~Lucy~

I rolled onto my side, "Roawin! Five more minutes!"

"Lucy! I want to go to the guild so that I can see my brother! I haven't seen him since yesterday!" Roawin whined.

I groaned and rolled back towards him. I frowned and opened one eye. He stared at me in anticipation. I counted to three in my head and then seized Roawin. He squealed as I tickled him. "Lucy! Stop it! I'm going to scream!" he shouted.

"No, don't scream! My landlady will think I'm murdering someone!" I shouted. I covered his mouth with my hand and he giggled. I sat upright and pulled him onto my lap. "So, you think your brother's at the guild already?"

"He never leaves me for more than sixteen hours," Roawin proudly stated.

"Sixteen? Is that so?" I asked. I swung my legs over the side of my bed and yawned widely. "Ugh…what time is it?"

"How should I know?" Roawin said. He bounded off of the bed and went to stand in front of the door. I watched him as he started to bounce up and down.

"Jeez, patience is a virtue, Roawin," I mumbled.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" he chanted. I smiled. Well, there was no stopping it now. If I didn't go within the next twenty seconds, I was pretty sure that he was going to go without me.

~Lucy~

The guild was a little emptier than usual, but I didn't mind it. A quiet guild was almost as good as a loud one. As soon as we stepped into the guild I caught side of Jacin. He was standing by the bar. His golden hair fell over his forehead and his blue eyes shone just like they always did. When he met my eyes I couldn't see a hint of the pain that I'd seen last night.

"Jacin!" Roawin yelled. The little kid ran alarmingly fast for such a small person and catapulted into his brother's arms.

"If I had been holding a drink when you came in, you'd be in big trouble," Jacin said. He smiled and hugged his brother tightly.

"Are you ok?" Roawin asked. Roawin's arms and legs were latched onto Jacin's body. I was pretty sure that if Jacin were to release his brother, Roawin would stay in the same position. I wondered if Jacin was having any difficulty breathing.

"I'm fine, buddy," Jacin said. I noticed a hint of sadness in his voice, but it vanished immediately, "Did you have fun with Lucy last night?"

"No! She snores!" Roawin said. I immediately protested.

"Hey, that's not true!" I walked up to them and couldn't hide my smile.

"Ok, that wasn't true. I like Lucy. She's nice," he said. I nodded.

"There you have the truth," I said.

"Thanks for taking care of him while I was gone," he said. He seemed the same as ever. I couldn't see a change in him at all. It was almost worse than it would have been if I could see the change. It meant that he was hurting on the inside and trying hard not to show it.

"Sure…anytime. He's a good kid," I said. I sat down at one of the stools, "So…about that job we were talking about." I wasn't sure if it would work, but I wanted to get closer to Jacin. Maybe I could convince him to trust me.

"Right, the job. Sounds good. Did you have anything in mind?" he asked.

I smiled and slammed a piece of paper down on the bar table. He peered down at it. "I picked it up last night. I figure you might be interested," I said.

"Thieves?" he questioned, "Doesn't sound that exciting…but it's an unusually high reward." He grinned, "That sounds like the perfect job. How'd you find this?"

"New jobs are posted right before Mira closes up at night so that she doesn't have to do it in the morning. I didn't get out of the infirmary until late because Natsu and Gray kept worrying about me, so I got first picks. That also means the highest reward." I pretended to shine my nails on my shirt and then blew on them. I smiled smugly, "It's all about strategy."

"She gives it way too much thought," Natsu said. He slung an arm over my shoulders. I shoved him off and he grinned, "Seriously, she does. I wonder how she manages to stay so poor."

"You shouldn't wonder! It's because you always eat all of my food and I always have to go back out and buy more. Ninety percent of my earnings go to your stomach!" I shouted. I mock punched him and he caught my fist in one hand.

"That's not true! Happy eats all of it. I swear," he protested. I frowned.

"Where is that little blue cat anyway?"

