Hello person who is reading this! I'm Syberella but you can call me Ella. I've always been one that was fascinated by writing and reading other people's works but I've finally decided to start publicly writing some of my work to get feedback (if possible). Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this story. This is the first story fanfic (not one-shot) that I have ever written so please be kind D:

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Characters: Pretty much most of the FT characters but mainly Lucy, Natsu, Romeo and Wendy.

Rating: Teen

Warning: Swearing, Nalu feels (xD), Oh and in this AU Lucy is going to be... different BUT worry not my fellow Nalu shippers. It will be okay.

Disclaimer: These characters do NOT belong to me. They belong to trollshima. (aka Hiro)

Summary:

Lucy Heartfilia is a 17 year old girl who loved to collect keys, write books and longed for an adventure. Lucy lived her whole live working various rigorous jobs and took up the challenge of raising two young children she has known her whole life. Being an independent, hard-willed girl who never trusted anybody she talked to , she become known in Magnolia as the Gated Spirit. What will happen when Lucy accidentally finds the one person who will unravel her once mysterious past and troubles? Once the tower of lies constructed by those around her starts to crumble, she will finally realize who is really on her side and who is out to destroy her. The sinister plots of those who will betray her will start to unfold and the only person who could possibly save her is a certain pink-haired teen whom she feels conflicted about.. Could he possibly be the key to opening her sealed away heart and secrets? Could he be the flame she's been longing for?

Chapter 1: A Daily Dose of Dough

It was late June and the sun was beating down on the citizens of Magnolia. Most people were either indoors or were at the local pools trying to cool themselves off. Stores around the city were relatively empty compared to previous days when the streets were full life.

Most of the street vendors were relaxing in this peaceful atmosphere since they have not had a chance to relax ever since the summer season began. The streets were silent and the world seemed actually peaceful for once.

Well, almost peaceful…

"Come back here you little brats, you guys did not pay for that!" yelled a middle-aged man.

Suddenly, two kids ran out of the local pastry shop clutching bags filled with the store owner's finest bread. They had slightly amused and somewhat terrified expressions on their faces as they ran down the block.

One kid was a slim, young boy with straight dark hair with bangs. He wore an open jacket that showed his prominent abdominal muscles and biceps while wearing loose-fitted pants. The other child was a petite, young girl with fair skin and dark blue hair that reached down to her waist. She had big brown eyes and was wearing a dress with a yellow and blue pattern on it with a white bow in the center of her chest making look her even more innocent.

"Sorry we really need this food!" shouted out the little girl.

He was infuriated because he had trusted those kids. Tch after everything I've done for those ungrateful brats and they steal from me!

The kids kept running deeper into the town until then finally found an alleyway that they decided was best to hide in. They hid behind one of the dumpsters until they heard Mr. Clive run past them muttering furiously to himself.

"She isn't going to be happy about this you know." The little girl whispered.

"But I wanna surprise her 'cause she deserves it. Plus we need the money and you know that." The little boy smiled reassuringly at her.

"If we get caught it's your fault." She frowned and he grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze before they checked if the coast was clear.

Seeing that Mr. Clive was long gone, the kids ran towards where they knew their favorite elder was working during this hour. They ran to a small shop at the end of town that sold sweets and pastries. When they opened the door, the bell that alerted the workers that there was a costumer in the shop made a satisfying noise. An old woman came to the front of the store and she smiled when she recognized the children.

"Follow me, she's this way."

The old woman took them to the upstairs part of her shop which was a residential area and spotted her cleaning the room. She pointed the kids in the young woman's direction and then walked back down stairs when she heard the door bells ring.

"Miss Lucy!" The children yelled and ran up to her.

The young woman was quite attractive. She was in her early twenties with curves that perfectly hugged her uniform. She was fairly taller than most girls by an inch or two and golden hair that usually spilled over her shoulders but at the moment she had it tied up in a perfect bun. Her best feature were her exquisite chocolate brown eyes. They may be a common eye color however anyone who looked at them were quite memorized at how kindly they looked at you and captured your attention.

