Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)

Chapter 6: Chemistry, Cafe, and Kisses

The next morning, Lucy had woken up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing on the desk near her bed and she shut it off. She had been dreaming about last night, remembering how great it had been to see Sting and assist him in that battle against Kamira, and Lucy felt really happy about the fact that he had comforted her when she thought that he didn't want her to fight his battle for him.

Her cocoa brown eyes were filled with happiness while she was laying in bed, remembering Sting's kind words, and she was so happy that she was becoming a stronger mage as well. Lucy still couldn't believe that she now had two types of magic from the weird spell book that she had received from Karen, and the blonde mage looked somewhat puzzled by the fact that she could clearly understand two olden languages that she had never seen before.

Lucy looked up at the ceiling with a happy smile on her face, before yawning and stretching her arms into the air. Today seemed like a beautiful day, since the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky, and Lucy was determined to become stronger than ever before. She wanted to do well for Sting, and he had always wanted to see her succeed on every job that they took together.

Seeing Sting's smirk in her mind made Lucy blush a light shade of pink, but she also knew that it would probably not be a good idea to tell the white dragon slayer about her little feelings for him. Sting might not be seeing her as anything more than a partner on jobs, and getting kicked off the team by Natsu had given Lucy more heartbreak than she could handle. Getting rejected twice certainly wouldn't be good, and it also wouldn't be wise to try dating a guy after only one month. Relationships took time, you know.

The blonde female didn't have any plans for the day, obviously waiting for Sting to show up, and Lucy took a slight sniff of the air to see that she was smelling like mint green perfume. She had a different smell on her, but how? No one else was sleeping in her bed or had intruded into her apartment, and she hadn't recently bought any perfume. Nobody would just enter her apartment to spray her, right? The scent kept flowing through the air in a circular motion around Lucy, but she found no real reason to complain about it.

She didn't exactly know that each type of magic had its own smell to it, and getting the smell could be done by getting the types of magic. Many mages knew this, but Lucy did not. She had no idea that her Wind Magic was causing her to smell so sweet, and Lucy decided to start off her day by having some breakfast. After all, it was the most important meal of the day.

Lucy got out of bed, ready to do some more training with Sting, and she headed to the kitchen first to make some waffles. Lucy had been moving much faster, most likely due to her training, and she quickly got the box of toaster waffles out of the refrigerator in her kitchen. She took two waffles out of the yellow box, placed them in the grey toaster, and then Lucy pulled down the lever on the toaster for her waffles to start heating up.

While her waffles were getting warmed up, Lucy couldn't stop thinking about how Sting had been such a helpful guy. He had been encouraging to her whenever they were training, always wanting her to improve, and Sting even impressed her by helping clients who needed jobs to be done. In fact, he once used his White Dragon's Roar to get rid of some fallen trees in the forest.

Sting's confidence always reflected back on Lucy, making her feel happy and giving her the feeling that she could succeed, and warmth entered her eyes when she had a little daydream about Sting taking down ten monsters easily before he would walk towards her and leave her blushing as she would look into his beautiful blue eyes that were so relaxed like a calm sea.

She was still wearing her pink pajamas, and Lucy didn't want to be late for any meetings if Sting were to knock on her door right now to take her on an exciting job with him. Lucy was about to go back to her bedroom for a change of clothes from her closet of fabulous outfits, but then she heard a slight knock at the front door. Who would want to visit her at 7:00 in the morning?

Her rent wasn't due today, and Lucy had enough money to pay it next week. She didn't want to assume that Natsu and Happy would be dumb enough to try and come into her home, since the fire dragon slayer wasn't welcome there anymore because of his rude actions, and Lucy really wouldn't care if Natsu got Erza or Gray to come and apologize in his place. That would be cowardly, right?

Even if Lisanna came to her home with a pie she baked as an apology gift for Lucy, the blonde mage still couldn't accept it. If Natsu was too much of a chicken to apologize by himself with a speech made from his own words, then how could he ever be forgiven for acting so rude and nonchalant to Lucy because she had seemed weaker than him and the rest of the team.

