Lucy pretty much choked on air. "Fairy Tail? As in the Fairy Tail guild of Magnolia?"

Natsu simply turned to his left, finally allowing Lucy to see the emblem on his right shoulder. It was the Fairy Tail mark alright.

"So you have heard of it?"

The pair were walking to the restaurant doors, Natsu holding the door open for her as they went into the lightly chilled evening air.

"Yeah! That's the one I wanted to join!" Lucy exclaimed. "That must be why I've heard your name before."

"Really? Because I can take you there."

Lucy stopped in her tracks, looking at him with wide, brown eyes. "You... You would do that for me?"

Natsu laughed. "Sure! Why not? Gramps can get you settled in, you can learn some more self defense to go on jobs before the school year starts, have a place to stay; it'll be fun!"

"You can get me in?"

He shrugged. "It's not actually that hard. You sign a few papers, get the mark, pick a room, and boom, there ya go. Of course, if you're a college student, you have to pay for your room, but high schoolers, junior high, and elementary kids don't. If you have a home and just want to go to the school, though, your parents pay for the dorm if you need it or just sign up for the Academy alone." He frowned. "You're still in high school like me, right?"

"Yes - I'm seventeen."

"Me too! So you'll be in my class."

"Wow," breathed Lucy, hands on her jangling her keys in excitement. "I can't believe this is actually happening!"

Natsu stopped and put his hands proudly on his hips, his cat lounging in the scarf resting on his shoulders. "So come along! Let's go to Fairy Tail!"

Lucy rubbed her eyes, smiling wearily. "That sounds awesome, but... aren't you tired?"

Natsu scratched his head. "Well yeah, but I don't have a place to sleep."

After a hesitation, Lucy offered, "There was a couch in the hotel room I was staying at. You can sleep there, if you like." She couldn't help but trust this boy. He was so… innocent.

"Sounds good to me!" Happy meowed in agreement.

If Lucy thought his eating was crazy, it was nothing compared to the snores. She spent most of the night with a pillow over her head.

Not only did he sleep loud, but like a rock.

"Natsu, get up," Lucy said for the fifth time, lightly shaking his shoulder. This time, Lucy had shaken him so that something came loose and fell out of a pocket that seemed to be inside his vest.

Lucy frowned at the glint of gold, and when she saw what it was, she gasped, stumbling back. It was one of the keys.

No doubt about it - a gold-coated, four inch key with a zodiac symbol on it: the symbol for Virgo the Maiden.

With shaking fingers, she picked it up. It was warm from being against his chest, which was still moving softly up and down with breath. She glanced up at the boy. Natsu's pink hair had fallen slightly over his eyes in his sleep, and his face was completely peaceful. The snoring stage seemed to be over. He was curled into the fetal position laying on his left side, but with his left arm and end of scarf hanging over the couch. Biting her lip, eventually her morals got the best of her and she gently lifted up his vest and tucked the key safely back in place. As the appointed keeper of the keys, she would have to just watch Natsu extra carefully to keep he and the key secret and safe.

But the main question stood, swirling around her mind: Why on earth would this random boy have a key?

He clearly wasn't random, and Lucy couldn't help but think of how she must have been

destined to meet him.

It was then that he began to slowly moan and flutter his eyelids. Finally opening one eye, he gave a small smile. "Mornin', Luigi."

She realized she was very close to his face.

Quickly backtracking with a blush, she said, "Lucy. I told you my name was Lucy. And good morning."

Sitting up, he stretched. "Right. Luce. Close enough."

"Lucy."

"Sure, Luce. What's for breakfast?"

Happy invasively crawled off of Natsu's legs and into Lucy's lap as she rolled her eyes, not even noticing how her hand moved to pet him. "There's free breakfast downstairs in the lounge. Try not to eat too much; it's not polite."

Natsu scoffed. "If they offer free breakfast, they should expect someone to eat all if it!"

