Author's note: Hey everyone! The new chapter is up and ready! Hope you like it, enjoy! I do not own Fairy Tail.
HIDDEN FEELINGS
CHAPTER 4
The sun began to rise from the horizon, sending its warm light over the city of Magnolia. The streets of the city slowly started to become busy again as people began their daily routines. A little further from the main part of Magnolia, on the outskirts of the city, a group of Fairy Tail mages was sleeping soundly in the calm forest. A couple of hours later, Lucy rubbed her eyes as the sunrays hit her beautiful face and yawned as she started to wake up. She felt a warm breath on her back so she turned around to see who it was, only to find Gray's sleeping face just inches away from her own. Lucy felt her face heat up, not only from the sun, so she reacted on instinct, without thinking.
"You are too close!" she yelled as she pushed Gray away.
"Whaaa!" Gray yelled as he rolled around and fell head first on one of the nearby trees. The bump was so loud that a few birds flew away and it also caused Erza and Loke to wake up as well.
"What? What? What? I can explain, I was drunk last night! It wasn't me!" Loke said as he started looking around dizzy. Lucy looked at him curiously.
"What were you dreaming about?" she mumbled.
"What happened, Lucy? Are you okay? Why are you yelling? What happened to Gray?" Erza asked sleepily as she saw the scene.
"Well" Lucy began hesitantly as Gray was still next to the tree, twitching.
"Are you crazy? Why did you do that for?" he yelled as he suddenly sat up. "Aargh! It hurts!" he groaned as he caught a pretty large bump on his head.
"Well, I'm sorry… But it's your fault too! Why were you sleeping so close to me?" Lucy said with flushed cheeks.
"That's because…" Gray stammered, rubbing the back of his head. "That's because when I woke up last night, I saw you all curled and shaking. So I threw my jacket on you and I moved a little closer to you to keep you warm. If that's a bad, then I'm sorry" he said, trying to avoid Lucy's eyes.
"Oh! Well, then…" Lucy said a little embarrassed as she noticed Gray's dark blue and white jacket on her sleeping bag. "Thanks Gray! And I'm sorry for waking you up like this, and pushing you on that tree, okay?" she said with a small smile. Gray couldn't help but smile back.
"It's fine! Don't worry about it" he said waving his hand in a calming way.
"Well, it's not fine! You were being so considerate and I gave you a bump! Here let me take a look at this" Lucy said as she moved closer to the ice mage.
"Hey what are you doing? I told you, it's fine!" Gray tried to push her, as Lucy got in front of him and put her hands on his head. "Ouch!" he cried as Lucy lowered his head.
"Don't be such a baby! Let me see it" the blond girl said as she took a closer look. "Well, it doesn't look this bad. It's a good thing you have a hard head!" she joked.
"Gee, thanks!" Gray said grumpily. Lucy let out a cute laugh.
"Here, maybe this will make you feel better" she said as she softly kissed the spot where it was hurt. Gray held his breath once he felt Lucy's soft lips, he felt his face burn and his heart began bumping like crazy. He slowly lifted his head and stared Lucy, who had a flushed face as well, deep into her gorgeous, brown eyes.
"So, are you feeling better?" she asked with a cute smile. Gray tried to answer but all he could do was simply nod. His mind was working like crazy. What should he do? All he wanted at that moment was to grab Lucy and kiss her deeply. Should he do that or he would scare her away? Is that what she wanted, what she expected him to do? Suddenly, he heard someone clearing his throat. That snapped him back to reality. That's right, they weren't alone. He slowly turned his head and saw Erza clearing her throat, with an expression that was hard to tell what she was thinking, and Loke with a sly smile. Lucy noticed them as well so they quickly grew apart, Lucy with a shy smile and Gray with a slightly embarrassed face.
"Way to go Gray! If you continue like this, you may become as popular with the ladies as me!" Loke said proudly.
"You damn playboy!" Gray mumbled angrily.
"Oh, really? You sound too cool for a guy who was like I was drunk just moments ago. What were you dreaming about anyway?" Erza said cooly. Loke's face became as white as snow.
"Aha, ha! You know it's funny story actually! Ha, ha! I'll tell you some other time! Well, since we're all up and all, we might as well get some breakfast! Who wants some coffee? I'll go to the city and buy some right away" he said hastily, trying to change the subject.
"Don't worry about it. I got it covered" Erza said calmly as she got up and moved towards the wagon. She quickly got back holding four boxes, two jars and a big bottle of water.
"How are you carrying all this stuff?" Lucy wondered.
"Here, take these" Erza said as she passed the boxes to everyone.
