Hey guys! I know it's been a couple days since I updated, but this chapter was actually really hard to get through. It was going to be even longer, but I decided to just go ahead and split the two. We've got some bonding time with Wendy, Levy, and Lucy in this chapter, with a Cappy moment as well. The next chapter is going to be interesting for me to write so it should be up by Saturday morning. Also I apologize if I miss spelled anyone's name in this part. If I did please let me know and I will fix it. Sorry for the wait and I hope you like this part! I love seeing your reviews so keep them coming! :D

The next morning proved to be warm and bright. It would make for a good day to sit outside and read a book, so Lucy left soon after she woke up, going to the guild in search of Levy. Natsu hadn't even budged as she slid away from him. Somewhere in their slumbers they had drifted closer, until their hands brushed under her jaw, his other arm draped lightly over her waist. Happy hadn't fared much better since he had found the side of her hip to be comfortable. As soon as she shifted, the blue cat had tumbled off moaning in annoyance. He figured he would rather go to the guild with Lucy than stay behind and wait for Natsu. Seeing Carla was better than making Lucy mad anyways. As they made their way along the canal Happy remembered their conversation from the night before.

"Lucy," he asked, gaining her attention. "Can we get that tea for Carla?"

The grin on her face rivaled his own that he used for situations like this one. For a moment, Happy was thoroughly worried, but then she nodded, giving him a bright smile as the mischievous thoughts passed. Jumping off the side of the canal, she began to make her way towards the tea store she often went to. Happy berated her with questions as they made their way through the streets of Magnolia, asking just what kind of tea he should get, the color bow he should use, etc. The sun felt warm on her back, the air filled with the scent of cherry blossoms and people's voices as they walked about. It was a atmosphere she found relaxing and comforting.

"Lucy!"

Glancing behind, Lucy found just the person she had wanted to see earlier. Levy rushed her with a hug, and the taller girl smiled, returning it.

"I was just going to come find you at the guild," Lucy told her.

Levy's eyes lit up, "The book store in the next town has a sale going on from that new series I showed you a while ago. I was going to see if you wanted to go check it out and get some lunch."

"Perfect," the celestial mage grinned. Happy floated down to land on her shoulder's with sad eyes. Tugging on her pony tail, he asked, "What about the tea?"

"Oh," Lucy exclaimed. "We will get that first, and then I'll drop you off at the guild, sound good?"

"Can't I come with you?" he sulked. Natsu wouldn't be up for another good three hours, besides he couldn't spend all day trying to woo Carla.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him, "To look at books?" He nodded, and she shrugged in response, not really seeing a problem with it. If the ladders were all in use then they could use Happy to reach the top shelves.

"Is that okay with you, Levy?" she inquired.

The bluenett smiled, "Of course!"

The two girls and exceed made their way towards the shop. Lucy went in, greeting the owner brightly before showing Happy where the tea Carla liked was. Levy drifted off to another area in the open floor, looking for tea's that might be nice while she read. Once Happy was settled in the correct section, Lucy went to find a type that would help with energy. The blonde knew she would be needing it with the training hours she was about to clock in.

It wasn't going to be easy, and she wasn't positive she could manage it. Still, Natsu was right. Gildarts was far above S-class, and he had barely escaped the chaos dragon with his life. Even with her and Happy's help, along with his magic being solely for killing a creature of this magnitude, they were no match for him like they were. Then there was the issue of individual growth. She loved her team, but Natsu had grown to be capable of S-class because of solo missions from what she understood. There was no way around it, at some point she would be needing to a quest on her own. She just wasn't sure if she could convince Natsu to let her go.

"What about this one?" Happy demanded, hovering about an inch away from her face. She blinked as her focus slowly came back to reality, examining the box her exceed friend held.

"It's plain," she said in surprise. The cat was immediately offended.

"It is not! Carla only deserves the best," he cried.

"He's right, Lu." added Levy, stepping up beside the, She pointed a small finger to a crest at the corner of the package.

"This is actually from a country that is famous for it's tea's." she explained. "It's rare to find it at a price like this, but that crest is real all right. Carla is going to be thrilled Happy."

