When Lucy saw Natsu's house hold she was very impressed and surprised. She did not expect a creature such as him to live in such a elegant and refined abode. She thought that surely he lived within a cave or burrow or swamp but no, he lived in a manor house that was just as grand as the castle she grew up in. She wondered how he ever obtained the richly designed estate.

Once inside he escorted her to a very comfortable bedroom which would serve as her new quarters and he offered to help her unpack her things but she politely declined. Later the two dined together at a well set table, in front of a fireplace which a had a warm flame burning inside, courtesy of Natsu's breath. Happy was laying on a fine rug that lay near the fireplace, resting from his long journey.

The food and wine was good. Lucy had absolutely no complaints about her meal and very much enjoyed it though she spoke not a word. It wasn't to be rude or spiteful, she just did not know what to say given the awkward situation. Then Natsu decided to say,

"I want you to know that I have no intention of having you stay with me forever. I want just want you to stay until the Summer ends."

"Why until then?" Lucy asked.

"I am hopeful that by the Summer's end my sister will be done with her task and we can live together again."

"You have a sister?"

"Yes."

"I beg your pardon but does she look anything like you?"

"No. My sister is a lovely girl and she loves me very much. But to finish her work, she has to live away from me. Since we've separated I've been really lonely and I really miss having someone to talk to."

"Do you have any other family? What happened to your parents?"

"Our mother died when we were young and our father disappeared soon after. My sister is pretty much the only family I have left."

"I'm so sorry. I know how you feel, I lost my mother when I was young too."

"You still have your father though."

"In physical form yes but truthfully he hasn't been the same since Mother passed. Her death hurt us all but he became terribly distant. He often acted as if life would no longer go on, that I wouldn't still grow or still need him. I was very alone."

"But he seemed very determined not to let you leave with me. Surely that means that he still loves you."

"I don't doubt his love for me. I know that he will always love me but I don't know if I'll ever be as important to him as I was when my mother was alive. Especially now."

"What do you mean?"

"Years after we lost Mother, Father married again and at first I thought things would finally change for the better. Father was so happy with his new wife, he was smiling and laughing. He talked about the three of us being a real family again. He acted like my mother had somehow come back in the form of this new woman. But after awhile he started to change. Change so much that a month after the wedding, he barely acknowledged me. He still adored my stepmother but she had become the only person he wanted to please."

"Stepmother?" Natsu inquired suspiciously. "When I came to the castle I didn't see a queen in the throne room."

"That's because she's away. She comes from an exotic land and will occasionally leave to visit her home country. It's the only time my father ever really pays attention to me anymore. When she's not around."

"If I may ask, what is your stepmother like?"

"We don't spend much time together but when we do she is very kind. She always tries to behave like a true mother to me. Even calls me the daughter she never had."

"And she's never once been cruel to you?"

"Never. Why do you ask?"

Truth be told, it was because for a moment Natsu suspected that maybe Lucy's stepmother could have been a wicked witch just like his own had been. However judging by what he had been told, he thought maybe he was mistaken. After all not all stepmothers were evil. In fact he known some to be very kind and loving. And his stepmother had never once showed him or his sister any tenderness or compassion. Not like the woman Lucy was describing.

"No reason." He answered. "Just curious."

"You said that your father had disappeared. What do you mean? Did he leave?"

"No. No he was taken."

"Taken?"

"Taken by a witch."

"Are you certain? I never believed that witches really existed."

"But they do exist. It was a witch who stole my father and made me look like this." He pointed to his upper body.

"You mean you didn't always look the way you did?"

"No. Years ago she tried to turn me into a dragon but something went wrong and she only transformed half of me. I escaped before she could correct her mistake but the only way I'll ever turn back is if my sister sews a very special scarf for me. She's been working on it for so many years, this is because the material for the scarf is hard to come by and the length must be the exact same as a dragon's."

"That's terrible. How long has she been working on it?"

"Ten years."

"Goodness. That's a very long time to finish one scarf."

"One very large scarf that must be made from leaves that sting like fire and flower petals that will slip off the needle."

"In that case no wonder it took ten years. Maybe I could help? Make the work go faster?"

"No. She has to make the scarf by herself. If anyone aids her then it won't work. But she doesn't have much longer now. One more Summer should do it."

"What about that witch? Has she ever tried to find you or her? To stop you?"

"Not at all. We haven't seen her since the day she cursed me. The two of us ran away from her and that was the very last we saw her. Her and our father. We tried to find him but it was like he had vanished off the face of the earth."

"Do you suppose that he could still be alive?"

"My sister prays that he still lives and that someday we'll all be together again but..." He paused. Almost too afraid to say what he really believed. "I don't think that woman would keep him alive. Not after what she did to me. I'm sure once our father found us gone, he figured out that she was responsible and... Well witches can't risk being exposed can they?"

"Don't lose hope. Perhaps he is still alive."

"At the moment all I can hope for is that my sister finishes that scarf."

"Are you certain that she'll keep trying to finish it? What if she becomes too tired to finish? Or what if something forces her to stop?"

"She won't stop. I know my sister and she'd rather die than not finish that scarf. Which worries me sometimes."

"What worries you?"

"Her determination to help me. She loves me and she'll do anything to help me even if it costs her life. But I wouldn't want her to die for me. If she died for my sake I don't know if I could live with myself. She's all I have in the world."

Happy suddenly lifted his head from the rug and looked at Natsu, feeling rather ignored by that last remark.

"Oh sorry Happy. I know that I'll always have you. I meant she's all I have in matters of blood relatives."

Happy gave a content purr and laid his head back on the rug.

"Pardon my asking." Lucy said. "But where in the world did you get a cat like that?"

"He was a gift from a friend."

"And he's a domestic cat?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"I've never heard of a domestic cat being that size. But then again I'm finding out that a lot of things I thought were impossible are possible after all."

"Trust me, you get used to it very quickly."

Lucy giggled. The sound of her laughter made Natsu smile.

"So what exactly do you do around here?" Lucy asked.

"Lots of things. Explore, climb trees, hunt, gather herbs and berries, chop wood, swim, fish. Fishing is one of my favorite things to do here. It's Happy's favorite too. In fact I'm sure that all he wants to do is fish."

"Well he is a cat."

"We're going fishing in the creek tomorrow. Would you like to come with us?"

"I don't know."

"You don't like to fish?"

"No it's not that. It's just that I've never been fishing before. I don't even know how to fish."

"Then I'll teach you." He offered. "If you'd like me to that is. I won't make you do anything that you don't want to do."

"No I think I'd like to learn how to fish. I think I'd like to learn how to do a lot of things. After all, I'll be spending a lot of time here so I might as well be open to doing something different."

"In that case, after I teach you to fish I can teach you how to cook it."

"Sounds fun."

"But a warning to you, we'll have to get up real early. Probably at the crack of dawn."

"I've always been a morning person." She smiled. "I'll probably be up before you are."

"I'll take that challenge."

They chatted for a few more hours, planning out what they would do the next day and then they retired to their own bedrooms for the night. Before going to sleep, Lucy found herself feeling very excited about tomorrow which was more than what she expected herself to feel. She didn't expect to get along with Natsu so soon. Nor did she expect herself to forget her anxiety over living with him so quickly. But he was so friendly and so easy to talk to. She never thought that she would ever be able to open up to anyone about how she felt about her father except for Mirajane.

"Spending the Summer here won't be so bad." She decided. "I might even end up having a wonderful time here."

With that in mind, she laid herself down on her new bed and fell fast asleep.