"Flame brain!"

"Ice princess!"

"Squinty eyes!"

"Droopy eyes"

"Fiery mouth-

The young, blonde woman heard the yelling from inside the doors of the guild hall suddenly stop, replaced by a series of loud crashes. She sighed, pushing the heavy doors open gingerly. Inside, there were two young men glaring at each other, one with his hands surrounded by crimson flames, and other with mist falling off his shoulders to cover his body. The first was dressed in a loose, dark colored vest, light, knee length shorts, and a white scarf. His hair was salmon-colored, and his hands were surrounded by red flames. The other boy was raven-haired, and his shoulders, the only thing visible through the mist, were bare. They both stood in the middle of the room, the other people inside giving them a wide berth as they went about their brawl. They glowered at each other, and seemed ready to lunge at one another.

"Knock it off you two." A stern voice interrupted their spat. This had come from a tall, red-headed girl, who had stepped between the two of them, and seemed unconcerned by their aggression. Instead of a shirt, she wore a bright silver breastplate decorated with gold, along with plated gauntlets. On her lower half, she wore a knee length blue short, along with shin-high black boots. Her face was stern as she glared at the raven-haired boy.

"And Gray, where are your clothes?" At that moment, the mist concealing the young man's body ebbed, revealing his clothes, or rather, his lack of any besides his cobalt boxers. He looked down at himself, and his face flushed red.

"Aghhhh..Sorry!" He yelled, quickly forgetting the other young man and running to find his missing clothes.

"Hahahaha, serves you right stripper!" The first man yelled after him.

"Natsu that's enough." The redhead glared at him in turn. He instantly shrunk back.

"Y-y-y-yes Erza." Natsu replied, quivering. Lucy sighed, brushing a stray blonde hair out of her face. Another normal day at fairy tail, she thought.

"Hey Lucy!" A woman's voice rang out in the guild hall. Lucy searched the guild, looking for the source of the call. A short woman waved to her from behind the bar, smiling broadly. She walked over, and the white-haired woman who had called was carrying various drinks on a tray. Lucy sat down on a barstool while the woman passed out the drinks to various people sitting around the bar, before standing in front of Lucy.

"Hi Mira." Lucy greeted, smiling. "What's up?"

"How did your mission go?" Mira asked. She gestured back behind to the drinks lining the wall behind the bar. "Want anything?"

"Fine, and a strawberry milkshake, if that's alright."

"No problem." Mira smiled. While she left to get the drink, Lucy turned to face the rest of the hall, only to see Natsu, now grinning broadly, approaching. Flying around his head was a small, blue cat with wings.

"Lucy, let's go on a job!" Natsu yelled over-excitedly.

"WHie you enthusiasm is good, Lucy just came back from a job. She probably wants to have a bit of break for once." Mira said, placing Lucy's shakein front of her. "And Besides," Mira smiled. "It's Lucy's birthday soon, or did you forget?"

"Knowing Flame-brain, he probably didn't even know Lucy HAD a birthday." Gray shouted from across the hall, now fully clothed. He wore a white, tall-collared coat, and dark cargo pants.

"We would never forget Lucy's birthday, right Happy?" Natsu asked.

"Aye sir!" The flying cat responded. Lucy blushed.

"Really, it's nothing special, just a birthday" She said.

"I can't believe you'll be twenty soon!" Lucy looked to her left seeing a short girl in a knee-length orange dress with short, blue hair. She wore a headband, keeping her long bangs from falling over her eyes.

"It's nothing, really..." Lucy's blush turned a deeper shade of red.

"Nonsense!" The bluenette shook her head. "We should do something special!"

"Do you have something in mind Levy?" Mira asked.

"Umm..." Levy replied. "We could go to the beach, or maybe go shopping!"

"Ugh," Natsu groaned. "But that stuff sounds boring!"

"That's because all you do is fight people and sleep!" Gray shouted again. Somehow, he had already lost his shirt again.

"Gray!!" Levy yelled. "Where is your shirt!?" Gray looked down again, face shocked.

"Oh, Goddamn it!!" Gray yelled, running off.

"What do you want to do Lucy?" Mira asked from behind the counter. "It is your birthday, after all."

"I kinda wanted to go back to Galuna island again." Lucy answered, lips pursed. "I imagine it would be really pretty, without everything going on like last time."

"That sounds excellent." Erza said, walking up and smiling at Lucy. "Galuna Island it is."

"ALRIGHTTT." yelled Natsu. "VACATION!"

