Disclaimer: All rights of Fairy Tail go to Hiro Mashima. I do not own this.

Chapter 3: A New Mechanic

Apparently by "get a seat" Yukino meant she and Lucy would go upstairs to the apartment over the restaurant to wait for their food, not that Lucy was complaining. The apartment was quite spacious, even if it was only half the size of the restaurant below, which wasn't all too big to begin with. The open living room and kitchen took up most of the space, with the two bedrooms down the hall near the back. Thankfully, it seemed Yukino had been the one to decorate the place instead of her brother.

The soft cream colored walls and pale blue furniture helped light up the whole room and gave it a very homely feel that Lucy hadn't realized she missed. It was a stark contrast to the more chic and modern design her apartment in Crocus had, but one Lucy loved more. The place practically screamed relax.

Lucy helped Yukino across the room to her favorite rocking chair, propping her feet up on the plush pillow seated on the coffee table. "How about some tea," Lucy said.

Yukino smiled. "Pitcher's in the fridge."

Lucy nodded and walked to the kitchen. As she passed the small alcove that led to the deck overhanging the back of the restaurant she paused when she saw the damage to the wall. The glass doors were gone and two thick pieces of plastic were carefully taped in their place. The same went for the window that had looked out back from the hall.

"Did you have some damage after a storm?" Lucy asked, turning to look back at Yukino.

Yukino slowly opened her eyes to look up at Lucy. "Hmm? Oh no, nothing like that. We decided that our home was too small with a baby on the way, and with you and Haru able to visit more often," Yukino wiggled her eyebrows at Lucy with an excited grin, "we needed more bedrooms. But, I'm afraid it's still being remodeled, so you and Haru will have to stay on the couch for a while."

"That's fine. After sitting in a truck for so long I'll be happy just to lie down." Quickly pouring two tall glasses of iced tea Lucy left the kitchen and headed back to the living room.

"Speaking of which," Lucy said as she handed Yukino her glass. "I wanted to thank you for letting Haru and I stay here for the time being. I know how stressful it can be with the baby on the way and all."

Yukino waved off Lucy's concern. "Of course you can stay here. You're family."

Lucy smiled at Yukino's simple reasoning as she settled on the couch. She took a sip of her tea and hummed in relief. Some home brewed iced tea was just what she needed after that grueling car ride. "Well, we shouldn't have to stay for more than a few days. Just until the deeds to the house are finalized."

Yukino smiled. I can't believe you and Haru are moving back there of all places." She chuckled and placed a hand to her cheek. "It certainly brings back memories," she said with a sigh.

"I know what you mean..."

Lucy never thought in a million years she'd move back into the house her mother had grown up in. While most of her childhood had been spent at the large plantation her father had built at the height of their family's wealth, Lucy had always favored the little cottage on Strawberry Street she had occasionally visited with her mother when seeing her grandma.

She hadn't known her father had bought the property after her mother's death, keeping its maintenance up even as no one lived in it for many years. She was even more surprised when she learned her father had left the house and property solely to her in his will.

At the time, Lucy was still living in Crocus with her own family so she hadn't done much with the property. And since her father's will clearly stated that until she accepted the house its regular upkeep would continue to be made, Lucy hadn't seen any reason to move her family when they were perfectly happy where they were.

It was things like this that made Lucy certain there was real magic in the world.

"What brings back memories?"

The two women turned to look up at Sting as he walked into the apartment carrying two trays of food while Haru precariously balanced a much smaller tray stacked with more waffles than Lucy could count.

Lucy set her own glass aside and quickly moved over to her son, steadying his wobbling arms before the waffles could fall. "Careful, Haru!"

He beamed up at Lucy, "Look mom. Uncle Sting made all these for me!"

Lucy sent a glare over her shoulder at her brother. "And is uncle Sting going to look after you when you get a stomach ache?"

Sting rolled his eyes as he helped Yukino stand and make her way over to the little round dining table near the back window by the kitchen. "It's fine, sis. Whatever Haru doesn't eat we'll give to Lector."

"Who?" Lucy asked.

Before Sting could answer Haru had grabbed Lucy's arm and started tugging on it slightly as he bounced with barely contained excitement. "Lector's uncle Sting's alligator!"

Lucy very nearly dropped the tray. "W-what?!" Since when had Sting gotten a pet alligator? When he'd mentioned he had a pet to guard the restaurant Lucy had figured he'd meant a dog. Not a freaking alligator!

Haru nodded. "He's soooo cool mom! And uncle Sting said after breakfast he'd let me feed him too."

"Absolutely not!" Lucy hollered.

Haru whined alongside his uncle for nearly all of breakfast but Lucy was firm in her demand that Haru was to never be allowed within ten yards of the reptilian beast.

"Geez, sis. You make it sound like I've got Godzilla in the back pond."

