OMFG. This is my first 10K word-count oneshot! And I'm FREAKING OUT.
Anyway, this is Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia, of Fairy Tail, for the lovely ShiningStellar. Mira, you're amazing. Thank you! I hope you like it!
It was safe to say that Lucy Heartfilia was freaking out.
In fact…she was going off the deep end.
She didn't know when or why, but at some point during her week-long gift-buying frenzy for the upcoming Christmas holiday, she had forgotten to buy a gift for someone. And it wasn't just any someone that she had forgotten. No, it had to be Gray. Gray Fullbuster. The single most absolutely gorgeous guy she had ever met and kind-of might-have fallen for. And somehow, she had forgotten to get him something for Christmas.
Lucy felt genuinely stupid for that.
It was her big chance to show him that she actually really did care about him as more than friends by getting him the most awesome gift he could ever want…and she forgot. So she was currently turning her apartment upside down to try to find something, anything, to give him. Lucy was hoping for that, or to find some Jewels with which to purchase said gift. And so far, the blonde celestial mage wasn't having any luck whatsoever. Dismay was falling into place and thus her frantic search grew even more haphazard and reckless.
Her mattress sat only halfway on her bed, stripped of sheets, pillows, and comforter, and her clothes were strewn about the bedroom with no sense of order whatsoever. The cushions on her sofa were messed up, the middle one sitting on the floor. The drawers of Lucy's desk were sitting open as though that would somehow help her find something to give Gray though she already knew that the only things in the drawers were either letters to her mother or her manuscripts. The doors of her cabinets were hanging wide open, food items formerly in them scattered across the counter and the table, and her silverware drawer was hanging open and drooping slightly. And still, she had come across nothing that would help her in her quest to get a gift for the guy she was practically in love with.
"Oh no," she murmured to herself, flopping down on the floor in the middle of her living room with her head in her hands.
Lucy couldn't believe herself. After all her hype in the months leading up to Christmas, all of her brainstorming about what she would get him…and she does something like this. She could clearly remember her ideas and her excitement leading up to the holiday season, and checking every store she could for something he might like. And every time she saw something she thought he might like at least a little, she always passed it up and told herself that she could find something that he would like much better at a later date. Right now she was mentally cursing herself for that, but now that it was in the past she could do little. She supposed that now was the time to go consult the person she wanted to talk to the least about her dilemma.
Mirajane.
The blonde shuddered momentarily at the pure excitement that she knew the white-haired woman would express when Lucy confessed her dilemma, but then squared her shoulders in determination. It was something that she needed to do, and now, in order to save her hopes of making Gray happy with her Christmas gift to him. Of course, she didn't think he was the type to hate given that she'd forgotten to get him a present, but she didn't think it would help her in her endeavor to become his girlfriend. So she was definitely freaking out.
Yes, she was freaking out. That was the best way to put it right now.
Sliding her arms into her warmest and cutest jacket and glancing at herself in the mirror briefly – just a cursory glance – before snatching up her keys and rushing from the apartment. Her mind was made up. Even though she didn't really want to, she desperately needed to talk to Mira about Gray's nonexistent Christmas gift.
After all, even though Lucy and Juvia were friends, and Juvia was tentatively with Lyon now, the blonde didn't want to test her just yet. She might still have feelings for Gray, to some degree.
The water mage was, honestly, the reason Lucy had been waiting so long to make a move on Gray because, despite the fact that many of the guild saw Natsu and Lucy as a good couple, she just couldn't make it work in her mind. Not when Juvia had still failed to snag Gray and the dark-haired ice mage was still highly available. Not to say that she didn't like the fire dragonslayer, because he was her best friend and she kind of had to like him…but he was only the second choice on her list of romantic interests. First and foremost was Gray, and now she had to try to get his attention in return. And if she could only do so with the last-minute help of the ever-cheerful and ever-matchmaking Mirajane, then she would.
The snow crunched underneath her boots as she made her way toward Fairy Tail. Even as she walked, her hands in her pockets and her breath making little clouds in the air, new snow began to fall around her. They were small flakes, and few and far between, but Lucy thought they were gorgeous. She found them so gorgeous that they distracted her momentarily from the task at hand until she was accidentally bumped by a woman who was rushing home from what seemed to some last-minute shopping. The sight of store-wrapped gifts in the woman's arm jerked Lucy back to the present and she shook herself before heading once more toward her destination.
The lights that shone from the guild's windows were just proof that the fun-loving guild was ready for the Christmas party they were hosting the next day. The light was alternating colors, from red to white to green, and it made Lucy smile to herself. Her guild, she knew, would always be ready to use any occasion as an excuse for a chance to party some more. It was part of what attracted her to them all, aside from the fact that they were the best friends that she had ever had.
"Welcome back, Lucy!" greeted Mirajane as soon as the blonde pushed the doors open. "Did you forget something earlier?"
"A lot earlier," Lucy answered, making a beeline for Mira. "And I need your help fixing my mistake."
The white-haired cover-girl raised an eyebrow inquisitively at the blonde as she continued wiping out a glass. She finished, put the glass away, and reached for the next one, all the while examining Lucy with a calculating stare. The blonde didn't know why, but she felt as though Mira was already kind of aware of what her problem was.
"Oh?" Mira finally asked, setting aside the glass and leaning forward to examine Lucy even closer. "And what might that be?"
"Well, Mira…" Lucy fiddled with her fingers after a quick glance around the guild that was meant to reassure her that he wasn't present. Once satisfied, she continued, "I kind of forgot to buy a present for someone, and I really, really need to get him one because I might kind-of sort-of like him…and you're the only person I can go to and I just really need your help right now. So…can you help me out?"
Just as Lucy had expected before consulting Mira, the white-haired woman's blue eyes had widened with excitement and a grin was spreading across her face. Lucy could only guess that the woman was having a mental war with herself, trying to see if it was Natsu or Gray that Lucy had fallen for. The blonde didn't want to make it easy for the white-haired woman to figure out, but she knew she'd have to end up telling Mira which one it was before buying the gift that the barmaid advised her to buy. She didn't want to end up getting something that Natsu would like but Gray wouldn't in the event that the white-haired woman advised her with Natsu in mind rather than Gray. But the grin that Mira still wore was starting to worry Lucy.
