Chapter 3

The celestial mage was smiling as she slept quietly in her warm comfy bed. She shifted her weight and snuggled up to the person next to her. WAIT, WHAT? Lucy's eyes immediately opened in response to the sudden realization. Did Natsu and Gray sneak into her apartment again? She panicked at her own thoughts and fell off the bed. Rather than landing on the cold hard ground, she landed on something soft.

"*yawns* Lucy-nee. What *yawn* are you doing?" Minerva stirred in Lucy's bed and wiped her eyes from sleepiness. The dango-haired mage froze as she shifted her gaze to Lucy. She was dissatisfied with what she was seeing right now.

Lucy had fallen on top of Sting and Rufus. Sting had his face buried in the celestial mage's breast, while Rufus had groped Lucy's buttocks in an attempt to catch the blonde after she had fallen. Minerva's blood boiled at the sight, and her face turned bright red with rage. Lucy just arrived last night and the last thing Minerva wanted to see was two boys violating her Lucy-nee.

Minerva stood up, picked up Lucy, and gently placed her on the bed. She gave the celestial mage a sweet smile before turning to face the two blushing boys. She cast a lethal aura and unleashed a massive amount of magical power.

"PLEASE SPARE US." Rufus and Sting whimpered as they shook violently from terror. Minerva shook her head and gave an evil smile.

"Hold me." Sting squeaked in terror as he hugged Rufus. Within seconds, the two boys were knocked unconscious on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood.

"Breakfast is ready." Yukino smiled as she opened the door. She froze the moment they saw two unconscious boys, a furious Minerva, and a befuddled Lucy.

"What'd we miss?" Rogue appeared beside Yukino and looked around.

"Nothing much. C'mon Lucy-nee, Orga's probably waiting with the food." Minerva said sweetly to her before leaving.

"I'm sorry for falling asleep. I was exhausted." Lucy apologized as she ate her breakfast. Lucy paid close attention to Yukino, who told her everything that had happened last night.

Flashback: Last Night

After sharing hugs and tears, the group decided to catch up in the living room. Orga and Yukino introduced themselves to the celestial mage. As she got familiar with the two new members, they all talked about their experiences over the last seven years. They also informed Lucy of her father's death and that the gifts she had received were somewhere in her closet.

"Wait, so that actually happened a week after we went missing?" Lucy laughed at the blushing Rogue and Sting.

"We didn't know that he was your father, you never introduced him to us." Sting sulked in response.

"Yeah. We thought he was a thief robbing the apartment. Plus, we didn't hit him that hard." Rogue said defensively.

"I was just behind Uncle Jude you know. The moment I entered the apartment, Uncle Jude was already knocked out on the floor. I just had to hit the two idiots for doing that to your father." Minerva grumpily said recalling the events.

In the short time they conversed with her in the living room, they laughed, shed tears, and felt a wide range of emotions.

"Welcome back Lucy-nee/Lushi/Fairy-san?Lucy-san!" Everyone chimed as they hugged her again.

As time passed by, the Sabertooth mages discovered Lucy asleep on the couch in the middle of their conversation. Rogue gently carried Lucy from the couch to her room and gently laid her on her bed. Everyone decided it was also time for them to sleep and proceeded to Lucy's room. The girls slept beside Lucy, while the boys laid out extra beds and slept on the floor.

End of flashback.

Breakfast was finished and Minerva pulled out a present to give to Lucy. Minerva had apparently secretly left the house last night to buy a gift for the celestial mage. She wanted to do something nice for her because she missed her so much.

"Now go and change! Shoo!" The dango-haired mage insisted as she pushed Lucy towards the direction of her room.

As Minerva saw Lucy entering her bedroom, she immediately went to the living room and stood in front of the kneeling Rufus and Sting. They were shivering in fear.

"Please forgive us! It was really an accident!" Sting and Rufus both begged the dango-haired mage. Minerva's overprotectiveness increased significantly after Lucy's return. She lost her once already, never again. The violet-haired mage sighed and walked away from the two mages. How pitiful.

Minerva made the decision to assist Yukino, who was cleaning up with Rogue and Orga. As Rogue was cleaning, he noticed Lector and Frosch walking side by side while carrying flowers. Not knowing what they were doing, he blindly followed the two exceeds. They stopped in front of Lucy's bedroom door.

When the exceeds came to a halt in front of the door, Frosch and Lector looked up to see Rogue standing behind them.

"Are you also here to speak with Fairy-san, Rogue-kun?" Frosch directed his words at the Shadow Dragon Slayer.

