Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, just the very predictable plotline.
Show Me Your Tattoo
...
"Cana! You're being ridiculous!" Levy shouted with a blush staining her cheeks.
The fortune-teller cackled loudly and took a long gulp from the barrel of wine she had in front of her. A loud burp escaped her and the brown-haired beauty slapped the bluenette on the back.
Lucy strolled up to the bar where Cana was laughing like she had heard the funniest thing in the world. Next to her, Levy was blushing and rubbing her back, while Mirajane was shaking her head fondly while wiping up Cana's spills.
"What's going on?" the celestial wizard questioned the Wizard Weekly model.
"Hi Lucy! Cana is convinced that Gajeel and Levy are going to end up together before the week is out."
Everyone and their mother knew that her light-blue haired friend had a crush on the iron dragon slayer, except for Gajeel himself of course. And who even knows how Gajeel feels about her? Predicting that she would be together with Gajeel of all people?….By the end of the week? As much as Lucy would love for her friend to be with the crimson-eyed semi-loner, she couldn't imagine him returning her feelings.
Lucy chuckled a bit, requesting one of her favorite drinks.
The sweetheart of Fairy Tale raised a finger to her chin. "They would make a cute couple though," Mira said, then promptly giggled.
"Mira! Don't encourage her!" Levy shrieked.
"Don't listen to her drunken ramblings, Levy," Wakaba exclaimed, smoke billowing from his pipe, "She'll say anything."
Another thirty second swig later, Cana swung her head towards the smoker and gave him a fierce some glare, while gripping her barrel protectively. "You can't have any!"
"WAH!? I didn't want any!"
She attempted to wave off of his answer, but instead ended up spilling some of her alcohol onto Levy. "You'll see. All of you will see, it's so clear!" she slurred, "It's as obvious as Natsu and Gray's flirting."
Lucy whipped her head towards Cana.
Natsu?...And Gray?...Flirting?
"I'm tellin' you! Just as Levy and Gajeel will be together by the end of the week, so will Natsu and Gray be together by the end of the month." Cana turned in what she thought was slow-motion, lifted a hand in a thumb-up position and shut an eye. "Trust me. I'm a psychic."
…
…
…
"EEEHHH!?" everyone at the bar exclaimed.
"You're insane, Cana!"
"Never in a thousand years. I-I mean not you, Levy. Natsu and Gray!"
"Natsu and Gray? No chance."
"Cana, who are you winking at?"
Lucy recovered from her shock and wiped her mouth of the juice that had slipped from it. There's just no way. I mean sure they were close. But that close? I mean-
"Lucy!"
"Hey Lucy! What's going on?
The blonde whipped around to come across the one and only Salamander with his blue exceed.
"Natsu! Happy!" shock quite apparent in her voice.
Happy flew up on the ledge and produced a fish from his green knapsack. The son of the dragon had a 1000 kilowatt smile on his face and an evil gleam in his eye before leaning his back against the bar. A curious expression overtook his face when he noticed the commotion about Cana.
"What's happenin' over there?"
Lucy frantically waved her hands. "Oh, nothing! Cana is just being her usual crazy self. So, uh, how did the job go?"
Natsu immediately deflated from his up-to-no-good attitude. "So boring. I didn't even get to fight anyone," the pinkette moaned, sank into the bar stool next to Lucy, and rested his head on the bar.
"Natsu was supposed to guard this magical garden for the weekend while the owner was away, and he ended up setting a tree on fire. It burned for three days straight and probably is still burning," the Exceed mumbled around his fish.
"At least, I didn't eat one of the coy!"
The blue cat broke out in tears as he continued to eat his fish. "That was the best fish I'd ever tasted. It was so good. Natsu, you promised you wouldn't talk about it."
"You're not even sorry!" Lucy shrieked.
"I regret nothing," Happy whispered then bowed his head as if praying.
Lucy rolled her eyes fondly. Eating fish from a magical garden? An eternal burning tree? There was no way this was going to fly underneath the radar. It would be only a matter of time before Erza came to punish them.
She noticed her friend staring intently at the entrance.
"Expecting something?"
