Lucy's eyes slowly opened the next morning, only to be completely confused about where she was. Her neck was killing her. A snore next to her made her bolt upright, a million bones popping in the process. Her eyes bugged out of her head. Laxus was snoring as he leaned towards the end if the couch... had she been sleeping on his shoulder? Rubbing her sore jaw, she realized that she had been. She could see a small, damp spot on his coat and she wiped her mouth. 'Ew, I drooled on him'. She decided not to ever let him know that and she stood up, groaning as so many bones popped when she stretched. She looked at him again and couldn't help but smile. He looked so peaceful, even though his neck was probably gonna hurt like a bitch.

With a yawn, she stumbled her way into the kitchen. After making herself some coffee, she plopped down on the back porch and took a deep breath. It was beautiful out here, the sun was barely rising and the wind was soft. She smiled when she heard the back door creak open and tiny footsteps approach her.

"Mama." Lily tiredly mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she dropped down next to her mother and leaned her head on her shoulder.

Lucy placed a hand on the side of her daughter's head and kissed the top of it. "Hey, sweetie."

"M'hungry."

Lucy chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee. "My guess is eggs?"

"Yayy." Lily halfheartedly cheered. "All the eggs."

Lucy placed a hand on her forehead to make sure she wasn't sick and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt fine. "Wanna help me make breakfast?"

"Mmkay."

Lucy looked at her in concern, she usually perked up at the mention of food. "Are you feeling okay, sweetie?"

Lily nodded. "I'm tired.'

"Did you not sleep well?"

"I had a nightmare."

Lucy frowned and wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder, running her hand up and down her arm. "How about we do some training after breakfast? Then you can take a good nap with me. I promise to keep all the monsters away."

Lily smiled up at her mom. "Okay. Can we eat outside today?"

Lucy smiled and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You read my mind."

Laxus groaned when he was shook awake. Normally he would shock whoever the hell had the balls to wake him up in such a horrible way; however, he had grown used to his daughter enjoying waking him up in the most annoying ways possible, so he had learned to just tolerate it. Waking up to his daughter giggling wasn't the worst thing anyways, and that was exactly what was happening. "You're lucky I like you, squirt."

"C'mon!" She giggled. "You gotta come outside!"

He rose an eyebrow as he sat upright, temporarily freezing at the painful ways his bones cracked. "And why's that?"

"It's a surprise!" She grabbed his hand with both of hers and tried to pry him up.

He let her pull him up, despite the agony, and he stretched his aching body. One particularly load pop made Lily laugh and point at him. "You're old!"

"Am not, you little shit!" He couldn't deny the fact that he felt old right then though.

"Old man! Old man!"

"Oh yeah?" He lunged forward to grab her, but she evaded him with a squeak and ran towards the backyard, laughing hysterically. She barely made it down the last step of the back porch when he finally grabbed her. "Gotcha!" She squealed and swatted his hand when he started tickling her, tears building in her eyes at the force of her laughter. He laughed with her and tipped her upside down. "Did you really think you could get away from the great Laxus Dreyar?"

"Jokes on you! I got you here!" Lily grinned in triumph, pointing at something.

Laxus looked at what she was pointing at and he almost dropped her. Lucy was sitting on a giant cloud of pink fluffiness, with pots full of food and empty plates around her, her golden hair almost shimmering in the morning sunlight. "Goddamn."

"Surprise!" Lucy and Lily cheered at the same time and he grinned, flipping his daughter back upright and setting her down.

"What's all this for?" He asked as Lily dragged him over to the pink cloud. Lily hopped right on it, bouncing a little, but Laxus sat down more cautiously... it was so pink. But damn did it feel good on his aching muscles.

"Nothing in particular." Lucy said as she pour some liquid in a mug and handed it to him. "It was Lily's idea."

"Thank you." Laxus grunted as he accepted the drink and looked at his proud faced daughter. He ruffled her hair before he took a sip. "Great idea, squirt." He coughed a little and inspected the contents of his mug and then looked at Lucy. "How'd you know what I drink?" He expected it to be just coffee, but there was definitely some whiskey in it.

She rolled her eyes. "How long have we been living together?"

He smirked when she blushed at her own words. He saw Lily's head come closer out of his peripherals and chuckled when she sniffed the cup and blanched.

"Eww, what is that?"

"It's for adults only." Lucy giggled.

Lily sighed dramatically and fell back on the fluff. "Everything is adults only."

Laxus watched the fluff bounce beneath her, but it had no affect on the plates next to her. "So, what is this..." he poked the fluff. "Stuff."

"Its aunt Aries' fluff!" Lily grinned.

"Who?" Laxus scrunched his eyebrows.

"She's one of my spirits." Lucy clarified as she began dispensing the food.

"Ah." He grunted as he accepted the plate. "Have I met her?"

Lucy looked at him in surprise. It always caught her off guard when he seemed interested in her spirits. "No actually."

He grunted as he grabbed a fork. "Maybe you can introduce me later?"

She smiled, warmth filling her chest. "Absolutely."

Laxus took a bite as Lily began bouncing up and down. "Mm, you make good eggs."

Lucy giggled. "Thank you, I get a lot of practice since it's the only thing this one over here wants to eat."

He chuckled. "True."

"Lily, please sit down and eat."

"Yes, mama."

He shook his head with a smirk. "You girls have any plans today?"

Lucy hummed. "Well, we're gonna do some training and then take a nap and then probably head to the guild."

"I'm not tired anymore, mama." Lily said before she stuffed her mouth full of eggs.

"Oh." Lucy blinked and then shrugged. "Well, maybe we'll skip the nap then."

