As a child, she was always alone. She had no real friends, because she was never allowed out of the mansion. All she had for friends were her dolls and her Stellar Spirits.

Dolls weren't living things, and she never wanted to bother her Stellar Spirits. They didn't fill the void in her heart, the one that had been full with love from her beloved mother.

Often, on nostalgic days when she was missing her mother at most, she would stare out of her Victorian window, where she had a great view of their garden that stretched on for acres, and she would dream about having real friends, like the ones her mother had talked about in her exciting stories. Friends who were Mages too, with extraordinary powers and abilities. Together, they would go on adventures and they would have fun.

Most of all, they would be her nakama.

VIII - Nakama

"Watch the amazing Fairy Tail circus perform - tonight at 10pm!" she shouted at the top of the lungs as Natsu arrogantly showed off his fire juggling skills. He juggled the fireballs so fast that Lucy had to step away from him, frightened that one fireball will go awry and burn her hair blacker than his charcoal eyes. Happy flew about, literally shoving flyers at passer-bys and locals. He zipped around the sky like bee, or maybe he had just had too much coffee again…

Lucy shuddered at the memory. Seeing Happy hyper had been horrifying and she didn't wish to see it again. "Meet the super strong Elfman his transforming sister Mirajane!" she continued to tell the locals. Immediately, something blue whizzed by her at the speed of light, knocking her to the ground.

Lucy groaned and propped herself up using her elbows. Happy was still bouncing about, flyers floating around at his wake.

So, why were the two boys acting so hard? Is it because they want to impress me? She was new to Fairy Tail, only having joined roughly two weeks ago, and had given the task to go around town with them to promote the show. She had no extraordinary talent other than the fact that she could summon Celestial Spirits, so she only did the odd job or two. She was the ordinary girl in the extraordinary group. Maybe they want to cheer me up?

"Luce, are we done yet?" Natsu whined after he swallowed the fireballs back. His stomach groaned – his stomach was not upset that it had to digest fire. No, Natsu loved to chow down on fire. However, just a small amount wouldn't replenish him. "I'm hungry."

"Aye! And Mira said she was going to make cookies!" Happy agreed. "Plus, I gave out all the flyers!" he added, holding up his empty paws. There were neon bright flyers littered around the floor, over one hundred faces of a laughing Natsu were mocking her.

So, no, they weren't trying to impress Lucy or cheer her up. They wanted to get the job done fast enough to go back home and eat.

Home. It still felt peculiar to say. It was practically a foreign word to Lucy, who hadn't thought of any place as a home for years. And it wasn't like Fairy Tail really was a home, considering the fact that they move from one town to another every week to perform and earn jewels. Lucy didn't even have her own caravan yet – she was rooming with the adorable Wendy and bookworm Levy.

Wait, didn't Erza tell me that she was getting me a caravan today? Lucy remembered and grinned. It wasn't that she disliked staying with Levy and Wendy, the two girls were generous and kind, but it was much too cramped.

Instantly, Lucy's mind began to fill with ideas of wallpapers and bed sheets. She hadn't had her own room for years either, so this was more than exciting for her. Hastily, she stood up and dusted off her skirt. "Let's go," she told them.

And then she was being hauled back to the circus, her arm nearly being pulled out of its socket. Well, it was either that than having being eaten off by a starving Natsu.

As always, in Fairy Tail, everyone was laughing and chattering and fighting (in the boys' case). It was nice how nothing changed with them. They were a boisterous bunch, not caring at all that they had had to move away from their home and were on the run.

Their Guild had been disbanded, so they had had to move outside of Fiore to the areas in Earth-Land which were less common with the use of magic. In fact, no locals knew that there was such a thing called magic in the first place. At least, not real magic that wasn't just the trick of the eye and magicians' scamming you. According to Levy, the bookworm of Fairy Tail, all Mages originated from Fiore, but some moved away to the areas where magic was unknown. Most were fugitives, like Fairy Tail.

