For the fourth time that week, Natsu was at his and Igneel's shared home during school hours.

The clock was telling him that it was two hours past noon, and in another two hours and twenty minutes his particularly cheerful friend would knock on his door and say "Natsu, why didn't you come to school today?" in a very stern voice. To that, he would respond by mumbling and scratching his head. Then, she would sigh and give up covering her face with her soft hands and shaking her head. She'd look at him sadly, and finally she would utter to him that he should wear a shirt when he is in the presence of a lady.

As if she were a lady! If anything, she would be closer to a tomboy, although she did not know how to dress to fit that category quite well; lady on the outside; tomboy on the inside. Or at least he liked to think so.

Natsu groaned, opening his mailbox and peeking into the dark space; two envelopes. One of them was a bill - boring. The other, though, seemed a lot more interesting.

To N. Dragneel

From Lisanna Strauss

The name meant more to him than anything else: like a message from the past, a ghost, a gleam of hope.

He tore the envelope up right then, as quickly as was possible without tearing the document inside. Natsu retrieved the letter, carefully unfolding the clean paper to see neat, cursive writing. Purple gel pen? Cute.

Aside from that, three of the hastily written words stuck out to him. A three word sentence, in particular, ending with a point of exclamation.

I'm coming back!

Running, it took Lucy Heartfilia five minutes to get from Histoy class to the swimming pool. She didn't need to stop due to any nosy teachers stopping her, and since her class was let out just before the bell, the traffic was clear.

Fifteen minutes to dress - if you spend too much time talking to Juvia about how her body is not ugly and that she should stop doubting herself. Whether or not her crush is into her at all, that doesn't mean her body is not beautiful. With an hourglass figure, a gorgeous head of blue curls and a slight toning to her body Juvia could get any guy she wanted. Except for Gray, of course.

Another two minutes passed because she lost her blue and white swimsuit for a moment. Luckily it had simply been beneath her discarded school shirt.

In short: it takes much too long for Lucy to get from History class to the diving block.

Lucy arched her back, stretching out all of the left over strain from sitting down all day. She looked over to her right, where Juvia had also taken the block. She seemed to be using the time to fix her cap.

Juvia and Lucy liked to call their gatherings 'club activities,' despite that they weren't enough to be a club. A club would require five people. Both had considered adding others, but nobody had ever been interested. And when they asked if they could add the boys to their team?

"Of course not!" administration had said. "Boys and girls should be separated."

"If Juvia wins," said Juvia, her habit of speaking in third person always gave Lucy a sense of familiarity around the girl. That's just how Juvia is. "Then Juvia's love rival will have to stay away from Gray-sama for the next week!"

Lucy grimaced, knowing all too well that she had - on many occasions -been accused of having an interest in this 'Gray-sama'. Yes, she was the supposed love rival of Juvia's. "Well if that's what you're going to bet on, then if I win, you have to stop calling me your love rival."

Juvia nodded, and the two girls launched off the diving blocks, breaking the water's surface. Cold water rushed over Lucy's body as she went under. Since it was a friendly competition, she had not bothered with a swimming cap, and her hair floated around her head for a moment before she shot off. Her feet propelled her forward and up, and soon her arms hit chilly air. Then her back.

One stroke. Two strokes. Three strokes; head up.

She found her rhythm easily thanks to so much practice.

When finally she had kicked her way to the finish line, Lucy pulled herself out of the water, gasping for breath. A terrifying sight awaited her; Juvia Lockser already standing above her. "Juvia wins!" the victor claimed, smiling sweetly as if she had not just banned Lucy from talking to a pretty decent guy. In fact, he was number two on her list of dateable guys.

Not that she had much interest in any of the guys on that list anyway. Even number one she had never thought of in an "I'm totally attracted to you," sort of way.

Lucy sat on the edge of the pool skimming her toes along the water's surface. "I'll win next time," her soft lifts curved into a smile. "Oh! I forgot!"

Juvia did not need to be reminded of what was on Lucy's mind, rather, she threw a towel over Lucy's shoulders. "Natsu-san is at home, right?" she spoke as Lucy clutched the towel around her dripping body. She nodded. "So you need to make sure he is okay?"

Sigh.

"He keeps staying home, and it's starting to worry me," she placed her hand over her eyes shaking her head. Natsu's behaviour recently had been getting worse. He had been bad when she met him, but she thought he had begun to turn around. Now those thoughts had gone out the window. Natsu was not getting better.

Lucy stood, her feet slapping the tile which surrounded the pool. "Do you have any idea what it could be, Juvia?"

Juvia rattled her head from side to side, "Juvia isn't as close to Natsu-san as you are!" Lucy was about to head into the lockers when she bumped into someone. Throwing a quick 'sorry' at the girl she continued, urging Juvia to accompany her. "Have you tried Erza-san?"

The truth of the matter was that Erza Scarlet was so busy raising her first born, that she hadn't been able to talk to her nephew in a long time. "No..." Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "I guess I'll try to talk to her, soon."

"Excuse me?" footsteps behind them. "Blondie!"

Of all of the people in that room at that exact moment, only one of them had hair that was yellow enough to earn such a nickname. Lucy turned around, Juvia following suit behind her.

The girl who Lucy had bumped into had long red hair tied in a plat behind her. She wore the school uniform, leaving the neckline agape and revealing. She had a wild look to her eyes that would fail to go away despite all the eye makeup she had tried. According to rumours, Flare Corona was from a bad crowd. Her family was said to be all drunkards; some of them even went as far as to say that they were violent.

Lucy gulped. "What is it, Flare?"

Flare caught up to them. "I've been watching you..." for a moment, Lucy looked as if she was going to make a loud noise of confusion. Her mouth was parted when Flare spoke again "Swimming. I've been watching both of you swim... I wanted to know if I could join you?"

Juvia and Lucy exchanged uncertain glances. Neither knew what to do. If the rumours were true, then she could very well be as violent as her family.

Sometimes it's good to think on things, talking it out with Natsu would definitely help, too. "H- how about you ask us again tomorrow?" Lucy said light-heartedly. She smiled to make it more convincing. "I need to go right now to help out a friend!"

Juvia quickly followed up with a few words of agreement, nearly pushing Lucy the rest of the way to the dressing rooms. Flare remained where she was, watching both of them curiously; hopefully. The look on her face was innocent, and as Lucy looked back she felt almost guilty for doubting that sweet girl at all.