Upon hearing four more soft knocks on her front door, Lucy looked slightly annoyed. If Natsu was trying to be a persistent pest, then his plan was certainly working. He just wouldn't go away, and Lucy heard her waffles pop up out of the toaster. She ran back into the kitchen to unplug the toaster, and then Lucy stabbed her waffles with a silver fork before she put both of the golden and crispy waffles on a white plate. Afterwards, she went back to the door to see who her surprise visitor would be.

"Look, Natsu! I just want you to go away, and I don't want to be on your team! You're so annoying, and I don't want to see you right now while I'm-" Lucy shouted in a stern tone while having her cocoa brown eyes narrowed, before mistaking her visitor for the dense guy who saw her as a worthless piece of trash.

Karen Melancholia had shown up at her doorstep once again with a calm smile on her face, not minding Lucy's little outburst, and she had something interesting in her hands. It appeared to be a white heart-shaped pendant that was attached to a small necklace of fine golden beads, and Lucy looked quite curious about it. Did this merchant want her to have something else?

She told Lucy in a kind tone, maintaining the smile on her face, "Hello, young lady. I do hope that the book of spells is quite useful to you, and I'm still happy that you were able to open it. I obtained this magical pendant on my journey to a faraway land, but it sadly is of no use to me."

The blonde mage asked Karen, seeming curious about something supposedly magical that looked so ordinary like jewelry that someone didn't need anymore, "Really, and you want me to have it? If I may ask, what kind of magic does the pendant possess?"

Karen informed Lucy that the pendant didn't actually have any magic, leaving her with only three types of magic for now, and this pendant had something more like a little spell. The woman with silvery-blue hair did not tell Lucy that this also belonged to her master from centuries ago, but she informed her that the pendant had the mystical ability of changing one's appearance for a certain amount of time. Lucy now had an ability similar to Gemini, but it wasn't that great since the pendant wouldn't let her have a person's amount of magical power or moves.

However, Lucy's eyes widened in awe as she took in every detail of what Karen was telling her. She could use this pendant to temporarily transform, turning herself into a new person for possibly 50 minutes or a little bit more, and this seemingly weak ability had a few clever uses. She could take jobs in Fairy Tail as a new person, thus avoiding drama with Team Natsu, and she wouldn't have to really deal with Natsu trying to upset her. That was a fair trade, right?

Before Karen could explain things any further, she put the pendant around Lucy's neck and took her leave. She pretended to walk away from her apartment, going in the western direction, but Karen actually ran towards the shadow of a small bluebird flying in the air. She sunk down into its shadow quickly, nobody noticing a thing while they rowed by on their gondolas, and the deceptive woman giggled quietly while traveling through the darkness once more.

Sting had shown up from the eastern direction on Lucy's street, ready to go on a job with her today, and he was looking a bit sick from taking a boat all the way from Castelia Town to see Lucy. His blue eyes caught sight of the strange pendant around her neck, but the white dragon slayer's nose picked up the scent of the waffles that Lucy had made earlier.

He was about to ask his blonde partner if she could make him some waffles for breakfast, but Lucy seemed a bit preoccupied with the pendant that she had just received from Karen. She was somewhat spaced out, wondering how it worked, and Lucy let the white heart-shaped pendant swing back and forth in a slow manner like a pendulum. As it swung back and forth, Lucy could only think about what she would temporarily transform into. An idea entered her mind, and Lucy looked up from her pendant a few seconds too late to notice Sting.

The white heart-shaped pendant began to glow with a shining white light, nearly blinding the eyes of Sting and Lucy, and the white light engulfed the brown-eyed girl for a few moments. She could only see the light around her, and Lucy gasped in shock at the sight of three white rings of light around her neck, legs, and her stomach. What was going on?

