Thanks for everyone's awesome feedback! And Amenah, for being still alive - let's all raise a glass! Three cheers for you! :3

II.
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

The Magnolia town square was famed for having a place to hang for every group of people. The geeks and nerds holed up in the Dungeon Dragon, an aptly named bar full of gaming consoles and cheap beer. Hipsters and art students usually went to the Black Cauldron, which no one had ever heard of. Extremely rich kids and socialites went to The Palace, as you'd expect. And any guy who'd ever been interested in sports, had money, and was popular found himself in the Charming Bar.

Even though it was by definition a bar, no one got carded. The bar was owned by Macao Conbolt, who firmly believed that one's alcoholic adventures should begin as early as possible. He took more pride in his bar than anything, and it showed. There were about seven or eight big screens mounted across the walls that were always playing games. For the most part, it was a crowd of pretty good people; and it was the same group of people all the time - with the exception of the Olympics, when half the city turned up.

There was a booth in the back that may as well have had "Reserved for Sting and his friends" written on it (technically it did, Sting had carved it in the wood last year.) At least two of them were in there every night of the week, when there wasn't practice to attend or dates to disappear on. The date factor hadn't been much of a problem recently, however. Sting was the only one with a steady girlfriend.

"Not that she's much of a girlfriend," Gray pointed out over his iced coffee. "I mean when do you ever actually hang out?"

"On date nights," Sting ground out. "You guys have beat this dog to death already, can't you just lay off?"

"No." Gray frowned. "Dude, okay, yeah, she's a fairly attractive girl, but...what do you actually have in common?"

"Stuff."

"Like...?"

"Like, we're both good-looking."

Gray shoved him. "You are the most conceited asshat I've ever met."

Natsu made a noise of agreement, and Gray looked at him in surprise. Normally Natsu would have jumped on the chance to get into a fight, verbal or physical. But he was glued to his phone, eyes roving over the screen with his tongue between his teeth. Gray raised his eyebrows.

"Anything you want to say to the audience, Natsu?"

His brows furrowed. "How do you spell 'dynamic'?"

Sting promptly spit out his drink. "What? Since when do you ever care about spelling?"

"Since now!" Natsu's face flushed an angry scarlet.

"He just trying to impress his mystery woman," Gray said scornfully. "He doesn't want her to know he's illiterate."

Rather than punch Gray in the face, as he normally would, Natsu merely continued to type away at his phone.

"Unbelievable," Sting said. Turning to face Rogue, he said, "Are you seeing this?" When Rogue didn't answer, he waved his hand in front of his face. "Yo, buddy. You okay?"

Rogue started. "What? Uh, yeah."

"Man, what is it with this group today?" Sting complained. "Rogue's in la-la-land, Natsu's texting like a possessed man, and Jellal's MIA. Hey, where is he, anyway?"

"No freakin' clue." Gray crossed his arms. "Have I told you lot how incredibly weird you are?"

"Weird," Natsu mumbled. "I like that." He started typing again.

Sting shook his head. "It's like we're falling apart at the seams. Okay, seriously, Rogue!" For Rogue's eyes had glazed over once again.

"What?" He jolted. Seeing Sting and Gray glaring at him, he rolled his eyes. "Nothing, guys. I'm just thinking."

"That's dangerous."

"Don't do it."

"Natsu here tried to think once. It didn't end well – ouch!"

As Gray berated Natsu for kicking him, Rogue spoke in an undertone to Sting. "Hey, you know Yukino, right?"

Sting's brow creased. "Who? Oh, Minerva's friend, right?"

Rogue sighed. "Yeah. Never mind."

Sting gave him an odd look, but Rogue waved him off. Shrugging, Sting turned to the feuding old married couple beside him.

"You're such a pansy-ass," Gray snorted. "Just tell the damn girl who you are! What are you so scared of?"

"I'm not scared of anything!" Natsu growled. "And speaking of balling up, how about you go find your precious mermaid saviour?"

