Dragons and Stars

When Jude first met Layla, as a humble trader with dreams of fortune, meeting the kind mage who seemed to brighten a room with her mere presence, he dreamed of the two growing old together, watching their grandchildren play in their gardens. There were times he dreamed of having to watch Layla slip away from this world, and then he'd wake up to Layla beside him. But this was no dream…

Layla had told Jude of her plan, but didn't go into detail, only that whatever was going to happen, it would have far reaching consequences. Jude understood that magic was something he certainly wouldn't ever understand, so he figured it was best to let sleeping dragons lie for the time. Still, that didn't make him feel any better a she sat by her bedside, as the life slowly left her. He had the servants take Lucy from the room; his daughter should not have been there to witness what was happening.

"Jude," Layla said weakly from the bed, as she opened her eyes.

"Don't try and talk," the businessman said, taking his wife's hand. At that, Layla sniffed, as tears leaked out of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she said gently, as she grimaced, "So sorry to leave you and Lucy."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Jude said, squeezing her hand, "You did what you thought was right." But if Jude was being completely honest, he didn't entirely believe those words.

"There's… actually something I need you to do," Layla said, as she looked up at her husband, "If only for Lucy's sake."

"Name it!" Jude said firmly, leaning forward.

"Take my keys, and then take Lucy and go West, across the sea, to the Alvarez Empire," Layla explained, "Tell them you were sent by Layla and Anna Heartfilia."

"Alvarez?" Jude asked, not familiar with the name, "What're you talking about?"

"There is much you don't know, and not enough time for me to explain," Layla said, as she removed her hand from Jude's hand and put on his face, "Just know that I love you and Lucy so much, and if all goes right, both of you will find happiness on that continent. Just promise me this thing."

"I swear," Jude declared, taking her hand again, "I will get us to Alvarez! I will see to it that Lucy will have that future!" At that, Layla just smiled weakly.

"Good… Good…" That was when Jude started to feel her hand go limp…

(|)

Lucy had no idea what to make of her current situation. Really, how was a little girl supposed to react when moving from one continent to another?

She barely had anytime to react when her father told her they were moving. She barely had any time to pack before her father dismissed the staff, sold the property, and put her on a ship with him. She could bring her favorite doll Gonzales with her, and a few other toys, but aside from basic necessities that was it.

They eventually came to their final destination, in a big nation called Alvarez. There, her father met with the ruler of the country (apparently he knew Layla), and was now one of the empire's ministers. Unfortunately, the job left him very busy, and he didn't have much time to spend with his daughter, who was now effectively on her own in the palace.

Said palace was even bigger than the old mansion, but for Lucy that somehow made things worse. These huge, empty halls frightened her, as she was surrounded by people she didn't know, and faces she didn't recognize. Multiple times now, Lucy had gotten lost in the halls, and some servants or guards would find her tucked against a wall, crying in fear. The girl was now sitting in the palace gardens, softly crying to herself, if only because she didn't know what else to do.

"Why are you crying?" Lucy suddenly looked up to see a boy about her age, with spiky pink hair wearing a scaly scarf standing beside her.

"What?" she asked, blinking through her tears.

"I asked why you're crying," the boy said, sitting beside her.

"Because I miss my Mommy," Lucy said, as she put her head back down, "Because now I'm all alone."

"You're not alone here," the boy said, "There are a lot of people here."

"But I don't know anyone ," Lucy said, hiding her face in her knees, sniffling some more. The two sat in silence for a time, as the boy looked at her sympathetically, before a smile creeped onto his face.

"Well my name's Natsu," the boy said grinning, "There, now you know someone." Lucy looked at him for a time. She looked at his huge smile, which seemed to almost literally glow. And despite herself, she couldn't help but smile slightly too.

"Yeah," she said wiping some of her tears, "I guess so."

"What's your name?" Natsu asked.

"Lucy," the blonde answered after a moment.

"Great!" Natsu said, jumping to his feet, before offering a hand with a huge grin, "Let's be friends, Luigi!" Lucy thought she should've been more irritated by that, but for some reason she wasn't, as she took Natsu's hand, and promptly got pulled to her feet, before Natsu dragged her further into the gardens to play.

(|)

"I'm going to catch you!" Natsu said.

"You'll never catch me!" Lucy said, as Natsu chased her through the gardens.

"Take this!" Natsu said, as he let out a burst of fire magic, springing him forward, but he did it too hard, and instead landed on a rose bush. He let out a sequel of pain as he leapt up, holding his but. Lucy just laughed as she kept running, though in doing so, she wasn't looking where she was going, and tripped on a small root, landing face first on the soft grass. Natsu didn't manage to stop in time, causing him to fall on top of her. He rolled off, and the two looked at each other briefly, before they both laughed, and got up to continue playing. As they did so, they were watched on high by Natsu's brother, and Lucy's father.

