The Day of Fated Meeting

is the 49th episode of Fairy Tail anime. It first aired on October 11, 2010.

Everything has settled again in Magnolia Town the week after the Harvest Festival and the Fantasia. Lucy, who has never had a boyfriend, experiences a fateful encounter and a possible chance for romance. However, it turns out she would choose her friends over a date and that her fateful encounter is a mysterious blue-haired girl who has been wandering about...

Synopsis
A week after the Fantasia Parade, everyone is still shocked about Laxus Dreyar's excommunication, with Natsu Dragneel having quite a radical reaction: screaming at Makarov. When Happy mentions that Laxus is a Dragon Slayer, Makarov explains to everyone that he is not a Dragon Slayer, instead, he was implanted with a Dragon Slayer Lacrima when he was young, because he was frail. After this, Makarov packs his items to take his leave, even though everyone is against it. However, Freed Justine convinces him to stay.

The Thunder God Tribe’s attitude has changed too. The three are friendlier to the guild. Meanwhile, Erza Scarlet has been staying alone, thinking about the situation with Mystogan. She asks the Master for information, which unfortunately he doesn’t have. But that still leaves Lucy Heartfilia with a problem of her own: Erza is the winner of the Miss Fairy Tail Contest, so the money goes to her. She gets into a conversation with Cana Alberona, who learns and tells the whole guild that Lucy has never gone out with a guy before. Not all is bad though; Cana has seen in her cards that at that day, she would have a “fateful encounter”. What that means, exactly, she doesn’t know.

Later, she learns from Mirajane, that a reporter from the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine will come to the guild. Lucy, in her imaginations, thinks that the reporter will fall in love with her and then marry her, and even pay for the interview. A bit further, Happy tells Natsu she is broke, and Natsu concludes that it because she ate something bad. Gray Fullbuster then comes and reminds him of the fact that she has to pay the rent. Lucy, in the meantime, goes home and summons Cancer to give her a new hairstyle, but is not happy with it, so she runs to buy a styling magazine. At the book store, she meets a guy who turns out to be a traveling writer, who asks her to show him around. Lucy at first declines his offer because she thinks he is her fateful encounter and then leaves. Behind her, a mysterious girl appears.

She returns to the guild, and remembers she needed to buy the book, as well as return home. The reporter, Jason, then comes in, and interviews basically everyone besides Lucy. She is annoyed by this, and also deduces that he is not her type. Wanting the attention, she even changes into a bunny costume, but Gajeel Redfox, with his shooby doo bopping, kicks her off the stage. He then fights with Natsu, and the reporter is caught into their fighting.

Lucy goes out, and when she meets the guy from before, she agrees to take him on a tour of the city. The two apparently click, and in the evening, Lucy turns down an offer from Happy and Natsu for a job because she has a date with him. This apparently depresses them since they had wanted Lucy to come along on the job because they thought it was perfect for her.

The guy waits for Lucy at the restaurant, and Natsu and Happy are on the train. She is shown walking, minutes before her date, into an unknown direction. Then it is revealed that Lucy got on the train with Natsu and Happy. The guy is then met by Cana who seems to have a strong impact on him. Later, the girl from before is shown walking about the train as Cana's words of a fateful encounter echo in the air…

Fights

 * None

Abilities used

 * Hand-to-Hand Combat

Items used

 * Twin Scissors

Manga & Anime Differences

 * The scenes with Gajeel gagging and chaining Mirajane was omitted in the anime.
 * The scene with Erza getting a new design for her Heart Kreuz Armor was omitted in the anime.
 * Lucy hearing about Sorcerer Magazine's reporter differs slightly in both media:
 * Manga: Lucy already knows that the reporter will be coming to Fairy Tail.
 * Anime: Lucy hears it from Mirajane.
 * Lucy's "fated encounter" imagination was omitted in the manga.
 * Jason's interview with Elfman is extended slightly in the manga.
 * Jason interviews more Fairy Tail members in the anime, such as the Thunder God Tribe, Laki Olietta, Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine.
 * The scene with Juvia talking to Gajeel is omitted in the manga.
 * Lucy does not dance while Gajeel does his shooby-doo singing in the anime.
 * Gajeel and Natsu do not fight in the manga, whilst in the anime they do.
 * A ragged man looking at the latest Sorcerer Magazine was omitted in the manga.
 * Wendy was not mentioned in the manga.

Trivia

 * In the manga version of "FATEFUL ENCOUNTER", it turns out that it has been exactly one year since Lucy joined Fairy Tail and her Fateful Encounter was the day she met Natsu and Happy. In the anime, her fateful encounter was the Mysterious Girl (Wendy from Cait Shelter).