Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, all rights go to Hiro Mashima.

Lucy's POV
I awoke, and looked around, rubbing my eyes sleepily. I was in a futon that I had laid out on the ground, and remembered that Jay was staying with me. Checking the clock, I realized that I had gotten up thirty minutes early. Oh well, I can't go back to sleep at this rate…Thinking this, I got up and remade the futon, placing it neatly to the side so that it wasn't in anyone's way. Then I walked up to the bed and examined Jay's peaceful features. I grinned to myself, remembering all the fun times we shared together. I was still shocked that he was here, right now, but I was extremely happy. It only made me happier to hear that he had married my other friend from my childhood, Nina. Even back then, everyone knew that they were the perfect couple. Getting a happy start to my day, I started my usual routine which consisted of a bath, face mask, then brushing my teeth, and finally washing my face once more and applying my makeup. Once I was done with everything, I set out a towel and some more clothes for Jay when he woke up, and put on my sound pods, draining out his soft snores as the music blasted me awake.

After about an hour, I heard Jay start to stir. Going to him, I lightly tapped his forehead, chuckling.

"Get up, lazybones..." I teased, and he groggily got up, took his clothes and towel, and tiredly made his way into the bathroom. Once he was gone, I started making some pancakes and sausages. Strawberry for me, and blueberry for Jay… It had always been like that since we were kids. My smile vanished, though, when I thought back to the real reason that he was here. Zeref was out loose, and everyone knew just what he was capable of. Turning off the gas, I plated the food, and made Jay a cup of coffee while I made a strawberry smoothie for myself as I waited for him to get out of the bathroom.

Jay's POV
I walked out, missing my shirt since I didn't want my hair to get it wet. I had a feeling that Lucy would become embarrassed and flushed, and boy, did I want to see that. With this in mind, I nonchalantly slung my towel over my neck while I walked out, shirtless and wet. I put on a bored face, waiting for a squeal, but none came. Smirking, I looked over to her.

"What? Are you speech-" I stared at her as she just walked passed me, unfazed. Looking up at me, she smiled.

"Breakfast is on the table. I made your favorite pancakes. Just give me a second, I forgot to put on my wristband…" She trailed off as he looked for the said item. Sighing, I sat down at the table, still shirtless. What? Am I not in shape? I'll admit, I have some pretty good muscles… I whined to myself, giving thanks for the food as I thought about her unconcerned reaction. Lucy sat back across from me, and continued to miss the fact that I was shirtless.

"Wow! This is good!" I complimented her as I took another bite of my pancake. She smiled, and continued to eat her own food neatly. I, on the other hand, shoved the food down my throat. Usually, she would yell at me, but she didn't say anything. I stared at her suspiciously. I had the strange urge to gain her attention, and then punched the wall, creating a small crater. I looked at her expectantly, but I still didn't get a reaction. Scratching the back of my neck, I finished eating, and watched as Lucy finished her smoothie. We were both royal runaways, and that's how we became friends. However, unlike me, even when angry, Lucy still managed to possess that same grace about her. I stared at her with interest, and watched as she took the plates and started to wash them. She worked diligently, and finished in a matter of minutes. When she caught me staring, though, she just cocked her head.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked, her wide eyes glinting with both concern and curiosity.

"Yeah, it's you!" I exclaimed, pushing myself off of the table. She seemed uninterested. Before, I could easily scare or anger her, but now, she was just like a happy go lucky character type.

"I walk around half naked, you don't get embarrassed. I eat messily and like a fool, you don't scold me. I punch your walls, but you don't get mad. What is up with you?" I questioned, voicing up my thoughts. To this, she just laughed. Then she checked her watch.

"You'll see in three… two… one!" She said happily, and a pink haired man jumped in through her window, a raven haired man dropped in from her fireplace, and a red haired woman kicked down the door cleanly. I gaped at the sight as Lucy seemed to be handling them with ease. The pink haired dude raided the fridge and ate wildly, food flying everywhere wildly. Lucy just gave him more food, and proceeded to the next person. The raven haired man had stripped down to his boxers, and Lucy had merely given him his lost clothes. The two men began fighting, but then the red haired woman stepped in, stopping both of them but almost destroying the apartment in the process. I stared in awe as Lucy just laughed.

"This is what I deal with every day…" She trailed off.

"Don't they get annoying?" I asked, and she quickly responded.

"They used to, but now I've gotten to handle them more easily. They're my family, and I can't live without them!" She exclaimed happily.

"Open, Gate of the Maid, Virgo!" She chanted, and another woman appeared, and, in a second, the apartment had reverted back to its original form.

"Punishment, hime?" The woman asked, and I watched, confused.