"I don't think it works like that," she said with a flat stare.

Natsu clearly wasn't used to taking orders from anyone, and ate about six helpings anyway.

It didn't take long for Lucy to pack up her few possessions consisting of a small box of keepsakes, laptop, phone, a few books, two changes of clothes, and toiletries.

At least, she didn't think it took long, but Natsu, on the other hand, was tapping his foot impatiently when she finished with her morning routine and shower.

"Finally," he moaned dramatically as she finished running out and pulling her red t-shirt all the way down. "I was starting to think you'd fallen down the toilet or something."

"Says the guy that took about twenty minutes to wake up," she shot back, patience being tested.

He shot her a sharp-toothed, crooked grin. "Fair enough. Now let's go!"

She was finally going to Fairy Tail! Lucy laughed, "Alright! To Fairy Tail!"

Fifteen minutes of a walk later, Lucy halted in the street. "Okay, here's the train station. Got your money for a ticket?"

But when she turned to look at Natsu, she was surprised to see him grimace and turn a delicate shade of green. "Nope. No trains. We're walking!"

"Walking?!" Lucy said, aghast. "No way! It'll take days!"

"I walked here. It's no probem."

"We are NOT walking."

It took twenty minutes to literally push Natsu onto the train. For some reason, when he finally realized he'd lost, he moaned, curling up into the corner of their compartment and wincing in apprehension.

"What's with you?" Lucy asked, frowning and leaning towards him. "Are you afraid of trains or something? Enclosed spaces?"

"No," he said weakly. "Of course not."

"Then what-"

The train finally lurched forward, bringing to light his real problem. She watched, both with sympathy and guilty, slight amusement as the boy clutched his stomach and instantly flopped over, lying down on the seat. He pressed a hand to his mouth and shut his eyes tightly.

"Motion sickness?"

Natsu nodded. Happy mewed sadly and settled down by Natsu's chest.

After about three hours straight of contained retching noises, moaning, and the window opening and closing constantly to empty out his rocking stomach, Lucy almost found herself wishing they'd walked after all.

Putting her hands over her ears to avoid hearing the gross sound of his tenth vomit, she grumbled to him, "Maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much breakfast if you knew it would be a problem!"

He sloshed some water in his mouth and spat it out the window before turning back to her with an accusing, sick glare. "I didn't know you'd be mean enough to make me go on a form of transportation!"

"You didn't tell me you had motion sickness!"

"I said I didn't want to go!"

She crossed her arms, turning her nose up to the window. "Well, you should've said why. I thought you were just being ridiculous for no reason again."

He, in turn, rolled on the floor up to her, trying to look cross and failing. "I, ridiculous? You're the weirdo here."

"I'm weird?! Says the boy with the blue cat and pink hair and patterned scarf and fire fetish!"

Pouting, he murmured, "You say that like it's a bad thing." He coughed. "For your information, Miss Lucy Weirdo, I like my pink hair. I was born with it. Secondly, if you've got a problem with my cat, you've got a problem with a black belt in ninjutsu. Thirdly, the reason scarves are in fashion now is me. And lastly, fire is fantastic, and fire and this ridiculous boy saved your cute butt yesterday, so I don't see what you're complaining about."

"If I'd had my whip, I would've been able to take those guys no problem," she hissed.

"But you didn't."

"-and I'm not complaining, because I fully understand that you saved my... Wait, did you just call my butt cute, you perv?"

"Yup. And I don't know why that makes me a pervert. Saying you're cute is just stating the obvious. You haven't met a pervert until you've met Gray-" his eyes widened and he rushed to the window again.

Lucy blushed and couldn't think to say anything else. When he sat again, hanging his head, her sympathetic side finally gave in, saying gently, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Through his green shaded face, she could barely see his eyes brighten. "You could do what Erza does."

"And what's that?"

He made his way over beside her, and promptly dropped his head into her lap.

