A/N: Yo minna! Sorry for the late update! By the way, thank you for your wonderful comments! You guys are the best! Now, on to the 7th chapter! Enjoy~ (^o^)

Disclaimer: My name is not Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 7

It was a paradise. A silent, dark, paradise. A place where she wished she could've stayed for a very long time. She was enjoying everything; the amity, the stillness, the deep, black, quiet dreamland.

And then, she woke up.

It was true. She enjoyed her dream, if one may call it. Even though she saw, heard, touched, smelled, and tasted nothing. It was yet the best feeling she caressed after all the commotion she has been in. Even though Natsu, Erza, and Happy came to her yesterday, she decided to take the day-off and just stayed in her apartment. After that, no one else came to see her. None. Not even Gray who left the guild earlier than the usual yesterday. They can tell that he was really gloomy. On the other hand, the water mage attended the guild, but she was quiet. Perhaps it's because her love rival wasn't there.

Now a new day awakens, the blonde woke up and fixed herself immediately as the thought that the raven-haired might pass by any time now. She waited, and waited, and waited. But he didn't come. She was quite bothered. Why hasn't he showed up since yesterday? Well, if she wishes to know the answer, she thought, might as well go to the guild.

As she arrived, she saw no Gray. But what alarmed her was that, there was also no Juvia in sight. She was well, quite worried. What if they're together? Did he tell her the truth? What the hell is going on? Those were some of the questions that popped up in her head. She silently sat down by the counter not noticing that Natsu had been calling her attention ever since she arrived.

"Oi! Luceeee!" he roared which made the blonde snap out of her thoughts.

"Oh I'm sorry Natsu, I didn't notice you were calling me"

"Yeah, looked like it. By the way, Gray came by to my house a while ago."

"Ohh, then why isn't he here?"

"He's sick Luce. He asked me to tell you that he's sorry if he can't pick you up because like I said, he's in a bad shape."

"Oh…" she lowered her head.

"Don't ohh me! Aren't you going to visit him?"

Her face turned red, "Bu-but I'm-"

"Don't tell me you're shy?! Goodness, if you were my girlfriend, I'd dump you right away!" he face palmed.

"Eh?"

"I mean, what kind of girlfriend gets shy when her boyfriend needs her to visit him?!" he sighed.

"But Natsu, we're not yet-"

He cut her off by taking her hand and dragging her with him, "Okay then, since I'm your closest friend, I'll help you. Seriously, I can't believe you, Luce!"

As those things happened, she was feeling a mix of different emotions. But she couldn't help but smile to the thought of Natsu holding her hand tightly just trying to lead her towards her "boyfriend". But, why was she smiling? Did she like when he held her hand? Or maybe what she adored was his thoughtfulness? Or maybe, what she really loved was the thought that she was about to see Gray? Even Lucy was puzzled by that time.

"At last!" he let go of her hand, "We're here. Now, you go ahead, and I'll go now!"

"Wa-wait Nat-"

And just before she could finish her sentence, he rapidly ran away with a somehow "good luck" grin.

Guess I have no choice… "Gra-gray? Are you there?"

Hearing her voice, he instantly stood up and opened the door, "Lu-lucy? Wha-what are you doing here?"

She sighed, "Just as I thought… you lied."

"Wha-what?"

"You're not sick. I should've known! You were just making an excuse. So…" she murmured as she entered his place, "Why did you lie?"

"I just… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Eh? Why are you apologizing? Does it even look like I'm upset? I'm asking you, why did you lie?"

"I wanted to be alone for a while…" he lowered his head

She then took a step closer to him, "Gray. Look at me and then tell me that again"

He refused to do what she said.

"Gray."

He slowly stared at her, "I… I was worried that y-you don't want to see me right now."

She chuckled, "What? You're out of your mind…" she took his hand, "Come!"

"Wait! Where are we going?"

"To the guild of course! You don't expect me to pretend all by myself right?" she showed a bright smile.

At first, he was hesitant, but after hearing what she said and seeing a face different from what he expected, he felt nothing but contentment. Lucy, on the other hand, knew that he was worried about her. And by the looks of it, she's the only one who can comfort him.

As they walked together, a certain fire mage was hiding behind a tree with a rather, sad smile.

"Say, Lucy…"

"Yes?"

"Are you-"

"Gray, if you're going to ask me a question in which you already know my answer, then please don't. Believe it or not, I dreamt of nothing this morning. To be honest, I enjoyed it for the time being. But as I thought of it, I can't possibly live with that. That darkness was to be what awaits me if I continued to be what I was yesterday. And I don't want that."

He muttered, "That's my girl…"

"Eh?! Don't pat yourself too much on the back! You know our agreements on this pretend!"

"I know!" he laughed, "I'm just glad to see that the Lucy I know is at last back."

"Good! I thought you were…"

"Were what? Falling in love with you? Now that's something that would never happen!" he mocked.

"Eh? Am I really that unwanted?" Lucy asked as she used her charms.

He blushed then looked onto another direction, "Tch-"

"See! You're blushing!"

"I wasn't!" he slowly raised his arm, "Okay, playtime's over." He said as he put his arm around her shoulders then opened the guild's door.

"Oh, there you are, Lucy, Gray. Come on, we've been waiting for you guys."

"Why gramps? What's the matter?"

"Well, since the festival is only two days ahead, I want Fairy Tail to cooperate with the citizens to make it livelier!"

"What're you suggesting, Master?" Erza questioned.

He then took out a container, "Each of you will pick a paper out of this box. Each paper has a number. Those with similar numbers will be grouped with each other and they shall prepare something for the festival. Whatever booth or group that would have the largest amount of costumers will win. Ja` time to pick young lads!"

Everyone was excited, of course! Fairy Tail was widely known for its love for occasions such as this!

"Now, to those who picked the number 1, please raise your hands!"

Much to everybody's concern, fate really knows how to play well, as Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia, belonged to the same team.

To be continued…

A/N: So how was it? I hope it's okay! I'm sorry too if you see mistakes! Now that the four of them are in the same group, how could the supposedly joyous festival turn out? Tehee~ please feel free to review, etc.! \(◦'')/