Lucy's POV

It is the year 2010. I ran away from my dad, Jude Heartfilia of the Heartfilia Corp, about 3 months ago. I have found a small but cozy apartment to stay in, close to Fairy Tail High, which I was attending. To support myself and earn rent, I got a babysitting job, in addition to my waitress job.

At first, I really didn't think I would enjoy babysitting. It just happened to be that Makarov Dreyar, the principal of Fairy Tail High, needed a babysitter to take care of all his adopted grandchildren on Sunday evenings, from 5 till 9. Of course, since I was the top student at the school, and very responsible, he personally requested me to help him out.

Flashback

"I'm sorry, Principal Makarov," I had tried to politely decline. "As you know, I'm living by myself, and I don't think a babysitting job will be enough to cover my rent..."

"Oh, is that right?" Principal Makarov asked. "How about... $150 dollars an hour?"

$150? No way! Today is my lucky day! With $600 every week, and a waitress job, I might actually be able to support myself!

"I'll take it!" I said, with a huge grin on my face.

"Alright then, here is my address," Makarov wrote down his address for me. "The job will be on Sunday, from 5 to 9. Please, try to be punctual. I have a lot of meetings to attend. Our school is getting damaged every day, and someone has to weasel their way out of paying the repair costs." He smiled, giving me that don't-tell-anyone look.

I laughed. That man was genuinely funny. "Alright, I guess I'll see you Sunday then!"

Time Skip to Sunday

I breathed, in and out. I have to do well today. I need that $600! I was wearing a cute pink tank top, and a whitewashed jean-jacket, paired with a navy blue miniskirt and tan loafers.

I checked myself in the mirror again, before pressing the doorbell to the giant mansion.

"Okay kids! She's here!" I heard a muffled voice call. After a few more seconds, Makarov answered the door.

"Principal Makarov," I greeted, slightly bowing.

"Oh, no need for formalities. We're outside of school after all," he winked at me. I smiled in return.

"Gramps! Who's that girl?" a raven haired boy asked curiously, peeking out from the doorframe.

"Ah, that's Lucy, your babysitter. And Gray, go put on some clothes!" Makarov commanded.

"Aah! Where did my clothes go?" Gray quickly dashed up the stairs to change.

"Oi, that's right! Go get some pants, STRIPPER!" a pink-haired boy screamed, buckling over in laughter.

Oh my. I thought. These are some crazy kids. But, that pink-haired one is really cute... aww, look at his pudgy cheeks. I just want to squish them!

"All right kids. I'll be going now. Please, listen to Lucy and don't destroy the house! I have enough repair costs to pay up!" With that, Makarov rushed out the door, eager to get a break from all the kids in the house.

Suddenly, the house was silent. A wide array of kids stared up at Lucy, waiting for her to say something.

"Well, umm, hi everyone!" I waved, trying to be bright. "I'm Lucy, and I'll be your babysitter for today."

No one spoke.

"W-well, are you hungry? I could go make you some dinner..." I trailed off. After a few seconds, all the kids nodded.

"A-alright then. Could you please show me the kitchen?" I asked the nearest kid, the pink-haired one who laughed at Gray.

He grumbled, obviously reluctant to do the work. "Ok, just follow me." Aww, so adorable!

"Thank you. Now kids, go watch TV or something, and make sure you don't do anything dangerous, alright?" The kids nodded solemnly again. They all looked about 6 or 7, and too quiet in my opinion. Maybe they were just shy. I nodded to the pink-haired kid, signaling him to show me the way.

He grabbed onto my hand with his grubby one, and tugged me towards the kitchen. When we got to the kitchen, my eyes widened in happiness. I had always loved cooking, but my kitchen was tiny. This kitchen, on the other hand, was HUGE!

Marble walls shined in the warm light. Counter tops seemed to stretch across the entire kitchen. A massive refrigerator, a massive oven, a massive sink! Wow, everything was so big!

"So, can I go yet?" I turned to see the pink haired boy, a grouchy expression on his face.

"Aw, you're so cute! Of course you can go! By the way, I love your pink hair!" I checked the pantry, hoping to find some spaghetti. Homemade spaghetti could never go wrong, right?

"It's SALMON! Not pink!" I whirled around in surprise. "Geez, why do people always get that wrong? Hmph."

"Oh... I'm sorry. Salmon it is," I said, appalled that he would just yell at me.

The strange thing is, when I was cooking, he just stood there the whole time, watching me, not even moving an inch. Although it was a little uncomfortable at first, I started getting used to it, and even started humming.

"Alright kids! Dinner is ready!" I yelled. Two seconds later, I heard a storm of footsteps coming closer to the kitchen.

About 10 kids filed in, rosy cheeks and pudgy hands, all brawling. Their chatter echoed off the rooms. They all took their places at a large dinner table, leaving the head of the table empty.

I suppose that seat is for me. I assumed.

"Kids, can you please help me set the table?" I asked politely.

A chorus of "okay"s echoed across the room. They all started grabbing dishes and forks and set them on the table. In the end, it actually looked pretty neat, for a bunch of 7 year-olds.

"Alright, thank you!" I said cheerily. I brought the huge pot of spaghetti to the table and ladled out some for everyone.

As soon as I sat down at the table and started eating, the idle chatter stopped. All the kids watched me eat. I felt pretty awkward.

