A/N:

Hello readers! So to show my appreciation for those who voted in my poll and to all of you who've waited so patiently for the next chapter... Here is my longest chapter to date! Yaaay Eclipse Gate Party! Hope you all like. As always, pretty please read and review! Love 3

Chapter Four

"Thanks for spotting me the extra cash, Wendy" Lucy started as the two women exited the storefront of a local dress shop. They were each carrying large bags of recently purchased merchandise in either of their hands. "I promise that I'll pay you back just as soon as I can!"

Wendy smiled, "No problem, Lucy. This is my treat! Save what you have for groceries. Anyways, the last job that I took with Erza and Gray paid really well, so I'm not concerned."

Lucy sweat-dropped, "I feel so stupid for spending money on jewelry."

The dragonslayer looked over and admired the sparkly silver bracelet on Lucy's wrist, "Don't worry about it! I'd have done the same thing if I had seen it."

"Yeah?" Lucy followed Wendy's gaze to her bracelet and suddenly had an idea. "Hold on a sec…" she stopped in her tracks and placed her bags on the cobblestone walkway.

Wendy tilted her head in curiosity, "What's wrong?"

Lucy opened the clasp of the bracelet and removed it from her wrist before handing it over to Wendy, "I want you to have this."

Wendy gasped and started to get flustered, "Oh no! I couldn't possibly. It's yours, Lucy! You don't need to give it to me!"

The blonde chuckled and placed a hand on the dragonslayer's shoulder to calm her. "But I want to give it to you. It's the least I can do."

The blunette was speechless as her friend removed the bags from her left hand and clipped the jewelry around her tiny wrist.

"Look at that! It's perfect, and it looks way better on you than it does on me."

Lucy grinned, while Wendy stared down at her new accessory. "It's lovely… Are you sure that this is okay?"

"Of course I am! Besides, it doesn't go with my new dress", replied the blonde.

Wendy blushed slightly, and then looked up to meet Lucy's eyes. "Thanks so much!" She threw her arms around the celestial wizard, unintentionally smacking Lucy's back with the remaining bags in hand.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" Mortified, Wendy let go of Lucy and covered her mouth with both hands.

Lucy laughed out loud, "It's fine." Picking up her own bags, she continued, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask... Where's Carla? You two are usually attached at the hip."

"Yeah... We had an argument last night. She said she needed some space."

Frowning, Lucy asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what was the argument about?"

Wendy sighed, "I called her a sour puss."

Silence filled the air for a moment or two until Lucy spoke, "That's it?"

The dragonslayer nodded, "She's sensitive."

"I see... Well, we'd better go and get changed!" the blonde replied wearily. "She will be meeting us at your room soon."

Erza better like the dresses we picked out!

Shivering, the dragonslayer nodded before the two of them headed towards Fairy Hills dormitories to change for the party.

"All done!" Wendy chortled.

She spun Lucy around to face the full-length mirror in her room. Lucy looked at her reflection in the mirror to see a woman that she did not recognize. Her hair was pulled to the side in a pretty braid. She was wearing a beautiful navy blue satin dress with a flowy hemline that stopped above her knees in length. The sweetheart neckline wrapped into a neat pattern that very noticeably accentuated her feminine assets. The underlayer of the dress was sprinkled with tiny flecks of golden sparkles that shimmered through the sheer top layer. And to top it all off she was wearing sexy three-inch black heels that had a thick strip of gold beads running up the centre of the foot to where it met the ankle support.

Wendy looked up at Lucy, her eyes twinkling with admiration. "You look amazing, Lucy!"

The blonde, stroked the braid briefly and turned her head from side to side to admire her hair from different angles. "Thank you! I couldn't have pulled this off without your help though."

