Lucy stacked the last box by the door with a grunt of effort. Loke and Virgo appeared next to her, smiles on their faces. Loke threw an arm around Lucy's shoulder with his usual playboy attitude.
"So, you and Mira, huh? I get to visit two pretty ladies in one room; my heart always belongs to you, Lucy dear."
Virgo punched Loke in the head, knocking him out and over. Lucy laughed, but helped the injured lion to his feet.
"Stop goofing around, Loke. We have all these boxes to move before dark!"
For the next hour, Loke, Virgo, and Lucy hauled boxes out to a cart Lucy had borrowed from the guild. She really didn't have that much stuff, but the cart made it easier. Dark was just beginning to fall when she reached Fairy Hills. Mira was waiting outside for her, the usual smile on her face,
"I convinced Lisanna to help us move your stuff upstairs, but it looks like we may not need her. I didn't realize that you had so little. Did you throw anything out?"
"No, I just haven't had a chance to accumulate anything because I've always been so busy with missions and team stuff. Maybe I'll get some more once I can settle down a bit."
That was the sad truth. Even though Lucy had run away so she could have her own place and own things, she still didn't. Everything she did was dictated by the team and missions, and even when they weren't working, the team was invading her house. As she moved the four boxes up to Mira's room, she wondered if this was a chance for her life to turn around. Maybe now she could get the separation she was beginning to realize she needed. Good things could come with separation. She could have a boyfriend, other friends, maybe take odd jobs around town, and take some solo missions on her own schedule. She could have a life. The last box went into a closet Mira had set up exclusively for her, and Lucy crashed on the new bed. Lisanna departed with a wave.
"Feeling okay, Lucy?"
"Yeah, just thinking. I'm realizing that I'm happy about the separation from the team. Maybe I'll go tell Master tomorrow that it's permanent. I can still go with them on jobs occasionally, but this way, I won't be expected to drop everything when they need to do a mission. Solos could even be fun! Do you think maybe you could start putting a mission aside for me once a month?"
"No problem. I'm so proud of you, Lucy. I can tell you're growing up."
The two women enjoyed the companionable silence for a few more minutes before getting ready for bed. Lucy fell into a nice sleep, dreaming of a house she could call her own.
Natsu woke up from his drunken slumber to someone poking him with a broom. He rolled over on the guild floor and peered up at the tall sunny figure holding the offending object. Lucy?
"Get up, Natsu! I'm trying to clean up!"
That didn't make any sense. Ignoring the murderous headache he had, he rolled onto his feet and used Lucy's shoulder as stability. He also noted that her clothes were different than usual; instead of the top and skirt combo he was used to, she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans.
"Why are you sweeping the guild? Doesn't Mira do that?"
"I'm helping Mira now. We live together, so I need to do some cleaning to help her out as compensation. Now, can you PLEASE move?"
He moved over to the bar and sat on it, head still reeling a little bit. Lucy was sweeping the guild? Lucy lived with Mira? What happened last night?
"Natsu, last night, you got drunk and ran through the streets screaming that you were a dragon and Mira and I hooked up so we're a couple now. Oh, Mira and I are making a new team as well, just for the two of us. That's what happened last night."
"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL?! YOU AND MIRA?!"
Lucy just smiled and continued her sweeping, humming a sweet little tune. His head really hurt now. What the hell? How was he supposed to deal with this?! It didn't even seem real!
"That's because it's not real, Natsu. You got drunk, passed out, and that was that. Mira and I decided that living with her was a better financial decision for me considering my rent is getting difficult to keep up with. And before you ask, yes, you've been asking these questions out loud. Maybe you should go home and get some more sleep. Now, shoo."
"But, Lucy, why didn't you say anything about your rent? We could have gone out and done a couple missions to cover it!"
"I DID tell you. You were always just too drunk to remember. It's alright; I've got this all figured out. I was serious about the whole team thing, too. Mira and I are doing missions together from now on out of convenience. Can you tell Erza and Gray? I'm going to talk to Master later about it."
Natsu couldn't handle it anymore. He ran out of the guild, aiming for his house. This could not be happening. None of it. This was a bad joke because he had been partying too much. It just had to be. Lucy would never move out of her apartment! He ran to her house and leaped in through the window. To his utter shock, the apartment was cleaned out. No one could live in this. Her scent was even gone from it already. Had she meant what she said about forming a team with Mira, then, too? She would leave him? WHY?