"Well, Lucy, it depends on who you're thinking of. I kind of have to know that first."
Being sneaky now, Mira?
It wasn't really working, but Lucy sighed because she had seen it coming. Just as she had expected, she'd have to tell which one it was and she really, really didn't want to.
"Can't you just…guess, or something?" Lucy mumbled into her arms, only keeping her brown eyes out to stare imploringly at the ex-S-class mage. Her blonde hair cascaded around her face in shimmering tresses, slightly damp from the snow that had been perched there prior to her entrance. At this answer of Lucy's, Mirajane laughed her tinkling, bell-like laugh.
"I don't want you to get mad if I guess wrong," Mira answered, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Fine, I'll tell you. But lean in a little more, won't you?"
Just at the thought of telling Mira her secret, Lucy's face was burning a brilliant scarlet and she had a feeling she may never live this down if she couldn't get Gray to fall for her. This reaction made Mirajane giggled at Lucy, but she did as the blonde had requested and leaned in a little closer.
"Okay, now tell me!"
Lucy took a few deep breaths to steady her heart because this would be the first time she'd ever said it to anyone other than Levy. And it was kind of scary, now that she thought of it, because she didn't really want to let go of her secret so easily. But she figured that the help Mira could offer her definitely outweighed the cons of telling her.
"Gray," Lucy breathed in Mira's ear, and the white-haired woman let out a high-pitched and exceedingly girlish squeal, promptly bursting into a little dance of happiness. This was part of the reason that the celestial mage hadn't wanted to tell her, but it was too late now. And, like she kept reassuring herself, the pros of the situation outweighed the cons. Now Lucy just had to tell herself that enough times she actually believed it.
The blonde leaned back away from Mira for the moment, letting the excited woman go crazy for a few moments while she watched in trepidation. Lucy was just waiting for the white-haired woman to spaz out enough that she accidentally blurted her secret to the entire guild.
Mirajane calmed herself after a few moments and looked at Lucy then, eyes shining brightly with anticipation.
"So you need help finding a last-minute gift for him?" she asked, leaning back closer to Lucy now.
"Yeah," the blonde nodded, "but I need it to be really affordable because I'm almost out of money. I spent so much on Christmas gifts for everyone else and then I paid next month's rent early, so…well, I think you understand."
Mira nodded, and then she started pacing. She seemed to be deep in thought and Lucy was desperately hoping that the beautiful cover-girl from The Weekly Sorcerer could come up with a reasonable solution to the current problem. Granted, some of Mirajane's ideas were far beyond normal or plausible, but when it counted she was known to pull through for whoever needed her help.
"Let's go," she said suddenly, slapping her hands on the countertop in front of the blonde. Lucy looked up, shocked, and waited for the white-haired woman to elaborate. Mira soon continued with, "I'll get Lisanna to cover for me, since she's been telling me to go home and rest for a few hours anyway. And then we're going to go shopping, okay? Because I kind of have a last-minute gift to buy for someone, too, and I might need a little help with it. So if you'll promise to do your best to help me, I'll do my best to help you."
"Anything!" Lucy said, trying not to sound too relieved or over-the-top about it. She registered in the back of her mind that Mira might be asking for help in finding a gift for Fried, because it was obvious to the blonde that her white-haired companion was head over heels for the green-haired man. And if that was the case, as Lucy hoped it was, she knew just what Mira should get for him. In fact, Lucy herself had considered buying it for Fried but decided against it in the end.
At Lucy's response to Mira's conditions, the white-haired woman couldn't quite restrain the relieved expression that ghosted across her features.
"Let's get going, then. I have to grab my coat and talk to my sister, and then I'll meet you out front."
"All right," Lucy smiled in return and stood from her stool. "I'll just wait outside for you. I love to watch it snow."
"Good thing you fell for him then, isn't it?" Mira said in a teasing tone, and Lucy felt her cheeks redden. "I have a feeling you'll be in a lot of cold places, dating him."
"We're not dating," Lucy said, waving her hands at Mirajane, "and would you please keep it down a little?"
"You're not dating…yet," the white-haired woman said with a wink, walking down to where her sister sat talking with Cana and leaning over to speak to her. Lucy groaned, putting her hand over her face. It was only to be expected, but that didn't mean it wasn't embarrassing for Mira to tease her like that. Maybe Lucy would just have to do some teasing of her own when they were out shopping, eh? After all, it was only an entirely innocent form of payback.
With the hope for a significant amount of teasing turned against the instigator, Lucy headed toward the door as Mira disappeared in the back for her coat and Lisanna took her place at the bar. The snow, the blonde saw when she pulled the door open, was falling a bit faster now, but it wasn't anything like a blizzard so she wasn't worried. Once more, snow crunched under her boot when she stepped out of the guild and yet again, she didn't really care. She took a few steps farther, into the middle of the snow-covered streets. Lucy then turned her face to the sky and stretched her arms out before doing a little spin. Her slightly long coat flared out a little as she did so, but she didn't pay it any attention because she was too busy staring at the white flakes falling right at her in the twilit atmosphere. When the light glinted off of the snowflakes it made them seem like falling pieces of crystal and oh, how gorgeous it was.
Lucy was hopelessly lost in her own glittering world of falling, sparkling stars. She didn't even notice the dark-haired ice mage walking up the streets, hands in the pockets of his jeans and eyes downcast until he looked up to see her, dancing in the snow. He stopped in his tracks, watching her as she spun in a cheerful circle, reaching out to let a snowflake land on her finger.
"Okay, Lucy, I'm ready to go if you are!" came a familiar voice, and at the same time as Lucy stopped twirling and turned to the white-haired woman, Gray Fullbuster dove behind the light pole to hide the fact that he'd been staring at his blonde nakama as she danced in the middle of the street. He didn't know why warmth was creeping up his neck and into his face – or, rather, he tried to deny to himself that he didn't know what was going on when he knew exactly what his problem was.
