Lucy watched as the strange boy sat down in front of her; they had decided to eat at the bustling Super Express Restaurant in the center of Balsam, well away from the men who were ushering women into a building.

"Ugh, Natsu, are we there yet?" A muffled voice came from inside one of Natsu's rucksacks.

"Huh? Oh, hey buddy! We took a detour, c'mon out, we got some food!" Natsu smiled, slinging the bag off of his shoulder and out he pulled a sleepy blue cat.

"Did your cat just talk!?" Lucy gasped in surprise as she watched the cat rub at his eyes with his paws.

"Why wouldn't I be able to talk? Natsu, who is this?" The cat asked in a curious voice.

"This is Lucy, Lucy, this is Happy!" Natsu's smile was wide as he proudly introduced the two.

"U-um, sorry, nice to meet you, Happy." Lucy stammered and the blue cat blinked at her.

"Natsu, she's weird."

"I know buddy but she's giving us food!" Natsu looked eagerly down at the menu in front of him.

"Hey!" Lucy protested but her voice went unheard by the two boys across from her. Lucy noticed that, though Natsu was muscular, he and Happy, were on the thinner side. Lucy supposed that was due to the fact that they were nomads; people treated them so poorly, it must be hard to survive with such a name branded on them. She instantly felt guilty about her lavish life and thought how much the two would probably love to have had something like she did. Maybe I am being childish…

"So, does it matter what we get?" Natsu questioned, eyeing her.

"No, get whatever you want, please! It's the least I can do after your help."

"You don't need to tell us twice!" Natsu smirked and their table was soon covered in a spread of multiple heaping piles of food.

"U-um… I didn't know you guys would eat so much…" Lucy trailed off knowing the bill would put quite a dent in her jewel stash. But, Lucy found herself smiling at how happy Natsu and Happy looked. She decided that she'd let them have their fill, she didn't need the money, she'd be making her own soon somehow.

"So, what brings you to Balsam?" Natsu eventually asked in between shoveling chicken into his mouth.

"Well… I-I just decided I'd like to travel for a while? I think I want to end up in Magnolia but… I'm not really sure what I'm doing." Lucy confessed and Natsu looked surprised.

"Huh. That's where Happy and I are headed but, we decided we were gonna stop in every town in this kingdom. See the sites, ya know?" Natsu explained and Lucy felt a flutter of excitement in her stomach.

"That's honestly all I want to do. I want to see everything; I've been cooped up for so long in the mans- I mean… Yeah. I just want to see the world." Lucy sighed and Natsu eyed her intriguingly.

"Well, then it's settled. You can travel with Happy and I!" Natsu flashed her another toothy grin and Lucy stared back at him in surprise.

"R-really?"

"You bet! You're okay with it, right Happy?" Natsu looked down at his small companion seated next to him.

"Aye!" Came the reply and Lucy felt a smile forming on her lips, a full, genuine smile that she hadn't had in years.

"'Course as long as you don't mind associating with people like us…" Natsu's voice was suddenly quiet seemingly uncharacteristic for his boyish demeanor. "No offense but ya seem more of a higher class than we are."

"W-why would I care? I don't care what people think. I think it's barbaric that there is such discrimination in this hierarchy in the kingdom." Lucy thought angrily. "If people start thinking of me as a nomad then, so be it. I swore that I'd make a life for myself and I suppose this is my beginning."

"Well, then welcome aboard Team Natsu!" Natsu laughed in delight, extending his hand for her to shake.

"I'll be glad to be part of the team."

After an hour or so of watching Natsu and Happy devour everything in their sight, Lucy grudgingly paid the rather large bill and headed back out into the chilly afternoon air. It was just beginning to get dark where the stars were peaking through a purplish blue hue of a sky. Lucy breathed in the crisp, blossom scented breeze and felt excited about her new life. It had only been one day and she already had more of an adventure than she had ever had in her life. I wonder if Father has noticed that I've left yet…

"Uh… Well, I'm not sure about you but, we gotta set up camp somewhere before it gets too dark." Natsu awkwardly interrupted Lucy's thoughts.

"Oh, sorry for spacing out! No, I have a room at the Inn by the edge of town, please, you can both stay with me." Lucy offered and the boys perked up.

"Wow, we've never been in there!" Happy piped up, an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Me either! So, let's go check it out!" Lucy lead them back towards the town's entrance finally finding the large building. As they walked through the entrance, she noticed staff and other patrons of the hotel eyeing Natsu and Happy with hard glares. She was suddenly met by the concierge that was behind the desk.

"Ah, um, I'm sorry but," She stepped closer to Lucy, "We can't serve their kind here."

"Excuse me?" Lucy countered feeling taken aback.