"Who knows…probably eating your food." Natsu dodged another punch.

"He wouldn't dare," I growled, "He knows that I'd whoop his ass if you weren't there to protect him…or I'd sick Aquarius on him."

"I can see that not ending well for you," Natsu pointed out.

I grimaced, "You're right…I feel like she'd hurt me more than she'd hurt Happy. Maybe I'd use Loki instead."

"That's a good idea…I've been feeling very ignored lately," Loki said.

I jumped, "I swear…ever since you've been able to jump between worlds on our own you appear at the weirdest times."

He wrapped his arms around me and I squirmed, "It's not weird. You were just talking about me."

"Will you leave if I promise to use your key on the job we're about to go on?" I grumbled. He didn't let go of me; instead, he remained quiet.

After a few moments he mumbled, "Fine." I felt the weight of his arms lift off of my shoulders as he returned to the spirit world.

"Natsu, can you go make sure that Happy isn't eating my food. If he does I won't have anything left for tonight."

"From what I hear you're going on a job anyway, but alright," Natsu said. He turned and then paused. He looked over his shoulder, "Next time go on a job with me, ok?"

I sighed, "Alright, Natsu. Now go. I don't want you to get to my house after Happy has eaten all of my food." Natsu nodded, a grin on his face as per usual. He disappeared out of the hall and I slumped against my chair.

"Wow…you're popular," Jacin said.

My eyes snapped open, "No! I'm not! Not like that! Wait, what?"

He laughed, "Calm down…I'm not judging. Also, that came out a little differently than it was supposed to." He stood up and set Roawin down on the ground, "I just meant that you seem to be friends with everyone."

"I guess you're right about that. Then again, everyone in Fairy Tail is friends with everyone else. It's not that much of a surprise."

He smiled at me as if he knew something I didn't, "It's different with you, though. People seem to be naturally drawn to you. I guess you just don't know your own charms." With that he turned away and started for the door. I stared after him.

"Don't know my own charms?" I questioned under my breath. What does that even mean? I followed after him.

"So, what's the plan? I don't really know my way around, so I'm trusting you to be my guide," he said. He shoved his hands in his pocket.

"You've never been to Magnolia before?" I asked. Somehow I wasn't surprised, though.

"Nope. This was our first time here!" Roawin chimed in.

"Oh," I said, "Well, we'll probably catch a train. It'll be a short trip, though. We don't have that far to go."

"Sounds goo—"

"Jaciiiin! You should have summoned me as soon as you got us back! You know that I missed you! But noooo! Instead you're summoning Fleure!" said a voice.

"Sorry?" he mumbled. The person that was hugging him tightly muffled his voice. She wasn't just hugging him, though. His face was wedged right between two very large…well, you get the idea. Let's just say I wasn't exactly ecstatic about our new companion.

"Mayla, I can't breath," Jacin choked. She immediately released him.

"Oh…sorry," she said shyly. I was suddenly aware of another spirit who'd joined our group. Him wrapping his arms around me caused my awareness.

"And who is this beautiful girl that you're with? I don't remember you introducing her to us!" he said. I squeaked. He was huge. Rippling muscles pinned me against his strong chest. Catlike eyes stared down at me and I didn't like the look those eyes were giving me.

"Diedos, let her go. That's Lucy. She's a member of Fairy Tail. Before you ask, no…she won't be your woman," Jacin said. Diedos reluctantly let go of me. When the two spirit, Mayla and Diedos, stood next to each other I realized that the looked eerily similar. They both had the same dark, catlike eyes and blond hair. Their most distinct features, however, were their ears, claws, and tails.

"Sorry, Lucy. These are the twins, Mayla and Diedos," Jacin said.

"Hi!" Mayla said. "Yeah…hi," Diedos said. He winked at me and I raised an eyebrow.

"Nice to meet you, I suppose," I said.