"Mira!" Lucy smiled at the woman, which the man in hiding saw and felt all the warmer for. "I'm ready, too. Should we go, then?"
"Yeah. We need to hurry up, or all the stores will be closed!"
Lucy immediately agreed with Mirajane and the two bundled-up women rushed off down the street through the snow.
Behind his light pole, Gray slid to the ground with a hand over his face, asking himself why he had stopped in his tracks when he'd seen Lucy, one of his best friends and a teammate, playing like a little girl in the snow. It wasn't as if he didn't already know the answer, but he wished it was different. Not that she was a bad girl or anything, just that he didn't feel he deserved someone like her and he didn't really think that she'd like him back.
How wrong he was.
Neither of the two women noticed when he stood up a few hundred feet behind them and turned to watch them continue up the road. Mira was busy spouting off ideas to Lucy while the blonde merely absorbed them as well as she could while trying to decide whether or not Mira was really in need of help for a gift for Fried or not.
"Now, clothes wouldn't be a very good idea," Mira mused as they passed a few clothing stores. "After all, Gray might take that as a hint that you don't like his…uh…hobby. And he doesn't really need a scarf because he doesn't get cold easily. He was given a chilling charm last year, so that's kind of out of the question and it would be old since it's been done before. So how about…"
"A watch," Lucy suddenly said, snapping her fingers. Mira paused midsentence and turned to look at Lucy. "Would that work? He's late a lot and has even complained about it before because he lost money a few times on jobs. And he wears bracelets sometimes. If I picked one that wasn't too extravagant and large, wouldn't it be fine?"
"That would probably work," Mira agreed slowly, index finger on her chin. "Not exactly ideal, but for the time we have, it would do. Now we just have to figure out how to get one for pretty cheap…"
"Actually…" Lucy suddenly remembered something, and looked at Mira with wide eyes. "I just remembered that I have a sort of emergency fund! I hid it under a floorboard under my bed so I wouldn't use it for something I didn't need or so Natsu wouldn't find it and go buy a bunch of food with it. It's not a whole lot, or anything, but I think it should work."
"It's your emergency fund though, Lucy. What are you going to do if you have an emergency?" it was so like Mirajane to be concerned about her friends, but Lucy just beamed at her.
"This is an emergency, Mira! Not exactly what I'd planned to use it for, but it's an emergency all the same. Besides, I'll only take half of it. That'll give me about five thousand Jewels and leave maybe six thousand, if I remembered right."
"Are you sure it's fine if you do that?"
Lucy just nodded enthusiastically, motioning for Mirajane to follow her. The two made their way to the blonde's apartment and went in. Lucy picked her way over to her bed, righting it and sliding it out so she could get under it as Mirajane followed her into the apartment and began tidying up just a little out of habit. It took the celestial mage a few moments to pry the floorboard up but then she fished out the five thousand Jewels she had planned, surprised to find roughly eight thousand left afterwards, and then the two left the home again.
Twenty-five minutes later, Lucy was leaving a store quite happily with a bag tucked under her arm. In the bag wasn't the watch she had originally walked in for, but she was a little more confident about this purchase. It was a little less generic and she hoped he'd like it.
Lucy then got her chance to tease Mirajane all she wanted to for about fifteen minutes until she finally took pity on the white-haired woman and took her to the store that had what she would recommend for Fried. One look in the window and Mira smiled thankfully at Lucy, rushing in to purchase the item while Lucy waited outside as the snow continued to fall. It didn't take very long for the white haired woman to be done and soon she was back out beside Lucy, smiling.
For the next half hour, the two women just walked slowly and talked, laughing and purposely puffing to make small clouds appear in the air before their faces. It was childish but relaxing and after the stress of Lucy's day, she was thankful for these few moments.
"I should get home," Mira finally said, laughing a little. "I need to wrap this and I'm sure you need to wrap yours and finish fixing your apartment, right?"
The blonde grinned sheepishly at the barmaid and said, "You're right. I was kind of hoping I'd bought something and just missed it when I was wrapping, so that's why my apartment was practically turned upside-down. I thought I'd explain myself, in case you were wondering."
The ex-S-class mage laughed at her friend, but not in a rude way.
"I understand, Lucy," Mirajane said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at the guild!"
"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "you too!"
The two women parted ways, both happy with the gifts they'd found for the men they desired and both ready to see if their man liked the gift, too.
Lucy was unsure what time she had finished cleaning and consequently unsure of what time it had been when she had collapsed on her bed, because she was asleep in an instant. It was only when she woke up to the sun streaming through the window, brighter for glancing off of snow-covered roofs, that she looked at her clock and found that it was almost time for the guild's Christmas dinner and party, and she had yet to wrap Gray's gift. The bag was still sitting on her coffee table, untouched.
The blonde shot out of bed with speed she didn't know she had, grabbing the outfit she had already laid out for the party and rushing to the bathroom in order to get her shower out of the way as fast as she could. She took the time to make sure she washed up good, because she didn't want the major downfall of her hopes for this Christmas to be that she was stinky or some equally embarrassing hygienic failure. And once she was out of the shower, the smells of her soaps and shampoo wafting about the bathroom, she took the time to call out Cancer and ask him to style it as cutely as he could in about five or ten minutes. She would have asked Virgo to wrap Gray's present, because the she and Aries had been happy to help wrap the other gifts, but Lucy wanted to do this one herself. Not that she hadn't wanted to do the others herself, but because she'd been running short on time, since she hadn't started wrapping everyone else's gifts until the morning before. That's probably the only reason she realized she didn't have anything for Gray.
"Done, ebi," Cancer's voice sounded, and Lucy blinked and focused on her reflection in the mirror.
"Perfect! Thanks, Cancer! You can go back now. Tell everyone to have a very merry Christmas!"
