Jet loved being in the guild hall in the summer.
The sight of pretty girls wearing brightly colored dresses. The sound of laughter and arguments springing up all around. Being able to stretch out his legs free from the aches and pains that came with the cold.
It even smelled nice, he thought as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Fresh breezes coming in from the lake, bringing with them a whiff of the pool in the back. The smell of alcohol stored in aged oak barrels behind the counter. The overpowering scent of perfume.
Wait...what?
He opened his eyes in confusion and quickly located the source of the perfume. To his surprise, it was Levy. She looked very happy and cheerful in a pretty sky blue dress that matched her hair and carried a roll of paper in her hand.
"You're in an awfully good mood this morning, Levy." Jet waved at her to come over.
"Levy is always in a good mood. Clearly you don't know her as well as I do." Droy poked him in the chest.
"I know Levy ten times as well as you!" Jet stood up and poked him back.
"Uhmm, let's not fight over this?" Levy held up her hands and grinned. "Since I am in such a good mood today."
The two of them instantly dropped their argument.
"What's that though?" Jet pointed at the roll of paper that she was carrying under her arm. It was apparently the source of the perfume. It was also very large, slightly glowing, and occasionally coughing up a few sparkles.
"Yes, and this is the reason why!" Levy unrolled the paper, blinding them in a sudden flash of rainbow light.
"That's bright!" Droy shielded his eyes and peered at the paper. "Lovely Master Bob and the Lovely Members of Blue Pegasus Invite You to the Seventh Biannual Super-Sparkle Summer Festival. Did they have to cover the thing in magical glitter and perfume though?"
"Well, this is Blue Pegasus we're talking about. They don't do half-measures," Jet replied.
"The Summer Festival?" Lucy walked over, her eyes shining. "I saw the photos of the one eight years ago in the Weekly Sorcerer, but I never got to go to one. This is so exciting!"
"That's exactly right, Lu-chan!" Levy replied, her eyes also shining. "There are stalls full of food and games with prizes! And everyone dresses up in colorful yukatas! Then there's the fireworks afterwards too! And since this is Blue Pegasus, they have an award for Best Dressed too! It's three hundred thousand jewels!"
"Three hundred thousand jewels!" Lucy repeated, gasping. "But I don't have a yukata... Why did it have to be yukatas? What is a yukata anyway..."
"It's an ancient form of court dress from the eastern kingdom of Pergrande. The Fifteenth Emperor of Pergrande instituted it in X340, but it fell out of use by X532. Master Bob saw it once when he was browsing an old book of women's fashions. He fell in love with the form and decided to dedicate an entire festival to it!"
"Trust Levy-chan to know all about it," Lucy laughed. "Well at least I have two weeks to come with up something..."
"Erza has at least five of them, maybe you could borrow one and cast a temporary color charm on it? I think you would look lovely in lavender, Lu-chan."
"That's a great idea! You're a lifesaver."
"I had one specially made for the last festival. It's pink with white flowers and fits me so well."
"Well it's lucky that you haven't grown at all in the past eight years then, right?" Gray commented as he walked over to them.
Levy didn't even have time to get upset at this comment when Gajeel also appeared and punched him in the face. "You've been looking then, you bastard?" he shouted.
"Gajeel!" Levy shrieked.
"Ack!" Jet shrieked as well when Gray landed on their table, right on top of their breakfast.
"Is there a fight?" Natsu also appeared from out of nowhere, doubtless attracted by the commotion. "I want in too!" he shouted, and punched Gajeel in the stomach.
"Natsu!" Lucy also shrieked as Gajeel flew back a few steps and knocked her over.
"Oh oops, I didn't see you there Lucy!" Natsu grinned and scratched his head. "Have you lost weight?"
"You've noticed?" Lucy instantly went doe-eyed, but then quickly snapped back to normal. "Wait, I'm not falling for that!"
