Chapter 1

It was a rainy night, one that gave a depressed feeling for someone as jovial as Natsu. He hated his guard duty at a night like this. He snuck in between the trees, slipping in stealth speed before perching on a branch of a tree. He looked up to the sky. The rain drizzled gently, steadily with no sign of stopping in any seconds from then. There was no star in sight.

Natsu loved the starry sky. It was the night when he found his place in Magnolia, and the night he gave his service to the old Makarov. Natsu wasn't one who would simply work for anyone. But Makarov had given him a shelter when he most needed it. He was a proud warrior. And a warrior fought his life for his leader.

There was suddenly an apparent movement Natsu noted came from a nearby bush, and his sensitive ears perked to catch any signs of sound. His nose was sniffing, and there he smelled a strange smell—a human. But definitely not of someone he knew. Natsu's hand balled into a fist, slowly concentrating his power just in case the enemy would ambush him, as he slowly jumped down to the ground.

He was about to burst fire into his fist when a lean figure jumped out from the bush. Natsu registered a blonde girl, rushing out in a panic towards him. His eyes widened, and then out of nowhere her arms wrapped around his neck tightly, pulling him into a clumsy embrace.

"What the hell—who are you?" Natsu was perplexed.

"Help me!" she cried.

Natsu was about to ask further, just for a little more detail than just a simple 'help me' but just then he felt and immense magical power seeping fast towards them. Instinctively Natsu's hand reached out, wrapping around the girl's slim waist as he picked her up, jumping away from the source of power that was trying to attack them.

The girl was clinging on Natsu's side, face buried in Natsu's neck in fear as Natsu skidded to a halt. He glanced down at the wet ground.

"Shit," he spat. "Damn this rain. It made me hard to move." He could still feel the mud smearing on his boots.

And then suddenly he felt another power rising from the ground. Natsu cursed, jumping up to a branch with his left hand tightly securing Lucy in her place. His eyes were darting everywhere, nose sniffling frantically. Where the hell did that power come from?

And that was when he saw it. A bubble of water appeared from the ground, rising up trying to reach where he was perching. Natsu quickly took a deep breath, focusing his magical power before blowing, shooting a large amount of flames from his mouth.

"Karyu no Houkou!" he blew the ground, successfully countered head on with the water bubble aimed at him.

At the split moment of fire, Natsu caught the smell of another presence, and he quickly leapt through the bushes.

To his surprise, there was another woman with blue hair, tightly curled at the base. Her hands were dripping wet, positioned at a fighting stance that it wasn't that hard for Natsu to figure out she was the one who attacked them. Her hand was holding a pink umbrella, and Natsu recognized a teru teru bozu doll hanging on her neck.

She reminded Natsu of rain.

"Who are you?" his eyes was staring intently at the dark blue eyes. And he could feel the blonde lady clutching his vest further at the glare of the blue haired woman.

Natsu expected some answer. After all, there was something doesn't sit quite right with the blue haired girl. Her eyes were lifeless, her expression contains nothing. Her pale white skin just added to the almost seemingly a living doll who stood in front of him.

Unfortunately he didn't get the answer. The woman's body suddenly dispersed, turning into some kind of water before disappearing away from his sight. It was fast. And Natsu didn't have the time to stop her. He was left confused.

And just as the blue haired woman had gone, the drizzling rain slowly stopped. Natsu frowned, looking up at the sky.

And that was when he saw the stars.

What the hell had happened? The circle of weather doesn't make any sense. He was still lost in the train of thought when he felt the girl in his arm sobbing quietly. He turned to his shoulder, and he could feel the dampness of her tears.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked in concern.

"Yes," she stifled. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Natsu could feel her trembling in his arm. She was scared—he concluded. Was it because of the blunette just now? What was their connection? Who is this blonde exactly? And why are they here in the land of Magnolia? Magnolia is supposed to be Makarov's land. No intruders are allowed. Is she a fugitive?

"It's okay now. You can relax," he coaxed, gently putting her on the ground.

