A/N: Hey guys, this is my VERY first piece of fan-fiction. Please leave reviews and favourites. I hope to update this story frequently and I should be able to seeing as it's Christmas holidays! ^.^ Other than that, enjoy!
Lucy had a relatively full and happy life, with her extensive family at the guild as well as her close friends and teammates. Although everything seemed relatively fine on the surface, Lucy had several prominent problems lying behind her facade of smiles and joyful laughter. Top of the list was rent. The heft 70, 000 jewels a month gradually began to empty out Lucy's finances as she began resorting to money saved up for food and entertainment in order to remain under a roof and not out in the street. Food wasn't that great of a problem as she could always go to the guild for sanctuary if she was absolutely starved, but there was nowhere else to live if she lost this apartment. Lucy also had no access to her family's fortune as she had long since forsaken the Heartphilia name and status as she ran away from her father's obsession with work and lack of affection.
As she made the trek towards the guild along the river, the same boatmen would call out, "Be careful Lucy! That's dangerous!" Lucy smiled and waved at them. Nearing the guild, all she could hear was wood splintering and snapping, and the shouts of members as they fought amongst each other. She sighed. Another normal day at the Fairy Tail guild. Pushing open the great wooden doors, the first thing Lucy noticed was a pink head sticking out above the rest of the brawlers, while facing off against a black-haired, half-naked man on top of a table.
"Come at me shit-head!" Natsu challenged. He stooped low, preparing to jump at Gray with his hands ablaze.
"Right back at ya flame-brain!" The two clashed and were soon enveloped in a flurry of punches and kicks.
Lucy allowed herself a small smile despite her situation. The incessant fighting within Fairy Tail was what created the friendly and lax atmosphere. She walked, or rather, dodged and ducked her way over to the bar, where Mirajane was serving customers food and drinks. After seating herself at one of the bar stools, her mind immediately went back to her problem. Rent. She didn't have money, and was going to be evicted within the next month if she didn't pay up. Mira was like an older sister to Lucy, always listening to her woes and problems, even when she was extremely tired herself. Mirajane always seemed to be able to read Lucy's mind and today was no exception.
"Having trouble paying up your rent again, Lu?" Lucy didn't mind the nicknames, afterall, she did call Mirajane, Mira, all the time.
"You bet..." Lucy trailed off as she let her cheek rest on the cool benchtop. Mira passed her a glass of water and Lucy drank it with a thank you.
"You know, you could always stay here at the guild. I mean, I can sort out a bed and room or something for you, and you won't be far away from food." Mirajane suggested. Lucy turned around to look at the fighting that was continuing in full force.
"For some reason, I don't think I would be able to sleep if I stayed here," Lucy half-joked. It wasn't that she didn't like the guild, or the people that were in the guild, but sometimes it did get a bit rowdy and she didn't like the idea of men randomly bursting into her room as they threw punches at each other. Lucy sighed. She would figure something out.
Walking over to the job board, she browsed over potential jobs that could save her from her predicament. Lucy couldn't take any subtle or quiet jobs as she knew that Natsu would most likely tag along seeing as they were teammates, and Natsu was the mortal enemy of low-key and non-combat related missions. Most of the jobs pinned up on the board were administrative, and mostly requested help filing papers or looking after a child. Knowing Natsu, rather than properly look after a little kid, he would most likely burn down the entire building.
Deciding to chance it, Lucy grabbed the only job that could cover her expenses, one with a 150,000 jewel reward (75,000 for Lucy if she was to split 50-50 with Natsu). All they needed to do was stamp out sudden Vulcan aggression in a remote mountain village. Sounded easy enough. The pay wasn't bad either.
As Lucy pushed and shoved her way towards Natsu, she cringed again as the pink-haired boy threw taunts and jeered at the half-naked ,as always, Gray.
"Hehe, couldn't dodge that one could ya, dimwit." Natsu roared at Gray.
"HEY, it's not my fault Gajeel got in the bloody way!" Gray shouted back. Gajeel shot Gray an evil look and seemed as if he was about to pounce and pummel the living daylights out of him.
"What's that look for, pin boy?" Gray leered out at Gajeel. He was asking for it. Pissing Gajeel off wasn't a good strategy if you wanted to prolong your life.
"I'm going to smash the living shit out of your brains if you don't shut up," Gajeel threatened Gray. This was quickly getting out of hand.
Lucy decided that enough was enough and stepped in. "Gray, pants and shirt. Gajeel, go look after Levy or something. Natsu, come out with me."
All the males knew how scary Lucy was when she got angry, so they spat dirty looks at each other before leaving. Natsu followed Lucy outside and angrily scratched his head.
"We were just getting to the good part! Why'd you have to stop the fight?" Whining seemed to be Natsu's forte whenever Lucy put on her authorative tone. Sighing, Lucy realized there was no point in getting angry at him, as he was Natsu after all. Adolescent on the outside, but 5 years old at heart.
"I've got a mission. Nothing hard, just to clear out a couple of Vulcans who've been running rampant in this mountain village," Lucy explained. She hoped to the Lord that Natsu wouldn't run riot and destroy the entire mountain, along with the village.
"Hn, sure. Just give me a moment to get prepared, and we're walking there, just so you know" Natsu seemed to agree but his last phrase ticked Lucy off a bit. Although she was fully aware of Natsu's tendency to puke when on transportation, she was not walking hundreds of kilometres, not even for 75, 000 jewel.
"We're taking a train."
"Ugh. Fine. But it won't be my fault if I throw up on your shoes again"
Lucy liked it when Natsu huffed after accepting her demands.
It was cute.