Moments to Remember, Words to Keep

'Really, this isn't bad…'

A very relaxed Lucy Heartfilia sighed to herself. She was spread out on the coast like a cat, soaking the last rays of sun into her tanned body.

'Really,' She insisted to herself. "This is great. No screaming Natsu, no scary Erza, and especially no stripping Gray! Peace and quiet, just like you wanted."

The youthful blonde sighed again. After a series of long, hard, onerous missions with Team Natsu, she had been tenser than Gajeel around Levy. It hadn't taken her long to decided that what she really, really needed to keep her sanity intact, was a vacation.

Which was why she was on the beach outside her hotel.

"Jeez," She groaned. "You'd think I'd be happier without those idiots…" Truthfully, though she was relaxing, she was still having a hard time enjoying herself without her friends.

'I know! I'll go back to the hotel room and write my next chapter in my novel!' Lucy grinned at her cleverness. Hopping off of her beach towel, she practically ran to her room, yelping as the sand burned her soles.

"Thank goodness that's over," She sighed in relief, rubbing her sore feet against the carpet and observing her temporary living space.

The walls were a soft baby blue, with peach seashells painted on at the corners. The ceiling was a soft white, and the floor alternated between golden wood flooring and pale, fuzzy carpet. The windows were hung with gossamer drapes, and her balcony over looked the beach. There was a desk with a delicate lamp shaped like a pineapple that would shed silvery light onto her manuscript as soon as she lit it. All in all, the room was pure romanticism.

The sun was still setting, sending streaks of gold through her open window and illuminating her room with an almost unearthly light.

'This… Is perfect.'

Lucy grabbed a nightgown she had just recently bought and stepped into the bathroom to change. Carefully washing her face, brushing her teeth, and slipping on the flowing nightie, she slithered into her bedroom, where the moon was finally coming out, bathing everything in silver.

Lucy turned to her desk, turning on the lamp and grabbing her pen. She was just about to start writing when she noticed something.

'Huh? I'm sure I didn't have this part facing up when I left my room… And room service isn't until tomorrow… So why is it-'

"HEY, Lucy!" An all to familiar voice yelled from behind her.

Turning around slowly, in complete and utter disbelief, Lucy locked eyes with the people she hadn't (or maybe she had, she still wasn't entirely sure.) wanted to see the most- Natsu, Erza, and Gray (Not counting Happy, who was floating beside Erza.).

"… TRESSPASSERS!" Lucy shrieked, instinctively kicking Natsu, who had spoken, in the face, before trying to punch Gray (who dodged easily *snicker*)

"Oi! Luce, cut it out!" Gray yelled. Natsu twitched in agreement on the floor. "We just wanted to visit you!"

"And read your manuscript!" Happy added cheerfully.

"No one said you were allowed to see my manuscript, you stupid cat!" Lucy cried, pinching Happy's cheeks.

"But it was right there!"

"Lucy," Erza said, smiling. "We missed you, so we thought we could join you on your vacation."

Lucy's glower wavered a bit at that. She had missed them, of course. It just wasn't the same without their crazy antics. But then again, on the other hand, she had chosen to take the vacation because of those crazy antics.

"I- Alright, whatever," Lucy grumbled half-heartedly. "You guys can stay. But don't ruin this vacation! Fiore knows, I need it!"

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered.

"Well then, with that, let's get settled." Erza stated, nodding to herself.

Lucy sighed, turning back to her desk and began starting her new chapter, trying to ignore the fight that was occurring between Gray and Natsu on who would sleep on the bed with her.

"She's not sleeping with a pervert like you, Gray!" Natsu yelled.

"Well she's not sleeping with you, either!" Gray snapped back waspishly.

Lucy blinked at Gray's vehement tone. She hadn't ever heard him speak in that way before, and it surprised her how against he seemed to be with Natsu sleeping with her.

'Maybe he thinks Natsu will do something pervy to me,' She thought. 'It's not very likely, though. Natsu's too dense to realize what that might imply.' Lucy shook her head despairingly at the two boy's fruitless struggles as they attempted to fight without taking the hotel down.

"That's ENOUGH, boys! If you're both so determined to sleep in Lucy's bed, then I'll do it for you!" Erza grabbed the boys' heads and knocked them together, practically rendering them unconscious.

