A/N: E: Hey there loves! This has been a long time coming, but we have the next chapter up and ready for you! This one was a very fun one to write, and we only wish we could have gotten it ready for you sooner (school is a killer), but we hope you like this chapter. It focuses dually on Lavinia's budding relationships with Gray and Seiko, so let us know what you think of it!

A: Yeah hell—I mean school has been hectic lately, trying to rush to get everything done so we can graduate and everything… But we're trying to find time to write! Anywhoodle! We hope you like this chapter!


Previously on Thaw My Heart

For a moment, Gray was too shocked to speak. "Dude, she's offering to go to your apartment, willingly! Which means you wouldn't have to get a girl drunk for her to go home with you for once," Natsu told him in a side whisper. "Are you seriously gonna let this opportunity go?" Gray elbowed the Dragon-Slayer in the rib cage to shut him up, then turned to Lavinia.

"Right this way," he told her.

The two Ice-Mages were about to set off when Erza called out for them to wait. She had seen how uncomfortable Lavinia had become, and the red haired mage took it upon herself to ease that discomfort, seeing as she was the one who suggested the idea in the first place. "Why don't we all go together, just to make sure you get all settled in?" she offered. Gray gave her a look, but nodded just the same, and the group set off down the streets of Magnolia, apprehension filling the bones of the two Ice-Mages in their midst.

Now…

The walk to Gray's house was short, but Lavinia wished it had taken up more of her time. She was still more than uncomfortable spending the night with anyone in the guild, even Gray. No, especially Gray. The Ice Mage unnerved the blonde in ways she couldn't yet explain. But even she knew that staying with him would be the best thing for her health.

Gray took out his keys and unlocked his apartment door, and the second they walked through the vestibule, they were met with frigid temperatures. "Geez, Ice Princess, I knew your place must be cold, but it's like a freaking meat locker in here," Natsu complained.

"Oh, this is wonderful," Lavinia exclaimed. "You don't know how hot it gets everywhere else. This is heaven."

"I take it you'll be comfortable here then," Erza chuckled. "I'm glad to hear it. Gray, can you take it from here?"

"I'll be fine," he muttered. Erza nodded, and then left, taking the rest of the shivering team with her.

"I've never been anywhere so wonderful," Lavinia announced. "I can't remember a time I've been more comfortable. And look at the burn!" she exclaimed, showing off her arm. "It's getting better just being in the cold." She wasn't wrong. Even as Gray looked at it, the angry red skin became slightly less inflamed as it was exposed to the chilling temperature. She yawned suddenly. "The absence of heat is actually making me tired," she murmured.

"Do you not sleep well or something?" Gray asked. "On the mission you didn't want to sleep, even though the burn was fresh."

Lavinia hesitated for a few moments before speaking. "No, whenever there's any heat around, I don't sleep well. It makes me uncomfortable, not to mention making me wake up so it's like I don't get any sleep anyway. I've gone for days without sleep before," she admitted hesitantly.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. It'll stay cool here," Gray said awkwardly. "Um… do you have anything you can change into to sleep?" Lavinia looked down, seeming to realize for the first time how filthy her clothes were. She shook her head mutely. "I'll get you something," he muttered before disappearing into his room.

Lavinia cursed to herself. She hated intruding on people's homes, and borrowing Gray's clothes to sleep in seemed like too much for her. But he was right… her shirt had grass stains and her shorts were covered in a layer of grime from their fight earlier. She probably looked downright disturbing. Her hands automatically moved to her hair to take off her headpiece momentarily. After looking it over quickly, she discerned that it was still as perfect as ever. She sighed in relief as she put it back on to her head, threading her blonde tresses through it.

Gray came back into the room with a plain white T-shirt and sweatpants. "There's a bathroom in the bedroom for you to get changed in," he told her. She nodded in thanks and quickly slipped inside, hurriedly changing out of her clothes and into Gray's. They were oversized, obviously, but Lavinia had been expecting that. Gray was easily over a foot taller than her five foot even frame. But having oversized clothes wasn't a problem for her; she obviously couldn't complain about discomfort.