"Romeo, Wendy." Lucy smiled softly and hugged the kids who were hugging her amorously.

"Look at what we got for you!" Romeo gave her a bright, toothy smile and held up the bag of bread.

"That's wonderful, thank you." Lucy grabbed the bag and suspiciously eyed it.

"Oh no." Wendy whispered.

"Where did you guys get this?" Lucy questioned the kids.

Busted. Romeo and Wendy shied away from Lucy as if to avoid her questioning look. A happy Lucy was oddly comforting. When she was happy, the whole room seemed to brighten up however a mad Lucy was a completely different entity. The kids noticed Lucy frown and place the bread on a near by desk.

"Sorry Lucy, we just wanted to make you feel better. You've been sad a lot lately and so we brought you bread so you don't have so spend so much money so that you're not so sad anymore." Wendy said shyly as she hid behind Romeo.

Lucy sighed, "I appreciate the thought you two, I really do. Stealing, however, is not acceptable. The poor person who worked for this bread just lost around 40 jewels."

Romeo and Wendy suddenly felt bad for Mr. Clive. The old man had shown them compassion whenever they would walk into his bakery and yet these kids decided to steal from him. Thar was no way to treat someone who was so kind. They would be upset up someone decided to steal from their beloved Lucy and they could imagine how Mr. Clive must have felt when they ran off with his hard-earned bread.

"We'll return the bread to him then." Romeo suggested to lessen the disappointment that seemed to radiate off of Lucy.

Lucy looked out the window and frowned again. "It's getting late, I was about to head home too and it wouldn't be safe for you two to be out there at night."

Night was a forbidden time for Romeo and Wendy to go outside. Lucy was already extremely lenient with the children when it came to where they could go, what they could do, and who they were able to see. If there were three things that Lucy was overwhelming strict on they would be no lying, no making promises you couldn't keep and no going out at night.

Both kids thought that the third rule was the odd one out from the three. The other two made sense to them as they knew it was morally wrong but they last one didn't apply to that. Whenever they asked her why they weren't allowed to go out at night, she would give them a look that made them shrink wherever they were standing and would say "never mind" and scurry away. It was absolutely forbidden. It was absolutely a secret.

Lucy grabbed a coat and wrapped it around her. It covered her uniform and the hood would cover her hair and face however it failed to hide her magnetic aura and the way her hips swayed as she walked. "Let's go."

She waved goodbye at the old woman and walked out the front door with Romeo holding her left hand and Wendy holding her right. The sun was going down and people had begun closing their shops while others also headed home. It was odd seeing people close down their stories so early when they still had a few good hours of people walking around left but the kids decided not to question it any further.

The arrived at Lucy's apartment and walked inside the familiar place. The tense atmosphere seemed to just evaporate with the smell of their elder's house. Lucy took off her hood and looked through her mail. The kids knew it would be time for them to go to bed soon so they decided to look for a snack in her refrigerator.

"You bought strawberry cake?" Romeo and Wendy's eyes sparkled as they eyed the cake.

"Yes, it's your favorite right? I thought it'd be a nice treat." Lucy said without looking up from the mail she was reading.

Romeo and Wendy divulged into the cake. It had been a while since they had their favorite desert and it completely pulled them out of the gloomy mood they had been in. After a good twenty minutes of eating a couple slices of cake, Lucy reminded the kids that they had school the next day. Romeo finished washing the plates while Wendy separated their uniforms for tomorrow.

The kids changed into their pajamas and waiting for Lucy to say goodnight to them as she always did. After a little bit, Lucy walked into their room and she noticed that the kids were starting to drift to sleep. "Goodnight Romeo. Goodnight Wendy." And she slipped out when she knew that the kids were deeply asleep.

Lucy was not going to sleep just yet. She had another shift at another work place. She grabbed her keys, placed the hood over her head again, and she headed out into the very thing that she had forbidden the kids to wander around in. The night.