Lucy strapped her keys to her thigh with a garter-like belt and turned around to see her friend in a knee-length teal spaghetti-strap dress. The dress was decorated with pretty silver beading and a large black bow was wrapped neatly around her waist. Her long blue hair was tied up in a high-ponytail, and her new silver bracelet sparkled on her left wrist, accenting the silver on her dress perfectly.

"Aww, Wendy. You're adorable!"

"You think so?" Wendy asked. She was biting her lip anxiously. "I just hope Erza likes my outfit."

"I wouldn't worry. You look great!"

Wendy nodded, but remained uncertain.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Both Wendy and Lucy squeaked in surprise.

"Wendy, it's Erza. Are you ready to go?" a stern voice called through the door.

"Umm, yes! Just a minute!" Wendy stuttered. She scrambled to the door, her lips wavering in anxiety, before opening it to see quite a sight.

In the doorway stood a beautiful red-headed woman adorning a sleek plum-coloured dress. It was long and very sexy with a high slit at the side, revealing a tasteful amount of leg.

"Ohhh" Wendy cooed, clearly impressed by her older friend's appearance.

Erza smiled proudly and then she noticed that Wendy was not alone. "Lucy, I didn't expect to see you here. Excellent, I suppose now I can kill two birds with one stone."

"K-kill?" Wendy stammered, visibly shaken by Erza's choice of words.

"Yes."

"Wow", Lucy managed to say. "You're gorgeous!"

Erza's hair was down and wavy, shimmering beads mingling with the fancy ruching at her bustline. She angled her body so that they could see the back of her dress which was just as stunning as the front. The silver beading reached around to form a unique strapping pattern that revealed most of her toned back.

"You have amazing taste, Erza!" said the dragonslayer, her eyes sparking again.

"Thank you, Wendy. I admit that that at one point I felt hopeless and lost in my quest to find 'the one' dress, but I am pleased with the final results."

"No doubt!" added Lucy. Her eyes widened before a sudden look of mischief crossed her face. She crept up beside Erza and nudged her in the side with her elbow. "Jellal wouldn't happen to be a guest at the party, would he?"

The red-head's face lit up like a candle, heat waves simmering from her body. "Uhh. Hmm. Perhaps", she finally stammered.

"I thought so", giggled the blonde. "So are we ready to go?" She twirled around more than enthusiastically.

Erza's face straightened into one of grave seriousness. Lucy and Wendy glanced at one another as they anxiously awaited Titania's verdict. Then Erza thrust an arm towards them, causing both the girls to flinch. When nothing happened, Lucy opened her eyes to see that the red-head had given them the thumbs up. The dragonslayer and the celestial mage relaxed their shoulders and sighed in relief.

"Tsk, I can't believe you two. Did you really think that I'd strike you?" Erza asked, a little saddened. "You hardly deserve punishment. You both look fantastic!" She smiled at them and nodded in approval.

"Did you say punishment, Princess?" Virgo flickered into sight, bowing at her master, and giving Erza a clear view of the maid's panties. Titania coughed, cheeks reddened and looked away.

"No, Virgo, I did not mention punishment… You can go back now…" Lucy sighed.

"As you wish, Princess. But before I go…" Virgo snapped her fingers and a beautiful golden star-shaped pin appeared from thin-air. "This will go perfect with your new look…" She leaned towards the celestial mage and placed the pin in her hair on the opposite side of the braid.

"Thank you, Virgo", said Lucy kindly.

"You are very welcome", Virgo replied. She bowed at her master again, "Until next time, Princess!" And just as quickly as she had appeared, the maid vanished in a ripple of gold.

"Your spirits have an interesting choice in underwear, Lucy. Do they model their style after you?" Erza asked, cheeks aglow.

Lucy gasped, "What! No! I don't have any say in what they wear. Virgo picks out her own costumes!"

Wendy was blushing furiously at the conversation topic while Erza had an inspired twinkle in her eye. She placed a finger to her chin, "Really? Too bad. The next time you call on Virgo, remind me to ask her where she shops."

Lucy sweat-dropped.