"Oi, back off," Gray snarled. "I'm trying my best here!"

"Oh yeah? Been to the aquarium lately, she might be in a tank-"

"Ladies, please." Sting made a T with his hands. "Time out."

Both fell silent. "Thank you," Sting said. "Now, Gray. We've been over this a hundred times, just check the beach records-"

"I did!" Gray said indignantly. "There wasn't a girl on duty that day! It wasn't a lifeguard who saved me! She was a civilian!"

"Why are you so hung up on this mystery girl, anyway?" Natsu frowned.

Gray threw his hands up in the air. "How many times to I have to say it before it processes through your thick skull!" He shouted. "Look, it was summer. I was on lifeguard duty. Some kid swam out too far, and I swam out to catch him. But we got caught in a current and pulled way out, I was under the water too long and blacked out. But this girl – she swam all the way back to shore with two unconscious people, me and the kid." His voice dropped. "She saved us both. Everyone thought I brought the kid back, but I know it was her."

"How do you know it was a girl if you were blacked out?" Natsu sniggered, snapping Gray out of his haze.

"Because I saw her walk away!"

"You did? Then how come you can't find her?"

"Well, I didn't exactly get the best look-"

"Then how do you know it was a female-"

"Because she was wearing a blue bikini!" Gray exploded. "Okay?"

Natsu and Sting blinked. Then, Natsu began to grin.

"Oh man, he's so whipped and he hasn't even met her yet."

"Shut up!" Gray flamed. "Says the guy checking his phone every five seconds!"

Now it was Sting's turn to laugh. "He's got you there, Natsu."

"Dicks, both of you," Natsu proclaimed.

He was saved from more abject teasing by the passing by of a kid no older than fourteen with a bottle of beer clenched in his fist. Natsu frowned and reached over, plucking the bottle from his hands. "Excuse you, you are too young to be drinking."

"Hey!" The kid was none other than Romeo Conbolt, son of the bar's owner. No wonder he was drinking. "C'mon Natsu, give it back."

"No." Natsu took a swig. "Take it back like a man."

Romeo frowned deeply, holding out his hand. Natsu shook his head vehemently and Romeo smacked him. "Ow!"

Sting and Gray snorted at the same time, as Natsu let out an indignant squawk and shouted, "Tell me you did not just bitch-slap me!"

"Wait, wait!" Now Lucy was laughing really hard. "She actually threatened to kill his cat?"

She glanced sidelong at the girl sitting beside her. When Yukino Aguria had unexpectedly burst into the cafe two hours, she had looked miserable and soaked to the bone. She had cried almost the entire time, until Lucy offered her a ride back up the mountain. Now her face was dry and positively radiant, with a glimmer of a smile on her lips. "I wish I could say I was joking."

Lucy almost let go of the wheel. "That's inhumane! I swear, the woman is not human."

"I wouldn't be surprised. I had no idea she could be so evil. Oh, it's right here."

Lucy pulled the Jeep up in front of a large house, with white Greco-Roman columns on the front porch. "Wow," she said flatly.

"Yeah." Yukino seemed slightly embarrassed. "My parents are both big hot-shots at Apple, so...we move around a lot, but I always get free stuff." She waved her i0S.

"Are they home right now?" Lucy asked, eyeing the darkened windows.

Yukino shook her head. "They're on a business conference right now, so uh, yeah. I've got the house all to myself."

Lucy glanced over again, studying her face. Yukino's eyes were dim. Smiling slightly, Lucy reached over and nudged her. "We should host a party sometime."

A small smile appeared. "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

As Yukino prepared to get out, a thought occurred to Lucy. "Hey, do you want me to drive you down to school tomorrow?"

Yukino blinked, like she hadn't thought of that. "I guess so. Could you?"

"Yeah, sure. I know where your house is now, and I've got an extra seat in my Jeep. I drive Levy, Erza, and Juvia every day anyway."

