Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail or its characters. Fairy tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

AN: Happy Friday peeps! Another Chapter of SOP is on the way along with some OC characters. Be sure to remember them because they have quite a significance in the future chapters. So sit back read and enjoy~

Chapter 6

~Sunday, May 15th~

A honking car outside woke Gajeel from his slumber. He opened his eyes slowly, grumpily cussing how the sound had woken him up. He sat up, trying to push his exhaustion to the back of his mind as he rubbed his eyes. Suddenly something fell off his lap and to the edge of the bed. He stopped his laptop before it could fall off and became more aware of his surroundings. The laptop was still playing his music from the night before. His entire music library must have been on shuffle. He promptly turned it off.

Wendy wasn't by his side anymore. He checked the clock on his laptop screen and it read just before 7:00 AM. Good, He thought, I didn't oversleep…

Begrudgingly he stood up from the bed, finding his knees shaky and his limbs heavy. I need coffee, was his first thought when Wendy poked her head inside his room. She was fully dressed in her red jacket and black skirt with her hair in pigtails.

"Ah, you're awake! Mom and Dad have breakfast ready!"

"Yeah, be right there, squirt," he said and rubbed a hand over his face, still in a half sleep trance. He threw on some clothes without really paying attention. He forced himself to wake up as he walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Wendy had already taken her seat at the table where her toast and eggs waited.

"Morning, sleepy head!" His mother spoke. Grandneeney had her blue curls tied up with a small hair clip, while she cooked something in the stove. Metalicana maneuvered around her, managing five different meals at once.

"Mornin'," he grumbled a response. Metalicana wasted no time and handed Gajeel his mug as he walked by the kitchen. Gajeel took it with a nod and sat down next to Wendy. He took a sip of the coffee. Yup, he's still the best coffee maker I know. He thought.

Grandneeney finished up the food and placed plates on the table for him, Metalicana and herself. Gajeel's father took the seat to his right with Grandneeney on Wendy's other side.

"Gajeel, tell us how hip hop classes are going?" Metalicana began as he sat down. "Wendy said you were up late last night working on something."

Gajeel unconsciously glanced at Wendy before replying, "Yeah, Lil and I have a lot of work to do to get ready for State Finals. Other than that it's been pretty good." He said, tactically leaving out the news of a new student in their class. Lately Gajeel had been finding it hard to keep his cool around her. If his father picked up on that...dear lord have mercy, he'd be doomed.

"Gajeel!" Wendy shouted, excitedly. "I'm turning sixteen this month so I'll be able to join your class, right!"

Gajeel ruffled her hair with a large hand, "Sure, pipsqueak. I don't see a problem with it."

"And State Finals are three months away so I can help with that too, right?" Her eyes were like sparkling saucers as she stared him down.

"Sure. Just make sure ya work extra hard to get caught up with everyone." He spoke around a mouthful of pancakes.

"That's okay! I already watch you and Lily practice and I can copy most of the stuff you do. It's actually not that different from the way Miss Queen does ballet."

Suddenly Grandneeney made an audible gasp of excitement and she turned to Wendy with a glint in her eye. "Oh! Speaking of turning sixteen! We plan on having a big birthday party for you, Wendy, dear."

If Gajeel had thought Wendy looked happy and excited before she was practically jumping out of her seat now. "Really!?"

"Of course," Metalicana said, "It is your big one-six after all."

Grandneeney spoke again, "And you can bring anyone you like, all you have to do is give us a list of names and we'll do the rest."

Wendy grew quiet, her excited gaze fell to the floor replaced by something more like shame. "Oi," Gajeel asked, giving her a gentle nudge, "What's wrong?"

Metalicana and Grandneeney had both stopped what they were doing and focused on Wendy, concern on their faces.

"Well," Wendy said, "I don't really have a lot of friends…"

"What about that pink-haired girl, Chelia?" Metalicana asked.

Wendy didn't look up, "She's going away for the summer to visit her cousin, Sherry. She said she will be leaving in two weeks, she won't be here for my birthday," She said and her voice cracked as tears formed in her eyes.

Gajeel reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. 'Hey," He started "We'll think of something. Don't sweat it squirt." He gave her a toothy grin, showing off his canines. She smiled back with a little giggle then wiped the tears away.