"Everyone stop this!" Levy cried, brandishing her paper at them. "I have a paper here from Blue Pegasus that's covered with enough magical glitter to blind and knock out anyone in its path, and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"How dare you ruin Levy's good mood?" Droy added, shaking his fist at them in fury.
"Death by magical glitter would suit you, Gray," Natsu laughed and crossed his arms.
Despite also wanting to jump in, Jet had to grudgingly concede that Droy was right. How dare these ruffians ruin Levy's good mood! If only there was some way to distract her.
"You'll take home the prize this year, Levy!" Jet called out.
"Of course she'll win," Droy added. "She's probably come up with a genius strategy for winning it. Probably a First Master Mavis-level strategy."
"Ohh, I don't know about that..." Lucy grimaced. "If it's the First then she would probably tell Natsu to 'accidentally' breathe fire on the competition or something. And no, that's not a suggestion."
"I don't know anything about a strategy or sabotaging the competition," Levy said with a smile. "I'll just have to try my best. We all will, right?"
"Three hundred thousand jewels! I'd be able to not worry about rent for quite a while..." Lucy sighed.
"I'd be willing to breathe fire on the competition if it's for you, Lucy." Natsu perked up.
"I said it wasn't a suggestion!" she exclaimed, though her cheeks were a bit pink.
Jet noticed that Levy was looking at Gajeel, who remained stubbornly silent amidst all this talk of the festival. And since he was feeling rather gallant today, he decided to ask the question for her.
"Hey Gajeel, what are you wearing to the Summer Festival?" Jet called out as Gajeel picked himself up off the floor. "You are going, right?"
"Oh yes! Please come with us!" Levy clasped her hands together and smiled.
"Everyone's coming," Lucy nodded and agreed. "It's going to be such a great party!"
Gajeel had looked somewhat reluctant at first, but now he seemed to slowly be pressured into it. "What's this Summer Festival about anyway..."
"Oh, you've never been?" Levy asked.
"I wasn't exactly a Festival sort of person eight years ago..."
"You'll see when you get there," Levy winked at him. "I'll be happy to show you around."
"I'm not sure what to wear... It's a yoo-cat-a thing or something?"
"You don't need to worry too much about it. Blue Pegasus always picks girls to win their Best Dressed prize since they're... well, Blue Pegasus. Just wear something nice and suitable, that's all." She then turned and smiled at her friend. "Come over to my room at Fairy Hills if you're not doing anything else, Lu-chan. I'll show you how to put one on and look your best."
"That'd be great!" Lucy exclaimed and followed her out of the guild hall.
Jet smiled a bit wistfully as he watched them go.
Seven summers ago they had all vanished without a trace. But now that they were back, it was Levy who had already moved on in a manner of speaking. Or perhaps he had always been chasing something that didn't even exist.
He looked over at Droy, who had an identical expression on his face. They exchanged glances, and started laughing. At each other? At themselves? Who knew?
"I really do love summers," Jet said, leaning back against the table. "So many comings and goings."
"We'll always be together though, our team," said Droy. "We'll always be friends."
"Ain't that the truth."
Gajeel hated the summer.
Well, to be honest, he also hated the other seasons too.
And to be doubly honest, he actually did hate summer a bit less than autumn and spring. Winter was his least favorite. There was nothing quite as terrible as biting into iron that was freezing cold. It'd stick to the top of his mouth and then he'd have to explain for the rest of the day why he couldn't eat because of the freeze burns in his mouth.
Because that was what he hated the most. Explaining himself.
People always seemed to get the wrong idea when he tried to explain himself. He'd be asking for directions to a job and suddenly the person he's asking runs away screaming that he's sorry and he'll never do it again.
He sometimes wondered if that was why he became so interested in music, since it did help other people understand him better when they listened to his songs that came from the heart.
Or they simply were unable to understand him at all.
He grunted. Other people were the worst. Crowds of other people were worse than the worst.
And speaking of which, why was he going to this festival that would be no doubt jam-packed full of overly cheerful people?
