So, my lovelies. Hello! Your next chapter! I'm excited for the next one, she finally meets someone *wink wink*

Okay, enjoy!

The prices in this town for clothes were ridiculous. She stared in disbelief at the price tag that hung off of a very pink dress, and then glanced up at Levy. She turned at the call of her name.

"Is this a joke?" she asked in disbelief. Levy leaned over and looked at the price tag. Levy's lips quirked upwards in amusement.

"You've never really been shopping for clothes before, have you?"

Lucy flushed red, trying to think of an answer. Virgo or Aquarius had been the ones that went shopping for her, sometimes even Capricorn. The only time she really went shopping was when she needed new knives or equipment like that.

"Not really," she mumbled. "At least, not for something like this." She looked helplessly at the clothes. Levy giggled and patted her good naturedly on the head.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm here then!" she said happily. Lucy half-smiled at her before turning back to the racks of clothes. Lucy leaned to the left, towards Virgo, who had remained by her side the entire trip. Whispering, she asked, "Can we afford any of this?"

"Of course, miss," Virgo said. "I always bring extra money."

Lucy raised her eyebrows, wondering just how much extra money. Considering the prices on the tags it had to be a substantial amount.

"How about this, Lucy?" a booming voice asked. She looked over the racks to see Erza standing in the midst of shelves of clothes, holding up a red dress. Lucy wrinkled her nose at all the frills on the edges of the long sleeves. She could practically feel the dress wrapping around her ribs, crushing any spare breath from her lungs.

"I don't know, Erza," Lucy said hesitantly. "It looks a little expensive…"

"Nonsense!" she proclaimed, her eyes blazing in excitement. "Price is no matter! I will pay for it if that's the case. You would look amazing in it!"

Lucy still wasn't completely used to Erza and her attitude so Lucy blanched slightly at that. The dress was probably expensive.

Aries had been right; on the outside Erza looked tough. Her entire form gave off the impression of strictness. And that was true in a sense. Upon first meeting, she had been very polite and contained, but slowly, as the shopping trip continued on, she loosened up. Erza was really very sweet, and had a strange obsession with strawberry cake. Lucy learned that when she more than once mentioned that a dress she wanted Lucy to wear reminded her of cake.

Lucy rather liked Erza, and despite her slightly brash manner, she felt she could really get along with her. As long as she didn't know who Lucy really was, that is.

Lucy sighed, wishing there was a solid reason for not wearing it besides not being able to breath in it. But in high-class society, that was the norm.

"Just try it," Aries piped in from behind Erza. Lucy blinked in surprise. She hadn't seen her form standing behind Erza.

"I think the color suits you, miss," Virgo said. Lucy glared at her. "Will you punish me?"

Levy's mouth popped open in a shock and Aries flushed red. Erza just narrowed her eyes, but all in all didn't seem affected. Lucy leaned towards her, hissing, "Virgo, don't say stuff like that in front of them!"

"Will you punish me later then, miss?"

Groaning, Lucy walked to Erza and snatched the dress out of her hand. She decided it wasn't worth explaining – hell, she wasn't even sure she could explain it. She walked to one of the changing rooms that stood behind Erza, leaving the dumbstruck girls to deal with Virgo.

Yanking the curtain closed, Lucy sighed as she looked in the mirror. Her hair, usually pulled up in a ponytail, hung loose around her shoulders. It was an odd look for her, making her appear more girlish.

Sometimes Lucy found it hard to believe she was even here, experiencing these things. She was an assassin, and here she was, in a dressing room, trying on fancy dresses. Lucy grimaced, imagining what her father would think if he knew where she was.

She slipped in the dress and took a moment to admire herself. It did look good, to her surprise. She could do without the frills, of course, but the red fabric hugged her body in all the right places. And to her delight the dress wasn't that tight. She could still breathe, which was always a plus. It was a nice enough dress to go see the Prince too.

She still preferred her usual shirt and pants, but this wasn't too bad. Taking a deep breath she yanking the curtain open and stepped out. All four heads turned to.

"You look amazing!" Erza cried in delight. Aries nodded vigorously, giving me a thumbs up. Levy giggled.

"Lucy, you're so beautiful," she murmured in awe.

"You look very nice, miss."

Lucy flushed, glancing away. She wasn't used to so many compliments. "Thanks," she said quietly. Erza rushed off without saying anything, calling out, "Miss? Miss, where are you?"