"Ahhhhh." Lucy sighed, as she sank deeper into the bath tub. Bubbles engulfed her form as she slipped down further into the tub, muscles relaxing. She thought about earlier. Apparently, Natsu, Erza, Gray and Happy we're all going to with her for her birthday. Levy, it turned out, couldn't make the date, and Mira and the others were, of course busy running the guild. I wonder what we'll do on the island. Lucy thought, the water now barely below her nose. Suddenly, she heard a crash across the hall and jumped.

"What was that?" Lucy screeched, head jerkily turning that direction. Hastily, she got up and pulled on a bathrobe before opening the door to her bathroom, careful not to slip on the slick tile. She then walked into her bedroom, apparently the source of the noise, but not before grabbing her celestial keys off the bathroom vanity. She opened the door gently, waiting for a response from the other side. Hearing none, she opened the door fully.

"EEEKKKKkkk!" She cried, as a shadowy figure flapped around on the balcony outside her bedroom window. After thrashing around for a few more seconds, the figure stopped moving, lying in a dark lump against the window.

"Is it dead?" Lucy thought aloud. She looked worriedly around the room, searching for some sort of weapon. She decided on a nearby umbrella. Lucy picked it up gingerly, holding it the umbrella like a sword. Slowly, she crept towards the window. It suddenly swung open, and a cat similar to happy fell onto her bed with a squeak. Lucy's eyes went wide.

"What're you doing here? She asked the figure. " She got no response, and the figure remained slumped on her bed, breathing shallowly. She moved closer, and saw the cat bleeding from a large gash on its back, near its wings. Shaking her head, she put the umbrella up against the wall next to her bed. Lucy hastened back to the bathroom and grabbed her spare first aid kit from the medicine cabinet. She rushed back, and, opening a small packet of lotion, disinfected the wound. The figure trembled in pain, and made a soft whimpering sound. Cautiously, she began bandaging the wound, wrapping gauze around the diminutive figure. Suddenly, it groaned.

"Ummm..." Lucy muttered. The car slowly opened it's eyes. It slowly looked around the room dizzily, before its eyes fell on Lucy, who was busy peering at it curiously. It hurriedly scurried backwards, pushing away from Lucy and wincing in pain as it's back hit the wall underneath Lucy's window.

"S-s-stay away from me!" It yelled. Its voice was soft, and trembly. As it huddled under the windowsill, Lucy got her first good look at the flying cat. It was jet black, with a bright golden belly and ears. It's eyes were also golden, with veins of copper running through the iris.

"Please, try to relax," Lucy said, holding her hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"P-p-please! S-s-stay away!" It continued to try and back away, pushing itself even further up against the wall until suddenly it grimaced and held it's side.

"You're hurt." Lucy said, worriedly. "Let me bandage you." She slowly reached out towards the diminutive figure. Out of space to run, it quivered but allowed her to touch it.

"What's your name?" Lucy asked quietly, as she started to wrap more bandages around the cat's waist.

"L-l-lea." It stammered.

"Lea... That's a pretty name." Lucy smiled broadly. "What happened?"

"P-p-people were attacking me. I-I dont't know why, but they used sticks, and they threw rocks, a-a-and..." Lea answered, stammering. Tears started flowing from her eyes.

"It's okay, nobody will hurt you anymore." Lucy beamed at Lea. "My name's Lucy by the way. I'm a member of the guild downtown."

"Really?"

"Yep." Lucy stepped back, admiring her handiwork, once she was done securing the bandage. "All done!" She proclaimed. Lea smiled.

"Thank you, that feels so much better." Lea began rubbing her head. "Do you.... mind if I stay here tonight? I-I-I mean if it's no trouble... and do you think we could go to the guild tomorrow? I mean, you're nice, so your friends are probably n-n-nice too. Maybe they could help me."

"Of course you can!" Lucy replied. "We'll go see the guild tomorrow morning."

"Huh. So you ran into Lucy's window after some people attacked you?" Natsu asked with a puzzled expression. He wasn't the only one, as he, Levy, Erza, and Gray were surrounding the little black cat.

"Yep." Lea said, looking down at the floor.

"And then Lucy patched you up and brought you here?"

"Yep."

"Well..." Natsu said grinning. "I don't know what we could really do to help, but you could join the guild. If you do that, we'll definitely keep you safe!"

"Really?" Lea was starting to cry.

"Yep!" Happy yelled.

"How about you come with us to Galuna island?" Asked Lucy. "It's not a job, but you can see if being a guild member works for you."

"Of course!" Lea was crying tears of joy. "When do we leave?"