Chapter One

-One year previously-

Lucy sat at her desk in the Sorcerers Weekly office sipping her third cup of coffee that morning. She had spent the last three weeks working late into the night on her writing skills, modelling for the magazines centre folds and being a general PA for Jason that she barely had time to think anymore. It had got to the point that she was putting her hair up in a loose bun and only applying some blush and mascara she was that tired.

She looked down at her latest draft on the latest trends of magic. Jason had scribbled notes pretty much all over her work on how to improve. She knew that the criticism was good and she wanted to improve her writing as much as possible. The problem was her writing style had to change. She had to change from being an author to a journalist and she was struggling with the move. Just as she let out another sigh Jason called her into his office.

"How're you doing Lucy? Did you get my notes?" Jason asked when she sat down at his desk – coffee still in hand.

"Yes I did, thank you. I'll take your advice into consideration for my next draft."

"That is actually what I called you in for." Lucy paled, I'm not getting fired am I? "I have a very cool new article that needs doing and the chief has requested that you do the interview and the write up. So, I am passing your trends article onto Olivia." He took a large information pack out of his bag and handed it to the blonde.

Lucy looked over the information briefly. Bosco?! Why does he want to send me of all people to Bosco. I'm barely an intern. She raised her eyebrows at Jason when he didn't continue.

"Why has the chief asked for me? There are others that are surely more qualified for this position."

"The guild that you would be visiting is owned by the Pradesh family. The head of the family is Armen Pradesh – the ambassador for Bosco. He has apparently worked with your father on multiple occasions when you were younger and with your past history in the higher society the chief wanted to send somebody who couldn't insult the family. You'll be leaving for Hargeon tomorrow and boarding the airship Southern Star. Ambassador Pradesh has sent two of his sons to escort you to Pelerno and has offered to let you stay at his house whilst you're there. It would be a good experience for you and will get you out of your comfort zone. According to the Ambassador the escorts will meet you either at the train station here or in Hargeon depending on another task they have to complete beforehand." Lucy became speechless from the flattery. She shook her head at the thought of her father helping her through the ranks of her new career and returned to her normal professional state.

"Thank you for the opportunity. If it is okay with you, I will need to go and get my stuff packed up. Is there anything else that I'll need to take? Is there going to be one of our photographers coming with us or will I be using one of theirs?" Lucy asked flipping through the pack again.

"One of our guys is already there. He was doing a gravure shoot with the Pradesh sisters." Lucys' eyes widened. An ambassador lets his two daughters do those types of photo shoots? What type of country is this? She stood up and shook Jason's hand quickly before saying something she would regret. Collecting her stuff from her desk, the blonde ran home to go pack.

When she entered her apartment Virgo and Leo were already standing there ready to help her. Leo would keep flirting with her about the Boscan culture whereas Virgo just kept asking for punishment. Two hours later, her suitcases were packed, her boarding tickets, passport and documents were waiting by the front door ready to pick up on her way out and Lucy was ready to kick the two spirits out of Earthland.

"Hime-sama, are you going to be okay for this journey? It will be a long time before we are able to come back to Fiore again." Virgo asked as she prepared her bath.

"I know that, but it will be good for me to get out of Fiore for a little bit. It'll get my mind off of... well, everything – at least for a little while." Virgo bowed and left in a sparkle of golden light. Lucy smiled softly and hopped into her now drawn bath. Settling in so just her head was showing above the water she gave off a light sigh. Her moment of peace however was interrupted when Leo appeared and sat down by the tub.

"Princess, I know things haven't been the same since Aquarius but you haven't been yourself for quite a while. Is there anything that I can do to help ease whatever it is that is going on in that head of yours?"

"Thank you Leo but this is something you can't help me with and I'm sure I'll be fine. Like I said, this trip will get my mind off of everything that's happened. I might even meet someone whilst I'm over there." She smiled back at him. He nodded still unconvinced, but kissed her forehead sweetly and left to go back to the celestial world. Lucy was once again at peace.

Although nervous about what was to come, she was excited about her new adventure to a completely different country with a completely different culture to what she was used to. Having grown up in high society she had learnt that her purity was her most valuable possession. But in Bosco, sexual pleasure was such a casual thing. As long as neither participant was 'promised' to another everything was legal and fun.

Lucy got out of the bath and pulled the plug. Drying off she put on her bathrobe and sat down at her desk to read up on her new home for the next month or so. Opening the information pack she was told she also had a weeks' vacation after the job was done. There was a book on how the culture of Bosco works plus a file on each of the Pradesh family.

According to the pack, she would be meeting Cristoff and Vander Pradesh at whichever train station they decided to meet her at. From what she read Cristoff was part of the royal army, a lunar dragon slayer and quite the ladies man. He could put Leo and Bickslow on a run for their money. She let out a small sigh at the thought of her ex-guildmate before going back to her pack. The youngest Pradesh brother, Vander, was a member of the Steel Council; a spy and assassin of sorts. He was just as big of a flirt, maybe even more so, than his older brother. I'm gonna be in for a treat.