As she was about to head back out into the living room to settle down on the couch for the night, Lavinia's breathing became unsteady. She could feel her heart palpitating through her chest at an alarmingly rapid rate, and when she looked down at her hands, they were shaking.

She couldn't even call out for help. The attack hit her with full, brutal force, and before she knew it, she was on the ground, cradling her shaking head in her arms, rocking back and forth, and nearly hyperventilating from not getting enough air to her brain.

Gray was spread out on his bed when he heard low thump. It had come from the bathroom, where he knew Lavinia was getting ready. He jumped off the bed, then hesitated. He could just be overreacting; she might have just dropped something. But when he heard low cries a few moments later, he sprinted over, kicking the door open.

She was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, and the upper half of her body shaking violently. Her hands repeatedly ran through her hair, tangling the blonde tresses, or sometimes even hitting her face. Her breathing was labored and forced; she was clearly hyperventilating. And when she looked up, he was shocked to see a myriad of tears running in rivers down her face. She didn't look like she knew where she was.

Gray had no idea what to do. He wasn't sure if he should just wait for whatever this was to end, or if he needed to call up Kaia or Lucy and see if they could try and calm Lavinia down. He didn't even know if she wanted him to be in there at all. But the next second, she screamed, and he knelt down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Lavinia, can you hear me?" he asked tentatively. There was no response. "If you can hear me, I need you to squeeze my hand. Can you do that?" He grabbed one of her shaking hands in his, and for a moment, there was nothing. Then, as a particularly violent tremor went through her, Lavinia squeezed with unmistakable urgency. "You need to breathe," Gray said, not sure where his calm demeanor or his knowledge was coming from. "If you don't breathe, you won't calm down, and you'll pass out, and I can't help you if you pass out. Just… focus on my breathing and try to match what I do." Gray started taking long, deep breaths. Lavinia's head shot up, and she started gasping for air, but her hand clamped down on his again, and even though the breathing was labored, she was able to make it slightly longer.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lavinia started taking longer breaths. At first, they were all through her mouth, but after a few minutes she started breathing through her nose again. As she regained control of her breathing, the shaking was reduced, and she had better control of her hands. Gray murmured a few words of encouragement every so often.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, her neck released tension and her head dropped back, and she was entirely in control again. "Water," she croaked out; her throat was raw from all the air that had entered and exited her body so quickly. Gray ran out of the room and returned within a minute with a glass of cool, clear water. Lavinia drank it all at once without pausing to come up for air. She set it down on the floor beside her, clearly exhausted.

"What-what was that?" Gray asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure if talking about it would cause her to have another fit.

"Panic attack," she whispered, and though her voice was restored, she was obviously tired. "I get them every once and a while. I can't always feel them start to come on, but when it happens, what you did was perfect."

"How?" Gray asked. He wasn't under the impression that he had helped all that much.

"You grabbed my hand, giving me something to focus on other than the attack, and reminded me to keep breathing," Lavinia told him. "Just… having someone else with me when I have them helps, but at the same time, I hate it when too many people know about them. They always automatically think I have this great weakness and I can't do anything remotely strenuous because of it. But that couldn't be further from the truth. I can still do everything anyone else can, I just have to… sit out every once and a while," she asserted.

"Having these doesn't make you weak," Gray said. Her head snapped up to look at him straight in the eye, confusion and even some slight astonishment in her features. "Having a weakness doesn't make a person entirely weak. I mean, look at Erza. Who in their right mind would dare to call Erza weak? But she has her weaknesses, just like the rest of us. You can't expect to be all-powerful, Lavinia. No one can try and make themselves unstoppable."

Lavinia was utterly stunned. Not one person she had ever met had been able to deal with her panic attacks the way Gray was, not even M-, no, she wouldn't think of that. Anyone who had known her had all seen them as debilitating, making her nothing more than an invalid despite her great power. She was still Lavinia underneath it all, but anyone who'd ever seen her have an attack treated her as if she was defined by them. But Gray, like in so many other aspects, was different.

