Of Blondies and Besties
A. S.
People outside the Fairy Tail Guild always thought that because they were a part of Team Natsu, Lucy Heartfilia and Erza Scarlet were best friends.
That wasn't exactly true. While Lucy liked Erza's company almost as much as Natsu's, she knew that the Titania's best friend would always be the She Devil who also doubled as Fairy Tail's most revered and most feared barmaid (especially those like Cana, who burned through alcohol like water and often had a separate stock ordered for them specially by the lovely white-haired Take-Over mage).
Yes, Lucy was fine not being Erza's best friend because she had met her first and permanent bestie on her very first day in Fairy Tail. The one she had instantly clicked with and who loved to read the latest chapter of her novel that Natsu kept claiming that she'd never really finish.
On a hot sunny day, when Master Makarov was at a conference with the other guild masters, there were no dark guilds and no demons who were (for once) targeting the haven of the fairies, Lucy eyed Levy thoughtfully when she saw her bestie sigh yet again while staring longingly at Gajeel. It was as obvious as the flames hovering over Natsu's snoring mouth that the Script mage had the biggest crush on the Iron Dragon Slayer. Lucy had the distinct feeling that Gajeel was scared of just coming out and admitting his feelings, even though they were as plain as day to anyone who had been there for the debacle at Tenrou Island, or even the way he acted around Levy in the guild hall on a daily basis.
Of course, Gajeel seemed as oblivious to Levy's stare as ever, as he tried to pop the snot bubble that was conveniently hovering over Natsu's face right next to the flame.
Mirajane was watching with an amused countenance that suggested that she just found the whole affair oddly entertaining, and not in a good way while she dried a glass behind the counter. Lucy had seen her stash an extra large strawberry cake earlier that day and figure it was because Erza was having her 'Monthly Monster' week, as Gray had not so politely put it not ten seconds after the fearsome Queen of the Fairies had stormed out of the guild that morning in a foul temper with an S-Class mission request clenched firmly in her armoured fist. Alone.
It was an unspoken agreement between everyone at the guild that day that Erza would come back to a peaceful, pristine guild hall and a strawberry cheesecake large enough to feed a dragon.
For some odd reason, Lucy was pissed. It may have had something to do with the pain in her abdomen (her own monthly monster week was currently taking place as well), or the splitting headache Natsu's loud and obnoxious snores were giving her, or the sad look on Levy's sweet face, but she really wanted to hit something. Or give someone one of her patented 'Lucy kicks'. The immature Dragon Slayer who was jerking her bestie around and playing with said bestie's feelings, whether he was aware of it or not, was not helping her mood.
Lucy was tempted to just drag Gajeel into a corner and give him a long lecture on how completely idiotic he was (even though she hated being called 'Bunny Girl' by the former Phantom Lord wizard, which he never failed to do. Either way, if it would stop Levy from just sitting around and moping then it would be worth it.) when Gray took out a sharpie and began drawing whiskers on the sleeping Dragon Slayer's face.
Lucy got the distinct feeling that the Ice Maker mage just wanted to tempt Fate into sticking a sharp sword where the sun didn't shine. Antagonizing Natsu = Brawl = Destroyed guild hall = Angry Erza.
Gajeel snorted and walked off, bored that Salamander was adamantly staying asleep, then came back five minutes later with Pantherlily sitting on his shoulder. The cute exceed instantly flew off Gajeel's shoulder and into Levy's waiting arms when he caught sight of her.
"Lily!" squealed Levy, hugging him in delight. "Nice to see you too, Shrimp." Said Gajeel gruffly, following his Exceed and collapsing down on the bench next to the Script mage so heavily that the table shook.
Before Levy had a chance to reply, Lucy gave him a death glare, the one that had come with a great deal of practice and was almost as scary as Erza's.
"She has a name, Gajeel." She said, her entire demeanor spelling, 'hostile'. "And you'd do well to remember it. It's Levy McGarden, or do you have that big a problem remembering it?"
Gajeel looked, for lack of a better word, bewildered.
"Lu-chan, there's no need to be so rude." began Levy, also slightly puzzled at her behavior.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because the next thing she knew, Lucy's fist was hitting the table. Hard.
"Chill out, Bunny girl." Gajeel said, leaning back lazily. "I didn't mean anything by it. She's just so short, shrimp seems to fit her better."
He was expecting the smack on his arm that came from the shrimp in question, but not the solid kick he got when Lucy launched herself off her bench and swung her leg at his side. He didn't even have time to harden it with iron before he was flung sideways off the bench. Levy shrieked in alarm.
"What's gotten into you, Lu-chan?"
The other guild member looked up.
"Lucy's going head to head with Gajeel? Is she nuts?" she heard Wakaba mutter.
"Hey, don't count her out that easily. She defeated that dark guild in Acalypha and that member of the Oracion Seis, what's-her-name, Angel, remember? I'd say that she might just hold her own in this one." Macao countered.
"Oi Mira!" someone else yelled. "A thousand Jewels on Lucy!"