When the light quickly faded away, Sting dropped his jaw in awe at what he was now seeing. Lucy had indeed transformed from the power of the pendant, and she now had long light brown hair that fell to her hips. Lucy's clothes had changed, too. Her pink pajamas were now replaced with a cherry red top and a black skirt, and Lucy was now wearing some red flat shoes as well. Her eyes were now emerald green, and she blushed a bit while looking at Sting.

"Whoa, what happened? How did your appearance change like that, Lucy?" Sting asked curiously, blinking his blue eyes twice to make sure that he was not imagining this.

She replied in a somewhat startled manner, looking at her new hair and the new clothes on her body, "A strange merchant gave the pendant and spell book to me, Sting. I hope that this transformation looks okay, too. I don't look bad... right?"

The white dragon slayer liked Lucy's new look, not knowing it was only temporary, and he calmly told her to turn 360 degrees around for him to get a full view of her new appearance. In his opinion, Lucy honestly looked hotter than she usually did. A nice blonde partner would be nice, but a beautiful brunette would be good to have around as well. She also had a good sense of style, making her look even more attractive.

Lucy looked like she was around the same age as Erza, having cleavage that was ample like Cana's, and this transformation proved to be pretty good. She could now take jobs in Fairy Tail without dealing with stupid drama from Natsu, but Lucy seemed cautious about this. Getting past Natsu would be easy, but what about all the other people in the guild? Could they be fooled so easily?

"What if Master, Erza, or anyone else asks me where I came from? What if Natsu or Gajeel detects a defect in my scent? What if they find new members to be suspicious, Sting? What if I can't pose as a new member of the guild and take a job without drama transpiring?" Lucy asked in a concerned tone while looking at Sting, and having her legs shake a little.

Sting responded in a stern tone, narrowing his blue eyes at Lucy while looking a bit annoyed by how she seemed to be underestimating herself here, "What if my ex-teammate Minerva had a mustache? She'd simply be manlier. Anyway, there is nothing to worry about. Go for it, okay? I know you can do it, Lucy."

He took a deep sniff of Lucy, smelling the perfume version scent of mint ice cream, and Sting knew that no one could really say that mint was anything like strawberries and vanilla. He could see that his companion began to smile from hearing his words of encouragement, and Lucy ran back inside to get her waffles before running off to the guild. She had also gotten the green book to place in Sting's hands, hoping he would guard it, and the brown-haired girl didn't even know that her confident friend waited for this opportunity to make some waffles for himself.

At the Fairy Tail guild...

Lucy's body trembled with a slight bit of nervousness, her hands hesitant to push open the entrance doors of the Fairy Tail guild, and she kept wondering about what would happen if no one liked her. Would they all see her as the awkward new girl, or would the members of Fairy Tail be friendly to someone who was supposedly joining their guild today?

She wanted to become a much more confident person, and Lucy knew that Sting was counting on her to get a job for them to do. She couldn't let down someone who had complete faith in her, not doubting Lucy at all, and Sting wanted her to think highly of herself. If he had believed in her, shouldn't she have been able to at least believe in herself? Lucy couldn't let down her new comrade, and she began to have some courage in her emerald green eyes. Lucy wanted to become more mature, reliable, exceptional, smarter, better, faster, and stronger.

Summoning up as much courage as she could, Lucy let out a breath of air and opened the front doors to the Fairy Tail guild. She saw the members being rowdy and wild as always, and she nearly screamed when a barrel came her way. As Lucy dodged it, she noticed her voice had become more sultry and mature to match her appearance. Clearly, this transformation had a few good side effects.

"Hey, who are you?" Levy asked calmly, as she looked up from behind the bar while seeming curious, prompting everyone to stop fighting and be frozen in their stances for a few moments while looking at the new person.

Lucy's heart beat slowly for a few seconds, and she seemed a little nervous with everyone having their eyes on her. Normally, they would ignore Lucy. However, this new transformation made everyone interested to know this unknown person. Some people glared at her for interrupting the guild's brawl of fun, but other people managed to give Lucy a smile. However, what would she say to them?