"Thank you," she whispered, awed. "But please don't tell the rest of the guild. I don't want this to become a widely known topic. Just… take me aside and remind me to breathe if you ever see me having one. Usually, they aren't as intense as that last one, and I can do it on my own, but even the small ones are easier with someone there beside me."

"That won't be a problem," Gray promised. "The guild is a family, and we take care of each other. If that's what you need, I'll help. I promise."

Lavinia smiled tentatively up at him. She hadn't thought of her panic attacks since joining FairyTail, but if Gray came through with his promise, she would barely have to worry about them. They passed by so much quicker if she had someone there to keep her focused on one thing and reminded her that she needed to breathe.

"I should probably head out to the couch," she said after a moment. "Sleep will do my arm good."

"Ah… about that," Gray muttered. "The guy next door decided to light a fire for the night. It happens sometimes in winter. Problem is, the heat can sometimes get through into my house, and you're a lot more sensitive to it than I am. I don't want you to have to be woken up in the middle of the night or not be able to sleep because of that."

Lavinia did not like where this conversation was going. Gray's tone showed his discomfort, and he was starting to sound like Erza the night before. "I can handle it," she said hastily. "As long as it's still cold enough, I'll be fine. And trust me, I've slept in much warmer places, and I've managed."

"You won't wake up with all of your skin completely red?" Gray questioned. Lavinia hesitated at that. She was a horrid liar, and most of the time she liked to get away with a partial-truth, but she couldn't do that with a question that required a straight up 'yes' or 'no' answer. Unable to come up with a valid excuse, she had no choice but to remain silent. Unfortunately, Gray took her silence as confirmation that she'd still turn red. "I can't let you sleep out there with a clear conscience," he muttered, almost to himself.

"This means what I think it does, doesn't it?" she sighed. She internally cursed herself for falling asleep last night and letting everyone see what her skin did. Gray nodded in response, neither Ice Mage willing to actually say the words. Lavinia held her ground for a second longer before relaxing her shoulders. "Fine," she muttered.

Gray nodded awkwardly before running out to get a pillow for her. He was glad to hide his face for a moment-he was sure that if he wasn't an ice wizard, his face would be enflamed. He didn't know what to make of Lavinia. She seemed so strong, but to see her completely break down into a panic attack like that… he didn't even want to think about what had happened to her to cause that. He grabbed a cold pillow off the couch before going back into his room, unknowingly stripping down to his boxers as he did so.

Lavinia grabbed the pillow he offered her, pretending she didn't notice that Gray was wearing nothing but underwear. If they were at the guild, she'd point it out, but this was his house. She couldn't tell him what to do here. Steeling herself for an awkward night, she put the pillow at the foot of his bed. "What are you doing?" Gray asked, noting the odd placement of her pillow.

"I'm going to sleep with my head down here," she insisted bluntly. She left out the reason why. He shrugged and spread out down the length of his bed. Lavinia curled up next to him, making sure her back was facing his body. She curled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. At least she didn't have to fight off sleep tonight; the cold emanating from Gray's body was so soothing. She forced herself to keep her back to him until she fell asleep.

~TMH~

Gray groggily opened his eyes the next morning. Before he could fully wake himself up, he felt something pressed to his leg. He looked down and what he saw made his eyes shoot open.

Lavinia was curled up against his leg, hugging it to her body, and one of her legs was spread out over his chest. Her skin wasn't red, thank God, but holy hell there was a lot of it exposed. Her sweats were low on hips, so much that he could see the entirety of her guild mark. And her shirt was riding up her chest, almost to the bra line. He also saw his tented boxers, totally aroused from the sight of the God-Slayer.

"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. Ideally he'd like to go to the bathroom to take care of his problem, but he couldn't move without jostling her to the point where she'd probably wake up. Before he could do anything about his problem, he had to decide what to do to her-ah, with her-ah, about her. Damn, that girl was too irresistible for her own good.