"It's alright, we're used to it, Lucy." Natsu muttered suddenly finding the ground very interesting.

"That's not acceptable." Lucy put a hard stare on the short, black haired woman. Lucy gestured for the woman to go back over to her desk. "Do I need to speak to your manager or do I need to use my status to allow my friends to stay with me?" Lucy whispered furiously. She absolutely hated that she was already threatening her status on this poor woman but, Lucy was not used to such scrutiny against people just for the way they look. It was unbelievable. "Why don't you take another look at who's name my room is under?" Lucy advised quietly, making sure that Natsu and Happy didn't hear their conversation. She watched as the woman flipped through the log book and finally found Lucy's room number, her eyes growing wide.

"I'm so sorry Miss Heart-"

"Shh!" Lucy hushed. "Just let us go to my room." Lucy growled and the woman nodded and Lucy turned back to the boys, a smile plastered on her face.

"Good news. There's no problem, let's go!" Natsu looked at her in surprise and Happy suddenly sprouted wings and floated along side them.

"Geez, you're scary!" Happy exclaimed.

"And you have wings?! What the hell?" Lucy looked at him in wonder.

"Happy's an Exceed. He's pretty special." Natsu smiled at the little blue cat fondly.

"You learn something new everyday I suppose." Lucy decided. They climbed the stairs up to her room and piled inside the small space.

"So, how'd you get us to be able to stay here too? To be honest I didn't even think they'd let us inside the doorway, usually people take one look at us and tell us to leave. We usually steer clear of people but, we wanted to do some exploring…" Natsu ventured, his eyes travelling around the room.

"Uh, well, you know, just a little mistake! I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it. I just explained to them that you were my friends and-"

"We're your friends?" Natsu suddenly asked looking at her intensely.

"W-well yeah, I think we're friends. We're going to be traveling together after all so, why not be friends?" Lucy stammered unable to meet Natsu's deep stare.

"It's been a long time since we had friends…" Natsu mumbled and Lucy felt it was more to himself rather than to her.

"To be honest… You guys will be the first real friends I've ever had…" Other than the others back at the mansion but, Natsu looks like he's my age and that means I actually have a friend who's my age that isn't being forced into marrying me!

"Really?" Happy wondered, his eyes focused on her.

"Yup. So, I guess we've got each other now, right?" Lucy smiled at them, Natsu still staring at her with such a severe look in his eyes.

"Aye!" Happy chirped and happily curled up on Lucy's bed.

"Thank you." Natsu then spoke up quietly, his gaze fixated at Lucy's face making her cheeks heat up.

"F-for what?"

"For being kind and not judging us when everyone else did." Natsu admitted, his feet shuffling awkwardly on the wooden floor.

"I'm only doing what is right and what my heart tells me to do. My mother always told me to be kind to everyone and kindness will find its way back to you." Lucy gave a small smile imagining her mother seated on her bed and Lucy curled up on her lap as she read her bedtime stories.

"She sounds like a nice person." Natsu smiled slightly back at her.

"She was." Lucy agreed and a silence fell upon the room until Lucy excused herself to get changed in the bathroom. She didn't know what it was about the two but, she felt as though she had known them forever. Mama, if you were here, I know that you'd like Natsu and Happy. I'm really happy now, I think I know what I'm going to do.

Lucy returned to the main room and was about to tell them there was a spare bed in the couch but, instead, she found that Natsu was passed out, snoring lightly across the plush comforter of the bed with Happy curled up on a pillow. Lucy smiled, not caring where she slept at that point, she was tired and ready for sleep. She quietly unfolded the pullout bed from the loveseat and snuggled down with her blanket and pillow, quickly drifting off into a sudden sleep.

Lucy was running, running like she never had before. Her heart was racing and sweat drenched her entire body. The sickly black fog was closing in on her and it seemed like, no matter how fast she ran, she was not going to get away from it.

"Lucy, you can't keep running!" A voice taunted her from the tendrils of shadows.

"No, I won't come back! You can't take me away!" Lucy answered in a strained voice and the voice just cackled. Suddenly, she tripped and the shadows enveloped her, suffocating her airways. She flipped onto her back, facing the fog head on and shrieked as it took the form of her father, a sadistic grin spread wide across his face.

"Welcome back, Lucy."

Lucy woke with a jolt and gasping for breath. She felt sweat saturating her night blouse and was met with the concerned stares of Natsu and Happy in the early morning light.

"You alright? We heard ya screamin', kind of, in your sleep…" Natsu asked her worriedly and Lucy quickly took in a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"I-I'm fine now, thank you. Just a nightmare." Lucy drew a shaky hand through her tangled hair, nodding at the boys and quickly paced to the bathroom to take a shower. I'm so afraid he's going to find me… Father…