"Nope, but thanks for helping as usual, Virgo. You can go back now!" Lucy waved, and the woman disappeared. I have never really seen her celestial magic, but I guess that this was what she was talking about. She introduced me to the others, and me to the others, and pretty soon, I had become acquainted with all of them. We followed Lucy as she headed out of the apartment, Gray and Natsu fighting every other second while Erza intervened every time. So this was Lucy's daily life, huh? Interesting. I watched the blonde as she balanced on he side of the river, shouting out greeting to two boatmen. I smiled at this. Well, there was one thing that didn't change. Lucy was always friendly to everyone, and nobody could ever hate her, even those who were jealous of her wealth, brains, and beauty. That was how Nina and Lucy became best friends, after all. Before, Nina hated her with everything she had, but after she had done something horrible by accident, Lucy was there to console her, even though she was the victim. After that, the two were like sisters. Well, that was at least until Lucy had been kidnapped. We all ran away from our noble families, and took care of ourselves. However, Lucy was tracked, and then kidnapped, brought back to her old home. After that, she had it rough. I cringed at the memory, but my thoughts were interrupted as Lucy stopped in front of the guild. The other three kicked down the doors, and Lucy quickly created a barrier, protecting us from a flying table. Wow… This really is interesting.

I was about to go in, but stopped myself when Lucy didn't go in herself.

"Aren't you going in?"

"Actually, I decided to make some contracts today…" She trailed off.

"Sorry, you can head in if you want…" She trailed off again uncertainly, and I ruffled her hair, laughing fondly.

"Nah, you're the reason I came here after all!" I assured her, and followed her to wherever she was going. Watching her back, I noted how she still stood up straight, but this time, unlike the gentle, shy Lucy that I used to know, she held her head up high, confidently. We stopped at a clearing in a park, and I sat down on the grass. Lucy reached for her keys, but stopped when her communication lacrima rung. Despite myself, I pretended to be reading a book I brought with me, but I was actually sneaking glances at the projection and eavesdropping on the conversation. An image of a blonde male appeared, and he seemed to be in a guild hall himself.

"Hey Luc-" His greeting was cut off by another man pushing him off of the image feed.

"Hey, Orga, Rufus, how are you guys doing over there?" I heard her say, smiling.

"We are fine, but Sting decided to call you, because he's been going on for the past 5 hours how your eyes sparkle and whatnot" Another blonde said nonchalantly, but I saw a small smirk plastered on his face. The first man pushed the other two away, and appeared to be blushing.

"Don't listen to them, Lucy! Anyways, I just wanted to check up on-" He was cut off again by a dark haired man flashing a small smile while greeting Lucy politely.

"Hey Rogue, what's up? Where's Yukino?" Lucy asked, and a white haired woman appeared, along with another dark haired woman.

"Hey Yukino! Minerva! I haven't seen you in ages! Sorry about that! Have you guys been keeping up with that weekly tournament while I was gone?"

"Oh, we couldn't! Everyone was so worried when you left without a trace. And then that whole kidnapping thing happened, and right after that, Fairy Tail was attacked, and you had disappeared again. You really gave us a scare!" The dark haired woman said in a stern, yet kind tone.

"Hehe, sorry about that! By the way, Yukino, I got Acnologia's key!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly. The white haired woman squealed, her eyes sparkling.

"HOLY CHEESE! REALLY?! YOU HAVE TO LET ME MEET YOUR OTHER DRAGONS LATER, TOO!" She screamed, and I cringed at the loudness of her voice. Lucy seemed physically hurt, but nodded sheepishly. Then, finally, the original blonde appeared on the screen, and he was apparently running away from everyone else, judging by the shaking of the image, and the thudding sound of footsteps.

"Whoo~! Finally! Hey, I just wanted to talk to you because of that whole thing that happened yesterday… I have a confession to make…" He trailed off, and his eyes darted to me. He seemed hurt.

"Yo, who's that behind you?" He questioned, putting on a stoic mask. I waved nervously as Lucy turned around to catch me eavesdropping. Walking up, I smiled at the other man.

"Hi, I'm Lucy's childhood friend. Don't worry, though, she's not mine!" I assured the man, giving him a knowing look. He looked down, all of a sudden his cheerful mood gone, and turned back to Lucy.

"Anyways, I'll talk to you about that thing the next time we see each other… Later!" The blonde shouted, slightly flustered, and Lucy weakly waved, a little dazed at what just happened. Then, she suddenly let out a loud laugh.

"Nice to see that Sabertooth's as rowdy as always" She chuckled, and I grinned. Sitting back down, I watched as she reached for her keys again.

"Open, Gate of the Reborn Souls, the King of Fire Dragons, Igneel!" She shouted, and I watched in awe as a massive, fire red dragon appeared with a poof.

"SUP!" He roared, and I kept staring.

"Quiet down, will you? Anyways, I called you to officially make our contract" Lucy lightly scolded the dragon, and took out a pad and pencil.

"I'm free all days of the week, so call me when you need me! Well, I'm gonna go take a nap now, so peace!" The dragon exclaimed, and disappeared as suddenly as he came. Lucy wrote something down, and sighed, replacing the key in her hand with another one, how did she differentiate between all of them?, and held it out the same way she did the previous one.

"Open, Gate of the Tortured Souls, King of the Reborn Souls, Acnologia!" She exclaimed, and this time, and larger, seemingly more powerful black dragon with electric blue swirls appeared.

