Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and/or the characters.
Gray chose a job wherein a small town named Wisteria requested some wizards to catch some thieves who have been causing some unwanted ruckus. It seemed to be a fairly easy job but just as Lucy and Gray were about to finish the thieves off when some Vulcans burst into the town causing more commotion, trying to get as many girls as possible, chanting; "Females! Females!" as they go. Naturally, Lucy and Gray beat them up.
After beating up all the unwanted hooligans and disposing of them, the town mayor, a tall old man with a white mustache, thanked them graciously. He even doubled their reward out of pure gratitude, apologizing for having them work for more than what the job required them for. Lucy was about to deny the double offer modestly but Gray jumped in, took the money and said something about it 'being a wizard's duty to his fellow people'. With that some of the girls swooned over him, saying stuff like;
"Oh, Mr. Fullbuster! You're so strong!" one swooned
"Gray is so manly and cool!" another cooed
"My hero!" another fainted
"Now, now girls," the mayor interjected "let's give Mr. Fullbuster some space, after all, you wouldn't want him to collapse under all the exhaustion now would we?"
"No!" the girls shrieked, looking mortified and backed off
"Heh, thanks Mr. Mayor," Gray grinned sheepishly "was getting a little too stuffy"
"No problem Mr. Fullbuster," he smiled and turned to Lucy who was packing up "Ah, Ms. Heartfilia! Surely you are not preparing to leave are you?"
"Huh? Me?" Lucy quickly turned to the mayor "Oh, yes I am,"
"But it is getting a little late don't you think? Travelling at this kind of hour is dangerous , even for wizards of your level"
"Which is why we must leave as possible," Lucy blushed "and I think we have caused enough trouble for you guys..."
She motioned to some of the houses and stores that were damaged while they were fighting.
"Nonsense!" the mayor boomed "You have saved our village from those barbarians! Who knows what more damage they could have caused if you did not assist us! This is why I insist you and Mr. Fullbuster stay for the night! "
"What?!" Gray and Lucy said in unison
"B-but we couldn't possibly-" Lucy rambled
"We don't want to intrude-" Gray babbled
"Nonsense!" the mayor boomed once again "Maria!"
"Yes Mayor?" a sweet looking girl who looked to be around her teenage years with long brown hair approached him
"Take our heroes to our inn! Make sure they are well-accommodated! Feed them! Give them our best room!"
"Of course!" she smiled
"Now come along!" the mayor pushed the two towards Maria
"B-but Mr. Mayor-!" Lucy tried to argued
"No buts!" the mayor smiled genuinely "It's the least we could do. Those ruffians have been causing us trouble for the past 7 years and even though we always hire wizards, they always seem to come back. I admit, we are a small village, we don't have much to give but they chose us as their target because we are easy to beat. And for a while, people stopped accepting this job we posted about keeping our town safe because they would say the pay was too low or that we were troublesome."
Gray and Lucy fell silent as they watched the Mayor and the rest of the town sulk.
"But now we were very fortunate to have such kind wizards to assist us!" the Mayor cheered up "and because of the beating you gave them, we know they won't come back! That's why, please allow us to at least do this for you."
Gray and Lucy looked to each other and smiled "Alright then." they said cheerfully
"Oh thank you so much!" the Mayor's face lit up
"And Mr. Mayor," Lucy called
"Yes Ms. Heartfilia?"
"If those fools ever bug you again, feel free to look to us for help!" Lucy gave him a thumbs up
"W-what?" the Mayor gaped
"Yeah, you can count on us! Free of charge!" Gray grinned and followed Lucy
"Oh thank you so much!" the Mayor burst into tears and soon after the whole town did, swallowing Gray and Lucy into a big group hug.
After the whole town had settled down they had a small feast and then after they allowed them to retreat to their rooms. When they entered the room a soft 'wow' escaped Lucy's mouth and Gray gave a low whistle. The room was fairly big and its walls were painted with a nice periwinkle blue. Across the door was a huge window with white curtains draped over it and beside the window was a medium-sized work table with a few pieces of black paper, a small bottle of ink, and a quill. There were two beds that could accommodate one person each that was parallel to the window. There was a space in between the two beds that was separated by a bedside table. The bathroom was in the other corner of the room which smelled of lavenders due a vase of them which stood on top of the sink counter. There were adequate towels, shampoos, and soaps.
