Pradesh Week 2k18

by kendraleaanne

A whole week filled with Desna's Pradesh boys paired up with my favorite Fairy Tail mages. The chapter titles will have the theme of the day and the pairing listed. Smut/Fluff/Humor/Drama I know I'm little late but better late than never!

3. Summit Part 1- BAMF Lucy

~A little backstory before you get into this beast; this was supposed to be the beginning of a new multi-chapter that happened to fit perfectly with the theme of the day, the only down side is that I'm still writing the JUICY part 2 so I'm gonna let y'all at this chucnk first and then I'll post part 2 when I finish. It'll be worth it.

Also, I know I'm showing A LOT of favor towards my girl Lucy but there will be other pairings. *insert maniacal laughter here* oh yes there will be.~

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It had been a week since the guild disbanded and her nakama spread like dust in the wind. She had read Natsu's note a thousand times and cried over it more times than she'd like to admit. With nothing to keep her in Magnolia anymore, she started to wonder just why she stayed in her tiny, studio apartment; why she stayed in a town with nothing to offer her except bittersweet memories and sad looks of pity for the last Fairy remaining. No, she didn't want to be that sad, beautiful blonde that stuck around holding on to something when everyone else left to be...whatever the hell it is her nakama wanted to be without Fairy Tail. Unlike them, Fairy Tail was the untouchable fantasy of a wishful oppressed child that turned out to be a dream come true. Sure she had been raised as 'privileged' with all the amenities that went with the title of heiress; a house big enough that when she left at sixteen there were still parts she hadn't ever been in, a fleet of expertly trained staff that had a keen sense of rigid discipline they were expected to use on willful, disobedient children and the crown jewel to it all, an education that royals would have been jealous of. It was the only time she was allowed to ask questions freely and she took advantage of it. By the time she was six, she was reading at a young adult's level and had already read and absorbed half of the books in the Grand Library at the Heartfilia Konzern. Her sharp intelligence and thirst for knowledge had scared her father but her mother had always encouraged her and helped her by getting more books on broader topics and better tutors for the gifted child. By the time she was eight, her mathematics tutor had run out of things to teach her and her science tutor couldn't keep up with the questions she would ask in earnest so they were replaced by tutors in business, diplomacy and accounting. By ten, she had memorized the laws of Fiore, all of them, and could read and write in over twenty languages and she was still learning new ones. When her mother died, her English, writing and magic lessons ceased at the request of her father and were replaced by etiquette lessons to improve her chances of churning out a more advantageous marriage for the betterment of the Heartfilia name and business. She was fourteen when she officially came out to society and started accompanying her father in all his business meetings and to get hands on lessons within the company that was to be hers someday, or more accurately, her husbands. Her father had sent her to many potential suitors homes to see if the match was a good fit and Lucy always found a way to ruin it. Whether be the fact that the man simply resented her for being smarter than him or for embarrassing him within his own home or once, she told the carriage driver to keep going when she watched a man more than three times her age hit one of the young men lining the walkway to the main house, but she always found a way to get out of it without earning Jude Heartfilia's wrath. The last occurrence had ended in the absorption of the abusive man's small communications company and had doubled the profit of the railway almost overnight in her clever hands. When her father had accepted a proposal from a man his own age with a slimy reputation in all his business dealings, she ran away from the life that never really fit for her. Happy to leave behind the cold, calculating facade she had adopted to keep her heart from being hurt behind, Fairy Tail had let her completely drop her guard. Let her be the carefree, forgiving, feeling individual she would have been if being an heiress hadn't been force-fed to her as a child. Sitting in her little apartment alone after a week of crying herself to sleep had her thinking that maybe a good middle ground was needed to protect herself from being this hurt again. So she asked Virgo to store her few things of importance, she officially cancelled her lease at the relief of her old landlady and she made the trip back to where it all started, the Heartfilia Konzern.

Since her father's death, all but the main house had been sold off and kept in a trust on the terms that Lucy would receive the full amount from the sales in addition to the deed to the main house if she returned and stayed on the property for a month. Of course, when she had Fairy Tail it was a ridiculous notion so she just told the lawyer that if it ever came to that she would want to fulfill the terms, she would get a hold of him. That happened a week after her final night in Magnolia.

She spent the first week back in her childhood home exploring all the off-limits places she wasn't allowed to go as a small girl. Looking through her father's office had been an eye-opening experience to say the least, but changed her mind none. The rest of her month relegated to the large empty mansion was spent with her spirits. She used her time to focus on utilizing the latent magic in her body that her summoning didn't even touch. Loke had helped her focus it into a physical power with the help of three of his stars as rings, Regulus, Denebola and Adhafera. Regulus sat as a simple but thick gold band on her left middle finger, Denebola as a matching thick golden band on her right hand and Adhafera was a three-part gold taloned ring on her right index finger, the base an intricate lion's head, the center a thin gold band connected to the deadly claw-like cap. Between the three, her Celestial magic could be channeled into her own unique brand of Celestial Light Magic that centered around using a mage's momentum against them before landing quick, crippling blows to render them unconscious by putting Light blocks in their flow of magic. Anytime the restless blonde wasn't training, she was going through and finding buyers for the antiquities of the house. She wanted everything gone by the time her month was up. All except the books of the libraries, mostly the ones in her mother's private study which Virgo had graciously offered to hold for her until there was a time when they had a permanent home. By her last night in the house she was raised in, she had gone through all her mother's books and found an odd leather-bound book titled 'Canines and the Stars that bore them' that turned out to be fake and instead held the last Canis Major silver key on Earthland and the Great Dog Spirit had granted her both Adhara, which she held as an inch wide twisted white gold band that sat at the top of her now well-defined right bicep and Sirius, which she kept as a golden septum ring with one brilliant diamond at its peak flanked by two smaller deep blue diamonds. The dainty design mimicking that of the worshipers of the old Gods of Bosco as the gold point beneath the radiant diamond settled neatly in her philtrum barely kissed the top of her pouty lips. With the addition of the brightest star in the night sky and it's brother, she hummed with the magic powers that were permanently set in her body, only able to be removed by the spirits that granted them to her and herself with great effort.

After she had settled everything she needed to with the lawyer, she told him to find a buyer for the main house and use the money to invest in a few of the young, up-and-coming businesses she remembered from her days with her father and to put the rest back in a savings account that would accrue positive interest at the Royal Bank in Crocus while she left it untouched. After the small, wiry man tried to argue with the spirited young woman and was quickly put in his place, he gave a curt nod and followed her instructions flawlessly. She then took the bank notes from the real estate her father had sold to the bank Wiry Beady Lawyer Guy had instructed her would invest them for her to get them cashed instead. The bank had fits but ultimately had to do as she asked and little blonde put a quarter of it back with her books in the Celestial Realm and the rest went into her savings in Crocus, cutting all ties to the Heartfilia Konzern and Jude Heartfilia's business dealings to travel across Earthland as she saw fit as an Independent Mage.

Just over a year later, Lucy was back in Fiore for the first time since she sold the house to check on her account at the Royal Bank after having finally completed the Platinum key set when she happened to stumble on Cetus, the Sea Serpent in the southeastern most Asellima Bay while on a pirate ship trying to get back to Enca on a rumor that someone had found a diamond key of unknown origins. The rumor happened to be a total bust but she couldn't really be too unhappy about adding five new members to her family.

She had changed a lot in her time away from Fiore. Her shoulder-length golden blonde hair now fell well below the curve of her back and it was pulled back from her face in intricate tangles of smaller knots and braids with white-blonde streaks that gave her an Nordic-style mohawk look. She kept the right side of her head shaved to show off the golden tattoo of Aquarius' constellation and the now eleven separate yellow and white gold piercings that were a combination of lesser stars given freely by her spirits and ways for the blonde to remember her time traveling. She had started with only getting the tattoos of the constellations she currently held, but quickly decided that her love of the night sky and all it cradled in its embrace were important and family to her whether she ever held their key in her hand or not, so the rest of her slightly tanned and freckled skin from the time she spent in the sun was covered in the 88 constellations, Leo's being centered over her heart, Virgo's over the back of her right hand and forearm, Cancer's over her left and the rest of her Zodiacs moving up her arms before covering her shoulders and moving down her back. All the twelve Zodiac's where golden and the rest of the constellations were silver to honor them and the special relationship she had with them. She was wearing her usual pair of soft, form-fitting dark brown leather pants, matching padded one-shoulder leather corseted top with her knee-high armored leather boots as she walked into the bank with Cetus. The Sea Serpent spirit used a unique mixture of water and lightning magic that she had been having trouble controlling when she used his Stardress and wanted to ask the tall, lean, deeply tanned man with dark green long hair he kept in a low ponytail that reminded her of the way Freed wore his hair about how she could better control the water so she stopped electrocuting everything indiscriminately. Her pale gold eyes reflected the metallic glean from her use of Light Magic under the harsh lighting overhead as they looked up into his coal black pools to ask in earnest, completely oblivious to the odd looks they were getting at not only her very unorthodox appearance but also the fact that Cetus wore traditional white skirt-like pants slung low on his hips and a pair of deep brown leather boots and that was all had the proper, stuffy population that usually used the Royal Bank aghast. He had two bands of jade that wrapped around his biceps shaped like serpents also but those did very little to cover his lithe body. Lucy had long since gotten over the staring and blissfully ignored them as her bright lilting voice laced with genuine inquiry, "I'm just having trouble keeping the water contained. I always end up sending a massive wave and then the lightning just kind of...you know, hits everything which is fine if I need to take out a whole dark guild but most of the time, I am not in need of the stunned wildlife I hit. I spend more time nursing them back to health than actually fighting the correct targets."

His extremely deep, smooth voice washed over her like plush velvet as he walked beside her with his arms behind his back, "I think that would be your problem, Princess. Water is an element of change and intuition. It will naturally heed you if you keep your will fluid, your thoughts fluid and requires very little control in the hard sense of 'go here, do this'. You have to think through each of the steps from point A to point B and let it flow on its own. When you get the basic feel of it, you'll be able to summon raging storms but let's keep it small for now. We can practice when we get out of the capital.

You've never had a Water Spirit like me before so it's not odd that it's harder to grasp."

"Tch, you're telling me. I can't even equip Cassiopeia's Stardress yet because her magic is so hard to grasp. She keeps telling me to meditate and focus on the spiritual energy around me but every time I meditate and then try to put it on, I always end up naked and my clothes disappear into the Spirit World," grumbling under her breath just before she walked up to the handsome young teller in a well-tailored suit with sandy blonde, slicked back hair, "Which I only learned when I went to grab another book instead of one of you telling me."

