Creak

The house was a lot older than she remembered it. But she shouldn't have been surprised.

The last time she had been there was over 7 years ago, right after she had entered the guild. Back then, it had tons of servants and even more lights.

Now, though, it was empty.

The house still belonged to the Heartfillia family. Her father couldn't sell it when he had gone bankrupt, so he had abandoned it. And now it sat there, without electricity or care, empty in a field Lucy couldn't see the other end of.

Slowly, Lucy walked from one end of the house to the other, lighting candles as she went.

"Where is a broom," she muttered to herself.

"Plue!" the spirit cried happily, running to the nearest closet. He opened it, and Lucy barely had time to snatch him out of the way as a pile of cleaning supplies crashed out.

"Be careful," she told him, picking the things up.

Then, she dug out a broom from the pile and went to work. She - and Plue - swept and mopped the floors, dusted the shelves, and opened all the windows. In the sunlight, it really was a wonderful place.

"Wanna deliver a message for me?" she asked Plue who, as she knew he would, trembled in excitment.

Dear Hibiki

I'm out of a job (and a Guild) at the moment

So I figured I'd resort to favors too

Care to send me a job flier of two?

I'll stop by and say hi in a while.

- Lucy

"Here you go, Plue," she gave the note to the spirit and watched as he ran out the door.

Lucy sat on the familiar oak desk, and looked out the familiar window at the familiar scenery. "Daddy, i know your busy and forgot," she whispered to herself, thinking of a particularly sad memory of hers. "But it's my Birthday."

It seemed like a good day to rain.

So why was it so sunny?