"I'll leave you to the rest," Maria smiled "and if you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me"
"Ok, thanks Maria!" Lucy waved her a goodbye and Maria exited the room leaving them alone to settle in.
"Dibs on this bed!" Gray jumped on the bed closest to window, which had the best view of the garden at the back
"What? Not fair!" Lucy pouted
Lucy and Gray sat down on the carpeted floor in the space between the beds. Lucy was busy counting the jewels they made and equally dividing it while Gray was taking sips from the complementary drinks Maria had given them awhile ago.
"There we go!" Lucy tied a bag close and handed it to Gray "Your fair share"
"Thanks," Gray took the bag and set it on the bedside table
They sat there in a comfortable silence before Lucy spoke up
"I miss hanging out with Natsu," Lucy sighed and pulled her legs to her chest
"Me too," Gray sighed
"You do?"
"Y-yeah," Gray blushed a little "he may be rude, annoying, dense and stupid but he's still my acquaintance, my day would be incomplete without him messing something up or brawling with me"
"Yeah, I guess so," Lucy giggled at the thought of him burning something by accident
"Ever since you two stopped going to the guild, things have been too mellow for my liking," Gray shrugged
"Oh," Lucy said in a small voice but then frowned when she realized what Gray had said "wait, did you just say 'you two'?"
"Yeah, 'you two', you and Natsu,"
Lucy frowned in confusion for a while then her face fell and she gave a sad smile "I see, his missions with Lisanna must've been really big if he hasn't been back to guild,"
"Huh? What're you talking about? Lisanna hasn't gone on a mission with Natsu for some time now," Gray thought "Now that you think of it, she hasn't gone on a mission with anyone for a while now"
"What?" Lucy's head shot up
"Yeah," Gray nodded "she's been staying in the guild helping Mira tend the bar,"
"Oh," Lucy blinked "wow,"
All this time Lucy thought Natsu had replaced her. Hearing what Gray said relieved some tension in her but she still felt sad.
"That still doesn't explain his behaviour," Lucy snorted to herself
"What behaviour?" Gray raised an eyebrow hearing her mutter
"W-what?" Lucy laughed nervously "I didn't say anything!"
Lucy finally caved under Gray's scrutinizing glare and explained it to him.
It was around 2 weeks after Natsu and Lisanna had gone on a mission and Lucy decided to go shopping, to treat herself a little. So Lucy made her way down the streets at night looking at the clothes and food on display. After a couple of shops she sighed to herself for finding nothing interesting, that's when a shop caught her eye. It was secluded from the other shops and it was smaller than them too. Her curiosity got the better of her and she made her way to the shop. To her delight, it was a bookstore, and it looks like it had just opened up. Since the shop was sadly closed she decided to just look at the books on display deciding she would just come back tomorrow to buy it. She looked at each book carefully and was just about to make her decision when something caught her eye. In the reflection of the glass, she saw a tuft of pink, oddly out-of-place in accordance to the other brown books on display. She squinted her eyes to get a better view and realized that it was her partner, Natsu. From what she could see in the reflection was that he was standing there looking at her direction. Lucy was thrilled; she didn't think Natsu would be back for another few days. So with a warm smile that crept up her face to turned around to wave at him. To her surprise, before she could even wave, he had dashed off, with his face facing the ground. Lucy was left standing there, confused as to why Natsu ran.
Maybe he just didn't see me and had to hurry off somewhere she thought to convince herself. But the odd thing was, it seemed as if though he staring right at Lucy, observing it. Lucy laughed to herself thinking it was downright odd for Natsu and just shrugged it off.
The following day when Lucy entered the guild she saw a familiar pink-haired mage and made her way towards him.