"I will. Merry Christmas to you too, ebi," he saluted with his scissors in hand as he disappeared in a puff, signaling his return to the spirit world. The blonde smiled a little at where he had stood then she herself left the bathroom and headed for where she'd sat the wrapping paper, scissors, and tape and she picked up those items and took them to the coffee table where Gray's unwrapped gift sat.
In five minutes, she was ready to go and trying to solve how to carry the three boxes of gifts. Then she smiled and decided that Loke was as much a part of Fairy Tail as she was, so she took his key in hand and called him out.
"Anything I can do for you, my princess?" he asked with a flourish. Lucy just laughed.
"I figured you might want to go to the guild's Christmas party today," the celestial mage smiled brightly at the lion spirit. "And…I needed a little bit of help carrying presents with me, if you wouldn't mind…"
Loke grinned and laughed at her, but all good-naturedly.
"Sure, that sounds great!" he responded verbally, stepping forward and hefting two of the boxes, one under each arm. Lucy was about to protest but saw the look that he gave her and closed her mouth, offering him a sheepish grin instead as she picked up the last of the boxes. Then he told her, "I actually have gifts for everyone, too, so it makes sense that I come along."
The blonde agreed with him smilingly and the two left her apartment, ready to trudge through the ankle-deep snow until they reached the guild. Lucy felt excitement welling up, but also a bit of nervousness. She couldn't help but wonder if he would like her gift to him…or not. And if he didn't like it, the blonde didn't know what she'd do, because this was her best chance to show him how she felt. And if she failed here…she didn't want to think about it.
"Merry Christmas!" the guild erupted as Lucy and Loke entered the building, burdened by her boxes of presents. The smile that spread across her features was formed of pure joy and was infectious, because even the brooding Gajeel grinned for a minute before realizing it and hitching his scowl back into place.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," she let out a cheerful peal of laughter, seeming to glide into the room in a certain dark-haired ice mage's eyes. He felt a hint of jealousy rise when he saw that the womanizing and flirtatious lion spirit was with her, but he forced himself to ignore it. He couldn't let something like that show so openly since he was still trying to deny his own feelings. It wasn't working, especially when she looked like that and walked with such confidence. It was as if she didn't have a care in the world, even when he knew she worried about much more than she let on.
The blonde cheerfully talked to Levy as the blue-haired woman and the two stowed Lucy's gifts underneath the fifteen foot tall tree that Master Makarov had somehow acquired. The collection of presents underneath the tree was a lot bigger than Lucy remembered it being last year, but she decided it was because last Christmas was funded on very little, considering that the twenty-one people from Tenrou Island had just returned a few months prior and Fairy Tail had become a little bit decrepit in those seven years. This year, with everyone back and after a not too shabby performance at the tournament for the second year in a row, the guild had been able to get more job requests and so the money was flowing in better again. This, Lucy decided, was how Christmas at Fairy Tail was meant to be. Everyone was smiling, there was a multitude of gifts beneath the tree – even though it was the thought that counted – and they had their old guild back, instead of the small and shabby one they had been demoted to during their absence. The atmosphere was warm and comfortable and it just felt so right.
"Lucy!" Mirajane's voice called, and the blonde turned from placing the last package underneath the tree.
"Yeah?"
"Could you come help us for a few minutes in the kitchen?" the white-haired woman asked, her blue eyes searching out the blonde imploringly. Lucy beamed at her again.
"Of course I'll help!" she replied, standing up and sitting the three empty boxes to the side with all of the others that guild members had used to tote gifts to the party in.
"I'll help, too!" Levy said brightly, standing up and following Lucy back toward the guild's kitchen. On the way, Lucy paused by the coatracks to hang her coat up with her gloves and scarf tucked in the pockets. She then continued after the still walking blue haired girl and entered the kitchen to find it an organized mess of pots and pans and food and signs of recent cooking catastrophes or food fights. Smiling to herself and shaking her head, Lucy wound her way between Laki and Droy – he was tied down so he wouldn't try to sneak food – to where Mirajane stood.
"Can you finish putting the cookie dough on the cookie sheets for me?" Mira asked, pointing to the large island in front of her. There were four different and very large bowls with cookie dough mixed up in them. "Those are the sugar cookies," she indicated the bowl on the far left, "then next are the snickerdoodles, and then the chocolate chip, and then last are peanut butter. Okay? Can you handle that?"
"Yeah," Lucy said, nodding, "no problem!"
Levy agreed and the two immediately got to work, starting on opposite ends and working like madwomen to get the cookies on their cookie sheets so they could go in the oven.
It took a half an hour, but only that since an actually sober Cana and Erza had come over to help on the other two bowls. After looking at all the cookies, Lucy was thankful that they had practically and industrial sized oven in the kitchen, because if she was trying to bake these at home it would take her all morning. And even then she might not have been done baking.
"All right, I'll set the timer and we'll be good to go for the next twenty minutes, at least," Mira bustled over as soon as she saw that the cookies were ready and the oven was preheated. She helped the four other women get all twelve pans into the large oven and set the timer before saying, "We're ready for our dinner, though, since it's almost noon. So would you help Laki and Mickey and Juvia and Wendy and Lisanna and everyone else get the food out to the tables we have set up?"
The cookie women agreed cheerfully, the spirit of Christmas already having them in its grasp. Erza was rather cheerful and talkative, which was a pleasant change, although Lucy knew that the ex-quip mage would be violent if there happened to be a fight at some point during the day.
When the food began trickling out with the various women of the guild carrying it, the guys whooped like their favorite sports team had just won a championship.
"You'd think we were starving them," Lucy remarked cheerfully to Levy. She laughed and so did Cana, who had overheard. After they deposited their various trays of food at the designated spots on the table, the brunette slung an arm over Lucy's shoulder and the other over Levy's with a roguish grin and Lucy couldn't help but grin along with her.
"Men will always think they're starving, Lucy," the resident guild drunkard said, "It's a fact of life. But I, for one, don't resent the attention."