"Ok." She replied. He ruffled her hair and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Looks like it's time for me to head out." Gajeel stood up and grabbed his plate, dumping it in the sink before heading to the door where his coat was.

"And where do you think you're going?" Metalicana asked, a sly glint in his eyes as he looked at his son.

"I'm a grown man, pops. I got things to do, errands to run. Y'know, 'responsibilities'." He felt a shiver as he finished his sentence. It made him think back to his high school days where he would shutter at the cursed 'r' word, he would always try to abandon it and pretend it didn't exist, but in the end it was the one word that practically took over his life.

"I remember when all you wanted to do was ignore your 'responsibilities'," He drew air quotes around the word as Gajeel had. " and go hang out with friends. Oh, how our boys grown," He said, a sappy smile turned toward Grandneeney as he took her hand.

"Cut the crap old man, you're embarrassing yourself." He grumbled as he grabbed his keys from the key holder. Metalicana gave a hearty laugh and waved goodbye. Gajeel waved back to everyone as they yelled out a loving 'Have a nice day!'

He closed the door and was off to work. He sent Lily a text on his way to the car, reminding him he should get his butt to the studio before they were late for management and teachers practice. Lily replied back with his usual, 'As long as you're not late, Redfox.' He chuckled to himself, clicked off the phone and got in his car.

The morning sun shone through her lace curtained window, making orange, red and pink tones spread like a fan across the living room.

"Mmm" Shagotte stirred in her sleep, slowly waking up. The sun was just in the right spot to make her squint as her eyes adjusted to the light. Once she did she stretched, arching her back and reaching her arms over her head. 'Looks like I fell asleep on the couch. I guess I was more tired than I thought I was' She thought. She reached for her cell phone that sat on the coffee table.

~8:34am~

She took a deep breath and sighed. 'Oh dear, I must have overslept'. Good thing she had the day off. She stretched once more and got off the couch, then walking to the kitchen, set up the coffee maker. She left it to brew as she took a shower and got ready for an early sunday morning stroll.

After having her coffee and gathering her things she walked out the door, making sure to lock it behind her. She walked down the steps to her townhouse and spotted her neighbor. An elderly lady, who looked like she had just got done shopping but was struggling to get her grocery bags up her steps to her front door. Shagotte walked over to her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Snow," She greeted with a welcoming smile. The lady looked up. Her face was covered with wrinkles and her gray hair was in a small bun on her head. Shagotte was mostly intrigued with her eyes. They're the color of amethyst and sparkled with the beauty of life. It made an old women like her seem just a bit younger. She returned Shagotte's smile.

"Good morning, my dear."

Shagotte glanced at the bags on the ground. "Do you need a hand?" Mrs. Snow looked at bags around her then looked at Shagotte.

"I suppose this is a bit much for an old gal like me. Do you mind?"

Shagotte giggled. "Not at all ," She wasted no time walking to her and taking two bags in each arm. With her purse strap still over her shoulder she walked up the steps to the lady's front door. Mrs. Snow took her cane and slowly made her way up the steps. She took her key from her purse and opened the door and let Shagotte in first. Shagotte bowed respectfully then walked in.

Shagotte had been here quite a number of times since she had moved to Magnolia. Actually is she was completely honest, Mrs. Snow was the first person she was comfortable with calling a friend since moving. She had actually saved her from a couple occasions when a guy was verbally harassing her. Shagotte was very grateful to her for that and made sure she knew it.

She walked through the purple and blue decorated house into the kitchen. Out of pure instinct she started taking stuff out of the bags and putting them in their respective places.

"Oh Shagotte, darling, you don't have to do that." The elder said.

"Oh no ma'am, it's alright, really. I don't mind doing this at all," Shagotte said her face still bore a beautiful smile.

"You are such a sweetheart. Thank you dear,"

"Not a problem at all, miss." In more ways than one this woman reminded her of her own grandmother who had past so long ago. She was energetic, free spirited and easygoing. Shagotte always had fun when she came to visit and would help her whenever she needed it. Mrs. Snow was wise and very honest, which made Shagotte that much more comfortable around her. She would teach her different things and would tell her bits about the city, the people in it and even its long history seeing that she had lived here her whole life.

Shagotte put the last of the groceries where it needed to be placed and then gave a satisfied nod at her work. She turned to Mrs. Snow. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you go get groceries? It's still quite early." The elder gave a sweet laugh.

