Capítulo 10: Chapter 10

It had been a long time - not, she'd felt like this before coming to Magnolia - since Lucy had felt this nervous about meeting with someone face-to-face. It was one thing to chat with Mirajane or Levy, or to hang out with Natsu for a day, or even curiously question Wendy about a few things.

It was a completely different thing to have to speak to the leader of the guild of mages who'd just saved your sorry ass.

Mirajane had sighed, tucking the sheets around Wendy as she explained to Natsu why he needed to leave the room when he'd been having a fun conversation with his newfound friend when Makarov Dreyar had finally shown up. Lucy was cradling her teacup in her hands to hide their trembling when he appeared, but her fears drifted away in an instant at the sight of the warm smile on his face.

She felt a flash of embarrassment for feeling so nervous about meeting Makarov, especially when the small older man sighed heavily and told Mirajane, "Leave him be, Mira, he's being stubborn again."

She looked confused. "But...oh, okay." She giggled to herself in a way that had Lucy blinking curiously at her. Mirajane sent her a wink. "I'll bring you something to eat in a bit, Lucy," she promised as she left the room.

Natsu eyed Makarov suspiciously, and Lucy let her gaze dart back and forth between them, relieved that she wasn't getting dizzy from doing such a thing.

And then, quite suddenly, a massive hand - and she was serious, the hand nearly took over half of the room, maybe more - slammed down on top of the dragon slayer. Natsu yelped in surprise before he was quite literally thrown from the room. Lucy couldn't help but stare as Makarov closed the door, then returned his attention on Lucy.

Wendy didn't even falter in her sleep.

Clearing his throat, Makarov greeted her. "Lucy Heartfilia, I presume?"

Lucy flinched at her last name being said aloud in such a casual manner. "Yes...though I'd prefer we keep the Heartfilia bit out...wait!" She flushed a brilliant red, slightly angered, slightly fearful. "How do you know my last name?" Sure, Juvia and Gajeel were bound to know it - not that she thought they would care much - and it might have been mentioned around Natsu, Levy, or Mirajane, but she didn't think they would notice it either.

Makarov gave a low chuckle. "Jose was rather proud of the fact that he had not only a celestial mage under his control, but also that she was the missing princess of a neighboring country." Lucy's gaze flashed with horror. "Have no fears, my dear, I'm sure you have your reasons for running away as you did, and it most certainly won't be me who gives away your location."

"He already knows," Lucy said softly. "My father knows where I am. If he didn't, he wouldn't have sent…" She shook her head. "I'll have to either go back or leave Fiore and go to another country." She swallowed thickly, upset by the idea. "I don't want to though… I like it here. I was planning on moving to Magnolia," she admitted. "I was going to see if I could make more friends, like I've done with Natsu, Mira, and Levy…"

Makarov searched her expression, then gave a heavy sigh. "It is a troublesome occurrence," he admitted. "But it isn't necessary that you leave, my dear. You are a mage, even if you haven't the slightest idea how to use your magic." Makarov gave her a bright smile. "Join Fairy Tail. You already have friends here, and we're a family. We protect our own. Even if something was to happen, and your father were to attempt such a thing again, we wouldn't allow it to happen."

Lucy blinked, then let a large smile cross her bruised face. The tears came now, unbidden, and she didn't bother to swipe them away. "Thank you."

He waved her gratitude off. "Undoubtedly that brat is attempting to listen in," he warned. "Natsu is a pest at times...if he can keep his mouth shut, however, I don't believe you need to be worried about him. You will have to worry about him often times, I believe." The guildmaster looked beyond bewildered. "I don't understand why he has formed such a strong liking towards you in such a short amount of time."

Lucy bit her lip. "I, err, found and returned his scarf," she suggested.

"Ah, that explains it. I remember his unpleasant attitude when he lost it," Makarov muttered. "It wasn't fun explaining to the Magic Council why there were a few buildings that had been destroyed unnecessarily… Onto other business!" Makarov suddenly beamed. "Mira will fetch the required paperwork. You'll need to register yourself as a mage with the Magic Council, and I'll need to assign someone to work with you until you're capable of wielding your magic. You don't have to take work that is offered here at the guild, but it is recommended. There are often times prize money that will help you pay for any expenses, and a certain amount of income will need to be donated to the guild every month." Makarov scowled. "It wouldn't be necessary if Natsu, Erza, and Gray refrained from destroying so much…"

Lucy laughed softly, remembering the explosion from the first time she'd seen Natsu, Gray, and the woman she had yet to meet. "I'm an author," she explained. "And the income gets slow after a while...I'll probably have to take jobs."

