A/N: Quick fic that was inspired... I don't exactly remember how it was, but I felt like writing something at a festival, even if it's pretty fuzzy. Huh, hopefully it won't be too bad?
Unbetaed.
Feedback is always good for the muse.
The town they were in was in an unexpected frenzy. Everywhere they looked at, people would be walking quickly, be it young or old, man or woman. But their expressions weren't worried or anything for there seemed to be an anticipation, a happiness coursing through everyone.
"What's this?" Erza wondered, after they made a small pause, after having to nearly jump against the side of a wall as a group of kids ran down the road with their arms filled with flowers and such things.
"You don't seem to be from around here, are you?" A chubby old woman stated, walking at a slightly slower pace than everyone. She looked at them and smiled, the sudden light that hit her glasses made her eyes momentarily disappear.
"Huh, no. we were just passing. Well, we were kind of looking for a place to stay the night since we're a bit far from home." Lucy answered.
"I knew it." The old lady laughed and then paused to compose her kimono, then running her hand over her impeccable hair, checking that it hadn't been mussed up. "However, I don't think that you're going to be lucky and find a place to stay. We're in the middle of an important celebration and, from what my son told me, everything's overflowing with visitors…"
"We'll have to think of something, then." Gray stated.
"Nonsense! You'll come to my house. I have plenty of room and even if my son and family will be coming around later, there will still be room for you."
"Ah, no. we couldn't…" The friends started to say at the same time, in various ways.
"No, you'll come. It's no bother." The lady waved her hand dismissively and started walking down the road. "I don't hear you walking…"
After a beat of indecisiveness, they followed.
"Hm, isn't this too weird?" Lucy muttered, as they walked slowly. The street was filled with people coming and going but the lady in question was easily followed because her clothes were in an overly garish orange, with the outlines of flowers drawn in bold grey strokes.
"Yes, it is. But I don't sense any ill-intent, I mean, she's probably just an eccentric old lady?" Gray mused.
"Either way, let's keep our eyes open." Erza said.
"Sure, and then let's see what's this festival about. People seem really excited." Natsu added, still looking around.
Soon enough they reached the old lady's house, seeing it adorned with flowers, lamps and strange drawings that seemed to be made of burnished sand. The soft candle light reflected upon it and scintillated slightly. The house itself was pretty simple-looking. Dark wood and what appeared to be paper walls, the doors had pretty watercolours of landscapes.
"Come in, come in." the lady motioned at them, welcoming them into her humble abode.
The friends entered, being bathed by the scent of the flowers and then of incense before the sweet scent of burnt sugar reached them.
"I think that my son's already advancing some of the work. Don't forget to leave your shoes at the door." She said offhandedly before walking further inside the house, presumably towards the kitchen.
The friends exchanged a look before doing as they'd been told. They were led by a young girl in a flowery kimono – probably the owner's granddaughter – to a room.
"You can leave your things here. Then I'll take you to the main room, gran said that you're invited for our dinner." She said as she left the room and stood by the door.
The mages dropped their things, before following the girl to the room where a veritable feast awaited them.
The old lady was sitting at the top of the table and to her left was her son and family. They welcomed them and made them sit down and feel free to eat to their heart's content.
And that, they did. Natsu filled his plate and repeated a few times, making their hosts laugh.
After the main meal, and despite the number of untouched dishes that were still atop the table (which was a miracle in itself!), the desserts were brought in. they were also plenty and quite diverse, though there were quite a lot of sweets. Natsu noticed that there were still small, round, sweet-looking biscuits in a strange, leaf-like plate that sat alone on a side table.
"What are those for?" he asked as he took a break to drink down some water.
"Those?" Their host, whom they'd learned was called Nika, said with a laugh. "No, those are special, they're waiting for later. And those that sit in this package will be used in a little bit too."
"Oh, you're going to offer them to your neighbours?" Lucy wondered.
"No." Said Gilo, the son of the old lady. "We'll take them to the river for the next part of the festival."
"Don't tell me that you're going to throw them to the river?" Natsu asked in a scandalized voice.
"Not exactly." Said the young girl. "You'll have to wait and see." And she ended up with a cheeky wink at the boys.
"Sara, manners." Said her mother, Lini, with a sigh.
"But mum…" Sara pouted.
"Don't mind my family's antics." Nika waved off the distraction and turned the attentions back to her. "But you're going to accompany us to the river celebration. We thank the gods their blessings from the past year and wish for more for the new year."
"Oh but, is it new year now?" Lucy asked curiously. That spark that got in her eyes whenever interesting matters were going on and allowed her to learn more was shining through.
"According to the old calendar, yes." Gilo replied politely as he stood and started collecting the dishes.
"Here, let me help you." Erza started, getting ready to stand.