"Thank you." For the first time that night, Yukino's face broke into a full-fledged grin. It almost took Lucy aback, the girl really was lovely. "You're so kind, Lucy."

"Ah, no," Lucy blushed, waving her hand. "Just doing my civic duty, haha."

"No, I mean it. You and the other girls, and Mirajane and her sister, and Cana, all of you were so nice to me. I can't thank you enough."

"Well sure you can!" Lucy leaned on the steering wheel. "Hang out with us from now on! We can do, like, a friend trade or something with Minerva."

Yukino laughed. Then Lucy leaned a little too far on the wheel, causing the horn to honk and both girls to shriek. Giggling, Lucy waved goodbye as Yukino headed up the front steps and disappeared behind the door.

The familiar beep of her Nokia that signified she had an email made her jump, and she reached down to flip open the phone.

xXSalamanderXx: u havin a good nite?

She bit her lip and smiled before answering.

Celestial_Queen: Much better than expected :)

x

"Erza, please put the phone away while you're working."

Kagura leaned over the counter to look pointedly at Erza, who quickly jammed the cell back into the pocket of her apron. "Apologies, Kagura," she said meekly. "It won't happen again."

"Who are you texting?" Simon called over as he carried a box of lilies out from the back room.

"Nobody," Erza answered in her most dignified voice. The bell over the door tinkled, and she took her place by the till. Kagura's brow creased.

"It better not be a stranger, you know how I feel about strangers."

"Aw, sis, don't be so mean," Simon teased. "Our Erza's too smart to go around talking to strangers."

"What's this about strangers?"

A new voice poked in amongst the others. All three heads swivelled around to the boy at the end of the aisle, and Simon nearly dropped his box of lilies.

"Jellal?"

It was Erza who spoke, amazement filtering in with surprise. She was astounded to see him. She hadn't told him she worked here.

"Hi," he replied, and now there was a faint hint of a blush on his cheeks. "I came to see you."

Kagura's eyes darted back and forth between them. Finally she said in a sharp voice, "Don't be in here if you don't have anything to buy, young man." And with a flip of her hair she headed into the back room. Simon gave them both a nervous look, then followed her.

Erza tilted her head to the side. "Am I missing something?" She asked. "They seem to really dislike you."

"Ah, yeah," Jellal said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "My mom got remarried a few years back, and she was going to buy all the flowers from here, but ended up buying from Trinity Raven across town instead."

Erza felt her jaw drop open. "But they're our business rivals!" Glancing over her shoulder at the back room door, she murmured, "No wonder they don't like you."

"Yes, well." Jellal coughed, sounding embarrassed. "Actually, I came here today to buy some flowers."

She drew her attention back to him. "Really? What for?"

His lips quirked up. "For a very special girl," he said slyly. "See, I like her a lot, but I want to ask her on a real date. I'm worried she thinks we're strangers."

"Oh?" Erza turned as red as her hair.

"So I was wondering if you could help me pick some out," he continued. "I need your advice. What are your favourite flowers?"

Clearing her throat, Erza began to fiddle with the strings on her apron. "Well, if you really wanted to impress this girl," she said shakily. "Red roses mean true love, and primrose is for eternal love, if you paired those two with acacia leaves – that means secret love, see – and some orchids, for beauty; I think that would suffice."

"I see." Jellal smiled. "I guess I'll order a bouquet of that."

Erza rustled around the shop, pulling the flowers out and tying them with a red ribbon. She could feel Jellal's eyes on her as she did so, watching her every move. Finally she rang it up at the till, and handed him the bouquet.

"Here you are," she said. "That'll be $27.50."

He gave her the money wordlessly, and clutched the bouquet in his hands. The blush from earlier had come seeping back into his cheeks.

"I know you think we're practically strangers," he started, "but we have met before."

"Oh, really?" Erza kept her eyes focused on the till.