The cat was ecstatic, "You think so?"

"Don't worry," Lucy laughed. "I'm sure she'll accept it!"

The exceed smiled happily, shooting over to the counter to buy his present. Levy followed suit, carrying a couple of tea's she had found as well. When Lucy reached the counter, she was met with Happy's wide, upset eyes. He didn't even need to say anything, she just scowled and scolded him, reaching into her purse to pay for the expensive teas. Normally she would be angry with Happy for putting the burden on her, but the excitement in his eyes molded at her emotions, helping her to keep calm. He clutched the box tight to his little body, staring at the purple ribbon with a smile.

"Thank you Lucy!" Happy purred, hugging her chest. Laughing, she patted his head as they moved out of the shop and back into Magnolia's streets. Levy skipped ahead, occasionally turning to face them, continuing on backwards. Lucy and her talked about the book series they had planned to go look at, Happy listening in, sometimes adding in a snide remark about the characters. It was hilarious to Lucy, to see the blue cat and script mage go at it over a fictional character. She almost missed the man walking straight towards them from across the street. Her eyes flicked towards the movement, and she noticed the stumbling way he walked. Revolted, she grabbed Levy's wrist before changing course, ducking them into an alley.

"Lu?" she asked, slightly worried.

"Drunkard was heading our way," muttered Lucy, as they stepped back out onto the street. The exceed on her shoulder turned back to look into the shadows of the alley and hissed, causing her to snap her head towards it as well. The man was following them, his pace quicker than before.

"What the hell," the celestial mage groaned, reaching for Leo's key. If there was one thing Loke's womanizing ways were good for it was getting weirdos like this one off of her trail. He was always more than willing to act as her boyfriend. The only thing that concerned her was why there was a drunk, perverted man running around in late morning. She thought only Cana got drunk this early.

Before she could summon her spirit, a hand clamped down on her own, the complexion tanner than her's. After last night, she had his palms memorized, and relaxed, letting her arm drop to her side.

"I didn't think you were going to be awake," she smiled, peering over her shoulder to Natsu. He grinned back, but his hand stayed on her's.

"I would be," grumbled Natsu. "But Gajeel came looking for Levy, since she had gone looking for you earlier, and dragged me out to come find you two," He hadn't appreciated the bucket of water in his face, or having to personally dry his partner's bed so she didn't kill them both.

Levy squeaked, and worried that the wierdo in the alley was messing with her, Lucy spun back towards her best friend, only to find that Gajeel had arrived as well, his arm propped upon the smaller mage's head. Looking back into the darkness of the alley, she saw that the man had bent over near a trash can and was retching. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, the celestial mage turned back towards her partner.

She went to speak to him, but her mouth closed tightly as he began to trace her guild mark with his thumb. Last night the caress had put her to sleep, but now she felt a shiver rise up under her skin, shooting down her back. There was heat in her face, and she hoped she wasn't blushing. Natsu didn't say a word, only yanking her away from the opening of the alley and heading down the street with her in tow.

Her eyes bore into his back. Natsu was always dragging her place, it was nothing new, but the flutter in her chest, and the sheer warmth of their connected hands was. It had always been comfortable to hold his hand, or have his fingers wrapped strongly about her wrist. Today, it sent her into a fit of excitement, as if she were about to head off on a mission.

Natsu slowed, letting Lucy fall into step with him. With the slower pace, he began to absently trace her hand again. Shivers began to trickle down her back. The dragon slayer himself felt oddly comforted by her small hand. It was pure instinct, an action he had made without even thinking about it, that he had grabbed her hand at all. He was known for those things, but his was different. There was fine line between friends and more, the dragon slayer wasn't that dense, and he knew this was beginning to cross it. Yet Lucy didn't pull away or make a comment, and so he left his fingers intertwined with her own.