It had all happened so quickly. One minute he was thinking there was no way he'd be caught dead at any such event, and the next he was agreeing to be showed around by Levy.
Levy. Well, she was a bit of a rarity since she didn't seem to have much trouble understanding him at all. And she was offering to do something nice for him. Gajeel appreciated that.
And there was just something endearing about how much she was looking forward to this Best Dressed competition of theirs. So she had quite a competitive streak too, then? Gajeel grinned to himself. He appreciated that too.
As a musician with a keen sense of fashion, he knew all about dressing to look one's best at a performance. And that included dictating what his backup would wear, since they too were part of the act.
He realized two things. One, that he was the backup this time. And two, he had no idea how to dress for this particular occasion. All he'd seen so far were pictures of people in colorful bath robes or something similar. There was no way he'd be seen in public in a bath robe. He'd look completely awkward and ridiculous and be unable to fulfill his role as backup, and then Levy would hate him forever.
He couldn't let that happen.
He glanced over at Natsu, who was scarfing down his lunch without a care in a world.
"Oi Salamander, are you really going to this Festival thing?" he asked.
"Yep!" Natsu replied in between bites.
"And you're going to wear this bath robe, er, yoo-cat-a thing?"
"Yep!" Natsu replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"But it looks ridiculous!"
"You think so?" Natsu shrugged.
"I can't wear something like this!"
"You could always go naked, like Gray."
"Don't compare me to that pervert! That'd probably get Levy disqualified."
"Doesn't matter, since Lucy is going to win anyway."
"You're awfully sure about that."
Natsu grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm not above cheating a bit, if it's to win."
"Who on earth cheats to lose?" Gajeel shot back.
Natsu looked thoughtful. "Well there was that one time when I threw that fight..."
Gajeel felt like punching him. This conversation was going nowhere. Well, not that he'd expected otherwise... but this still didn't help him solve his problem.
"What's this about cheating?" Cana scooted down the bench closer towards them. "Are you hatching some sort of fun and evil plan? Let me in on it too!"
"Natsu's going to burn the clothes off a bunch of girls at the Summer Festival," said Gajeel.
"Oh my," Cana seemed quite impressed. "That's awfully bold of you. I approve."
Gajeel snorted.
"Are you doing that too?" Cana turned to him.
"Of course not!" Gajeel near-shouted. "I'm just having trouble why anyone would go wearing this yoo-cat-a, bathrobe thing."
"Oh really? But I think it's very cute," said Cana. "Shows off a woman's hips and waist quite nicely. Of course it helps if you have a nice butt too. On guys, however, it's all about the attitude, I think. If you can totally work it and show a nice bit of chest, then it would look quite attractive too."
Gajeel realized that he probably looked a bit green. "Levy just said to wear something suitable... Wait, suitable... Did she mean a suit...? I could wear one of my suits... I have five white suits..."
"Aww, that's no fun. Don't you want to look like a cute matching couple?" Cana gave him a sly smile. "It might get you guys some extra style points."
"Cou- couple... It's... it's not... she's... showing me around..." There he went again, not explaining things properly. "Levy's trying her best, and as her backup... I have to try my best too."
"Oh? That's actually kind of touching." She grinned and pulled out her tarot cards. "Tell you what, I'll use the cards to figure out which outfit you should pick for the luckiest outcome."
"Really?"
"Yes, and I'll let you know that I don't use this power lightly. Just call it my way of showing appreciation for your pure intentions."
Gajeel watched her lay out the cards with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. What if the cards said that he had to wear a bathrobe? What if it was a pink bathrobe? But that was silly. There was no way that would be the best outcome. A pink bathrobe was not at all fashionable.
"Oh, well that's interesting," Cana said, looking down at her cards.
"What is?"
"It seems like wearing one of your white suits is the best outcome. In fact, if the cards are right, it might even be your lucky day." She waggled her eyebrows. "Oh my, I wonder what that might mean."
