A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed in the last chapter, especially the guest reviewers whom I couldn't reply to! I really appreciate ya!

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Natsu

~Let me lie in~

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It was dark. Clouded-over skies kept the air warm and a light breeze wafted between the buildings of the town, setting leaves aflutter and causing a wind chime to tinkle somewhere in the distance. Light spilled onto the cobblestone, warm and inviting, accompanied by the sound of happy laughter and muffled chatter. The sound of shoes clacking down Magnolia's main street echoed loudly, as Lucy's skirts billowed around her legs in time with the gusts of wind and the hammering of her heartbeat.

Her grip on the handles of her backpack was tight enough that it physically hurt. Her nails were digging into her palms from the force, but she just couldn't bring herself to tear her fingers away. It wasn't that she had anything particularly precious inside the backpack itself, but she felt rather apprehensive as soon as she had disembarked from the confines of the train. It was a giant leap of faith for her, after running away from everything and everyone for such a long time. Joining a guild when she couldn't strictly perform any magic. How was she to survive?

It was sudden and unexpected, but she felt some latent instinct inside of her well up and warm her blood, bursting forth as her hand came up. Stars burst before her eyes, a shower of sparks exploding forwards in an arc and stopping the enlarged fist of Mr Makarov in it's tracks. Lucy gasped and stumbled backwards, unable to comprehend why he would attack her. One moment she had been wondering if she would be allowed to stay if she didn't have magic and the next she had-

"Most definitely Layla's child. You have your mother's strength, girl." Makarov said, turning away from her once more. She stared down at her hands. She had used magic. Magic she had never learned - magic she had never heard about.

"H-how did I?"

"I can't answer that question, but someone can." Makarov answered. He pulled something out of his pocket and the glint of gold caught Lucy's eye. He tossed it to her, and when the the girl closed her small hand around the object it felt like coming home. A small pulse of something radiated from her grip on the object and sent a shiver down her spine. As her palm uncurled the object became visible. It was a key, bright and golden and sparkling despite the lack of light. Intricately carved and shaped, somehow fitting into Lucy's palm as if it had been made for her.

"It's beautiful," She breathed.

"It was your mother's," Makarov stated, "And now, it's yours, Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy looked up to meet Makarov's eyes. He had an unreadable look to him now, and the thousands of questions poised at the back of Lucy's throat died then and there. "Come, we can talk about Layla later." The way he had so casually said her mother's name... how much did he know? How much could he tell her?

She had placed the key in the one remaining pocket of her dress, zipped tightly closed and warming her thigh. It thrummed with magical power and made the girl giddy. She had her own magic, a gift from her mother in her eyes. Something to be kept and to be treasured for as long as she lived. It was an amazing feeling in an of itself, just to know that she had her very own secret. (Mr Makarov knowing it didn't count, as Lucy was sure that he was the kind of person who knew just about everything). The key made her feel better about her decision as the two traversed the roads to Fairy Tail, and resolve wrapped itself around Lucy like a cloak of invincibility.

She choked when she saw the Fairy Tail building for the first time.

It really was a sight to behold for the little girl, even though she'd never really heard of Fairy Tail before.

There were a number of powerful guilds in Fiore, but Lucy had never paid much attention to them at all. After witnessing Makarov's display of power, (and the confusing display of her own) she wondered if Fairy Tail was secretly on their way to becoming as such in the near future. It wasn't a dim possibility. A small part of her smiled at the fact that she would be there to help it along. She had already formed an attachment to a guild she hadn't even truly entered yet.

Makarov walked in front of her, silent as the grave. She didn't know him very well (or at all) so she wasn't sure if he was usually this quiet or if she was just making the atmosphere uncomfortable. He pushed the guild doors open, and they creaked slightly as they went. Light flooded into Lucy's vision and she had to put a hand over her eyes so that they would have time to readjust.

"Welcome back Master!" A collective shout of voices rang out and startled Lucy. She looked up, still squinting a bit and her jaw became slack.

"This is Fairy Tail?" She whispered.

People were running around, drinking large amounts of what she assumed was alcohol, swinging from things (was that boy naked?), arm-wrestling and just generally making a huge noise. One boy ran across her vision with his hair on fire, another following him and spewing ice. A table was thrown, flying past Lucy just over her head and clattering to the ground behind her. Lucy took a step backwards. Hehe, maybe I'm in over my head. Even the warmth of the key was dimmed by the sight of this ruckus.

"Shut up!" Makarov shouted.

The room went silent. Arms were still coiled and ready to launch various objects around the room, the magic in the air still lingered as it dissipated slowly, the distinct smell of ozone lingering behind even after all of the glow was gone. Lucy's eyes were wide at the sight of the rowdy guild being quieted so easily. Makarov shot a hand out behind him and grabbed Lucy's wrist, almost throwing her forwards into the light. Her already lopsided ponytails couldn't take the heat, and the hair ties binding them flew off. Her hair sat loose against her shoulders, wavy in the places where it was bunched. She squeaked and stumbled, fidgeting under the relentless stare of every person in the room. Every person's eye seemed to be trained on her, alight with curiosity.

"This," Makarov shouted, "Is our new nakama, Lucy. Treat her like nakama should!" The whole guild was silent for a beat before smiling to one another and breaking into cheers. Lucy was grabbed by someone and was sucked up by the crowd. Everything became a blur as she was introduced to everyone who could get to her. Her head whirled with all the names she had to remember but she managed to keep a smile on her face regardless. Some faces were more notable than others, but Lucy knew that by tomorrow every single name would have escaped her.

"I'm Cana, you want a beer?" A brunette asked her.

"I'm not legally allowed to drink alcohol yet," Lucy answered. And neither are you.

