Lucy was trying her best to look happy.
The festive air was contagious, as she looked out over her friends and, though not related by blood, her family, Lucy couldn't help but want to enjoy herself. While Fairy Tale was famous for several things, be their lack of respect for other people's property, their tendencies towards causing destruction, or just being a rowdy bunch of mages collected in one place, the guild was lesser known for being able to party at any moment for any reason. But the occasion for the current party was an auspicious one, one to really celebrate. It was a party for Natsu and Lisanna, celebrating their engagement to each other.
The affair was about as formal as Fairy Tail could get. People were in tuxedos and cocktail dresses, and the guild hall had been somewhat spruced up for the occasion, but some people either forgot it was a black tie affair or just flat out refused to conform.
But Natsu and Lisanna were happy with the turn out, and that was what mattered. Even though Erza had to twice step in to prevent a fight from breaking out, everything was going as smoothly as possible thanks to party-planner Mira.
Lucy, however, wasn't feeling the happiest she could be. Don't get her wrong, she was thrilled when she heard her best friend was (at last!) engaged to his childhood sweetheart. And she more than readily accepted Lisanna's proposition to be a bridesmaid at the wedding, having become friends with the Strauss sister as well. And while everyone seemed to think the celestial mage and fire dragon slayer had deeper feelings for each other, that just wasn't the case. They were good friends and nothing else.
What dampened Lucy's spirits, however, was the realization that she was the only one out of all her friends that wasn't dating anyone. Sitting at the bar and looking out at the dance floor, Lucy couldn't stop the sigh from leaving her lungs.
Everyone seemed so happy, slow dancing to the romantic music. Lucy couldn't help the pang of loneliness in her heart. Nearly everyone in the guild was out on the dance floor, each paired up with someone. Natsu and Lisanna were together of course, doing what should have been dancing, but Natsu was definitely out of step with the tempo of the song and going at a faster beat than he should have been. Gray was attempting to dance with Juvia, the water mage being surprisingly calm in the arms of her beloved. But Gray was so stiff that he was hardly moving at all, so Lucy wouldn't call their interaction actual dancing. Erza was with Mystogan (or rather the cleverly disguised Jellal), Elfman was with Evergreen, and Mira was taking a break from the bar to dance with Freed, her head resting on his shoulder, both wearing serene expressions. Even Wendy was on the dance floor, blushing in the arms of an equally embarrassed Romeo. Lucy nearly squealed at the sight of the two youngsters, making such a cute couple. And heaven knows where Cana and Bickslow ran off to (Lucy could guess it was into a storage closet), while Lucy could just make out her favorite couple, Gajeel and Levy, on the other side of the dance floor.
So you can see why Lucy was feeling a little left out at the moment. It seemed that everyone in Fairy Tail was in a relationship but her. She loved her friends like family, but there were times when she would find herself to be jealous of their happiness. Lucy liked to think that she could get a guy any time she wanted, using her feminine wiles to charm any decent-looking man on the street. But that just wasn't true. Lucy was certainly beautiful and charming, but she was just too innocent to really be called seductive. But she was ready for a relationship, an honest to goodness relationship with a man she was head-over-heels in love with. She was ready for 'Mr. Right' to come along and characteristically sweep her off her feet. If only she knew who she was waiting for.
The song filtering through the speakers changed to a more upbeat song and the dancers switched gears. Lucy noticed Mirajane and Freed stopped dancing all together and left the dance floor, going their separate ways after sharing a word with each other. Freed kissed her hand and went in search of his teammates, while Mira returned to the bar, her hands on either side of her heated face. Lucy thought about teasing her, but decided against it.
"Oh, Lucy! There you are," Mira exclaimed, noticing the celestial mage. "You're not dancing?"
"Nah," Lucy said with a shrug. "I'd rather watch the show." She pointed to one particular corner of the dance floor, where Natsu's exaggerated dance moves made a few people stop what they were doing and stare at the fire mage. If it wasn't for the music, Lucy would think that her best friend was attempting to do the hokey-pokey.
Mira giggled alongside Lucy. Then she turned to the blonde and said, "Lucy, I've been meaning to ask..."
"What?" Lucy inquired, tearing her gaze away from the dance floor.
"Who's going with you to the wedding?" Mira asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
Lucy nearly dropped her drink at the question. "Huh?"
"The wedding! Who's going to be your date?" she asked again.
"Oh, uh," Lucy stumbled over her words. "I uh, don't have a date yet."
