*Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail*

This is my first fan fiction and first story I'm publishing. Please let me know what you think. I plan on updating once a week, possibly t

*The story takes place after the Eclipse Celectial Spirit arc*

CHAPTER 1

In the kingdom of Fiore, in the bustling city of Magnolia, Lucy Heartfilia sullenly walked into her apartment and slumped down onto her bed. A little over a month's time has passed since she regained her spirits from their rebellion and set the celestial world back in order. Everything since then has pretty much returned to normal. Letting out a big sigh, Lucy put the back of her hand over her eyes as she laid back, stretching her other arm across her bed. "That was a huge waste of time and energy!" She thought about how her last 3 missions went with her teammates Natsu and Happy. They took 3 small jobs that had decent payouts. The first 2 jobs Natsu caused a bit of damage and a large chunk of their reward went to pay the damages, their 3rd job there was so much that they didn't get any money for the job and actually had to pay on top of that. They had practically to pay what they earned from the other 2 jobs, leaving them to earn almost nothing between all three, and that was before you counted the transportation fees.

Lucy let out a low groan. She moved her hand off her face to stare at the ceiling; however, something pink caught her eye. She let her eyes wander towards the window where, perched there, was the man she was just mentally ranting to herself about. He was crouched next to her window looking in with his bright, olive green eyes, his salmon pink hair teasingly blowing in the wind.

Natsu slide the window open letting in a cool summer breeze. "Hey, Luce!" He had his normal playful grin plastered on his face.

She rolled herself over so she was on her hands and knees and put up her hand. "Oh no! Stop!" She put on her best authority face to prove her point that she was serious.

Happy perched himself on Natsu's shoulder. "Lucy, I heard that if you make a weird face long enough that it might just stick that way." He put up his blue little paw to cover his giggle at his 'funny' joke.

Natsu didn't seem to take her seriously either, letting his grin deepen. "Lucy, you aren't mad still about our mission are you? It was just ONE mission."

She grits her teeth, before raising her voice. "JUST ONE? JUST ONE?! NOOOOO! THREE MISSIONS!" She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to help calm herself down. She looked back at Natsu, his eyes stared blankly back at her. "If we keep losing our payouts from our jobs how am I supposed to pay my rent and buy groceries?"

Natsu's smiled wildly. "We will just have to take more jobs."

Happy raised his paw jubilantly. "AYE!"

Lucy stared dumbfounded at them. Composing her expressions, she sat up on her knees and crossed her arms. "That wouldn't solve anything. The last job we ended up having to pay out of our pocket for the destruction YOU caused." She spitefully scowled in his direction. "I'm tired of spending money repairing damages that were caused on our missions."

Seeing that Lucy is clearly more upset than he thought, he sat back so he was balanced on one knee and one of his feet. He looked down feeling a bit bad. Lucy continued, "Look, I think I'm going to take a few jobs on my own, just for a bit so I can get a couple of month's rent."

Natsu and Happy's faces looked stunned. "But Lucy," Happy jumped off Natsu's shoulder and landed onto her window sill, "we're a team!"

"You both go on missions without me all the time; I don't see why it's a big deal that I want to go on a few without you." She disputed.

They both made a disgruntled look in her direction. "You're serious?" Natsu grumpily asked.

Lucy was starting to feel bad but mentally shook it off. "YEAH!"

"I see. . . . . . Fine then." Natsu stood up, staring expressionlessly at her, his eyes filled with an unknown emotion. Happy looked between his 2 best friends, unsure of what to do. "Happy, let's just go back home." With that, the small blue cat gave one last dejected look towards Lucy.

She watched with mixed feelings as Happy gloomily used his aero magic to bring out his wings and slowly started to fly. Natsu jumped down and began walking away, Happy matching his head level. Lucy crawled over to the window and watched them walk towards their house. Once she watched them turn the corner, she closed her window and flipped the latch to lock it, almost laughing to herself as to how ineffective that was. Her guild members seemed to always find a way into her apartment whether it was locked or not, but it was more for her own piece of mind and to prove that her apartment isn't supposed to be open for everyone to come in at their own leisure.

She grumbled as she got up and stalked to her small bookcase and picked up the book she has been reading in her free time. She sat down on her bed and stared at the pages. After several minutes she realized that she was just staring at the words, not letting them register because her mind is too focused on the crestfallen expressions Natsu and Happy left with. She abruptly closed the book and set it next to her on the bed.