"Did I hear someone call Lucy THEIR girl?" bellowed a voice. I groaned as Taurus popped out of the ground with the same flashy entrance he always had.

"Taurus, no! Stop! Go back!" I shouted. My words did nothing. Taurus was already on a roll and there was no stopping him now. He loomed over us and stomped his hooves.

"Lucy, is this guy bothering you?" Taurus demanded.

"No, he's not," I said, facepalming.

"Whoa…that guy has six nipples," Diedos said. I tried to hold my laugh and barely managed to. I looked over to Jacin and he was hiding his face in his hands. He was shaking slightly.

"Don't laugh, Jacin…it's not funny to laugh at other people's quirks," I said. I could barely get the words out without cracking up. Jacin shook harder.

When he took his hands away he was smiling widely, "I'm sorry! I can't hold it any longer!" He let out a laugh. Somehow I ended up laughing also.

"I'm going back," Taurus mumbled.

"Ok, Taurus! You should be proud, Taurus!" I said as he vanished.

"We're out, too. I only came here because Mayla wanted to. Unfortunately, wherever she goes I go too," Diedos said. "Six nipples," he muttered as the twins vanished. Jacin and I kept laughing for a while after they disappeared. I fell to my knees and clutched my sides.

"Oh my god. My stomach hurts now," I gasped.

Jacin wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "That was great."

"I don't get it," Roawin said.

That only got us laughing some more. When we were finally finished, Jacin pulled me to my feet again. He smiled at me, "Thanks, Lucy."

"For what?" I asked, massaging my sides.
"It's been a long time since I've laughed like that," he said.

I smiled. Maybe this job was going to be more of a success than I'd predicted. "You're welcome," I said, "Now let's go. We should get there as soon as possible."

He smiled at me again, "Right." I turned away from him so that he wouldn't see the blush that was spreading quickly across my cheeks.

~Lucy~

"Who even are these people?" Jacin asked. We were back to back and surrounded by a circle of scary-looking, huge guys.

"I guess these are the bandits that we were looking for," I said.

"I guess we know why the reward was so high," he said.

"You mean because they're huge? Yeah, I guess that would be the most likely reason," I said, "But that doesn't mean that they're stronger than us."

"You couldn't be more right. Ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess," I said. I gripped Loki's key and held it up.

"Then let's go!" Jacin shouted. I didn't wait for him to tell me to attack. I quickly summoned Loki.

"It took you longer than I'd expected," he said, appearing and sending a man flying in a matter of seconds. He turned to me and grinned, "It's been much too long, hasn't it?"

"Let's focus on the fight for now, alright?" I asked, "We can chat later." He smiled.

"No need to ask twice," he said. He turned back to the swarming crowd of huge guys, clocking one of them in the chin. I doubted that he would even have to use much magic against these guys. It seemed like the force of one punch was enough to knock most of them out. I took out my whip and started lashing out at random guys. It wasn't really strategic, but I figured it would be fine. It wasn't like we were up against very intelligent opponents. It seemed like using a strategy would be useless against them.

I glanced over to Jacin and saw a guy brandishing what looked like a club over his head. I immediately lashed out and took the guy out. Jacin whirled around and smiled at me, "Thanks!"

"I wasn't about to let him get you!" I shouted back.

"Lucy, duck!" he yelled. I threw myself to the ground and Jacin's sword flew towards my face. It embedded itself in a guy behind me and I rose to my feet again.

"Guess that makes us even!" I called.

"Guess so! Shiea, shadow shield! Venra, try and provide some cover! Exxos, you're with me!" Jacin yelled, turning back to his spirits. They all nodded and I watched as a wall of shadow wrapped itself around Jacin. A blinding flash of light caused me to turn away, and when it faded I saw Jacin and Exxos—well, I assumed the red fox spirit that was charging towards a particularly large man was Exxos—send the man flying. Jacin high fived Exxos and the other two, a white and black one, bounded up to them.