"You might as well!" Lucy snapped.

Before the two could fall back into another argument over the implied insanity one needed to own an alligator Yukino stepped in and quickly changed the topic. "Sting. Why don't you tell Lucy about the changes you made to her home," she suggested.

Lucy paused in their argument to look between the couple seated across from her. "Changes?"

"Uh, well…" Sting paused and scratched his cheek, suddenly looking far less annoyed and a little more embarrassed. "It wasn't much. I just figured that since the kitchen was a bit outdated you'd want a dishwasher. Forking up the jewel would be better than listening to you whine all the time anyway, so…"

Lucy blinked. She hadn't considered the house might have a few outdated appliances. In fact, from what she recalled the plumbing had been rather limited. The only toilet was the outhouse for Mavis' sake. If her brother had installed a dishwasher, no doubt he'd had to practically redo the whole plumbing and water lines. It couldn't have been cheap.

"Sting…you didn't have to do that…"

He looked at her then, eyes softening. "I wanted to. You're my sister and besides…" He glanced over at Haru to see if he was paying them any attention but the boy was far too immersed in building a castle out of his leftover waffles. All eight of them.

Sting looked back at Lucy. "I didn't pay for all of it. He made sure to send someone down to look over the house and paid for everything to be installed. I just picked out the stuff."

Lucy's eyes lowered to the table, a small smile curved at her full lips. It still amazed her how far ahead her husband had prepared things before he passed, even if his early death had been completely unforeseen. But that was her man. Always preparing things ten steps ahead. She'd thought he was crazy to have his will written up four months after they were married, and to immediately modify it after Haru was born, but it seemed his tendency to over-plan was a blessing in disguise.

By the time Lucy had said her final goodbye, all she had to do was sign a few papers and raise Haru. Nothing easy in the slightest but it was certainly better for her and Haru to grieve without worrying about lawyers calling them at every hour.

He'd taken care of everything, from his will and insurance, to making sure Lucy didn't need to lift a finger when it came to the funeral, but most importantly he made sure she and Haru would be taken care of, in many ways.

His good friend Virgo had offered to help Lucy around the apartment when Sting and Yukino were unable to stay and dear Aries had been a godsend at caring for Haru when Lucy was at work. Really, the fact that he'd gone and had her mother's house fixed up properly for her when he hadn't even known if they would move there or not shouldn't have surprised Lucy in the slightest.

She sighed and shook her head. "I should have known he'd handle something like this," she murmured.

Yukino reached out and took her hand gently. "Lucy? Are you alright?"

Lucy smiled and waved off her concerns. "Oh, I'm fine. If anything, I'm more concerned about paying you back."

Yukino gave a relieved smile. "Don't worry about it. But, while we're on the topic, did you get any word back from the Magnolia Tabloid?"

Lucy sighed and rubbed her temple. With a masters in literature and a minor degree in astronomy, one would think Lucy would have gotten a job at the local newspaper within minutes. She had been one of the head authors for the very popular science magazine Sorcerer Weekly after all. While Lucy was more than qualified to write for a small town newspaper, she wasn't able to start the job until late next month.

She had hoped to have the job lined up by the time she moved down, but with all the recent high school graduates trying to get part-time jobs, Lucy would have to wait.

"I won't start there until next month. That's if I get the job in the first place."

That was another issue with the job hunt. There wasn't a guarantee she'd be hired. What good would an article about the latest astronomical discoveries be in a town where worm harvesting season was headline news? And yes, worm harvesting was a real thing.

"'Course you'll get the job!" Sting said, punching his fist in the air as he spoke and causing Haru to jump and look at the three of them with a confused frown.

"But until then," Sting leaned forward in his chair, eyes practically gleaming and a very creepy grin spreading across his face that had the pit of Lucy's stomach dropping to her feet in worry. "You can work for me sis. With you as the new waitress I'm sure we'll get even more customers than ever before!"

Lucy huffed and pointedly looked away. "Nice to see you're just using me to turn profits."

Sting snickered. "What're brothers for?" Yukino flicked his ear and Sting let out a whine that had Lucy and Haru giggling.

Frowning at his wife, Sting rubbed his sore ear before turning back to Lucy. "Seriously though, it'll be good. Haru can come here whenever you work, won't bother me a bit. And you can make your own hours. And I'll give you the family discount to the whole menu. You and Haru. Whatever you need, it's done, yeah?"

Lucy tossed her head back and laughed, she couldn't help it, as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. When she finally reigned in her fit of giggles, Haru giving her a worried and confused look, she gave her brother the biggest smile she'd felt in a long time.

"I'm not wearing a uniform," she said.

The next day Lucy woke up to the blissful sounds of birds chirping, wind chimes tinkling, water gurgling from the nearby creek and…a chainsaw being revved. Damn her brother and his innate ability to wake up at dawn with too much energy.