When she finally caught the young man's attention, she watched his eyes widen before he gathered himself from the warm smile she had sent him, "Hello, my name is Lucy Heartfilia. I'm here to review my account."

He looked between the pair before stuttering out, "O-of course, Miss Heartfilia. Let me just...go grab your information."

Her voice was casual as she gave the starstruck man another winning smile, "That won't be necessary..." looking at his nameplate before meeting his muddy green eyes,"...Benjimin. I already have my account number, it should be under HK6352-22. I just wanted to check that the interest is accumulating properly so you can just bring me the final bank statement for April and I'll be out of your hair."

"Uh, right. I'll...just go grab that for you, Miss Heartfilia."

She leaned over the counter, giving the handsome teller a nice view of her ample chest before he voice dropped a little lower than before, "Thank you, Benjimin and please, call me Lucy."

He blinked at her a few times before leaving to get her requested information. The smooth voice of her spirit laced with amusement as he gave her a sly smile, "'Thank you, Benjimin' 'Please, call me Lucy, Benjimin'. Feeling a little frustrated from our journey here, Princess?"

Giving her snide spirit a flirty look from beneath her lashes, "I was stuck on that boat for weeks and none of those men had any idea what they were doing. The only orgasms I got were the result of my pretty little fingers," wiggling her left hand in front of the chuckling man's face for dramatic effect.

When she finally pulled her hand from his face, he spoke surprisingly light for a man with a voice deep enough to send a shiver down your back, Lucy included, "Maybe you should have stayed in Bosco for longer. I've yet to have the pleasure of visiting myself."

As if she really needed a reason to go back to her favorite country, she raised her brow in surprise before evenly stating, "We will just have to go back so you can experience the pleasure." She held his even gaze for a few moments before bursting into fits of melodic laughter that resonated throughout the cavernous building, her hard to break spirit letting a small grin stretch his lips before Benjimin returned.

The sandy blonde's voice was full of obvious wonder as he handed her the statement, "Miss Heart- Lucy, it seems you've left your account untouched and it has made quite a bit of jewel. Will you be making a withdrawal today?"

Without taking her eyes from the paper as she read over it carefully, her voice distracted as she focused, "No withdrawals today, Benji." When she had finished reading over it and everything looked in order with no discrepancies, she turned her attention back to him, her eyes shining with something akin to a predator scoping out prey, "Thank you so much for your time, Benji. Did you happen to have any plans for dinner tonight? I know this little Minstrellan restaurant that overlooks the gardens and it's just too good not to share."

Another few blinks of his eyes stalled his response before he finally took in what her words meant and he was answering eagerly, "I get off at five and I love Minstrellan food."

Lucy saw the look Cetus was giving her from the corner of her eye as she smoothly answered her date for the night, "I'll meet you out front at five then. See you later, sugar," before turning heel and making her way to the shops to find herself a killer outfit and a hotel room for her hot date.

She had booked a room for the week at the Honey Bone Inn for old times sake. The older couple that ran it didn't recognize her and she used a different last name to keep it that way before making her way downtown to the shops to browse the boutiques. She had a few hours to kill so she was taking her time, stopping at the little stalls along the street that sold jewelry and hair pieces. She spotted a little ring intended for a dainty pinky finger that was made of thirteen gold stars and fell in love. Right after she paid the pretty blunette woman running the stall, she pulled a thick rope of her hair from the nape of her neck that was bound in a thin, crisscrossing silver thread and pushed the little band up to sit five inches from her scalp with a bright smile on her face.

The tattooed beauty had bought a strawberry milkshake and was leaned over the side of one of the many bridges throughout Crocus' streets to look over the water of the canals when the hair on her arms stood on end and she turned her head to see the last person she expected to see walking down the middle of the busy shop district of the capitol on a path that would cross with hers in less than thirty seconds; Laxus Dreyar all by himself in all his Thunder God glory. He really was annoyingly good looking. Sexy in a total dominating way that made her blood heat and her magic hum. He must have sensed her magic's intense pressure as his golden spiked head swiveled to try and pinpoint just where the massive energy was coming from. She smirked to herself before turning back to look over the water. The Lightning Dragon would come to her and when he did, she would see if his nose was good enough to recognize her after all this time apart.

Laxus had been on his way to the Magic Council after completing another of their wild goose chases for another rogue Rune Knight when he felt it; a magic so strong, it even gave his magic pause. He tried to subtly look around the busy street to find just who the hell could be putting off that much magical pressure. He slowed his movements to look over the crowd before his eyes landed on the perfect hourglass figure of a woman dressed in skin-tight brown leather bent over the railing of one of the bridges. She had enough jewelry on her to keep even ore for brains happy and damn, did it make the little amazon woman look all the more appealing. Take the hypnotic lines of the metallic and black tattoos covering her lightly tanned skin and the fact that half her long blend of golden-white blonde hair was shaved and that she was most definitely the source of the impressive magic he was feeling, he almost had to readjust himself right in the center of downtown Crocus with the way his body reacted to her. Maybe this trip to the Magic Council wouldn't be a total bust after all.

When he got close enough to mirror her position on her right side, he noticed she had a lot more piercings than he originally saw from across the street. In addition to the cuffs, hoops and studs of her ear, she had an expensive looking ring settled between her nostrils that drew his attention to the perfect pout of her cupid's bow lips before he caught the flash of a simple golden stud centered between her bottom lip and her chin. She didn't wear any makeup and her lashes were thick as molasses as they framed her bright golden eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if there was anything about this little beauty that wasn't gilded before her voice, lilting and smooth as silk filled his head space. He was already almost dizzy from her magic and that paired with her irresistible body and sexy voice, he was sure this woman was an angel, "Can I help you, big boy?" Oh, he was definitely thankful for the Magic Council's idiocy for making his path cross with hers.

His deep baritone held it's usual drawl as he smirked down at the blonde, "Depends. What do think I need help with?"

She still wasn't looking at him as she smiled and took another sip from the light pink drink, her lips wrapping around the straw in a show that had his pants becoming uncomfortable before answering easily, "Man like you? I can't imagine you'd need anything from me that you couldn't get from any one of these lovely ladies. I can assure you, you'd have an easier time getting the type of help you want from someone else. I'm pretty particular but...," turning to look him over in a showy once over, "a mage built like you? Yeah, you definitely have a chance at least."

The Lightning Slayer had never been talked to like, well, that before. He was used to women falling at his feet and why shouldn't they? He was tall, rippling with bulging muscles, had the sexy scar and he exuded the raw power of the apex predator he was. The woman had caught his attention with her magic and tight, well-built intriguing body that showed she was a fighter and a well trained one at that but her quick dismissal and easy confidence had caught his dragon's attention. It was rare for his dragon to stir even in the heat of battle.

Before he could say anything, the mystery woman had tossed her drink in a nearby trash can and her right hand, covered in a wicked looking set of rings that included a deadly golden talon, had wrapped around his forearm, her voice playful and light, "Well I hate to cut this short, big boy, but I've got a date to get to. I'll be seeing you again though, don't you worry about that."

And just like that she was gone. He stood dumbfounded for a moment before her tried to find her again in the crowd but even her magic was gone and he was left with a hard-on in the middle of downtown fucking Crocus on his way to meet with the Magic Council.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh to herself when she stepped through her gate and into the room at the Honey Bone to get ready to meet with Benji the bank teller for her well-earned date that would hopefully end with them both falling into the simple white sheets of her hotel room.

The next morning, the Celestial mage had woken up splayed over a naked chest and she desperately needed to shift. The points of her sun-shaped nipple shields were pinching the rosy pink skin in a less than pleasurable way and she had to pee. As quietly as she could, she escaped her bed and made a beeline for the bathroom. When she came back out, dressed in a thin, white cotton v-neck that hid nothing beneath it's worn, sheer fabric and a pair of black seamless boyshorts with her hair piled haphazardly on top of her head, Benjimin had woken up and was pulling on the now crumpled white dress shirt from yesterday having already pulled his black slacks on. Lucy had already let him know at dinner last night that she was only in Crocus for the week and probably wouldn't be back for another year or so with the way she bounced around, so when he buttoned the bottom four buttons of his shirt up and pulled on his shoes, she walked him to her door at the Honey Bone, gave him a very memorable goodbye kiss before sending him on his way. She was leaning in her doorway when the door to the room opposite of her opened to reveal none other than Laxus' own Seith Mage dressed in a pair of black shorts, a tight compression t-shirt and trainers that worked very well for his tall, lean, muscled body.

Feeling good after a night of decent sex, she gave the towering mage a sly grin, her voice its usual lilt, "Morning, neighbor."

Finally turning around, he looked her over to take in the scantily clad, beautifully decorated woman that came maybe to his collar before answering smoothly, something she had expected from the handsome Boscan, "A good morning it is, sweetheart."

Raising a perfectly arched brow, she crossed her arms under her breast, unintentionally giving the blunette a very clear view of her piercings and her cleavage, "Going for a run?"

It took a few moments before he found his voice again, "Uh, yeah. Better to get it in early before the streets fill up."

Genuinely excited at the prospect of having a running partner, her voice grew bright as she earnestly asked, "If you don't mind the company, it would take me ten seconds to get ready. I could use a good stretch."

Giving her a wide smile, his response was easy as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back on his door, "Take all the time you need. I'll be right here but I have to warn you, I won't take it easy on you just because you're scary gorgeous."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she gave him another sly smile and responded evenly, "I'll try to keep up, handsome."

Lucy quickly made her way back into her room to pull on a pair of dark grey spandex shorts, replaced her shirt for a tight black sports bra with mesh panels on the sides and up the razorback and tugged her white shirt back on before pulling her light trainers and meeting the Seith Mage to start their early morning run. They started off relatively easy before the playful blunette started his usual parkour which the little agile blonde matched twist for flip. After another forty-five minutes of free running and climbing all over Crocus, the towering man had his hands behind his head as he tried to even his breathing out, "Damn, woman. I've never met anyone who can keep up with me."

With her own wide smile, her left hand grabbed a hold of her right wrist as her right forearm laid across the top of her head, her voice just as breathless as his, "Oh yeah? I'm not really surprised by that. You're quite the agile man for your size."

Unable to resist, he answered as smoothly as his lungs would allow, "You have no idea, sweetheart, but if you want to find out I'd be more than happy to show you."

