so this one is a whooper, 3,000+ words, of somewhat plot. i am so psyched! over 1,500 viewers have even taken time to read this and that means a whole lot guys.

(Martha's happiness is pretty short lived, Lucy is embarrassed, and Natsu...oh Natsu...)

+read note at the bottom for something special.

Chapter 4

"friends, fees, and flames"

Despite the fact that the mere sight of the landlady is enough to give Makarov an anxiety attack, the two of them are actually friends.

Close friends, even.

Martha knew the now wizard saint when he was just a twenty-something s-class wizard with a bad attitude and an even worse dye job. And she'd been the beautiful and rightfully authoritative new landlady who had moved in next door to him. Understandably, after some harsh words and the exchange of unsolicited and highly personal observations, they had clashed. But they'd managed to get past all that―somehow―and become…something. And that something had gradually developed into a friendship.

Not that it was all that surprising. They had actually been pretty similar back then.

Not the hair thing (Martha has always had an excellent head of hair. Hours of maintenance by her mother had ensured it when she was younger. And after she had left home, she had personally maintained it), the bad attitude thing.

They had been twin terrors in their early twenties. Both for different reasons and through different means but each equally as terrifying as the other. She already had a natural inclination towards being a cold-hearted bitch which had only been worsened by a stupid broken heart and it had made her...less agreeable than usual. While Makarov really had no excuse. Except for the fact that it was apparently a rite of passage for the Dreyer men to act like dicks for most of their young adult lives. (It made sense when considering Laxus and Makarov's rotten attitudes but, surprisingly, Ivan had been nothing less than an angel as a teenager. She had really liked the boy. Eh. Whatever. He was probably just a really late bloomer.) The two of them had managed to cause their own brand of havoc around Magnolia for a while, but luckily life and age had managed to mellow both of their explosive tempers and dulled their tongues.

(Good thing too. Because she was fairly certain the loving residents of Magnolia had been planning a revolt.)

And all that was left behind were two people who were older than they would ever admit and fonder of each other than they let on.

But just because she sort of liked the old fart didn't mean she was delusional. He might have had all of his pseudo-children fooled by his wise old man act, but not her. She was more than aware that he was just as much of an idiot as every other wizard in his god forsaken guild.

And as such, she wasn't at all surprised that her conversation with Makarov had done nothing but prove to her that the old man was still the same old miserable gossip that he had been in his twenties.

And after finally getting him to admit that he did indeed know about this rumor that was floating around Magnolia―'But I swear I didn't start it! I heard about it someone else who heard about it from somebody else, just like everybody else. Guild Master's Oath!" "We both know that there is no such thing!"―and that he may have maybe, perhaps, shared this information with somebody who may or may not have been Mr Rye, he had been of no further use.

So with a particularly stern reprimanding and an even sterner…request that his full rent be on her desk first thing tomorrow morning, she left Fairy Tail. With very little information, even less patience, and no solid leads.

And so she did what she always did when she was annoyed and frustrated.

"Heartfilla!" She called out, her right fist banging against the white door and her left clutching a clipboard. She is standing just outside Lucy Heartfillia's apartment and she is already starting to feel…brighter. Her steps are considerably lighter, her smile less forced, and her pockets are steadily getting heavier. She has already visited her other properties and knocked on several other doors in this building―Some more severely than others. Apartment 2B has received several knocks and the threat of eviction, but Rebeca still refused to open the door. She can hear the crappy pop music and the high pitched, airy giggles. She knows that the ditz is home―and honestly she is feeling downright giddy. Collecting rent always does that to her. And so this is just what she needs. Who the hell cares that she's a week early?"Heartfillia! I know you're hiding in there."

The sound of something crashing to the floor and a string of curses in a suspiciously male voice―she would have to ask about that later―can be heard through the door before the celestial wizard finally opens it, red-faced and dressed in…

Actually, she wasn't quite sure if clutching the knot of a loosely tied towel while wearing bunny shaped slippers counted as being dressed.

But considering the amount of compromising positions she has caught many of her other tenants in and the fact that Lucy―for all her pink lace and ponytails―is a Fairy Tail wizard, she supposes it should count for something. Plus, this isn't even the first time she has seen Lucy in a state of undress. But that certainly doesn't mean she can't comment.