"Thank you so much," Gajeel grasped her hand with both of his and shook it up and down, almost crying with relief.
"You're... welcome, but I think my arm is about to fall off." Cana seemed to be in a great deal of pain for some reason.
"I'll write a song for you as thanks," Gajeel declared to his new savior.
"Really...? I mean, that's great. I think," she replied, but Gajeel barely even heard it.
He was too busy rushing back home to prepare one of his treasured suits.
For some reason, he was actually looking forward to this festival.
It was hard to believe, but maybe he was starting to not hate this particular summer so much after all.
Lucy always looked forward to long summer days.
Beautiful weather day after day, just perfect for long strolls or doing jobs. Looking forward to trying out Heart Kreuz's cutest new summer fashions. And above all, spending time with her friends at all these wonderful parties and festivals.
It was a clear night here at Hargeon's harbor, where the festival had set up this year. Levy had explained that they moved to a different location each time, for the sake of variety and to surprise their visitors with new attractions. Some of this was lost on Lucy, who had never been to one of these festivals before, but she appreciated it nonetheless.
There were rows and rows of stalls lining the streets, featuring food, games, and prizes. A giant stage had been set up against the sea, though it was currently empty. Streams of magical glitter flowed through the air, occasionally showering down upon the revelers.
"This is so much fun!" she exclaimed to Natsu, who had his mouth full and could only nod in reply. "And where did Happy go?"
"Mmmf," Natsu swallowed and wiped his mouth. "The Exceed queen came with some of her people, so he went over to see them."
"Ohh, I see." Lucy was actually a bit jealous of all the delicious-looking food that Natsu was eating. She really wanted to try some herself, but she was worried about getting some of it on her beautiful lavender yukata.
Three hundred thousand jewels! She was willing to starve for one night for three hundred thousand jewels. She was willing to endure all sorts of hardships for three hundred thousand jewels.
Stand up straight, she reminded herself. Part of being well-dressed was the way you carried yourself. There was no point in wearing the cutest clothes in the world without the proper attitude.
Lucy reminded herself to smile as well. She might not be an experienced model like some others here, but she had a fresh, youthful charm! It was important to emphasize her strong points.
"Do you want some?" Natsu held out a stick with chunks of seasoned meat to her.
Lucy instantly forgot what she was thinking about. It looked absolutely delicious. And very tempting. She realized that her mouth was watering. Well, what was wrong with having just a little bit?
"Hold the stick right there," she said, before leaning forward to bite off the top piece. "Mmmm... soooo goooood..."
"Oh my, that's quite daring of you Lu-chan, doing that in broad daylight." Levy walked up to them, giggling behind her handkerchief. She looked very cute indeed in her pink yukata. Lucy gulped down the rest of the meat. The competition at this festival was really intense indeed.
Gajeel followed behind her, wearing a blindingly white suit. Lucy stared a bit, wondering why he was wearing it, before she realized that she was probably being rude.
"You have a bit of sauce on the corner of your mouth, Lu-chan," Levy said, reaching up to wipe it away with her handkerchief.
"Mmm, thank you Levy-chan, you're a lifesaver."
That was a close one, what if it had gotten on her yukata?
"You're wearing a suit," Natsu pointed out, helpfully.
"Yeah, so what if I am?" Gajeel shot back. "It's better than whatever that is you're wearing."
Lucy was starting to get worried. She hoped they wouldn't end up fighting. With her luck, there was no doubt that she'd end up in the middle of it somehow.
Levy must've noticed some warnings signs as well, since she asked, a little bit loudly, "Isn't the festival so much fun? Have you guys tried some of the games?"
"I think I saw Erza earlier at one of the shooting games," said Lucy. "She was totally cleaning them out. Better hurry if you want one of those stuffed animals."
"Why's she doing that?" asked Gajeel. "Is she going to walk around covered in stuffed animals all night?"
Lucy laughed. "Well, she isn't the one carrying them."