She let out an airy laugh before shaking her head, "You don't even know who I am."

In a dramatic show, her ex-guildmate took her hand and kissed her tattooed knuckles, "Bickslow Pradesh, love. It's extremely nice to meet you...?"

Pulling her hand out of his hand to pat his cheek with a cheeky grin on her face, her voice low and teasing, "Oh, I didn't say I didn't know your name, huney. But thanks for the stretch. I'd love to it again tomorrow morning."

Blinking his deep red eyes obviously confused at her words, his voice heavy with the emotion, "Uh...what...?" before she again, opened her gate and made a quick escape from the handsome tanned Boscan.

After she had showered and had wrapped a towel around her curves, the familiar voice of her Lion spirit sounded from where he had relaxed across her bed, "Don't you think you're being a little cruel, Princess?"

Blinking at him owlishly, she pulled the towel from her body to squeeze the water from her thick ropes of hair and leave her toned body bare for the Leader of the Zodiac, "I don't know what you mean, Leo. It's not my fault they don't recognize me anymore."

Rolling his eyes at her blatant baiting with her naked body, the Lion pushed his blue-tinted glasses further up his nose before his silky voice came out exasperated, "You know exactly what I mean. First Laxus yesterday and now Bickslow. You had plenty of time to tell both of them who you were and you plan on meeting him again tomorrow morning. You know I'm all for your tricksy ways but they are still nakama."

In a rare flash of anger from the blonde, she snapped her eyes to meet his, her magic flaring around her at the momentary lack of control, "Nakama or not, they left me behind, Loke. Why should I be falling over myself to make sure they know it's me when they didn't bother to even let me know where they were going. I planned on telling Bickslow tomorrow morning and when I see Laxus again, I'll tell him. It's just a good, honest laugh."

Rolling his eyes once again, "And the shameless flirting? Is that also just for a good, honest laugh?"

"No, Leo, that's because Bickslow and Laxus are extremely attractive, sexually active men who I happened to like flirting with. I don't have the same hang-up of sleeping with and/or dating someone in my guild to worry about anymore. There won't be any awkward morning after and I won't have to deal with prying team mates and guild members," pausing her words to pull on a lacy hunter green thong and her usual leather outfit before sighing and sitting next to the ginger spirit and her closest friend, "I just wanted to see how they would treat me if they didn't know I was Lucy Heartfilia, professional damsel in distress and Light of Fairy Tail. I wanted to see how they would react to the powerhouse mystery woman with a hard-earned kick-ass confidence. I don't know if their reactions made me feel better or worse honestly." Which was the truth. The fact that they both were obviously just as taken with her as she was of them definitely was a bonus, but what was stopping them from showing that attraction before they left? Was she really that unattractive before? Was it just because she was a guildmate and practically untouchable with the way her overbearing team was?

Wrapping his arm around her slumped shoulders, he reassured his Celestial Mage easily, "Lucy, you've come so incredibly far. You've created your own Celestial Light magic which is unheard of, you have your own Gate that you control, you've traveled the world and earned your place among the most talented and powerful mages. You can't keep holding yourself to the standards of the past and you can't hold our nakama to them either. Bitterness doesn't suit you, Princess," before running his thumb over Denebola and Adhafera making them glow under his touch.

Taking a steadying breath, she gave him a closed-mouth smile, her voice quiet, "I know. I know, I'm sorry. I was planning on taking a walk through the Royal Gardens to see how they've changed. Want to join me?"

"I'd love to escort you as your gallant prince," before standing and offering the giggling blonde his arm which she immediately took and the two were out the door.

The walk through the streets to get to the lush gardens passed in a blur and when Lucy had seen they had added a new hedge maze to the gardens, she practically squealed with delight. She gave her Lion spirit a hurried kiss goodbye before shooing him back to the Spirit World so she could start her wandering through the carefully tended greenery.

The Celestial Mage liked to pride herself on her quick wit and ability to figure things like hedge mazes out but she had been in stuck in the hedges for hours and she had yet to find the center. She had found a wonderful little piece of sanctuary in an alcove with a little iron bench surrounded by bright red tulips where she very happily rested for a few minutes before continuing on her journey. That had been three hours ago and she was feeling less inclined to the positive flower vibes as she muttered under her breath, "Frickin' Labyrinth I've found myself stuck in. The moment I see a man in tights with a baby, I'm taking my gate out of here. Pride be damned."

Four more wrong turns, an old arched trellis with closed moonflowers and a lot of choice swear words later, Lucy had heard the sweet sound of water. The sound of a lot of moving water that only meant she was close to the center that held a massive fountain to honor Princess Hisui and her own rare Celestial Magic that she had been excited to see until she had found herself starving in the mid-afternoon sun six hours after she started this horrible maze. Steeling her resolve and letting the prospect of finally making it to the fountain seep into her bones, she felt renewed as she started the final twists and turns with a bright, determined smile on her face and a sweet song on her lips.

She had been sitting on the wide wall surrounding the beautiful white marble and gold-leaf fountain that reminded her of the grand fountains in Minstrel with her bare feet in the water leaned back to take in the beauty of the stone representations of the Twelve Zodiacs with a fearsome lion at its peak when she heard the sounds of people approaching from the other side of the fountain. Having been incredibly comfortable and relaxed with the soothing clear water kissing the bottoms of her bunched pant legs, her greaves laying in the grass behind her and the sun shining over the skin of her mostly exposed chest, she decided to let them be and close her eyes to continue her sunbathing, craning her neck back to let her hair fall over the edge of the stone and tickle the backs of her arms to pull an easy smile from her lips as she hummed a simple lullaby her mother used to sing to her.

"I just think it's a little odd that Fiore doesn't have any ambassadors for itself so when things like this happen, we don't have to travel all the way here ourselves. I have a guild to run, you know." Whoever had joined her sounded less annoyed and more teasing but she had to admit, the accent he spoke in gave him away as Boscan right away and it was almost enough to pull her from her reverie. Almost but not quite.

"That's why we are here. The relationship between our governments is about to become inevitably tied and we are here to help the Princess select a liaison specifically to stop us from taking the trip ourselves. Don't think I don't know that the White Sea runs flawlessly without you there, little brother. You've been asked by the King for your highly valued opinion to make sure these hand-picked individuals will be loyal and worthy of the title and responsibility."

At the mention of the White Sea, the largest and most successful guild in Bosco and in her opinion, all of Earthland, her brain had stuttered through its thoughts and when it finally came back together that at least one of her new fountain friends was none other than the guildmaster himself, she listened in, her curiosity piqued. She didn't spend very much time in the capital city where the White Sea's guild was located but they were legend throughout Bosco and she had heard rumors about the young, stunning Mindbender Wizard Saint who lead them. It bothered her to no end that she had yet to actually see what the man looked like though. Her pale yellow eyes cracked open to see if they had made their way around the fountain yet when she felt a pull on her magic that her know one of her spirits was coming out to join her.

While his older brother had been right, the guild did run itself while he was gone thanks to his own genius job management system that kept it going like the well-oiled machine the White Sea was under his careful watch, he still didn't particularly see why his presence specifically made a difference in who gets to be the Fioran Liaison to the Boscan government and the first official ambassador for Fiore as a whole. He actually rather liked the capital city of Crocus. There were plenty of sexually repressed women willing to share his bed, the streets were clean and well-maintained and the gardens definitely met their world-wide reputation, but if he was being honest with himself, he was bored. There was a reason he created the system that organized, filed and dolled out all the requests that came through the guild and handled the paperwork for him so he didn't have to be relegated to being stuck behind a desk. They had been here for a week already and they were no closer to finding the golden one to fill the spot of ambassador. There just weren't many high-ranking officials left in the ranks of Fioran government to choose from that had an open enough mind to be able to handle Boscan culture that the Princess, soon-to-be Queen, trusted with her people's best interest at heart. Farron's reputation as a well-decorated and respected Ambassador of Bosco was only rivaled by their father and for as long as he was in Crocus, Kaleb had to be here as well to act as a bodyguard for the only just shorter mahogany-haired Sound Mage. He repressed the urge to roll his lavender eyes before they came around the beautiful fountain that held twelve massive representations of the Zodiac spirits to lay his eyes on a small golden-haired woman with curves like no other laughing as she and a small child with raven-black hair pulled into low pigtails splashed and played in the clear blue water of the fountain. She was radiant in the most fantastically all-consuming way. He was also pretty sure you were not allowed to use the fountain as a wading pool.

His brother's own amused voice broke his thoughts, "I wonder if they know this isn't a public pool?"

"They went through a lot of trouble to get to it if that's what they thought. This maze is insanely complicated and I sure as hell wouldn't put myself through it just to get my toes wet."

Lucy's bright melodious voice broke through as she let Andromeda splash her before wrapping her in a bear hug and pulling the little giggling girl down into the shallow water with her, "That's so cheating,

Andy! You can't wrap my legs with your magic just so you win."

The Chained Maiden spirit lifted her head from where she had nestled into the crook of her mage's neck, her darkened silver eyes sparkling with mischief as she shook her head to send droplets of water at the blonde beneath her, "All's fair in love and war, Princess Lulu-chan!"

She let out another peal of laughter before she steeled her golden eyes and kept her arms firm around her spirit as her usual leather outfit flashed and she was wearing a pair of draping white loose harem pants and dark brown boots like Cetus wears with white bindings around her chest and a heavy jade serpent wound around her neck to have its head settle just above her cleavage, her golden hair suddenly silk smooth in a low ponytail with long, thin braids hanging from either side of her face. She gave the little girl her own mischievous slow-curling grin before she let her loose and spoke low but playfully, "I'll give you a five second head start before I adopt your 'all's fair' rule, cutie pie."

She watched her spirit's eyes widen before she burst into high-pitched squealing laughter and tried to scramble away from the Celestial Mage and her Sea Serpent Stardress, the heavy folds of her dark grey Lolita dress weighing her down. She had made it to the other side of the fountain before Lucy spoke again, "Here comes the tsunami, Andy! I hope you're chained to something or I'll never find you again in this ridiculous labyrinth."

Just as she summoned one of her chains and wrapped it around the tail of a beautiful marble mermaid, the little blonde loosed her water magic and Andromeda was thankful for making sure she was secured or she very well would have been long-gone into the hedges.

