The Night of the Award Ceremony (Manga Ch. 525)

The award ceremony was grand and beautiful in all ways. Ribbons of delicate lilacs and soft blues strung between the podiums and around the edges of the canopy above. A huge buffet had been laid out in colourful and creative patterns, shaped like swans and swirling patterns with samples from all over the known world. The band played their elegant ballad: a perfectly composed orchestra with the music chosen for the right level of sophistication to provide the background ambience required.

Of course, they didn't stand a chance against the chaos that was Fairy Tail.

There was a time not so long ago when Lucy Heartfillia's cheeks would have burned red at the 'polite' suggestions to control her friends. She knew that they were loud and overwhelming, and not even the open-plateaux seemed big enough for their wild personalities. However, it was all these traits which made her smile and laugh at their raised eyebrows. When questioned, she did not shy away or make excuses. Instead, she gladly named as many of her guildmates as she could see, proudly boasting that they had been the inspiration of the novel that had won the prize that now rested in her hands. She had expected her fellow guests to all push their noses into the air and storm away at her lack of shame, but while there were a few that scoffed or just didn't understand, a surprising amount of them wanted to know more of her daring adventures and the strange company which she kept. It was clear to see the barely hidden grins, men and women alike excited that the century long traditions had finally been shaken up by the newcomers.

As the night went on, she realised that it was actually quite difficult to reunite with her nakama. Every time that she tried to make an excuse and disappear back to her guild, she found another hand on her arm, pulling her away with more excited questions. She glanced back at Natsu apologetically, but he only grinned at her, sending her silent signals to enjoy her time there and that they would do the same.

It made her smile more than it should have.

It had been quite by accident that Lucy ended up alone with Gray. One second she was talking about the importance of the right prose and rhymical structures and the next she found herself staring up at the Ice Maker. It may have had something to do with Gray's lack of clothing. Whatever the reason, she couldn't deny she felt relieved. After what felt like an eternity of speaking to fellow writers, nobles and scholars, Lucy was finally able to talk to someone that actually understood her.

Stepping closer, she brushed her fringe back into place, absently glancing around the busy party and her unusual guests. "This is exhausting. I really wish I was back at the guild," she admitted to Gray with a tired smile.

His own eyes scanned around briefly, clearly pausing between the two heavily split groups of visitors. "You're doing a great job," he assured her, his words kinder than his bitter tone. He took a long, long sip from the drink in his hands. From his low voice and almost non-existent eye contact, she was certain it hadn't been his first. "Just enjoy it while you can. You get to go back to the guild tomorrow, and the next day, and every day after that. Everything goes back to normal. Your writing..."

Her head tilted to the side, patiently waiting for him to finish the sentence. He never did.

She swallowed hard, worried that he'd already had one too many. He seemed distracted as he glanced into nothing, a faded and glassy look in his eyes. She cleared her throat abruptly. "You know, I wanted to thank you," she told him, partly to break his attention. "I know that I complained about you stealing my work and reading it before it was finished, but your input really did-"

"Do you think we did it right?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked. He was staring at her intently. Uncomfortably.

There was some unreadable emotion in his dark eyes that made her take a sudden step back. The absent look was completely gone as he held her down with his statement, a stifling silence until she could form an answer. Her own eyes grew wider, no idea how she was supposed to reply to such a cryptic question. "Did… did we do what right?" she stammered.

Just as suddenly as his gaze pinned her down, it broke. He turned away from her. Once again, his eyes were glazed, staring into something that only he could see.

"The book," he said eventually.

There was something in the tone of those two simple words that made her heart sudden stop in her chest. Every alarm bell in her mind was ringing, even before she knew why.

"The book? You mean my novel?" she asked, a concerned frown on her face. He'd never questioned any of her work before now, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Enough to quieten the small voice in the back of her mind that wanted to scream 'what was with this sudden we business?'. He may have offered assistance now and then, but he wasn't the one writing-

"Do you ever wonder… if we wrote everything we could?" he asked.

Even before he'd opened his mouth, it had clicked.

