Lucy hummed as she sipped her tea and looked out across her garden. Peaceful, calm, and quiet as always.

Too quiet.

It was boring.

Sometimes she missed the hustle and bustle of towns, but being a witch meant she wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by superstitious villagers.

Usually though, this forest was alive with magic and unusual creatures, but it had been quiet for nearly three weeks now. No need for her spells or potions had arisen and she was so bored.

Lucy'd heard chatter of a ferocious dragon taking residence nearby, and perhaps the other creatures had vacated and quieted down for that reason, but the lack of charred ground, loud roaring, and claw marks left in the trees made her skeptical of that claim. She'd been in areas ravaged by a dragon, and this forest was nothing like that.

The witch sighed in frustrated restlessness and looked out across her garden. Perhaps she could water it again?

And then she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye.

The snapdragons were swishing, and it definitely wasn't the wind doing it. Something was in them.

Lucy smiled in glee that something different was happening in her recently boring life as she left her deck and carefully approached the twitching patch of flowers. She moved the blooms aside to reveal a bright blue animal swatting and nipping at them.

"A cat?" No, his fur was far too unnatural of a color to be any old normal cat. "Perhaps an exceed, then."

The cat stared up at her and mewled in response.

Lucy smiled as she sat down on the ground, reaching her hand out for the cat to sniff. He did, and apparently liked her scent well enough, because he then approached her, putting his paws on her lap and meowing insistently at her. The witch giggled and then pet the cat's unbelievably soft fur.

She ended up playing with the cat for nearly an hour before he'd suddenly stopped his rambunctious bouncing and sniffed at the air. He'd meowed at Lucy again, seemingly a goodbye, before bounding off through her plants and over her gate into the forest again.

Lucy sighed. Now what was she going to do all day?

oOo

The cat kept coming back over the week. Sometimes he was sleeping and Lucy didn't bother him, and other days would be much like the first visit, and they would play together until he caught some scent and wandered away again.

And then one day, it wasn't just the blue cat who visited.

She'd smiled as she'd heard rustling in the garden again and rushed to prepare a plate of fish for him.

Lucy'd never had a pet before, or even a familiar. But this exceed seemed to like her. Maybe if she spoiled him enough, he'd actually stick around.

"Kitty?" she called, padding onto her deck. I've got a treat for you today!"

He bounded up to her, meowing excitedly and then quickly digging into the salmon she'd gotten for him. She pet him, wondering how long he was going to stay today and what he kept smelling that made him leave her in the first place.

"Happy?" she heard someone call, interrupting her thoughts. Lucy jolted up, alarmed by the first voice she'd heard beyond her own in months.

"Who are you!?" she asked, darting up and looking toward the voice, taking her wand from her pocket, pointing it at him, and mentally hurrying through her library of defense spells, should the need arise.

The voice belonged to a man standing just outside her garden fence. He had pink hair, and she noticed a pair of horns pop up from his head and red scales begin to dot his skin as he was startled by her aggressive question. "Whoa! Don't freak out! I'm just here for my cat! I could smell his trail around here, although all those different plants ya got in there make it hard to pick out any smells at all!"

Lucy studied the strange man. She didn't like being so defensive and suspicious of him, but it was necessary. She'd been in this business far too long to immediately trust any random person.

He was obviously some sort of magical being, what with the scales and horns on his otherwise human body. She had no idea what he was though. How was that possible!? She's studied magic for years and years, there were still creatures, in this area, she was yet unaware of?

The witch finally let her guard down, though. The boy didn't seem like any sort of mischievous spirit, and his motive for approaching seemed innocent enough. She waved her wand and the gate to her garden swung open. "Come in, but be aware that I am a witch and don't take kindly to trickery."

He grinned and Lucy watched in amazement as the scales and horns disappeared again (Did they appear when he felt nervous or threatened, perhaps? She had never heard of such a creature before!). "Ooh, a witch, scaryyy!" He teased lightheartedly. "You gonna turn me into a frog?"

