A/U:

Back again! I am super stoked to bust out another chapter. The writing juices are a-flowing!

I'm looking forward to writing more!

Enjoy!

~NumberSixteen

Night has draped the town of Velda in darkness and quiet. We meet our heroes at the Stony Hall Inn, where they have settled in for the night.

When Natsu, Happy and I entered Stony Hall Inn, we learned that Erza had split up the rooms between boys and girls.

"There is absolutely no way we are sharing a room with you boys. You both sound like a freight train sleeping. The snoring is just too much." Erza insisted to Natsu and Gray both.

Smoke began billowing out of Natsu's ears. "There is no way I am sharing a room with Frosty here! I can't sleep when the room gets to his temperature!"

Gray butted shoulders with Natsu, "Yeah, and Natsu talks in his sleep! I refuse to share a room with him!"

"Shuddap, will you?!" Natsu turned toward Gray begrudgingly. "I'm definitely not the worse roommate between the two of us!" He whirled back around to Erza, "Why can't Happy and I just room with Lucy? We sleep at her place all the time back in Magnolia!"

"You do?!" I screeched.

Happy laughed awkwardly, "Nope! We definitely don't!" Happy then mumbled under his breath, "Not every night, but most."

I nearly felt a blood vessel pop. "I can hear you, you know!"

"Enough!" Erza once again delivered a clean but signature smackdown to both Gray and Natsu. "I've already chosen who is in which room. If you wanted a say in it, you should have been here when we checked in."

"Gah….." Natsu groaned. "Why do you always have to hit me in the head?"

"Fine." Gray grunted. "But we are keeping it cold in there!"

"Silence!" Erza roared. "Go to your room!"

Both boys hung their heads and hurried up the stairs.

"Man, I forget how scary she is sometimes…" The was the only thing I could hear as they scurried away.

Erza then turned to me, suddenly cheerful and excited. "Okay Lucy, let's go! We're going to have an official girls-only sleepover!"

"Uh…" I laughed awkwardly, unsure what to make of this cheerful side of Erza. "Whatever you say."

We made our way up the stairs and down the hallway. As I followed Erza into the room, I began to admire how comfortable the room appeared. There were two cozy beds, a sofa, a small dining table, and what I assumed to be the door to the bathroom. The room was a nice balance of greens and browns. I sighed as I dropped my bag off my back.

"The bed looks so comfortable!" I smiled as I fell back on it. "And just as I thought, it most certainly is!"

Wendy sat up on the other bed, smiling in shorts and a t-shirt. "I said the same thing!"

"I'm just glad that they boys are in a room of their own," Erza released a sigh of relief. "I have been on so many jobs with them and I still have not able to adjust to their obnoxious snoring."

I sat up on the bed, although it called my name. "Is there a bathtub in here? I could really use a pick-me-up right now."

"Sure thing!" Wendy smiled sweetly. "Erza and I already took turns, so it's all yours!"

A little bubble of happiness grew in my chest. Finally, I can have a hot bath after all this travelling! I jumped to my aching feet and headed for the bathroom. "I might be a while. I haven't taken a good bath in weeks!"

As I shut the door behind me, I breathed a sigh of relief. Today was a long one, even with the little afternoon break we took today. I turned on the water and let the tub begin filling up, warm steam filling the room. As I began to undress, I heard a clank on the floor. I looked down only to see the fake zodiac key that I had picked up from the shop earlier.

Oh, Aquarius…

I picked up the key and passed it through each hand sorrowly. I had gotten ahead of myself today. I should know that Aquarius' key will be much more difficult to find than this. Her key may not even be in Fiore!

What was I thinking?!

I sunk into the warm water, the key still clutched in my hands. It is remarkable how similar it is to the real thing. The way it gleans in the light, how heavy it is, the size of it is spot on. Even though I know it is a fake key, it still looks and feels so real. The only difference between this key and the real one is magic power.

I placed the key down on the side of the tub and laid back, letting the water come up to my neck. Memories of summoning Aquarius in the tub as a child were filling my mind, making it very difficult to relax.

"Ugh…" I groaned and began to hurriedly wash my hair. I can't stay in the tub like this!