"Hey, cake" Gray lazily said as he opened his box.
"What else? What better way to start your day!" Erza said as Lucy and Loke opened their boxes as well. "And, I have coffee and sugar in these" she continued as she pointed at the jars.
"Eeh, Erza do you have only coffee? How about something a little lighter?" Lucy asked.
"Well, I think I also have some tea with me" Erza said as she searched through the wagon. "Ah, here it is!" she said as she picked up a small bag.
"Wow Erza, you really are prepared!" Lucy said impressed.
"Of course Lucy. You still have a lot to learn" Erza said seriously.
"Eeh sure, okay" Lucy said sweatdropping a little. About half an hour later the Fairy Tail mages were enjoying their breakfast enjoying the soft breeze of the forest.
"That's nice! It's been a while since we last had a calm breakfast like this" Loke said. Lucy nodded in agreement.
"Hey guys, how do you think things are at the guild right now? Do you think they are also having a calm breakfast like we do here?" she asked. The mages looked each other in silence for a moment and then they all started laughing.
The guild was as lively as ever, even though it was still pretty early in the morning. Mirajane, the guild's favourite barmaid, was at her usual spot, wiping an already crystal clear glass. Cana, Juvia, Wendy and Charle were sitting at the bar next to her.
"So Juvia, how was your big date last night?" Mirajane asked with interest.
"Well, Juvia is a little embarrassed to tell" the blue haired girl said with a flashed face.
"Oh come on Juvia, we're all girls here. There's no need to for you to be embarrassed. Relax" Cana said lightly.
"That's right Juvia-san. We're all friends here. Don't worry, it's not like someone is going to laugh at you or anything. You can talk to us freely" Wendy encouraged her. Juvia smiled.
"Thank you everyone! Okay then, last night was, really nice" she said eventually.
"Eeh, what's this? That's all? We want details!" Cana complained.
"Don't be so noisy! Maybe she doesn't feel comfortable about saying more" Charle scolded her.
"No, it's fine! Juvia is really happy that her friends show so much interest and care about her so much!" the blue haired girl said with a bright smile after wiping a tear from her beautiful, blue eyes. Mirajane smiled sweetly and put her hand on Juvia's shoulder.
"It's fine Juvia. Of course we care for you and we are here for you! You don't have to tell us right away if you don't want to! You can talk to us whenever you feel like it" she said softly. Cana and Wendy nodded in agreement, smiling as well.
"Yeah, sorry if I was a little too intense. You can tell us when you feel ready" Cana said.
"No, it's fine, really! Juvia wants to tell what happened last night!" the water mage said. The girls moved closer to her as Juvia began her story. "Well, Juvia was waiting somewhere near Fairy Hills, she was a little embarrassed to wait right in front of the building. Juvia was wearing a simple, evening gown blue dress with matching blue, raindrop shaped earrings. Freed-san arrived about five minutes earlier than the date time and he took Juvia to the town for dinner" the water mage said.
"Wait, he didn't say anything about you? About how you looked, about your dress, no comments?" Mirajane asked surprised. Juvia blushed even more.
"Freed-san said that Juvia looked amazing. Juvia thinks that he was speechless for a moment when he first saw her" she said with a faint smile. The girls started giggling.
"Way to go Juvia! You knocked him out, didn't you?" Cana said joyfully as she wrapped her arm around her.
"Maybe. He then started to act all weird and stuff and he shook Juvia's hand. Fortunately, he quickly got over it" Juvia said. The girls started laughing.
"Freed may usually act calm and collected but when it comes to romantic stuff, he is actually pretty shy" Mirajane commended.
"What happened next?" Wendy asked excited.
"Well, as Juvia said, we went to the city for dinner. Freed-san had made reservations at Mon-Pernier" Juvia continued her narration.
"At Mon-Pernier?! That's one of the finest restaurants in Magnolia!" Cana said surprised.
"That's not very surprising actually. I think all the members of the Raijinshu have their way with money with all these missions they've taken. Just look at the way they are dressed" Mirajane said.
"I guess you're right. So Juvia, was that restaurant actually nice?" Cana asked.
"Yes, it was lovely! We had our diner, we drank our red wine and we had ice-cream for desert! Then Freed-san gave Juvia this" the blue haired girl said as she took out a golden necklace from inside her coat. The chain around her neck was gold and the amulet had the shape of the Fairy Tail mark and it was blue coloured with a golden frame. The girls looked at it impressed and Cana whistled.
"That must have caused a lot!" she said.
"How pretty!" Wendy said in awe.
