The streets of Altair were peaceful as the sun set on another beautiful day. Stars could be seen peeking through the darkness, and all was right in Earthland. 'Was' being the key word, as the peace was shattered by a shrill cry in the approaching darkness.

"Help! Someone, please help!"

Voices called out in surprise at the noise and the speaker behind them. Bright blue with white wings and wearing a green backpack, a cat flew through the air looking for someone to assist it, though most residents of the city turned their backs, not wanting to bother with something that was - in their minds - not their concern.

"Hey," Lucy called out. "What's going on?"

In just a few flaps, the cat planted itself in Lucy's outstretched arms, shaking in fear and obviously distraught.

"Shhh," she soothed, stroking the soft fur of the cat's head. "It's going to be alright. How can I help?"

"My friend is in trouble and sent me away, but I can't just leave him there to die!" The cat wailed on.

Where before, Lucy had been jostled about in the packed streets, now the pair were given a wide berth. In the back of her consciousness, she made a mental note that Stella was not a good place to settle. But that would be information for later, at present she needed to find a way to help the talking cat (what the actual fuck… that information was also going into the 'later' category) and his friend.

"Where is your friend, and what trouble is he in?"

The cat sniffled. "He was trying to exterminate some fire spiders, but there are too many and he can't handle all of them by himself. Please, can you help?"

Spiders were one of Lucy's greatest fears. They were creepy with too many eyes and legs and they skittered about too quickly for her to know where they were. But she couldn't just leave that boy to face them alone when she had the ability to do something about it.

"I can absolutely help. Lead the way." She slid her fingers across one of the keys clipped to her belt.

"Are you afraid of heights? It'll be faster if we fly…"

With Lucy's permission the cat picked her up and took off flying towards the city limits and the forest beyond. Introductions were made - the cat's name was Happy, which Lucy found adorable - during the quick trip, and Lucy spotted their destination without issue, since there had not been a raging wildfire in the forest earlier that day.

Happy dropped her a few feet above the ground, Lucy sliding her fingers across the key she needed to call forth the magic that would be best in this situation.

As young as Happy seemed, she had expected to find a child fighting several of the dangerous spiders. Instead was a man around her age, one spider using its legs to keep him pinned to a tree as he attempted to keep himself from being eaten by the dozens of others that were clambering about.

"Aqua Metria," she called out as she ran towards Happy's friend.

A wave of earth swirled around her hand, which she unleashed on the spiders as the man yelled for her to stay away. He dropped as soon as the spider was tossed away, Lucy breaking his fall enough to avoid injuring him any further.

"You were supposed to escape to safety. What the hell do you think you're doing bringing her here?"

Offended, Lucy decided to intercept the question that was not meant for her. "Um, you're welcome. I just saved your ass, so maybe you could try some gratitude? Speaking of your ass… get off of me."

"Natsu…" Happy tried to interrupt.

"Hey, I'm not the one who joined a fight wearing a bikini." Natsu stood on wobbly feet, nearly crashing back down with the strain on the seeping puncture wounds in his abdomen. Somehow managing to stay upright, he grabbed Lucy's outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet. "I had the situation under control."

"Um… Lucy…" Happy tried again.

"If by 'under control' you mean you were about to get roasted and eaten, then yeah, you had things under control. I'm so sorry I stopped your grand plan to give the fucking spiders indigestion!"

By this time, both of them were yelling and neither had noticed that they were still holding hands. Happy glanced away for a moment towards the more dire of the current circumstances as Natsu and Lucy continued to argue. Having had more than enough of the bickering, he finally got their attention.

"GUYS!"

"What?!" Natsu and Lucy yelled in unison, sending glares towards the other before focusing on Happy.

His answer was a waving of his paw to direct their attention elsewhere. Elsewhere being towards the spiders who had recovered and were skittering determinedly towards them again.

"Shit."

"Happy!" Lucy reached out, pulling the flying cat to her and forming a water barrier around the trio.

For just a moment, Lucy thought she had saved them. Though the spiders encountered resistance, they began to push through the protective bubble.

"How in the hell is water not effective against fire? Shouldn't they at least not be on fire anymore?!"

"It would be if they were the size they're supposed to be, but something about Stella must have mutated them." The first of the spiders came much too close for Natsu's comfort, and with nearly half partially encapsulated in Lucy's bubble, he pulled her and Happy out the other side and began running. They wouldn't be able to get far, but he hoped that they could at least come up with some sort of plan.

"Maybe it's the Stellanium crystals," Lucy speculated, her legs burning from the effort and panting for breath. "They absorb starlight, so the residual magic might have changed the stupid spiders."

