Because of the amazing response I have gotten over the past few days with 3 reviews and 24 followers, I have decided to post this chapter one day earlier than I thought I would before. Thank you all so much for being great readers and please continue to leave responses as they truly do make my day. Enjoy!

Chapter 3- Training

On the first day of training Lucy decided to get a feel for how far Yukino had gotten in her magical and physical skills so far, so she set up a training routine for the day. Depending on how much she had trained in the past she could last for any time between 1-8 hours of Lucy's intense training routine. Lucy doubted that with Yukino's strength she could get any less than one hour. Then again, no one had been subject to Lucy's training besides Lucy herself and she had been known to be one tough cookie. They started out with the basics: 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats. They then ran through the woods and around Crocus. The people around them once they got to Crocus were bewildered as they stared at the two young girls running alone in such a large city. Though the stares soon vanished when they realized that Yukino was a Sabertooth Mage and more than capable of handling herself, though that didn't stop them from wondering who the cute blonde was next to her. Lucy paid no attention to those around her as she was focusing on how Yukino and herself were breathing. Though Lucy's breaths were even, Yukino's were a bit labored.

"Yukino, it'll help if you breath in through your nose and out through the mouth. It's better than the gasping you're doing." Yukino nodded at Lucy's comment and began to do as told. Lucy smiled and they finished their 5 miles in 35 minutes. Yukino was exhausted, but Lucy was just getting started. They stopped at the clearing and took a 10 minute water break in which Yukino guzzled the water down while Lucy took a few gulps from her water bottle and waited for the other celestial mage to finally breath after practically sticking her entire head in the steam nearby.

"You alright there?" Lucy asked with a small smile on her face.

"Y-yeah. Just a little tired but I can still train more." Lucy smiled and gestured for Yukino to sit across from her in the clearing and she did so quickly seeing this as a chance to rest some more. Once both girls had sat down Lucy called out Capricorn and had him lead them in power meditation in which they expanded their magical capabilities as Lucy had been doing the day they met. Capricorn began to explain the process to Yukino thoroughly so to avoid injury.

"To begin one must close their eyes and imagine their magic power. No matter how big or small it it is in your mind, what must be clear is its shape, color, smell, and aura. These characteristics are what differ your magic from anyone else's. Once it is imagined you must cancel out all sounds and feelings other than me and your magic. Next you must imagine yourself pulling at your magic power as if it were taffy. You must stretch it to cover more area space. You continue to do this until you notice that you are sweating. This is your body telling you to stop and cool down. Though you don't want to pull it in too fast or else you could die of a sort of magical overdose. So pull it in slowly and allow it to fill you with more magical energy than you had before. With both Lucy and Layla Heartfilia this process gave them a lot of physical energy but with a lot of people it can either make them feel rested or even tired. I await to see how you react." At this, Yukino and Lucy began the meditation. While Yukino only made it about 5 minutes, Lucy kept going until her bubble of energy was around both her and Yukino, allowing her to see the inside of Lucy's magic bubble. Yukino was amazed at the golden mist that swirled around into different shapes and memories Lucy has been in contact with in the past. She saw spirits and places she had never even heard of before. Amongst all the mystical things around though, there were two people who appeared throughout the bubble. One was an older woman who looked as if she could have been an older version of Lucy and the other was a man who had greying hair and love in his eyes. Yukino guessed these people to be Lucy's parents and wondered why they weren't with their daughter while she was out traveling. She supposed that the blonde celestial wizard was an enigma to her and vowed to learn more about the young girl in front of her.

Lucy began to reign in her magic and settled in to the energy coming into her. When her eyes opened they were full of life and Yukino was only able to jump back quickly as Lucy jumped onto her feet and ran around with her arms flapping on either side of her.

"I'm a bird!" She announced sweeping Yukino onto her shoulders. Yukino quickly grabbed onto Lucy's head not realizing she was covering her eyes. Lucy, without a care in the world, ran into a tree with full force knocking herself unconscious and causing Yukino to land on her butt with a 'thump'. Yukino laughed and worriedly looked at Lucy searching for injuries. She saw a bit of red dripping down her forehead and quickly regained her composure running back to her guild Sabertooth to get her best friends, Sting and Rogue, to help her with the unconscious celestial wizard. Even when exhausted from her training session, Yukino pushed herself as fast as she could go so her new friend would not bleed out before she got back. Once she reached the guild, she scrambled around searching for the Twin Dragons. When she caught a glimpse of black and blonde she grabbed them and ran back into the forest not noticing their surprised looks, nor the two extra followers she had gained the curiosity of. She ran back to the clearing and dropped to the ground beside the blonde still lying on the ground. It looked as if the bleeding had stopped but blood was still dried to her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I really can't deal with injuries of any kind. Please help." Yukino was breathing heavily but managed to get the words out before she collapsed out of exhaustion right beside Lucy.

