Another Beginning - Fairy Tail

Chapter 2

Claudia gasps, her eyes widening in shock. "Are you alright, my dear?" The woman inquires, worried. Struggling to regain her composure, the young teen nervously smiles. "I've heard so much about Magnolia, I just can't believe I'm here!" She hastily covers up her nervousness, and to her relief, Rue doesn't press on the matter. "Ah, I understand what you mean," the woman saying as she lets out a small laugh. "I believe it was Fairy Tail, can I be right?" She questions.

"That's right! Fairy Tail!" Claudia grins. Rue's eyes soften at this, "Have you thought of joining?" A thoughtful expression appears on her face as she contemplates if she wants to. "Actually, I-" the kind woman interrupts, "oh my! I heard the master and some of the guild had left!"

"What? How come?" She quickly asks, her face showing confusion. "I heard it was for.. S-class trials? Or something like that." Claudia sighs, 'Yes, that's right, the S-class trials.'

Noticing the dejected expression on the girl's face, "What is it? Were you hoping to see the master?" She asks.

"Something like that..." Claudia murmurs.

Rue grins, "Anyway! Do you know where you plan on living at the moment?" She changes the subject, worried about the girl's living conditions. Remembering this, Claudia shakes her head and says, "I don't have a place to stay at the moment, is there a hotel nearby?" The older woman grins even more, "Perhaps you can stay with me for now? It does get lonely at times...working by myself every day, no one to talk to...." Claudia sweats at this, knowing what Rue actually wants.

"If it isn't too much trouble," she answers. "You can stay as long as you need!" the woman cheers. "Perhaps I can help and work here! Staying in someone else's home and doing nothing doesn't sit right with me, you know?" Rue nods in agreement.

Sparkles in her eyes, she walks behind the counter and picks up a name tag and gardening supplies. Setting the items on the counter in front of Claudia, she quickly grabs a pen and writes her new coworker's name. Handing it to the teen with a grin, "for today, I'll have you water and plant flowers outside in the flower bed."

Rue clapped her hands in excitement. "I've been meaning to plant these for a while, but it always slipped my mind!" The younger girl smiled wider and put on her gloves, laughing.

"Gardening is my favorite activity!" With that, she picked up the necessary items and headed out to the flower bed beside the shop. She began her work, carefully taking each flower from its pot and planting it in the ground.

As minutes went by, Claudia hummed a tune, no specific melody coming to mind. Just as she was about to bury some of the seed, something sparkly in the sunlight caught her eye. Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she knelt down and picked it up. Inspecting the item, she brushed off the dirt to have a better look and a smile spread across her face.

"A celestial key?" She whispered. She couldn't contain her excitement, rolling around in the grass and kicking her feet in the air. Gently putting it in her pocket, she quickly finished her work, a bright smile on her face the whole time.

Speed-walking inside, a new found excitement taking over her, Claudia called out, "Rue! Rue! You won't believe what I found-" She stopped when she noticed two customers and Rue staring at her, blankly, and her face flushed pink in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! Please, go on with your conversation!" The girl said, her voice cracking.

Rue completed the conversation with the customers and turned to Claudia. "So, what did you find?" she asked with a smile.

Yes, I found this key outside!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver key with a musical note emblem on it. Carefully holding it in her hand, Rue brushed off the remaining dirt to examine it better. Her grin turned into shock.

"This is a celestial key! How on earth did it end up in the dirt?!" she exclaimed in surprise, her face scrunching up in confusion. With a sigh, she looked down at Claudia. "I'm glad you found this. Do you know how to use magic?" Shaking her head no, Rue smiled. "Tomorrow morning, how about you give it a try?" Claudia nodded in agreement. "I suppose that settles this for now. We should get going; the sun has already set!"

They walked for about fifteen minutes before arriving at Rue's home. Unlocking the door, Rue tossed her house key and bag on a side table by the door. Claudia did the same, even though she only had an empty bag. Leading her to a room, Rue said, "This will be your bedroom. Towels are in the bathroom." Claudia perked up at that. "Towels?"

"Yes! You'll be taking a shower. You were working in dirt all day!" Rue laughed. "I'll lay some pajamas on your bed." A soft smile etched across the thirteen-year-old's face. "Thank you!" she called out to the older woman.

Walking into the bathroom, she quickly slipped out of her dirt-covered clothes and stepped into the shower. turning on the water, she yelped as the water was freezing.

"It takes a few minutes for the water to heat up!" Rue laughed.

The girl groaned and shouted back, "You could have told me that before I got in?!"

A/N
I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to continue this, I'm not sure if I liked how I wrote the first chapter but I won't change it. I feel like I rushed the beginning of their friendship?
Has I said before, criticism would be grateful. Knowing what the people reading this thinks would grateful!

I'd like to personally thank ilonamirah for commenting! They asked if I update regularly, I haven't thought about that yet but I immediately rushed to make this chapter! Hope you enjoy!!