*Author's Note*
Story is set after the Manga! Perhaps a year or two after the party.
—
It was the day of Halloween and the guild was surprisingly excited about the party that was happening in a few hours.
A certain Ice Mage can be seen tugging at a black sash across the room, trying to hook it on the small notches Elfman had hammered in earlier.
Erza—not surprisingly—is the one ordering who does what and which decoration should go where.
"Gray! I've told you! You have to put up it in that position so the spider webs can be seen clearly!" She fussed.
The Ice Mage groaned. It was only a Halloween party and Erza was breathing down his neck like she was about to break it if he broke a witches' broom.
Well, not just his, the others, Natsu as such was also being pulled into this whole party preparation.
"I'm hungry! This is stupid!" Natsu whined, throwing the fake ghosts in his hands onto the floor. "I want food!"
Happy's eyes widened when he looked behind the pink-haired male, "N-Natsu,"
"You will take this seriously." Erza's voice was dead serious and goosebumps raised on everyone's skin when they heard her.
"Ara, ara, Erza's so passionate about Halloween," Mirajane's sweet voice came from the bar as a wounded Natsu placed a bunch of tiny skeletons on the walls.
Gray pretended to be serious about his task at hand until Erza finally went past him towards Mira, talking about how important it was to make this party perfect.
He randomly placed the rest of the cotton—that was meant to look like spider webs—against the black cloth. He hopped off the ladder, looking around the guild.
It seemed as if Halloween puked all over them.
There were orange, purple and black sashes hanging above with a huge chandelier with green light emitting through them. Small plastic pumpkins with black stickers for their faces were placed on every table with candles inside of them. Several other decorations such as skeletons, witches' hat, fake blood, mummies and spiders were hanging off the candle holders on the wall. There was even a life-size werewolf at the entrance, baring its teeth and claws.
Of course, Elfman was the one responsible for it after being told about how manly it was.
The centre of the guild was empty of any furniture, all the tables and chairs were shifted aside so there could be a huge stage in the middle. The stage was equally drowned in the Halloween decorations, a silhouette of a haunted house painted against the violet background.
Gray realised that a certain bluenette had been absent for the whole of that afternoon. Actually, he remembered, he had not seen her for the past few days. Juvia would come into the guild for a while before she left in a rush. She would greet him with her usual smile and cheerful tone but she did not stay long. He also noticed that she would seem a little tired but would carry on her way to wherever she was going.
He tried to ask her but she would just say that she had some appointments outside of Fairy Tail. He also attempted to get answers from the other girls would not tell him what Juvia has been doing, they all claimed not to know but the smiles on their faces said otherwise.
The two of them had been going out on missions together more often than she had been with Gajeel. Through those times, he got to know her better, knowing her beyond the fangirl personality she carried with her.
He snapped out of his thoughts when something hard slapped his face.
"Hey Gray! Thinking about Juvia?" Natsu yelled and Gray gritted his teeth, looking at the fake plastic hand that was thrown at him.
"You wanna fight, Fire Breath?!" Gray readied his hands to freeze Natsu's ass when two swords were sent flying towards them. The weapons missed them by an inch, any closer and their necks would've rolled off their head just like Frankestein's just a few steps away from them.
Erza's murderous glare sent shivers down their backs. "If you break any of the decorations, I will break you myself."
The two of them immediately hugged each other, nodding in unison.
Lucy walked into the guild, done with her duties of decorating the outside of Fairy Tail, "Alright, Natsu, let's go change into our costumes!"
The Dragon Slayer groaned, "I don't want to." He said but quickly changed his mind when he felt Erza's glare.
The scariest thing about every Halloween was not the festival itself, but it was Titania.
"Everyone, change into your best costume and return back here! The party starts in an hour!" The redhead ordered and the guild emptied within a second as they all scrambled back to their places to change.