Lucy was unsure what the take-over mage's reaction would be to this statement. She half expected Mira to feel sorry for her, while the other half expected her eyes to light up as a new matchmaking scheme came to fruition. It was the latter that ended up happening.
"Oh, that's perfect! You know who else doesn't have a date?" the oldest Strauss sibling asked as she leaned closer to Lucy.
Do I want to know? Lucy thought, but ended up asking, "Who?"
Mira gave the celestial mage a knowing grin. "Laxus," she said in a low voice.
Lucy was genuinely surprised. Without even thinking, she looked down at the opposite side of the bar to see Laxus staring back at her, as if he had heard their conversation. Lucy blushed red at being caught before Laxus gave her a cocky grin and got up from his seat and went over to the table where Freed was seated. Lucy quickly turned back around.
"I-I can't go with him!" Lucy said in a loud whisper.
Mira cocked her head to the side. "Why not?"
Lucy pressed her lips together into a fine line. She couldn't exactly tell the take-over mage she was slightly intimidated by Laxus. He was strong, good-looking, tall, sexy...way out of her league. Okay, so maybe she liked him. A little.
Mira suddenly gave her a suspicious-looking smile as she glanced between the two blondes. Lucy wanted to slam her face onto the bar counter. Well, if Mira didn't think Lucy had a crush on Laxus before, she certainly thought so now!
Mira leaned over the bar towards Lucy. "Well, if you're too scared to ask him yourself, I could..."
Lucy needed to fix this, fast.
"Mira, it's fine. I can find a date for myself," the blonde interrupted her.
Mira frowned. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" Lucy replied. "And if all else fails, I can just ask Loke to go with me!"
Mira arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure? It's really no trouble for me. And I think you and Laxus would be perfect paired together!" she exclaimed, her match-making side coming out.
"It's fine," Lucy repeated. "I'll have no problem finding a date for this wedding!"
A week before the wedding...
Lucy collapsed onto her bed, at a loss of what to do. She rolled over and smothered her face into a pillow, stifling her groan of defeat.
It had been three weeks. Three weeks. And in all that time, Lucy had yet to find a date for the wedding. It wasn't that she had trouble finding actual men to date. The problem that would always arise was the particulars of the date itself. Men would agree to go on a date with her, then freeze and run away the moment she mentioned going to a wedding. What did they think, she was asking them to marry her?!
Lucy probably should have seen this problem beforehand. A wedding date wasn't exactly something casual like going out to dinner. Most men probably thought going to a wedding with a girl was something that required a commitment between the two. At this point, Lucy had probably failed at procuring a date for the wedding, having asked out nearly every available man in Magnolia. Scratch that. Every attractive available man in Magnolia. What in the heavens was she supposed to do?!
Wait...Lucy suddenly rolled over and sat up.
"Of course!" she suddenly cried out and stood up off her bed. She reached for her keys on the side table beside her bed and chose one particular key before holding it out in front of her.
"Open, Gate of the Lion, Leo!"
A burst of light appeared in the room before the lion. He flicked his hair and gracefully bowed before his owner.
"What can I do for you, beautiful?" were the first words out of his mouth.
Lucy shrugged off his flirtations and got straight to the point, though she was a bit nervous.
"Hi, Loke. I was wondering, if you're not too busy, could you go to Natsu and Lisanna's wedding with me as my date?" she asked.
Loke sank to one knee and held Lucy's hand in his. "Oh, Lucy. I would be honored to go with you."
Lucy let out a sigh of relief, glad that her problem was finally fixed. "Great! Now that's done, I-"
"But I cannot."
Lucy blinked at her spirit, thinking she had misheard. "What?"
Loke gave her a despondent look before bowing his head to her. "I'm sorry. But you see, I thought you would have already gotten a date for the wedding. So I went ahead and asked Aries to a date of our own, seeing as I wasn't invited."
Lucy looked at him with some sympathy. Seeing as he was technically a member of Fairy Tail, it probably hurt him that Natsu and Lisanna hadn't sent him anything. But it wasn't like they could send an invitation into the celestial world. "Oh, Loke. I-"
"But...I could postpone it, seeing as-"
"No!" Lucy whipped her hand out of his grasp. Loke looked back up at her in surprise.
"Don't you dare break off that date, Loke!" Lucy said, suddenly angry.
"What?" the lion asked of his master.
"You know how Aries feels about you! It would break her heart if you postponed a date with her for even a minute! I won't let you do that for my sake!"
"But what about..."