What would happen if someone from the Magic Council found them…? she wondered as she sipped the herbal green tea Mirajane had served her. Lucy had imagined the Council to be like the witches from Macbeth, scheming and cackling with their pointy hats and green faces, until Reedus had drawn a picture of how the current Magic Council members actually looked like. Now, she kept thinking of Guran Doma having a green face to match his pointy hat. He was the leader of the Council, and was cruel enough to disband Fairy Tail, causing Lucy to think that he really was one of the evil witches of Macbeth.

A sad sigh escaped her lips when she noticed that the seat next to her was empty. She didn't need eyes on the back of her head to know that Natsu had no doubt gotten into another fight.

It happened a lot. They would sit down together for a few minutes but then, faster than Jet's light speed racing, Natsu was trying to burn Gray or fighting with Elfman to prove who was manlier.

The same went for Levy – not that Levy got into fights. It was just that, whenever Lucy and Levy tried to eat lunch together to discuss books, Jet and Droy would interrupt them by offering Levy scones or biscuits or juice or even a new published book that was only in stores in Japan – which was miles away! They had giant crushes on Levy, which she seemed oblivious to. The boys were always there, asking the bookworm if she needed anything and practically fighting for her attention.

Lucy couldn't help but feel like an outsider when she was with them.

Everyone had their own little clique and, although she desperately tried, it was so hard for her to fit in with them. Even Juvia – who was hanging around with Gajeel whenever she wasn't drooling over Gray. Apparently, they'd been in the same Guild before they had joined Fairy Tail. They were a weird match – iron and water - and they each had weird personalities but they somehow got along. Or, at least, they tolerated one another.

Lucy's hazel eyes drifted away from Gajeel who was chomping down on a block of metal while Juvia energetically chattered away, to Mirajane, who was standing at the other end of the bar, gossiping to her sister Lisanna. It was nice, seeing everyone get along and being with so many nice people.

But, surrounded by all these people, Lucy still felt alone.

She was so ordinary, so average, compared to the rest of them. She didn't regret joining them, but sometimes she would feel that pang in her heart, knowing that she would never be a part of them…

… A part of their nakama.

… … …

She let out a sigh of relief as she fell back onto her bed. Her own bed, that was soft and warm and covered in cream sheets. Finally, she had her own room, her own bed, where she could have the pleasure of being alone. Like always.

But, unlike in the morning, she enjoyed being alone at night. Here, she could review the day, hear the silence of the night, and almost hear her mother singing her a lullaby to sleep.

She smiled as she nestled into her soft pillow that didn't smell of roses, like Wendy's, or wasn't hard and lumpy because it contained a book in its pillowcase, like Levy's. She had tried sleeping in Wendy's bed first, who had kindly offered to share her bed. However, Wendy's bed was small, built specially for her; and, although the adorable girl didn't look it, Wendy was a kicker when she was asleep. Wendy with fidget and toss and turn and haphazardly kick her legs around so much that Lucy had fallen off the bed.

Then, she had tried sleeping in Levy's bed, which was bigger. Levy slept soundly after reading her book and Lucy had snuggled into her pillow – after she had removed the book from inside the pillowcase – thinking that she would get a peaceful sleep. That was, of course, until a hardback book fell off its shelf and landed with a smack on Lucy's poor nose.

Lucy let out another content sigh and her eyelids fluttered shut. Wendy's bed had been too soft, and Levy's too hard. This bed was just right. She felt like Goldilocks, and her blond hair was spread across the pillow. But, unlike Goldilocks, she didn't have to worry about anyone disturbing her in her warm bed…

It was almost too warm.

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, inspecting her room. There wasn't much in her room yet, just a wardrobe and desk and chair. Levy had said she was going to get her a bookshelf soon. There was no heater, but it was summer so she didn't need one. But this warmth was not due to the summer heat.

Her eyes landed on the large lump on the bed that was radiating body heat. In a sleepy state, she hadn't noticed until now. It covered the whole right side of the bed, covered by the duvet. It was the figure of a person, but Lucy was unsure who it was. It was certainly not some strange murderer who had entered her caravan for the sole purpose of killing her, but had only fallen asleep. The circus had rented out the area and the gates were locked shut to prohibit anyone from entering once the show was over. And if those didn't work, they had Freed's strong binding spells too.