"Dear god, Lucy", she says, eyes scanning over milky skin and stopping at wide brown eyes, "where are your clothes this time, dearie?"

Lucy looks down at her body apparently unaware of her state of dress…or lack thereof and steps deeper into her apartment, clutching at the door for cover as she blushes. Well, Martha thinks, at the very least she is wearing that blush spectacularly well. It is a pretty pinkish color that has Martha laughing. Because honestly. The door is really not hiding anything other than those ridiculous slippers and as funny as Lucy's embarrassment is, this whole situation is really kind of ridiculous. You would think that for all the skin the blonde displays both accidentally and purposefully―she has bared witness to Heartfillia losing numerous articles of clothing while fighting baddies in and around Magnolia's enough times to know that it is almost as much of a habit as the Ice wizard's stripping―she would be less bashful. Young people these days. So self conscious. If Martha still had a body like that, you'd have to pay her to wear anything that covered more skin than a boob tube and pair of shorts. Hell, she'd probably be wearing one now if wasn't freaking autumn and the temperature hadn't decided to take a nose dive today.

"Well…you see…I was just…" Lucy stutters, flailing her arms frantically as she searches for an explanation.

Martha smirks and raises an eyebrow. "You were just...what?"

"I was just…" Lucy starts, turning her head to look behind her. Martha's eyes follow her movements into her messy but otherwise normal looking living room. What is she looking for? "I was just taking a shower."

"But you're completely dry." Martha deadpans.

Lucy swallows.

"Dry? Oh! Would you look at that?!" Lucy's words are quick and suspiciously cheery as she stares down at her right arm. But the faint look of panic painting Lucy's features lets her know that there is clearly something that Lucy is trying so desperately to hide. How Interesting…"I…um…took it a while ago?"

"And you've just been lounging around in your towel this whole time." She said. Slowly, because judging by how tightly she is holding on to the door and how jittery she is, it seems that any wrong move could result in the door slamming in her face. Which would seriously suck. Because then she would have to kill the young wizard. And that would seriously ruin her chances of collecting Lucy's rent. Not to mention, all that blood shed would undoubtedly soil her newly acquired good mood and kill her chance of finding out just who is in the apartment with the busty blonde and why she is so jumpy. "Damn near naked. By yourself?"

Lucy's eyes widened and Martha notes the sudden shifting of her feet.

"Yes?" Martha quirked an eyebrow at that. Lucy's grip tightened and her smile widened." Yes! I mean, yeah. I'm alone. On my own. Just me and Plue, just like always."

On any normal occasion that would have been the end of the conversation.

If the young wizard didn't want to tell her who was in her apartment and why she was lounging around damn near naked, then so be it. It's not really any of her business. And unlike the rest of Magnolia if it had nothing to do with her or her money, she didn't see the need to pry. But for some reason that annoying voice in her head decided to speak up.

(She was starting to think this annoying voice was the penance for all those years she had spent judging people. Maybe she'd finally pissed off the wrong person and they'd cursed her with this stupid ass second voice in her head. Second, because she was pretty sure that it wasn't her conscience. She'd spent enough time ignoring that particular voice to know what it sounded like. And it definitely did not sound like this. Nope. This one sounded like annoying smart-ass with a bad sense of humor, spoke a hell of a lot louder than her conscience ever had, and never had anything even remotely useful to say. In fact, all it did was stir up unpleasant feelings and hurl insults. Not to mention it also sounded suspiciously like a mix between her mother and herself. And that pissed her off to no end.

Honestly, she had been doing so much better when she only had one voice to ignore.)

It kept whispering in her head: Don't you wanna know what she's hiding? Huh? Oh. I guess you really don't care about your business than. Was that wimp really right about you? I mean, how much can you know when you'd rather act all high and mighty?

But the most Martha was willing to give it was a twinge in her left brow as she decided to, once again, ignore the hag's voice.

She wasn't about to let some voice tell her what to do. Not when she had rent to collect.