"Yukino!" Sting exclaimed rushing to her side and cradling her head in his lap. He looked around for helped and noticed Rufus and Orga alongside Rogue looking bewildered at the sight before them. Snapping them out of their revelry, Sting begun to shout orders. "Orga, go to the stream to get water. Rufus, use your medical memory magic to heal Lucy's wound. Rogue, make sure Lucy is comfortable as she is being treated." All three nodded and began to do as they were told. As Rogue sat Lucy in his lap with her back against his chest, Rufus began to work his magic and Orga flashed away to get water. Once the clearing was in silence, Rogue unconsciously began to stroke Lucy's hair and lean his head forward to rest on hers with Sting looking on in silent amazement. Rogue had never shown this much physical affection to anyone in the time Sting had known him and now he was with someone he had only met in the last week. Sting was astounded to say the least, but decided to keep it to himself… At least until he had an opportunity to tease him alone.

With a crack of thunder, Orga was back from the river with several bottles filled with water. Rufus looked up at this and nodded him over.

"The blonde is healed thanks to me and will wake up soon. She will need water to fully recover though and-" Rufus stopped speaking catching sight of Rogue's contact with Lucy and smirking, committing it to memory for use as blackmail in the future. As soon as it was fully memorized, the blonde began to stir moving to become more comfortable in Rogue's embrace. Blushing slightly, Rogue moved his head and stopped stroking Lucy's hair, instead putting his hand on her shoulder to gently wake her from her injury induced slumber.

"What are you doing touching her shoulder when you could be waking the princess with a kiss?" Sting bellowed, unable to keep from teasing his friend any longer. The only reaction from Rogue was a smattering of pink appearing across his usually colorless face. When Lucy settled, her head was resting on Rogue's shoulder and her legs were strung across his lap giving more reason for Rogue's face to be dusted in crimson.

Her hazel eyes began to open immediately landing on the dark haired Mage holding her in his arms. Her face turned scarlet at the short distance between their faces and immediately turned her face away assessing the situation. They were in the clearing she had been calling home for the past two days and there was a red substance on the tree near them. An unconscious Yukino was being held by Sting and two other people she had no recollection of were standing before her. None of the others had any injuries and Yukino looked to have passed out with exhaustion instead of blood loss. With a wince Lucy realized she had been bleeding out of her head after having ran into a tree…

How embarrassing.

She tried to get up only to be pulled down again by Rogue.

"You're still hurt," Was all he said on the matter.

Seeing no other option she made herself comfortable once again on his lap and turned to the two she didn't know with a hand extended.

"Hello, my name's Lucy Heartfilia. I'm a celestial Mage. You are?"

The first to react to Lucy's introduction was the tall buff boy with green hair held back in a ponytail. He took her hand and introduced himself. "Hey, I'm Orga. I'm a lightning god slayer!"

The other boy with long blond hair and a slim figure then stepped forward with a look of sadness flashing over his face. "My name is Rufus. I am a memory-make Mage, which is the reason I know of your parents. My condolences."

Lucy's smile disappeared as she shook his hand. Sensing her change of mood, Rogue put his arms around her in comfort. Lucy then touched his hand and gave him a small smile in thanks. Rogue's lip quirks upwards at this and he rested his head on her shoulder in contentedness, not caring who was watching. The others committed it to memory for future teasing and blackmail.

"So, now that we're acquainted," the blonde female began, "I'd like to go back to my tent. I trust that you all can take care of Yukino. Tell her she can take tomorrow off if she so pleases. She's done well." Lucy smiled. "I have to go call my friend Evergreen through my lacrima. You all can leave." She crawled out of Rogue's lap and into her tent. "Give me a call if you need me!" She exclaimed as a second thought to make sure they knew they were welcome to talk to her.

The Sabertooth mages all began moving at once with Sting carrying Yukino followed by Rogue with Rufus and Orga in the back. As soon as they were out of Lucy's earshot three of the four conscious mages began to make fun of the fourth conscious Mage.

"So Rogue, do you think your children will have black hair and brown eyes or blonde hair and red eyes?" Sting asked with a smirk donning his boyish features.

"Or do you think they'll have shadow magic or Celestial spirit Magic?" Rufus asked eliciting in a growl from Rogue.

"But seriously, Rogue, what was that all about? You show no feelings to anyone for years and then this girl who is 10 years old just like us comes around and suddenly you show concern, empathy, even embarrassment and all for what might I ask? A celestial Mage just like Yukino. So what's up man?"

"She's… Different." Rogue murmured with a look of confusion on his face. "I feel as if she is the exact opposite of me and somehow that is comforting."

"Well you know what they say, opposites attract." Sting said adjusting the quiet female that was resting in his arms. Rogue just grunted in response and they all stayed silent until they reached Yukino's room inside the guild and set her down in there. They then dispersed into their own rooms and thought about the events that had occurred that day. In Rogue and Sting's conjoined rooms the two girls were the topic of thought, where as in Orga and Rufus's separate rooms the thoughts were on their friend Rogue's reaction to the blonde in the clearing. Lucy… Her hair was golden and her voice soft when she spoke with them. Her hazel eyes sparkled in curiosity when they mentioned their magic types and immediately darkened after her parents were mentioned. What an interesting girl. I'll have to keep an eye on her.

