All righty! A little late but as promised! Thank you to my reviewers as a whole and all who favorited and followed this story. At first I was really nervous to show anyone, not even my husband this fanfic. But you guys warmly accepted and reviewed it. Thank you so much for your support! I dedicate this last chapter to all of you!

A special mention of the reviewers for last chapter: skelekc, WOW (dunno if that one was someone's name or just an anon, but either way you're mentioned), FrostDragonSlayer, and karlahigurashi.

Disclaimer: Warning! Bad grammar moment: I no own! Okay, moment over.

Month Nine: Family

It started off as any other day. Natsu awoke slowly, wondering why he was up so early when he heard Lucy's moan of pain. "Lucy? Are you okay?" He turned to face her, worry etched on his face.

"I'm... okay. It's just my back. It hurts," she responded tightly.

"Do you want another back rub?" The Dragon Slayer asked. "I can put some heat into it again if you want."

She bit her lip. "Would you really be all right with that?"

Natsu chuckled. "Luce, just come out and say it. You know you want one." He concentrated some of his energy into his hands to warm them to a comfortable temperature and then slid Lucy's shirt up a ways. "I'm guessing it's your lower back again, right?"

Lucy nodded. "Hmm... thank you, Natsu. Oh, that feels nice..." Before long, his gentle ministrations had lulled her back to sleep.

He stayed beside her awhile, just taking in every feature, every contour of her. Careful, as to not wake her, Natsu reached over and put his hand over her well-rounded belly, marveling at the size. She'd grown much in the past few weeks. Of course, he never voiced his discovery on that topic out loud, knowing that her weight gain was still a touchy subject. It didn't bother the Salamander in the least. If anything, it gave him a feeling of awe and wonder. Soon. It's gonna happen soon. I can feel it. A swift kick against his hand made him smirk. Their baby was a strong one. A growl from his own stomach made him sigh. A reminder that he had to shop for some groceries for them all. He was reluctant to leave Lucy at all now. And when he did he left Happy to watch over her. Something deep down, instinct perhaps, told him that he didn't want to be gone for long. But Lucy needed to eat, and so did he and Happy. He shook the little Exceed awake. "Oy, Happy. Watch Lucy for me, okay? I need to run and get us some breakfast."

"Aye, Sir," the cat responded tiredly.

Quickly, Natsu dressed and headed out. The sooner he left, the sooner he could return, after all. He made his way down the street when he ran literally, into Gray. "Hey, watch it, Squinty Eyes!" He snapped.

"What!? I wasn't the idiot who ran into me, Droopy Eyes!"

"What'd you say!? Wanna fight?" Natsu's eyes flashed.

"Don't gotta ask me twice!" And with that, the brawl started and Natsu quickly forgot his sense of urgency about coming home.

Lucy woke up to a twinge of pain again. She pulled herself into a sitting position, slowly. "Something feels off," she murmured to no one in particular. She looked around her apartment, seeing no trace of Natsu. He must have gone for breakfast, she mused. Glancing over at the snoozing Happy from where she sat, she couldn't help but smile. At least one of us can sleep, she thought to herself. Oh, well, I suppose I should think about getting up anyway. She stood slowly and made her way over to the bathroom. She had just made it inside the door when she felt it. Burning hot pain shot through her abdomen, so sharp that when she opened her mouth, nothing but a choked gasp could come out. She felt a pressure in between her legs and knew immediately what happened. And Natsu wasn't there. When she could find her voice she cried out for Happy.

The panic in her tone woke the Exceed up immediately. "Lucy? Are you okay?" He found her in the bathroom doubled over. "Lucy!"

"Quick," she gasped, tears in her eyes. "Please, Happy, get my keys for me... all right?"

"Aye, Sir!" Before he'd finished his response he darted over to where her keys were. "Lucy, here!"

She nodded in thanks and then attempted to call Virgo. A flash of light and then nothing happened, leaving Lucy feeling dangerously drained of energy. "What... happened...?" Another fiery pain burned through her and she cried out before collapsing on the floor.

"Lucy!" Happy landed beside her. "What should I do?"

"Nat...su... get him... and the others... Happy... please hurry..." She begged, gasping for air.

Without a response, Happy flew out, frantically trying to hunt down the soon-to-be father. When he spotted Natsu, he groaned inwardly. Apparently Natsu had decided to choose now of all times to pick a fight with Gray. "Natsuuuu!" He shouted, trying to break it up as fast as possible.

After throwing a flaming punch at the ice mage, Natsu whirled around at the sound of his name. "Happy? What's going on? Why're you here?" He asked in confusion.

"It's Lucy! It's bad! Hurry! You gotta go to her! I'm gonna go get Porlyusica and the others now!" Happy said before flying off.