In the spirit world…

She wasn't about to argue with the terrifying Titania and conceded willingly, "Yeah, sure thing."

"Alright then. To the party, ladies!" Erza hollered, turning heel to head out of the building and towards the guild.

With Erza's back to them, Wendy and Lucy mock-saluted and replied in unison, "Yes, m'am!"

At the front entrance of the guild, Erza cleared her throat and spoke, "Are you ready?"

"For what?" Wendy asked, turning to Lucy who shrugged in reply.

Erza did not respond for she was overzealously forcing the doors open with impressive strength.

BANG!

The guild fell silent as the large entrance doors slammed against the guild walls.

"You can all relax now", Erza's voice was raised and she addressed everyone in the guild hall. "The fun has finally arrived!"

And with that, the guild erupted in cheers and hollers, a blatant signal that the party had only begun.

"Oh jeez…" Lucy face-palmed and sighed in embarrassment.

Wendy who was also a little embarrassed, giggled, "Well, I was hoping to make a subtle entrance, but I guess that's not really Erza's style."

Note to self: The next time there's a party, don't come with Erza.

The red-headed beauty quickly wandered away from her friends to converse with others at the party.

The blunette poked at Lucy's side to get her attention, "Lucy, I'm going to go find Carla. I should probably apologize to her... You'll be okay on your own, right?"

"Of course! Go for it!"

Wendy waved goodbye before disappearing in the crowd.

Lucy looked around the room to see the familiar faces of her own guild mates as well as those from other guilds in Fiore. She spotted Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth, Ichiya and the tri-men from Blue Begasus, several members from Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale and a few others from various guilds that helped in the Eclipse Gate battle. She even saw Jellal off in a corner waiting for someone special to meet up with him.

"You look amazing, Lucy!" Levy squealed, sprinting towards her friend seemingly out of nowhere. She grabbed Lucy's hands in her own and jumped up and down in excitement. The blonde flushed a little at the compliment, but before she could thank her, Levy continued. "Your dress is gorgeous. It almost looks like you're wearing the night sky!"

Lucy chuckled at her corny statement, "Thanks. Maybe that's why I was so drawn to it in the store." She pointed to herself, "Being a celestial mage and all."

They smiled at one another. "You look great too, Levy! I'm loving the green!"

The sold script mage grabbed the hem of her dress and tilted her head to the side, "What, this old thing?"

Lucy was about to reply when Levy snuck up beside her to whisper in her ear, "I actually spent like ten hours looking for a dress like this! Do you think Gajeel will like it?"

"If he doesn't, he's crazy!" the blonde replied in whisper. "You look hot!"

Levy giggled, "Thanks! I'm going to see if I can't drag him on the dance floor for a few songs. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!"

Secretly, Lucy couldn't imagine the iron dragonlayer had any sort of dancing abilities, but she was not one to criticize. Her father spent a lot of money on dance lessons for Lucy, because a "proper lady must know how to waltz." But his efforts were for not, for Lucy was as clumsy as a newborn fawn.

She decided to take a seat at one of the tables bordering the dance floor, as the song "We are Stars" by Vegas to Virginia started to play. She rested her chin on her hand as she watched her friends and acquaintances having a great time dancing. Then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted a bright patch of pink.

Natsu.

He was being twirled around in a crazy supernatural motion by his dance partner, Lisanna. There was a look of terror written across his face and Lucy couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune. She noticed that Lisanna had dressed to impress, adorning a soft pink lace off-the shoulder cocktail dress. The take-over mage was positively beaming, and Lucy was happy for her. Natsu was good guy, and they had history together that clearly had not wavered over time.

She looks so cute! It looks like she put in a lot of effort to grab Natsu's attention. If he doesn't compliment her at least once tonight, then he's an idiot.

Lucy shifted her weight from one side to the other and pondered further.

