Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything but a few OCs.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters.
Enjoy!
Makarov's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he read the letter that had just arrived.
Not knowing what it meant, he went to Macao to ask if he knew what it was.
"Eh?" the aging purple-haired man asked, setting down his beer before picking up the paper and reading it. "Oh, this again. It's for Lucy."
"Lucy?" the newly-reinstated guild master asked curiously. "What for?"
"Ongoing job as a lecturer for the local school." Macao explained. "Once a month or so she takes the kids out at night to go look at the stars, and if any of her spirits' stars or constellations are in the sky she'll bring them out."
"The kids love her." Wakaba muttered around his cigar.
Makarov smiled, feeling the familiar burst of pride for one of his children.
"Somehow I'm not surprised." He said softly, thinking about Laxus' relationship with the girl.
Smart, beautiful, talented, and compassionate…well, he could be forgiven for hoping that the girl would stay with Laxus and eventually give him some grandbabies.
She'd make one hell of an edition to their gene pool…
"Lucy!" Makarov called a few minutes later, causing everyone in the guild to look up briefly.
The blonde glanced up at him with a slow, confused blink (she looked rather tired) before wandering over to him.
"Yes, Master Makarov?" she asked with a smile.
Makarov smiled back. "You've been requested—again, I'm told—by the local elementary school for a field trip tonight."
"Oh!" Lucy perked up, regaining a bit of her energy. "That's perfect, then. I was trying to think of a way to justify a nap at this hour, and a night of stargazing is the perfect excuse."
Makarov chuckled sympathetically. "I'll just send a confirmation, then. I take it you know the details?"
Lucy hummed in agreement.
"Well then have fun, child." The white-haired man said with a smile, dismissing her so that she could go back to her friends.
"Lushee, what was that?" Happy asked, hoping that it was something that he could tease her about. She wasn't nearly as easy to anger these days as she used to be (maybe because he hadn't flown her anywhere and had a reason to call her heavy), and he kind of missed it.
"I have a job tonight." Lucy explained with a pleased smile. "A fun one. I think so, anyway."
"What is it?" Happy asked, confused.
"The local school asked me to go stargazing with the kids tonight." She explained. "I'll give a short lecture, point out a few things, maybe summon a spirit or two, and that's it."
"That does sound fun!" Wendy sighed wistfully.
"I usually bring Romeo, Asuka, and Yui with me." Lucy said with a grin. "You and Carla are welcome to come along. And of course you are too, Happy."
"Oh, yes, please!" Wendy agreed with a wide smile, happy that she would be able to spend more time with her Lucy and the others.
"It does sound like a worthy venture." Carla approved, nodding to indicate that she would come as well.
The blue Exceed, however, slumped slightly. "Sorry, Lucy. I promised Natsu I'd go on a job with him later."
"That's okay." The young woman chuckled, reaching out to ruffle his blue fur. "Maybe next time."
And then she turned to Wendy and Carla. "It usually lasts about an hour and a half to two hours, starting at 11 o' clock, and we meet up at the big hill that overlooks the city. Dress warm, it gets cold at night even during the summer. I'll be back here at 10:45 to pick up Asuka and Yui, and Romeo will probably meet us there."
"Got it." Wendy nodded.
"And now…" Lucy yawned widely, covering her mouth. "I need a nap. See you tonight!"
Wendy closed her eyes in bliss as her and Carla reached the peak of the biggest hill in Magnolia. Cold air surrounded her from all sides, but it didn't bother her in the slightest.
Sometimes it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Here in the semi-wilderness it was far calmer.
"I haven't seen the night sky like this since I traveled with Mystogan." The Sky Dragon Slayer said with a small smile, thinking of the man she thought of as an older brother, even though they were now literally a world apart.
"Best view in town." Romeo said softly, nudging his friend on the shoulder in solidarity. Obviously he also knew what it was like to lose someone, so he could sympathize.
"It's so pretty!" Asuka gasped, staring in awe at the dazzling lights on the dark blue blanket of night.
"It's very pretty." Lucy agreed. She picked the purple-eyed girl up, Asuka automatically wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulder and looking to where Lucy was pointing. "Can you remember which star that is?"
"Ooh, I know!" Yui giggled from her place at Lucy's opposite side.
"Polaris!" the two young girls said together.
Lucy smiled proudly, hugging Asuka closer when the four year old shivered slightly, Romeo zipping up Yui's jacket when she did the same.
Wendy smiled at their interactions, sad and wistful thoughts gone, before picking up Carla and walking to where the blankets were set up.
Wendy giggled as Yui and Asuka ran around in the grass, trying to catch little balls of white fire that Romeo had conjured.
"My white fire is harmless, I promise." Romeo had assured her and Carla when they got nervous about the two younger girls getting hurt.
It was rather cute, actually, two giggly girls stumbling around, occasionally tripping over each other as they attempted to catch the makeshift fireflies.
Whenever Romeo saw one of the girl's hands close around the fire he extinguished it, which would've horrified the girls if they didn't know that they were actually just Romeo's fire (the first time they'd done this had been an experience no one wanted to repeat), and the girls moved on to the next fireball.
Suddenly, one of the white fireballs came to rest on her knee, and she startled slightly in surprise.
"Deep thoughts?" Romeo asked with a grin.
Wendy giggled slightly. "Not particularly. Just glad to be here."
Romeo smiled softly. "We're glad to have you back."
Please review! :)
I decided not to do the 'Lucy gets a job offer while doing this job' thing. What kind of owner of a large business like Sorcerer's Weekly would offer a mage a job writing for them while they're doing a different job for someone else? That, and I'm not actually sure Lucy would want to write horoscope-like stuff. She writes stories, not articles about the Zodiac stereotypes.
Evilkitten3: Hope I didn't make the RoWen interactions too bad in this chapter. :)