So, this could only mean that the person who had snuck into her new caravan and into her bed was someone from Fairy Tail. The blithe laughter of a certain blue-haired Water Mage entered her mind. Lucy remembered all of Juvia schemes that had taken place – 12 in just two weeks – and her malicious laughter as Lucy stalked away in embarrassment. It didn't matter how much Lucy denied it, Juvia would never believe her when she insisted that she didn't love Gray!

What was Juvia's plan now? Had she snuck spiders into Lucy's room so the blonde would wake up the next morning with her room filled with cobwebs? Or worse, were there bats somewhere in her room, ready to sweep at her hair?

Lucy leaned over the figure, contemplating what to do. She could just leave Juvia or whoever it was to just sleep there, but then she knew that she wouldn't get any sleep herself because she'd be fretting over Juvia's plan of attack.

Tentatively, Lucy reached over and slowly tugged the blanket down. She hoped that the jack-in-the-box wouldn't suddenly spring. Explaining why she needed to wash her sheets after only having them for one day was a conversation she did not want to have…

She froze when she caught sight of the salmon pink hair that was usually followed by a grinning face. Hastily, in a second of anger, she threw the covers off Natsu. What the hell? Why is he in my bed?

Argh! She had half a mind to throttle him until he woke up, and then beat him up some more. And even get Gray to join in. All she wanted to do was sleep, but obviously, she couldn't even do that without having a space-heater sleeping right next to her.

But Natsu was sleeping soundly, eyes closed tight and lips parted as he murmured unrecognizable words. Envy shot through her until she saw Happy sleeping too, snuggled into Natsu's bare chest with a small smile on his face. Lucy couldn't help the smile that made its way to her lips. They looked adorable. It was hard to believe that these were the two who wreaked havoc and chaos.

Of course, she remembered who she was dealing with when Natsu subconsciously punched, sending her flying to the wall. She clutched her nose that was going redder than Rudolph's nose and cringed. Natsu was even violent in his sleep.

"Take that, Ice-Boy!" Natsu whooped in triumph. He stirred a little more and then sat up, blinking several times to adjust to his surroundings. His coal black eyes landed on Lucy and he frowned. "Lucy? What happened to your nose?"

She immediately shot up, ignoring the dizziness in her mind. It was a wonder how she kept her balance. "It was you, you baka!" she shouted at him before giving him a swift karate kick which sent Natsu – and Happy, still fast asleep – soaring off the bed.

"Ow, what was that for?" Natsu complained as he stood up.

Lucy resisted the urge to strangle him. Or, maybe I should just give into the urge?

"That was for punching me!" Lucy shouted. "Why are you in my room?"

"We were tired," Natsu shrugged. He glanced down at Happy, who had fallen on the floor and was just waking up. "Right, Happy?"

"Aye," the cat agreed sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"And you couldn't sleep in your own bed?" she asked, infuriated. Natsu shrugged again. She suppressed a groan because she knew that this was going nowhere. "How long have you been here, anyway?" she asked as she sat down on her bed.

"Since the show ended," Natsu replied.

Lucy frowned in thought. She hadn't seen them when everyone was packing up the booths and then relaxing in the bar after the show. But, then again, she had spent the entire time with her nose – which hadn't been swollen at the time – in The History of the Kingdom of Fiore, now with Levy's actual permission, because she'd wanted to learn more about them.

And, also because it brought her mind off of the empty seat next to her.

Natsu's stomach grumbled. "I'm hungry," Natsu said. "I want fries!" he enthusiastically added.

"And milkshakes!" Happy said, now fully awake at the thought of food.

"And ice-cream!"

"And burgers!"

"And -"

"Then go get your food!" Lucy interrupted them. She was tired of their talk of food and it was making her a little hungry too,

"But Mirajane will be going to sleep soon!" Natsu pouted. "But we could go into town to one of the diners?"

"Aye! They're open 24 hours!" Happy chirped in agreement.

"What'd you say, Luigi?"

"My name's LUCY!" she practically exclaimed. "And I just want to get some sleep!" Truthfully, the idea of sleeping was getting less appealing as she started to imagine the smell of French fries dipped in ketchup. "And you can't get out – they doors are locked and only Master has the key."

