Hey everyone! So it's time again for a new chapter! Nothing new except the fact that my OTPs are so beautiful. New Fairy Tail chapter just made me die of feels. I just want to say that Fairy Tail chapter 453 is one of my most favorite chapters. New Fairy Tail episode still got me those feels, but not the good kind. I shall die with the Tartaros Arc.

Anyways, on with the new chapter! Enjoy!

🌸Cat🌸

I dedicate this chapter to LucyAshley100.

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⭐️Flashback⭐️
⭐️East Forest⭐️

There was a loud yawn echoing through the forest. Due to the sudden noise, the animals of this forest started running away. Where did the yawn come from? A certain celestial spirit mage walking along the path of this forest.

It's been a while since she last took her break, and it wasn't a long break too. Lucy's feet were starting to give away, and it didn't help that she was also getting hungry. Loneliness was also taking over. The blonde never really had friends other than her beloved celestial spirits, but that's pretty much it.

Lucy suddenly remembered something. Unclipping her key ring, she held it up and started looking for that one silver key she just recently bought. When Lucy found the key, she smiled and quickly took it out of her key ring. Then she clipped the key ring back onto her belt and focused on her new key once again. Holding the object up in the air made it shine within the bright sunlight. Lucy's eyes just sparkled as she admired its beauty, but that's just what happens with all of her gate keys. Without another minute to spare, Lucy held the key out in front of her and focused her magic on the magical item.

Closing her eyes, Lucy said, "I am the person who connects the road to the stellar spirit world."

As the contract ritual was going on, the wind was continuously swirling around the celestial spirit mage to the point where it's visible to the naked eye. "Thou...shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate." Once she finished saying that, Lucy immediately opened her eyes and chanted the proper way to open a celestial spirit's gate.

"Gate of the Canis Minor, I open thee! Nikora!"

A bright light emerged. There was a puff of smoke that came with the summoning. Once the smoke dispersed, there was something materialized down below. Lucy kneeled down to take a closer look. A smile crept on her face when she finally got a good look of her new friend.

The celestial spirit was a small, white dog--or that's what Lucy thought it was--with a pointy light brownish orangish nose. He was shaking a lot, but that didn't matter to Lucy. She finally had another friend to cherish along with everyone else.

"Pun Pun~" the white "dog" muttered when he materialized.

Lucy quickly went in for a hug. She squealed with excitement. "Aww, you're so cute!"

After putting him down, reached into her backpack and grabbed her notepad and a pencil.

"Okay, now that the summoning was a success, let's talk about your schedule."

"Mondays?" The dog shook his head. Then Lucy wrote his response.

"Tuesdays?" He nodded. The Lucy jotted down his response once again.

The process continued on until the whole contract is complete. Both of them cheered once the contract was finished.

Lucy held out her hand. "Hi! My name is Lucy! You'll be in my care from now on. Okay--" The girl paused for a moment. What was she going to name him. A light bulb lit up in her head. "Plue. Your name is Plue. Okay?" Lucy happily said with a smile.

Plue happily accepted her handshake and spouted his usual response. "Pun Pun~"

"All right!" Lucy happily said as she stood up. "We're almost at our destination Plue. So, would you like to accompany me on this path until we get there?"

Plue nodded with joy. Once he agreed, Lucy smiled and did a quick spin.

"Thanks Plue..." Lucy looked forward, to the place she was going to. Giving a quick nod to the path, she loked down to see Plue. "Let's go!"

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"Tell me again the reason as to why we're walking in this forest?" Happy tiredly asked.

"I told you, there's a town near here that has some information on Igneel's whereabouts, at least that's what one of the guild members told me," Natsu laid out the details as he was walking deeper into the forest. "Besides, we have to past this forest to get to that town." The dragon slayer also quietly muttered that he didn't want to take a train or carriage. Walking was perfectly fine for him.

"But I'm tired." The blue exceed dragged his words out as he said that.

Natsu looked back and smiled at Happy. "Just hang in there buddy. If you do, we can go fishing before leaving this forest."