Wasting no time or words, both mages raced to Lucy's place. Natsu burst in through the window while Gray contented himself to wait just outside the door to her apartment. "Lucy!?" Natsu called, fear rising in him quickly. A pained cry was his response. He followed it to the bathroom where he found her collapsed on the floor. A strong smell of blood invaded his senses, causing his fear to elevate further. "Luce!" He pulled her into his arms and as gently as possible moved her to the bed, sitting beside her, staring down at her in worry.

She must have heard the fear in his voice, because she opened her eyes and tried to give him a brave smile through her pain. "N...Natsu... It'll be okay. See? I can handle it..." She involuntarily cried out again when another horrendous pain shot through her. The contraction left her shaky and gasping for air afterward.

Natsu, not knowing what else to do, offered his hand to her. "Tell me Luce, what can I do for you?" He pleaded with her.

"I... I'm okay, please don't... ahhh! Don't... worry... about me." Taking his hand into her own, she gave him another strained smile to try and mask her pain.

Just then, Porlyusica knocked and entered in with Wendy and Levy. "Everyone else is waiting outside. Let's not disappoint them. Ladies, fetch the towels and boil as much water as you can."

"W-what... what do I do?" Natsu asked uncertainly.

Without looking at him, the medic responded. "She needs you so support her in any way you can. Hold her hand. Keep encouraging her." This isn't good. Her energy is so very low. She frowned.

"Aye!" He turned to Lucy and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm right here, Luce. Hang in there! It's gonna be okay!"

"I know, we're... a team, right?" Lucy managed before another wave of pain overtook her, and her hand clamped down on his in a death grip.

And so it went on late into the night. Lucy cried out as each wave of pain hit, Natsu sat grasping her hand, trying to encourage her in any way he could. Levy and Wendy busied themselves with the duties at hand while Porlyusica kept vigil over everything. As time passed, she grew more concerned, however. Lucy's life-energy was depleting, and fast. The baby must have been surviving off of her own life-energy, she surmised. The child of a Dragon Slayer, indeed... So much magical energy seems to be necessary to bring this life into the world.

The long night stretched into the early morning hours. The only ones awake were Porlyusica and Natsu. The medic wouldn't allow herself to become tired with things as they were, and Natsu was far too fearful to fall asleep. Levy and Wendy had finally dozed off some time ago and Lucy kept falling in and out of consciousness because of the pain and exhaustion. Now, she'd seemed to be resting slightly more comfortably than before.

Natsu let out a shaky breath and then turned to the elder. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"She's become very weak. I suppose it was to be expected, but the pregnancy seems to have drained her of all of her magical energy over time. If this drags on any longer you might be forced to make a choice between the mother's life and the child's, young man."

He blinked away tears at the thought. "I... I couldn't do that. You can't ask me to do that! Lucy's gonna make it. She'd never give up!"

"Either way, something is going to happen soon. We've crossed over the line of no-return."

Minutes later, as if proving Porlyusica's point, Lucy awoke screaming again. This time it was worse, equal to the pain she was experiencing. She felt as though the fire inside was burning through her entire being, burning her alive. Her other arm flailed about, reaching for Natsu and she screamed out for him. "Natsu! Please... make it stop! I can't take it anymore! Natsu!"

He grew alarmed the moment she started panicking and immediately moved closer to her, doing whatever he could to get her to focus on him and not the pain. He pulled her head into his lap, locking his onyx eyes in a gaze with Lucy's doe-brown ones, his hand holding onto hers for dear life. "I'm right here, okay? Not going anywhere, so you have to stay with me, okay, Lucy? Lucy!" He did his best to focus on Lucy but his attention wavered when he overheard Porlyusica demanding Wendy and Levy for help, and then she announced that the baby was coming. Time seemed to speed up and yet stop at the same time for him.

And then it was over. Levy placed a crying, squirming bundle in his arms. Natsu marveled at the newborn he held. Lucy's eyes stared back up at him, but he could see a tuft of his salmon-colored hair poking out from beneath the blanket. His eyes widened, and he turned to Lucy beside him, and realized in terror that Wendy was casting her strongest healing spell on her, and yet she lay deathly still.

Wendy finally collapsed, spent. "I did the best I could..."

Long, hellish minutes passed as Natsu held the crying infant, unable to tear his eyes away from his beloved's motionless form. "Luce..." A tear fell down his cheek. "Open your eyes..."

"Nat...su...?" It was a struggle but she managed to open them. Her eyes focused and settled on Natsu and the new addition in his arms. An exhausted smile formed on her lips. "She's all right...? Thank goodness..."

He nodded, a relieved smile breaking through on his expression. "You did it, Luce. You really did it." He reached for her with a free hand and stroked her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay..." she answered him, her eyelids heavy. "Just... a little tired." She managed a weak smile. Obviously she was more than just a little tired and Natsu could easily see through her white lie but he wasn't going to be complaining. She was going to be all right and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

"Natsuuu! Lucyyy!" Happy burst in, crying. "Are you okay Lucy!?" Soon he was followed by everyone else, asking similar questions.