"We could go through the back way."

"There's a back way?" she curiously asked. Natsu smirked deviously and nodded his head. She looked away from him. "Still, it's a no. It's too dark out."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of anger cross Natsu's face. No doubt, he was remembering the night when she had walked home alone after seeing them perform, only to be ambushed.

It quickly disappeared and Natsu snorted. "I can protect you!" he said and then even flexed.

Lucy rolled her eyes and her stomach grumbled a little. French-fries… "Fine, I'll go," she told them and they cheered in delight. "But, it's dangerous out, so I'm summoning one of the celestial spirits." She reached over to her bedside table where she had deposited her precious keys and hand curled around the spine of her favorite Silver Key.

She stretched her arm out in nonspecific direction. Natsu's and Happy's eyes were widened with eagerness. They had never seen her summon a celestial spirit before. She had argued against the idea of summoning the Celestial spirits just so they could perform in the Fairy Tail Circus. It was unfair to them, having to do such things against their will. They were people too.

She felt electricity run through her spine as she focused on the tip of the Key – the portal to the other world. ""Open a Gate of the Canis Minor! Nikora!"

An orb of light formed at the end of the Key, slowly increasing in size. It acted as a portal to the Celestial Spirit World. And then, in a flash of radiant light, the portal closed, leaving a small person in its wake.

"Pun!"

Natsu and Happy stared down at the creature in perplex. Their jaws were to the ground and their eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets. "Don't stare!" she reprimanded them. "You're scaring him!" Lucy smiled warmly at the small creature that had just appeared out of thin air. She crouched down and patted Nikora - whom she had renamed as 'Plue' - on the head.

"That was supposed to appear?" Natsu asked in confusion.

Lucy scowled at him. "Plue is not a that. Plue is a he – a white doggy!" She affectionately stroked his head.

"He's going to protect us?" Happy warily asked.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at them. She knew that Plue wasn't powerful, strong, or good for any kind of battle; but, it had been so long since she had summoned her companion. Plus, Plue loved to eat. "We're going out get some fries and burgers. Do you want to come?" she asked him. Plue enthusiastically nodded.

"Okay, let's go," Natsu said. He still wasn't over his shock of seeing Plue and kept staring at him, waiting for Plue to become a giant monster.

Lucy stood back up. "I need to change first," she told them.

They didn't move at all.

"Get out!" she shouted at them, pushing them out the door. "What part of 'I need to change' didn't you understand?"

"Why does he get to stay?" Natsu huffed, pointing at Plue who was sitting on the bed (how did he get up there?).

"Because I can trust Plue to keep his eyes shut," Lucy replied and then gave him another kick to force him out of the door. She closed the door behind her and smiled at Plue, who now had his eyes shut.

She hurriedly changed and then met Natsu and Happy outside. The fingernail-thin moon was high in the sky, giving them next to no light. That didn't matter because Natsu produced some fire in his right hand. It illuminated his face and made him look evil. Plue cowered behind her legs.

"This way," Natsu told them. He led them through the back where all the caravans were. They made sure to make no sound as they walked so no one woke up. Natsu had told her last week that dragon-slayers had super-hearing, so she was sure they wouldn't be caught.

Adrenaline was pumping through her veins as they walked. She'd never thought she'd join a circus, much less sneak out of one. It was strange how much her life had changed, but it was a good change. Sometimes she felt lonely, but the times like these, when it was just her, Natsu and Happy (and Plue) made it worthwhile.

They escaped through the back, cut through the local park, and then they were walking down the pavement. Natsu had extinguished the fire because there were now streetlights to light their way.

A cool breeze brushed through Lucy's hair that made her tingle. She wasn't a little girl anymore; she wasn't the same girl who wandered through the corridors of the mansion and thought she could catch glimpses of her mother walking by even after her death, or her favorite nanny who had passed away. Lucy was now an adult, responsible for herself, and mature.

But she was also the girl who could summon Celestial Spirits. If those existed, then why wouldn't ghosts?