"I'll be fine," Lucy said lightheartedly, shrugging her shoulders. With a smile, she instructed her spirit, "You go on that date with Aries and make her happy! Or I'll never forgive you."
The lion gave his master a heartfelt smile. It was so like her, to sacrifice her own happiness for her spirits. Though turning down a date and opting for one with Aries seemed rather trivial to anyone else, he understood that Lucy would refuse to inconvenience her spirits' own happiness, especially the ones she was closest to.
Loke stood up and enveloped Lucy into a hug. "Thank you, Princess. I promise to give her the time of her life during our date." He stepped back and winked at her. "And afterward, too."
Lucy slapped his arm, but wore a smile on her face. "Pervert!" she called him. Loke just laughed with her.
As soon as the lion spirit was gone, Lucy slumped over and lay back down on her bed, filled with hopelessness. Her spirit was the last person she wanted to see her looking so depressed. She stared up at her boring white ceiling and sighed.
Thinking out loud, she said to no one in particular, "Well, there's always plan C, I guess."
It was with some trepidation that Lucy made her way over to the guild. Even though the wedding was within a week, it was surprisingly quiet at the guild, with many people out finishing up their missions so that they could be present for the event. Despite her many duties as the wedding planner and maid of honor, Mirajane was quietly wiping down the bar with a peaceful expression on her face. Swallowing her pride, Lucy marched right up to her and greeted her.
Mira smiled back and returned the greeting, "Hi Lucy. Can I get you a strawberry smoothie?"
"No thanks, Mira. I actually came over for something else," Lucy said as she looked down at the floor, wringing her hands together.
"Oh? What's on your mind?" Mira asked.
"Well...it's just that I haven't been able to find a date to go to the wedding with me...and I was hoping-"
"Oh, Lucy! I knew you would come around!" Mira exclaimed, reaching over the bar and capturing Lucy into a bone-crushing hug.
"Uh, Mira?" Lucy choked out.
"Oh! Sorry!" Mira suddenly released the celestial mage. Mira gave her a second to compose herself before jumping back into conversation. "Now-Laxus isn't here at the moment, so you'll have to catch him tomorrow morning when he comes in to do paperwork..."
"What?" Lucy asked, looking up at the take-over mage in confusion.
"Laxus! You'll have to ask him to go with you to the wedding since it he doesn't seem to get the hints I've been dropping about asking you out..."
Lucy sweatdropped. Of course Mira would have kept this matchmaking scheme of hers going when Lucy wasn't around. She waved her hands in denial. "Mira! I'm not here about Laxus! I came over to see if you knew anyone else was available!"
Mirajane wilted a little. Then raised an eyebrow as a thought crossed her mind.
"Why anyone else? What's wrong with Laxus?" she asked.
"Well...he can be a little...brusque sometimes. And it would just be so embarrassing to be the one to ask him out," the celestial mage countered, her face tinged red at the mere thought of Laxus.
Mira shook her head at the blonde. "Oh, Lucy. You're just overthinking things. Besides, he seems to be the only one without a date for the wedding; at least that's what I've heard."
Lucy's shoulders sagged. "Really? There's no one else?"
"Well, Jet and Droy are still holding out for Levy, even though it's pretty obvious Gajeel is her date," Mira put a finger on her chin in thought. "So really it's Laxus or no one."
"Well, thanks anyway Mira," Lucy said as she turned to go.
"Please, Lucy? It's just one date."
Lucy turned back around and wished she hadn't. The watery eyes of the take-over mage made her feel guilty all of a sudden, and she wasn't sure why. With her hands pressed together and her lip pouting, Mira looked all too much like a pleading child. Lucy sighed in defeat.
"Alright. I guess if it's just one date..."
Mira was instantly elated. "Oh, Lucy you won't regret it!" she cried. "Now," she said, switching gears, "Laxus has already left for the day, so you'll have to ask him tomorrow morning. Got it?"
"Got it," Lucy sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mira." Lucy turned toward the door and walked out, ready to retire to her apartment for the evening.
As soon as Lucy was out of sight, Mira turned toward the second level of the guild where Master Makorov was standing. She gave him a conspiring smile and a thumbs up. Makorov shared her smile before returning to his office.
Lucy stood nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she stood in front of the closed door to his office. Laxus' office.
It was late in the morning. Lucy had been sitting at the bar drinking her strawberry smoothie when Laxus came in that day. While she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, she resisted the temptation to turn her head and look at him, knowing he would undoubtedly see the bright blush on her face. Then that cocky grin of his would appear, and she just knew she would die of embarrassment.