Before the black-haired Dragon Slayer could answer, Lector already pulled Frosch with him and unlocked the door.

Lucy blushed as she took out the gift Minerva had given her. It was a beautiful dress and a pair of black sexy underwear. Lucy was still blushing furiously as she stripped off her clothes. As her body was now fully naked, she took the black undies and wore them. She began by examining the dress that was lying on the bed. Her eyes twinkled with delight. The dress was a navy blue sundress that came up to her knees, had white linings, and a very beautiful design of constellations that reminded her of her spirits.

She immediately put down the dress and reached for the bra that needed to be put on her bare exposed chest.

"Fairy-san! Frosch missed you so much!/Lushi! I missed you so much! We picked flowers for you." Frosch and Lector said simultaneously as they fully opened the door.

"Huh?" Lucy shifted her gaze at the door when she heard both exceeds' voice. She froze.

Rogue froze when he saw the celestial mage. Lucy was only wearing her undies and her chest was exposed to the world. They were both frozen in their positions, not moving their gazes away from each other.

"I'm sorry." Rogue bowed as he shut the door, leaving a frozen Lucy and two confused exceeds inside. The Shadow Dragon Slayer fell down to his knees and covered his mouth with his hand. He was blushing furiously, attempting to erase the image of Lucy from his mind.

The celestial mage blankly stared at the now-closed door with the two exceeds standing in front of her.

"We picked flowers for you. I hope you like it." Lector stated again as he and Frosch handed her the flowers.

Lucy, who was also flushing profusely, quickly hooked her bra on and put on the blue sundress Minerva had given her. She looked at the two exceeds who still were holding out the flowers. She knelt down and met their eyes. She patted them gently and accepted the flowers.

"Thank you! They are very beautiful." She smiled and carried the two exceeds in her arms as they went to the living room.

Lucy saw that Rogue had his usual poker face on like nothing ever happened. The celestial mage was red from both embarrassment and anger. She let out a whispered 'hmmmph!' that drew the attention of the Shadow Dragon Slayer.

"Waaahh! Lucy-nee! You look so beautiful!" Everyone agreed on Minerva's praise. Lucy thanked everyone and smiled at them.

"Now, Off to Sabertooth!" Orga said enthusiastically as they followed him to the train station.

Lucy sat on the train with everyone. Minerva and Yukino were sitting beside her, and a sickly-looking Sting was across. Rufus and Orga sat beside Sting while Rogue was at the other side of the train with the exceeds.

Rogue volunteered to be excluded because he saw how everyone was desperate to sit near the celestial mage. It would be even worse if he ended up vomiting in front of Lucy. He knew she was mad at him after that encounter this morning, it would be better to let her cool down first before approaching her.

As everyone else on the train slept, Lucy looked at her bare right hand. Unfortunately, her Fairy Tail mark had vanished without her noticing when she left the guild the night before. She dozed off as the train took them to their destination, recalling the good times they had.

"Ahh! That was nice!" Lucy said as she stepped off the train with the rest of the group. Everyone watched as the blonde smiled at the breeze as she stretched out her hands. The wind blew past the mage's dress, which fit her perfectly. She was absolutely stunning. Everyone followed her as she walked in the direction of the guild.

"Ohh. If it isn't Lucy!" Someone shouted from behind, drawing the key mage's attention and the attention of everyone else to the source of the voice.

"Evergreen!" Lucy's face brightened even more as she saw the stone eye mage together with Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe. She ran towards Evergreen and gave her a huge hug. Minerva growled at the scene, unable to suppress her envy for the brown-haired woman.

As the blonde finished hugging Evergreen, she did something that no one expected her to do. Lucy embraced Bixlow, Freed, then Laxus!

"EEEEEHHH?" The Thunder God Tribe suddenly screamed in shock as Lucy HUGGED them one by one. Laxus was caught off guard by Lucy's actions and abruptly blurted out.

"OI! LULU WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He mentally face-palmed himself after realizing what he had just said. When did he start calling her Lulu?! That was incorrect! He was caught off guard that her name ended up as Lulu instead of Lucy. He was out of character just because of some crazy little blondie.

"LULU?!" The Thunder God Tribe and even the mages of Sabertooth reacted at Laxus' choice of words.

"Oh sorry sparky." Lucy giggled. Her actions were unexpected but she missed them. That was the reason why she hugged them.

"SPARKY?!" Everyone reacted at their nicknames at each other.

"Laxus. Since when?! You-you and ch-cheerleader..." Bixlow stuttered in disbelief pointing at Lucy and Laxus.

