Chapter 1:

Welcome to Magnolia

Sakura Ayako is just your average everyday 16 year old that has only one dream: to join a wizards guild and become one of the strongest wizards in the world. But that may be difficult for her, since she has been turned down by the three other guilds she tried to join. She has an incredible amount of magic energy, but when she revealed the type of wizard that she was, they sent her away. With only 100,000 jewel left to her name after the boat ride, she is hoping to find her own place and try to join the Fairy Tail guild which she reads about all the time in Sorcerer Weekly.

She arrives at the Magnolia harbor on a beautiful Wednesday morning, and the first thing that she can think about is getting something to eat.

"Excuse me," she asks the captain of the boat, "where do you recommend would be the best place to be for me to get something to eat?"

"Well," the captain said putting his finger to his chin, "I'd have to say the Magnolia Café would be your best bet. It's about a half a mile down the road on your left. There's a huge sign that says 'Magnolia Café', you can't miss it."

"Thank you so much, captain," she said with a wave and exited the boat. She saw a bulletin board off to the side that had a lot of information about the city, but the only thing she was looking for was a map. And lo and behold, there was a stack of maps neatly folded in a plastic container attached to the board.

With her suitcase in hand, she grabbed a map and began walking toward the café. "Hmm, it seems that the café is straight down the road, just like he said. With luck, not only will I get my belly filled, I might just meet a few wizards too!"

Without even thinking, she darted towards the diner but she only made it about halfway there before she bumped into someone, knocking them both to the ground. Luckily her suitcase was able to cushion the impact on her butt, but the same couldn't be said for the person she ran into.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Sakura said standing up and bowing once. "Here, let me help you up." She held out her hand to the person on the ground.

The person took Sakura's hand and the first thing she noticed was the pink emblem on her hand. "Hey, I know that mark; you're a member of Fairy Tail, aren't you?"

Dusting herself off, the girl said in a cheerful voice, "You bet I'm a member of Fairy Tail! My name is Lucy, what's yours?"

"Oh, um," she spoke timidly, "my name is Sakura; Sakura Ayako." Just then, her stomach growled very loudly.

"Sounds like you could use a bite to eat, Sakura," Lucy said with a smile. "Come on, I'll treat you to lunch and then we can go back to my house and get to know each other."

"Oh, you don't have to do that for me," Sakura laughed rubbing the back of her head. "I mean you just met me, and you're offering to buy me food?"

"Yeah," Lucy said with a chuckle, "I mean, I did the same thing for Natsu and Happy when we first met. Don't worry about asking who they are, I'm very certain you'll meet them soon, considering they love to show up at my apartment completely uninvited and it annoys the ever living crap out of me that I just wanna summon my strongest Celestial spirit and teach them that a girl needs her privacy!"

"You're preaching to the choir, right there, Lucy" she said putting her hand on Lucy's shoulder. Then her stomach growls even louder.

"Come on; let's head over to the café before you die of starvation."

They go to the café and Lucy tells Sakura that she can order whatever she feels like and that she would take care of the bill.

Wow, Sakura thought to herself, are all Fairy Tail wizards this nice to new people?

While at the café, they talk about girl stuff like makeup, boys, what kind of outfits they think look cute/sexy, etc. Then Sakura remembers something Lucy said when she was talking about Natsu and Happy.

"Hey, Lucy, I have a question," she said timidly.

"Sure, what is it?" the blonde replied.

"When we bumped into each other earlier, you said something about summoning Celestial spirits. I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you by chance a Celestial wizard?"

"Yes, I am a Celestial wizard," she nodded. "So what kind of wizard are you, Sakura?"

Sakura tensed at the question. This is the same question that the guild masters of the previous guilds she tried to join asked her, but when she told them the truth, they shoved her out the door.

"I wish I could tell you, Lucy," she responded sadly, "but I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"How come?" Lucy tilted her head to the side.

"It's complicated, really," she said looking out the window. "I've tried to join three other guilds, but when I told them what type of wizard I am, they threw me out and said to never come back."

Lucy sat there in silence for a brief moment, then reached into her satchel and placed the money for the meal on the table. "Come on, let's go to my place and relax, then I can take you to master Makarov and we'll see what he can do."

"Thank you for treating me to lunch, Lucy," Sakura said, thankfully. I can't believe that I've already made my first new friend. I think I'm gonna love it here, provided I don't get turned down by the guild master of Fairy Tail.

"Like I said, it's no problem at all," the blonde wizard replied. "My apartment is just a little ways down the road from here; come on!"

They arrived at Lucy's apartment about twenty minutes later and all Sakura could do was stand there in awe.

"This is your apartment?" she asked.

"You bet," Lucy said with a smile. "Come on in and make yourself at home."

