I do not own Fairy Tail

That Monday was absolutely nerve-wracking. All morning, all Lucy could think about was lunchtime, her promise to sit at the big, boisterous table that contained Fairy Tail's central members. She had watched that table for all the time she had been here. She had felt soaring triumph every time that the air around one of its inhabitants lightened just that much. But she wasn't one hundred percent sure that she was ready for actually talking to them. And yet…if she wasn't ready now, she might never be. Levy was right, she just had to try.

The issue of the Bluebird had turned out to be not much of an issue at all, really. There were things she could tell them that were perfectly true, but also misleading. She had been careful about her movements and actions, and there were certain advantages to having an ally or two in the school as well. Loke, and more recently Hibiki Lates, had done wonders for her ability to hide her trail. She did feel a little bit bad for what she was about to do, though.

When Lucy walked into the cafeteria, she immediately saw Levy, all wild blue hair and bright orange cloth, waving at her. The petite girl was sitting at one end of the enormous table that was generally understood to be Fairy Tail's, along with Gray Fullbuster, Mirajane Strauss, and Natsu fricken Dragneel. Gulping, she walked over to them. In and out, deep breaths, this would be easy. She had done her research on all of these people, knew that they were truly wonderful. Mirajane was a bit of a gossip, but only with the best intentions. She was everyone's big sister. Gray might seem a bit scowl-y, but he had proven on many occasions to have a heart of gold. Natsu didn't even need explanation. He was the heart and soul of Fairy Tail. They wouldn't bite.

"H-hey Levy!" Lucy waved awkwardly as she slid onto the bench beside Levy, dropping her bag on the floor. Levy positively beamed at her, turning back to the rest of the table.

"Guys, this is Lucy, the one that I was telling you about! She's really nice and very smart, and she's going to help us out with this! Lucy, you know Erza and Natsu, right? And Gray Fullbuster, I've told you about him, too." She smiled, looking back at Lucy expectantly. Lucy waved again, feeling like all the air had gone out of the room.

"Nice to meet you guys."

Erza, sitting across from her, grabbed the hand she had been waving with and shook it firmly. Maybe a little too firm, actually – Lucy could feel the bones in her hand creaking. "It is an honor to meet you at last, Lucy. I have been told you may be able to help us find the Bluebird?" The older girl's dark eyes were earnest and serious, but there was some warmth there. Maybe this wouldn't be so scary after all. Erza was the most intimidating, at least, and she wasn't so bad…mostly.

Lucy chuckled nervously, trying to rub some feeling back into her hand. "Well, I don't know how useful I'll be, but I'm going to try my best! I have some ideas already, and I'll be keeping an eye out for anything that might be a clue." Erza smiled benevolently.

"Well then, let's hear these ideas!"

Lucy laughed nervously, pulling out the notes Levy had slipped her after her recruitment to the cause. "Um, I was looking over your lists of where the cranes have been found, and I noticed something kind of weird…"

Levy sat straight up in her chair, suddenly very interested. "What is it? I've been over those lists a dozen times!"

"Well, it's actually been a fairly recent development, so it's not on the lists. Anyway, most of the cranes are found in classrooms or other public areas, right? The library, the gardens, the hallways, even here in the cafeteria sometimes. But they're never in the teachers' offices or breakrooms, and they aren't in any of the advisors' areas or common rooms." As she laid down her evidence, Lucy began to feel more confident. They were listening, no one was looking at her weird – it was just like giving a report in front of a class. Now, to lay down some false trails. "But the thing is, just yesterday a crane was found in one of the common rooms. It was tucked in between two books on a shelf in the Blue Pegasus lounge. I – I guess it is possible that someone just re-hid a crane if they didn't need it or something, so we can't be sure about anything, but my friend from Blue Pegasus told me about it, and since only members of that guild have access, it could mean the bluebird is one of them." Looking around the table, Lucy could see that they were all hooked. Thank goodness Hibiki was less careful about hiding them than Lucy and Loke were, although she did feel a little bad for lying to her new friends and putting them on his scent.

Natsu grinned at her, canines showing and eyes crinkling up, and Lucy had to fight not to blush. That was how he smiled at the people he really liked! God, how long had she been wishing for him to smile at her like that?

"Wow, Levy! You were totally right, she is really smart!" Now Lucy really was blushing, but that was okay, right? It was okay to blush at a compliment! No one would think that was weird.

"Yeah, good job new girl." Gray smirked at her, offering a high-five which she hesitantly returned. All she had done was transmit information they would have gotten by the next day anyway. It wasn't that big a deal. And yet she was being celebrated. Mirajane had reached across the table to squeeze her shoulder with a brilliant smile, and even Erza was nodding approvingly.

"I told you so," Levy whispered in her ear, giving a half-hug before pulling back. Maybe this was just a part of being friends with the Fairy Tail crowd. Maybe this was just what having friends felt like in general. Whatever it was, Lucy could get used to this.