I found myself in a bar near the outskirts of Crocus. I wanted nothing more than to get a drink and sit down. My feet were killing me after all the walking I had done trying to find work. It had been three months since Fairy Tail was disbanded. We had all gone our separate ways. I had no one again. I was alone, again. I sighed into my glass and laid my head on the bar.
I downed the rest of my glass and waved down the bartender. To say I was in for a shock was an understatement. I stared at the ever so familiar dark blue eyes. I reached over the bar and wrapped my arms around the man.
"Oh, Gray!"
I heard him chuckle and wrap his arms around me. "Hey, Lucy. How ya been?"
I felt tears begin to drip down my cheeks. "Looking for rent money as always."
He pulled away enough to let me see his tearful, but smiling, expression. "Lucky for you that we're looking for an entertainer. Come on, I'll show you around back and get you set up." I followed him to a back room used for storage and he handed me a microphone. "Just sing like you used to in the shower."
"Still creepy that you listened."
"We lived together, Lucy. I had no choice." He teased.
I smiled at the memory. Gray and I had hit it off almost immediately after I had joined the guild all those years ago. Ultimately, we drifted apart romantically and we decided to just be friends. We worked well together, but as I said, we drifted.
I hugged him once more before taking a look at my outfit. "Do you think I need a nicer outfit?"
He studied my clothes. They were a bit worn and dirty from the day's trek around the city and my hair was a tad frazzled as well. "Maybe Virgo has something?"
I smiled and nodded. "Open, gate of the maiden, Virgo!" She bowed, dropping her usual playful banter ever since Aquarius. "Do you maybe have a super cute outfit for me in the Spirit World?"
"Of course, Hime." She disappeared and reappeared after a moment and handed me a neatly folded pile of clothes with a cute pair of brown boots on top.
"I'll be right outside, Luce. Let me know when you're done." He stepped out of the room.
Quickly, I changed into the clothes. It was my favourite light pink turtleneck paired with white skinny jeans. I opened the door and laughed at Gray's dumbfounded expression. "You look hot, Lucy."
"I'm comfortable, not hot. Beauty is pain, Gray!" I joked. "Alright, I'm ready."
He lead the way to the little raised platform next to the bar. "Remember the time we snuck away for the week and took that job at Hosenka? Man, I never would have thought you'd seen that much money before." He laughed.
"Not since I joined Fairy Tail, Gray, I hadn't. Natsu and you tended to make our reward disappear." I teased.
"Well, it was mostly Natsu."
"Mostly." I stressed.
He rolled his eyes at me. "Okay, so when you're ready, hit this button with your foot and the light will come on. Be ready to begin then. All eyes are on you. The lacrima right here," He pointed at the wall where a small green square lacrima was mounted to the wall, "will provide your back up music and vocals if you need it. It's the latest on the market. Pretty neat, huh?"
I nodded and took a deep breath as he went back to the bar. I stood before the button and gently pressed with my foot.
"If I could begin to be
Half of what you think of me
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love
When I see the way you act
Wondering when I'm coming back
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love
Like you
(Love like you)
I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that its true
'cause I think you're so good
And I'm nothing like youLook at you go
I just adore you
I wish that I knew
What makes you think I'm so special
If I could begin to do
Something that does right by you
I would do about anything
I would even learn how to love
When I see the way you look
Shaken by how long it took
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love like you
Love like you
Love me like you"
As the final bits of music rang out and faded, I felt the several pairs of eyes on me. Some faces were in shock, others had a pleasant smile and one had a curious expression. After a moment, I leaned into the microphone once more.
"Do you all want another?"
A loud ringing of cheers resounded through the building, causing a man to approach Gray and whisper into his ear. I watched Gray bust out into a smile and just point to me.
"That's just Lucy. I take it she's hired, then?" I read his lips.
I turned back to the cheering crowd. "Who's ready for something more upbeat?"
Another round of cheers from them and another deep breath from me.
"Right right, turn off the lights,
We gonna lose our minds tonight,
What's the dealio?
I love when it's all too much,
Five a.m. turn the radio up
Where's the rock and roll?
Party crasher,
Panty snatcher,
Call me up if you want a gangsta
Don't be fancy, just get dancy
Why so serious?
So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be, anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass
Slam slam, oh hot damn
What part of party don't you understand,
Wish you'd just freak out (freak out already)
Can't stop, comin' in hot,
I should be locked up right on the spot
It's so on right now (so fuckin' on right now)
Party crasher,
Panty snatcher,
Call me up if you want a gangsta
Don't be fancy, just get dancy
Why so serious?
So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be, anything but loud
"nitty gritty dirty little freaks"
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass
(oh shit my glass empty, that sucks!)
So if you're too school for cool,
And you're treated like a fool,
(Treated like a fool)
You can choose to let it go
We can always, we can always,
Party on our own
So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be, anything but loud
Nitty gritty dirty little freaks
So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be, anything but loud
Nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass (for me)
Just come on and come on and raise your glass (for me)"
I let a little laugh at the end as the crowd cheered once more. My songs had drawn people inside and made business boom. I looked back over to the man and Gray and found them both giving me a thumbs up. I gave them a big smile in return. My eyes searched for the curious face in the crowd and found nothing.