"Lucy, you may want to summon Aquarius now. It would be better to end this quickly!" Loki shouted. I turned back to him.

"Yeah, sorry," I said. I pulled out her key and then hesitated, "Wait, I don't have any water!"

"I'd find some quickly. There are so many of these guys. They may be easy to take out, but we're going to get tired eventually!" Loki shouted. He turned away from me and clasped his hands together. He stood straight and closed his eyes. I looked away, anticipating his use of Regulus Impact.

"Jacin, I need your help!" I shouted.

He finished fighting an unusually hairy man and nodded, "Anything."

"Can you summon Agwo?" I called. He immediately whipped out the key and, soon enough, the small dolphin-like spirit was squeaking and flying around the battlefield.

"Agwo, I need your help!" I shouted. The dolphin squeaked and hovered near me. I lifted Aquarius's key and plunged my arm into Agwo's side.

"Roawin! Get ready!" Jacin shouted.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!" I shouted. An intimidating roar emanated from Aquarius as she appeared.

"Seriously, Lucy? After the Tower of Heaven I thought I told you that I never wanted to come popping out of another person!" she screamed.

I flinched back, "Sorry! I was desperate!" She raised her arms and water started gathering.

"I'll show you desperate!" she shouted.

"Oh, crap," I squeaked. Luckily yet strangely, I felt myself being lifted into the air and away from Aquarius's wrath.

"Don't freak out, Lucy! This is Roawin's magic!" Jacin called. I glanced to my left to see him floating in a bubble…a giant bubble. Roawin floated up beside him and waved happily.

"Hi, Lucy!" he said.

"I thought you were back at the inn!" I shouted in horror, "You could have been hurt!"

"I'm tougher than those guys!" he protested.

"He wasn't close enough. Don't worry, Lucy," Jacin said. I looked below me and watched as a giant wave swept all of the thieves away. I sighed in relief.

"I am so glad that I'm not down there right now," I said, "Oh, and sorry that I did that without warning you. Did you get your spirits out in time?"

"They're back at the spirit world already," he said with a smile. I nodded and slumped against the wall of the bubble…if you could call it that.

Aquarius looked up at me once the wave settled. She waved her fist angrily, "I'm going back to see my boyfriend! Next time I see you, Lucy…you're so going to get it!"

I shivered as she disappeared. "She sort of reminds me of Brezza," Jacin said, "Except for a little less scary."

I laughed, "I'm strangely not that excited to meet this spirit."

"Shh! She has eyes and ears everywhere," Jacin said.

I shut up, "Right…sorry."

"You're so mean to Brezza," Roawin said.

"I think you've got that backwards," Jacin said. We gently floated to the ground. The bubbles popped at the same time. Jacin and Roawin landed on their feet and I landed on my ass.

"Ow," I grunted.

"Practice makes perfect. You'll get it eventually," Jacin said, offering me a hand up. I took it gratefully and patted my rear end to remove all remaining dirt. Roawin ran off ahead.

"Time to collect our reward, right? I have to say, that was easier than I thought," he said. He walked off. When I didn't follow after him he stopped and turned to look at me.

"That's just because you've got strong spirits," I said.

"If I remember correctly it was Aquarius that finished them all off," he said. He walked back towards me, "What's up? Is something wrong?"

I looked up at him and stared into his strikingly blue eyes. I never could get enough of those. "I want you to know that you can tell me anything." That's it. I said it. I let out a breath I'd been holding as I built up the courage to say those words.

My breath caught when Jacin turned away from me, "I thought I told you not to ask." His voice was even. I couldn't detect any emotion coming from him.

"I didn't ask you anyth—"

"Lucy, I told you this. It's not something that I like to remember." He still didn't look at me.

"I just want to help y—"

I jumped back as he whirled towards me. His eyes were angry and his voice was loud, "Stop, Lucy! Now!"

