Hello everyone! I'm super hyped to announce this new story!
Since I finished some fics I thought it would be fun to start something entirely different for a change!
This idea sparked after a brainstorming session with be-dazzled and before I knew it, my brain was working at full speed!
This story will probably be longer than 10 chapters and I'm very excited to write NaLu again in particular ^^
There are quite some ships that will appear sooner or later in the story, so the ships beyond the ones mentioned in the summary are a surprise :)
I hope you'll enjoy this story! Thanks CJ for proofreading!
''Are you sure this is a good idea?'' Cana whined as her friend practically pulled her forward by her wrist.
''I'm the only one of us who has an idea at all,'' Lucy said, ''it won't hurt if you try.''
Cana groaned. This wasn't by far the activity she had planned for today. She'd rather be laying on the couch, zapping through endless television shows until Lucy came home. Instead, she was dodging the puddles on the busy streets of Magnolia.
Sometimes she wished they lived in a real city, one with skyscrapers and airports, not one that was barely worth calling a city. Its medieval cobblestone streets and allies and lack of modern, big stores and shopping centers made it feel like time had stood still.
Lucy had come up with the idea of going to the nearest community home today. The kind of gathering place Cana imagined only elderly folks would craft and gossip all day under the overwhelming sound of yelling children on the playground. Her friend hadn't told her why she had gotten this idea of going there. Could it be a dating event? Or was she planning to drag her into community work after all the jobs she had lost over the past few months?
Whatever the reason was, Cana wasn't feeling it. It was cold, rainy and the wind blew mercilessly through her thin jacket.
''Here it is!'' Lucy let out as she stood still before a building with an iron-cast signboard.
''Fairy Tail Community Home'' it read.
That's weird, Cana thought, wasn't it supposed to be spelled Fairy Tale?
''The spelling is weird, isn't it?'' a woman's voice disturbed her thoughts. She looked at the entrance of the building. A woman around her age stood on the porch. She had snow-white hair that reached half-way her back and wore an elegant, burgundy dress. Her steel-blue eyes made her look ethereal, ''you two must be Lucy and Cana.''
''Yes, we are.'' Lucy nodded and elbowed her entranced friend. ''Y-yeah, we are,'' Cana answered quickly.
''Lovely!'' The woman said, clapping her hands together, ''I'm Mirajane, please call me Mira.''
She turned around on her heels and walked down the hallway. The two friends exchanged looks and decided to just follow her.
The interior of the building was outdated, very outdated. All walls were built up from large boulders and some woodwork looked like it had never been replaced. From the outside, it had stood out against the rest of the buildings in the street like an ugly duckling in a pond.
It felt like it took minutes to reach the end of the hallway. It ended in a very spacious hall. Big enough to host a royal ball. It had a stage, a bar, and long tables made out of oak.
''Impossible,'' Lucy awed, ''how does this all fit in a house so narrow?''
Mirajane gestured them to come over to where she was standing. A circle of chairs was set up behind her, occupied by a group of people.
''Luce,'' Cana said with suspicion in her voice, ''what the hell have you dragged me into?''
''Cana I swear, this is all for your own good-''
''I don't need help!'' she raised her voice.
''Ladies?'' Mirajane interrupted them, ''would you sit down with us?''
''I'm not taking part in a support group,'' Cana let out, ''no way in hell!'' She crossed her arms and sat down at one of the wooden tables. ''You can go ahead and talk about your sad problems and I'll listen, how about that?''
''My, my,'' Mirajane said, ''you don't have to, you can just stay there dear.'' She turned to Lucy, who had just claimed a chair. ''Would you like to start?''
''Of course,'' Lucy said as she adjusted her skirt, ''My name is Lucy Heartfillia. I recently finished my degree in literature and currently looking for a job that's better than being a waitress.''
She wavered her arm out. ''I came here today for my roommate Cana Alberona, who has a severe alcohol addiction.''
''Lucy!'' she yelled, ''cut it out!''
''Someone has to call you out when you don't bring up the problem yourself!''
''Girls, girls,'' Mirajane hushed, ''everyone can talk here whenever they want to, today is obviously not Cana's day to talk.''
She gestured to the next person in the circle, clockwise. ''Would you like to continue?''
A gloomy guy with pitch-black, spiky hair cleared his throat. ''I'm Gray Fullbuster. I graduated from the police academy last year, but I already quit my job as a police officer,'' he clenched his hands together, his fingers intertwined, ''I couldn't save someone.''
''Very good,'' Mirajane said in a soothing voice, ''you don't have to tell everything yet if you aren't ready.''
He nodded, still staring down to avoid everyone's eye contact.
Mirajane eyed the next person and nodded, signaling it was his turn to talk. He pointed at himself. Me? He mouthed. Lucy wanted to plant her palm against her face. Who on earth didn't understand how a clockwise motion worked. He was odd, to say the least, his lightly toned skin contrasted with his pastel-pink dyed hair. His eyes were bright green, almost cat-like.
''My name is Natsu Dragneel. I never studied after high school but I work in an exotic pet shop and perform educational shows for kids.''
''Why are you here, Natsu?'' Mirajane asked.
''I think my obsession with fire is getting out of hand,'' he said as he scratched the back of his head, ''lighting some garden trash in a barrel is one thing, but sometimes it's like I can't control it and want to know how other things burn as well.''
''That's a very open attitude, Natsu, well done.'' Mirajane smiled and gestured to the next person.
Lucy's suddenly realised she had been staring at him for a little too long. Her gaze drifted off and she noticed the person next in the circle was pregnant, or at least it seemed that way. ''My name is Levy McGarden and I'm an English teacher,'' the tiny woman said with a bright smile. Her hair was supposed to be dyed blue, but her naturally brown hair had grown through it from the top, ''I'm a regular here but this time I join the circle just to escape my overly protective boyfriend,'' she laughed as she lay her hand on her pregnant belly, ''he's too sweet but sometimes I need to be with others without him being worried all the time.''
When the group had introduced themselves, Mirajane came up with games and exercises that could help them with their problems. Cana still observed them from a distance, bored out of her mind. This was going to be a long day.
Cana stared up the ceiling, rolling over every once in a while to check her phone. She was still thinking about today. This was the least she expected when her friend had lured her into the city.
''Listen, I'm sorry for today,'' Lucy said, coming into their bedroom. ''I understand if you don't want to go another time.''
''Actually, I do,'' Cana said as she sat up straight.
Lucy looked up in surprise. ''Was it Mira?'' she asked. ''I thought we agreed on no relationships as long as we live together.''
''No, no,'' Cana quickly replied, ''she's pretty, but not my type.''
''Thank god,'' the last time you brought someone home it was that smelly guy from the pub.''
Cana pretended to not have heard that. ''While you had your eyes glued to Pinky, I happened to notice something very odd.''
Lucy's face heated up. ''Wouldn't you stare if a guy had freaking pink hair?!''
Cana grinned. Her intuition was right.
''You know that strange pigmentation spot you have on your hand?'' she asked.
Lucy tilted her head. ''Uhm, yes. What's this about all of a sudden?''
''That guy named Gray had it in the same shape on his collarbone, I could see it peek out from beneath his v-collar''
''That's just coincidence,'' Lucy said.
''I have that same spot on my body as well, you know that. This just too strange to ignore.''
Lucy winked. ''Guess we'll have to pay them a visit again.''
Please let me know what your first impression was of this chapter, it would help a lot! ^^