By now it was late evening and Lucy sat with her crew as they ate and drank. They were a rowdy bunch with their fair share of problems but they were family.
They'd all been a team for years. The celestial sirens… That's who they were.
The crew were some of the most feared Pirates on the water…
It mostly consisted of a little blonde, a crazy rain girl, a blue haired midget and two kids, Romeo and Wendy.
But Elf man looked pretty intimidating and Laxus and Gajeel were pretty intimidating, but were easily tricked or persuaded to be good.
But the worst…
Mira.
The first member of Lucy's crew. She was the smiley Quarter master.
If only they knew… she was a different kind of evil.
"Lucy, wake up!" Romeo waved his little hand in front of her face, "Are ya gonna eat that?" he said, across the table from her as he pointed at Lucy's bowl full of Elf man's famous fish stew. Lucy hugged the bowl protectively.
"Paws off!" she said.
"You can have the rest of mine if you'd like, Romeo." Wendy smiled, pushing her bowl towards him, which Romeo gladly took and wolfed down within seconds.
"Moreeeee!" he roared standing up.
Lucy gave him a warning look, which made him sit back down and think for a moment before smiling at Mira sweetly as she brought him another bowl.
"Here." Mira said, smiling and shaking her head.
He thanked her politely and looked over at Lucy for approval.
She smirked and ate her food.
Levy sat on her left, picking delicately at hers. Gajeel sat next to Levy cheering on Romeo along with Elf man who looked over at his sister with a sly smile.
Sometimes Mira would cook for the crew too and, [as everything did on this ship], it sort of became a competition between the two siblings. Mira just ignored him and ate her own.
"So," Levy suddenly piped up, "What's this about a fairy?" she looked at Lucy expectantly, who looked over at Mira as she glared at Levy.
"Levy!" Mira glared, "I said to be quiet about that!"
"A fairy!" Wendy said, clasping her hands together, "Oh wow!" she said with wide eyes.
"It's a possible new mission…" Lucy shrugged, "That's it."
"That's it!? This is the last fairy… It could literally change everything for us!" Levy gasped, frowning at her blonde friend.
"We're pirates… We don't go fairy hunting!" Gajeel grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, that's not manly at all!" Elf man scowled.
"Fairies are more dangerous than you would think." Mira said, looking over at her brother.
Ley nodded in agreeance.
"Pfft." Gajeel smirked. "Don't make me laugh."
Levy rolled her eyes, before turning her attention back towards the captain.
"We have to do this mission, Lu! Think of how much it would be worth!" Levy said.
Lucy nodded.
"Let's sleep on it." She said, standing up.
They all started talking over each other and it quickly formed into another shouting match.
"Guys!" Lucy growled, "I'm the captain. I'll decide!"
They all looked at her in shocked silence.
Before breaking out into a wrestling match between Gajeel, Elf man and Mira.
Levy face palmed and left the room, patting Lucy sympathetically on the shoulder.
"Night Lu."
"Night." She sighed.
Lucy took Wendy and Romeo by the hand and led them out of the room, as they cheered on Mira, who was abruptly kicking Gajeel's and Elf man's asses.
She took them back down into their little cabin at the back of the ship. It was just a small room with not much in it except a box full of toys and trinkets Lucy had bought them over the years when they had docked ashore and a couple of wooden boxes containing clothes and books for each of them.
"C'mon you two, its already 11:30." She said as they got up into their hammocks.
"Lucy…" Wendy said, "Will we really get to see a fairy?" she whispered laying back.
"I don't know.." Lucy said.
She did want to go on this adventure but… it was so dangerous.
She'd given up on the really dangerous adventures when the crew had found Romeo. Then Wendy came and the ones Lucy would go on almost completely stopped.
She had left the kids with Levy and Gajeel before in a town by the sea in Magnolia… but they would need everyone to pull this off.
The crew had found Romeo marooned on an island, still a toddler. He'd been with the Celestial sirens for about two years before Lucy found Wendy being sold on the black market… she was almost sick when she saw a six-year-old girl for sale.
So, she took her… what else was she supposed to do…
Lucy sighed.
"Take me with you." Wendy said, "I can help."
Wendy had been with them for three years now… but it still felt like only yesterday.
Romeo sat up, "We can help!"
She used to tell them stories about all the things she had done and the crew before she had met the children, they wanted so badly to go on those adventures with her.
Lucy looked at both of them.
They had been taught self-defence and witnessed a few attacks from other pirates. They knew how to survive and they were incredibly smart kids.
"We'll see." She whispered, "Goodnight." She said, closing the door and walking back towards the top deck.
"Who's there!?" a voice shouted down as Lucy appeared out of the shadows. It was dark now, but she could see the thin tower and netting wrapped around.
"Lucy?" Juvia's silhouette stood on top of the tower.
"It's me, Juvia." Lucy said, seeing her head nod before she went back on lookout.
Laxus stood at the other side of her ship, taking the nightshift. He turned the wheel lightly, the waves weren't strong here and the sky was clear and a deep black.
Lucy turned and walked through the door of her cabin, closing it behind her and moving towards her hammock. She pulled off her boots and clothes, throwing on a simple night dress and jumping delicately into her bed.
She stared at the wooden ceiling. She stared for a long time thinking everything over...
This was so strange.
This new life she had created after running away from home… was one of the best decisions she had ever made. She'd always loved reading and adventure, she hated being stuck somewhere. She wanted to be free.
"That's why you're here, right?" she said to herself.
The whole point of this was to be free. She smiled nervously.
"Let's do it." She whispered, closing her eyes.