"My dear, it's only 10:45. It's actually quite late for me. My youngest grandbaby is coming to visit with her husband and newborn son this evening, so I wanted to prepare dinner for them. They're only staying for a couple days so I want to make it something they remember for the next time they come around." The way Mrs. Snow spoke of her grandchildren warmed Shagotte's heart. She had told her in the past of her grandchildren and each of their personalities. Mrs. Snow loved to tell stories and she would often tell of the many travels they went on, or of their wild imaginations and how strong a bond the children had with each other. It made Shagotte wonder how wonderful it would have been if she had someone she could share her life with. "But enough about me, I should be asking you why you are up so early. Don't young women like you need your beauty sleep?" Shagotte snapped out of train of thought.

She laughed lightly. "Actually I was just going out for a morning stroll and enjoy the beautiful day." The elder raised a silver eyebrow.

"Oh, is that so?".

"Yes ma'am." Shagotte nodded, and Mrs, Snow looked her up and down.

"Well, darling you could have fooled me. With that beautiful dress you're wearing I thought you were going to meet someone for breakfast of some sorts," Shagotte looked at her with wide silver eyes and a bright red blush forming on her pale cheeks.

"N-no ma'am, not at all."

"Well, that's a shame. You're so pretty and elegant, a young gentleman has to catch you one of these days." She laughed then smiled at her. "Just be sure, when you do find that special someone, I get an invitation to the wedding, you hear?" She gave her a playful wink and Shagotte's blush only intensified more. She averted her eyes, unconsciously playing with her purity ring that hung around her neck . "Yes ma'am I'll be sure to do that, although I'm not exactly sure if I'll be dating anyone anytime soon."

"Yes, yes I suppose you do have a point seeing that you just got here, especially with all these disrespectful young boys around here trying to act like thugs thinking they're acting like men but really all they know is how to flirt. It's really difficult to find a real gentleman these days, one that actually respects women." She shook her head in disappointment " This generation may never understand the meaning of self-respect and integrity. I'm so happy you are on the right path my dear. You'll go far, believe me."

Shagotte curtseyed towards her. "Thank you, Mrs. Snow. That means a lot to me, coming from you,"

"No need to thank me, sweetie. I'm just stating what is fact. You must be going now, am I correct?" Shagotte looked at the grandfather clock that sat on the wall above one of the love seat couches.

~11:10~

"Yes I believe I should. It was very nice talking to you and I hope your cooking goes well."

"It will and thank you again for bringing in my groceries and putting them up for me. It's always so nice to see you and as you know my door is always open if you need anything. Ok, dear?" Shagotte nodded and gave a small bow with both hands folded in front of her.

"Yes ma'am, have a great rest of your day,"

"And to you." Shagotte walked to the front door, stepped out, gave one last goodbye wave then closed it carefully behind her. She positioned her purse more comfortably on her shoulder and walked down the steps making her way to Magnolia's city park.

Shagotte took her favorite spot on the park bench. It was a place where she could get the best view of the great oak tree that sprung up in the middle of the park. Some of the leaves were just beginning to turn an impressively deep green but the vibrant hues of spring still hung to a few of the branches. It gave the tree depth of life she had never seen.

This was one of the few times her long hair wasn't in it's bun. She had put it in a fishtail braid down her back today. Even with it so wrapped up the tip of her braid came to the middle of her back. If let out of its confinement it would go until the back of her thighs. As nice as it was to have her hair down, she liked it better when it couldn't blow in her face. But something about this summer air made her believe she would have loved the park today no matter what.

Shagotte was admiring the green of the trees and the stubborn lingering pink on some of the cherry trees when something hit her foot. She looked down to see a bright red kickball with one star on it. She picked it up and looked around, soon noticing where it had come from.

There were some kids playing soccer, if she had to guess by the makeshift sticks that seemed to be goalposts, and it seemed they were using the kickball. Perhaps they didn't have an actual soccer ball so they made do. There was a little girl in front of her then, her breathing was labored from running but the look she gave Shagotte seemed to make the light shine on her black curls and turned her afro hair a cocoa brown.

"Um- excuse me, Miss." She began in the sweetest of voices. She wasn't looking at Shagotte but let her green eyes fall to the dirt. "Can I have that ball back?" She smiled again.