Knowing she wouldn't be sleeping again tonight Lucy moved onto having a look into the Pradesh family from their files.

Ambassador Armen Pradesh and Ganier Roulet married and had two children together. Farron was born not long after their wedding and barely a year later Zen was born. When Zen was only a year old he was believed to have been killed along with Ganier at the Boscan embassy in Pergrande. After his wife had died and his son missing, (believed dead) Ambassador Pradesh wanted to have his wife's legacy live on, she had wanted eight children, so, the ambassador adopted. Over the following years, he adopted Kaleb, Bickslow –

Hold on a minute? This can't possibly mean Bickslow as in Seith mage Bickslow surely?! That would be too much of a coincidence. Lucy shook her head and carried on reading.

Cristoff, Vander, Emzadi and Xally. All of which are the Ambassadors pride and joy, as well as being incredible mages in their own rights. Farron, although following his fathers' footsteps, is a renowned sound mage whilst his biological brother, Zen, is an archangel. When Zen was 16 he was found in the pits of Pergrande, (known to the Pergrande citizens as the Dark Eagle due to his archangel wings) and was then rescued by his siblings and brought back home. Kaleb, the guild master for White Sea is a mindbender mage and is strong enough to be one of Bosco's Wizard Saints. Cristoff adopted at two was both son to the Ambassador as well as the lunar dragon Nurem and is the only 1st generation dragon slayer in the country. The youngest brother, Vander, is a shadow quip mage and was sought out to be an spy by the steel council. The daughters, Emzadi and Xally, as well known for their looks around Bosco. Not only that but Emzadi is a 2nd generation solar dragon slayer whereas Xally is a water mage and deals with some healing magic.

Lucy looked through each of the family members' files again and again but there was nothing on Bickslow Pradesh. Surely has to be a coincidence. She put the pack back together and put it back with her tickets at the front door and headed to bed. Well, tried to. Her mind was still reeling over everything she just processed on top of everything else. She looked at her board with all her ex-guildmates whereabouts on. Not once had she had any inkling of where the Raijinshuu had ended up. She even checked with other guilds to see if they'd joined them..

"It would explain why you just disappeared off the map." She murmured sleepily and fell into a light sleep.

-0-

"I'm getting addicted to you, you know that." Lucy said to her cup of coffee whilst she waited for her train to pull into the station. She'd barely gotten an hour sleep. Her mind just couldn't process the information what she had read about the Pradesh family. A family in high society that was surrounded by magic. It's not seen in Fiore. The ambassador must have been very well thought of for my father to have wanted to do business with him. She took another drink. Seeing that the train was just arriving and there was no sign of either of her escorts she boarded the carriage and showed the ticket to the conductor. Lucy saw his eyes check out her chest, his cheeks reddening, before he read the ticket. Nothing changes.

"This way please, Miss Heartfilia." The conductor directed her to a private cabin at the back of the train. Instead of the standard seats and a table, there was a food cart with enough food for Team Natsu twice over - and that is with Natsu's stomach – including a mini bar under the seats. There was also a pull out table for her so she could do some work whilst she travels to Hargeon. Maybe get a head start on what to ask the Pradesh siblings when she gets to her destination.

"Is this all just for me?" She asked the conductor without turning round. He shook his head, getting the image of her behind out of his mind, before answering, "No, there are six more people joining you today."

"Okay, do you know when they will be boarding?"

"About now Cosplayer" Lucy froze. There is only one person who calls me Cosplayer. Turning round, she saw Bickslow leaning against the door frame with a smirk and the rest of the Raijinshuu standing behind him smiling. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Seith mage. He hadn't changed one bit. Definitely not a coincidence. There were only three choices for what she could do next: play it cool, scream and jump into lots of hugs or faint. Faint it is.

-0-

The Raijinshuu were stood at the train station by the cafe waiting for Bickslows two younger brothers. When Bickslow had gotten a call on the lacrima from his dad saying that his brothers would be escorting some journalist from Sorcerer Weekly to Pelerno to interview the whole family and that he needed to come home for this as soon as possible. The rest of his team were excited for the change of scenery. They agreed that he and his team would meet Cristoff and Vander at the train station in Crocus and they could all travel with the journalist together. Otherwise, the journalist was going to get a hell of a ride, (probably from both of his younger brothers at the same time).

Bickslow looked into his cup of coffee. He hadn't been acting like the usual way he does and he knew it. Everyone in the team knew it but he couldn't get out of this depression he was stuck in. He felt like he hadn't slept in weeks and didn't have the motivation to do anything – not even annoy to the hell out of Evergreen. Evergreen would joke to him about him now growing up five years too late but they all knew that wasn't true.

