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

Real quick, I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me when I see all the reviews and positive feedback! You guys have no idea how often you make my day! Thank you so much for your support and I hope you all continue to like what I write. Okay, now back to the story.

Chapter 5: A New Friend

Lucy felt like a complete hypocrite. Here she was trying to bribe her son with ice cream in the hopes he wouldn't be so upset she'd broken her promise when she'd criticized her father for attempting to do the same thing when she was younger. Well, he'd used expensive clothes and fancy cars instead of locally made ice cream, but the idea was the same. Oh how Sting would laugh if he saw them now. She could just picture her brother standing with his hands on his hips and mischievous grin in place as he said those four words that made Lucy want to punch him in the face and wail at the same time.

"You're just like dad."

The thought alone made Lucy want to smack her brother over his head with her shoe, like she'd often done when they were little. She had to remind herself that he hadn't actually said anything…yet. Her brother had an almost scary ability to sense when her inner dad-traits reared their ugly head, even when he wasn't around.

She was lucky he hadn't sensed her hypocrisy over the phone when she'd called and told him to pick her and Haru up in town. She figured he was too busy ranting about how annoying and much of a pain in his ass she was to notice. All his whining was futile when Lucy could hear him firing up his '78 Camaro within minutes of her calling him, no doubt dropping whatever he was doing to come get her.

Just like when we were kids, she thought as she remembered the time she was left stranded on the side of the road the first time her truck broke down. It'd been nearly two in the morning and Lucy was returning from her quick escape to Tenrou Lake after she'd gotten into a fight with their father. She'd called her brother and, despite the fact he didn't have a license yet and they both needed to be up early to leave for school, he'd stolen their father's car and rushed out to get her.

Such love and devotion was why Lucy was so sure Sting would be a good father. He was already a good uncle after all.

She looked over at Haru eating his mint chocolate chip ice cream as they sat in the wonderfully air conditioned ice cream shop. Thank Mavis her son had inherited both Lucy and his father's good eating habits. It would be tough enough getting the grease and dirt stains from his clothes without adding ice cream into the mix. Though, the way Haru was devouring his cone like he hadn't eaten in weeks, Lucy was pretty sure there'd be an end to that wonderful streak.

"Slow down, Haru. Yikes…"

The boy paused in shoving the ice cream down his throat to give her a cheeky grin. "Sorry, mom. This is just the best ice cream ever!"

"Better than your uncle's?" she asked. Her brother may have preferred standing over a grill and stove when it came to cooking, but he prided himself above all else on his homemade ice cream, which Lucy would admit was some of the best she'd ever had.

Without missing a beat, Haru looked up at Lucy and deadpanned, "Yes."

Lucy laughed and licked her thumb to rub off some lingering trails of the green cream from Haru's cheek. He pouted and ducked out from under her hand, mumbling about not being a little kid.

Lucy snickered. "Well it should be. Fullbuster ice cream is the best in all of Fiore."

Lucy smiled as she thought back to all the fond memories she had of getting ice cream after ballet practice with her mother and brother. Silver Fullbuster had always made sure to give Lucy extra chocolate chips and Sting extra sprinkles with their orders. Lucy was actually a little disappointed he wasn't behind the counter when she and Haru walked in. She'd been hoping to see the burly man's usual calm expression turn to surprise when little Lucy Heartfilia walked into Ice-Make after all these years. With a son, no less!

Silver Fullbuster had been good friends with her mother and was her father's personal lawyer, as well as the town's main attorney, until he retired early to open Ice-Make. While he didn't look it with the large scar across his brow that was left from the car crash his first wife passed away in, Silver was a superb lawyer. His calm and composed demeanor served him well in the often stressful court but Lucy liked him best when he was behind the counter scooping out flavors of ice cream for kids as he playfully told some of the worst jokes she'd ever heard.

Lucy had even been the flower girl for Silver and Ur's wedding. She smirked.Now that was a wedding to remember.

Lucy remembered walking down the center aisle in the church holding the hand of Ur's daughter Ultear while they trailed behind Silver's two sons, both of whom had been carrying a ring. The brothers had gotten into a fight, as usual, and in their scuffle had dropped the rings. Right under the organ.

It had taken over an hour to unbolt the heavy instrument from the floor to retrieve them, and by that point Silver and Ur had already said their vows, using pieces of string in place of the gold bands. It was one of the only times Lucy had met the boys and, for once, she understood why her father was so strict on who he let his children be around. Gray and his twin brother Lyon were certainly troublesome, even if they were both good boys at heart.

