I've been on hiatus for a looonnnnggggg time! (More than a year!) I can't believe I'm getting extremely lazy at updating my fics! =( My laziness is getting the better of me… I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long… =( Enjoy this chapter, though! =)

Hi, everyone! I'm Lucy Heartphilia, and currently I'm a second year student (a junior) at the Fairy Tail Guild. Astronomy is one of the things I love the most! I've already dragged some of my closest friends into helping me recreate the Astronomy Club.

A girl's gotta be careful when walking home by herself… I got myself in trouble last time already! If it wasn't for Loki I'd be…well, I'd either be killed or raped or both by now! And what's with that strange dream I had about spirits?

~*A Spirit's Guidance*~
Chapter Four: First Date

"Achoo!"

How in the world did I catch a cold? My body must have gotten weaker because of that ambush a couple of days ago. Ah, I've already missed school yesterday. I don't want to miss it today again. Maybe I'll call Levy-chan and ask her to tell the office that I'm sick.

Just as I was about to speed dial Levy, I heard a couple of knocks at the door. Who could it be this early in the morning? Grunting, I place my phone back on my side table and drag my feet across the room to the front door.

"Hello, Lucy," greeted my visitor, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Loki, what are you doing here?" I asked, with a sniffle accompanying my question.

"I came to check up on you. May I come in?" Loki politely asked.

"Sure, come on in." I made way for him as he walked in. I noticed that Loki's hair was shorter and less unkempt than when he was in his spirit form. Instead of his usual suit, he was wearing a green coat over a red shirt, with dark pants and a pair of sneakers. He must be in human form now. I closed the door and turned back to Loki.

Before I could say anything, Loki placed the back of his hand on my forehead. "You don't seem to have a serious fever. Just a cold, then?"

I nodded. "That's why I didn't show up at school yesterday."

"Your friends somehow heard about you getting attacked a couple of days ago. They were worried, you know," said Loki.

"I suppose either you or Aries was the one who spread the word to them?" I guessed.

"As much as you think it's us, it wasn't. A friend of Juvia's saw you," explained Loki.

"Oh. Why'd you come here though?" I inquired.

"I told you, I came to check up on you," replied Loki. A couple of seconds later, he added, "Actually, there is another thing."

"What is it?" I questioned.

A slight smile formed on his lips. "I'd like you to spend the day with me."

I blinked once. Twice. "A date?" was all I could say.

"Somewhat like that," said Loki.

"Are you sure you have enough energy to go out the whole day in human form?" I asked, concerned. What if he suddenly collapses in the middle of a crowd? Or worse, what if he suddenly started becoming transparent? People would panic!

"I rested the whole day yesterday, so yes, I'm do have enough energy to go out today," replied a confident Loki.

"But my cold…" I weakly protested.

"Rather than locking yourself in your room, I find it better to go out and have fun." Loki wasn't going to let me get away.

"Okay," I meekly agreed. "Let me go change first."

"So what do you have in mind?" I asked Loki once I changed into a white tank top and blue skirt. Both of us were not outside my house. I sniffled again. This cold is not going away anytime soon, I guess.

"You'll see," Loki replied. He offered his hand. I stared at it. "Your hand, please."

Hesitantly, I placed the tips of my fingers lightly on his palm. He took my hand in his, and led me to wherever he planned to go. Today his aura seems unreasonably…happy. It actually feels nice. A huge chance from feeling threatened, at least.

As we walked down the street, I could feel the people around us staring. I stole a glance at a couple of girls who were glaring at us and chatting. Their stare felt like a thousand needles pricking my skin. Loki, however, didn't seem to care at all. His aura was still bright. I wonder what caused this change in attitude.

"We're here," Loki declared. It turns out that the place he took me to…was a school festival. Not just any school festival either. It was Gerard's school, Sorcière Academy.

"You brought me to a school festival?" I said to Loki.

"That way you'll get to see your friends too," answered Loki.

"Wait, you mean it's a school holiday today?" I asked again.

"Well, yes and no. Since Sorcière Academy is holding a festival today, some students from other schools can choose to come to the festival or keep attending school. It's a choice that Master Markarov allowed," explained Loki. "Let's go, Lucy."

Loki and I entered the school compound, still hand in hand. The students of Sorcière Academy did a fantastic job organizing the festival! Of course, they're all geniuses. I wonder what they've done inside the school.

"It's Lu-chan! Lu-chan!"

Levy's voice grabbed my attention. My eyes darted around, trying to search for her. Suddenly, I felt a small body hug me from behind.