"Well, um... why don't you all tell me your names? I want to get to know you better!" I said, trying to lighten the mood. After all the introductions, here's what I got:

Natsu Dragneel - the brat of the house, always demanding, salmon hair (NOT PINK), very energetic

Gray Fullbuster - the stripper, raven hair, Natsu's "rival"

Erza Scarlet - the eldest one (only by a few months), long red hair, able to stop Natsu's bullying if necessary, loves strawberry cake

Mirajane Strauss - eldest of the Strauss siblings, beautiful white hair, badass

Elfman Strauss - middle child of the Strauss siblings, very "manly"

Lisanna Strauss - youngest of the Strauss siblings, short white hair, Natsu's lover

Levy McGarden - the bookworm, shortish blue hair, red glasses, very small body

Laxus Dreyar - Makarov's grandson (by blood), blonde hair, scar on his face when he got struck by lightning

Cana Alberona - brunette, her words are slurred for some reason, seems to stare strangely at a booze bottle on the counter

Wendy Marvell - the youngest of the group, long dark blue hair, very shy

Soon after dinner, as all the children were about to shuffle out of the dining room, I quickly yelled, "Wait!"

They all turned towards me.

"Uh, does anyone want to hear a story?" I tried. I really wanted to try getting them to warm up to me.

This turned them on.

"YEAH YEAH! STORY TIME!" All the kids cried and fought each other to sit near me.

"O-okay. Why don't we go to the living room?" I was a bit overwhelmed. "I'll tell you a story there!" I suppose Principal Makarov never really had time to tell them stories, huh?

Time Skip (all the kids are seated in the living room, and Lucy is sitting on the couch)

"Alright kids!" I exclaimed, "Today I will be telling you the story of... the Princess and the Dragon."

Everyone cheered except for Natsu, who let out a huff. Erza shushed him.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who was stuck in a castle. She had everything she wanted, except for a prince.

Now, princes from all over the land would come and ask for the princess' hand in marriage, but she turned down all of them, not feeling a spark of love.

One day, a dragon flew by. He caught eye of the beautiful princess and got interested. He swooped down and landed near her tower, the tallest in the entire castle.

At first, the princess was a little scared of the dragon and his rough attitude, but soon grew to cherish him as a friend, maybe even more than a friend. But, at that time, the idea seemed preposterous. A princess falling in love with a dragon, no way!

As the days went by, the dragon would chase away all the suitors of the princess. The dragon was known to the people as the fearsome captor of the beautiful maiden, but to the princess, he was her protector, her knight in shining armor."

I gazed down at the intense stares of the little children. Their eyes were full of awe.

"Well, does the princess marry the dragon?" A voice piped up. I saw that it was Natsu who spoke.

"Uh, well, I don't know!" I laughed heartily, "What do you think, Natsu?"

"Well, I think the idea of a dragon and a princess loving each other is stupid! I mean, why would a powerful dragon want a measly little princess?" Natsu retorted.

All the kids gasped.

"Natsu..." Erza's voice was full of warning.

"Shut up you meanie!" Gray yelled.

"You shut up, STRIPPER!" Natsu yelled back.

"MAN!" Elfman yelled.

"Huh?" Cana slurred.

A full out brawl started happening. Gray, Natsu, and Elfman got tangled up in a storm of fists.

"Oh my..." I was shocked. I turned to Erza. "Do they always do this?"

"Yep." Erza gave me a weak smile, "I guess I have to break them up again."

Wow, so mature. I thought. Erza did a great job of being the eldest child.

Time Skip to 9

[Lucy and the rest of the kids played games, sang, and did other fun stuff for the rest of the night. The kids, being cooped up in the house with Makarov, didn't really have any fun time together. Being with Lucy had really made them happy, something they hadn't felt in a long time.]

"As the ghost sneaked behind the girl, it yelled... BOO!" I put on my best scary face and jumped out at the nearest person, who happened to be Gray.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed. We all bust out in laughter.

"Aw... you scared, stripper?" Natsu taunted.

"S-shut up!" Gray said, still shivering.

"Natsu, be quiet!" Erza scolded, but even she was having trouble holding in her laughter.

Wow, entertaining these kids is much more fun than I thought. I feel so glad, I seem to have brought more happiness to them. I practically glowed with pride.

Kch. I heard the doorknob turn, and Makarov came in, slightly disgruntled, and in a bad mood.

"KIDS! TIME FOR BED!" He roared.

"Yes, Gramps," All the kids called out in synchronization, sniggering at the distraught man.

"SHUT UP YOU BRATS! NOW GO!" Makarov yelled. All the kids scrambled out of the room, yelling, "Bye Miss Lucy!"

"Ah, and thank you Lucy," Makarov smiled tiredly at me. "I just have so many repair costs, I don't know what to do. Here's your $600..."

"No, no it's okay," I smiled at him. Although I needed the money, I just felt so bad for Makarov and the kids. "This time it's free. It was fun, babysitting them."

Makarov's eyes practically shined with happiness. "OH THANK YOU LUCY-SAN! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! ARIGATOU!" I sweat-dropped.

"Ah, i-it's okay," I mumbled, moving away.

"Well, thank you again, Lucy," Makarov said.

"My pleasure," I bowed, and walked out the door.

The fresh crisp breeze hit me as I made my way to my car, a silver Toyota Camry.

As I was about to pull out from the driveway, a brightly lit window caught my eye. I looked up, and saw a shock of pink, no, SALMON, hair peeking out.

"Is that Natsu?" I mumbled to myself. He seemed to be hunched over. What is he doing?

"NATSU!" I called out. He must of heard me, as he turned around to face me. WAIT! Why are his eyes red?

"Natsu, are you okay?" I yelled.

"Y-yeah," He called back down, sniffling, his voice weak. "B-bye, Miss Lucy..." With that, he closed the window.

What just happened? I pondered. As I went to sleep that night, I couldn't help the image of the cute, bratty, salmon-haired boy pop into my head. I wonder why he was crying...