Chapter 2 A Chance Encounter

"Let's see here. Too much effort. Not worth the pay. Now who in their right mind would do that…" Lucy mumbled to herself as she perused the request board in front of her. Crocus hustled and bustled around the mage as she stood in the town square. Food stands lined the perimeter of the square, and the owners were loudly hawking their wares to all passerby. In the center stood a large marble fountain, and sunlight sparkled off the spray, every so often forming a fleeting rainbow. A group of children stood at the edge of the fountain, gazing longingly at the water. Passerby laughed as one of the more adventurous ones attempted to jump in, only to be roughly yanked back by his waiting mother. Lucy stood at the southern end of the square, looking at the board pinned on the police station. All manner of jobs were posted, from finding lost pets to investigating hauntings. Most were rather simple and low-paying jobs, as anything more difficult would have been submitted to an actual guild.

Hmm, there's got to be something simple in here for a little pocket money. Lucy thought as she scanned over the cluttered request sheets. Finally, one of them caught her eye.

Help Wanted

Need Able-bodied Workers for Unloading Merchandise

Magic not Required

Those Interested Please Come to Sid's Magic Shop

Hourly Pay- 1,000 J

Lunch Provided

At the bottom of the page was the shop's address, indicating it was located in the residential shopping district. That'll work. She thought as she took the request from the board. Half skipping and half walking, Lucy made her way towards the shop, hoping that the provided lunch would be more than just a slice of bread or unsatisfying morsel. A slight wind rustled the sleeves of her loose-fitting jacket, and she was thankful she had decided to wear a pair of jeans rather than a skirt. Wearing a skirt to a manual labor job would be pretty weird anyway. Winding through streets and pedestrians alike, she meandered towards her destination in no particular rush; she simply took in the city. The shouts of storeowners, the shrieks and laughter of children, the cawing of birds that lined the building roofs or wrestled for bread scraps around benches; everything was alive and reveling in its life. Somewhere close the cracking of wooden wheels on cobblestones could be heard, as a carriage carrying goods or possibly a noble drove its way through the crowds. A soft smile showed on her face as she swam through the crowds. It's been a while since I just walked like this. She thought pensively. For the past two years, her life had been consumed my taking as many requests as possible. Even with her backbreaking pace, most of her money went back into the guild. Breaks and relaxation were a no-no if she wanted to bring back Fairy Tail's image as one of the strongest guilds in Fiore. And speaking of no breaks…

Lucy glanced at the building in front of her, confirmed the address and walked into the shop. All sorts of trinkets lined the shelves, from color change magics to magical firecrackers. A cursory look towards the back of the shop left Lucy slightly disappointed as she saw there were no silver keys she didn't already possess. Approaching the front desk with paper in hand she met the gaze of the man manning it. Her first impression was of a furless bear in an apron. He was a large and intimidating person, with a rough graying beard and muscles rippling everywhere. He wore his apron over a sleeveless shirt as though to emphasize the fact that his arms looked more like trees than any human limb. He looked more like the security guards that followed her father's friends around rather than a humble shop owner. But, never one to judge on appearances, Lucy threw on her best disarming smile and approached the human boulder with the paper in hand.

"Hi there! Are you Sid? I'm here about the unloading request." Lucy said in a chipper voice, holding out the request form. The man's eyes widened briefly as he saw her, then narrowed as he appraised Lucy without a word, only taking the form from her hands. Undaunted, Lucy met his gaze evenly and with her smile plastered on her face, hoping to get him to at least tell her if he actually was the owner. After ten seconds of the two staring at each other, the man sighed.

"Yes, I'm Sid," he answered in a gravelly voice. "And are you sure you're up for this blondie? Some of these boxes are a hundred, hundred fifty pounds. If you can't even move them you won't be much help to me."

"Oh don't worry about me. I can handle a few boxes." Lucy answered with the same cheery voice, though she could feel her blood pressure rising to the point where it felt like she'd pop a vein. There weren't many things Lucy really hated, but being called blondie and underestimated because of her appearance were definitely up there.

"Well I hope so," Sid said before turning and walking around the desk out into the store. Despite her anger, Lucy couldn't help but be impressed by the man's size as he motioned her to follow towards a door in the back. He stood almost two heads taller than her, and was at least three times as wide. She couldn't help but ponder why a guy his size would want help unloading boxes. He looked like he could pick up the whole store by himself if he wanted to. Opening the back door, he led Lucy into a small warehouse behind the store. Two stacks of shelves rose to the ceiling on either side of the wall, extending from the door they just passed through to the other side of the building where a large garage door stood opened to the outside. Boxes full of gizmos, toys, and tools sat neatly across all of them. Lucy peered at each of them as Sid led her towards the open end of the room, and was surprised to find everything was very neatly arranged by product, with labels describing their marketability to his customers. I guess Mr. Judgy here runs a pretty tight ship, Lucy thought.