Well, he is an idiot, but if he's that oblivious to her feelings, then he's nothing but a shameless moron.

On the other side of the building, Laxus sat at the bar, drinking some no-name beer. He hadn't dressed up particularly fancy, but his grandfather insisted that he at least make an effort. He wore a long-sleeve burgundy button up shirt that he kept untucked from his black neutral pants. His only accessory was a simple black tie. He had his back turned to the bar as he watched his guildmates act out foolishly on the dance floor.

"It looks like the party is a success so far", Mirajane stated from behind the bar counter. She had her bangs down so they brushed loosely across her forehead, and she was wearing a tight white cocktail dress for the occasion.

"Yeah, I guess so", replied Laxus in monotone. His face unchanged, he turned and placed his empty beer mug on the counter, "I'll have another one. Please."

The takeover mage grabbed his mug to refill it when she noticed Lucy at a table in the corner.

Mira sighed, "You know, you've already had six drinks, Laxus. Why don't you go 'bust a move' on the dancefloor with everyone else?"

The lightening dragonslayer snorted, and turned to look at Mira, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

Mirajane frowned, slamming the refilled mug onto the counter. "You sure about that?"

Laxus grabbed the beer, chugged it down down in one go and nodded in reply. He placed the empty mug back on the counter, "Another one."

Mira's eyebrow twitched in irritation, the rest of her face still as pleasant as ever, "I don't think so."

Surprised at her reaction, the blonde turned around again to face her. She was smiling sweetly, "Look at poor Lucy over there. She's all alone. You should ask her to dance!"

It was Laxus' turn to be annoyed. "I don't dance", he replied curtly, turning away from her again.

A sudden chill rolled up his spine and he glanced over his shoulder to see Mira with a dark shadow looming over her. He could no longer see her innocent face amongst the darkness that enveloped her.

"You sure about that?" she hissed.

With his hands up in surrender, Laxus sighed, "Fine! I'll do it…"

Mira grinned, the darkness vanishing around her. "Wonderful! Have fun!"

Laxus rolled his eyes and dragged himself from the bar stool as she giggled mischeviously from behind him.

Normally Lucy enjoyed people-watching, but tonight she felt a little lonely and left out. The only person who had asked her to dance was a self-summoned Loke and since she didn't feel like being groped tonight, the blonde respectfully declined. She shook her head disapprovingly when she saw him slink away to dance with a scantily clad Jenny from Blue Pegasus.

That fickle lion. Oh well, at least one of us is enjoying themselves.

Whilst sitting at the table she had seen nearly everyone she knew on the dance floor at one point or another. She had watched Juvia follow Gray from one side of the guild to the other as he tried to escape her desperate grasp. She had watched Erza and Jellal share a tender moment, wrapped in each others' arms whilst swaying to a romantic slow song. She had even seen Levy shaking her tail on the dance floor with a less-than-impressed Gajeel who was clearly only there as a favour to her.

Lucy sighed and dropped her head onto her forearms that rested on the table.

"Good evening", a voice interrupted.

She looked up to see Laxus standing beside her and raised an eyebrow, "Laxus, I hardly recognized you without your headphones on."

"Yeah, well… It wasn't by choice, trust me. Gramps can be a very convincing guy. He kept barking something about casual dress being unsportsman-like."

"Oh yeah?"

The dragonslayer coughed and decided to get to the point, "So, it must be pretty boring sitting here and watching people."

Lucy replied dryly, "You should know. Weren't you doing the exact same thing at the bar a minute ago?"

Laxus couldn't help but smirk a little upon learning that even from across the room, he hadn't gone unnoticed by her.

Shrugging, he continued, "I'm fine with just watching, but I figured that you're the kind of person who would want to get in on the action, so I decided to come over here and graciously ask you to dance."

Lucy straightened up in her seat and shot him a look of skepticism, "Is that so?"

Making no eye contact, the dragonslayer crossed his arms boredly and continued, "So do you want to dance or not?"

