Chapter 1
A young girl watched as her father cooked with magic. He summoned a frying pan and a knife out of thin air. He heat the pan with pink flames in mid air. The brilliant man chopped the vegetables cleanly. The food was fried. As it was the young girl smiled a big smile. Her eyes lit up when the food disappeared and reappeared on a white plate. Her father finished the plate with a beautiful presentation. It was as though it was work of art. The product was delicious. The young girl watched the people he was serving enjoy each bite with a smile. The father approached the girl with a pat on the head and a grin. Then he kneeled down to her level, "Ru, when you cook with magic remember it always must bring a smile to one's face."
"Okay, daddy!" the girl responded.
She ran back to kitchen and practiced with an egg. She tried to heat the pan with flame but it ended up going into the pan and burned the egg. The young girl named Ru began to cry. Her father pat her head, "next time focus on the flame and it will listen to you."
Ru woke up as a young woman. A tear went down her cheek. She wiped it. A stout, short man thumped his foot loudly and grunted, "miss Ru! Are you sleeping?!"
Ru panicked, and got up quickly, "no sir! I was just resting my eyes while on my break!"
She bowed to the man. "Hmph, get back to your work."
"Yes, of course sir!"
Ru tightened the cloth that went in front of her black maid outfit. She adjusted her long light blonde hair that was in pigtails. Her red brown eyes looked toward the dining room. With a bright lovely smile she greeted new customers. "Welcome to Dumases, I have a nice seat ready for you," she would tell them with a kind voice.
They all smiled brightly at her radiance as she waited every customer. Checking to see if they were alright. Wondering what they wanted to order. She overheard something exciting from another young woman who was with her friend, "hey, hey did you hear? Salamander is in town!"
"No way! The famous Salamander?!"
"Do you want to go see if it's really him?!"
As the girls excitedly chatted Ru watched them. She grinned widely. On her lunch break she asked if she could go out. The stout, short man grimaced then nodded his head. Ru squealed with joy. She skipped out the door. Ran to where all of the girls were running to, and there she spotted a peculiar man in the middle of town of Hargeon. He was certainly tall and wielded fire magic. Ru moved closer to the crowd to get a better look. Every girl had hearts in their eyes. Except for Ru. She wondered why she wasn't affected by his charm. Charm? Is he using charm magic? The one that's band? She asked herself.
He certainly was handsome and seemed strong, but could he be fake? Ru started to back away from the crowd. She seemed to grow scared of the man who called himself Salamander.
"Igneel!"
She turned her head at the sound of a young man's voice. "Igneel!"
A young man who was tanned, and had spiked cherry blossom hair and black eyes pushed through the crowd. He was lean but he seemed rather muscular. "Igneel!"
Ru watched him intently with great interest. His face dropped, "who are you?"
The man's pose fell. He grinned at the young man, "does the name Salamander… ring any bells?"
The young man ignored him and walked away. The girls attacked him. As they did they said, "how rude!"
"Do you not know Salamander-sama?!"
"You better show some respect."
"W-what's wrong with you girls?!" the young man yelled as they were tackling him.
Ru approached them. "Hey, maybe he was so excited he got shy."
The girls paused. Then they thought hard about it. They got off of him. "Yeah, maybe."
"Why didn't he say so?"
The man who called himself Salamander blew a kiss at the ladies. Then he summoned a whip of fire. "Prominence whip" he said.
He took off on it with great speed. But before he left he told the girls, "I hope to see you at my party later."
The girls squealed as he flew off into the horizon. Ru was silent at first but then she blushed at the young man. He was still sitting on the ground seemingly puzzled, "who was that guy?"
Ru went close to him and held out her hand. The young man scowled at first. Ru pulled her hand away, "sorry I thought you needed help. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved."
The young man grinned at her. "No problem there!"
He grabbed her hand. "Thanks!"
His stomach growled.
"Are you hungry?"
The young man raised his brow at her, "why, you have food?"
