You've Only Got One Shot: Gray x Lucy x Natsu… and a little twist
It was only a few days before the yearly Flower-Viewing Festival. As usual, the entire Fairy Tail guild was bustling with activity. But there were some things different about this year's festival.
One, it was Lucy's second festival.
Two, there were two people fighting to make it their day.
Guess who? Natsu and Gray, of course. Those two had been planning for months about how to give Lucy the best day of her life. Since Lucy had gotten a cold on the day of her first festival, she wasn't able to go then. This year, the boys were devising a plan on how to make her enjoy it. Of course, they weren't working together.
'Darn it! That won't work!' Natsu groaned inwardly. In front of him, holding up a suggestion, Happy drooped his wings. "Aw, Natsu! This is my fifth option! Unless you have something better…"
"Aha! That's it!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly, jumping out of his seat. Beside him, his friends Alzack and Jellal gave a yelp of surprise.
"So you've come up with the 'perfect idea'?" Jellal asked knowingly, crossing his arms. "I've seen some of Happy's plans. They weren't half bad, you know."
"Bah! The one I have in mind is even better!" Natsu cut in, smirking in triumph. 'Lucy will dig it, for sure.'
From far across the nearly empty guildhall, he exchanged a sneer with Gray, who's engaged in deep conversation with Freed and Elfman. Lucy had left for a job with Wendy and Carla yesterday, and they wouldn't be expecting her for another day, so the pressure was quite light on them. Erza had gone with them as well, so her boyfriend Jellal was free as well. Mira was at the bar as usual, but with more than half of the guild members away on jobs or preparing for the festival, it was a slow, quiet day.
"Hey, Juvia!" Natsu called. The water mage stood up from her seat beside Gray and walked to the Dragon Slayer; eyebrows raised curiously. Everyone knew that Juvia was in love with Gray, and Natsu decided to use it to his advantage. With a mischievous grin on his face, Natsu whispered in the girl's ears.
"Wi, Natsu-san! This is a dream come true!" Juvia squealed, bouncing up and down on her feet. Out of the corner of his eye, Natsu spotted Gray giving them a weird look, but ignored it.
'My plan is already underway!' Natsu gave his friends a grin and dashed out the doors.
Gray POV
"I can write some spell runes that will keep your pink-headed friend away from Lucy," Freed offered in his usual, distant tone.
"I want a fair fight as much as possible," I reply, rubbing my temples in exhaustion. "My best bet is to arrive at Lucy's before him on Festival Day. That way, I can woo Luce with my charm and steal her before that pink-headed freak does."
Elfman gave a snort. "A real man arrives on time! But it seems like Natsu already has a plan."
"Ironic, isn't it?" Freed observed as my enemy dashed out of the guild, Happy flying behind him. "For once, Natsu has used his brain."
"Gray-sama!" We turned around to find Juvia racing towards us excitedly. I took deep breaths. That girl is just so freaking annoying. Every passing day, I've regretted saving her on that rooftop, but then again, she'd saved Team Natsu countless of times because of me. So getting rid of her is probably not a good idea. I plastered a fake smile on my face. "Hey."
"Gray, mon ami, Natsu-sama told me that you want to go with me to the festival!" Juvia squealed, grabbing my arm. It took all my willpower to not pull away. I saw Freed and Elfman snickering behind their arms. 'Darn it, Natsu.'
"H-he did?" I asked again, avoiding Juvia's gaze. Before she can reply, I'm out and racing after that pink-headed idiot. He just signed a death wish.
Lucy was heading home after her job, Wendy, Carla and Erza trailing behind her. She smiled at the redheaded mage. Ever since Jellal had joined Fairy Tail, Erza was somewhat less serious, although her feud with Natsu and Gray hadn't ceased.
Speared through one of Erza's many swords was the head of the vulcan they were sent after. Now, they'd just have to turn it in and then they'd be able to prepare for the festival. Lucy's heart skipped a beat. Last year, she recalled, Natsu had uprooted a rainbow cherry blossom tree just for her to see. She thought it was sweet, although for the past few days, he'd been avoiding her. When she'd looked for Gray, Juvia told her that he didn't want to see her as well.
'It's no big deal,' Lucy sighed. She'd already asked someone who was happy to oblige.
"So you're planning to what?" Happy asked in disbelief. Natsu clenched his fists in elation.
"I'm going to take her out on a boat ride and make fireworks just for her!" Natsu smirked. "There's no way Icicle Head can ruin this master plan! Not with Juvia chasing him!"
"What did you say, Fire Breath?"
