Gray groaned, everything blurry and spinning. He blinked multiple times as his eyes adjusted to the surroundings. When his eyes finally adjusted properly, the first thing he realized was that he was lying down on a bed. A bed? He was certain that he was on a mission with Lucy. Lucy...Lucy. He blinked once. He sat up suddenly as his eyes grew wide. Oh shit! Lucy! His eyes swept over the room. It was a small, white room with a desk, cabinet, and the bed itself. Then he noticed someone at the foot of his bed. And that someone had blue and red hair. Lucy. He bent over slightly and noticed that her head was buried in her arms and her breathing was even. She was sleeping.

He leaned back and rested against the headboard. How'd he even get into this mess?

Then he remembered. Oh yeah.

"Ice Make: Floor!"

Ice shot out of his hand and began to crawl across the ground, engulfing the wet floor and the waters around the temple in an icy blanket. A loud roar echoed through the forest as the ice covered the waterfall, bringing out the serpent, human like monster. Its green hair waved around its head as it hissed in anger, its red and green eyes zeroing in on the shirtless ice mage. It shot forward quickly, like a shadow, and it extended its claw like hand, reaching for him. He dove out of the way, wincing when its claws sliced the air on which he was standing just a few moments ago.

"Lucy! Run! Leave this to me!" Gray shouted, barely dodging one of its attacks.

He heard her snort. "This is my rent money! I'm not going to leave you! Are you crazy?!"

He huffed. He should have known better then to tell her to ditch him. That just wasn't her.

"Fine, you distract this thing while I attack," Gray yelled.

"That's better!" Lucy gripped her whip and held it with both hands, a smirk on her face. With an expert flick of her wrist, she sent the whip flying forward and a satisfying crack was heard throughout the forest. A banshee screech escaped the angry monster as it turned around, eyes blazing with anger as it took on its new opponent, forgetting about the ice mage. Lucy jumped back as a jet of water headed for her. "Open! Gate of the water bearer, Aquarius!" Lucy shouted, thrusting the golden key into the water. Crazy, she know.

"Are you stupid?! Calling me out of that smelly water? Next time you do that, you're dead! Dead!" The angry mermaid shouted at her master. Lucy sweat dropped and nervously took a step back. "H-hai Aquarius." The mermaid let out a 'tch' as she turned to face her opponent. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I can't do anything," she said bluntly. "W-what?" Lucy rolled out of the way of another jet of water. "Water attacks only enhance this type of monster. I can't help. Well in that case, I'll leave for my date with my boyfriend." Just like that, Aquarius shimmered away into the Spirit World. "Ugh!"

Lucy yelped as she saw monster sharp claws headed for her. "Ice Make: Cage!" A giant cage made of ice, obviously, dropped on top of the monster, stopping her just inches away from Lucy. "Phew, thanks Gray," Lucy said, giving a sigh of relief. She didn't have time to hear what he said because the monster let out another ear piercing screech and this time, boiling hot water melted the ice. Lucy jumped to the side as the ground she just stood on turned black. Just how hot was that water?

She didn't have time to continue thinking about it because it went in for another attack.

"Ice Make: Arrows!"

A volley of arrows headed towards the monster but it moved out of the way at the last second. Lucy's eyes widened as the arrows headed straight for her. Then there was a bright flash and Lucy felt the ground beneath her give away. With a scream, she fell into a hole and the ice arrows flew above like a flock of birds. "Hime," a monotone voice called out. "Virgo!" She said in relief, sitting up. "Hime, please be careful," Virgo said, bowing lowly. Lucy winced and then nodded. "Yes, thank you Virgo." "Punishment time Hime?" Lucy sweat dropped. "No, no punishment Virgo." With a final bow, Virgo returned to the Spirit World.

"Lucy? Lucy!" She heard Gray yell. "I'm coming up!" Lucy jumped up and latched her elbows onto the side of the hole. With a grunt, she lifted herself over the ledge. "Behind you! Ice Make: Canon!" Lucy yelped as Gray's ice magic shot over her head and hit the monster right in the chest. It flew backwards and collided with a large tree.

