Hello!

It's very refreshing to begin another fanfic! So, let's start!

The proud city of Magnolia was currently in the chilling grip of winter.

The grey spires of the cathedral were topped off with a thick layer of pure white snow. The citizens of Magnolia walked in several layers of furs imported from the northern plains of Fiore, where such weather was common place. Though no matter how many layers they piled up, the cold was a presence, waiting to snap and bite. Fortunately, the people of Magnolia aren't so easily swayed by a harsh winter; in fact, there has been more enthusiasm at the weather than resentment. There have been countless events, seasonal offers, general joyful happenings and massive preparations for the holiday season. All of which, Lucy Heartfilia, has unwillingly missed. When the worst of the winter season had yet to close in, Lucy noticed that she was sneezing, a sore throat every so often. Classic symptoms of a cold. She had brushed it off as a light winter cold that would disappear when she adjusted to the cold weather. She was lucky to have the foresight to do extra jobs and gather enough rent money to last her a couple weeks or more. She intended to spend those work-free-weeks with the other guild members instead of sniffling alone in her apartment.

A pale white hand with a light pink Fairy Tail insignia on the back reached from under the duvet cover for a nearby box of tissues. After a few seconds fumbling around, the marked hand slid back empty-handed.*

"Dammit," a weak voice started "out of tissues. Again."A pair of tired brown eyes peaked over the duvet and slowly scanned the room for another box. The eyes fixed on the supply of tissue boxes on the table. The short distance seemed like the length of Fiore to Lucy. Lucy pulled herself out of her bed to take on the tremendous task of getting more tissues. Seemingly an eternity later, Lucy was back into her bed with two new boxes. Only after pulling her body into a ball did she notice the fire in her fireplace had died out. Lucy was going to have to do without it as sleep was already pulling her mind into its embrace.

"Hey, Wendy, are you sure Lucy is alright?" The worried Dragon Slayer asked the other.

"I've done all I can Natsu-san, it's just up to her recovering now." The blue-haired Dragon Slayer said with equal concern.

"Well, can you like, make her recover faster?" Natsu leaned a bit further across the table at Wendy, with a curious face.

"I'm sorry, Natsu-san, but my magic-"Wendy's delicate voice was lost in the shout by yet another Dragon Slayer. "Well, well! Look at that! Big bad Salamander is crying over his poor little Blondie!" Gajeel's voice rang out through the guild, quickly followed by his signature laugh "Gi hi hi!"

"Shut it, iron shavings!" Natsu roared as the whole guild filled with laughter. Natsu and Gajeel were close exchanging fists when all the guild members decided hop onto the band wagon.

"Never realised you were such a wimp, Natsu." Laxus said backhandedly while walking towards the jobs board.

"Hahaha! You should see your face, Natsu!" Gray said while wiping tears of laughter out of his eyes.

"If you're a man, you wouldn't be so flustered!" Elfman chimed in.

Erza suddenly appeared next to Natsu with arm around his shoulder. "Well, I think it's admirable that Natsu cares so much." Just as Natsu was going to respond, several other guild members start to egg him on. Cana, Levy, Freed, Mira, Evergreen, Juvia, Jet, Droy, Gajeel (again), Master Makarov, even Happy at one point. As all jokes built up, Natsu's blood began to boil and when Gray was about to utter one more jest, Natsu hit his limit.

"Ya' know what?! Screw you guys!" Natsu exploded like a volcano with rage and stormed out the guild. Natsu's loud footsteps left flickering embers in his angry wake. Everyone was frozen in place and stared at Natsu's shape fade into the snowy distance. Nobody said a single word, even the more composed members of the guild were taken aback. It was if the silence was covering their months. Then, Wendy's tiny voice broke the voice the silence.

"Um... I think you guys went too far..."

"Stupid bunch of idiots... Stupid ice freak... Stupid metal head..." Natsu murmured as he sulked down one of the snow laden streets of Magnolia. To the Dragon Slayer, it was as if winter was just a time where the trees died and snow fell. The cold wasn't a leering aspect of the season, thanks to his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Natsu's ears twitched as he heard loud footsteps racing towards him from behind further down the street. He turned to see a figure running in his direction. He could tell with his heightened senses that he was calling his name and he wasn't like someone from the guild. The sprinting person turned out to be local boat owner who needed Natsu's help.

"Mister Dragneel sir!" His slightly hoarse voice called.

"What's up?" Natsu said in a flat tone.

"We need help with one of the waterways again! It's all frozen up, again."

Third time this week they needed his help, Natsu counted. It took about an hour to completely melt the ice along this certain waterway. After the job was done, the man thanked by Natsu giving him a few Jewels for helping them out. As Natsu scanned the area, he realised that he was on a familiar street of Magnolia. He instinctively turned and faced Lucy Heartfilia's house. It took a moment to see her pale face in the window, looking out at him with a happy, yet slightly worried, look in her eyes.

"Lucy!" He exclaimed in happiness at seeing her and also horror at seeing the state see was in.

Before the messy haired blond could react, the salmon haired mage was already half way up the stairs to her apartment.

Lucy couldn't sleep.

She had been staring blankly at the same piece of ceiling of two hours wishing for sleep. However, her wish had not been granted. Lucy had tried to fend off boredom by reading but it only caused her headaches. She tried summoning her Celestial spirits but they were of little use, so here she was, lying in bed sick and cold. Just when sleep was about to close her hazel eyes, she was snapped back to reality when she heard some commotion outside her apartment. She sat up with a huff and peered through her frosted window by her bed. She saw figures of men trying to break the ice with large ice picks or having pitiful attempts to melt it.

"Heh," Lucy chuckled to herself, "Natsu would melt that ice in an instant..." Just as the words left her mouth, the certain pink haired mage came bonding along into Lucy's vision.

"Speak of the devil. Well, speak of the dragon really..." Lucy joked to herself again. Lucy continued to watch Natsu through her slightly frosted window as he quickly melted the ice that clogged up the waterways. A smile played across her face just from watching the monotony of Natsu's task. Lucy counted this as the third time this week she had seen Natsu do this type of work. Usually he would be needed at some other frozen waterway or building, or he would stroll back to the guild with Happy at this his shoulder. But today his gaze swept across the street with a disconcerting look about him, Lucy thought, almost aimless. Lucy pressed her nose up against the window, as if seeing the mage clearer would tell her of his troubles. Lucy felt a strange sense of urgency and fumbled for the latch which opened her window.

However, she was too late as Natsu's onyx eyes locked with hers. The next thing the blond knew was that Natsu exclaimed and bolted towards her apartment. The following second she heard footsteps careening up her stairs.

The first chapter done and over with! On to the second...

Before you go, check out Yaushie's 'Lucy Heartfilia's Apartment Reference' on Devianart!

art/Lucy-Heartfilia-s-Apartment-Reference-342608394

It's a great guide for those of you writing Fairy Tail fanfics involving Lucy's apartment, helped me quite a bit! Show 'em show love!

*I couldn't resist the urge to pun.