When Lucy had come around the fountain to find Andromeda and maybe gloat just a little, she realized that she had not been as secluded as she thought. In addition to the two voices she heard earlier, there was a young couple staring at her with ire shining in their eyes from the bench they were sharing, three young ladies dressed in once poofy dress gowns with matching glares directed at her, an older gentleman laughing from where he had landed in the grass and a pair of men she had only assumed to be the Guildmaster of the White Sea and his brother by their alarmingly good looks and deeply tanned skinned. Every single one of them was drenched, head to toe, due to her maybe a little out of control wave from the fountain which left it almost completely devoid of water as her little raven-haired spirit ran up to hug her, her lips split in a wide toothy smile that made it totally worth it,

"That was AWESOME! I think even Uncle Cetus would be proud, Princess Lulu-chan."

She crouched to give her spirit a hug before speaking low but light, "I'm glad you liked it, hun. I don't think our company liked it quite as much but don't worry about that," ducking her head to whisper in her ear playfully, "but that's cause they all have sticks up their butts. It's hard to laugh like that so we mustn't blame them for it, okay?" The Chained Maiden spirit gave her a few exuberant nods before Lucy stood and asked, "Are you ready to go home and change out of those wet clothes, cutie pie?" Her golden eyes softened when the young girl a little pout but conceded before disappearing, leaving only a few golden sparkles in her wake.

Both Farron and Kaleb had watched the exchange very closely and were trying to hold in their own laughter at the Celestial Mage's whispered words, but before either could speak to her, the Rune Knights stationed around the maze had surrounded her and told her she would need to be taken in for disturbing the peace and displacing the water from the fountain. Which she responded with coolly, "I know, I know. Don't get handsy, chess pieces, I'm going. When you report this, make sure you let Princess Hisui know you manhandled me pretty good before I could replace the water back into the fountain. Tell her a Fairy visited her gardens-"

One of the older Rune Knights cut her off hotly, "Should have known you Fairies would still be causing trouble. Just get to walking, mage."

Two hours of waiting in a holding cell later, Lucy was back in her damp leather as she laid back on the bench. The bars were dampening her magic but she could still talk to her spirits so her only real complaints were coming from her rumbling stomach and water-logged boobs when she heard someone come into the room that held her cell. The Rune Knights on shift must have told the men who rotated in to take their place that they had finally caught a Fairy and she had been visited by most of the younger knights, almost all of the didn't talk to her as they watched her in wonder and they few that did talk to her were only cocky for a few moments before she would meet their eyes with her own glowing gaze to send them running, tails tucked firmly between their legs as they did.

The buxom blonde didn't even bother getting up from where she had tucked her right hand beneath her head as a pillow as the ends of her hair touched the floor, her left leg bent and propped up on the bench while her right stayed firmly planted on the cool metal beneath as they approached.

She heard someone clear their throat before she turned her head to take in the towering height and broad shoulders of one of the Boscans from the fountain. He had pure platinum hair that he must have pulled half back out of his face after his impromptu shower courtesy of her play with Andromeda and was dressed in a loose white button up that gave little peaks at the ink of a tattoo on his bulging right pec, tight white pants that made her mouth water, black boots with gold trim that came to his knees and he was wearing a surprising amount of jewelry for a man and somehow, that only made him more attractive. Before she had really registered getting up, completely barefoot since she had already taken her greaves off by the fountain when she equipped Cetus' Stardress and that's probably where they still were if she was lucky enough to not lose another pair, to meet the pale lavender, almost light grey, eyes of the Boscan smirking down at her through the bars, his voice deep as it filled her senses. She had to repress the urge to sigh at the smooth silk of it. "I'm here to take you to Princess Hisui, miss. She seemed to have been less than surprised by your arrest. You'll be happy to hear she's dropped all charges as long as you pay for the damages done."

"Lucy," she spoke matter-of-factly but not unkind.

He blinked down at the small spitfire of a woman without any shoes on staring up at him completely unfazed by his size, rank or magic, "What?"

Seemingly appearing to gather herself, she crossed her arms over her chest as she backed away from the door as if to give him space to open her cell and gave him a smirk of a smile that made Sirius glint over her lips dangerously, "My name is Lucy. I get called miss enough by my spirits.' Pausing to really take the delectable man in, she mused playfully, "You're either the illustrious, I sound sarcastic when I say it but I mean it, Guildmaster of the White Sea or you're the Boscan Ambassador responsible for bringing those nifty little airships into Fiore. If you would open the cell to take me my good friend who I haven't seen in far too long, I would very much appreciate that, sir."

The moment he unlocked the cell, she felt the rush of her stars like a warm embrace and his eyes snapped to meet hers, taken aback by the magical power the bars had been suppressing from the Celestial Mage. He had two within his own guild and knew most had a higher than normal amount of magic coursing through their bodies but this small-framed woman with a warriors build, tattooed beauty with more piercings than he's honestly ever seen on mage save the Iron Dragon Slayer of the Magic Council, little beauty who was smiling up at him from behind her glowing, pale golden eyes with flecks of pure gold nestled in their depths had enough power to send a delicious, uncontrollable shiver straight to his core. He was Boscan, damn it. He sees beautiful women everyday and his body chooses now to clam up.

Completely unaware of the beautiful blondes inner-thoughts, Lucy helped him open the cell before clasping her hands behind her back and walking out of the cell to go meet with her fellow Celestial Mage and Crown Royal of Fiore. The Boscan sent to fetch her in tow as she managed to walk the maze of halls seamlessly, her footsteps silent as she hummed pleasantly to herself. Determined to not tarnish the good name of the White Sea and Bosco, he cleared his throat before sliding next to Lucy, his voice thankfully back to normal, "You must have heard of me before today if you think so highly of me without ever having been introduced. I would have remembered a mage like you."

Quirking her head up towards the towering man with a knowing smile, her voice light and airy as she did, "Ah, so the Guildmaster was sent to take the criminal to the Princess. Seems a little overkill for your particular set of skills, don't you think?"

Kaleb couldn't help but be amused by her playful words, "How do you know I'm not the Boscan Ambassador, fatina?"

She let out a rumbling laugh that pulled a wide smile from the Mindbender before finally settling enough to breathe out, "It's a been awhile since I've been called that without some stigma attached to it but I do appreciate the use of Minstrellen. It has always been a favorite of mine, but you acknowledged my magic before anything else and it was a dead giveaway. Diplomats are usually a little more worried about getting people to talk so they can learn as much about them as they can and you've said very little to me so either you're the least invasive diplomat I've ever met in my life or you're a pretty shitty one. Looking at you though, I have a hard time believing there isn't much you wouldn't be good at ergo, you are the sex-on-legs Guildmaster I've heard a lot about in my travels through Bosco."

There were very few people in his life that spoke so frankly to him. Lucy had no problems telling him exactly what she thought and she didn't mince words or bat her lashes at him like a schoolgirl. She liked what she saw obviously but it was almost refreshing to just speak with this whirlwind enigma of a woman who spoke her mind with such a carefree ease as she traversed the castles halls like a frequent guest without even sparing looks at the knights and staff that looked at her appalled by her lack of shoes and overall look that did not fit the very square standards of beauty by Fioran standings. He was unequivocally impressed and intrigued by the Celestial mystery. "If you don't mind me asking, which guild do you belong to? I've a few Celestial Mage's at the Sea but they are few and far between. I happened to get lucky in catching them."

Her voice was distracted as she ran her fingers through the golden tangle of braids and decorated dreadlocks that wound through her thick blonde hair, "Oh, I don't belong to any guild. I'm an independent mage. Mostly I just travel around from place to place and help people with whatever they need done while I look for more keys. I just happened to be in Fiore to check on a few things when the killjoys picked me up. Honestly, they should put up a sign if you're not allowed to enjoy the fountain's water."

Raising a brow at her little rant, his voice turned teasing, "Would that have kept you out of the fountain?"

Giving him mock wide eyes as she spoke in fluent Midish and put on her best confused tourist look. The little blonde didn't even have an ounce of her usual accent as she tilted her head adorably, "Je suis désolé, n'est-ce pa...la piscine publique?"

His rumbling laughter echoed through the quiet halls to draw the attention of every single living thing within earshot before he asked his now giggling partner, "Is there a particular reason you've not settled at a guild? I haven't even seen what you can really do and I know would be an asset wherever you chose. I've never felt magic like yours before and it's ridiculously well contained in those curves of yours."

"I'd be more surprised if you told me you'd met someone with my magic before, I use Celestial Light magic my spirits and I created as well as my Summoning and Stardress magics. Maybe I'll take you to dinner sometime and I'll tell you all about it, Guildmaster," and then she was jogging through the doorway where Hisui had her back turned away from them before she wrapped the green-haired royal in a surprisingly affectionate hug from behind, her voice bright, "You've been busy while I've been away, Princess."

Dropping from the conversation with Farron, she twisted around and returned Lucy's hug as she breathed out excitedly, "Lulu! Why didn't you tell me you were back in Fiore? And in Crocus no less. You have to be arrested before you come see me, honestly, I thought you had grown from your destructive Fairy Tail roots."

Kaleb wanted to smack himself for his complete lack of being able to connect context clues and for his distraction from his own magic to put it together; this was Fairy Tail's Celestial Mage, Lucy Heartfilia. Bickslow and Laxus' Lucy, the woman who somehow seemed to find herself in impossible situations that had disappeared without a trace over a year ago. But when he spoke with Bickslow last, yeah she had managed to best his little brother, but she was a princess, or at least that's how both the former-Fairy Tail mages had led him to believe. Born the sole heiress to a company run by one of the most business-savvy men in Fiore with the kind of classic beauty royalty envied and a heart too big for her own good. While she definitely got his blood boiling with her exotic beauty, this woman was far from Fioran standards of high-class. She looked more like she belonged in the pits of Pergrande fighting as a gladiator than behind a desk looking over accounts and business dealings. The look on his older brother's face made him feel a bit better about his own dumbstruck look.

"It's not my fault that insane maze of yours made my feet hurt. They needed a good soak and it's not like I lack respect for the Zodiac Twelve. I had Andromeda out with me and I think it should be her right as a Celestial Spirit to enjoy the water as she sees fit. It's not my fault she happens to have the mannerisms of a child," her voice easy as she pulled back and practically dragged her long-time friend to one of the seating areas to sit next to her with their hands joined.

Princess Hisui's light tinkling giggle rang through the room before her lips settled in a small smile, "I've missed you so much and so have your guildmates. I've gotten several letters from them asking if I knew where you were. I thought you would have at least told them you were traveling, Lulu. It's not like you to leave your nakama in the dark."

