Yanina Mazar never thought about joining a light guild.
Ever since she started learning magic, traveling has been the only thing she's done. When she was able to look after herself her parents had kicked her out, telling her never to return. That was the only reason why she was even allowed to learn magic in the first place - so that she could live on her own without her parents feeling guilty.
Not that they would either way.
Sighing, Yanina stepped off the Clover train station. She had gotten a job offer specifically from Clover, one of her older clients needed her help again locating their lost child. Though Nina already knew where the child was hiding, and it would be an easy job to complete. The woman always paid well - even though Yanina had told her where the child liked to hide.
Walking down the familiar path she caught a glimpse of a pink haired boy and a blue cat flying creature. She blinked, making sure that she was alright before she saw a blur of gold in her vision. Flying cats was a new one, and she slapped herself to make sure she was awake and not delusional.
"Nina!" A familiar voice called out, making the girl glance over in that general direction. Meredith, the old lady that had sent for her, gave her a small smile - relieved that she was there. "Thank goodness. I was starting to wonder if you weren't going to show up." The poor old lady had a case of alzheimers, which made her often forget things. Though there was the few good things that she remembered - like Yanina's name. And her granddaughters name.
Chuckling, the young wizard walked over to the elderly woman. "Where was the last time you saw Crystal?" Crystal was the name of the child Meredith was watching. Though with how forgetful the old woman was, Yanina was surprised she hadn't been revoked of her babysitting privileges.
Meredith scrunched her face up, placing her forefinger on her chin in a thinking manner. "Now where did I see that child last?" She pondered out loud, humming. "Oh! You could check the park dearie, that's where she likes to go. I have to finish up with the laundry or else it'll never get done..."
Yanina couldn't help but feel sympathy for the woman. Even though her son was alive and well, he was too busy chasing after anything that wore a skirt. And when he got a girl pregnant, that girl left the baby on his doorstep - than he left the baby on his mothers doorstep without a second thought. If the mage ever saw her son, she would strangle him with her bare hands. "Okay Meredith, I'll go see if she's there. Go back into your house," she gave the woman a pat on the shoulder, which earned her a crooked smile.
The park was on the smaller side. It was still substantial enough to keep people entertained, but it lacked what a lot of others had. Yanina scanned the area, knowing that Crystal loved to come here to play when she spotted the pink haired girl holding onto the same blue flying cat she had saw earlier. A pink haired male stood next to a bustling blond, along with a black haired mage who had a scowl on his face. "Crystal!" Yanina called out to the girl, causing the girls head to snap up to the familiar voice. Yanina jogged over to her, sighing in relief. "Your grandmother is worried about you!" She scolded, earning a blush from the girl.
"I'm sorry Niny!" Crystal squeaked, holding up the blue cat for her to see. "I saw this cutiepie and just had to say hello!" Yanina raised an eyebrow at the squirming feline, though he didn't seem at all mad about the attention.
"I'm very sorry about her," Yanina apologized, sending a look towards the teens. They were all blinking at her in surprise. "Crystal, your grandmother called me again. You know how she worries!" Crystal hung her head in shame, making Yanina sigh. "Let the cat go."
"I'm an Exceed!" the blue feline burst out, flying free from the girls hold. Yanina's eyes widened as the cat - ahem, Exceed - landed on the blonds head. That was a new term.
"It's okay!" The blonds sweet voice assured, beaming at Yanina. "Happy gets into a lot of difficult situations, but this one was easier than most..." She giggled, and the Exceed whined at being insulted while fluttering over to the pink-haired boy. "Hi! I'm Lucy," she introduced, holding her hand out for Yanina to shake. It was a very business like manner.
"Um, Yanina..." She muttered, shaking the girls hand. "This troublemaker is Crystal." Crystal blinked up at her in confusion, not understanding what was going on.
"Well she's a cutie!" Lucy grinned, eyes sparkling. "Is she your daughter?"
At that Yanina blanched, shaking her head wildly. "No! I- uh- sometimes help look after her for some jewel. Well, more like I have to find her for some jewel because she can never stay in one place," she sent a look to the little girl who just giggled, unperturbed at the little jab. Not that she thought it was.