Before he could formulate a complete thought, he noticed Lavinia stirring against his leg. She blinked a few times before she opened her eyes completely. And when she did, he knew he could clearly see his arousal from the look of horror on her face.

"Uh-uh," she mumbled before she looked down at his boxers, and then back at his face. Her cheeks were enflamed with blush. Finally, she seemed to register her arms and leg around his body. "HOLY SHIT I'M SORRY!" she yelled before leaping out of the bed and running at full speed into the next room.

Lavinia pressed her back against the door as she tried to control the blush in her face. She could hardly process what she'd just seen. She didn't know how she could ever look Gray in the face after that. She couldn't believe that she'd wrapped herself around him during the night. She should have put up a better fight the night before and insisted on the couch. Someone's fire really wouldn't have bothered her that much, and then she wouldn't have to deal with the fallout of what had happened this morning. And her shouting and running out probably hadn't helped the situation.

A few minutes later, she felt the door push against her back. She scrambled up, not looking Gray in the eyes as he walked out. "If you wanna take a shower you can. I'm gonna go to Kaia and Natsu's house to see if Kaia has any clothes you can borrow while yours are washing," he muttered. Lavinia nodded, then skirted around him quickly to head to the bathroom.

The shower helped calm her down. She made sure that there was no heat added to the water, and as she stood under the frigid stream, she was able to close her eyes for a while and relax herself. She glanced down at her chest, not expecting a change, and found exactly what she'd been anticipating. She sighed to herself as she ran the soap over her body. To her delight, her arm looked almost completely healed.

She was just washing out shampoo from her hair when she heard Gray come back, and from what it sounded like, Kaia was with him. The blonde let out a sigh of relief. Having Kaia would help diffuse the awkward tension that was sure to still linger around Lavinia and the black haired mage.

Lavinia stepped out of the water, turned it off, and wrapped one towel tightly around her body, and the other around her hair. She stepped out of the bathroom, and found not Kaia, but Seiko standing before her, grinning.

"Nice outfit," Seiko smirked, staring at Lavinia's towel-clad body.

"Excuse me for wearing a towel when I get out of the shower," Lavinia rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asked, not unkindly.

"I'm here to give you these," Seiko said, holding out clothes. "Although from the looks of things, Gray would prefer you in the to-"

"I'm gonna go back in the bathroom," Lavinia muttered, cutting the bluenette off as Gray turned red.

"And I'm going to the guild," Gray mumbled, quickly scooting out of the room.

"Anyway, thanks for these," the God-Slayer said hastily, taking the clothes from Seiko. "I still need to back in the bathroom though."

"Awwww, why?" she pouted. "You should just change out here, it would be so much more fun."

"Excuse me for wanting to change in private," Lavinia sighed, stepping back into the bathroom so she could change into the clothes Seiko brought for her. That was one of the things she would never do, no matter who it was. She would never, ever, change in front of anyone. Hell, she even hated looking into the mirror to change, let alone let someone else watch her.

"Privacy's no fun," Seiko pouted, but Lavinia didn't listen to her. She simply got dressed in the shorts and shirt that Seiko had given her. The shirt was a bit too long, but Lavinia had been expecting that; they bluenette was much taller than she was. The shorts however, were nice and short. When all the clothes were covering everything she needed them too, Lavinia stepped out of the bathroom to find Seiko still smiling at her smugly.

"So what's the deal with Gray?" she smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Lavinia answered, much too quickly, causing the bluenette's smile to widen.

"I mean, what are you gonna do about your little crush on Gray?" Seiko tittered, causing Lavinia's face to immediately turn bright red. She opened and closed her mouth several times before she was able to formulate an answer.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered. "I think to do something about a crush, you have to have one to begin with."

"I'm pretty sure we both know what I'm talking about, and I'm pretty sure you're in the denial stage, and I'm pretty you should at least have a plan. That way when you finally get past your denial you'll actually know what you're gonna do," she explained.

"I don't have a crush on Gray," Lavinia asserted.

"Denial," the bluenette repeated in a sing-song voice.

