Authors Note: Many of you keep commenting on how I am spelling the word Magick. Just to let you all know this is the old world form of spelling it and often refers to actual magick instead of magic which is the crap performers in Vegas do. Being as I'm Wiccan I was always taught to spell it this way to keep it clear in my mind the difference between the two. Thank you and please enjoy the rest of the story.

The next morning:

"KYAAA!"

Natsu's ears felt like they were bleeding from the sudden noise. He also felt a searing pain in his head and found himself on the floor. All he knew was one minute he was having a lovely dream about beating Gray and Erza in a fight, the next his ears and head were in complete agony. Looking around he found Lucy still in bed giving him the scariest look anyone has ever given him. He gulped impulsively and gave her a forced smile.

"H-hey Luce... Did you sleep well?"

She just glared at him more. He noticed she was blushing and holding her stomach as if guarding it from something. That's when it clicked in his head: more than likely, she had woken up to him cuddling with her... Well crap.

So much for behaving himself...

Lucy woke up feeling pleasantly warm and well rested. She sighed contently feeling as if she could lie in bed for hours. She was just about to nuzzle her way back into sleep when she realized someone had a hold on her waist!

Letting out a startled scream she failed her arm behind her until she felt it make contact with what she was pretty sure was a head. There was a startled yelp and the arms let go shortly followed by a muffled thud.

Scrambling to sit up, she turned towards the person now on the floor only now remembering who it was she was supposed to share a room with. Seeing Natsu on the floor covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut, Lucy felt a spark of rage bubble inside her. When he looked up at her she saw a look of pure terror cross his face and the urge to smirk evilly grew very strong, she was able to hold it at bay though.

Natsu made a lame attempt at distracting her with a morning greeting. When she made it obvious it hadn't worked he kind of just sat there awkwardly. After a bit Lucy sighed and shook her head which caused her neck to pop painfully. She groaned and clutched the area that had popped. Natsu was instantly by her side again.

"That sounded painful, are you okay Luce?" He asked concern clear on his face.

"Yeah... My neck is just really stiff. I guess that's to be expected though."

She was about to say all she needed was a nice hot bath to loosen up the muscles when he shifted so he was sitting behind her and started massage her neck. A furious blush crept over her face and she was about ready to pull away to smack the crap out of him when the warmth of his hands sunk in. She could tell he was using his magick to make his hands warmer than normal. The combination of warmth and his fingers kneading their way through her stiff muscles was wonderful, better than the bath she had been about to ask for.

Sighing contently she relaxed into his touch, not even bothering to complain about how improper this was. Natsu smirked. This was working out better than he had planned. Don't get him wrong, he was glad he could make Lucy's pain go away. However the contented sighs and relaxed way she leaned into his hands had him grinning in way that could be considered mischievous, that is, if anyone could see him.

He continued to knead his fingers in the muscles of her neck for a while longer until he no longer felt the tension in them. He was contemplating doing more when his ears picked up the sound of footsteps heading down the hall. Figuring they were more than likely head this way he stopped what he was doing and moved away from Lucy begrudgingly. She turned to thank him just as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Natsu spoke and the door opened to reveal Wendy.

"Good morning big brother, Miss Lucy."

They both said their good mornings as Wendy walked towards the bed and Lucy.

"How are you feeling this morning miss Lucy?"

"I'm still a bit sore in some places but other than that I'm great. You're really amazing Wendy that's for sure!"