The young man is stuffing his face at Dumases. He is sitting across from Ru. "You're really nice!"
He exclaimed with a mouth full. Some food debris hit Ru's forehead. She didn't scowl she just sat smiling gently at him. "So your name is Natsu? And you're looking for someone named Igneel?"
"Yeah, we thought we had a lead when we heard the name Salamander but he turned out to be a fake."
"Really? He's a fake?"
Natsu grinned at her. "Yeah too bad he didn't even look like a Salamander."
"What person looks like a Salamander?"
Natsu stopped eating. "Igneel's not a person. He's a dragon."
Ru stared at him silently with wide eyes. Then she looked at him with a cute glance, "dragons are real?"
Natsu laughed, "hell yeah they are!"
Ru giggled with a sweet voice. The stout short man stormed over, "miss Ru! You've gone past your hours!"
Ru panicked. She stood up immediately and bowed to the stout man. "I'm so sorry sir I lost track of time!"
Natsu pulled her close to him, "you want me to slug em'?"
Ru grinned gently, "that's okay. He's actually a really good boss."
"Whatever you say," Natsu then bowed to her on his knees, "thank you!"
Ru shifted nervously at first but then she gave him a gentle smile, "anytime you need me I'll be here."
Natsu blushed at her. He gazed at her gently. They gazed at each other for a little while. Suddenly! A blue cat burst through the door of the restaurant. He ran up to Natsu in tears. "Happy!" Natsu said with a big grin.
The blue cat hugged Natsu. Ru kneeled down to them. "Aw, I love kitties! Whose this little guy?"
Natsu blushed at how close she was. "Happy!" the blue cat responded.
Ru pet Happy's head, "nice to meet you Happy."
Happy blushed and looked at her with bright eyes. "Hey, hey Natsu! Who's she?!"
"Ru! Are you stalling again?! If you don't get back to work I'll fire ya right here and now!"
Ru stood up and immediately adjusted her outfit and hair. She waved at Natsu and Happy. Then she waited on tables and greeted new customers. Natsu watched her for a while. Then he got up. "Happy, let's go," he said before he left.
Happy followed him. Ru kept working until the late evening. When her work was done she changed into her normal clothes and let down her hair. Once she was done putting on her open hoodie, leggings, brown boots and a silver key on her belt, she picked up a knife and started chopping vegetables with magic. One cut cut many, finely. She heat the pan with a yellow flame in mid-air. Then she lit the pan briefly. She didn't burn a single morsel. She plated the dish on top of rice beautifully. It was full of some sort spice made through magic. It had a unique taste. As she ate her plate she shook her head, "not enough spice."
Her magic level seemed to be raised from the dish. She started cooking with magic again. The second plate did not turn out quite right either. She tried again. She worked until the late hours. Practicing her magic creating that dish. She stopped when the spice was just right.
She left the restaurant late at night. Ru walked on a road that overlooks the sea and harbour. She sees a boat out on the water. Some girls close to her squeal, "that's Salamander-sama's party right?!"
"Too bad we couldn't go!"
"Right?"
Ru stops and looks at the boat. She thinks deeply to herself for a minute or two then she heads toward the harbour. She stands on the beach for a second then she stands on the water. She walks on it. She seems to be walking on it with magic. Ru quickly makes it to the boat. It is big. She can't make it to the deck on her own. She takes the silver key from her belt. Ru quietly summons a strange looking navy blue dog that seems to have a horn?
She waves at it, "hi Jo!"
The dog grins at her, "puuuu."
Ru looks at the boat. "Can you help me out Jo? I need to get to the deck."
"Pu!"
The water moves up and forms a bridge from Ru to the boat. Ru runs up it with Jo. She makes it to the back balcony of the boat. The water bridge collapses into the sea. She looks at the dog with a smile, "thanks Jo! I'm going to stop this imposter!"
Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story! I will read it again to check for any errors that I may have missed.