It laid unmoving for a few minutes, making both of the mages look at each other. "Is it...dead?" Lucy asked tentatively. "I don't know. Wanna go check?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the creature. "OK. Better make sure that its's done with then leave it here and let it cause havoc again," Lucy said. She began to move forward but Gray's arm shot out, stopping her in her place. Her questioning gaze met his. "I'll go. In case it's not actually defeated." Lucy opened her mouth, as if to protest, before closing it and giving him a stiff nod.

She had her hand near her keys, in case.

She watched as Gray bent down and held out a hand. But that was his mistake.

The monster sprung up and let out a long, low hiss. Its eyes settled on the swearing Gray who rushed to his feet. Or tried to. The monster's tail swung around and slammed Gray to the ground who hit his head with a painful thump. And that was all he remembered before everything blacked out.

He winced when pain blossomed out of his side. His hand went down to his side which was bandaged with layers of gauze.

He heard a groan coming from the sleeping beauty at the end of his bed and he looked up to see the blue/red head slowly opening her eyes. "Morning," Gray said, once her eyes focused on him. A wide grin broke her face as she launched forward, throwing her arms around him. "I thought you died!" She cried, almost strangling him. He gave a small chuckle and returned the hug. "Seriously, I thought you were really injured," she whispered, tightening her arms around his neck. "Sorry Lucy. That monster caught me by surprise." She took her arms off of his neck and flicked his bandaged head, a scowl on her face.

"That's what you get for staying asleep for nearly two days," she huffed. Gray reared back in shock. "Two days? How? I only landed on my head!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, and I only almost missed my rent. You landed on your head Gray! Your head! Now lucky you, you have a thick skull so it protected that stupid brain of yours. Honestly sometimes, I think you damaged your brain by hanging out with Natsu for too long."

Gray frowned at Lucy playfully. "Hmph," he said, sticking his tongue out at her. She giggled and stood up. "Want anything?" "Yeah, to go home," Gray said. "You sir are very lucky I have a home to return to," she hissed. Gray swallowed visibly, digging his back into the headboard. "Haha...yeah. I am very lucky," he said, his voice shaking. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered what pain she had to go through to contact Mira, convince her to pay for her, then have Lucy pay her back.

"I'm just glad you're OK," Lucy finally said, heaving. A sudden jolt of guilt shot through him and he swung his legs over the bed. Getting up, he wrapped Lucy in an apology hug. "I'm sorry," he said, his arms wrapped around her. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Lucy said, "Gray, you can let me go now. Or I'll tell Natsu." She had a teasing grin on her face and Gray couldn't help but grin back at her as he let her go.

"That Flame-brain? Why would you tell him, hm?" He then punched his open palm, as if he had an answer. "You love him don't you." Lucy's eyes went wide and she felt all the blood rush up to her face. "N-no!" She denied, her face bright red, like an apple. "Hm really now? I bet he'll get really jealous if he heard about our little moment," he teased. "Him? Jealous? Ha!" Lucy said, still denying it. "Oh come on, you love him."

Lucy frowned. "Well I don't. And even if I did, he probably won't love me either way. Remember he ditched me to go shopping with Lisanna."

"Hm, hm. I think someone's getting a bit...green don't cha think?" He asked. Lucy started to stutter and Gray laughed, stopping when his side exploded in pain. "Hmph, Karma dumb ass." Gray playfully punched her arm. "Shut up." Lucy's face broke out into a grin again and then placed her hand on her hip. "Now, since you're awake, let's go. I want to go back to the guild."

"To see Natsu."

"Gray!"

He laughed and then pushed her towards the door. "Ok, ok. I'm sorry. Come on let's go home."

.

"Minna! We're home!" Lucy called out happily, walking through the double doors of the guild. Her sunny smile made everyone in the guild smile back at her. She smiled and waved at Gray before she wandered off to the bar where Mira was waiting for her with a smile. "Welcome back Lucy. How was the mission?"

