A/N: This chapter was a turd to write -_- But a few characters are introduced, and some good plot development happens! It's also a bit angsty in the beginning, but I think every good story needs some angst :)

- N- After talking with my beta, this story's rating will be changing to M, for MATURE. For any of my readers who don't fancy this rating, don't worry, there will not be an excessive amount of smut, but there will be T+ in between. I will give appropriate warnings for when it comes, but we're no where near any of that happening yet :)

Once again, creds to the queen not-just-any-fangirl for editing 3

Chapter Three: When Stars Align

The snapping of branches nearby startled her, breaking her concentration. Today had been a gift. For the past month and a half she had the worst writers block and lost all motivation for the current chapter in her novel. Home wasn't helping. Her father had been practically breathing down her neck lately with how close he's been trying to keep an eye on her, always cautioning her to keep her "issues" under control.

Yeah, because it's so easy to keep multiple, spontaneous, and to mention destructive, curses under control.

Brushing those negative thoughts away, Lucy Heartfilia instead focused on the area where she heard the disturbance. It was probably just a squirrel, but she could never be too careful.

Even in these woods of tall aspen and pine trees that she's learned to call more of a home than that over-glorified mansion down the mountain, she had experienced her fair share of dangers.

But she had always had her protector.

"Punn Punn~!"

"There you are Plue! I was wondering where you went." Lucy walked over to the little snow man looking creature and scooped him gently up into her arms.

Plue shivered in response, and snuggled deeper into Lucy's warm chest.

"I guess it is about time we start heading back," Lucy sighed. She never looked forward to leaving the solace of her secret places.

Here, she could be herself. She didn't have to be careful. She didn't always have to have a babysitter, someone always there in case she went through another unexpected "episode."

Here, she didn't have to train. Countless hours of seemingly unsuccessful exercises to get a handle on at least one of her curses were all forgotten. She didn't want to think of that place. A place where she should have many wonderful, fun, loving memories with a happy family.

At least, that's what all of her books said a home was like.

Instead, she remembers loneliness. Even though her father was always there, along with the people that he hired to watch over her and teach her, the house always felt empty.

Her tutors were lovely people, even Aquarius, but she was never allowed to extensively talk with them unless it was time for one of her lessons. Whether it be for school, or her curses. Her father kept her under strict rules, never allowing her to leave the ranch. Never allowing her to make any friends.

It wouldn't be safe for them, and Lucy knew that. She'd only ever hurt them, and she would never forgive herself, of that she was certain.

She only had a few good memories, and they all centered around the one person she ever truly depended on.

Her mother.

Even now, she could clearly recall the shimmer of her golden hair and the soft smile that was reserved only for her. If she tried hard enough, she could remember her voice, smooth and kind, trying to the best of her ability to help Lucy cope with her new found abilities. She would tell her grand stories about princesses and fairies on her bedside. In the background, she could see her father leaning against the doorframe with a warm smile.

But that warmth was long gone now. Along with her mother.

Lucy felt a sudden wetness slide down her cheek and hastily reached up to wipe away the treacherous tear.

Crying wouldn't bring back her mother or the warmth she so desperately craved to feel again. She knew. She'd tried hundreds of times when she was younger.

Plue looked up at her questioningly, and reached up with a white paw to rest it under her jaw.

"I'm fine Plue," Lucy gave him a shaky smile, "now let's head back before dad sends the blue monster after us."

Lucy hadn't even made it to the front door before the entire crew, had swarmed her in front of the steps to greet her.

Had she been gone too long? She supposed that staying up in the mountains in a place where no one would find her for two days was a bit worrisome, but she'd been gone longer before.

She was quickly ushered inside while everyone stayed unnaturally close to her. What was with them? It was like they didn't want her to see something… Capricorn came up to her then, a small grin on his face.

"Welcome back Miss Lucy." His slight ba made Lucy smile.

"It feels good to be back Capricorn." But Lucy felt anything but good at the moment. Aquarius was giving her a deathly look, and she knew she'd be in trouble once she got inside.

But before she stepped through the front door, she caught a flash of pink in the corner of her eye.

...What was that?

Everyone was being uncharacteristically quiet, and it was putting Lucy on edge. Short 'hello's' and 'glad you're back's' and 'don't worry us like that again's' were exchanged before everyone left the living room.