The brunette winked and the two girls with her laughed as they headed back into the kitchen to fetch more trays of food. Erza was left to guard the food, making sure that none of the guys started until everyone was ready to eat. She enlisted Laxus and Gajeel to bring the chair Droy was tied to in from the kitchen and the two grudgingly got up. Lucy suspected that both of them, though they wouldn't admit it, were enjoying the holiday time with their guild mates. It was kind of adorable to see, even if Lucy wouldn't say it out loud. She was pretty happy that Natsu and Gray hadn't incurred Erza's wrath today and she hoped it would continue.
For now, though, she'd focus on getting the food out on the table.
"Presents!" Mirajane announced loudly once everyone had eaten. The food had been completely cleared out by the ravenous guild, so all that had to be taken back to the kitchen were several empty platters. That was a fairy easy task to handle and it had been done in about ten minutes, including washing and putting away. Juvia was a huge help when you wanted to wash dishes so quickly. Levy could also help some with her solid script magic by creating soap, but Juvia did the rest. And that brought them to where they were now, sitting around the huge tree while Lisanna and Mira urged everyone else to sit down so they could pass out the packages.
Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting blonde, Mira had Lucy shuffled around to where she was sitting on the floor in front of the place where Gray sat. When the celestial mage leaned back against the bench to the table, she noticed she was right beside someone's legs and when she looked up she saw that it was him.
"Hey, Gray," she said, almost giggling at the unintentional rhyme.
"How's it going, Lucy?" he asked, leaning back against the table as if he didn't have a care in the world – an attitude that she thought made him irresistible. But Gray was, in fact, freaking out about how close she was when he was still trying to tell himself that his feelings were just confused. He knew he was doing nothing but lying to himself but he didn't know that she felt the same. In fact, the dark-haired ice mage suspected she liked Natsu and he didn't want to get in the way of his rival-slash-best friend's love life. It wasn't his place to do so.
But that smile that she was giving him made it so hard to keep denying it, even in his mind.
"Better now that I actually get to talk to you," she said cheerfully, then wanted to hit herself because wasn't that kind of hitting on him? And that wasn't how she wanted to confess to him at all.
"Yeah, same," Gray laughed, and she loved the way he ran his hand through his hair. "It's boring not getting to talk to you for so long."
Inside, he was freaking out even more than before because she was happy to talk to him. Happy. To talk to him. And here she was sitting by him when Natsu was bugging Lisanna as she tried to pass out gifts instead of sitting next to the blonde that Gray was next to. It made him wonder if he had been wrong all along and if he had been stupid not to make a move on Lucy before then, but he quickly shook himself of the thoughts. This was Lucy, one of his absolute best friends, and she probably didn't like him like that. It was better to be satisfied with what he had than with what he couldn't have, right?
Lucy then noticed something.
"Gray, where's your necklace? The cross one that you're usually wearing?"
"Oh," Gray reached a hand in the pocket of his pants – this was the only reason he was making a conscious effort not to strip the pants, although his light jacket was long gone at this point. He pulled out the aforementioned necklace on a broken chain and leaned forward to show her. "The chain got cold outside, and it was already pretty weak, so when it got snagged on something on my way here today, it just kind of snapped. Tough luck, huh?"
"Yeah," she said, thoughtfully. "But at least you didn't lose it when it fell, right? That's what I would have been worried about. You can replace a chain when it snaps but you can't replace the necklace itself."
"You're absolutely right," Gray agreed, smiling at her. "And you, Lucy. You're wearing your hair differently than usual."
"Oh, you noticed?" Lucy looked away, hoping he wouldn't see her blushing. "Well, I thought that I'd try something different, since Christmas is a special occasion and all, and so I asked Cancer to see what he could do. I think it turned out pretty cute!"
She did, too. There were green, red, white, and silver ribbons intertwined in her hair that matched the Christmas theme and there were a few chopsticks that were striped like candy canes stuck through to hold the cute messy bun in place.
"Yeah, it does look nice," she heard, and looked up to see Gray smiling down at her. She didn't notice the light pink across his cheeks because she felt the heat rising to her own. The blonde hitched one of her famous dazzling smiles onto her features and beamed up at him.
"Thank you!"
"Not at all," Gray waved it off nonchalantly, not fully understanding just how much it meant to her coming from him. He just knew that she liked to look her best and that she was looking pretty good right then, so he'd fuel her vain side just a little. It was entirely true, so he wasn't trying to make her bigheaded or anything, just honestly complimenting her about her appearance. But, of course, he thought she always looked amazing even if he didn't always tell her that.
"Lucy! Catch!" Mira's voice came and Lucy looked up in time to reach out and just barely catch a present that the white-haired woman had sent winging toward her face. The ex-S-class mage cheered and said, "Good one, Lucy!" before warning Nab in the same manner.
Nab wasn't as successful as Lucy and was knocked backwards by the gift that hit him in the face.
Lucy laughed along with the rest of the guild, including Gray – whose laugh was more of a chuckle this time – as she sat the gift beside her on the floor. Even with as impatient as Fairy Tail's mages were, they were all waiting for everyone else to get their presents before opening them so Lucy would, too. Besides, she liked the giving part of Christmas more than the receiving part, anyway, because she liked to see the faces that her friends made when they opened her gifts to them. It was a liberating feeling and made her feel like she could do something right once in a while.
"Nice catch," Gray remarked, and Lucy turned to him again to see that his cocky smirk was hitched into place. It was so like Natsu's smirk yet so different, and Lucy liked the ice mage's better.
"Better than Nab's, anyway," Lucy responded, letting a rare smirk grace her features. It made Gray laugh, so she was happy. It was at that moment that a gift hurtled against his chest at an outrageous speed and knocked his breath out as it fell on his lap. Lucy had at first gasped, but then she started to laugh, saying, "And I guess my catch was better than yours, too!"
"I didn't get a warning!" he coughed, turning a half-playful glare on the pitcher, Mirajane, who just waved sweetly and innocently at him as though she had done nothing wrong although everyone knew that she was the only one throwing gifts.