One would imagine that in a town like Magnolia that the night would be a quiet place. That statement could be more incorrect. At night, party-hungry teens and older folk looking to live a more risqué double life were out and about. On the main streets the people grew even more rowdy and more dangerous to be near. Lucy knew how to avoid the crowds after years of practice. She normally didn't have any trouble getting to work however tonight there was a problem.

A construction site was blocking the road, disrupting Lucy's usual route. However, Lucy was prepared and decided that she would use her backup route. At a steady walk, Lucy maneuvered in the dark avoided anyone that she saw. There was no way she was going to risk being recognized by anyone.

She was halfway there to her workplace when she heard two people fighting. She was conflicted as to whether or not to intervene because it was not her business in the first place. Lucy decided that she was just going to walk away until she heard a sound crash and maniacal laughter. She ran to the source of the sound and peeked around the corner and saw a woman with red hair in braids and a sparkly, long red dress.

Lucy noticed that the red-haired woman was staring at a man who had been thrown on the ground. Suddenly, the woman's hair grew larger and coiled around the man like a snake who had just captured its pray. Lucy hissed. Of all of nights I had to encounter a damn mage now. She kept staring at the quarrel wondering why the man with the strange colored hair wasn't fighting back.

She longer she stared, the more she felt this sinking feeling that something wasn't right. The man was unconscious. There were certain rules that every mage had to follow. One of those unspoken rules was to have fights that were fairly one. Another was that it was punishable by death to kill another mage.

I have to do something otherwise he might die. Lucy thought to herself. She sighed and pulled out the gun that she kept hidden in her clothes whenever she went out at night. It wasn't any regular gun. It was one that Lucy that created to mute a magic-user's powers long enough to escape. She aimed it at the woman and didn't hesitate to shoot.

*Bang*

The woman shrieked as her convulsed in pain. Her hair shrunk back to their normal length and she fell on the floor. "What the hell? My powers…they're gone!"

Lucy stepped out and walked towards the mage. "Off with you, you magic user."

The woman slowly got up and looked at the cloaked figure. "You… what did you do to me?"

"Walk away if you know what's best for you." Lucy said impatiently.

"You'll regret this." The woman said with a creepy grin and ran away.

Lucy glanced at the man on the floor. She kneeled and softly touched the man's face. She placed her head on his chest to listen to a heartbeat. She was relieved when she heard a strong heartbeat and lifted her head. The man slowly opened his eyes but his eyes shot wide open the moment he realized a figure was leaning over him. "Damn."

"Is that all you are going to say to the woman who just saved your ass?" Lucy frowned at his ungrateful attitude but it's not like he could see her face anyway.

"Sorry I…ugh just what happened? I was so fired up to fight Flare and next thing I know she's gone." He groaned while placing his hand on his head.

"I didn't see how you became unconscious. I simply scared her away." Her voice rang with satisfaction.

He gave her a goofy smile truly amazed at this strange person. "I've never seen someone scare her away. She's usually the one who scares others away with that creepy smile of hers."

"Well I see that you're fine now so I'll just be going now." Lucy got up and started to walk away however the pink-haired wouldn't let her slip away so easily.

"What's your name?" He said as he happily walked next to Lucy stretching.

She kept walking, ignoring the man. She had just met him and yet he had the decency to start prying into her life. She wasn't an open book to people she knew well so there was no way that he was going to be an open book for him. The man stepped in front of her and Lucy let out an annoyed groan.

"I'll leave ya alone if ya tell me your name." He said with a grin.

Lucy scoffed and walked around him. Once again the man stepped in front of her and smiled, stopping her once again. "I'm Natsu."

Lucy hesitated, "Call me… Star."

Her eyes widened. Had she just given him a hint about her identity? What the hell is wrong with me? Surprised with her choice to reveal part of her identity she pushed the man, ran and turned a corner. Natsu followed her but once she turned the corner she had disappeared into the crowd of people that were roaming the streets.

Natsu had a dopey smile on his face and took in the scent of the mysterious woman which still lingered in the air. Like hell he would forget that smell that seemed to engulf the woman. "Strawberries and cream, huh?"