"Hey! Bickslow over here." Christoff yelled towards him from across the platform. His brothers ran up to him and pounced, pinning him to the floor in a giant hug. It looked more like Cristoff was suffocating him to be fair with the size of the man. At over six foot and built like Laxus, the dragon slayer could stop a train. "How long has it been man?!" Vander yelled as they got up.

"Must be what two – no, three years since your last visit to Fiore. Now get off me. My babies are getting squished." He grumbled at them. To say that they were quite high up in both of their military positions they still liked to tease him like younger brothers do. "Right, you know the rest of my team. Evergreen, Freed and Laxus – where's the journalist you're supposed to be escorting?" Bickslow crossed his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow behind his visor at the lack of the stuffy journalist he would have to answer questions to.

Cristoff sensing his new demeanour answered before their younger brother would say something stupid. "No idea, all we got given was her name. No description or anything." Bickslow prompted for more info, "I think her name was Lucy... yeah that was it, Lucy Heartfilia." At that name the team froze. They hadn't heard or seen anything of Lucy in over a month now. Laxus had started to become worried about her. He had seen her as his little sister since she battled Flare at the Grand Magic Games and knew he should have gone and found her when they decided to go travelling after the disbandment. Evergreen and Freed just watched Bickslows reaction. His jaw had dropped slightly and it was as if he didn't know what to say or do next.

"Sorry, did you say Lucy?" Laxus asked barging past Bickslow, knocking him back to the ground again. What? Am I invisible?! The Seith mage scowled up at his best friend before helping himself back up.

"Erm, yeah, why? Do you know her?" Vander asked.

"Yeah, she was a guildmate before we disbanded. We haven't heard or seen from her in nearly two months. We thought she would have left with Natsu. I guess she turned him down." He replied before sniffing the air to catch the addicting strawberry and vanilla scent. Her mouth watering scent was caught from the cafe entrance and headed for the train. Looking towards the carriages he could just see the blonde talking with the conductor inside, "Oh yeah, she's here and she's on board already. Come on, let's go find our cabin."

The team plus the two brothers followed Laxus on board. They could see the conductor outside what would be their cabin. Bickslow moved past Laxus, being a Pradesh does have its perks, whilst Cristoff and Vander went to go find the bar.

"Is this all just for me?" Bickslow heard Lucy's voice and almost tripped over his own feet. He hadn't heard her voice in weeks. He knew it was just a crush he had on her back at the guild but god had he missed her. She was the light of the guild – everyone missed her. He could see the conductor checking her out. The mage's jaw tightened. How dare he look at what's mine?! What the fuck was that? Bickslow shook his head at the thought. The conductor replied to her, then stepped back to let Bickslow through after seeing his ticket and leaned against the door frame. Okay, play it cool.

"Okay, do you know when they will be boarding?"

"About now Cosplayer." He smirked. From what he could tell she hadn't changed, other than her hair being in a messy bun. He saw Lucy freeze and almost could hear the cogs in her head working over time. When she turned it felt like time had stopped still. She was actually stood in front of him. Lucy was here on the train and going to meet his family in Bosco. Before he could get a good look at her she started falling back. "Shit." He muttered under his breath as he went to kneel on the floor next to her.

"Well, that could've gone better." Evergreen said as the rest of the Raijinshuu surrounded Lucy. "What did you do to her Bicks?" Bickslow scowled at the brunette. Smirking, she moved onto the seat behind her so that Bickslow could lay Lucy down on the opposite seats. Laxus and Freed took the seats opposite, sitting next to Evergreen whilst Bickslow sat against the wall in front of Lucy. He turned to take a better look at her and could see her hair had fallen across her face. Smiling softly, he couldn't help but move it behind her ear. As he took a good look at her he could see the changes the last seven weeks had taken on the blonde. It was as if she had just given up on putting in an effort on her looks. Not that she didn't look pretty in the first place. He turned his head quickly at the sounds of his two brothers dropping to the floor laughing and pointing at him. The rest of team chuckled at the sight. Damn it.

"What happened?" Cristoff asked after finally calming down. Bickslow scowled at his brother and went back to moving Lucy's hair, stopping when she tried to nuzzle into his hand. Vander perked up then, "Hey, hairdresser, what did you do to that blonde?"

"The blonde is Lucy, the journalist that you two should be escorting. I think I just spooked her that's all." He replied, not looking at either brother. Cristoff moved to sit by Lucy's feet whilst Vander sat beside Freed. Shuffling into a comfier position Bickslow leant his head against the wall and shut his eyes, feeling relaxed for the first time in a long time.