"What are you going to do if something breaks, Mira-san?" asked innocent little Wendy as Lisanna handed her the second gift for her pile.
"It's Fairy Tail, Wendy," Cana said, eggnog finally in hand, "most of us know better than to buy breakable things."
"And if they are breakable, we label them!" Levy piped up, grinning. "That doesn't always help, but it's better to try than to just leave it be, right?"
Laughter broke out then and Jet was knocked out of his chair by the next flying gift which, Lucy recognized with much amusement, was actually his present from Levy. And the blonde knew it was a pretty heavy book about his particular type of magic, so she laughed a little to herself.
"Poor Jet," she giggled into her hand.
"Why? What was it?" Gray leaned even closer to enquire so that Jet wouldn't overhear if Lucy decided to disclose the information. And, of course, since it was Gray asking, she couldn't help it.
"A six hundred page book from Levy," Lucy had leaned nearer to whisper it in his ear and he snorted, not able to hide the sound in time.
"Poor Jet," Gray agreed amusedly. "And if Levy's getting books again I'd better start watching Mirajane."
"What, have you been hit in the face with one before?"
His answer was a short laugh, then he added on, "Three or four times so far."
It was Lucy's turn to snort, though she was more mortified about letting the sound out than Gray and she covered her mouth, flushing. Gray just grinned in reply, not really caring that she was laughing at his misfortune. Besides, when she was blushing it made her ten times cuter and he didn't want her to stop just yet by telling her it was fine. Though she would probably blush more if he said it was cute she'd done it in the first place, but he didn't want to press his luck.
"Natsu!" Mira's voice was heard, and the two turned to watch the dragonslayer turn his head just in time to catch the gift with his face. There seemed to be a lot of that going on today, Lucy thought to herself, but it was all in good fun and so she just grinned as Gray laughed out loud. The blonde did watch her best friend for a few minutes to make sure he wouldn't go on a rampage, but he just held up the package and started to laugh, so she was able to relax.
"Here, Lucy," Lisanna smiled as she handed Lucy three gifts. "And here's one for you, too, Gray."
"Thanks, Lisanna!" Lucy smiled at the youngest white-haired sibling, taking the presents from her overladen arms as Gray reached out for his.
"Yeah, thanks," he agreed, nodding to her.
"No problem!" she said happily, flouncing off to the next person.
"Gray…" a voice came from behind, and before Lucy or Gray either one could turn fully around to see who it was, a brightly wrapped item hit Gray in the back of the head and he fell onto the ground by Lucy, a leg cocked at an odd angle and his chin in the floor. "Levy wishes you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"
Lucy saw Mirajane, that white-haired she-devil, flounce away in the same manner as her younger sister had but then turned to helping the groaning Gray sit up,
"Ow," he said unnecessarily, rubbing his head where Levy's present had struck him.
"Book?" Lucy suggested with a slightly cocked grin. Even if she shouldn't have been, she was highly amused by that turn of events. He must not have been watching Mira close enough. Gray worked his jaw experimentally, moving his hand to rub that sore area, before looking at Lucy and nodding gravely. His expression would make one think that he was signing his own death warrant. The blonde, however, let a small chuckle out as she handed him the offending object.
"That's what hit me?" he stared blankly at the package. "How many pages d'you think that has?"
"I'd say at least six hundred, like Jet's," Lucy said as Gray took the suspected book out of her hand. Their fingers brushed and she immediately felt the back of her neck heat up but she tried to ignore it. "But it could be as many as eight hundred."
"Great," the dark-haired man sighed, running a hand once more through his hair. The blonde laughed softly again as another loud thud was heard and Elfman fell out of his chair. It seemed that she wouldn't even have mercy on her younger brother. Lucy felt kind of lucky that she'd gotten a warning for the first flying gift. But with the current lack of warnings she was wondering when she'd be hit with a present. The celestial mage decided that if she got hit with a gift it would probably be a book from Levy, like everyone else.
Five minutes later, Lucy fell sideways into Gray, who had decided not to get back up because he'd probably just be knocked off of the bench again anyway.
"Whoa!" Gray said, helping her sit back up. Then he smirked and asked, "Book?"
"Ouch," Lucy emphasized the word, rubbing her left shoulder. It took her a moment to realize that Gray's hand was still on her right shoulder but she didn't shrug it off. She saw his smirk then and sighed, "I think it was a book, yes."
"At least you didn't get it in the face," he said, gesturing to Droy, who'd just received Levy's gift the same way that Jet, Natsu, Gajeel, Bixlow, Laki, Macao, and Erza already had.
"Or the back of the head," Lucy remarked teasingly, and Gray groaned.
"Did you have to remind me?"
"Yup," Lucy popped the 'p', a little disappointed when Gray's hand fell from her shoulder. She didn't really show it, though, just giving him that little grin.
The next thing that Gray was hit in the face with was softer so it didn't cause any damage and it made Lucy laugh. In retaliation, he threw his present at her and hit her in the side of the head, but she still just laughed. The blonde gently shoved him then, putting the beaten up gift on his mounting pile. She felt like this was progress and she was excited. She wasn't even worried about whether or not he'd like her gift anymore. Now she was more focused on spending time with him and laughing with him, and so far it was going pretty well. She felt closer to him now than before, and that was always a good start.
After about fifteen more minutes of 'passing' out the presents, Mira announced that all of them had been passed out and with a jolt, Lucy took a glance at Gray's pile to realize that yes, her gift was among them. It was toward the bottom, but that was okay with her, just as long as he got it and as long as no one else had thought to get him something so simple. He could really use it now, too.
"Master Makarov, would you do the honor of opening the first present?" Lisanna politely asked the guild master with a gentle grin on her features.
"Of course," he grinned and Lucy would compare his overly excited expression to that of a little boy at Christmastime. And yet somehow, on Master Makarov, it fit.
Once the paper was ripped off, Mirajane called, "Everyone, it's time to open your presents!"