Every town had their share of deaths, so every town must have a ghost or two. It might have been bookshop owner who had died from an avalanche of books and now haunted anyone whoever bought his books; it could have been a frail old woman who had died alone and now haunted newlywed couples. The ghost could even be the spirit of the Mayor's late wife, now haunting his soon-to-be gold-digger wife and the ghost was scheming for a way to get rid of her beloved's new woman, using a plan that resulted in a lot of blood…

Lucy suppressed a shiver but couldn't stop her cringe. She cursed at herself for thinking such stupid things at the dead of the night. Leave the story-telling for the novel! She reminded herself.

"What's up with you?" Natsu asked her, looking at her oddly. His face broke into a grin. "You're not scared, are you?"

"Ghosts exist!" she blurted out. Natsu started to laugh at her paranoia. "They do!" An image of her mother flashed before her eyes. Lucy used to imagine her mother's ghost sitting in her pink bedroom, reading her stories and singing her lullabies, only for her angelic face to turn frail and sickly, just like how she looked during her long illness that had resulted with her death.

Her mother had been looking so poorly before her death. It had been hard to believe that she was the same woman who had often energetically told her stories about Celestial Spirits, putting motions with her beautiful words.

Natsu stopped laughing once he saw the sad look in her eyes. He looked unsure on what to do, if he should console her or something. But Lucy shook the memories off, like always, and put it behind her.

"Look, there's the Diner," Lucy said, pointing at the Diner across the street. She swooped Plue up and crossed the street without waiting for Natsu and Happy. She could hear their footsteps behind her.

Once in the diner, there was no more time for talk because the boys started to pig out on the food. Lucy could feel herself shrinking more and more into her chair to stop the food from getting on her face or hair. Despite Plue's tiny body, he ate a surprisingly amount of food – much more than Lucy.

"Hey," Natsu said once he had gulped down the last of his chocolate milkshake. Lucy was still slowly sipping her strawberry one. "How many Key-Guys do you have?"

"They're not called Key-Guys," she told him. "That's disrespectful. They're Stellar Spirits and I have 10." She dug into her pocket and took her Keys out. She never went anywhere without them. She placed the Keys on the table and said, "There's the Zodiac Stellar Spirits: Aquarius, Cancer, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Virgo, and Taurus. Those are the Gold Keys. The Silver Keys are: Plue, Hologram, and Lyra."

"How'd you get so many?" he asked.

Lucy bit her lip, and then said, "Aquarius and Cancer belonged to my mother." Natsu nodded, and didn't push and ask about her mother. She knew about her 'father, the dragon Igneel whom had disappeared, and she never pushed him on that and asked the dying question of what was it like to live with a dragon. "And, uh, Virgo belonged to a man named Duke Everlue."

"Who?"

"He was some rich man and I had to go to his house as a child with my father," she told him. "And, as it turned out, he didn't use his power for good."

A young Lucy, aged only 9, gasped as she read the first few pages of the story Daybreak. It was in the Duke's private library, a room she was certainly not supposed to be in, but the curiosity had been too much and the sight of so many books had been overwhelming. And, then, she had spotted it. The book by her favorite author and the only book of his that she had not read before. Hesitantly, she had taken it from its shelf for a quick read.

But the story was horrible. Nothing she had expected. She could feel the bile rising up in her throat. And then she heard the loud stomping and her blood froze cold.

"The Duke had forced the author, Kemu Zelaon, to personally write him a book and had held him captive for three years."

Natsu's eyes widened, as did Happy's. "Just for a book?" Happy asked, incredulous. Lucy sadly nodded.

"Yes. And then the maid, Virgo, found me. I had to summon Cancer to fight her. At that time, I only had Aquarius and Cancer."

"And you won?"

"Yeah. I told my father about the Duke, who then went to prison and I got possession of Virgo. She's actually quite nice," she added with a smile, remembering Virgo's nickname for her: Hime.

"That's cool," Natsu told her, eyes gleaming. "What about the others? Fights as well?" He looked eager to hear.

