Dinner was had outside, Ynda, Chloe, and Ava helping June to set the table and bring out the food for everyone to serve themselves. Toji threatened the lives of everyone gathered if they ate all the meatloaf before he got a third helping. June smacked him over the head with a spoon, telling him to calm his ass down or he’d get nothing. Natsu snorted and Toji glared at him.

“Don’t you encourage her,” Toji said.

Natsu stuck his tongue out and Toji nipped at it, making him laugh.

“Oh my god, you two are ridiculous,” Kayla said, shaking her head as she passed the mashed potatoes. Finn sat next to Ava, helping her move cookery around without taking anything for himself. Chloe and Ynda sat across from Toji and Natsu, next to Lukas who was battling Toji for the last two rolls. The twins and Havik sat near Charles, talking about history and archeology, while Peter took a seat next to Chloe. 

As expected, it was a very loud and rowdy dinner, typical of a Helman-Albright-Franks family gathering. Everyone talked over everyone else, laughing and praising June’s cooking, wondering how she managed to make so much in just a short amount of time as always. 

Toji had his arm around Natsu almost the entire meal, whispering in his ear and making him laugh and Natsu teasing him in return. It wasn’t until the mood began to settle down that the question that had been on everyone’s mind was asked. 

By Ava of all people.

“Oma, Opa, you won’t tell Uncle Hero, will you?”

All heads turned to stare anxiously at the head of the table. Toji’s arm was around Natsu’s waist, Natsu’s hand on Toji’s leg, both of them still as they awaited the response of the  patriarch and matriarch of the large family.

June sat back and Charles patted her hand, smiling reassuringly at their oldest grandson. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Your secret is safe with us.”

A huge sigh of relief washed through the group as Toji’s head fell on Natsu’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” the two said. Toji raised his head back up to smile at them. “Really, thank you.”

June smiled. “As much as I love my son, his behavior recently has been pretty abysmal when it comes to you, Neko. I know he loves you…” Toji winced. “He does,” June insisted. “Very much, in fact. That love, however, has caused him to make some pretty misguided choices. I can’t speak for him, nor can I speak for your Pater, but whatever his reasons have been, I’m sure he thought it was with your best intentions in mind.”

“But why keep me from Natsu?” Toji asked. “It can’t be because he’s human.”

Charles nodded. “That really would make him quite the hypocrite, wouldn’t it?”

Peter gave them a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

The Grace’s looked over at him. 

“You do know we’re human, right?” June asked with a playful smile.

“Well, yeah,” Peter said.

“I didn’t give birth to a god,” she said. “Not knowingly, anyway.”

“Hero was born a human,” Lukas said. “He evolved into a god over time thanks to his connection with Hawk.”

“His connection?”

Over the next hour, the story of Hawk and Hero was told, from the time Hero moved back to the city, to when he was killed by Ciel and revived as a god, thanks to several promises and a law that had been made thousands of years prior. Ava told how her parents met and the relationship Hawk and Alerik had before their discovery of their true forms.

Toji laughed as he told of all the pranks Hawk had played on Alerik when they worked together. Lukas added in his father Jordan’s part in all of it. Toji also got to talk about the first Toji, who had given his life force so Toji could exist. His heart clenched when he remembered it wasn’t just because of Toji the shifter he was around, but also Hawk and Hero…

“I still remember the day they brought you home,” June said, a smile on her face. “I think that’s when I learned the whole truth about Hawk and all that surrounded their relationship. I could have been angry for having been kept in the dark for so long,” she shot her husband a look and he grinned. She looked back at Toji, “but I was so captivated by you that I just couldn’t. You were the product of real love and I couldn’t have been more proud.”

Toji’s fists clenched under the table. Natsu noticed and unfurled one, sliding their fingers together. 

“I wish that were still true, Oma,” he said softly. “I’ve just become a huge disappointment to him.” He glanced up at Ava before looking back down the table at his grandparents. “I know he says he’s proud of me, but if he knew about Natsu…he’d destroy both our lives all over again.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” 

Everyone looked at her with surprise, especially Toji and Natsu.

“Sweetheart, Hero is an overprotective, and sometimes incredibly overbearing father, but he’s not hateful or cruel.”

“But—”

“You listen to me,” she said, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the table, her finger pointed directly at Toji. Everyone sat back in their seats. “I did not raise that boy to be a monster. If he were to do anything so awful as to force you two apart for good, to deny you what is rightfully yours, and to do so with knowledge of your connection, then somewhere along the line I failed him as a mother. If he knew just what Natsu meant to you, what he truly is to you, really what you mean to each other, he would not do a thing to challenge that.”

“So, why is he trying to do it now?” Natsu asked. “Is it because of what Ava said?”

“Partly,” Ava said. All eyes turned to her. She looked directly at Natsu, her gaze unwavering. “I said a lot of cruel things about you, Natsu, things I never believed but said anyway. Uncle Hero wasn’t exactly thrilled with some of the words I used, which I admit were truly abhorrent, but he didn’t question my story, either. He needed something, someone to blame, and I helped him point the finger at you. For that, I truly apologize. Sincerely.” She bowed slightly to everyone’s amazement. 

Natsu’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “You…really don’t need to do that.” He looked up at Toji who smiled at him. He turned his gaze back to Ava and sighed. “I accept your apology, Ava.”

Ava sat straight, a smile on her face. “Thank you.”

“You said ‘partly,’” Toji said. “Why else?”

She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. We’ve never spoken more about it since.”

“Daddy has the highest of expectations of you,” Ynda said. “As Oma said, maybe he believes he’s only looking out for you. He can’t deny how miserable you’ve been, but he certainly hasn’t done much to help you through it.”

“He made it worse, and he used me to help him do it,” Lukas said. He looked over at Ynda. “If you knew he was trying to get back to Natsu, would you have helped him?”

Ynda nodded. “Absolutely.” She looked at her brother. “I didn’t even know you were making so many attempts until you got dragged back. If you had said something, I would have helped you.”

Toji’s eyes went wide.

“Me, too,” Havik agreed. 

“Yup,” the twins added.

Chloe and Kayla nodded, smiling. 

Finn sighed. “I’m bound by way too many restrictions when it comes to the Veil,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d have helped you, too.” He shrugged. “Hell, if you’d contacted me, I would have gotten you out through one of our Realms. It may not take you back to Helman Hall, but at least you’d be out.”

“I had too many guards when I went to the Fifth Realm to train,” Toji said. “It was the only Realm I was allowed to access, anyway. Nox would have told Pater if I’d escaped.”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

“That was another part of the issue,” Ynda said. “If you had gotten out, who’s to say Daddy wouldn’t have sent someone after you?”

“He didn’t when I left for my eighteenth birthday.”

“You weren’t under guard at that time,” Lukas said. “The engagement happened after that.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Toji and Natsu shared a look. “He was still plenty pissed, though.” He tried to bite back the grin that was forcing itself to the surface. “Totally worth it, though.”

Natsu rolled his eyes and smiled, ducking his head on Toji’s chest, both of them chuckling.

Toji looked around the table with new eyes, a smile that had been missing for so long painted on his lips. “Thanks, guys,” he said. 

“We’re family,” Ava said with a genuine smile. “We stick together, we rebel together.”

Lukas raised his glass. “To rebellion.”

Everyone followed in the toast. “To rebellion!”

-*-