"He's fine, right?" she asked, "He won't do anything stupid, right?" she stroked Happy's fur, "He knows the mages would kill him, or sell him if they found out he was a dragon, right?"

Happy glanced up at her, pleading, his eyes seemed abnormally larger than usual, and she sighed, and looked up in the direction he had gone. The cat seemed satisfied, and hopped from her arms, walking in the way she was looking as if waiting for her to join him. She looked down at the blue cat, and glanced back at Plue, who waited patiently for her decision, though he was shaking, scared, maybe. She sighed again, before grabbing a handkerchief from her pocket in her skirt, and tied her hair up.

"He wouldn't have gone far, right, Happy?" she asked, though the cat didn't respond in a way she could understand.

She took a couple steps into the thick forest, and followed the blue cat, thankful that his fur stood out so greatly against the green forest. The cat leaped over a couple of tree limbs, before stopping and waiting for her to catch up, she looked down at him, upon reaching him, and took a deep breath, "So where to now?"

Happy looked at her, tilting his little blue head, as if he didn't understand her question. He then tilted his head down as he lifted up a paw, and began to lick the dirt off it. She sighed, and glanced up at the sky through the branches. Now she wished she had made him her familiar, though that needed a little bit of prep-work before, and it also required him to no longer be really free, so to speak. Sure, being a familiar to a witch is freeing in its own right, but based on what he said, it doesn't seem to be the freedom he is really looking for, if indeed he is looking for freedom. Though the way he had fumed at the mention of selling Igneel, it appeared he valued highly the chance to be free.

Happy looked up from his paw, and walked over to her, brushed his tail against her legs as he made his way between them. She looked down at him, "Yeah, I know, we better get going," she sighed, "I hope I didn't hurt him too badly."

The sun was beginning to set, and she still had seen no sign of a red dragon with a white scarf about his neck. Was it really that hard to find? She questioned, he took off into the sky, above the safety of the trees, on the top of a hill! She bent over on her knees, she was hungry, she didn't, Happy caught a fish in a creek that they stopped by, but her stomach was still vacant. The raw fish seemed a little too tempting as the cat chewed on it. She reached out her hand and placed it in the water, pricking her knuckle against one of the smaller pebbles, before muttering a light incantation, and the smaller fish made their way over to the small amount of blood. She reached her other hand in, and scooped up some of the fish, placing them aside on the ground, before grabbing more.

After receiving the amount she desired, she unwrapped the handkerchief from her head and laid it on the ground, and pushing Happy back away from the fish, she began to fill the fabric with the fish she had gathered, "Come on, Happy," she said, "Let's look for him tomorrow." I don't think he's gonna be coming back, though.

Happy joined her on her trek back to her home. Upon reaching it, she noticed the cloak she had lent him on the ground. She didn't notice it falling off him when he had taken off. She picked up the brown fabric and made her way into the door, Plue still waiting patiently. Grateful that there was no need to make extra fish and dishes, she cooked up her meal, and sat down beside her dog, and Happy, and ate the contents.

She gave the bone, with meat still attached to Plue, and broke the tail off for Happy. She picked up her plate, and washed it, placing it back where it belonged, before deciding it was time to head off to bed. As she made her way to the hallway to the two backrooms, Plue and Happy at her ankles, she saw the clothes laid out on the floor, as if taking them off in a hurry. She sighed and went over to them. She picked up the black coat, intent on folding it.

There was still warmth on it, she noticed, before pulling it closer to her body, she could still smell that scent of smoke, fire, and something else, on the clothes, even after him wearing them for a mere day. She noticed Happy staring at her, judgingly, and pulled the coat away from herself, reluctantly. She gently folded it, not used to there being only one sleeve, and the pants, before placing them neatly on the couch, rolling up the belt on top of them. She pulled the sandals to the side, beside the hook she placed the cloak, and her own, daily cloak.

She yawned, and made her way to her room. She lifted up the covers, forgetting to get into her nightgown, and crawled in. Plue and Happy joining her on top of the covers. She curled herself up as she looked toward the lone window in her room. Glancing at the moonlit sky, and growing, not being able to hear the light dragon snores just beyond the thin wall. Happy crawled over, and lay on the pillow, above her head, his paw resting on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she drifted into a decent sleep.

She opened her eyes, and frowned as the sound of the dragon was still not snoring just on the other side of the wall. She rolled over onto her back, wondering why she cared so much about this strange creature. She looked up at the ceiling, ignoring the cat paw that rested against her cheek. Natsu had only slept over one night, but for some reason, she missed him, felt guilty about forcing him away. She wanted to apologize for wanting to use him. He was too kind, in his own right. He cared deeply for his father, though it was still a mystery on how he could both turn into a human form and was also alive at this time, though Igneel had died centuries ago. Was eighteen in dragon years different than in human years? Was one year in dragon years equal to one hundred in her years?

She sat up in her bed, quickly, causing both the cat and the dog to jump in surprise. "There are so many questions I need to ask him, Plue." She looked over at the pet that was still on the bed, Plue, "but I can't, he's not coming back."

A pain hit her arm, and she looked over to the blue cat, as he was climbing back onto the bed. Though he was a cat, he looked angry at her, as if she had said the wrong thing. She sighed, and swung her legs over the side of the bed, noticing she was still in the clothes she had worn before, "I'm sorry, Happy, but there's nothing I can do." She bent over, and picked up the blue cat, "He's a dragon, he can fly. I can't. There's no way I would be able to catch up with him."

She stood up, and placed the cat gently back onto her bed, "Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen," she smiled, and gathered new clothes, before making her way out of the house.

She stood at the center of the freshwater creek, that she had dammed a portion of up so that she could bathe herself. Luckily, the creek itself was a little over two feet deep, so she was able to bathe sufficiently. After she had gotten herself in her new set of clothes, she scrubbed the other ones in the water. A rustling was heard in the bushes, and she glanced up to meet the beady eyes of a wolf. It wasn't anything new to her, but she still decided to rush back into her cottage. When she was safely back inside, holding the dripping clothes, she noticed Happy and Plue staring at her, as if they were hungry.

She dropped the clothes on the ground, and made her way over to cook a small breakfast. She gave a small, yet generous portion to the cat and dog, before eating her own. She glanced behind her at the clothes folded on the couch, before her eyes dropped to her lap. Something shined on the ground, and she reached a hand under the table and picked it up. She turned the round and sharp object in her hand, admiring its translucent color. She smiled, before placing the scale gently on top of the clothes.

Lucy picked up her plate, and made her way over to wash it, continuously glancing back at the scale. Upon returning to the pets, her eyes caught on to the scale again, and she grasped in her fingers. How much power did the scale really hold, she wondered. She turned it over in her hand, before deciding to place it among her things needed for potions, and spells. When she was over there, she remembered the potion she had created with Natsu's blood as the key ingredient. She inwardly gulped, before deciding to test out, and see if her creation actually worked.