"Even if her backup is the one carrying them, that affects the overall vibe of her performance! She'll lose style points for the competition over it!"
"You're surprisingly intense about this competition," Lucy remarked. She hadn't expected him to be that interested in it.
"Gajeel gets really competitive," Levy smiled and reached up to pat his face. "It's what I like about him."
"So you guys are really into this too?" Natsu grinned. "All right then! I'm getting all fired up!"
"You too?" Lucy exclaimed.
Levy laughed. "Well, it's always more fun when people are really into it. We'll see you two in about two hours then? That's when they're announcing the results at the big stage. And then they're going to set off some of the best fireworks you'll ever see!"
"See you then, Levy-chan!" Lucy called after her. And then as soon as they were out of earshot, she moaned a little. Two hours. Two long hours before she could relax and finally enjoy herself.
"You don't look very well, Lucy," Natsu observed.
"Oh no! But I have to! I have to look super-happy and energetic and cheerful! Otherwise I'm losing out to people like Jenny and Mira-san!"
Natsu looked confused. "Jenny is in Blue Pegasus so she isn't in the competition."
"That's not the point!"
"But how would you lose to them? You're Lucy, after all."
"Oh... Natsu." Lucy lost her train of thought again.
"You just need to cheer up!" Natsu went rummaging in his pockets and brought out a handful of sparklers. "Yes! I still have these from eight years ago."
"You've had those in your pockets for eight years...?" Lucy's voice faltered a bit.
"That's the last time I wore this! Here you go," he said and breathed on one, lighting it and handing it over to her. It sent off rainbow-colored sparks in all directions.
"So pretty..." Lucy stared at the sparkler in her hand, mesmerized.
"And if you wave it around, it gives off light trails too!" Natsu held up his own sparkler and ran circles around her in a rainbow-colored whirl. "The sparks taste great too, like candy!"
"I'll have to take your word for it." Lucy laughed. Only Natsu would think of a sparkler as some sort of candy stick. She held up her sparkler and twirled around, laughing as the sparks fell around her.
"That's it, Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed and gave her a thumbs up. "You look a lot more super-happy and cheerful and energetic now than you did a while ago!"
"Wha-..." Lucy stopped in mid-spin and realized that she had forgotten all about the competition, if only for just a minute. But that minute was also the most happy she had been all day. Maybe thinking and worrying so much was counter-productive after all? Maybe what she needed to do was just relax and enjoy herself.
"Thank you, Natsu," she said and meant it from the bottom of her heart.
"Anytime!" he grinned.
"And well, with that... I'm challenging you to that shooting game!" Lucy winked and pointed a finger at him. "Loser has to buy the winner food for the rest of the night. And I'm warning you, I'm definitely starving enough to play dirty."
"You're on!"
Lucy laughed as she raced after him through the crowds of people to the shooting game. It would be such a pity to not be able to laugh. It was summer, after all.
Jellal loved the smell of the sea in summer.
It brought back happy memories of childhood, of days and nights spent on the seaside by his village.
That village was gone now, a pile of burnt ruins on the southern coast of Fiore, but those memories would always remain.
"A jewel for your thoughts," Erza said, peering up over the pile of stuffed animals that he was carrying into his eyes.
Jellal blinked and realized that he had zoned out for a bit. "It's just so nostalgic, being by the sea in summer," he said, looking out over Hargeon's harbor, which twinkled with reflections of the festival's lights. "It reminds me of my old village."
"Mmm," Erza replied, looking out over the harbor as well. "It reminds me of many hours spent waiting at the train station, going to jobs, coming back from jobs, eating fish until I got sick because of a silly dare from Mirajane once when we were younger, and Natsu getting seasick all over my favorite armor. I suppose it is nostalgic for me as well."
Jellal wondered how one would be nostalgic for seasickness, but he decided not to question the point. Erza had strange tastes in certain areas, not that there was anything wrong with that.
"Ooo, those necklaces are very pretty," Erza said, already distracted by a nearby booth with a very large assortment of crystal necklaces. "I want them."
