Jude and Irene had spent the entire day before thinking long and hard about what was to be done with their daughters. Sending them to live in the mortal realm for a year was awfully humiliating and it would leave quite a mark on both their reputations, but on the other hand they were certain that Twilight Ogre was no place for Lucy or Erza. A school like that would most likely crush the spirits of both girls. So in the end, Jude and Irene but aside their pride and chose to do what would be in Lucy and Erza's best interest, which was for them to go live in the mortal realm for a year and under the care of Anna Fiore.

"What do you mean I have to go with you?! Why do I have to go?!" Complained a rabbit who's fur was white and spotted.

"Because Laxus you're my familiar." Lucy said as she was packing her bags. "And a witch needs a familiar just as much as she needs a spellbook or a cauldron. Besides I'm in the only one here who feeds you and cleans up after you"

Laxus Dreyar wasn't really a rabbit. He was once a powerful warlock, son of Ivan Dreyar one of the most vile and wretched warlocks to ever exist. Years ago Ivan had tried to takeover the Other Realm but he was defeated by his father and the witch's council who then stripped him of his magic and baninshed him to the lower regions of the Earth. Laxus had been a loyal follower to his father but because he was only a follower and because his grandfather pleaded for mercy, the council only sentenced him to a hundred years as a witch familiar. A.K.A a rabbit. He was then chosen to be Lucy's familiar upon her thirteenth birthday.

"But I can't talk in the Mortal Realm." Laxus said. "I can't read, I can't call people or use the computer or plot my revenge against the witch's council. All I can do there is act like a regular rabbit."

"Only if mortals are watching or if you're outside. But you'll mostly spend your time inside with people who know about magic."

"But it's boring over there. There's no magic, everybody over there does everything the hard way. Why your great-grandmother chose to live there is a complete mystery to me."

"Erza said she wanted to help my uncle Derek take care of my cousin once she entered pueberty. A girl needs a female role model once she enters teenhood."

"That's another thing I don't understand, why did your aunt marry a mortal? That's like a farmer marrying a cow."

"Hey!" Anna said strictly. "First of all don't speak ill of the dead or my family. Second, for your information I admire what Aunt Ondina did. She chose to go against an arranged marraige and married for love. That's what I'm going to do when the time comes for me to marry."

"That may not be the best idea. Arranged marriages are a tradition in your family and don't forget, your parents's marriage was arranged and from what I know they were delirously in love."

"I know but that's just chance. Aunt Irene's marriage was arranged and we all know how that turned out."

"Good point." Laxus admitted.

"So I've decided that I'm going to fall in love first."

"Well your old man maybe a little a testy about you going against tradition but as long as you ended up married to a warlock, he'll get over it."

"I'll marry whom I love. Whether he be a warlock or a mortal, and from what I hear mortal boys are really cute."

"Oh God." The rabbit groaned. "Lucy for once in your life don't seek out trouble."

"Look who's talking, Makarov says that you sought out trouble on a daily basis."

"Yeah and look where it got me. I live the CC life. Live in a cage and live off carrots!" He said.

"Relax Laxus, I'm never going to help anyone with a takeover or anything like that. I'm just going to enjoy my teen years in the best way I can."

"Yes you have made that very obvious."

At that moment her father had appeared in the open doorway, gazing at her with those steely eyes of disapproval and disappointment.

"Lucy before you go I'd like to know something." He said. "What were you thinking? Why in the name of God would you associate yourself with that deliquent and then pull a stunt like that?"

"Gee I didn't think you'd find out about it." She snarked. "It's not like you ever notice anything I do."

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me young lady." He said sternly. "Why must you always go out and cause trouble? Do you know how that makes me look?"

"Oh, so this is about you?"

"This is about how your actions have dire consequences that effect everyone. But you'll suffer the worst of it. Decent people are not going to have anything to do with you if you keep this up. I mean, you've crossed lines that not even your mother would have when she was going through her rebel phase."

"I turned the entire school staff into frogs and the spell was temporary, it wasn't that bad."

"Oh no? A science professor was almost diseccted by his own students, and shall I name the previous offences? Defacing school property, hexing one of your teachers with bad luck, sneaking into the Celtic Pub, and then there was that time you tried to elope with that Phil character."

"His name was Philippe." Lucy corrected. "And I told you, we weren't eloping. He was going traveling and I wanted to go with him. I was tired of only being at home or at school, I wanted to go places and see the world."

"Well it looks like you're finally getting your wish." Jude said. "From now on you'll only be at Anna's house, in the Mortal Realm. We'll see how spending a year there suits you."

In all honesty, Lucy was acutally excited about this arrangement. She had been wanting to see her great-grandmother for years, as a child she treasured every visit which was rare due to the fact that her father and Anna never really got along. It was most likely because while Jude was very strict and liked everything in order, Anna was more free and wild. It was said that Lucy and her mother had inheirted their rebellious spirit from her. But whereas Layla's spirit simmered down once she married and had a child, Anna's never did completely. Of course she was no longer the kind of rebel that was careless, immature, and troublesome but she remained the kind that liked to break certain traditions, try new things, and be spontaneous. Not exactly something a man of order liked.

Lucy was very close with Anna when she was younger. Each time she came to the house or when Lucy would visit her at Anna's house the two would just talk for hours, and learn new spells that were fun and sometimes mischievous. She would tell Lucy stories about other witches and about her mother when she was a girl. She admired Lucy's spirit and encouraged her to always encouraged her follow her heart but at the same time she would remind her to listen to her father and those who would try to guide her.

"Your father is a difficult man and very hard to understand." Anna would say. "But I know he loves you dearly and in the end he only wants what's best for you. Be paitent with him and try to learn."

Lucy did listen to Anna's words but even now she still couldn't see her father's love for her. But that's normal for some teenagers, especially those who have parents that make mistakes just as often as their children do. Jude did love Lucy and he did want to raise her right but losing Layla had hurt him so much and you could say that his broken heart never healed, to this day he still mourned his beloved wife. And when someone hurts that much for so long, they will make a large number of mistakes.

"I'm sure I'll be treated better there than here." Lucy said. "And you should be happy that I'm going to live over there. Now you can give all one hundred percent of your attention to your work and not have to worry about me. Oh wait, you already do that."

"One more smart word out of you and it's off to Twilight Ogre!" Her father warned.

She said nothing more after that and continued packing.

It was around 2:00 in the afteroon when the time came for them to go meet with Irene and Erza at the train station. During the ride neither Lucy or Jude said a word to each other but when they reached the station, he asked her,

"Did you pack everything?"

"Yes." She answered.

"You sure you didn't forget anything?"

"Positive."

"I don't know. I think you did forget one thing."

He made a picture frame magically appear in his hand. A frame that contained a photograph of Layla, dancing under the starlight on the night of the Summer Solstice.

"I figured you would want to take this with you." He said. "I know it's your favorite."

She accepted the picture, feeling touched that he remembered how much she loved that photo.

"Thanks Dad." She said adding it to her suitcase.