"Whatever. Let's just go to the guild, I need a job," Lavinia dodged around her question. She knew she'd never change the Dragon-Slayer's mind, so she didn't even bother trying. And if she kept talking about it, the blonde would be constantly reminded of what had happened this morning. That was one memory Lavinia was determined to forget.

Seiko followed her to the guild, just singing the word 'denial' over and over again. Lavinia wasn't sure whether to laugh or punch her in the face. She decided on neither and just walked to the guild in silence. "I can't wait until you actually admit you like him," Seiko enthused as they walked into the guild.

"Don't hold your breath," Lavinia muttered at that. Seiko rose her eyebrow, took a big breath… and starting holding it. "I didn't mean for you to literally hold your breath. Do me a favor and don't pass out on me. I don't want to have to explain that to your husband."

Seiko said nothing as she followed the blonde to the request board, still holding her breath. "You can stop that at any time," the God-Slayer huffed before she looked at the jobs posted. For some reason, Seiko's new antics were bothering Lavinia worse than the constant teasing all the way to the guild. "Jeez, woman, I don't want you to suffocate because of me. What do you want?" Lavinia asked in exasperation. Seiko just rose an eyebrow at her, silently communicating the message, 'You know what I want.'

"I'm can't admit something that isn't true!" Lavinia repeated, determined to look anywhere but where Gray was siting. She tried to read the jobs on the request board, but for some reason, she couldn't make out the words. She was far too aware of Seiko right next to her, purposely not breathing. And she was pregnant….

"Okay, fine, I admit it!" Lavinia burst out.

"Good! Now let's get this plan toge-" Seiko started, but Lavinia cut her off.

"I was just kidding! I didn't want you to pass out on the floor from lack of oxygen!" she huffed. "You do realize you're pregnant, don't you? Do you really want to hurt the baby in your belly by not breathing over some trivial thing?"

"Three words. Water. Dragon. Slayer," Seiko replied in a fake sweet voice that would have most people screaming and running away, but Lavinia easily held her ground.

"And what does that have to do with anything? New, remember?" the blonde reminded.

"It means I can hold my breath for up to forty minutes and it won't affect me, or my baby. Plus, I can breathe through my body in the water and get small amounts of oxygen from that if I have to. So in other words, there's no danger," Seiko explained.

"That doesn't change the fact that I was kidding," Lavinia muttered, grabbing the first job she saw off of the request board.

"Yes it does. Because you weren't kidding in the first place. And you do know that's a job to take out a fire demon don't you?" she asked skeptically.

"Ah, shit," the God-Slayer mumbled under her breath as she iced it back to the board. "And I think I know my own mind better than you do. I was kidding when I said I admitted it. There's nothing to admit," Lavinia insisted.

"Wanna bet?" Seiko smirked, pulling a smile from the God-Slayer.

"Sure. Since I know my own mind better than you, I have nothing to lose," Lavinia said confidently.

Seiko's smile just widened. "Oh, this is gonna be too easy. Okay, if you admit that you like him before six months are over, you have to ask him out," she grinned triumphantly.

"Fine. And if I win, you have to tell the entire guild you were wrong," Lavinia retorted. Seiko nodded in agreement to the terms. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a job." She went back to looking at the request board.

"One moment," Seiko smirked. "Gray! Get over here!" she hollered. Lavinia immediately went beet read as she remembered the events from that morning.

"Why am I being called over here?" Gray asked apprehensively, as Lavinia was pointedly (and very obviously) not looking at him.

"I wanted to ask you how you felt about Lavinia's li-" the bluenette started, but once again couldn't finish before the God-Slayer cut her off.

"Frost-God: Cover!" Lavinia half-shouted in her haste to stop the words from coming out of Seiko's mouth. Her hand instantly grew a layer of black ice over it, which Lavinia then pressed to Seiko's face for a moment. When she pulled her hand away, the ice had transferred to covering Seiko's lips, effectively stopping any words from coming out of her mouth.