"Yeah. We went to the same preschool."

Her eyes widened a fraction, amazed he remembered. "We were best friends."

He nodded. "I'm sorry life got in the way, but..." she heard rustling, and then he held the bouquet out to her. "I'm asking you now, Erza Scarlet, to please go out with me."

There came a commotion from behind the back room door, and suddenly it burst open. Jellal and Erza sprang apart, and she shouted in alarm.

"Er-chan!" Milliana squealed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"You guys!" Erza was certain she was about to die of embarrassment. Kagura crossed her arms and focused her narrowed eyes on Jellal.

"Treat her right," she warned. "I'm not afraid to resort to drastic measures."

Jellal gulped. "Er, yes ma'am."

The Kagura turned her steely gaze on Erza, and it softened a fraction. "Take the rest of the day off," she said. "And be home by eight."

If Erza could have smiled any wider, her face might have cracked.

Yukino had come to learn that hanging out with Lucy and her group of friends was one hundred times more fun and interesting than hanging out with Minerva and Flare had ever been. As her car was still in the shop and she wouldn't have it back for two weeks at least, she began resorting to Lucy and her Jeep to drive her everywhere. It was such a rusty, cantankerous old thing that Yukino barely trusted it with her life. Not to mention, Lucy was such a reckless driver, and the conversations they often had loudly from the backseat didn't help matters.

But aside from bad driving habits, Lucy and her friends were an incredible group of people. They didn't sit in the cafeteria like most students, but ate lunch outside under the large cherry blossom tree. They laughed and ran around and teased each other. Minerva had often teased Yukino, but it had been cold and truthful and often left Yukino feeling like she needed a new haircut.

But not with Lucy and her friends. They teased Lucy about her mystery email boyfriend, Erza about her real boyfriend whose identity she refused to reveal, and Juvia about Gray Fullbuster.

It was interesting, Yukino noted, that they chose to eat under the cherry tree; because on days like this when the weather was nice, the boys would bring a football or soccer ball up to the field. The field which happened to be in perfect view of the cherry tree.

Today they had brought a soccer ball. Rogue was in the net, while Sting and Gray defended him and Natsu and Jellal took on the offence.

Juvia was lying down on the grass, staring dreamily at Gray. He'd stripped his shirt a while ago and was playing bare-chested. "He's so handsome," she swooned.

Lucy glanced over her shoulder half-heartedly. "They're all so annoying," she frowned. "All they do is joke off in class."

"Jellal's not so bad," Erza pointed out. Lucy eyed her suspiciously, and she went resolutely back to her homework.

"I think you all are forgetting I used to see them sometimes," Yukino said. "And Lucy, you know, they aren't awful."

"Lucy dislikes anyone that distracts her from schoolwork," Levy snickered.

A group of younger students had gathered around to watch them play. Juvia saw them, and began sending them deathglares.

"What'll happen to this school when they graduate?" Lucy said derisively. "Without it's group of 'super popular boys', it'll fall into shambles."

"There will always be someone new," Levy pointed out. "After they leave, the spotlight can be open for the next group of superstars."

"And they might not be as great as these guys," Yukino added. At Lucy's look she continued. "I mean, face it, Lucy. These guys are not nearly as bad as they could be. Sure, they say bonehead things and joke around a lot, but they're good people deep down. I've never once seen them be vicious or cruel or bully anyone."

Lucy looked like she was swallowing something gross. "Fine," she conceded. "They aren't as bad as Minerva. Makes me wonder why she dates one of them, though."

It made Yukino wonder, too. She hadn't thought about it before. If she had to take a guess, it would be image. Minerva was nothing without her image, and Yukino supposed that if the wasn't dating the schoolwide-agreed most popular boy, that image would be in danger of crumbling.

She also suspected Minerva's image was part of the reason Yukino had been booted off the popular squad, but she didn't want to flatter herself too much.

