A/N: I want to give special thanks to my Beta, MistressMarvel. She's the absolute best! Well, any who I hope that you guys like my story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Supernova

Chapter One

Today was going to be a great day—I could tell because when I woke up this morning I didn't have to kick Natsu out of my bed. Yawning, I sat up and padded my way to the bathroom to start getting ready for the day.

I didn't know what I was going to do today. A mission with Natsu, maybe, but my rent wasn't due at the moment. I opened the medicine cabinet and pulled my toothbrush out of the holder, squeezing a good portion of tooth paste onto the bristles and began cleaning my teeth. Maybe I could just relax and hang out with Levy... but then she would probably be hanging out with Gajeel today. Again. Damn.

Frowning, I spit out the foam, and rinsed out my mouth. I could go training. I needed to. How else would I get stronger? What to do? Hmm . . .

Whistling, I started changing out of my pajamas and into some clean clothes before heading over to the Guild. I didn't want to be stuck in the house all day and maybe I could make up my mind when I finally got to the Guild. I really would like to spend some time with my friends... But I didn't know who was at the Guild, so I would have to see when I got there. Wrapping my whip around my waist and hooking my Celestial Keys onto one of the loops of my skirt, I locked up behind me and headed off.

Not even off of the steps leading towards my apartment, I was surrounded by people. There were several vendors with booths up and down the street, filling Strawberry Street with an unusual amount of traffic. The annual festival that started up some time while we were frozen on Tenrou island was now underway apparently, I saw from the flyers hanging up. I had completely forgotten about it. Blinking my surprise, I squirmed my way through the crowd and stepped onto the edge of the canal.

I hadn't gotten far when I heard the customary, "Be careful Lucy-san!"

"I will!" I paused mid-step and smiled, waving back. Without any warning, there was a small but contained explosion, and the crowd behind me went wild. Blinking, I turned to see what the magician had displayed when an elbow caught me in the back of my knees. I was unable to take a breath before I hit the water below, and even though I knew how to swim, panic set in as water found its way into my lungs.

Busy fighting to keep from drowning, I don't notice the other splash several feet away from me. When arms came around me, I struggle to be freed. All I could think about in that moment was freedom from the water. I was dragged further from the canal walls and closer to my death. When I was pulled from the water into a boat I was shivering, coughing, and crying, half-drowned mess.

"Lucy-san, you have to be more careful!" He scolded, wrapping me in a towel. I huddled on the floor of the boat, trying to warm myself.

After a few moments, I looked at him giving him my most sincere smile that I could muster at the moment. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem, but you should be more careful, Miss Lucy." I blink and start laughing. The water still hadn't been completely cleared out, so I quickly begin coughing. He's by my side instantly, hitting my back to help me start breathing right again. When the fit is over, I give him another smile.

"Please, just Lucy."

He nods. "Right, Lucy." We're silent for a moment before he gestures to himself. "I'm Braxton."

"Braxton." I test the name. It sounds… right. And for the first time, I get a good look at this man. My savior. He's young. Younger than I thought he would be because I've never paid attention to the men who called out their warning to me before. He's handsome. Brown hair, blue eyes. He's not too muscular to the extreme that Natsu was, but he's toned all the same from his hard, honest work. His skin is dark from being exposed to the sun for long periods of time. I blinked and before I can even think about it, I asked, "Let me treat you?"

"Eh?" He appears startled, having been steering the boat to the steps. "No, you don't have to—."

I cut him off with a shake of my head, the water flying from my hair with the motion, "I want to. You saved me."

"Well . . ." he trailed off, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

I giggled. I had never had to try so hard to get a guy to eat with me especially when it was my treat. And especially when it came to Natsu. Natsu . . . I forced him out of my mind and smiled. "I promise you won't regret it."

After a moment, he nodded his consent. "Okay."

"Great! It's a date!"

"Date?" From the tone, I quickly realize what I said and hurried to backtrack the statement.

"I meant—."

"A date would be great." I blinked and my cheeks flamed. Internally, I hopped he didn't notice.

"A-All right." I clear my throat and stand. He takes my hand and helps me move from the boat to the concrete steps. He moves to stand next to me. I notice his towering height. The top of my head only reaches the center of his chest, and I find myself craning my neck to look him in the eyes. "Tomorrow then?"

"Sure. What time?"

"Six okay with you?" I ask, slowly uncovering myself with the towel he provided me with and handing it back to him.

"Six it is," he replied, tossing the towel back into his boat. "Where do you want to meet?"

"My apartment is fine. I'm thinking, Café Estelle."

"Right." At his nod, I move up a step, making our heights just about even, preparing to head back to dry off and change.

"See you then?" His hand grasped mine, and I still.

"Definitely." He pressed a lingering kiss on the pink insignia of my guild.

XXXX

When I finally reached the guild, it was high noon. The building was full of members, but I noticed that my pink haired partner was nowhere to be found. After nearly drowning this morning I had to go home and change. It wouldn't do to head to the guild looking like a drowned rat.

