Here's the next chapter! I put a couple of good puns in here and a strange twist, too. Sadly, for those of you who I put in a Shaly (Shagotte/Pantherlily) mood the other day, there is not much of that in here today. The only thing remotely Shaly in here is a brief mentioning of the wedding/reception. NaLu fans will enjoy this chapter though, especially the first third.

Also, it is country-folk songwriter Cheryl Wheeler's 63rd birthday today! She's actually a very clever songwriter, so you might like what you hear if you decide to check out some of her stuff. Hooray for Cheryl Wheeler!

Happy: She wrote a song about potatoes?

Aye!

Carla: On with the story, please!

Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Happy's First Teaching Job

When Lucy went to bed after getting home from the reception, her bed was not as roomy as it felt on a normal day. She yawned, "I'm probably just tired from all the excitement."

"Good night, Lucy," a familiar voice said to her.

"Good night, Natsu," Lucy replied whilst laying her head on her pillow and closing her eyes. Her eyes suddenly shot open, and her eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Natsu?"

"Yeah?" Natsu acknowledged her voice.

"Why are you in my bed?" Lucy demanded calmly.

"Happy's sleeping at his parents' place tonight, and I got lonely," Natsu reported. He was eating something. Lucy smelled a palatable aroma.

"Are you eating in my bed?!" Lucy's tranquility was out the window due to the food in her bedroom.

"It's fried rice with little bits of egg in it. Totomaru gave me some. It's really good! Want some?" Natsu offered. Lucy got out of bed, dragged Natsu downstairs, and was about to kick him out. Then, he let his onyx eyes take on a puppy-dog face.

"Oh, fine. But you're on the couch. Try not to make a mess," Lucy sighed.

"Aye, sir!" Natsu gave his best impression of Happy. He then began to have watery eyes. He sniffled, "I miss my Happy…"

"Lucky and Marl live right next door to you!" Lucy exclaimed.

"But I'm too big to fit in there! Happy warned me that I would redefine 'housebroken'," Natsu informed her, making a valid point and supporting it with a formidable, yet not world class pun.

"That's a good point and a decent pun," Lucy acknowledged Natsu's point and pun (which was technically Happy's pun). She nodded and got out some extra blankets from the spare closet.

"So, did the old bat decide to sell you this place?" Natsu asked curiously.

"No, not exactly. I probably could buy a place with the grand total of what I've paid to rent this place thus far—probably even less than that. It might suit me to move into a place permanently, but…I'd hate to move and leave this place. You know?" Lucy informed him. Natsu nodded in agreement, finding Lucy's sentimental connection to the house relatable.

"I know just what you mean, Lucy," Natsu told her. They both found themselves in a hug.

"You know, you were pretty dumb to fall into the canal," Lucy laughed and playfully teased.

"I've got to surpass the general standards, you know," Natsu said defensively.

"Unfortunately, I don't," Lucy said flatly.

"Did I tell you Happy is volunteering to teach fishing lessons out by the creek tomorrow?" Natsu asked her.

"No, you did not tell me that," Lucy answered and shook her head, somewhat interested in what Natsu had said.

"He is," Natsu informed her.

She waited to see if he had more to say, and they found themselves in an awkward pause. She finally asked, "And?"

"And what?" Natsu asked, hopelessly confused.

The next morning, Happy was by the creek. More than a dozen people—some humans, and others were Exceeds—had shown up for the fishing class. Carla was among them. Happy had them all stand in a row and paced before them. He told them all, "You all have signed up for this class for one reason. That reason is fishing! Yay, fishing! Now, you all are early. I like that in people! The early cat catches the fish, as they say!"

"Um, isn't it 'the early bird catches the worm'?" an Exceed asked. It was one that our heroes had met in Edolas, actually. The Exceed was a young boy who lived in Extalia when Extalia was still around. Monmo. He had not changed much since Happy and Carla last saw him.

"What?! You mean I've been saying it wrong this whole time?!" Happy gasped melodramatically. He got a hold of himself, cleared his throat, and said, "Now that most of you are here, we can start fishing lure crafting!" He had several cases filled with sturdy arts-and-crafts supplies. "We'll do this while we wait for everyone to get here! Some people find their lure to be a good luck charm! I do!" Happy held up a lure that looked just like Carla. "I'm sure most of you know Carla. This lure is indirectly based off of her."