"I'm… Sakura Kēki. I just moved all the way here from Sunyshore Town in the faraway land of Sinnoh, and it's nice to meet you all. I really hope to, um... be part of the guild." Lucy said while looking nervous and trying her best to have even a small smile on her face.

She anticipated that everyone would be suspicious of a new member joining the guild, especially when interrupting their huge brawl and instead she received a shocking reaction from the last person that she wanted to see right now. Natsu made a flame engulf his left fist, and the fire dragon slayer smiled a bit while walking towards her.

"Hi, new girl! I'm Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer! Welcome to Fairy Tail! It's always good to have a new friend to fight with!" He told her with his usual happy grin on his face, before taking in a whiff of her scent to know how his new friend smelled.

What happened next would certainly surprise everyone. Natsu extended his left hand for Sakura to shake it, but then he made a flame engulf that had before trying to punch her. Natsu playfully laughed, trying to get his new ally used to how things worked here, and he didn't even care that Lucy was dodging his attacks while she moved quickly with sheer beauty and elegance.

Deciding to get rid of what was in her way, Lucy used the third spell of Wind Magic. It was the Tornado Kick that she had used on Kamira's attack, and Lucy planned to use it to push Natsu away. However, the spell caused her left foot to be surrounded by swirling currents of green wind this time. She kicked Natsu in his chest, delivering quite a strong attack, and the spell made a large green cyclone of wind appear from the air. It went straight towards Natsu, slamming him with enormous damage from the powerful winds, and the fire dragon slayer crashed into the bar while the cyclone of winds exploded into a large emerald green blast of Wind Magic.

The Fairy Tail mages shielded their eyes from the emerald green blast that was currently obliterating the bar, and this distraction gave Lucy enough time to get the guild mark color kit and stamp from the bar counter near Mira. She lifted up her shirt and put the Fairy Tail guild mark in the color of emerald green on her left waist. Afterwards, she quickly took a job from the request board and stamped it before running out the front doors as the emerald green light and green smoke began to fade away.

"What the heck was that?" Gray asked with a surprised facial expression while looking around, noticing that the new girl was now gone.

"That girl's got skills, I'll say that." Cana said while smiling at the sight of Natsu lying on his face with a large bump on his head.

"That's the power of a real man!" Elfman added while smirking, as Lisanna looked concerned for Natsu and rushed to his aid.

The bar, along with several tables and chairs, had been damaged and Erza looked annoyed at the fact that she had to fix all the damage with her many weapons. She really hated it when Natsu would start fights with people just for the fun of it, and the scarlet-haired mage honestly thought that Natsu had scared off Sakura by trying a little too hard on making a good first impression.

Lucy ran back to her apartment where Sting was waiting, and she couldn't wait to tell him the good news. She also wondered if that side effect of Tornado Kick caused the cyclone to head straight for and strike what had been kicked. The attack had gotten slightly stronger since yesterday, and Lucy wondered if her upcoming spells of Wind Magic would be greater.

She saw Sting standing in the same spot, looking directly into the sun with his mouth open, as if he was eating the sunlight while he had a plate of waffles in his left hand. He saw her running towards him, and he smiled when Lucy stopped and panted heavily. She was out of breath, but Lucy's lungs became fully restored with oxygen when she slightly inhaled some air. The emerald green book pulsated once more, and he handed it to her while taking the flyer in exchange.

"Well, that gives me two questions. How did it go, and did you eat the air like you're some kind of dragon or god slayer?" Sting asked curiously, not knowing Lucy could do that because of the Wind Magic.

"Everyone totally thought I was a new person, and I even taught Natsu a lesson by accident. I think that I now know how Tornado Kick works, and it sure made a real blast in the guild. As for inhaling the air, I think the green spell book and the Wind Magic aren't as straightforward or ordinary as I thought they were." Lucy explained while smiling happily, now holding the emerald green book.