Behind them, he could hear the others talking, teasing remarks being thrown around. He almost snapped at them when Gajeel called him dense, but was stopped by Lucy letting go of his him. Confused he looked up and found that they were at the guild hall, and she was pushing the doors open to let them in. The blonde mage looked back for a second, before snatching Happy out of the air and taking off into the crowded hall. Natsu watched as she sat the cat down on a table, handing him a box wrapped with a dark purple bow, before shoving him towards Wendy and Carla. His exceed moved nervously, and Natsu raised his eyebrows at the flicking of his tail. He ducked under a flying beer bottle, heading over to stand beside the grinning celestial mage.

When his sharp eyes caught the label of the box, he looked at Lucy in question, "He's giving her tea instead of a fish today?"

"Uh huh," she hummed, seeming elated. Happy was now in front of his fellow exceed, the gift hid behind his small back. Noticing the watching duo, Wendy looked over her shoulder at them curious to what the fuss was about.

"Uh, Carla," Happy started slowly, gulping. "I thought maybe you would like some uh- some special tea, since you like it so much. I got it specially from this tea store Lucy took me to, and I know you only like earl gray, so that's what I got, but this stuff is special because it's from a place that makes really good tea! Oh, not just um tea- earl gray tea. The stuff you like!"

His words were a streaming mess by the time he was done, but he held the box out anyways for the white feline. For a moment, she only stared, looking between him and the box in astonishment. Happy's eyes widened when he noticed a light red beginning to show through her lovely coat.

"T-thank you, Happy," she told him, gently taking the present. "That's very thoughtful of you. I'll be sure to drink it once me and Wendy head home."

The male exceed swooned, nodding and begin to float off towards his partners. Lucy had to hold in a squeal of joy for him, instead settling for pulling him in for a hug. Natsu held a fist out, to which he tapped with his own tiny paw.

"Good job, little buddy," congratulated the dragon slayer.

"You're a genius Lucy," Happy told her, his voice distant. "Teach me more tricks!"

She laughed, moving towards the female dragon slayer and her exceed. While Happy had been trying to woo Carla, she still had wounds she wanted to talk to Wendy about. It was only subtle pain, felt only when she moved wrong and something she could handle on her own, but the thought of it not being treated very well bothered her.

"Hey Wendy," the holder mage greeted, sliding down across from the pair. Wendy smiled at the older girl.

"Hi Lucy," she said cheerfully, "I heard you got injured on the mission. Are you doing alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but do you think you could check them over for me? I don't want to go out today with puncture marks in my jaw."

"Sure!" Wendy said, standing to switch sides of their table. She sat down next to Lucy, her legs against the outside of the bench, before unwrapping the bandages around her patient's jaw. Seeing the wound, she nearly flinched from the sight of them. To think one of her own kind would do something so violent.

The job was quick, and despite Carla's warning's, fairly easy. Lucy hugged her in thanks, touching the now cleared skin.

"Where is it that you're going?" she inquired, watching as Lucy flicked Happy for making a rude comment. The blonde turned to her before answering,"

"Levy and I are going to go to a bookstore in another town to check out a series and get some lunch," Lucy told her, and seeing the expression on her face added, "Do you want to come with us?"

Wendy smiled, her eyes lighting up. The other mage was slightly amused, not having known Wendy enjoyed reading as well.

"If you don't mind, I would love to!"

Lucy smiled affectionately at the girl before standing to look for Levy. Their other companion for the trip was currently with Mirajane and Cana at the bar, her fairy like face tinged with red. Knowing exactly what the two older girls were up to, Lucy told Wendy to meet her outside, and scurried off to rescue Levy.

"Oh, come on Levy," Cana was saying, "We all know you want to kiss him!"

"I never said that!" retorted the person in question.

"Cana," Mirajane scolded. "Don't say it in a way that embarrasses her!"

The brunette scoffed, taking a chug of her barrel. Levy caught sight of Lucy then, her shoulder dropping in relief. Finally being able to excuse herself, she practically scrambled away from the bar. When she reached the spirit mage, she ignored the snicker and knowing look her best friend shot her, instead picking her way through the messy guild. Gajeel had disappeared to his corner a while ago, and the script mage could hear Gray and Natsu throwing insults at one another, , but as they passed through the doors, the sounds of their beloved guild fading into the atmosphere of Magnolia's busy streets.