And so Martha opened her mouth to say as much, when a crash rang through the doorway followed by a high pitched voice shouting "Luuuuucccyyyy!" Martha's brows furrowed in confusion as Lucy's shoulders slumped and her hold on the door slackened, she looked like a child who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. But that wasn't Martha's immediate concern. Nope. Martha's immediate concern was the sound of flapping winds and the sudden burst of flames that flew from somewhere in the living room across to the open plan kitchen, hitting the white walls and covering them in a coat of soot. Her white walls.

"Lucy Heartfillia," she asked, her voice was hard and her eyes narrow, "what the hell is going on here?"

"I swear I can explain! And…and…" Her eyes turned to the mess that was visible through the opening of the door. Wincing at dishes that had been pushed to the floor by the blast of fire and the blackened walls. She swallowed, thickly."…I can fix it?"

Martha's eye twitched.

(Kill her, the hag said. It's just us here. No one has to know. Use the clipboard.)

"You can explain?" She repeated, slowly. "Then you better start."

"It's not my fault! Really! It's just… I just….Well..." She sounded panicky now. Martha quickly, and perhaps harshly, shushed her.

"You better find your voice, Lucy," she said," unless you want me to reach in your throat and find it for you."

Lucy stopped.

"No, ma'am." Lucy took a deep breathe. "No. I-I can find it myself."

"That's good." Martha said. She could hear flapping in the distant and the crash of things hitting the floor. The hag is screaming. "Now tell me. Are you harboring some kind of dragon in there?"

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, when the sound of flapping suddenly got louder and quicker. Lucy clamped her mouth and ran an anxious hand over her face before letting out a sound that was either a painful groan or the early signs of a cry. Martha was about to comment on it, when a blur of blue and white dashed through the air, landing on Lucy's bare shoulder. The…thing shifted on the thin perch, forcing one of Lucy's hands to release the door and clutch the knot of her towel for security again as her frown deepened. The creature mewled softly as it nuzzled its head against Lucy's neck, whisks of blonde hair falling against blue fur like rays of light. Lucy seemed exhausted and Martha? Martha was more confused than she had ever been before. What was that thing? She was pretty sure she'd caught a glimpse at something similar yesterday, when she'd gone to interrogate Makarov at the guild, but she hadn't been able to get a good look at it in all the ruckus that had followed. It had luminescent wings on its back and its fur was bright blue and it kind of looked like…was that cat?! It was rumbling slightly, its soft cries now sounding more like muffled complaints and Lucy had raised a hand to pat the things fur, rather roughly, while muttering angrily under her breath.

"But Luuuucy!" Whatever the wizard had been muttering had apparently only depressed the kitten further, as its big eyes widened and became misty. The tiny blue cat pressed itself against the side of the wizard's head, its tail curling resting in her golden hair like a blue furry crown. The action caused Lucy to stumble slightly, forcing the door from her hands and opening it wider, revealing more charred walls. Martha wanted to scream. "Lucy! It's Natsu! He's trying to flambé me!"

(It wouldn't be too suspicious if both the key wizard and the talking cat happened to bite the dust at the same time, would it? The hag wondered. I'm sure we could sell it. )

Martha took a deep breath and turned away from the talking blue cat to look Lucy directly in the eyes.

"Lucy…" She started. The wizard shrunk away. "Who is this?"

Lucy let out a defeated sigh.

"This is Happy." The celestial wizard sighed, clearly defeated. "He's a member of my guild."

She knew it. She had known that letting a Fairy Tail member live in her building was a bad idea. But she'd been taken aback by big brown eyes and a tragic backstory. And now she was being punished. Again. Maybe she was getting soft in her old age.

"Makarov is recruiting cats now?" She asks. Why was she not surprised? "Are times really that rough?"

"Hey!" The little ball of fluff sounded offended, his tiny blue cheeks puffed out and he lifted his head from its perch on Lucy's neck. "I'll have you know I am an exceed. And…"

Martha locked eyes with the cat and glared. Her good mood was well and truly gone. And the last thing she needed was a flying cat with an attitude to give her any lip. Not now.

Happy clamped up and buried his face deeper into Lucy's hair. The blonde chuckled softly and patted his trembling head.

"Now, Lucy." Martha turned back to the young wizard. "Explain to me why you have a pet in your apartment?"

