A/N: New fanfiction. Tell me what you think. Honest and detailed reviews appreciated. Not quite sure where I'm going with this but I think it's going somewhere good. If you have any ideas or suggestions, throw them at me! I may be able to incorporate them into the story :) I love interacting with the readers. This is a more serious fanfiction but hopefully I can manage some gems of humor. I hope this will blossom into something great and enjoyable.

The blond girl leaned back onto her hands, legs stretched out before her, head tilted up to the starry night sky. It was windy and cold and she was thankful that she had chosen to wear thick cargo pants and a heavy hoodie.

But still...

Cold or not, she found that this particular spot, at this particular time of morning, was a refreshing break from the chaos that was her life. It was early, early morning, close to two and the city was just dying down. All was quiet in the park though, no party stragglers to be found. Lucy looked back up at the stars and carefully picked out a few constellations. Ursa Major. Canis Minor. Andromeda. Cassiopeia. Mirfak. Lucy giggled as Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, twinkled merrily, seemingly directing his cheer to her. It was unusual for Leo to be showing this early in the year but Lucy knew that the stars forged their own paths and she would enjoy his company while she could. It was to bad her only friends were stars that couldn't even talk. Great balls of gas and fire millions of light years away...

But she loved them anyway. She had always loved the stars...

What if constellations were real, she thought. The girl laid back against he solid wood roof of Central Park's biggest playground fort and let her thoughts continue to roam over the endless expanse of stars until sleep stole upon her on silent feet.

O_X_O

The pink haired boy stared down at the sleeping figure. This would be the zillionth time he had watched this girl fall asleep at this playground. He didn't know what her deal was but at least five to six days of the week she was out here watching the stars. At least three of those days she would fall asleep, curled up tightly upon the roof of the park play equipment. The boy, Natsu, watched in grim silence from his perch in the branches of the trees that stood like sentries over the playground's fort.

"Natsu, making a habit of watching pretty girls sleep kind of, sort of, makes you a creeper," came the calm voice of Natsu's companion. The boy pulled at his scarf and blushed.

"I've told you, Happy, it's not like that." Out of the shadows came a periwinkle cat. The cat folded his wings as he landed beside Natsu, curling his tail warmly around his friend's wrist.

"It's just...look at her! I mean," the boy growled, "she's asleep in the middle of the park at two in the morning." The pink haired boy turned away in disgust, his grip on the bark of the branch tightened. Softly he added, "What a careless life she must lead. She probably has no worry in the world." He stole a glance back at the girl; she now was curled up into a slight ball. She certainly was pretty, with shoulder length golden yellow hair that now fanned out about her head like a halo. Even though the jacket she wore was baggy, and her cargo pants with many, many pockets were loose, and bunched up in awkward places, Natsu's keen eye could see she had a curvacious, and soft figure.

"Idiot. She's going to freeze." The words hung in the air unspoken as the October wind whipped his hair about his face.

"Natsu, we don't have long. It is best that we go back before we're caught. You'll have to pick a partner soon anyways, so you won't be able to come back here again as much." Happy gently tightened the grip his tail had on Natsu's wrist. It was a comforting gesture. Natsu smiled sadly down at Happy.

"Yeah...just give me a minute."

O_X_O

It was just past six when Lucy stirred. She had fallen asleep, again. Thankfully, she had woken up before nine so she had time to go home and shower before work. With a small fist, she gently rubbed at an eye and slowly sat up. A soft swish, and a slight added pressure to her arm made her look down: half hanging over one shoulder and half in her lap was a long, white, scaled-patterned scarf.