"No, no, the guests don't do anything." He said calmly yet seriously.
"But…"
"Don't worry. It's taken care of. You should just enjoy."
"My son is right. You're our guests. You should just relax and enjoy the celebrations." Nika said firmly.
"But we should do something." The mages counteracted.
"Don't worry. Just listen to the wind chime as the breeze passes by." She said agreeably.
And, as one, the mages looked out the slightly opened doors to the street, seeing the fragile things as they waved sweetly along to the wind. The noises that reached them were pleasant, reminding them of other festivals, these in Magnolia, where there would be a lot of fun activities, food and the warmth spread outwards, with the background noises of the crickets.
"And we're done!" Lini said after a while, abruptly bringing the mages back to the present.
"And ready to go." Gilo added as he turned to grab the package of sweets.
"Ohh, let me, can I? Can I?" Sara said eagerly, making grabby motions at the box. Her father just laughed.
"But in that case who's going to help our guests, huh?" the father asked teasingly.
"Oh. You're right." She paused before turning at the mages. "Come on! Let's hurry down to the river. It's brilliant!"
Her family started laughing. After a beat, so did the mages.
It seemed as if the whole town was heading towards the river – and that might be, in fact, true – as not only the number of people had increased but so had the noise.
As they followed their hosts, Natsu noticed how the village had been prepared for the celebration, now it was more noticeable than it had been during the day. The paths were lit by paper lanterns of various colours (though it seemed as if red and orange were more prevalent) which let the way towards the river. The houses also seemed to have pretty pictures over the walls, the scent of flowers and sweets filled the air. It was a combination that might be overwhelming but, strangely, it wasn't.
The river was quite large. There was a person in a slightly more elevated structure speaking. There was too much noise for the words to be discernible in the place they were, which was farther along the river. But the orange glow of the lanterns still helped creating the ambiance.
In the distance, wind chimes sounded, the appeasing noise being carried by the wind.
"… and so this is the part where we prepare our lanterns." Lini was explaining as she worked at the same time. Her hands were moving smoothly and steadily as she set the bamboo base and then started preparing the rice paper top. "Sara, the offering." She called at the same time that she placed a candle inside. Then she carefully grabbed one of the sugary squares, being careful not to let much of the sugar on the top fall down. When it was securely inside the place, she handed the lantern to Sara. "Here you go. One's done."
"So these lanterns are placed on the river and they're just taken by the river current?" Lucy wondered, picking the lantern as Sara handed it out for her to inspect.
"Yes, that's the idea." Lini answered as she was busy with more of the things.
"And then, if the gods bless us, we'll have a bountiful year, filled with good things." Nika concluded.
"Does it work?" Erza asked with a soft smile.
"If you believe so, yes…" Nika replied equally softly.
Natsu got one of the lanterns and raised it, to look inside.
"Don't act like that, dumbass." Gray mumbled as he gave a light pat to the back of the fire mage's head, telling him to behave without words.
"Hey, you're the dumbass." Natsu grumbled as he glared at Gray, even if he was handing the lantern to said person.
"So, what's the next step?" Gray asked instead of replying to Natsu, choosing to ignore the fire mage for the time being.
"When the mayor ends the speech, we'll be invited to go to the river and let the lanterns down, and we're allowed to make a wish." Gilo, who had re-joined the group answered.
"Ah, there you are, honey. It's so mean of you to leave me doing all the work while you go and chat with your friends… one would say that you haven't seen them for months, instead of earlier today…" Lini teased while being overly dramatic.
"Don't be like that, my love. You know that you're my one and only!" Gino knelt down and started helping his wife, after giving a delicate kiss to the inside of her wrist.
"You flatterer…" Lini answered, continuing her work. "I'll show you. Later." She said the word in a mock whisper.
"Ugh, don't embarrass me, please!" Sara mumbled as she had her hands in front of her face to avoid her parents being all mushy.
"That's what parents do, my dear." Nika said amusedly.
The friends started laughing.
"Hey, Gray. Wanna throw the lantern with me?" Natsu asked, he'd noticed that the mayor had stopped talking and how some people were already stepping into the river. Parents helping their children, the old and the new focused in doing their task and helping their neighbour.
"Heh, why not." Gray mumbled as he extended the lantern he'd been inspecting to the fire mage. "Want to go now?"
"If it's okay…" Natsu replied, glancing at Nika.
The old lady noticed and nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. Then she turned her attention back to the conversation between his family and the two mages who were talking excitedly.
"C'mon." Natsu grabbed one of Gray's arms and dragged him to the river. They splashed and took quite a few steps from the shore, Natsu walking slowly after he'd lit the candle inside. The water was reaching mid-thigh and Natsu stopped and turned to Gray. "You should grab this thing too."
