Chapter 2: Many Happy Returns


I decided to give myself a sort of update schedule to keep this story from falling by the wayside again. Basically I will post a new chapter within a week of the previous one. It might come out earlier than that, but I will do my very best to always post within a week. Thanks for reading everyone! I'd love to hear what you think! Special thanks goes out to tmntgirl619 for the kind review!


The door opened and Lucy strode in with a warm smile. She laughed heartily and waltzed over to the counter. Levy scurried over, her face crinkled in confusion.

"What was that all about Lucy?"

Lucy smiled. "That was an old friend of mine. She was playing a trick on me," Lucy chuckled, tears forming in the corners of her warm brown eyes.

"Oh," a slow smile spread across Levy's face, "I was getting worried there for a second!"

Lucy patted Levy's back firmly, "not to fear! No problems here!"

Levy giggled and went back to working amongst the shelves. The night past quickly, with the two bantering occasionally and assisting customers when necessary. The light of dawn began filtering in through the windows, signaling the end of the girls' shifts. The duo began preparing for the next workers' to arrive; they set out fresh books in the resting areas, cleaned the counters, and put away any books left out of place.

The chatter of voices outside caught Levy's attention, and she turned her eyes to the door. Mirajane and Laki strolled in, playful smiles on their faces.

"Good morning girls," Mira cheered.

"Good morning," Lucy smiled warmly and embraced the two. Apparently the three of them went to high school together.

Levy joined the group by the door, Mira and Laki pulling the small girl in for hugs as well.

"Did you have a good night?" Mira asked.

"It was an eventful one," Lucy said with a grin. "Several of our regulars dropped by to say hello. Then Erza came in for a surprise visit! Remember her?"

Mira nodded, "of course! How could I forget the student council president!"

The girls continued to talk and laugh for a few minutes, then Lucy and Levy headed outside.

"Levy- let me drive you home."

Levy let out a sigh, but didn't protest. She was a bit shaken up from last night. Levy knew about Magnolia's reputation of course. She'd known that before she decided to move here; but the beauty of the city had drawn her in. Levy had been living in her little apartment over a year now without any incidents. She'd worked for Lucy the majority of that time, and always walked to work. The violence that plagues Magnolia is finally real to the petite blue-haired girl.

Levy popped open the passenger door of Lucy's Civic and dropped in. Lucy slid into the driver's seat and started it up. They rode in companionable silence for a while, Levy relaxed against the seat, smiling to herself about a joke she heard the other day, while Lucy watched the road grimly, her mind far away. As they neared Levy's apartment Lucy spoke up.

"You're not walking to work anymore, understand me? I'll drive you from now on."

"Lucy-" Levy began with a tired tone.

"No arguments Levy. It's to dangerous out to just be waltzing around looking at the lights!"

"It's not just the lights…" Levy muttered, "the shadows are quite beautiful to."

Lucy snorted, but quickly composed herself.

"I won't take no for an answer."

Levy sighed heavily. "Fine."

As the word left Levy's lips, Lucy pulled to a stop at her apartment. "I'll see you at 10."

Levy nodded and scurried inside. She lives on the fourth floor of a decent apartment building. It's clean and comes with decent furnishings. The bathroom is particularly nice, and as she rode the elevator, all Levy could think about is taking a soak in her clawfoot tub. When she arrived at her door Levy was met with a small brown package. It had no postage marks on it, and was held together with a simple string. She eyed the package cautiously. Levy shrugged and picked it up as she went in the door.

Fueled by her insatiable curiosity, Levy plopped the package down on the counter and dug out a pair of scissors. With a few deft cuts the wrapping fell away, revealing a small white box. Levy's jaw dropped at the contents of the package. It was her wallet.

"What in the…?"

Levy lifted her wallet out of the box and opened it slowly. Everything was intact. The small picture she kept of her parents, all of her cards, and all of her cash. Levy put her wallet down and searched the box and wrapping for any sort of clue. There was nothing. Both were solid and plain with no identifying marks.

"I'm too tired to worry about this now," Levy sighed, dragging herself towards the bath.


Across town Lucy pulled up to a ramshackle house. The boards were rotten and falling down, with moss growing here and there. She drove around back and onto a downward slope. Pretty soon Lucy's little gold Civic disappeared below the earth.

Lucy parked amongst the many other cars sitting in the underground parking lot. She jumped out and ran towards an ornate door at top speed. She rapped on it three times, paused, then knocked once more.

"Password," came a deadpan voice from inside.