She groaned and rolled over to shut the window overhead, or at least tried to with Haru half sprawled over her stomach. Wasn't he on her other side when they fell asleep? Lucy grimaced when she felt his drool that had seeped into a good portion of her shirt. With his left arm looped around her waist and right arm still clutching his green pillow even as it twined with hers, Haru had very successfully trapped Lucy on the bed.

The foldout mattress from the couch wasn't very big to begin with but Lucy had hoped it would give them both enough room throughout the night, despite Haru's habit of clinging to everything he touched in his sleep.

Outside, Sting must have finally started the chainsaw because it roared to life with enough noise Lucy swore she saw the window panes shake. Haru only gave a soft snore and turned his head to bury his face in Lucy's shirt.

Just like his father. He could sleep through a hurricane too, she thought.

It took a good twenty minutes to untangle her son from around her waist and get started on breakfast. She left Haru laying spread out across the mattress, his small frame somehow seeming to take up the whole center, leaving no room for her to lie back down anyway. By that point Sting had apparently decided enough wood was cut as he stomped up the stairs and all but banged open the door. Lucy glared at him from the kitchen window overlooking the living room. Thank Mavis her son was such a heavy sleeper.

"You know, you could have warned me before you started cutting logs this early. What do you need wood for anyway? It's the middle of summer."

Sting gave her a semi-apologetic smile as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, shaking sawdust and woodchips from his hair as he did. "Sorry. Wood's for the grills. Can't make the best burgers in town if you don't have a wood grill."

Lucy sighed, shaking her head as she turned back to the stove where she proceeded to crack open two eggs onto a hot skillet. "I don't see how Haru and Yukino can sleep through that this early."

Sting shrugged. "Yuki's used to it and I may have slipped some cough syrup in Haru's drink last night."

Lucy swatted the spatula at him. Sting laughed and nimbly ducked out of the way. "Whaaaat? I had to do something! Kid wouldn't leave me alone after we fed Lec-" He stopped when Lucy rounded on him with now a second skillet in hand. "I-I mean, I just wanted to make sure you had a good night's rest," he finished with a cheeky smile.

Lucy snorted. "Then don't start a chainsaw under my window at six in the morning," she snapped.

"My window and it's seven in the morning."

This time Lucy very nearly did hit him with the frying pan. Eggs and all.

"Don't tell me you two are fighting already," a soft voice sighed from the doorway.

Lucy and Sting turned to where Yukino stood already dressed in an elegant, light blue dress that accentuated her belly and still showed off her feminine curves wonderfully. She shook her head and walked over to the fridge to pour herself a glass of tea. "Seriously. Sometimes I wonder how you two ever managed to grow up in the same house."

"Big house meant lots of extra space," Sting pointed out as he settled in the chair next to her.

Yukino rolled her eyes and turned to Lucy. "So. What are your plans today, Lucy?"

"Well, yesterday my engine light came on so I figured I'd have to take the truck to the mechanic." She shrugged, "Normally I'd let it be for a while, but after that long drive I figured it wouldn't hurt to get the old thing checked out."

"Do you need me to watch Haru while you're out?" Yukino asked as Lucy set a plate down in front of her and Sting. Her brother wasting no time in digging in to the eggs and bacon.

"No thanks. I was actually hoping to take Haru around town for a bit. We passed through town so quickly yesterday I'm afraid I didn't get much of a chance to show him around. Plus, I think I need to do a bit of sightseeing myself. Well, sightseeing for Magnolia anyway."

Her brother nodded, speaking around a mouthful of eggs. "Make sure you go to Black Steel for the truck. The guy who runs the place is an ass but he can fix a car."

"His new mechanic isn't so bad either," Yukino said. She leaned over to nudge Lucy's side. "Plus, I've heard he's quite the looker, and single too," she teased.

Lucy spluttered on her tea. It wasn't often Yukino made such brazen jokes, she was often too polite and sweet to do such things, but when she did it often left those in the room feeling shocked.

"Y-Yukino!" Lucy gasped. The woman just giggled around her hand while her husband rolled his eyes and smirked at Lucy. Thankfully, Lucy was saved from having to think of some reasonable reply when Haru walked into the kitchen, dragging his green pillow behind him and giving a loud yawn.

"Mom. I'm hungry."

Lucy sighed in relief and stood to walk over to her son. "How about some eggs?" she suggested, gently taking the boy's hand and leading him to the table. While Haru slept like his father, he woke like Lucy, often needing several minutes to fully wake up and feel refreshed.

After breakfast, Lucy sent Haru off to take a bath while she got dressed and folded their bed away. It was nearing nine in the morning when Lucy and Haru made their way downstairs to the restaurant. Sting was already in the kitchen making breakfast for the customers who were already seated around the many tables, despite Sabretooth only having been open for one hour.