A small smile formed at the corners of her mouth, "Sure. I guess I owe you a favour."

She got up from her seat and headed towards the dance floor, leaving Laxus following behind her in shock and awe at her inexplicable audacity.

This should be interesting…

When they were in the crowd of rambunctious guild members, Lucy started to panic. She had no idea how to dance and before she could come up with some kind of party-dance technique, a slow song came on.

Super! This isn't going to be weird or anything.

Laxus had made his way over to her from the table and was now standing not a foot away from her in distance.

"Umm…" she mumbled, uncertain of what to do with her hands or her feet for that matter.

Rolling his eyes, Laxus grabbed her arms and placed them limply on his shoulders. Lucy's cheeks flushed when he put his own hands on her slim waist.

His hands are so warm. Wait, what?

"I should warn you", started Lucy nervously. "I'm a terrible dancer in bare feet and tonight I'm wearing heels... So I can't guarantee your safety on the dance floor."

Laxus grinned at her, "I'm no expert myself. Just try and follow my lead."

Lucy nodded and stared at the floor to watch her steps carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was step on a dragonslayer's foot, least of all Laxus'.

They awkwardly started to dance, the awkward part being Lucy, because Laxus appeared to have grossly understated his dancing abilities.

What a liar! I never would have pegged this guy as a skillful dancer. Guess there's more to him than attitude and an abundance of scowls.

The pair received surprised stares from people around them, but only Laxus seemed to notice. He conjured his signature smirk before turning to look down at his partner. She was struggling to follow his steps and would not tear her gaze from the floor.

Unbeknownst to her, while she was busy staring at the floor, Laxus was soaking up her appearance entirely. How could he not? She looked stunning! He knew that she was an attractive girl, but somehow tonight she was different. If he was being honest, he'd admit that on more than one occasion he admired her curvaceous figure, but it was impossible to ignore the a form-fitting dress that she had on!

He smiled to himself when he noticed the look of pure concentration on Lucy's face as she continued to focus on the movement of her feet.

"You're thinking too much", he muttered, his face stiffening again.

Lucy finally looked up to meet eyes with his, "How so?"

"You've been so focused on your feet that I feel like I've been dancing with a faceless doll for the last few minutes."

The celestial mage sighed, "Sorry."

"I asked you to dance because I thought you would enjoy it. But you're as tense as a vulcan in heat", Laxus chuckled.

Lucy's jaw dropped at this shameful comment, but before she could reply he burst into a fit of booming laughter, "I'm kidding! Seriously, though, you're really tense. Relax your shoulders and try not to make that face while we're dancing."

"What face?" Lucy glared at him.

"You know, the face that makes you look constipated."

What an ass!

Curling her lip in disgust, Lucy turned her head away from him.

Laxus chuckled again, "Lighten up, Blondie. Try to have some fun."

"Yeah."

As they made their way across the dance floor, Lucy saw Mirajane waving spastically in her direction. She looked over her shoulder, and looked back to quickly realize that she was indeed waving at her. Lucy nodded her head slightly in reply.

She looked up at her much taller dance partner, "So Mira put you up to this, hmm?"

Laxus half-laughed and avoided eye contact, a look of guilt written across his chiseled face, "What makes you say that?"

Shaking her head, the celestial mage snorted, "That would be a yes."

She would make a point of scolding the take-over mage later on for putting her in such an uncalled for situation with Laxus.

At that moment, the song ended, and she loosened her grip on his shoulders.

"Well, thanks for the dance", she mumbled, tearing herself away from him. She was about to walk away, when she felt a tug on her hand. She turned her head to see that Laxus had grabbed her hand and he started to pull her gently towards him.

"Come on, one more dance couldn't hurt", he said with a surprisingly sincere smile.

Lucy squinted at him suspiciously, "Sure."

Accepting his request, she positioned her hands back onto his large, muscular shoulders while he grabbed her waist.