Sid walked them out back, where stacks of boxes sat waiting for someone to move them inside. Doing a quick guesstimation, Lucy put their number at seventy or eighty. Not a ton, but certainly a good day's work if Sid had told her the actual weight of the boxes.

"So here's your boxes." Sid explained. "There are product labels on each one, and they'll have matching ones on the shelves. All you've gotta do is put the boxes on the shelves with their matching labels, then tally them up on this clipboard for inventory," Sid instructed as he handed over a clipboard full of different product names.

"Sounds simple enough." Lucy answered, moving towards the pile of boxes. Reading the label on the nearest one, she saw it was a box of light lacrimas. Hopping up, she walked back inside to find their assigned spot, leaving the clipboard next to it so she could mark it after moving the box. Walking back towards the lacrimas, Lucy stretched out her arms and shoulders before she actually got down to work. Bending down to pick up the box, her jacket flapped noisily in the wind, determined to make its presence known. Slightly annoyed, Lucy took it off and threw it against the outside wall of the warehouse before easily lifting up the box and transporting it into the warehouse. She set the box in its new home and marked it down on her clipboard. Moving to repeat the process, she noticed Sid staring at her with an intense gaze and what she thought was the tiniest smile on his face. Glancing down she realized she was only in a tank-top and her jeans, leaving little to the imagination. Oh for crying out loud. Why does this always work when I'm not trying to get anything out of them? Lucy thought.

"What, is something wrong?" Lucy asked, doing her best to keep any venom out of her voice.

"Nothing, nothing. You've got some surprisingly nice muscles there blondie." Sid answered with an air of gruff approval. "Couldn't see 'em in the store 'cause of your jacket."

"Oh, uh… thanks." Lucy answered, slightly dumbfounded. She'd had men ogle her body before, but never just her muscles. Sid certainly was an odd one although truthfully, Lucy was flattered. Her endless string of missions had toned up all her muscles, and she was fitter than she'd ever been in her life. Having someone acknowledge that, even if it was some random shopkeeper, put her in the mood to get more work done. "Well I've got this taken care of," she told Sid, picking up one of the larger boxes. "I'll let you know when I'm done."

Sid nodded, turning back towards the store. "Thanks. I'll have lunch ready for you in an hour or so." With that, he strolled back into his store, leaving Lucy to take care of the mountain of boxes in front of her. For the next hour she kept up a solid pace, checking and moving boxes to their proper places until she'd worked up a good sweat. It felt good to do simple, easy work every once in a while. No avalanches, falling boulders, or deadly mages gunning for her life. By the time Sid came out carrying a plate of what looked like chicken breasts Lucy was in a great mood, humming to herself as she moved her latest crate.

"Lunch, blondie. Chicken and water. Nothing special but it'll fill ya up." Sid said as he handed her a full plate and fork.

Lucy took a bite and wasn't shocked to find that Sid wasn't kidding. It was just a cooked chicken with some salt on it. But, who was she to complain. Her last real meal had been some leftover sandwiches from the guild the night before she'd headed to Crocus. A full meal like this, however plain, was a welcome addition to her day.

"Thanks. Oh, and it's Lucy by the way." Lucy said before taking another mouthful of chicken.

"Right then. Let me know when you're done and I'll have your pay," he answered. "Oh, and you're going to have some company until you're done. Be nice." On that note, he returned to the store again.

"Well he certainly doesn't mince words does he?" Lucy said to herself through a mouthful of poultry. "Wonder who this company is." Sitting down against the wall, Lucy scarfed down the rest of her meal, waiting for whoever Sid had mentioned to arrive. Hopefully they would actually help out, and not find a way to blow everything up. If Natsu and them were here, this whole store might be gone by now. A sad smile crept onto her face as she imagined Natsu and Gray fighting over something stupid, before being brutally brought in line by Erza. Wendy would've been trying to calm them down and Carla would just call everyone a reprobate or something. Happy'd probably say something like, "No wonder Lucy can lift those boxes; they're nowhere close to how much she weighs."

"Heh, stupid cat." Lucy said, grinning at the antics of her teammates that weren't even there.

"Um, excuse me. Wh-what cat?" A small voice stuttered out from behind her.

Snapping out her of reverie, Lucy turned to find who had heard her telling off the Exceed. She looked up to find a young girl, no more than twelve, standing next to her with a confused look on her face. Silver hair framed her face in a bob style, and she wore a shirt and pants that were clearly too large for her. They hung down off her, and Lucy worried that she'd trip over the pants if she walked too fast. But, the loose clothes and quiet voice only added to what Lucy immediately thought when she saw the girl. This girl is freakin' adorable! She's like a mini Lisanna.

