A/N You guys have been asking for it and I finally did it! This chapter has (finally) PLOT! Amazing right?

Disclaimer- Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail...

Dear Mavis,

At the end of the semester my best friend is moving! This might not seem like big news, but we have known each other since we were little kids. I know I can't change her parents decision, but is there anyway to ease the loneliness that I know will come?

-Movin' Blues

Dear Movin',

Friends moving is definitely one of the worse things out there. Especially, in your case where you have known each other for most of your life. However, there are ways to help with the pain of losing a best friend:

1) Keep in touch.

You have most likely heard this from a number of people, but I cannot stress this enough. A simple phone call to your friend, or even a letter makes you realize that the world is not as big as you think.

2) Give her a gift to remember you by.

This doesn't have to be a big or expensive either. You can make matching friendship bracelets to wear. As long as the gift is from your heart, I believe she will treasure it.

3) Throw her a farewell party

Invite a couple close friends to have a get together to send her off. This gives you a chance to say your last farewells while making happy memories.

4) Learn to carry on

This is one of the hardest things and most important things to do. Unlike the options above this one doesn't have a time range. People learn to move on at their own pace and speed. Just remember the times you spent together and treasure them. Also, this doesn't mean you need to 'move on' in the sense of forgetting her. That's not what I am saying at all. What I mean is don't lock your emotions up and refuse to do adjust to life without your lost best friend. That just makes her moving that much harder to bear. Instead, look towards the future. I'm positive you will make more happy memories.

-Mavis

Lucy set down her pen and shifted the paper onto her pile of answered questions.

"One more down with only a million more to go." said Lucy as she glared at the never ending stack of unanswered papers on the edge of her desk.

"Make that a million and ten." said Levy, waving a stack of questions for Mavis tauntingly in front of Lucy's face. She laughed when Lucy made an angry swipe for the papers, only for her to yank them out of her reach and set them on the stack.

"You know, I happen to enjoy sleep." remarked Lucy as she looked pointedly at her ever growing pile.

"Sorry, Lu-chan." replied Levy and gave Lucy a sympathetic smile, "After you skipped out on the paper last week the questions piled up, especially after word got out about the 'Mavis Special'."

"Wasn't that suppose to be a secret?" asked Lucy, surprised.

"Key words being 'suppose to'." replied Levy. She shifted some of the papers to the side before jumping up and taking a seat on Lucy's desk. "In the end, it doesn't really change anything since Erza was expecting about the same number of questions that came in."

Lucy sighed and reached for another question. She set it in front of her, grabbed her pen, and began to read:

Dear Mavis,

My dad loves sports. I don't mean this is a casual way either. My dad likes sports in the way that bees like flowers; he can't live without it. Usually, I don't pay any mind to my dad's obsession. That was until he signed me up for football a few weeks back. Here's the thing: I hate sports. The only reason I am going to the practices now is because my dad is so excited and proud of me. All I want is a way out! Help?

- Sports Suck!

Dear Sports,

Life is short. The fact that you hate football means that you aren't playing up to your full potential. You will never know what you are best at unless you try other things, preferably something you actually enjoy. Yes, your dad will be mad and disappointed, but in the end, is it really worth wasting your time doing something you hate? Although, be prepared for "I-am-so-disappointed-in-you" speech since it is almost guaranteed to come. But don't worry. He will get over it. Especially once he sees how much better you are without forcing yourself to go to the football practices.

-Mavis

The sound of breaking glass brought Lucy's attention away from her paper, along with everyone else in the room, as one of the windows to the classroom shattered and a black object flew into the room. The object landed and rolled towards Levy who jumped from Lucy's desk to pick it up.

"It's a football." declared Levy as she raised the ball up for everyone to see.

"Why would someone throw a football into a classroom?" questioned Lisanna, walking over and taking the ball from Levy's hands. She searched the ball for a moment before handing it back, "There's no note, so it's not a threat."

"It could have been an accident," opted Jet from his seat on the other side of the classroom, "The football team is still having practice after all, maybe someone could have thrown it too far."

Lisanna shook her head, "The football field is on the other side of campus. There is no way someone could throw it that far. Whoever did it must have thrown it from a relatively short distance."

"That's right." agreed Erza, "Which also means they couldn't have gotten far."

Erza shifted the broken glass to the side with her foot to look out of the broken window. Just as she was pulling her head back in, she spotted something and quickly shot out her hand out to yank someone - none to gently either - through the broken window and onto the classroom floor.

"Natsu?!" yelped Lucy in surprise, "Why aren't you at practice?"

