THREE: Wendy's 16th birthday

The midterm week was coming for Fairy Tail University students, making Lucy decide to stay in her dormitory for the weekend, while Natsu goes home. He detests the idea to stay in the dormitory for the weekend because it meant to him 'no fun', and that is what Lucy needed at the moment so that she could focus on reviewing her subjects.

So, Friday night, Lucy bids Natsu goodbye while handing him her dirty sack of clothes that is to be dropped on her house. Since they were just neighbors, Natsu was left with no choice but to help out the blonde.

"Thanks again Natsu," Lucy then shoves her hands into her oversized hoodie's pocket, "I've told mama already so you don't have to worry about it. You can just toss it over our fence grills if you want," Lucy says shrugging then chuckles when she saw Natsu contort his face
"Why the hell would I do that? Do you want your dad to get mad at me?" Natsu then clicks his tongue as he turns to fully open his trunk and drop the bag, "Why don't you just come home? It's just midterms, Luce. I bet you can perfect that even if you don't study,"

Laughing at the comment of the pinkette, Lucy began to tear up but she quickly wipes it away as she holds onto the teen by the shoulder. As Natsu stands up straight and faces the blonde, he tucks his hand into his jeans' pocket then said, "I'm serious,"
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for believing that I can perfect the test but no. I need to stay and study," Lucy then hugs the teen before she steps back and said, "Come on, go. You'll miss Auntie Grandine's cooking for dinner"
"Uh!" Natsu sighs as he rolls his eyes and throws his arms in the arm, "Do I really suck at convincing you to come with me?" Natsu questions as he looks once more at the blonde. When Lucy shook her head, she said back, "Nope, I'm actually ready to run back to the dorm to get my things. But this is my pure will to stop myself from doing that. So, go!" Lucy then turns Natsu to make him walk towards the driver's door and make him leave.

Left with no choice, Natsu drove off with a disappointed look. After all, weekends with no Lucy means boring weekend too. The only thing that made him good somehow is the idea that he could convince Lucy and he promises to himself, he'll convince her, even more, the next time she won't come home.

As Lucy watches the car to leave and disappear from the corner, Lucy suddenly sighs as she drops her shoulder and turns herself around to face the dormitory. Looking up at the building in front of her, Lucy couldn't help but sigh again as she said to herself, "Boring weekend begins... great."


With the revving sound of a car, Wendy quickly lifts her head from her favorite medical book and looks out the window to see her brother's car being parked. Instantly, a smile appears on her face as she stood up from her desk and closed her book to head downstairs. Within a minute, Wendy is by the door with an excited expression on her face as she waited for her brother to enter their home.

"Natsu-nii!" Wendy excitedly calls and waves at the pinkette, who had a poker face. With the expression of her brother, Wendy couldn't help but tilt her head in wonder, "Why is your face like that?"

"Huh?" Natsu nonchalantly questions, "What face? This handsome face?" Natsu began to smile as Wendy chortles at his comment. Soon Wendy wraps her arms around Natsu's waist to hug him, which Natsu returns, "Welcome home onii-chan,"
"Thanks, Wends," Natsu the ruffles the long blue locks of his sister, who quickly whined as she pulls away from him
"Ah! Onii-chan!" Wendy exclaims as she swats Natsu's hand then brought her tongue out to tease him. Chuckling at his sister, Natsu just shook his head before he follows his sister to the kitchen.

"Tadaima!" Natsu loudly shouts to make his presence known inside the house. Soon, a feminine voice answers back, "Okaeri! Musuko-san!"

Grandine peeks swiftly as she smiles at her newly arrived son, and Natsu could see the excitement in her eyes. So, as he smiles at his mother, Grandine suddenly disappears but quickly returns as she walks out of the kitchen to hug him.

"Oh! I missed you!" Grandine cooed as she tightens her hug, which made Natsu breathless. Groaning in agony for breath, he taps the back of the woman as he struggled to say, "M-mom...c-can't breathe,"
"Oh!" Grandine pulls back then laughs at her purplish son, "Sorry," she apologized as she cups the cheek of her adoptive son

"So!" Grandine starts again as she wraps her arms around her son and turns to drag him along in the kitchen where Wendy was to help her make their dinner, "Where is Lucy? I thought she'd drop by to greet," She then glanced at Natsu and saw the frown on his face
"What's wrong?" Grandine questions before looking back at Wendy who was now looking at her brother as well
"Ahh..." Wendy wheezes before a smile creep on her face. Grandine raised her brow at her daughter who began to chuckle as she returned to work, "What is it Wendy?"
"Mom brace yourself for a moody Natsu this weekend," Wendy comments before giving a side glance at her brother who also raised his brow in confusion
"Wends, what the heck are you talking about?" Natsu moodily asks, making Grandine look back at the pinkette
"I mean," Wendy then turns to face her mother and brother, "Natsu-nii will most likely be moody and sulking over the weekend because Lucy-nee didn't come home for the weekend,"
"Wah?!" In his surprise, Natsu widens his eyes, unbelieving how Wendy was able to conclude to that thought, "How did...?" Natsu trails off but snaps out of his confusion when he hears his mother laugh.

Glancing at the older blue-haired woman, Natsu couldn't help but raise his brow as he was getting confused to what was funny. Instead of telling him what was funny, Grandine just side hugged him and gave a ruffle to his soft hair.

"Oh, don't worry. Weekends are just two days..." Grandine then grins at Natsu who slowly smiled sheepishly, "Just keep yourself busy,"

"And by that, mom means to study for your midterms," A voice suddenly said, making everyone in the kitchen turn their heads to look at the newly arrived person.

It was Zeref who stood by the door frame in the kitchen with his lab coat in one arm and a backpack slung over one shoulder when suddenly a petite blonde girl peeks out of his back and greets cheerfully, "Ohayou!"

"Mavis!" Grandine suddenly claps in excitement before she steps forward to hug Zeref and Mavis together, making the two suffocate because of the tightness of the embrace. Just like what Natsu did, Zeref tapped the back of his adoptive mother as he breathlessly said that they couldn't breathe.

Laughing once again at her action, Grandine shyly said to the two her apologies for being too much of a hugger.