"All of them?" Jellal asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was going to carry an entire booth's worth of sparkly necklaces around for the rest of the night too? Well, he could always put them on the stuffed animals that he was already carrying...
"Yes," Erza gave him a thumbs up and grinned.
"Whatever makes you happy," he said as he followed her over towards the booth.
Once they arrived, it turned out that this booth was actually a riddle-guessing game, with the necklaces as prizes. "100 Jewels per riddle," said the proprietor, bowing to them. "If you guess correctly, you get your choice of a necklace."
"I love riddles!" Erza clasped her hands together, her eyes positively sparkling.
"I didn't know that," Jellal smiled at her, always pleased to discover something knew about her that he hadn't known before.
"Yes, I always beat Natsu and Happy when they challenged me to riddle-guessing games when we were younger! They would cower before my might in such matters!"
"Wait..." Jellal wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but Erza had already taken out an entire stack of jewels and seemed intent on walking away with everything in the booth.
"It seems like we have a very serious customer here," said the proprietor, opening a small wooden box.
Inside was a tiny figure who looked somewhat like Meredy and was dressed as a fairy. She bowed to them and started reciting...
A little red lady, living in a narrow lane.
In the winter she is short, in the summer she grows tall.
"I know what this is," Erza said, slamming her fist down on the booth's counter without a shred of hesitation.
Jellal knew what it was as well, and was very pleased to see that she got it immediately too.
"It's a strawberry hammer, of course."
"Wait, what?" Jellal was completely caught off guard by this answer.
"A strawberry hammer," Erza looked at him as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a big wooden mallet that you use to ground big red strawberries into a pulp to make strawberry cake with. In the winter there aren't as many strawberries so you can use a shorter handle to smash them, but in summer you need a really long handle if you want to smash an entire pile of strawberries."
"I am sorry, but that is incorrect," said the proprietor, bowing slightly.
"What did you say?" Erza asked, clearly unable to believe what she was hearing.
"It is not a strawberry hammer."
"What did you say?" Erza grabbed the man by the collar, shaking him.
"Erza, wait," Jellal decided it was time to step in before she got them kicked out of the festival. "A strawberry hammer does make sense, I agree. But could it also be a thermometer?"
"That... is... correct..." the man gasped as he was being shaken.
"Oh." Erza instantly released the man. "I suppose... that also makes sense."
"Which necklace would you like?" Jellal smiled at her.
There were bright red patches on her cheeks as she pointed to a blue one on the wall. The proprietor took it down and handed it to him, before quickly stepping back and putting as much distance between them as possible.
Jellal adjusted the stuffed animals to free one of his arms to reach over and loop it over her head.
"It looks very nice on you," he said.
"Th- th- thank you..." Erza stuttered, turning bright red. "We- we need to get one for you too!"
Before he had a chance to protest, two other festival-goers approached the booth. He recognized them as Fairy Tail members.
"Why Erza, you look all red and blushy," said Levy, leaning up to peer at her face with a mischievous grin. "Are we interrupting something?"
Erza turned to stare at them and all the color drained out of her face at once. "That's Ichiya's suit," she said, pointing at Gajeel's white suit.
"It is not! It's my suit," Gajeel snapped at her. "Nobody else has been wearing it. I would know."
"Well, I suppose you two might just have similar taste in clothing," Jellal offered helpfully, though nobody present seemed to appreciate it much.
"Ooh, is this a riddle game?" Levy asked, quickly changing the topic. "I love riddles!"
"Me too!" Erza exclaimed, seemingly having forgotten everything that happened in the last five minutes.
"100 jewels per riddle," said the proprietor, standing pressed against the far wall. "If you guess correctly, then you may have a choice of a necklace."
"All right, give me one!" Levy slammed a 100 jewel note on the counter.
The tiny fairy in the box bowed to her and recited...
From afar the mountains have color,
Closer in the stream is silent.