The bluenette immediately started chewing on the black ice, and the second she did, she felt an enormous drop in magic. But she couldn't complain; any magic she got rid of was welcome. She happily chewed on Lavinia's black ice until it was gone.

"Thanks for that," she grinned, smacking her lips. "I didn't expect your ice to taste so good, and for some reason, that took so much magic out of my system. Hell, I haven't felt this good since Lucy pulled out three celestial spirits with my magic energy. But I digress. Anyway, Gray, what do you think of-"

She was once again cut off, but this time it wasn't because of Lavinia. "Sei! You haven't even greeted me properly yet!" Natsu whined, intervening before his mate could get herself into a fight. Natsu had seen the expression on Lavinia's face: the little God-Slayer looked downright murderous.

"Natsu, you are a saint," Lavinia breathed out. Normally, no one would have been able to hear what she had muttered under her breath, but the blonde was unfamiliar with dragon hearing.

"You're welcome!" Natsu chuckled as he lead his wife away from them and over to a table despite her protests.

"But-but-but… she was so fun to play with!" she whined.

Lavinia rolled her eyes, somehow with a bit of good humor, at Seiko before focusing her attention to the board. She needed the money, so she refused to move from her spot until she'd picked something that offered a high enough price that she could move out of Gray's apartment. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of what had happened this morning. The problem was, the highest paying job on the request board was the one she'd taken without looking at earlier, the one involving the fire demon.

"Seen anything you want to do?" Gray asked from over her shoulder. His voice seemed no different than normal, even though just the sound of it caused a blush to stain the blonde's porcelain cheeks. But she forced herself to answer as normally as possible. Anything else would just add fuel to the rumors that she liked Gray. And Lavinia hadn't been lying… the rumors weren't true. She wouldn't allow them to be true. She'd come to FairyTail for a very specific purpose, and that purpose was not to get herself romantically involved.

"I want to take on the request for the fire demon, but obviously, that won't work for me," she grumbled. "I need a high-paying job, and that's the one that would pay the most."

"We could go take a look at S-Class jobs for you," Gray offered. "And this time we wouldn't have to split it with Natsu, Lucy, and Erza. We could do that one by ourselves."

Lavinia bit her lip lightly. Gray's offer was tempting, that was for sure. Maybe even taking one more S-Class request could enable her to put a down payment on an apartment, especially because she wasn't looking for anything big or fancy. But then again, she was reluctant to spend more time than she had to with Gray, and it wasn't just because of the rumors Seiko had been teasing her about. She couldn't let herself get close to anyone, because when the year was over….

"I'd like that," she smiled slightly, going against her better judgment. It's just to get an apartment quicker, that's the only reason, she tried to tell herself, but she couldn't even manage to make that lie convincing.

She followed Gray upstairs, glancing over the S-Class requests. Many of these dealt more with monsters and demons rather than trivial matters, and sounded much more within Lavinia's skill range. Her magic was not a toy or to be played with. There was a reason her ice was black. It was a powerful, deadly weapon, of which she was forced to be the careful wielder. If she misused it, she could accidentally kill the whole guild in one swoop.

"This sounds interesting," she mused, taking a closer look at a flyer that had caught her eye. "'Help wanted to destroy a water demon that is wrecking ships and killing sailors. No one who has seen it has ever lived to tell the tale.' I think this sounds manageable, and look at the reward; it's four million jewel."

Gray took the flyer from her and read it over quickly. "It would take little under a day to get there, we should be able to arrive by tomorrow morning if we leave soon. We can sleep on the train, if you don't have a problem with that." Lavinia shook her head, indicating that she wouldn't. "And you're sure you can cope? This sounds like a seriously powerful demon."

"They didn't call me the Ice Bitch for nothing," Lavinia reminded him with a small, rueful smile. "Most people thought I was a demon myself when I first made residence, before I starting focusing solely on survival."

"You've got a point," Gray conceded. They made their way back downstairs so Gray could inform Master Makarov that they'd taken the job. He looked it over with a quizzical gaze before focusing on Lavinia.

"You've got a lot of power, I won't deny that," he admitted. "But I'm not certain you fully understand the risks involved with a mission like this."

