"No way."

"What?"

"I don't want to do that mission."

"Why not? It's close by, and look at that reward. You were happy about it before."

Yeah, and then I read the whole thing, Lucy mentally grumbled. "Do I look blonde to you?"

"You can wear this." Natsu held up an ugly looking lump of something that could possibly pass for hair if seen from a distance. Lucy thought it was once the head of a mop. It also looked like mustard had been smeared on it. A small part of her wondered where he'd pulled it out from; she hadn't seen it until he'd taken it out just now. She pushed that thought aside, it wasn't important. There was absolutely no way that thing was going near her head.

"Who'd want to wear that? Can't you get another blonde?" And to think, she'd thought he actually wanted to partner with her. It turned out he just needed a good looking woman.

"There aren't any blonds in Fairy Tail." Natsu pouted.

"Well, there's Laxus." Happy piped up.

"Like hell I'm going to ask him for help. He's never around anyway."

"True, and Max is on a mission too…"

Natsu turned to face Lucy once again. His face completely serious. "So, no, there's no one else."

"How many other members did you ask?"

"All of them," was the quick reply. "Well, not Levy, she was busy at the time. Besides, you promised us right? And a Celestial mage doesn't break their promises."

"Ugh!" She rubbed at her temples and fought the desire to bang her head on her kitchen table. True, she did promise, even if it was more implied than anything else. "Why do I even need to be a maid, couldn't we just sneak in? That's what the two of you will have to do anyway." Lucy honestly couldn't imagine those two waiting patiently while she did most of the work. She was pretty sure she still remembered how to pick locks. Or at least how to jimmy a window.

Her statement was met with silence. She glanced up to see the two of them looking completely shocked, not unlike how they did several days ago when she pointed out that a dragon wouldn't be in Hargeon.

"You didn't even think of that, did you." Maybe it was a good thing they were teaming up. As strong as Natsu was, logical thinking didn't seem to be in his skill set. Then again, this team up was likely to be temporary; they did only approach her so she could be a maid, after all. They wouldn't want to stick with her afterwards. It'd probably be better for all of them in the long run.

Happy suddenly jumped up to whisper in Natsu's ear. "Lucy doesn't hold back, does she?" Lucy couldn't tell if he wanted her to hear or not. He was speaking too loud for her to not hear his words.

"Yeah, wonder what kind of horrible outlaw she was before we met her?"

"You're the one who got a job to steal a book!" That outlaw comment hit a little too close to home. Wasn't that what she was? She'd run away from home after stealing Lord Heartfilia's money as well as her spirits. Though she hadn't broken the law since then, the risk of going to jail and losing her spirits was too great. "Why did you pick this one anyway?" And why did the guild accept such a shady job? If she hadn't promised to go on a job with them, she would have refused the moment she found that it involved stealing.

He shrugged. "I just kind of grabbed it at random."

"Seriously?"

Without skipping a beat Natsu changed the subject back to the topic of the maid. "Why would they put that on the request if they didn't want someone to pose as a maid?"

"To make it easier for someone to sneak in if they had that option; which we don't."

"We would if you wore the wig."

"Like hell that's going on my head!" She snapped. "If you want a blonde maid so badly, then you dress up as one!"

"I look terrible in a skirt."

"Aye, he does."

Lucy really didn't want to know. She really, really didn't want to know. Still, she couldn't help but ask: "Did you shave your legs before putting it on? Cause though it seems like it doesn't matter it does make a difference." So does the cut, style, color and now Lucy was thinking way too hard about how to make Natsu look pretty. He could probably pull it off. He wouldn't be a dainty beauty or a classical beauty or even a bombshell like she was, but he could probably be passable.

"I really don't think it would have helped." Happy snickered.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Tell you what, I'll dress up as a maid if you do the same." She really hoped his masculine pride would make him say no.

Natsu made a strange, almost growling noise in the back of his throat. "Fine! We'll go with Plan T!"

She blinked. "Plan T?" What about all the other letters between that and A? What did the T mean anyway?

"Aye! Plan Take by Force!"

She mentally cheered for the fact that she wouldn't have to be a blonde maid before registering what exactly plan T meant, causing her to cry out loud. "That's a terrible plan!" Because it really was. She buried her face in her hands before sighing in defeat. "Anyway, we can talk more about how to go about this later. But if we're actually going to go on this mission we should probably head to Shirotsume town and meet with the client, that's how it works, right?"

"Aye!" Happy then paused thoughtfully. "But if you're not dressing as a maid, wouldn't you be useless on this mission?"

So her only purpose was for a distraction? "A promise like this works both ways. I agreed to go on the mission with you. You agreed to take me."

Natsu jumped up, relieved to finally get going. "Right, got it! Let's go!"

A few hours later Natsu wasn't nearly as enthusiastic. "Let's stop." He moaned, sounding a bit choked. "Please."

Shirotsume wasn't that far away from Magnolia. However it was just the right distance away to make it too far to walk. So they had to take a carriage. Thankfully Natsu hadn't spent all the money Macao had given him and could afford to pay for the carriage. This turned what would have been a two day mission into, potentially, a one day trip even with their late start.