"Juvia was grateful for all this but she was also a little embarrassed. Juvia thanked Freed-san but she also told him that she doesn't need expensive jewels or fancy restaurants to feel nice. It was nice but she could also settle for something simpler. Freed-san laughed after hearing this. He admitted that he was nervous about our date, that's why he went a little overboard. After that, things became a little simpler. We went for a nice walk in the city, which looked really beautiful at night with all those lights, and he walked Juvia back at Fairy Hills. And before Freed-san left, he kissed Juvia goodnight! Right here, on the cheek!" Juvia finished her story with a deep blush.
"How romantic! I want to go on a date too!" Wendy said with a dreamy expression.
"Wendy, you're too young to be on a date!" Charle said.
"Don't worry Wendy, you still have time for dates. There's no need to rush" Mirajane said with an amused smile as Wendy pouted. "I'm really happy for you Juvia! It looks like you had a wonderful date" she said as she turned back to the blue haired girl. Juvia nodded with a happy smile.
"Oh, it seems like our little Juvia is in love" Cana said with a teasing voice as she hugged Juvia again.
"Cana-san, don't say this out loud! Juvia is embarrassed!" the blue haired girl said shyly as the other girls started laughing and hugged her as well.
"Take that you bastard!" Gazille suddenly yelled as he punched Elfman away.
"You think that's enough to take down a man? Guess again!" Elfman yelled as he punched Gazille back. The girls broke their hug and watched confused as the two hot headed mages started brawling.
"And I thought we would finally have a quiet morning for a change. I guess I was too optimistic" Cana sighed.
"Why are these two fighting for all of the sudden?" Charle asked confused.
"It's fight between men. Girls wouldn't understand" a black, winged cat said with a deep voice after he landed next to her.
"Lili, do you know why these two are fighting for?" Wendy asked.
"I am not sure why, but I'm pretty sure they have a pretty good reason for this" the black cat said with confidence.
"Hey, guys break it up! Stop it! Why are you fighting anyway?" Mirajane asked putting her hands on her waste.
"He started it!" Gazille and Elfman said at the same time as they pointed each other.
"So, you were saying?" Charle asked with a hint of sarcasm.
"Wait for it. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for this" Panther Lili said.
"Gazille-kun, what really happened?" Juvia asked seriously.
"Well, it's not my fault! I am bored! Salamander left again" Gazille said pouting.
"What?! That's your reason for fighting? That's why I've been supporting you?" Panther Lili yelled angrily.
"A serious reason, huh? You guys are so thick headed" Charle said with a disapproving tone.
"Where is Natsu anyway? I don't see Lisanna around either" Cana said.
"Oh, the two of them and Happy already left earlier this morning on that mission that Lisanna picked yesterday. They'll probably be back in the afternoon" Mirajane answered happily.
"Exactly! Salamander is gone so I don't have anyone to argue with. That other small girl still hasn't returned too so… Oh snap!" Gazille suddenly stopped with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
"That other small girl? You wouldn't be talking about Levy now, would you Gazille?" Mirajane asked with a sly smile.
"Gazille-san, do you like Levy-san?" Wendy asked innocently.
"So that's why you are picking a fight! I knew there was a better reason than just being bored behind this" Lili said proudly.
"Shut up, all of you! Of course I don't! I'm not talking about Levy anyway! I'm talking about, Lucy! Yeah, I'm talking about her" Gazille said quickly.
"Lucy might be a lot of things, but small sure isn't one of them" Cana said calmly.
"A true man isn't afraid to show his feelings!" Elfman said emphatically.
"Elfman, Evergreen says hi" Mirajane said smiling.
"What? Who? Where?" Elfman stammered.
"Hah! You were saying?" Gazille laughed.
"Shut up!" Elfman snapped as he punched him in the face.
"Oh, that's how you want to play? Come here you big gorilla!" Gazille yelled.
"Bring it on if you are a true man!" Elfman roared as the two of them started brawling again. The girls sighed while Lili just smirked.
"I wonder if Lucy and the others are somewhere calmer" Mirajane said.
"Why do we have to go through the forest again?" Gray asked as the Fairy Tail mages continued their way by taking a path through the thick forest.
"I told you already, it's faster this way. If we continue like this, we'll be at the mansion by noon" Erza explained.
"That's if we don't run into any troubles on the way. The forest can be pretty dangerous" Loke said.
"Troubles? What kind of troubles?" Lucy asked a little worried.
"Oh, you know. Bandits and stuff like that" Loke calmly explained.
"Don't worry Lucy, this path is completely safe" Erza said with confidence.