"Oh! It's no problem with me Grandine-san. I pretty much missed your hug," Mavis said as she smiles at the blue-haired mother, who immediately blushed at her sweet comment
"Awww," Grandine cooed as she hugs the blonde once more but this time gentler. When they pulled away, Grandine looked at her two sons and said, "You know, you two should be more like Mavis, affectionate to a mother. You both don't hug me when you come home,"

Grandine then began to sob audibly, making Natsu and Zeref widen their eyes in surprise. With a swift move, the two boys quickly wraps their arms around their sobbing mother, "Mom," Zeref cooed as he tightens his hug, "please don't cry,"
"Yeah mom," Natsu adds, "...you don't look gorgeous when you cry,"
"Natsu!" Mavis and Zeref loudly shouts as they gawked at the pinkette, who awkwardly laughed when he saw his mother's glare
"Mom," Natsu tries again despite the piercing glare of his mother, "what I mean is, on a daily basis, you are gorgeous...so when you cry you turn to be just beautiful...Right guys?" Natsu then looked at his siblings and Mavis, who all just shook their heads in disbelief
"Is that true?" Grandine looked back at her children
"Yes!" The other three quickly responds and this made Grandine smile
"Alright then! I shall stop crying and start making our dinner," Grandine then pulls away from her sons and returns to the counter where an unattended potato was left
"I'll help!" Mavis volunteers as she raised her hand and happily skips to Wendy to help out. The two boys then sigh before they secretly tried to escape the kitchen. And as they near the stairs, Grandine loudly said to the two boys, making them stop from their tracks, "Boys, your dad wants you two to clean up the garage or else he'll mess up with your cars the way you did to his last week," groaning in annoyance first before sighing deeply, Zeref and Natsu simultaneously answers, "Yes mom!"


"Scrabble time!" Wendy exclaims as she sat on the floor while her mother and father sat on the couch and Natsu on the other plush chair.

Whining in irritation, Natsu runs his hands over his face then he deadpan looked at his family, "Why is Zeref exempted from this game again?"
"Because he is driving Mavis home and he just won last week," Grandine replies without looking at her son and instead on her letter tiles
"Uhh!" Natsu groans again until he was hit in the head by a throw pillow, successfully making him stop wheezing. When the pillow tumbled down the floor, Natsu slowly looked up and saw his father grinning at him as if he was amused with his act
"Fight me!" Natsu challenged loudly as he stood up in a fighting stance. Igneel chortled out loud as he tossed the pillow on his lap to the side, making Grandine whine as her letter tiles were messed up,
"Bring it on Kid!" Igneel shouts as he made his fighting stance
"oh would you stop you two!?" Grandine madly shouts making the two men freeze in their position and slowly sit down as if they were some melting ice
"Good! Now, I start!" Grandine then leans forward to place her four letter tiles on the board. Once she finished, she sat down back to the couch and audibly read her word, "Home, and that is 9 points," Grandine then wrote her score on a piece of paper.

The game went on and on with them shouting in success whenever they gain more points than the other. They barely noticed the time until Zeref came home and was surprised to see everyone was sitting on the floor laughing with some bags of chips on the table.

"Well you guys seem to have fun," Zeref commented making everyone look up and grin at the arrived teen
"Zeref! You're back! You want to join?" Igneel happily asks, when suddenly the other three players whined altogether, "No!" Igneel then raised his brow to his wife and children while Zeref just stifles his laughter, "Why not?" Igneel asks
"Because he'll just win again," Wendy whines and the other two nods their head in agreement
"But he'll be too late to outscore us," Igneel reasons out but still the three shakes their head in disagreement
"He knows words that we don't know that exist in the English dictionary," Natsu added to the argument and it made Grandine and Wendy nod their heads furiously
"You know that I could hear you guys, right?" Zeref suddenly spoke making the four Dragneels look at him. Natsu then stood up and pointed at him as if he was challenging him, "You want to fight me?!"
"No Natsu, but if you want battle of words sure why not," Zeref smirks at the baffled teen before he waved good night to his family, "Good night guys, have fun with the game without me... tell me who wins though so that I could battle him or her," and with that Zeref ascends the stairs and disappears inside his bedroom.

When the teen was no longer in sight, the four Dragneels looked at one another as if they were trying to read one another's mind, until Igneel spoke first, "I forfeit!"
"Me too!" Wendy and Grandine simultaneously calls, leaving Natsu wide eyes in shock
"What?! You're leaving me to battle him?!" Natsu then made his puppy eyes to his mother as he leans forward to plead, "Can you please pity my poor and exhausted brain?"
"You can do it, son! We know you can!" Grandine exclaims before she taps the back of Natsu, who just whines after not being pitied by his mother
"But mom!" He plead and Grandine just shook her head
"You have Lucy!" Grandine adds but this just made Natsu whine even more
"Mom," Wendy calls quietly. The mother then looks at her youngest child and saw her make gestures as if to ask her to lean close. So leaning close to Wendy, the young girl whispers in her ear, "Lucy-nee isn't here, and without her, oni-chan would probably nose bleed with Zeref-nii's words..."
"oh dear..." Grandine sighs in fear until it changed to surprise when she hears Natsu comment
"I can hear you guys, you know..." Natsu then scowls before he stood up from the floor to sit on the couch.

"Alright, Natsu-nii... I have a deal for you," Wendy then stands up from the floor as if to show conviction, "I'll help you in the game tomorrow to win against Zeref-nii while you have to help me finish finalizing my 16th birthday,"
"What?!" Natsu exclaims, eyes wide at his sister. Looking back at his parents, who only shrug in response to his silent question, Natsu couldn't help but drop his jaw. Igneel then whispers, "I'd take it if I were you..."

"Uhhh!" Natsu groans before he stood up and takes out his hand to have a firm shake hand with his sister, "Fine! Deal!"
"Yehey!" Wendy then hugs her brother as she says, "Deal,"


"So, what kind of party is this Wendy?" Natsu asks as he reads the invitation to Wendy's birthday party while he and Wendy walked the streets of their village

"It's my sweet sixteenth birthday, Natsu-nii, obviously," Wendy answers before looking at her brother who rolled his eyes after her sarcastic response
"I know..." He replies, annoyed, "But what I meant is what... theme? Is that the word for it?" He looked at Wendy who nods her head
"I don't really have a theme but it's pretty semi-formal..." Wendy shrugs then she grabs the arm of her brother, "Oni-chan, over here," Wendy then pulls her brother towards a house with a black door.