"Princess," Lucy huffed, trying to catch her breath.

The door swung open and Lucy bolted past Wakaba. The older man shook his head, but said nothing as she shot past. It didn't take long for Lucy to arrive at Fairy Tail's infirmary. She nearly took the door with her as she burst through. The room was to dark to see anything, so Lucy called out cautiously.

"Natsu?"

Gentle rustling from the far side of the room caught Lucy's attention and she rushed over. There she found Natsu, sleeping, with a slight frown on his face. Lucy crept closer and took Natsu's hand. Natsu tightened his fingers around hers reflexively as he slept.

"Oh Natsu." Lucy's eyes watered.

Lucy knew the wound was a minor one, but it scared her. Natsu is one of Fairy Tail's best. He's supposed to be invincible. The thought that someone could wound him like this on a routine patrol terrified her. It forced Lucy to face the reality of their way of life.

Natsu's nose twitched.

"Luce?"

"I'm here." Lucy spoke softly.

Natsu gave her a small smile. "Welcome home." Then he released her hand and pushed himself into a sitting position. Natsu wiggled himself around until there was room on the hospital bed and patted the space beside him. Without a word Lucy clambered up and settled in, leaning on Natsu's uninjured side. Natsu wrapped his free arm around her and rested his head atop hers. They stayed like that, just being there for each other, for hours.


Levy popped out of bed, feeling refreshed and ready to face another day. With time to sleep on it, Levy had cooked up a theory about her wallet. She walked leisurely into the living room and flipped open her laptop to do some research. In the engine she typed Fairy Tail.

The results were fascinating.

Fairy Tale is a widely renowned gang, this much Levy had known already. Living in Magnolia, the gang's suspected base of operation, it's nearly impossible to not have heard of them. Fairy Tail's draws attention in three ways. The first is that they keep all the other gangs in check, the second is that they are an organization of Robin Hoods, and finally, they had survived for over one hundred years. Most of that articles Levy found confirmed this. There were countless entries, Fairy Tail had been studied, questioned, and theorized about for years. How could a gang survive this long? The prevailing theories claim that Fairy Tail enforces a high moral code and is fiercely loyal. There has never, in their one hundred year existence, been a leak of any inside information discovered. All attempts at infiltration have failed. The infiltrates either never find an in, are discovered before any information can be obtained, or cross over to the other side. Many praise and honor Fairy Tail for protecting Magnolia, some look up to them and dream of joining. Others call Fairy Tail a menace. The experts claim that they perpetuate violence and can't be trusted to help anyone other than themselves.

Levy devoured the information. She was convinced it was a member of Fairy Tail who returned her wallet. Who else could it be? The Fairy Tail member must have seen her exchange with the villain and saved her wallet. Levy paused. She hoped he was okay, even if he was a creep! As Levy mulled over all this a thought crossed her mind.

"How did they know where I live…?"

Levy glanced over at the clock, then jumped out of her chair in shock. "It's already 9:30?!" She ran around the house, jumping into her clothes and getting ready for work. Just about the time she finished up someone knocked at her door.

"It's open-" Levy called as she ran a brush through her hair.

"Geez Levy," Lucy chastised as she entered, "you live like you want to get robbed! What if it wasn't me?"

"But it was you," Levy replied simply. Then she turned back to her mirror and continued to brush her silky blue hair.

Lucy strolled around the room, exploring the place cautiously.

"Oh! make yourself at home," Levy exclaimed without looking.

Lucy hummed and continued her inspection. She spotted an interesting looking book on the coffee table an picked it up. Lucy turned it over and studied the cover before leaning back on the couch and opening it up.

"Sorry I'm late," Levy spoke out into the quiet, "I got caught up in some research."

"Oh yeah?" Lucy asked, not really paying attention.

"Oh!" Levy bolted up from her stool in front of the mirror. She hurried across the room and picked up her wallet along with the box it came in.

"Look at this!" Levy shoved the things between Lucy's book and her face.

Lucy stared at them in confusion for a second, that a look of realization dawned on her face.

"Someone returned your wallet?"

"I think it was Fairy Tail." Levy proclaimed with her chest puffed out.

Lucy coughed, "Fairy Tail? Why do you think it was them?"

"It's totally their MO," Levy shot back with a wild grin, "keeping thugs in check and helping the innocent, who else could it be?"

Lucy kept a cool expression, "they're still a gang Levy. They're just as dangerous as all those other goons."

"I'm not so sure about that," Levy replied, turning to gaze out the window.