"I'm aware that it's warning me that I may not escape with my life," Lavinia said respectfully but firmly. "That's not a concern of mine. I don't look for an early death, but at the same time, death doesn't scare me, and it never has. You know that I've done deplorable things; I told you some of them when I asked to join the guild. While I have been assured that who I am is not dictated by who I was, I still want to make atonement for my past. There are people out there who are suffering, just as I made others suffer. I can't ever say I'm sorry for what I did to people, but I can help others, and that is what I plan to do for the rest of my life."

Most of the guild had started tuning in to the blonde's powerful speech. Even Cana was truly impressed by the God-Slayer's determination (between that and their fight yesterday, the brunette was beginning to accept that Lavinia had changed for the better). Makarov, however, bowed his head, looking pleased.

"You've spoken like a true FairyTail wizard," he commended Lavinia. "Go on. I'll inform the right people that you're on your way." Lavinia and Gray thanked him before they started to head out of the guild.

"Wait!" a voice called them back. Lavinia turned, expecting to see Seiko, but the bluenette was showing her blue eye, revealing herself to be Kaia. "Gray, you're not allowed to purposely make the job longer than it is just so you can miss your birthday. I'm gonna throw you a party whether you want me to or not," she huffed.

"Why do you want to torture me?" he sighed. "What about Lavinia? Her birthday is the day before mine."

"It is?" Kaia asked Lavinia to confirm it, her eyes sparkling. The blonde gave a small sigh of her own before nodding. "Well, good, then I'll just throw a double birthday party. That should keep you both happy, that way the attention will be split. Thanks for letting me know!" She turned away before groaning. "Seiko, that is just evil… I like it!" she enthused, clapping her hands together happily. Seiko must have said something because she cackled, and it had an echo of the wilder personality ringing inside.

"I don't even want to know what Seiko has planned for that," Lavinia muttered before she started heading to the train station with Gray. "Why is she having a party on our birthday's?" she asked her fellow Ice Mage when they'd walked a decent ways.

"You've never celebrated your birthday before?" Gray asked, slightly incredulous. The guild had never made a huge show of birthdays, but ever since more and more members were starting to have children, Kaia had especially been extending the celebrations to some of the older members as well. Lavinia just shook her head blankly in response to his question.

"Well, a lot of people decide to have a party, I guess just to be happy they've lived one more year," Gray tried to explain. "I've never been really big into it, but Kaia insists. And one thing you learn quickly about Kaia is that if she really wants something, she will get her way, and there's no use trying to argue with her."

Lavinia shrugged. "Seems like it could be fun," she mused. "Something to look forward to surely, once we get back from the mission," she added as they reached the train station. They bought their tickets quickly, and took their seats as Gray filled up a glass with ice. Lavinia took it from him gratefully. "Where did you get this?" she asked after she'd downed a cup.

"I asked Mira for it when you were talking to Gramps," Gray shrugged. "I just figured that you might want it, especially because I didn't think you'd had any today, and I didn't know how long we'd be gone. If you ever need any, just let me know," he said, slightly uncomfortably.

"Thank you," Lavinia half-whispered as he filled a second glass for her. She was touched that someone had bothered to think about her needs like that. She hated being pushy when asking for ice, but Gray had offered so freely. No one had ever been that thoughtful to her before, not even those she thought she could trust. As the two Ice Mages rode out of the station, the little blonde God-Slayer stared out the window, lost in thought about what she'd got herself tangled up in.


A/N: A: Well! I hope you liked it, I know I did! The dialogue was so much fun to act out! (yes we act out the dialogue sometimes and it is marvelous!) Emma, what did you think?

E: I think that our readers should let us know what they thought with a review! Sneak peek for next time: Lavinia and Gray find out that the mission is not quite what it seems, and Lavinia learns that even her powers might not be up for the challenge. (And since I have a weekend of nothing I have to do, the chapter is already in progress.) We shall see you then!

UNTIL NEXT TIME OUR LOVELIES!