Everyone but Aquarius.

She just looked at Lucy for a few seconds before sighing and slowly shook her head back and forth.

"You're such a brat," she said, although there was no harshness in her voice, "when will you ever listen? You know you're not supposed to go anywhere by yourself."

"I wasn't by myself," Lucy said matter-of-factly, "Plue was with me."

"Ah yes," Aquarius said dryly, "the dog that would more than likely just pee on the spot instead of protecting you while you're being mauled by a bear. He doesn't count Lucy."

"I can take care of myself," Lucy said through gritted teeth, "I'm nineteen years old, I don't need a babysitter."

"Don't you start that with me girl," Aquarius narrowed her eyes and pointed at her, "you know you're not stable. You just got lucky that you didn't have an episode while you were out being Miss Rebellious. You can't control them Lucy, you need to be watched out for."

Tears of defiance began to well up in Lucy's eyes. "I'm better at it now, they're not as frequent."

"Bull shit," Aquarius spat, "you're no better at controlling them then when you were six years old. Stop trying to blow everything off Lucy, you're only fooling yourself."

"It's not my fault!" Lucy cried. The tears were falling now, unbidden even though she'd tried to stop them, "I didn't ask to be born this way! I didn't ask to have these stupid curses! I never wanted any of this!"

Aquarius closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath through her nose before letting it out just as slowly through her mouth to try and calm herself down.

"I know Lucy…I know." She walked over to her and wrapped the sobbing girl in her arms. "Remember what your mother used to say?"

Lucy sniffled a bit before answering quietly, "They're not curses, they're gifts. You're not a mistake, you're a blessing."

"That's right," Aquarius pulled her back to look at her, "and until you get that through your thick skull, you won't get any further than you are now."

Lucy gave her a small grin and nodded her head while wiping away her tears. Aquarius looked at her fondly before clearing her throat and backing away from her now.

"Now," she stated firmly, "we have a new worker while you're father is out on these business trips." Lucy jerked her head up, eyes wide. A new worker? Someone outside the ranch?

…A potential new friend?

"I suggest you get that starry look out of your eyes girl," Aquarius said, "your father has strict rules that you are not allowed to have any contact with this man. None. Period."

Lucy's eyes fell down to her feet. Of course she wouldn't be allowed near him. She wasn't allowed beyond the ranches boundaries. She wasn't allowed to have internet. She wasn't allowed to have other friends…Of course, she understood why she couldn't. It wouldn't be safe.

Aquarius put her hand on her shoulder, "You know it's for the best Lucy. We just want to keep you safe," she said softly.

Lucy nodded her head before walking out of the room. Once she made it outside of the house and away from watchful eyes, she made a dash for the woods. Running as fast as her legs would take her, all the while with a smile on her face.

She couldn't touch, but they didn't say anything about looking.

She'd never met another person before. And her curiosity was practically oozing out of her.

What was he like? Did he look like her? Did he have powers too? She had to know.

She stopped suddenly when she heard the goats moaning to her left. But what really caught her attention was the shout that accompanied them. She ran until she could see the pasture through the leaves, slowing down to hide behind a large tree.

Her eyes scanned through the goats until she saw something pink.

Pink? Sure enough, it was the same pink that caught her attention earlier. To her happy surprise, Lucy felt her magic power begin to rise at her call. She was too far away to get a good look with her normal eye sight, she'd need to use her stealth ability to look closer.

She peered her head around from the tree and narrowed her sights on the pink blob.

He had large eyes. Even with her magic she couldn't precisely tell the color. They looked like a dark green, like pine needles. He was muscular, his forearms flexed from the strain of pushing the wheelbarrow of flesh. His mouth was open from breathing heavily, and even from where she was she could see how sharp his canines were. Over all, she thought he was quite handsome. Even though she'd never seen very many men in her life, her books had pictures, and Loke and Scorpio were good looking she thought.

But this man, he was different…

His laugh was loud, and carefree, his eyes were shining with energy and adventure.

She wanted, more than anything, to be able to talk with him, even if it were only for a moment. She wanted to be carefree, to go beyond the ranch on her own great adventure.

He was dancing around one of the goats when it suddenly began to attack him, ramming its head into his legs. He must have killed it she realized, but she was too lost in thought to see it. Though now, he was doing the funniest dance she'd ever seen.