Lucy smiled. "I just might, if you keep that up!"

He laughed at that. "I'm Natsu, by the way!"

The witch smiled. "Lucy," she introduced as she lead Natsu to the deck, where the cat was currently licking his paws after finishing his lunch.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled in excitement, gathering the cat into his arms. "Yeah, that's him!"

Lucy giggled at his jubilence. "He's been hanging around here for a week." She pet the cat again as he twisted in Natsu's arms and meowed at Lucy happily. "I was growing quite fond of him. Did you say his name was Happy?"

Natsu nodded. "Yup! And I think he likes you, too, Lucy, if this is where he's been spending his days!"

Seemingly to demonstrate, Happy jumped out of Natsu's arms and rubbed up against Lucy's legs and feet before bounding off into her garden again to play.

As much as she had come to like Happy, Natsu was quickly growing on her, as well. There was something very charming about him, and she was still curious what he was, too!

"Well, since Happy seems to want to stay a while, would you like something to eat? I've got some snacks in the kitchen…"

"Ooh, yeah, I could eat just about anything right now!"

Lucy smiled and went inside to retrieve something to snack on, and was surprised when Natsu followed her into the small cottage.

"Who said you could come in?" she teased.

"Just wanted to help you carry stuff! And I wanted to see your place, too!"

Lucy chuckled and handed a tray of tarts to Natsu, scolding him lightly when he tried to eat one immediately.

"Wait until we're sitting down again, at least!"

"C'mon, Lucy! Why?"

"Because that's how sitting down and eating works, Natsu!"

Natsu just laughed. "You're so weird, Lucy."

Lucy gaped at him as they went back outside to eat. "Wha- You're the weird one! You have horns that appear and disappear!"

"Hey, that's not weird! That's normal for dragons!" He responded, still with that stupid grin Lucy was quickly finding herself infatuated with.

"A dragon? So that's what you are?" she asked. "But you're- you look human!"

Natsu snickered and rolled his eyes. "Well duh, this is my human form! It's easier to move around in than in my full, dragon form," he explained.

"Wow! I had no idea dragons could become humans! That's really cool! So I guess all that talk of a dragon migrating here was true, then? But I thought dragons left wreckage behind everywhere they went! I haven't noticed any fiery destruction or whatnot…"

Natsu chuckled at her excited chatter. He liked Lucy. She was fun to be with, he was finding out. No wonder Happy had spent so much time here! "Well, there wasn't anything for me to fight!" he told her. "This forest is, like, empty! Besides you, I mean. And a few squirrels here and there. But you know what I mean!"

"Well, there used to be a ton of life here, gnomes, fairies, some ogres, even a small unicorn herd," she explained. "But you know how dragons are. They found out you were here, apparently, and either left or are in hiding, I assume."

Natsu looked thoughtful. "Yeah, that makes sense. Dragons are known for destruction… You didn't leave because of that?" he asked.

Lucy laughed. "I'm a witch, I can take care of myself! I'm not scared of some dragon! Especially now that I've met him," she teased.

Natsu chuckled, stuffing another apple-cinnamon tart in his mouth. "I was actually thinking of moving on, even, finding some other place to start my nest, but I'm glad I didn't! I woulda missed you!"

Lucy blushed. "Well, I'm glad you didn't, either. I guess we have Happy to thank for that."

As if summoned by their gratitude, Happy bounded up to their feet and meowed again. He jumped around their feet and then leaped over to the gate of Lucy's garden, pawing at it.

"He wants to go play out in the forest," Natsu explained.

Lucy smiled, but felt disappointed they were leaving so soon. "Well, I hope to see you again soon," she sighed.

"What d'ya mean?" Natsu asked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to where Happy was waiting. "You're coming along!"

Lucy looked to him in surprise before smiling genuinely and unlatching the gate.

"Alright!" Natsu grinned, dragging Lucy into the wildlife. "Let's go look for adventures!"

It would be a long time before Lucy felt bored again.

Thank you for reading!