It took a while, but here is the next chapter! Totomaru was difficult to write, but Romeo was a dear. I'm excited to get to finishing this one, so there will be a monthly update on it until it's complete.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Growing up, Lucy had come to have a certain expectation when it came to the teaching profession. Her only frames of reference being her own tutors, and the teachers mentioned in the novels she'd read, Lucy had gotten the impression that teaching was a chore, leaving her mystified as to why anyone would ever bother pursuing it as a career.

Seeing Totomaru in his element, however, rendered her previous assumptions completely false. And he was definitely in his element. The children were a lot more engaged than she remembered herself being at that age. She was even learning some new things as well, specifically in the area of magical history. There was a lot her tutors had glossed over in that department. Likely at the direct order of her father, she couldn't help but think. Jude had wanted to keep her as far away from her inheritance of magic as possible. So this whole thing was incredibly ironic to her as well; that one of the people that had tried to return her to Jude's control was in front of her now in the capacity of a teacher, carrying on about the same topics that had been forbidden to her younger self.

Her pleasant bubble she'd sunk into over the course of the lesson was briefly shattered when her role turned out to be a lot more… participatory than Romeo had led her to believe when he'd asked her to come along. But somehow she'd managed to stumble through the questions about being in Fairy Tail, her team, what some of the harder jobs were like, and if she had any advice to give to the young mages present.

That last one had given her great pause. But out of the corner of her eye, she spotted that poster of Natsu again. And memories of all their adventures flashed across her mind at the sight of it.

It decided her response.

Lucy had squared her jaw, and turned a steely gaze at the children, her brown eyes boring into their souls. Her tone grave, she had told them, "Do not destroy property. For the love of god. It's not worth it. It's really not worth it."

Totomaru had let out an ugly, swiftly smothered snort at her answer, leaving her cheeks to burn. But Romeo's nod of keen understanding and solidarity soothed the embarrassment a bit. The other children were quick to sagely agree with her words as well, a knowing look full of pity in their eyes as they gazed at her.

To be honest, she was kind of regretting her off-the-cuff answer now that the class was over. This had been her chance to impart wisdom upon the younger mages. And she'd blown it.

Also, now that the class was over, there was really no chance to talk to Totomaru. Most of the children had brought their parents with them as the mage they looked up to, so they were taking the opportunity to ask the teacher questions.

Instead, she turned to Romeo and grinned at him. "You ready to go? Or should I head back by myself while you hang out with your friends?"

Romeo peered up at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you trying to get rid of me, Lucy?" Totomaru and Lucy had acted weird when they'd seen each other, like… Bisca and Alzack before Bisca proposed levels of weird. And Romeo remembered how that relationship had ended up. He was often stuck babysitting the result, after all.

Lucy really wasn't trying to ditch Romeo, but the expression on his face was enough to elicit a genuine laugh from her, which in turn garnered an even funnier offended expression from the young mage. "Hey!" he protested. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like she was making fun of him a little.

She was caught by another bout of giggles at his response. "It's nothing, Romeo!" she insisted, struggling to breathe and shaking slightly in her mirth. After a minute, her giggles subsided. "So…" she began, wiping a stray tear of laughter from her eye. "I don't think we discussed what we were going to tell your dad when we got back, about where you were all day."

Grabbing his bag, Romeo stood up from his desk. "Dad probably didn't even notice I was gone." He gave her a half-shrug and a roll of his eyes. "And if he did, then I can just tell him that I was hanging out with you all day."

"Actually, you might want to revise that to hanging out with your friends," Lucy informed him, her face twisting up in distaste. "He'll tease you nonstop."

Horror stole over Romeo, his entire body frozen as he envisioned it. "Yeah, you've got a point. Why are is he so embarrassing…?"

"I honestly wouldn't know. My father generally wanted nothing to do with me, and by the time he did…" Lucy's voice trailed off, and her eyes shifted away, towards the ground. "Well, it was too late by that point."

She looked up when she felt Romeo awkwardly pat her arm. "I'm sorry, Lucy."

The comforting action drew a small smile out of her, her brown eyes lighting up once more. "Don't worry about it, Romeo." When it looked like he wasn't going to let it drop after all, Lucy offered, "How about you and I go get some ice cream on our way back to the guild?"

Temptation such as this was not beneath the teenager to accept, even if it was a transparent dodge. "Sure thing. That place over on Yew Avenue?"

He had expensive taste, Lucy thought with dawning despair and a couple of quick mental calculations. "Sounds good to me." She could afford it this time.

They had made it halfway to the door before Romeo suddenly spun around and waved at his teacher. "See you tomorrow!" he called out.

Still distracted by the parents, Totomaru gave him a short wave back. "Don't forget that there's a quiz, Romeo!"

"I won't!"

Lucy lifted her hand and gave the teacher a little wave as well, but she wasn't sure if he'd seen it. He was beginning to look a little strained as the parents continued to grill him about their children.

Once the pair were back out onto Magnolia's streets, Lucy stretched her arms above her head. "I really like your school, Romeo!" she told him, her arms falling back down to her sides. "But I gotta say, it's a little cramped."

The boy nodded. "Yeah, the building's really old. I think it's been there since Magnolia was founded, or something. You know, like a… a historical landmark?"

"I guess that makes sense," Lucy agreed. "So…" The syllable was dragged out, hanging in the air between them. "Totomaru, huh. Now that I think about it, I do remember you mentioning it when we first got back from Tenrou Island that he was your teacher. I gotta say, it's one thing to hear it, but another to see it firsthand. I wonder how that happened."

Romeo rolled his eyes at his guildmate. Somehow, he just knew that the topic would return to his teacher eventually. He had expected more restraint on Lucy's part, though. "He's never talked about it, and I've never asked."

"And of all places, why Magnolia?" she continued, either not registering Romeo's words, or just ignoring them. "That's the strangest part by far. Of all the places he could have gone to teach, why set up in the same city his guild was defeated in?"

The teenager made a helpless gesture at her. "Again, how would I know? We don't talk about stuff like that. As far as I'm concerned, he's just my teacher."

Lucy couldn't resist the urge to poke at Romeo's pride. "A teacher with a grudge on your hero," she reminded him, a sly smile spreading across her face.

"Stop that!" he protested. "You're spending too much time with Happy; your face is starting to look like his when he's in teasing mode. It's kind of creepy, actually. Next you'll be asking me for fish."

The comment struck Lucy a death blow, and she outright choked as the air suddenly fled her lungs. Romeo laughed at her offended expression, lightly jogging ahead of her to avoid the possibility of retaliation.

"Get back here!" she shouted at him, picking up speed and chasing the boy through the streets as he laughed. "You come back here and say that to my face!"