"Stella!" Natsu laughed, "Don't jump on your sister!"

In response, the stubborn blonde child glared up at her father. "Why not?" She demanded.

"She doesn't like it, sweetheart. You don't want to hurt her, do you?"

Stella huffed and, quite stubbornly, climbed off the back of her sister, who was crying out.

"I swear, her temper just gets more and more unpredictable." Natsu started, turning his head to look at his wife, "I guess she gets it from me, huh?"

Lucy smiled, knowing he was right. "It makes me wonder, where did Nashi's personality come from?"

As if to prove Lucy's point, Nashi, free of her sister's attacks, came running to her mother. She buried herself in Lucy's arms, sniffling. "Momma! Stella ~hic~ she jumped on me!" The distressed 8-year-old cried. Of Natsu and Lucy's children, Nashi was the crybaby, and Stella was more of a tough girl.

Lucy sighed "I know, baby. But she's still learning that she can't do stuff like that. Try to be patient with her, okay? I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you. Right, Stella?" She tacked on, glancing at her 5-year-old, who had her arms crossed defiantly.

Nashi took a second to compose herself, wiping the tears from her eyes and sniffing, before she nodded and marched back to her sister. "You can't jump on me, you hear?" Her sister's response was an apologetic hum. Nashi hugged her sister, letting her know she was forgiven.

"You'd think it would be the older one attacking the younger one..." Natsu trailed off, lost in thought. Lucy loved seeing him like that. In the past nine years, he had really mellowed out. He was so vastly different from the man she had met all that time ago...


Nine years ago, a pink-haired boy and a cat "saved" a blonde girl from the clutches of a forbidden spell, wielded by a "Salamander" who was putting on a street show. They are now sitting in a cafe together, eating...

"So, my name's Lucy! Nice to meet you!" Lucy introduced herself to the rather unusual pair sitting across from her. She expected them to respond, but they did no such thing. They were too busy stuffing their faces with food. Uneasily, she tried again. "Uhh... Natsu and Happy, was it?"

This time, there was a response from the pink-haired boy- Natsu. "Mmm-Hmm." Stuffing his mouth with more food, he said, "You're really nice."

Lucy sat and wondered what he meant by that before understanding struck- He must be talking about me buying him food... she thought to herself.

"Thanks...you guys can slow down, we're not in a hurry. And the food's kinda flying everywhere." She said, somewhat nervously. When she offered to take them to lunch, she hadn't been anticipating this; they were cramming their food into their mouths, barely pausing for breath or conversation. Then she remembered the events of earlier, in which she was under a charm spell. She decided that she should explain what that was to these two while they were eating. This launched into a full description of magic and guilds and whatnot. She had a sinking suspicion that they were only half listening, but she didn't mind. What broke her out of her train of thought was the blue cat, finally taking a break from the food.

"You talk a lot." He remarked.

He's right. I have been talking a lot about myself... I hope it wasn't rude. Maybe I should ask about them? she thought. "You guys came here looking for someone, didn't you?" She asked. Natsu has also stopped eating at this point, and she decided that her lecture's ending was well timed.

It was Happy that answered her question. "We were looking for Igneel!"

"We heard a rumor that a salamander was going to be in town, so we came looking for him. Turns out it was someone else." Natsu elaborated.

"Yeah!" Happy turned to his friend. "That guy didn't look like a Salamander at all!"

"No kidding! I bet that guy can't even breathe fire like a real dragon!" Natsu huffed.

At this point, Lucy was completely lost. "I don't understand..." She started, voicing her confusion. "Your friend looks like a dragon?"

Natsu turned to her. "No, you got it all wrong. He doesn't look like a dragon, he is one."

It took a second for the news to settle itself into her brain, and when it did, she was even more confused than she was before. "Why would a dragon show up in the middle of town?!" She said, a little too loudly.

Natsu and Happy opened their mouths to argue their point, but no words made it past their lips. She's right. They realized at the same time.

Lucy's chuckles had barely reached their ears when she started to excuse herself, putting money on the table to pay for the meal. I think I'll take a walk. Maybe it'll clear my head a bit. Lucy decided.