"It's barely been a year, and the two have become practically inseparable," Jude said, as he smiled gently. He never realized just how much he missed his daughter's smile.

"Yes," Zeref agreed with a nod, as he also smiled. If he were being honest, Lucy reminded him a bit of Mavis in a certain way, with how she seemed to radiate love and kindness.

"It pained me that we were never able to give Lucy the friends she deserved," Jude said, "I'm just thankful that she now has someone she can call her friend."

"What would you say to the two of them becoming more than that?"

/|\

"Those two are getting married?"

Neither of the siblings had actually said that out loud, but it was certainly the primary thing on their minds at this point, as they looked at the pink and blonde-haired teens as they argued.

"Not the first time I've seen that look," Erza said with a slight chuckle.

"Sorry," Ultear said, feeling somewhat embarrassed, "Was it that visible?"

"It's an arranged marriage," Lucy protested, as she turned her nose up at Natsu, "Honestly, I sometimes wonder if any girl could find such a brute attractive." At that, Erza chuckled again, and Brandish just rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to put it like that!" Natsu protested.

"Lucy's just mean," Happy commented.

"Honestly, she looks way too good for that guy," Gray whispered to his sister, a bit louder than he honestly meant it to be, getting the attention of the others.

"Gray!" Ultear scolded.

"Well, he's not wrong," Brandish said, as she took some more of her ice cream, before noticing something about the young man in front of her, "Is there a reason you've taken your shirt off?"

"Ah crap!" Gray said, as he looked down. Unfortunately, before he could do anything, he found himself getting decked by his sister, and set sprawling onto the floor.

"Idiot," Ultear grumbled, as she massaged her fist, rolling her own eyes.

"Did you have to do it that hard?" Gray grumbled, rubbing his head.

"You'll have to pardon my brother," Ultear said to the others, "It's a habit our mother unintentionally instilled in him."

"How vulgar," Brandish griped, as she glanced down at Gray, before noticing a symbol on his chest. It was dark blue, and almost looked like a stylized wing and tail.

"Well, we need to get going," Ultear said, as she rose to her feet, "We actually came to this town on a job, and if the bandits are actually here, we may need to change our plan. But thank you for the meal."

"Of course, it's our pleasure," Erza answered.

"Take care," Gray said, waving slightly, as he and his sister left. As they did, Brandish found herself watching closer than she normally would, looking lost in thought.

"Something on your mind, Brandish?" Erza asked, leaning forward.

"That symbol," Brandish muttered, as a memory came to her. A memory of the Empress showing her something…

"It's too much trouble to remember," she then said, as she returned to her ice cream.

(|)

It got dark quicker than they thought it would, and the Alvarez mages hadn't made much progress. Admittedly, though, they weren't entirely sure where to start.

"We can't keep just wandering around," Brandish said, as she leaned on the railing of an overlook they had stopped at, "We have a job to do."

"Brandish is right," Erza said, folding her arms, "Our Empress gave us a task to find the guild, and we need to start working on it."

"Well, it's not like Fiore is a really big country," Lucy said, putting her hand to her chin, I'm sure if we ask around, we can find the guild without much trouble."

"We should take the train up the country," Brandish added, "It'd be less trouble than walking."

"Train," Natsu groaned, as his stomach lurched on instinct.

"Then that's what we'll do," Erza said, "We'll start in the shops and go from there. I don't think it'll take too long."

"Do we have to take the train?" Natsu whined, "Why can't we just walk?"

"If you want to walk, that's your problem," Erza said, "But I, for one, don't intend on spending days on end walking to a place we could reach in just a few hours."

"That still sounds better," Natsu grumbled.

"Don't worry," Happy said from his position on Lucy's shoulder, "Natsu's just being a wimp."

"Happy!" Natsu said, "You're supposed to be on my side!" As he was sulking, a couple of young women passed by.

"I heard one of those Triple Wheel Tankers came down into town today," one of them said.

"That's horrible to hear!" Her friend answered, "When will someone do something about them?"

"Well, apparently a guild was called in to take care of them," the other said, "What was it called again? Pixie Butt or something?"

"More like Fairy Tail." At that, the Alvarez nationals ears perked up as they looked over that.

"Fairy Tail…," Natsu muttered slightly.

(|)

This is the place," Ultear said.

"And some say the sky's blue," Gray answered. His sister responded by punching him in the shoulder slightly, though she had to admit he had a point.

They had gotten a tip from the townsfolk that the gang was up in the mountains, and as their luck would have it, there was actually a trail leading up into the mountains. Eventually the trail lead them to large cave against a cliff; frankly, one of the most cliched spots a person could hide out. Apparently this gang wasn't the smartest of groups.