"We should eat here every day," Haru said matter-of-factly, pulling Lucy from her thoughts.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "And get cavities while hurting your uncle's feelings? I don't think so."

"Every week then?"

"Still too many cavities," Lucy said, shaking her head.

Haru frowned. "How about once a month. And we won't tell uncle Sting so he won't get his feelings hurt."

Lucy grinned at the idea of her and Haru sneaking off into town to get ice cream under her brother's nose. While lying was never acceptable in her book, she could always make an exception for her little brother. She still needed to pay him back for the time he'd hid a fish in her truck. When it was over one hundred degrees. And the windows were up. For two days.

She shuddered. "Okay. But, if we do this, we gotta make a deal never to tell him." Lucy held out her right hand, her pinky stuck out as she waited for Haru to wrap his own pinky around hers. "Not a word," Lucy warned.

Haru snickered as he wrapped his finger around Lucy's. "Not a word," he said.

They grinned at each other, matching brown eyes lit up with mischief. "Now," Lucy said, "let's go sit outside and you." She pointed a stern finger at her son. "Finish your cone! We can't have Sting catching us on the first day."

Haru nodded and hopped from his chair to follow Lucy from the store, the two falling into an easy conversation about the best fishing spots along the canal. In his excitement, Haru rushed past Lucy to open the door and race outside, not seeing the two figures nearing the door until he smacked into the shorter one. And completely crushed his half-eaten ice cream cone into the person's chest.

Haru stumbled back into Lucy's legs and she grabbed his shoulders to steady the boy. "Haru! Are you alright?" Lucy asked, looking down at her son with concern.

"Reiki! What have I told you about not watching where you're- Lucy?"

Lucy looked up and blinked at the red haired woman standing in front of her. "E-Erza!"

Lucy couldn't believe she was seeing her old friend after so long. Erza Scarlet had certainly grown up into the beautiful woman Lucy always knew she would be, with long scarlet red hair and a toned yet curvaceous body that would have made many women jealous.

Seeing one of the only friends she'd had in Magnolia brought back fond memories of her childhood. While Lucy had grown up in Magnolia she and Sting had never attend the local public school, instead going to a fancy boarding school in Hargeon and leaving little time for them to make friends in town. She only knew Erza and Levy from the ballet studio they all attended for years out of the rest of the children her age.

Fortunately, Erza and Levy had remained close friends with her even as Lucy lived away from town for most of her young life, the three having relied on letters and late night phone calls to keep them close during the school years. That close friendship had weakened when Lucy left Magnolia, unfortunately. If she was honest, Lucy was a little nervous about seeing the two women again. Especially the fiery redhead.

"Erza, I can expla-"

Before she knew it, Lucy was slammed into the woman's chest in a completely one-sided hug. Lucy winced. She'd forgotten how painful Erza's hugs often were when they were kids, and it seemed, even after all this time, Erza still hadn't managed to reign in her unusual strength.

"E-Erza…I can't…breathe," Lucy gasped.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Erza said, and quickly let go of her. "I'm just a little surprised to see you here, after all this time." She tilted her head to the side as she regarded Lucy with a polite smile on her face. Her long, red hair swinging in the ponytail behind her. "Are you visiting your brother?"

Lucy started to fidget under the woman's stern gaze. She'd also forgotten how imposing Erza could come off to others. Even her friends. Lucy had hoped to get a bit of practice at telling people of her return to Magnolia before she spoke with her two old friends.

"W-well, actually…um. I'm moving here. Permanently. Well, me and my son."

"Your son…?" Erza looked down and seemed to finally notice the little boy standing next to Lucy, seemingly pouting over his ruined ice cream. "Odd. I didn't know you had a son." Erza glanced at Lucy and raised an eyebrow. "I suppose my baby shower invitation was lost in the mail?" she asked.

Lucy paled. "W-well…I, uh…"

Her attention dropped to the boy her son ran into as he plucked at his wet and cold shirt with a calm and slightly board look on his face. He was around the same age as Haru, though a little taller. His dark brown eyes looked very much like the woman's standing next to him as he looked up at her and gave a polite smile. In fact, the more Lucy looked, the more similarities she could see between the boy and Erza. His shaggy hair was a few shades darker but still undeniably red with just a touch of purple tint to it. Perhaps maroon would be the best way to describe it. Even his nose was like Erza's.