"That," he said, then picked up her right hand and placed it on his hair. "And then that. See?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, wondering if this guy knew a single thing about personal boundaries. But hoping to avoid more of his retching, she obliged, lightly beginning to massage his head.

He purred. "You're better at this than Erza. I think I'll keep you."

"W-wha- you can't just keep people!"

"Sure I can. I'll bring you everywhere with me and you can do this every time." He sighed through his nose. She did notice a bit of color finally returning to his cheeks.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She had to admit his little oblivious world was endearing. "If you say so." Who was she to crush his dreams? Even if they would obviously be short-lived.

Happy crawled over and curled up on Lucy's boots. Natsu was already asleep.

They arrived at the Magnolia station about 45 minutes later, and due to their slow morning, it was already evening. Natsu slowly blinked his eyes open when she squeezed his shoulder, and he quickly jumped up, punching the air joyfully.

"We've stopped moving! Yeeaaah!"

She smiled, sliding her backpack on and handing his over. He bolted out of the train so fast that Happy let out a yowl of surprise, falling off of his owner's shoulders and standing close to Lucy instead.

She dropped her face into her hands and groaned when she found him, cheering and running back and forth with fire bursting out of his wrists. But to her relief, none of the people seemed surprised, giving only light laughter as they saw him, some of them waving familiarly.

"I'm home!" he called out energetically. "C'mon, Luce!" Natsu grabbed her wrist and tugged her off, running down the street at a pace she could barely keep up with. It was a beautiful town obviously bursting with culture and excitement on a sunny day. Several townsfolk called out greetings to Natsu as he flashed past.

"N-Natau, slow-!" Lucy began, but then gasped as she saw their destination. It was an enormous, proud building, standing at the end of town like a trophy. It was tall, wide, as was necessary to contain the legendary dorms, classrooms, commons, restaurant, bar, gift shop, pool, and dojo, and gym.

He didn't stop pulling her until they came right up to the doors. As she panted, Natsu spread his arms. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Lucy could only squeal as he pushed open the French doors…

"We made it back alive!"

"Hey, Natsu!" chorused several members of the guild, lounging on great wooden tables around the main hall.

Lucy couldn't stop taking it all in: the variety of people, the laughter and fiddle music and-

"Natsu, look out!"

She didn't hear him gasp or hear the warning before it was too late. Lucy lost her footing on something slippery and was sent crashing down, toppling into poor Natsu, who had fallen before her.

"Ugh," she groaned, pushing herself off of him and rubbing her eyes. She felt cold. Was this slippery substance on the floor... Ice?

"Oops! Dammit..." said a deep voice from Lucy's right. "Sorry, didn't mean for you to slip on that... It was only for Natsu."

"Th-that's alright," she said quickly, determined to be her most friendly self here. She looked up, eyes meeting those of a raven haired, dark eyed boy, probably her age, that was almost too perfect-looking, aside from the fact that he seemed to be missing his shirt and pants.

But before she could take the hand that he'd offered, however, she was grabbed under the arms and pushed up roughly by Natsu, who was glaring dangerously at the shirtless boy.

"What the hell was that for, stripper?! I just got home! And you made my new friend fall over!" With a click, his fists were in flames.

"Natsu," Lucy murmured nervously, "calm down..."

'Stripper' looked dubious, and said with a laugh, "'New friend'? She's way too cute to be hanging around a bum like you, dragon boy."

"What's that supposed to mean, punk?! Forget it - SOUNDS LIKE YOU WANNA PIECE A' ME!"

"BRING IT ON, PYRO FREAK!"

"I'LL LEAVE YA ROASTED AND BEGGIN' FOR MERCY, ICE PRINCESS!"

Lucy squeaked and jumped aside as punches were thrown, stumbling off to the nearest table. "Oh Mavis-!"

"Hey, it's okay!"

A small hand was placed on her arm reassuringly, and Lucy whirled to see a petite, cute, teenage girl with reading glasses smiling up at her from the book she had been reading.