Juvia said something funny about Gray, and Yukino let out a particularly loud laugh. From over on the field, Rogue glanced her way.

Ever since that night, Yukino had been feigning heartbreak whenever Minerva walked into the room. She fell silent, cast her eyes down; sometimes she even pretended to cry. Yukino didn't want Minerva to suspect anything, or blame Rogue. It seemed to be working, except that Rogue had only seen her like that and probably believed he really had broken her heart.

Now she sent him a wink and a smile. He waved back, a slight smile on his face.

Sting noticed him wave, and looked over her way. She turned around quickly, back going rigid.

The momentary distraction was enough for Natsu to score, and his cheer was so deafening it had Lucy covering her ears in annoyance.

When Levy got home that afternoon, she almost didn't want to go inside. The trailer reeked of weed, and the door was hanging open. Again. Growling, she stomped up the rickety steps and entered. The stench was nearly overpowering.

"Dad!"

Maurice McGarden was sitting on the threadbare armchair, TV remote clenched loosely in his hands. A cigarette dangled from between his teeth and there was a half-empty bottle of vodka on the floor beside him. He jerked his head up when she entered.

"Lev," he slurred, "that you?"

Her eyebrow was developing a tic. "Dad, did you go to the interview at SuperMart today?"

His eyes remained unfocused. "Interview...?"

"You forgot?" Levy shrieked. Maurice stumbled to his feet, groaned, and sat back down.

"Oi," he rumbled. "Stop yer shoutin', girlie."

Levy was shaking in anger. "Dad, you promised!" She cried. "You promised me you'd go!"

He gave her a dirty look, and Levy realized with a sick feeling that not only was he high, but drunk off his rocker. Clenching her fists, she looked away and her eyes fell on the stack of papers on the kitchen counter.

"Cool yer jets, kid," Maurice mumbled. "Found some other way to make easy cash."

Levy's vision tunnelled, and she snatched the papers off the counter. "Dad, are you dealing again?" She asked in a shaking voice.

He didn't answer, and she raised her voice. "You said you'd stop after last time." Chunks of bile rose in her throat, and she choked it down. Still Maurice was silent. Levy tossed the papers back down on the counter and ran right back out the door.

Fighting back the urge to vomit, Levy stormed through the trailer park. She passed a much nicer mobile home, with two teenage boys in the front yard. "Levy?" They called as she passed. Levy plastered on a happy face before she turned to face Jet and Droy. With difficulty, she gave them a cheerful wave. They had been her neighbours since junior high, and she liked them a lot; but she didn't want their pity right now.

They gave her a tentative wave back, and she continued on. In her fit of rage, she hardly even paid attention to where she was going. For almost two hours, she stormed along sidewalks until she was relatively downtown, and her feet took her through the library doors.

The effect was almost immediate. The cool air calmed her nerves, and the scent of fresh pages and old books made her muscles relax. Sighing slightly, she began wandering towards the shelves in search of something to read.

"Miss McGarden, is that you?"

And she promptly stopped, and cringed. In her daze, she'd forgotten that she was currently avoiding the library – and why.

The head librarian pushed up her glasses. "Do you have those books to return?"

'No, my dad sold them for drugs' was not exactly a response she could or even wanted to give. "Um, no...?"

"Hn." The librarian pursed her lips. "Then I suppose you have the fine to pay?"

The fine was over a hundred dollars. No, Levy certainly didn't have the money. As she floundered to find something to say, she failed to notice the person appearing behind her.

"Hey," a gruff voice spoke, and the librarian's face paled. Levy turned, and squeaked. Said person was well over six feet tall, with multiple piercings, a few visible tattoos, and gleaming red eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest, clad in a black leather jacket bearing a dragon, and a metal-studded belt held up ripped black jeans. And combat boots. Don't forget those combat boots.

Levy nearly passed out. Good Lord, this guy was scary.