"Wait, where's Juvia? I haven't seen her the whole day," Gray asked, ignoring the fact that they would take this opportunity to tease him.
Erza brushed him off, "She's doing some inside preparations for the party, why?" She smirked, "Do you miss her?"
Happy took this as a chance to tease him, "He lovessssssssss her,"
Gray let out an annoyed groan, even a simple question ends up with suggestive looks from his nakama.
Looking for Juvia would have to wait.
But what preparations was she doing for it to take this long?
—
Gray huffed, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He was in a white buttoned shirt which had dramatic ruffles under the collar. The pants he usually never worn was switched for a pair of clean black trousers. Above his shoulders was a dark purple velvet cape that was bright red underneath. His face was painted a ten shades way too light for his skin tone and he had fake fangs in his mouth.
It was uncomfortable, but it was either wear that or get hit in the head by Titania.
Lucy finished up on his makeup, painting his lips red while giggling the whole time. Natsu was tugging on his costume. He was a pirate while Lucy wore something similar.
They were in Lucy's apartment to get ready, as decided by Erza. (There was no escaping when she's involved.)
"Why do I have to wear so much clothing while Natsu gets to be a summer pirate?" Gray complained, tugging at his collar. It was way too hot for him.
Lucy glanced at the Dragon Slayer who wore just a vest over his bare chest, similar to his usual get up. His pants were more elaborate with golden intricate patterns over the sides and a sword sat snugly in a sash around his hip. His footwear was his usual open-toe sandals. On his head was a black pirate hat with Fairy Tail' symbol. His scarf was still around his neck of course.
"Do you have a problem with it, Gray?" Erza asked, stepping out in a very revealing devil's outfit. It was a red body suit and she wore high lace stocking that reached mid-thigh. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and a headband that had two red horns on it was placed on her head. She held a red fork in her right hand. Her feet were donned in crimson stilettos that look like they could kill.
The Ice Mage frowned, "Why am I Dracula anyways?"
Lucy was in a yellow bikini with a cropped white shirt over it, the ends of the shirt tied around her torso. To complete her look, she wore a black skirt and matched Natsu with the same golden patterns on her skirt.
Her ankle boots clicked against her floor as she picked up a bottle of hairspray to spike Gray's hair up. He was the last to get ready because of how reluctant he was to be Dracula.
That was all solved with a fist ready to hit the top of his head.
"Well, Juvia said she wondered how you look when you were in Avatar and we thought we could do that for her today," Lucy answered lamely.
"THIS LOOKS NOTHING LIKE WHAT I DID IN AVATAR," Gray said, exasperated. And he was half-right.
Lucy did get his hair on point and the cape was similar to the coat he worn, except for the fact that he had been shirtless and only worn pants underneath.
"It's the same, hair up, evil collar," Natsu listed off his fingers.
Happy, in his own white vest and pirate's hair, raised his plastic sword in the air, "It's the same!"
The Ice Mage can only hope that during the party later, he would be able to remove the shirt. He had already undone the first two buttons after Lucy was done with his hair.
—
Music played through the crowded guild. There were people from Lamia Scale, Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus. Unlike earlier, the lights were slightly dimmer and the glow from the candles were more prominent.
Natsu and Happy headed straight for the food.
Erza went to chat with Mirajane while Lucy had been pulled away by Levy. The Iron Dragon Slayer was nowhere to be seen.
Gray stood in the crowd alone, tugging at his shirt that was unbuttoned above his belly button.
He looked around for a familiar flash of blue hair but all he got was Levy and Wendy. He frowned and was about to move when a hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Just the person I was looking for,"
Gray spun around in annoyance, looking at the silver-haired Ice Mage who was dressed as Prince Charming. He wore a sharp white shirt and red pants which irked Gray at how bright it was. There even an ice crown sitting on top of his hair.
"What the fuck?"
Lyon ignored his comment and glanced behind his fellow pupil, "Wait, where's Juvia-chan? I wanted to show her my costume,"
"You look terrible, go away."