Saliva instantly rolled down the exceed's chin. His watery mouth slowly curved into a smile and his eyes sparkled. "Really?" asked the excited exceed.

"Of course. I did pack our fishing materials for a reason." Natsu said as he clutched the straps of his backpack.

"Aye!" Happy was doing mid-air backflips and spins to express his joy. "Race you to our fishing spot!" The exceed didn't waste another second and left his best friend behind.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Natsu pouted. He could hear the taunting laughs of his partner. The dragon slayer smirked. "If that's how you want to play, then it's on." And the dragon slayer was off, full speed ahead. After a few seconds, he managed to catch up to Happy.

Happy turned to his side and surprise overcame him. "Oh, you managed to catch up." A devious smirk instantly appeared on the exceed's face. "That's about to change now." He focused on the pathway and happily screamed, "Max Speed!" Happy flew like there was no tomorrow. And once again, the dragon slayer was left behind.

"Two can play that game!" Natsu ignited his fists on fire and started running as fast as he can. A few seconds have passed again when the dragon slayer finally caught up to the exceed.

Happy noticed his partner catching up and increased his acceleration. "You're not going to beat me Natsu!"

"Heh, we'll see Happy!" The flames surrounding his hands grew bigger, and Natsu's acceleration increased as well.

The pink-haired boy and blue exceed were neck and neck as both of them were running and flying as fast as they can. They suddenly saw a blonde girl and a white animal thing with a pointy nose in their path. Happy managed to swiftly dodge by flying higher, completely missing the girl and animal. While he did manage to dodge, Natsu, on the other hand, accidentally tripped. He tumbled straight to the ground and finally landed face down on the grass. Happy barely managed to catch a glimpse of the dragon slayer falling down. He quickly flew back to his best friend and helped him up. Not without laughing first.

"Natsu fell down in an ugly manner." Happy was snickering.

"Whatever. I did it so I could dodge that girl."

Natsu turned around to see if that girl was alright. The first thing he saw was those shining brown eyes staring back at him. The moment they made eye contact, everything felt like it disappeared. The sounds of the forest, their surroundings, and even time just felt like it was gone.

"Umm...ano...are you alright?"

Natsu snapped out of it. "Huh, yeah, I'm fine."

The pink-haired boy got up and stood right in front of the girl. She had brown eyes and slightly long, blonde hair; some of her hair tied in a side ponytail by her blue ribbon. She was wearing a short blue skirt, a white, sleeveless collared shirt lined with blue lines as its design, and dark brown boots that reached to the bottom of her knees. She also happened to have a belt equipped with a whip and a key ring with a bunch of keys hanging on it.

"You know Natsu, you could stare at that girl all day long while I beat you in our race." Happy laughed and started to fly away once again.

"Oi, Happy!" It was useless. By the time Natsu turned around, the exceed was long gone. However, his laughter wasn't gone. Instead, it was echoing in the distance, mocking the dragon slayer.

Natsu turned to the girl and apologized for bothering her. Then he ignited his fists on fire and ran off, leaving the girl and her animal behind.

"I wonder what was that all about?" asked the confused blonde.

"Pun Pun?" The celestial spirit tilted his head to the side.

"Anyways, we should keep moving." The girl took another look at the direction of the pink-haired boy and the blue cat. After holding her stare in that direction for a few seconds, she turned around and started walking in the opposite direction of where Natsu and Happy ran.

The celestial spirit nodded his head and followed his partner.

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"I win!" Happy cheered as he jumped for joy.

"That's because you started flying before I ran," Natsu bluntly stated as he was slowly walking up to their fishing area.

"You were too busy falling for that girl, so I went on ahead." The exceed was trying so hard not to laugh.

"I was not falling for her!" Natsu exclaimed as he put his backpack down.

"You did, Natsu. Remember, you tripped in front of her." Happy couldn't hold in his laughter anymore. His wings disappeared and he immediately dropped straight to the ground. It didn't matter though, because the exceed was dying of laughter to the point that he was clutching his stomach and tears were forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Think whatever you want." The dragon slayer grabbed his fishing gear and sat down next to the pond. Then, he retracted his fishing pole and finally casted it into the pond.