Laxus wiped his mouth when he was done. "Well, thank you both for the surprise, it was amazing." He ruffled Lily's hair before he stood up. "I need to get to the guild, but I'll see you both when you get there."

"Okay, Laxus."

"Bye, Thor."

He chuckled as he made his way back inside, those two had no idea how much of a difference they made on his mood. He hadn't felt this happy since he was Lily's age.

The two girls fell back onto the ground with contented sighs after they pulled their magic back into themselves. Lucy looked over at Lily's happy face and giggled, unable to resist the urge to tickle her.

"Mom, stop!"

"Okay, okay!" She relented and sat up. "You sure you don't want that nap?"

Lily stretched as she shot up. "Nah, I feel great!"

"Okay then." Lucy chuckled as she stood up. She almost jumped out of her skin when she turned around and saw Freed leaning against a pillar in the porch.

"Uncle, Freed!"

The man blushed and smiled when Lily ran up to him. He picked her up with a small grunt. "My, you're getting bigger."

"Or maybe you're just weak." Lily giggled.

Freed puffed out his cheeks. "I assure you that is not the case."

Lucy shook her head at the two as she approached. "Is everything okay, Freed?"

"Yes, miss Lucy." He set Lily down. "I just wanted to accompany you girls to the guild."

Lucy rolled her eyes, but didn't protest. She actually appreciated that they cared, even if it was a little much. "Well, let's get going then."

When they neared the guild, Lucy noticed Freed fidgeting with clothes, which was odd to see him fidgeting at all. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Hmm?" He looked at her in surprise. "Oh, yes. Um, well, you'll see."

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, but she didn't push it any further since they were already at the guild. Lily ran in excitedly and immediately sought out Romeo to brag about who knows what. It was oddly quietly in the guild and it gave Lucy an unsettling feeling. Seeing no sign of Laxus, she made her way to the bar.

"Hello, Lucy." Mira greeted, finally someone seemed normal.

"Hey, Mira. Why is everyone acting so strange?" Lucy asked, noticing Cana sitting on the edge of the bar with no barrel in sight.

"Oh, don't worry. You'll see soon enough." The barmaid smiled. "Can I get you anything?"

"Uh... a strawberry smoothie, please."

"Sure thing." Mira smiled and made her way to the back.

"It's gonna be me!"

"As if! It's gonna be me, fireballs!"

Lucy turned to see Natsu and Gray going at it like usual, but what the hell where they talking about?

"Here you go, Lucy."

"Thank you, Mira." Lucy hummed as she took a sip of the most delicious thing on the planet.

The entire entire guild looked up when the master stepped out of his office, followed by Gildarts, Laxus, and Erza.

"Oops, looks like that's my cue." Mira smiled.

Lucy was beyond confused as she watched Mira join the others at the top of the stairs.

"Listen up, brats!" The master shouted, even though everyone already had his attention. "It's that time of year again. Here are the candidates for the S-Class trial!"

'What in the hell is that?' Lucy thought to herself.

"Natsu Dragneel! Gray Fullbuster! Freed Justine! Cana Alberona! Juvia Lockser! Levy McGarden! Elfman! And Mest!" Everyone cheered and shouted congratulations. "Pick your partners carefully, we set sail tomorrow!"

"Hell, yeah! I'm gonna be S-Class!"

"No way in hell are you gonna beat me!"

Lucy jumped when Loke suddenly appeared and Gray came up to high five him. "Hey, partner, glad you could make it."

Lucy spit out her drink. "Loke, what the hell?"

"Sorry, Lucy." Loke smirked. "I promised Gray a long time ago that I'd be his partner if he was ever chosen. Don't worry, I'll be using my own magic, so you won't be affected."

Lucy sighed. "I wish someone would tell me what's going on."

Natsu slung an arm around her shoulder. "We're all gonna compete to see who's gonna be the next S-Class! But it's gonna be me."

"In your dreams, flamebrain!"

"I'm taking you down, ice princess!"

Lucy rolled her eyes when they started fighting again and noticed Mira coming back to the bar. "So, Mira. Are you going too?"

"Mhmm." She nodded with a smile. "All the S-Class are."

"Oh." She looked up at Laxus, who was looking down at her and she blushed. It made sense now why he said he'd be gone for about a week.

"Miss Lucy."

She turned to see Freed sitting beside her. "Congratulations, Freed."

"Thank you." He blushed, then blushed even harder when Mira giggled at him. "I just wanted to assure you that I will be putting extra runes around the house in our absence."

"You worry too much, Freed." Lucy waved. "Wait, are all of you going?"

He nodded. "Bickslow is my partner, and it seems Evegreen has been chosen as Elfman's partner."

"Oh my!" Mira grinned. "I can see it now!"

"Calm down, Mira." Laxus chided as he sat down.

"They would be cute though." Mira said before she walked away.

"Can you keep an eye on the house for us?" Laxus asked.

Lucy huffed. "You all worry too damn much."

"Seriously, cosplayer." Bickslow joined. "You can't blame us after what happened."

"But he's in jail now." Lucy defended.

"Blondie, just do this for us, please." Laxus pleaded.

Lucy sighed in defeat. She supposed she should just get rid of her apartment, she doubted they were ever gonna let her go back there. But, to be honest, she didn't even want to go back there. She couldn't say no to all of them anyways. "Okay, fine. I'll stay in your damn house."

Laxus smirked. "Good."

Okay... I never thought I would actually get to this point in the story. I've been wanting this to happen since I started the first chapter. I can't believe it's finally here lol I hope I caught some of you off guard, I tried not to make it too obvious, but y'all are smart so it's probably no surprise. Anyway, the story is about to get really interesting from here ;) that's a promise