Natsu struggled on Erza's iron grip on his hair, "It wasn't my fault I swear!" he yelled to no one in particular.

"Then who's was it?" Erza countered.

That made Natsu pause and Erza took this opportunity to reach into her bag and pull out a metal pole. How she had gotten away with carrying around a freakin' metal pole in her bag was beyond Lucy, but then again it was Erza they were talking about.

"Well?" Erza asked, tapping the pole against her foot in a manner to suggest she had other means of getting the information out of him.

Natsu seemed to realize this fact as his eyes grew wide with fear, "Okay! I did it, but it was an accident!"

Erza stopped tapping the pole and smiled down at the male, "Glad to see you have confessed. Now, it's time for your punishment."

"Woah, hold on there!" intervened Lucy, throwing up her hands and stepping in between Erza and Natsu who was still sprawled on the floor.

Erza raised an eyebrow in question, but stopped nonetheless.

"What do you propose instead?" she asked

"I don't know," answered Lucy, truthfully, "but, he said it was an accident, so we shouldn't go that far." Lucy said and motioned to the pole still held in Erza's hands.

"Okay." Erza said after a moment of thought, "I have changed my mind. Instead, you are to help us with the newspaper for the rest of the day, Natsu. " she commanded in a tone that left no room for argument.

Natsu nodded quickly.

"Do you think he realizes what she means by that?" asked Levy to Lucy in a hushed voice so Erza wouldn't hear her.

"Doubt it." she answered in the same tone, "At least none of us have to do it now."

"Lucy!" called Erza, causing Lucy to jump up in alarm, "Yes?!"

"I need you to supervise Natsu, while he is helping us with the paper." she ordered.

"What?" she questioned in disbelief as Levy muttered something out her 'jinxing it' under her breath.

"Show him how to develop the photos in the Darkroom."

"But…" stalled Lucy, glancing around the room in hopes of finding something to keep her away from the horrid 'Darkroom'. Her eyes landed on her stack of unanswered questions and she almost sighed in relief, "I can't, Erza, I still have to finish my part for the paper.

Erza dismissed her argument with a wave of her hand, "We still have until Wednesday till the newspaper is published. How many do you have done?"

"Two." she replied.

Erza nodded and began pushing her and Natsu towards the door, "That's plenty. All we need are five, so you can finish them up later."

Lucy sent a silent plea over Erza shoulder towards Levy and Lisanna. However, they merely answered with a small shrug as if saying 'you're-on-your-own'.

Lucy gave them a frown and Lisanna shot her a thumbs up before the pair were pushed out the door. Just before she shut the door, Erza threw a manila folder in Lucy's direction.

"Those are the photos." she said as Lucy caught them in her hands, "Have fun."

The door shut with an audible snap.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be." said Natsu.

Lucy sighed, "You are going to regret that when you see what it really means to develop photos for our newspaper."

"Alright, we're here." declared Lucy when they reached their destination.

Natsu's face creased in confusion, "That's a storage closet."

"No, this is the Darkroom" corrected Lucy, placing her hand on the knob, "I would plug my nose if I were you."

"Why?"

Natsu immediately regretted his decision of not following Lucy's command when the door was opened and his nose was immediately assaulted by a wave of smells. Natsu coughed and pinched his nose closed with his fingers to block out the fumes; but the damage was already done.

"I warned you." said Lucy, her voice higher than normal since her nose was already pinched shut.

"A quicker warning would have been nice." Natsu muttered in the same funny tone as Lucy.

"Blame all the products the janitors store in this place. It's like a wave of chemicals whenever someone opens this door, luckily, it goes away after a while." Lucy unplugged her nose and took a deep breath, "See? It's gone now,"

Mimicking Lucy, Natsu unplugged his nose and took a deep breath. She was right. The sicking mixture of bleach, soap, and other cleaning products was gone.

"Now that that's out of the way, we can continue." stated Lucy, motioning to Natsu to follow her into the closet.

The space itself was mostly what Natsu had predicted from the outside. At around 8 feet wide and 10 feet long, the closet was actually quite large; if it hadn't been lined with shelves and cabinets with brooms and mops scattered on the walls which left minimal space for walking. Lucy reached up and yanked dowards on a cord causing a single bulb to light up the small room.

"Welcome to the Darkroom." said Lucy in mock excitement.

"It's great." replied Natsu, unsure on what to say.

Lucy snorted and waved him to an area tucked in the back.

"This is where the magic happens." she said as Natsu squeezed past to get a better look.

There were two small tables set up on either side of the back wall with tubs filled with a clear liquid placed on each table; giving a total of four tubs on each. Overhead, someone had strung up lines of string with clothespins attached for drying photos.