The golden mage gave her a sad smile before her voice dropped low and quiet, "I was pretty angry when I left and I made some hasty decisions but I wouldn't change them. My nakama moved on and so did I, it just so happened we moved in different directions. I actually saw both Laxus and Bickslow here in Crocus. Neither of them recognized me while they both tried to get in my pants. I wasn't helping them any but still, you recognized me and we didn't see each other every day for years."

Farron's silky baritone cut in from where he and Kaleb were talking just with earshot of the Celestial Mages, "Pardon me, but did you just say Bickslow was in Crocus? As in, the Seith Mage with the ludicrous tri-hawk hairstyle and overactive tongue."

Her voice was lilting but teasing as she turned to take in the tall drink of water that could only be the Ambassador with his welcoming baby blue eyes and impeccable mahogany hair that made them all the more appealing, "How many other Bickslows do you know of, handsome?"

Granting her an easy smile, he conceded knowing just how unique of a name his little brother had, "I just wanted to make sure you were talking about the right one. He happens to be our little brother and I haven't gotten to see him in a while. Perhaps we could all have dinner at the home Princess Hisui has lent Kaleb and I for our stay in the capital tonight."

"Huh, I should have guessed the three of you were somehow related. It's written all over the annoyingly good-looking faces of all three of you," pausing a moment before meeting his expectant gaze, "I'm sure a great big family reunion would be perfect. If both Bix and Sparky are here, Freed and Ever are bound to be here somewhere too. Is that okay if they come?"

"Of course. The more the merrier after all," closing the distance to take the Princess' free hand and pressing a chaste kiss the back of her it and then doing the same with Lucy's, the oldest Pradesh child spoke easily, "Then I'll see to putting that together. I'll leave you in Kaleb's care until you're finished catching up, Lucy."

As the blonde tilted her head to watch the Ambassador leave, her voice dropped as she elbowed the green-haired woman, "How do I become an ambassador, Hisui? I could totally handle having meeting after boring meeting if it meant I'd get to watch that man walk in and out of rooms. He really fills out that suit of his quite well."

The Princess' eyes bugged out for a moment before her voice burst from her body in a very unladylike manner that had her staff looking aghast, Kaleb staring at her in a mix of shock and awe and Lucy laughing so hard she almost fell off the couch, "You're a genius, Lulu! I didn't even think to look through the mages of Fiore to fill the position. You would be perfect too; you've got all the proper training and education required, you've already been around the world to have the correct disposition, I know you'll always put the needs of my people first and you have the kind of personality to be open and willing to listen and wait but the capability to make hard decisions that most would shy away from. Lucy, please, it would be a dream if you would consider it."

When her words had finally set in the Celestial beauty's mind, she stared openly at her grinning royal friend. She couldn't possibly be serious, could she? Maybe before she had her walkabout she would have been perfect for the job but now? Now she wasn't the type to mingle with foreign powers. Not that she couldn't handle them, quite the opposite in fact. Lucy really didn't think the government officials would take kindly to being handled by a tattooed, pierced, brash female mage with a shaved head and enough metal on her body to have her sink to the bottom of pool faster than an iron anchor. But Hisui was looking at her like she hung the stars herself and she knew her fellow Celestial Mage had trouble trusting people. That and the fact that the soon-to-be Queen of her home country is asking her to fill the position of the very first Fioran Ambassador and it would be incredibly disrespectful to not at the very least consider it. Really, she would still get to travel like she wanted, she would have the freedom to put stuffy assholes in their place and she would more than likely get to see Farron fill out his suits more often than once every twenty years. So with a heavy exhale, she answered, "I would be honored to become an Ambassador for you, Princess, but I can't help but think that I might be...off-putting to some of the other delegates. Even if I wanted to take out my jewelry, I can't and I won't. Not to mention the fact that I am covered in tattoos that can't be covered easily and I won't cover Aquarius' constellation so my hair stays the way it is. An ambassador is supposed to be your best foot forward, the dove to carry the olive branch, the big stick when you need it and I don't want your reputation to be tarnished because of my outward appearance. Although, having two Celestial Mages whose words are binding would certainly make us a trustworthy pair," her voice had trailed off by the end as she readjusted the uncomfortable sogginess of her armored top.

Surprisingly, Kaleb was the one to speak, "I'm sorry but that really shouldn't be a factor, Lucy. I've accompanied both my father and Farron to some pretty shady places for their jobs and you are far from the most 'off-putting' people I've seen holding positions of power. I don't know if you knew but I'm a Mindbender Mage, I can easily show you some of the hideous people I've seen," his words were flat but the smile that spread to his pale purple eyes had her eyeing the mage with a mirthful glint.

"Absolutely, Lulu. It may seem like a rash decision from my sudden asking, but maybe this is why it's been so hard for me to pick one. Let me at least explain what would be expected of you and what the job would entail and then I'll give you the rest of the week to give me your answer. If you say you don't want it, you can at least help me pick someone else."

After a few moments of consideration, the buxom blonde gave a quick nod and motioned for her friend to continue. Two hours had passed between Hisui's regaling of the job itself, Lucy's interruptions and when her stomach let out a growl so loud, Hisui herself blushed, she gave the green-haired woman a hug and let her know she would more than likely return tomorrow with any questions she still had.

When both she and her very attractive escort for the evening had made it back to the streets of Crocus, earning a slew of dreamy sighs in their wake, Lucy suddenly let out a huff and grabbed Kaleb's arm and pulled him through her gate before they appeared in her room at the Honey Bone.

The moment her toes hit the wooden floor, she was unlacing the leather corset, her voice light, "I'm sorry about dragging you through my gate but I've got some serious wet leather problems that are going to lead to chafing if I don't get out of my armor. Take a seat anywhere, I shouldn't be too long and then we can go see if one of the Thunder God Tribe is still here," before turning and heading into the bathroom, her top dropping away from her body just before the door shut to give the Mindbender Mage a quick flash of the constellations covering her back.

This Lucy didn't seem to have any of the innocence of the little blonde that would kick his younger brother without hesitation for being a pervert. Same fire but definitely not the innocence. He was very looking forward to seeing the Lightning Dragon and his little brother's reactions when she reintroduced herself.

Lost in his own thoughts of all he would need to ask his older brother about the possibility of having her join the White Sea, he hadn't heard her come out of the bathroom until her soft, lovely singing stopped and she called from the door, "You ready to go, Guildmaster?" He should have known by the way she wore her light leather armor that she would look stunning in street clothes. She was wearing a long, high-waisted white skirt that just kissed the ground as she walked towards him with a deep blue halter top that showed off her toned shoulders and arms and made her slight tan seem darker with her wild, white-golden curls swept to the side as she held her arm out as if to offer it to him.

His smooth, velvety voice ran over her skin leaving a physical trail of goosebumps in its wake as he wrapped her arm around his own bulging arm, "Usually only members of my guild and people trying to get on my good side call me Guildmaster, fatina."

She sent him a flirty smile, her voice light and lilting, "Oh, I'm definitely trying to get on your good

side. Let's go see about catching some ex-Fairies first though."

He let out another of his rumbling laughs that had Lucy thinking of all the other delicious sounds she could pull from him as they stepped out across the hall to knock on the door Bickslow had come out that morning. The older Pradesh had chosen that moment to focus on the little Celestial Mage's mind and he almost cursed out loud at the explicit images running through it with himself as the staring male role just as Laxus opened the door and stared between them, his deep voice laced with confusion, "What are you doing here and how do you know her, Kaleb?"

She could hear Bickslow's easy drawl from behind, "Kaleb? Like my Kaleb, Kaleb?" When his towering frame came behind Laxus and spotted his platinum blonde brother, he all but shoved the Lightning Slayer to the side to wrap him in an embrace, "What the hell are you doing here, big bro?," until his red red eyes landed on Lucy's smiling face and he pulled back but kept his arm slung over Kaleb's shoulder, his voice dipping lower, "Hey, neighbor. Couldn't wait until tomorrow to see me again?"

The Mindbender's lips split into a curling grin as he pulled away from his brother to put his hand on the small of Lucy's back, his voice playful, "Laxus, Bickslow, I'd like to reintroduce you to Lucy Heartfilia, former mage of Fairy Tail." Watching the two men flounder as they stared openly at the woman at his side had made the whole trip to Fiore worth it in his opinion and listening in on their train wreck of thoughts had made it ten times better.

"Cosplayer?" "Blondie?!"

Her sweet laughter danced between them before she wrapped her arms around the two broad mages, her voice muffled between their two bodies, "Hey, guys. It's good to see you. I heard you were all at Blue Pegasus awhile ago and I was glad to hear that you all stayed together at least."

Bickslow, being the one more inclined to affection and having had more interaction with Lucy, quickly broke from his stupor to wrap his arm around her, his voice full of awe and genuine shock, "It's good to see you too, although you could have told me who you were this morning. We could have had lunch while you tell me just when the hell you came to look like a walking wet dream."

Rolling his lavender eyes, Kaleb murmured out under his breath, "Nice, Bix. Real nice."

She gave the Seith Mage a cheeky wink before pulling back, her voice bright, "Funny you should mention it, Farron invited us all to dinner. I would very happily tell you of my journey to the status of walking wet dream over food. I happen to be starving."

"Are you sure you're my Blondie? You don't seem like Princess Pink and I'm trying to see it. I really am but my Blondie I knew would have kicked Bix halfway to Seven for that comment," his voice heavy with disbelief as he turned to pull on his boots.

Her smile turned playful as she stepped into the room and leaned against the wall, "Okay, we are going to circle back to your use of the possessive 'my' before my horribly ironic nickname but ask me anything you think only 'your' Blondie would know. Unless it's got anything to do with Erza and Jellal. I was sworn to secrecy and I refuse to answer any inquiries about the totally non-couple."

"I don't want you to answer any questions, just bring out the ginger-headed cat and I'll know it's you."

With a roll of her eyes, Loke appeared in the center of their room before kneeling before Lucy and taking her hand, pressing kisses over his stars settled neatly on her fingers, "Princess, calling me out again so soon. A spirit might get the wrong impression."

She let out a chuckle before speaking sarcastically, "Leo, you remember Laxus and Bickslow."

Pushing up to stand beside his mage, a sly grin split his lips, "If it isn't my favorite socially impaired dragon and the owner of the ass Lucy and I kicked as our first real show of flawless partnership. How do you like my Princess now?"

