While Lucy was not unfamiliar with people randomly popping into her apartment and making themselves at home while she herself was not, Lucy could not say she saw this coming.
Tired from the mission with Team Natsu, after reporting their results back to the guild, Lucy left early hoping to relax at home and take a nice warm bath.
Humming, Lucy quickly slipped out of her dirty clothes and turned on the water to rinse her body and hair.
"Ahh, there's nothing like a relaxing shower at home," Lucy sighed to herself in relaxation, relishing the way the hot water slid down her weary body.
"This is a nice place you got here."
Lucy's eyes popped open in morbid surprise. Someone was in the bathroom with her?! She whirled around, ignoring the sting of shampoo as it seeped into her eyes from the sudden motion. Who was there?!
"Cana?!" Lucy squeaked, completely caught off guard to see the brunette casually taking a bubble bath in her bathtub. "What are you doing here?" she hissed, her hands covering what they could, but hey, Lucy was well endowed.
Cana just openly stared, not minding their states of nakedness. It was nothing she hadn't seen before.
Grinning, Cana greeted the blonde. "Yo."
Lucy squinted at the brunette's cheeks. "Why are you drunk in my bathtub?"
They stared at each other from opposite ends of the bathtub. The tiny, tiny bathtub.
How Lucy ended up here, she had no idea. It didn't help that she couldn't move or straighten her legs, or the fact that her legs were literally right between Cana's. Lucy tried her best not to let her gaze slip below the girl's neck.
"Do you usually take baths with other people?" Cana casually questioned the blonde as she tipped her head lazily to the side in mild curiosity. While Cana was not as unused to taking baths with others - it was the norm in Fairy Hills - she hadn't exactly expected the blonde to climb into the bathtub either.
"Do you usually stroll into other people's homes?" Lucy hissed back.
'Touché' Cana thought to herself. What was she doing here again?
"How is your father?" Cana suddenly found herself asking.
At the random inquiry, Lucy stared at Cana. Diverting her eyes, Lucy rested her head on her folded knees, feeling as she always did when this certain topic came up. "Fine, why?"
Cana hummed as she took in Lucy's answer, eyes wandering the white ceiling, lost in her own thoughts.
And so the two sat in silence.
Until Cana suddenly broke it.
"I think I'm going to quit Fairy Tail."
Lucy found herself speechless for the second time in less than five minutes.
"EHHHHHHHHH?!"
"And that's what she said!" Lucy exclaimed, leaning forward so much that more than half of her body was over the counter.
"Oh, is that so?" Mira hummed as she calmly wiped a glass with a towel, not even bothering to look up at Lucy.
"This is a serious matter!" Lucy shouted indignantly, slamming her hands down on the countertop. Why was no one else freaking out as much as she was? Cana was leaving the guild for Mavis' sake!
"Yeah," Mira grinned, stunning Lucy with her easy going manner. "She always says something like that around this time of the year."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, completely and totally lost as she settled back into her seat.
Mira giggled into her hands. "You'll see soon enough. But enough of that," she smirked, changing the subject. By the glint in Mira's eyes, Lucy felt like she should be running.
"So you took a bath with Cana, huh?" Mira grinned teasingly at the blonde, as if trying to hint at something. Lucy leaned away from Mira's smug smirk.
"Yeah, so what?" Lucy huffed, using all her willpower to stop the blush that was threatening to come out onto her cheeks. There was nothing wrong with people bathing together. Fairy Tail did it all the time. Then again, since when did Fairy Tail become a measurement of the norm.
Mira smirked knowingly before picking up another glass to dry. "Oh nothing~," she sang. "I'm sure instead of Cana, you wished it was a certain redhead instead." Mira winked at her.
Lucy's willpower lost the fight; her blush was full blown on her cheeks. She stared at Mirajane in shock. Was the bartender insinuating what she thinks she is?
'Me and Erza?!'
Then a worse thought hit her as she could only stare at the whitehead in shock.
'How does she know?!'
Seeing the utter shock and slight mortification on the blonde's face, Mira hid a giggle. She gently tapped Lucy's nose, breaking the celestial mage out of her thoughts.
"Now, now. Don't go thinking too hard. You're starting to look like Natsu," Mira joked before sauntering away. Lucy could only watch in horror as she left, feeling dread sink into her stomach.