"You're the one with the grades, right?" He asked, and Levy realized with a start that he was talking to her. She pointed to herself with a shaking finger.

"Er, me? Yes? I guess?"

He made a noise sounding like 'che,' and flicked his eyes to the librarian. "One moment, please," he said in a falsely polite voice, and then pulled Levy a bit away from her.

"Wh-what do you want?" She demanded, voice higher than normal.

He snickered. "You're jumpy, aren't you?" When she glared, he continued. "Look, here's the thing. I'm pretty much failing school, and I'm not too keen on repeating a year."

"You want a tutor?" This surprised her. He didn't look like the kind to-

"No, dumbass. I want someone to do my homework for me."

Oh. Well, that made more sense. Levy tensed up, and despite being rather terrified, argued. "I would never do that!"

"Oh, I see." He leaned back on his heels, hands in his pockets. "Good luck with that library fine, then."

Levy started. Looking behind her, she saw the librarian watching them suspiciously. Narrowing her eyes back at the tall scary guy, she hissed, "What makes you think you can help me with that?"

Nonchalantly, he pulled out his wallet. Without looking her way, he pulled out several fifties and held them between two fingers. Levy gaped.

"How..."

"Here's the deal, shrimp. I'll help you pay off this fine. You come over to my place every day after school, do any work that I need, and once it's clear that I graduate, you're off the hook."

Levy's mind raced. She hated the idea of doing work for someone else, not only because it would cut into her own time but it just went against her ethics. But on the other hand, she was never going to pay this fine. And it was only going to get worse with time. Who knew what would happen if she left it? Would they send the government after her? Did they do that for library fines?

It was all her dad's fault. He put her in this situation. Anger against him filled her, and in a split-second decision she snatched the bills out of his hand. He grinned.

"All right," she said, turning to the librarian. "Here's your fine."

At first, it seemed like the librarian wanted to protest. But a look back to the guy behind Levy seemed to change her mind, and she took the money from Levy's outstretched hand.

As the head librarian shuffled away, Levy made a mental note to avoid this particular library. Maybe she could visit the one across town. But her thoughts were interrupted by an arm coming to rest on her head.

"Excellent," the scary guy said. "You know, for a second there I thought you wouldn't take it. But you're not an idiot, right, shrimp?"

"No, I'm not," she growled. "Hence why you chose me to torment." Carefully, she pushed his arm off her head.

"Hey!" He shouted, a bit miffed. "I just saved your skin in there."

"Yes, I'm sure." Levy replied dryly.

The guy gave another snicker. "This way," he said, grabbing her arm and tugging her out towards the parking lot.

"Ouch! Hey!" Levy yanked her arm from his grip. "You know, if you expect me to be your personal servant, you should treat me a little better. And maybe not call me 'shrimp', or 'kid with grades.' It's Levy, alright? Levy McGarden."

He stopped, blinking in surprise. Suddenly she wondered if anyone had actually stood up to him before. "You might want to tell me your name," she added wryly.

"Gajeel," he said then. "Gajeel Redfox."

He started walking again, this time without dragging her. She followed behind him, massaging the area she was sure would develop bruises. "Do you go to Mag High?" She asked, curiosity winning over apprehension.

"Yeah."

"Why haven't I seen you around, then?"

"Well, I don't go to class much."

"No wonder your grades are slipping, then!" Levy yelped. "What subjects do you take?"

"Shop."

"Do you know what university you'll be going to?"

"No."

"Did you apply to any?"

"No."

Levy huffed. This might be even harder than she thought before. "Do even you know what you want to do?"

"Nope. Here we are."

The sight of Gajeel's car was definitely enough to shut her up. If it could even be called a car. It was more of a monster truck. It was a beast.

"Ain't she a beauty?" Gajeel crowed, looking at the death-trap with black paint and a shining chrome grill. "Right, get in. I've got an English paper due tomorrow morning, and you haven't even started!"