"Oh, uh nothing. Just remembering something obnoxious." Lucy answered with a little laugh. "But what are you doing back here sweetie? I'm pretty sure this is private property."

The girl fidgeted under Lucy's direct question, looking towards the ground. Lucy watched her ball up her fists in her overlarge shirt, plucking up the courage to say something. And she's all shy too! It's like a tidal wave of cuteness!

"I- I'm here to help move things for Sid. He said to come help you," the girl finally answered.

"So you're the company he mentioned. I've gotta say, I didn't expect to be working with someone so young. Will you be ok? This stuff's pretty heavy." Looking at the child, Lucy doubted she could even lift the smaller boxes. But, maybe she would be surprised. After all, she'd watched people knock down buildings with their bare hands before. And Mira and Erza were little S class terrors by the time they were tweens. Maybe she was in for a surprise.

The girl answered with a furtive nod of her head. "Don't worry. I promise I won't get in the way."

"Well if you say so. My name's Lucy. It's nice to meetcha." Lucy said with a smile, bending down to offer the girl a handshake.

Tentatively taking her hand, the girl introduced herself. "My name is Yukino. It's nice to meet you too," she said politely, bowing her head a little to avoid eye contact.

"Well Yukino, I'm gonna get back to it. Let me know if you need any help, ok?"

Yukino nodded quickly, her hair bouncing around her head. Lucy turned back to the larger boxes, leaving the smaller ones for Yukino to work on. I'm sure it'll be fine. Sid didn't seem like he'd let someone handle his stuff if they weren't capable. Moving towards her next target, Lucy quickly hauled it into the warehouse. Walking back out, she cast a sidelong look to see how Yukino was faring with her work. Apparently not so well. Lucy watched with a barely contained laugh as she desperately tried to push a box nearly as tall as herself towards the warehouse. Her face was red with exertion, and the breeze carried her small grunts of effort towards Lucy. But the crate may as well have been nailed to the ground for all the good her efforts were doing.

"Yukino," Lucy called over. "Are you sure you don't want some help over there?"

Stopping to answer, Yukino said breathlessly, "It's fine. I promised I wouldn't slow you down. I can do it." With barely one more breath, she threw herself back at the box with a determination that surprised Lucy. She's really taking this seriously, Lucy thought. So she doesn't want me to help because she thinks it'll slow me down. Hmm… I hope she isn't scared of cows. Fingering the key ring in her pocket, Lucy trotted over to where Yukino continued in vain to dislodge her crate.

"Hey, I know you don't want my help but I don't think this fella's goin anywhere," Lucy said, squatting down to eye level with Yukino. Yukino's face, already red from trying to move the box, deepened into a harsh maroon as she blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Miss Lucy. I'm just ge-getting in the way." Yukino hiccupped out as small tears formed.

"No you're not! I'm glad for the company." Lucy gave Yukino her biggest smile, trying to prevent any waterworks. "You just need a little extra muscle. So I've got a proposition for you."

Yukino managed to look up with a question in her eyes, holding back her tears as best she could.

Lucy continued on, "I'll keep working over there, and I'll call out a friend to help you over here. That way you don't slow me down and we get our work done quicker! What do you think?" Holding her keys behind her back, her fingers sought out the shape of Taurus's key.

"A friend? But won't that just take even more time?" Yukino asked.

"Normally, yeah. But I've got some very special friends. You wanna meet one?" Lucy asked, chanting Taurus's summoning incantation in her head.

Lucy watched as Yukino's face went from embarrassed to curious at the mention of her "special" friends. I've got her hooked now. Lucy thought, feeding her magic into the celestial gate. Now as long as she isn't scared of a two-ton perverted bull in a speedo, we'll get through this tear-free. It spoke volumes about how used to the various oddities of the magic world Lucy was that her last thought didn't raise any internal flags. But any time for reconsidering was lost as she felt the gate open in response to her summons.

A soft golden flash lit up the area, and the chime of a bell reverberated across the surrounding buildings. Across the street a flock of pigeons swarmed into the sky, protesting the disturbance. Out of the light stepped the ten foot tall form of Taurus; part cow, part man, all pervert in all his swimsuited glory.

"Well, well, well!" He bellowed. "To what do I owe the pleasure of bearing witness to my master's tantalizingly tank-topped tata's today?"

I've made a terrible mistake.

Holding in the flurry of choice words that sprang to her lips, Lucy turned to Yukino with a forced smile. "Now I know he's a little odd, but there's nobody better for dealing with- Hey! Yukino what's wrong?!" Lucy cried in alarm. All traces of Yukino's embarrassment were gone, replaced with a wide-eyed, slack-jawed stammering stream of unintelligible noises. Grabbing her shoulders, Lucy shook the girl hoping to calm her down. "It's ok, it's ok! He won't hurt you. The only person in danger here is him if he keeps up the harassment talk," Lucy said with a pointed glare at her spirit.