Ringing the doorbell, Wendy expectantly waited then asks her brother for the invitation, "Oh Natsu-ni, find the invitation for Ika Noiya" As Natsu grumbles to find the card, the door suddenly opens and reveals a brown-haired girl, same age as Wendy. Soon, the invitation was given with the reminder to wear something fancy or slightly formal and that gifts were not necessary.

The two siblings went over to different houses, handing out invitations to Wendy's classmates that lived in her village. When they had to visit a different village, Natsu drove Wendy and continued to hand out invitations. And soon, as the day is about to end, Natsu and Wendy were able to finish their work.

Driving back home, Natsu was eating and driving at the same time while Wendy was munching on a burger while using her phone. They were both preoccupied with their own task at hand until Natsu saw Wendy was laughing in her seat.

"So, who are you texting? Romeo?" Natsu nonchalantly asks without looking at his sister, who quickly looked up at the mention of a familiar boy's name
"...No" Wendy hesitated for a moment before she felt her cheeks warm up
"Right... so, why are you blushing?" Natsu then gave a quick glance at Wendy as he had his grin on his face, only making Wendy even more flustered
"I'm not!" Wendy denies
"Wends, quite lying. You suck in that department," Natsu then chuckles when he hears the girl growl, "Seriously, are you and Romeo dating already without dad's permission?"
"What?! N-no!" Wendy frantically disagrees, "R-Romeo-kun is just a good friend... I made it clear to him,"
"Ouch!" Natsu reacts making Wendy glare at him, "I didn't know my sister is a heartbreaker," he states with a smile on his face, "You friend zoned the guy without him even formally asking you out? Dude that's harsh,"
"Natsu-nii! I'm not a dude... and besides, I didn't really dump him... I mean, how can you dump a person if they don't even like you?" Wendy then pulls up her legs up on her seat as she wraps her arms around it, "Romeo-kun doesn't even show he's interested in me," Wendy looked at his brother
"Psh, girls..." Natsu then chuckles, "You know, we boys don't easily show our feelings. When we like a girl, we get to know them then learn what you girls like and dislike in a boy. It just so happen, after that stage, we all get divided,"
"Divided?" Wendy echoes back, confused
"Yeah, like me and metal head. I'm the kind of guy who pursues a girl even if I may not be sure if she likes me. But iron butt is the kind of princess who makes sure that the feeling is mutual because he doesn't want to screw up his friendship and shit,"
"Uhhhh... boys," Wendy sighs in exasperation, "Natsu-nii could you please speak to me like a normal person,"
"Now that would be such an effort," Natsu states as he points at his sister and chortles as Wendy rolls her eyes, "How can Lucy-nee be sane after being friends with you?" Wendy asks no one in particular as she looked at her brother skeptically before looking away and shake her head in disbelief
"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Natsu asks before giving a short glance at the blunette
"Nothing..." Wendy says before smirking at his brother, "Oni-chan, you better dress to impress,"
"And why would I do that?" Natsu curiously asks his sister
"For Lucy-nee! She would love to see you wear in your neat dress shirt," Wendy happily exclaims before she began to mumble to herself about how everything can turn out romantic
"Wends, if you haven't noticed, Lucy does not care about those kinds of get-ups because technically, she doesn't like dressing up," Natsu then chuckles before he continues, "I bet, you have more dress and skirts than she does..."
"Don't be mean to Lucy-nee! She may not dress up often but I'm pretty sure she looks great when she does," Wendy then turns in her seat to face her brother who was focused on looking at the road, "I have asked her once about fashion and she told me good advises,"
"Lucy? Advises in fashion? That woman barely has fashion sense with her big hoodies, sweatpants, and jersey clothes..." Natsu then laughs, making Wendy frown
"I'll tell this to Lucy-nee so that she wouldn't come to our house anymore!" Wendy threatens, making Natsu gawk in astonishment, "Wha?! No!"
"Then stop criticizing Lucy-nee! Trust me, when she does change her way of fashion, you'll be having a hard time spending time with her alone because other guys would be surrounding her," Wendy said in a matter-of-fact tone, making Natsu swallow in sudden nervousness. But of course, Natsu hid it well in his nonchalant look, "Psh! Yeah, like that would happen," Natsu snorts
"Trust me it will..." Wendy then turns away from her brother and just looked out her window while Natsu did the same with something buzzing inside his head.


As the family stayed in the living room to watch Zeref and Natsu play the Game of the Generals, which was chosen by Zeref as a considerate game for his brother since it was still a mind strategy and war game, Wendy was busy holding her phone, not minding the others as they cheer each player.

Wendy was chatting with Chelia Blendy, a classmate and best friend of hers. They were conversing about the upcoming birthday party on the next Saturday.

Wendy: I finally finished giving away the invitation! YES!
Chelia: Even to the friends of your brother?
Wendy: Well no...
Though I will make him give it away for me...
Chelia: Isn't it their midterm week?
Wendy: Yup! But Natsu-nii isn't the studying type...
Chelia: You're mean! Hahaha
Wendy: No I'm not! Hahaha
Why? Do you want to give it to Lyon-san the invitation for me? Ayiiiieee!hahaha
Chelia: AHHH! Of course not! :")
Wendy: hahaha
I'll tell that to Natsu-nii! Muwahahahah! :D
Chelia: Okay fine... then I'll tell Romeo what you told me :)
Wendy: Gaaah! No! Fine! I won't say anything...
Chelia: hahaha, good
So how is your dress coming up?
Wendy: I'll be getting it tomorrow. Wanna come with me?
Chelia: Why? So that you could invite Romeo too? Hehehe o.o
Wendy: Nooooo...
It's a girl bonding, silly... and besides, he'll just refuse
Chelia: Aww...it's ok friend! I got ya!
So, what time tomorrow?
Wendy: around 9?
Chelia: Oki Dokie! Let's just meet up by the bakery
Wendy: you bet! Favorite cheese buns for breakfast! :D
Chelia: TRUE! 3
Wendy: hahaha
Chelia: Oh! Wait a minute, mom is calling me. BRB!
Wendy: Sure go...
waiting...

Wendy then exits her chat with Chelia for a moment to browse her social media when she suddenly saw Lucy was online. So, quickly she presses the picture of Lucy to start her chat with the blonde.