"Hello Lucy. You need to feed the stomach. Look at how thin you are." This one had purple hair and fussed an awful lot.

"Feed the stomach?" Lucy had never heard people speak like that before.

"Could I draw you?"

"Hi Lucy!"

"Hey!"

"Over here!"

By the time that she had made her rounds the room was back to what it had been before she and Makarov had arrived. A complete cacophony of voices.

"Oi! You're Luigi, right?" A voice asked. Lucy blinked, finding herself face to face with the boy who's hair had been on fire earlier. Now that he wasn't covered in flames, Lucy could see that his hair was in fact pink. Well that's a new one for me. He seemed to be inspecting her, his eyes narrowed and suspicious. Lucy fidgeted again, unused to this kind of scrutiny. Sure, at home she had been watched like a hawk, but that had been a very distant kind of watching. This kid practically had his forehead pressed against her own. It was unnerving.

"Lucy, just Lucy." She answered. She had considered giving her family name but something had stopped her. She had no reason to distrust the boy, but the Heartfilia Heiress part of her was not her anymore. It was better if she just left that part of her behind for good. The boy harrumphed and nodded, moving his head back.

"I'm Natsu! The strongest mage in Fairy Tail!" The boy. shouted. No one seemed to even notice his exclamation. Lucy nodded awkwardly.

"Ah, okay. That's lovel-"

"Wait a minute, since when are you the strongest mage in Fairy Tail, loser?" A dark haired boy intervened. He was shirtless and in the process of undoing his belt as if he was about to-

"Eeek!" Lucy screamed and fell off of her chair, hands over her eyes in an attempt to protect her innocence. No, no. That was not how people were supposed to behave at all. Natsu crouched down next to her and poked the side of her head.

"Hey Gray! I think you broke her."

"Shut up Natsu. She's not broken." Gray slapped Natsu's hand away. He tapped Lucy on the shoulder and when the girl only answered with a whimper he grimaced. "Shit, do you think anyone'll notice if we patch her up with duct tape?" Gray asked. Natsu poked her cheek again.

Lucy stubbornly shook her head, refusing for even a moment to open her eyes. What if, what if that boy was still naked? Oh her poor sweet innocence. She was tainted! Natsu stroked his chin and Gray bent down to the blonde's level as well. Both boys looked at each other and then at the shivering blonde who was talking to herself depressingly. Simultaneously the rivals leaned right up close to the blonde, their mouths right at her ears.

"OI!"

Lucy shrieked again, throwing herself backwards. Her eyes flew open and a small part of her sighed in relief to see that the dark-haired boy had kept his pants on. The rest of her however was at breaking point. She was tired, just recently over being terrified for her life, had found out about and used some unknown magic (it had been more draining than she'd expected) and now she had almost lost her innocence because of some indecent boy who couldn't keep his pants on. She pouted, her eyes watering. Both boys stared at her curiously as the girl's lip trembled slightly.

"I," She started shakily, "I don't like you!" And Lucy burst into tears.

Both boys' jaws dropped open.

"W-wait I didn't mean to-"

"Aw man, you shouldn't-"

Natsu and Gray turned and pointed fingers at one another.

"HE DID IT!"

Lucy's cries became louder. The boys began arguing with one another again, fists barred and fighting words ablaze. The tumbled over each other in an attempt to win the brawl - too busy punching and shouting to pay much attention to the weeping girl behind them. Lucy sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes, scooting backwards and under the lip of the bar as the boys roughhoused. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she watched them fight, kicking and punching with abandon. The part of her that she'd inherited from her mother scowled. She was too tired to really get riled up about it, and even though the urge to go and fight the both of them was strong, Lucy had a feeling that her dress would just fall apart in the process. Then again... Hmmph, being mean to me like that and then not even saying sorry? Lucy got up and stomped her way over to the boys as they rolled across the floor.

"You two are such meanies!" Lucy exclaimed, and as they rolled past her she struck out with her foot, landing a solid kick to Gray's face. The scuffle broke up. Gray cursed loudly and rubbed his jaw, Natsu sitting there laughing.

"Haha, you got beaten up by a girl!" He sing-songed. Lucy punched the back of his head and sent him careening forward, face-planting on the ground.

"Hmph, well so did you!" Lucy said triumphantly. She even stuck out her tongue at the pinkette for good measure. Nearby guild members watched the scene unfold with raucous laughter. Lucy turned away from the boys, prepared to give them a stern speech on the importance of apologies. As she turned her head away, the ice mage and dragon slayer seemed to communicate telepathically - both adopting an evil smirk on their faces. Next thing she knew she was being tackled, both boys tag-teaming and tickling her stomach. Lucy was shocked by the surprise attack and was quickly in stitches. She cackled, eyes watering again but for a completely different reason. Her one shoe finally gave out, the strap breaking, and the shoe sent flying with the force of her flailing. It flew back and over the bar, knocking a drunk Cana on the head. She barely even noticed.

"I- I yield!" She yelled. The boys continued steadily for a few more seconds before deciding that enough was enough. Gray and Natsu high-fived each other as Lucy struggled to regain her breath.

"Serves you right!"

"Yeah, kicking me in the face like that."

"That bruise is just an improvement, droopy eyes!"

"Say that again, squinty eyes! I dare ya!"

The boys broke out in a fight once again. They couldn't go more than two minutes being civil to one another. Lucy's eyes drooped as she watched them bounce off the walls. The exhaustion was finally catching up with her. She yawned and stretched, deciding that the floor did look rather comfy - at least compared to where she had been sleeping for the past few weeks.

She was out in two seconds flat.

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Next Chapter: Erza