The youngest dragon slayer smiled, telling the avid reader hello. Levy wondered what Wendy was doing outside the guild for a moment, before realizing that she was coming with her and Lucy. Happy to have another friend along for the ride, she linked arms with the two girls, leading them down the street towards the main road.

"Say Lucy," Wendy said, peaking around Levy who walked in between them. "Gajeel was telling me about the water dragon slayer you fought. He said something about wanting revenge for something Igneel did?"

Lucy grimaced, adjusting her hold on her purse.

"Apparently," she said, her mood sinking at the thought of their last mission, she felt like a failure, despite Natsu's comforting. "During the dragon wars, Igneel killed the mate to this Calder guy's dragon parent. So in revenge he thought I was Natsu's, erm, equivalent of that, and only becuase I smelled like him. He had to have been off his rocker."

"That is weird," Levy agreed, reaching up to pull her bandana off as she spoke.

As she began to put her hair back into the cloth, she continued, "I mean I've heard of dragon slayers being more animal in behavior, but I didn't think it was anything but a rumor."

"It makes sense," Wendy added, her lips pursed in thought. "Grandeeney said that dragons identified people with scent first. If you're around another person for long enough, and within close proximity, then it can change your scent. She used to tell me I had always smelled like fresh tea, but when she took me in I began to smell more like a fresh breeze of it. Your scent, Lucy, used to be simply fresh and sweet, almost like night, but now it has a smoke to it, like a campfire at midnight."

Lucy stared at the girl for a moment, before smiling. "Maybe that's why you enjoy tea so much Carla."

The cat looked at her as if she were absurd, but Wendy grinned in agreement to the theory.

"It's impressive how much you remember from your time with her, Wendy," praised Levy. "You were so much younger than the others and yet you know just as much!"

The dark blue haired girl blushed, waving her hands in front of her in modesty.

"It's not that I'm smarter or anything! Grandeeney worked with me every day to understand the way slayers and dragons interacted, and how our magic could affect us. I'd actually forgotten until you reminded me, Lucy."

The two older mages shot each other a look, disbelief obvious in their expressions. Wendy seriously did not give herself enough credit. She sighed as the two best friends communicated, not having to say a word, but shook her head with a slight smile. Even though they weren't always near one another, the two had a strong bond. It was almost like the one she found with the sky god slayer, Sherria. When they came home, she would have to ask Lucy to help her write a letter to her friend. It wasn't that she couldn't on her own, but she knew the aspiring novelist was good with words and would make the letter a good read for Sherria.

"Stop looking at each other like that," Happy whined. "It's creepy!"

Lucy instantly snapped, "Why you-"

"Lu, ignore him, you know he just likes to tease you" Levy scolded her, watching as her lively best friend chased the cat around on the street. She looked at Wendy, giving her a pleading look, but she stepped back shaking her head. Lucy wasn't as strong, but she could rival Erza with her anger at times, and the small dragon slayer didn't want to be on wrong the side of that.

"Whenever you're done running around like buffoons," Carla called, settling onto the ground. Lucy gave an indignant shout, immediately defending herself and claiming Happy as the culprit, who merely whined about how mean the girl was being to him. "We can continue the conversation. There's something about all this dragon instinct that has me worried, and I want to know more."

Wendy nodded in agreement, "It is strange that the other dragon slayer would refer to Lucy in such a way."

"You mean the term mate?" Levy inquired. "It does sound rather inhuman, huh? I'm sure we can find a book on it in the library or at this bookstore."

"Levy's right," Lucy said calmly, while she held Happy's cheeks in between her hands, pulling them outward. Wendy looked at her in mild fear while the older blue haired girl shook her head in exasperation.

"We can look once we're there," she continued, releasing the poor exceeds mouth so that it snapped back into place. "Sorry about the wait, but let's get going, I'm starving."

The group was at the train station within the next few minutes. Since it had been her idea, Levy insisted she buy their tickets, only getting the other two to agree when she gave consent for Lucy to buy them lunch. Wendy apologized the entire walk to the platform, but Lucy put a stop to that quickly. The younger mage had been unable to go out on many jobs recently due to Team Natsu being gone back to back and the others posted not being suited to her comfort level.