Wendy: Hi Lucy-nee!
Lucy: Hey Wendy! What's up?
Wendy: Oh nothing much! Just wanted to say hi
Lucy: hahaha. Well then hello young lady. :)
Wendy: :) we missed you this weekend...
Lucy: sorry... it's the midterm week already
Wendy: I thought so...
Lucy: Is Natsu studying already?

Wendy: Nope! As usual... :D
Lucy: I knew it... I should have forced him to stay instead :/
Wendy: hahaha... then I should tell him that you are reminding him to study
Lucy: Thanks, Wendy!
oh! I remember, your birthday party is next Saturday!
Wendy: Yes! Speaking of that...
Lucy-nee the theme would be semi-formal. Soooo...
Lucy: Oh...

Wendy then bites her lower lip when Lucy suddenly disappeared from the chat, making the blunette nervous. As she waited some more, she saw that Chelia chatted her but she couldn't return to her pink-haired friend without knowing what Lucy was thinking. So, leaning close to his brother's ear, she whispered, "Natsu-nii..."
"Yeah?" Natsu asks back with his attention on the board game
"Is it natural for Lucy-nee to trail off in chat?" Wendy then hold her breath as Natsu slowly looked at her with surprise in his eyes
"You're chatting with her?" Natsu astonishingly question before a mischievous grin grew on his face
"Is that bad?" Wendy asks back and when Natsu shook his head, he said, "Lucy does trail off especially when she thinks about what you said...she'll chat back. So, relax kiddo,"

Natsu then looked back at the game with more determination in his eyes, "Aha! I now have the upper hand!"
"No, you don't Natsu..." Zeref counters, making Natsu growl

Soon Wendy shuts off the noise her brothers were making as she waited for Lucy to respond again. It took a few minutes before a bubble came up from Lucy's chat again, making Wendy eager to see the reply.

Lucy: So you're saying I should wear a dress?
Wendy: ...most likely...
I'm sorry Lucy-nee! I should have told you as soon as possible...
I'm just nervous that you'd say no
Lucy: Silly! Of course, I wouldn't say no. It's your party, your rules...
so...ok...I'll try to find a dress good for your party
Wendy: KYAAA! Thank you Lucy-nee! I'm pretty sure you will look fabulous!
Lucy: hahaha... I wish...
Hey, I got to go... got to study again
Wendy: okay! Good luck Lucy-nee!
Lucy: Oh! Please don't tell Natsu that we've chatted tonight.
He'll tease me about this...
thanks

Lucy then becomes offline before Wendy could reply back, "oops..." Wendy mumbles before she awkwardly laughs to herself


Fairy Hills Dormitory

Lucy is sitting quietly in her chair with an open textbook sprawled on top of her desk, a notepad on the side, and a pen on her hand. She took a five-minute break from all the readings she did for Literature 1 by going through her social media account when Wendy suddenly chatted her. At first, the conversation was light, making her laugh as she discovers that Natsu was not yet studying. But it all changed when she was told that the 16th birthday of Wendy would be semi-formal, which means she needs to wear a dress.

"Oh my goodness..." Lucy trails off after typing her two letter reply and a few dots to Wendy. She knows that with her sudden silence it would frantic Wendy but she just couldn't believe that the attire would be a dress. It's not that she hasn't worn one because she has when she was a little kid before she had big boobs.

That's true people, Lucy Heartfilia started using big shirts, long, lousy, shorts and pants when she started growing up with a busty chest and wide hips. It's not that she didn't like it, it's more of she wasn't comfortable with the idea of big boobs. Back in high school, she and Natsu had classmates that had big boobs and boys were like some leeches who keeps on sticking their heads to these girls with huge breasts. And seeing that, Lucy couldn't bear to have this kind of boys following her around. So, she decided to hide everything if possible even if she was called a lesbian because as long as she knows she's not, she's fine.

"What the heck am I going to do?!" Lucy frustratingly shouts to herself as she pulls her hair in distress. She suddenly stood up and paces inside her room as her hands were on her hips, "Wait... maybe I could wear some slacks and dress shirt... or is it strictly dress or skirt?" Lucy then stopped walking around as she stood before her chair. Quickly sitting on it again, she starts typing again and asks if Wendy was implying that she needed to wear a dress.

When Lucy saw the reply of the young blunette, she groaned in desperation until she saw Wendy's another reply. Seeing that Wendy was actually nervous telling her that, she couldn't help but forgive the young girl, after all, it's not like Wendy intended to do it. So, telling the young Dragneel that it was fine since it was her party, she also promised to find a good dress.

After all the chatting, Lucy returns to studying but then, she is baffled now, stuck in one paragraph for more than five minutes already. Sighing in exasperation, Lucy drops her head and slams it over her textbook. With her phone on the side, she was suddenly feeling like she needs to make a call. After a good minute, Lucy grabs her mobile and stood up as she began to pace again.

Dialing her mother's phone number, Lucy began to nail bite, a habit of hers whenever she was feeling frustrated and nervous.

"Lucy," her mother's sweet voice greets, making Lucy leap in enthusiasm
"mama!" Lucy greets back in a higher octave than her usual
"Oh...are you alright?" Layla, Lucy's mother asks back after hearing the sudden enthusiastic voice, "Is there a problem?"
"Well, it depends if it will..." Lucy states as she pauses from her pace and sits down instead on her bed, "mama," Lucy immediately calls
"Yes?" Layla replies curiously
"Do I have dresses their in my closet?" Lucy then bites her lower lip in anticipation as she brings her legs up and crosses it over her bed
"Dresses? Oh umm, I'm not sure. Let me check," a sound of foot shuffling then the sound of a door being open was heard, making Lucy even more nervous, "What? Do I have at least one dress?" Lucy asks as she hears her mother hum
"huh... funny... oh wait!" Layla exclaims as she moves the hangers to one side and pulls out a small dress, "Are you talking about your dress when you were young?"
"When I was young?" Lucy repeats as her eyes moved from side to side as she tries to recall, "Like how young are you talking about mama?"
"Like when you were grade 5?" Layla says as she inspects the blue dress she pulled out then suddenly hears Lucy groan on the other side of the line, "Dear? Is everything alright?"
"...No," Lucy admits, making Layla frown, feeling bad about what she heard, "What's wrong?" She coos as an attempt to comfort her daughter
"I thought I have at least attempted to keep one dress that would fit me now..." Lucy moans before she grumbles in annoyance to herself
"Oh dear..." Layla sighs in defeat, "If I knew that you would be needing a dress now, I would have kept at least one,"
"What do you mean, mama?" Lucy suddenly stops whining as she questions her mother, "You bought me dresses before?"
"Well, yeah... I was putting one dress at least every two months in your closet but you would always take it out and say to me that it wasn't yours which is absolutely ridiculous because your our only daughter and no one else would be owning it but you"

Lucy was then silent as she does remember those days when she would open her closet and see a new dress hanged on her cabinet. She even remembers how she admires those beautiful dresses but she was determined not to show any of her growing female body. So, despite liking those dresses, she would take it out of her closet, to avoid tempting herself to wear it, and just hand it back to her mother.