The older male wore a smug grin, "Why? Worried that Juvia-chan will fall for me? Well, I suppose that is a possibility."
"Piss off. I don't even know where she is, I haven't seen her the whole day," Gray answered and moved towards the table, grabbing a mug of beer.
A handful of candy was shoved in front of his face, causing him to jump back in shock.
In front of him was Kinana, an almost empty carton in her hands. It seemed as if she had been giving out candies to the crowd that was surrounding the stage.
"Wait, what's this for? I don't eat candy," Gray said as she finished giving out the portion to Lyon, the box in her arms finally empty.
She smiled, "It's for the performance later on,"
Just then, all lights in the guild turned off with the exception of the chandelier and candles, throwing the place into darkness.
A spotlight was shone onto the stage where Mira was with a microphone.
"Everyone, welcome to Fairy Tail's First Halloween Party!" She greeted in a chirpy voice. The Transformation Mage was dressed in an angel costume with two feather wings behind her back. A roar of cheers came from mostly the male in the crowd, happy to see the Weekly Sorcerer Veteran.
"Because it is Fairy Tail's first Halloween celebration, we have several spooktecular performances ready for the night!"
Gray did not pay attention as she carried on talking, still looking around for Juvia. He was beginning to get worried, she had been disappearing for the past few days and for the whole of today, she wasn't at the guild.
He did not even realised the knocking sound that was playing in the background.
A playful halloween tune begun to fill the room.
Lyon tapped on Gray's shoulder, nudging him to look at the stage.
"What?" He asked, only to see Lyon in a trance.
He glanced over at the stage and froze.
On stage was Juvia in a coal-coloured dress that was short-sleeved and flared out from her torso, the length of the one-piece clothing barely reached past mid-thigh. She had a headband on her head which had a dark lace veil and around her neck was a leather choker. Her hair was curled in loose waves, left untouched around her shoulders. She wore black stilettoes and was standing in the middle of her stage. It seemed like she was going for the dead bride's look.
What surprised Gray even more was the microphone on the side of her face.
Juvia smiled mischievously and begun to play with water in her hands to her body. With a simple snaps of her fingers, liquid melded to her lower half. As the music picked on its beat, the magic around her moved even faster and her costume was entirely changed.
Her dress was switched for a bright baby blue corset with sheer black lace over it and a matching black mini skirt. On the corset was silhouettes of spider webs and spiders.
(Hey, it looks like about to get dark now, so is it alright if we go out to play?)
She sang, an octave lower than her usual voice and Gray's jaw dropped.
(A little magic was put on me, you see)
She swirled her hands and water spun around her hair. Her bangs were left untouched as the rest of her locks were tied up into a high ponytail. The veil on her head was replaced with a similar tiny witches' hat with a small black lace covering the upper half of her face.
(Let's eat, starting with your desserts)
In her hand was a wand with a blue star on it. She took steps forward slowly.
(It looks like the fog will get thicker, so will everyone be getting together, perhaps?)
A platform begun to form in the middle, efficiently parting the crowd in half.
(I firmly waited and held back on sweets)
She then winked and Gray was sure half of the crowd had fainted from it, even Lyon who was barely standing.
(And as for the reward, here,)
(One, two, the sound of the bell)
She pressed an index finger near her cheek, a smile so brilliant that Gray was sure that the sliver-haired man was about to convulse.
(the small ghosts making bustle)
Cana was right next to the stage, a big smirk on her face as she controlled cards to imitate glowing mini ghosts behind Juvia. She wasn't part of the act but their props broke down last minute and they found their best next option.
(it'll be alright for today so, let's get to town)
Juvia grinned, a group of dancers in black joined her in the back.
('Cause it's Halloween, let's play a prank ding-dong-dang)
Her long, milky legs stalked down the platform in blue shiny heels and in her other hand was a pumpkin bucket that came out of nowhere.
