"I'm not paying that much. You and I both know that the price is too high." Lucy glared at the shopkeeper who was in the process of robbing her of her hard earned money. Like hell was she falling for a scam like this.

"And you and I both know that this key is one of a kind. This is the only place you can get it from, so I have every right to name whatever price I please." The man grinned, confident with the fact that he had the upper hand.

Longingly, Lucy eyed the the golden key of Aries. She really wanted it, needed it, but it meant handing over all her jewels and then some. No paying the rent, let alone eating.

Time for a chance in tactics.

"C'mon, isn't there any chance for a small discount?" Using her sweetest voice, she leaned over the counter and fluttered her lashes. Was she being obvious? Yes. Had it worked before? Every damn time.

The shopkeeper's grin widened, aware of what she was doing and not minding one bit. "Well, you'd have to earn it."

Lucy cringed on the inside, but she had done this enough times to know how to avoid any creepy requests. "You know, I belong to a pretty big guild... I'd be happy to tell my friends about your shop. They'd be delighted to drop by and see your selection of...uh... enchanted bath soaps." Lucy made sure to pull attention to her hand where the Fairy Tail -mark was. Everyone knew that Mirajane and Erza belonged to Fairy Tail, and every shopkeeper would fight for the chance to have those two supporting their business.

"That is tempting." He eyed the mark with interest. "Fine. I can give you 10% off."

Only 10%? That wouldn't do, but leaving the key behind was not an option, either. There were too many bad celestial wizards around and after what Loki had told her about Aries, Lucy was determined to get the key and finally give the spirit a good home.

"That is so kind of you." Lucy gave the man her best smile, hiding her annoyance. "Is there anything else that might get you to drop the prize just a little bit more?"

There was a long pause which had Lucy worried she was annoying him. That was never a good thing when you wanted to make a good deal.

"Actually," he stared slowly, "if you could take something off my hands, I would be happy to give the key at half the prize. Stay right there, I'll be right back."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at his back as the man disappeared to the backroom of the shop. That had better not been an euphemism.

When he emerged again, Lucy was relieved to see that he was still wearing pants. And instead of perving on her, he was carrying something in his hands. Something that was red and moving.

Was that a...dragon?

Lucy's suspicion was confirmed when the shopkeeper tried to set the kitten sized creature down, only to be bit.

With a curse, the man shook his hand violently in order to dislodge the being attached to it, the dragon dropping to the counter with a thud. It turned and hissed angrily at the cause of it's fall, the spikes along the spine rising up and a long tail swatting from side to side in agitation.

"As you can see, this little devil has been giving me hell and I want to get rid of it, trouble is that no one's agreed to buy it from me. I'd prefer not to kill, but I'm at my wits end. I need it out of my shop. If you can take it, the key goes for half the prize." The man looked and sounded very desperate.

Lucy eyed the still hissing dragon. Dragons were rare in nature and even more so as pets, but those who could afford it got them as very efficient guard dogs and to show off their wealth. Problem was, once a dragon deemed something as their's, they became very possessive and unless the dragon liked and trusted you, they wouldn't allow anyone near their hoard. Which meant many rich men couldn't approach their treasures or houses without an angry dragon trying to kill them. Dragon was not a smart investment in Lucy's opinion.

Before she could ask, the man went on. "It's gotten out of hand. I thought it would make for a good protection for the shop, but it's gotten protective of some of the stuff I sell and attacks my customers. And not only that, it eats more than I do! I can't afford this!"

"You're not doing a good job of convincing me to take it." Lucy raised an eyebrow. A dragon sounded more trouble than it was worth. She already had her spirits to protect her if needed and they didn't require her to pay for their food.

"Too bad," the man sniffed. "The terms of the sale have changed. I won't sell the key unless you take the dragon."

Lucy gaped at him, outraged. "You can't do that!"

"And why not? My shop, my rules. I want to get rid of this thing before it eats me out of a home."

"I can't just take it. The dragon has to choose to leave with me, and by the sounds of it, it has decided that this is it's nest and hoard." Lucy could already feel a headache starting. Could she just grab the key and run? Or would the dragon come after her? The last thing she wanted was to get mauled by an angry baby dragon.

"Try it. See if he likes you." By the sounds of it, the current owner of the dragon didn't think it would. Which would mean that this might end with some missing fingers on her part.

Lucy took a deep breath. She didn't want the dragon, but she had made a promise to Loki to get the key and she wouldn't go back on her word. The lion spirit had better appreciate the sacrifice she was about to make. "Fine."

Carefully, Lucy extended her hand towards the small creature who was still staring hatefully at it's owner. The dragon was startled by her hand and it jumped back with a hiss. When all she did was let her hand rest on the counter, palm up, the dragon approached cautiously.