"I'll take that bet!"
"Two thousand on Gajeel!"
"Five hundred he knocks her out in five minutes!"
Mirajane instantly pulled out the black book that served as her ledger and began writing furiously.
Meanwhile, neither Gajeel nor Lucy were paying any attention to them.
"You wanna fight Blondie? Because I ain't afraid to take on a girl, especially one that attacks me outta nowhere when I didn't do nothing." His eyes were narrowed and voice low and dangerous.
"Gajeel -" Levy tried.
"Listen doll face, I don't care if she's your friend. Nobody messes with the Iron Dragon Slaye-"
"That's where you're wrong, Black Steel." Lucy said coldly, cracking her knuckles and then drawing Fleuve d'Etioles.
"Is that her whip? It's more sparkly than I remember." Someone murmured.
"I'm not her friend." She took one step closer with her eyes shadowed in doom and darkness. "I'm her best friend. And my name is Lucy," her whip lashed forward and caught him right in the ribs. "Not Blondie." He fell back with a resounding oof. "OR BUNNY GIRL! AND I. DON'T. LIKE. IT. WHEN. PEOPLE. MESS. WITH. MY. BESTIE."
"Ow!" Gajeel grumbled, getting back on his feet. "Son of a – what crawled up your ass and died, Blondie?"
That wasn't the wrong thing to say. That was the absolute worst thing to say.
"I said," she raised her whip again.
Levy sent Gajeel an imploring look. Gajeel knew he couldn't say no to those big innocent eyes. It looked like Salamander's girl would be getting a free pass.
"Don't. Call. Me. Blondie."
She brought the whip down with one hand and summoned Leo with the other.
The rest of the guild (minus Natsu, who was still blissfully passed out) watched the ensuing beat down in stunned, silent terror.
Twenty minutes later, Lucy followed Erza's example and stormed out of the guild, leaving her opponent to be smothered by her worried bestie after wiping the floor with him.
"And the next time she even glances in your direction, you better come running. Levy and I watch out for each other. Hurt my bestie one more time, and I don't care if you do it consciously or not, I will summon Cancer and have him slice off that ridiculous bush you call hair." She called over her shoulder, one deadly brown eye looking straight at him.
Gajeel didn't answer.
"Ne, Lu-chan, why did you have to be so rough with him?" Levy pouted.
Lucy poked her head back into the guild hall and gave her a winning smile. "Because that's what best friends do! Oh, and Levy? I'll have another chapter ready for you by the end of the week."
Then she turned around and skipped all the way home to sink into a cool bath. It was a very hot day, after all.
"Someone explain to me what just happened?" Gray asked of no one in particular.
"Well, I got no idea." said Gajeel getting up off of the floor.
"You can still stand?!" Wendy asked, running to his side to help him up.
"Tch. Of course I can stand. It was just Bunny Girl. But damn, that chick packs quite a wallop." He winced.
Mira sighed with the infinite wisdom of a woman. "I think she was just annoyed that you were leading Levy on."
"Leading me on?" asked Levy, helping Wendy half drag, half carry the dragon slayer to a bench.
Almost everyone else had gone back to their own business by then, but Gray, who was just taking off his shirt yet again said, "Well, duh. You like him. He obviously likes you too, but he's not asking you out. Lucy cares about you, so she confronted him for you because let's face it Levy, it's not like you'll just grab him by his metallic collar and kiss him to get him to ask the bloody question." He fiddled with the belt buckle on his jeans, ignoring Levy's loud protest of "Gray!"
In his eyes, it was about time for an intervention. Anyone with eyes could see that the two mages had a thing for each other, so what was the point in delaying the inevitable? He certainly wouldn't lead a girl on if she had feelings for him, thought Gray.
In a corner of the guild hall, Juvia was sobbing uncontrollably over the fact that Gray was, once again, defending her blonde love rival.
"Well, duh," said Gajeel, knocking him out of his stupor as Wendy healed a nasty cut on his abdomen under Levy's watchful eye. "That's why we're together. Why else would I let the Blondie beat me up? I touch a hair on that pretty little head of hers and Levy would murder me in my sleep. She's definitely got the house keys to do it."
Levy huffed.
The entire guild went silent for the third time that day. This must have been a record for the members of Fairy Tail. Then again, there were Natsu's snores (How did he sleep through it all?).
"You're… together?" Gray stuttered.
"We kinda thought it was obvious." said Gajeel while Levy held on to one of his hands, blushing furiously.
"MIRA!" yelled half the guild.
"Juvia won!" squealed Juvia, jumping out of her corner to collect her winnings from Mirajane for being the first one to place bets on the two of them.
The Take-Over Mage looked at her sheepishly. "Actually, Juvia, you didn't."
"Eh?"
"Someone else called this before you."
"Who?" Levy asked, wondering which member had foreseen this eventuality before even Juvia, who was closest to Gajeel.
"It was I." said Carla, padding forward primly to collect the obscene amount of Jewels.
