By the time Lucy's alarm clock went off at eight the next morning, Natsu was already gone. Only a little bit of his usually overwhelming warmth lingered in the sheets next to the blonde. She unconsciously snuggled over to the the other side of the bed, burying her face in his pillow to breath in the comforting scent of smoke and spices. Lucy had picked out these sheets specially to match the unique shade of his hair and installed a heater blanket so when he was gone she could feel like he was nearby, waiting to jump into bed, tackle her, and kiss her senseless. There wasn't a better way to wake up than surrounded by everything that reminded her of Natsu.

Unless of course Natsu was actually there.

Obviously, this wasn't going to be one of those mornings, and it already had Lucy in a bad mood. She really didn't want to get out of bed, even if it was Halloween, one of her favorite holidays. Groaning, she smashed her entire face into Natsu's pillow hoping maybe if she ignored the sunlight in her eyes she could just sleep the day away until the party. There was still so much to do in the guild, and she had promised to help the other girls get into character. Maybe she could get Gemi and Mini-

No. She had promised to help. And she would. She would never be able to enjoy the party if she shirked her duties beforehand.

Rolling onto her back to stare at the ceiling, she let out a big sigh before pulling herself up off the plush mattress to prepare herself some sort of quick breakfast. Laying in bed had left her with half an hour until the time she had promised to meet Levi at the magic shop to get various types of lacrima for the party. It was originally supposed to be Juvia's job, but she claimed her magic would be better served helping Gray set up the frozen meat locker section of the haunted house. Lucy really didn't mind taking over for her friend if it meant Juvia could spend more time with her potential fiance-to-be. If it was the other way around, Lucy would have jumped at the chance for some alone time with Natsu since she really hadn't seen much of him in the past month. Even today he was off with Gajeel attempting to put the finishing touches on a giant iron dragon that would breath real fire over the heads of the spectators. Hopefully not setting anyone on fire.

After scarfing down a bowl of some generic grain cereal she found at the back of their cupboard, Lucy made her way into the bathroom to get ready. There was really no point in showering or putting on makeup today since she'd just have to redo it all later when she got into her costume.

Halfway through brushing her teeth, Lucy heard the front door slam open. The sound of rushing footsteps echoed across the house in the familiar pattern of her boyfriend's energetic frenzy. She took her time to finish brushing and spitting before wiping her mouth and opening the door to see what Natsu was up to.

Leaning on the door frame to the kitchen, Lucy happily watched him rifling through their drawers for a while before speaking up. "Morning, Natsu."

Said mage immediately whipped around in surprise, quickly hiding something behind his back. "Oh hey, Luce! I thought...weren't you meeting Levy?" he laughed nervously.

Lucy raised one eyebrow at him but chose to ignore his strange behavior. "Yeah. I'm meeting her in about," she glanced at the clock behind Natsu's head, her eyes going wide as she registered the time, "ten minutes. Crap. I gotta get dressed." Rushing back into the bedroom, she grabbed an old shirt and a faded pair of jean shorts she didn't mind getting ruined. Once she was done with what she had to do, she would probably get roped into helping someone else with who knows what, and it was best to be prepared. As she sat on the bed to pull on her oldest pair of shoes, she heard a crash from the kitchen.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she called out to him in concern. "Natsu? Did you break the stove again?"

His head popped out of the doorway momentarily, a giant grin on his face and a noodle stuck to his forehead. "Nope! All good in here! Nothing to worry about. No sir! Everything's fine!"

"Are you sure? I really don't want to have to clean up your mess today. I really don't have the time," she sighed, rubbing her own forehead. The day had just begun and she was already exhausted just thinking about it.

The noodle slowly slid off Natsu's face and onto the floor as he sensed her mood. He straightened up and made his way over, his smile fading a bit as his eyebrows dipped down in concern at the tense set of his girlfriend's shoulders. Gently nudging her over so he could sit down, he wrapped his arm around his usually smiley blonde and placed a loving kiss on the top of her head.

"What's up, Luce? What's got you so wound up?" he questioned, soothingly rubbing small circles up and down her arm.

Unconsciously, she had wrapped her arms around his well-muscled torso and buried her face into his chest. She couldn't help but sigh again, "I'm just... I just... I miss you."

"I'm right here, Luce," he murmured into her hair before backing up to smile down at her mischievously. "And we can spend the whole party together! Speaking of which..." He untangled himself from her grasp to run back into the kitchen, re-emerging a few seconds later with his hands behind his back.

"Oh no..." she groaned, knowing exactly where this was going.

"Ta-da!" he cheered as he pulled the costumes from behind his back. In his right hand, he held matching police uniforms, one full-sized and one mini-Natsu and Happy's costumes. But in the other, he held up a frumpy orange jumpsuit, fit for a man twice Lucy's size. "Cops and their prisoner!"

Rolling her eyes and making a mental note to give Levy a big 'I told you so' later, she grabbed her bag and started walking out the door. "Sorry, Natsu. I've already got my costume picked out. You'll just have to dress up without me this year." She glanced behind her and winked, laughing at Natsu's dumbstruck face as she closed the door behind her.


"Gray-sama! Juvia finished putting out the blood. Is there anything else Juvia can do?" the blue-haired water mage called to her boyfriend. It hadn't taken long for her to manipulate the dyed water into gruesome puddles, and she was hoping Gray had finished his task as well. Maybe now they could finally take a break and go on a romantic lunch date...