She laid back down with a sigh. "It's not like I SHOULD feel bad. They did most of the destroying and still go on quests without me. UGH! Why do they make me feel guilty?" She closed her eyes and thought about her predicament. "I need the money for rent, it's my biggest priority. I will just have to worry about feelings later." She frowned at herself, conflicted with emotions.

Lucy picked up the book and walked over to the shelf and placed the book where it belonged, knowing she wasn't going to focus on it like she wanted to. She glanced at her desk and couldn't help but let a small smirk escape as she saw her favorite picture. It was a painting Reedus made right before her and Natsu left on their first mission. He gave it to her shortly after she returned from the 7 year time lapse and she has treasured it ever since. Lucy picked it up and looked at the expressions on Natsu and Happy's faces as she smiled at them. She returned the painting to it's home, clenching her fist in front of her. She determinedly told herself, "Okay, I'll go to the guild tomorrow and get a request or two so I can just get them out of the way and then I'll make it up to them!" She smiled at herself. She started to bustle around the apartment, preparing for a few missions in advance and tried to figure out what she would need.

The next morning at the Fairy Tail guild hall, Natsu and Happy lingered at the request board. "Well, we should just take all of the solo missions so she can't leave us behind." Natsu, pleased with himself, looked over to Happy.

Happy frowned up towards him. "But Natsu, that just proves what Lucy said yesterday. We do go on missions without her." Happy looked back at the board. "Maybe we should just let her do a few on her own and get it over with. She did say it was only a few so she could pay for rent. It's not like she's replacing us or anything."

Natsu's face was expressionless as he listened. Happy was right, they weren't being fair to Lucy and he just needed to admit it to himself. "Fine then, let's just go to the bar and get some breakfast. It doesn't look like there are too many missions available today for an individual to take anyways. Who knows, she might come over and ask us to come." He smirked at himself. Happy stared at him and sighed. Natsu's logic, if you could call it that, was goofy sometimes.

While they sat down at the bar and ate their breakfast, the guild hall slowly filled up. Natsu entertained himself with talking to Lisanna and getting into a small brawl with Gray, breaking a few tables in the process before Erza stepped in. Natsu and Happy sat in the middle of the guild, discussing whether they should just head out to go fishing for the day or wait until tomorrow when Lucy strolls in. She smiled at them with a little wave of her hand and saunters over to the request board. She stands there looking thoroughly at each request and slowly makes her way to the bar with a disappointed look. "Mira, are there any good jobs for someone to take on by themselves?"

Mira looked over to Lucy, surprised. "Lucy, you want to do one by yourself, that's unusual."

Natsu listened across the room, raising his cup to his mouth taking a long drink, letting Happy talk about where he wants to go fishing and what types he wants to catch.

Lucy sullenly slid into one of the bar stools next to Cana, "Well. . . I have to pay rent soon and need to actually make some income on a few of the jobs I take."

Mira chuckled. "Oh Lucy, I get what you mean. Well I know the master is looking over the jobs to be posted for the next few days, so maybe by Thursday."

"THURSDAY?!" Lucy groaned putting her head on the counter. "That's 3 whole days away."

"LU!" Lucy turned her head on the counter towards Levy who was making her way over to them. Her blue curls bobbed with every bouncy step she took. Lucy couldn't help but smile a little. "Lucy, are you looking for a job to go on?"

Natsu's turned his head to get a better angle to listen to the new development of the conversation.

"Yeah, Levy, but there aren't any I can do myself and I need some money for rent." Lucy sulked.

"Well Lu," Levy said gleefully, "my offer still stands for you to join Shadow Gear."

Natsu completely turned his head towards the bar, now utterly forgetting about Happy's 'exciting' fish talk. Lucy wouldn't. She.. She couldn't..

Lucy sat up cheerfully. "Really Levy?! Are you sure?" She paused. "What about Jet and Droy, what would they think?"

Levy waved it off. "Oh, they won't care. Actually we could go on some harder missions with another person on our team so it might be really beneficial."

Lucy laughed. "Well I won't be THAT much help. I feel like I don't attribute much to our team as it is." She looked down at her hands as she rang them together. "Are you sure you guys want to invite me on your team?"