"We're almost there," Lucy comforted. It seemed hollow, though, in the face of Natsu's pale and sickly complexion.

True to her word, it didn't take long for the vehicle to stop and for the three of them to disembark. Natsu recovered almost instantly, though he was still looking clammy.

"I'll never ride a carriage ever again," he grumbled.

Happy responded in a tired voice. "You say that all the time."

However, as usual, it didn't take long for Natsu to make a complete recovery. "Anyway, I'm hungry. Let's eat!"

"Why don't we go meet with the client first," Lucy suggested, partially to stall as she had no money for food. Lucy could only hope they didn't want her to treat them again. "We can talk about what to do while you eat. It shouldn't take that long, right?"

"Ehh, but I'm hungry now." The Dragon Slayer whined.

"If you're that hungry, can't you eat your own fire?"

"What're you saying? Would you eat your own bull or Plue?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Well, they're the same."

"They are?" She supposed it made sense.

"Come on, please," he begged, "let's get something to eat!"

She sighed, "fine! You go ahead and have a meal." With that she turned and started walking away. "I'm going to check around the town."

What she found out was slightly discouraging. The townsfolk were friendly enough, eager to stop and chat for a bit, however whenever the subject turned towards duke Everlue they always got remarkably cagey. The most information came from a crotchety old homeless man who decried the duke and went on a fierce rant about how the rich man was Zeref incarnate. She could admit, it got a little weird at the end. She still smiled and gave him the very last few coins she had as thanks.

Half an hour later she was still wandering around the town, though this time she was looking for her guild mates. She was cursing herself for not suggesting a meeting place and time when she heard a familiar voice half muffled by food.

"Let's keep the fatty ones for Lucy." Somehow she should have known Natsu was still eating.

"She does look like she likes fatty foods." Following Happy's voice, she found the two eating at an outdoor table, surrounded by plates of empty food.

"Wow! This one's really fatty! She'll love this!"

It was touching, that they'd think to save some food for her, however… "Don't decide what kind of foods I like!" How did it look like she'd enjoy fatty things anyway?

"Hey!" Natsu raised a hand in greeting. "You're back! You took forever." Despite what she'd said, he pushed a large plate full of meat towards her. Lucy couldn't help but notice that it was half fat. Still, she was hungry and she couldn't afford to turn down free food, so she settled down and started to pick out the least fatty pieces of meat.

"I was getting information on the duke. Apparently Everlue is a real piece of work."

"Wow, you're really getting into this job, Lucy." Happy commented as he finished off the last of his fish. "Even though you really didn't seem to like it before."

"I didn't like the thought of dressing up as a maid for a pervert." And having blonde hair was way too dangerous for her. "Besides, it's my first job; I want to do my best."

"It doesn't matter what kind of guy this Everluke guy is," Natsu stated, "we just got to do the job."

"But aren't you curious about it? It's so specific too; steal a book from the duke." She put a finger to her lips in thought. "If it was money or important documents, I could understand, but a book? Is it magical?"

"Who cares?" Natsu repeated, sounding exasperated, "hurry up and finish eating so we can get started!"

"You're the one who wanted to eat first!" A quick glance showed her that the fatty bits were all that remained, she pushed the plate to the Dragon Slayer. "Here, I'm done. You can finish it if you want."

"Huh? But you left your favorite parts."

"Don't decide that for me!"

Thankfully it didn't take long for them to finish with lunch. Not when Natsu realized that Lucy was serious about giving what she didn't eat to him. She's not sure the food lasted even ten seconds once he got his hands on it.

Soon they were approaching a large mansion. It was tall and impressive, yet Lucy couldn't help but think that it was a bit warmer than the Heartfilia manor. There wasn't any one thing that caused her to think that. It might have been the colors which were warm woods and white render that gave it an almost quaint appeal, or it might have been the design, which was tall and narrow as opposed to the Heartfilia manor's short and wide architecture. For whatever reason, seeing such a big building didn't fill her with as much dread as seeing the Heartfilia manor always did.

"It's magnificent. Is this Everlue's?" From what she'd heard of him, she hadn't thought he'd be the type of guy to go for something so relatively understated.

"No," Happy answered while intently reading a map. "It's the client's mansion."

"That makes sense." She muttered. If someone was paying 200,000 Jewels for a book; they'd have to be rich. Maybe it was a rivalry of some kind?

Natsu knocked on the door. Lucy couldn't help but admire the little details and textures the builder put into it. It seemed to be common in Fiore, to put little somewhat intricate designs on doors. Though it wasn't something she'd ever seen before leaving the Heartfilia manor. She figured it was a relatively modern fashion, Lord Heartfilia never kept up with those.

The door opened a sliver. She couldn't see who was on the other side, but a soft polite voice spoke out. "May I have your name, please?"