Elfman grinned and clapped Natsu on the back causing him to jolt forward with the infant in his arms still. "Becoming a father... is a man!" He exclaimed.

"Elfman! You almost made Natsu drop the baby!" Lisanna fussed as she held her arms underneath as if Natsu were going to drop the little one.

The eldest of the three squealed in joy at the sight of the baby. "Oh, I just knew you were going to be so cute! You have your Mama's beautiful eyes and face and your Daddy's cute pink hair!"

The baby started whimpering and Natsu backed up. "Mira, don't crowd us. You're scaring her with that creepy grin on your face and your kinda creepin' me out, too."

"Hah," Gajeel laughed at the scene. "She gets scared way too easily then. What a lame kid ya got there, Salamander."

"Gajeel!" Levy elbowed him in the ribs. "I don't think that's an appropriate thing to say right now!"

Flames sparked up around Natsu as he glared at Gajeel. "What'd you say!?" He hissed.

The scarlet-haired S-class mage entered behind the others and pushed her way through the crowd. "Natsu!" She screeched. "No fire around the baby! Are you a complete idiot!?" She grabbed the little girl out of her father's arms and coddled her against the cold plating of her armor, earning only a shiver and a cry from the infant.

"Erza, you need to be gentle with her!" Mira chided, pulling the infant from Erza's grip and into her own, cuddling her cheek against the little one. "You are just the cutest thing, little..." She paused and looked over to Natsu and Lucy questioningly. "What is her name?"

Natsu grinned. "Luna!"

"Luna?" Everyone repeated.

"Yeah! I came up with it. You take the first part of Lucy's name, and the first part of mine! That way she's got a little part of us no matter where she goes."

Lucy nodded. "It's also another name for the moon." She smiled gently. "My wish is that she's as beautiful as the moon!"

The salmon-haired Salamander smirked and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Why would you compare how our kid looks to the moon? Of course she's prettier than that, Luce! You say the weirdest things sometimes."

Gray shook his head. "I don't know what you were thinking, Lucy. Are you sure you want to curse that poor kid to share part of Flamebrain's name for eternity? She's already gonna suffer being stuck with his genes."

"What'd you say, Ice Princess!?" Natsu growled. "Wanna go right here right now?"

"Natsu, Gray!" Erza snapped. "No one is to be fighting in this room! Is that understood? Lucy just gave birth and the baby isn't even an hour old! Read your surroundings and react accordingly!"

Upon seeing the boys get reprimanded by Erza, Lucy opened her mouth to speak up but a yawn interrupted what she was going to say and she rubbed at her eyes. "I'm sorry, guys."

Seeing this, Mirajane bent over and handed the child back to her mother. "There's no need to be sorry, Dear. You must be exhausted. This little cutie sure took her time in coming out to meet us. You all should get some rest!"

"Everyone!" Erza announced. "Out! Let them be for awhile! Lucy's exhausted! You can see the baby later! Move it!" She pushed everyone else but Natsu and Happy out of the room.

Wendy, Levy, and the guild medic filed out after them, leaving Happy, Natsu, Lucy and the newest Fairy Tail addition alone. "Lucy, you really are okay now?" Happy asked reluctantly.

Lucy nodded. "I'm fine, Happy. Really." She turned to Natsu. "We finished this mission, didn't we? We make such a good team."

"Team? No way," Natsu started, receiving startled looks from both Lucy and Happy alike. "We're a family now!" He sat down beside Lucy and put his arm around her and baby Luna, pulling them both close to his side protectively. "And this is just the beginning."

Happy grinned and settled himself in between the three, eagerly nodding his agreement. He could only think of one thing to say at a time like this. And it was perfect. "Aye!" His eyes drooped and soon the little Exceed was in dream land.

"Hey, Luce?" Lucy had nearly dozed off herself leaning against Natsu's warm chest when she heard the rumbling of his voice through it.

"Hm...?" She murmured sleepily.

"Thank you. For everything. I realized something. This whole time, I didn't say much, and I'm sorry. I shoulda said more, but, I love you. I really, really do. Both of you." Natsu placed a kiss on the top of her head, his arm tightening his grip.

She snuggled closer to her Dragon Slayer. "I already knew." She giggled softly. "Sometimes, it'd be nice to hear you say it more, but... then, I think that it just wouldn't be you. So it's okay if it stays like this because... I love you, too, just the way you are."

Author's note: This is the end of this one. I will not be adding anything else to this particular fic, so please don't ask me to. Though, don't despair, for I am thinking that I will revisit this cute little universe I've created for NaLu, with some one-shots, another chapter series possibly, and who knows what else? So check back once in a blue moon! Of course, that's real-life permitting. Sad as it is, real life has to come before my online fun. It's really true, though. Well, Merry late Christmas, Happy New Year! Until next time, I bid you farewell!