Raising an eyebrow, Lucy looked back at her old friend and smirked. "Was my invitation lost too?"

Erza jerked, her cheeks flushing slightly to match her hair. She sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I suppose it's possible the Fiorian mail has made a few mistakes," she huffed.

Lucy snickered and looked back at her son. Haru had stopped pouting and was attempting to apologize to the maroon haired boy.

"Sorry about your shirt," Haru said.

"Sorry about your ice cream," the boy said.

Haru grinned at that and held out a hand. "I'm Haru. Who're you?"

Lucy flicked his ear at the rude question. Haru whined and the boy only smiled politely before taking Haru's hand. "Reiki Fernandes. It's nice to meet you Haru."

"Fernandes, huh," Lucy said as she eyed Erza with a devious smirk. The redhead blushed once more but only shrugged her slender shoulders. Lucy grinned. She had always thought her childhood friend's crush was something that would last. It was nice to be right.

Haru shrugged. "It's fine. Me and mom are gonna come back to get ice cream next month. But don't tell my uncle we're coming here! He'll get upset that his ice cream isn't the best."

Reiki nodded. "I won't tell. Promise."

Haru narrowed his eyes and looked the boy up and down. Reiki raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. After a beat Haru nodded like he'd just come to a very serious conclusion and held out his hand, pinky raised. "We should pinky-swear."

Reiki tilted his head and blinked. "…Sorry?"

"We should pinky-swear," Haru said. "That way you can't break your promise to keep it a secret."

Reiki gave a small smile before wrapping his own pinky around Haru's. "Then, I pinky-promise," he said.

Haru grinned. "Cool. Uh…I can help you clean your shirt if you want," he offered.

Reiki looked back at his mother who nodded her approval before he turned back to Haru and smiled. "Okay. Thanks."

Reiki led Haru back into the shop to the small washing station next to the door. Ur had insisted her husband install a large sink in the main room for the kids to clean themselves up at after they had their ice cream. The sink was big enough for five kids to stand around at a time and was low enough for most to not need the stepping stool in the corner.

Haru immediately began splashing water on Reiki's shirt, but the other boy only sighed as he dabbed at the blue fabric with some paper towels, a small smile curling at his lips. It seemed that Reiki had at least not inherited his mother's temper.

Lucy caught Erza looking at the two boys with a fond smile from where the women stood outside. "How old is Haru?" she asked.

"Seven."

"He's the same age as my Reiki," Erza said, with a touch of pride in her voice. She tapped a finger to her chin as her one eye that wasn't hidden behind her bangs looked the two boys over carefully. "We should make a play-date," the red-head said suddenly.

Lucy had to choke back a short. She hadn't made play-dates for Haru since he was in diapers. "I think Haru's old enough to choose his friends without my help," she said.

Erza's sharp gaze slid over to Lucy. "Are you suggesting Haru wouldn't want to be friends with my Reiki?"

Lucy paled at the very serious, and slightly threatening, tone of Erza's voice. "N-no, no! That's not what I meant. A play-date sounds wonderful!" Lucy gave a nervous chuckle as she held up her hands in front of her.

Erza nodded. "Good. Besides," she looked back into the shop at the two boys. "I think the two will get along well."

Lucy looked through the glass and smiled at the sight. Haru had stopped throwing water on Reiki and was handing him paper towels as he talked excitedly about something. Probably dragons, if Lucy had to guess. Reiki only smiled as he cleaned his shirt but it was clear the boy was paying close attention to Haru's story.

He has a new friend already, she thought with a smile.

"Come over for dinner this Sunday," Erza said. "I'm afraid Jellal is out on a business trip at the moment so you'll have to wait to meet him, but we can catch up while the boy's play."

Lucy paused as she thought over her schedule. Thankfully, Sting closed Sabretooth early on Sunday's so she'd be free for dinner. "Okay. I can bring my famous banana bread."

Erza shook her head, ponytail swinging behind her. "No. You and Haru will be our guests. I will provide all the food."

Lucy did her best not to cringe. Erza had never been very skilled in the kitchen, her own mother simply ordering takeout every night rather than teaching Erza or her sister how to cook. The last time Lucy had eaten Erza's food had been at their ballet class's bake sale, and the young girl had forgotten sugar in all of her cookies. Not a good day for the bake sale to say the least.

