Chapter 12

She knew the moment she stepped into the place she'd called home since running away that she would miss it when she left. It was a stupid thought, and Lucy scolded herself for it as she dropped her luggage on the ground and pushed the hair out of her face. She was going to a much better place. Magnolia had more to offer than Crocus, that was for sure, and nothing had happened in the city to create any happy memories.

But it had been her refuge, where she'd hidden from the prying eyes of the king of Bosco. And she supposed that did count for something.

Lucy stretched, folding her hands behind her head. "First things first," she said aloud, voice soft and pleasant in the silence of her apartment. A frown appeared on her face as she headed to the kitchen to make herself some tea.

Where the apartment was once peaceful, she'd grown used to the constant noise that came endlessly from Fairy Tail. It seemed as if those that were members of the guild didn't have a single clue as to how to keep quiet…but she'd loved it, loved hearing the sounds of friendly banter and chatter coming from the area nearby.

Now...the silence was uncomfortable.

Lucy set to work on making her tea, sipping at it when she'd finished. She relished in the taste for a few moments, enjoying it, and then stopped, biting her lip. It wasn't fun, she realized. It wasn't fun without someone beside her, chatting eagerly about what had happened only moments ago.

...damn, how did I survive for so long without friends? She'd only had them for a matter of days, and now...she couldn't seem to figure out how she'd live without them.

She sighed heavily. At least, if she could make up the money quickly, it wouldn't be more than a few months before she joined them. If she wasn't killed or worse first. She contemplated that idea, silently relieved that she'd be meeting with the other celestial mage in the morning. Levy had promised her that Yukino would be more than willing to teach her how to use a little magic at least, so there was that. Maybe she'd be able to pay Yukino a small sum to stay in Crocus for a while…

She made a face. She really needed to get a move on with that rough draft. She wanted to move as soon as possible and that just wasn't possible without making money. And making money just wasn't possible without her writing, so that needed to be done.

She'd already missed her deadline…

...ugh, she should have done something while she was talking for hours with Levy over books or speaking with Mirajane about her plans for the near future!

Lucy made her way out of the kitchen, tea in hand, a thoughtful expression on her face. At least she knew everything she needed to know, and if she had questions...well, she now had phone numbers to contact. She smiled at the thought. Plenty of her new friends would be willing to even do a simple chat over nothing.

A worried thought entered her mind, though. What if they don't really like me? What if they're just pretending and actually find me annoying as hell? If that's the case, I might as well go home…

But where was home? She supposed it was the grand building she'd once enjoyed living in. Technically. But now home felt like Magnolia… Crocus just seemed like something temporary, even if she did admit that she'd miss her little apartment. But how could home be in Magnolia when she didn't even have a place to stay yet? She really needed to start looking...prices were concerning, but if she didn't start now, she'd be living on the streets.

Lucy wanted to cry. So many things to do, and so little money despite her successful work!

Humming to herself to try and make herself feel better, Lucy took a step in the direction of her room - and then stopped dead in her tracks when someone pounded on her door. Immediately, Lucy began scanning ideas through her mind for who it might be. Neighbors, questioning where she was. Maybe her publisher, furious with her for not getting back to her. Maybe even Jose of Phantom Lord, back for revenge. She shivered at the thought, swearing as she shoved back images of the nightmare that had begun to plague her nights before.

Another knock, this one a bit more hesitant than the first and Lucy scoffed at herself for coming up with such stupid ideas. What was wrong with her? The Magic Council had Jose and the others of Phantom Lord imprisoned somewhere according to Levy. She was perfectly safe. For now. So long as her father didn't send anyone else after her.

Lucy sighed as she started for the door.

She was seriously a downer today…

She opened the door, and she was met by the widest of grins, cheerful onyx eyes, and a head of pink hair that she would have known anywhere. "Hi, Luce," Natsu said happily, shifting the blue cat he was trying to keep somewhat hidden under his arm.

"...what are you doing here?" Lucy grimaced, realizing her questions was rude just a moment before he gave a small frown. "Sorry," she hurried to mumble, "You surprised me. C'mon in." She stepped aside, letting the dragon slayer enter. The second the door was shut, Happy was throwing himself at her, ignoring the fact that she had a cup of tea as he said cheerfully, "Lucy!"

"Get off of me, cat," Lucy snapped as some of her tea splashed onto the carpet. She gave him a glare for that as she sipped at it. "Seriously though. Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be creating some kind of havoc in Magnolia?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "We don't always make a mess," he retorted. He dropped the backpack he'd been shouldering, letting it slam onto the ground without hesitation. Lucy flinched at the loud sound. "Hold on," he added, digging in his pocket. He extracted a folded piece of paper and held it out. "Here. From Gramps."

Lucy accepted it carefully, unfolding the paper with care after handing her cup of tea to Natsu. He didn't hesitate to down the rest of it; she scowled angrily at him for that. She scanned over the paper, her eyes reading the words quickly and with ease until she was done. Her gaze snapped up to the more than happy Natsu. "You are the one he's decided is going to help me out?"

"He asked, I accepted," he corrected, blowing out a wisp of flame to tease her. She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. And then he folded his hands behind his head, giving her another huge grin. "I'm your partner. So what are we having for dinner?"

In the end, Lucy reluctantly allowed them to stay in her little home. Or, what used to be home. But it felt more like home now that someone was in there with her. She gifted Natsu and Happy the couch, feeling a little guilty that she didn't have any guest beds, but they didn't seem to mind, happily accepting her invitation.

