Yo! Just thought I'd try a short story for Christmas. I'm going to put all the short stories I would write in this one place, just a heads up. Also, this story doesn't follow Fairy Tail's story exactly; this is just an unconnected one-shot with a few scenes.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
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"What? Gray-sama is getting Love Rival a gift and not Juvia?"
This was the crazy Water Mage of Fairy Tail right around Christmas this particular year.
"Well, to be fair, you are obsessed with him..."
This was the drunk Card Mage sitting next to her at the bar, holding a barrel of booze.
"Relax, Juvia. It's not always supposed to be romantic to give people Christmas gifts."
This was the white-haired barmaid and Take Over Mage scrubbing the bar next to Cana.
Ah, I should probably elaborate a little bit. Very well.
It was December 15, and Juvia was sitting at the bar with Cana, Mirajane, and Erza, who was too busy filling up on strawberry cake to speak (you know, with decorum). Gray had just announced to the rest of Team Natsu he was getting them gifts (except for Natsu, and that fact led to a brawl between them...) and Juvia learned of it from Mirajane (after Cana vaguely alluded to it). Her tone made her look waaaaay too jealous to be healthy.
"But Juvia is Gray-sama's one and only! Why does that blonde bimbo get a present from him and not me?" Juvia asked rhetorically, her jealousy pouring out through her eyes.
"Now, now, Juvia. Gray may not have enough money to get everyone gifts. We cannot assume he will just hand out presents. Besides, how would he know what to get for those he doesn't know well enough?" Erza commented, giving her cake a temporary reprieve.
Juvia sighed, her jealousy subsiding. "You are right, Erza. Juvia must not believe he has feelings for her!" she said confidently, putting on a brave face.
Erza sweat-dropped. "Don't worry, he doesn't," she said uneasily.
Juvia sighed sadly, head drooping again. "However, Juvia does not know what to get him. What should Juvia do?" she asked the air.
While she sat there, confused about her dilemma, Natsu walked up to the request board with Happy flying next to him. He took a poster and walked to the bar, next to where the ladies were sitting. He faced Mirajane and said, "Yo, Mira, I'm taking this job."
She walked to stand directly in front of him. "All by yourself? Why not with the rest of your team?" she asked. Erza turned her head to look at them and listen.
"I need the money. I'm getting a couple gifts and I don't have enough Jewel. I can't take on S-Class Quests yet, so I'm taking as many of these kinds of jobs as I can," he said, passing her the poster. She took a look at it and cocked her eyebrow at him.
"'Kill the demon'? That could be dangerous," she commented.
"I can handle it! And that job pays 50,000 Jewel," Natsu assured her confidently, smiling.
"Aye sir!" the blue feline creature standing on the bar next to him said.
Mira couldn't help but smile. "Alright, Natsu, go for it!" she smiled, writing on a clipboard.
Natsu ran for the door with Happy on his tail. "Thanks!" he called back.
"Bye Mira! Please have a plate of fish ready for me when we get back!" Happy called back.
"Sure thing, Happy!" Mira called after him, and the two left.
"Huh. I never pictured that Natsu would buy presents..." Erza noted offhandedly.
"That's it!" Juvia realized. "Juvia will make Gray-sama a gift!"
"That's a good idea, Juvia," Mira complimented.
"Just don't be late for the Christmas party. We've already decorated. It'd be a shame if not everyone showed up," Cana added.
"Oh yeah. That was on Christmas Eve, right?" Juvia asked.
"Mm-hmm. We're going to slip presents under the tree while nobody's looking so we can open them on Christmas," Erza explained.
"Oh, we're going to open presents here?" said a passing Lucy, who was walking with Wendy and Carla.
"That sounds like fun!" Wendy commented, smiling.
"I can't believe we've already finished decorating. It's not even the same week as Christmas!" Carla groused in her usual tone.
"Of course. How else would we be ready for the party on Christmas Eve?" Cana asked rhetorically, taking another large chugging round from her barrel.
"Do you ever stop drinking?" Carla asked offhandedly.
"A party? This is the first I'm hearing about it!" Lucy commented.
"Yeah. We get together and have a good time, while we slip presents under the tree during that time. Then we open them the next morning. We decided to set up a bunch of futons so we don't have to sleep on the hard wood floor on Christmas Eve," Mira explained, smiling.
"Really? I should go get presents then! Where are Natsu and Gray?" Lucy asked.
"They're on jobs. They also decided to get presents," Erza replied.
"Those two? Getting money for presents? That seems out of character..." Carla commented.
"At least they didn't take the same job. Otherwise we would get worried when they don't show up for the party and then we would look for them and find them fighting each other and not some monsters... again," Wendy sighed.
"Wendy, let's go take a job!" Lucy asked of her friend.