"Given that this is your punishment I am going to show you this once, and only once, got it?" asked Lucy to Natsu.

Natsu gave her a salute, "Aye, aye!"

"So, to make things easy, you have four tubs; Developer, Stop, Fixer, and Water. The photo goes into the first three for one minute, and the last one for five. Then, you hang up the photo using the clothespins and you're done. "

Natsu nodded, "This doesn't seem like such a bad punishment."

"And," Lucy continued, "you can only leave when you have finished all 68 photos. Meaning, you should finish in the next four hours or so."

Natsu paled. He was stuck in this cramped up room for the next four hours?

Lucy shut off the light before giving him a pat on the back while simultaneously handing him the folder containing the photos, "Have fun, Natsu. I'll be outside if you need anything."

Okay, so leaving Natsu to fend for himself may not have been the smartest thing Lucy had ever done. Although, the Darkroom was cramped enough with one person, but having two in there at the same time? Out of the question.

In any case, what harm could Natsu really do? There were only five steps to the whole process. What could go wrong?

Twenty three things, in fact.

At least, that's everything Lucy thought up during the seventeen minutes she waited outside the door.

This called for a little check up in order to calm her nerves.

"Natsu?" called Lucy as she opened the door and stepped in, "How is the developing going?"

"Great!" replied Natsu, holding up one of the undeveloped photos, "I was just about to develop this one. Want to watch?"

"Sure."

He placed the black photo in the first tub's liquid and began to move it around with the tongs Lucy had instructed him to use instead of his hands. After a few seconds, a blurry image began to appear in black and white.

"The last one was of Beth doing a back flip." informed Natsu, pointing up at the photo hanging over their heads.

"Oh, I took that one!" said Lucy, happily.

"Yeah, I saw you taking them during the pep rally." He picked up the photo and moved it to the next container, "Although, I thought you wrote while Mira took photos."

"Usually. I was just doing her a favor."

Natsu nodded in understanding, "So, what do you write about? I never see any of your articles in the newspaper."

"I don't really write articles exactly. I help people." answered Lucy, choosing her words carefully so she wasn't necessarily lying.

Natsu grinned, "Kinda like Mavis."

Lucy froze and her heart began to beat in overdrive.

He didn't know.

There was no way he knew.

When could he have possibly figured it out?!

"But I'm not!" she protested quickly, "Obviously. That is just too ridiculous! I mean, where would you ever get that idea?"

Natsu gave her a weird look over his shoulder as he transferred the photo for the second time, "I know that, weirdo. I was just making a reference."

If the room hadn't been so cramped Lucy would have slumped to the floor like a rag doll for all the relief she felt.

He didn't know.

Lucy sighed, "Just making sure."

"If you say so."

Lucy paused, "Just out of curiosity, why aren't you at football practice?"

Natsu frowned, "Because Gray is an idiot."

"And, that has to do with you not being at practice and throwing a football into our window?"

He nodded, but didn't add any further details.

"Okay...?" Lucy glanced down at the photo Natsu was swirling in the liquid, "Oh look! I think it's starting to develop." noted Lucy, pointing at the photo.

"Really?" said Natsu, excitedly, and picked up the photo from the tub, "Hey! It's a photo of me!" He grinned at the image that was starting to appear clearer on the photo.

"Let me look." whined Lucy, pulling his arm downward so she could see.

As she watched, the image began to take a more detailed form. Lucy could make out Natsu's spiky hair leaning over something on the floor.

"You're right. Although, what are you leaning over?" asked Lucy, curiously, as she squinted closer at the photo trying to make out the blurry object.

"Is that me?" she asked after a moment.

"Think so?" Natsu pulled the photo upwards towards his face, "Oh yeah! It is you!"

"Why would Mira take a photo of me?" she asked, confused.

Natsu shrugged, "I don't know about Mira, but I like it."

He lowered the photo, so Lucy could see the finished photo. When she did, Lucy let out a gasp as her face grew red. It was a moment she had been trying extremely hard to forget. Unforchantly for her, Mirajane had been there to capture the moment in its black and white glory.

It was indeed a photo of her and Natsu. To be more specific, it was of her after she had taken the fall off the float. The image captured the moment exactly; Natsu crouching over her as he tried with all his might to revive her with CPR. Although, to everyone else, it was a photo of them kissing in front of the entire student body.

But, worst of all?

It looked like she was kissing him back.

A/N Did you spot the plot? (rhyme not intended) You may not have, but I promise you it is totally there!

Other news: Have you seen the favorites and follows for this story?! You guys are amazing! Hopefully, I can live up to your expectations!

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