"I'll make sure to assign someone who can help you complete them," Makarov promised. "But first...take your time to heal. If you need anything, let any of us know. Mira will give your your emblem when she brings you paperwork, and I'll have picked out someone to work with you by the time you're ready to walk around."

"Thank you," Lucy said softly, trying to put as much sincerity into her words as she could.

"You're one of my children now, and I aim to allow my children their happiness," was his only response before leaving the room. Lucy sipped at her slowly cooling tea, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. They still were by the time Mirajane returned, a loud crash heard just before she closed the door.

"Fairy Tail is having a party," she admitted. "Phantom Lord has been completely taken down. The Magic Council took Jose and the other members of his guild into custody after learning what they did, and after so long of dealing with the annoyances they caused, everyone's celebrating. I think Levy wants to drag Gajeel up here to speak with you in a bit if you're up for it."

Lucy shivered, but forced herself to give a small nod. "I'll speak with them...could you tell them when you go back down?"

"Sure," Mirajane answered. She sat on the edge of the bed, giving a soft "tsk" as she studied a few wounds left. "I would bandage them, but Wendy will be up in a few hours to heal them…"

"It's fine," the blonde reassured. "Let's get started on this paperwork I have to do...I'm excited."

"Me, too." Mirajane set to work on spreading the papers she'd brought with her, her gaze filling with sorrow. "I'm so sorry about all of the secrecy...you understand though, right? We didn't have a choice, we can't just go talking about magic like it's real to everyone. Lisanna was so upset with herself when she thought Natsu had revealed it to you unintentionally...he rarely gets away with talking with someone unaware and not alerting them of the possibility that magic is real…"

"To be honest, I'd been suspicious from the moment I started looking into magic," Lucy mumbled, flushing. "He left some, uh, handprints on my car's hood when he hit it."

"That Natsu," Mirajane said fondly as she picked up a strange-looking device. "He can be a handful...but his heart is in the right place." She held the device up to show Lucy. "Where do you want your emblem? And what color?"

Lucy told her, and then watched with wide-eyed curiosity as she took Lucy's right hand in her own and gently placed it down. There wasn't even a single bit of pain as she pressed down, and Lucy's eyes grew huge when she pulled it back, revealing a pink Fairy Tail emblem on the back of her hand. "Wow," she murmured, and then gave a happy laugh. "Thanks, Mira."

"No problem. Here's a pen…" Mirajane handed her the writing utensil, and then stood, swiping the dress she now wore off. It brushed the ground, a beautiful red in color. "I'll have a few of the other girls in our guild take you out to Magnolia's magic shop to get some clothes purchased." At Lucy's confused look, she laughed, explaining, "Mages have casual clothes, like what you're wearing - oh, dear." She frowned, realizing that Lucy's clothing was in tatters, barely concealing anything and leaving nothing to the imagination. "I'll run to your hotel room and get you something to wear if you want. But we wear different clothing when fighting or when we're on jobs. It helps us amplify our magic on occasion - or if you're like Natsu, it keeps you from destroying your closet. I swear, he destroys everything…"

Lucy couldn't help but giggle, feeling a flash of affection for the dragon slayer. He was, after all, the one who'd kept her company for a day and then proceeded to find her in the middle of a battle. That's what it was, right? She frowned. A battle. A thought suddenly struck her. "Well I'm definitely missing my plane back to Crocus," she sighed. "I'll have to buy another plane ticket…" Damn, there went her plans to move to Magnolia as quickly as possible. She needed to pray that the last published novel's income was still at a high rate…

"Don't worry about that," Mirajane told her, smiling reassuringly. "As it's kind of our fault you missed the plane - it is, if we'd mentioned we thought you had the capability to use magic, you would have been able to avoid what happened," she cut Lucy's protests off, firm in her words. "The guild will pay for it."

Lucy shook her head in astonishment. "I can't ask you to do that," she murmured, then smiled. "Don't worry about it, I can afford it." Not. It'd just take a few months to come back now. And maybe - just maybe - if she was lucky, she'd have a new novel out soon and be able to afford it sooner rather than later.