"Oh my look at the time. We must indeed go." Minerva recited in a deadly aura and glared at the Fairy Tail mages. She was furious, she didn't like the idea of the celestial mage being too friendly with others.

Without waiting for anyone's reply, Minerva huffed in annoyance and suddenly picked up Lucy in a bridal style position. She left carrying a confused Lucy in her arms. The Fairy Tail mages were still in shock with the whole Laxus incident and couldn't sync in what was happening, their eyes watched as Lucy and the Sabertooth mages left.

As they arrived in the guild doors, Orga gave Lucy a black cloak to wear. The celestial mage was confused but still wore the cloak as instructed. Sting and Rogue pushed the door open revealing a rowdy guild.

"We're home!" Sting yelled. Gosh, he acts so much like Natsu. Lucy sweatdropped at the thought. She chuckled when she realized how similar Sabertooth was to Fairy Tail. She was overjoyed that her father and Uncle Jiemma had created a guild that was so similar to Fairy Tail.

As they made their way to the second floor, Minerva and Yukino both grabbed Lucy's hand. Looks and whispers can be heard throughout the guild as people try to figure out who the person in the cloak is.

"Father. We have a new member!" Minerva said with enthusiasm.

Jiemma raised a brow as a hooded figure stepped forward from behind Minerva and the gang. The hooded figure approached Jiemma and removed her hood.

"Hello uncle." Lucy revealed her face with a smile.

Jiemma was taken aback. He collapsed to his knees. How is she still alive? How could she be so young? What would Jude have said if he was still alive? If only she went home sooner, Jude would have been delighted. As Lucy kneeled in front of him and hugged him, questions flooded his mind but no words came out of his mouth. They stared at each other and Jiemma finally broke the silence.

"Welcome back." Jiemma's voice broke as he hugged Lucy.

Lucy had just gotten her Sabertooth guild mark in white on the back of her right hand after explaining everything to Jiemma. She was introduced to everyone and was greeted warmly.

Jiemma smiled from the second floor, at the sight ofa very happy Minerva, Sting, Rufus, Rogue, and their exceeds. He was overjoyed that she had returned. He came down from the second floor, catching everyone's attention.

"The Grand Magic Games are almost here! We have been the number one Guild in Fiore for the past three years, as you are all aware. We've always aimed for the top. To inform the world that Sabertooth is number one so that the news reaches her wherever she may be. But this time is no longer relevant. Lucy is the reason we strive to win, the reason we are number one! Now that she has returned, I want you all to enjoy the games and give it your all! LUCY, WELCOME HOME!" Jiemma began as the guild applauded Lucy.

"As the master, I will now select the contestants for this year's Grand Magic Games!" He went on. Everyone cheered even louder than before.

"Minerva, Sting, Rogue, Rufus. Our first-timer participants for the Grand Magic Games!" Jiemma trailed off, as everyone clapped for them. The master was a fair man; he wanted everyone to have a chance at the GMG, and this year was the year for Minerva and her friends to compete.

"I know you'll do an outstanding job. And now for the final participant..." He said as the guild went silent for a few seconds.

"Lucy Heartfilia!" Jiemma goofily smiled as congratulations were heard from everyone. The master also added that Orga and Yukino will be reserve participants in case of any emergencies. And with that said, Sabertooth celebrated!

The next day,

The Sabertooth participants were on their way to train in the mountains. They decided to train in various locations for three months in order to improve their magical adaptability and capabilities in any situation. They had decided to train on Mt. Hakobe for the first month, then on the beach for the second, and finally in the forest for the final month.

Lucy was eager to learn more magic than celestial magic, and she was determined not to let Sabertooth and Fairy Tail down.

First Month - Mt. Hakobe,

(First Few Days)

"Lucy-nee! Why are you in your underwear! Yukino keep the guys distracted and don't let them see Lucy-nee!" Minerva instructed Yukino as she covered Lucy with a cloak. Yukino did as she was told so and told the guys Lucy wanted to be alone for quite some time.

"No Min-chan! This is my *sniffle* training! *Achoo* My friend Gray withstands the cold *Achoo, and started his training like this! I'll be okay." Lucy said as she removed the cloak Minerva gave her and was shaking from the cold. Minerva concerned at the celestial mage kept a close eye on her as she trained.

First Month - Mt. Hakobe,

(Last Few Days)

"I'm on my 58th one!" Lucy grinned as she punched another Mountain Vulcan. She and Sting were apparently competing to see who could defeat the most Vulcans on Mt. Hakobe. Whoever wins gets to boss around the loser for a month; how can you refuse such a tempting prize? The celestial mage was clearly having a great time training with everyone in the mountains.