She had waited a full hour after he went upstairs into his office to gather the courage to follow him.
Taking one last deep breath, she poised her hand to knock when a voice from the other side of the door called out, "Come in already."
Lucy winced. He must have heard her approach and stand awkwardly in front of his office for a full minute. Stupid dragon slayers and their senses.
Lucy opened the door and peeked inside. It was small office, with the large paper-laden desk dominating the room. Laxus was behind the desk, glancing up at the visitor to his little hellhole before returning his gaze to the damage report in front of him. "What do you want, Blondie?"
Lucy decided now was not the time to talk back to the lightning mage. Swallowing her urge to argue or to run away, she stepped up to the desk. She took a deep breath.
"Laxus."
He lifted his head to look at her, a bored and slightly irritated look on his face. Lucy could guess that the monthly damage reports were giving him a headache.
"What is it?" he asked. Lucy could practically feel the tension within her reach a breaking point, and the urge to run never felt stronger. Oh, she hated this.
She decided to just come out and say it, get it over with.
"You see, I don't have a date to the wedding, and Mira tells me you don't have a date either. So I was wondering if we could maybe go together?" she asked, her small smile not betraying the fact that her hands were shaking. Laxus blinked at her, his expression unchanging.
He looked back down at the paper in front of him. "I already have a date," he said as he wrote something down.
Lucy felt as if the ground had given way underneath her and she was falling into a bottomless pit. Oh, she just wanted to go under a rock and hide!
"Oh...I'm sorry for wasting your time then," Lucy tried to play her reaction off as indifferent. She turned toward the door, "So I guess I'll just-"
"I'm kidding," Laxus interrupted her. Lucy paused with her hand on the door knob. She turned back around.
"Huh?"
The corner of his mouth quirked up as he looked at her, his pen stilled in his hand. "I don't actually have a date," he said.
Now Lucy was just confused. "But you said..."
"I lied," he admitted while he leaned back in his chair. "I just wanted to see your reaction. I admit, I'd hoped you'd be a little more...disappointed."
Lucy felt herself bristling a little. Was he trying to make her jealous or something? Because she wasn't!
Lucy huffed. "Well, if you're just going to make a joke out of this, I'll just leave."
"I'll go with you," he suddenly said, making her pause at the door. She turned back around to face him. She didn't like the smirk on his face. "If I get something in return," he continued.
Lucy arched an eyebrow at him. "What are you talking about?" He leaned forward in his chair.
"I could get a date if I wanted to. Truth is, I'd rather gag then see Fire Freak tie the knot. But Gramps is making me go. So I have no choice," Lucy felt herself bristling again. She wanted to defend her friend, but he continued talking. "I planned on going by myself; there would be no problem with that. But it's different if you were to go alone, right?"
Lucy couldn't argue. He had a point. "So?" she asked.
Laxus leaned back in his chair again. "The way I see it, I would be doing you a favor by going with you. Not the other way around. So what do I get if I let you hang off my arm, hm?"
Lucy grit her teeth in anger. Oh, she was just itching to give him a swift Lucy Kick in the face. Let her hang off his arm?! He was doing her a favor?!
"Fine," she said through her teeth. She counted to five and took a deep breath. Blowing up in his face wouldn't make things any better. "What do you want?"
"What do you have to offer?" he said, looking her up and down. Lucy could only guess what he was thinking, considering perversion ran in the Dreyer family.
She looked at the sorry state of his desk. There were papers and pens scattered everywhere, and the pile in the corner of the desk looked like it would fall over if you so much as breathed on it.
"What? On the desk? Didn't know you were into that," Laxus said with a devilish grin.
Lucy stiffened as a blush rose in her face. "I'm not!" she stated angrily.
"You're not into paperwork? Don't blame ya. I'm not a big fan either."
Lucy stilled. "Huh?"
"You were going to offer to help with my paperwork, weren't you? What did you think I had in mind?" he stood and leaned over the desk towards her, his grin widening.
"N-Nothing!"
Laxus suddenly broke out in to laughter, nearly doubling over in mirth. Lucy's blush only reddened.
"Oh, you are so easy to rile up, Blondie," he said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. Lucy crossed her arms and waited for him to recompose himself.
As soon as his laughter died down, Laxus took a deep breath and focused his attention on the celestial mage in front of him.
"But what do you say? I go with you to the wedding, you help me with my paperwork. Deal?" he didn't offer a hand to shake, but Lucy understood they were making a compromise.
Lucy could think of worse things to do than paperwork, so she nodded in agreement. "Deal."