"Hm! Tiring! You don't know how worried I was for Gray! I couldn't believe that monster knocked him out so easily. All those times he fought with Natsu and Erza smashing their heads together, you'd think that he would get used to head damage. I guess not," she laughed, sitting down on her stool. Mira's eyebrow shot up. Lucy and Gray? Sure their sudden mission together had surprised her but she didn't think that it would have gone this way. Then Mira thought again. This is Lucy. Of course she's worried. Gray's her nakama. Hopefully no more than that.

"Is that so?" She asked, in her hand a rag and a cup.

"Yeah. Oh thanks for paying my rent for me! Here's the jewels I owe you," Lucy said, producing a brown bag full of jewels. She put it on the bar counter and Mira took it gratefully. "Thank you Lucy," she said, picking up the bag. Lucy waved it off. "It's not a problem. I should be saying thank you. Who knows where I would be if you didn't pay for my rent?"

With Natsu, Mira thought, her mind thinking about all those adorable little kids that could be running around.

"So, how do you feel?" Mira questioned nonchalantly. "Hm? I'm fine actually. Why'd you ask," Lucy questioned, putting her chin in the palm of her hand. Her questioning gaze followed Mira as she moved about behind the bar. "Oh nothing. I just wanted to know how you felt being with Gray all alone for the past few days," Mira said with a devious grin on her face. As she predicted, Lucy's face went up into flames.

"Mira! It was just a job!" Lucy whined, shrinking into her stool, if it was possible. "Right, just a job," Mira said skeptically. Lucy made a low whining noise at the back of her throat and she hunched over, her face bright red. "I think there's something you're not telling me," she sang out, standing across from the now back to normal blonde. The blonde refused to make eye contact. She thought of the quick hugs she had exchanged with Gray and the blood has offically all gathered at her cheeks. "Aha! There is something you aren't telling me! Lucy, you know you want to tell me."

Meanwhile, a sulking Natsu and an amused Lisanna sat somewhere together at one of the tables in the guild.

"Man I can't believe this," he grumbled. His head was in his arms but he was turned in a way so that he was facing Lucy. His scowl never left his face as Lucy blushed at something Mira said. "First she runs off with Gray. Alone. And then she stays three extra days with him. Alone. And when she came back, she didn't even bother to say hi to me!" Natsu's scowl turned into a pout. Lisanna patted his back in attempt to calm him down. "Well Natsu. She would have gone on a mission with him if you didn't ditch her," she reminded him.

"That's because you begged me to go shopping with you!" He exclaimed, now turning his head to look at her. She shrugged. "You could have rejected the offer." He groaned out loud. "I did but you convinced me to go with you! You girls are so weird," he huffed. Lisanna shook her head. "All I did was offer food."

"And you know I love food!"

And Lucy.

"Natsu, even if I offered you food, it is still your fault that she had to go on a mission with Gray," Lisanna said bluntly. "Think about it. If you had tried harder to refuse my proposal and the food, she wouldn't have to have gone with Gray, alone, on a mission." She suddenly grinned. "Look at her Natsu. She's blushing awefully hard over there. I wonder what happened on that mission." Natsu shot up, his eyes suddenly ablaze. "I am going to ask her what happened. And then I'll go beat stupid Ice Princess up for taking my partner out on a mission," he declared. Lisanna's eyes lit up and she nodded in approval.

"Go," she said, pushing him towards the red faced blonde at the bar. He flashed her a grin and then ran over to his partner.

"There's nothing for me to tell you!" Lucy said again, not meeting the bartender's eyes. "Oh really now Lucy? Maybe I'll go ask Gray," she said with an innocent smile. "W-what? No!" Lucy said loudly. A bit too loudly. "No what?" Lucy let out a shriek, her eyes wide. "You scared me baka!" She scolded, a frown on her face as she glared at her partner. he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry about that Luce."

"Natsu, did you know that Lucy and Gray had a wonderful and absolutely splendid time together on their mission?" Mira asked with a bright smile on her face. Natsu's face fell. "M-Mira!" Lucy protested weakly, her face now turning back to that bright red color. That was all the confirmation Natsu needed that something indeed had happened on the mission. And he was going to find out.