"Your husband can come too," Erza said, and that time Lucy really did cringe.

"O-oh…Thank you but, my husband…he's…He passed away a year ago."

Erza winced. "Oh Lucy, I'm so sorry." This time, when Erza pulled her into a hug it was much gentler. Lucy wrapped her arms around her old friend and took a shaky breath. It seemed her emotional roller coaster wasn't done for the day.

"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thanks Erza," Lucy said, pulling back to quickly wipe at her eyes before her son could see the tears there. "Kind of hard to call you without a phone number though," she joked.

Erza smiled and reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. She handed it to Lucy who looked it over with a quizzical gaze. The card advertised a fencing class at the local gym on weekdays from four to eight. Lucy raised an eyebrow. Seemed a little long of a class for fencing, but what did she know.

Erza closed her hands over Lucy's, "I'd still like you and Haru to come over on Sunday. We can talk if you'd like. Or not talk at all."

Lucy smiled at the woman's understanding. Perhaps it would be a good thing to confide in someone who wasn't strictly family. Especially after her little revelation earlier that day. Telling her brother and Yukino she wasn't as okay as she'd thought would only make them worry, and they had enough to deal with preparing for the baby.

"Thank you Erza. I think that's just what I-"

Lucy stopped when her phone started ringing in her back pocket. Giving Erza an apologetic smile, Lucy pulled her phone out and looked at the screen. It wasn't a number she recognized but the area code was from Magnolia.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Luce. Bad time?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the familiar drawl, but what was with the weird nickname? "Mr. Dragneel?"

"Not an old man…Yeah, it's me! Anyway, I wanted to call and tell ya your truck's fixed."

Lucy blinked. Had she heard him right? "I thought you couldn't fix it for another day?"

"O-oh. Well, I…uh…One of my other customers canceled on me so I got some free time. Point is, it's fixed and you can swing by to get it anytime. Hell, if ya hurry, you and Haru can go dragon huntin' before dinner time!"

Lucy nearly dropped her phone. He'd…remembered? She honestly hadn't thought he'd paid that much attention to what she and Haru had been talking about. Why would he? The banter of a mother and her son would hardly interest some mechanic who likely just wanted to get to his work.

"Yo Luce. You there?"

"H-huh. Oh. Yeah I'm here."

She heard him chuckle and could just picture him rubbing grease over his chin as he mumbled, "Weirdo."

Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch. "I'll be over in a few minutes," she said curtly. "Thanks for calling. And for, you know, fixing the truck early." She mumbled the last part, hoping he wouldn't completely hear her.

"No prob. So I'll see ya in a bit, yeah? Oh! And tell Haru I gotta surprise for 'em!"

"Sure thi- wait, what? What do you mean a surprise?" she asked, but he'd already hung up the phone.

Lucy blinked at the blank screen a few times. That was possibly the strangest conversation she'd ever had, and Lucy regularly talked about magic with her son. Lucy closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead as she heaved a heavy sigh. Honestly, at this point all she wanted to do was go back to her brother's house and take a relaxing bath. She sure needed one after the morning she'd had.

The bell on the shop's door dinged as Haru and Reiki walked out, both now fairly soaked from their attempt at washing themselves, though neither Lucy nor Erza minded.

"Hey mom, guess what?" Haru said as he tugged at Lucy's shirt.

"What?"

"Reiki said he knows how to fight with a sword."

"It's a sabre, Haru," Reiki said, but Haru simply waved him off, too excited at the thought of swinging around a real sword to be concerned by names.

"Reiki says his mom teaches him. Maybe she could teach me too…?" he asked hopefully.

Lucy shuddered at the thought of Haru swinging around any sharp object. She still remembered the time he'd accidently gotten two fishhooks stuck in his thumb. Well, the first one was an accident, the second one was an attempt to get the first one out. That might not have been so bad if the hooks hadn't been covered in fish and worm guts. If her son could manage to get hurt by a fishhook there was no telling what damage he'd do with a sword!

"Haru, I don't think that would be a good idea," Lucy said.

Haru frowned. "But I gotta use a sword if I want to find the dragon and get my wish."

Lucy crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to ask this dragon for a wish. He might not give you one if you try poking him with a sword."

Haru smile slightly at that but his jaw was still set stubbornly. "Uncle Sting said if I want my wish I'd have to kill the dragon like in the stories."