When Erza came back she had a triumphant smile. She smiled widely at me, looking as if she had just won the lottery.

"You can wear the dress outside the store, Lucy."

"Erza, you really shouldn't have bought me the dress!" Lucy protested.

"Lucy," she said, smiling warmly. "It's the least I could do for you. Besides, it wasn't that expensive." Lucy looked down at the price tag that was still attached to the dress and nearly choked. It was more than 50,000 jewels.

"E-Erza!" she protested. "How can you afford this?"

"My job gives me a generous amount of money. Don't worry, Lucy," she patted her on the shoulder. "I want to do this. You're my friend, after all."

Lucy's resolve weakened. She had called her her friend. "Well, if you insist…" she mumbled, looking down. Lucy ran her hands along the fabric of the dress, reveling in the feeling of silkiness.

Aries smiled in delight, saying "We should probably go get one more dress, don't you think?"

Lucy held back a sigh as we continued looking on the racks for a dress that fit her well. Virgo found one, a dark blue, simple looking dress, without frills, the same length as the red one, and had long sleeves. It wasn't too expensive either. This time she made sure to pay.

As they walked out of the store, Erza turned to Lucy. "Lucy, why do you need new clothes? Shouldn't you have brought some from your home?" The question must have just occurred to her.

"They were stolen in our travels," Virgo interrupted before Lucy could say anything. "Bandits attacked us."

Levy's eyes widened in horror and Erza scowled. Aries glanced at Lucy in confusion, but luckily, said nothing. Lucy tried to mask her surprise behind a grimace. Lucy was shocked to say the least that Virgo had come up with the idea of bandits. She found it hard to believe herself that bandits would have attacked, there weren't that many around these days.

Erza frowned, seeming troubled. "That is indeed awful news, are you alright?" she asked, turning back to Lucy. She waved her hands in front of her face, smiling uneasily.

"Y-yes, I'm fine. The bandits didn't hurt us or anything."

Erza nodded with pursed lips. Her hand came up to thoughtfully rub her chin as she considered the news. "I haven't heard any new news of bandits as of late… I should probably send out some soldiers to investigate."

"No!" Lucy squeaked in protest.

"No?"

"I-I just mean that they are probably already gone, so there's no point looking for them. It happened days ago!" she said quickly, blushing. Erza was silent for a moment, and Lucy felt sweat start to form on her brow. She had allowed herself to get caught up in her girlish manner, and forgot the fact that she was nicknamed Titania for a reason. Intensity to radiate from her.

After a moment, she nodded.

"You're right of course, there is no guarantee that they would remain where you were attacked." She patted Lucy on the shoulder. "I'm just glad you weren't harmed. You too, Virgo," she said, turning to Virgo.

Virgo nodded in agreement.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief as they continued down the streets. Levy looked at her with a concerned expression.

"You're sure you're okay, Lucy?" Urgency tinted her question. Lucy smiled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I promise, I'm fine." She only felt a slight twinge of guilt at the lie, but quickly brushed it aside. It was required for the mission. Which reminded her… Lucy glanced at Erza who had stopped to admire a bakery.

"Erza," Lucy called.

"Hmm?" came her distracted reply.

"Erza, I was thinking. I'm meeting the Prince tomorrow, and was wondering what to expect." She turned to Lucy with a slight cock of her head.

"What to expect?" she repeated. "Well…" she frowned. "I'm not sure there is any way to accurately describe him. The Prince is full of a destructive energy. He is very kind of course, and cares for the kingdom, but can be a bit of a fool."

Levy nodded. "I met him once. He reminds me of a child sometimes."

Lucy's eyes flitted to Aries with raised eyebrows.

"T-that doesn't make him a bad prince though!" she inserted. She must have seen the judgement in Lucy's eyes. "He is very good with people, and has always been good at judging others."

"That's true, Levy," Erza said. She smiled warmly. "That one will make a good king."

Lucy frowned at her word choice. That was yet to be decided.

Comments, suggestions, reviews? Yes, no, maybe so?

Okay, so I have some bad news for you. I'm taking a break from Fan Fiction for a while. Don't panic! It will probably just be a week. Explanation, go! Stress. It's piling up. Spring Break just ended and so school is coming back.

Alright you lovely little mushrooms, I will be taking my leave now. Don't worry I will be back, I just need time to reorganize and catch up on some life related things. Thanks for all of your reviews, favorites, and follows!

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