"Play nice, you antagonistic cat," she scolded halfheartedly before looking at the Lightning Mage's deadpan expression, "Well? Do you believe me now?"

Running his hand down his face, he mumbled under his breath, "I almost hit on you, Blondie."

"Tch, as if that's a bad thing you idiot," was all she huffed out before holding her right hand out as if to inspect her rings, her voice airy and mischievous, "Now let's backpedal back a little to your show of possessive dragon greediness."

The rest of the room was equally as curious to hear what the Dragon Slayer's reasoning behind his words were before an honest to god's blush spread across his cheeks and he grumbled under his breath while he shoved his way through the doorway, "A year...over a fucking year I wait..."

Having already put his boots and visor on, Bickslow ducked his head towards the Celestial Mage as his hand fell to the small of her back, "We were worried about you, Cosplayer. When we found out you had disappeared and no one knew where you went, well, it hit us all pretty hard. It really meant Fairy Tail was over and Bossman took it badly. It's really good to see you."

Granting the blunette a genuine smile, her voice went soft as they made their way out of the Honey Bone to follow Kaleb to their temporary home, "I'm sorry for that; for not telling anyone, but I had to leave. I couldn't just...wait for someone to come back."

Giving her his own lopsided smile, his bright drawl back, "Nothing to be sorry for." They had walked a few minutes in silence before he lifted his hands to the back of his head and spoke again, "By the way, I really like those little golden rays of sunshine through your nipples."

When she blinked up at him with her pale gold eyes owlishly wide, he let out an easy laugh before asking Kaleb what he and Farron were doing in Crocus to leave her to her jumbled thoughts.

By the time the four of them had made it to the modern home of the older Pradesh brothers, Laxus explained that Evergreen had gone to visit Elfman and the other Strauss siblings and Freed had taken a job for a historian to help organize his research so that left the blonde slayer and the Seith Mage to wrangle Rune Knights by themselves. When they had all been seated and Farron had popped out of the kitchen wearing the most adorable floral apron she had ever seen to let them know that dinner was almost ready, Lucy actually squealed before immediately jumping up to offer to help the blue-eyed Sound Mage.

The moment her bouncy frame had disappeared through the kitchen as she cooed at oldest Pradesh, Laxus set his steely gaze on Kaleb, his deep voice even, "So why'd Blondie show up at our door tucked into your side, Kaleb?"

Deciding to ruffle a few feathers before dinner, the platinum blonde put his arm over the back of the chair the Celestial Mage had just left before his velvety voice drawled, "What do you mean, Laxus?"

"I mean, why was it that you were the one to introduce her to us like Bix and I were the third party?"

A knowing smile spread across his lips as he looked to the Lightning Slayer, "I should hope it would have been obvious. A lot of things can change in a year and it's a small world. You know the Sea has a knack for catching the attention of Celestial Mages and she's a...very special case." Technically, nothing he was saying was a lie. The White Sea did come up on three separate Celestial Mage's radars in some way or another and Lucy is a very unique individual with a special sort of magic that he was very curious to hear about.

"Quit dancing around the question, Kaleb."

Kaleb quickly gave him another curling smile before calling for Lucy. Knowing the woman had no problems with showing affection towards those she liked, he was hoping that that would play into his favor.

When she immediately came to stand behind his chair, her hands on either side of her shoulders, the Mindbender leaned his head back into the valley of her chest, his voice low, "Laxus wanted to hear the story of how we met, fatina."

Her airy laughter sounded before her sweet voice spoke, "Well, technically we met through the bars of a holding cell but the first time we saw each other, I was playing with Andromeda in the water of the fountain and honestly, I had heard him on the other side of the fountain but I thought the wave I created would hit Andy and not everyone within a hundred feet of the fountain and I doused him. I'd been distracted and Cetus' Water Magic is still a little hard for me to control but I still managed to get an eyeful before I was carried away for disturbing the peace," pausing to look down into his lavender eyes, carelessly brushing an errant hair from his forehead before it could tangle in the metal of the jewelry across it, "I don't think I ever told you that you would definitely win first place in a wet t-shirt contest, Guildmaster," before meeting Laxus' eyes again, "and I guess you could say we've been together ever since." Her laughter sounded at her little private joke before Farron had called her back into the kitchen to help carry everything to the table.

Bless this woman. Bless her and everything she does. Kaleb took a sip of the authentic mead from Pergrande the tattooed beauty had brought out from the Spirit World feeling very satisfied with himself at the looks of disbelief on both the hulking dragon and his little brother's face.

Laxus knew very little about what had happened in the large amount of time that Lucy was without Fairy Tail but he did know the Blondie he knew wasn't one to let a man use her huge chest as a casual pillow and she definitely wasn't so fucking flirtatious. Even if she and Kaleb were together, the thing that really got to him was the blonde beauty calling him Guildmaster. Only members and suck-ups call the Mindbender Guildmaster and since Lucy wasn't a suck-up, that meant she was a member of the White Sea. A member of the White Sea who was with him since the day they met who gave affectionate touches and laughed freely with the mage. He honestly didn't know what to make of it.

When Farron, Lucy and Virgo came back into the room, all three with their hands full with different plates of traditional Boscan cuisine, the Sound Mage's silky voice sounded almost bored as he started to set the plates down, "What Kaleb has very strategically left out, was that this all occurred earlier today."

Bickslow immediately picked up one of the fresh rolls Virgo had placed next to him before she returned to the Spirit World and chucked it at his older brother's face, his own voice heavy with laughter that matched Kaleb's, "You fucking prick, I was half-convinced you and Cosplayer were on your way to being Promised."

The lavender eyed Pradesh easily caught the still warm roll and took a bite out of the sweet dough with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Laxus had to ask before he could relax enough to laugh with the Pradesh brothers, "So Blondie isn't a member of the Sea?"

Wide golden eyes met his as she put a hand on his shoulder before she made her way back to her seat, her voice earnest, "What? No. I'm an Independent Mage...I don't have a guild."

"Why did you call him Guildmaster then?," genuinely curious as he watched her fill the spot beside the platinum blonde mage.

She answered easily, "Because I'm trying to earn some extra brownie points with the youngest Wizard Saint in Ishgar."

Bickslow drawled from across the table from the little beauty as he filled his plate with the dishes of his home country, "Keep stroking his ego and you'll be set, Cosplayer. My big bro here is a Class-A preener."

Her voice was light as she looked between the brothers, "I'll keep that in mind, Bix."

Farron had asked Lucy how her time with the Princess went which lead to the Celestial Mage spilling about her once in a lifetime offer which heralded a variety of reactions from the men present before they had all finished eating and had moved to the living room with a cubic modern style low backed sectional that overlooked the gardens through thick panels of glass. Farron had taken up the spot in the corner closest to the dining room, Laxus had taken the corner seat next to him while Kaleb took up most of the matching loveseat across from the oldest Pradesh. Lucy and Bickslow were currently playing rock, paper, scissors to see who would get the chaise lounge. After they had thrown the same exact thing twelve times in a row, Bickslow smoothly suggested the share which the Celestial Mage was more than happy to accept.

When the two had finally settled, Lucy letting the towering blunette take the side with the arm as she squeezed beside him, her brows furrowed and her voice grew concerned, "Bickslow? Where are your babies?"

The Seith Mage looked down at worried blonde taken by surprised by her innocent question. Not many people asked about his souls and the fact that it was Lucy, who had no other reason to ask about them aside from genuinely wanting to know, kind of hit him off guard. He wasn't surprised that she was the one in particular asking though. That was something they had always held in common with their magics, a lot people treated his souls and her spirits as objects. It was what had eased them into something more akin to actual friendship rather than just guildmates. His voice was soft as he smiled down at her, "They stayed at the hotel room but if you wanted to come in and say goodnight to them before you went to sleep, I know they'd love it."

"Of course! I hope they still remember me...you didn't recognize me. What if they don't recognize me, Bixy?" The sadness and uncertainty were foreign and out of place coming from the woman that with or without Fairy Tail, held a light inside her that made you want to be better, be kinder, like she was.

Without really thinking about it, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to reassure her, "Don't worry about that, Kitten. They don't see like you and I do, they resonate with the souls around them and yours is pretty unforgettable."

Tilting her head cutely, the soft tinkling of the stars dangling from the thick cuff through her cartilage hitting off each other pulling his focus from her face to the shell of her right ear before moving down her neck as she spoke softly, reverence coloring her words, "That's amazing actually. What makes my soul so unforgettable?"

Pulling his focus back to her earnest, open face, he let out a few breathy chuckles before leaning back on the lounge, "Like everything else about you, it's pure gold. Most Celestial Mages have gold at their core because of their magic but their soul as a whole is still theirs, same as everyone else. The nature of your magic forces at least some small part of your soul to be pure enough to call on the heavens but your whole soul is golden which means even if you weren't a Celestial Magic user, you was have the same pure, golden color. They are extremely rare and...usually have a...mate out there. Which is why they constantly reach out to the souls around them. Yours is one of the most fun to watch because it's like a little golden octopus with little tentacles and suckers except instead of latching on, it soothes and heals. I think that's why you're so resilient honestly."

Thankfully, Lucy was only half paying attention to Bickslow's words as Loke suddenly decided that right then was the perfect time to discuss the next comet shower scheduled to cross over Fiore while they were here so she missed the whole middle of his explanation. She felt a little badly about it, but she didn't him to have to repeat himself so she gave him a brilliant smile and turned her attention to Farron, her voice its usual bright lilt, "So Farron, Hisui said that if I accept this Ambassador position, I would be assigned to you to learn the ropes like a shadow. Where you go, I will follow type stuff, very devoted and I wanted to make sure that was okay with you."

The mahogany-haired mage leaned forward on his knees, the fabric of his silver-blue dress shirt fit around his broad but lithe body perfectly and before dinner, he had undone the top few buttons so Lucy may or may not be having trouble focusing on his face instead of the ink of his chest that looked like a bird of some sort. Unfortunately, she couldn't get a clear view but when his silky voice started speaking, she had to close her eyes to take a breath. Gods damn it, what is with this group of men and their sexy voices. She had always had a this odd correlation with sexual attraction a person's voice. It was why she and Natsu wouldn't ever be anything more than friends despite Mira's constant scheming. Well, except for that one really drunk night but she was pretty sure it just confirmed that Lucy wasn't attracted to the Fire Dragon and he wasn't attracted to girls at all. It was an eye opening experience all around. No, she liked her men manly. Deep voices, rough hands, tall frames. She liked a man who could handle her in the sack and most of the time, she ended up taking control. She even had a few guys complain about her being too rough with them before which was a total turn off and ended with her leaving unsatisfied and wondering if there was actually something the matter with her. Where was she going with this? Oh right, the smooth as silk ambassador was talking. For the love of stars, focus.