Naturally, she gave them - particularly Natsu - one rule: they were not allowed to eat more than a normal person for the next however long it took her to make up the money needed to move, and if they wanted to eat more, than they would either pay for the extra food themselves, or go live elsewhere for the time being.

Both had agreed, surprisingly serious.

Now, after everyone had settled down, Lucy found herself curled up on one side of the couch while Natsu sprawled out on most of it. Happy had made himself at home above them, on the top of the couch, his eyes locked on the television as Lucy worked intently, typing wildly on her laptop as she quickly worked out a rough draft for her next book.

Damn, magic had been a great idea... why hadn't she done this sooner?!

Suddenly, Natsu shifted. As if knowing what he was going to do, she snapped the laptop shut, turning to glare into his curious onyx eyes. "No," was all she said, patting the laptop affectionately. "Nobody but my editors and publisher get to read the rough drafts, sorry to disappoint you, Natsu. Now please back off before I decide the floor is a much nicer place for you to be."

Natsu gave a pout that sent a flash of guilt through her. "C'mon, Lucy," he whined, "We're partners now, why can't I see? People are always talkin' about your books, especially Levy and Lisanna…"

"Since when can you read?" Happy asked in bewilderment. "Thought you said you had issues, even with Erza's help."

"Shut up," Natsu grumbled, even as the celestial mage gave a laugh. She set her laptop aside, smacking his hand sharply when he tried to snatch it. He jerked his hand away, startled, and she hurried over to a bookshelf, rummaging through books before throwing one his direction. He caught it with ease. "What-"

"It's my most popular published novel," Lucy explained, cutting him off. "If you want to read something I've written, there you go."

"...thanks, I think?" The dragon slayer opened the book to the first page, Happy getting comfortable on his shoulder to read with him. Lucy shook her head at the two before settling back down to write some more on her laptop. She curled up on her side of the couch, lips pulling into a thoughtful pout as she scanned her mind for more ideas.

It went on like this for another few hours before Natsu suddenly snorted. Lucy glanced his way, arching an eyebrow and noting that he was a quarter of the way through the book already. She watched as he glanced up at Happy, waiting for the blue cat to finish reading the page, too, and then flipped it before turning his gaze on her. "The hell kind of twisted mind do you have?"

Lucy flushed. "Just shut up and read, you idiot," she muttered. "Seems like you two are enjoying it to a certain point…"

Happy beamed happily at her. "I like it, Lucy," he said honestly, his little white-tipped tail twitching. "It's funny!"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "It's not supposed to be funny," she scolded. "It's supposed to be serious and depressing at certain points. What part are you at, Natsu?"

The fire mage glanced up, blinking. "Uh...the lady just escaped whatever bastard was trapping her in some prison," he reported after quickly scanning the page they'd just read.

Lucy shook her head. "How is that funny, Happy?"

He shrugged. "Thought it was funny 'cause you were in the same situation. Except you weren't smart enough to get yourself out like she was." He snickered when Lucy's cheeks puffed up in anger.

To her surprise, Natsu said rather sharply, "Happy, that wasn't her fault. Leave Luce alone."

Lucy blinked in surprise. Then she smiled slightly and kicked at them both as she made herself comfortable, stretching her legs out on the couch. She set the laptop in her lap again, typing in something. Natsu grunted, smacking at her feet when they nailed him rather harshly in his side, upsetting Happy's careful balance. "Stop that," he whined.

"...nah," Lucy mused back, sticking her tongue out at him. The trio fell back into silence.

She was perfectly at ease with the pair of weirdos before her, she noted as she typed and they read. At one point, she managed to see Natsu shooting her the dirtiest of looks before snapping something about her needing to lighten up on that darkness in her mind; Lucy only grinned and lightly mused about how much her other readers enjoyed it.

Finally, she set her laptop aside, pausing to hit "send" on an e-mail.

Her first rough draft done in a mere five and a half ours. It was only a overview of what she planned to do, but it was still a personal record. She stretched, purposely hitting Natsu with her feet again. He flicked her toes and Happy draped his tail to tickle them, making her rip her feet away with a huff.

She paused.

"...Happy," she said, astonished. "Are you crying?"

Natsu's gaze darted up to his little companion, who wailed, "Shut up! It's not my fault you're such a mean writer!"

Lucy got up, stretching again as she went around the couch to peer over Natsu's free shoulder, wrinkling up her nose and then smirking. "Ooh, forgot I did that. Yeah, sorry. Was necessary. You'll see why later." She patted the cat on the head. Mentally telling herself she needed to ask what Happy was later, Lucy headed for her kitchen. "I think I have enough to make dinner for all of us. I'll have to go grocery shopping after we meet up with those Sabertooth mages tomorrow though."

Natsu marked their place in the book and twisted to look after her. "...you're going to make us dinner? Are you sure you won't burn it?"

"Shut up," Lucy snapped. "I can cook, thank you very much!" Considering she'd been raised to not even contemplate such an activity, she was very proud of her skills.

...do I need to tell them about that? she mused to herself as she got to work, aware of the two sets of eyes watching her from over the back of the couch. I mean, I probably should explain why Jose had me to begin with…

...nah. She wouldn't.

Not unless it happened again.

Lucy flashed her new partner a smug look. "Let's see what you think of my cooking when I keep all of it for myself since you don't think I can cook well." His expression filled with horror.

No. Natsu definitely did not need to know that she was a runaway princess. For all she knew, he'd be the one to blab it out to the rest of the Fairy Tail guild. Maybe someday she'd tell him and Happy, but for now...she'd just continue worrying about their endless appetites.