My attempt at writing again. I hope all my GraLu friends enjoy it!

Fairy Lights - Prologue

Lucy Heartfilia could only sigh. First day at a new school and already, she was screwing up.

She received a stern lecture from her homeroom teacher for arriving late on her first day (she really should have practiced commuting first), nobody in her class would talk to her for some reason, she was absolutely lost during the lessons, and to make it worse, rain started to pour by the end of the day.

It was as if the Earth itself was mocking her for her monumentally bad day.

So here she was, waiting at the entrance of the school for an hour now now, wishing the rain would just stop so she can go home and mope in the safety of her house.

From her pocket, Her phone began vibrating again. No doubt it was her beloved guardian Shiojiri-jii-chan. He's probably worried, she thought.

Lucy let out another defeated sigh. She could go home in a snap if she just answered her phone, but she had principles, damnit! On her favorite Heart Kreuz skirt, she swore that she will do her best to be a normal high school student and by god is she going to stand by it! Having to be picked up from school is not normal at all!

With nothing else to do, she stared aimlessly at the scene before her. The sky and everything else was cast in dark gray as the rain continued to fall. Everyone else had already left so all she could hear was the sound of rain echoing across the campus and the sound of nearby traffic.

Lucy wished things turned out a little better that day. She didn't really expect her first day at Otogibanashi High to be this bad. She had high hopes that she would at least have a friend to talk to.

She looked down at her brown loafers. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Shiojiri-jii-chan did say she shouldn't have rushed things. She couldn't stay any longer in Alakitasia, not after what happened. She pushed to move to Fiore in the small town of Magnolia to escape, to start anew.

Alakitasia was her hometown. Everything she had ever known was there, but now, even it's memory hurt her. Magnolia will help her heal. God knows she needed that more than anything.

This is just the worst. She shouldn't have expected it to be easy. Nothing in life was because if it was… then... then… they wouldn't have… she wouldn't be…

Tears started to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. Lucy angrily wiped at them. This was not a time for a breakdown, she chastised herself.

But the more she tried to stop them, the more tears streamed down her face. Giving up on even controlling her own emotions, Lucy broke down in quiet sobs.

She tried so hard to stay strong, to not make Shiojiri-jii-chan worry. She told him that everything was okay and here she was now, crying her eyes out in a deserted school with the rain mimicking her tears.

"It's just rain, you know. You don't have to cry," a voice spoke from right beside her.

Lucy jumped a bit, startled. She thought she was the only one left in school.

A boy with raven hair and matching eyes stood beside her. His white uniform shirt was unbuttoned halfway with his tie loosened. He had one hand in his pocket and the other held his bag over his shoulder.

Lucy continued to stare at him, not really sure how to answer him.

"It's just water. Really, it's nothing to cry about," he spoke again.

"I'm not crying because of the rain," Lucy answered, wiping the last of her tears.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I can't go home and…" she hesitated a bit. "It's been a bad day."

"Yeah? Well, I don't know how to help you with your day," he rummaged through his navy bag and brought out a folded umbrella. He looked at her and smiled, "but I can help you go home at least."

Lucy stared at the umbrella he was handing to her. "You have an extra umbrella?"

"No."

"Then how will you go home?"

He smiled at her again. That's when Lucy saw that his eyes were not black as she had initially thought. They were dark blue and they reflected his smile.

He took her wrist and placed the umbrella in her hand, "I'll walk."

And he did, right into the rain.

Lucy gawked at him before shouting, "Hey, come back! You'll get wet!"

He turned to her, a playful smile on his face, "I'm already wet. Use the umbrella and go home! Tell me about your bad day when you return my umbrella tomorrow!"

"Wait, what's your name?" She yelled.

"Gray Fullbuster! Class II-F! Ja Ne!" He gave out a wave and ran.

Lucy stayed in place, the umbrella clutched against her chest.

"Thank you," she smiled.

She opened the umbrella and began walking home, happy that she at least made her goal for today. She made a friend.

TBH I hate the hate GraLu receives just because it gets in the way of two other popular ships (you know who you are). I mean can't we all just stay in our lanes and let people ship whatever they want?

Anyways, here is my return to fanfiction. Hope you guys like my contribution to the GraLu fandom. Hopefully, we're off to the great start. Read and review please.

PS to my other readers, please forgive me for not updating for so long. My grandfather died in November and it really hit me hard. Life's starting to be better now, hence why i am writing again, but it's still difficult for me since we were really close. I hope you guys understand. I'll try to continue them as soon as possible.

Again, please read and review. Motivate me to write faster!