This girl's smile melted Shagotte's heart. She had beautifully tan skin, to go with her equally as dark hair and the biggest dimples she had ever seen. Even the child's cheeks made her look like a chipmunk with a stuffed mouth. She looked so genuine with her smile that it made Shagotte pause a moment.

At that second she knew in her heart of hearts that this is the kind of heavenly smile she prayed to see on her own daughter. If only the world would bless her with that smile once more in her own children she couldn't ask anything else.

"Of course." She said finally and handed the ball to the little girl. "Play nicely and be careful okay?" In return for that gift of a smile Shagotte put on the kindest face she could imagine. The little girl beamed even brighter and it seemed as if her smile could light up the world.

"Thank you, Miss! We will!" She exclaimed before running back to her friends. She couldn't stop her smile from creeping upwards. At this point she was just grinning to herself like a fool. Shagotte giggled and decided she wouldn't just spend this day sitting at a park. She would go out and buy something nice for herself. It felt like it had been forever since she had the luxury and her apartment needed some personalization.

She stood up, knowing exactly where she wanted to go.

Tap tap tap

Lucy sat at the kitchen table typing on her laptop with scattered papers all around her.

Tap tap tap

She hit the post button and updated her blog. Due to the rush of the sleepover and the constant days of trying to find a song for the State Finals she wasn't able to update it as much as she wanted to. But she could at least get a few writing updates in before everyone else woke up.

She stopped typing to cover the yawn that escaped her lips. Her laptop read 7:45am. She was crazy to be up this early, especially considering how late they had stayed up last night.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Eep!" Lucy jumped, trying to steady her chair that almost toppled over. She turned around to see hazel eyes staring right into her brown ones. She let out a breath, her heart rate calming down when she saw it was only Levy.

"Sorry Lu. Did I scare you?" The bluenette asked softly.

"Just a little." Lucy sighed. "Good morning, Levy. How did you sleep?" Levy rubbed her eyes. Lucy giggled a little as she took in the sight of her hair. It was in a mess of untamed curls all over head. Of all her friends Levy had the worst bed head and it never ceased to amuse her.

"Ok, I guess. Erza kept on taking the covers and Juvia kicks in her sleep...a lot." Lucy laughed a bit.

"Lev, that's kinda your own fault, I did say you could sleep in the bed with me."

"Yeah, but don't you know how loud you snore?"

Lucy looked at her offensively. "Hey! I don't snore that loud!"

Levy patted her head before walking towards the kitchen. "Yes you do~!" She sang. She hopped-skipped to the kitchenette right next to the dining table. Lucy turned back to her laptop.

"No I don't," She pouted but the tiny giggles from Levy said she knew otherwise.

Lucy heard shuffling through the cabinets, Levy must have been getting what she needed for the morning drinks. She probably knew Lucy's kitchen better than she knew it herself, from all the time she spent here. After all they had been best friends since forever. Most people don't seem to know or understand their long history together.

Lucy had meet Levy at a fairly young age in a town called Shirotsume. Levy didn't have a family, she was living in foster care at the time. But she made a positive turning point in the blonde's life. Lucy's mother had just died a month or two before she meet her. Lucy had ran away from her distant and borderline abusive home and found herself in the park of Shirotsume. It was dark and rainy, she didn't know where to go so she cried underneath a huge oak tree, drenched and about ready to pass out with exhaustion. Levy had come out of nowhere and just hugged her. Lucy didn't know who this girl was or where she had come from, for one second she thought she was a guardian angel that came to comfort her. Lucy hugged her back, and she cried the whole night. They had fallen asleep against that tree until morning came. Only then did Levy introduce herself and they became instant friends. Just a little while after that day, they both had gotten sick with a cold. Lucy invited Levy to stay at the Heartfilia Mansion for a week and they slept in the same bed. They both would wake up giggling and poking each others noses to make sure the other was still breathing.

The one thing that Lucy loved about Levy was that she never cared where she came from or how much money she had, Levy cared about Lucy as a person, she always had. She never asked Lucy for anything money-wise, if anything Lucy would have to force her to take the money she offered, sometimes even threaten her. Levy was a true friend, and she never had to worry about losing her.