"Aww, Natsu, don't feel bad," Happy sympathetically said as he got up and wiped his tears of laughter.

He walked up to the pink-haired boy and patted his back to make him feel better. What the exceed got was a death glare from his best friend.

Happy gradually stopped patting Natsu and pulled his paw away from him. Putting his paws up in defense, the exceed slowly backed away from Natsu. Once he did that, the said dragon slayer turned his head back to the pond and stayed like that.

The exceed quietly sighed to his self in relief. Deciding to let go of things for now, Happy grabbed his own fishing pole and walked up to the pond, where he sat down next to the dragon slayer. Then he casted his line into the pond. Now the both of them wait in silence, until their prey comes around.

To kill the silence and keep time passing by without being bored, Happy started humming an upbeat tune. Natsu took a quick glance at the exceed, and the first thing that he saw was a smile upon his lips. Happy noticed the dragon slayer looking him and backed away a few inches.

"Don't tell me that you're falling for me as well." Happy joking stated.

"Shut up!"

The exceed starting laughing, completely forgetting that he was suppose to be as quiet as possible so the fish won't be scared.

Natsu sighed. "I'm so done with you."

Happy faked being hurt. He even put his paw on his heart. "Eh? And here I thought, you were starting to fall in love with me."

Natsu rolled his eyes. He slightly pushed Happy and said, "Stop saying that."

"It's a fact that you llloooooovvve me~" sang the blue exceed.

'I will never hear the end of this.' Natsu thought as he grabbed his fishing pole and started focusing on the fishing line once again.

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A grumbling sound rang in the area, followed by a loud sigh of grief.

"I'm starving," the celestial spirit mage whined as she clutched onto her stomach. It's been a while since she has last eaten and there wasn't much food left in her backpack. Their destination was close, but Lucy really needed something to eat now.

She looked down at her partner. "Nee, Plue, do you have anything I could eat?" The celestial spirit just shook his head. Lucy sighed. What was she going to do about the constant gurgling of her stomach?

She suddenly heard a loud bang. The sound alarmed Lucy, making her jump in surprise. Another loud bang went off, making the blonde jump once again. She scanned the area to find the source of the loud noises. Her eyes landed on the her celestial spirit head-butting the tree over and over again. Lucy gasped.

"Plue! What are you doing?!" She quickly ran up to the celestial spirit and grabbed him. As Lucy was backing away from the tree, Plue was squirming around in her arms, trying to escape from her clutches. The celestial spirit mage tightened her grip on him. "I don't know what you're doing Plue, but you're hurting yourself by doing that."

Plue finally managed to slip through Lucy's arms, much to her dismay. To make matters worse, the celestial spirit was charging straight for the tree again. Lucy ran after him, but by the time she caught up to the celestial spirit, he crashed into the tree, hard. The impact made Plue fly backwards. He eventually landed right by the blonde's feet. Lucy's eyes widened as she saw the bump on her partnr's head. She slowly dropped to her knees. Carefully putting the celestial spirit in her arms, she cradled it.

"Why would you want to hurt yourself? Do you not like being with me?" Lucy was crying more and more with each question she asked.

"P-Pun Pun~" The celestial spirit smiled at her. Then, he slowly brought up his paw and pointed at the tree that he was constantly head-butting.

The moment Lucy looked up, her eyes widened. She saw a bunch of red apples o the ground, and maybe one or two more falling out of the tree. Once she took a good look at the tree, she finally realized that it was an apple tree. Her head turned back to the celestial spirit cradled in her arms.

"Did you do this just so I could have something to eat?" There was a hint of surprise in her voice.

Plue nodded and gave the girl a big smile. Lucy smiled back at him and brought the celestial spirit in for a big hug. "Arigatou Plue."

"Pun Pun~" the celestial spirit happily said.

Lucy broke her hug and wiped away her tears. "I'm really grateful for what you did, but please, don't hurt yourself ever again. Okay?" Plue nodded.