"Lu-chan, you're okay!" beamed Levy.

I turned around and greeted her. "Yeah. I just have a small cold though."

"I heard you were attacked! Lu-chan, you should be more careful," Levy chastised.

"Sorry for making you worry, Levy-chan," I apologized.

Levy then took a look behind me. A smile formed on her lips and asked me teasingly, "Is this your boyfriend, Lu-chan?"

"Nooo," I drawled. "He's just showing me around the festival!"

"But you're holding hands," Levy pointed out.

I swiftly yanked my hand away from Loki's. "Well, he treats me like… like a kid!" I replied, nervously.

"Hmmm," hummed a suspicious Levy. "Well, is he a student here?"

"No no, he's not. He…goes to another school," I covered. "His name's Loki, by the way."

Levy smiled at Loki and introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Lu-chan's boyfriend! I'm Levy McGarden, but you can call me Levy!" Turnig back to me, Levy continued, "Well then, enjoy your time with him, Lu-chan! I've got to get back to Jet and Droy." Levy then skipped away happily.

"Well she's a happy one," Loki commented.

"Yeah she is," I answered. "So, where do we go first?"

"Do you want to get something to eat? You haven't eaten breakfast yet have you?" Loki suggested.

My stomach answered his question by growling. Embarrassed, I quickly trotted to the nearest food stall I saw, with Loki following me. Just as I was about to buy some takoyaki (Japanese dumplings) Loki stopped me.

"At least let me pay for it," he offered, and bought the takoyaki for me.

"Thanks," I mentioned, as I started eating. I offered one stick to him. "Have some."

Loki accepted it and the two of us ate as we walked around the compound. This isn't so bad. I feel like my cold is starting to subside already.

"Luuuucccyyyy!"

I'm pretty sure that was Natsu's voice, but before I knew it, I was on the ground, tackled by a body. Suddenly, the body was lifted up by someone. "

Natsu, do you think that's going to do any good for Lucy?" Erza asked, in a threatening voice.

"No ma'am!" Natsu hurriedly answered.

"Geez, think before you do something, you idiot," insulted Gray, as he calmly walked to us.

As Natsu and Gray started bickering, Loki offered his hand, and helped me get up. "Thanks, Loki." I said. Then I turned my attention to Natsu. "Natsu, you really are hyper today," I told him.

"I'm just glad to see you're alright! Nothing happened to you, right?" a concerned Natsu asked.

"No. Thanks for worrying, though," I replied.

"Who's he?" Gray asked, gesturing to Loki.

"Oh is he your cousin or something?" Natsu eagerly asked.

"Um, no. His name's Loki," I introduced.

"I've heard of all of you," Loki said. "Lucy talks about you a lot."

I stared at him. I haven't even talked to Loki much. Still, I'm glad he's good at bluffing. Remembering that Gerard went to this school, I quickly changed the subject. "So Erza, have you seen Gerard yet?"

"I was actually on my way to meet him now," she replied.

"I see. Well, I hope you have a great time with him!" I teased. Before Erza could reply, I dashed off, taking Loki with me.

"You have really good friends," Loki commented.

"Well thanks. By the way, how's Aries? Is she still at Fairy Tail?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's not strong enough to come out in human form outside of Fairy Tail yet," answered Loki.

The two of us decided to go inside the school building and see what the students have done there. The first thing that caught Loki's eye just happened to be a haunted house. He smirked and dared me to go in there. He said he'd accompany me too, so there's no need to be scared.

"I-I'm not scared!" I defended. "It's all fake anyway, and students made it, so it shouldn't be that b-bad."

Well, that was what I thought at first. It turns out that the students of Crime Sorcière did an extremely good job at frightening people.

"Eek!"

I jumped up when I felt something grab my ankle. Not long after, I felt something crawling on top of my head. Panicking, I tried to brush it off.

"This is not what I expected!" I shrieked. Loki tried to hold in his laughter. "It's not funny!"

Suddenly, something cold brushed past my arm. I yelped and latched myself on Loki's arm. Chuckling, Loki patted my head. "Don't be scared. Come on. Let's get out before you start yelling again."

Once we were out of the haunted house, I collapsed on a nearby bench. "That…was worse than I thought. Loki, let's rest for a while." I turned my head left, then right, but couldn't find Loki. Where'd he go now? Don't tell me, he ran out of energy!

"Here you go."

A can of juice came flying at me. I looked up and saw Loki opening his own can. "Geez, don't disappear like that. I thought you had run out of energy or something," I told him.