Undaunted by the jab, Taurus pressed on. "And there it is! Miss Lucy's patented death glare! Most men are udderly cowed within just a second, but sometimes that icy glare is just what that doctor ordered." A wide smile and thumbs up from the spirit completely deflated Lucy's anger, leaving only the exasperation that always followed summoning her bovine spirit.

"Is he a spirit?!" Yukino suddenly shouted out, hopping from foot to foot without taking her eyes off of Taurus. Startled by the outburst from the reserved girl, Lucy couldn't tell if she was thrilled or terrified.

"Uh, yeah, he is. Yukino, I'd like you to meet Taurus, the Golden Bull." Lucy said, gesturing at the posing cow behind her.

"Wow!" Lucy was surprised and thrilled to see a huge smile on Yukino's face as she danced around Taurus, looking at him from every angle. Taurus, obviously pleased with the attention, began striking pose after pose trying to show off for the girl.

"I see you've met a young lady of discerning taste Miss Lucy!" He shouted as he flexed his biceps, eliciting squeals of delight from Yukino. At the mention of Lucy, Yukino's head snapped back towards Lucy who was watching the whole interaction with a mixture of joy and utter bewilderment. It pleased her to no end that a young child was so delighted just to be able to see a spirit. But it just had to be Taurus. This would drive his ego through the roof. Dreading the onslaught of cow puns and sexual harassment that were sure to follow any self-esteem boost for her spirit, Lucy almost didn't notice Yukino practically sprinting towards her.

"Miss Lucy are you a Celestial Spirit Mage?" The silver-haired girl asked breathlessly, huge eyes staring up at her.

"Why yes I am." Lucy proudly decreed, nose pointing up into the air. While nowhere near as vain as she'd been upon arriving at Fairy Tail, Lucy couldn't help but preen whenever someone asked about her magic. It was her pride and joy after all. "So I take it you like spirits too?"

Yukino furiously nodded her head, bobbed hair bouncing around her face. "They're the best! They can use all kinds of magic and every new one you meet is a new friend!" Yukino's quickly professed declaration sent Lucy over the moon. She hadn't met anyone so adoring of spirits since, well, herself. Meeting someone who thought of spirits the same way she did brought out the biggest smile she'd had on her face in years. Yukino saw Lucy smiling at her as she raved about her love for spirits, and her voice cut out entirely. Her face turned an even brighter shade of red than before, and Lucy had to resist the urge to scoop up the girl and coo over the pure adorableness as Yukino buried her face in her shirt, trying to hide.

"A-Anyway, I just really like them," Yukino finished in a tiny voice, barely audible from inside her oversized shirt.

"That's wonderful Yukino, and there's no reason to be embarrassed." Lucy said, reaching out to pull down Yukino's shirt, bringing her tomato red face out into the open. "I feel the exact same way. But, before we talk any more about spirits we need to finish our job. Once we're done I can introduce you to some more spirits if you like," Lucy said with a wink.

"Really?" Yukino's eyes began beaming with excitement again.

"Uh-huh, just be careful. There's no point in rushing through a job if you don't do it right." Lucy stood up and move towards the pile of larger boxes. "Taurus, help Yukino move her boxes inside that warehouse," Lucy ordered over her shoulder as she picked up her next crate. "And no cheating, either. You're helping, not doing it all for her."

"Yes ma'am! If I do a good job do I get a reward?" Taurus asked with a lecherous glance towards his master.

"Sure, why not."

"Wait, really?" Taurus asked, eyes bugging out of his head.

"Of course, I'll even let you pick what you want." Lucy said with a smile.

For once, Taurus had no pun ready. He had nothing to say about his master's body, and no sly comment to harass her with. Lucy watched with feigned interest as her spirit's mind went into overdrive, considering his possible rewards. Calmly and slowly, she bent down towards the ground and found two round, decently sized rocks, rolling them around in her hand.

"Oh, and Taurus?" Lucy called sweetly, ripping the cow from his daydreams.

"Hehe- uh, what, yes?" He asked, trying to cover for his spacing out.

Lucy moved the rocks around in her hand, dragging her spirits attention towards them "I want you to think very carefully about what you ask for. This is a once in a lifetime chance. You wouldn't want to regret it, now would you?" Lucy crushed the rocks in her hand, letting their powdery remains fall towards the ground. Taurus instinctively flinched, hands moving towards his speedo to protect himself from Lucy's thinly veiled threat.

"Wow! She crushed those like nothing! Miss Lucy's really strong, isn't she Mr. Taurus. Wait, why are you crying?" Yukino asked the spirit in concern.

"It's nothing, young lady," Taurus simpered, tears flowing down his cheeks. "My dreams have just been udderly dashed.