"Let's get that bump on your head patched up. Then we can eat. Deal?"

Plue raised his paw and smiled. "Pun Pun~"

The celestial spirit mage carried Plue to the apple tree. Kneeling down to the ground, Lucy gently placed her friend down, allowing him to lean his back against the tree. Then she took off her backpack and starting digging through it. After she found the bandages, she took it out and closed her backpack. Facing the celestial spirit, she held out the bandages in front of him. Warning him about the slight pain he might feel, Lucy began to carefully wrapped his head with the bandages. Once she was finished wrapping, the girl tied it off and pulled her hands away.

"Finished!" Plue touched the bandages adorning his head and smiled. A smile also found its way to Lucy's face. She looked around to find an apple. When she found it, Lucy grabbed two of them and handed one to Plue.

"Let's eat now," Lucy said with a smile.

After each of them ate around two or three apples, Lucy and Plue decided that they were done eating. Now that the both of them were satisfied with their apple-filled stomachs, it was time to continue their journey. Lucy packed up her things and puts her backpack on. Getting up from their spots, Lucy and Plue stretched for a few seconds. Then, they started walking forward to their destination.

As they walked long the pathway, the number of trees were slightly decreasing. Lucy seemed to notice this and smiled, because it only meant one thing: they were almost there. Her walking pace increased to the point that she was running. Plue quickly realized that his friend was running and started following her in the same fashion. Both of them ran as fast as their feet could take them. The summer breeze brushing their faces. Leaves dancing with the wind. Trees rustling as Lucy and Plue passed by it. As they exited the forest, the two saw a hill. As they ran up to them, each step felt like a jump for joy.

All that running eventually came to an end. Lucy felt like she was on top of the world when she reached the top of the hill. It wasn't just that. Her eyes brightened up when it made contact with the place she has been waiting to travel to: Magnolia. The scenery was just perfect from where she was standing. She could see the different kinds of buildings contained within the town. The bright blue rivers leading out to the ocean. She even noticed Magnolia's famous Kardia Cathedral. But that's not what she came to this town for. The reason for coming to Magnolia is the building that's all the way in the back of the town. The very place she always wanted to be ever since she was a little girl. The pride of Magnolia and all of Fiore: Fairy Tail.

"Magnolia is a beautiful place. Nee, Plue?" The celestial spirit mage smiled at her teammate.

"Pun Pun~" The celestial spirit happily replied.

Lucy took another look at Magnolia before walking up to the single tree on the hill they were standing on. Then she kneeled down and leaned against the tree for support. Plue walked up to the tree as well and sat down right next to his partner.

"I really want to join Fairy Tail, but I don't even know how I could get in...and would they really accept someone like me..." Lucy gloomily said as she looked up at the sky under the shade. She put her hand up so she could cover the little sunlight shining through the tree's branches and leaves.

Lucy suddenly felt something on her hand. Looking down at it, she noticed a white paw on top of her hand. Turning her head to the side, she saw Plue smiling at her. Although Lucy could never understand what he was thinking or saying, she had the feeling that the celestial spirit was cheering her up. Lucy straightened her posture and caressed Plue's head.

"You really are one of the best celestial spirits a girl could have."

Plue jumped into Lucy's arms and did the best that he could to wrap his little arms around the girl's waist. Lucy was surprised by the celestial spirit's actions, but she didn't mind it one bit. She slowly wrapped her arms around her partner and gently laid her head on top of his.

"Aww, looks like the little lady finally found someone who actually cares about her. It almost makes me want to cry."

Lucy's eyes slowly opened. She could have sworn she knew the owner of that voice, but she didn't want to confirm it. Lucy just wanted to do was run away, but she couldn't even move, even if she wanted to. Instead, she could feel herself shivering, and it wasn't because of Plue nor the breeze flowing through this hill. No, it was much worse. It was because of her fears. A part of her past that she wanted to forget, but can't because the memory is as clear as day. The memory that haunts the girl in her dreams. Lucy thought the nightmares were over, but she was dead wrong.

It was only the beginning...