The next song started to play, "Say Something" by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera.

This time, she would pointedly look anywhere but her feet. They started to move amongst the crowd, swaying slowly from place to place.

Lucy saw Natsu and Lisanna dancing nearby. She couldn't help but beam when she saw Lisanna resting her head on his shoulder. The fire dragonslayer had his head resting on hers, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

I don't know why I was so confused the other night. I know how I feel about Natsu. I love him, he's my best friend. He's not the kind of guy that would replace anyone. And I know that I'll always be important to him. But his heart belongs to Lisanna. I can accept that with a smile because I want him to be happy. I want them to be happy. I'll meet a nice guy some day, but for now, all I can do is root for the people that I care about.

Smiling, she turned to her other side to see Erza and Jellal in a similar position as Lisanna and Natsu. And she almost burst out laughing when she noticed Juvia draping her liquid body around a very disturbed looking Gray. He was pidgeon-toed and possibly the most awkward thing she had ever seen as he tried to peel her off of his half-naked body. On the other side of the guild Elfman and Evergreen were trying to be subtle and dance in the shadows, but everyone knew that they were there together.

I love this guild, and everyone in it. They're crazy and weird and sometimes super embarrassing, but they're my family and I wouldn't have it any other way. I guess I'm Lucky Lucy Heartfilia after all.

Laxus noticed that Lucy's mind was adrift and a devious idea crossed his own mind. He hardened his grip on Lucy's waist and pulled her even closer to him, their bodies nearly touching.

"Woah! Hey, now! Don't get any funny ideas, blondie!", the celestial mage scolded. She pretended to act brave, when in reality she was shaking from head to toe on the inside. She had never been this close to a man before.

Laxus winked at her, "Don't worry, you're not my type. I just wanted to spice things up a bit."

She scowled at him, a little put off by how blunt he was.

Not his type? Well, guess what pal! You're not my type!

Lucy plastered on a fake smile, "Whatever you say. But if your hands move anywhere but my waist, I'll have to Lucy kick you right where it counts."

The dragonslayer let out another booming laugh, "Okay, okay."

For the rest of the song, the two of them danced in silence, Lucy staring straight ahead of her at Laxus broad chest. She wanted to prove to him that she could dance without looking 'constipated.' Then, at one point, she decided to look up at him and get a feel for what he was thinking. His gaze was distant and thoughtful, his hazy blue eyes captivating her very being.

When he keeps his mouth shut, he's actually a good looking guy.

In truth, Lucy had never had the nerve to look him in the eye before. He was intimidating and didn't have the greatest reputation in Fairy Tail, but he had since redeemed himself at the Grand Magic Games a year ago.

However, right now she was swept away by his handsome features, and hardly noticed when he caught her staring at him.

He cleared his throat, "Like what you see?"

His voice pulled her from her reverie and she started blushing furiously, "Not really. I was just thinking that it must be exhausting to pretend to look so miserable all the time."

Nice save, Lucy!

Laxus blinked at her, wide eyed, "I'm not miserable. This is just how my face looks normally."

Lucy snorted, "That's unfortunate." She grinned inside when she saw his mouth open slightly in surprise.

At that moment, the song ended.

"It was nice chatting with you, Laxus. I'm going to get a drink!" she grabbed his hands from her waist and tossed them loosely at his sides. As Lucy skipped away from him with a little extra bounce in her step, she shouted, "Maybe if you behave yourself, I'll let you dance with me again some time!"

She stuck her tongue out at him before heading to the bar.

Laxus stood alone on the dance floor. He closed his mouth into a cheeky grin, "I should be so lucky."

Though he would never admit it, the lightning dragonslayer was just a little bit impressed with her. In fact, he was starting to look forward to their next encounter.

A/N:

Oh, and if anyone is interested in checking out what Erza/Lucy/Wendy's dresses look like, check out the link in my profile!