There was variance in the speed at which some people reached for their gifts. Natsu lunged for the biggest one in his pile first, Happy for the one that was obviously shaped like a fish, and Levy for ones that looked more like books. Lisanna took a slower, more delicate approach, much like her older sister and Mirajane's boyfriend-to-be Fried. Lucy herself was content with watching her friends opening gifts until she felt something fall in her lap and was startled into looking at Gray. It was obvious that he'd been the one to drop the present in her lap.
"Don't just watch everyone else," he rolled his eyes playfully. "You have some to open, too."
She found it funny that the first one he'd opened had been the book that knocked him off of the bench, and currently he was flipping to the back to see how many pages it had in it.
"All right, then," the blonde agreed as she lifted the package from her lap and joined in the rain of wrapping paper on the floor of the Fairy Tail guild. And more than ever, she found herself thinking that Fairy Tail wasn't just a guild, but a family. They were one great big and loving family. And not for the first time, Lucy was glad to be a part of it all. They were the best thing that had ever happened to her and she wanted to be part of this family for years and years to come. She wanted to be in Fairy Tail for the rest of her life.
Lucy was hardly halfway through opening her gifts when she heard Gray laugh beside her and she looked over. His pile was lopsided, having fallen at some point, but on his leg lay wrapping paper that the blonde recognized and in his hand was her gift to him.
"How did you know?" he asked her, reaching in his pocket once more for his necklace and the remains of its chain. He pulled the cross off of the broken chain and slid it onto the new silver chain in his hand before sliding it on over his head.
"You said something about the chain being weak on our last mission," Lucy said, smiling sheepishly at him. "I thought that I'd jump the gun, but I guess it was about the right time."
"Thanks," Gray reached over with one arm and hugged her, which was uncharacteristic of him but she really didn't mind. She knew that there was something about that necklace and that it was important to him. In fact, she thought of it as Gray's equivalent to Natsu's scarf and she didn't see him without it very often.
"Y-you're welcome," she said, angry at herself for stuttering but bluffing through it with a smile.
"Now you need to finish opening yours," he lifted another of her packages into her hands after he'd let her go. "You're behind almost everyone else."
Lucy rolled her eyes but succumbed, tearing open the gift from Reedus, which she nearly dropped in surprise. It was a painting from a few weeks ago when she'd been sitting with her teammates at a table and he'd asked them all to look at him. What Lucy hadn't realized at the time was how close she had been sitting to Gray, or how close he'd been sitting to her. Now that she could see it, though, it made her kind of happy and more than a little hopeful that there was more to them than she had seen before. Maybe her feelings for him were at least reciprocated a little.
"Hey, I remember that," Gray's voice startled her a little, but she didn't jump. He was peering at it over her shoulder, and then he let his chin fall to rest there. "Sitting still for that long was so hard!"
Lucy laughed, subconsciously leaning back against him.
"Yeah, but it was fun, wasn't it?"
The dark-haired ice mage agreed, and Lucy suddenly realized what she was doing and gently sat the picture to the side with the other gifts she'd already opened. She reached for another one at random and pulled it onto her lap. It was heavier than it looked and she furrowed her brow as Gray beside her turned to his smaller stack and reached for the next one. Lucy checked the tag and her eyes widened before she let a grin sneak across her features..
"So what did you get me, Gray?" she asked him, holding the present up.
"You'll have to open it to find out. It's not a surprise if I tell you, is it?" Gray winked at her, turning back to the half-unwrapped thing in his lap. Mentally, he was cursing himself for being so forward, because he wasn't sure that Lucy would like that coming from him, but little did he know that she loved that attitude. She especially loved it coming from him.
"All right, then," she said, sliding her fingers under the paper and ripping it all in a fluid motion. The first thing to fall into her hand was a pack of quill pen tips and she remembered mentioning how worn out her own were getting at some point recently. But that wasn't the only thing in the paper. The next thing she extricated from the wrappings was a bottle of black ink, but following that there was a bottle of magic color-changing ink for self-editing. And then there was a pad of letter-writing stationary with a cursive 'Dear Mama' printed at the top of each page. Lucy glanced at Gray for a second before sitting everything down – she didn't want to break the bottles of ink open. And then she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"L-Lucy?"
"Thank you, Gray!" Lucy gushed, still squeezing Gray tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He chuckled lightly and then said, "Y-you're welcome, Lucy."
She sat back then, beaming at him. His heart was beating loudly against his ribcage and he wouldn't have been surprised if the dragonslayers of the guild could hear it even with all the other sounds in the room. And frankly, he didn't really care if they could hear it because he had finally come to terms with the feelings he had and had decided he needed to tell her.
The worst that could happen, he realized, was that she'd turn him down. She wasn't the type that would forever avoid him after that. Or at least she didn't seem like that kind of woman, and Gray trusted that judgment.
Lucy, for her part, felt her face and neck changing colors for what felt like the thousandth time today and she didn't really care either. Maybe if he saw her blush around him, he'd realize just how much she liked him, and how much more than a friend she wanted him to be. If she could base his possible reactions on today, she thought it was fairly favorable but since she'd never had the best of luck with men she decided not to get her hopes too far up. That decision didn't exactly help her, though, because she was still exceedingly hopeful.
The blonde celestial mage was kind of surprised when, after all the presents were open and everyone had eaten a few of the multitude of cookies, someone took hold of her wrist.
"Hey, Lucy," he said, and she turned to find the dark-haired man of her dreams standing there. At some point he'd lost the dress shirt he'd been left with after losing the jacket and now was left in just a fitting navy blue t-shirt and blue jeans. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Some girls were excited to hear those words when they were single. Some didn't care either way about whether they heard those words or not. But Lucy was like the girls who somewhat dreaded those words, because they could mean anything. They could mean that he'd noticed her feelings and reciprocated them, or they could mean that he'd noticed and he wanted her to back off, or maybe he was confessing himself, or they could even mean he was about to ask her for advice on how to ask out some other girl. But then again, they could mean other things. Lucy simply wasn't really in the right mindset to look too positively on the subject since she had been biding her time to confess to him since everyone had finished unwrapping their presents.
