave. Gray and Natsu exchanged looks again and subtly nodded to each other. It’s game time.

Gray started down the pathway with Andre in his arms and Rhea following right behind them. Natsu waited for them to move further down the road before stepping forward to grasp both women’s shoulders. “Listen, you two deserve this break. We all know how hard you’ve been working both at the guild and at home. Me and Gray handle the kids for a few days, just trust us alright?” Without waiting for an answer, he kissed both women on the cheeks and grabbed the baby bag Mirajane had brought along with her. With another reassuring grin, he headed to meet his lover.

“Natsu wait-” He turned to see Mirajane and Erza’s hands intertwined. A look of sincerity on their faces as they whispered, “thank you.”

 This time, the smile that came onto his lips was genuine.

~

He and Gray had spent hours arguing over where the best place to spend a week with little kids was. They had come to a standstill glaring from opposite sides of their kitchen table when Happy’s fish went sailing through the room and ended up dropping between them. When Natsu turned to yell what the hell was that for! Gray’s eyes had lit up in the mesmerizing way.

Now here they were in a 5-way race across the beach. Happy won of course, the cheater, but Natsu gladly headbutted Gray out of the way allowing for Rhea to race past him. In retaliation, Gray picked Natsu up off the ground and swung him around under the eyes of a giggling Andre. Andre had given up on trying to race on his short unsteady legs pretty early and instead seemed content to run his fingers through the sand and watch his uncles wrestle. Rhea was celebrating her victory with Happy by trying to bob for fish underwater. At the sound of a scuffle, she raises her head and turns to the fighting men fight men on the beach. She jolts up out of the water when recognizes her uncles. “Are they okay?!” She askes Happy worried. The blue cat just rolled his eyes. “Yeah they’re fine. That’s just their version of fun. Come on, the fish aren’t going to catch themselves!” Rhea hesitates, but as she looks back she could see the little details she missed before. The light tone in their voices as they called insults back and forth, the smiles they exchanged when one managed to pin the other, the way the hands lingered and caressed the other in between moves. In that moment, they reminded Rhea so much of her own mothers when they bickered back and forth just to have an excuse to get closer to each other. With a smile she decided that Happy was right and they continued their dives.

The rest of the day passed by in a splash.

Natsu tried to teach Rhea how to swim while Gray wadded around the shallow end with Andre on his hip. Then they broke for lunch and devoured the triangle sandwiches Mirajane had packed. Shortly after eating, Andre fell asleep on Natsu’s chest while the rest of the gang built sandcastles. They spent some more time in the water until the sun started to set and both kids movements began to slow. They were in the process of packing up their stuff when Gray placed his hand gently over Natsu’s, “so, kids hun?”

"Well Gramps isn't here, is he?" Natsu scrambled away from Gray, not wanting to admit that he'd been beaten. He tried to ignore the sudden tightness in his chest when he saw Gray was in real pain.

In all the years he'd had fire magic Natsu had never actually hurt anyone with it, never seen the results of his power on another. He knew that was bound to change as soon as Gramps cleared him for more dangerous missions, but the pained look on Gray's face was unnerving him.

“Natsu, that was uncalled for!” Erza scolded him, distracting him from the progressively negative thoughts that were beginning to take hold of him. “Take Gray to the infirmary this second, you know better than to attack his hands, he needs those to do his magic. Half of whatever money you make on jobs will go to him until his hands heal.”

“What?!” Natsu protested in outrage, “How is that even fair?”

“You’ve made it so he can’t work,” Erza pointed out, her eyes flashing dangerously, “Would you rather I tell Gramps you broke his rule?”

“Fine, I’ll give the Princess half of my take,” Natsu agreed, quickly realizing any punishment Gramps came up with would likely be worse. “Come on,” he grabbed Gray by the hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

“You idiot!” Gray screamed in agony as his burnt hand throbbed at Natsu’s rough treatment. “Do you ever think?”

“Ugh, I’m sorry,” Natsu moved his hand to Gray’s elbow and carefully guided him up the stairs to the infirmary. He placed Gray’s arms under the water faucet and let cool water run over the burns while he hunted around for supplies to treat him.

All supplies collected, he turned off the water and moved Gray over to one of the beds. Natsu felt terrible when he saw the extent of the burns, he hadn’t meant to hurt the ice block. He just hadn’t wanted to lose. He patted Gray’s arms dry with a towel, careful not to pop any of the blisters.

“So how come?” Natsu asked, trying to distract Gray from the bandaging which he knew was likely to be painful.

“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?” Gray snapped, glaring at him in a way which showed he was still upset.

Natsu made himself count to ten before he responded, he knew Gray had every reason to be angry with him, and he was determined to keep his temper for once.

“Swimming, how come you never learned?”