He looked so intrigued.
He looked so familiar.
I shook it from my mind and continued to entertain the crowd until the bar finally closed well into the night.
The manager, I later found out his name was Shiro after my fifth song, gave me a light pat on the shoulder after everyone was out. "You did very well tonight. Are you an experienced performer?"
I laughed and shook my head. "No, I'm far from it. I've only done a few plays and a singing job with Gray two years back in Hosenka."
"Never would have guessed. You're hired, by the way. Haven't seen a crowd that big in here in a long time."
"Glad to be on board, sir." I shook his extended hand.
When all was cleaned up, which both me and Gray were used to due to Fairy Tail's parties, we said our good nights and went our separate ways. I made my way to my hotel room. The roads were empty and quiet. It was a bit cool for mid September, but the turtleneck kept me warm enough. I summoned Plue and carried him close to my chest as I told him all about my first day on the job. He "Puun~Puun~"ed every once in a while to show he was listening. When I reached my door, I swiftly unlocked it and made my way for the shower. I spent a long time in the bath, humming to the various songs I had sung that night only to be startled by a harsh knock on the door.
I wrapped myself in a towel and answered the door in a hurry, trying to figure out who would bother me at this time of night. I opened the door and was ready to scold the person when I saw who it was.
"Sting?"
"Lucy?"
"Come in, come in. Let me get dressed. Give me just a minute, Sting." I quickly grabbed some clothes, which ended being some light grey sweat pants and a plain white tank top. As I stepped back into the room, I eyed him a bit warily. He returned the look tenfold. He was only dressed in shorts and socks, which implied he was also staying nearby. He had a bandage wrapped around his chest, as well. I could see blood beginning to seep through. My thoughts were brought to his reason for being here. Maybe he heard my humming? I crossed my arms under my chest and gave him a slight frown at my thoughts. "What are you doing running around dressed like that? Moreover, what brings you to my room, Stingy-Bee?"
He groaned at the nickname I had given him three months ago. "I wanted to tell you to shut up with all that humming. Some people are trying to sleep." He grunted grumpily.
I led him to one of the chairs of the little table in the room. "Sit and stay. I'll be right back." I could hear him grumble about him not being a dog as I fetched my first aid kit. I carefully removed the bandage and cleaned the wound. "Sorry, if I woke you, Sting."
"Don't worry about it." After a few minutes, he swallowed. "Aren't you going to ask about him?"
"There's nothing you can tell me that I don't already know, Sting." I said nonchalantly.
I could feel his eyes boring into my soul, trying to figure out my feelings. "He misses you dearly."
"Sting-"
"He's my friend, Lucy!"
"And I'm your sister!"
"I know..."
"Besides, he ended things. I won't go back just because he asks."
There was another knock on the door, which I had left slightly ajar, when Sting's around there are always more to follow.
Without looking up, I frowned. "I don't want to see you Rogue."
"Not Rogue," The light voice only belonged to one person I knew.
"Sorry, Rufus," I apologised as I finished wrapping the clean bandage around Sting's abdomen.
"It's fine, Lucy. No worries. Thank you for treating my Master's wounds." He bowed his head slightly.
"No problem. Nothing a big sister wouldn't do for her little brother." I gave both of them a soft smile. I had seen both men grow into wonderfully extraordinary mages and men. Since Sting had taken over, their guild had become lighter and happier. It was shortly after that Sting and I had found out our sibling-ship. Regardless of it only being our father that we share, we still treasured each other.
Rufus had somewhat became a little brother as well, to me as well. He greatly admired Sting, thus getting to know me alongside Sting. Rufus had grown up similarly to me, an heir to a wealthy business. He decided he wanted to learn the world and then came across memory magic. He was a natural, it went well with his love for reading. He never had to read a book twice, but I'd sometime catch him doing just that.
"Did you need something, Rufus?"
"Well, originally, I was looking were our dear Master had wandered off to, what with his injuries and all, but I have a special request for you, Lucy, if you have a spare moment."
I helped Sting to the door. "Get out little brother, Rufus needs advice about girls."
"NO! I wanna stay! As Guild Master, I must know. Who is it, Rufus? Is it Yukino?! She is MINE!" Sting screeched through the now closed door.
I sat at the table where Rufus had taken Sting's seat. "Shoot."
"I want to ask someone to be mine, but I have not a clue how to do such a thing."
"You could do just that. Tell whomever that. That you want to ask them out, but you couldn't figure out how. Girls understand that."
"It's more complicated than that."
"Elaborate, please?"
"She seems so far out of my reach..."
"Who?"
"You..."
Okayy! So first off, this story was specifically requested by Aki Spencesu. The asked and I tried very much to deliver. This will be a two part story. I had a cliffhanger opportunity and I HAD to take it. Sorry.
First Song: Love Like You - Rebecca Sugar (This song was broken up over the credits of the TV show Steven Universe, so if it's a little different when you look it up, sorry. This was based off of one video compilation of all the pieces.)
Second Song: Raise Your Glass - P!nk
Hope you'll come back for part two!