"It hasn't even been two days Evergreen." Lucy sighed into the lacrima sitting down on her bed of Aries' pink fluff.

"I know that Lucy, but I can't help but miss the only kid I've ever liked. I mean, I'm surrounded by idiotic children who don't know what the hell's happening, whereas you at least have some inkling of what's happening around you, such as when you commented on my status as a fairy queen. To me it's obvious but I guess others are oblivious to my reign. Oh well... At least we've met. I can already tell that we'll be getting along for a long time. Think of me as your 19 year old, older sister. Oh… Does that make me a weird queen to be friends with someone 9 years younger than me?"

The corners of Lucy's lips stretched upwards as she listened to Evergreen's thoughts on their situation and she began to giggle at the comment about their age difference. "It's not weird at all! I love the fact that we're friends and I don't see the boys making fun of you." She gestured to the corner of the lacrima where Freed, Bickslow, and Laxus were eating dinner.

Bickslow turned his head at that and faced towards the screen. "We will continue to not make fun of her if you start calling us 'the men' instead of 'the boys', kid."

Lucy rolled her eyes "Alright, Bicks, whatever floats your boat"

Bickslow rolled his tongue out of his mouth as a sign of contentedness and got up to bring his plate to the table. Laxus and Freed who had been silent until this point did the same with their plates and sat down on the right side of Evergreen while Bickslow crashed down on her left causing the couch on which they sat to practically cave in on itself. After the harassment caused by the three 'men' had stopped, Evergreen adjusted herself with a scowl carved into her face.

The lacrima screen that had been safe due to its position on the coffee table in front of the team, displayed a young blonde haired girl with wide brown eyes trying to hold back her laughter with her hands and failing miserably. Lucy loved seeing the family dynamic the Raijinshuu displayed when with each other. It allowed her to imagine the life she could have had if her parents hadn't been killed. She daydreamed about her parents looking after her and whatever little siblings she could have had. She wondered if she would have had an independant and flamboyant little sister like Evergreen or a perverse and fun little brother like Bickslow. Maybe she would have had a quiet, bookworm of a brother like Freed or possibly a buff, strong brother like Laxus… She would never know. Her daydreams were always bittersweet and came about whenever she was with the people she became friends with, but she always kept her positivity when she imagined her ideal life and never cried about the things she had taken away from her. She thought of everything as a new opportunity. She would never have met the Raijinshuu, Fairy Tail, or any of the people from Sabertooth had her parents not died and although she mourned them every day she did not regret what she had done after the traumatic event, and so she could laugh freely at the familial display of affection in front of her.

"How has your training been, Kid? I see that you have a bruise on your head. What happened?" Laxas spoke first on the couch that had previously only had Evergreen on it.

"Oh… I got a little high and ran full force into a tree…"

"WHAT?!" The Raijinshuu were practically falling over each other trying to get a closer look at the screen which caused Lucy to lean back.

"What were you high on?" Freed asked as if he were a worried father questioning the daughter who had come home late.

"It was a magic high. I have one almost every time I meditate." She spoke nonchalantly, but was careful in trying not to get any more of a rise from the group. "It runs in my family and is completely normal according to the doctors my mother and I consulted before she left."

The team sat back at the new information they were given and flinched when she mentioned her dead mother, although Lucy was fine talking about her.

"We're glad you're safe," Evergreen said visibly more relaxed seeing the smile that took over Lucy's face, "but we still worry about you even though it has only been two days.

Lucy nodded. "I understand."

Evergreen smiled softly at the other girl and began to look off to the right of the lacrima. She widened her eyes when she saw the time and put her hand towards the lacrima. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but we have to go to bed. We have to be up and out of the house by 5 am tomorrow for a mission and won't be able to talk for a week or two. Please take care of yourself! Bye!" Before the screen went dark a cacophony of different forms of goodbye assaulted Lucy's ear drums. As soon at the screen turned off, her tent was cloaked in darkness. The girl sighed and allowed herself to fall back into the pink fluff that was her bed and pull at the material to cover her body. She soon fell asleep longing for sweet dreams as opposed to the night terrors she had grown accustomed to in the last five years of her short life.

Her longing for peace was not felt by whatever controlled her dreams though as she tossed and turned throughout the night. Eventually her spirits had had enough and decided on Virgo to come and calm Lucy. The pink haired spirit dressed in maid's clothing popped into the human world in one moment and was snuggling the small child the next as a mother would have done if she still had one. Though it wasn't a restful night, Lucy did last until morning when she popped up ready to explore her surroundings once again.

I'm time skipping next chapter. Be warned!