Lucy Heartfilia was, despite how the word would often be affiliated with her, not weak. Most people didn't realize just how much effort it took to summon celestial spirits, let alone keep them in the living world and summon more than one at the same time while also opening and closing different gates at rapid fire. In a more frank way of putting it, celestial magic is extraordinarily difficult and for all the trouble, unconventional. Making it into something useful required much technique, magical energy, and strategy, all of which often took years to hone into anything worth being called decent.

Lucy identifies with all three qualities required to make a talented celestial mage but the fact is, compared to most other magics, Celestial Summoning will come off as insufficient. Take, for example Dragon Slayer magic. Natsu's roar would probably take the same amount of magical energy as holding Plue's gate open for about five minutes. Holding open Loke's gate for a good three hours would most likely render Natsu about ten minutes away from unconsciousness. It was something basically never acknowledged but Lucy had much more magical power than Natsu, she had to in order to be able to fight properly, but Natsu's spells, partially thanks to his naturally affinity with flame, took much less magical power to cast and at the same time were much more flashy and caused a whole lot more destruction than her own.

Being on a team like Team Natsu, on which all members other than herself had an uncanny skillset of destructive abilities countered her own which relied on intelligence and good planning, and rather than "the odd one out", this contrast of natural capabilities made Lucy come off as "weak."

Place Lucy on a team with Levy and Freed. It is guaranteed that on that team, she will not be considered weak, because her capabilities fall in line. Both Levy and Freed are the same type as her; the type that plans and uses their mind and strategies and logic in order to defeat their enemies as opposed to a team made up of people like Natsu, Gray, and Erza, the type who can just mindlessly charge into battle and thanks to incredibly powerful but destructive attacks make it out alive.

Lucy likes to call the comparison Intelligence vs. Instinct, two opposite fighting styles. Try to place the two together as Team Natsu had, and one side would be overwhelmed by the other. Placing an intellectual fighter like Lucy on a team of people who relied pretty much solely on what they felt would do the job at first thought was basically a way of writing off all of Lucy's potential. If her team were to actually make use of the sensible strategic approaches to most things, in the way Lucy saw it instead of thinking with either their stomach or penis, it was likely that Team Natsu could become a close challenge to even the Thunder God Tribe.

But god knows that Natsu would have an affinity for ice before such a thing as listening to Lucy's ideas over the ones produced by their stomach and the ideas fueled by overwhelming amounts of testosterone screaming at the two males in the group that they needed to challenge each other or they were doing something wrong. So, Lucy is forced to try and fight the way they do instead. Think with your stomach and throw your attacks around like it's a rubber ball until your enemy is down. No planning, because planning requires cooperation, no technique, because the lack of planning means that enemies are rushing in, always at large numbers, giving little time for such a thing. On a team such as Team Natsu, Lucy might as well be useless.

Lucy loves Team Natsu, she really does. Even Lisanna who had joined just recently but as much as she loved Team Natsu, Lucy had bills to pay, a lot of them, and it felt as if every time the team thought it was a good idea to come and visit her apartment, her debt fell deeper as she struggled to afford enough food to survive after her refrigerator was raided, and pay for damages to her apartment, most of it being ice and flames with the occasional puncture wound in her floorboards or wall, undoubtedly the work of the Titania herself.

8:00 AM
March 12, Guild Hall

"Mira, get me something- anything, make sure it's strong. I need something strong."

Mira sighed as she pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. "What happened Lucy?"

Lucy scowled to herself. "Mira, I love my team, I really do but they infuriate me." Minus Lisanna who Lucy had a newfound appreciation for. Out of her entire team, the sweet white-haired girl, the only one who didn't break into her apartment and destroy, was gradually creeping into her heart as the favorite.

"Other than your sister, who I'm about two meals away from falling in love with by the way, those idiots have continuously been breaking into my apartment, eating all my food and just freezing and stabbing, and burning- don't even get me started on the burning. Last night, Natsu burned some important documents of mine, ones that I even hid so he wouldn't be able to. On top of that, Gray managed to freeze my entire underwear drawer and Erza ran her sword through my favorite top.

Mira grimaced in pity for the blonde-haired girl. "Maybe you can take some solo's?"

"I thought about that, but Team Natsu is ridiculously overprotective, not to mention nosy. The minute they hear of me going on a job by myself, they'll just decide on their own to come along."

"Hey blondie, why don't you come with me for the next mission?" Laxus pulled up into the seat next to her. Lucy smiled at the lightning mage.

"You'd do that for me?" She didn't know Laxus all too well and this sudden offer from the gruff man was a surprise to her.

"Sure." He pulled out a mission flyer, "I found a job that your skill set would be really useful on. You're a pretty good dancer right? This thing pays really well, but I need someone to act as an entertainer to lure out some thug gang trying to kidnap the client." Lucy nodded as she looked over the flyer, finally looking at the number on the bottom, her eyes blowing wide at the multiple zeroes. Laxus laughed heartily as he watched the smaller blondes face fly through a barrage of expressions. "The client is some crazy rich man so it's an S-class."

Lucy, not being in any position to question the slightly older man just smiled before accepting.

"Good. We meet at the train station tomorrow, at nine." It wasn't a question, but an order, and since it was her who was the charity case, Lucy knew better than to argue about anything as she watched Laxus pull away from the bar and upstairs, probably to do some paperwork in preparation for one day becoming Guild Master.

"Lucy, are you sure-"
"Not a word to my team about this Mirajane." Lucy cut her off. The mission probably had more to it than just dancing and some small-time thugs, Lucy wasn't so naive as to believe it was really that simple, it was S-class after all and having grown up in high-society, Lucy was well aware of just how complicated things could quite likely become. Mirajane frowned at her. "Don't look at me like that Mira."

"I'm just worried Lucy, I don't think you know what you're getting into."

She picked up her shot glass, gulping down the burning liquor "I'm pretty sure I do Mira," Lucy smiled at her as she slammed the shot glass on the table, "and besides- even if I don't know, I got a guy like Laxus with me." Lucy paused, staring blankly for a moment. "Seriously, don't worry, and don't tell them anything, I need the money and everything will be alright. It always is."

8:54 AM
March 13, Train Station

Lucy arrived at the train station a few minutes early, Plue by her side as she waited for her mission partner. She eyed the transportation vehicle, a multitude of memories of motion-sick Natsu flashing through her mind. Laxus was a dragonslayer too wasn't he? She wondered if he suffered from the same barrage of nausea that usually came along with any form of mobile-transportation.

She caught a flash of blonde hair on a large body. "Laxus!" She called for him, waving her hand in the air as the large man approached. He grunted as he saw her. "Good morning Laxus." Lucy smiled up at the man who seemed mildly amused.

"Morning Blondie."