Sakura entered the abode and left her suitcase by the door. "Care for something to drink?" Lucy called from the kitchen.

"A glass of ice water, if you don't mind," Sakura replied. "Do you mind if I smoke while I'm here?"

"As long as you open the window and light some incense afterwards."

Sakura reached into her satchel and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She put one in her mouth and lit it with a match. Breathing in the nicotine, she exhaled slowly and felt her nerves starting to relax.

Lucy emerged from the kitchen not long after that with two glasses of ice water and sat one down on a coaster on the end table next to the couch that her new friend was sitting on. Taking a seat in the recliner across from Sakura, Lucy took a sip of her water and let out a sigh of relaxation.

"Sakura," Lucy said breaking the silence in the room, "before we head over to the guild hall, I want to know something."

"You still wanna know what type of wizard I am, don't you?" Sakura asked as if she had just read Lucy's mind.

"Wow, it feels like you just read my mind," the blonde wizard chuckled. "Yes, I'd still like to know what kind of wizard you are."

Taking another drag of her cigarette, she exhaled slowly and contemplated on whether or not she should tell Lucy now, or wait until after she talked to the Fairy Tail guild master. She must have been spacing out for a while, because Lucy snapped her fingers to get Sakura's attention.

"Yoo-hoo, earth to Sakura," she called. "Anyone in there?"

"Yeah, sorry," Sakura responded, "I was just thinking about something. Before I tell you what type of wizard I am, could you show me one of your Celestial spirits? I've never met a Celestial wizard before, so I have no idea how their magic works."

"Sure thing; but I expect to know what magic you use afterwards."

"I'll tell you everything, Lucy, I promise."

"Alright then," the blonde stood up and reached in the satchel on her belt and pulled out a golden key. "Now, open Gate of the Lion: Leo!"

As if out of nowhere, a very handsome guy appeared out of the magic circle and landed right in between Sakura and Lucy.

"It's been a while since you last called me, Lucy," he said pressing his sunglasses to his face. "What can I do for you today?"

"Actually, Loki, I'd like for you to meet a new friend of mine." she pointed behind her spirit. "This is my new friend Sakura Ayako."

Loki politely walked up to Sakura and traced her over with his eyes, and then he put one hand to his chest and bowed.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Sakura. My name is Loki, the strongest of the Zodiac Celestial spirits. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other if you're gonna be hanging around Lucy. Now if that's all, I really must be going, because I have to go and make sure Ares is okay."

"Very well, Loki, you may go now," Lucy responded. Loki bowed to each of the ladies in front of him and vanished in a flash of light.

"Wow, Lucy," Sakura stood in awe at what she just witnessed. "Are all of your spirits that kind and sophisticated?"

"Not all of them are what you would call 'kind' or 'sophisticated'," the blonde replied thinking about Aquarius's attitude and the perverse nature of Taurus. "But I'm sure you'll find that out before too long." She clapped her hands together, somewhat startling Sakura. "Now then, I showed you one of my Celestial spirits, now you have to keep your end of the bargain. Please tell me what kind of wizard you are."

Taking another drag of her cigarette, Sakura looked at Lucy with a concerned expression. "Are you sure you wanna know? Not many people are accepting of the type of magic I use."

"There's nothing you can tell me that won't surprise me," Lucy said sternly.

"Alright, I'll tell you," Sakura said setting her cigarette in the ash tray, "but you can't tell anyone when we get to Fairy Tail until after I talk to the guild master, deal?"

"I always keep my promises."

Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Lucy," she stared directly into the blonde wizard's eyes. "I'm what they call a mimicry style wizard. I can mimic any type of spell as if it were my own."

"You're a mimic wizard?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "The last time I saw mimic magic was at the Grand Magic Games when Kurohebi fought against Toby."

"Well, that's the type of wizard I am," Sakura replied shyly after taking another drag of her cigarette. "Please don't tell anyone in Fairy Tail when we get there."

"I already told you that I wasn't going to say anything," Lucy replied. "Now come on, I think it's time we go to see master Makarov at the guild hall."

It took them about 15 minutes to reach the guild hall and all Sakura did was stand there in awe with her mouth agape.

"This is the Fairy Tail guild hall?!" she yelled out as she took in the enormous building.

"That's right," Lucy responded with a cheerful look on her face. "Though when I joined the guild, it was a lot smaller. But that's a story for another day, now come on, let's go inside and introduce you to everyone."

The blonde wizard put her hand on the door handle and looked back at Sakura. "I'm gonna go ahead and warn you ahead of time that this guild is pretty reckless. I'm not just talking about when we go on jobs, but also in general; so brace yourself." Lucy sighed deeply and opened the door.