"Enjoy the rest of your lunch, and maybe I'll see you around!" She happily chirped, heading for the door. The waitress closest to the exit thanked Lucy for stopping by, and then looked behind her in horror. Turning to see what the commotion was, Lucy spotted the pink-haired boy and his cat kneeling on the floor.

"Thank you for the food!" They chorused.

"U-Uh, yeah.. sure," She said. "Will you get off the floor please... you're embarrassing me!"

She stayed to watch them climb back into the booth and begin stuffing their faces again. Smiling, she murmured, "What an odd pair. I hope I see them around."

As she walked out the door, she knew she meant it.


Present day

"Lucy?" Natsu asked, tearing Lucy from her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Lucy responded, turning her head to face her husband, who looked concerned.

"You okay, Luce? You were really zoned out for a while there."

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, I was just remembering the first time we met, nine years ago. We ate lunch together. Do you remember?" She asked him.

He smirked, obviously knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah, I remember. You bought me a whole bunch of food..."

"Is that all you remember about it?!" She yelled, annoyed that she remembered the exchange perfectly, while he seemed to only recall the meal. "I guess that makes sense though. All you did was eat."

Natsu's smirk turned into a full-on smile, further proving to Lucy that his memory only reached back that far because of the meal that was provided. "Anyway," he sighed "are we going to head to the guild now? It's about time, I think."

"Yeah..." Lucy reluctantly agreed. Today was the day that Natsu would be taking Nashi out on her first guild mission. Lucy had been uneasy about the idea since it was proposed, and the thought still hadn't grown on her. "Please make sure she isn't hurt, you know how she is," Lucy said, referencing the events of that morning.

"Yeah, I know. But she'll be fine. I won't let her get hurt." Natsu said.

Lucy nodded. She trusted Natsu, and it was only a short mission around Magnolia. She'll be fine. Lucy felt her resolve harden. "Alright then, let's go." She called the kids over, and as a family, they began walking to the Fairy Tail guild hall.


Somewhere, off in the distance...

An unsettling air gathered in the run-down restaurant as soon as the two men walked in. They quickly chose a table, ignoring the Please Wait To Be Seated sign nestled in the corner. A waitress almost confronted them, but one glance at their demeanor shook any thoughts of speaking to them from her mind.

"When will we leave?" Asked the first man. He had a dark cloak wrapped around his broad shoulders, and his straight blond hair was styled in a bowl cut. He also had piercing teal eyes, which somehow only made him look more menacing than he already was. But despite the unwelcoming aura that wrapped itself around him, he was quite beautiful, for a man.

"Soon enough." The second man replied. He also had a cloak around his shoulders. However, unlike his companion, there was nothing pretty about this man. He had forest green hair that fell in several different lengths, the longest one reaching his shoulder. He had dark pools of brown above a deeply scarred nose, and an equally scarred mouth. There seemed to be waves of authority rippling off of him, which only added to the uninviting look about him.

"We have to leave soon, though, right? I mean, we can't just-"

"Yes, I know!" Shouted the second man. "We'll leave when the time is right. But we need to eat. Or did you forget?" He scowled.

"N-no, sir." Said the blond. He picked up the menu in front of him, unable to focus on choosing a dish.

"Oi!" Yelled the scarred man. "Can we get some service, here?!"

The waitresses took a second to process what he meant. Is he asking for food? They all thought. His second yell brought them all to their senses, and they started looking very busy polishing a countertop of setting table ware. One waitress was not as lucky as her friends. The man's gaze zeroed in on her, just standing, frantically searching for something to do. Once she realized that it was futile, she gathered up her courage, as well as two menus, and walked to the table.

"What can I get started for you two?" She gulped.


A/N: Hi there! Thank you for reading this! It's my first fanfic ever, so I hope you liked it! There will be more chapters, for sure, and I'll try to update frequently. Please leave a review for me! And please don't go too easy on me. Meaning: LEAVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! Be nice about it, but I can't get better if you all don't tell me what I'm doing wrong!

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, where you'll get to meet the rest of the guild and see how they're doing. :) That's all for now, Goodbye!

-K

ALSO! Please note that in the flashback, I pulled most of the dialogue from the actual episode of the anime! I didn't make that dialogue up, it does not belong to me! I repeat, THE DIALOGUE IN THE FLASHBACK WAS FROM THE ANIME, NOT MY IMAGINATION!