(trick or treat here, there and everywhere, won't you give some candy?)
She stopped right in front of the two Ice Mages, stretching her arm further so the crowd around them could give her the sweets.
Lyon's mouth dropped open as he stared at Juvia in pure bliss. She was so beautiful.
Gray placed the candy in absentmindedly, using his other hand to hit Lyon, knowing unclean thoughts were in his head.
Juvia giggled and moved to the other side of the stage, singing without a single mistake as she collected more candy in her bucket.
She carried on with her performance where hired dancers went along in the same choreography with the Water Mage.
"Juvia-chan! You look absolutely stunning!" Lyon begun to holler over the excited crowd, jumping up just like the other men in the room.
Towards the end of the performance, she twirled in a circle, using her magic to create an illusion so that it seemed like her wand worked. Tiny water droplets glistened in the spotlight, and once the light went off for a second, Juvia disappeared off the stage immediately. The next performance started and to everyone's dismay, Gajeel and his guitar replaced her.
Unable to wait to see her, Gray begun pushing his way through the crowd to the back.
He spotted one of the dancers and asked if she knew where Juvia was.
She eyed him for a moment before pointing to the door to the dressing room that Juvia was in. The room was one of the rooms Fairy Tail had for their members, shall they need to stay a night there.
Without thinking, Gray immediately opened the door, earning a loud scream of surprise from Juvia. There she was removing one of the strings from her corset. She hugged the loosen corset close to her chest.
"I'M SO SORRY!" Gray quickly shut the door.
After a few shuffles behind the door, he finally heard her say, "G-Gray-sama, it's fine now."
He slowly opened the door and both Mages' face were flushed.
The Water Mage had thrown on a jacket over her top, feeling more comfortable that she was more covered up now. Her face was red from embarrassment.
"I-I'm so sorry I didn't mean to–," Gray started but was cut off by Juvia.
"It's okay, it's Juvia's fault, she should've locked the door."
Then for once between the two mages, awkward silence surrounded them.
It stayed like that for a good minute until the bluenette spoke, leaving Gray to smack himself internally for letting her make the move first when he was the one who barged in.
"How did you like Juvia's performance?" She asked in a soft voice.
"I–,"
The door burst open and hit Gray in the head, throwing him to the floor. "I absolutely loved it, Juvia-chan!" Lyon declared, walking into the room shamelessly. Juvia stared in surprise as the silver-haired male strode across the room, past Gray who was on the ground, towards her.
The older man swiped Juvia's hand, planting a kiss on it, "How about we ditch this party and go out for a spooky night on our own? The gorgeous Water Fairy and Prince Charming and a dinner date," he suggested in a deep voice, pointing at himself.
Juvia frowned slightly but kept a smile. Behind Lyon, Gray got up with a huge scowl on his face while rubbing the back of his head. "You bastard..."
"Silly me, it's Fairy Tail's Halloween party! How about you promise me a dance later–," He got cut off in his ideas when Gray threw a punch at him.
Before Juvia could react, Gray pulled her out of the dressing room.
They ended up in another room of the guild, but Lyon did not know that as he ran right out of the place to search for the two.
"Where did you learn how to dance and sing like that?" He asked, throwing Juvia off for a moment.
She blinked and realised what he was asking.
"This is going to sound stupid," she smiled and Gray thought she looked absolutely beautiful. Even if they're in the infirmary room that was dark and only the moon was their source of light.
Wait, he and Juvia is in a room, without light, alone.
"Gray-sama? Are you alright?"
Why was he the one feeling jittery about being stuck with her when usually she's the one freaking out?
He jumped away, realising how close they were. "Y-yea! Dainty! You were saying?"
"Well," she pulled a lock of hair behind her ear as pink painted across her cheeks, "Part of Juvia's hobbies is singing and dancing, apart from following you of course," she giggled but quickly added, "The last part was a joke."