Slowly it set it's claws against her fingers, leaning on her hand. Sniffing the air, the small thing crawled on to her hand. It was easy to tell that the dragon was curious despite feeling hesitant and distrustful. When the dragon lifted it's face, it's black-eyed stare zeroed in on her hair. With a surprising speed, it climbed up her arm, over her shoulder and up her neck. Lucy could feel the goosebumps raising on her skin at the feel of little claws scraping against her flesh. It was all she could do not to jump and squeal at the sensation.

A startled yelp managed to escape her when the dragon clambered up her hair and to the top of her head where it moved in a small circle, reminding Lucy of a dog about to lay down. She tried to stay as still as possible, not wanting to dislodge the creature.

"Well, it looks like you have yourself a new nuisance," the shopkeeper laughed loudly, but was startled to take a step back when the dragon screeched angrily at him.

"Stars, what did you do to get him to hate you so much? Or her. Do you know if it's a girl or a boy?" Lucy inquired.

"I didn't do a thing! It's hated me from the begin, and I really tried winning it over. Would have been cool to own a dragon." He gazed longingly at the dragon still on top of her head. "It's a boy, name's Natsu. I got him from a wizard who had already named him. Don't let the size fool you though, according to the wizard, that thing's already an adult."

Having had enough of her head, the dragon- Natsu, scaled down her hair and circled around her neck a few times, before making a dive for the opening of her top.

"Oh no you don't, buddy." Lucy reacted quickly enough that she managed to get a hold of his tail and pull him back, a little amused by his antics. "A boy indeed."

As Natsu hung upside down from her grip, Lucy worried he might try to take a bite out of her nose, but the small dragon only let out a few fast clicking noises, before twisting itself to hold on to her wrist. As soon as Lucy let go the tail, he was scampering up her arm and wrapping himself around her neck, head resting against her collarbone and tail tickling the back of her neck.

"Well then, half the prize was it?" Lucy asked, still a little too shocked at this turn of events to think of anything else to say.

At the seller's nod, Lucy set the appropriate amount of jewels on the counter, but when the man was handing over the key that started this whole thing, their hands brushed together. Natsu did not like that. His claws bit into her chest as the dragon braced itself against her and let out a sound that was an odd mix between a growl and a hiss. His wings, that had so far remained folded, opened up to hide her face and to make the dragon seem bigger and more threatening.

Startled, Lucy took a few steps back, her new key clutched to her chest as Natsu continued to make angry sounds at his former keeper, who also looked a little scared of the small creature.

"Get that thing out of here before it tears off my face," the man hissed. Lucy wasted no time in doing just that.

The worry she had started to feel when it became obvious that she'd have to take the dragon, only grew worse as she made her way through the city and the thing kept hissing at people who pumped into her. Which was something that happened constantly, given how busy the streets were. She was truly panicking that Natsu would take a bite out of some poor passerby and she'd get sued for the damages. Lucy was starting to really wish that she'd just paid the original, greatly over-prized, amount for her new key instead of haggling herself a dragon.

"You have gotta calm down or else we might end up in trouble, okay?" she tried to coo at small creature. Natsu paid her no mind as he was busy snarling at a child who had stepped on her toes. Shaking her head, Lucy gave an apologetic smile to the child and ducked into a quiet alleyway to remove the dragon from where he was still situated around her neck.

Holding him firmly between her hands and at an arms length away from her face, Lucy gave Natsu a hard stare. "No more snarling at people, you got that?" From the looks of it, he wasn't picking up what she was putting down. Oh no, he was busy swishing around his tail and tilting his head back to look around the alley. "Hey, Natsu!"

To her complete surprise, at the sound of his name, two dark green eyes instantly snapped towards her. He looked at her with curiosity, his little front claws crapping hold of her thumbs.

"All right," she started slowly, making sure that Natsu was still paying attention. "Like I said, you can't go scaring people. It will draw attention and the wrong person might get mad; we don't want that." Natsu did not seem bothered by her warning.

Lucy considered him for a moment, thinking on what to say to make him understand, while also feeling a little silly for talking to him like he could but meaning to her words.

"I can't keep you if you cause too much trouble," she said slowly. For the second time in as many minutes, she was surprised that he reacted.

Natsu tensed in her hold, his little claws digging in as if to hold her in place and prevent her from leaving as a distressed noise shook his tiny form. He looked genuinely upset by the idea, and Lucy's heart twisted painfully in response.

Gulping, she went on, hoping to not only soothe him, but also to get him to work with her. After all, he seemed intelligent enough. "I would like to try and make this work. I want to give you a good home like I do with my celestial spirits, but I can only do that if you follow the rules I give you." He seemed to still be listening. A good sign.