He wasn't gazing into nothing, she realised. As she finally followed his line of sight, she noticed his subtle twitches matching wild blurs of bright pink and blue at the other end of the room. Suddenly his question made sense.

He wasn't talking about her novel.

He was talking about the book. The book of END.

The music, the cheering, the laughter, the jeers and the tutting vanished into meaningless white noise as invisible walls closed around her, leaving behind only the four figures that had been there that fateful day. As the realisation crashed around her, she couldn't answer him, heart pounding through her ears.

Although Gray wasn't even looking in her direction anymore, she still felt herself caught in his strange gaze. He seemed to understand her hesitance, at least. His hands gripped too tight around his glass and although his words were slurred, he had too much that had been left unsaid. "How do you know you haven't forgotten something? How would you know if something had changed and now its… finished, you can't put it back? You remember, Lucy? When everything was so broken… how do we know everything was fixed? How do we know it's the way it's supposed to be?"

Her fists gripped tighter, pressed against her chest. While the questions, and the fact that Gray was asking them, seemed to her far more important than an answer, the way that Gray was staring made it clear that he was waiting desperately for her to give some assurance. She had, after all, been the writer. She had been the one to see every broken mark, every fracture in the symbols and every piece that had to be slotted together.

And what if she had forgotten something?

They had had minutes to recount an entire life, to pour everything that they loved and hated and adored and couldn't stand onto paper. She remembered. She remembered the panic flooding through her as the symbols around her burst and disappeared before her eyes, threatening to tear away everything she loved from the world. She remembered bringing every treasured memory to the front of her mind and praying that their love and friendship could fill the gaps.

How could she possibly know if the three-way image of their best friend had been right? Would she even know if there had been some small, insignificant detail missed? If there had been something he felt but didn't say? Emotions he kept below the surface, thoughts that even his closest friends couldn't imagine him having? Fears, goals, ambitions…

Love…?

She tried to lick her lips, but her tongue felt dry and too large for her mouth. Now, finally, she could feel the red blush against her cheeks. "You… just know," she answered eventually.

He turned back. The eyes were softer this time, but still narrowed towards her. There was no hint of accusation, but almost a sense of dread as he asked "And do you? …Know?"

As predictable as it had been, she had been dreading that question. "Honestly, it's something that… hasn't crossed my mind," she said slightly nervously, looking around to see if anyone else had caught wind of Gray's slurring words. Fairy Tail was a guild of hope and for looking towards the future, and these simply weren't the kind of conversations they could have openly. There were Dragon Slayer ears everywhere, they were in the most public of settings, and he chose to now question this? Lucy had no idea how much the man in question even knew about what had happened to him, but they certainly couldn't let him know they were so concerned.

But before she could throw him a warning glance, she suddenly understood that Gray's choice was more calculated than it may have seemed. The award ceremony of her new novel was the perfect opportunity to talk about a book. Gray's intoxication – whether a cry for courage or intentional part of the plan – made him sound more like a fool than a terrified friend. It was still risky, but with all of the background noise and chatter they had a good chance of sinking into the background unnoticed.

She wrapped her hand over her arm, trying her best to speak in the strange new code that she had been given. "I know we did all we could. I know that it has made a lot of people very happy - and I've always believed that was what it was supposed to do above anything else. And besides, so many people have… read it now, I would have thought if there was anything wrong with it, someone would have mentioned something by now."

Gray grunted a small reply, taking another sip of the drink.

And said nothing more.

She wanted him to say something else. Anything. She wanted an agreement. She needed him to say he understood or that he didn't believe her or had reason to keep questioning. She wanted to scream at him, to break their strange charade and just say what they felt. Somehow, Lucy knew that even if they were in the most private of locations, Gray still wouldn't admit what he was truly saying. He was just as stubborn as the day that they had met.

She tightened her hands around her new award, feeling the cool glass biting into her fingers and reminding her where she was. She was flustered, feeling her heart pounding all too quickly, and she was only seconds away from being dragged into yet another philosophical debate about iambic pentameter. If that happened, she knew they would never speak of this again, but that didn't mean they wouldn't think about it for every waking second of their lives. "You've never said anything like this before," she said quickly with a shaking voice, trying to meet his gaze again. "Do you think there's something wrong?"

