OH MY GOODNESS IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE I POSTED MY VERY FIRST ONESHOT (12/13)! OH HOW TIME FLIES BY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

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Tree House (Ch. 1)

Lucy's vision was blurred and she sobbed like a child, but she kept running anyway. She didn't really know where she was going, but she didn't care. All she knew is that she needed to get away for a while, just to relax and calm down without having to deal with her father.

Jude Heartfilia was the richest and most infamous man in Magnolia. His cruelty to his neighbors was outrageous and everyone avoided the biggest house in the neighborhood. Children who walked to school purposely dodge the street the Heartfilia's live on just so they wouldn't have to deal with his uncouthness when he was getting his mail. Sadly, Jude's reputation was so bad people had figured that his daughter was just as horrible and avoided her as well. Either at Magnolia High or on the streets when Lucy was taking a walk, people would stare at her for a moment before retreating out of her sight.

As much as this pained Lucy, this wasn't why she was crying.

Her father absolutely loved to control his daughter. Immediately after Lucy would arrive home from school, her father would make her sit down and take an hour's worth of business classes. She absolutely loathed those classes. They were so boring and didn't interest her at all, especially when she's brain dead when she arrives home from school; however, the good news is that afterward her business courses, she was free the rest of the day. She wasn't allowed to leave the house often when she wasn't at school, but Jude knows that health is a good thing, so he would let his daughter take walks around the neighborhood, but only the neighborhood; she wasn't allowed to leave. She had to be home for all meals though and if he texted her.

The happiest times are when Jude leaves Magnolia for a business trip and Lucy would live alone at the house. It was then that she would break the rules: after school, she would go shopping and buy new outfits, she would ditch her business classes to write a few chapters in her novel, and turn rock n' roll up as high as it would go, dancing and singing to her heart's content without getting into trouble. She loved these weeks which came pretty often, but what she didn't like about them is that she didn't have anybody to spend them with. Thanks to her father's reputation, she had no friends, which is something she would often complain to her father about, but he would just wave her off and continue his work.

Now, Lucy's father had just revealed that since she was eighteen, she was going to get engaged to a wealthy businessman's son to bring two companies together. She would get engaged after high school was over and the marriage would happen after college. Lucy just didn't want that though. Her last year of high school was almost here! It was in the middle of spring and the pressuring warm weather proved that summer was coming.

Lucy always loved the summer. It was the only time of year that she didn't have to do any school or business work, but this year, she didn't want the summer to ever come. If it did, she would be engaged.

So after school and her business courses; after she heard the news, she ran, leaving the house with tears streaming. With blinks and sobs, she knew she was trespassing in people's backyards, and she wasn't one to do that, but today, she just didn't care.

When she finally stopped to catch her breath, she was in the woods.

There was a forest the size of an acre in the middle of the neighborhood and in the middle of the forest is a small tree house built into a sturdy tree for children who wanted to play. Lucy was standing in front of this tree house and she stared up at it with flashbacks running through her mind.

She loved this tree house when she was a kid, her mother and she would come here everyday to play princesses until dusk. That was before she died though…and it was before her father became so strict.

With tears still streaming down her face, Lucy climbed ladder up into the tree house. When she pulled herself into it, she shut the door – that was like a trap door – and curled into a ball in the corner, crying.

She didn't want to get married.

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"You better fix this, Natsu Dragneel!"

Natsu sighed, not wanting to deal with this situation. He rubbed the top of his cat's head, Happy, as he happily ate his fish before turning to feed Carla, who was his sister's cat.

"Natsu Dragneel, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Sighing again, Natsu stood up and turned to his mother who had her arms crossed, tapping her foot, an angry face, and a piece of paper in her hands.

"Look at this!" Grandine shoved the paper into her son's face. "Look at these grades! You're highest grade is a C-! You better pick it up, Young Man!"

