Two days later, Lucy and Natsu arrived in Clover Town. The trip had been mostly uneventful. Lucy had filled Natsu in on her brief, but emotional relationship with Laxus. She was careful not to go into too many details, particularly about their physical relationship since Natsu would probably think that stuff was gross. Her pink-haired friend had been uncharacteristically quite, which Lucy considered a good thing. It gave her a chance to discuss her feelings out loud and clear her mind.

Lucy took in the beautiful colonial-style house as they made their way to the address listed on the mission flyer.

"Oh, does a city official live here?" she asked.

Natsu shrugged and knocked on the door. "The flyer doesn't say."

"Ho ho ho!" A man dressed head-to-toe in hideous plaid opened the door. "You must be the mages here for the job, welcome!"

Lucy shook his hand and introduced herself and Natsu. The man in the awful suit turned out to be the Mayor of the town. He explained that he wanted Lucy and Natsu to build a tunnel between the colonial home and the government building on the other side of the street. Both buildings were owned by the town. During the Mayor's term, he lived in the home and worked across the street at City Hall.

"The tunnel will add extra security in case the town is ever attacked." The older man cupped a hand around his mouth a whispered conspiratorially to the mages. "And people won't be able to see if I come home for a quick afternoon nap."

"Don't worry Sir; you will be able to travel in secrecy once we're done."

"Ho ho ho! That's excellent news! I will leave you two to your work."

Lucy summoned Virgo after the Mayor had left. The Spirit appeared, wearing her typical maid's uniform and broken chains. "Does Princess require my assistance?"

"Yes, thanks Virgo." Lucy began to explain the job to her. For the first few minutes, Natsu followed the two women around as they mapped out tunnel's path and tested the soil, but it wasn't long before he was bored.

"This job is too easy. You don't need me," he grumbled.

Lucy gave him a sympathetic smile. "Well, it's nice that I get to take the lead on a job every once in awhile."

"Do you mind if I go find something to eat?"

"Sure, I think we'll be okay without you."

Natsu walked off towards the town's shops and restaurants.

After Lucy and Virgo had completed surveying the area, Virgo began to dig. She drilled slower than normal so Lucy could map out her progress and make sure she stayed on course. The spirit had created many tunnels, but they had never been constructed for frequent use.

By midday and they had made good progress. Lucy estimated that they were more than halfway done. The sun was beating down so the celestial mage decided to take a quick water break. As she reached for her bottled water, she caught a glimpse of bulging muscle and blonde hair. Laxus was standing outside one of the restaurants, reading a display menu.

Damn, he's here, and earlier than I expected.

From Lucy's estimations, Laxus shouldn't have arrived in Clover town until nightfall, if he was going to arrive at all. Lucy hadn't had a chance to check into an inn and freshen up. She was sweating and a thin layer of dust covered her skin. Laxus started to turn towards her and she ducked behind a bush. She waited a few minutes before venturing a peek.

He was gone. Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you lose a contact or something?"

Lucy dusted off her hands and turned around slowly. "No, I was just checking the soil here. We're building a tunnel for a client." Her voice was so calm, she even impressed herself.

"Sure you were." Laxus crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at her. She found it very irritating.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Laxus's smile faltered a little. "No." He stared at her. Lucy didn't know what to say so she took a sip of her water and pretended to be interested in the dust cloud that was billowing out of the tunnel's entrance.

Laxus scowled. "Did you come here to talk to me?"

"No, I'm here for job. Like I said, we are building a tunnel for a client."

Laxus continued to stare at her. Finally, he threw his hands in the air and started to walk away. "I give up."

"Wait!"

Laxus turned around.

"Was there something you wanted to say to me?" She raised her eyes to him and gave him her most pleading look.

"I've already apologized once, if that is what you are fishing for."

"Yeah, but then you immediately turned around and tried to start a fight with Loke!"

"He had his arm around you! You need to set some boundaries with that guy. He used to chase a different girl every week before you joined the guild."

"Maybe he was just concerned because one of those mutts had used my leg as a chew toy."

The anger drained away from Laxus's face and he looked down at her leg, still bandaged. "I didn't see your wound until you were walking away."

Lucy felt her anger lessen also. "I know. You would have tried to help if you had seen what was happening to me." She gave him a small smile and he smiled back.

Their moment was interrupted by a loud crash. One of the grand columns of City Hall was crumbling to the ground.

"Oh crap, I forgot to watch Virgo!" Lucy ran towards the debris. "Virgo! Virgo! Stop tunneling!"

The pink-haired maid popped her head out of a hole next to the collapsed column. "Is there a problem Princess?"

"Yes, you tunneled too far. City Hall is falling down!"

Luffy fan: Hi all! I hope you all enjoy the small Laxus and Lucy moment! Please sign up for the writing contest in the forums. I've only got a few people to sign up so far. It will be really fun!

myforums/luffy-fan/2620893/