'She definitely knows.'
Lucy groaned, burying her head into her arms.
'Stupid crush.'
With Natsu and Gray busy training for the S class trials that were in a week and Erza gone in preparation for the trials, Lucy was left alone in the guild.
Truth be told, it was a rather nice change of pace. She talked a bit with Lisanna, who she'd gotten to know pretty well since her return from Edolas and they'd become fast friends. Lucy was just glad to see that there was another mage with a reasonable head on her shoulders in Fairy Tail.
Deciding it was late, Lucy headed back home. Shoving her hands into her coat pockets, Lucy inhaled the cool air.
It was winter in Magnolia. Pretty white snow covered the streets and the top of the shops. Everything seemed to be glittering. Halting her steps, Lucy looked up at the night sky and smiled.
'The stars are pretty tonight.'
Lucy shivered as a breeze blew across her exposed face. As pretty as winter nights were, Lucy hated the cold. Just as she was about to rush home, a noise to her right made her pause.
"Who would pass out in an alleyway in the middle of winter?" Lucy grimaced. She walked closer to the figure and her eyes bulged out as she recognized the limp form.
"Cana?!"
"Thanks," Cana muttered, taking the mug of hot tea from Lucy and pulled the blanket around her tighter.
"Seriously, what were you thinking?" Lucy pursed her lips in worry at her friend. "You're lucky I found you when I did."
Cana stared down into her tea. 'Lucky, huh? I wonder about that.'
"What's wrong?" Lucy asked her friend. "You know you can tell me anything."
Cana didn't know what prompted her, but before she knew it, she opened her mouth and spilled out everything to the blonde. Secrets that had long burdened her were finally shared with another ear. She told Lucy about her mother and… her father.
After all, if there was anyone else who understood having father problems, it would be Lucy.
After finishing, Cana felt a bit lighter, though not by much. "That's why, if I don't pass this time, I'm quitting. I've already failed four times."
Lucy stared at her friend with determination brimming from her pupils. She knew what it felt like to feel weak. She knew what it felt like to want to leave Fairy Tail. She knew what it was like to actually leave Fairy Tail. Therefore, she would never let anyone else commit the same mistake she had.
She gripped Cana's hands and stared her in the eyes. "I'll help you. I'll be your partner," she said resolutely. "We'll win this thing!"
Cana looked up sadly into passionate brown eyes and felt her heart melt. 'When you look at me like that, I can't help but hope,' she thought to herself with her eyes closed. If Lucy had so much belief in her, then she should too.
Opening her eyes again, Cana held Lucy's stare steadily. Slowly a smile formed on her face. "Then I'll be counting on you, partner."
Lucy smirked, glad to see Cana seemed to be a bit more livelier than before. "I promise, I'll do my best to make you an S-class mage."
'I won't let you leave Fairy Tail,' Lucy added in her mind. She would do anything and everything in her power to make Cana an S-class mage, even if her opponents were technically Natsu and Gray.
Lucy gulped. They had a lot of training to do in the next week.
But seeing the fire burning in Cana's once dull eyes, Lucy knew they would be okay.
"Yo partner!"
Lucy had just stepped back into the guild, back from another solo mission as training for the S-class trials, when Cana called her over. They hadn't seen each other in a couple days. The brunette had wanted to train alone for a bit to polish her magic before they trained together and focused on improving their teamwork.
"Hey Cana," Lucy greeted the brunette who sat by the bar without her usual keg of beer nearby. Though Lucy hadn't believed her when the brunette first told her, Cana had sworn off all alcohol until the end of the trials. Seeing that Cana was keeping her promise and hadn't had a drop of alcohol since then showed Lucy just how serious she was about winning this.
"I got you something," Cana grinned at her.
"What is it?" Lucy asked curiously as she sat down next to Cana.
Cana stuck her hand into her bra, much to the surprise of Lucy who squeaked, and pulled out a silver key.
"That's a Celestial Key!" Lucy exclaimed, reaching for the key in excitement, forgetting all about her shock at seeing Cana just casually reach into her cleavage like that.
"Yup! Received it as a reward from my last mission," Cana explained as she twirled her hair.
"You're giving this to me?" Lucy asked as her eyes took in the beautiful key. Her eyes wandered to the symbol at the bottom.