"Mira, where's Natsu?" I asked as I headed to the bar. The woman in question looked up from cleaning the bar and started making a vanilla shake for me.

"Natsu? He and Lisanna went on a mission together." She replied with her ever present smile.

"Oh." Frowning down into the yellow concoction, I sighed and said, "Thanks."

Leaving the bar, I noticed several others missing. Ezra, Gray and Juvia were nowhere to be found. They were most likely on a mission themselves. But I did spot my favorite bluenette chattering with her team members.

Smiling, I headed in her direction. "Levy!"

She turned and grinned at me, her nakama sulking as her attentions shifted to me. "Hey Lu-chan."

"I need to talk to you," I said, sipping on my milkshake.

Levy nodded. "Sure!" We slowly made our way away from the others and to the library on the upper floor of the Guild building. When we were safely in the confines of the empty room, she hoisted herself up onto the cluttered table, swinging her legs as she looked at me with curiosity. "What's up?"

"I'm . . ." Taking a deep breath, I began again. "I'm going on a date tomorrow."

"Eh?!" She squealed in excitement, leaping off of the table and launched herself at me. It knocked the half empty milkshake out of my hand, and spilled it all over the floor. She quickly magicked a mop and cleaned up the mess. "He finally asked you out?" She asked with a sheepish smile as she seated herself back on the table.

"Huh?" I know she didn't know Braxton. But then it clicked. I should have known . . . "Oh, no. It's not with Natsu. I'm going out with someone else."

"Oh." She blinked in surprise. "What about Natsu?"

"What about him?" Natsu. I finally figured out a couple of months ago that I liked the dimwitted dragon slayer and ever since then, I always felt self-conscious whenever he was involved. It nearly gave me a heart attack whenever I would wake up with him in my bed. Of course, I acted as I normally did because in part, I didn't know how he felt about me. Probably not in the same way as before, though. Especially with Lisanna back. She was the other reason why I refrained from blurting out my feelings.

"Should you be dating other guys when you're trying to get him to notice your feelings?" She asked quietly. I bit my lip and looked away.

"Levy, Natsu isn't ever going to notice that I'm in love with him." I gave her a bitter smile. It was true! Natsu was so dense, something could smack him in the face, and he would never notice. "And besides, I think Lisanna is going to catch him first."

She frowned. "I wouldn't be too sure of that."

"Still . . ."

She sighed. "I know."

"I can't wait for him forever." I crossed my arms, looking at the entrance of the room. Asuka and Wendy were coming closer with several books in their possession.

"I understand." She nodded, standing up. "Want to go shopping? You need a new outfit, right?"

Thankful, I take the change of topic like the lifeline it was. I giggled as I started out of the door, glancing over my shoulder. "I probably do. Let's go to my place first, though."

"Okay."

I led the way out of the guild greeting the girls as we exited the room. Levy left the glass that she had knocked over on a table near the bar as we passed, and told Gajeel, who had just entered the guild, where we were going.

I summoned Plue, and off we went. We chittered about nothing of importance, just catching up on the past couple of days when we reached my apartment.

"So anything in particular you're looking for?" She asked, rummaging through my closet. I reclined on the couch, Plue shivering in my lap.

"Well, we're going to Café Estelle." Levy squealed in excitement at the mention of the place.

"Oh! That one next to Lake Scilliora?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I heard that the food there is to die for!" She informed me, matter-of-factly, shuffling out of the closet, pacing the room. "I want to go." She pouted.

"Have Gajeel take you." I suggested.

"You know he won't." She sighed and fell back on my bed. She grabbed my pillow, hugging it to her chest, and I stood, placing Plue on the couch. I took her place in the closet and looked through my clothing. A lot of it was out of fashion now because of the seven years we had spent frozen on Tenrou Island.

I sighed, defeated. "I'm going to have to buy some new clothes."

"Cheer up, Lu-chan!" Levy scolded from the bed, sitting up now. I giggled at the serious look on her face.

"All right. Let's go!"

She followed me out, and we made our way through the crowded streets to several of my favorite boutiques to shop at.

It wasn't that I hated shopping. It's just, after the seven years, prices had gone up on everything and missions where I actually got to keep most of my pay were few and far in between due to Natsu and his habit of destroying everything in his wake, the idiot. What pay I did get, went to my rent. Thankfully, with our guild winning the Magical Games, I had a hefty sum of Jewels. Rent was paid up for another couple of months, and I did need to update my wardrobe. Especially after the landlady went through my things.

I shuddered, thinking of her wearing my clothing. It wasn't a pretty sight.

I modeled for Levy, and she was brutally honest in whether I looked good in the outfit or not. In addition to the dress I would be wearing for the date, I bought some other outfits I could wear while on missions and some for my lazy days. I even bought a training outfit that looked especially cute.

When we were finished, we ate some festival food, and parted ways afterwards.

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