Spring departs yet the flowers still bloom,
Humans approach and the birds yet remain.
"Oh, what a lovely riddle," Levy exclaimed. "Hmm, let me think..."
"This one sounds like it's probably not a strawberry hammer," Erza leaned in and whispered to him, and Jellal had to stop himself from laughing.
"The answer is a painting," he whispered back.
"I've got it! It's a painting," Levy said at exactly the same time. "The stream, flowers, and birds are all unchanging because they're frozen in time. Where else would that be but in a photo or a painting?"
"That is correct," said the proprietor.
"All right, Levy!" Gajeel grinned and patted her on the head. "You've got some skills!"
Levy turned exactly the same shade of red that Erza had been a few minutes ago. "I'll take that pink one right there," she said in a small voice.
"It goes very well with your yukata," Erza nodded approvingly.
"Yeah! Now we got a necklace, next up is getting a fan!" said Gajeel. "We're going to... err... I mean you're going to win this for sure!"
What was he, her manager? Jellal looked on, rather confused, as they went off together in search for a fan.
"I'll see you guys later at the big announcement!" Levy called to them over her shoulder.
"Perhaps we should get going too?" Jellal was beginning to take pity on the poor proprietor, whose terror levels seemed to be reaching new heights now that Gajeel and Levy had left.
"I think I would like a fan too." Erza had already forgotten about the riddle game.
"All right then," Jellal laughed. "Let's get you a fan. In fact, let's get all of them."
"A man after my own heart." Erza leaned up to place a kiss on his cheek, and then blushed, as if surprised by her own daring.
Jellal loved the smell of the sea in summer. It reminded him of bright festival lights, smiles and laughter from people clad in colorful finery, and Erza raining kisses down on his face.
He dropped everything that he was carrying to wrap her in his arms and plant a kiss firmly on her lips.
The stuffed animals ended up scattered around their feet, but neither of them really seemed to mind.
Truth be told, Levy was not very fond of summer.
Long days of jobs and activities outside with her team and friends were exhilarating, but it also left her feeling drained at the end of the day. And then there were the days when she felt that had had enough of other people. When she no longer had energy for anything but the most solitary of activities - curling up with a good book.
Sometimes it was even a relief when the temperatures outside finally started falling and her schedule started slowing down.
And yet she was still expected to appear upbeat and cheerful at all times by everyone around her, who would question her if she didn't.
At those times, she felt like what she really needed was someone to rant to, someone who sometimes thought other people were the worst as much as she did.
"Tsk, they still haven't come on yet?" Gajeel asked, staring up at the big stage.
A large crowd had gathered in front, now that it was almost time for the big announcement. Looking around, she spotted Lucy up front, busily chewing on a candy apple that Natsu was holding for her. It looked so funny and adorable that she almost wished she had a camera.
Jellal and Erza were also standing nearby, but he was no longer carrying an armful of stuffed animals. Where had they all gone? It was a mystery.
"Everyone in Blue Pegasus gets to vote and then they have to tally all the votes up," Levy explained. "Sometimes it takes a while when the members are enjoying themselves at the festival so much that they forget to vote."
"Don't worry, you've got this," Gajeel looked at her with a completely confident grin.
Where did that confidence come from? Levy did really want to win the competition, but she also hadn't thought that she had too much of a chance. She was always impeccably dressed at this festival, it was true, but she lacked the figure that some of the more popular attendees and past winners had. When she had heard Lucy express interest, she had actually more or less started rooting for her.
But then Gajeel had somehow gotten it into his head that she, Levy, was going to win. And his enthusiasm became incredibly infectious when he started giving her fashion pointers and spent most of the evening helping her acquire accessories that he thought would help her chances.
And then, Levy, for some reason, also started to believe that maybe this year she would actually get lucky and win.
"What are you going to use the money for?" Gajeel asked, as if to make small talk while the members of Blue Pegasus slowly started to come on stage.