"Ha, ha! Guess again my fair lady!" a loud voice was heard from the trees. The mages turned towards the tree that the voice was heard, only to see a man dressed in green, with a triangle shaped, green hat, black hair and a black goatee. He was standing on top of the tree, holding a rope. "La liberte! Hey" he yelled as he jumped from the tree holding the rope, he swung in the air and landed in front of the mages. "Surrender young travelers! You are surrounded by my men!" he said emphatically.
"So, this path is completely safe, huh?" Gray said sarcastically.
"That's funny. We don't see any men around" Loke said calmly.
"Hah! That's because my men are masters of disguise! Dancing squad, come out!" the man said loudly. Suddenly, about a dozen of men, all dressed in green, appeared from behind the trees and the bushes and quickly assembled behind the man who seemed to be their leader. Some of the men were armed, with bows and arrows, some of them with wooden staves and about three of them had music instruments, one had a guitar, one had a violin and one had an accordion.
"Why the instruments?" Lucy wondered as she sweatdropped.
"Because you can't dance and sing without music my fair lady. Now that you see that are outnumbered, give us everything you have and we shall let you pass. The boys at least, the ladies are more than welcome to stay with us and live our merry life if they want to" the leader of the bandits said.
"What do you mean merry life?" Lucy asked.
"Do you really want to know?" Gray mumbled.
"We shall show you right away, my pretty lady! Hit it boys!" the man said. The bandits with the instruments started playing a quick and cheerful tone while the rest of them started dancing along with their leader with quick steps. "We are the merry men, the happy men, the brave men! We live a simple life, a joyful life, a carefree life! Our leader is handsome, our leader is wild, our leader is what every lady likes!" They continued their singing in a similar way while doing a quick choreography like they had already practiced it. The Fairy Tail mages sweatdropped as they watched them with poker faces.
"Well, they are not that bad! They are actually pretty good once you get over the first shock" Loke said.
"They are still bandits though. And they are also armed" Gray said seriously.
"That may be my kind gentlemen. However, we carry these arms only for defence" the leader of the bandits said as he drew his short sword. "I can assure you, we've never used these weapons to harm someone innocent, weak or unarmed. And we have never attacked someone helpless or poor. You on the other hand seem pretty loaded. So if you just leave your money we shall let you pass" he said.
"I'll compliment you on having this kind of honor. However, we don't plan on giving you anything. Now get out of our way before someone gets hurt!" Erza said with a warning voice.
"Hey Erza, calm down" Lucy said alerted.
"Boss, I think we are in trouble. I think those are Fairy Tail mages" one of the bandits said.
"Fairy Tail mages? What a vile strike of fate! But we shall not retreat even if it is against Fairy Tail! Attack men, let's drive these mages to surrender with our valor! Then, we shall have a feast with a lot of food and wine for our brave accomplishment and show our kindness, by having these young mages join us!" the leader of the bandits said loudly.
"A feast, huh? This doesn't sound so bad" Gray said.
"Yeah, they are not such bad guys after all" Loke agreed. Erza however, had a different opinion.
"I warned them!" she said slowly as she charged.
"Erza, don't hurt them too much!" Lucy shouted. Erza seemed to ignore her as she started punching around the bandits who tried to stand up to her. For some strange reason the bandits with the instruments started playing their music again during the fight.
"There she goes again! That girl doesn't know the meaning of holding back" Gray said with a face palm.
"But why did they start playing music again?" Lucy wondered.
"I don't know but I start to feel sorry for them" Loke said. Lucy and Gray had no choice but to nod agreement as Erza beat down the bandits, including those with the instrument and put an emphatic ending to the fight by punching the last bandit through his accordion.
"This is what you get for trying to steal from people. Maybe now you should consider changing your ways!" Erza said when she was done. "Okay then guys, shall we continue?" she continued as she turned to the other mages.
"Sure" the other three mumbled as they saw the damage that was done.
"Sorry" Lucy said with a slightly embarrassed smile as they passed through the beaten bandits. "Erza, you didn't have to beat them that much" she said as they continued their way.
"They should be more careful next time when they pick their opponents. If anything, that should make them to stop robbing people" Erza said calmly.
"You may have a point there. Those guys were bandits after all. Still, you take matters way too seriously sometimes" Lucy said.
"I warned them and they attacked anyway. They fought bravely though" Erza said.
"That wasn't much of a fight though. Those poor guys never stood a chance" Gray said with some sympathy.
"Well, let's hope they do change their ways. Those guys were better as dancers and singers rather than bandits. Maybe they should consider focusing on that" Loke said.
"Man, that was too easy! I can't believe we're already done" Natsu said with a yawn.
"Yeah, but it was kinda fun though, don't you think?" Lisanna said. Natsu, Happy and Lisanna were on their way back to the guild from their mission.