"Hey Natsu!"She had greeted him
"Oh, hey Lucy," Natsu looked at anything but her
"Hey, are you ok?" Lucy asked, concerned for his unusual behaviour
"Yeah, yeah, I just-" Natsu groaned and rubbed his face
"Natsu?" Lucy had never seen him so distracted before
"Ah, listen I ah, have to go," Natsu abruptly stood up
"Oh, where to?" Lucy followed after him
"On a mission," Natsu answered shortly and quickened his pace
"Oh," Lucy lit up "Can I come?"
"No!" Natsu growled
Lucy jumped a bit, Natsu had never shouted at her before
"N-natsu?" Lucy reached out to touch his shoulder
Natsu flinched away at her touch to her surprise
"N-natsu? What's going on-?" Lucy gulped
"Just leave me alone Lucy!" Natsu shouted and Lucy flinched "I-I'm going with Lisanna, so just leave me alone, ok?"
"Natsu," Lucy bit her lip "You know if there's anything wrong you can always tell me-?"
"Didn't you hear me? I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" Natsu glared
Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, she had definitely never seen Natsu so upset with her before. And she frowned, she wasn't going to take it either.
"Well fine then!" Lucy frowned, tears forming, threatening to fall "I was trying to be a good friend!"
She then stomped off not even bothering to look back
"Since then, I tried to apologize but he seems to be avoiding me," Lucy finished wiping her eyes, when did I start crying?
"That asshole," Gray hissed
"Gray!" Lucy scolded
"What? He is? Avoiding his friends just like that, you and me both Lucy," the ice in his glass cracked
"Gray..."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you, flame-brain, and Erza are my closest friends in Fairy Tail," Gray sighed "Like, real friends, family. People I knew I could trust,"
Lucy kept silent and watched Gray.
"I didn't have many friends, and when I entered Fairy Tail I was so surprised as to how many people were so friendly and nice to me. One of those was Natsu. Even though we'd fight a lot I know he'd have my back," Gray smiled at Lucy "same with you and Erza. Before Fairy Tail, I was a mess, my parents were gone and so were my 'friends'. Ur fixed that for awhile, giving me new hope and someone to trust, but then she left too."
At this point Gray's voice had gone quiet.
"At some point of my life, everybody I love leaves, and I just didn't want that to happen to you guys too. I know I may sound like I'm making a big deal out of it for just a few months but, I was so hurt and afraid to trust but then you guys earned it. And then suddenly when you guys disappeared I had thought you'd have left me too."
Gray looked up to meet Lucy's eyes, and Lucy was so shocked to see so much emotions; fear, anger, humiliation
"I don't want to be alone, Lucy. I hate being alone. I hate the feeling and knowing all the trust you gave was put to waste. I was so afraid that you've left me, I just-"
Gray stopped talking because somewhere along the things he'd said he had lost his voice. Lucy began to feel Gray's feelings of hurt and crawled up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm sorry Gray," Lucy whispered
That's all it took for as he held onto Lucy for dear life, afraid of losing another friend.
And for most of the night, the two friends talked, laughed and cried until they fell sleep, only to wake up in the morning, feeling much better and lighter than before, sending a reassuring smile to each other.
Gray and Lucy walked up the steps that led to the guild laughing. Just as Gray was about to open the door, he felt arms wrap around him from behind.
"Thank you Gray," Lucy smiled onto his back "for everything"
Gray twisted around so he was hugging her back and smiled too "Thanks too Lucy,"
The two friends broke apart from the hug and smiled at each other
"Hey Lucy?" Gray smiled "If you ever need anyone to knock some sense into smoke-breathes head, I'd be your man"
"Sure thing Gray," Lucy laughed and winked "And if you ever need help hooking up with a certain water-mage, I'd be you girl."
"W-what?!" Gray blushed profusely "LUCY!"
Lucy just stuck out her tongue and waltz into the guild, taking in a deep breath, feeling better than before and smiled "Good morning everyone!"
Little did they know, a certain Fire Dragon Slayer was watching from the side lines, clenching his fist and glared daggers at Gray.
A/N: Hey guys! Wow gosh! Thank you again SO much for the support you guys gave me! You guys are amazing! Sorry though if the characters are a bit OOC hehe
Hoho, this chapter was emotional.
Also, if you spot any errors in the story please don't hesitate to tell me! Thanks again for your time to read this!
If you can, please review! I just love reading them!