Natsu, being in the front of the group and the one who knocked, answered. "We're from the mage guild Fairy-"

The person behind the door made a destressed sound, cutting the dragon slayer off. "Shh! Be quiet please!" They paused and Lucy could hear them taking a deep, steadying breath. "Excuse me…" they apologized, "but could you enter from the back door, please?"

Lucy, Natsu and Happy could only stare in confusion as the door clicked shut.

"Is that normal?" She wasn't so sure it was, considering the look on the other two's faces.

"Maybe?" Happy frowned as Natsu once more led them to the door. "Each job is different so…"

"It's kind of weird, but who cares!" Natsu grinned back at the two of them. "That just makes it more interesting."

After entering through the correct door, they soon found themselves in a large, tastefully decorated sitting room. A sharply dressed man with a small tooth brush bristle like mustache was waiting for them. He gestured for them to take a seat while a woman in a striped dress came out with a tray of drinks.

"I'm terribly sorry about earlier," he began, "I'm the client Kaby Melon. This is my wife."

"Your name sounds yummy." Natsu laughed.

"Melon!"

"That's a bit rude!" Just because he was named after a food was no reason to joke about it.

Mr. Melon, however, just laughed. "People tell me that often."

"I wouldn't have imagined a mage from the renowned Fairy Tail guild would accept this job…" Mr. Melon started, though Natsu once again laughed it off.

"Really? I was wondering why such a good job was still available."

Probably because such a large reward for such a simple thing was really suspicious, Lucy thought.

"And you're so young too. You must be a famous mage."

"Natsu is also called Salamander." Happy chirped up.

"Oh! I've heard of that nickname." Mr. Melon commented excitedly before turning to Lucy, "and this is?"

"I'm Lucy, I'm afraid I'm not well known." Or at all known. Something told her she shouldn't say she joined just yesterday. And it was only yesterday that she got her guild mark. It felt like much longer than that.

"That's alright, I'm sure if you're with Salamander, I'm sure you're quite capable." Hearing him say it like that made Lucy feel like she was sort of lying. Mr. Melon leaned forward, hands clasped together. "Let's talk about the job, shall we?"

"All right."

"Aye."

Lucy could only sit and listen nervously.

"There is only one thing I'm asking you to do: the one and only copy of 'Day Break' that the duke Everlue owns…Please incinerate it."

"So we don't have to steal it?" Lucy was only half surprised at how disappointed Natsu looked. Even though burning things were right in line with his skill set. All the same, burning something like a book made Lucy feel uneasy.

"I'm basically asking you to destroy someone's possession without their permission, so it's almost the same as stealing…"

"That's a bit surprising," Lucy spoke up, though a part of her was worried she was messing this whole thing up, there were some things she felt she had to confirm. "I thought you were going to ask us to retrieve the book, that it was taken from you first…"

"Wait, incinerate means burn right? Why don't we just burn the mansion down?" Natsu suddenly laughed.

"That'll be easy," Happy added.

"No!" Lucy cried. "That's completely illegal, you'll go to jail for that for sure!" She turned back to the client, if he was bothered by Natsu's willingness to commit arson, he didn't show it. "What is so important about this book anyway?" She asked again. It was incredibly strange for someone to go so far to destroy a simple book.

"Who cares?" Natsu crowed, "we're getting 200,000 for it!"

"No, that's not the reward anymore," Mr. Melon spoke up, "I raised it to 2,000,000."

"Tw-" Lucy started, however she was too shocked to continue, however while Happy and Natsu were in just as much shock they hadn't lost their voices.

"Two!" Happy started.

"Million?" Natsu finished. "What the hell?"

"My…You didn't know about the increase?" Mr. Melon calmly asked.

"2,000,000? Hold on!" Natsu cried, looking at his fingers, "if we divide it by three… Arg! I can't calculate it!"

"It's easy." Happy started, though he seemed to be in just as much shock as Natsu. "I get one million, Natsu gets one million and the rest is Lucy's."

"You're so smart Happy!"

"There won't be any left over for me!" Lucy snapped before actually doing the mental math. "It'll be around 666,500 for each of us, give or take a few hundred Jewel." How many months of rent was that? Nine? She'd have plenty of money for other stuff too, like food and clothes.

"Eh? That's a lot less than Happy's calculations, Lucy, are you sure that's right?"

"Happy just divided it in half!"

"Now please, let's all calm down." Only when the three of them started to bicker between themselves did Mr. Melon actually start to get nervous.

"Wha-what made you increase it?" Lucy asked a bit nervously. It was already overpriced beforehand.

"That book really needs to be destroyed. I…I can't forgive that book's existence." That confession was shockingly dramatic and sounded terribly personal.

Natsu interrupted the tension by lighting his head on fire. "Let's go, Lucy!" He jumped up, grabbing her hand and yanking her along. "I'm all fired up!"

"H-hey! Wait!" Many thoughts were swirling about in her head as he dragged her from the mansion. What did Mr. Melon mean when he said he couldn't forgive the existence of that book? It was all so suspicious; would they even get paid? And couldn't Natsu slow down just a little?