Levy grabbed Lucy's hands. "Are you kidding? Lu, you're amazing! I've seen what you can do and trust me, you are an asset to any team!"

Cana leaned over and added with a slight drunken slur, "Oh yeah, Lucy here is awesome! I would have totally . . totally made S Class if the trials weren't interrupted. She figured out where Mavis' grave was."

Lucy blushed with the compliments. Mira cheerfully listened to their conversation until she noticed Natsu across the room pointedly staring in their direction. She bit her bottom lip with concern. Lucy's voice broke her train of thought. "Levy, I will totally go with you guys, but only for a couple of missions." Mira glanced back and forth between Natsu and Lucy, knowing he clearly heard the entire conversation and Lucy is still probably unaware. She let out a soft sigh and began cleaning up another glass.

Lisanna appeared behind the bar and stood near Lucy and Levy. "Hey, what's up?"

Mira watched from her peripherals as the pink haired dragon slayer got up and swiftly make his way over to the bar in their direction. Her large blue eyes trailed back to the oblivious celestial mage, having a foreboding feeling.

Levy piped in, "Lucy is joining Shadow Gear! Isn't that exciting?!"

Lisanna, shocked by this news, looked to Lucy for confirmation.

Lucy smiled at Levy's enthusiasm. "Ha, it's only temporary."

"What's only temporary?" Lucy froze, suddenly feeling impending doom in where this conversation was going. She turned around in her seat to see Natsu standing there. He didn't look like he was in the best of moods with his arms folded and his jaw tight. She swallowed hard, not knowing what to say and stared at him cautiously. She wondered how much of their conversation he heard. "What's only temporary?" He asked again, his eyes hardening slightly.

Before Lucy could respond, Lisanna announced, "Why Lucy joining Shadow Gear of course!" Lucy glanced at Lisanna knowing she shouldn't get mad at her since she only knows a little of what's going on. She turned back to Natsu, meeting his edgy olive eyes.

"It's only temporary for a few missions." She smiled weakly at him.

Natsu frowned as Happy landed on Natsu's left shoulder, whining "Lucy, you said you were going to go one a few solo missions, not find a new team." Happy's broken-hearted face struck a chord in her heart.

"No, Happy it's not like that. ."

"How isn't it?" Natsu's irritated voice brought Lucy's attention back to his face. His frown deepened and his eyes looked like they were a mix between anger and sadness. Great! Now she felt really bad.

"Guys, I told you that I need to have a few jobs to pay rent, that's all that I'm doing. There aren't any good solo jobs currently up on the board and Mira said the next ones posted will take 3 days; 2 at the earliest. This is only going to be for a few jobs." She smiled encouragingly to them.

Natsu clenched his teeth as he weighed her words. Happy frowned disappointedly. Lucy let out a small sigh, not knowing what to say more. "Lucy…" Hearing Natsu's voice dragged her out of her inner turmoil. "We could go on another mission or two. ." She listened to his offer, getting a little frustrated that he didn't remember why she was originally looking for missions without them.

She pointed to the corner of the guild where the broken tables and chairs were piled from today's earlier brawl. "Who are those from?" She internally cringed; those words came out a little too harsh.

The group turned to where she pointed; Natsu winced at the direction of the conversation, knowing she was going to make some great points. He glanced back at her and sheepishly grinned as he scratched the back of his head with his right arm. "Oh that, you know. . . The usual."

Lucy sighed. She figured as much. "Natsu, what's the point of taking on jobs with you to earn money when you destroy EVERYTHING. It feels like such a waste of time and energy." She closed her eyes and started to rub her left temple. "Not to mention that I do actually need the money to maintain apartment that you and Happy are always breaking into. Plus I feel like I have to always restock my fridge since you both eat everything."

She opened her eyes to see Natsu staring at the floor clenching his fists, his expression is livid. He spoke hoarsely, "Waste of time and energy?" He looked at her, meeting her big brown eyes. She realized her mistake in her word choice immediately.

"No. . . Natsu, I didn't mean it like that." Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked away, biting her bottom lip. How could things spiral out of control so badly so fast?

"You know what Luce, do what you need to!" With that, he stormed out of the guild with Happy flying slowly trailing behind. Before Happy went out the doors, he gave one long look to Lucy and took off flying.