"Natsu will sleep on the couch, and you get the futon, Gray." Lucy said agreeably, smiling at the ice-mage. Gray blinked, and then nodded, his eyes a little wide, probably from Erza's death grip on him.

"Anyway, we should get going to bed." The black haired mage muttered, glancing at the carpet for a second, before leveling his gaze back to her.

Natsu let out a loud yawn. "Alrighty then! I'm gonna hit the hay!" The rose-haired fire mage grabbed his pillow and collapsed on to the couch.

"Jeez, you stupid bastard, you could at least bathe before you sleep!" Gray yelled at Natsu's prone form, receiving a snore in response.

Lucy grinned. 'Maybe… Maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all.'

-o-o-o-o-

'Or maybe it'll be worse…' Lucy thought three hours later, glaring at her window in frustration. Who would've guessed that Erza was a snorer?

'Ugh. Why don't I have earplugs or something?'

Natsu's own snores doubled in volume before subsiding as he turned in his sleep.

Sweat practically beaded on the celestial mage's brow as she tried to control her urge to kick everyone out so she could have some shut-eye. Sighing in resignation, Lucy quietly snuck out of bed.

Carefully opening her window, she stepped out onto the balcony. The moon was fully in the sky by now, and it shown pure and bright among the scattered stars.

'They're like little flecks of ice,' Lucy thought, smiling a little as she rested her hands on the railing.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Gray's voice murmured quietly behind her.

The blonde quickly spun around, her nightdress swirling around her legs. Gray moved beside her, his eyes focused on the sky.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Lucy asked ruefully.

"Nah, the racket in there is amazing. Who would've thought that Erza, the great Titania, snores?" He smirked, unconsciously repeating what Lucy had thought earlier.

There was a moment of silence.

"Sorry for trying to punch you earlier, Gray."

Gray looked down at the youthful blonde by his side in surprise. "Why are you apologizing?"

Lucy looked away, towards the beach. "It's just, you guys were worried about me, and wanted to come visit. And as soon as you walked in the door, I hit you."

"You didn't actually hit me, you know," Gray grinned in amusement. "And Natsu was just too slow to dodge what he should have seen coming."

"Still…" Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry."

Gray gazed at her appraisingly, an unreadable expression on his face. He let out a short sigh.

"Lucy…" Gray said quietly, staring up at the stars. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't freak out every time we barged in uninvited. Just like Erza wouldn't be herself without hitting us every time we fight, or like how Natsu wouldn't be himself if he didn't care about Happy. It's just the way you are, Luce." Gray shifted his navy blue eyes down to meet Lucy's surprised brown ones. "If you didn't flip out on us when we broke into your apartment and read your manuscript, or ate your food, or saw you with a towel on, or went through your pan- *ahem* underwear, then we'd know something was up. That something was wrong, and different. So you being you, is just a sign of everything being okay. So don't feel bad about it, cause we don't mind."

Lucy's eyes widened. That had to be the longest speech she had ever heard from her stoic ice mage nakama, and he had been telling her that it was okay to hit them, because it meant that she was okay. He had told her that it was alright to be herself. For some reason, underneath the stars and the all-knowing moon, Lucy's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears.

"L-Lucy? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry or anything!" Gray yelped, panicking. He reached out a hand and put it on her shoulder, about to shake her. "Really, I-I wasn't trying to-"

"You big dummy." Lucy launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his midriff. She smiled against his chest, her tears soaking through the fabric of his thin shirt. "I'm not mad, and I'm not sad. Honestly," She looked up at him, grinning through her tears. "I have no idea why I'm crying like this. Maybe it's because of that pretty speech. Or maybe it's because you're the best friend I've ever had."

Gray blinked, a faint blush dusting his cheeks as he stared down at her. Slowly, he lifted his arms to encircle her, hugging her delicate body to his own as tightly as possible.

And so the two just held each other for some time, bathed in the silvery moonlight, smiling at nothing.

It was really a good thing that they didn't know Happy had been watching them the entire time.

The blue feline cocked his head, watching the couple go inside to get as much rest as they could before dawn. With a self-satisfied little chirp, he purred, "They liiiiiiiiiiike each other!" and hurried in after them.