"Well then, let's go!" Gray said, as he moved to enter, only for Ultear to grab his shoulder.

"I don't doubt this will be simple," she said, "But we need some sort of plan, or this'll take longer than it should."

"Alright then, what do you have in mind?" Gray asked.

"Well, if we go in quietly, then we can..."

"Look out!" Gray suddenly shouted, as he tackled her to the side, just as there was a small explosion where the two were once standing. The two quickly recovered just in time to see a couple dozen guys on motorcycles come riding down the cliffs, before starting to circle them. It didn't go unnoticed by either of them that the men were riding three-wheelers, like they are riding giant tricycles; it was almost kind of funny actually.

"I don't know why you brats are up in our mountains," one of them said from his vehicle, "But you must be serious idiots to trespass!"

"So you gave up your tactical advantage to take us on?" Ultear asked, "And you're calling us the idiots?" If the gang was angered by that, it didn't show, as they continued to shout and hoot as they circled them. The two then went back to back, as they both put their hands together in a casting stance.

"I'm counting a little more than twenty of them," Ultear said, "Not that many all things considered."

"I get the odds and you get the evens?" Gray asked.

"Or we could see who can get the most the quickest," Ultear responded, grinning at her brother.

"What're you so cocky about?" one of the thugs demanded as they continued to circle, "We got you outnumbered!"

"Let's show these fools what happens when you mess with the Triple Wheel Tankers!" another thug said, "Let's..." He didn't finish, as there was a sudden burst of heat and light, which blew both him, and a couple of his buddies away, and sent up a massive cloud of dust. All the motorcyclists stopped, as they stared at the dust along with Gray and Ultear, who were equally caught off-guard. The two peered through the dust, and were treated with quite the sight.

"I guess it doesn't matter where you are," Natsu said as he cracked his knuckles, stepping out of the dust, "There are assholes on every continent!"

"You?! What're you doing here?" Gray demanded, "This is our job!" At that, the pink-haired guy looked at the other guy.

"What?" Natsu asked, shrugging, "I'm just trying to help."

"Natsu!" Lucy's voice cried out before Gray could say anything in response. She then came running up the hill, putting her hands on her knees as she panted.

"You know I hate it when you run off like that!" she complained.

"Sorry, Luce," Natsu answered, with a shrug, "Guess I got excited."

"Who the hell do you think you are, you little skank?!" one of the gang members said, "We're gonna..."

"Don't talk to Lucy that way!" Natsu snapped, as he kicked the guy in the jaw. The siblings just stared at the sight, as Natsu beat up the various thugs. As they were doing so, they noticed Erza and Brandish coming up, with Happy in Brandish's arm, while the other arm had a candy bar in its hand.

"Good, Natsu got a start on it," Erza said, folding her arms, "I was worried that this would take a while."

"How'd you find us?" Gray asked.

"It wasn't hard," Brandish said, as she bit into her candy bar, "We just had Natsu track you."

"How did he do that?" Ultear asked.

"You'll probably see in a moment, "Erza said, before she held out her hand to Brandish, and instructed politely, "Share." With any other person, Brandish would've said "no", but Erza wasn't any other other person, and with that, she materialized another candy bar to share with her.

"Are you at least going to help your friends?" Ultear asked.

"No need," Erza said with a shrug, "The two of them can handle thugs like these without much trouble."

"Take this you bastard!" One of the guys said, as he pulled out some kind of cannon, which turned out to be a flamethrower. He wasted no time releasing a tremendous cloud of fire.

"Look out!" Ultear cried, but Natsu didn't so much as flinch, as the fire consumed him. For a moment, the two just stared in horror, but then they noticed that the other group hadn't even blinked. Rather, Lucy seemed to sigh, as she put a hand on her face.

"And he already ate today," she griped.

"What's going on?" Ultear asked, "Why aren't you more concerned?"

"Fire won't work on Natsu," Happy said, with a dark grin. The two were about to ask, but then they heard a sort of "sucking" sound, as they turned to see the flames being drawn into some kind of vortex. And who else would be at the center of the vortex, but Natsu himself?

"Is he eating fire?!" Gray half-blurted out.

"Gah, this fire tastes like crap!" Natsu said, wiping the side of his mouth, "What're you using for fuel?"

"How in the hell…"

"Natsu's the Fire Dragon Slayer," Happy explained. While Gray wasn't entirely sure what that meant, Ultear's eyes widened at that. She had read about Dragon slayer magic, but she'd never seen it actually in use before, to the point she suspected it may have been extinct magic. Natsu then cracked his knuckles as he grinned.