"Okay!" Wendy replied as they ran to the request board, Carla flying after them.
5 days until Christmas, Juvia's room in Fairy Hills...
"Okay! It's done!"
Juvia had been spending the last couple days knitting her special someone a special gift: a scarf. Sure, she felt deja vu when she thought of it, but she felt it was a good idea all the same. She had added on a chibi embroidery of her and him standing very close on each end. She then admired her work before folding it and placing it in a box and wrapping it, smiling the whole time.
Meanwhile, the rest of Fairy Tail was getting presents for their guild, while some were on jobs to get money (even though they were kind of cutting it close...). Anyway, since it would be rather repetitive and kind of boring to write their experiences out, I will just say that they were creative with some of their presents and that most of them were done getting presents by the end of the day. Now, I write of the morning after the party, where the important part is.
...
Christmas morning, the Fairy Tail building...
Now, in the Fairy Tail guild building, all through the place...
Not a person was stirring, they all slept on their face...
Oh, wait... Wrong story.
No, the reality was that there were three people up and about at this time, or 7 in the morning for all of you with a clock. Mirajane and Kinana were tending the bar while Wendy was sitting at the bar.
"It's getting late. Shouldn't they be waking up soon?" Kinana asked.
Mirajane chuckled. "Don't be so hasty, Kinana. We partied until late last night, and I'm fairly sure we were part of the calmer group. Besides, I had to wake you up from your alcoholic sleep, remember?" she spoke, smiling.
"Ugh. Yeah, that hangover was the worst... And I feel like I ate something weird... I don't know what this taste is, but I think it's... hair," Kinana complained, nursing her head.
Mirajane giggled. "Yeah, you wouldn't let go of Wendy last night until you fell asleep. Your alcohol tolerance is really low, you know," she commented.
"This is... Wendy's hair? What was I doing?" she asked, now kind of concerned.
"Well, when I found you, you were on the floor, cuddling her. It was just the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Mirajane giggled yet again.
"It actually felt kind of nice once you stopped squeezing me too hard," Wendy commented, kinda blushing.
"Oh, Wendy, I'm sorry," Kinana commented.
"No, it's fine. I'm okay now, and that's what matters," Wendy reassured her.
"Ugh, my head," came the groan from behind the bar. Mirajane picked up and placed on the bar... a half-asleep Carla rubbing her eyes with her paws. "Oh, Wendy, it's you..." Suddenly, she sat up, alert all of a sudden. "You didn't drink, did you?" she asked, worried.
"Don't worry, Carla. We gave her juice. She wasn't drunk at all," Mirajane commented.
"Hmm. And I assume you didn't get drunk either, Mirajane," she commented.
"Nope. I have a job and I don't drink, not even with friends," answered Mirajane.
"How admirable. But why was I sleeping behind the bar? I wasn't drunk, was I?" Carla asked.
"No. You just fell asleep when Happy tackled you. I think he was drunk, because you both ran into the wall. I put you behind the bar and he is in the infirmary sleeping right now. Somehow, you're not injured at all..." Mirajane explained.
"Ugh. Boys," Carla groused, rolling her eyes.
"Don't be like that, Carla. He was drunk, remember? Besides, you're not hurt, are you?" Wendy commented.
Carla only sighed. "I suppose not..." she spoke in her sighs.
Mirajane took out a Lacrima from behind the bar and walked around the guild hall, recording, something the other awake people noticed.
"Mirajane-san, what are you doing?" Wendy asked innocently.
"I'm taking pictures. You should see how some of our guildmates sleep. Apparently, Lucy was also cuddling someone drunk... I can't imagine the look on her face when she finds out she was getting cuddly with Natsu!" Mirajane answered, causing her conscious guildmates to sweat-drop.
"Uh, Mirajane-san... why?" Wendy asked.
"That may become a creepy habit later..." Carla chimed in.
"Because it's fun," Mirajane answered, not turning away from taking pictures of other randomness. Wendy looked around and saw, among other things...
-Elfman was lying facedown with Evergreen lying on top of him.
-Juvia was sticking her face into the ground, mumbling about kissing Gray in her sleep while actually kissing the ground.
-Natsu and Gray were actually still fighting each other in their sleep, complete with immature name-calling, hits to the face, and being stopped by an unconscious Erza mumbling in her sleep, telling them to knock it off and smacking them both.
-After getting off of Natsu, Lucy was hugging the leg of one of the tables, apparently not noticing that, in so doing, she spilled a lot of cold booze on her white shirt...
-The Master was sprawled out on the table Lucy was hugging, apparently having dirty dreams, seeing as he was drooling and his mouth was contorted into a smile...
Wendy didn't know how to react to this at all. She just sat there, mouth open, face red as a tomato, and steam issuing from her ears upon seeing some of the more... suggestive things. Carla was covering Wendy's eyes.