I felt tears well up. He'd never shouted at me like this before. It was intimidating, but my chest didn't hurt because I was scared. It hurt because he was angry…because he didn't trust me. "I-I'm sorry," I whimpered. A tear slid down my cheek and I wiped it away before it got far. He turned away from me, but not before I noticed a wall go up between us. I suddenly felt very far away from him. How could I have been so stupid?

Othos's words floating in my mind: Jacin will never love you in return.

I took a shaky breath. The rest of the trip was spent in suffocating silence.

Jacin was sitting quietly at the bar. He was reading a book. It was just another thing that I liked about him. Roawin was off somewhere playing with Natsu. The two had gotten very close in the past few days.

"You should stop staring at him and actually talk to him," Levy said.

"I can't. He hates me," I mumbled.

"He doesn't hate you! I don't know what happened between you two, but it definitively doesn't warrant three days without speaking with each other."

"I wouldn't know what to say. It's so awkward," I said.

"Just go talk to him!" Levy said. She pushed my back and I stumbled forward. I took a deep breath. I knew that I had to make him understand that I wasn't trying to hurt him. I figured there was only one way to do that. It wasn't ideal, but it might work. I walked up and sat beside him. He didn't look up. He stared at his book.

"You don't have to listen to me if you don't want to, but I'd like to tell you something…if that's alright," I said. He stayed quiet. I took another deep breath. "When I was little my mother passed away. I loved her a lot, and I miss her everyday. My father was a horrible man, so I ran away. When he found out I was in Fairy Tail he used a guild, Phantom Lord, to try and abduct me and destroy Fairy Tail at the same time. We never really made up after that. I went without seeing him for seven years…I lost those years of my life…and when I came back…" My voice had begun to shake, so I took a moment to regain my composure "…he was dead. He'd sent me a present every year that I was gone. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Jacin's eyes had stopped skimming the pages. He just stared at the book. He finally closed it and set it down, but he still wouldn't look at me. "I'm not telling you this because I want you to feel sorry for me. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that everyone has some darkness…some past that they carry around with him or her. Fairy Tail, everyone here, accepted my past—where I came from and what I've been through—without hesitation. I want you to know that they—I—would do the same for you. That's what I wanted to tell you. I'll go now. If you don't want to tell me, that's alright. We're all entitled to our secrets."

I stood up and walked away. His arm shot out and grasped my wrist. I froze. "Thank you, Lucy," he said quietly. I smiled as he released my arm. I didn't look at him once as I walked out of the hall. A warmth bath sounded pretty good right about now.

So, yeah. Been a while, huh? Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, hope you liked my chapter and please leave me your review! Thanks and I love you all. :)

OC List:

Jacin - Lucy's dream guy. Two years older than Lucy. Celestial wizard with both platinum and silver keys. Some troubled past that led to his little brother and himself living on their own. Looking to join Fairy Tail.

Roawin - Jacin's little brother. Four years old. Bubble magic.

Abigail - A girl that Jacin loved and lost. (You'll find out more eventually)

Jacin's Spirits:

Rouge - Platinum celestial spirit. Able to change her size at will.

Fleure - Silver celestial spirit. Flower magic. Is fond of Roawin.

Agwo, Fuegia, Terro, and Cilo - The four elemental spirits, (silver keys).

Venra, Shiea, and Exxos - The three platinum key fox spirits.

Mayla and Diedos - The twins, platinum key.

Grentha - The Grim Reaper, platinum key.

Lupiyah - The Wolf-Woman, platinum key.

Gallego - The Gearmaster, platinum key.

Crossman - Also called Cross. Nice and strict. Platinum key.

Brezza - The Strong Woman, who is pretty scary, (well, Jacin thinks so). Platinum key.

Othos - The Blindman. Caused Lucy to faint. Is actually blind, but able to 'see the truth'. Can read memories and thoughts. Special to Jacin because Othos was his first spirit. Kept around Jacin's neck on a necklace. Platinum key.