“Oh, I lived in the North,” Gray explained with a shrug, “It was too cold to swim in the water there and I never really thought about it after I got here.”

Natsu opened his mouth in an O shape, but no sound came out. He'd forgotten Gray came from the North country when he'd made fun of him. He finished bandaging Gray's arms as gently as he could, and the ice mage went away, leaving Natsu with a bitter aftertaste as he thought about how his thoughtlessness had managed to hurt his rival. Well okay, friend. He was still new to the guild and so far he'd only really interacted with Gray and Erza.

For the next two weeks, Natsu worked nonstop, trying to make enough money for rent and food for the two of them. When Gray's bandages finally came off, and his burns had healed Natsu was relieved but way too tired for the fight Gray was obviously looking for, or at least that's what he told himself. He went back to the boy's dorm and collapsed on his bed.

Unbeknownst to Natsu, Makarov had been watching him, having heard from Macao what had happened while he was gone. The guild master was proud of the way his young member had taken responsibility for his actions without much complaint. He'd noticed that Natsu had been avoiding interacting with Gray, and as much as he enjoyed the peace and quiet, it troubled him. It was possible that Natsu was just tired, he had been working very hard, but the guild master couldn’t help but worry that there was something else behind it.

O-o

“Hurry up, we’re going to miss the train,” Makarov chided his guild members who were laden down with supplies for their day at the beach. He had goaded all of the adults into coming, not wanting to be stuck at the beach with so many children by himself. There were baskets of food, tubs full of toys and sunblock as well as umbrellas, towels, and blankets, not to mention the barrels of alcohol he’d bribed Gildarts, Macao and Wakaba with.

“Train?” Natsu immediately complained, “Can’t we walk to where we’re going?”

“I’m afraid not my boy,” Gramps replied cheerfully. He scratched his head as he remembered that Natsu got motion sick on vehicles, and feeling a bit guilty he asked Wakaba to pass him one of the sand pails and handed it to Natsu, who looked at him miserably. “The trip won’t be long, and I promise it will be worth it,” Makarov said kindly as he ruffled the boy’s pink locks.

Gray seemed ready to say something, but a glare from Makarov shut him up quickly, and he made do with smirking at Natsu, who was staring at the train like it was his nemesis. Although once the train started to move, he felt a little bad as he watched Natsu dry heave for the better part of an hour.

Gray was very excited to go to a beach, he'd never been to one before, and he couldn't wait. He ran out of the train as soon as it stopped, clothes coming off as he ran. Gildarts went after him to make sure he didn't get lost and to avoid carrying any of the heavy items, picking up Gray's clothes along the way. The rest of the kids waited for Natsu's nausea to settle, walking towards the beach together with the other adults.

As soon as they arrived at the sand, all the other kids paired up and ran off to play, grabbing toys and yelling a general direction where they could be found, leaving adults scrambling to set up a central location and Natsu to stare after them. He was sure he could join any of them even though they hadn't explicitly invited him, but it still made him feel a little left out. He looked around the beach with interest, it had been a while since he'd been to one. The cold water was calling to him, and he could see Gray dipping his toes in the water nervously.

Makarov watched to see what Natsu would do. “You know Natsu, Gray looks like he could use some company.”

Natsu looked over again and bit his lip, a gesture that was not missed by the guild master. He grabbed a bunch of toys and handed them to the Fire Dragon Slayer. “Here, why don’t you take these over to him and show him how to use them. I don’t think he’s ever been to a beach before.”

Natsu looked at the offered toys with interest but had no idea what to really do with them. Dragons didn't precisely pack toys to outings.

"Macao, why don't you go with him?" Makarov suggested, "You've got a kid coming, might as well get some practice in." He gave the fire mage a meaningful look, and Macao nodded, knowing Makarov wanted him to have a chat with Natsu.

“Sure,” Macao replied, “Come on Natsu, let’s go get Gray.”

Natsu began to move, but it was a lot slower than usual.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Natsu shook his head and continued to walk.

“Is this about the day Gray was hurt?”

Natsu stopped in his tracks and gazed at Macao thoughtfully.

"I remember the first time I hurt a friend with my magic. Stop me if this sounds familiar," Macao smiled kindly, " I felt terrible about it. It made me nervous about using my magic around others."

He studied Natsu, who was still staring at him but Macao could tell he was listening. "You know, fire is one of those magic that is both a blessing and a curse, and I firmly believe it's only given to those who are very strong of will."

Natsu scoffed at that, but he was listening so Macao continued, "It has the power to hurt and destroy, but it can also save lives. Did you know that?"

Natsu shook his head. “You just need to learn to control your fire, Natsu. I can work with you if you want.”

“I’d like that.”

