AN: Hey guys! So I found a few old fics I wrote but never published and decided to polish them up and upload them here. The thing is, though, I didn't necessarily want to make them all into separate stories (for starters, it's REALLY hard coming up with titles for a couple of them...), so I decided to just throw them and any other future FT oneshots I might have into one big collection. Think like Sunshine and Summertime only none of these are NaLu Week related.

Granted, they'll all most likely be NaLu, but I'll try to make other stories that don't revolve around the couple. And normally I don't do requests, however, I'm always up for suggestions and prompts, so If any of my reviewers want to see me tackle something, I'll be more than happy to try my hand at it!

Now, as for this particular oneshot, this is an old one. I wrote it back in 2013 when I first started dabbling in FT fanfiction. I remember writing this because I found out via the FT Wiki timeline that Natsu, Happy, and Lucy spent a day together before they got to Magnolia (they met July 2nd and Lucy joined the guild on July 4th). So, I wondered what it would have been like, these three characters interacting and not knowing anything about each other.

I mean as close as they are in the current story, back then, they were more distant with each other. So that was the purpose of writing this: trying to get a feel of the early days of Original Team Natsu. I think I did a pretty good job with it.

Well, enough rambling. Here you go!


Title: At the Beginning

Summary: A look into Natsu, Lucy, and Happy's friendship the day after they meet.

Rating: K

Pairing: None. Natsu/Lucy/Happy friendship

Timeline: Between chapters/episodes 1 and 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.


Instead of running straight out of Hargeon and away from the Imperial Guards like Natsu had planned, Lucy managed to convince him and Happy to hide out in the small, cheap motel room she was staying at while she was in town. The Salamander and his flying companion agreed and crashed on the less-than-comfortable sofa while the blonde took the bed, all three excited for the next day's trek to Magnolia and Fairy Tail.

Early that morning, Lucy woke the two, telling them that they should eat breakfast before heading to the train station.

"W-Wait, did you say 'train'?!" Natsu gulped, staring incredulously at his new nakama.

"Uhh, yeah. How else should we get to Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked, raising a brow at the pink haired teen as his face started to slowly turn an unattractive shade of green.

"Walk, duh!" Natsu replied, "I already suffered a train ride and a freakin' boat yesterday! There is no way you are getting me to go back onto that torture chamber with wheels!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed, copying his partner's defiant stance and staring the blonde down.

"You cannot be serious! It'll take us a day just to get there!" she realizes the dragon slayer had motion sickness, but come on!

"So? We'll just camp out. It'll be fun, Luigi!" Natsu said with an optimistic grin.

Lucy seemed to relent. Maybe it won't be so bad, it's just a day right? She's just overreacting and—wait, hold up.

"What did you call me?"

Natsu blinked innocently, "Luigi. That's your name right?"

His answer came in the form of a fist to the head, "It's Lucy, you fire breathing dolt! Got it memorized?"

"A-Aye."

Once the trio ate a quick breakfast, they began their walk to Magnolia in silence.

An uncomfortable silence, Lucy noticed.

This is so awkward. Should it be this awkward, or am I just imagining things? she thought, looking over at her companions to see it they felt the same tension she did. Happy was lounging on top of the Dragon Slayer's head, enjoying the late morning sun while Natsu was just leisurely strolling on, not looking bothered at all.

Okay, I guess it is just me… Lucy thought. Seriously, they were going to be guildmates in less than a day, shouldn't they at least talk or something?

Go on, Lucy, start a conversation! This silence is becoming unbearable!

"The weather is nice today," she began but then mentally knocked herself in the head. Really, Lucy? You chose the weather as your conversation starter? How original.

Much to her further humiliation, Natsu just hummed in agreement; not opting to add onto the conversation. The silence continued.

Arrgh! Say something! Whether her frustrating thoughts were toward herself or Natsu, she wasn't so sure.

Deciding to let it go for the time being, she allowed her eyes to wander his form. He wasn't wearing the red overcoat she saw him wearing yesterday, showing off his toned arms. He had on the scale patterned muffler and her eyes skimmed straight to his face, noticing how his eyes slanted upwards. She didn't waste a lot of time looking at his face due to the fact her own was beginning to heat up, so she moved to where Happy was napping on the make-shift bed that was Natsu's spiky locks.

Hmm… Pink hair…

"What are you doing?" she was jolted from her analysis when she realized Natsu was looking at her, his face contorted in an uncomfortable expression.

Lucy's face heated up in pure embarrassment. Oh God, he probably thought she was a creeper or something! Thinking fast she replied, "Uhh, your hair… Is it natural?"

There was a pause before the boy barked out a boisterous laugh, "Wow, you are such a weirdo! What kind of question is that?"

Lucy huffed, "I am not a weirdo! And it's a good question! Not everyone has pink hair. It must be dyed!"

