Sorry for not updating this after so long... I've been busy writing a new story and preparing other stories for the future. This chapter is a bit shorter than the first one, but I hope you enjoy it!

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Fairy Tail High? Fairy Tail High.

The neighborhood she was now living in was small and quiet. It was neither too crowded or have too little population. As she strolled down the sidewalk with her school bag hanging from her shoulder, she admired how peaceful it was around her in the morning. It was a nice change from the tense atmosphere she constantly got every time she sees her father. Now that she was living by herself, she won't have to face that every day anymore, and she was positive that he wouldn't bother visiting to 'check up on her'. Even the thought made her want to laugh.

Lucy gazed at the houses that lined the opposite side of the street. Even though it was a bit early, there were already people emerging out of their houses. Both men and women in work clothes were hopping into their cars, driving off to their workplace. Though, not everyone did this. More older people simply sat out on their porch, basking in the first rays of sunshine with a cup of coffee in hand. There were even others who were doing early lawn work such as tending the garden.

She smiled at all of the different morning routines that people go through. She mentally noted these things and hoped that somewhere in the future she can also do some tasks like those herself. Throughout her life, gardening, cleaning, cooking, and any other type of labor was done by someone else. She absolutely hated it. Even when she was a child she wanted to do it herself. Ever since she was a child she wanted to be independent and do everything herself. Cleaning her room, making her own food, everything. She enjoyed the sense of accomplishment she got once she was finished and had made it a habit to help around the mansion while her father was either out doing business or locking himself in his office.

The thought of no one doing chores for her made her feel ecstatic. Perhaps, instead of using the ridiculous amount of money that was put into her bank account she can get a job and provide for herself rather than eating out of the palm of her father's hand. But... How will she get one? Oh boy, she has a lot to learn.

Lucy yelped when her body crashed into another. She gasped when she heard a small groan and saw a small body on the ground, "Oh my God, I am so sorry!" She helped up the stranger, who was a girl rubbing the side of her head. Her yellow bandanna was loose after the tumble, and stray pieces of her blue bangs slipped out of it's clutches.

"No, no, it's my fault. I was reading and coming out of my house at the same time." She said, swiftly fixing her bandanna.

The blonde saw no book in her hands after hearing her statement. She looked down and saw a novel by her feet with a rather simple dark brown cover, the title and author written both in cursive and white. Picking it up, she handed it back to the petite girl with a sheepish smile, "Well then, I guess it's both of our faults. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either."

She giggled as she took the book, "Thanks." She held her hand out while returning her smile with her own shy one. "I'm Levy. It's nice to meet you."

"Lucy." She shook her hand and her eyes trailed down, "You're going to Fairy Tail High too?"

As if just noticing herself that they both wore identical uniforms, although Levy wore the correct tie and had on regular socks rather than knee-high, she blinked. "Yeah! Are you new? I've never seen you around before."

Lucy bobs her head in confirmation, "It's actually my first time living around here. I use to live somewhere else and had been homeschooled for a while."

"No wonder!" The two of them began walking together like it was the most natural thing in the world, "Why did you suddenly decide to switch in the middle of the year though?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I was unable to because of some... problems. I was actually there during my first year. Anyway, has anything changed? I hope it's as fun as the principle told me it is."

"Well... It's much different now with a new principle, that's for sure." Levy said, "There are a lot of unique students and teachers there. So it can get a bit crazy every now and then."

"That's exactly what Principle Makarov told me! But he mentioned something about fights..." Her eyebrows furrow in worry.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Sometimes things can get a bit too crazy, but everything always turns out fine. That's just how Fairy Tail High is."

"I have a strange feeling that I'm going to end up going nuts because of this school..."

Levy chuckled, "You'll get use to it. Trust me, I thought the same exact thing when I first stepped foot there."

Their short discussion ended upon arriving at the open gates of their school. A bright smile immediately lit up Lucy's face as soon as her eyes landed on the large building and the familiar fountain in front of it that had the statue of the creator of Fairy Tail High. It was strange how much she looked like a child rather than an adult.

She had been given a small tour during the weekend by the principle himself, a very short old man with white hair and a mustache. He was very kind, never losing his patience when she had asked one question after the other when it came to the curriculum. The school building had been entirely rebuilt into something brighter than before. The sheer size of it reminded her of her mansion, but it was much smaller. A large clock ticked on it and instead of the school looming over her in an intimidating way, it felt much more welcoming.

Instead of the grounds being empty the last time she saw it, she saw students scattered around with friends chatting and goofing around. There were surely many more students inside preparing for the school day. The sight of all of these strangers unnerved her, a small part of her wondering if they recognized her and dear God she hoped they didn't. Levy seems to not know which was a huge relief.

"I have to take a trip to the library before classes start. Will you be able to manage finding your classes?" Levy said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Lucy nods, "I have my schedule and had a tour. Thank you for walking with me, Levy-chan."

"It's no problem. I'll see you around!" She waved as she walked away before jogging down the path and to the front doors of the school.

Once she made it inside and was out of sight, Lucy took her time walking around. She never got the chance to look outside of the school grounds, the thought prompting the urge to explore a little more before the bell rang. After another quick glance at the clock she discovered that she had plenty of time to do so. Humming to herself, she wandered off the dirt path and onto the freshly cut grass.