Natsu broke out into a shark like grin. "Only the best part of my day in 3…2…"
The heavy wooden doors of the Fairy Tail guild swung open violently. "NATSU!"
Gray Fullbuster, his face twisted in anger, stood in the doorway. The entire top half of him was covered in some white powder. His dark cerulean eyes roamed the guild hall until his gaze fell on mischievous greenish-grey eyes. The Ice creation wizard stalked up to the fire dragon slayer, glaring at anyone who let out a snicker.
Lucy looked on in confusion, and was going to ask what happened before she felt the aura of Gray's hostility approaching the bar. "Natsu, what did you do?" she whispered sternly.
Said teenager didn't respond. Instead, he was inspecting some invisible stain on the scarf around his neck. Gray finished his trek and stood in front of his laid back best friend/arch rival. He shot an arm out and fisted Natsu by his collar and hoisted him to his feet.
The spikey-haired pinkette glanced up from his inspection in false surprise. "Oh, hey Ice Princess. There's something different about you." Natsu's eyes did a once over looking for a problem that he could clearly see. "Hmm, are you looking a bit paler than usual?"
Powder fluttered and floated in the air as Gray shoved his face closer to Natsu's face menacingly. "You did this, and you know it, Flame Brain."
Natsu matched his aggressive stance. "And if I did, Droopy Eyes?"
"There's no IF. You did this, you Fiery Mouth Breather. And I'll beat the snot out of you until you admit it AND clean my room! It's covered in flour!"
"Who invited the ghost?" Cana drunkenly yelled.
"Cana, no! Don't get involved," Lucy whispered frantically, and Levy put a hand over the bikini clad girl's mouth.
Natsu cackled at the comment. "Yeah, stripper! Or should I say ghost stri-" Gray buried his free fist into the cackling prankster, effectively cutting him off and sending him flying across the bar and into the numerous bottles of alcohol in the back. There was a small groan from some of the inhabitants of the guild at the broken bottles of booze and the impending fight. Natsu and Gray were at it again.
Dripping in spirits, Natsu slowly picked himself up from the ground with a thrilled smiled on his face. "You're just itching to get your ass kicked, aren't you?"
Happy stuffed another piece of his fish in his mouth as he watched his brother tackle Gray into the ground.
I wonder when Carla, Wendy, and Romeo are coming back from their mission he thought peacefully.
"Flame breath!"
"Pervy Popsicle!"
Insults and fists continued to fly, soon followed by Gray's shirt and pants. Some of the members in the guild seemed relatively unfazed by the unfolding events, while others were jeering the fight on.
The blonde suddenly snatched her hand away from Cana's mouth in disgust, wiping the saliva that was staining her hand. The brunette retracted her tongue from the attack and immediately threw an arm around Lucy's shoulder and brought her in close.
"Look at their intimate embrace. There's nothing more sensual," she slurred.
Lucy watched Gray, who was straddling his opponent on the ground, throw a right then a left hook and then another right hook across the dragon slayer's face. Instead of blocking, Natsu accepted the blows, his head whipping from one side to the other. Stretching his right arm out in order find something to get him out of his current predicament, Natsu's fingers brushed against something wooden. He grasped the object and swung it towards Gray's head. The satisfying crack of the stool colliding and breaking signaled that Natsu had fulfilled his objective. Gray grunted in pain and stopped his onslaught. The pinkette took his chance to grab Gray's shoulders and jerk him forward to smash his head against the others, stunning the brunette. Natsu then forcefully sucked in air; his cheeks billowed and expanded like a balloon, and expelled the fire breath of the dragon. The Ice creationist wizard shot straight up, flying through the roof with a loud CRACK. Splintered pieces of wood fell from above.
A triumphant laugh escaped his lips as he jumped up. "Ghostie went flying away. Aha Ha Ha Ha! Happy, did you see th-"
An ice cannon ball careened through the same hole in the roof that Gray had created and smashed into Natsu's head, effectively knocking him back down to the ground. Lucy gazed hard at the scene. "Cana, I reaalllyyy don't see it. They're just horsing around as always." The blonde waited for her friend to respond but there was nothing. "Cana...?"