"...Right," Lucy then sighs tiredly before dropping herself to her bed, "So, this only means I don't have a dress,"
"I think so," Layla replies, making Lucy cringe as reality slaps her hard
"May I ask where those dresses you used to buy me go?" Lucy questions as she just stares at the ceiling
"I donated them," Layla then smiles despite knowing her daughter couldn't see it, "at least you were able to dress other small girls,"
"Yeah, I mean that's better, right? Rather than let them rot inside my closet..." Lucy then sits up again before she smiled to herself
"So what will you do?" Layla questions as she softly closes the closet and leaves the bedroom of her daughter, "Is the dress for Wendy's birthday party?"
"Yeah..." Lucy then huffs before she gleefully continues, "But don't worry about it, mama. I can...I can borrow a dress from Erza or Cana,"
"Are you sure? We can always-" Layla was then interrupted when Lucy quickly said, "No! It's fine...I'll call again and update you,"
"Oh okay... well then, take care dear,"
"You and papa too. I love you!" Lucy happily says, which was returned by her mother. Soon the call ends and Lucy lays down to her bed, sighing.

Minutes past by and Lucy was still staring at the ceiling as if her memory was being played before her. With her silence and occasional sighs, Levy McGarden, her roommate suddenly noticed her. So coming close to the open door of the blonde, Levy leans on the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So," Levy starts, making the blonde student yelp in surprise and half rose from her position, "whatcha thinking about?"
"Goodness Levy-chan!" Lucy scolds as she fully sat up straight with her hands clenched over her heart, "You scared me,"
"Didn't mean to," Levy smiles before she pushes herself off the doorframe and walked up to her friend, "So, what is this sad aura all about?" Levy then chortles when she saw the blonde chuckle as well
"Nothing," Lucy replies before she breathes out heavily
"Yeah, says by the way you sigh. Seriously Lu-chan, what's wrong? I just left you for half a day and I return seeing you like this..." Levy then nudges the blonde
"okay... but don't make fun of me," Lucy widens her eyes to the blunette who grinned and nodded to her request, "You know about Wendy's birthday right?"
"Uh-huh," Levy says as she nods her head furiously, "What about it?"
"Well, she told me that the party would be semi-formal..." Lucy trails off as she observes the growing surprise look of the blue-haired girl, "...so, we need a dress for the party,"
"Oh my gosh!" Levy then leaps off the bed as she twirls around in excitement, "Lu-chan! This is your chance to dress up and put on some make-up!"
"Yeah..." Lucy answers then frown as she looks down to her lap, which Levy noticed, "but..." Levy adds knowing that there was a catch to it,
"it would only be possible if I do have a dress and some proper make-up. But I don't," Lucy then became silent. Thinking that Levy was sympathizing her, she looked up at her friend only to see her no-ending smile.

"Lu-chan, that's so simple! We can turn out your clothes into something like a dress," Levy then pulled Lucy to her feet, "Let's go to your house this Friday after your exams, then we can bring some girls with us. I'm pretty sure, Mira and the others could help you out too,"
"Will it be that easy? I mean, the party is the next day," Lucy worriedly asks but Levy just scoffs as if it was just a funny comment, "Come on Lu-chan, trust me. With all the girl powers that we could combine, I'm pretty sure it would be easy as a pie."


"This is not easy as a pie," Levy comments as she stared at the opened closet of Lucy

"Sorry," Lucy bashfully mumbles as she hides her face in embarrassment

When the midterm week started, Lucy was barely talked to because she was too focused on her exams. Even for Natsu, who seemed to be the guy who doesn't study was busy as well reviewing. And so, when exams came, none of their friends mentioned about Wendy's birthday party on the coming weekend. But once the week ended, the first question they asked one another was, "What are you going to wear?"

True to Levy's words, she, Lucy and the other girls came together and all went home to Lucy's house to overnight since the next day would be Wendy's birthday. Thankful enough, Lucy didn't feel too much embarrassed to dress up in her own home because her parents were coming from Crocus, where they attended a gala party as well.

The moment the other girls were told what the overnight was really all about, they couldn't contain their excitement to help Lucy dress up. If there was one thing that they wanted to do ever since it was to raid her closet and see how bad it is after all the negative comments Lucy said about her own clothing closet.

"Oh! Don't worry Levy, this could be fixed!" Mira exclaims as she steps up and stands next to the petite blue-haired girl
"Mira look!" Levy exaggeratedly opens her arms, "All I see are t-shirts that could have owned by someone who is way bigger than Laxus!" Mira then snorts at the funny comparison of the blunette, while Levy turns to look at Lucy and said, "No offense Lu,"
"None was taken," Lucy replies as she raises her hand, not offended at all

"Oh come on, Levy, don't be too dramatic. These clothes could be made into a miracle," Cana said before pulling out one hanger and stared at the oversized t-shirt
"Lucy, if I may ask, where the hell did you get these big shirts?" Cana then looked up at the blushing-embarrassed blonde
"From the thrift shop..." Lucy said almost whispering, too embarrassed to admit every little secret she have about her closet
"Oh god..." Levy rolls her eyes as she groans in frustration
"No worries!" Mira then claps her hand as she turns to look at Lucy and give her a wide smile, "how about we look for one dress repair shop and grab one of these shirts that could be made as a dress,"
"I can ask my sister!" Yukino exclaims as she raises her hand to get the attention of the girls. After hearing what she said, Levy suddenly claps her hand and points at the silverette, "Right! Sorano is a Fashion Design student!"

"Yes, that is correct. She even made me an under armor dress for one of my presentation," Erza satisfyingly smiles as she recalls the instance she wore that armor that weighed half of her weight
"Under armor dress?" All the girls repeated but their confusion was quickly cut short when Mira claps her hand and said, "Alright, alright..."