"Why don't we go to another class's activity after this?" Loki suggested, totally ignoring my words.

We ended up going to a couple of other activities, such as a café, a bake sale, and a skit. Today was much more fun than I anticipated.

"There's another place I wanted to go to," Loki said. The two of us left the festival at about four in the evening.

Loki took me to the river just in front of my house. It turns out that he had rented a small boat there. "Come on, Lucy." He extended his hand to help me on the boat. Once we were on the boat, we just sat there, with Loki rowing a couple of times, and enjoyed the ride.

"It's strange."

I looked at Loki. "What's strange?"

"I don't feel as…comfortable around you as I do with other girls," he said.

I pouted. "Well sorry for making you uncomfortable."

Loki chuckled. "No, I don't mean that in a bad way. I just feel like I can't … charm you like I can the other girls."

"Well that's good," I teased. "You really are a playboy."

Loki carefully came closer to where I was sitting. His thumb and index finger took hold of my chin and tilted my head up. "Why don't I try it though?"

I could feel my cheeks heating up. My hands suddenly pushed him away. "Wh-What was that for?" I demanded. Loki then started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You're a strong girl. You fight back," he replied.

"Well did you suppose I was going to let you do everything you want?" I asked, still a little flushed.

"Not quite. But that's what makes you special," praised Loki.

The wind suddenly started to pick up. Now I regretted not bringing a jacket along since I sneezed constantly while on the boat. Great, just when I thought my cold was about to go away.

"Here you go." Loki carefully wrapped his jacket around me.

"Thanks," I said. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm not cold," Loki answered.

"I meant your form. How long can you hold your human form?" I asked again.

"About another thirty minutes. I feel a little drained," he replied.

"Achoo!" I sneezed again. Sniffling, I asked, "Shouldn't you get back to Fairy Tail then?"

"I will. We're going to stop soon anyway," Loki said.

Once the two of us were on land again, I took off Loki's jacket and handed it back to him. "You can keep it," Loki offered.

"I'll come to the club room tomorrow. I'll see you and Aries there then," I said.

"Sure. One more thing," Loki added.

"What is it?" What's he planning now?

"Do you know the fastest way to get rid of a cold?" I tilted my head sideways, not sure where this was going. I shook my head no to answer his question.

He took one long stride towards me, and was soon staring down at me with his lion-like eyes. His stare wasn't cold. It was full of light. "Um…" Not knowing what to say, I just looked at the ground, trying to avoid his stare.

His fingers held my chin and tilted my head up again. This time, he held it. My body felt relaxed. There was no fighting back this time. Is it just me, or is he actually getting closer? Loki then answered his own question.

"It's to give it to someone else."

Before I could say anything, his lips covered mine softly. It wasn't harsh. It wasn't forced. It was soothing. It was warm. I'm surprised at myself for not doing anything about this.

Loki pulled his lips away a few seconds later. "See you tomorrow then, Lucy." He walked away, then disappeared into thin air.

I lightly touched my lips with the tips of my fingers. What just happened?

Dream

I open my eyes and find myself in another world- the spirit world. How do I keep getting here? For what reason am I here?

"You'll find that out later, Princess."

It was him again; that same person, shrouded in mystery. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to see him, I gave up looking for him. Instead, I yelled out, "I don't understand!"

"You'll see. Time will tell."

All of a sudden, the place where I was standing started shaking as if there was a stampede. Squinting, I could detect an outline of a large body. As it got closer, I found out that it was actually a bull! Thinking that it would run me over, I prepared to run.

"Wait Lucy-san!"

I froze. Slowly, I turned around to see the bull. It was talking to me. A bull was talking to me.

"Lucy-san do you really not remember?" the bull spoke.

Puzzled, I asked, "Remember what?"

"I'm Taurus," it replied.

"I still don't know what I'm supposed to remember," I continue.

"You didn't even remember Aquarius the last time you visited," Taurus commented, dejected. "Of course you wouldn't even remember me."

A flash of light suddenly blinded me and I soon found myself falling. No, not really falling. It was more like floating. A large screen floated by me. On it was a scene that I never expected to see. It was me, when I was young, and I was getting a haircut. My mother was beside me as well, but the one who was giving me a haircut didn't seem human. It looked human, but had crab-like features. Crab pincers were on top of his head and crab legs were jutting out from his back!

What is this sense of nostalgia? What kind of attachment do I have to this world?

Done! Please review! I'll try to work on my next chapter ASAP =)

~ SheriMeister