A loud snore greeted her ears. Lucy sighed fondly, and manipulated her friend's body to a comfortable slumped over position on the bar.
"I'll have Elfman take her home," Mira said.
Lucy nodded her head gratefully, and then glanced back at her unconscious friend knowingly.
There's no way
There are many unexplainable frightening things in the universe: life after death, Ichiya's eyebrows, Ichiya's face, and basically Ichiya. But by far, the most harrowing was the wrath of Titania. And that's exactly what Natsu and Happy had achieved. Currently, the two were lagging behind at the end of the group. In front of them, Gray and Lucy walked casually; and at the helm, Erza strode ahead, a gloomy, dark aura of anger surrounded her.. The dynamic duo had already been chewed out before they left.
"You two would tarnish the name of Fairy Tale with your thoughtless stupidity. You set a magical fern on fire, costing the client 1,000,000 "berries" She spat at Natsu.
"I-it was an acci-"
Erza paid no heed. The little blue Exceed was next, "And you ate a wish-granting coy. Do you know how rare those are?"
Happy silently realized the sudden magical appearance of his ever-glossy fur. He wisely kept his mouth shut, but a look of pleasure crossed his face when he stroked his fur. "Aye…" But the expression was quickly replaced by fear again, when he noticed Erza's heated glare on him become worse.
The strongest female warrior of Fairy Tail had reached out and grasped Natsu's white striped scarf and Happy's green cape, yanking them close to her face. "If we're not back by the Cake Festival this Sunday, then I will make both of you polish all of my swords and armor until I'm satisfied."
Both of them had gulped in fear before squeaking out a "yes ma'am."
"Six days to complete the mission?" Lucy had whispered to Gray as they watched the scene unfurl in front of them, "I don't know where magic coy and fern seeds are, but they won't be easy to find or obtain. I don't think we'll make it. "
"You'd be surprised. The idiot can be quite stubborn. He pulls the most unlikely outcomes out of his ass," he replied.
The journey had started out lively enough. Both of them determined to complete the mission in three days. They had researched the location and found out the site took 4 days by foot, 48 hours by train, or 12 hours by a Magic Four Wheeled Vehicle. It was clear which decision was the best.
"Walking!" Natsu had shouted happily, but then took a look at Erza's scary face, and he immediately deflated, "…is most likely out of the question. We should get a vehicle."
Natsu and Happy had rented the blue car unenthusiastically. Surprisingly, the motion sick dragon-slayer plopped himself down in the front and slapped the wristband around his wrist, syncing his magic to the vehicle.
Erza and Gray calmly loaded themselves in the car, while Lucy stared at her friend who was shouting and triumphantly laughing about how they would get there in 5 hours.
"Natsu! What are you doing?" Lucy asked incredulously.
The pinkette's eyes landed on his teammate, a confident gleam in his gaze. "Happy and I got us into this mess, so it's only fair we get us all out."
Reassured by his ambitious gaze, the Celestial wizard climbed into the car still wondering how her motion sick friend was going to drive the car. Maybe, he was finally over it? Erza and Gray didn't look too concerned. Without warning, the vehicle shot off at an incredible speed. Attempting to nap, Lucy ended up hitting her head several times on the window as the car bounced along the road roughly. She rolled down the window to tell Natsu to slow down a bit. The words died in her throat, and instead she screeched,
"WHAT THE HELL, NATSU?"
In front, a barely conscious dragon-slayer moaned "5 hours" again and again. His head lolled erratically every time they passed over a bump. In his lap, Happy steered the vehicle.
And that's when the shit show mission began.
Six crazy days later, the team flew into town at an insane speed. Lucy's screams mingled with all of the people jumping out of the way.
"Natsu! Reduce your power! We're getting closer!" Happy shouted.
"Ngh..ssse..blrgh."
The car didn't slow at all. Happy shook his head fondly. When the large banner of the Cake festival came into view, the blue Exceed removed the band from his friend's wrist. Immediately, the vehicle began to slow, its safety mechanism kicking in. It rolled all the way to the front of the festival and stopped neatly at the entrance, already teeming with people.