"Now I've got a fire in my belly," he said, as he held up his fist, which ignited in fire. He then sprung forward, bringing down his fist, which exploded in a massive burst of flames. Now Gray and Ultear had a high tolerance to extreme temperatures, but even they had to flinch at how hot that was. Another few thugs leapt at Natsu, who turned to face them.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" With that, he exhaled a torrent of fire, that blasted the guys away. As she watched as well, Lucy sighed.

"I should probably reel him in before he burns down the whole mountain," she said, shaking her head slightly. With that, she reached behind her, and pulled out some kind of key chain.

"Wait a minute," Ultear said, "Are those…"

"Open, Gate of the Sea Goat!" Lucy said, as she held up a golden key, "Capricorn!" There was the sound of a bell ringing, as there was a flash of golden light that rained over the area like stars. When it faded, a tall figure, best described as a goat-man in a black suit and sunglasses was standing there.

"Good evening, Ms. Lucy," the goat said, before looking around, "Where are we, may I ask?"

"I'll explain what's going on a little later," Lucy said, before pointing, "But those guys need a serious butt-kicking!"

"I will get it done promptly!" Capricorn declared, before he kicked off, and decked two bandits at once.

"Celestial Spirit Magic?" Ultear asked.

"You're familiar with it?" Erza asked calmly.

"I knew it existed, but I've seen it in practice," Ultear answered, "It's rare, isn't it?"

"No, Lucy's just a weirdo," Happy commented.

"I heard that fur ball!" Lucy shouted. Her attention was then taken by the sight of another bandit charging. Fortunately, Lucy had a plan, as she reached onto her belt, and extracted a long whip, with a grin.

"Can't let my spirits do all the heavy lifting," she declared, as she lashed the whip, which wrapped around the guy's neck. With a single tug, Lucy pulled him off the motorcycle. The guy managed to escape, but Lucy proved fast then she looked, as she came upon him.

"Lucy Kick!" Lucy said, as she kicked one of the bandits in the stomach, knocking him back on his ass.

"O-Kay," Gray said, not sure what to make of that.

With that, it wasn't long before all the bandits were gone. That they were beaten wasn't surprising to Gray or Ultear, considering how weak these thugs obviously were. No, what surprised them was how they did it. Dragon Slayer and Celestial Spirit Magic was a sight to behold, and they just got a full show.

"Well," Natsu said, rolling his shoulder, "That was fun."

"Speak for yourself," Lucy said, coming up next to him, glaring at him, "It's a good thing we didn't do this in town, or you'd probably have leveled half the buildings. I swear, if you don't mellow out by the big day…" The siblings exchanged glances; they had a sneaking suspicion the blonde wasn't being hyperbolic about that first part. But at any rate, this had all been rather unexpected, and silent agreement then went between them that they needed to show the Master this.

"Well, Ishgar certainly didn't make the best first impression," Brandish commented as she and Erza came up.

"Aye, this place sucks," Happy commented. Erza responded by chopping him into the ground.

"Be polite," she said, before looking at Erza, "So I guess that finishes your job? And I hope we're not imposing by asking…"

"You just stole our job," Gray interrupted. Natsu and Lucy exchanged cringes at the notion of someone interrupting Erza, but the red-head didn't seem that annoyed; more confused than anything else.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"That means you just interfered with official guild business," Ultear said, smiling, "That means you're going to have to meet with our guild master."

"Guild master?" Lucy asked.

"We're part of a mage guild," Ultear said, as she showed off the guild mark on the underside of her forearm, the same as her brother, only a pale blue color, "Fairy Tail." That name rang a sharp bell in the heads of the Alvarez nationals. They just stared at the two with wide eyes, though Natsu was a bit more vocal…

"You're in Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked, pointing.

Note: Sorry for the long wait, but I've been busy with life stuff. Also, I've been spending a lot of time working on an original work of my own, and I just got a pet ball python with pretty yellow scales, and big brown eyes, so I named her "Lucy".

The big difference between what happens in the story, and what happens here, is there are six people (seven counting Happy) instead of two, which makes it a bit heavier. I decided to mostly just showcase Natsu and Lucy in this, since I figured that they're still the centerpieces. The others will get their time to shine as well.

Part of how I'm trying to approach the chapters in this is to write them as if they were chapters of the manga, with a quick series of events covering what's going on. I think that will become more apparent once we get into the meat of the story. On that note, I'm going to reiterate that there are going to be a number of OCs in this story, mostly in the villain department. This is mostly out of necessity, because (as I'm guessing people picked up) due to the nature of this setting, characters who're villains in canon, certainly wouldn't be here.

Be sure to review; it seems this story is taking off. Next chapter we'll be brought to Fairy Tail itself, and meet the rest of the guild; needless to say, there are going to be some differences. Some will be major, and some will be minor, you'll see.