But Levy was a foster child so she had to move away a lot. As a result Lucy and her rarely had time to hang out. They made do through social media and skype calls but nothing ever compared to the real thing. They kept in contact for a long time. Gradually Lucy introduced levy to all her friends, her and Natsu hit it off immediately and in turn Levy introduced Lucy to Jet and Droy. Then Lucy told her of the dance classes she had started with her friends and Levy just had to be there with her. So finally after all that time and help from Levy's friends Jet and Droy, the three saved up enough money to move into an apartment outside of Magnolia with Jet's wife. Lucy giggled at the thought of how far they had come from that day. She'd never forget it.

"So Lu, whatcha working on?" Levy said walking back to the dinner table with two frappuccinos, she placed one carefully by Lucy's laptop. Lucy took a sip and sighed.

"Just updating the blog. My employer emailed me this morning about how he needs me to write a story for the newspaper."

"That's good. Give me one sec." She said as she placed the other cup at the opposite end of the table and ran to the bedroom. She came back with her cellphone and a fancy camera she had just bought. Ever since Levy had that thing she'd take it everywhere, bringing it out just to look at past pictures or brainstorm ideas for new photoshoots.

She was a freelancing photographer and would take pictures of anything then sell them, with the proper permission of course. Lucy thought she was actually amazing at it. Quite a few people contact her asking if they could have appointments getting their pictures taken, which proved Lucy's point whenever Levy felt insecure about her photos. Levy would gladly accept which got her a lot of money for her work. She did birthday parties, simple family portraits, and even weddings, those were Lucy's favorites. Lucy had watched her do photoshoots countless of times and she had just as much passion for taking pictures as she does with reading and dancing.

Levy went to the other end of the table and started sipping on her frappe. She turned on her camera and started scanning through various photos.

"You said you have to work on a story for the newspaper right?" She asked her eyes still on her camera. "What do you have to write about? And have you been working on your new book?" Levy wiggled her eyebrows, trying to pry any spoilers from Lucy about the famous three books she already had published. That's where she got most of her money from, aside from the family fortune that she barely touched. A lot of people seemed loved her stories, but they said the worst part about them was that they always ended on a cliffhanger. All her friends would try to pry sneak peeks for the next book out of her, but she never budged. They had to suck it up and wait for it to be published.

"Nothing major. Just a little story to put in the entertainment section of the paper. No big deal. As for my book, I've already gotten to the tenth chapter, just about fifteen more to go until it's finished." Lucy heard the slam of two tiny palms on the table.

"You're almost done with it already!? Let me take a look!" Levy walked around to where Lucy is and tried to look over her shoulder at the screen, but Lucy closed the laptop before she could spot anything. Levy gave her a pout and puppy-dog eyes. "Aw! Come on Lu-lu! I wanna see!"

"Not a chance! You have to wait like everyone else, and plus I've already given you enough spoilers. It's bad enough that I have to change my password every week so Natsu and Gray don't snoop." Levy crossed her arms and walked away.

"Fine, I'll wait," She said her cheeks huffed up with the most adorable pout Lucy had ever seen. She opened her laptop again and continued typing.

"Don't you have a photo shoot scheduled at eleven?"

"Yeah, I should get my stuff together. I'll wake Juvia and Erza, it's about time they've gotten up." Levy says walking to the guest room where the girls had slept.

"Oh and don't forget to bring your workout clothes, we might have to go straight to hip hop afterward!" Lucy called.

"Got it!" Came her reply.

They still had to get the rest of the forms signed today. Thankfully today was one of those days when all the ages gather for one four hour class to practice their moves for the State Finals.

"Lu, do you want to take a shower first or do you want me to?" Levy poked her head out of the bedroom and asked.

"Give me one minute." She replied, scanning her screen one more time. She saved her work then closed the laptop and stood up. "I'll take mine first."

Levy gave her a look, "Just don't take all the hot water, we all need to take showers," Lucy stuck her tongue out. "I live here I can take as much hot water as I want,"

Levy looked shocked but a spark of mischief replaced her expression and she said; "Well in that case..." Suddenly she took off running to the bathroom. "I'm taking mine first!" Her muffled voice shouted back.

"Oh no you don't! Come back here!" Lucy ran after her, laughing uncontrollably as she tackled the little girl to the ground. By eight in the morning neither girl had been able to beat the other to the shower and in their struggle Juvia stepped in first, followed by Erza who then insisted they all bathe together. Lucy sighed, as strange as her friends were she wouldn't trade them for the world.

Hope you enjoyed

~ShalilyQueen