Gray suddenly appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and startling her slightly. He laughed as she jumped, blushing at having been caught daydreaming.

"We've been dating two years, and you still haven't dropped that bad habit, have you?" he nuzzled her neck with his nose.

Juvia's blush deepened at his open display of affection. "W-What do you mean, Gray-sama?" she stuttered.

Turning her around in his arms, he raised his eyebrow and smirked. "You know what I'm talking about, Juvia."

She averted her eyes as she tried to suppress her smile. "Yes, G-Gray."

Hearing her use his name without the honorific, he couldn't contain himself. He grabbed her chin and planted his cold lips right on top of her moist ones. Both of their eyes slid closed as they relaxed into the tender kiss. Juvia reached up to tangle her fingers in his frosty locks, pulling him as close as she could without taking the kiss into dangerous territory. Gray didn't seem to have any such thoughts as his hand lowered down her backside to her leg, pulling it up to rest on his hip.

All of a sudden, the door to the 'meat locker' was kicked in.

"What the hell did you do to the cobwebs, Stripper?!" Natsu yelled, fists raised and flaming.

It took him a second to register the scene in front of him. Shocked by Natsu's sudden appearance, the young couple had jumped apart causing Juvia to lose her balance and fall backwards into a big pile of meat while Gray had jumped backwards straight onto a giant meat hook leaving him to dangle by his shirt a couple inches off the ground.

Natsu's fire extinguished as he stared at the two in dumbfounded silence. "Uh...Maybe I should come back later..." He laughed nervously before turning and bolting. Gray was going to kill him.

"FLAME HEAD, GET BACK HERE!" Gray bellowed as he ripped himself off the hook, sprinting after the fire mage. "YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

Juvia sighed as she realized Gray wouldn't be returning any time soon. All thought of her had flown out of his head at the sight of his rival. She really didn't mind that much as she was used to such behavior by then, but it meant her lunch date was off. Again.

Picking herself out of the pile of goo, she did her best to pick off all the slimy pieces stuck to her dress. Once she was satisfied her back was no longer covered in red chunks, she made her way back into the main hall to look for some sort of meal.

It didn't take long for the smell of cooking food to reach her from the bar. Mirajane was currently setting steaming plates in front of Lucy and Levy who were laughing at something Lucy had said. Juvia's stomach growled at the sight, and she hurriedly made her way over to get some of her own.

"His jaw was practically on the floor! I was almost worried it was going to get stuck there!" She giggled. Juvia slid into the chair next to the blonde, nodding at Mira who set a plate of food in front of her without asking.

Lucy turned and smiled at her in greeting. "How was your morning, Juvia?" she questioned slyly, knowing she had spent all her time with Gray.

Juvia blushed but smiled brightly. "Juvia had lots of fun with Gray," she practically glowed.

"Gray, huh?" giggled Levy, raising her eyebrow. "It's not Gray-sama anymore?"

Flushing even deeper, Juvia glanced away shyly. "Gray likes it that way. And Juvia will do whatever it takes to make Gray happy," she mumbled.

"Good for you, Juvia," Lucy exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her friend proudly. "That's just a sign you and Gray are getting closer than ever. Who knows, maybe a proposal is closer than we all thought," she winked.

"If Lucy's boyfriend didn't interrupt us every time we had alone time, that might be true," she sighed as she pushed the food around on her plate. The hopeless feeling in her chest had made her lose her appetite.

Groaning, Lucy smacked herself in the face. "I am sooo sorry, Juvia. Natsu is... Natsu."

"If that isn't the truth," came Cana's voice from the other side of Levy as she sat down next to the blunette. "Natsu is his own force of idiot."

"You can say that again," Levy giggled.

Lucy just shook her head and turned to grab Juvia's hands. "I'll make it up to you. How about some undisturbed Gray time at the party tonight? I'll keep Natsu busy," she promised, smiling hopefully.

"Juvia guesses that would be alright..." she blushed, looking down at her captured hands.

"Deal," Lucy laughed brightly, already forming plans.


Erza was really going to kill him. There was no way he would be able to keep his promise to be back by Halloween. And she was going to utterly slaughter him for it.

Sighing, he rubbed his covered face tiredly. For the last two days, he had been walking nonstop through the dessert on his way back to Magnolia. As a wanted fugitive, there was no way he could have taken any of the public modes of transportation and that left him severely limited when it came to travel. Because of this Erza had fiercely objected to the master's special mission for him as it was set to be finished the day before their big Halloween bash. For some reason, she had been fiercely determined to have him attend the party, even if it meant rejecting a handpicked assignment.

Something had been off with Erza ever since Mirajane had gotten back. Their relationship had always been more about emotional connection than open affection, but recently, she had been frustrated by his lack of initiative. This was a first time for them as they had always understood each other before almost intuitively. They knew each other inside and out; it was like they had seen past the armor deep within their souls and just...understood.

Even so, Jellal just couldn't figure this one out. Throughout the mission, he had been constantly wracking his brain to come up with some sort of way to make it up to her, but he had no clue exactly what more she wanted from him. He figured there was only one option left.

Fingering the object in his pocket, he lowered his head to the wind and picked up the pace, determined to get home in time.


A/N: Would you guys like more couple stuff before the big party? I haven't really done too much Gajevy... Let me know.

Still taking costume suggestions!