The Dragon Slayer's laughter was immediately cut off, "Hey, there is nothing wrong with my hair color! Also, of course it's natural, weirdo."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and the two fell into silence again.

They walked for an hour or so, the time becoming afternoon. Happy had woken up and declared it "time for fish," which Lucy thought was cat-speak for lunchtime. The three located a stream and Natsu and Happy began fishing for food while Lucy sat back and rested her legs. Eventually, Natsu had caught enough fish and started a fire. Once the fish were cooked, he, Lucy, and Happy dug right into their meal.

Since Lucy's stomach wasn't a bottomless pit like her companions, she sat back against a tree and allowed her mind to wander. About this time tomorrow, she would be a Fairy Tail wizard. The thought was exciting, but also a little scary. Would her future guildmates like her? Would they accept her even though she wasn't really as powerful as their strongest? So many questions, and it seemed as if tomorrow would not arrive soon enough for them to be answered.

"Natsu, Lucy has a weird face on," Happy said with a snicker. Lucy felt a vein pulse.

"Shut up, you stupid cat! My face is not weird." Seriously what is with these two and calling her weird?

"So why did you have that face?" Natsu asked and consumed his tenth fish.

"I was thinking," she replied. She thought it over some then asked, "What's Fairy Tail like?"

The two instantly perked up, "You'll love it, Lucy," Happy said excitedly, "Everyone is a freak just like you!"

She swears she will wring the furball's neck if he insults her one more time…

"And there are a lot of strong mages," Natsu added, grinning wildly, "Although they aren't as strong as me."

Happy piped up, "What about Erza? Or Laxus? Or Gildarts? How about—"

"They don't count! Besides, I could beat them if I really wanted to!"

"So that means you don't want to beat them?" Happy giggled when Natsu pouted and swatted at him. Lucy just watched on, not really knowing who the people the cat mentioned were, but having a rough idea considering she read all about Fairy Tail in Sorcerer Weekly.

"A-are they nice?" she was surprised at the question that came out of her mouth. She just wanted to keep it to herself out of fear Natsu and Happy would make fun of her, but surprisingly their grins grew even bigger.

"Of course!" Natsu sincerely said, "It's your home, why wouldn't they be nice?"

Lucy's heart melted. M-My home? Honestly, she almost forgot the meaning of the word…

"Waaaah! Natsu, you made her cry!" Happy shrieked.

"E-Ehhh?! No I didn't! Why are you crying all of a sudden?" Natsu panicked, waving his hands around as if that would cheer his newest friend up.

Lucy stared at them in confusion before realizing that a few tears had escaped her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes.

"S-Sorry, don't worry about me. J-Just touched by your words, that's all. Hehehe," she laughed nervously, not wanting to go into too much depth about why she was really crying.

Happy and Natsu exchanged a look before they both shrugged. Must just be how the blonde acts.

After finally finishing their meal, the trio started their trek again until dark. Every now and then, Lucy would try to restart a conversation but it always ended in getting frustrated and agitated with the other two. Even still, she had to admit that she did have some fun talking to them, despite the fact that she was more than often the butt of their jokes.

They set up camp and the Salamander and his cat bid the Celestial mage goodnight before falling asleep, leaving a still awake Lucy.

Careful to not wake them, she reached into her bag and retrieved a piece of paper and pen. She then began writing:

Dear Mama,

I'm sorry that I didn't write to you yesterday, but things were a little…crazy to say the least. I can't go into too much detail because it is a long story, but I will give you a brief explanation:

I met a pink haired (yes, it is natural; he told me so) boy named Natsu who wears a scarf and was raised by a dragon. An honest-to-God dragon, can you believe it? He has a talking blue cat named Happy who can FLY mama! It's so unreal (and a little annoying considering they have this tendency to call me weird, can you believe that?). Anyway, the boy and his cat saved me from this slimy man who tricked me, and I later found out they are a part of my dream guild, Fairy Tail. You remember me talking about that right? After defeating that man, Natsu offered to take me to Fairy Tail and of course I said yes! Although we couldn't take the train because of his motion sickness, which is why we're walking and I am writing this by campfire light.

I'm excited, Mama. I'm finally going to be a full-fledged mage! And I have Natsu to thank for it. Hopefully, once I officially join his guild, we'll still talk and hang out because I feel like I owe it to him somehow. Oh well, those are thoughts for another day I guess.

Goodnight, Mama, and I'll write to you once I get settled into Magnolia and tell you all about my new home. I love you and miss you.

Your Loving Daughter,

Lucy Heartfilia

P.S. Please don't tell Father.


Fun Fact: Originally, Natsu was supposed to say his hair wasn't pink, but salmon like other FT fics have him say; but tbh I hate it when fics do that, so I changed it. Natsu doesn't strike me as the type to care about his hair color, especially in a world where other people have wild hair colors. I hope to write a small fic in the near future that makes fun of the trope.

Hope you enjoyed! Drop me a review and tell me what you think!