Lucy scoffed. "Well clearly he was wrong. Killing a dragon? That's just rude. And I highly doubt even your uncle is crazy enough to do that. And the man has a pet alligator!"

Haru laughed and even Reiki chuckled a bit. Lucy silently sighed in relief when it looked like her son had lost interest in learning to fence. That was one waiting disaster avoided.

"I'd be more than happy to teach Haru how to fence, Lucy," Erza said sweetly, and effectively prompted Haru to cheer and resume his begging tenfold. Lucy shot her friend a small glare but the red head was either oblivious to it or ignored her as she, much to Lucy's horror, promised Haru they'd talk about his first class later.

That was another thing Lucy had forgotten about her friend. Erza's tendency to make choices for others, while with good intentions, was often more troublesome than Lucy would have liked to admit. Case in point, her son now cheerfully skipping around her as he swing his arm every which way to "practice his moves".

"Hey mom? You think I'll have to fight some monsters here?"

"Fencing is serious, Haru," Reiki said, earning an approving nod from his mother. "And you don't stand like that."

Haru paused in swinging his arm, his balance on one foot making him sway slightly as he looked over at the other boy. "Then how do you stand?" he asked somewhat skeptically.

"Like this." Reiki carefully took the stance his mom had taught him, spreading his feet and bending his knees slightly. His brow creased as he concentrated on positioning his feet at right angles to each other and holding right his arm out in front of him with his elbow slightly bent. He raised his left arm to be level with his shoulder and glanced over at Haru. "See?" he said.

Haru nodded and attempted to get in the same pose as Reiki. Lucy sighed and shook her head. "Never mind that now. We have to go get the truck."

Haru stopped his posing and blinked up at her. "It's fixed?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yep."

Haru grinned. "We can go dragon hunting!"

Lucy's smile widened. "Yep."

Haru whooped started running down the sidewalk in the direction of the shop. Pausing under a magnolia tree, he turned and called back to the group, "See ya later Reiki!"

Reiki smiled and waved back. "Bye Haru."

"Moooom! Let's go!"

Lucy laughed. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." She turned back to Erza, "I'll call you sometime later tonight and we can talk."

Erza nodded, "It was good to see you Lucy." Before Lucy could reply she found herself crushed to the woman's chest again. This hug wasn't gentle like the last one but suffocating like the first.

"E-Erza…air…"

"Mom. You're hugging too hard again," Reiki said.

Erza let her go and quickly apologized before Lucy hurried after her son. Walking beside Haru, Lucy pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly dialed her brother's number.

"What now?" he demanded after one ring.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Turn around. My truck's fixed so you don't need to get us."

"What the hell?! Why'd you call me if it was gonna be fixed in a few hours? Oh shit. I left Orga in charge of the stove. He's gonna burn my restaurant down! With my wife inside!"

"Stop overreacting. I didn't know Mr. Dragneel would get it finished so early," she sniffed, placing her free hand on her hip as she walked.

"...Mr. Dragneel, huh?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at her brother's strange tone. The way he said Natsu's name was almost like he didn't like the guy, which was odd because Sting had never mentioned the man before when he was ranting about people who pissed him off. Something he often did when talking to Lucy, much to her annoyance.

"Yeah…is there a problem?"

"Yes there's a problem! I'm over halfway to town!"

"Then you only have halfway to drive back!" she snapped.

He huffed. "Fine. What the hell'd you guys do for a few hours anyway?"

"Nothing. Just…looked around."

She winced. It wasn't a lie, completely, she and Haru had looked around. From the inside of Ice-Make. Still, her little half-truth sounded weak even to her, and she had no doubt Sting heard it. He didn't say anything for a moment and Lucy could practically hear the mischievous, smug, stupid smirk stretch over her brother's face.

"You did a dad thing." It wasn't even a question.

"Eucliffe…" she warned, knowing he wasn't likely to let this go now but hoping she could intimidate him anyway.

"You're just like dad!" he yelled and immediately hung up.

Lucy glared at her phone and silently cursed her brother's stupid ability. Out of all the traits he could have inherited from their mother, why did it have to be the woman's uncanny intuition. "Oh, you are so getting hit with a shoe tonight."

Beside her, Haru snickered. "There was some gum on the sidewalk back there."

A mischievous grin stretched over Lucy's face and she bent over to scoop up her son and spin him around while he laughed. "You brilliant boy!" she cheered.