From Kitten to Lion

Notes:

I realized that some of my "kid names" might be confusing.

Taury=Taurus, Cancy=Cancer, Aquary=Aquarius, Scorpy=Scorpio, Sagie=Sagittarius, Virgie=Virgo, Ariey=Aries.

Everyone in my family had a childhood nickname, but around high school we decided to go by our real, adult names, so I imagine the same here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, but I'm willing to adopt the cute Lion.

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"One day, my son, you shall inherit my position as the Lion. You shall be leader over many powerful Spirits. Until that day comes, you must make friends with the other Zodiac children. They are your nakama."

"But Papa," little Leo whined, "I don't wanna play with the others. They're weird."

"Oh?" the elderly Lion asked in amusement. "How are they weird, my son?"

Little Leo pouted and scratched the head of his new puppy, Nikora. The white Canis Minor looked up and, instead of a bark, he said "Puu-puun!" Nikora didn't look like a dog. A bug or snowman, maybe, but he made one crazy looking canine. For once, little Leo wished he could have a normal pet and a normal friend.

"Taury is a stupid cow who flips up the girls' skirts at school. Cancy has all those weird legs and says ebi all the time, and the teacher got him in trouble for running with scissors. Gemi and Mini are just babies, so I can't play with them. Aquary shoots the water hose at us whenever we go by her. The only way we can walk by the kiddie pool without getting drenched is to send Scorpy first and have them make sandcastles while the rest of us sneak by. Caprico is a big bully, he head-butted me yesterday, and those little horns hurt! Sagie only wants to play hobby-horse, and he shot me in the forehead with a suction cup arrow and Ariey laughed at me that it looked like I had a big kiss on my forehead, yucky!"

The older Lion chuckled and roughed up his young son's messy ginger hair. "Kisses aren't too bad, son. You might like them one day."

"Gross! I tried to give Virgie a kiss and she punished me."

"Little Virgo punished you? How?"

"She tied me up to the tree in the playground. Papa," the young boy pouted, "I wanna meet new kids. Aren't there any other kids?"

"Not in the Spirit World. I have a friend in the Human World with a child. She's younger than you, but perhaps you two can be friends. I'm going there with Capricorn and his son today, so you can come as well."

Little Leo pouted. "So long as that stupid Caprico doesn't head-butt me again," he grumbled.

Leo followed behind his father, proud to be walking beside the leader of the Zodiac Spirits, a man everyone respected. Lyra and her toddler daughter sang out greetings to him. Even ancient Crux nodded in respect before falling asleep again.

He heard a little girl shouting nearby. "Leo Junior! Leo Junior!" He looked behind him just in time to see a tiny girl with pink hair running forward. She tripped on a clump of grass and went sliding. "Owwie!" she pouted as she slowly pushed herself up and flipped back her rose-colored hair. "Ah, good you're not gone, Leo Junior."

"Virgie," he sighed, "how many times have I told you, you can just call me Brother."

The tall and graceful Spirit of the Maiden stepped forward and helped her little daughter up. "Be careful, dear one."

"Yes, mum. I just wanted to see Leo Junior before he left for the Human World."

"Gah, Virgie!" little Leo cried. "Seriously, I hate being called Leo Junior."