"If you're sure," Mirajane said unhappily. "I better get back downstairs…" A huge crash made her wince. "I believe Erza just showed up. Just have Wendy come down with the paperwork after she's done healing you again, okay? And I know Levy wants to talk to you and Gajeel, but I'll make her wait until after you're a bit more healed up. Gajeel isn't showing it, but I know he's not happy about what happened..."

"Okay," Lucy agreed.

Mirajane bid her farewell and then left the infirmary, humming to herself as she did so. When she was gone, Lucy sighed softly, picked up the pen and reached for the first piece of paper out of hundreds.

This was going to take a while.

Lucy shook her hand out, grimacing as she set the papers and pen on the table beside the bed, resting them beside her empty teacup. Wendy, still scrubbing at her eyes as she stood beside the bed, caught sight of the pink emblem on her hand - and then beamed, looking incredibly happy. "You joined Fairy Tail!"

The blonde's lips curved up into a smile. "Of course," she said simply. "Like I was going to get saved by one guild and join another." Suddenly, she gave a harsh cough, grimacing when her hands came away from her mouth, stained red.

Wendy gave a sympathetic grimace, offering her a small hand towel from seemingly out of nowhere. "Here...you pushed yourself too hard. I healed you so it wasn't as fatal, but you need to rest, Lucy."

"I wanted to get my paperwork done," she mumbled in response, flushing slightly. "Thank you, Wendy."

Wendy waved her off as she went to work healing her again. "You're a Fairy Tail mage now, one of our nakama. I'm glad to be able to help." She paused in her words, then sighed. "Charle's going to be upset with me again...she always thinks I use my magic for useless things." She pouted.

"I don't think it's useless." Lucy giggled, picturing the harsh white cat she'd seen for all of maybe a minute. "It means I can start looking into my own magic sooner." She bit her lip at the thought. Where did she even begin? If celestial magic was as rare as everyone was saying, then how would she even go around looking into it?

"Levy said she was contacting Yukino," Wendy mused. "Yukino knows celestial magic. She doesn't know a lot of it, but she knows a decent amount and can summon spirits...it's cool to watch," she admitted.

Lucy laughed softly. "Do you think I can get up after this round?" she asked, waving at Wendy's glowing hands.

Wendy squinted, as if trying to figure out just how bad the wounds would be. "As long as you're careful and have someone helping you," she finally decided. She glanced up when Lucy coughed again. This time, no blood came up. "And you're going to need a lot of rest for the next two or three days...you lost so much blood…"

"I'll get that rest," she promised, "I just want to get a bath in and clean clothes on first." She made a face as she lifted a blood-caked piece of blonde hair. "This is disgusting."

The sky dragon slayer only laughed and smiled at her again before focusing on the work before her.

A little bit of a boring chapter, but...important things happened, yes? Lucy's officially a part of Fairy Tail now! Yay! :D

Reviews:

Guest: Of course!

GoingDownWithTheseShips: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

KaUiA: Yeah, Phantom Lord wasn't too big a deal for me. Lol. I kinda just used them to get Lucy aware of magic and moved on. There aren't very many other things that end up that way, so...no need to worry too much about things like that. As for how Igneel hid from humans (which I'm sure everyone else is questioning, too)...Lucy will get her answer eventually. ;)

beginswithkay: I don't think it's perfect, but then again, I'm the writer so very rarely do I think things are pefect...so thank you for thinking so! :D

LavenderMoonRose: Yay! Thank you! I wouldn't expect to see it for quite some time though!

Whatstoknow: Don't we all? Lol. More chapters you shall receive!

Sara lovelymusic: Our poor babies indeed. And I'm nowhere done damaging our lovelies...I'm gonna have to give them fluff soon in apology.

serioushugsies: Yeah...not gonna keep it hidden or anything. Taser fingers doesn't come back. XD He was a convenient person that will never reappear.

Drooblesisafunnyword: Harry Potter for the win, my friend! Thank you so much for your kind words, though, they make me happy! :)

fanficlove2014: Ah, the beginning of the mortified looks. Happy will be the cause of many of them. As for Makarov's words...here you are. Lol.

Shidake: Have no fear, our favorite celestial mage will be getting her keys soon enough. Not in the next chapter or anything, but soon. Lucy's magic is a very questionable thing though.

Kinsutenekochan: Poor Gajeel. But believe me, he'll be a lovely little apologizing fellow. :D Natsu's reactions are fun to write. I enjoy having someone who's quick to overreact.