The small girl blushed and mumbled a denial. While the two conversed he went about getting ready for the day, getting his clothes and heading for the bathroom to change and wash his face. When he had come back out, Wendy had suggested Lucy take a bath before Wendy would re-bandage her wounds so they'd be clean. He nodded pointing out some bathing oils he had received as a gift but didn't use before leaving the room. He wasn't worried leaving her in Wendy's care. That little kid could be feisty when she wanted too and was extremely protective of her patients. So with a goofy and relaxed grin on his face and his hands behind his head; he headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

After having Wendy explain what each of the oils Natsu had pointed out were, Lucy chose one and went to take her bath. She had to admit, the tub was impressive! It was diffidently bigger than the one she has…scratch that: had. Sighing at her negative thoughts she stripped from her clothes and carefully unwrapped her bandages. Angling herself so she could check them out in the mirror she blanched at the sight. Okay feeling better or not, she certainly didn't look better. Her skin was still all crispy critter-ed and burnt! Keeping her gag reflex at bay she hurried away from the mirror to the bath. Okay note to self: leave the looking at my wounds to Wendy. She's obviously more equipped at handling grotesque sights than I am! Shuddering a last time she eased her way into a comfortable position in the bath.

Ah…So lovely… I could get used to a bath this nice…

She stopped that thought dead in its tracks. No way was she staying! Once her wounds were healed she was going home to pick up the pieces of her life and try her hardest to start over. Magick or not she wanted nothing to do with all of this. Sure some of the people here were really nice and Natsu was fun to be around, but that didn't change the fact that they were at war and more than likely expected her to help with that. She wasn't a fighter, far from it! She just hoped they would be as understanding as they seemed to be. If they forced her to learn and help fight, she wasn't sure how she'd be able to handle it…

Finishing up her bath shortly after that she dried off being careful of her wounds, not wanting to pull any dead skin, but also not wanting to look in the mirror again to see if that was what she was doing. Wrapping her towel securely around herself she left the restroom. Wendy was still in the room patiently waiting and talking to a white cat in a cute little pink dress.

"Oh good you're out, Lucy meet Carla my familiar." Wendy motioned to the white cat.

"Hello Carla."

Carla nodded at her in acknowledgment before hopping off the bed.

"Go ahead and lie down so Wendy can check your wounds." She seemed a bit stand off-ish at first but overall didn't give off any real mean vibes so Lucy just nodded and did as she'd asked. Wendy folded the towel down so it still covered her lower half but gave her a clear view of the damage to Lucy's back. She could feel Wendy poking around a few places and testing the skin that was trying to heal.

"Hmm… It looks like it'll be a week… two at most before it's fully healed. That's with my daily treatments of course, left on its own, a wound like this could take months to heal."

"Really? That long? Not that I'm not grateful for the healing but I was hoping to go home sooner than that." Lucy turned her head so she could peak at Wendy while she spoke.

"Sorry Lucy that's the best I can do with something this big."

Lucy sighed and gave the girl a smile. "Well that's okay then, like I said I'm grateful for the healing regardless."

That put a big determined smile on the girls face.

"I better get started then!"

Lucy chuckled and moved her head back so it wouldn't kink up on her while Wendy worked her magick. After a few blissful minutes of Wendy's soothing magickal treatment Lucy was almost asleep again. So when Wendy shook her lightly to let her now she was done, Lucy jumped and made a funny squeaking noise. Wendy giggled before apologizing. Grabbing some fresh bandages from her bag Wendy wrapped them around Lucy, securing them tightly.

"Are the bandages too tight?"

"Nope just fine, than you again Wendy." Lucy said twisting her torso a bit to test her mobility.

"My pleasure, I like being able to help people as best I can. Oh! By the way Mira said she was going to be by later today to bring you more clothes. She just has to finish her shift at the fairy hall first. She works the bar when she isn't needed for fighting."

"Oh, that's kind of her. By the way what's the fairy hall?" Lucy asked.

"Fairy Tail, it's a guild hall. Guilds are like work centers for people with magick. When someone shows up not knowing how to properly use their magick or need help finding work they can join a guild. Most guilds have access to books and scrolls that people can use to help master their powers or advance their skills. There are many around the magical plain and each one runs differently based on their traditions and rules set out by the guild master, but they all function on a fundamentally similar system."

Wendy rolled up her sleeve to reveal a fairy shaped tattoo on her arm.