When Levy heard this, she thought back to when her and Lucy's team had argued for the younger girl. Wendy had never really gotten the chance to accompany Shadowgear after she'd been on that first mission with Team Natsu. An idea went off in her head, and she turned to grin at the other two.

"When we get back." she said. "We should all go on a mission together, without the teams. I'm sure Jet and Droy could use a breather, and Erza could take the boys out for a breather."

Lucy's expression was practically screaming insults at her intelligence.

"You want the three of them to destroy stuff?" she demanded.

Levy shrugged, "They don't get to becuase they know you need the money for rent. If you're good for the next month or two like you said, then this would be a good chance for them to get it out. Then when you need money again, they'll have it out of their system for a tiny bit."

"More like for five minutes," Happy countered. Levy glared at him, sending him running behind Lucy.

"Despite the reasoning behind letting my team destroy things," answered Lucy. "It would be fun to do a mission together. Really we could be capable of any mission we wanted, with you practically being S-class, Lev."

"Oh, this will be fun!" Wendy cheered, clapping her hands together. Carla even smiled, nodding in approval. Lucy and Levy together were level headed as well as good role models. The only times Carla really disapproved of their actions was when the dragon slayers were around. For some reason the males seemed to bring out the worst in the girls without even trying, which tended to lead to violence and curse words, things she liked to keep her own dragon slayer away from. The guild was constantly involved with these situations, she knew, but that didn't mean she couldn't try and preserve Wendy's innocence until she was at least sixteen. After that, she wasn't quite sure she would be able to do much.

"I'm coming to!" Happy declared, crawling from Lucy's shoulders to her head. Carla found their relationship interesting. Instead of what she would have pictured mother son, the two had more of a brother sister status going for them. Yet, she had seen first hand how much her fellow exceed cared for his adoptive father's partner.

Before anyone could respond to the tom cat's words, the train whistle blew. They stepped onto the train, heading back towards the end to find a compartment. When they found one, Lucy slid in to take a seat next to Wendy while Levy sat with the exceeds. Noticing her slightly sullen face, Lucy questioned her on what was the matter.

"I guess it's weird not having Lily around," she admitted. Happy made a 'tch'.

"I don't mind not having him here," he informed them.

The golden haired mage smiled at both of their reactions, knowing fully well that Levy not only missed Lily, but his companion, meanwhile Happy was only glad due to him having to worry over competition.

It surprised them both when Wendy commented first, "You have feelings Gajeel, right Levy?"

The mage in question froze, strange noises coming from her mouth as she tried to form words. Lucy snickered at the reaction, answering the dragon slayer since her fellow bookworm couldn't.

"She does."

Suddenly Levy found her voice, screeching, "Lucy!"

"What you don't trust Wendy?" she teased. The girl herself was trying to comfort the embarrassed script mage, apologizing for intruding on her privacy.

Practically steaming, Levy waved off Wendy with a gentle smile, before turning on Lucy.

"At least I admit my feelings! You're still in denial over Natsu!"

Now it was Lucy's turn to choak. Happy cackled, while Carla nodded in agreement with Levy.

"So you do like Natsu?" asked Wendy. Lucy could feel the heat in her face, she was sure she was a bright red tomato,

"I-I don't know!" she cried, sending a chilling glare at Levy.

"Oh," Happy giggled. "You li-"

Before he could finish, Lucy had snatched him off the seat and proceeded to stretch apart his mouth once more. Just as Levy deemed it worthy to butt in, the train began to slow. Upon looking out the window, she found that they were in the city now, nearing the station. As soon as she voiced this to the others, Lucy let go of Happy. He quickly flew away from her to hide behind the-almost- s-class mage.

The train was stopped by then so, gathering their purses, the three girls rose from their seats to exit the cart. Levy noted how Happy was once again on Lucy's shoulder, something he often did with his adoptive father. She was surprised with her best friend, considering how they had just gotten into a tiny spat over the cats teasing. The two of them were probably just as bad as Gray and Natsu at times, but much less destructive. It was amusing how quickly the two would make up, something the other pair didn't quite do often. Happy was asking his carrier whether or not there would be fish books, to which Lucy told him that there probably would be some among the shelves.

