Hey guys, this is my very first fanfiction ever. Hope you'll enjoy it. BTW, English isn't my native language, so please excuse the mistakes ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of those characters
Magnolia, x791
Lucy was sitting at the guild's counter, chattering with Mira, when suddenly Cana flopped down next to her. She seemed to be in a very good mood, even though she didn't have a jar of sake in her hands, which was quite unusual for her.
"Do you want to have a drink?", Mira asked, ready to pour some alcohol into a wooden mug. When Cana shook her had, the white-haired barmaid frowned in astonishment.
"Is something wrong, Cana?" Lucy gave her a worried look. She hoped the guild could go back to normal, back to where it had been before the time skip, and after the events of the Grand Tournament, their situation had brighten up. They beat Sabertooth and destroyed the Eclipse plan, after all.
Just the thought of how Natsu had rescued her back then made Lucy blush slightly. Right now said Salamander was fighting with Gray. Their screaming was annoying, but at least they were acting usual, unlike other people …
"Father has left for a mission this morning", the card mage said, as if that would explain everything.
"And that's good?" Lucy lifted an eyebrow in confusion. She didn't get it. Shouldn't Cana be sad? Gildartz tended to chose missions that took quite some time to be accomplished.
"Of course I'll miss him", Cana stated and lifted a hand like she meant to drink from a non-existing mug. When she realized her hand was empty, she shook her head and murmured something under her breath before she continued: "But I certainly won't miss the fact that I could not date any man while my father was around. Can you imagine how horrible it is if your father threatens every guy you want to date? Or want to start a fight with him just to check if he is good enough for his beloved daughter? Pah."
Actually, Lucy could. Her father didn't have threaten boys, though, he just had made sure Lucy would never made contact with them. That's why she hadn't got a date before.
"Poor Cana." Mira smiled sympathetically, but there was also something in her huge, blue eyes that told Lucy the barmaid was eager to get some gossip. "Does that mean you're going to have a date today, now that Gildartz is gone?"
"Ah, that's why you don't drink anything", Lucy combined, ignoring the chairs that were sent flying around because of the boys' fight. If ony Erza were there to stop them. But Titania was absent due to some business she had with Crime Sorcière. Lucy doubted the business was all about some dark guilds, because that was what Erza had told them. As if.
"It's not really a date", Cana murmured, shifting uncomfortably on her bar stool. "More like a drinking contest. That's why I want to stay sober till tonight." Suddenly, her fist met the counter with a loud, angry crash. "I won't lose a second time, that's for sure!"
She's meeting Bacchus?, Lucy thought, not too surprised. Somehow she felt those to drunks would perfectly fit together.
Mira put her hands to her hips, obviously not happy about the news. She looked at Cana with a strict expression and said: "Can't you find yourself a proper man, Cana? This Cerberus puppy mage encourages you in drinking even more, which can't be good for your health. And if Elfmann hadn't won back than in the tournament..." The barmaid broke up and shuddered.
"A proper man? Our guild doesn't have proper men", Cana sighed. Lucy nodded in agreement. She wouldn't be still without a boyfriend if the guild have had proper men, not with her looks and all.
"WHERE ARE THE REAL MEN?", Elfmann shouted when he caught Cana's last words. Evergreen instantly started to hit him with her fan. His whimpers were only drowned out by shouts of "Flamebrain!" and "Stripper!" and gave a good example of how mature the guild's boys were.
"Or do you think", Cana continued with a sly smile, "a thunderbolt with grandpa-issues is a proper man?"
Lucy leaned forward curiously. Did she just heard right? Fairy Tail's cover girl and the master's grandson? Now that was something that filled her romance-novel-writer's heart with excitement.
"What are you talking about?" Mira smiled innocently, waving away Cana's allusions, but that didn't stop the blush climbing up her cheeks.
"Aaaawww, Mira-san. You're blushing." Lucy clapped her hands together, she was looking forward for more romance news that could inspire her writing. Furthermore she held the hope that Mira wouldn't try to intervene with other people's love lives if she had a relationship herself.
"I am not. And I still don't know what you are talking about", Mira repeated emphatically, surrounded by a dangerous aura. To stop her from activating Satan Soul, Lucy forced herself to smile and suggested quickly: "Why don't we talk about something else, than?"
Mira's eyes started to sparkle again. She put her arms onto the counter and looked intently at the Stellar mage.
"What about you-"
"I'm fine, thanks", Lucy interrupted before Mira could switch into matchmaker mode. "Though I don't know how to pay my rent this month ..." Sighing, she put her head on her arms. On her last mission, most of her reward had gone away for repair costs, thanks to Natsu.