"Don't look, child, don't look!" she admonished Wendy, who was too stunned to speak or respond.
And, after that, they all woke up one by one. Of course, Lucy freaked out when she looked down and saw right through her shirt (she thought it was a good thing she woke up before any of the guys did), Elfman woke up and accidentally dropped Evergreen's head into a table leg, waking her up and scorning him for being too close (and yet, she was blushing...), and Gray was the one who asked Juvia what she was doing when he saw her kissing the wooden floor in her sleep, among other reactions. Once everyone had woken up and gotten over their hangovers and ate the simple breakfast Mirajane and Kinana had prepared (with help from Wendy and Carla), or just eating their breakfast in the case of the children, the barmaids, Cana, and Carla, everyone opened presents. Natsu had apparently been given advice (from Lisanna, judging by her blush) that he should get her jewelry. Then he felt like it would be a good idea to do the same for Lucy, Erza, Cana... basically all his female friends (and Freed), which made Lisanna kind of regret giving him advice ('That idiot...' were the exact words of her thoughts). Gray, meanwhile, went with his own idea to get them all clothes (and, apparently, he either knew all their senses of style or just got insanely lucky, because most of them were satisfied, while Elfman said it wasn't 'Manly' to give a Man new clothes) and Lucy actually went a little above that by getting Erza a Celestial Spirit key for Canis Minor and said she'd teach Erza how to summon him. She also got Levy new Galeforce-Speed Reading Glasses, Wendy got earrings (and, thus, Lucy got a scolding from Carla), and Natsu and Gray each got medicine to stop bleeding (which they used all of within two hours, since they fought and got cuts everywhere somehow). Now, the guild is out eating lunch in various restaurants (they were surprised to find places open on Christmas) with their friends. Currently, Erza, Lucy, Gray, Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla were eating at the 8-Island restaurant in Magnolia, also enjoying their presents.
...
At the restaurant...
"Here you go, Erza-san. One burger and three strawberry cakes," Yajima said, bringing the table their food. Next to Erza sat Lucy and across from them sat Natsu and Gray with Wendy in between (so they wouldn't fight. Smart kid, that Wendy), and Happy and Carla sat next to their Dragon Slayer partners on the tables.
"And what about-?" Erza started.
"And your forty-five strawberry cakes for tomorrow, yes," Yajima added, pointing to a cart behind Erza's.
"Ah, thank you," Erza said, looking back at the carts and then looking back at her food.
"Is that armor new? It looks nice," Yajima complimented, looking at Erza still.
"Yes. It was a Christmas gift. I like it a lot," she answered, smiling.
As for what it looked like, so you readers can picture it, it was basically her Heart Kreuz armor, but the cross was striped red and white and the Fairy Tail guild mark was placed in the upper left and lower right portion of the cross, both of them red. The rest of the armor was a lustrous gold color.
"Oh? Who gave it to you?" Lucy asked.
"The tag said it was from Natsu," Erza answered.
"Wait, what? But I didn't get you armor," Natsu asked, confused.
"Huh? But the tag said it was from you... Furthermore, there is a gold handprint... uh, here," Erza wondered, taking a box out of one of the bags on her cart and pointing to a gold handprint on one of the sides.
"I didn't use a box that big... I got you those earrings, remember?" Natsu asked.
"That hand looks too small to belong to Natsu-san," Wendy taking a bite from her watermelon slice.
"So that means the sender isn't Natsu," Erza summarized, putting her hand to her chin.
"That's what I've been saying!" Natsu whined.
"But, that means the sender intentionally lied on the tag. So now the question is... who sent it?" Erza asked rhetorically.
"Who would hide their name by using someone else's?" Carla added rhetorically.
"Is it someone we know?" Happy asked.
"I don't think so. Juvia, maybe, but I was the only one who got a gift from her, so I don't think it could be her," Gray noted.
Suddenly, someone walking by tripped and hit the floor with a thud. The eight of them were next looking at the floor to see who it was.
"Mirajane! Are you okay?" Erza asked, concerned and leaning forward in her seat.
Mirajane pushed herself up and put her hands behind her back. "I'm fine," she said quickly, before walking away. The group focused on Mirajane walking away before Happy drew their attention away by jumping off the edge of the table and landing on the floor.
"Guys, look!" he called, bringing everyone's attention to the spot he was pointing at. It was a gold handprint.
"It looks to be the same size as the one on the box..." Erza noted.
"Hey, you don't think...?" Lucy wondered. But before anyone could get up to ask Mirajane if it was her, they saw that she was gone.
Outside...
Mirajane looked inside from the window at the scene she had created. She noticed the handprint. 'Crap! I forgot to clean up my hand!' she thought. 'Now they're going to suspect me!'
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