Lucy smiled and looked around from her perch on a large boulder, before hopping off and running further up the mountain. She twirled around in her new outfit gleefully as she reached a familiar clearing on the mountain side, eagerly waiting for her grandfather to arrive. She tried stare up at the dark shape that blotted out the sun, the wind from the massive set of wings making her squint her eyes. The form slowly descended, shifting back into a more human form.

"Grandpa Acno!"

The man in question smirked and shook some stray hair out of his face, carefully setting a large sack that had been slung over his shoulder on to the grassy space.

"Hey Hatchling. Looks like you beat me."

"Yup! Though… I did have a shorter way to go."

The two spread out a large blanket to sit on and set up an array of foods for their lunch. Lucy clapped her hands excitedly as she saw Acnologia pull out a white box from his bag.

"Is that-"

Her grandfather opened the box, revealing a small cake with light pink frosting.

"Happy eleventh birthday, Lucy."

"Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon then. Dig in, then we can do presents and train for bit. That sounded good?"

The blonde nodded happily, eating her fill as she observed the beautiful scenery around them.

"You done?"

"Hm? Yeah! I'm done! Can we do presents now?"

Acnologia let out a bark of laughter, and dug into his bag.

"Yeah hatchling. We can do presents. Here you go."

Lucy grinned and took the box from the Dragon Slayer. Her gift wasn't exactly a secret; he got her the same thing every year, for her birthday and for Christmas. There were always four gifts: a gate key, and outfit, a sweet, and a book. She had already gotten the outfit, a cute red skirt, a loose pale blue blouse with a red bow, brown boots, and a red ribbon for her hair. This was clearly a gate key. Lucy opened the box and squealed.

"It's the Little Lion! Leo Minor!"

Acnologia smirked.

"Yup. That's… twelve keys ya got now, right?"

"Yup! I've got Aquarius and Taurus and Cancer and Crux and Lyra and Pyxis and Horologium and Pavo and Cassiopeia and Musca and Puppis and now Leo Minor!"

"Glad you're happy, Hatchling. Sorry I couldn't find those two you really wanted."

"Carina and Vela? It's okay. I'm probably not powerful enough to summon three spirits at once anyway. I just wanted them so that I could have the entire ship."

"Alright then. We'll just have to make sure you get stronger so that when you do get them, you can summon all three and have your ship. Why ya would want a ship though is beyond me. Things are fucking devil traps…"

"That's only because you get motion sickness Grandpa Acno."

"Shut it Brat. Here's another present."

Lucy smiled and eagerly tore of the wrapping paper, to see a box a fine chocolates.

"Thanks Grandpa Acno!"

"Yeah, well, you like those, dontcha? This is your last gift. Here."

Lucy unwrapped her last gift with glee, while Acnologia slowly lifted his hands to cover his ears. The right choice it seemed, as Lucy squealed in a pitch Acnologia wasn't even aware humans could reach.

"Oh my word oh my word! It's Heaven Falling! The last book in Kemu Zaleon's Stella Eclipse series!"

"That's the one you wanted, ain't it?"

"Eeeeeeee! Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!"

Acnologia sighed with a smile, before lifting a hand and ruffling Lucy's hair.

"Grandpa Acno! You're messing it up!"

"We begin training in five. It'll get messed up anyway."

"Hmpf."

"I gotcha that new key, right? You should make that contract."

Lucy stood up and brushed off her skirt. Then she opened up the small box again and pulled out the silver key.

"Okay." The girl took a deep breath and held the key out in front of her, her feet planted apart and her back straight.

"I call upon thee, in the world of the Celestial Spirits! I beckon you to my side. Pass through the gate! Open, gate of the Little Lion! Leo Minor!

There was a poof of white smoke. When it cleared, there was a young boy. He looked to be around the same age as Lucy, with spiky white hair, cat ears, a lion's tail, claws, and green, feline-like eyes. He had no shirt or shoes, though he sported loose, cream-colored pants with a bright red scarf tied around his waist, he also had sleeves on his arms that matched his pants and a hickory brown collar around his neck. The boy smirked, a sharp fang visible.

"Hey there! You're my new big sis, I take it?"

Lucy blinked, before pulling out her notebook and smiling.

"Yes, I suppose I am. My name's Lucy. Can we start making a contract?"

"Course. For the record, I go by Lenor. I'm free everyday from six in the morning to noon, then from two in the afternoon to eleven at night."

"Awesome! I'll remember that Lenor, thanks!"

"No problem." Lenor smiled. "Call me when you need me sis! See ya later!" The boy then disappeared with a pop.

"Alright Hatchling. Let's train."

"That was a good try, but you need to be quicker!"

"Agh! That hurt!"

"No pain no gain Brat. Let's try sparring with magic now."

"Now?! Grandpa Acno, you just destroyed me!"

"Fine, five minutes. Then we spar."

"Deal."

"I'm dying."

"No you're not."

"I'm dying."

"You're not."

"I'm died."

"Nope. You just completely exhausted your magic reserves."

Lucy groaned as her grandfather carried her down the mountain on his back. They continued down the mountain in silence for a few minutes before Acnologia spoke up.

"What're ya thinking about?"

"Not much."

"And what is 'Not much'?"

"The future."

Acnologia barked.

"That's more than 'Not much' Hatchling. What about the future are you thinking about?"

"What I'm going to do when I grow up."

"Hn. And what is that?"

"Well, I want to join a magic guild, but I also want to write a novel."

"So do both."

"Well, yeah. But I don't want to leave you."

"You'll have to someday."

"I don't want to lose you too!"

"You won't. Not in the manner your thinking. But you need to live your own life. You need people. Friends. Though, if you get a boyfriend I reserve the right to threaten him."

"Grandpa Acno!"

"What?!"

"Blearg! Wha- Oh you are going down."

Lucy giggled at her now-wet grandfather. He had been resting on a log while Lucy swam in the pool under the waterfall. Typically, Lucy would summon Aquarius, but she was still low on magic from sparring earlier. Seeing her grandfather laying so unguarded gave Lucy the idea to splash him. He had quickly woken up to the water on his face. The man stalked over to the edge of the water, threw of his cloak, and dived in, hitting the blonde girl with a wave of water. Said girl squealed with delight, a used an arm to make her own wave. This went on till the sun began to set, and the two walked up to their home in the mountainside.

"I'm so full."

"You shouldn't have eaten three pieces of cake."

Lucy grumbled and combed through her damp hair.

"I know. But was good, and I still felt kinda hungry."

"You should've waited to see if you were truly hungry."

"Hmpf."

Acnologia rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon. To bed with you. The suns' been down for hours now. You should be asleep."

Lucy yawned, stretched, and blinked her eyes a couple times before sighing.

"… yeah. Probably right."

Lucy trudged to her room, slipping under the curtain that separated it from the rest of the home, Acnologia behind her. With a yawn, she crawled into her bed and yanked the sheets up to her chest. Acnologia sighed and carefully pulled the sheets and blankets up to the blonde's chin, before leaning over and kissing Lucy on the forehead.

"Happy Birthday Hatchling. Love you. Night."

"Love you too. G'night Grandpa Acno."