"What's wrong with a C-?" Natsu densely took the paper, scanning his grade card. The F's and D's made him look like a failure, but he brushed it off.

"You are a Senior in high school, Natsu!" Grandine scolded, ignoring his son's question, "we shouldn't need to be having this conversation!"

"What's going on?" Igneel had just arrived home from work and he could hear his wife's shouting from the garage. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

"Look at this!" Natsu's mother snatched the grade card from his hands and shoved it in Igneel's face.

Setting his workbag down and scanning the paper, Igneel's eyes widened before he looked up at Natsu. "What is this?! Natsu Dragneel-"

"Why are you two so worked up over my grades?" Natsu lifted his hand to scratch the back of his pink hair. "I'll pick up my grades during school, okay? It's no big deal; don't get worked up."

"That's exactly what you said last semester!" Grandine scolded, pointing at her son, "but your grades have only dropped more!"

"Natsu," Igneel said walking toward him and handing him his grade card. The head of the Dragneel family remained calm as he spoke. "Your mother is right: you said you'd bring your grades up last semester, but you didn't. Therefore, this time, there's gonna be consequences."

"Okay," Natsu responded, waiting for his father to ground him and take away his Xbox for a week.

"By the end of the school year, when summer begins, if your grades aren't up to where they should be, you have to quit Fairy Tail."

Natsu's eyes widened, "What?!"

"I think that's a reasonable punishment, don't you think, Grandine?"

Natsu's mother nodded immediately. "I agree."

"Y-you can't do that!" Natsu shouted, pointing at his parents.

Fairy Tail is Magnolia's pride and joy. It's a club where Natsu and his friends party, hang out, plan festivals for Magnolia, have special activities, and even spend the night studying for school there. It's so popular, they have they're own clubhouse and everyone is invited. However, to become a full-fledged member, you need their signature fairy tattoo somewhere on your body.

Igneel and Grandine know how much Natsu (and his sister too) love Fairy Tail with all their heart. Taking that away would be like stabbing them in the heart. So now that they threatened him with it, he was sure to pick his grades up for real this time.

"Yes we can," Igneel responded, stern but calm. "If your grades aren't up by the end of the summer, you're out of Fairy Tail."

Natsu growled before clenching his fists tightly. He stood there shaking in anger for a moment before shouting, "fine!" and turning around.

He ran past Wendy who was standing in the doorway listening and exited the back door in the kitchen. He ran down the deck steps before turning right and running into the woods which were exactly right next to his house.

He needed a place to calm down and collect his thoughts. How in the world was he going to raise his grades from F's to A's?! He can't do that within a couple of months! Even if he got a tutor, he wouldn't be able to master every subject in time. This means he would be forced to quit the most important thing in his life. He couldn't lose Fairy Tail! It's helped him through struggles in life more than anyone would ever know. If he lost it, he wouldn't know what to do!

When the view of Natsu's house was blocked from the trees, he slowed down to a walk, silently rubbing the back of his head as another sigh escaped. He was certain no one was going to bother him here. There were hardly any children in the neighborhood so no one ever goes into the forest.

The tree house was Natsu's safe haven. When he needed to get away – take a break from reality – he'd go to the tree house to relax and that's exactly where he was heading right now.

He climbed the ladder and pushed the trap door open and it was only then did he hear the sobs.

Beautiful, watery, chocolate eyes locked with his onyx ones and the two just stared at each other. It was extremely silent except for the strange girl's occasional sniffles as her tears dried on her face.

"Uh," Natsu lamely broke the silence, "Are you…okay?"

The girl blinked before she nodded slowly, wiping her eyes and nose with her hand, "y-yeah…I'm okay…I-I'm okay."

Natsu debated on whether or not pulling himself into the tree house or climbing back down the ladder and leaving the girl alone, but something about her was strangely familiar. "Do I know you?" He asked before he stopped himself.

The girl sniffed again, blinking her red, swollen eyes. "No, you don't…I…don't know that many people."