"She reminds me of Asuka..." the black haired boy trailed off with a chuckle. "I'm Gray, the idiot over there is Natsu." He jabbed his thumb over to the pink haired boy, who scowled at being called an idiot.
"Watch who you're calling an idiot, Popsicle!" Natsu snapped before turning towards Yanina with a beaming smile. She had to blink at how big it was. He seemed like a bundle of joy. "We were here on a job, but Happy got distracted so we had to follow him." Yanina nodded, not knowing why he was telling her that. Maybe they were just over-sharers.
"Right, well come on Crystal." Yanina pulled the girl up, who whined about going home. "Can't keep your grandmother waiting." With that she waved towards the young group of people before dragging the girl back to her grandmothers.
"I was having fun!" Crystal pouted, allowing herself to be pulled. This happened more times then naught, but it was the first time that Yanina had ever met a group of people while trying to look for the girl. It was certainly the first time Crystal had hugged a flying cat - Exceed - and whined about not wanting to leave the park.
Shaking her head Yanina continued to pull the girl down the alleyway, pushing a door open. The smell of pumpkin pie wafted through the door, making Crystal stop squirming and sniff the air. "Pie!" She gasped before rushing forward, letting go of Yanina's hand. Laughing she followed after the girl - seeing her already seated at the bar, Meredith bringing a pumpkin pie out of the oven. How long had they been gone for?
"Oh!" The older lady gasped when she saw the two. "I didn't hear you two come in. Crystal, you have got to stop disappearing like that. You'll give this old woman a heart attack!" She scolded with a frown. "I hope she didn't give you any trouble." She glanced over to the young mage, who just grimaced at the thought.
"No, no trouble at all!" She grinned awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. "Well since we're situated here I'll be on my way-" Yanina tried to make an escape before Meredith could get out her pouch but was too late.
"Nonsense! You know I always pay you for finding her! Here," thrusting the pouch to Yanina, the girl pursed her lips. "The same amount as usual. Thank you for your help!"
That job was always the same. Find the young girl, take her back and get paid the same amount. No matter how easy the find was. Thankfully those group of teens were there, and Crystal had a short attention span. It might have been harder to find her if she hadn't been strangling the Exceed with a hug.
Clover was almost like another home to her. Yanina had been here countless times, though she didn't exactly have a place here. In fact, she didn't have a place at all. She lived out in the woods most of the time - but that was alright with her. She was a plant mage, so being out with all the wonderful plants was really soothing to her. She hadn't lived in a building in so long she forgot how that even felt like.
Pushing her hands into her pockets, she took a stroll around town. She was basically free now to do whatever she wanted - and she did think about going on another job. It was still early, and it wasn't like she had much of a social life anyway.
Walking towards the wizard job board, she scanned the papers. A monster hunting one took her eye and she snatched it up. She hadn't done a monster hunting job in a while, and this one seemed simple enough. All she needed to do was go speak with the mayor and have this request accepted.
Little did she know though that job would change her entire life.
AN: HELLO! Thank you for picking up this fanfiction! I was bored and thought to myself; why not write a Natsu x OC? I've been reading a whole lot of fanfiction here recently, and miss writing them. I've been trying to force myself to write originals and I just want to get back to my roots. While I do like writing originals, fanfictions always gave me joy to write. And I miss them.
I am pairing Gray and Lucy up together. I am not a humongous fan of Gruvia, so I am going to be pairing Juvia up with Lyon cause that ship is chefskiss. Everything else is going to be more or less canon though.
ALSO this is more of an AU! While a lot of the same stuff happened as in the original, I'm not going to be following that timeline to a T. So some things may not sound right, but that's because I didn't want it to sound that way. Tenrou Island happened, and so did the GMG. So this is after the GMG, basically. Everything else has not happened yet and probably won't in this fanfiction. Just wanted to point that out.
Disclaimer - I do not own Fairy Tail. I only own my plot, characters and anything else you do not recognize. Everything else belongs to Hiro Mashima.