"What do you mean 'indirectly'?! It looks just like me!" Carla demanded.

"Well, I based it off of this," Happy said as he took out his stuffed Carla doll, Mini Carla.

"Happy-sensei, why can't we just buy lures?" a human asked.

"You could, but making your own adds some artistic flare and personal value that some store-bought lure could never have," Happy answered. The wisdom and philosophy of his reply amazed Carla just as much as it surprised her.

"Like this?" Freed Justine asked, holding up a lure that strangely looked like a pink fish with lipstick.

"Aye!" Happy nodded excitedly.

I think he's just ecstatic about teaching. He's already taught me everything I know. Thus far, it isn't much. Is he going to be okay with the pressure of being an instructor? Carla thought her thoughts in her mind, where most thoughts were thought.

Throughout the session, however, Happy showed no sign of frustration or tension. He only showed the joy he felt in spreading the gospel of one of his all-time favorite hobbies. It would always amaze Carla how Happy could always stay so…happy. She had secretly brought along her own favorite stuffed toy: a Happy doll that she named Mini Happy. It was the second gift her mother had ever given her, the first being the gift of life.

After everyone showed up and had their own custom-made lure, Happy was helping them all cast their lines. They cast off one at a time so lines would not get tangled in mid-air. Before Carla cast off, Happy caught a glimpse of her lure. It looked just like him. He blushed and grinned, then went on to help some people who were getting frustrated.

"Fishing is all about patience," Happy told them. "You can't just jump in and—" Too late. A red Exceed jumped in and decided he would catch the fish by chasing them. The attempt ended in utter failure. Happy sighed the end of his sentence, "…chase them."

Carla looked at the red Exceed. It was male. He was older than she and Happy were, yet he was still a child, perhaps not quite yet a teenager. She was sure it was (mostly) the red fur that made her think of Crimson. Shaking her head, she tried to forget the odd little boy on the battlefield and focus on her fishing. She got a bite and reeled it in, but it was heavier than most of the fish she ever had on the end of her line. She cried out, "Happy!"

"What is it, Carla?!" Happy panicked as he flew over, thinking she was hurt.

"It's a big one! I'm not sure what to do!" Carla panicked as she struggled with her rod. Her mind was clouded by frantic thoughts of holding on, and she felt like her muscles had turned to ice. Then, the ice seemed to melt when Happy began to aid her in pulling in her large prey.

"Look!" a human boy gasped. A pair of red cat ears was poking out of the water by Carla's half-sunken fishing line.

"Is that…a cat?" another human, this time a man, asked. Happy jumped into the river and pulled out a familiar red Exceed. No, it was not the one who tried to chase the fish onto people's hooks.

"Crimson!" Carla gasped in horror. Her hook had latched onto Crimson's scruff.

Happy carefully pulled the hook out of the scruff and began to give Crimson CPR—Cat Pulmonary Resuscitation. When Happy had taken the hook out, Carla noticed that Crimson did not have his guild mark, which she had looked into to find out that it was the head of some sort of tri-hybrid wolf-snake-bat thing.

Crimson finally started to wake up. Weakly, the red Exceed muttered, "I…don't want…to fight…"

"Just don't make a move on Carla and we don't have to!" Happy told him as he pulled out a brown paper bag. "Do you need this?"

"No…thanks…" Crimson shook his head. "Master…Tiran doesn't…take too kindly…to people who tarnish his guild's name… That said…Titania didn't defeat him when he…was going all-out… I don't want to fight Fairy Tail…" Exhausted, the small red Exceed passed out.

"I'll take him to Miss Porlyusica!" Monmo volunteered, picked up Crimson in his arms, and flew in the direction of Porlyusica's house.

Carla sighed and turned to find Happy hyperventilating. "Breathe, cat, breathe!" she told him, shaking him back and forth frantically.

"Okay, I'm good," Happy said dizzily.

"Happy…I think Crimson deserted his guild to warn us," Carla informed him.