"Well, the whole delivery to the zoo thing was pretty simple. But when we got there, all the animals were out!" Natsu said moving around his hands.
"That's because you let them out Natsu! You are the one who wanted to take a closer look and let all the animals run wild" Happy said.
"Oh Happy, can you just for once not remember every single detail?" Natsu said annoyed.
"Well, eventually that's what made the mission fun! Besides, we did manage to gather all the animals back without them or anyone else getting hurt" Lisanna said.
"That was thanks to you Lisanna! You always had your way with the animals. Natsu on the other hand was brawling with the kangaroos and arguing with the monkeys! He seemed to have a lot in common with them though" Happy said simply.
"Way thin ice Happy! If you continue like this, I'm gonna lock you up in a cage and trade for one of these monkeys!" Natsu yelled.
"Lisanna! Natsu says he is going to trade me with monkeys!" Happy wined and flew to Lisanna's arms.
"Now, now guys don't be like this! Come on, now say you are sorry. Both of you" Lisanna said in a mother like way.
"I'm sorry Happy" Natsu said grumpily.
"I'm sorry Natsu" Happy said in a similar way.
"There you go" Lisanna said laughing. The three of them continued their way as Lisanna started to look around the place where they walking.
"Hey Natsu, remember this place?" she asked.
"Huh? This place? It does look kinda familiar" Natsu said scratching his head.
"This is where that Vulcan attacked us when we were kids and Gildarts saved us. Do you remember now?" Lisanna said.
"Oh yeah! I remember now!" Natsu said as he patted his head.
"Hey, I don't remember any of this" Happy said.
"That's because it happened before you were born. You were still inside your egg back then" Natsu said.
"Then this must be really old" Happy commented.
"Natsu, do you remember what you did to save me?" Lisanna asked with a slight blush.
"How do you still remember this? That was years ago" Natsu said a little embarrassed.
"Who told you I ever forgot about it?" Lisanna said softly as she hugged Natsu's arm.
"What? What happened? Tell me!" Happy said curiously.
"Well, it happened when we were kids. Natsu and I were going back to the guild. There was a thick fog that day. We accidentally got separated and by the time Natsu found me, that Vulcan had already got me" Lisanna started her story.
"Did it hurt you?" Happy asked worried.
"No, don't worry Happy. Well, it did threaten to hurt me unless Natsu did what was told. And that's exactly what Natsu did. He begged the Vulcan to let me go and he even let it step on him. It's a good thing that Gildarts appeared and scared it away. But even he said that Natsu was the true hero that day!" Lisanna finished her story, tightening her grip around Natsu's arm.
"That's Natsu for you! He is a true hero!" Happy said proudly.
"Well, yeah. If that happened today I would just punch that stupid Vulcan away before it got the chance to do anything!" Natsu said decisively.
"I'm sure you would. But what if it got me again?" Lisanna asked.
"Then I guess I would do the same thing again. I wouldn't risk you getting hurt" Natsu said silently. Lisanna smiled.
"I know you would Natsu. But this time I wouldn't allow this to happen. This time, I would be the one to save you" she said softly as she leaned on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu smiled back.
"Well that wouldn't be necessary! Because the moment that filthy Vulcan tried to step on me, I would burn it to a crisp!" Natsu yelled throwing flames.
"Yeah, actually that seems a little more like it" Lisanna said laughing.
"Aye! That's Natsu for you" Happy said with a deadpawn look.
"Hey, are we there yet? We've been going through this forest for hours!" Gray yelled.
"It shouldn't take long. This path must lead right out of the forest" Erza said.
"Since when is this forest so big?" Lucy complained.
"Look guys! I see a clearing there. This must be our way out" Loke said pointing at the direction where the trees started to clear. The Fairy Tail mages followed the path and finally made their way out of the forest. They stopped walking for a moment to catch their breath and watched the nice view ahead of them. There was a green valley down from the hill that they were standing and ahead of them they could see a large, imposing mansion with a big garden.
"That's where we are headed, where our mission takes place. That's Lord Blackwood's mansion" Erza said smiling.
"Wow, I knew that this guy was reach but this is too much. This is even bigger than the guild!" Gray said in awe.
"The guild? This is almost the size of my house!" Lucy said stunned.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go" Loke said smiling. The rest of the mages nodded in agreement and followed the path down the hill on their way to the large mansion.
Author's note: There goes this chapter. I tried to make this a little more comical than the previous chapters while still trying to maintain the romance. I hope I did it! Reviews and thoughts on the story are always appreciated! Take care everyone, see you next time!