There wasn't much there other than the lack of students and a few trees. It was obvious that people liked to hang around the front of the school rather than over here where it was silent. She would much rather be here than somewhere that's crowded with voices talking over each other. It's also a nice quiet place where she could settle down while reading a book. Maybe she could even eat her lunch out here!

A startled gasp left her when hands grabbed her and pulled her around the corner of the school, taking her completely out of view of any wandering eyes. Alarms blared in her head as soon as it happened before her body immediately responded to the sudden capture. Her elbow jerked back to make contact with her captor's stomach, eliciting a grunt that she quickly identified as a man's before she slammed her foot onto their's. He hissed in pain and his hands ripped off of her.

As soon as he did so, she jumped away and spun around to get a good look of who it was that managed to catch her off guard. Her eyes widen along with her jaw dropping as soon as she did so.

"Holy fuck, that hurt!"

There's only one person she knew that cursed like that. Only one person she knew with long black hair. Only one person she knew with red eyes. Only one person she knew with that many piercings. The only person she knew that wore the same bandanna wrapped around their forehead ever since she had first given it to them for their birthday when they were kids.

"Ga-... Gajeel?..."

He straightens up at the call of his name, releasing his arms from around his stomach. Even though both his stomach and foot were still throbbing in pain, he gave her a strained smirk, "Surprise."

Gajeel expected a lot of things. He expected a hug, hell he wanted a stupid hug from her. He was even expecting some tears from her considering how emotional she got. What he wasn't expecting was for her to jump up and down while squealing incoherently causing him to slap his hands over his ears.

They didn't last long protecting his ear drums considering the fact that the blonde pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist after dropping her bag. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling but that was highly unlikely since she was latched onto him like glue.

He grinned along with her as her squeals turned into gleeful laughter. Then it slowly settled back to his usual small smirk when her laughter died down into full out sobs. He stood there, holding her close as she cried into his shoulder and surely soaking his leather jacket. It has been so long for the both of them. Three years. Three years of video chatting, texting, and calling miles away from each other. Three years of not seeing each other in person. It was overwhelming for the both of them to see each other again.

Gajeel, himself, had been particularly nervous of seeing her again. All throughout the train ride back to Magnolia Town from Crocus he was a wreck, wondering if Lucy would be glad to see him or not, which was an idiotic thing to think he now realizes. What he was more worried about was if things were going to stay as they always have been. He still wanted to be with her, hopefully as much as she did with him.

After days of contemplating whether he should tell her that he was coming back to Magnolia, he decided it was best to surprise her. Although it was difficult to keep from saying those simple words or driving down the mansion himself to finally see her again, he managed. He saw her the second she walked through the gates while talking to a short girl with blue hair.

That was when he had gotten the idea to do a sneak attack when she wandered to his direction with curiosity sparkling in her eyes. He hid around the corner, waiting for her to come into his range whilst snickering to himself. Then he struck... And she did too. Unexpectedly. Before he could even spin her around himself so she can see who it was that grabbed her.

How can he possibly forget that scaring her like that only ends in pain?

But it ended well and that's all that mattered. Her reaction was more than he could ever ask for considering Lucy isn't the type to squeal like a crazy fangirl and was usually shy when it came to physical affection. Then when she began to cry, he almost started to cry. It's not everyday that he reunites with his best friend after three years.

Once her sobs stopped, she slipped off of him so that she was standing on the ground but she didn't let go of him, "How?.." She rasped with tears still sliding down her cheeks.

"Old man got transferred back over here. Best part is that if they want him back in Crocus, I'll be eighteen by then 'n be able to afford my own place here in Magnolia."

Lucy gave him a watery smile, "Seriously? So you're staying for good now? No more moving to a city far away from here?"

"Yep. And if that ever happens, don't you dare try to buy me a place."

She winced at the command, vaguely remembering the time when she asked her father to help him and his father stay here in Magnolia. She had went back to them in tears when he refused, then got an even bigger scolding from Gajeel's dad. That was when she accepted that there was nothing she can do. She was still a kid and shouldn't get involved in that type of business even when her intentions meant good. "...Fine." She muttered.

"Now, are ya done crying?" He wiped away her tears with his thumb, sweatdropping when her bottom lip only quivered more and even more tears poured out of her eyes. "I guess not..."

"I missed you so much." She buried her face into his chest, ignoring what he said in favor of relishing the warmth that she hasn't felt for so long. "I missed you so, so much... It was so hard without you."

Gajeel sighed and he buried his nose in her blonde hair. She still used the same strawberry shampoo like he remembered. "I know, Bunny. Me too." Was his simple reply. He knows that she has trouble making new friends, but how hard was it for her that she completely avoided the subject during their video chats? All he hopes is that this year will be better for her. And he knew that reuniting with him was a great start.

He hissed, cursing as he let go of her to rub where he had been punched in his arm. Lucy waved her fist at him with a vein bulging from her forehead, "Don't scare me like that, jerk! I could have seriously hurt you!"

"Yeah, yeah... Crazy woman." He muttered the last part to himself.

"Haaah?! What did you just call me?!"

And there we go. They finally get back together again! I was kind of expecting their reunion to be in like the third or fourth chapter, but I thought "Why not?" and did it in this one. What do you think of this so far? I know for sure that this is way better than the pile of shit I wrote 2-3 years ago. Let me know if the characters are OOC. It would be much appreciated so that I can improve my writing.

Anyway, I'm not sure when my next update will be... *sigh* I'm sorry that you all have to wait. Maybe I'll push myself a little and write another chapter sooner than I did with this one.