The blonde girl stepped her feet on the muddy ground, but just then she felt her head spinning. Her hands clutching on Natsu's vest before her legs betrayed her. Natsu's eyes widened at her limp body. And reflexively he wrapped his arms around her waist, catching her before she fell.

"Are you okay?" he shook her slightly.

But there was no answer. That's when Natsu realized she had fainted. Oh crap.

Gray was folding his arms on his bare chest, brows furrowed in concentration, teeth gritted and a vein clearly visible on the side of his forehead. "Natsu," his voice was dangerously low. "You are supposed to be on guard duty."

"I was!" Natsu countered.

"And bring back a stranger?" Gray's eyes snapped. "How smart."

Natsu squinted at the sarcastic tone. "She's a woman."

"Erza is a woman. And you always lost to her," Gray rolled his eyes.

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Natsu jumped on his feet, feeling his anger rose.

"I'm saying you might be bringing home a threat! Do you even know this girl?" Gray's voice grew higher, one finger pointing towards the sleeping blonde on the bed in their infirmary.

"Well, what do you think I should do? Just leave her in the cold outside?" Natsu shouted back.

"Guys, will you slow down?" Mirajane's voice interrupted the argument. "She's here now, nothing we can do about it."

"Yeah, I just try to make this guy a little smarter," Gray scoffed.

"I'm not the one with the stupid stripping habit," Natsu mimicked.

Gray frowned, looking down at himself in nothing but his boxer. "Ack!" he scrambled, grabbing his discarded shirt and pants hastily. "Damn, this is really annoying."

Erza was leaning against the wall, hands folded on her chest. "But who is this girl? Why is she being attacked?"

"Ask the smart flame brain," Gray said still in his sarcastic tone.

Natsu glared at him. "We can try to find some insignia on her. If she's being attacked she might be some kind of warrior. A warrior would have an insignia at least."

"There's no insignia," Mirajane informed. "I already looked for it when I was tending to her just now."

"Hmm, that's weird," Erza frowned a bit. "A commoner got attacked by a warrior with magic? That doesn't make sense at all."

"Perhaps we can wait till she wakes up," Mirajane suggested.

"Should we put her in cell while waiting for it?" Gray suggested. "Since we really don't know if she's an enemy or an ally."

"What?" Natsu snapped. "No! She's a girl!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "The one who attacked her is a girl too."

"That's it. You wanna go, ice-tard?" Natsu balled his hands, flames slowly appearing surrounding it.

"Bring it on," Gray stepped closer.

"Stop it, you two!" an old voice interrupted their fight. All eyes in the room turned to the dwarf-like man walking in with his stick.

"Master," Erza said, acknowledging his presence.

"I heard it all. There is nothing to be worked up at," Makarov said calmly, waddling towards the bed. He stared at the blonde beauty sleeping peacefully. "We need not imprison her at the moment. That's just isn't our style."

"But Master—" Gray groaned in disapproval.

"And even if she really is an enemy, there is nothing to worry about," Makarov added, successfully making his subordinates stared at him.

He chuckled, looking at the young faces. "Because I have all the strong warriors to protect this place. Don't you think?"

Erza smiled at the remark. Erza Scarlet—the Titania. The strongest knight in Fiore. She had a very remarkable swordsmanship, one whom no one would fathom with.

Mirajane Strauss—the Demon. Despite her nickname, her hospitality was one of gentle and kindness. She has a soft heart, hiding underneath the strong demon exterior when she transformed during fights. One who can go up to Erza's standard.

Gray Fullbuster—the Glacier. He was the warrior of the ice. One who could withstand extreme cold weather, froze whatever that is he wanted to, and create objects of ice out of nothing.

Natsu Dragneel—the Salamander. One of complete opposite from Gray. If Gray had the magic of creation, Natsu had the magic of destruction. He burns everything he wanted, heat up a punch or kick, or even breathe out fire.

Wendy Marvell—the Healer. She had a timid personality, but she wasn't someone to look down upon. The air was her playground, playing and manipulating.