Macao ruffled Natsu’s hair affectionately, he’d grown fond of him very quickly. “Then it’s settled, now go out there and have fun with your friend, there’s a barrel I need to liberate from Wakaba.”

Macao handed the beach toys he was holding to Natsu and began to walk back towards where the other Fairy Tail wizards were sitting when he heard Natsu ask, “What if he doesn’t like me anymore?”

Macao turned around and was surprised to see the hesitation in the usually brash mage.

“You won’t know unless you talk to him, but I’m pretty sure he knows you didn’t mean to hurt him.” Macao pointed out, “Besides, are you sure he liked you in the first place?”

When he heard Natsu laugh, he added, "You could always apologize."

“Good point, okay I’ll give it a try. Thanks, Macao.” Natsu dropped the toys and hugged the fire mage tightly. He grabbed everything and ran towards the ice mage.

“Hey, Ice Block,” Natsu stopped in front of Gray, noticing how his attention was on the other kids swimming in the ocean.

“What do you want?” Gray turned and looked at Natsu, noticing all the crap he was holding, “And what on Earthland do you have there?”

“Beach toys,” Natsu put them down on the sand and scratched his head, “I guess you use them to build stuff in the sand.” He pointed at some of the other people on the beach who were using similar tools. “Look, I wanted to say I was sorry I burned you, I won’t do it again.”

Gray studied him for a moment and began to laugh, “That’s what you think I was mad at?”

Natsu looked at him in confusion, “Wasn’t it?”

“No, dumbass. I was mad at you cause you cheated.” Gray rolled his eyes at the other, “You’re a fire mage, I expect to get burned now and again, just as I’m sure I’ll freeze your ass at some point.”

Natsu snorted, a playful tone sneaking its way in as he shed some of the guilt he’d been harboring, “As if you could.”

“Only one way to find out,” Gray challenged, a smirk spreading on his lips as he got into his ice make stance.

"Oh, you're so on!" Natsu grinned, his fists lighting up, but before they could even begin to test each other, a voice they both recognized well interrupted them.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” Erza glared at them, somehow managing to convey her irritation even dripping wet and only wearing a swimsuit.

“Just behaving like good buddies do,” Gray mumbled putting his arm around Natsu’s shoulders and pulling him closer.

“Yep, nothing to see here,” Natsu agreed, wrapping his arm around Gray as well and flashing Erza what he hoped looked like a genuine smile.

“Good, because we’re here to have fun,” Erza relaxed and smiled at them, always enjoying when they got along. “Why don’t you guys come swim with us?”

“We’ll be there in a minute,” Natsu assured her, watching as she returned to the others. They waited until she was far enough away before detangling themselves, immediately scowling at each other before crossing their arms across their chests and turning away.

“Are we okay?” Natsu asked Gray, turning around to face him.

Gray chuckled, “As okay as we ever are, Flame-Brain.” He grabbed one of the shovels and pails and walked away. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hey, where are you going?” Natsu yelled after him.

“Aren’t you going swimming with the others?” Gray asked.

“Yeah, we both are. Come on!” He grabbed Gray by the hand and started leading them towards the water.

Gray struggled until he managed to get his hand free from Natsu’s grip, “First of all, you really need to stop grabbing me like that, you’re gonna give people ideas. Second, I don’t know how to swim, remember?”

“I know, I’m gonna teach you,” Natsu said, his eyes hard and determined, a sign Gray had already learned meant there was no arguing with him. So he did something quite unusual for him, he said a silent prayer for his safety and let Natsu lead him. He couldn’t help but notice that Natsu was guiding him away from the others, to a small private cove and for that he was grateful.

When they were in the water, Natsu immediately splashed him, and they were soon engaged in an epic water battle, neither of them noticing Makarov sitting on a rock nearby.

After Natsu deemed Gray relaxed enough to learn, he repeated all the steps Igneel had used to teach him. After about an hour with minimal bickering, Gray had gotten the hang of it.

"Wanna race me?" Natsu asked hopefully. He'd been standing still for far too long to teach Gray, and he was itching to do something active. "I'll give you a head start…"

Makarov called out to them before Natsu could manage to ruin all his efforts by drowning Gray. “Boys, lunch!”

They spent the rest of the afternoon together playing with the others, building sand castles, burying Levy and Droy in the sand and when they all went out swimming again Gray and Natsu both joined them.

As the years passed Gray became a powerful swimmer, with Natsu always challenging him there really was no other choice, but he would never forget how he learned nor how that one snap decision on his part helped shape his relationship with Natsu for years to come.

Natsu and Gray would always fight, both with and without magic, their opposing natures and personalities almost demanded it, but behind all the insults and blows there was a friendship built on trust and respect. Many of their guildmates wondered if one day it might turn into more and although both of them would usually scoff at the idea, in their most private thoughts, they found they didn't really mind.