"H-huh?"

The girl laughed, ignoring the smashing and kicking behind Lucy. "Don't worry about them - they do that all the time and they'll cool off in a little bit. Hi! I'm Levy. Are you here to join?"

Lucy breathed out, relieved, and offered a smile. "I'm Lucy. Yeah, I was hoping to enroll in the school and get a dorm!"

"Awesome! Let's go talk to the Master and get you settled in!" Levy said cheerfully, closing her book and slipping it back into a flowery bookbag.

"Um," Lucy hesitated, glancing back at Natsu. He was grinning, just having shoved his opponent into the wall, before the black-haired boy jumped back at him with a kick.

"Don't worry about it," Levy repeated, taking Lucy's hand and pulling her along. "So... Natsu brought you here? Strange... He's never done that before."

"Really? He seems pretty friendly."

"He is," Levy admitted, "but he's also rather..."

"Eccentric?"

The blue haired girl sniggered. "That's the word. It scares some people away."

"That might be why he called me a weirdo," Lucy reasoned. "I didn't run away screaming."

Levy giggled. "Maybe you just thought he was attractive."

"Wha-no! He-he just saved me so I thought I should repay him with food, which was a bad decision because it cost me 1000 jewel, and then we got talking about Fairy Tail and then-"

"I'm just joking, girl!" Levy laughed as they reached the bar at the end of the hall. "Here, this is Mirajane Strauss. Mira, this is Lucy! She's joining Fairy Tail!"

Lucy gasped. "Mirajane! From Sorcerer Weekly?!"

Mira had a light, pretty voice that matched her pretty face, and, well, pretty everything. The white-haired, blue-eyed beauty was often featured in Sorcerer Weekly bikini spreads.

"That's me! Nice to meet you, Lucy!" The girls shook hands from across the bar and Mira continued, "The master is in his office. He can set you up with all the paperwork - don't worry, it doesn't take too long - and then find you a dorm!"

"Thanks!"

Master Makarov was tiny.

While he sported an odd combination of blue and orange, a mustache and beard, and strange hat, Lucy disregarded all of this for his genuinely kind personality and smile.

"We're happy to have you join! Now, I'll need to do a short interview to know the details of your situation - completely confidential between us, I assure you - and get you to sign a few forms, and you'll be set!"

His positive energy was infectious, even though she knew she'd have to talk about her dad. "Alright!"

"Not many questions..." the master said, "but I need to confirm that you're eligible to stay in a dorm here. Describe to me the situation with your parents."

Lucy took and released a deep breath. She had never really spoken about it to anyone, but if it was to get into Fairy Tail... "My mother died quite a few years ago. I... Ran away from my dad a year ago. He hasn't contacted me since."

To her relief, Makarov only nodded. "And why did you leave?"

"I-I was being yelled at constantly." She cleared her throat. "He hit me... A lot. He wanted me to be ready to be married to someone I didn't know for money. And I knew I couldn't stay."

"A year since you've spoken, you say?" Makarov clarified gravely, meeting her eyes with a sadness that could only come out of years of experience.

"Yes, sir."

"He has not invited you back to live with him?"

"That is correct, sir."

"Well then," sighed the old man, shuffling some papers forward. "That's that. You're qualified, under state law, to live in a guild without payment. Just sign these papers and we'll get you a room. Fairy Tail is glad to be in service of you, Ms. Heartfilia."

"If you don't mind, sir-"

"Call me Master or Gramps; everyone does -"

"Right, Master, would you mind keeping my last name between us?"

He smiled in understanding. "As you wish, Lucy of Fairy Tail."

Lucy smiled back. She liked the sound of that. "Thank you."

With papers signed, she opened the door with Master to find three eager faces waiting for her.

"Luce! You in? Gramps get you all signed up?" Natsu asked excitedly, grabbing her arms.

