"Alright, Lucy. Since it's so late and we have your dog, we have to be extra quiet. I don't want my parents mad at me because I woke them up coming home in the middle of the night."

She nods and signs to Plue to be quiet before we silently make our way into the house and up the stairs to my room. I place Plue down gently on Zeref's bed and Lucy gives him a gentle pat and kiss on the head as he dozes. I close my door as quietly as possible before Lucy and I make our way down the stairs to the den to watch television with the volume down to a faint whisper as to not wake my parents or sister. I lay down across one side of the couch while she lies next to me in between me and the back of the couch. After a while, she leans her back up against me and I wrap one of my arms gently around her neck while my other is around her waist, quietly asking "hey, Luce. Is this okay?" She hums a yes and wraps both of her arms around the one arm that's close to her face, nuzzling into it and squeezing it tight.

We lay like that for a little while before I feel Lucy shift to make herself more comfortable. Lucy lays her head slowly and gently on my chest, right over my heart, while simultaneously wrapping her left arm across my chest. I wrap my arms around her tighter to hold her close and look down, smiling as she closes her eyes, her breathing regulates and her body goes limp as she drifts off in my arms.

I kiss the top of her head gently and she smiles in her sleep, squeezing me as hard as she can, which is really not that hard at all. I think it'd be best if I just let her be for a while, so I turn my attention to the television again, while absentmindedly stroking her back with my hand.

I hear the muffled sounds of the television until it goes silent and I feel myself drift off.

*.*.*.*.*.*

I just recently got married and I've started teaching at our local elementary school. I teach the young students how to read and write and run the library with Levy when I'm not teaching. Today, we took our students to a chocolate factory where they make little figurines out of chocolate.

"Come on children! It's time to go! The factory won't wait for us! Get your little butts on that bus!," Cana says surprisingly sober.

Cana is another teacher like me, but she can be tough on her students and she drinks a LOT, unlike myself. She and I are the teachers in charge of this trip.

"Wow, Cana! I'm surprised at you!," I say, smiling as she makes her way over to where I'm standing.

"Why, I can be sober if I want to be!" she defends herself.

I laugh, "Were you really so excited about this trip that you didn't drink last night?"

She nods, "Of course, Lucy! I wouldn't want to miss anything on this trip! I absolutely love anything sweet!"

I laugh at her enthusiasm and wave her off with an "okay, okay," as we get on the bus with our respective classes.

When we pull up to the factory, the first thing I notice is that it's massive. It looks like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There are giant smoke stacks, loads of trucks ready to ship out the chocolate, and I can see tons of people moving around inside through the windows and out here near the trucks.

I chuckle to myself as I think and hear Cana say, "I wouldn't be surprised if there's a giant edible meadow in the middle of that thing."

"Ya know, I was literally just thinking that," I tell her as she and I both look at each other and laugh while our students look at us with concerned gazes.

We usher the little ones inside, assuring them we are just fine as we drop their bags at the entrance and get them ready for the tour.

I stop rubbing Lucy's back as I look down at her smiling face. I yawn, now tired myself and shuffle around, putting a pillow in my spot underneath Lucy momentarily while I go answer nature's call. When I get back, I still see Lucy smiling in her sleep which makes me smile in return. I sigh as I think "she must be having one hell of a good dream." Then, I scoop her up in my arms, carefully as to not wake her and silently cheer in relief as I make my way up the stairs from the den to my bedroom.

The tour of that factory was AMAZING! It took the entire day because that factory was so big and all the children wanted to do was watch the workers and eat chocolate instead of touring the place but we just ignored their pleas for samples even if a worker offered. They're already hyper enough; we don't need to add sugar to the mix. We did get to see how they made their chocolate and watch them do it for a little while, which was from scratch by the way, and how they molded it and what the finished product would eventually look like. It was REALLY cool!

I carefully and quietly push my bedroom door open with my foot, which wakes Plue up. Ugh, I really hope he doesn't start barking!

Cana and I eventually caved and got little souvenir chocolate figurines for our students and even one for the principal of our school, Mavis, who just so happens to be my sister-in-law (yeah, that still feels weird for me to say). However, they will get them when their parents pick them up back at school that way they are no longer our problem.

