Ari walked all the way to the other side of town before cooling down enough to trust herself enough not to use her powers accidentally. She looked up. An old apartment complex towered over her. It was three stories high,  made of gray bricks, and had a flat roof
    Ari knew she needed a place to stay. It wasn't like she could go back to Clover Town. She walked up to the front desk. "Excuse me, but do you have any available apartments?"
    "Eh? Apartments? Oh, yeah! There's just one. It's pretty big for just one person. You want it?" the old woman behind the desk asked.
    "How much is rent?" Ari asked.
    "150,000 jewel," the woman said.
    Ari sighed, "Okay. I guess I can come up with the money every month. Do you need anything up front?"
    "20,000."
    "Here you go. Can I have my key?"
    "Yeah. What's your name, dear?" the old woman asked.
    "Ari Raion," Ari called behind her as she headed for the stairs.

    "Are you sure you saw her enter this building?" a little blue cat asked Natsu.
    "Of course, Happy. When have I ever been wrong?" Natsu asked.
    Happy shook his head. "Do you even want me to answer that?"
    Will watched them in awe. "I can't believe I'm with the Salamander and his cat. So cool!"
    "I vote that we break in via chimney," Gray suggested.
    "Why would we do that, stripper?" Natsu challenged.
    "Do you have a better idea, Flame-Brain?" Gray asked.
    "Of course, we'll come in through the window, duh." The two butted heads.
    "Both of you knock it off!" the red haired lady said.
    "Yes Erza," they both said.
    Erza continued, "We'll go in through the door like normal people do, okay?"
    "Aye!" they shouted.
    "Just what we need. More Happy's," the blonde bent over and sighed.
    "Keep up, Lucy," Erza called behind her.
    Lucy jumped. "Yeah, sorry!"

    Ari had been surprised when she found her room number on the trap door above floor three. She looked around her new apartment after unlocking the trap door with great difficulty. It was in the attic, or, rather, it was the attic. If she reached up her hands, she could touch the low ceiling. Everything had a thick layer of dust  The main room had a fireplace against the right wall with a few chairs around it.
    A thin hallway branched out to the left against the back wall. Ari slowly walked down it and opened all of the doors one by one.
    The first door led into a small kitchen. A small dining table was pushed close to a large window(the edge of the table was just under the windowsill).
    The second entered into a small library. All of the walls in that room, except for the walls on either side of the door and the one directly across from it, were lined with bookshelves, and there was a pull-out couch on the empty wall under a small high window.
    Next to last, there was a small bedroom. Ari looked around with wide eyes. A twin-sized bed was in the left corner. A window was on the wall by the head of the bed. On the other side of that was a small rectangular table acting as a desk with three square baskets on the floor below it for storage and an oil lamp. A tall dresser was on the right wall next to a small closet.
    Ari noticed another door at the foot of the bed. She opened it to find a rather big bathroom without windows. The bath was probably as big as the bed was and slightly taller. There wasn't a door to the hallway in the bathroom, but there was a towel/sheet closet.
    It was getting late, so Ari grabbed some sheets, put them on the mattress of the twin bed in the small bedroom. "I'll finish looking around in the morning," she muttered to herself before falling asleep.

    "We've looked everywhere for apartment 3-5, but it isn't here. We even checked the first and second floors for crying out loud!" Lucy complained.
    "Aye," Happy agreed. The blue cat was flying around the hall dejectedly.
    Gray sighed and bent his neck back. He blinked his eyes in surprise. "Guys it's up here!"
    Erza ran up all the stairs from the first floor when she heard this. The mage had been double checking to make sure the old woman at the front desk in the lobby had been right. "Really?"
    "Never expected that." Natsu said.
    "Let's knock," Erza said. She climbed up the metal rungs that no one had noticed on the back wall. The Queen of the Fairies pressed her knuckle against the trap door to knock, but the door swung open with her strong touch.
    "It was unlocked?!" Lucy shouted in disbelief. She always made sure to lock her door to discourage breaking and entering. It worked... Occasionally.
    Erza climbed up followed by Natsu, Gray, and Will. Happy flew in, next. "I'm not going in there without some form of permission!" Lucy shouted.
    "Wow, it's so cool up here!" Natsu yelled.
    "I might as well..." she sighed in defeat.
    The group explored the dusty house, busting every door in their way down. They stopped and stared at the sight in the third room.
    "Is that her?" Gray stuttered.
    Will answered, "I think so. Wait, is she asleep?"
    "Shh!" Erza put a finger in front of her lips. She closed the door and dragged the two of them away from the door. "We don't need to wake up our host."
    "Host, eh? I'm pretty sure we just stalked her and broke into her house," Lucy muttered.
    "Let's check out the rest of the apartment!" Natsu suggested.
    "Aye!" Happy agreed.
    They opened the last door in the hall. It was a bigger bedroom than the one the girl was sleeping in. It had a window on the back wall and the left one. There was a king sized bed with a trundle twin under each side. It was against the back wall under the window. A wardrobe was to the left of the door.
    "Wow! Four people could sleep in this room alone!" Will exclaimed pulling out each trundle bed and putting them back several times.
    "This bath is huge!" Lucy shouted, after entering the bathroom from the door on the right wall.
    "It is decided!" Erza came into the room with an assortment of cleaning products. "We shall clean this apartment until it is spotless!"
    "Do we have to?" Happy complained. It was no use, of course. Erza was already assigning jobs.
    "Happy, clean the windows inside and outside and dust off all surfaces with even a spec of dust. Gray, clean all the dishes in the cabinets in the kitchen, and sit them out to dry on a towel. Everything in the bathroom closet looks clean so use one of those towels. While they are drying I want you to clean the insides and outsides of the cabinets and then put the dishes back organized and easy to find. Natsu, clean the fireplace and chimney thoroughly and start a fire. Clean the chairs around it as well. Will, put sheets on the beds in the bedroom, clean the wardrobe, and stay out of the way. Lucy, you're on bathroom duty."
    "Why me?" Lucy complained.
    "Do you have a problem with that?" Erza glared at the blonde.
    "No ma'am!"
    "Good! I will take care of everything else! Get to work!" Erza requipped into an apron and long rubber gloves over some jeans with holes on the knees that were splattered with paint and an old t-shirt. A broom was in one hand, a mop in the other. A rag was sticking out of one pocket and cleaners out of the other.
    "Overkill, much?" Lucy asked. "How does that even count as armor?"
    "I've learned not to question it," Gray said casually as he walked towards the kitchen.
    "WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES?" Lucy screeched.
    Gray looked down and saw that he now only in his boxers. "GAH!" he shouted. He ran back into the bedroom looking for his black pants and shirt.
    When the wizards finally finished with everything, they were beat. Natsu, Grey, Will, and Happy crashed in the big bedroom while Lucy and Erza shared the pull-out couch.

