"Hiya Lucy~" The blonde girl giggled as she and Levy greeted each other as Lucy returned to the guild after yet another successful mission. "So, how did it go?~ Your mission went well?"

"Oh yeah~" Lucy answered gleefully. "I've already got more than enough to pay my rent for this month. And next month, and the month after that~ I'm set~ Now I can finally start saving up for those books I want~"

"Ooh~ I'm so happy for you, Lucy~ That's great news~"

From his seat at the bar, Gajeel grunted as he listened to the two squealing females.

"Geez they're loud," he grumbled under his breath. "Bet you could hear them from halfway across the city." With a huff, he took an annoyed bite out of the metal mug he was holding, grinding it down between his teeth.

"Gajeel!" He stopped mid-chew as Mirajane came up to him from her place behind the counter, looking at him disapprovingly. "I've asked you time and time again, please don't eat the mugs! We do need to reuse those!"

"Right, sorry," he apologized not all too sincerely as he looked at the mug, still pretty well intact, only now with his bite-mark in it again. After a bit of work, he managed to make up a small patch, just enough to cover up the side and be able to seal any more liquids from leaking out of that portion of the side. "There, fixed your mug." He went to put it (none too gently) down on the counter, but then accidentally did so right on the head of Natsu, who was sitting right beside him at the bar.

"Ooowww..." Natsu groaned listlessly. Gajeel popped up an eyebrow at the lack of a proper reaction from the dragon slayer. By now usually there would have been a brawl or something, but he was still just sitting there like a limp, wet noodle.

"What's with you now?" he asked the pink-haired male curiously as he showed a rare moment of courtesy by moving the mug off of Natsu's head and placing it on the counter instead.

"Upset about the fight with Freed," Lisanna sighed as she petted Natsu's head, where a small bump had begun to form. Gajeel took on an expression of surprise and confusion a the answer he received.

"That was over two weeks ago."

"Yeah..." Gajeel eyed Lisanna and Natsu a moment, then grunted as he turned himself back to the bar counter again.

"Guy needs to learn to get over himself already," he grumbled. "Hey, I need another drink over here!"

As Gajeel's attention was moved away from the other Dragon Slayer beside him and the Celestial Mage across the room, Freed was making his way over to his new blonde teammate with a job poster in his hand.

"Lucy, I believe I've found a good job for us to do. It's a body-guarding job for a client in a city near the oceanside."

"Ooh! The ocean? Awesome! I haven't been there in so long! This will be the perfect chance to try out my new swimsuit~" Lucy grinned.

"Aww, lucky you, Lucy," Levy whined with a hint of envy in her eye.

"We'll have to leave by tomorrow, so I think it would be best if you went home and got your things packed," Freed suggested. "Come on, I'll walk you there, and then go and let Evergreen and Bixlow know that we'll be leaving."

"Awesome, let's go, then~" Lucy smiled. "Bye, Levy, see you later~"

"Bye Lucy, have fun at the ocean~" Levy responded with equal enthusiasm. Lucy was still smiling, but then her brown eyes suddenly flashed an odd violet color. It was there and gone so quickly, Levy hardly had time to register that it was there at all.

"Oh, by the way, bless you, Levy," Lucy said over her shoulder as she walked out the door beside Freed. Levy paused her wave a moment, confused as to why Lucy would tell her such a thing. However, the very next second, she sneezed softly, leaving her more confounded than confused.

"..." Lisanna was quiet for a moment, having been watching the exchange between the two friends from her stool beside the depressed Natsu. "... Sis, I need to do something, can you watch my drink for a bit?" Mirajane gave her younger sister a confused look, and before she could even open her mouth to respond, Lisanna was already up out of her chair. "Thanks Mira, be right back!" With this, she jumped out of her stool, running out of the guild after the blonde.

Then, for the first time in a while, Natsu stirred, and looked curiously at the retreating back of his childhood friend.

–

"You've been practicing that precognition magic, Lucy, I'm impressed. I hardly knew you had used it until you said that to Levy," Freed complimented. Lucy smiled and rubbed the back of her head, a bit embarrassed at the compliment.

"Well, you know me. Once I get something in my head that I'm going to do, I just sort of stick with it, you know." She looked down at him (given she was once again walking along the raised edge of the river, only it was too early in the day for the usual boatmen to pass by and greet her as per usual), smiling. "Anyways, I have you and all the rest to thank for helping me learn this. It's really hard magic, but thanks to you guys, I think I'm really starting to get the hang of it."

"Think nothing of it, anything to help a teammate," Freed smiled. He was about to say more, but he stopped as they reached the already-familiar building.

"Well, it seems we're here. We'll be seeing you at the train station tomorrow, Lucy, 8 'o clock sharp."

"I'll be there. Bye, Freed~" Lucy jumped down from the raised concrete edge of the river (drawing a light flush from Freed as the movement showed brief flash of her panties), waved at him, then went into her house to begin packing.

–

"Hm... let's see... flowers or stripes..." she murmured, looking between two bikinis that she was choosing between taking with her on the mission. Hey, they were going to a place by the beach after all. Best be prepared. "Flowers... stripes... flowers..." She was just furrowing her brow as she tried to make a decision, when she heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" She put down her two choices, then made her way over and opened the door. "Hello? Who is-" she stopped short when she saw who it was. "... Lisanna?"

"Hi, Lucy," the white-haired girl greeted a bit meekly. "... Um... listen... I know this might seem a little sudden but... well, I sort of wanted to talk to you."

"... Lisanna, look if this is about Natsu, I'm not-"

"No! No, don't get me wrong, this has absolutely nothing to do with Natsu, I promise," Lisanna said quickly, even going as far as to put her hands up in order to deny the connection between her desire to talk and the issue of the Fire Dragon Slayer. "It's just... well... I've gotten to know everyone in the guild again, even all the new faces. But... well, I haven't really had a chance to talk with you." She looked a bit forlorn as she went on. "I know how this might seem to you, me being good friends with Natsu, but I don't want to talk to you about him or the troubles between you guys or anything. I... just want to talk to you. I mean, even when we were on the same team, we never really had the chance to just... talk, you know?"

Lucy scrutinized the other girl for a moment, trying to see if there was anything dishonest in her words. However, all she got was a pair of wide, blue eyes gazing at her.

"...Well, I'm going to be gone for a bit, because I have a mission I'm leaving for tomorrow, but... I know this pretty good cafe in the center of town. Maybe when I get back... we could go and get some tea there?" Lisanna smiled brightly when Lucy suggested the eatery.

"Really? That sounds great, Lucy!" she smiled, light twinkling in her eyes.

"Well, sure. I mean, I'm not on great terms with Natsu right now, but that doesn't mean I should give up making a friend just because of him," Lucy smiled, though a bit less so than Lisanna.

"Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt, Lucy, I hope this means we can be good friends. Well, I'll see you when you get back, hope you have fun on your mission~" She smiled and waved as she started down the street back to the guild. "Bye Lucy~"

"See you later, Lisanna," Lucy called after her. She actually smiled a bit more as she watched the other girl walk down the street. Hey, just because she was a friend of Natsu's, that didn't mean she couldn't be a friend of hers, too. Still smiling, she went back into her house and closed the door.

However, both Lucy and Lisanna were blissfully unaware of a certain pink-haired mage lurking in the shadows of a building nearby, ears trained on every word...