When Sting took a look at the flyer, he noticed that the job had to be done in a place known as Cinnabar Town. That place was only accessible by crossing the sea, like many towns in other faraway lands that Sting had traveled to with Lucy, and the journey to the country of Kasai would take a few days. This would give Sting and Lucy more time to bond, and more time to prepare for the job. The flyer had instructed the mages to simply find a great treasure in a place known as the Volcanic Shrine, and finding the treasure was rumored to not be easy.

However, despite the job not being easy, Sting knew that him and Lucy could handle it. They had found the mysterious blue aura in the Snowpoint Temple, shocked that it was related to the spell book that Lucy wielded, and Sting could somehow tell that this job would have a little something extra in it as well. However, due to all the ferries being out at sea right now, the white dragon slayer was stuck in Magnolia. He had to relieve his boredom, but he was also considerate of Lucy and things that she would probably like.

"Since the sailors are out right now, and we're on land, do you want to go to a new café that opened up in Magnolia? I've been meaning to go, but I only see couples and duos walking in together. I mean, do you want to go with me as a friend?" Sting asked while blushing and looking somewhat embarrassed that he was flustered around Lucy.

Lucy replied happily while giggling in her now sultry voice as Reināre and feeling warmth in her heart, "I've seen it around for a few days, and I've also wanted to go. I'd be happy to accompany you there, Sting!"

Sting looked satisfied and he unknowingly held Lucy's hand while they made their way to the café. She blushed once more, and let her head rest gently on his right shoulder while they were walking.

"I'm really into helping Lucy become stronger, and do her best. She's totally committed to training with me, and I want to be 100% committed to her. Wait, totally committed? Did I just think that?" Sting thought with a smile when he realized he was holding Lucy's hand.

At the café…

Sting and Lucy gasped in awe at the elegant blue carpet with the brown walls to match. Pictures of coffee drinks and desserts were hung on the walls, and Sting led Lucy to a square table that was close to the blue counter. He pulled out her chair for her, prompting Lucy to run her hands through her transformed light brown hair and smile at Sting.

"I'll get us some cake and drinks, ok?" Lucy told Sting in a happy tone, as she went up to the counter with at least 1,500 jewels.

"Welcome to Café Sonata! What would you and your date like today?" The cashier asked kindly with a smile while she somewhat resembled Juvia, possibly being a year younger.

Lucy blushed when the cashier used the word "date" to describe Sting because they weren't actually dating. However, maybe they had enough chemistry to become dating partners and something more. Well, he had taken her to a cafe. It seemed like a pretty romantic start for two people to have their first date, even though Lucy was only here as Sting's friend. However, she also knew that her feelings couldn't be bottled up forever. Ignoring her thoughts, Lucy placed an order.

"I'll have two cups of caramel coffee with your special of Lovely Pink Cherry Pie, please. Lucy told the girl with a smile on her face while handing her the 15 bills of 100 jewels that totaled up to 1,500 jewels to match the price of her order.

The girl responded happily while she totaled up the price that matched 1,500 jewels and took the money from Lucy, "Wow, you want the cake for couples? That's totally romantic! Let's just say that people who eat that pie together end up being really happy, from all the rumors going around about it."

In 10 minutes, thanks to the chefs being such skilled bakers with culinary skills that were mainly focused around desserts, the Lovely Pink Cherry Pie was ready along with the two cups of caramel coffee. Lucy placed the two drinks on the nearby table where Sting waited for her, and then she went back to the counter to get the delicious pie. Afterwards, Lucy sat back down at the table with her blond partner.

Lucy sat across from Sting, who smiled when he took a sip of his caramel coffee. The caramel flavor in his drink, combined with the whip cream, made his tongue pleased to taste something so satisfying. He knew Lucy had good taste, and he was glad that he let her choose the order. Sting even wondered how the pie would taste, since it contained pink on the left side and red on the other side while the pie itself was in the shape of a heart.

