The Past Will Come To Hunt You Down

Gray The Babysitter

"Have fun on your date!", Gray yelled as y/n and Natsu took off to the cinema. Now he was all alone with the little version of his rival. "So...", Gray started. He felt a bit uneasy. He had never done something like this. Especially not with a smaller version of Natsu. He just came because Erza had ordered him to do so.
"Don't go thinking you can go order me around just because you're older than me now Ice princess!", Natsu yelled and Gray sighed. This was going to be a long night.

The little boy tried starting a fight with Gray when he asked him where something he needed was. Natsu did hear the insult he had said under his breath and tried attacking him. Gray had easily dodged the little fist covered in fire so Natsu had flown into the wooden kitchen table which caught on fire and Natsu and Gray panicked. Gray threw water over it so it would stop burning and both sighed in relief when it finally stopped burning.

Gray had cooked dinner for the two of them like Natsu had asked since the little Natsu hadn't eaten yet. "I made dinner.", Gray said and Natsu walked into the kitchen. "I'm not hungry.", he said and Gray tilted his head slightly to the right "Is that so?", he asked. Natsu nodded vigorously but when he wanted to turn away his stomach growled loud enough for Gray to hear. Natsu looked down in embarrassment and sat down with Gray at the burnt table to eat. Gray had made spaghetti. It wasn't hot and spicy like he liked it best, it was sweet. But Natsu did not complain. He liked it this way too.

When they finished their spaghetti Gray started with the dishes, which would be a lot of work since it seemed like Natsu hadn't done the dishes in forever and the little Natsu took a shower like he liked it, hot and steamy.

When he came out of the shower in his pajama that y/n had made for him he sat down next Gray who was watching a movie. Gray looked down at the small boy and noticed his cheeks were flushed. He felt heat radiating from him too. 'that they can take such hot showers.' Gray thought and went back to watching his movie.
When he suddenly felt the little body slump against him he looked down and saw the little kid was lightly panting, sweat drops were rolling down his face but he still shivered as if he was cold.

Gray was worried now. Natsu would get really mad if he let his smaller version be sick. He felt the little Natsu's forehead and pulled away quickly when he felt how hot it was. "You have a fever.", Gray concluded. "I'll get you to Wendy. She can heal you.", Gray said as he started searching his jacket and Natsu's jacket. He picked up the little boy who held tightly onto Gray's neck so he wouldn't fall. Gray wrote a note for if Natsu and y/n would return before they were back but when he had written the note he heard noises coming from the hallway. He went to look and saw y/n support Natsu "Gray. Help me with this.", she said and Gray handed her the little Natsu before taking over Natsu. He helped Natsu to the couch and asked y/n what happened. "He suddenly got a really bad Fever. What's with the little one?", y/n asked. "He too got a really bad Fever suddenly after he came out of the shower."

"Okay. Thanks for helping Gray. I know what's happening so if you want to you can now go. I'll hand you the money some other time, okay?"
"No. You don't need to pay me. It was fun actually.", Gray told her and y/n smiled. He took his jacket and closed the still open door behind him. Y/n put the smaller Natsu in the armchair next to Natsu and let them be for half an hour. She was blushing her teeth when she suddenly heard noises coming from the kitchen. When she went to look she saw the two Natsu's plundering the kitchen. She hugged both and said "I'm happy you two are feeling better now.".

"What happened?", Natsu asked. "You two were separated for too long. This happens more often when the person that came from the past and the person from the Present are separated for longer than an hour." Then we'd better stick together, right Natsu-nii?", the smaller Natsu asked his older version who answered with a smile.

Later that evening, when the young Natsu had fallen asleep, Natsu picked him up from the couch and carried him to the bed they still shared. The young Natsu had told Natsu that he had liked the way he held him that first night so Natsu kept on doing that. It wasn't only nice and comforting for the little one. Natsu had enjoyed it himself too. How it felt to be responsible of something so small and vulnerable.

When he had tucked in his younger self he walked back to the living room where y/n was still watching television and sat down next to her. "Hey, y/n.", he said. "Thanks for this evening. I liked being with you.", he told her. "Natsu...", was all she could said before Natsu started leaning in closer. And closer... When he was really close to touching her lips y/n turned away her head. "Natsu. I can't... We... We can't. I'm not meant for you. I'm not meant for all of this. And I don't want you to be heartbroken when everything turbs out like it should have been in the beginning.", she said and wiped away a tear as she excused herself "I'm sorry Natsu. I'll go home now.".

Natsu couldn't say anything. He had never expected her to turn him down in the first place. But what she said 'I'm not meant for you. I'm not meant for all of this...' what could she possible mean?

He heard the door close and knew y/n was gone. Slipped away from his grip. Yet another person he couldn't protect. He decided to get some sleep to get his head off of y/n. He didn't wanted to cry now. Not after he had liked the evening so much.

'What have I done. I hurt him. But he can't love me. No, I can't love him. It will only lead to a miserable future. And I can't give him that. He deserves to be happy. And he can't be happy with me around. I need to talk to master again. We need to speed things up.'