"Aries, Gemini and Scorpio all belonged to a Mage called Angel. She had come for Virgo, hearing that the Duke lived in the area, but he was already in prison, so she wanted my Keys. She mentioned she was from a Dark Guild. I had no idea what she meant," she added. "We fought but Gemini couldn't ki- hurt me," she quickly changed, "Gemini couldn't hurt me because they had sensed my love for Stellar Spirits."

"Three at once?" Happy said in excitement. Even Natsu looked impressed. Lucy felt herself blush.

"That's nothing compared to you. I mean, you must've gone on lots of missions," Lucy said, eager to hear more about their missions. They had only talked a little about them during the time she had been at the circus. Envy highlighted her voice.

Instead of answering, Natsu asked, "Do you like Fairy Tail?"

It was common for him to ask random questions unexpectedly, but Lucy had an inkling that this question wasn't random. "What are you talking about? Of course I like Fairy Tail!" Natsu gave her another odd look and stole a lonely fry off her plate. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged as she absently chewed the fry. "Just. I don't think Wendy liked us at first. It took her a few weeks to get used to us."

"It did?" She asked in confusion. Wendy was a lovely and sweet little girl whom no one could think ill of or dislike. And she naturally treated everyone equally too.

Natsu nodded and stole another fry. Lucy rolled her eyes and just handed him her plate to finish off. "Wasn't she a part of your Guild since she was a kid?" she asked him.

"No, she was part of 'Cait Shelter' first," Natsu answered.

The name of that Guild sounded cute. It suited Wendy. "What happened to it?" She knew the vague details about 'Phantom Lord', a rival Guild to Fairy Tail. They were practically a Dark Guild, what with all the evil tasks they did. They had been disbanded, and Juvia had joined Fairy Tail because of her large crush on Gray and had made Gajeel, who she strangely cared for, join too.

Natsu hesitated. "They died," Natsu spoke, his voice barely over a whisper. Lucy felt her blood run cold. They died? And Wendy (and Charle) had been the only ones to survive? How? Why?

Poor Wendy! Having all the people she was close to die. Yet Wendy always smiled warmly at her. "So is that when she joined you?"

He nodded. "She wanted to be with other dragon-slayers. I think that was when the Council decided to get rid of us. Y'know, with three dragon-slayers in one Guild."

"But Wendy isn't like you and Gajeel," Lucy thought aloud. "I mean, she doesn't fight or hardly even talks -!"

"Didn't matter. They hated us from the start because we always made trouble. So, they got some guy to get into our Guild, with this memory magic that made us think he'd always been a part of Fairy Tail."

Lucy remembered hiding behind beer barrels weeks before, listening to a conversation she shouldn't have. "Doranbolt?" she blurted out. Damn! What's with this word vomit?

Natsu looked at her, confused as to why she knew this, but continued. "Yeah. But then, we thought his name was Mest. Mest Gryder."

"And he found a reason to disband your…" she didn't finish her sentence on, not wanting to say the 'G' word again.

"Yeah. But only me and Gajeel were banned from joining Guilds. Wendy got taken by the Council."

Lucy's hazel eyes widened. "Why?" her voice came out in a whisper, almost as though the Council was with them at that very moment and could hear them.

"They tried to take advantage of her powers. She can heal people. But if she does it too much…" he trailed on, letting Lucy fill in the blanks. "But the Council didn't really care about that. They needed her to heal people, and she had to stay with them because she had nowhere else to go."

"But you saved her," Lucy finished.

"All of us," Natsu told her. "We got her out and we left Fiore." Natsu looked straight into her eyes. "I still worry about her, because I want to protect my nakama," Natsu continued. "Everyone in Fairy Tail is my nakama – from Mira to Lisanna, Ice-boy to Elfman, Gajeel to Juvia, and from Happy to Lucy. You're all nakama."

Lucy bit her lip. Natsu wasn't dumb – although he sometimes acted like it. He knew that she was feeling a little lonely, a little left out. She felt her eyes water with happiness. She quickly looked away and Natsu did the same, out of embarrassment. Her heart was practically skipping over what Natsu had said. Sure, maybe not everyone in Fairy Tail viewed her as nakama, but it had been Natsu who had persuaded her to join - who had filled her life with adventure.