"I can heal her if you want. I know she only fainted but it could get her to consciousness faster." Looking at the way his older brother was looking at Lucy he knew there was more to their relationship than just guildmates. He would have to get Kaleb to get a look into it.

"Yeah, you can heal her – see what that does." Bickslow mumbled so only the dragon slayers could hear. Cristoff smiled softly and let a pale silver glow release from his hands. He rested his hands nearer to her head and let the cool light filter into her head. After a couple of minutes of the group watching Cris' work his magic he stopped.

"That should do it." He whispered. "Now whilst we are waiting for her to wake up, drinks?" Cristoff pulled out the whiskey from under his seat with a couple of glasses. Laxus and Vander nodded. Freed shook his head and went back to his book whilst Evergreen went back to looking at her nails. Bickslow just kept his eyes shut, trying to stay calm. He hadn't had a drink since leaving the guild and knew that if he accepted Cristoff was going to corner him and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from talking. Oh god! If he corners me in front of her I'm fucked! Or worse, if he waits until we get home and corners me in front of dad! I might just stay in a hotel – maybe take Lucy with me. No! Stop that Bicks!

At the sound of a whimper from next to him, Bickslow opened one eye slightly and looked at Lucy fidgeting. She moved her hand and rested it onto her forehead. "What happened?" She muttered. Everyone looked up at the blonde laying on the seats. Bickslow chuckled lightly. "You erm... you fainted." Evergreen and Freeds eyes widened at hearing their teammate chuckle. Lucy froze slightly at the sound of Bickslows voice. Well, at least I know that the Bickslow in the pack was my Bickslow – wait, my Bickslow? Jesus, what is wrong with me?

When Lucy tried to sit up, Bickslow hadn't moved as fast in a long time. Keeping one hand on her lower back and the other on a wrist he adjusted her so that she was sitting in the middle seat. Cristoff moved to the end seat opposite Vander whereas Bickslow moved to take the window seat where Lucy's head was previously. Both Vander and Cristoff smirked having never seen their older brother act like this before. Laxus smirked towards Cristoff knowing exactly what he was thinking. He coughed getting the attention of his fellow dragon slayer.

"They slept together once but neither of them knew about it. We were having a party at the guild and they both got extremely drunk to the point they can't remember the night and had sex in my office – I found Bickslow passed out naked on my sofa. Lucy was taken home by Natsu afterwards but none of us know how they ended up having sex in the first place but whatever it was has caused some feelings to be stirred. Only reason I know that it was Lucy is because I could smell Blondie all over him. The weird thing is the scent never left him. Don't know what they did to end up scent marking each other but his feelings for her haven't changed. When the guild disbanded and we had to leave, I didn't even think about asking her if she wanted to join us but once we were out of Magnolia it took us two weeks just to get him to talk again. Since then, he's barely slept. The babies haven't even spoken up." Laxus explained to him almost silently that only the dragon slayer could hear.

"Shit." Cristoff muttered under his breath, "No wonder he's been acting oddly – more mature. It's not like him. He's the type to just go out and do whatever he wants, or whoever he wants. Maybe Dad asking him to come back for this interview was a bad idea if he's gonna be like that." The dark haired dragon slayer slyly looked back to his older brother. The man had taken his visor back off, the blonde had unconsciously snuggled into his side. Both seemed to be falling asleep again. Maybe she has had a similar reaction as Bicks has.

Laxus shook his head, "No, what they need to do is realise that they need each other. This will be good for them to connect again." He watched as both Bickslow and Lucy breathing evened out until they were both asleep. Looking to his right he saw Vander snickering whereas the rest of his team were so absorbed in their books. The rest of the Raijinshuu obviously hadn't noticed the spark between their team mate and the celestial spirit mage.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe all we need is to get the two drunk again and lock them in a room." Cristoff chuckled to himself leaning back to get himself more comfy into his seat. "Right, I'm gonna have a nap. The train should arrive in Hargeon at about one, if there aren't any delays. Wake me up at half twelve so I can sort out the tickets for everyone." Laxus nodded and let the other dragon slayer sleep.

Vander turned to Laxus then and smirked, "I'm going to go and see if there are any nice ladies who want a good time. I'll be back soon." He faded into the shadows. Laxus chuckled then and continued to watch the couple in front of him.

"Laxus-sama, why is Lucy asleep on Bickslow I thought she had woken up?" Freed asked, looking up from his book finally. Evergreen looked up then and started smiling. The fairy had had enough of the Seith mage not being the lovable idiot she knew anymore. He hadn't even tried to irritate her. She had remembered waking up through the night multiple times throughout their travels to him moaning, not saying his nickname for the girl but her actual name.

"Finally, maybe we'll get the real Bickslow will back now." She muttered. Laxus smiled at that comment.

"Yeah, maybe." If not, I'll force him and Blondie into a closet – god I'm turning to Mira. Bloody demon.