All forward progress was stopped by the appearance of a cliff looming ahead. Well, Natsu ran into it, since he was paying attention to what Lucy was saying instead of where the path led them.

"Well, unless you can pull some star magic out of that swimwear, we're officially fucked."

Lucy smirked, releasing her Aquarius dress and donning the magic of Leo instead. Natsu watched in awe as the green and yellow bikini she had been wearing transformed into a black and gold gown.

"Star magic I can do, I just need to get close enough to use it without getting eaten or incinerated…"

Gods, how she hated spiders, but she agreed to help, and she would not back down without trying. Pushing Happy into Natsu's arms, she sprinted towards the first of the grotesque beings following them, her right hand glowing brighter with each step as she prepared her attack. The spider was more horrifying up close, small flames dropping off its fangs that began twitching in anticipation.

Lucy managed to slide underneath the spider, landing a solid hit through its abdomen, killing it instantly. She was not prepared for the pain that followed. Having only encountered non-mutated fire spiders in the past, she was used to stomping on them and putting out whatever small fire started from the resulting death. The unexpected part came when the scorching ichor from the dying spider came in contact with her skin, burning it instantly.

She was in the air and back to Natsu before she registered Happy even being close to her.

"Are you stupid? You could have been killed with a stunt like that," Natsu lectured and he carefully wiped the ichor off Lucy's hand and arm, then applied an ointment and bandages that he pulled from the backpack Happy carried.

"Well, that's the only start magic I have, and it is really more for melee than ranged." Lucy hissed in pain as Natsu tied off the bandage. "And it's not like we can just let these things live, they'll wreak havoc on any city they come close to."

"Wanna try something stupid with me?" A wicked sparkle entered Natsu's eyes. He had a plan. It was crazy and reckless and probably wouldn't work, but it was still a plan. Flames danced momentarily across his fingertips as he conveyed his thoughts without saying anything else.

Happy hovered out of range and Lucy took Natsu's offered hand. Each pushed out their magic, combining it until it swirled together around them. When the magics felt their most powerful, Natsu pulled them into himself with a deep breath, then released it in a roar that managed to destroy part of the forest and the dangerous fire spiders along with it.

Magic spent, the pair drop to their knees in exhaustion.

"Did we get 'em all?" Natsu asked as he looked at the path of destruction, dropping backwards to relax without caring to hear an answer.

"I think so?" Lucy had no way of knowing, but she did not see one spider anywhere around them, though there was plenty of fire to deal with. Resigned to her taks, she switched back to her Aquarius dress, rose to her feet, and started to carefully put out the fires and dampen any hot spots she could locate.

"You doin' alright Happy?"

'I'm fine," he told his friend. "I'm just trying to figure out how I managed to find the only person in Stella as crazy as you are to help us out."

Natsu chuckled, sitting up to watch Lucy work. Now that the fight was over, he took the time to process the strange familiarity that pressed on the back of his mind as soon as they made contact. He was fairly certain they had never met, but he was also sure that he knew her from somewhere. Happy gave him a weird look and commented that Natsu should try to avoid any more blood loss or hits to his head before flying off the check on Lucy.

Rare were the times Natsu truly sat down to think about something other than training, fighting, and food. Lucy and Happy were nearly done putting out the fires when it finally hit him. He had seen Lucy before, but they had never met. Since he was thirteen, he had been having strange dreams of lifetimes he had lived. He had been a firefighter, a police officer, sometimes a mage, other times a businessman (that one had made him laugh, as he had always been restless during the shortest meetings), many times in worlds without magic, but every single one had one thing in common: Lucy. In every one of those dreams, he had met Lucy. They argued and bickered, but they also fought together. In every dream, they were partners.

He may not know her in this life, but he had known her countless times before, and knew what he needed to do.

Happy and Lucy returned with the latter being so exhausted she could no longer walk. Natsu helped Happy lower her to the ground.

"That was one hell of a unison raid we pulled off," he commented as he positioned Lucy more comfortably, his jacket folded under her head as a makeshift pillow. "Thank you for coming to rescue me."

"You're welcome." A smile touched her lips as she blinked slowly. "I'm just glad it wasn't my turn to be the damsel in distress again."

Natsu's eyes widened, his heart quickening as he wondered if she had had similar dreams. Was there a chance he was right? And, more importantly, was there a chance she remembered, too?

"After I rest a bit, do you think I could join you two on your adventures?"

Natsu looked up to Happy, who simply nodded that it was alright with him.

"Of course, Loonie," he said as tears welled up in his eyes. "It's always more fun when we're together."