"I heard from that moron. Same thing for me, free all days of the week, see you later…" The dragon said, bored, and disappeared as the other dragon had. Lucy wrote something else down, and shrugged her shoulders, stretching. I was interested, but as I was about to ask, someone appeared from the bushes. He had a black bow and arrow mark on his shoulder, so I was guessing he was from Wizard Hunters. I glanced at Lucy, who seemed to take the hint.

"Holy Judgement!" She yelled, unconcerned as a huge beam of holy magic shot out her hands, knocking out the opponent and blowing away trees in a 500 mile radius. Well, that's what it seemed like. We ran over to the dude, who was cleanly knocked out, and tied him up with some magical restraining ropes that Lucy brought out from who-knows-where.

"That was easy, but it's not like I'm complaining. Still, I think that I could've used a weaker attack, and it wouldv'e turned out the same way" she muttered under her breath, and I laughed. Lugging the man over my shoulder, we began to walk to police station.

"That was really cool, though!" I told her my opinion truthfully, and she looked away shyly.

"it was nothing, but…" She turned to look at me in the eyes and smirked.

"He's not the real deal, because he's just a messenger…" Lucy said, and I stared back, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"A messenger of war!" Lucy smiled now, mischief gleaming in her eyes. In her hands, she held up a small scroll that she had apparently retrieved from the still passed out mage, because it had his guild mark stamped onto the parchment.

"To you, the guild of the fairies, we merely wish to test you, so now it's your time to prove yourselves. Now, with this in mind, we declare war, From Zeref! Well, at least he was blunt..." Lucy exclaimed, and she looked excited. I just gaped at her for the umpteenth time today.

"This is war… shouldn't you be concerned?!" I backed away from her a bit, seeing that she had a deadly aura about her.

"Nah, Fairy Tail's got this in the bag. And besides, we've beaten them before, so this'll be easy. Anyways, it'll be a good distraction from…" She turned her face downcast for a moment, and I faintly saw her smile falter, but then she raised her head again, and grinned at me. Raising a brow but not saying anything, I continued to walk, breathing in relief. Sure, we had beat them before, but there was no telling how much stronger they've gotten over the years… But I was still able to seek some comfort, seeing that Lucy herself was very powerful, and we were a good team. And if the rest of Fairy Tail was as strong as it was known to be, then we would be fine. But, what did she mean by a distraction…?

We walked into the guild hall, and I politely greeted those I didn't know. Following Lucy, I looked around the guild hall with interest. I had seen it before, but never really inspected the inside carefully. My attention started to drift, though, when I saw that tables and chairs were flying everywhere, and almost everyone was in some sort of battle, whether it be in magic, drinking, or just something as random as chess. I took in the sight with awe, and even though it was a bit overwhelming,but I could immediately could see why she loved this place. It was basically he opposite of the rigid, proper, rich life that she had lived and despised before. Also, this place had a nice energy going on that I admired.

I sat down at a table next to Lucy, and observed her interactions with the others. With Erza, she seemed close and friendly to her, as if they were sisters. I smiled at the thought of Nina again. I shifted my eyes over to Gray, and they were also really close, like brother and sister. I watched Lucy then play the older sister with a girl I now knew to be named Wendy, and it was the same for Happy. Then, my eyes shifted over to Natsu. They seemed to be the closest out of the bunch. Lucy's smile never faltered with him, and I watched fondly over my friend as she joked and laughed with him. I pulled out and wore my Cal Glasses, a data collector. Observing the two, I grinned inwardly. I didn't know much about dragon slayers, but I knew that my Cal Glasses were always right. Standing up to go introduce myself to some others, I waved to Lucy, and once I had my back turned, I let my smile grow wider and wider. At first, I thought that this man named Sting was Lucy's mate, but the glasses had said something different, as now a knew phrase was burned into my mind:

99.9% Chance of Mating.

Sting's POV
Standing up and stretching my arms out, I yawned. I had just finished all of the paperwork, so being able to stretch out felt just great. Cracking my neck, I walked over to the calendar I hung on one of the walls. Mating season would officially start on March 12th. Until then, I had some time until I went crazy. Stretching out my other arm, I jumped out the window, wanting to get some fresh air.

Lucy…

My thoughts kept echoing her name, but I smiled in sadness. I couldn't really love her… I mean, of course I loved her, but I couldn't actually do anything for her… Besides, I've always promised to save my heart for someone else, so I can't do anything now. I needed to tell her, before hearts were broken more than necessary, and before misunderstanding and trouble arose...

"Come back for me, okay?"

"Yeah, I definitely will. Don't worry, I'll come back for you. For now, I love you…"

Those two lines of conversation pounded through my head, and my smile turned to one of happiness. Anyways, she was always his… We've both been played for fools by fate. She was always his… Now just for her to realize the truth of the matter…

Sorry, I know it's short, but it's just that i have a lot going on right now... Hehe, i know, excuses =, excuses. Thanks for the reviews and messages!