"First rule: unless I tell you to, don't hiss and snap at people, okay? I can't take you with me if I have to avoid people in order to keep you well behaved." Carefully, she moved Natsu so that he was sitting on her palm and she could use her other hand gently pet along his back.

"Like I said, I want to make this work. We could be a little team, you and I. You could help me with my missions if you want. I promise I will feed you, make sure you have a warm and dry place to sleep, and I'll never mistreat you. You'd be part of my family. But that can only happen if you show that you can behave," she stopped, little worried that she'd said too much and Natsu wasn't following her train of thought anymore. But instead ignoring her, Natsu made a string of happy sounding clicking noises and stood up to his hind legs, leaning back against the hand that was petting him.

"I don't speak dragon so that had better have been a 'yes ma'am'," she said dryly and smiled a little when he responded with more clicks.

"All right, let's test your understanding." Lucy lifted Natsu next to her shoulder, from where he scampered back to his earlier spot. Only this time, before settling down, he rubbed his head against the side of her neck like a content cat. She had to admit to herself that Natsu was adorable.

Lucy was tense when she stepped back to the busy street, constantly waiting for Natsu to launch an attack against some poor soul. Luckily though, he seemed to have understood her well enough and kept all loud hisses to himself. From time to time, she could still feel him making a mean- sounding low rumbling or digging his claws into her skin, as if to ready himself for an attack, whenever someone dared to come too close, but he held himself back. Slowly, Lucy started to relax and gain confidence in her ability to keep the dragon.

"You are doing so well," she complimented and reached up to carefully pet his head. Maybe this wasn't so bad, maybe the shopkeeper really was just a mean idiot who'd done something to earn the dragon's anger. "We'll just stop by the market to find us something to eat before we go to the hotel. Tomorrow we'll take the train back to Magnolia and I'll introduce you to your new home."

Natsu proved to be a little more difficult to control around food. Lucy had to do her shopping with one hand, so that she could keep the other on Natsu and make sure he didn't dive for the food stalls. Of course, there was also the trouble of walking around with a dragon; everyone wanted to have a closer look and ask questions about him. To flood of people talking at them was annoying Natsu, she could feel him growing tense and his little growling got louder. Lucy was getting anxious too, Natsu was doing his best to follow her request to behave, but this was not making it easy for him. She just wanted to hurry to the hotel where the dragon could hopefully relax.

They had almost made it when Lucy collided with someone. She had been so focused on the sign of her hotel that she hadn't noticed the man coming from a side street. She stumbled back a few steps and would have fallen if the man had not grabbed her waist and pulled her against him. It would have all been very romantic, if not for the bloodthirsty lizard screeching at her shoulder.

Lucy pushed herself away from man and was just in time to snatch the tail speeding past her. She felt awful for how hard she yanked the dragon back, but the idea of Natsu going on a rampage put her into panic-mode.

She took of running towards the hotel, Natsu's tail still in her grip, yelling a quick 'thanks, sorry, bye!' over her shoulder at the startled looking man.

He was handsome, Lucy noted in her mind. Once she got back to Magnolia, she'd have to complain to Levy how she might have missed her soulmate, or at the very least the perfect meet cute -moment, because of this ridiculous dragon situation she'd gotten herself in. Really shouldn't have haggled.

When she finally made it to her hotel room, Lucy couldn't be quick enough in shutting the door. She let go of the dragon and sighed with relief. She leaned back against the door and watched as Natsu flew around the small room, inspecting everything. "You better not break anything."

Lucy didn't receive an answer -not that she'd been expecting one. Instead, Natsu attached himself to the side of the shopping bag still hanging from her hand, clearly wanting to be fed.

She lifted the bag to eye -level and watched as Natsu tried to chew his way through the plastic. "Is this really what my life is going to be like?"

She got more clicks as a response.

Lucy had been horrified to see the way the small dragon inhaled everything edible, and so instead of staying to watch, she had retreated to the bathroom in order to take a long, soothing bath. She could only hope that Natsu didn't destroy the room while she wasn't keeping her eyes on him.

A pleased sigh escaped her as she sunk into the warm water. This was exactly what she needed after the stress she had endured. This type of worrying would probably be constant from now on thanks to her new... pet? Calling Natsu a pet didn't feel right. After all, she would never call one of her spirits a pet. They were her friends, her partners in battle. They had given her the family she had wanted as a child. Though, she wasn't quite sure how the dragon would fit in. Natsu seemed a little too possessive to be a member of a working family unit.

Thinking about it raised her stress levels once again, so she did her best to clear her thoughts and get to a more relaxed state. She could worry about all that once she was back at home.

Lucy had nearly reached her inner peace when a noise made her eyes snap open.

Slowly, she turned her head towards the bathroom door from where the scratching could be heard. She stayed still until the annoying sound ceased.

