Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters: that right belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Monday, August 6th, 8 am Early Morning Shock

Lucy's POV

Light filtered through the sheer white curtain and splayed across her face, making Lucy wrinkle up her nose. Warm and comfortable, she didn't want to wake up. With a soft groan, Lucy decided to roll over and almost tumbled out of bed. The feeling of inertia kicked in, making her gasp as she swung her legs out, hoping she'd catch herself. When her feet hit the floor with a soft thump, Lucy sat up quickly, very awake. Out of habit, she turned around, ready to chastise Natsu for climbing into her bed and hogging it, when her brown eyes fell on black hair, with a pale face, relaxed in sleep. A dark blush crept across her cheeks as yesterday's events came flooding back. Swallowing, she tried to slide to the edge of the bed without disturbing his sleep while racking her brain as to how she had ended up in bed with him.

Unable to put two and two together, Lucy just sat at the edge of the bed, watching him, taking in the fine bone lines that made the frame of his face and how his thin lips looked almost like they were curved into a half smile as his shaggy black hair splayed over his face. This was the first time she could recall seeing Rogue up close before and getting a good look at him.

A small smile graced her lips as she thought, "Wow, so the shadow dragon slayer of Sabertooth can look so peaceful and relaxed... and to boot, he isn't half bad looking either. No, bad, Lucy. he is the enemy, even if you are helping because he saved your butt." She shook her head lightly at her thought process.

Getting up slowly from the bed, Lucy sighed as her eyes caught her alarm clock. She had been passed out for a while now. She didn't even recall when she fell asleep last night, though Lucy recalled the conversation she had been having with Rogue. Regret welled up in her as she remembered what she had said to him or called him. Lucy figured she should apologize for it because she didn't have any right to say it to him. With another sigh, she went to her dresser and began to rummage through, pulling out clean underwear and a pink tank top, with a black and pink pair of khakis. It was time for her morning shower, a ritual that would never be changed, except when Lucy was out on the road with her team. She smiled at the thought of them, wondering who would be her 'bodyguard' for today.

Shutting the drawer with a soft thud, Lucy turned to walk to her bathroom, her gaze going back to look at Rogue's sleeping form. A faint blush creeping across her cheeks, she pulled her eyes away to look at the couch, where they met with a pair of wide, beady eyes coming out of a green face surrounded by a pink frog head. Those eyes, confused and child-like, melted her heart, causing Lucy to walk over to the small exceed and sit beside it.

"Good morning Frosch. Are you alright? Do you want to come take a shower with me this morning?" Lucy whispered not to wake up Rogue. Frosch turned its head to look at Lucy, a smile lighting its face.

"Frosch would very much like to take a shower. Rogue always tells Frosch that cleanliness is next to godliness and that Frosch needs to bathe often. Frosch thinks it is because Rogue's nose is sensitive to smells that Frosch should bathe every day." The small exceed replied in a whisper, aware that Rogue was asleep.

Grinning ear to ear at what the exceed had just told her about its master, Lucy nodded her head, all the while smothering a giggling fit. As she stood up, Lucy gathered the exceed into her arms and headed to the bathroom. Lucy set Frosch down on the sink and her clothes so she could shut the door. As she closed it, Lucy decided to keep it cracked, just in case Rogue woke up and called out. Nodding her head, Lucy turned, wandering over to turn on the shower. Holding one hand under the spray of water until it was hot enough to her liking, she soon stripped herself naked before turning her attention to the exceed, who was still standing there on the sink, watching her as if waiting for something to happen.

"Frosch, why are you not undressed? I thought you wanted to take a shower with me," she said softly, only to get a look of sheer frustration from Frosch.

Frosch replied, "Frosch can't reach Frosch's zipper. It's on Frosch's back." Making Lucy's eyes widen, she stepped over to unzip the exceed.

Once the zipper was undone, Frosch seemed to wiggle out of it like a butterfly from its cocoon. Lucy watched it all with a sense of amusement as Frosch jumped from the sink and marched over to the shower. A smile on her face, Lucy bent down, picking up her dirty clothes to toss into the clothes hamper, before grabbing Frosches frog suit. When she pulled it close, she caught a very rank smell, as if the suit hadn't been washed in a while and possibly used as a toilet recently. Dropping it with a quick jerking movement into the hamper, Lucy jumped into her shower, letting out a low hiss of pleasure from the water hitting her back and scalp.