They were Magnolia Five Guards—ones whom Makarov was proud of. Of course, he has other warriors guarding his territory. But he hold a lot of confidence in those five. Even though his grandson Laxus had as equal or even more power, but these five had even more that just power. They were perfect in their own harmony.

At the very outskirt of Magnolia, the blue haired woman curled tightly at the base was seen leaping across the contour of the terrain. She was panting heavily, a few drops of rain drumming against her pink umbrella. She glanced up. The stars were fighting to be seen, and she was almost panting too heavily for her measure.

"Juvia."

She jumped, turning in her fighting stance with a hand extended forward.

"Calm down your tits, woman. It's just me."

She squinted, then relaxed at the sight of a pierce-faced man with long black spiky hair appearing from the dark shadow.

"Gajeel-kun," she acknowledged his presence.

Gajeel was looking around her before his face contorted in annoyance. "You failed, didn't you?"

Juvia straightened herself. "There was a nuisance."

"Nuisance?"

"Juvia ran into the Salamander."

Gajeel's brows rose. "Salamander? Magnolia Five Guard?"

She sighed, nodding a bit. Her expressionless face scrunched slightly. "It seems like Lucy Heartfilia-sama will be in Magnolia for a while."

"We have to get her," Gajeel huffed. "Jose won't allow failure. We can't return empty handed."

"Juvia can sneak in."

"With this rain?" Gajeel looked up the drizzling drops of sky. "You'll be found out in no time."

Juvia looked up, peeking beneath her umbrella. "Juvia is sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Gajeel scolded. "And why the hell did the Salamander protected her? Was that blondie has some kind of relationships with Magnolia?"

"Juvia isn't sure," Juvia bit her lips, contemplating her short encounter with Natsu. They didn't appear to be too friendly in Juvia's opinion.

Lucy squirmed slightly under the blanket, opening her eyes slowly, registering the room. Where was she? Her mind tried to dig the information inside her head. What happened to her? And then she remembered meeting the pink haired boy while trying to escape from the Rain Woman. She abruptly sat up.

"Ah, you're awake. I'm glad," a soft timid voice greeted her.

Lucy stared at the girl with blue hair tied in two ponytail. She looked so innocent and sweet, softly smiling at her.

"How do you feel?" the girl asked again.

Lucy breathed steadily. One hand clutching in front of her chest, as if trying to protect herself.

"Oh, sorry for being rude. I'm Wendy Marvell. Natsu-kun brought you here a few days ago. You fainted for quite long but you're stable now," the girl explained.

"Natsu?"

"The spiky pink hair guy," Wendy's hands shot of to her head, pointing some fingers as if trying to visualize Natsu's hair.

Ah, that guy.

Lucy smiled a bit. "Thank you for rescuing me." Really. She couldn't even imagine her life now if Natsu wasn't there.

Wendy smiled gracefully. "Say your thanks to Natsu when he's here. So, what's your name?"

Lucy bit her lower lip, hesitating a bit before carefully saying. "Lucy," she almost stuttered. "Lucy Heartfilia."

"Lucy Heartfilia-san," Wendy tested the name on her lips. "That's a very nice name."

"My mom named me."

Wendy noticed the sad smile forming on Lucy's lips. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," she muttered.

Wendy blinked. "Oh, no you didn't. It was just a coincidence."

"I'm sorry," Lucy's eyes started watering, a lone tear escaped down her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Lucy-san, please don't cry," Wendy stuttered at the sight, hands flailing in panic.

Lucy chuckled in sobs, shaking her head at the kind girl. "No, no, I'm okay."

It was then a raven haired guy came in her view. "So? What is it in you that had to be hunted for?"

Lucy froze at the sudden question—and interference—from the said guy.

"Gray-san, don't intimidate her," Wendy frowned. "She just woke up."

Gray stared at Lucy, raising a brow. "Would you mind telling us? Or is it some kind of a secret?" Not bothering about what Wendy said.

A/N: This idea had been in my head since last year. But I just had the courage to write it. I kinda feel bad about my own writing, but whatever. I'll just get this over and done with. e_e
Thank you for those who wasted your time reading this. Huhuhu.