Gray hesitated-

But quickly shook his head. A small smile crossed his face, that same grim determination that rested so casually against him. "No, Lucy," he told her. "I've always thought your writing is amazing. You should be really proud."

For a moment, she wasn't sure if she believed him. Or even that they were talking about the same book anymore.

But the red heat was once again on her cheeks. The compliment was hitting her harder than she had expected. She wanted to believe it. Desperately. "Th-thank you, Gray…" she said, a hand going to her cheek as she wished that she could cool herself off. The thought did cross her mind that she could have just asked the Ice Maker for some help-

"He's right! You've done an awesome job, Luce!" came an unexpected voice.

Lucy almost jumped out of her skin as Natsu's arm suddenly flung over her shoulders.

The Dragon Slayer excitedly pulled both his friends closer together, wearing that familiar and warming smile that left her heart kickstarting for an entirely different reason. Slowly, his compliment began to sink in, and like every part of him it seemed so genuine and pure that she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Thank you, Natsu," she blushed, instinctively pulling closer to him and ignoring how terrible his timing had been.

Gray had his own, very different, instincts. He could feel his anger spiking in retaliation to Natsu's arm suddenly being across his shoulders. Without a second's warning, he suddenly pushed himself away so hard that both Natsu and Lucy stumbled back a couple of steps. Something vaguely like a growl hissed through his teeth, giving a glare towards his rival. "Idiot! You didn't even read it!" he insulted all too loudly.

Natsu, though not at all surprised, instantly threw back his own glare. "Who are you calling an idiot, asshole!?" he challenged, pulling his arm from Lucy's shoulder and stepping up. The comforting warmth Lucy had barely had time to soak in shot up several degrees, quickly turning stifling.

The Ice Maker held his ground, barely a hint of the previous concerns in his usual scowl back to his rival. "Who are you calling an asshole, ash-breath?" he snarled, his fists clenched in anticipation as his own temperature dropped.

"Pervert," Natsu snapped.

"Dumbass," Gray hissed.

"Porn Star."

"Flame Brain."

"Ice Princess."

"Moron."

The list of insults seemed never-ending. After years of watching the pair tear each other's hair out and leave one another with bruises, burns and cuts, Lucy was still uncertain what she was supposed to do in these situations. She could see Happy flying over to 'not' encourage the fight. She was also vaguely aware that the rest of the guild and the surrounding party-goers were gathering and watching, but just as before they blurred out of sight for her.

Years ago, she had been naïve enough to explain their rivalry as a basic Fire vs Ice. But as she watched them throw insult after insult, dropping and raising the temperature around themselves violently, she knew there was something else there. Something that she never would have thought possible on first impressions. Something had taken years for her to see.

They had every opportunity to walk away from each other. There was no reason to keep fighting or to care about each other's insults or wait for the first punch. Alternatively, there was also no reason to hold back, and if they wanted they could have caused some serious injuries. But they never did. There was a connection between them made them not only desperate to fight each, but also drawing them together to the point where they were willing to die for one another.

While she usually would have begged them to stop (or at least thought very hard about it), she instead found herself smiling.

It was familiar, warming and filled with a strange buzz of energy. Everyone around her, every smiling face of the guildmembers, could feel it as they watched the fighting that they had seen a hundred times, fully expecting to see it a hundred more.

Some things never changed. And arguably never should.

They might not have done it completely right, she realised. There could still be parts of their friend that had been destroyed or forgotten as his book crumbled to dust. It could take decades for them to realise what had and hadn't been salvaged in those last desperate moments. There may have been things that they would never know were missing. But on that day, three very different and very caring best friends came together. The book had been completed and a life had been saved.

And they had created something pretty damn good.

She knew it.

What's this? I've actually posted something? AND IT'S A ONE-SHOT?

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and it makes sense!

Reviews are always appreciated!