Glancing down, she saw Frosch sitting on the bottom of the shower, splashing happily in the water pooling there shallowly, like a little kid. Smothering an 'Aww' with her hands, she watched the exceed for a few more minutes, allowing the hot water to cascade over her, and relax the muscles. After a while, Lucy grabbed her favorite shampoo and squirted some into the palm of her hand; Lucy lathered it up and scrubbed her scalp, loving the feeling of her fingertips as they dug into it, almost massaging it. Once done, she rinsed it out of her hair before applying the conditioner.

"Frosch, would you like me to wash your fur?" she asked as she stepped away from the water to allow the conditioner on her hair and split ends. Her eyes met the exceeds as it looked up, with a giant grin on its face, giving her its answer. Looking at her bathing supplies, she chose a body wash that smelled of jasmine and rain. Bending down, she opened the bottle and put a quarter size on its head.

"Okay, shut your eyes; I don't want the soap to get into them," she said gently, noting that Frosch obeyed quickly and without hesitation.

Immediately, she began to scrub the body soap into Frosch's fur on its head, back, stomach, and limbs, laughing softly when Frosch claimed it tickled as she washed its belly. Once she was done, and the soapy lather was a rich foam, full of bubbles, she picked up Frosch and stepped under the shower's spray, allowing it to get the rest of the conditioner from her hair, as she rinsed the exceed, who had started to sing 'Rain, Rain go away!' in a soft, child-like voice. Lucy knew she was falling in love with the adorable, little exceed. Once she was done rinsing Frosch, she put it back on the shower floor to play in the water again while she grabbed a different bottle of bath soap to wash. It only took her five minutes to scrub her body and rinse it.

"I'm all done, Frosch; time to get out and dry off," she chimed cheerfully as she shut off the water, earning a pout and sniff from the exceed.

Smiling as she bent to pick up Frosch, Lucy spoke reassuringly, "Don't worry, Frosch. If you want, I can bathe you again before bed. Is that okay with you?"

Getting a nod from the exceed, she sat Frosch on the sink's edge as she grabbed two towels from the hanging rack on the wall. She wrapped one around her body, giving it some modesty while glad that Rogue had stayed asleep through the shower. She took the other and began to dry Frosch's fur, making it stand up at various angles. When she was done, she looked at the now fluffy green exceed, who watched her silently.

A slightly uncomfortable feeling washing over her, as she noted that the exceed seemed to stare at her, caused her to speak a bit unsteadily, "Is there something wrong, Frosch? You keep staring at me, almost as if something is on my body. Did I forget to rinse off all the soap?"

Her eyes were pinned by the exceed's for a few minutes before Frosch replied, its voice showing apparent confusion, "Not really, though Frosch is wondering why you look different than Rogue without clothes on. You don't have dangly bits between your legs like Frosch's Rogue but have more curvy bumps on your chest instead, where Frosch's Rogue's is flat. Why is that Lucy?"

When Frosch finished speaking, it tilted its head to the side, still looking at her. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, making her feel light-headed as she listened to the small exceed speak. Horror filled Lucy with what it was saying, making her wonder what Rogue had been teaching the poor thing before a thought popped into her head.

With her cheeks flushing a darker red, Lucy cleared her throat before talking, "Frosh, before I answer your question. Please tell me if you are a boy or girl?"

Her brown eyes watched as Frosch blinked before righting itself and standing tall.

Placing hands on its hips, Frosch puffed out its chest as it replied, "Frosch is a boy, like Rogue. So why is Lucy shaped oddly? Are you a boy that has been mutated? Sting said that happens sometimes."

The feeling of dread building in the pit of her stomach was confirmed by the exceed, as Lucy let a loud squeak out, feeling her whole face go red, as Frosch continued to speak about what Sting had told her. Knowing she'd have to answer the question, which would lead to more inquiry, she took a breath while collecting her wits before replying.

"Well...Frosch,\the reason I look so different from Rogue is that I am not a boy. I am a girl and have slightly different body parts. And as for what Sting told you, I wouldn't believe it, okay. Everybody looks different on the outside, don't they? Do Sting and Rogue look alike? And no, I won't explain why girls look different from boys; that isn't for me to explain, sweetie."

TBC!