Erza stepped out of the car, already in the sundress that she had planned to wear for the event. The Cake festival occurs every year on the third Sunday in March. Bakers from all over came to the city in order to showcase their skills. And this year, the red-headed beauty had been invited to be a judge. She couldn't say no to free cake.
"Job well done," she commended a small smile on her face.
Happy bid her farewell as she strolled into the balloon filled park. Lucy tumbled out of the car and crawled away from it.
"Sweet. Beautiful. Solid. Ground," she whimpered.
Gray made his way out of the car as well, shirt and pants absent from his body. He stretched and released a low moan at the satisfaction of his muscles extending. Teenage girls (and some boys) gazed on in interest, while Mothers hid the eyes of their children as they walked into the park.
"Gray. Clothes," Lucy said.
The handsome Ice creationist glanced down in surprise before scrambling back inside the car to get his clothes. Once he was fully dressed, he emerged from the car again. Gray moved to the front and observed Happy trying to wake a catatonic Natsu.
"Natsu! Wake up! We have to return the car." Happy pinched his best friend's cheeks, but he only received unintelligible murmuring as an answer.
Gray picked up Happy and shoved Natsu out of the driver's seat. Ungracefully, the dragon slayer slid down onto the ground.
"Put him in the back, Happy. I'll drive. Asshole owes me, "he muttered underneath his breath. He turned his head towards Lucy, who was still coming down from her near death experience. "Lucy, did you want a rid-"
"NO!"
Gray blinked a couple of times at the outburst, and then laughed a bit. "Ok, I'll see you later."
He situated himself in the front seat and strapped himself in. And as soon as Happy had unceremoniously dragged Natsu in the vehicle, Gray drove off. Lucy picked herself up off the ground and brushed imaginary dust off her skirt. She'd had enough of cars for a lifetime.
Time to head home
The city streets were emptier than normal. Everyone was most likely at the Cake Festival. A light breeze kissed her cheeks and brushed her hair back. The sun pleasantly warmed her skin. It was such a beautiful day.
I think I'll stop by the Guild and see if some of the girls want to go on a picnic. Lucy smiled happily and casually strolled to Fairy Tail. On her way there, she ran into Carla and Wendy, who coincidentally was also on her way to the guild. They all shared a hug and then chatted about their respective completed missions. Wendy had returned a day ago. She, Romeo, and Carla had been tasked with ridding their client's garden of some vegetarian wolves.
They reached Fairy Tail and pushed opened the massive wooden door, and what they saw made them freeze. Inside, there was a large commotion. That wasn't new. What was shockingly new was what was inside the commotion: one of Lucy's best friends and the Iron dragon slayer standing in the middle of the room hand in hand. Both of their cheeks were red as a tomato, and they looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there judging by Levy's sky smile and Gajeel's glare.
Wendy and Lucy wandered over to the bar to where Mira Jane was grinning happily.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked.
"It finally happened! Gajeel finally asked Levy out this week! Aren't they adorable?"
Wendy clapped her hands together let out a happy squeal. "That's wonderful! We've gotta celebrate!"
Lucy turned to face the couple in the middle of the room, a fond smile on her face. She was incredibly happy for her friend. The odds that Gajeel would return Levy's feelings AND ask her out had seemed so small to the celestial wizard…Hadn't someone….guessed…?
"Just as Levy and Gajeel will be together by the end of the week, so will Natsu and Gray be together by the end of the month."
Cana!
The blonde's eyes flicked from face to face, searching for the psychic. She found her in the corner, passed out on the table.
It's just a coincidence…A very scarily…accurate….coincidence… Natsu and Gray as a couple...by the end of the month...Maybe, I'll just do a little reconnaissance.
"Lucy? Are you okay?" the wind dragon slayer probed, her wide eyes full of concern.
"Y-yeah, I am," Lucy piped up, "Why don't we go and congratulate Levy and Gajeel!"
"Yeah!"
Wendy grabbed Lucy's hand and they pushed their way into the crowd.
...
A/N: 1st Chapter done! This was meant to be a one-shot, but I decided to break it up. Sorry for any grammatical errors. Please review! I'm always looking for constructive criticism!