"All guilds have their own insignia and every member is required to bare the mark as proof of their membership. Most of the people you saw last night were from Fairy Tail. Big brothers Sting, Rouge, and Cobra are the only ones of the dragon demons who aren't with Fairy Tail. The rest of us are."

Lucy looked a bit shocked which worried Wendy for a minute before Lucy said:

"But didn't getting a tattoo hurt?!"

Wendy and Carla just laughed.

"No, because they aren't normal tattoos. They aren't applied with a needle; rather, they are applied through means of magick ink and a stamp. This way if someone quits the guild or gets kicked out the master can simply remove the mark." Carla explained.

"Oh that makes sense I suppose. And you get to choose the color yourself?"

Both nodded and Lucy smiled.

"Then that doesn't sound so horrible."

As they had been talking Lucy had gotten dressed and brushed through her hair. Feeling ready to take on the stressful day she was sure to come, they all left Natsu's room and headed for the dining hall. Wendy continued to tell Lucy about the Fairy Tail guild and Lucy found herself wanting to visit the hall to see if she was exaggerating or not. Some of the things she was telling Lucy just didn't seem plausible! Like how fights constantly broke out, how often they threw parties even in a time of war, the fact they had been founded by a real life fairy! It all sounded preposterously outrageous! It also sounded fun, exciting, and worse of all enticing. She had a feeling if she did go to visit this boisterous hall she'd never want to leave…

Halfway to the dining hall they ran into Gajeel and his familiar. Lucy almost screamed at the sight of him! He looked a lot like the demon he was with blood red eyes, slit pupils, and sadistic looking sneer. He had bits of metal protruding from his flesh all over his face and arms. Badly scarred in places and exuding a menacing aura; he smirked at Lucy's frightened look.

"Giihee, cool it bunny girl I ain't gonna eat ya. Salamander would kill me fer tryin'." He said and she recognized his voice from her first visit to the magic plain. He must have been the one Natsu was talking to in the hall. Calming a bit, she picked up on what he had called her and quirked an eyebrow. Wendy giggled.

"Big brother Gajeel has a habit of giving odd nick names."

"Ah. I'm assuming 'Salamander' is Natsu?" Lucy asked. Gajeel nodded.

"You catch on quick. Hey Brat mind doin' me a favor when yur done with bunny girl?"

"Sure thing!" Wendy's enthusiasm had everyone around her smiling and the girl blushing shortly after.

"Giihee, I'll be in the training rooms with Lily come find me when yur done kay?" Gajeel said motioning to the black cat beside him who, Lucy now noticed, had a small sword strapped to his back. She would have thought it cute except for the seriousness coming from the cat.

"Sure thing, I just need to take her to the dining hall. Is he still in there?"

Gajeel snorted and Lily spoke up.

"He certainly is. He and Sting are currently in the middle of a fight." He had a surprisingly deep voice for such a small cat.

"Fighting over the best meat again?" Carla asked. The two just silently nodded.

The white cat sighed and Gajeel rolled his eyes before heading down the hall.

"Nice meeting ya face to face bunny girl, c'mon Lily."

Lily nodded his head in farewell and followed Gajeel down the hall. Carla turned to Lucy and smiled.

"Congratulations you survived your first encounter with the iron dragon demon."

"Carla that's mean! Big brother Gajeel isn't that bad." Wendy protested. Carla just chuckled to herself and continued to the dining hall. Wendy sighed and Lucy giggled.

Turning the last corner to the dining room they could already hear the fight that was going on in there. Natsu was tossing around insults and Lucy recognized Stings voice spewing self praises. Carla rolled her eyes and Lucy heard her mumble 'Males' under her breath. Opening the doors gave way to a sight Lucy would never forget.

Fire and beams of light were shooting back and forth across the room and fists were clashing with flesh, but the biggest eye catcher was the fact that Natsu and Sting were covered almost head to toe in food! Looking closer she saw all the food except the meat had been used as missiles before it all ran out and they had resorted to fist fighting.

Lucy couldn't help herself, she busted out laughing clutching her stomach and tears forming in her eyes.