"Fine." The fire mage humoured his friend and grabbed the small lantern on the other side, the tips of his fingers touching Natsu's. "Now what?"
"Now we close our eyes and make our wish." Natsu did just that. Gray followed his lead. "And then we place it down on the water." Natsu still had his eyes closed at that moment but Gray opened one to peek and see if they were doing the thing correctly. "And there it goes!"
Natsu let go and so did Gray. They saw the orange lantern, with the inside light flickering slightly due to the undulation, float away. And then they turned to the shore.
"Ah, you're already done." Lucy said, smiling. "Wait a little, let's go see the fireworks all together."
"Fireworks?" Natsu and Gray asked at the same time.
"Yes," Nika nodded. "After letting the lanterns we usually go to the river bank, watch the river fill with lights and that's when the fireworks start."
"And it's so pretty to see the lights from the sky reflected on the water and all the lights mixing together." Lini added. She and Gilo were holding a lantern as they were hugging.
"Mum, dad…" Sara mumbled forlornly, wishing for her parents to stop being so embarrassing.
"Come here, Sara. Let's take our lanterns to the river." Erza said with a smile, effectively distracting the young girl.
The three girls went to the river under the watchful eye of their elders.
And when Nika turned to the side, to check on the boys, she found that they were gone. She smiled a little wider before heading herself to the river.
"Don't you think that the others are going to be worried?" Gray asked as the two mages ran to the brightly lit area, filled with movement and the people who had already taken their offerings to the river.
"Nah. Besides, we know where the house is. We'll meet up with them in no time." Natsu said before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Fine, fine. But I'll hide behind you when Erza and Lucy do their glares of doom. Heck, I'll kick you towards them and run away as fast as possible."
"Tche, that's some courage, mister ice mage." Natsu teased. And then he stopped. "What do you think of this place?"
"Hm?" Gray looked around. There were a few people already sitting on the riverbank and looking at the few lights already lighting the river. "Oh, it's fine."
"Good. Let's sit!" And Natsu sat down on the grass, a little bit away from the other people.
"Sheesh, you're tired…" Gray snorted.
"Exhausted." Natsu shot back with a grin. And then he groped around, trying to catch Gray's hand. He made a triumphant noise when he found it. The fire mage entwined their fingers. "But not it's better."
"Silly…" Gray replied fondly, letting his chin rest on the hand of his other arm, which was propped on his leg. "Yet, I agree…"
"See? I have good ideas." Natsu said pompously.
"Few and far between…" Gray squeezed the other's hand and laughed at the pout that he got in response.
"Hey!" Natsu started saying before light startled them, followed by a loud noise.
The fireworks has just started.
The youths stopped their banter and watched. The space between them reduced slowly, until the length of their sides was touching.
It was a wondrous sight, and yes, seeing the various lights of the fireworks reflected on the waters and with the little glows coming from the lanterns and everything mixing together, with the sound of wind chimes strangely superimposing the one from the fireworks. It was a magic night.
"Want to talk about it?" Gray asked after a while.
"Nope." Natsu promptly answered.
"Fine. But don't forget that we'll need to talk about this thing."
"Yes… I know. But later, okay? Ice brain." Natsu ended up his tirade with a friendly knock against the ice mage's side, a wide grin in his face.
"Don't forget it, fire breath." Gray answered with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. You can be quite stubborn when you want it, can't you?" Natsu stuck out his tongue. But Gray was quick and caught it between his thumb and index, not allowing Natsu's tongue to go back.
"Aha! Gotcha!" Gray laughed a little at the fire mage's predicament. "That'll show you not to be so childish." He said mindless of the saliva that was starting to dribble down his hand.
Natsu tapped on his wrist and was glaring fiercely and only when he threatened to bite did Gray let go.
"You dumbass! Do you have any idea about-!" Natsu hissed and was about to start yelling when suddenly Gray's reaction shut him up.
"I do." The ice mage said before leaning forward and pressing his lips against Natsu's, effectively shutting the fire mage up. "And I still love you, so shut up and look at the fireworks." Gray threw Natsu a smug smile before straightening and going back to look at the sky and river, ignoring Natsu.
"Why you!" Natsu all but yelled before throwing himself at Gray and tried to pin him down.
At that precise moment the girls and their hosts arrived and caught them in that mock scuffle.
"I can't believe this…" Lucy said, embarrassed at her friends' antics.
"Boys…" Erza's voice, despite being low, was clearly heard, by the sudden stillness that took over both of them.
Sara started giggling, followed by her parents and grandmother. Soon enough the girls joined in and the boys, after jumping apart, also started laughing sheepishly.
The newcomers walked to the place where the boys were sitting and joined them. Watching the fireworks, the lanterns in the river, all while being caressed by the warm breeze.