All the girls focuses on Mira as they listened to the Senior student, "now that we know who could help us fix the dress, we need to look for that one shirt that would look perfect as Lucy's dress,"
"Lu-chan! Pick the shirt that you think would be great as a dress," Levy then pulls Lucy up and gently pushed her towards the closet
"Oh umm..." Lucy trails off as she one by one looked at the shirts, then pulls out one big floral shirt, "This one."

Mira then took the hanger and inspected it while the girls came closer to check it out and give some opinion. As they all studied the shirt, they said it would be best if Lucy uses it as an off shoulder dress.

"Off shoulder?!" Lucy exclaims, making the others cringe in loudness
"Yeah Lu-chan," Levy replies as she tries to subside her ringing ear, "that's the fashion these days, the off shoulder dresses,"
"Wa-wait!" Lucy slowly steps back, "Can't we just keep the sleeves up? And then make this dress loose?"
"No," all the girls said, making Lucy flinch with their sudden oneness
"Okay, fine," Lucy raises her both hands as she gives up any argument, "I just tried..."
"Yukino-chan?" Juvia then looks at the silver-haired girl, "Call your sister up. She is joining our overnight!"


Saturday morning came as early as 7 am, Lucy was still in bed when she hears some mumbling. Thinking that it was only in her dreams, she tried to shut the sound out, when suddenly she heard a very distinct whisper,

"Shhh! You'll wake her up! She should stay asleep so that she wouldn't have a choice but to accept what would be left"

"Huh?" Lucy slowly snapping out of her sleep as she raises her head but was gently caressed back and hears a soothing voice, "Sleep back my dear, let yourself some rest. I'll see you soon,"
"Okay mama," Lucy mumbles back as she smiles and sleeps again

When Lucy was back to slumber, all the girls sighed in relief and Mira slowly stepped back from the bed.

"Nice one Mira. I knew you bewitched Laxus with your sexy voice," Cana then hip-bumped the silverette, who only chuckled at her comment
"Alright girls," Mira then leans into a huddle with the others, "First off, let's leave the shirts that Lucy could still use while for the other clothes that scream 'no', should be leaving. Got it?"
"Got it!" The girls whisperingly cheer before they all raided the cabinet and closet of the blonde.

Erza and Juvia raided the first two drawers of Lucy and sees that the blonde barely had proper undergarments, such as the right size of bra and sports bra. Levy, on the other hand, was the one taking notes of what to buy so that they could replace all the clothing that they would be giving away in the charity Layla has been supporting.

"Girls, question. If we are going to give away most of Lucy's clothes, where will we get the money to buy new ones?" Lissana asks as she stops fumbling with Lucy's numerous jersey shorts
"From Layla-san," Levy instantly replies as if she was sure. As the girls turn their heads to look at Levy skeptically, the blunette just raised her brow in wonder, "What? I called her last night..."
"Is that why you started throwing out all of her clothes to the floor right at the minute you woke up?" Erza questions, slowly taking a step to the blunette, who was now feeling a little intimidated with the scarlet
"Y-yeah...I guess?" Levy then sheepishly smiles, when suddenly Erza grinned mischievously and replies, "I like that. So we have someone to sponsor us?"
"Yep!" Levy gleamingly answers, "When I told her that we raided Lucy's closet and that I was planning to do this, she willingly said that we could use her spare credit card"
"And where will we get that?" Cana questions as she furrows her brow at the petite student
"Tada!" Levy pulls out a card from her back pocket and reveals to hold the credit card, "But were only going to use this for Lucy. Nothing else, alright?"
"Copy that," all the girls reply before returning back to their work

After two more hours, Lucy finally woke up and sees that her friends were no longer in her room. So, quickly standing up from the bed, she grabbed her ponytail and tied her hair so that she no longer needs to brush her bed hair. The instant she was on the ground floor, she sees her friends were huddled in the dining room, getting excited to eat as breakfast was being served.

"Ah! Lucy-chan!" Juvia first notices the blonde before everyone else. She came closer to Lucy and pulled her towards the others, "We were just about to wake you up for breakfast!"
"Why are you all up early?" Lucy questions, not sure of what to feel seeing her friends all energized while her still half awake and half asleep
"Oh nothing in particular," Lissana lies as she smiles at the blonde
"I was up early to help my sister out. She said she is close to finishing it," Yukino then leans forward to Lucy and smiled at her, "Sorano-nee wants you to try it on later to see if there are some adjustments needed,"
"W-what?" Lucy then blushed as she remembered how short the dress would be
"That's great!" Mira suddenly exclaims as she comes up to her friends, "We'll see you fit that new dress then we'll go shopping,"
"Shopping? But I have enough clothes and shoes and stuff..." Lucy declines. When she declined she was thinking her friends would be furious about it but her friends were having those mischief look on their faces and Lucy couldn't help but be nervous
"Are you sure?" Levy asks, with a hint of evilness
"Y-yeah..." Lucy nervously replies
"okay..." Levy then trails off and turns her back to avoid Lucy see her laugh


It's almost six in the evening when Lucy suddenly receives a call. She's in the middle of zipping up her dress when Yukino ran up to her and hand her the phone.

"Thanks, Yukino," Lucy said as she took the phone before Yukino left to finish dressing up as well
"hello?" Lucy greets after swiping her phone screen
"I'm on my way..." The distinct male voice said
"Okay, Natsu. Wait! are the boys with you?" Lucy questions, "Ow!" She suddenly screeched
"What happened? Are you alright?" Natsu quickly asks after hearing the yelp of his best friend, completely ignoring the question of the blonde
"Yeah, I'm fine...it's just the zipper," Lucy then looked at Sorano through the mirror, who rolled her eyes before continuing to help her, "So, tell me. Are the boys coming with you? Because the girls are here with me at home,"
"Yeah, but my cousin is riding with me, if that will be fine," Natsu states back
"Yeah of course. Will it be Sting and Rogue?" Lucy was then turned to face Sorano who mouth out not to scream again, then Sorano pushed Lucy's breast up. Lucy was about to scream out loud but stopped herself when she saw the dagger look of the older Agria, "What was that for?!" Lucy bellows softly as to not surprise the teen on the other line of the call
"No, it's just Sting. Rogue is riding with Gajeel. Hello, Luce? Still there?" Natsu then raises his eyebrows when he hears some mumbling, "Luce?"
"Yep! Still here!" Lucy quickly replies when she realize that Natsu has been speaking the whole time
"What the hell are you doing?" Natsu questions irritated
"Getting ready, what else?" Lucy then rolls her eyes
"Still getting ready? What's taking you so long? That's just pants and a polo," Natsu assumed before he chuckles with a certain blonde boy next to him
"FYI Natsu, I am not wearing pants," Lucy annoyed counters back, "And tell Sting to shut up,"
"Hahaha, Sting she said shut up!"
"Uhh," Lucy groans, "just get here alright? We're almost done," Lucy then pulls her phone away from her ear, then loudly said, "Bye!" And with that, the called ended despite hearing Natsu whine about cutting him off too fast

Within a few minutes, Natsu and Sting arrive first in the Heartfilia residence, followed by other cars used by the boys. They were all welcomed inside and waited for the girls to come down to the living room.

