"About a month ago I was wandering through an old office building that had been known for recent ghoul sightings. I'm a journalist and wanted information as close to first hand that I could get. As I was writing down some of my findings, I heard noises coming from the upper floors. I went upstairs to go check it out since the building was supposed to be vacant till the next morning when construction would begin again. When I got to where the noise was, I saw two ghouls fighting. One was a male who had dark brown hair and what appeared to be a purple, orange and yellow jagged wing coming from his back. The other was Natsu..."
Several eyes landed on Natsu but all he could do was look away.
Lucy continued. "To the right up against the wall was a little girl. She couldn't have been older than fourteen and she had long blue hair in pigtails. I ran over to her trying not to be spotted. I picked the girl up and threw her over my shoulders but before I could even get a step in the other direction to get out, the brunette hit Natsu in a way that forced him to look in my direction. Immediately I started to sprint with the girl on my back while Natsu and the brunette chased me. I didn't realize I was getting dangerously close to the edge of the building. The brunette lunged and I took a step backwards and started to fall over the edge. The brunette panicked and tried to grab ahold of the side of the building which caused the building to collapse. Before I blacked out I saw Natsu pulling out a phone as he slung the girl over his shoulder. When I woke up, the doctors had told me they'd found me underneath the wreckage and used parts of the brunette to operate on me."
When Lucy had finished, nobody spoke and the room remained silent for several moments. Natsu sat up.
"Wendy."
"What?" Lucy turned to Natsu.
"The girl? Her name is Wendy. She's my sister. The brunette? He was a cannibal that went after Wendy, assuming she was an easy target and unprotected." He looked up at her. "I was only doing what I thought was right. You helped her that night by the way so thanks."
Lucy hesitated. "So the blue haired girl that was in here..."
"That was her. When I brought her in, she was the one who fixed up any injuries you had." Natsu stopped for a second. "You haven't eaten in awhile have you?"
Lucy hesitated again and then shook her head.
"Lucy, would you like to come here more often?" The Master stood up, quickly changing the topic. "Everyone employed here is the same and it's a safe place. We all treat each other like family and we are always willing to take new recruits."
"It's true. We've all been through tough times but we are there for each other. Please? I know you'll fit in just fine." Mira beamed.
Not really sure what to say, Lucy just smiled and nodded, somehow managing to make out a yes. Mira couldn't contain her excitement. She ran over to Lucy and grabbed both of her hands.
"Let's go get you a mark." She led Lucy out of the room, not before Lucy got a last look at Natsu who was now leaning forward in his seat talking to the man he referred to as "Gramps". She had no idea what could be going on in his head right now. She wasn't aware that he was only trying to watch over sister; she'd only thought about how much she hated him and how much she wished her life was different.
Mira had led her to the front room. It was no where near what Lucy had expected. It was a coffee shop the size of a gym. Rows and rows of wooden tables and benches spread across the floor only to be filled with at least fifty people. The employees wore black aprons and carried various trays of coffee and typical coffee house food.
"I thought we couldn't eat normal food?" Lucy asked.
"We serve humans as well. Helps to seems more normal and raise less red flags for the CCG." Mira went behind he large bar counter and pulled out what looked to be a stamp. "What color and where would you like it?"
"Pink, and if I could, on my right hand." Lucy placed her hand flat on the table as Mira placed the stamp on it. When she lifted it, the Fairy Tail insignia in pink was left. Lucy held up her hand to admire it.
"It's like Sharpie." Mira spoke up. "It'll stay for awhile but, in case of emergency, it can fade. After awhile some get an actual tattoo."
"Thank you Mira. I love it." Lucy put her hand down and gave her a quick hug to show her appreciation. Mira reciprocated and peered behind Lucy.
"I think someone wants to talk to you." Lucy tilted her head confused until she turned around to see a small girl who was at least fourteen. Her long blue hair was pulled up into two pigtails with red ribbons. She even looked a little nervous.
"Wendy?" The girl looked a little taken back, not expecting Lucy to know her name.
"Y-yah how did you-?"
"Natsu told me." Lucy knelt down a bit to look her in the eyes.
Wendy smiled. The mention of her brothers name must have calmed her down. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping me out awhile back. It meant a lot to both of us."
Lucy's now light hearted demeanor relieved some more of the tension between them. "It was no problem. The fact that you're alright is enough for me." Wendy grinned widely. She hugged Lucy around the waist in thanks and Lucy reciprocated.
When they separated, Wendy stole Lucy from Mira, who was now busy with a customer, to go meet some of the regulars and employees. One had black "fluffy" hair (as Wendy called it) and managed to lose both his shirt and pants in the few seconds they had met. His name was Gray. They also met a woman about Lucy's age. Her name was Cana and the entire time Wendy introduced them she only put her beer draft down once. She met so many more: Wakaba and Macao, Romeo, Elfman, Gajeel, and even Erza who she had no idea was a ghoul as well.
Lucy was sad to leave the people she had just met. She knew she would be coming back soon. Lucy glanced down at her hand, catching a glimpse of the pink mark. Spending time at the coffee house helped to take her mind off of the worries and fear that seemed to plague her more recently. Maybe it would become a second home.