'Scutum,' Lucy thought. 'The Shield. This would be very helpful.'
"Of course," Cana grunted. "I don't know any other Celestial mages. Besides, you're my partner for the S-class trials."
Lucy beamed at her friend in gratitude before launching herself forward. "Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, yeah. Save that for after we win." Despite having said that, Cana grinned into the hug.
Lucy smirked at the confidence Cana exuded. Lucy could barely tell that the girl who was passed out in an alley a few days ago and this one were the same person. She was glad her friend had finally found her fighting spirit back. "Of course."
"Lucy, can I talk to you?"
Lucy and Cana both looked up from where they were sitting to see a familiar requip mage staring imploringly at them. Lucy looked towards Cana who nodded, letting her go.
Lucy excused herself and walked up to Erza.
"Erza! What's up? Did you just get back?" Lucy greeted with a small smile and a light blush as she clasped her hands behind her back, looking every bit like a school girl talking to her crush.
From far away, Mira rolled her eyes as she wiped down the counter and uttered a 'How obvious,' in their direction.
Erza nodded. "Yes. Everything is ready for the S-class trials in three days."
"I see," Lucy hummed. "That's good. So what did you want to talk to me about?" Lucy asked with a smile.
Erza stared into Lucy's eyes, taking a second to answer. The intense stare caused the blonde to blush even more. "I heard you were participating in the trials," Erza finally stated.
Lucy nodded as she looked away. For some reason, she was having more and more trouble holding Erza's stare lately. "Yeah I am. I'm Cana's partner."
Erza regarded the blonde solemnly. "I see."
'What is she thinking?' Though Lucy thought the requip mage was acting weird, she didn't voice it out loud.
Another silence passed by them.
"Well, if that's all," Lucy turned, wanting to escape this suddenly awkward situation when a strong hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Please, stay safe," Erza told Lucy.
Lucy turned back around so she was facing the redhead again. Her eyes stared inquisitively at Erza, studying every inch of her face. Erza was acting weird. Why though?
Lucy could only nod blankly at Erza's request. "Of course."
Erza dropped her hand from Lucy's shoulder and gave Lucy a quick nod. "Well then. Good luck," she said as she walked away. Lucy watched the armor back get farther and farther.
'That was certainly weird. I wonder if everything is okay with Erza.'
Three days later
Lucy opened to door to find Cana standing at her doorsteps.
"You ready?" Cana smiled and Lucy could tell the girl was a little nervous.
"Always," Lucy grinned back brightly and was glad to see it had the desired effect on the brunette. Cana visibly relaxed and sent Lucy a smaller but more easy smile.
The duo walked side by side towards the harbor in silence. This was it. Today was the day.
"By the way," Cana said as the Fairy Tail ship came into view in the distance. "I have something for you again."
"Another key?" Lucy exclaimed upon seeing the object dangling in Cana's fingers. "Ah it's Caelum! This is going to super useful. Thanks Cana! Man, how are you finding all these keys? I'm having a hard enough time just finding one. Yet in less than a week you somehow got two!"
Cana shrugged. "Yeah, except that's not from me."
"Huh?" Lucy stared at her partner in confusion who didn't meet her gaze and was instead looking ahead towards the sea. They had finally arrived. Looking around, most of the people were already there. They were just waiting for Elfman and Evergreen to show up.
Cana smirked and leaned in as a certain redhead watched them from afar but averted her eyes as soon as Lucy turned to look.
"A certain requip mage wanted me to give this to you," Cana whispered into Lucy's ears before leaning away and sending the now blushing blonde a not so discreet wink.
Lucy felt her ears go hot. Erza got this for her? Touched and flustered, Lucy found herself unable to look in the redhead's general direction, keeping her eyes plastered on the smug Cana.
"B-but why didn't she just give it to me by herself?" Lucy stammered, clutching the key tighter and closer to her heart.
Cana shrugged. "Who knows?"
Feeling her hammering heart calm down, Lucy peeked at the redhead out of the corners of her eyes only to find Erza already looking her way. Both girls instantly looked away, pretending like nothing happened.
"My, my. What a pretty blush," Cana teased, stroking Lucy's cheek with a finger.
"Shuddup!" Lucy cried, covering her cheeks.
Next to Erza, Mirajane could only shake her head. 'How obvious.'