Small boy with black hair. Ice Mage. Habit of stripping. Filled with sadness...yet gentle and kind.
Flashes of images flew by Lucy Heartfilia's head; it finally hit her. Gray Fullbuster has always been a part of her life.
We met in her garden, Heartfilia's garden. Lucy was picking flowers for her mom's grave and suddenly, a boy with pitch black hair ran through a butterfly bush, leaving a trace flower petals scattered on the ground. They were both to shocked to say anything, so silence covered them like blanket.
For a moment, Lucy was unable to say anything. She was caught by his black pearl eyes that reflected wildness and freedom. Lucy was unable to take her eyes off this boy that mysteriously appeared in front of her. Finally, it hit her.
"W-AIT! Who are you?!" Lucy tried to speak in a lady-like voice as her mom instructed. "You do realize that this is Heartfilia's mansion and-"
"Will you be quiet for a moment!" The boy quickly jumped towards Lucy and blocked her mouth with his hands. After a while, the boy finally removed his hands from Lucy's mouth and looked around. "Okay. Sorry about that." He took a step back apologetically.
"It's..fine." Lucy wasn't sure what she should say. She just blankly stared at him in confusion, not sure how to handle the situation.
"Do you..mind if I stay here for a bit? I'm on a run from this scary witch like woman..." He sat down on the sandy groundand looked a bit..embarrassed.
"Sure, I guess?" Lucy gently sat next to him. "But..who are you running from?" She couldn't hold in the curiosity.
"Ugh. This woman..or girl named Erza. She is like a demon! I went out to do some jobs and just because I broke some parts of the building.." he shuddered. "She really might kill me..."
"Job? You seem to be my age, and you work?" This boy was definitely a enigma.
"Yeah! I'm a mage!"He let out a big grin. "Even though it's filled with crazy people, it's really a great place to be!"
"Is it?" Lucy wanted to hear more. "Is it that fun?"
"Of course! It's something you wouldn't know without joining..."his voice trailed off."Oh!" It was almost a scream. "Forgot to introduce myself. My name's Gray Fullbuster. You? Are you some sort of a royalty or something? Your house sure looks like it.." He looked around in awe.
"Oh right. My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and no. My dad is just..a hardworking man. He works nonstop, so it's no wonder we have a house like this." Lucy lightly smiled.
"Even if you have all this, you sure don't look happy. You look like some bird trapped in a cage." One side of his lip tilted up.
"Wh-hat?" She wasn't sure what he meant. "I feel very blessed that I have a home like this because my mother used to say that-"
"I mean that your eyes..look sad. It feels like you have no life in them."
"Huh?" Lucy never thought of that. After her mother's death, Lucy did feel a bit of lonely but she still had people around her, right? "I..." Lucy stared down at the ground and tears began to form on the tip of her eyes. Was she actually lonely? Did she have no one around her anymore?
"W-wait! Don't cry!" Gray began to panic at the little girl's tears. "I feel so...damn it!" He was frustrated, Lucy could tell, but she couldn't stop her tears in front of this stranger. She just met him but immediately, he knew she was lonely. Does that mean that people around her know as well? Is this just some sort of denial Lucy had to protect herself from?
"Don't cry..." Lucy could faintly hear Gray's voice through her thoughts. Gently, a hand rested on top of her head. "I don't know what happened for you to feel so..sad, but I know what you are feeling now. I lost everyone important to me when I was younger, and back then, I was just filled with rage. Of course, I was lonely as well. I had no one else to depend on anymore. But I realized that I need to move on in order to heal that pain, that emptiness. Do you understand? Don't let something to tie you down for too long or your wings will really get clipped." His hand patted her blond head and slowly, Lucy's sob disappear. "I don't know if I was of any help but I hope you can move on as well."
At his warm and kind words, Lucy's tears stopped. She understood that this boy she met today is not only filled with pain, but she also understood that he gained courage and strength from taking a step forward. That was really..admirable.
"T-thanks." Lucy wiped her eyes and looked up. "I guess what you're saying is..." Her eyes widened. "WHERE IS YOUR SHIRT?!" When Lucy looked up, she was shocked. Gray was sitting next to her shirtless. SHIRTLESS.
"Oh crap!" Gray's face turned red. "Where did I put my shirt?! I was acting all cool and.." He frantically began to search the bushes.
As she watched him react with embarrassment, she let out a small laugh. How can someone manage to make one cry and laugh in one moment?
"Gray!" Lucy smiled and got up to catch his attention. "Thank you." She took a step forward a gave him a small peck on the cheek to express her gratitude.
"Ehhhh?!" His face fumed in red. "Uh..I..what..well..." Words mumbled out of his mouth.
Lucy watched his surprised reaction. Then it finally got to her. "Wait. I'm sorry. Is this not how you show gratitude? My mom always told me that this is a proper..."
"G-gratitude? Gratitude? Right right! That's what this was!" Gray's face continued to glow like ruby and he let out a big laugh. He continued to laugh in this manner until he finally cleared his throat.
"Uhm. Are you okay?" Lucy checked his face to make sure he didn't explode.
"Of course!" He yelled in a proud voice. "I'm not going to...be not okay because of something like this!" He puffed up his chest up in the air and grinned. "Oh. But..don't do that to others in the future. It sure is shocking!" His face showed a hint of red once more. "Oh shoot. Look at the time!" Before Lucy can say anything, Gray interrupted her in a panicked tone. "If I stay here for too long, Erza will catch me..." He peered around before turning his body the other way. "Well thank you for your time, Lucy." He grinned and held out his hand. White most formed around his hand and a crystal like rose appeared in his hand. "This is MY gratitude for hiding me." He carefully handed the fragile rose to her andbegan to run the opposite way from the path he came from. She couldn't take her eyes away from him. This mysterious boy that have her an icy cold, flower, yet it held so much warmth. So much life.
Lucy silently watched Gray's figure disappear as he dodged through horde of flowers that covered huge perimeter of their mansion.
"Bye, Gray.." Lucy didn't have the courage to yell out his name and hope to see him once more. After all, she was still a bird trapped in cage...
"Hey Lucy. What are you creepingly smirking about?" Gray was sitting next to her, scrutinizing the stellar mage's smile.
"Oh nothing. Just thinking about this boy..." Lucy playfully looked through her bangs and examined the boy that now grew up to be much more dazzling than he was before.
"Eh? A boy? Was he your crush?"
"You can say that...he still is now." Lucy stuck out her tongue and laughed. The boy who saved her from herself and helped her push herself this far now meant everything to her. He was her knight. He was her inspiration. He was her her friend. He was her love. To her, he was everything. He was someone that has always been part of her life...