"Hi, Mrs. Spetto! Where's Lucy?" Natsu asks once he sees the head maid of the Heartfilia family. He was at the first step of the stairs, getting ready to climb up when Mrs. Spetto shrills out loud and pull Natsu back
"No! No! No!" Mrs. Spetto repeatedly shouts as she drags the pink-haired teen away from the stairs and placed him in a particular spot
"Wha-!" Natsu bellows as he was dragged down. When he was stopped in a distinct place, he confusingly asks the maid, "Mrs. Spetto! What is going on?!"
"You'll see!" Mrs. Spetto replies then looked at the other boys and shout, "Alright boys! Line up here!"

Confused as ever, the guys stood from the couches and walked up to where Natsu was standing. As they were one by one pulled in a particular order, they all had a confused look to the head maid.

"Mrs. Spetto?" One of the maids called, making the elder turn to look at her
"Yes, Ayumi?" Mrs. Spetto greets back after placing Laxus at the very end of the formed line
"Ms. Lucy and the others are ready," Ayumi, the newest maid said
"Great! We're all set here too!" Mrs. Spetto gleefully replies back
"Wait, Mrs. Spetto, what is really going on?" Natsu loudly questions but the maid paid no mind
"I feel like were going to prom again," Sting mutters as he fixes the sleeve of his dress shirt
"This is like prom... and It's weird," Lyon mumbles as he expectantly looked upstairs

Soon enough, Mira came out of the hall first and descends the stairs, wearing a red A-line dress that falls right before her knees. Seeing the long white-haired teen, Laxus couldn't help but smile as he walks up to the end of the stairs and offered his hand to let Mira hold. As the boys looked at the oldest man among the group, they couldn't help but feel a little awkward seeing how lovingly Laxus looks at his girlfriend.

"Ew," Natsu mumbles to himself before leaning back to avoid seeing the face of the blonde man. Sting then chuckles at the side of Natsu and nudges him as he whispers, "This is such a cheesy moment,"
"Can't agree more..." Natsu then groans in disgust

Lissana then came down next, which Lyon met halfway up the stairs to assist the young Strauss, who was simply wearing a blue pleated dress. Erza then came out, all confident in her black fitted cocktail dress but quickly becomes bashful when she saw how Jellal was looking at her. Swallowing down her nervousness, she finally came eye to eye with the royal blue-haired teen, and softly mumbles, "Hi,"
and Jellal answers back too in the same manner,"Hi,"

"Will the two of you just get going? We're almost late here..." Natsu reminded as he leans forward and grins at the furious scarlet, "thanks!" Natsu then leans back before huffing in annoyance
"What is this all about? This is taking so much time..." Natsu comments as he crosses his arms
"Relax bro, this is fun... you can blackmail the others for having those weird cheesy looks," Sting suggested before he and Natsu chuckles

Cana was the one next who came out. Compared to the first three girls, Cana was not walking like she was some princess going to meet her prince. Instead, she walked too fast, making a particular petite blue-haired girl from the hall shout, "Slow down! You're destroying the moment!"
"Oh quite it! Natsu's right, we're getting late!" Cana shouts back as she looked down to her feet and carefully watched her steps as she descends the stairs because she wasn't used to using 5 inches heels. Rogue then came up to her and offered a hand, which Cana gratefully took. Soon, Levy came out of the hall after huffing in annoyance to the brunette. But she quickly returns to her good mood when was about to descend the stairs.

"Gihi," Gajeel smiles when he sees his girlfriend come down in a white floral petticoat dress
"Dude, you're creepy when you look at Levy like that...it's like your going to eat her alive," Gray comments before shuddering in his spot
"Shut up ice head," Gajeel scolds without looking at the teen next to him, then he walks up to the stairs to meet the blunette

"Gray-sama! Juvia is here!" The blue-haired girl from the hall quickly shouts once she was permitted to walk, making Levy scowl and turn her head to look up and reprimand the girl upstairs, "Ju-chan! You have to slow down! Remember! Like a princess!"
"Oh!" Juvia then tries to slow down in her heels and stops immediately as she held on to the railings of the stairs. When Juvia looked down, she quickly saw Gray was looking at her in bored expression, so she waved at the teen and greeted again, "Hi Gray-sama!"
"Will you please come down already?" Gray asks, loud enough for Juvia to hear
"Okay!" Juvia then began to descend the stairs, hurrying up so that she could be with the raven haired teen.

Gray was not planning to fetch Juvia, but when Natsu secretly pushed the teen out of the line, Gray had no choice but to get his balance and compose himself. He was near the stairs already, and so to avoid embarrassing himself, he walked up to the end of the stairwell. As he stood there waiting for the clingy blunette, he noticed how Juvia was coming down too fast, too fast that would sure cause her to, "Kyaaa!" Juvia suddenly screeches as her feet skipped one step, making her lose her balance
"Juvia!" Levy and the other girls shout in alarm as they watched the blunette slowly fall down and rushed to catch her. Thankfully Gray was there to literally catch her and carry her in bridal style.