Natsu turned around and grinned at Gray, who had suddenly appeared next to him, panting heavily. "Seems like you've finally caught up with me! It took surprisingly long, buddy. You ought to lose more weight." Natsu grinned.
"Well, there's no damn way I plan to let that blue girl ruin my moment with Lucy!" Gray growled. "Even if I have to freeze her feet to the ground until tomorrow!"
A bunch of townspeople were staring at them like they were crazy, but Natsu guessed that it was probably because Gray had just stripped in the middle of the marketplace.
Natsu cracked his knuckles loudly. This was going to be a long night.
It was the Festival Day. Lucy changed from her pajamas into her favorite t-shirt, a bright yellow sleeveless top with HUGGABLEwritten on it in playful letters. She wore her blue denim skirt and pulled on her long, brown boots. There was just one thing left to do.
"Open, Gate of the Crab, Cancer!"
The quick-fingered crab-man did her hair, styling it into a long, single braid that run down her back and inserting fire flowers into her hair. When he'd finished, Lucy sighed and batted her long eyelashes. Too bad—Natsu would've loved the red-and-orange blossoms.
It was just a few minutes before she expected anyone to show up… Lucy took a deep breath.
Outside Lucy's door, Gray rocked back and forth on his black, leather shoes. It took a painstakingly long time to lose Juvia by the fountain. She'd been trailing him ever since he'd left the guildhall, but it wasn't that hard to trick her into merging into the fountain's water once he'd gotten her to sit down. Gray wiped his wet hands on his shirt. 'She'd get out sooner or later,' he thought, 'but she'd never get mad at me.'
Around him, most of the Fairy Tail guild members were already making their way to the park, where the entire guild would have a picnic before the usual bingo tournament. Of course, Cana had brought a whole keg of booze with her and was hauling it over her shoulder to the picnic grounds. Behind her, Bisca and Alzack were walking beside each other shyly.
'This is it!' Gray took deep breaths. He raised his hand to knock on Lucy's door—
"Hey, Cold Feet! Juvia here was just looking for you!"
Gray spun around to find Natsu and Juvia walking over to him. Happy was flying above them, looking at him in delight. "Juvia was looking all over for you, Gray!"
The ice mage felt like freezing Natsu right on the spot. 'Damn you, Natsu…'
"Gray, mon ami! There you are!" Juvia exclaimed, yanking Gray away from Lucy's doorstep. "Juvia was looking all over for you! Juvia knows that it was an accident that you pushed her into the fountain! Come, come, the bingo tournament is about to begin!"
Natsu gave Gray an innocent grin as he was pulled away into the crowd. He ran to Lucy's window and pressed his face to the glass, but the windows were drawn.
"HEY, LUCY! IT'S TIME FOR THE FESTIVAL!" Natsu hollered against the glass.
"Aye!" Happy added cheerfully.
The door opened and Lucy stepped out. Natsu grinned. "Are you ready to have the best day of your life?"
Lucy looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm sorry, Natsu, but I'm already going out with someone…"
"WHAT?! You're going with Gray? I don't remember him having the chance to knock on your door—"
"No, not him," Lucy gave Natsu a small smile. She opened the door further and her chocolate brown eyes twinkled. Natsu gaped at the formally dressed, orange-haired guy beside her. "Loki?!"
"Why, hello, Natsu Dragneel," the Celestial Spirit tilted his head. "Thanks for opening the door; Lucy and I were just leaving."
"Aw, c'mon, Loki. You don't need to be rude; Natsu's a friend, right?" Lucy gave Loki a teasing smile and rested her head on his shoulder. The Spirit beamed triumphantly at Natsu.
"I didn't even need to do anything! She just summoned me and asked if I could accompany her to the festival," he said, winking, "because you and Gray had been ignoring her. Well, so long, Natsu!"
Loki gave him a two-finger salute and Lucy smiled at him apologetically. As the pair walked across the road, Lucy glanced back, only to see that Natsu had gone away.
As she sat under the cherry blossoms with Loki beside her, Lucy recalled the utterly dejected look on Natsu's face when she'd told him that she was going out with the Spirit. The Celestial Spirit looked ahead, glowing with pride.
"Loki?" she said tentatively, looking up. He glanced down at her, and smiled.
"Yes, Lucy?"
'I was wrong. I'm sorry, but I think we should cancel this date,' she was about to say, but held her tongue. She'd already broken one heart; she didn't need another one added to her collection. "Nothing."
