There are some parallels to the starting arcs here. They’re in a storeroom full of books. Natsu getting excited over interesting clothing, immediately choosing a cloak that goes over his head like a disguise? Adding that to Happy wearing a funny helmet?
Everlue, Chapter 6.
A little less likely, but Wendy putting her hair into (at this point) unusual high pigtails reminds me of Lucy dressing up with high pigtails for the maid outfit, too. Though of course, these are all quite a stretch. It’s just a fun thing to think about.
Daybreak happens to be one of my favorite arcs in the series. Yes, it's a short arc, but it happens to be the arc that sold me on Fairy Tail as a series. If it weren't for this arc, we wouldn't be here together.
Take that however you will.
Still, it's talking about stuff like this that makes it fun to have this series structured like this. I get to talk about how an arc I really like and how it contributes to the grander narrative.
The big thing that makes this arc is laying the groundwork for the Strongest Team. Of course, the Strongest Team isn't officially formed until the Phantom Lord arc. We haven't even met Erza up to this point in the series. It's not just that she's a member of the Strongest Team. She's the main driver behind Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy actually working together as a team. But that's a discussion for the next two arcs.
How does this arc set up the establishment of the Strongest Team? And, more importantly, what does this mean for my handling of the arc?
Let's start with that first one.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. The idea of forming a team between Natsu and Lucy ought to be credited to Natsu. I've actually seen fans give credit to Plue for this and I really have issues with this. I get that he decided to form the team after talking with Plue. But are we really going to credit Plue for this idea?
It makes more sense to me that Natsu came to Lucy's house with the idea to work with her. He just used Plue to get her to agree to the job. That especially makes sense given that they already talked about how Celestial Wizards keep their promises before the fact. And, he already had the mission before he went to her house.
Of course, it's worth talking about how their partnership sets the tone for their future work together.
There's no real way around saying this. Lucy, at this point in the series, has a ways to go, strength-wise. I know she beat Duke Everlue, but he's decidedly weaker than Virgo and the Vanish Brothers. If we're talking about Lucy down the line, she would likely be able to handle the Vanish Brothers. (That would be an interesting idea to consider.) But not this inexperienced version of Lucy.
However, the mission only succeeded because of her.
After all, it was her plan that worked to get the book. (Natsu's plans were to have her come in as a maid and make a show coming into the mansion.) Lucy brought them into the room where they found Daybreak. Lucy suggested keeping the book, and she was the one to read and decipher its true meaning.
If it weren't for Lucy, Natsu and Happy might have gotten into the mansion and they'd almost definitely be able to beat the maids and Vanish Brothers. However, they probably wouldn't be able to find the book. Even if they did, they would have burnt the book and that wouldn't have been good.
Of course, let's not forget that Lucy probably wouldn't have benefitted from doing the mission by herself. That's not just the fights and probably finding the book. (That last one was Natsu and by accident.) It's not even actually finding the mission. (Also, Natsu.)
The real issue becomes denying the reward. Lucy wasn't excited to give up the reward. She couldn't even tell why this was a problem at first. At first, I figured that it was a matter of not doing the job they were asked to do. The real issue is being able to tell that the Melons didn't live in their own house. They couldn't pay a 2 Million Jewel reward. They might not have been able to pay a 200,000 Jewel reward.
This is the mark of the partnership between Natsu and Lucy. They fill in each other's blind spots. Natsu's proven to be pretty clever, but he's not as good as Lucy at making plans. Lucy's fairly strong and grows over the series, but she's not as strong as Natsu. We get to see a lot of their best work together. It would be wrong to see them separate entirely.
Still, I've said that Team Natsu will be a looser partnership than in canon. That doesn't necessarily need to start with them not being together. However, they should be a bit less cozy with each other. How will this arc help with that?
Let's not forget this arc started, Lucy came out of her shower to find Natsu and Happy in her apartment. He tricks her into taking a mission that involves dressing up as a maid. (Though they didn't plan to make her do that.) And once the whole thing was all over, in no small part thanks to her, she doesn't get any reward for it.
It's not like I have to do a lot to make Lucy want to work with Natsu again. The whole experience will leave a sour taste in her mouth. I want to play on that. I want Lucy not to think fondly about the mission or working with Natsu right away.
Remember, Lucy didn't want to work with Natsu after this mission. The only reason she goes with Natsu on the next mission is that Mirajane suggests that she goes to help Erza keep peace with him and Gray. She didn't consider their team to be worth keeping together.
This will also be helped by the inclusion of one of the special chapters: Special Request.
That's right. This will happen right after they return from the mission. If Lucy didn't want to work with Natsu already, this won't help. Of course, this will be built back up as the series goes on. (As also happened in the series.) But I need that wedge between them to exist for a while. That will be important later on down the line.
There's one last thing to talk about. It's a bit of a minor detail, but it's worth talking about here. Lucy won't be revealed to be a writer until the next arc. Natsu will know, but he won't bring it up until a few arcs later. I have my reasons why, but we'll bring that up as it matters.
Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
I mean this scene was from Fairy Tail chapter 10: “Armored Mage”, which was a day or two after the Daybreak Arc and a very early part of the manga as you can see in the art design, and he already lent her his scarf when they only knew each other for a week or so?! I mean come on! Have you ever see Natsu lend his scraf to anyone else?!
But I guess all I'm trying to say is if that's not love then I don't know what it is.