She tried not to, she really did, but a small giggle bubbled up from her throat before she could stop it, and the man's eyes snapped to hers. Later she'd think about how strange it was that he'd heard her as far away as she was, but now all she could think about was his eyes. Now that he was looking at her, she could see golden flecks sparkling in the center. But he shouldn't be seeing her, she shouldn't be looking at him. She quickly whipped her head back behind the tree and ran deeper into the forest.

Her heart was beating furiously in her chest though she'd barely ran at all. The thrill of it all had her adrenaline rising…but also her magic.

A sudden pain on her left shoulder blade had Lucy stumbling to a stop. She looked over her shoulder to see it glowing slightly.

This had all of her adrenaline leave her in an instant. She needed to calm down. And she need to do it now.

Lucy immediately sat on the ground and crisscrossed her legs. She laid her hands on her lap, palms upward and closed her eyes.

In and out…In and out…

She continued to breathe slowly until she felt her heart rate slow down. The pain had dulled, but it was still there. She was going to have another episode again, and it would be soon.

Her eyes burned with unshed tears, but she wouldn't cry this time. This was normal. This was her life.

No matter how much she wished it wasn't.

"How much ya wanna bet he's gonna come back fired?"

"I'm not betting my money on something guaranteed like that Gajeel."

"Gajeel, Gray, you two wouldn't happen to be betting on whether or not Natsu will come back fired again would you? Because I distinctly remember telling everyone to not to."

"E-Erza! Of course not!" Gray exclaimed.

"Tch, pussy,"Gajeel muttered.

Gray gave him an icy glare but then looked questioningly at Erza, "Seriously though Erza, shouldn't flame brain be back by now?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, he should be-"

"What is that smell?!"

Gajeel, Wendy, and even Laxus all had disgusted looks and were covering their noses.

"What are you all talk-"Gray had begun to ask, but then everyone in the guild could smell what the dragons were talking about. And it was horrendous.

Suddenly, the doors were burst open, and in walked a proud, yet soggy Natsu, still dripping water from Aquarius' impromptu bath.

"Gray! Gajeel! You bastards, I heard you trying to bet on me!" Natsu called out.

"Shut the fuck up Salamander and go take a shower, you smell like shit!" Gajeel shouted.

"You wanna say that again iron breath?!" Natsu challenged.

"For real though Natsu, what the hell happened? You look like a drowned cat." Cana said, laughing while tipping back her ever present bottle of beer.

"Hey! I take offense to that!" I small voice said.

"Happy!" Natsu said gleefully. "Why didn't you go with me today?"

"I didn't want to go all the way out there with you just to come back because you got fired. So I went fishing instead!" The first part of the flying blue cat's explanation had everyone roaring with laughter.

"I'll have you all know that I wasn't fired this time thank you very much!" Natsu said proudly.

"What?!" The guild exclaimed all at once.

"You heard me," Natsu taunted, "I didn't lose the job!"

"Then why the hell do you smell like death?" Gray asked.

Natsu then proceeded to tell everyone about the whole day. Including his odd findings, such as the way the place smelled and some of the peculiar creatures that they had. He had everyone laughing when he got to the part with the goats.

"Those sound like undead goats to me," Levy said as she was looking through a rather large book on the more rare animals, "eats rotten flesh, and doesn't die. Yep, those are undead goats, although there aren't any usually on this continent, or pegasi for that matter. That's very odd that they would have those."

"The whole place is just weird," Natsu said, "even the workers. I don't what they are, but they're definitely not human."

"Maybe they just have powers like us," Lisanna suggested, "didn't you say that the one lady used water magic on you?"

"Yeah, but hers isn't like Juvia's." Natsu said.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"It's…I don't know, more holy?"

"…So she's religious?" Wendy asked shyly.

"No no no," Natsu shook his head before looking up at the ceiling in thought. He was never good with words. "It's more calm, that's for sure. When I feel Juvia's magic, I can feel all of her emotions. She's like the rain, or the ocean. But this lady, even though she was mad when she washed me down the road, her water was, lighter I guess? I felt like it wasn't only washing me, but my soul too."

The guild was quiet all through out Natsu's explanation, slightly impressed that he was even taking this much time thinking about something other than fighting or eating.

"Damn flame brain, I didn't know your vocabulary was this large." Gray smirked.

"What'd you say ice princess?!"