"Oh?"

Pulling into the tree house and shutting the door, Natsu slid to the ground next to her. "Now you know me." He flashed her his trademark smile and he caught her blushing, but didn't say anything on it. "The name's Natsu."

"Hello Natsu." The girl didn't say her name, hugged her knees tightly to her, setting her chin on them.

"So what's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"It's nothing; I don't really want to talk about it."

"That's okay," Natsu replied before looking around the old building. He's surprised that after all these years, it's sturdy. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I-I don't know…What are you doing at the tree house?"

"I needed a breather," Natsu replied. "My grades are down…really down…and if they don't pick back up by the end of the school year, when summer starts, my parents will make me quit the thing I love most."

"…And what is the thing you love most, Natsu?"

"Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" He found himself loving the way her eyes lit up at the famous name. "You're a member of Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah!" Natsu pulled the end of his sleeve up, showing her the dark red emblem on his shoulder.

"You're lucky," she said, "I've always wanted to join that club."

"I can get you in," he offered. "All my friends will like you. You gotta tell me your name first though."

Surprisingly, Natsu watched the sad blonde shake her head, "as much as that sounds great, my father won't like it…and no offense, but I don't want to tell you my name."

"But I gotta call you something!" He protested. "Well…I guess I can call you Weirdo."

"Please don't."

Natsu laughed, "fine fine. Pick a name. You don't have to give me your real one. I understand; I'm a stranger."

The girl bit her lip, turning away for a moment before looking back at him. "Aquarius," she said.

"Aquarius?!" What kind of name was that?

The girl pouted, puffing out one of her cheeks…which was kinda cute. "It's the name of my favorite constellation."

"You like the stars?"

Aquarius nodded, "yes, I do. I like them a lot."

Natsu smirked, "I like fire. The Fourth of July is the best time of the year and you won't believe how many times I've set something on fire in my house. My parents can tell you all about it!" He laughed loudly.

Aquarius smiled at him, giggling along, "you look like someone who likes fire!"

Natsu couldn't help the blush grow on his face. Her smile was adorable and her laugh was…rather addicting. Cracking a joke, Natsu listened to her musical laugh and could feel his heart suddenly beat loudly as a reaction.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Natsu," Aquarius smiled, causing Natsu's blush to deepen a bit.

He lifted his scarf to hide it. "N-no problem."

"I've gotta go."

"What?" Natsu watched as she stood up, opened the trap door, and began to climb down. "but we were…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

He climbed down after her and was relived to see that she hadn't left yet.

"I'm sorry," Aquarius said with a smile, "my dad will be angry if I'm not home for dinner. I liked hanging out with you though, even if it was only for a few minutes. I hope your grades pick up, Natsu. Goodbye." She waved before turning.

"Hey! Wait!" He grabbed her arm, causing a small squeak to escape. Natsu mumbled an apology before letting go and scratched the back of his head as his blush came back. "Will I get to see you again?"

Aquarius blinked before blushing herself, "U-um…" a smile crept onto her face. "I would like that…D-do you want my number?"

Natsu smiled instantly, "Yeah!"

After exchanging numbers, the two just stood there staring at each other. Natsu's eyes traveled across her body; he didn't notice how pretty she was curled up in the dark tree house. Now that she was standing in the light, he could easily see how pretty she was.

"I should go," Aquarius suddenly said, breaking his trance.

"Y-yeah, you should," he flashed her his trademark grin again. "I'll see you later, Aquarius."

"Bye Natsu."

Natsu turned away, but before he took a few steps, he turned back around to look at her, but she was already gone.

He smiled, walking back home; he felt a lot happier than he did earlier.

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Ta-da! I hope you enjoyed! My birthday is tomorrow (12/17) so it might be a little while before I post again because I'll be partying with my family and friends! XD Just to let you all know. Plus, it's Christmas so I'll be a little busy.

-zEllie