"Oi, Lucy! Let's go on a mission!" The fire dragon slayer had stopped his fight with Gray and was now appearing next to her as if he had read her mind. She jumped in surprise and stared at his trademark grin.
"Aye!" Happy landed on the counter. "We need money for fish."
"This will solve your rent problem", Cana nodded, playing around with her cards. Lucy wondered if Cana tried to distract herself, now that she didn't have a drink nearby. "My cards say tomorrow will be a perfect day for your mission."
"Than it's decided", Natsu grinned, putting an arm around his teammate's shoulders. "I'm all fired up."
Lucy tried not to turn red, which was difficult with feeling him so close. He did that more often since the tournament – putting his arm around her nonchalantly – but she still wasn't used to it.
It didn't make her feel more comfortable that Mira gave her a knowing look, either. The bright, blue eyes basically screamed: "The two of you are sooo cute. Like a lovey-dovey couple."
But Lucy didn't want to put her hopes up. The last time the barmaid tried to play matchmaker with Lucy and Natsu, Lucy ended up feeling like a total idiot. She than told herself that Natsu was probably too dense and far too childish to develop any romantic feelings. But why would she care, anyway?
Just when she started to relax under his warm, muscular arm – his high body temperature was quite comfy, after all – Mira had to interfere with her business, again: "Cana's cards also say that tomorrow will be a dangerous day for cats, so you better stay here, Happy."
"Whaaaaa- ? That's so mean!", Happy whined.
"Stay and watch over Charle, or else Lily will take the opportunity", Cana added and cleared her throat as soon as she got Mira's plan.
"AYE SIR!"
"Don't worry, I'll bring you some fish", Natsu promised before he furrowed his forehead. "Wait, Mira. Since when can you read cards?"
"You don't believe me?" Suddenly Mira was at the brink of crying. Lucy had to admit the white-haired woman had some acting talent.
"But you should", Cana assured. "If my cards tell the truth – which they always do – you should probably go alone on your mission. Just the two of you. Get that?"
Lucy simply stared at her, her mouth wide open. She didn't think Cana and Mira could be more obvious. The whole situation became so awkward.
"Makes sense", Natsu nodded, wearing a thoughtful expression. His teammate felt the urge to facepalm because the dragon slayer obviously didn't understand anything at all, but that didn't make the situation less embarrassing for Lucy. What had she done to Mira for always becoming her target in matchmaking issues?
"I'm gonna pack some stuff!", Natsu announced and ran towards the guild's door. "See ya!"
"Wait! What about the mission?", Lucy asked, determined to handle this as professional as possible. They were teammates, after all. Of course they would go on missions together, no matter how happily Mira smiled at them. Mira was just a bored barmaid, which was Cana's fault, because Cana didn't want to order a drink. Which was Bacchus' fault because of the forthcoming drinking contest Cana didn't want to lose. But Lucy didn't feel satisfied with blaming a hopeless drunk, so she passed the blame to someone else. It certainly was Sting's fault.
"Just pick a request, Lucy. It's your turn to choose, remember?", Salamander shouted. With that, he left the guild. While watching him leave, Lucy noticed another dragon slayer who seemingly was very interested in some papers a short, blue-haired bookworm read. She wasn't surprised to see Gajeel unable to focus on the weird runes. He probably didn't get anything written down on the papers. But Levy, who normally was easily caught up in letters and words, wasn't really concentrating, either. Now and than she would interrupt her work to talk to the iron dragon slayer whose cat was sitting on her lap with a satisfied grin on his face.
Lucy felt so happy for her friend. At the same moment she wondered why Mira couldn't leave her alone and focus on Levy and Gajeel instead. On the other hand, those two probably didn't need Mira's help to become a couple soon.
She turned back towards the counter and shot Mira a reproachful look. "Please, Mira-san. Don't do this again. Set us up for a mission like that. Natsu is too dense to-"
"Natsu isn't dense!", Happy objected, sitting on the counter with a huge fish in both paws. "You're so mean, Lucy!"
The Stellar mage covered her mouth with her hands and looked horrified at him. She had completely forgotten about the blue exceed still being their.
"Really, Lucy. I think you and Natsu would make a wonderful couple", Mirajane said, and Happy added: "They liiiike each other."
"We don't!" Lucy decided it was her turn to go, the cat knew how to get on her nerves, especially with that voice. Moreover, she had to prepare for a mission. She quickly scanned the request board and finally picked a mission that was about hunting down some monsters in a forest near Magnolia. "I'm going home, for today, Mira!" She waved goodbye and left the guild.
After the doors had closed behind her back, Cana, Mira and Happy turned towards each other.