"Sure, Gray. Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing like that, Lucy," Gray assured her, forcing a smile. She could tell that it was kind of forced and that only worried her more.
"Okay. Do you want to go outside?"
"I don't want you to get cold," he replied more quickly than she had expected, "It's snowing out there again."
"Is it?" Lucy asked, eyes lighting up. "Then let's go outside to talk. I love the snow!"
Gray couldn't help but laugh. She was as excited as a little girl, just like Gray had noticed last night as she and Mirajane were leaving. It was kind of endearing and he never wanted her to change. If she would give him a chance, he knew he'd never make her change for him and any guy who would make her do so didn't really deserve her at all. He was still under the impression that he didn't deserve her either, but he was going to try anyway.
"All right," he agreed with her. "Do you want to stop and get your coat?"
"Nah," Lucy waved it off. "I'm wearing a long-sleeved shirt and I need to cool off a little anyway."
Lucy, for her part, was proud of her performance so far. She wasn't showing her nervousness and was able to play it off pretty easily, even if she was feeling uncertain in her heart. The guy she had definitely fallen for was asking to talk to her, alone, and she didn't know why. It might break her heart if he was asking for her advice on other girls, but she would advise him anyway if she needed to because if he was happy she would try her best to be happy, too. She knew it wouldn't be easy and that it would be hard to be happy for him when he was with someone else. Lucy suspected the people who told others that they would be happy if the other person was happy had never truly been in love and had their hearts broken. Of course, who was she to judge now, before she even knew what he wanted to say or what he thought of her?
The blonde was, however, excited about the snow and she didn't notice when Gray's hand had slid into her own or when she had taken over the lead from him on their way to the door. All she knew was that she wanted to be outside, to see the little crystal-like flakes falling from the sky. And even seeing that with Gray, even if he was going to shoot her hopes down, would be like Earthland's Christmas gift to her, and she would very happily accept it.
When the two exited the building and escaped into the chill winter air, her first actions were to step out into the middle of the street and execute a little twirl while staring upwards at the falling snow. It took a second for her to catch herself and she slowed to a halt, facing the observing Gray Fullbuster sheepishly.
"Sorry, Gray. You wanted to talk about something?" she put her hands behind her, smiling at him as though she didn't have so many little worries in her heart about what this conversation would entail.
"Yeah. Sort of." He said, scratching the back of his head just as sheepishly as she had stopped twirling moments before.
"O…okay," Lucy said, even though she didn't quite understand what he meant.
"Lucy, I, um, wanted to tell you something," he said, fidgeting with his shirt. That was something new coming from him.
"So…what's stopping you?" she asked, taking a light step forward as the snow crunched under her boots. "You're here, I'm here, and I'm listening."
Looking up at her, the ice mage took a few long strides and was soon looking right down at her. The next thing he did was wrap his arms tightly around the blonde, surprising her. She heard him taking a few deep breaths, as if he was steadying himself for whatever it was that he wanted to tell her. She wondered if it was something that was entirely unrelated to her worries or her feelings, and if it was something possibly life-threatening.
"I like you, Lucy," he said softly into her hair. "And not just like a friend. You know when little kids talk about 'like-liking' someone? That's what I mean when I say that I like you. I know I can't be romantic or anything and write you poems or songs or something like that, but I do like you. And I know I'm not really making my case or anything, but I just had to tell you even if you don't feel the same because it's been driving me crazy and—"
"Shut up," Lucy let herself say, her arms lifting and wrapping around him in return. "It's been driving me crazy, too."
"L-Lucy?"
He held her at arm's length, looking into her eyes intently as though he could make more sense of what she'd said.
"I like you, too," she said, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. "I have for a while now. I just didn't know how to say it."
Gray started laughing and hugged her again, burying his face in her blonde locks.
"After everything I've been telling myself, you felt the same for a while now? I feel like such an idiot."
Lucy laughed and said, "Ditto."
Gray held her near for a few minutes longer, both of them enjoying the embrace and the other's nearness. Lucy felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest and she heard Gray's doing the same with her ear against his chest. It was settling to know that he'd been just as nervous for this moment as she had.
"Be my girlfriend, Lucy?" Gray's tentative question sounded in the midst of their embrace. The blonde celestial mage pulled away from the dark-haired ice mage and smiled gently up at him. The twinkle in her brown eyes made him wonder just what she was up to. Then she stood up on her tip-toes, using him for balance, and placed a kiss gently on his cheek.
"I thought the answer would be obvious," Lucy teased. Smirking, Gray raised an eyebrow. Two could play at that game.
"Lucy," he got her to look up at him questioningly. "You missed."
It might be rushing things just a little, but she didn't seem to mind when he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. In fact, she responded in kind, pulling him closer to her for the duration of their first kiss as a couple. When they broke apart she grinned sheepishly at him and he grinned back at her.
"My bad," she said softly, and then she giggled. Gray couldn't resist the temptation to pick her up and twirl her in a circle, making her laugh even more than before.
"C'mon, Lucy," he said once he'd sat her back on her feet. "We should get you inside before you get too cold and get sick."
Lucy rolled her eyes, but let her new boyfriend lead her back into the guild by the hand, smiles on both of their faces. The blonde caught Mirajane's eye and winked at her, grinning broadly, and the white-haired woman's blue eyes widened and then a grin spread across her face when she spotted their intertwined hands. She flashed Lucy a thumbs up and Lucy mouthed a 'good luck' to her, nodding in Fried's direction.
All in all, Lucy decided that this Christmas had been the best one yet.
AAAND We're done! 10,546 words of pure GraLu-ness. Well, sort of.
OMFG I never thought I'd be able to do a 10K. SERIOUSLY. But here it is and I think it's at least decent. Haha.
ANYWAY, Mira. I really hope you like it and I hope it's not too long for you to read :)
Those of you who are reading, thank you so very much!