"Sting you suck." A very clothed Orga deadpanned as he watched Sting struggle on his 47th Vulcan. Orga drank his warm drink alongside everyone else. Rogue, Orga, Rufus, Yukino, Minerva, and the exceeds sat on the snowy floor, their winter coats keeping them warm in Mt. Hakobe's cold weather. They slowly drank their warm drink as one thought echoed through their minds. 'You'll never beat her Sting.'

"Yay! I won!" Lucy exclaimed, jumping up and down, and made her way to the area where everyone was watching their competition.

"You are truly incredible, Lu-chan." Orga praised the celestial mage while feeling sorry for the Light Dragon Slayer who sulked beside her.

"How can you wear so little in this weather?" Sting sulked as he hugged his winter clothing to keep warm. Everyone seems to agree with Sting's remark. Lucy was wearing a white bikini with pink floral patterns in the snowy weather, she smiled at them and happily drank her warm drink.

Lucy's training went well. In just a couple of weeks, she had mastered the cold like a certain ice mage she knew.

"I'm really excited to show them what I've learned." Lucy said to her friends as they smiled at her in return and continued drinking.

"Fro thinks so too." Frosch added.

Second Month - Fiore Beach,

(First Few Days)

"Open Gate of the Water Bearer Aquarius!" Lucy summoned while she was in the waters.

"NEVER EVER SUMMON ME FOR USELESS REASONS YOU BRAT!" Aquarius shouted as she splashed a huge wave towards Lucy and her friends knocking them unconscious.

"You'll never get a boyfriend that way." Aquarius clicked her tongue as she returned to the Spirit World.

Second Month – Fiore Beach,

(Last Few Days)

"Oh c'mon Rogue! Are you just holding back because I'm a girl? No fun at all!" Lucy sticks her tongue out as she teased the panting Rogue on the waters. The celestial mage and the dragon slayer were having a training match to see further improvement in their strengths. Everything is in order for the Grand Magic Games!

"Fairy-san wins!" Frosch cheered as everyone clapped their hands for Lucy. Rogue could have easily beaten Lucy in the match, but the mage caught him off guard and knocked him unconscious to the ocean floor.

"Lucy-sama was incredible." Yukino complimented her as she saw Sting hand Lucy ice cream. Sting, who clearly lost to Lucy a month ago, has been obeying her commands ever since. Yukino laughed at the sight of Lucy and Sting bickering over some pointless topic for the umpteenth time.

Third Month - Forest,

(First Few Days)

"Eeek!" Lucy screamed as another bug crawled onto her body. In an attempt to remove the bug, she shook her body hysterically.

"Lucy-sama! Please stop moving so much or you'll fall." Yukino said worriedly. The white-haired mage smiled apologetically towards Orga who was busy carrying the Blonde Celestial Mage.

Third Month - Forest,

(Last Few Days)

"This will be recorded in my memory." Rufus stated as he watched Lucy use her new magic abilities in beating Yukino.

"Thank you everyone for helping me train. I've learned a lot of new magic and drastically improved in my fighting. I will put them to good use. Thank you! I love you guys!" Lucy bowed deeply in front of everyone to show signs of respect. She lifted her head up with tears in her eyes and hugged everyone.

As the mages headed home from their 3-month training, Grand Magic Game Approaches…

-Chapter 3 Fin-

Omake:

"Yay! I won!" Lucy said jumping up and down and made her way to where everyone was watching their competition.

"You really are incredible Lu-chan..." Orga praised the celestial mage.

"But where are your clothes?" Orga finished as everyone furiously blushed at a naked Lucy.

"Ohh! Shit! Stripping might've become a habit of mine!" Lucy reddened and immediately wore the extra clothes that were in stock.

"Fro thinks so too." Frosch added.

Kinda reminds us of a certain Ice Mage you think?

-Omake Fin-

A/N: Okay. Sorry for the late update, so much has happened. (1) I tested positive for Covid-19 when I didn't even leave the house. (2) I had exams and plates. (3) I was looking for ways to get commissions because I really need funds right now. (4) My dream came true and someone close to me passed away yesterday. I plan on making a short webtoon in memory of her soon.

Everything is really overwhelming. I only typed during my breaks so it took quite a while in finishing this chapter. I'll drop off my newly created Twitter handle if ever you want to contact me, please feel free to dm me (@akiyamarumi) for concerns or just say hello. I would also like to thank you for the reviews I received. Please tell me what you'd like to see next. See you in the next chapter!