Gray felt slightly disappointed. As time passed, Juvia became more... mature. Unlike her previous crazy fangirl or otherwise labelled as stalker or dedicated follower, this Juvia in front of him seemed more distant. Though he wasn't sure if she still liked him the same way, whether her feelings changed as time went by.
"Is that why you've been disappearing for the past few days?"
"Erza saw me singing and dancing and begged me to do a number for tonight. Of course, Juvia was more than excited to, it's been so long since she danced and sang so hard! With an audience too!" She beamed and Gray felt his heart pound.
"I really missed you." The words slipped out before he could even stop himself, sending them both into silence.
Juvia stared at him with her wide blue eyes, in shock of what she just heard.
"Juvia, listen," Gray sighed, how was this going to go? He did not know. Was he making a bad decision? Maybe he would trigger the fangirl Juvia again and she would faint after what he said but, he felt like he needed to get it off his chest. "I've realised that, every time we go on a Mission together, I would noticed everything about you and I mean anything. I thought I was crazy because you used to do that and I doubted myself. Nowadays, whenever I look at you, my heart skips a beat and I'm not sure what I should do,"
"Clearly I still don't because I'm rambling right now, but I Guess what I want to say is, I like you, Juvia."
He held onto her right hand, staring in her eyes that was searching his for any deny.
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "And Juvia thought you actually disliked her," she begun to giggle and Gray could see the tears in the corner of her eyes.
"W-what?"
"Tell me this isn't a joke, Gray-sama,"
"It's not! I'm serious! Why would you say that?"
She dabbed the corners of her eyes with her fingers, hoping the mascara she had on would not run, "Juvia thought she was annoying you, remember when she shoved a body pillow at you? Remember when she stalked you everywhere? I just thought you would hate me after I realised how weird that was,"
"I Guess it was weird," Gray said but added, "But I think that's your way of expressing that you like me. Just somehow, I too, begun to enjoy that. And somehow, I too, developed feelings without knowing."
Juvia's lips crumpled and Gray thought she was about to cry a river but instead, she threw her arms around him. He pulled her closer, wrapping his own around her shoulders. "Is Juvia dreaming? Did she put a love potion in your drink again unconsciously?"
"No you're not. Juvia, will you be my Girlfriend?" He asked.
"Are you not going to regret this, Gray-sama?"
He pulled away, looking at her straight in the eyes, "What's there to regret? I've already gotten myself into this mess by growing feelings for you."
She smiled widely, holding back a laugh as she nodded, "Juvia will be your Girlfriend,"
Gray felt a huge relief, immediately pulling Juvia back into his arms as he crashed his lips on hers.
When they pulled apart for air, Juvia could not help but laugh.
Gray confessing to her on Halloween Night, if anyone told the old Juvia, she would've fangirled and died, knowing deeply it would never be true.
But here they were, hugging each other.
"Jeez, when did Fairy Tail's Ice Mage become sentimental?" She teased.
He rolled his eyes, "When a certain Water Mage decided to make him hers and succeeded,"
She chuckled and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"By the way, Juvia,"
She hummed.
"What do you mean by putting a love potion in my drink unconsciously again?"
Juvia shot upright immediately, a sheepish smile on her face, "Right, about that–, Oh! I hear the Master calling everyone for a Halloween toast! Let's go!" She rushed out and ran out of the room first.
Gray shook his head, as crazy as she was for him, it was safe to say that he would to for her.
*Author's Note*
AHHHH IM SO SORRY IF THERES TOO MUCH OOC. I wanted to make it sweet but I'm terrible with these confessions... hahaha but I do hope you enjoyed it. I initially made it because of the Halloween song covered by Raon Lee, and it ended up like this.. hehe
Ps. Sorry for any mistakes made, I was rushing this out just for you guys, so please forgive me if there's any bad mistake etc etc.
Happy Halloween!
-Smiles: )