She pecked him on the cheek and he flushed slightly before wrapping his arm around her waist. Lucy scanned the crowd and saw Wendy and Carla sitting together with Cana and Elfman, laughing as the little girl failed balancing a spoon on her nose. A bit farther to the right, under another pink-flowered tree, Alzack was talking to Bisca softly. Lucy wondered if he was finally telling her his feelings. The poor guy was just too shy—if only he knew that Bisca had the same feelings for him.
For once, Erza wasn't bonking Gray and Natsu's heads. Instead, she was standing with Jellal under a low-hanging tree. Juvia was there as well, having just entered the park, but (probably the reason why Erza wasn't yanking their heads apart) Gray and Natsu were nowhere to be seen.
'Poor guy,' Lucy thought to herself. 'Lucy, why did you have to jump to conclusions that quickly?'
Loki opened her mouth to ask her a question, but Mirajane, who was standing beside Master Makarov in front of the huge bingo machine, interrupted him. "The number is… 11!"
Gray was surprised to find Natsu walking down the road instead of sitting beside Lucy at the Flower-Viewing Festival. Curiosity got the best of him and he rushed to Natsu's side. "Oi, Flame Head!"
"Oh, hey, Gray—er, Cold Feet."
"You used that one already, you cheat!" Gray smirked, but frowned when he saw Natsu's sad expression. "Why the long face?"
Happy answered, even his cheery tone edging with gloom. "Lucy is already going out with someone. She summoned Loki!"
"Loki?" Gray repeated in disbelief. "That orange-headed playboy? Why the heck would she ask him?"
"I don't know," Natsu spoke up for the first time. "We really must've been giving her the cold shoulder these past few days. She thought that we were purposely ignoring her."
"What the…! B-but we were just coming up with a plan to give her the best time ever!"
"I know."
"Oi, this isn't you, Fire Feet," Gray nudged Natsu suddenly. "We aren't losing Luce to Loki!"
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked grimly.
"Let's crash their date!" Gray suggested. "Team Natsu style! What do you say?"
Natsu grinned. "I'm all pumped up now!"
"Thanks for the date, Loki," Lucy kissed the Celestial Spirit on the cheek as he began pushing a boat across the ground towards the lake. From where they were watching behind some tall trees, Gray gave Natsu a thumb's up.
"Shut your mouth for once, Natsu," he ordered quietly, and began making his way to the lake as well. When their boat was about to touch the water, Gray whispered, "Ice make lake!"
The entire lake froze over, and the boat skid across the lake, pulling a terrified Loki along with it. Lucy made her way carefully across the lake in pursuit of the Spirit, but he'd already returned to the Spirit World.
"GRAY!" Lucy yelled. "When I get my hands on you…" She stopped walking a good fifteen meters away from the shore and looked at the direction where Loki had disappeared. Unnoticed to her, Natsu spotted and watched with horror as an ominous crack appeared near the shoreline, and then began growing towards Lucy. Gray was also oblivious towards the danger for their friend.
"LUCY!" Natsu yelled, running out of his hiding place. "Watch out!"
"Wha…?" Lucy turned to look at him. "What do you mean—ah!" She fell into the freezing lake and her head disappeared underwater. Natsu was stricken with horror as he watched his friend go under. Not wasting any time, he dove in after her, splashing into the lake like a maniac.
"LUCY! LUCY!" he yelled, swimming over to where the girl's golden hair had dipped under. He looked into the lake's depths and saw Lucy struggling to reach the surface, but her leather bag was weighing her down. Natsu pulled her up, and for a moment, she just hung onto him like a lifeline.
"Eh…" Natsu noticed that one of his hands was still wrapped around Lucy's waist and the other gripping her hand. He blushed bright red. "Oh, I'm sorr—"
"I'm sorry, Natsu," Lucy cut in gently, looking up and covering the non-existent space between them and shocking him with a crushing kiss on the lips. "I'm so sorry."
At first, Natsu didn't know what to do. He stood there astonished for a moment, and then as she pressed closer, her returned the kiss, hands tightening around her torso.
Lucy clung onto him as tight as she could. Her feet couldn't quite reach the bottom of the lake yet, so he was half-carrying her. She was freezing all over, but she didn't care, instead anchoring herself to the growing warmth she seemed to find inside her fiery friend.
Of course, Gray was watching from his post behind the trees. At one point, he turned away and started walking back to the city. "I'll hand it to you, Fire Breath. You've won this year. But…" he smirked to himself. "Next time, don't expect to triumph this easily."
He left Lucy and Natsu, now tangled together in a mass of bodies and wet hair, under the full moon above.