Yukino was walking around between the tables taking orders and chatting with some of the customers. Lucy shook her head as she imagined her brother seething over the stove because Yukino refused to stay in bed all day, as he had tried, and failed, to persuade her to do. For as sweet as Yukino was on a regular basis she was quite stubborn when she wanted to be.

Walking out to the truck, Lucy was glad she and Sting had already unhooked the trailer from the hitch yesterday, though the carefully stacked boxes in the bed were still there and covered with a tarp. The mother and son duo hopped in the truck, Haru immediately leaning out the window as they neared Magnolia again.

Following Yukino's directions to the car shop was far easier than her brother's 'It's two streets over from Town Square,' instructions. How the man expected Lucy to know which direction to go in was beyond her when the Square was more of a circle.

Pulling up in front of the shop, Lucy gasped when she saw the metal neck and dragon head protruding from the building's center. It was made entirely from black steel and the skill needed to make such a thing was obvious. Its lips were pulled back in a fierce snarl, revealing its sharp teeth all perfectly lined around its mouth. So this was what Sting had meant when he said to 'look for the dragon'.

Haru had noticed it too and was gaping up at the metal creature with wide eyes, his jaw hanging open in awe. "Woah…"

Lucy had barely parked the car before Haru had fling open his door and jumped out to stare up at the dragon head with bright eyes and a big grin. "Cool! Look mom! It's a dragon!"

Lucy smiled as she walked over to her son's side to ruffle his hair. "I told you there was magic here."

He just grinned up at her and took her hand as they walked to the door. "You think there's a real dragon here, mom?" he asked, his large eyes looking around as though he expected to see a giant reptile lounging in the shade of the trees nearby.

Lucy tapped her chin as she considered her answer. "Maybe. But if I was a dragon I'd be in the woods outside of town," she said, remembering the winding trails that wove through the wooded acres north of Magnolia. Such a place had always seemed more magical than the rest of Magnolia to her.

"Can we go there today?" Haru asked excitedly.

Lucy chuckled. "Let's get the truck fixed first and then we can go dragon hunting."

Haru nodded, his eyes still looking all around for anything that could resemble a mythical creature.

Walking into the small office, Lucy was pleased to see it was already open. She'd been a bit concerned that the owner wouldn't open up until ten like most of the car shops in Crocus. Having a truck that was well over two decades old, Lucy had gotten used to having to wait in car shops for several hours, and with Haru with her the sooner they were in the sooner they were out.

What might have been an easy fix often turned into a mad hunt for old parts that were no longer made, which took up quite a lot of time. She just hoped any old parts needed would be easier to find in a town that was prominently made up of old vehicles.

Despite it still being early it was already quite hot outside and the office was no better, with only a small fan propped up on a stack of phone books behind the counter. Lucy was thankful she was in shorts and light t-shirt but she felt sorry for the men working in the shop who were forced to wear heavy clothes as they laid under hot cars all day.

Looking around the empty office Lucy wondered if the shop really was closed. Maybe the owner forgot to lock up. Wouldn't be the first time someone in Magnolia had done that.

"Hello?" she called, leaning over the counter slightly to peer deeper into the office. Maybe the person was in a back room, but when no one called back she knew the place was empty.

Lucy was just about to leave when she heard a loud bang from the shop. Turning, Lucy's first thought was that Haru had wandered off and gotten hurt and her fears were only increased when she saw he wasn't in the office anymore.

Bolting to the glass door that divided the office from the shop, Lucy practically kicked open the door as she burst into the garage. The front garage door was shut but the one in the back was open, leading to small back parking lot surrounded by tall trees.

A quick glance told Lucy Haru wasn't in the building so she figured he must have gone outside. She hoped that's where he was anyway. Racing for the back exit Lucy mentally kicked herself for not keeping a closer eye on her son. She was so panicked Lucy didn't even notice the man walking around the corner until she smacked right into him.

She let out a startled shriek and braced herself for the fall before someone grabbed her arms and steadied her.

"Careful there," the man said.

Lucy blinked and looked up at the man still holding onto her arms. He had a wide grin plastered across his tanned face, his sharp, onyx eyes bright even as he looked at her in confusion. This close Lucy could even see the small flecks of green in the dark pools. But what really caught her attention was his hair. Bright, think pink strands stuck up in wild angles that seemed to defy gravity even as they poked out from under his ball cap. Despite the odd color, he pulled it off well. His more masculine traits easily balancing the more girly color.

His grin widened as he released her from his hold and Lucy could see his abnormally sharp canines peeking out between his lips as he did.

"You know, you're not really supposed to be back here, uh…" His eyes flicked down to her left hand briefly before raising back to hers. "Miss."