As I exited the tub, I could hear Wendy's laugh from the other side of the door. I know that Erza is looking forward to having a girls night, which is already unusual for her. I wondered briefly if it was a symptom of missing the guild. We have been gone for a while now and even I am beginning to miss the everyday guild antics. I hurriedly got ready for bed and grabbed the key from the tub. When I exited the room, I saw Erza, Carla and Wendy laying lazily on the bed nearest to me, playing a card game.

"Wanna play?" Wendy asked cheerfully.

"Sure!" I chirped in a tone that came off a little overly optimistic. "Let me change first."

I scurried over to my bag and shoved the key in the front pocket, hoping it would just disappear altogether. I retrieved my pajamas and quickly changed before joining the trio on the bed. "Now what are we playing?"

After a very late night of giggling and card playing, Wendy was the first to fall asleep. She and Carla were snuggled up in the bed we had played cards on. Erza and I cleaned up the game and soon, Erza decided it was time to retire the armor and requip into her night clothes.

"There is only two beds," Erza pointed out. "I guess that means we are sharing."

I smiled tiredly back at her, my mood boosted tremendously from the girls night. "That's fine by me!"

"Alright then," Erza huffed and sprawled out under the covers. "Goodnight Lucy."

I climbed into the bed beside her. "Goodnight Erza."

After about an hour, I could no longer take it. I was definitely going insane.

Erza's snoring is intolerable!

I shot up in bed, halfway angry and halfway exhausted. I crooked my head to glare at the snoring knight beside me.

She snores like a grown man!

I could almost hear Elfman commenting gleefully on her manliness in my mind. Yep, I was going cuckoo.

I have to get out of here… Right now!

I snuck out of the bed and shot a jealous look at the peacefully sleeping Wendy and Carla. They sure are lucky they fell asleep first. I'm shocked I hadn't noticed Erza's thunderous snoring before this. I must have just lumped in her snoring with Natsu and Gray's in the past. She is definitely much louder than either of them.

I quietly slipped over to the room door and opened it slowly, fearing that if it creaked I would wake the sleeping giant. When it had opened just enough, I snuck out as quietly as a mouse and shut it behind me. When the door finally closed, I released a sigh of relief at my success.

I started slowly and drearily making my way down the dark hallway. I only had to go a few doors down before Erza's snoring could no longer be heard. I yawned and stretched as I continued on and around the first corner only to see someone with my same idea.

"Natsu?" I asked, surprised to see the pink haired boy sleeping soundly on the floor outside his room. Happy was curled up beside him, huffing softly in his sleep.

"Huunh?" He woke up suddenly, jolting upright. "Where did the feast go?"

I tilted my head, confused. "Feast? What feast?"

Natsu shook his head back and forth several times, attempting to wake up fully. "Lucy? What are you doing here?"

I groaned softly, "I couldn't sleep."

Natsu chuckled playfully, his eyes still drooping. "Is it Erza?"

"How did you know?" I asked off the bat.

Natsu chuckled again, "I'm surprised you've never noticed. She's the loudest of us all."

I plopped down beside Natsu, leaning my back against the wall and hugging my knees. "It is just… so loud!"

Natsu rubbed his eyes and ruffled his hair. "Believe me, I know. She even snored as a kid. Don't ever bring it up to her unless you want a beating."

I laughed quietly at his point. "I wouldn't dream of it. Why are you sleeping out here?"

"Oh me?" Natsu scratched the back of his head and smiled wearily. "I'd rather sleep on the floor out here than in a room with near-frigid temperatures. Gray likes it cold when he sleeps."

I squinted my eyes at him, "But doesn't your fire cancel out his ice?"

Natsu laughed bleakly, "I may be a fire dragon slayer but just like in the white labyrinth, I can't really produce enough heat when I sleep. Gray, on the other hand, could freeze over hell in one night."

"I guess you have a point." I muttered and rested my chin on my knees.

Natsu smiled at me, obviously fighting back a yawn. "You're welcome to sleep on the floor with me if you want!"

I scoffed at him, "Oh, you wish! I'd rather take my chances with Erza."

"Your loss," Natsu murmured, tilting his head back onto the wall and shutting his eyes. "I'm going back to sleep."

It was only a few minutes later that Natsu's snores began once again. I sat in the dimly lit hallway beside him for a few more minutes, smiling to myself.

It's good to have the team back together again…

A/U:

Third chapter is done and dusted! :)

Thanks again everyone and have a happy day!

~NumberSixteen