"Oh nothing very special," Levy laughed. "My room at Fairy Hills is always overflowing with books, so I was interested in buying that new 'Room in a Box' storage trunk that I saw in the Weekly Sorcerer. It would solve all my problems, but it's also pretty pricey..."
"That all?"
"Mmm, yes." Levy smiled up at him. "I had a lot of fun tonight, going to all the booths and winning all those cute accessories. I might not win the grand prize, but I think this will no doubt still be my favorite Super Sparkle Festival ever."
"Psh, if they had any taste at all then you would win for sure." Gajeel crossed his arms and looked away. "And what's taking them so long?"
"You know, it has been so much fun, I think I'm ready for this festival to end too. Being around all these people is great, but I'm ready for some quiet time," Levy admitted in a small voice.
Gajeel glanced at her, surprised. "You too?"
Levy was actually somewhat surprised too that he agreed so readily, given all his enthusiasm tonight. "Well, after a while being upbeat all the time gets to be kind of tiring," she ventured carefully. "And then all I want to do is just laze about on my floor with my favorite socks, some hot tea, and a really good book."
"I also have special clothes for lazing about. They're my favorite," Gajeel said in an awed tone of voice.
"Will you show them to me sometime?" Levy asked, and quickly added, "So I can pick up some more fashion tips."
He scratched the back of his head and looked away again. "Well, sure... if that's what you want."
"It's a date then!" Levy smiled happily. "It's amazing to find out that we have so much in common."
Gajeel said something in response, but it was drowned out by the squeals that suddenly came from all around them. Hibiki had appeared on stage with a magical microphone, and he waved and winked to much applause and swooning from his fans in the audience.
"Thank you for coming to the Seventh Bianuual Super-Sparkle Summer Festival!" he called out. At the same time, there was an explosion of magical glitter above the audience. "I hope you've had a good time?"
There was much cheering and more squealing from the audience. Someone had unfurled a giant "Marry Me Hibiki" banner in the back.
"And without further ado, the moment that you have all been waiting for!" Hibiki did a dramatic wave with his hand, and a spotlight appeared and started roaming around the audience. "We are ready to announce the winner of this year's Best Dressed competition!"
"Moment of truth!" Levy exclaimed to Gajeel, who if anything, appeared even more nervous than she was.
"And the winner is..."
The spotlight suddenly came to a stop.
Right on top of her.
Levy felt like she couldn't breathe. Did she actually just win? After so many years of attending, was this finally her night?
"Gajeel Redfox!"
Wait... What?
The crowd had suddenly gone completely silent, apparently just as confused as she was.
Gajeel looked incredibly bewildered. "What's going on?" he asked. "Is this some sort of Blue Pegasus joke? I'm not even wearing a yoo-cat-a!"
"While our winner tonight is not dressed according to the theme," said Hibiki, "he most definitely deserves the title of Best Dressed! Since one wearing Ichiya-sensei's suit can not be judged as anything but the Best Dressed in any company that he might be in! For Ichiya-sama's fashion sense is the most exquisite ever seen in the lovely country of Fiore! Three cheers for our greatest mentor, Ichiya-dono!"
The entire Blue Pegasus guild whooped and cheered on stage. The rest of the crowd, still somewhat confused, started to reluctantly follow suit.
Levy by now was almost doubled over with laughter. "This... must've been your... lucky day, Gajeel!" she said between giggles. "Congratulations! Go collect your prize!"
This wasn't how she expected the night to turn out, but she was still very glad that it did all the same.
But the night's surprises were not over yet, since Gajeel turned to her and held out his arm. "Let's go then." And then, upon seeing Levy's quizzical expression, he added, "we were a team tonight, right? No matter if I'm your backup or you're mine, we're a team. A real performing artist gives credit where it's due!"
"Well, at least I'm not in a bunny suit tonight," Levy wiped away her tears of laughter and took the proffered arm.
"Gehe, but I really like the bunny suit."
Levy merely nodded and smiled as he led the way to the bright lights of the stage.