She was still smiling they all walked home. Well, not all of them walked. Happy was riding piggy-back style on Natsu because he had eaten so much he could no longer walk. Plue had fallen asleep and Lucy was cradling him. His carrot nose kept nudging her as he silently moved in his sleep.

"Goodnight, Natsu," she whispered to him when they reached her caravan.

"Night, Luigi," he told her before walking off.

Lucy didn't bother to correct him.

… … …

The next morning, she found Wendy sitting at one of the tables outside the huge tent that was filled with the loud boys – and Cana, who started her drinking early in the day.

Wendy was seated at the small round table, wearing a pretty summer dress and her long hair and glowed in the sunlight. She was reading a book as Charle, who sat opposite her, sipped at her tea in an elegant fashion.

"Hi, Wendy," she brightly said. Wendy looked up from her book and smiled back at Lucy. "Mind if I sit?" she asked her.

"Of course you can," Wendy told her, motioning to the empty seat next to her. Charle glanced at Lucy with distaste as the blonde sat down, but then quickly adverted her eyes.

"What you reading?" Lucy asked Wendy, engaging in some small talk. After what she had heard about Wendy – about that Mest/Doranbolt/Council-member/should-have-been-killed-already-by-Natsu guy – Lucy had felt the need to cheer up Wendy, even though the girl hardly ever looked unhappy.

"Tom Sawyer," Wendy replied. "Levy recommended it." They spent the next few minutes chatting about books and Lucy was happy that no one was going to interrupt them. Maybe Wendy felt lonely like her too. She normally just sat with Charle who, although being with Wendy's closest friend, probably like girl-talk.

"Do you like it here at Fairy Tail?" Wendy asked her.

"Yeah, but I don't think I fit in," Lucy sheepishly told her. She felt that Wendy would understand her, so was comfortable enough to tell her the truth. Or, maybe it was the word vomit again.

"You do!" Wendy insisted.

Before another word could be said, they heard a large clatter and a few yelps. They turned their heads to the direction of the noise and caught sight of Erza approaching them, smiling warmly.

"Lucy, I have a gift for you," Erza told her, her eyes lit up with excitement. Lucy stared up at her, bewildered and confused. "I received it as a reward, many years ago, but I never had any use for it…" she held out her hand and showed Lucy the gift – a Gold Key.

"Sagittarius," Lucy gasped, eyes frozen on one of the 12 Zodiac Keys. Her eyes filled with greed, but then she blinked and looked back up at Erza. "But I shouldn't-"

"You're a Stellar Spirit Mage, you deserve it," Erza insisted. She entrusted it into Lucy's open hand.

"What's going on, Lu-chan?" Levy asked as she approached them. "Hi, Erza-chan. Hi Wendy-chan."

"I have given Lucy a Stellar Spirit Key," Erza told her.

"Really?" Levy asked, eager to hear about it.

"So what?" Gajeel asked as he sloped passed them. "It's not like bunny-girl's going to be any stronger with one other Key."

"Not true!" Levy scolded Gajeel. "She had to fight to get her other Gold Keys!"

"How many Gold Keys does that make now?" Gray asked

"Gray-sama! Gray-sama, have you left Juvia for Lucy-san?" Juvia asked with horror and sadness.

"Eight," Lucy answered, trying not to be shaken by Juvia's deathly glare.

They all stopped to look at her, impressed. The silence was broken by Natsu and Happy, whom both popped out of nowhere, wearing matching grins. "That's our Lucy!" they said in unison.

"Maybe you'll be able to get all the Gold Keys," Gray said with some admiration. "Right, Loki… Loki?" he said, looking around.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked. She saw a head or orange hair fleeing towards the other direction. She shook it off and she was suddenly engulfed by questions about her Stellar Spirits.

Natsu gave her a knowing smile, which she happily returned. I could get used to being here…

*flailing* 97 reviews already? :D I don't deserve all of them.

To my 100th reviewer - I will be willing to write you a fic... y'know, if you want me to? Really, I want something to write.

Oh, and in other news, I now have a tumblr, which explains why I've been getting somewhat distracted.