"I have to admit, this was a pretty good morning. Next month, we can learn a lot more magic from that book of yours. I still don't know its rules or how the book works, but I guess we have to take things step by step. Eventually, that book of two types of magic could become an arsenal of blessings." Sting said with a smile on his face, as he cut a slice of pie and put it on his plate before eating it all.

Lucy cut a slice of pie for herself and placed it on the blue plate in front of her. She drank some of her caramel coffee, and then proceeded to taste the pink slice of pie. It had somewhat a sweet strawberry taste to it, with the red slices obviously having a cherry flavor, but Lucy didn't mind. The pie was incredibly delicious, and she was glad to be here with Sting. She didn't notice that he was eating the cherry half of the pie, which went well with the strawberry half that she was eating. Quite interesting, right?

This was almost like a date between Sting and Lucy, despite the latter being transformed into Sakura at the time. They knew that they needed to get to know each other, and Lucy made the brave move of starting it off with her question. It would be odd to ask this to the guild master of Sabertooth, not wanting to offend him in any way, but Lucy had to have courage like Sting instructed her to.

"What did you ever think of Minerva, Sting? I mean, have you ever cared for a girl before in a deep way?" Lucy asked curiously while she kept eating her pie and drinking more of her coffee.

Sting responded calmly, not really getting hints of Lucy's feelings for him, "I used to like Minerva, until she was just using Lector as a means to make me win last year's Grand Magic Games for Team Sabertooth. She used me like a tool, even threatening me to not attack her, and I can't stand women who I act like that. The girl that would suit me is someone with kindness, smarts, confidence, and power doesn't matter because I'd help her out."

Before Sting could continue, as Lucy obtained another slice of pie, he saw Natsu walk in with Lisanna. He pointed at them fast enough for Lucy to turn her head and see them, prompting her to think quickly so that Lisanna wouldn't see Sting here and assume that the new girl named Sakura was being a total double-crosser to her supposedly new guild.

While Lucy ate most of the strawberry-flavored half of the pie, Sting had been focusing his attention on the cherry-flavored half. Ignoring their unexpected company, Lucy blushed while giggling a little and cut a slice from Sting's half. Her mouth felt the two flavors of both halves merging together to create a wonderful sensation, and Lucy wanted to share her half with Sting. She even blushed at the thought of feeding him, since that's how couples acted.

Her heart was beating wildly with the taste of the wonderful pie, delicious coffee, and Sting being able to share this experience with her. Lucy got up, and she was about to tell Sting that these little feelings fluttered around her mind, mostly since last night, but how would he react? Would he say that he liked her, too? Did Sting have any feelings for her at all?

"Well, while we wait for the boats to return to Magnolia, we should go do something else. You can pick this time, Lucy." Sting said to Lucy while smirking and proceeding to walk past her.

"This is it. No more holding back. I like Sting, and I admire him. These feelings may be small, but I need to know if he would like me someday." Lucy thought while clenching her fists and looking determined about what she was going to do.

As she moved to stop Sting to tell him, Lucy tripped over her left foot and made Sting fall backwards. He stopped himself from falling with one hand, and he caught Lucy by the waist with the other. However, Sting's eyes widened in amazement when he saw what Lucy had used to break her fall.

Her lips had made contact with his, and her eyes were closed in slight fear of falling. However, she opened her eyes to see that she had nothing to fear. Sting had saved her, but could he save her feelings from rejection? Lucy was about to scream from making such a clumsy move, but something in her heart made her fears be effaced. She gave Sting the kiss of gratitude for saving her once again, hoping he would understand.

How was the 6th chapter? Did you like it? Lucy has received the pendant from Karen, but her transformation won't be seen much. The pendant will also be explained during Karen's thoughts in the next chapter. The StiCy is getting good, and Lucy has just kissed Sting! There will be NaLi as well, especially in the next chapter with more development from Natsu and Lisanna. Anyway, standby for the update!