    Ari woke up early in the morning. She groaned, "I hate mornings!" and got out of bed. She trudged to the kitchen and sighed when she found no coffee. There was a coffee maker, but no coffee. Ari didn't notice that everything was so clean it sparkled.
    She walked to the store and bought a week's worth in groceries. Including coffee. Ari opened her trap door, and then, she threw all of her groceries up.
She dragged them to the kitchen where she began cooking. She found out that the coffee maker was powered by a fuel lacrima and turned it on. She made eggs, bacon, and blueberry pancakes. Ari, out of habit, made enough for her whole family, and shouted, "Breakfast is served!" Ari frowned when she remembered that she was on her own.
    She set the plates on the table and slumped into a chair. Ari started to eat slowly. Her mind was swimming with thoughts. She didn't notice the noises that the Fairy Tail wizards were making after her loud announcement until: "Oh yeah, Stripper?" "Yeah, Flame Brain! Come at me." "I'm all fired up!"
    Ari grabbed her still hot frying pan and tip toed to the door in her hall she hadn't yet opened.
    CRASH
    That was the last straw. Ari swung open the door. She stood in the doorway with the frying pan slung over her shoulder menacingly. "What are you doing in my house?"
    Natsu and Gray stopped fighting to look up at Ari. They gawked. Just as she was about to hit them both with her pan, a hand grabbed her shoulder.
    "We came to apologize and introduce ourselves," Erza said.
    "Did you have to break into my apartment to do that?" Ari asked. When she got no response she sighed, "Okay, fine. Come to the kitchen."
    Everyone followed her to the small kitchen. The boys started eating as soon as they saw the food.
    "My name is Erza. This is Natsu, Gray, Happy, Will, and Lucy. We are all in the Fairy Tail Guild. You said something about it being Natsu and Gray's fault that your family was killed?" Erza studied the wizard in front of her.
    "Yes. I understand that it was not entirely your fault. You, Natsu, and Gray were only trying to help, but the demon could've been stopped if you had stopped the dark guild Eisenwald from even bringing Lullaby there. My parents, the unborn baby, my little brother, and older sisters could be alive today. Even if you managed to defeat it without causing so much destruction, I wouldn't be cut off from my past life," Ari stood up abruptly and banged her fists on the table. "It's not fair!" Everyone stared at her. "Leave," she whispered. "Please. Leave my apartment, now!" Ari shouted.
    "No."
    The word sounded final. Erza clearly meant it.
    Lucy, Natsu, Will, Gray, and Happy stared at the scene unfolding before them.
    "You asked for our help, right?" All of the wizards, except Ari, smiled. "It is our job as members of Fairy Tail to assist you. We never abandon our friends. Come with us to the guild and join us." Erza reached out a hand.
    Ari reluctantly took it. "I must thank you for your generosity, but you are most certainly not my friend. You just met me for crying out loud!" she argued.
    "Nonsense!" Natsu grinned. "You're already a part of our family."
This feeling, Ari thought. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Accepted. These wizards may be complete idiots with nothing but fighting on their minds, but they are willing to accept me after I accused them of murdering my family. I guess it wouldn't hurt to give Fairy Tail a chance.

Author's Note: Was this a filler? You may ask. The answer is: I'm not sure. You might as well know all about the apartment since it'll be in the story a lot. About it being the attic, I'm not entirely sure how it works out since the building has a flat roof... Oh well... I guess.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Fairy Tail or the pics!