Kaleb was having trouble keeping his face straight as he tuned into the little blondes thoughts, his smile being hidden by his glass as he took another sip of the sweet alcohol.

"It was part of the reason why Kaleb and I had to come to Fiore actually. We were fully intending on bringing the new Ambassador back with us since they would be working so closely with myself and our father. It would only make sense to have them train with Boscans if they are to be the direct liaison between Bosco and Fiore. You would like our mother country, Lucy."

Flashes of her last glorious stay in Bosco ran through her mind like a slideshow of high quality porn. The men, the women, the tongues and touches, it was by far one of her favorite things about Bosco.

Suddenly the Mindbender was hacking and coughing, trying to catch his breath. In a quick motion, Lucy was crouched beside the white blond mage, her right hand rubbing soothing circles in his back while her left took the glass of mead from his hands, her voice soothing and calm but laced with worry, "Oh my gods, Kaleb, are you okay? Do you need some water?"

He gave the small woman an 'okay' hand gesture before taking another deep drink of his booze, his voice raspy as he looked to his brother, "She's already been and she loves it, trust me. She's going to be a great ambassador."

As if she just remembered the mage she was trying to comfort was in fact a Mindbender Mage who could more than likely read minds, duh, Lucy, and she was just recalling pretty much every sexual encounter she had in Bosco, which happened to be a lot, had her face heating as made her way back to Bickslow's side hurriedly.

Putting two and two together, Farron raised a brow at his younger brothers casual reading of the gorgeous woman's thoughts before clearing his throat and turning his baby blue eyes to the grumbling Celestial Mage with her arms crossed over her chest, "Even better. That has been one of our troubles trying to find the right person to take the job. Too many Fiorans are extremely closed minded about our way of enjoying the pleasures of sex openly. They have a tendency to be quite prudish and it makes for a bad start to the relationship between our countries. Active appreciation of our culture is a much better way to bridge the two than just having the mind open enough to at least understand it."

Lucy turned to Kaleb, her voice matter-of-fact, "See that? That is how a diplomat speaks. That is how I knew you were the Guildmaster and not the Ambassador."

Having gotten the liquid from his lungs, his voice was back to its usual deep velvety tone, "I can be diplomatic if I want to be, Goldilocks."

She snorted, "Intrusive more like and you are also blonde. Why is it that the only people who give me pet names according to my hair color freaking share that trait with me?"

Laxus' baritone sounded from next to her, "How do you feel about becoming an Ambassador to Bosco and the first ever for Fiore, Blondie?"

Rolling her eyes before spreading her fingers out in her lap to look over her precious stars gifted to her by her loyal, loving spirit family, she took a minute to set her thoughts in order before her voice came through a little quieter than usual but not lacking her brightness, "Honestly? I would love it. I would get to travel and try to make the world a less shitty place to live in. I would get to put the years of lessons I wasted my childhood on to good use and it wouldn't have been for nothing. My only real hang up is that I'm not changing the way I look; I'm not covering my tattoos, I'm not taking out my piercings, I'm not cutting the dreadlocks from my hair and I'm not gonna let anyone walk over me. I have no problems with the way I am, but you said it yourself, most of Fiore isn't like me. How good am I going to be at representing a people I'm nothing like?"

The Sound Mage moved from his place on the end of the couch to fill the spot next to the uncertain blonde, taking her hand in his as he spoke earnestly, "We are supposed to be the change we wish to see in the world. We are supposed to be the example for others to follow and you are exactly the positive, progressive type of change Fiore needs. You would have to walk the careful line of being open-minded enough to listen to all the information and be flexible enough to incite change when need be and being an unmovable, unrelenting force on the things that are non-negotiable and necessary. It's an incredibly rewarding line of work that not everyone is cut out for but after the few hours I've had the pleasure of spending with you, I think you would make an exceptional ambassador."

Lucy's lips split into a brilliant smile before Bickslow's voice was full of mock-emotion, "Damn, Fare, that was beautiful. I think you just convinced me to become an ambassador."

"Gods help us all if you ever become a diplomat of any rank...You'd be just as bad as Van," Kaleb's voice had called lazily from the smaller couch.

Holding his hand to his chest in offense, his voice teasing, "I resent that. I resent you for saying that about me, bro. I'm not nearly as bad as Vander."

The Lightning Slayer gave an iffy hand motion before his deep baritone came through mirthful, "Eeehh, it's a pretty close race."

Blinking at the hulking blonde, "Traitor."

Patting his thigh, Lucy looked up to the poor Seith Mage, her voice light and airy, "Awweh, Bixy. I believe you. Although if there is a being out there worse than you are, I think I'd like to meet them."

Rich laughter sounded from her left side from the mahogany-haired Sound Mage, "He happens to be our youngest brother and I'd be careful what you wish for. Vander has a habit of chewing people up and spitting them out with a casual attitude and a smile on his face."

"Sounds like my kind of guy," her words breaking through her infectious laughter as she clutched Farron's hand to her chest as tears started to form in her eyes.

When her breathing had finally gone back to normal, she gave his hand a light squeeze and a radiant smile that spread to her shining, gold eyes, earnest appreciation in her words, "Thank you, Farron, really. Knowing you'll be there with me the whole way makes this a lot less daunting." Her smile was matched by his own stunning smile that had her heart skipping beats.

It would have been one of those incredibly romantic and meaningful moments if Bickslow hadn't lifted

her up on his shoulder and shouted, "Cosplayer's gonna change the world and that calls for shots!"

"Wait, wait, wait, you're tellin' me that there are TWO MORE of you? and then TWO MORE females? Dear gods, I bet that would be nice. Just to line you all up and look at you." Her movements were dreamy and exaggerated even with Bickslow's hair wrapped around her fingers. The little blonde couldn't remember the last time she had been this drunk. Probably because she had too much to drink the last time she drank this much and it made her memory just a touch fuzzy. She of course wasn't the only incredibly inebriated one as the blunette Seith Mage gave her a salacious grin from over his shoulder. It was actually a pretty solid alcohol induced uninhibited house all around as Laxus shed his coat and rolled the sleeves of his button up to his elbows much like both Kaleb and Farron had done as well.

The Mindbender's deep voice pulled her from her braiding the sides of Bickslows hair gleefully atop her perch behind him on the back of the couch, "Oh, Dad's going to love you."

She gave him a blinding smile before reaching through her gate and pulling out two little gold clasps to close over the ends of the Seith Mage's new tight braids on either side of his face above his ears to give him the appearance of just having the top mohawk before running her fingers through the loose blue strands to make them stand on end, her voice easy as she turned her smile to the blunette himself, "Now you look like you can kick some serious ass like I do, Bixy-babe."

Turning to give the her a sly grin, his voice dipped playfully, "I couldn't kick ass before, Cosplayer?"

Narrowing her eyes as she called on her Earthen King Stardress to replace her long skirt and blue cropped tank with a deep emerald green backless waistcoat, a pair of dark brown pants, knee-high dark leather boots, matching brown leather gloves and a dark red coat with wide cuffs and a wide collar with gold accents. Her unruly, wild hair suddenly silky smooth and slicked back in pin straight strands down her back with a dainty gold diadem that looked like the tangles of branches holding smaller diamonds and rubies as a large teardrop shaped blood red ruby hung down to settle between her brows. She quickly put her hand on the top of his head to push him down as she leapfrogged over him to stand in the center of the living room, her voice filled with mirth as she modeled her Stardress, "What do you think about this one? Not as revealing as you'd like I bet..."

Bickslow stood to give her an appraising once over, his voice deep in character as he raised the end of his nose and pulled at random pieces of her outfit, "I just don't know about this color scheme on you, darling. I see you as more of a pastel type of woman. Blue to be specific."

She narrowed her eyes before she called on Cygnus to lend her power to equip the Stardress of the Swan constellation. As the golden light faded, she was wearing the most intricate and delicately made ballet dress, the sheer layers of her skirt falling around her as the top hugged her ample curves, her chest spilled from the white beaded bodice. Her voice was as airy and light as she started cycling through the graceful movements of her childhood ballet lessons, "How about one of those Midish ballet princesses?" She shouldn't have been surprised when Bickslow lifted her mid-turn to send the light fabric of her skirt molding around his torso as she all but melted in a fit of giggles at his obvious training in the arts. When he finally sat her down, she managed to do one last turn before dropping in a front split and arching her back in a dramatic show.

"Any other dances you're familiar with?" Bickslow teased as he ambled back over to his spot on the chaise with a splitting smile on his face.

She leaned on her open palm to her side for a minute before slowly slumping down enough that she just gave in and sprawled across the floor, her voice a sweet sing-song as she mused, "I know lots of dances, Bixy baby. Though I should have pegged you as a ballet man, you've got the legs for it."

He lifted one of his legs with his toes pointed and his arms on either side with his fingers wiggling, his head thrown back as he spoke with a snobbish accent, "Thank you, thank you, I know I'm a god."

She was clutching her stomach, wiping absent tears from the corner of her eyes when she saw a tanned hand descend as an offering before Kaleb's smooth as velvet voice sounded from above her, "Do you know how to waltz, fatina?"

She smiled up at the beautiful platinum blonde angel of a man with a slow kind of curling smile that had the Mindbender smirking at his fellow blonde, her voice lilting and drawled like a southern belle, "Why, Guildmaster, I didn't know you could dance! This is an utter shock to me. You're like a family of Disney princesses."

He let out a few chuckles before squatting down beside her, his elbows leaned on his knees as he balanced on the balls of his feet, "Does this mean you don't know how to waltz?"

She gave a roll of her eyes before dropping her Stardress and enjoying the stability of the floor for a moment longer. The long mess of braided, beaded and varying shades of blonde hair that fanned around her head fell down her back as she lifted her torso to meet his pale grey gaze as best she could with their height difference, her voice haughty as her arms crossed over her chest, "I know how to waltz. Every lady knows how to waltz."

He stood and offered his hand again with an 'I dare you' look on his face . The feisty woman gave him a winning, confident smile that made her magic give just the faintest of a pulse making the map of silvery gold stars across her golden skin twinkle and took his hand.

