Lucy's POV
I was walking to the guild hall, humming a song to myself that I heard on the radio. Looking up, the skies were gray, and the wind was gradually getting stronger. Shivering, I pulled my sweater closer to myself as I hurried along the sidewalk, watching other people as well take out their umbrellas. Shoot, I thought to myself. Why am I so stupid? I heard that there was going to be a storm today, why didn't I bring anything to cover myself? Heck, my sweater doesn't even have a hoodie. Feeling a little pissed off at myself, I broke out into a run, hoping that I could get to Fairy Tail before the rain fell.
~5 minutes later~
I barged into the guild hall as the storm erupted, panting from the unplanned exercise. To my surprise, nobody greeted me, and they were unusually quiet. Walking up to Mira, I asked, "Hey, what's up with everyone today? They all seem so… quiet". In a normal guild hall, with this rainy weather, sure, everyone would be a little tired, and that would be normal. However, we're talking about Fairy Tail here, a powerhouse guild with a reputation of almost obliterating the town about 10 times; there was no chance in hell that someone wasn't having another battle with someone else.
Searching the room, I noticed that even Cana wasn't drinking her booze as usual, so I approached Gray. I saw Juvia, so I thought that maybe something bad happened, which would explain both the rain and everyone's awkward silence, but she seemed pretty normal, admiring Gray from afar.
"Sup Lucy", Gray said nonchalantly as I approached him. He seemed a little nervous as I walked closer, and he started to sweat profusely. Everyone's eyes were on him as if the world was resting on his shoulders by talking to me. Choosing his words carefully, he whispered into my ear, "You might want to not be in contact with Natsu for a while". Hearing my partner's name, I looked around once more, only to find that he wasn't there. Looking at Gray quizzically, I asked, "Why? Did something happen?"
Nodding to Juvia, who was now his girlfriend, he whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. Looking at me, she flashed a small, sad smile, as if something bad had happened to me. Waving, I started to follow Gray as he tugged at my arm.
"Look, you love Natsu, right?" he asked me as soon as we were out of earshot from the rest of the guild.
Confused, flustered, and blushing madly, I answered him honestly, "Y-yeah… What about it?" Gray looked at me sadly and replied "Well, about that… Natsu, you know that he took a job and that he was coming back today? You see, he sort of bumped into Lisanna, and they got really close and now… They're a couple", Gray tells me in a small whisper, his face downcast. I was shocked. I mean, I was expecting that, I knew that Natsu didn't really hold the same romantic feelings for me that I did for him, but…Hearing it being said out loud still hurt. It hurt a lot. However, I was a Fairy Tail mage, and I was going to stand tall. Master Makarov always told us that if we fall, we should get back up. I felt tears pool up at my eyes, and Gray held me in an embrace. Shaking my head and pushing him softly away, I wiped my tears and smiled brightly.
"Don't worry", I whispered, Master Makarov's words vibrating in my head. I knew that what he said was true, and I knew that that was what I had to do, but, I still had a maiden's heart. I held in my sadness, though, cause I didn't want everyone at the guild to worry about me. Thinking about it, I chuckled to myself, realizing that this was the reason that they were all so depressed. They cared about me so much and were my family, and I couldn't' stop smiling at that fact.
"Thanks, Gray. You're a really great friend, I'm okay, I just need some time to myself. Now, hurry along to Juvia before she comes and attacks me for stealing her man", I joked, pushing Gray towards the guild hall. With a tint of a blush appearing on his cheeks, he nodded, hugged me one more time, and jogged back. Sighing, I ran the other direction, the wind feeling great against my cheeks. I just noticed that we were standing in the rain the whole time and that I was completely drenched from head to toe. Spotting and overhang ahead, I rushed to it, wringing out my shirt from the edge. I let down my bun and shook my hair, which now reached to my waist. Summoning Virgo, she changed me into some dry clothes and handed me an umbrella. With the usual routine, me summoning her, refusing her offer of punishment, and then closing her gate, I laughed to myself, remembering that I also had many other friends who could help me through the tough times. With that happy thought, I headed back home and lived through the rest of the day with a bittersweet feeling.
~The next day~
Natsu's POV
I ran into the guild, holding Lisanna's hand, and everyone started to glare daggers at me. Gray, on the other hand, started to ignore me completely, even after I started calling him the usual nicknames, like Ice Princess, Droopy Eyes, and such. Spotting Lucy at the bar drinking her usual smoothie, I gulped, remembering the fact that she liked me- and more than friends. I was just wondering how to tell her about my relationship with Lisanna when she turned around and flashed me a smile that could light up the room. Blushing, I walked up to her slowly, still gripping Lisanna's hand.
"Lucy, I-", she cut me off, hugging Lisanna and me merrily.
"I heard about the good news! I'm so happy for you guys! You two make a match made in heaven!" Lucy exclaimed. Surprised, Lisanna and I looked at each other. Lucy, observing us, started to talk once more. "Natsu, what are you doing? Be a gentleman and pull up a seat for your girlfriend!". With this, she mouthed to Lisanna about how she was so sorry she had to end up with an idiot like me, and I started to laugh. I was glad that Lucy was able to handle the news so well. As the girls started to talk about how the whole thing happened, I walked away, looking at the request board. Spotting something, I almost asked Lucy if she wanted to go, but decided against it. I have a girlfriend now. I should pay more attention to her. Lucy seems fine, so maybe I should just leave her be. I have my priorities, and she has hers, I'm sure. She doesn't seem to mind my relationship, so there's no need to be gentle. Heck, I should go all out. She's a proud mage, she can handle a little heartbreak, I thought to myself. Proud of my -what I was sure- excellent decision making, I called Lisanna over and picked out a job. She nodded eagerly, and I smiled, sitting down together, I could've sworn that I saw something in Lucy's eye glimmer, but I ignored it.
Lucy's POV
I watched as Natsu called Lisanna, and picked out a job for them to go on together- alone. Not even Happy was going, I knew, since I saw Natsu also talk to Happy, and the blue exceed nodded understandingly, yet sadly. Flying to me, Happy asked if we could go on a job together. Smiling at the blue exceed, I wondered if Natsu was neglecting the adorable cat. I saw a job that lasted 3 days, and had a really good pay, and Happy nodded excitedly, dreaming of how many fish he could buy with the amount of money that we were about to net.
"Ne, Lucy. Isn't this job pretty hard? Should we ask Natsu to help?" Waving off Happy's offer, I told him that I got stronger over the time that Natsu was gone; he had taken a 3-month job, and I had done lots of training with my spirits. "Yosh! Let's kick some bad-guy butt!" I yelled excitedly as Happy chimed in. I felt everyone looking at us happily, and even Natsu turned to stare at us wide eyed. As the tow of us ran to our respective homes to pack what was needed, we both held a determination linked to Natsu- one of us was heartbroken and the other one was ignored. We silently agreed that we would prove to the fire mage that we didn't need him.