"Yeah," she laughed at his never-ending energy.

"Hey Gramps, let her be my roommate!"

The black-haired boy leaned back against the wall. "You really do have flames for brains; she can't stay on the boy's floor."

The master chuckled. "I see you've met Natsu and Gray, the guild's greatest liabilities."

"Hey!" the dark boy, now she knew as Gray, shouted indignantly, while Natsu looked confused.

"What's a liblety?"

Levy was the third by the door, and she laughed. "Look it up, Natsu." She turned to Lucy with bright, friendly eyes. Lucy liked this girl already. "I was actually going to make the same offer as Natsu. My former roommate moved away a few months ago to go to college in America. I've got an empty bed, a quiet room, and full bookshelves!"

At this, Lucy jumped up and down with Levy's hands in hers. "Books?! You have books? And quiet? Yes! I'll be your roommate!"

Natsu pouted and crossed his arms. "I have books..."

Gray snorted. "Yeah, on how to blow stuff up."

"Got a problem with that?!"

Ignoring the boys' heated argument, the master smiled. "It's fine with me! Need any help moving your things into the room, dear?"

"Nope, this is it." Lucy indicated the backpack on her shoulder.

"We'll need to take you shopping with the girls for your own bedspread and clothes. Maybe a little furniture and wall decor too!" Levy offered, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "You have a small spending budget every month from the government, but we can help you find work too. Normal jobs - not scary ones like Natsu's."

Lucy was so excited she thought she might burst. "Awesome! Where's our room?"

"Second floor, with the other girls," Levy explained, leaving the boys and walking upstairs. "Boys' dorms are on the third floor, and everything else is on the first. We'll be sharing a bathroom with the girl next-door. Her name is Erza, and she's the girls' dorm manager and Senior class president. She's nice... If you behave." Levy grimaced.

"You make her sound so scary."

Levy shrugged as they reached the second floor, a span of about 25 rooms stretched around three walls. "Probably because she's terrifying. But she's on a job now, so you'll meet her later. Bisca is temporarily in charge. Mira would be, but she's always so busy..."

Levy stopped at the second door, fumbling for her lanyard. Lucy grinned at the little whiteboard pinned up on the door, reading 'Levy's Room'. She noticed that all the girls had this, and all had decorated it their own way.

When Levy clicked the lock open, she followed Lucy's gaze. "Oh! Right. Here."

Levy handed her the pack of Expo markers that had been hanging off of the sign, ready for passerby to leave little messages on the board. (The whiteboard already had messages in all different handwritings: 'Love you, sweetie!' 'Thanks for that book! I'll get it back to you tomorrow' 'let's hang out this weekend' and a mysterious 'cu 2nite'.)

"Write your name in."

Lucy grabbed the pink marker, erasing a bit to make room. When she stood back, it boldly read 'Levy and Lucy's Room'.

Giving her new roommate a big grin, Levy pulled her in and spread her arms wide. "Welcome to your new bedroom - wha - Natsu!"

Lucy jumped back in surprise. Natsu was sitting innocently on Lucy's new bed, Happy curled in his lap and in white, cotton pajamas and still wearing that scarf of his. "Yeah?"


Hello, lovelies!

So yeah, this is like a boarding high school AU with an interesting plot line in the middle.

Tell me what you think with a few seconds of your time to leave a review! Why do you think Natsu's in their room? I love to hear the predictions. It's fun. And, of course, I'll respond, like I did below.

It's been a while. I've been in Florida, where I wrote a LOT in my free time. So here's chapter two! It's longer, just to cover the necessaries.

For my reviewers!

alexmalik15: Thanks! Yeah, that's been fun. I've made up several ways to get those magics to show up in their character. Wait and see - and I'll explain Gray's little stunt later!

Guest: :D Thank you! I'm so glad some people liked it.

Rose Tiger: Thanks! Here ya go!

Until next time, folks.

Mizpah,

~LoneStorm