Despite his very powerful magical abilities, Lucy kept surprising him; surprising him with the way she doesn't have any problems letting her emotions, her honest thoughts, out for the world to see; surprising him with the immense power she had at her fingertips that had an uncanny way of reflecting the whirlwind of a woman she was; surprising him with the way she kept surprising him.

"What no wardrobe change for me?" His face was pulled into a devilish smirk, his eyes reflecting the attraction he held for the unpredictable woman as she gave a shrug and tried to think of her best Stardress for waltzing. She suddenly equipped the short sleeved light grey lolita style dress with the massive keyhole over her cleavage and a full skirt that only fell low enough to cover her core, her hair pulled into two low curly ponytails with a perky matching bow on top of her head. Andromeda's Stardress always made her feel like a schoolgirl with its thigh high white socks and exaggerated black mary jane pumps but the light chain mail of the bell sleeves that fell below the hem of her dress always made her feel badass. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes with an innocent look as mischief flashed in her eyes. His voice was light and easy as he snapped her into position in a show that would have weakened her knees if she was willing to give him the satisfaction, which she wasn't, his hand taking hers as the other sat just below her shoulder, "I'll take the sexy schoolgirl bit. Let's see how graceful the criminal can be, shall we?"

The way his brow quirked had her stomach turning before relaxing into his arms and letting him lead flawlessly. She was too distracted by the way his hair trailed behind him so dutifully to do anything but follow suit as he pulled her in for a turn and dip, which she was seemingly completely ignorant of the still spinning world around her as she trailed her fingers over his forehead to move the more wild strands of almost white hair back into place, her voice faraway as she closed her eyes let her neck crane back, "You lead with impeccable style, Guildmaster." The chorus of laughter that surrounded her reminded her of where she was for a split second before Kaleb pulled her up so her chest was flush with his and all normal thought processes were lost. "You're also very well built for a man wearing enough jewelry to rival even myself."

This pulled genuine, rumbling laughter from the Mindbender Mage as he released her to take her hand and bow, his voice still rumbling with chuckles, "Thank you for the dance, fatina."

"Gods, you're all a bunch of schmoozes. Except Farron, Farron is a sweetheart. I bet his dance is the foxtrot or that really hard waltz that starts with a 'v' from Pergrande," she rolled her eyes before dropping her poofy, corseted lolita dress to smooth the crisp white fabric of her skirt and taking the spot between Laxus and Farron. Her eyes went immediately searching the oldest Pradesh's baby blues with a bright smile, her voice expectant, "Well? What impressive style of dance do you do, sweetheart?"

He was leaned back on the couch, his shirt unbuttoned further than any of his brothers to show off more of his chest and his tattoos, his voice was devilishly smooth like silk over the sensitive skin of her throat, "The tango."

Her jaw dropped as she leaned back into Laxus' side and whispered up at the Lightning Slayer, "Would you believe he was a tangoer? A tango-ist?" Her brows furrowed together in irritation before continuing quietly to herself, "Tangette? Hmm...I'll take tangette." Her thoughts were a haze of setting the perfect scene she would want the oldest Pradesh to utilize his sensual dance knowledge on her. Smokey club in an open cabana along the water, his shirt would unbuttoned just like now, no maybe he would be shirtless. Lost it in an unfortunate kitchen fire accident.

The blue steel of his danced with mirth as he looked down and watched her hand trace over the lines of her Aquarius tattoo, his voice was absently curious as he watched her rub the shaved hair back and forth, "Fare can do a whole handful of impressive things, Blondie. What are you doing?"

Her hand halted as a blush spread across her face, her voice sheepish like her smile in an unholy amount of innocent sexuality that had the dragon himself heating up, "I just shaved the side the other day and the stubble feels really cool. Go ahead, feel it. I won't bite, Sparkles," her brows wiggled up at the man teasingly, "not unless you want me to."

He blinked down at the gorgeous blonde for a few moments before she urged him again and took his hand in her much smaller hands and lead it to the shaved side of her head. The massive blonde frankly already knew what running your hands over short hair like that felt like and honestly didn't have an opinion one way or another on the subject but he's had far too much alcohol to use his go to, self made cock block when it came to the hot little Celestial Mage formerly of Fairy Tail that he was going to be guildmaster someday and Lucy was far too important to the guild to get involved with her because of his own way of inevitably fucking things up when it came to relationships or complete lack thereof. That wouldn't work for him anymore though; she was an independent mage that hadn't been seen in Fiore for a year and he was nothing but a distant at best former guildmate. As if the words 'FAIR GAME' suddenly ran across her forehead while she turned and looked at him expectantly, he gave her one of his cockiest grins and ran his hand over the buzzed section of her head before smoothly cradling the back of her neck, his voice naturally deep and husky, "And if I do want you to?"

The way she switched from blushing innocent to devilish imp should have scared the Dragon Slayer as her lips morphed into a calculating grin, her eyes flashed with pure sexual prowess before her voice, playful and dark, stirred his member to life, "So you like some rough foreplay do you, big boy?"

Bickslow's usually easy voice was calling from where he was laying on the chaise completely backwards and upside down, his long legs draped over the back and the top tufts of his deep blue hair just shy of the carpeted floor, was almost a whine as Kaleb looked to his younger brother with a droll look, "Kaleb, you're my brother, my bro! You're supposed to have my back!"

He gave his lavender eyes a roll before readjusting the rings on his finger, his voice even to reflect his lifetime of handling not only his Seith Mage brother's ways but Vander's as well, "I am not going to get you into the party."

The easy exchange between the two brothers caught the attention of both Laxus and Farron and Lucy took the opportunity to get some fresh air from the gorgeous balcony overlooking the castle, letting the blue-eyed ambassador know she would be right back.

She relished in the way her stars seem to shimmer brightly just for her before sending her spirits a burst of love and appreciation which was quickly reciprocated tenfold as their magic sent a wave over her being.

The lights of the streetlamps reflected off the water of the canals in a way that made her think of things she had long since buried under her need to get out. Get away. Thoughts of Magnolia and she longed to walk along the pristine walls that framed the unnatural zigzag of water through the streets.

She didn't know what ultimately pushed her to throw her leg over the smooth metal railing and drop into the plush grass below. The way she gives into childlike whims. Her nostalgia. The unfamiliar way the passed 48 hours felt too familiar. She wasn't really too concerned about it as she huffed and pulled a pair of her leather pants from the Spirit World before stripping out of her grass stained skirt and pulling on the supple leather and making her way through the garden to walk the canals of her memories. It was time she faced the feelings she was so quick to lock away.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Bickslow and Laxus had decided a good round of male wrestling was in order. At which point, Farron gracefully bowed out before heading up to sleep. He needed to start putting all their ducks in a row sooner rather than later. Both he and Kaleb had responsibilities back in Bosco after all.

This left the two drunken powerhouses in the care of one maybe more than a little tipsy Mindbender mage whose thoughts had very quickly turned to the curvy blonde with a unique magic all her own.

The moment he heard his younger brother's slightly slurred voice, his head snapped to the fabric clutched in his hands. "Hey lookie here! Cosplayer is running around in nothing but her panties! She should have invited me on her streak. I am an avid lover of nudity and debauchery. I'm almost a little hurt she didn't think of me." His hurt was play but the devilish gleam in his eye had Kaleb tuned into his thoughts faster than Laxus' lightning could strike.

The too beautiful Pradesh's voice grew deep as a warning to his young idiot brother. "Bickslow, don't. I don't need to worry about- and there he goes." His sigh was tired as more and more of the Seith Mage's deeply tanned skin became exposed under the bright natural light the night sky was providing them as his figure grew smaller and smaller.

"S'pose we should go get him."

Laxus' even voice came as a bit of a surprise due to the amount of liquor currently sloshing through the Dragon Slayer's veins. Pale lavender eyes met steel in a deadpan before Kaleb gestured forward, "By all means, try and retrieve him. I've seen his bare ass far too many times in my life already."

"You and me both, dude," was all he said before turning to follow his best friend to make sure he didn't get arrested. One Fairy in a jail cell was enough for today.

The Guildmaster was about to head back inside when he felt more than heard her. He knew she needed it. She needed to get everything out before she committed this life.

That didn't mean she needed to do it alone.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Her tears were silent as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. The night breeze was chilly, sending goosebumps down the backs of her bare arms but she welcomed the numbing quality. She wanted so badly to be over this. To be over feeling like she wasn't good enough for her partner and her team. She wanted to know why he would leave her the way he did.

Her stars were everbright in the canvas of the sky but even they couldn't tell her the answers she wanted to hear.

So she resigned to having to come to terms with maybe never knowing. As a writer, she hated leaving chapters open especially when she was about to start a whole other book with the way her life was turning. Changing for the better.

The Celestial beauty could sense Kaleb's immense aura before she heard or saw him. Knowing he would hear her, her voice was stronger than she expected but small regardless. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a midnight chat with the Guildmaster himself."

His frame quickly came to the light as he hauled himself onto the tiled roof of one of the tallest buildings in Crocus aside from the castle itself. The Pradesh was far from fearful of heights but the loose nature of the roof tiles certainly didn't make him feel more comfortable. He gestured to the spot next to her on the peak, "Mind if I join you?"

They had amicable silence before she felt him on the edge of her conscious. It was nothing like the way Cobra's magic felt when he tried to listen. This was gentle and probing. His magic felt almost like soothing water flowing around the outskirts of her being. What had her eyes snapping open was the way her own magic seemed to...respond to his ministrations. Did he know what was going on?

Before she could ask the older mage, a flash caught her attention. A flash of a flash. How she loved the pun at the root of it all as she watched a buck naked Bickslow dodge and dart away from Laxus before the slayer got tired enough to send a few volts his way. Her flash of a flash was ended in a flash. Her humor wouldn't allow that to go by without a sound.

To say her sudden rolling laughter was a bit of a surprise. His brow quirked quizzically at her sudden mood change.

Her words were choppy as she almost tumbled backward from her belly laugh, "Oh stars...that's- that is just too...too funny."

In the distance, Laxus bristled. Lucy's magic was close and he could almost hear her ridiculously infectious laughter. He hefted the weight of his unconscious teammate over his shoulder and grumbled about being on Bixy-sitting duty.

---

~Like I said, I'll have part 2 posted tonight so look out for another update from me if you have the time!

This was kind of a special project for my lovely 19vanelkc so I hope you like it doll!~