"Carla?" Wendy gasped. "How did you know?"
"Oh," Carla replied smugly. "I just kept my eyes open." And flew away without so much as a 'bye', pointedly ignoring Happy who flew after her with a tuna in his furry blue paws.
"Were we just beaten out by a cat?" Nab wondered aloud.
Nobody answered.
"Hey, Mira, what other bets has Carla made?" Gray asked suddenly.
She opened her ledger, the one for relationships. "Let's see…"
"And the last one is Erza Scarlet and Jellal/a-guy-dressed-up-as-Mystogan." Mira finished.
"She scored pretty well on the Alzack and Bisca bet too." Someone mentioned.
The guild was filled with murmurs and muted conversations.
"We've all been duped!" Gray declared finally. "By a psychic cat from another world!"
"The kitty's psychic?"
"Mira! That's so not fair!"
Protest broke out and a proper brawl was on the verge of beginning when Mira called for silence. "Erza will be back in less than an hour. If you want to face her wrath, or worse, mine," she smiled sweetly, too sweetly, the smile which meant she already had people digging in the nearest graveyard and carving their gravestones, "You can go ahead and go at it." Her smile widened.
The guild settled down instantly, although there were still exclamations of disbelief.
Well played, little Exceed, thought Mirajane. Well played.
She cast an eye around the guild hall and couldn't help but commend the Celestial Spirit mage on the care she had taken to damage as little as possible in her brawl. Apparently, even an enraged Lucy in her monthly monster week didn't want to have to deal with repair charges. Or maybe she was just tight on rent money.
She saw Gajeel eyeing Wendy speculatively and wondered what that was about before getting back to serving Cana yet another barrel of ale.
Erza Scarlet was feeling much better. Were any of her teammates with her at that time, they would have been terrified to hear the Ex-Quip mage humming an old lullaby from her Tower of Heaven days on the way home from a desecration of an entire guild. It was the one Rob had taught her so very long ago.
She had just annihilated a monster the size of Mt. Hakobe and the dark guild that was controlling it. To her surprise, Meredy was right outside the guild hall with Sorano (Angel) and Erik (Cobra). Apparently, Jellall had sent them to take care of the dark guild but the mighty Titania Erza had already obliterated it for them.
Erza had asked Meredy "How is he?" and the younger girl had smirked and asked her why she couldn't come and see for herself. To that, Erza just blushed and replied that she was expected back at the guild that day, so she couldn't make the trip to their secret base.
Meredy merely sighed and told her that Jellal was fine, as always and that she should come and visit them in the future, soon.
Erik's smirk had not helped things (aka her blush), even when Erza had agreed to the invitation. So Crime Sorciere had given her a lift to Oshibana station and she had hopped onto the train.
Once Erza reached Magnolia, she hired a chauffeured Four-Wheeler and sat back in the luxury she deserved after her hard work. The reward she had received for this job was enough to get her through till the end of next year.
When she finally reached the guild, she found it almost completely intact. A headfull of pink strands showed her that Natsu was still fast asleep on the same table he had been passed out on in the morning.
Gajeel and Levy were nowhere to be seen, neither were Pantherlily, Happy, Carla and Lucy.
Lucy, she could understand. They had almost the same cycle and Erza couldn't fault her for leaving early. Lucy had been complaining to her that very morning about how this time was worse, and Erza could sympathize.
She marched to the bar and Mira welcomed her back warmly before cutting a huge slice of cake and placing it in front of her.
"On the house." The Take-Over Mage smiled.
"Thanks, Mira. You're an angel." The Titania returned her smile with a grateful one of her own and stuffed a huge piece of cake into her mouth without further ado.
The She-Demon giggled at the irony.
"So what did I miss today?" Erza asked, swallowing and preparing to take another bite.
Mira full-on laughed. "You know, I always thought you were the moodier one between you and Lucy, but I'm still reeling from what went down today."
"Huh?"
And Mira told her. Everything.
"You're kidding." Erza said finally. "I mean, I knew she was strong, but taking down him? And yes, I knew about Levy and Gajeel. Have for a while, now. Saw then out in Magnolia Park together last month and asked them."
"What?" Mirajane squeaked. "And you didn't tell me?"
"Dearest Mira," teased Erza, "Where ever is the fun in that?"
Mirajane let it go.
"Just out of curiosity," Erza asked finally. "What on earth happened to Natsu's face?"
"Gray used the sharpie."
"Again?" the Titania sighed. "Will he never learn?"
Mirajane gave her best friend a playful smile. "Somehow, I doubt it."
"Agreed… But how did Natsu sleep through it all? Especially the sharpie."
"Haven't the faintest." Mira replied. "I've only seen him sleep like this when Mystogan used to come around, back in the old days."
Erza stopped in her tracks. "Oh." She brushed her hand through her scarlet hair. Then she blushed.
"Erza?" Mirajane looked concerned. "Something wrong?"
"No, nothing. Can I get some more cake?"