Lucy gulped. "Happy was actually just visiting, he's not staying I promise―"

A sudden voice interrupted what was sure to be another poorly constructed excuse on Lucy's part.

"Oi, Happy! Where are ya little buddy?" The voice sounded rough, as if its owner had just awoken from a long slumber. Or participated in some kind of strenuous activity. Like covering every wall in an average sized, one bedroom apartment in soot. But it was also definitely coming from within the confines of Lucy's apartment. Martha shot an accusatory glare at the celestial wizard. She didn't even care that Lucy seemed to have grown even paler than usual. Weird. "Hey, Lucy? Lucy! Happy! Where are you guys?"

Lucy pulled the door tighter against her body.

"So, ma'am!" She said, hurriedly. The sound of the rough voice calling her name over and over could be heard in the distance. Her nails were now digging into the side of the door. "What is it that you wanted before? You know. When you knocked?"

Martha crossed her arms.

"All I want now is to find out what the hell is going on here!"

Lucy swallowed, again. "Well, you see…"

It was at that exact moment that everything stopped making sense.

A hand, tanned and rough, landed on top of Lucy's causing the blonde to let out a shrill yelp and Martha to furrow her brow. Any questions that the landlady had, though, were quickly answered when the lone hand was joined by its owner. He stepped out from behind the celestial wizard with a smirk playing mischievously on his lips and what looked like an aerosol can in his left hand. Based on the current state of the walls in Lucy's apartment, she would hazard a guess that this guy was definitely to blame. But, the hag observed, it would seem that Lucy hadn't been lounging around half-naked all by herself after all. Her friend, if that was all he was, also happened to be shirtless. His body was muscular and clearly well trained. And while her eyes traced the scar on his hip bone, Martha finally understood the light blush that had color Lucy's cheeks earlier on. The young man was a full head taller than the blonde wizard and used this height difference to plop his right hand right on the very top of her pretty blond head, ruffling her already unruly hair with is calloused hands. Lucy groaned and the sound only made his smile widened, revealing sharp, white teeth. If the scars, strangely sharpened teeth and guild mark hadn't been a dead giveaway, the pink hair most certainly was.

Natsu Dragneel.

Martha was about to comment, when suddenly he raised his hand off Lucy's head and gently stroked her cheek. Oh. The wizard smiled sweetly down at Lucy, whose blush had returned full force under both the gaze of Natsu and her landlady, before moving a stray strand of hair from against her cheek to tuck it behind her ear. She watched as Lucy's eyes flutter and the blonde, ever so slightly, leaned into his touch until her shoulder bumped into his chest. The sensation of his warm skin against hers causing the blonde to recoil slightly, as he chuckled. Martha watched the exchange carefully, surprised that the same guy who destroyed the town weekly could be so…gentle. It was mesmerizing. His eyes were bright and his smile surprisingly gentle as he exclaimed, "There! That's better." before reaching across to pet the blue cat's fur.

But that wasn't what kept Martha up that night. What had her deep in thought, and slightly peeved, wasn't the cat suddenly spreading his wings and flying from Lucy's shoulder, past Martha's head, and down the hallway yelling "Stay away from me, Natsu!". It wasn't the force causing Lucy's towel to slip down, revealing even more skin, and causing the blonde to let out a loud screech. It wasn't the look of mischief that bubbled in Dragneel's eyes, which she knew would only spell trouble, as he watched his blue friend race towards the exit.

Nope. What had Martha so wholly confused and enlightened all at the same time, was the moment when Natsu Dragneel said a hasty farewell to his busty blonde friend and raced after the flying cat with his right hand...

With his right hand completely enveloped by a bright red, roaring flame.

"I promise I'll have the place fixed in no time, ma'am! You have nothing to worry about. I'll take care of everything!"

Silence.

"And…I won't have Happy on any of the furniture or the carpets. Promise!"

Silence.

"And I'm really sorry, you know, about Natsu. I'll talk to him."

More Silence.

"You're gonna add all this to my rent, aren't you?"

"You bet. I'll be back to collect later."

"Where are you going, ma'am?"

"To take a nap. And maybe have a bottle of wine."

i actually wrote the first meeting between Makarov and Martha, would you all like to read it?

let me know & thanks for reading.

R&R