Just as she was getting ready to relax again, Natsu started scraping the door again. Only this time he also added in a high pitched whining.

"Natsu!" at her snap, he stopped again. "I'll be out in a minute. Why don't you try taking a nap or something?"

A heartbeat later the scratching and whining picked back up. Lucy grit her teeth and got up from the tub. She wrapped a towel around herself to stop the cool air from touching her skin, before making her way to the door and yanking it open, praying that Natsu hadn't damaged it in a way she would have to pay for.

The little dragon slipped inside and rubbed against her legs affectionately, before he started to investigate the bathroom. Lucy sighed with defeat, but was pleased to note that the door was in one piece.

"Alright, you can stay as long as you don't bother me." She gave Natsu a hard stare that he completely ignored in favor of scratching the bathmat.

Shaking her head, Lucy dropped her towel and stepped back in to the bathtub, much less relaxed than she had been earlier. She felt on edge, just waiting for Natsu to do something to cause her a headache. Stars, what if he set something on fire right now and she'd have to run to safety naked? With the way this day had gone, Lucy wouldn't be surprised if she did end the day streaking across the hotel.

Soon enough, Natsu grew bored of the bathmat and flew over to the tub, landing on it's edge, his claws clicking as they hit the porcelain. He leaned over the water, staring at the bubbles with fascination before reaching out to poke them.

Unfortunately for him, he overbalanced and fell in with a splash.

A moment later, Natsu re-emerged with a lot of trashing around. He made a very ungraceful show of swimming back to the edge of the tub where he hung on for dear life.

Lucy couldn't stop the laughter spilling from her. He looked absolutely ridiculous with piles of bubbles stacked on and around his tiny body, and with a look of shock on his face.

Natsu snapped his head in her direction, and for a moment Lucy worried that she had just insulted him and he would grill her as a revenge. But instead of anger, Natsu tilted his head at the sound of her laugh. Was she imagining it, or did he look amused?

He let out a string of those happy clicking sounds again, before pushing off the edge of the bathtub in order to splash his way towards her. He was adorable trying his best to swim by flailing his limps against the water, wings waiving in attempt to somehow help him forward. By the time he reached her, Lucy's laughter was echoing around the bathroom.

Before Natsu could sink his claws into her bare skin, Lucy cupped her hands under him and lifted him out of the water. She could have sworn he grinned at her right before shaking himself off like a dog. She squealed and giggled as a spray of droplets ans soap landed on her.

"You are a troublemaker, aren't you?" She grinned a him. Natsu seemed pleased with her reaction and let out more clicks.

The rest of the bath time was spend with Lucy watching as Natsu practiced swimming.

She found it a little odd that swimming seemed to be a new experience for the dragon. The shopkeeper had said that Natsu was already an adult, so shouldn't he already know how to swim? And he was so small too. Lucy didn't know all that much about dragons, but the few she'd seen had been varying in size between an average dog and a big mansion (though the bigger ones had luckily been from a distance).

She'd have to do some research into dragons once she was back in Magnolia.

Once the water grew cold, Lucy got out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself, Natsu following after her. He was quick to shake himself dry before settling on the counter in front of the mirror to watch as she dried her hair.

Lucy thought he was being oddly patient. For the little while she'd known him, Natsu seemed to always be moving and looking at everything around him, trying to find things to entertain himself with. But now he was perfectly content to just sit and stare as she ran a towel over her hair. He started clicking at her again when she moved to brush through the golden strands. Lucy found herself amused by his happy disposition.

When she was satisfied with the state of her hair and moved to leave the bathroom, Natsu flew to her shoulder and circled himself around her neck like he'd done earlier. And this time he was refusing to move, so Lucy had to tuck on her pajamas with a dragon decorating her neck. An experience she didn't think many people shared.

Only when she slipped into bed did Natsu let go, and that was probably because he didn't want to be squashed. He didn't venture far though, curling into a little ball against the curve of her neck and shoulder. Lucy didn't mind this position all that much, he was like a little ball of warmth next to her. And he also made a low little rumbling sound that she found to be shooting.

"Goodnight," she whispered to the dragon. Not that he heard her, since he seemed to be asleep and snoring already. Odd little thing.

Lucy lay awake a while longer, mind whirling on everything that could go wrong tomorrow. After all, they would be spending a good few hours in a train full of strangers, and if there was anything that Lucy had learned today, it was that Natsu didn't seem to get along with people.

If there was an alternative to taking the train, she would have done so in a heartbeat, but there wasn't. Magnolia was almost two days walk away and half of that would be done by climbing mountains. She really wasn't prepared for that, so all Lucy could do was hope that the train wouldn't be too full.

She had a bad feeling about it.