It wasn't a bad idea really, meaning he might actually read it and then she could be able to read or write without him disturbing her. When Natsu was at her house, he would generally workout while she took time to herself. Astonishingly, he was quiet while he went through his agonizing routine. She'd tried to do it with him once, but quickly gave up, summoning Loke to ask him for help arranging a workout better meant for herself. Occassionaly, her and Natsu would go through them together, though Lucy suspected that they would be training their bodies physically much more after the decision the previous night.

Still, Happy didn't enjoy participating with Natsu, and so he found plenty of time to bother her for random things. Usually it was simple actions, such as petting him or just holding the blue cat in her lap. Others he would ask her to read her story aloud to him, to which she never did becuase she had promised Levy first read. For some unimaginable reason, the exceed and Natsu didn't understand that. One time he asked her to go to the market and buy a fish for him, at midnight. Even their dragon slayer partner had said no to that request, but it could have been becuase he was passed out on Lucy's couch and too tired to get up.

Levy was the one to pull her from her thoughts. She tilted her head behind her to see what the girl wanted, only to realize that the shorter mage was in front of her, holding a door open. Lucy blinked in surprise, as she noted that they had made it to the store. Trying not to blush, she thanked her best friend and walked into the store,

The group split up almost immediately. Levy got lost in a small rack of books by the door as soon as she walked inside, while Wendy excused herself to go look at poetry. Lucy smiled, putting the new information away for later. She now knew what the dragon slayer would want come her birthday, Carla informed them that she would be going to look at recipe books, while Happy stayed on her head, calling out for her to come with them instead. The blonde was kind of bewildered that he hadn't gone with the other exeed, but shrugged it off and made her way towards the magical history section. There had to be something back there about the dragon slayers. There were rumors flying all around the place and she was tired of it, wanting her own factual answers. Who knew, it could help her keep NAtsu under control.

"What if there's a book about dragon slayers," she snickered to Happy. "And there's a special plant or something to control them?"

"You really think so?" he gasped back, sitting up straight. "We could get Natsu to do anything!"

"Oh man that would be hilarious," laughed Lucy. The section was smaller than the rest, and considerably dusty. She noticed that they were marked with either gold or silver stickers. Looking on the side of a shelf, she found it was a key, saying whether or not the book was new or put on consignment,

"That makes our job easier," she said aloud. "The new ones obviously will not be about ancient magic, so we need to look at the ones other people brought here."

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed, flying to the top of the shelf to start looking for anything. Lucy began to run her finger along the spines, her head tipping to the side to read each title carefully. As she came across names that she thought would be useful, she would pull them out, placing them against the carpeted floor. It wasn't long before Wendy joined them, having found her book already. The two talked about the book of poem she had found, trying to decipher one that Lucy knew just for the heck of it. Happy was bored with the talk, leaving to go find a fish book, but the girls enjoyed the conversation immensely, to where they ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder as they went over the poem.

Getting to the last paragraph, they found the narrator had not been talking about her brother, but rather her husband. It was that discovery that lead to a conversation Lucy had been hoping to avoid since the train ride.

"Lucy, do you really like Natsu?"

This time, she wasn't caught off guard. All she could do was sigh and tip her head back against a stack of books, scowling when a single volume that was misaligned poked her in the head. She reached up to pull it down, running her finger over the intricate golden lines on the flat cover. It was heavy, definitely an older book by the looks of the leather it was bound with.

The question was heavy in the air however, as if Wendy had increased the pressure around them with her powers. Lucy didn't have a true answer for the girl. This morning had been the first time she had really reacted to Natsu in such a way. Not the first thought of liking him of course, but definitely the first true sign. It was possible this would pass, a simple fleeting feeling, but her treacherous mind whispered tempting 'what if's' in her ear. When had their relationship changed? When did she first develop these thoughts? The fact she couldn't answer these bothered her to no end.

"I have no clue, Wendy," she murmured, looking down at the book. "I have no honest clue."