I move into my room with Lucy in my arms and successfully, slowly close the door behind me, trying not to make too much noise. Thankfully, Plue behaved and didn't make any noise. Actually, once he realized it was me with Lucy in my arms, he fell right back to sleep. He's such a good dog.

I make my way over to my bed carefully and gingerly lay Lucy down since Plue is still occupying the only other bed in the room. When I release my hold on Lucy, I notice that she has tightly grabbed on to my scarf, so I uncoil it from around my neck and let her keep it for the night. I'm not gonna be surprised if I find it wrapped around her head like a ninja's mask. Oh, wait. Nevermind, that's something I would do.

So, after the whole day was over, Cana and I loaded up all of our students onto the buses (after we purchased the chocolate and properly hid it from them) and made our way back to school. My bus ride was filled with the children's chatter and excitement from the factory. I had even asked them their favorite parts which unsurprisingly mostly consisted of watching the workers make the chocolate. When we finally pull up to the school again, I see parents of some of my students already here waiting to pick them up.

After finally fully surrendering my scarf to Lucy, I somehow manage to pull the red sheet and comforter out from under her and get her tucked in. She rolls over with my scarf still tight in her grasp as she mumbles, "gotta hide it... where..."

I chuckle softly as I imagine the dream she must be having, lean down and kiss her forehead before I head back down to the den to get some sleep myself.

After about a half hour, most of the parents have picked their children up from school, but Cana is still waiting for one of her students to be picked up, and I know who it is just by the blonde hair and sad look that almost always seems to be on his face.

"Hey, Cana! If you want, I can wait with August for someone to pick him up," I offer with a smile.

"Oh, what a great idea Lucy. Thanks!" Cana replies almost immediately.

I walk over to where the two of them are standing, crouch down to August's level, wave a goodbye up at Cana as she walks away, then ask him "hey kid, what's with the long face?"

With a heavy sigh, August says, "Oh, hi Aunt Lucy. Nothing really, I wish my mom could take me home from school just once this week. I know she's here all the time, but I almost never see her at home during the week because she leaves early in the morning and comes home really late at night. I miss her," he sniffles.

"Awww," I coo as I pull him into a side hug for a little while until I get an idea.

"Hey, August."

He looks up at me.

"Did Miss Alberona give you your little gift from the trip yet?"

He nods.

"Well, did she tell you that you're actually getting two?" I ask.

His eyes grow three times their normal size as his jaw drops and he shakes his head 'no.'

"Really?! I'm getting two?" August asks, awestruck.

I giggle as I nod, "yeah, we got one for all of our students but we also got one for your mom as a surprise. She couldn't eat the whole thing by herself, no matter how much she may love chocolate. I'm sure she would love to share it with you."

He starts fidgeting with excitement before I say "BUT," which makes him stop.

"But what?" August asks.

"You can't spoil the surprise," I tell him which makes his shoulders deflate for a moment before he smiles and nods in agreement.

"Good," I smile back at him before I hear the faint sound of footsteps coming our way.

I look over to the sound as August gasps with excitement shouting, "MOMMY!"

I see Mavis bend down as August runs into her arms, ecstatic that she came. I walk over to them, smiling as Mavis giggles at her son's enthusiasm as he tells her all about our day at the factory.

"Uhh, hey, Mavis," I greet her, surprised.

"Oh, Hey Lucy. How was the field trip? Was it really as fun as he says?"

I nod with a wide smile on my face, "it really was. He wasn't exaggerating. We got to see the entire factory, see how they make their chocolate and Cana and I even splurged a little bit and treated all the children to little chocolate figurines because they were so well behaved during the trip. But the odd thing is, the little chocolates look a lot like the students," I explain.

"Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun and what a coincidence!" Mavis responds, a little surprised.

I nod, "yeah, and Cana and I, even though she went inside, got you something."

"Oh?" Mavis asks raising an eyebrow.

"Mmmmhm!" August says excitedly smiling and nodding his head.

I go inside the school, retrieve Cana and with her, we manage to carry the giant chocolate surprise out of the school for Mavis. When we put it down in front of her, I see her eyes light up and her jaw drop.

"Surprise!" Cana and I cheer in unison.

"Awwww! You guys are the best!" Mavis shouts as she gives us a big group hug.

*.*.*.*.*.*

I open my eyes and jump when I hear something fall just outside my room.

"What? What was that?"