With her eyes closed, Juvia held her breath until she heard a man's voice, "I told you to come down and this is your style of coming down?"
Opening one eye to see if she was truly safe, Juvia suddenly widens her eyes as she was taken aback when she saw the dark eyes of the man she has been pursuing, "Gray-sama saved me?" Juvia asks disbelievingly to what is happening
"Obviously," Gray remarks back, acting irritated but behind that façade, he was nervous as hell when he saw her fall down and might break her ankle, thanks to her heels.
"Ahhh!" Juvia then wraps her arms around Gray's head making her squish his head into her chest. Gray realizing where his head was resting, he started to blush and since he didn't want to take advantage, he said in a muffled voice, "I can't breathe…let go,"
"Oh! Sorry!" Juvia then unwraps her arms as she smiles at him

"Lucky bastard," mutters Lyon as he watched his childhood friend, Gray, be squished right into the chest of the girl he will always have a crush on despite the numerous dumping he receives from her. Suddenly thinking if he said it too loud, he looked at the girl next to him and saw Lissana had wide eyes to him. Sheepishly smiling back at her, he mumbles, "Kidding…peace,"

"Are you done? Now, will you get out of there so the other two girls can come down now?" Natsu said with his arms crossed over his chest and a bored expression on his face. Gray scowls at Natsu as he slowly descends the stairs and sets Juvia on the floor.

Without noticing at first that Yukino was standing by the railing of the stairs to check on what happened to Juvia, everyone looked up and expected for a girl to slowly come out. Only to see, Yukino was already standing at the top of the stairs. Seeing their surprised expressions, Yukino couldn't help but be bashful, "Hi," she greets with a small wave

"Who is this angel?" Sting suddenly mumbles keeping his eyes to the silver-haired girl standing on the second floor as he slowly walks closer to the stairs
"She's Yukino! She will be your date for tonight!" Mira instructs as she saw a potential match between the two
"What a lovely name" Sting compliments before he hurries up the stairs to introduce himself to the girl. When he was standing right before her, he has taken aback the woman when he gently took her hand and gave a peck to her backhand, "I'm Sting Eucliff, a cousin of Natsu and Gajeel,"
"Oh…" Yukino replies, baffled to see a handsome man do that to her. Until their small conversation was interrupted by a clearing of the throat from the second floor.

"Done flirting?" Sorano asks, then widens her eyes to her little sister
"Yes!" Yukino then steps back then realizes her answer, "I mean no! I mean…we're not flirting but it's done," Yukino then smiled at her sister, who only rolled her eyes and dismissed them with her hands.

As Yukino and Sting come down to stand next to Natsu, the pinkette quickly asks, "What's taking Lucy so long?"
"She's coming down Natsu-san…just wait," Yukino says poking the arm of the pinkette, who just grumbles in reply to her

Sorano suddenly comes out and clears her throat to start her small introduction for Lucy, "Let me call in, the most awaited transformation of the night,"
"Uh! So-!" Natsu starts but was immediately cut off by Sorano as well, "Shut up Natsu!"
"Yeah!" Everyone echoes back and glared at the pinkette, who only scoffs at his friends

"Let me continue as I was rudely interrupted," Sorano enlarges her eyes to dare the pinkette again, "She has gone through a drastic and surprising transformation. And believe me, it is worth it…Let us welcome, Lucy Heartfilia!"

Just in time, Lucy's name was called, Jude and Layla came into the living room along with some maid who was curious to Lucy's new look.

"I'm nervous," Lucy says to Sorano, who was walking towards her and gently pulled her to walk
"Relax blondie, you look great" Sorano then gave a gentle smile and finally made Lucy walk

Slowly appearing on the top of the stairs, Lucy had to hold her hands for it was shaking. She was not used to the attention, especially knowing that they would be looking at her appearance. The last time she felt this nervous was when she did her solo ballet recital when she was a little girl.

A beautiful blonde girl slowly appears right before everyone. The instant that Lucy was in full view, everyone on the ground floor gasps in surprise seeing the transformation that Lucy has gone through. Even though it was just how Lucy dressed and how she fixed her hair, it feels like Lucy has gone through a massive makeover.

Soon everyone claps and welcomes Lucy, who was all bashful for the warm welcome from her friends. She didn't know where to look, so she looked for her best friend, Natsu. After all, she knew Natsu would be the first person to like whatever look she had. When her eyes landed on him, she couldn't explain the expression Natsu had but she just brushed it off and smiled at him.

Lucy then stops one step higher from where Natsu stood so that she could look taller for a moment, "So, watcha think?" Lucy asks, smilingly at Natsu, who was completely silent and surprised
"…You're a girl…" Natsu mutters insensibly
"Uh yeah…the last time I checked, you knew that too…" Lucy slowly chuckles at the pinkette
"But you have boobs, a tiny waist, and wide hips…how?" Natsu questioningly looks at Lucy, completely confused to how Lucy suddenly transformed from a girl who looked like some shapeless woman to a woman full of curves
"I have them ever since, baka," Lucy then scowls at the pinkette before she takes another step. Not looking at her feet, Lucy looked at her friends only to spot her parents, teary eyed. Surprised to see them home in time to see her, she suddenly calls out, "Mama! Papa!"

Everyone then turns their heads to look at the parents of Lucy. Right when Lucy was going to take a step, she didn't know that her feet were not fully stepping on the step, making her slip and tumble forward, "Woah!" Lucy loudly bellows as she felt the gravity pull her.

To her surprise, Natsu immediately held her to her waist and stops her from falling flat on the ground. Lucy landed right on his chest with her hands placed on his shoulders, while his arms securely wrapped around her small waist.

"Natsu…" Lucy mumbles as she looks up at the still confused man. Pulling away from his grasp, she mumbles, "Thanks," then steps away to walk up to her friends and urge them to head out already because they were late.

As the teens one by one bid the Heartfilia couple goodbye and left to head to the cars parked outside, Natsu was left alone with the couple with a confused mind.

"Natsu," Layla calls as she walks up to him but the teen seems not to hear her so she called once more. When Natsu finally snapped out of his thoughts, he sees the smile of the older blonde, "Yes? Auntie Layla?"

"Jude and I will come follow to Wendy's birthday. You better go," Layla then cups the cheek of the pinkette who quickly blushed when he realized he was left behind by his friends, "Oh right! Umm…see you guys later!" and with that Natsu ran out of the house.

When Natsu was by the entrance door and sees that his car was already filled in by Lucy, Sting, and Yukino, he swallowed hard as he kept his vision right on Lucy.

He couldn't believe the Lucy he was seeing. All the boyish Lucy he knew since high school suddenly disappears and here now sees the most beautiful girl he has laid eyes on. He swallowed hard and then utters to himself, "Can't believe this…my best friend is a girl,"


Up next: 4: She looks different